We never received presents back in River Springs. Birthdays weren’t celebrated, just acknowledged.
I ripped open the brown wrapping to reveal a necklace made of dark twine. Attached to it was a small wood carving.
I held it in my hand, brushing it with my thumb. “It’s a butterfly.”
“I hope you like it. Dee told me you like butterflies. Archie showed me how to carve things with wood and a knife.” Eric laughed. “You don’t even know how many tries it took for me to get it right.”
“It’s perfect. I can’t believe you did this for me.”
Eric stroked my cheek with his hand. “I’d do anything for you, Emmie.” He took the necklace from my hand and tied it around my neck.
“How does it look?” I asked, looking down at it lying against my chest.
“Beautiful, just like you. I wanted you to have something that symbolized my love for you.”
I looked up at him, startled.
“I love you, Emmie.” Eric’s bright blue eyes stared into mine as he tucked my hair behind my ear.
My heart raced as I leaned my forehead against his. “I love you, Eric.”
He’d pulled me close and kissed me under the stars.
Only a couple of days after we first arrived in New Haven, Dante and I sat down to talk. I had met him and the other Kingsland members after some of my friends, family, and I escaped River Springs. We both had dreams about New Haven before we even arrived. Our dreams were very similar, with only a few differences.
“When I was standing on the alcove, Eric and Vice President Oliver were at my sides,” I said to Dante. “Mack, Dee, Tina, and my dad were behind me. The first time I had the dream there were two other faces, but they were blurry. When I had the dream again, the faces came into view revealing Eric’s dad Alexander, and my brother Derek.” I paused. “And when the vice president blew the blue flower into the wind, he disappeared.”
Dante furrowed his black eyebrows, noticing the pain in my eyes. “So, Marie and Steven weren’t there?”
Relief washed over me when he didn’t bring up the vice president.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “But there’s the possibility they weren’t there because I’d never considered them to be a part of this.”
I leaned back against the wall. We were sitting in one of the conference rooms in Headquarters. Well, our version of Headquarters at least. We still had a lot to do in the building and a lot of equipment and furniture to add. We were both sitting on the floor in the empty room.
Dante sat forward. “Eric told me that Steven has betrayed you before, though.”
“Yes, but his family was threatened. I probably would’ve done the same for my dad.”
Whit had forced my Recruitment leader, Steven, to spy on me and my friends. Steven did as he was told, but in the end, it didn’t matter. Whit killed his family anyway.
Dante scratched at his smooth chin. “But not your brother or mom?”
I sighed. “My relationship with both of them is complicated.” I didn’t want to continue, so I changed the subject. “What about you? Who was with you on the alcove?”
“My dad, Vivica, Terrance, Archie, Naomi, James, and Lou.”
“Not Charles or Denise?” I hadn’t known them long, but they both seemed nice and dedicated to the cause.
Dante shook his head. “No, but like you, I never considered them joining before. They always seemed so prim and proper. They were the perfect citizens.”
I smiled, thinking of Dee. “Just because you’re a perfect member of your city doesn’t mean that deep down inside you long for something else.”
“True, but we should still keep a close eye on all of them just in case. We have a lot at risk here.”
I nodded in agreement.
On the trip back to River Springs, they brought back the guy Marie had been dating. They had only been on a few dates, but Gideon was smitten with her. When he found out she had left, he wanted to come. I was worried at first, thinking he’d only come because of Marie and that I couldn’t trust him completely, but the man was passionate about everything. Marie, life, and anything that came in front of him made him happy.
A couple meetings with President Brown, Dante, and me, and Gideon was willing to do anything for us. He was excited and immediately went to training with Mack and Terrance.
We had appointed both Mack and Terrance as our military leaders since they had the skills and knowledge of combat. I had met Mack back in Recruitment during an underwater challenge. He saved my life, which I would forever be grateful for.
Mack and Terrance went to work right when we arrived, training us all in fighting and how to use weapons. Gideon picked up on everything instantly. He was a tall man, with a strong build and great coordination. He turned out to be a great addition to our city.
I was happy with how everything had come together, but something still nagged at me.
I left the infirmary to find Dante. Eric came with me, holding my hand as we walked. We knew the trips to the cities were important, but it was still hard to be apart from each other for weeks at a time. They were usually only back a few days before they’d leave on another trip and those days, we spent training and building up our city. We cherished every moment we had together.
The bitter cold stung my cheeks the moment we stepped outside.
“Driver!” I yelled as I ran toward a jeep. I hopped in before Eric could claim the seat.
Chuckling, he climbed into the passenger seat, holding on to the roof of the jeep.
Ever since I’d learned how, I loved to drive. Especially in our off-road jeeps, going over the rocky terrain on the outskirts of town. Adding in the crunch of the hardened snow made it more fun.
We found Dante outside with Mack, Terrance, and Gideon. They all wore our standard issued military pants we created. They had a ton of pockets so we could carry equipment on us, including a small set of binoculars, a knife, a compass, and a flashlight. We had four different colors: green, black, white, and brown.
We were all wearing the white that day, mostly because of the snow. Mack and Terrance were always trying to teach us about blending in with our surroundings.
We also had the same colors of button-down, collared shirts, in short sleeve and long. My favorite, though, were our new jackets. Dee and Denise were our seamstresses and came up with the pattern for them. They were nice and thick with a hood we could pull over our heads in the bitter cold, and plenty of pockets on the inside and out. They were also lined with fur thanks to the animal hunting skills the Kingsland members had brought to our new city. I’d never felt something so soft in my life.
The guys were practicing with their bow and arrows. Targets were spread out in a section of the city we had set up for training. I asked Dante once why Kingsland only had bows and arrows. He said they lived in an area highly populated with trees. They were easy and cheap to make but were still lethal.
Mack smiled when he saw us pull up and hop out of the jeep. His red hair was still cropped close, but his few days growth that he usually kept on his chin and turned into a full-on beard. The guys had a bet going to see how long he could get it before he got sick of it and shaved it all off.
Dante had an arrow drawn and was about to release it. Mack waited until the second before Dante released his arrow to address us. “Emmie, Eric! Good to see you.”
Dante didn’t even flinch, his arrow hitting his mark dead center. “Nice try, Mack, but you’ll never break my concentration.”
I laughed. Mack and Gideon had been trying for weeks to startle Dante, trying to get him to miss for once. Terrance had warned them it would never work, but they were determined. Dante had the highest level of concentration of anyone I’d ever met.
Dante turned to me and Eric. He had been growing out his black curly hair to get in on the bet with Mack. A small fro had formed. “So, what brings the two love birds out here?”
“I can’t stop thinking about the other cities,” I said t
o Dante. “It’s been three months and we’ve had no news.”
“Sometimes no news is good news,” Gideon said from behind Dante. I raised my eyebrows at him, and Gideon shrugged. “It was something my mom used to say to me.”
Looking at him, I could tell why Marie was so attracted to him. His brown eyes always held a laugh and the dimples on his cheeks showed when he smiled. And Gideon always smiled when he was with Marie.
Dante rested his bow on the ground in front of him, setting his hands on the top. “It worries me, too, but what can we do about it? We can’t contact them.”
“Does your dad know where they’re located?” Eric asked. He stood close by me still holding my hand, stroking it with his thumb.
“He has a vague idea,” Dante said. “They never gave exact locations in case they were ever caught. When the cities first separated, all of the presidents thought it was best that they all went their separate ways without letting each other know where they were going.”
“Just get a fresh start and leave everything else behind,” I said, mostly to myself than anyone else. It was what we’d all done to come to New Haven.
“What if we sent some of us out there?” Eric asked. “Go toward the area where your dad thinks they are and see what we can find.”
Mack shook his head. “We’ve never been on the other side of the mountain. We have no idea what’s out there or what we’ll come across.”
“Could it really be that different than where we lived?” Gideon asked.
I looked at Dante and Terrance. “Our two cities seem pretty similar from what we’ve talked about.”
“It’s still a risk,” Terrance said. He was just as big and strong as Mack.
It was easy to get the women in the city to train with the two of them leading. I always overheard ladies talking about how dreamy they were, but neither of the guys seemed to notice. Terrance stood tall with his bow strapped to his back like it was a part of his body.
“Maybe we should talk to my dad about it,” Dante said. “He should be in Headquarters with Naomi and Derek.”
I didn’t like the thought of being around my brother and Naomi. He had the biggest crush on her, and it was painfully obvious.
Naomi was the type who kept to herself and barely let anyone in. She was a closed book. We could all tell she wasn’t interested in him, but Derek didn’t care. So many awkward situations came from it that I couldn’t help but cringe when I entered a room where they were together. But they were our two technical junkies, so they worked side by side all the time.
“It looks like we have movement in sector seven,” Derek said, reaching over Naomi who was sitting next to him. He pointed to the screen to the right of her and leaned in close, just inches from her face.
Naomi rolled her eyes. “Derek, there’s no sector seven and that was a bird that flew in front of a camera outside. Now back away.”
“Your soft, caramel eyes are so beautiful,” Derek whispered.
“I’m about two seconds away from slapping you,” Naomi said, her voice tight. She had her black hair pulled back in a french braid.
“I think we’re all two seconds away from slapping him,” I said.
Derek whipped around, the back of his chair banging into the desk. He was wearing one of his homemade shirts—a resident of Kingsland had shown him how to heat transfer images to his tees and he’d had way too much fun with it. His current shirt had a computer screen with cat ears, its tail a computer mouse.
Derek’s eyes widened at the sight of all of us watching him. “How long have you been standing there?”
Dante smirked. “Long enough to see you make a fool out of yourself.”
“Mr. Woodard, do I have to remind you of proper conduct in the workplace?” President Brown asked, his deep voice rumbling across the room. He had stepped in moments after we did, so he witnessed just as much. He wore a green polo shirt and black slacks, Kingsland’s version of dressing up.
Derek’s face turned red. “No, sir.” His voice cracked when he spoke.
I could only see the side of Naomi’s face, but I swear I saw a tiny smile.
I turned to President Brown. “We were actually coming here to talk to you.”
“Let’s take this into the main conference room,” President Brown said, eyeing Derek who was still sitting close to Naomi.
Derek scooted his chair a couple of inches away from her. When President Brown raised his eyebrows at him, Derek picked up his chair and moved a couple of feet away, looking at President Brown for approval. President Brown nodded at him and Derek let out a breath that he’d apparently been holding.
“Your brother has some serious issues,” Dante said to me as we were walking to the conference room.
“Half-brother,” I said.
Ever since I found out that the president of River Springs and Infinity Corp was my father, I tried everything I could to not think about it since he was the vilest man I’d ever met. But it also meant that Derek was only my half-brother, which I took every opportunity to expose seeing as he was so disturbing at times.
When we got into the conference room, we all took a seat around the table. Archie, our resident craftsman and a previous Kingsland member, had made the table and chairs out of wood. They were absolutely stunning. I instinctively fingered my butterfly necklace.
“So, what’s on your mind?” President Brown asked. He always carried himself with dignity. He was a naturally tall and strong man. Dante desperately wanted to be as big as his father. He had grown a little since we got to New Haven and had bulked up, but he still had some work to do.
“Dante said you had a vague idea of where the other cities are located,” I said.
President Brown nodded. “I do. Why?”
Dante, Eric, Mack, Terrance, and Gideon all eyed me. I guess they didn’t want to claim any part of the idea, which I still didn’t think was that bad.
I sighed and looked at President Brown. “I thought we could send some of us out there and see if we can find anything. It’s been three months and none of them have shown up. What if something happened?”
“There’s a high chance something did happen,” President Brown said. “But I’m not sending any of us out there. We don’t know the area.”
“So? Wouldn’t you want someone to come for us if we’d been harmed or stranded?”
“We agreed that each city was on its own until we reunited.” President Brown stood and walked in circles around the table. He usually did that when his mind was set and didn’t want to continue the subject.
But that never stopped me. “We’re all coming here for the same purpose. These are members of our new city. We need to look after each other.”
“Emmie, I appreciate where you’re coming from,” President Brown said, “but I’m not risking anyone. We have a small city and are dangerously outnumbered from any enemy. For all we know, they haven’t arrived because they’ve been captured. We could walk into an ambush.”
I folded my arms in frustration. I understood what President Brown was trying to say, but I hated not knowing what was going on. Patience was not a strong virtue of mine.
“While we’re all here,” President Brown said, keeping his eyes on me, “we should talk about the next trip to River Springs. It’s about time we leave. Austin Oliver’s ready for us to come. He has a lot more people for us, including his mom and his sister and her family.”
Hearing the Oliver name took me away from my frustration. There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think about Vice President Oliver and the sacrifice he made for all of us to be here. Eric must have noticed my reaction because he reached over and took my hand. I gave him a small smile, but it didn’t stop the hurt.
“Who are we sending?” Dante asked. He looked over at me and smiled. He and Eric understood me. They’d both lost someone they loved.
“I was thinking Mack, Gideon, Dante, Eric, and Emmie,” President Brown said. I could feel him looking at me, waiting for a reactio
n.
I hadn’t been on any trip to the cities. The first one they wanted me to stay behind in case something happened to them so we would still have one of the key players in New Haven. But then Dee became sick and I didn’t want to leave her. I still didn’t.
“No,” I said.
Eric leaned in close to me. “Emmie, you have to go at some point. Staying here isn’t going to change anything.”
I shook my head. “I don’t care. She’s getting worse. If I left and came back and she was …” I couldn’t finish. The thought of losing Dee wasn't something I could deal with. I took a deep breath, holding back a sob. Eric let go of my hand and put his arm around me.
“Should Emmie and I be going on trips together?” Dante asked.
A prophecy revealed that a member from each of the four cities would lead a revolution. Dante and I were the chosen ones from our cities. Some days I wondered if Whit, aka President Randall, got it right. A piece of me thought that Austin Oliver was the true revolutionary from our city.
“Dante brings up a good point,” Terrance said. “We agreed to keep them on separate trips. We should have Dante stay back here with me so we can watch over the city.”
“Alright,” President Brown said. “We’ll send Tina in your stead, Dante.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. Tina had been my Recruitment partner back in River Springs. She was a strong fighter. She picked up on the weapons training like she was born to do it, not to mention she was a quick thinker. If it wasn’t for her, we’d both be dead at the bottom of the lake back in River Springs.
President Brown stood at the head of the table. “You’ll leave tomorrow morning at first light.”
I didn’t wait to be dismissed. I stood and left, not wanting to talk about the trip any further. I couldn’t leave Dee.
On the way out, I passed the security room where Derek and Naomi were working. I thought I heard Derek say something about his huge biceps. If I’d been in a better mood, I would’ve gone in there and pointed out that he didn’t have any biceps, but luck was on his side today.
Reckoning (New Haven Book 2) Page 2
