Tainted Rescue

by Jenn Vakey

  Rhydian didn’t have that same look in his eyes as he did when I interacted with Alister when he walked over to join us. They were actually filled with that fire that he had when we were fighting each other. Like he enjoyed watching it.

  Lamont saw him and bowed his head again.

  “You can call him Rhydian,” I said, leaning over with a lowered voice. “Not everyone here knows who he is. It’s safer that way.”

  “Too tired for more?” Rhydian asked Lamont.

  The Sentry smirked and rolled his shoulders. Rhydian walked over to the rack and grabbed a staff. It wasn’t as elegant as his, without the ability to retract, but it excited me. I’d never seen him fight with it.

  Grabbing my water, I took a seat on the edge of the field and watched them go at it. I loved watching him like this. Almost as much as I enjoyed sparring with him. It wasn’t just the fighting, although that made my blood pulse with fire. It was how accepting he actually seemed with Lamont. The way they started throwing almost friendly jabs at each other as the minutes passed.

  I could have sat there all night had someone else not come running out.

  “Linley’s gone,” Evanly cried out. “I’ve looked everywhere.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  RHYDIAN

  Both Lamont and I stopped immediately and turned to face Evanly. This wasn’t the first time she’d reported my sister missing, but there was something different this time. It was the level of panic. It was enough to leave me locked up in fear for longer than I’d cared to admit, although it wasn’t more than a few seconds.

  “Check the security system for any movement in the woods,” I told her. She nodded and ran off, then I turned to Leeya. “Start with the clinic and branch out. She’s probably wandering around.”

  “I’ll go with Leeya,” Lamont stated. Looking at him, he appeared almost as worried as I felt. He might not be one of us, but he knew who my sister was.

  Leeya nodded, but I had to bite back an argument and insist that he come with me instead. It wasn’t about jealousy. I knew Leeya trusted him, and I was getting there myself. Still, I couldn’t let myself fully believe he wouldn’t turn on us. If he did, that was my girl he would be with. But I nodded. She trusted him. I had to trust her.

  The more I searched, the more my dread started to build. By the time I met back up with Leeya and Lamont, it was consuming.

  “Sound the alarm!” I yelled to Auggie, who had looked over at our movements. “Linley’s missing.”

  His face paled before he turned and ran. I hadn’t discussed it with him, but Leeya said he knew. She wasn’t just a missing kid.

  Seconds passed before it sounded and everyone came outside to see what was going on. Most eyes fell to Lamont. Certain he had escaped. But he was there.

  “What is it?” Orson demanded, running up to meet us. His eyes swept Lamont too, then met mine.

  “Linley’s missing,” I stated. “We searched the camp, and Evanly checked the security system. She’s not in the woods.”

  His jaw tightened just as Stassa came up and asked the same question.

  “The princess is missing,” he said, low enough so as not to be overheard.

  “I checked the count,” Evanly yelled, running up herself. Her breathing was labored, her face pale. “There are three people missing.”

  “Everyone in the dining hall now!” Orson roared.

  Three people missing. I knew there were no groups out, and everyone hunting would still be within the wards. There was only one explanation. She’d been taken.

  Camp was chaos as we moved toward the hall. Leeya came to my side, walking as close as possible without touching. “We’ll get her back,” she said, her words more confident than her fear filled tone. “When’s the last time you saw her?”

  “With you before the meeting. You?”

  She sighed. “The same. She couldn’t have been missing long before it was noticed. They might be outside the wards, but they can’t be far.”

  She reached out and ran her fingers down my arm. I didn’t dislike it at all, but my eyes still moved to where Lamont walked with us.

  He watched the move, then met my eyes. And grinned. “Don’t mind me,” he stated, tucking his hands into his pockets and looking ahead.

  My brow dropped when I looked down at Leeya for an explanation. It was more than just a statement about touching between sexes. There was a secret there. One that was confirmed when Leeya’s cheeks darkened. Had she told him?

  “You know your sister has a big mouth.”

  That was concerning. News would get out soon, but I didn’t want it coming from him. This had to be handled correctly. I had more important things to worry about now, though.

  Leeya and Lamont branched off as I walked toward where Orson was seated. Most people looked confused, but I could tell by the way several of the mothers clung to their children that word was starting to get out.

  “Do you see anyone missing?” Orson asked.

  I turned around and scanned the room. Even with most people in and seated, it was too hard to pick out the two that weren’t here. I shook my head.

  “The Sentry?”

  Meeting his eye again, I gave him a firm shake of the head. “He was sparring with Leeya, and has been with her the entire time since Evanly told us she was missing. He’s an easy person to blame, but he didn’t have anything to do with this.” And as I said it, I found I actually meant it.

  As I scanned the room again, I caught sight of Stassa walking toward us. The look on her face told me exactly what had happened.

  She looked pissed.

  “Yours?” Orson asked, seeing the same thing I had.

  “I’m sorry, Orson,” she stated, looking nothing short of ashamed. “They’ve never given me any trouble before.”

  Orson gave her a tight nod and motioned Faida over. While he gave her instructions for dealing with everyone else, I waved for Leeya. She met my eye, then turned and said something to Lamont. Instead of coming with her, he went over to join Prestyn where he sat.

  After looking at Stassa herself, Leeya seemed to see the truth and didn’t ask.

  “Get your people to the meeting hall,” Orson told Stassa. “Someone has to know where they took her. And why.”

  “Do they know who she is?” Leeya asked.

  Stassa shook her head. “No. I haven’t even told Verity.”

  As we walked out, Stassa collecting her people along the way, I glanced over to meet Leeya’s eyes. I felt bad for even questioning it, but this was my sister. The nod she gave me was so subtle no one would have noticed without actually looking for it.

  I looked over the entire group as we walked. Most of them appeared nervous. That didn’t mean they knew anything. We’d know soon. They might be our allies, but I wasn’t willing to go easy on anyone right now. I also wasn’t willing to waste precious time taking this slowly.

  “Sit,” Stassa ordered when we walked into the meeting hall. “Doruk and Arkin have taken a child from Alkwin, and I doubt they would have done it without confiding in at least one of you. Unless someone wants to make things easy on us all and just tell us what the hell they think they’re doing, you will each be questioned.”

  Several people shifted uncomfortably, but no one spoke up.

  “One at a time,” Leeya said, motioning to the door off to the side. Both Orson and Stassa agreed.

  Stassa grabbed the closest person. As she did, Verity stood and walked to the front to watch over the others.

  It didn’t take long to work through the group. Not with Leeya. Most didn’t need to answer more than four questions. Do you know why they left? Did you know they were leaving? Do you know what child was taken? Then, for those that had heard her name mentioned, one more. Do you know why she would have been taken?

  Of the nine remaining members of her camp, only one of them failed the questioning. Thankfully, she was also the only one who knew who Linley was.

  “What the hell were you thinking, Vaid
a?” Stassa growled. Vaida was close to thirty, with stringy blonde hair. Her brown eyes were filled with fear as she looked between us.

  “I didn’t take the kid,” she said defensively. “That was them.”

  Stassa slammed her hands down on the table between them and leaned toward her. “You did nothing to stop them! This should have been reported immediately. Before they could get her outside of the wards.”

  “Where did they take her?” Leeya asked. “And if you lie or talk around it, I will use you as my dummy on the training field.”

  I don’t know if she’d ever been as beautiful as she was in that moment. So strong. And standing there with fury radiating off of her, I didn’t think any of us doubted that she meant it.

  Vaida swallowed, her eyes wide. “They are taking her to Eden. Doruk said the best way to get our people back was to ransom the princess.”

  My heart clenched. We had no information to suggest Dex was part of his father’s plans. That didn’t mean for a second that I thought she’d be safe there. Not as a Tainted. Nor did I want her forced to grow up in Eden.

  “When did they leave?” I demanded.

  “Two, two and a half hours ago,” she said meekly.

  “Get a team together to leave immediately,” Orson declared. “There’s no way of knowing which way they took. We need to get there first to cut them off.”

  Stassa pulled the woman up with such force that it made her yelp. “I’m going out with your team,” she stated. It was a risk, a leader going like this, but these were her people. I’d do the same in her place.

  We parted ways, Stassa moving toward housing while Leeya and I ran toward the dorms. By the time we reached the training field with our weapons and Leeya’s bag, there was already a group formed.

  “Get Zaydan,” Leeya told Auggie. “We’ll need Kip.”

  He turned and ran off without question. Then she looked back toward me. “We need something of hers. He might be able to tell us which way they took.”

  “I’ll get something,” Prestyn said, then ran off himself.

  “I’d like to go with you,” Lamont said, staying behind with us.

  “No,” Orson said sharply, walking up behind us. Vaida was no longer with him. “I’m thankful for the help you’ve offered, but that’s not a risk we can take.”

  Lamont appeared like he wanted to argue, but he held his tongue.

  “I’ll take responsibility for him,” Leeya jumped in. Orson looked annoyed, but that didn’t stop her. She stepped toward him, lowering her voice. “Lamont was a Sentry stationed in the palace prior to this assignment. He knows who she is. We can trust him with this.”

  I was sure he would argue. He might have had he not looked to me for my option. I nodded myself. Honestly, I didn’t know if it was a good idea or not. I was too worried about my sister. I knew how Leeya’s brain worked, though, so she must have had a reason.

  “Fine,” he relented, then turned abruptly and walked away.

  “Thank you,” Lamont told Leeya.

  She nodded. “Don’t make me regret it. And sorry, but there’s no way they will let you be armed.”

  “Understood.”

  It took only minutes for the rest of the group to assemble. There were a few questioning eyes at Lamont’s inclusion, but nothing that were voiced. In addition to the three of us and Stassa, Prestyn, Auggie, and Zaydan would be going. That just left one matter to take care of.

  “Linley isn’t just a child of Alkwin,” I told Zaydan. He looked confused, but didn’t respond. “She’s my sister. That’s not something you’re to discuss with anyone.”

  That got the reaction expected. The shock, the concern. “Linley is Myrah?” When I nodded, he ripped the shirt out of Prestyn’s hand and crouched down to Kip. “Find her.”

  The dog sniffed the shirt, then started sniffing the air. He walked with us toward the tree line. Once away from areas that Linley actually frequented, he honed in and started moving with purpose. Leeya was a genius.

  Between our pace and the fact that I was sure my sister made the trip as difficult as possible, it took us only an hour and a half before the sounds of the woods were broken by voices. They had taken her down one of the paths we almost never used, and Kip actually helped us greatly. Especially when we slowed and I could see what was going on. Simply trying to beat them to the wall never would have worked.

  The voices ahead weren’t that of Stassa’s men. They were Sentry. And they had my sister.

  Staying back where we wouldn’t be seen, we all took in the scene. Both of Stassa’s people were down, unconscious on the ground. Linley, who was standing stoically in the middle of the path, was surrounded by four Sentry. They were trying to decide what to do with her. The lost Eden princess. They knew.

  “Suggestions?” I whispered, knowing my desire to rush out there wouldn’t be wise. She could get hurt. Or worse.

  “Let me go,” Lamont offered. “They know me. I can get close, then you cause a distraction to draw them away from her.”

  My jaw tensed, knowing just how dangerous that could be. He could go out there and tell them where we were.

  “Do it,” Leeya answered before I could say anything. I looked to her and she nodded. She was just as frightened as I was. She loved Linley, and she’d never do anything to endanger her. I might not like it, but this was our best choice. So I agreed.

  Everyone was tense behind me as the Sentry walked out into their line of sight. The fact that he had been in regular clothes when he went into Alkwin actually helped here, because they wouldn’t question why he wasn’t in Sentry black. And, like he said, they did recognize him.

  “Shit,” one of them said, looking wide-eyed at him. “Lamont? Arion said you were lost. What the hell are you doing out here?”

  He gave him an annoyed laugh and walked casually toward them. Linley looked up at his approach, but the clever child gave no reaction.

  “Lost as in bitten by some crazy animal and the bastard just left me behind,” he stated, easing some of my nerves. So far so good. He looked down at the men on the ground. “Caught some Tainted.” He gave an approving nod. “Are we taking them back, or using them to get through the archway? And what’s with the kid?”

  “The new king is going to want them,” another answered, motioning back toward Eden. “They kidnapped the princess.”

  Lamont shook his head. “Princess Myrah is dead,” he said with complete confidence. “The king announced it himself.”

  I smirked at his reference to the king, as if not recognizing my cousin at all. Others would call my father the late king or former king. Of course, most people didn't know my uncle had stolen that from him.

  “Look for yourself,” the first said. He pointed to Linley, as if there could have been another child they were talking about. Lamont stepped closer and looked down at her. Like before, she gave no reaction. If he was pretending not to know her, she’d know there was a reason for it.

  “We’re just trying to decide what to do with her,” another said. “They said she’s Tainted.”

  Lamont laughed and shook his head. “A member of the royal family Tainted? That’s impossible. They were probably lying to explain why they had her. If this is even really the princess.”

  He was close enough to her now. I focused on a bush down the path behind them and made it shake. The movement put them all on alert, turning to search for danger.

  “That’s probably another one of those creatures,” Lamont suggested. “Those things are vicious. And not afraid of anything.”

  Apparently all believing Linley’s identity as the princess, all four Sentry moved in formation toward the bush, placing themselves between the animal and her. When they did, Lamont crouched down and started whispering to Linley. She nodded, then turned and lifted her fingers toward the Sentry. From the woods around them came dozens of tiny glowing lights. They started watching them, both alert and mesmerized as they started stumbling out of formation. Separating.

 
We moved.

  Lamont picked up Linley and moved to the tree line as we rushed out toward the distracted Sentry. We actually made it halfway toward them before the first took notice. It almost felt unfair. Not that we took it easy on them. They were caught off guard and outnumbered.

  Leeya stayed at my side, taking on one of the Sentry while I fought another. Stassa and Prestyn took care of the other two, while the brothers joined Lamont in guarding my sister.

  I had watched Leeya fight, watched her spar, and sparred with her. It was different fighting with her at my side. And I loved it.

  When the last Sentry was on the ground, I turned and grabbed Linley as she rocketed herself toward me. Leeya took my staff from me, slipping it into my harness. I barely noticed. All I felt was the way Linley wrapped her arms and legs around me, holding me tighter than she ever had before.

  “You're safe now,” I whispered in her hair. She nodded, small sniffles moving through her.

  “What do we do with them?” Leeya asked. She ran her hand over Linley's back, but her eyes were on the Sentry. “They can't go back knowing what they do.” She looked terrified as she said it, like the thought of having to kill them was too much for her to take. I liked it. She'd taken lives when needed, but it wasn't anything she’d ever enjoyed doing.

  “I've got them,” Stassa said. She stood over them, and I watched as she muttered the same words I'd seen so many times before. Then she looked back at Leeya. She'd seen it too, and knew where her concerns were. “They won't remember the last twenty-four hours.”

  Leeya sighed in relief and nodded. Lamont, who had walked up to stand on my other side, let out an impressed little sound.

  “What about these two?” Auggie asked.

  I turned to find him and Zaydan standing over Stassa’s men. I nearly suggested we leave them there, but they weren’t my people. They also had too much knowledge.

  “We lock them up until this is over,” Stassa announced in disgust. “I assure you they will face the tribunal when we get back to Hafan. This will not go unpunished.”