Marked Chaos

by Niki Livingston

  I whirled around to look at him. “What? You knew they were here, and you did not tell Malcolm?”

  He was quiet, his expression remaining passive. What had happened to the carefree man I had been skipping with earlier? He had betrayed me so easily. I turned back to face Sister Nikita.

  My eyes narrowed. “What did you do?”

  “Zoe Dawn, we need to speak to Kia Lynn. We hear you have access to the anaman girl she is traveling with.”

  “I will not help you find my sister,” I snapped, brushing Viktor’s hand away. I leapt to the side, eyeing all three of them. The rage I had bottled inside me was simmering at the top. “You are a traitor.” My malice fell on Viktor first, then I whirled to look at Sister Nikita. “We trusted you. How could you betray us?”

  Sister Nikita sighed, a look of irritation flashing across her face. “It was never about you, Zoe Dawn. I was sent to protect Kia Lynn. That is all.” She plucked a leaf from her shoulder and let it fall to the ground. “Now, where is that anaman girl hiding her? Is she being held in Malcolm’s sanctuary?”

  “I guess once your digging machine breaks through, you will have your answers then,” I said as my hands rested defiantly on my hips.

  Viktor groaned. “Zoe Dawn, this is my home. Just tell them where they can find your friend.”

  “I do not negotiate with traitors.” My blood was boiling, but I held back my fire.

  His expression hardened and he whirled around, slamming his fist into the nearest tree trunk. Shrieking from the searing pain it must have caused, he glowered in my direction and lowered himself to the ground, while holding his fist against his chest.

  Served him right.

  “When we do enter Malcolm’s sanctuary, do know we will not leave one stone unturned,” Sister Nikita said, her threat loud and clear.

  Heat slammed through my veins, and I squeezed my eyes shut to hold in the flames, but when I opened them again, the man Viktor had called Rork was creeping toward me. I blew out the breath from my lungs, sparking a fire in both my hands. Nikita and Rork jumped away from me, scampering behind one another. Viktor crawled on his hands and knees toward the tree he had hit earlier.

  Then from the side of me, the brush rustled and out popped Anna Rain. Her weapon was pointed at Viktor.

  “Why did you do it, Viktor?” she asked, stepping up next to me.

  I heard the blast before it hit Rork, knocking him to the ground. Viktor leapt to his feet and sprinted away, with Sister Nikita right behind him, but Malcolm and Randall jumped from the brush and tackled Viktor before he was too far up the path. Sister Nikita skidded to a stop and raced back at us. She yanked Rork to his feet and held up her free arm as if she were about to surrender.

  “It really was never about you, Zoe Dawn,” Sister Nikita said, staring at the flames dancing in my hands. “I was only doing what is best for the people I love.” Her hand that was hidden behind Rork flashed forward, releasing a dagger right at my face.

  Anna Rain pushed me out of the way, and I tumbled to the dirt.

  I twisted around, screaming at the top of my lungs as Sister Nikita and Rork disappeared into the shadows. Remembering the dagger, I glanced at Anna Rain. She was clutching her shoulder and knelt bent over at an uncomfortable angle. The dagger was between her bloody fingers.

  “Anna Rain. No,” I cried, crawling to her. I pulled her head into my lap and pressed against her hand to stop the bleeding. I looked toward the men. “Malcolm, help! Please!”

  Malcolm was by my side before I could even blink. He lifted Anna Rain into his arms and bolted up the trail, with me following close behind.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Tatum’s Beatle

  ALEX

  I blinked away the sleep in my eyes and stared up at the twinkling stars.

  Why was I outside?

  I rolled to my side and cringed from the pain in my shoulder. The crash came flooding back to my mind. Wind had collided with Kia Lynn, then from thin air, her whirlwind materialized, and a rainbow of light exploded inside the ship. It had been beautiful and frightening at the same time.

  I sighed with relief. She had stopped Beck’s ship from reaching Zoe Dawn.

  “You’re awake, my phantom sorceress,” Dax said, scooting closer to me. He ran his fingers through my hair. “I was worried you had hit your head too hard.”

  I bolted upright. “Where is Kia Lynn?”

  “I could not find her after I came to.” He exhaled loudly. “Covyn, Jako, and Kia Lynn were all missing.”

  “Where’s the ship?”

  He jabbed his thumb behind him. “Back that way. I carried you for as long as I could. I did not want Beck or his guards to find us.”

  I cradled my face in my hands. “Now what? How do we find Zoe Dawn?”

  His arms wrapped around me. “We keep moving until we reach wherever she is staying. Can’t you track her from the map in that light of yours?”

  “That’s right. It is no longer disabled.” I pulled away from Dax and held out my arm, activating it with my left thumb. The holographic screen shot up from my arm. I pressed the map and found the last known coordinates for the device Zoe Dawn had stolen. “Right there.” I pointed with a wary smile.

  “Good. We are close.” He pulled me to my feet.

  I smoothed down my hair, combing through it with my fingers. It was a tangled mess and I was sure my face did not look any better. I rolled my aching shoulder, but that only made it hurt more.

  “What if Kia Lynn is hurt?” I looked behind Dax in the direction of the ship.

  “I searched for her, inside and out of the ship,” Dax replied, shaking his head. “If she is alive, someone has taken her with them. Since Jako and Covyn were missing as well, I would guess they are all together.”

  “Was Beck still there?”

  “Yes.” Dax’s fingers found mine, and he tugged me forward. “He was out cold, along with the others. I think one of his men was dead, but I did not stick around to find out.” He sighed from my grief-stricken expression. “We will come back for her. I promise. We just have to find help first.”

  He was right, as much as I did not want to give him the credit. I was still angry at him for abducting me, then forcing me into this entire fiasco, but I continued to hold his hand. Despite all my anger toward him, he still made me feel safe when he was near.

  “I’m sorry,” he said a few minutes later. “I thought it would be better to have us all together than to allow Jako to follow after you if we let you go.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Jako is superstitious. Many of our townspeople are, but he is over the top. After you zapped him back at your ship, he was determined to end your life.” Dax hung his head. “I really am sorry. I thought he would let it go once we took the cloaking device and parts, but when he saw you running from Kia Lynn, he set out to capture you.”

  “But he knows it was only a laser from one our weapons, right? I am not a witch.”

  “I don’t know how he rearranges the thoughts in his head, to be honest. Covyn believed you were a witch as well. We have the technology, just like the anamans, but only because we stole it from them.” He shot me a sharp look. “There I go again, shoving my foot right in my mouth. I know you are part-anaman, but only when those markings glow do you look like one of them.”

  I blew out an exasperated breath. “You are talking in circles. If you all know of the anaman technology, why in the world would you believe I was a witch?”

  “A witch is someone who can conjure magical abilities. You did exactly that on the day we were breaking into your ship—or so it seemed at the time. We don’t fully understand all the weapons the anaman possess, but even those are a problem for Jako.” He shrugged and squeezed my hand. “All that technology is what you grew up with, but we have been sheltered from it our entire lives.”

  The corners of my mouth quirked up into a smile. “I understand now. More than you know.” I remembered when I had first been introduced
to my parents, along with all the advanced technology that came with the time period of my birth. I was equally, if not more so, shocked and suspicious.

  A light flickered up ahead. Dax saw it at the same moment and dropped my hand as he rose up on his toes.

  “Do you see that?” he asked, squinting at the darkness.

  “Yes. Do you see anything?”

  “There are people up there.” He sank back to a flat foot and looked at me. “Are we close enough that it could be Zoe Dawn’s friends?”

  I pulled up the screen again, then nodded. “It really could be them.” A relieved smile spread across my cheeks.

  Dax threw his arms around me, then planted a kiss on top of my head. “Someday, I hope you and I can just sit and talk all night long. No interruptions. No fighting. Just great conversation and even better company.”

  I laughed at his vision. “That just might be possible. If my dad approves.”

  His expression sobered.

  I reached up and tugged at his earlobe. “Once he gets to know you, he will love you. As long as you never betray me again.”

  “Never again.”

  He cupped my chin in his hand and drew me closer, his gaze never leaving mine. His thumb ran over my lips. I smiled at his touch. Then he leaned in closer and pressed his lips against mine. They were so soft, and he tasted like mint gum. In this dimension, they chewed on the mint leaves like they were candy, which was very favorable right now.

  “All right, lovebirds. Show’s over.”

  I jumped away from Dax, whirled around, and found three figures with masks covering their faces, pointing their weapons at our heads. Holding my hands out in front of me, I slid back a few inches, but when the shortest person cocked their head to the side and turned their gun toward me, I froze.

  “Why are you here?” a deep voice asked. He was one of the two taller figures.

  Dax’s shoulders curled forward, with his hands held just in front of his face. “We were searching for our friend. We were told she was out this way.”

  The shorter person jerked forward and pressed their weapon into Dax’s head before I could blink. “Wh-what issss your friend’s name?” She drawled the words out as if she had a speech impediment. Her shoulder jerked forward, but she held the weapon firmly in place.

  The other two chuckled. “Don’t mess with Beatle,” the thinner one said, waving his gun at me.

  “Her name is Zoe Dawn,” I said, my voice quivering as I crept forward. If these were Malcolm’s people, I did not want anything to do with them either. The entire human and anaman races have lost their minds in this dimension.

  Beatle’s hand dropped to her side and she turned to look at me, her bright-green eyes boring into me. “T-T-Tatum will w-want to see th-this one.”

  My heart dropped into my stomach. That name sounded familiar.

  “Take them both,” one of the men ordered, looking at the other man.

  Beatle lurched forward and wrapped her fingers around my forearm, digging in to the tender area of my skin with her fingernails. Her gaze traveled down my arms, and I wished I had my jacket right now. The anaman swirls were lighting up as if Beatle’s touch had activated them.

  “Wh-what is wro-ong with your skin?” She leaned in close, then jerked back. “We h-have a hybrid!” she shouted at the others, dragging me forward with an iron grip.

  “Someone sure ate her Wheaties this morning,” I muttered under my breath. My sarcasm was all I had to keep me sane anymore, but by the sudden jerk of Beatle’s head, it was not my best timing.

  She froze and pulled me close, her breath hot on my face. “Wh-what was that, w-worm?”

  “Nothing,” I whispered, hanging my head.

  “Leave the girl be.” The man who was giving the orders was standing beside Dax and looking back at us. “I would like to return to base before breakfast.”

  Beatle stared at me for several very long seconds, before whipping forward at an insane walking speed. I stumbled over my own feet trying to keep up with her. Even with her limp, she was far more coordinated than me.

  As we neared their camp, I saw a large opening at the base of the mountain. They were digging underneath, and the tunnel was huge. Dax glanced back at me wide-eyed as if he were thinking the same thing.

  A large ship nestled close to the trees to one side. The anaman were here, and as we closed in on it, an icy chill washed over me when I realized why Dax kept throwing me terrified looks. Tatum was the anaman who had attacked my village, and these were some of the same goons who had held my people at gunpoint and nearly killed Eshah.

  I gulped back a ball of terror. Tatum knew I had strength and a strange water ability, but he did not know I was completely clueless as to how to activate those powers. Would he force me to do something I could not even do?

  Off to the east, a sliver of light was breaking the horizon. Morning would be here soon, and I was nowhere closer to reaching Zoe Dawn or reuniting her to Kia Lynn. Even though that had never been my ultimate goal, I felt somewhat responsible to making that happen after promising Malcolm I would help.

  When I saw Tatum saunter off the ship, all the muscles in my body tensed. His chest puffed out when our eyes locked, and a smirk rose on his lips. Arrogance was not a quality he chose to hide.

  “We meet again,” he said with amusement twinkling in his eyes. He folded his arms over his chest and slightly cocked his head to the side as his gaze focused on my arms. “Marvelous job, Beatle. You saw her coming a mile away.”

  Beatle shuffled her feet, then yanked off her mask. I jolted back, but she held her grip on me. Her short blonde hair was matted against her face, and webbed scars ran down one of her cheeks as if she had been badly burned. What shocked me the most was that she had the genetic disorder Down syndrome. This was why her speech was slurred and possibly the cause of her muscle spasms, but what had happened to her face?

  “T-Tatum, sh-she has strange sk-kin.”

  “Why, yes she does, my dear Beatle.” He beckoned at a few of his men. “She will need to be restrained. Her elemental abilities could link to Kia Lynn’s, and we must prevent that at all costs.”

  Two men yanked me from Beatle’s grasp and secured something cold and hard around my wrists. My gaze snapped over to Dax, who was on his knees with a firearm pressed against the back of his head. His hands tightened into fists, and that same vein had popped out his neck, with all his focus and fury pinned on Tatum.

  “Take them to the excavator and secure them to the light pole,” Tatum ordered, waving us away.

  Beatle stared at me with narrowed eyes as they dragged me and Dax away. My arms made me suspicious to her, but somehow, I needed her to trust me. She was innocent in all this.

  The trek to the excavator took only a few minutes. I could barely see the giant machine rotating against the dirt and blowing the excess into a pile behind it. They would build a new mountain by the time they reached the other end. The question was, why were they coming from below?

  A flash of light caught my eye, but when I focused in, there was nothing beyond their machines but vegetation. We were nearing a massively tall spotlight that extended to one side of the excavator, allowing them to continue their work through the night. Maybe it had caused the flash. I shook my head and focused on not tripping and falling flat on my face.

  The light pole was at least six feet in diameter. There were smaller poles stemming from the larger one, and that one was what they threw me up against. I gasped and whirled around. One of the men pulled on my arms and undid the restraint to secure me to the pole.

  From beneath my feet, a surge of water energy rushed through me, rejuvenating every cell in my body. I flung both arms outward, throwing the guard off balance and spooking the one who was holding Dax. I leapt into the air, grabbed the pole they were going to secure me to, and swung out, nailing one of the guards in the face with my feet. The other four guards scrambled for their firearms. Dax rolled away, but not before he yanked one of the weapon
s free from the guard who had been holding him.

  One guard shot at me but missed, hitting the light pole instead. I jumped at him and wrapped my legs around his neck, then swung over his head and threw him several feet, where he landed in a heap. Dax stood over him, shooting the man in the chest.

  From the other side of the light pole, someone was barreling toward us. I gave them a quick glance, but one of the guards brought their fist down on my shoulder. I grunted and fell to my knees, but without pausing, I balanced on one hand and swung out my leg to strike the guard sideways in the knee, causing them both to buckle. He hit the ground, and I kicked him in the face.

  I leapt to my feet, holding my fists out in front of me, and whipped around in a circle. Dax was standing with a giant man, who looked like Malcolm, along with a much smaller man.

  “We came to rescue you,” Malcolm said, nodding at the crowd closing in on us. “But you apparently had that covered. Would you like to join us in our ship?”

  I glanced back. Beatle was bounding toward us at an insane speed. Live to fight and save her another day. I nodded at Malcolm, and the four of us tore off at a sprint, leaving Tatum’s people to deal with the aftermath of our escape.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Imprisoned

  KIA LYNN

  My insides felt like mush. I stretched my neck from side to side, pressing the middle of my back against the wall behind me. The drumming inside my skull was enough to drive me insane. I needed my herbs, but Jako refused to bring my bag to me.

  Covyn’s head was nestled in my lap. The crash had cracked one of her ribs she had said, but that was the extent of her injuries. She had woken in a puddle of water and swore up and down Alex had saved her by encasing her in ice. I believed her.

  The moment I had met Alex’s gaze and the ship shifted strangely, I knew it was our combined forces. I was commanding the wind and she was controlling the rains, and together we created the mystical rainbow that had brought the ship to a screeching halt. I did not understand it, but I knew it was true.