Tainted Rescue

by Jenn Vakey

  I nodded, not wanting to question it further. I didn’t like being left in the dark, but I still didn’t feel like it was my place to question things. I had already angered him enough.

  “I can say he’s pretty excited about this,” she went on, grinning. “It’s good to see him excited about something again. He’s been in a foul mood since Adler grabbed the two of you. I don’t imagine it makes anyone feel good when someone in their family is trying to kill them.”

  I didn’t respond. There wasn’t really anything I could say to her about it. I knew why he had been in a mood, and it had little to do with Adler. Well, not him directly. Just what he had forced me to do.

  “What were the two of you doing walking around outside of the wards at night anyway?” she asked. “I asked him, but he didn’t really give me an answer.”

  I swallowed hard, trying to think of how to respond. I was actually surprised she had been the first one to ask. It would have been one thing if it was only me. I didn’t really know the area well, and it wouldn’t have surprised anyone if I got lost. Especially at night. That wasn’t an excuse Rhydian could use.

  “I couldn’t sleep,” I answered. “He saw I was out and started walking with me. We must have lost track of where we were.”

  She nodded, accepting my answer. “He's always been a bit of a night owl. I can't tell you how many times we've stayed up half the night talking.”

  The statement made my insides burn, my stomach feeling like it had been filled with acid. It had been stupid to think that those late nights we'd had were special. Something he'd only done with me.

  “Yeah, he's a good listener,” I said.

  “Did you hear he's finally building that house of his?” she asked. “I've heard it's in a great spot. It's also going to be one of the biggest houses in Alkwin. You know, not palace big, but he was talking about skipping the normal small house that people usually move into and going for the full family size one.”

  Thinking about it made my heart hurt, and I couldn't think of any way to respond. He had told Joury a lot more about the house than he'd told me. And a family home, meaning he was planning on filling it with a family. He was moving on.

  I just stayed quiet after that. I knew she wouldn't question it. No one ever did. They just assumed that I'd started thinking about my sister. My silence didn’t do anything to lessen the pep she was filled with. Was it just the retrieval, or was it something else? Something like a secret romance that wasn’t being shared with the community? It was Rhydian’s style, or at least it had been with me. The thought made me feel like I was going to be sick. Her excitement only made it worse. If that was what was going on and she decided she couldn’t keep it to herself and started spitting out details, I didn’t think I had the strength to keep from breaking.

  It would shatter what was left of my heart.

  Thankfully it wasn’t a situation that I had to deal with. At least not yet.

  We were nearing the archway a little while later when we were met by the sound of rustling in the woods ahead. Joury let out a breath and smiled even brighter.

  “They're already here,” she said, straining her eyes to look ahead. “It happens when people don't stop long on breaks. With as late as Harun said they left the city, I was worried we'd have to wait here a little while.”

  I looked out for any sign of the people we were supposed to be meeting, but all I saw was the empty path.

  “Hello?” Joury called out, but no response came.

  Something didn't feel right.

  “Joury, wait,” I said, watching as she started to step through the archway. But she didn't stop. Her eyes were searching for the location of the sounds we were hearing. Leaves crunching, a twig snapping. The sound of someone pushing through the brush. Or something.

  My hands found the bastons on my thighs, pulling them out of the straps that held them in place. The hairs on the back of my neck were standing up. The air thick with the feeling of danger.

  Before I could warn her again, though, the brush parted and three men dressed in black jumped out around her. The one closest swung his arm around, hitting her with a back hand that sent her flying.

  Sentry.

  She hadn't even hit the ground yet before I was moving toward them, my hands gripped tightly on my bastons.

  The one that had struck Joury still had his eyes on her when I slammed a hit to the side of his head and he went down. The others were faster to react.

  I ducked under a punch one Sentry sent toward my jaw and went on the offensive. He already had his baton in hand and was doing an impressive job of blocking. But I was smaller, which meant more agile. When he aimed a blow at my head, I spun around and brought the baston down on his wrist. The sound of the bone cracking was overshadowed by the scream he emitted. It was like fuel, filling me with energy. This was what I needed. Finally I had something in front of me that I could actually fight. A way to not feel so helpless.

  Before I could hit him with the blow to take him down for good, arms wrapped around me from behind. The third man. I didn't hesitate. I used the sound of the man's heavy breathing to determine exactly where his face was, then sent my head straight back into it.

  It didn't have the desired effect. Instead, it felt like I'd been slammed into a wall. My vision clouded around me, although the man did release his hold. Fighting through my dizziness, I spun and tried to strike him, but he managed to knock one of my bastons from my grip. He followed it up with a back hand across my face.

  I stumbled back a few steps as the taste of blood filled my mouth. He looked at me with a wicked grin from behind the mask that covered half of his face. I hadn’t seen it before with the way he had been facing. No wonder my head was throbbing. It was hard, almost like metal.

  Metal face was going down.

  I spit the blood out and gave a little laugh of my own. This felt so much better than training. I wanted to keep at it, to pull every ounce of pleasure out of this fight as possible. Too bad there were more important things at the moment.

  When he rushed me again, I didn't even bother raising my baston. I easily dodged the punch and grabbed his wrist, my succubus abilities kicking in as I started to drain him.

  I held on tight as he dropped to the ground at my feet, growing weaker with every passing second. I almost didn't stop myself. Almost held on, liking the feel of the energy I was taking from him. It made my thoughts hazy, masking everything I didn't want to feel anymore. But then Rhydian's face flashed through my mind and I snapped my hand open. I didn't know what made me think about him, or why seeing him made me want to stop, but it did. So I raised the baston in the air and brought it down on his head.

  He wasn't getting up again any time soon.

  I looked around for the next person I could fight, but I saw Joury standing above the prone form of the third and final man. It was over.

  “Hello?” Joury yelled, panic coating her voice now. It wasn't the typical worry that came from encountering Sentry like this. I didn't know what was going on, but there was something very important about these people. That alone made me let go of the need I felt to keep fighting.

  Her cry was met by more rustling in the trees to the right of the path. The same direction the Sentry had emerged from. She pushed through them without delay, but I scooped up my fallen baston and readied myself, moving in more cautiously.

  We came upon the source of the noise at nearly the same time.

  Tied up about ten feet from the path were the people we had come for. What appeared to be a mother, father, and their teenage son.

  Joury vocalized her relief, moving quickly toward them so she could start undoing their ties.

  I watched for any sign of additional Sentry as she first freed the man, who then moved to aid his wife as Joury untied the boy. His hands were barely undone when he reached up and pulled the gag out of his mouth, looking up at me like I was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen.

  “That was awesome,” he stated.

/>   I looked from him back to the path, realizing that they had actually had a clear view of where I'd been fighting that last guy. I had gotten used to people complimenting me on my improvement, but there was something different about this. It actually made me blush.

  “Come on,” Joury said, grabbing the bags from the ground and motioning them out.

  I kept my guard up as we moved them toward the archway, stopping just before we crossed it. Then Joury straightened, turning more serious than I was used to seeing her.

  “One at a time, I need you to tell me your names,” she said.

  “Alister Petersen,” the boy said, his pale blue eyes still fixed on me. Okay, now it was starting to get a little strange.

  “Florrie Petersen,” the woman said.

  “Harlen Petersen,” followed her husband.

  Joury looked at me and I nodded. They were telling the truth.

  “And your marks?”

  None of them hesitated before pulling the back collars of their shirts down and displaying the blue tattoos for us to see. Neither parent was Tainted. Just the boy. Looking at them now, I still couldn't see what was so special about them.

  “Alister, I need to see your ability,” Joury went on.

  He nodded in almost an eager way, then I watched as his face started to change. Not just his face. His muscular shoulders thinned out, the color of his skin darkening several shades. His hair, which was short and a light brown, lengthened and turned almost black. Then, before I could really understand what was going on, a completely different person was standing there.

  He was a shapeshifter. That was really cool.

  “Good,” Joury nodded approvingly. He smiled and the transformation reversed, leaving Alister standing before us again. “Then we only have one last thing. As a rule, everyone coming into the wards needs to change clothes. Just in case the Sentry put a tracker on you. We’ll also need to check your bags since we know the Sentry handled them.”

  Like with the last time I had been here during this, I expected a little pushback. But after we granted them access, they started digging through their bags and split off for more secluded spots.

  When they were done and each bag had been checked, Joury tossed all of the clothes into the same pit Rhydian had used before and lit them on fire, then we started the trip back.

  “How did you learn to fight like that?” Alister asked, quickening his pace so that he was by my side.

  I smirked as I started fastening my bastons back into place. I wasn't used to this type of attention from guys. I honestly didn't even know how to handle it. Glancing back at Joury in hopes that she could give me a little help here, all I was met with was a wide, amused grin. She was enjoying this way too much.

  “Combat training is required for everyone in Alkwin,” I answered, turning back to the path ahead. “And we have very good teachers.”

  “Are you one of them?”

  I shook my head. “I'm still learning myself.”

  If I had hoped for a quiet walk back, that wasn't what I was going to get.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  RHYDIAN

  Apprehension had been bubbling through me as we walked out of camp and stopped at the agreed upon meeting place. I should have gone to the gate with them. This was too important.

  I checked my watch for what must have been the fifteenth time since we reached this spot on the path, a twenty minute walk from the edge of Alkwin. I had no idea how long it would take them. It had been over two hours since they left. The family could have been late. Or there could have been trouble. I was only going to give them another half hour before I grabbed one of the other authorized people and made them go check.

  I hated this, being forced to just stand back and wait. I knew Joury could fight if she needed to. Even before the excessive training Leeya had been doing, she had proven that she could hold her own. I couldn't honestly attest to what level she was at now, despite what I had told Orson. I hadn't been able to bring myself to watch her train. That would have been too hard. It would have made me want to get out there with her. To spar with her.

  I wasn't ready for that. I didn't know if I ever would be.

  I was relieved ten minutes later when I finally heard the sound of voices moving toward us. Even before they came into view I could hear a male voice. That meant they had been successful.

  My eyes moved quickly over the group when they appeared, instinctively searching out Leeya first. Even that residual anger wasn't enough to keep me from feeling the relief that she had made it back safely. Then I looked to the family. Joury. Everyone was there.

  Leeya looked so confused when she realized I was there waiting for them. I knew there wasn't any harm in telling her what was going on, but that would have meant one more conversation with her. One where we were alone, away from anyone who could overhear.

  That was another thing I wasn’t ready for.

  “They're here,” I said, unable to keep myself from holding Leeya's eye as they drew nearer.

  I felt the little hands moving from where they had been pressed against my back, my body acting like a shield to keep her from sight. My sister peeked her head out to get a look for herself.

  She knew Joury, but the rest of them were strangers. At least by appearance. I'd explained this all to her, and of course, I'd told her about Leeya. She'd even caught glimpses of her, but...

  “Leeya!” she yelled, pushing past me and rocketing toward her.

  My eyes moved from my sister to Leeya, watching as her face lit up with a big smile. It wasn't the one I had seen her giving people for weeks now. This one was real, like the ones she used to give me. Her hand quickly moved up to her mouth, sliding across it before she wiped it on her pants. Then she dipped down and lifted my sister up into her arms.

  “Good morning, Linley,” Leeya said, then hugged her, closing her eyes during the embrace.

  I almost forgot to start walking toward them as I watched the scene unfolding in front of me. Everything about it was so… confusing. Why Myrah, now going my Linley, had reacted like that with Leeya. How Leeya knew her, and how she knew the new name she’d picked out. Most of all, though, I wondered why they both seemed so happy to be hugging each other.

  The last one might have left me dumbfounded, but I didn't dislike it. That was the warmest reception I had seen my sister give anyone, myself included. And although I didn't even really want to admit it to myself, it was nice actually seeing Leeya look happy again.

  I wanted to ask what had apparently been going on behind my back as I closed the gap between us, but this wasn't the time. People would be gathering soon to see the new arrivals, and we needed to get this taken care of.

  When I finally reached them, my gaze instantly fell to Leeya's lip. My brow dropped, now understanding why she had wiped it off. Not wanting Linley to see the blood.

  I almost reached out to touch it, catching myself before my hand could do anything more than twitch.

  “What happened?” I asked, looking up to meet her eye.

  “She's awesome, that's what happened,” the teenage guy answered. I didn't need to look at him to hear that impressed smile he was wearing, though I could see it from the corner of my eye given how close he was standing to her. “I've seen guys take blows to the head like that and be out of the fields for two days. She just laughed at the guy. Actually laughed.”

  Leeya gave an almost nervous smirk, the hand closest to me reaching to the back of her head. She kept it low when she pulled it back so Linley wouldn't see, but her fingers were wet with blood. I tried to stop it, but it only made my concern grow. This was why I couldn't be around her. Because even my anger wasn't enough to stop me from wanting to make sure she was okay. From wanting to hurt whoever it was that had hurt her.

  “So, do I get to know what all of this is about now?” she asked, completely ignoring her injuries.

  I held her gaze for a few seconds longer, then turned to greet the family.

  “Look at you,” Florr
ie said, giving me a warm smile. She had been standing back watching the interaction, taking everything in. She'd always been like that.

  “It's good to see you, Florrie,” I said. “I'm glad you made it safely. Harlan,” I said, holding my hand out to shake her husband's hand. Then I looked back at Leeya. “Florrie was my nanny when I was younger.”

  That did nothing to ease her confusion with the situation. But my focus needed to be on them right now.

  “This is my sister,” I said, turning back to the family. “She's going by Linley now. As far as anyone is to know, she's your niece. It's vital that no one in camp knows who she really is. Outside of the people here now, there are only five others who know the truth.”

  “I still don't see why I can't just stay with you,” said Linley, that defiance shining through as she rested her head against Leeya's. Those big green eyes of hers conveying all of the sadness she'd managed to hide from her voice. It hurt seeing it and knowing there wasn't anything I could do to take it away. I hated this as much as she did. We were the only family either of us had left.

  “You know why you can't,” I said gently. “Not yet.”

  She scrunched up her little face to argue, but before she could, Leeya turned to face her. “It won't be so bad. You won't be bored anymore. And staying with them means keeping who you are a secret. Unless you want a permanent bodyguard always following you around.”

  Linley backed down after that, which only helped to make me more curious about what was going on between them. My sister was strong willed, yet she conceded to Leeya so easily. Like she trusted her.

  How long had this been going on? I could understand Leeya not telling me, because we had hardly spoken recently. Why hadn't my sister mentioned it? Was this why she had been pushing me to talk to Leeya? Why she had chosen to color her hair to look like hers? Were they working together, against me?

  I regretted allowing the hair color now that I had to look at her in Leeya's arms. It made me think about things I didn't want to think about. Seeing a child with Leeya's hair and my green eyes. It made my insides twist in an uncomfortable way.