Escapement (The Neumarian Chronicles)

by Ciara Knight

  His small frame was wrapped in ropes and three Slags followed with guns pointed at us. I quickly melted the barrels. Ryder sucked the life from them.

  The queen continued to laugh. An electronic pulse shot from my brain through my arms and legs. I screamed and fell to the ground. Blood trickled from my ear, dyeing the golden sand a dark ember. Ryder collapsed at my side and scooped me into his arms. “What is it? What’s wrong?” He pressed his hand to my temple and stopped the bleeding from my ear. “Can’t find the damage.”

  “You can’t help her, you useless parasite.” The queen sauntered down the gangway. “So, you thought you were some sort of hero? Thought you’d finish what your parents started in the revolution?”

  Her laughter rubbed every last one of my nerves raw. Ryder shot up to face her while I still clutched my head as the pain faded, but guns pointed from all directions.

  “I’d check the ridgeline before you try anything.”

  Raeth dangled in the air over the beach, held by an assassin. Penton struggled to free her, but another assassin tossed him down the hill. His body bounced and rolled.

  Ryder spun back around. “Let her go.”

  Mother lifted a bronze plate on her arm and pushed a button. Another zap shot through my body. I concentrated on overcoming the knife through my brain so I could focus.

  Mother marched to my side. “You’re in no position to make demands.”

  I rocked back and forth on my knees, pressing my palms to my temples. “Make it stop.”

  Mother bent down. “My dear, sweet daughter. You don’t think I ever trusted you, do you? Too weak minded. Look. You even fell into the arms of the boy whose parents murdered your father.”

  She pressed the button again. My head stung as if thousands of sermechtapede pincers nipped at my brain. I fell over to a fetal position and panted. Ryder crawled toward me but guns snapped to attention and Mother backhanded him with her Slag fist, sending him flying sideways.

  “I think you’ve done enough damage, parasite.”

  I moaned and managed to sit up to my knees. “You lie.”

  “Do I?” Mother ran her metal claw down my face. I cringed away from her.

  “You installed a tamer in me?”

  “The day you arrived. I didn’t know if you were part of the plot to assassinate my beloved husband.”

  Hurt filled my chest at the accusations. “Never.”

  “You are the lover of the boy whose family did the job. I guess I had justification for my actions.”

  I blinked but no tears streaked down my face. I looked up at him then narrowed my eyes. “His family did what?”

  “Murdered your father.”

  He shook his head. “No, it can’t be true. My parents were good people.”

  Mother lied. She always bent the truth to get what she wanted. It didn’t matter. This was my chance to make a difference. I had to save Raeth, Ryder and Penton. I’d give Mother what she wanted.

  I struggled to my feet and lifted my chin. “Leave them here to waste away. They’ll never make it back through the city.”

  Ryder clutched his chest. “It’s not true. It’s a trick. Don’t believe her.”

  His words ripped a fissure through the center of my soul, but I couldn’t let Mother see the pain. I stood firm. “Please forgive my disloyalty, Mother. I now see the error of my ways. I will do whatever you please. I’ll marry the general and help rid the earth of any further betrayal.”

  The thought of him touching me tested my resolve, but sacrificing myself to save Ryder and Raeth was a small price to pay compared to so many others I’d met the last few days.

  A hum sounded then Ryder flew off his feet. He lay on the ground, not moving.

  “No!” I screamed.

  “Don’t worry, dear. You will suffer a worse fate as slave to the general. The deal was for you to remain pure until you married him, now you’re worth nothing to me. At least you look the part now.” Her lips curled in disapproval.

  “I didn’t—” My words stopped.

  “It’s over, parasite. Die knowing the girl you loved will be used and abused for the rest of her days. You failed. I won.”

  Mother grabbed my hair and dragged me up the gangway. I fought, kicking and scratching at Mother’s metal hand.

  Mother paused at the top and cocked her head to direct the assassins and guards along the beach and ridgeline. “Kill them all.”

  I jerked my arm, but I couldn’t pry loose of Mother’s metal grip. “No! Do whatever you want to me but let them go.”

  “You stupid—” A steel grip crushed my arm, bones cracked before she flung me down the gangway. “—pathetic—” A foot to my ribs. “—parasite.”

  Another kick to my abdomen and I face planted onto the beach. I sucked in coarse sand. Gritty particles invaded my nose and eyes. I swiped at them with my good arm in vein.

  Ryder crawled over and hooked his fingers into mine.

  Mother’s words stung almost as much as her brutality. But I knew one thing, I couldn’t live as a slave to the general.

  I rolled onto my back and forced my eyes open to see mother’s lineless face. “You lie.”

  Another whack across my cheek. Sounds of bones cracking tested my resolve, but I reminded myself of what was yet to come if I lived.

  “Stop!” Ryder yelled.

  Mother ignored him. “That parasite betrayed you—”

  “You said his family murdered my father, but that isn’t his fault.”

  Mother cackled. The low-pitched yet loud sound carried over the ocean. “You stupid, girl. His people negotiated safe passage for those two parasites in exchange for your father.”

  My head whirled. “Father?” The visions…dreams. “I knew it. My father was alive.”

  Mother squatted by my side, her snarl only inches from my face. “He betrayed us, Semara. The man you clung to all these years. Even after all my reconditioning, you attached yourself to a traitor.”

  A faint voice whispered in my ear. I love you, Princess. The image of a man above me, brushed my hair from my face. His bright smile melted my heart. “You knew all this time he was alive and never told me?”

  “Told you? I tried to alter your disturbed, childish image of a perfect man that never existed.” Mother rose, arms crossed over her chest. “Harrison came between us, forced my hand. I’m all you’ve got, you don’t see your father here to save you. He’s never cared about you. He’s weak and stays in hiding.”

  I followed Mother’s glance to the wreckage.

  “She thought you were on board the ship,” Ryder accused. He knelt by my side, his hands no longer clutching his injury, but pressed to mine. My heart warmed at the sound of his protective voice and healing hands.

  “Her death would have been a casualty of circumstances. It would have been a grave loss.”

  My stomach clenched not only from where Mother kicked me, but from the bruise her words left on my heart.

  She stepped closer, the orange moon reflected off her leg. “I hoped you weren’t, though.”

  “Really?” The words escaped my mouth before I could stop them.

  “Yes, dear.” Mother bent down to face me. “I still have a use for you. Council wants an heir.”

  My pulse thundered and I grabbed Mother’s leg, but before I had a chance to melt anything, she shook me off and a skull splitting pain ripped through the center of my scalp.

  Ryder lifted his hands. Blue, icy fingers pointed at the woman who gave birth to me, but never loved me. “Stop.”

  “I’d think twice.”

  Ryder followed the queen’s glance to the ridge. Raeth had four assassins with guns pointed at her.

  “Who means more to you, your sister or your whore?”

  Ryder’s jaw twitched. I knew more than anything he wanted to kill the queen. He’d get one shot. It wouldn’t be enough before they all fell to the ground dead. “You’re a monster,” I shouted.

  A spasm ripped through my stomach muscles f
rom my effort, and I tucked into a fetal position. I’d never said those heartfelt words out loud. Heck, I had tried never to say it. But now, the words soothed my aching soul, allowing me to ignore the pain of my body.

  “Maybe you’re not so spineless after all. Maybe there is some shred of me in you—”

  “I’m nothing like you,” I managed between stuttered breaths. “I wouldn’t murder all those people then cast their bodies into the sea.”

  The queen’s head shot up. “What did you say?” She didn’t wait for an answer, instead she made it a few paces on the beach before she remembered the sand. Shaking off the particulates that would cause her distress later, she wobbled back over to the gangway.

  She lifted her gun and pointed it at Ryder. “This time I’ll make sure to blow your brains from your head.”

  I uncurled my body and shielded him. But he resisted, still blocking me from the queen. I focused on the barrel of the gun, hoping to melt it before she fired off a shot.

  “Go ahead, but I think we both know what happened with the bodies,” he said in a light, happy tone.

  Mother pivoted and followed his finger to the hill side. A large black mast rose into the sky. “Scavengers. Fools, they are no match for us.” Mother shoved Ryder away and grabbed me by the hair. Sand spun up in an instant sandstorm that made the one in the Mining Territory look pathetic. Yet, it wasn’t a storm. A wall of solid tan rose between me and Mother. Ryder yanked me from her clutches.

  “Get us in the air.” Mother’s commands filtered through the sand.

  I hoped the Scavengers would be a match for her ship and assassins.

  “I’ll take care of them.” The general said.

  I turned to Ryder. “Run.”

  Engines roared.

  Sand dropped to the ground in a waterfall of disappointment. I glanced back and saw the assassins dragging Penton and Raeth out of sight.

  Before I could focus on the bulkhead, an electrical impulse shot through my body. Acid invaded my mouth and my eyes rolled back in my head. It was more intense, merciless, as if someone cranked the power up to fry my brain.

  The general bludgeoned Ryder’s skull with the hilt of a gun. Ryder cried out and clutched his head. Another thrust and the gun rammed into his ribcage.

  The scavenger ship engaged the queen. Supernova-colored bullets flew overhead. Blue, shining pellets exploded against them, sending a glitter of hot rain down. Crystals sizzled on my ripped, dirty pants. Smell of burnt hair made the finality of the situation clear.

  I pushed to my feet and forced my gaze from Ryder bleeding on the ground, curled on the sand, and focused on the general. “No one’s going to follow a hideous monster like you. The council thinks you should be chained like an animal. You’re my mother’s pet.”

  “I’m better than you, a lowly slave.”

  My stomach flipped and I forced down the bile rising in my throat. Images of him touching me tried to invade my mind. But I refused to let them cripple me with fear.

  An explosion drew our attention. The side of the scavenger ship was engulfed in flames. My heart fell faster than one of the cannons from the side of the ship as it smashed to the ground.

  Mother’s ship circled like a sea snake ready to strike. I swore I could make out Dred standing at the front of the ship, but it couldn’t be him.

  The dent in the general’s chin deepened with his crooked smile. “That didn’t last long. Your pathetic excuse for a rescue is doomed.”

  “You underestimate us.” Fury roared to the surface without a second of concentration.

  The bronze chest-plate oozed down onto his one good hand. He yelped like a dog kicked in the gut. “You stupid wench.”

  The battle detonated around us, matching the one in my head. Booms and pops exploded in my brain. With every nerve shot, searing pain blinded me until they all melded into one gigantic sphere of excruciating energy. It pulsed against the inside of my skull. Pushing and shoving to break free.

  I fell to my knees in a puddle of mush. No muscles worked in my body. It was as if the nerves had frozen and wouldn’t send messages.

  His voice echoed next to my ear. Too close.

  “I won’t kill you…yet.”

  The rock of energy melted. Hot lava bubbled between my temples. I sucked in a ragged breath.

  He pulled me up by my hair. “I’ll let you watch your friends die first.”

  Raeth and Penton stood on the ridge, the assassins pointing their guns at them. The general sauntered to Ryder, dragging me by his side. He pointed the gun at Ryder’s temple.

  Yanking me into his left arm, he pushed my chin toward the sky. His foul breath overpowered the other smells of destruction. “Look. Up there.”

  Mother’s ship looped in the sky. The dark orange metal dove. Two loud blasts echoed across the ocean and the scavenger ship plummeted from the air.

  It crossed overhead and crashed into the sandy beach. Sliding to a halt, it rested powerless against the oncoming attack. Bullets ripped through the hull of the ship. Faint screams carried on the wind over the sound of rapid gun fire. Through it all, the general forced me to watch our only hope being annihilated.

  Chapter Thirty

  “Yes, but are you a match for the ENR?” Ryder nodded behind us.

  A massive, grey ship emerged from the dark blue water. Waves cascaded over the large wings. My heart soared at the sight of the European Neumarian Rebellion.

  Ryder yanked me from the general’s clutches, while the abusive Slag stood dumbfounded at the approaching vessel.

  Ryder cradled me against his chest, his heeling energy pressing into my broken arm and cracked cheek. The pain dulling with each surge until it faded away.

  “I love you. Never forget that.” Ryder released me onto the sand and rammed his shoulder into the general’s side. The general teetered as his false knee, now locked from all the sand, didn’t bend. Ryder took advantage and threw sand in his face. The mechanical eye stuttered.

  I rolled to my feet.

  Ryder lit up like a silver moon and wrapped his arms around the general. A shot fired and Ryder fell to the ground.

  The general would just zap me if I neared them. I had to be smarter. Think. A buzz like an irritating sand flea echoed in my head. I targeted the unknown fissures of my brain. It had to be metal. And if it was, I could find and melt it.

  Of course, there was a possibility I’d melt half my brain in the process. If I knew exactly where it was, it wouldn’t be so complicated.

  Ryder rolled onto his side, his eyes morphed into the color of coal.

  I closed my eyes and concentrated on the faint hum, maneuvering through blood vessels and veins leading deep into my brain. No, not there, the back. It was near the implant. The one they told me could never be removed.

  I pushed the fear from my mind. The engines rumbled overhead. The ship gained altitude. The roar drowned the only hint I had of the device.

  Meaty hands grabbed my arms. No more time. I unleashed the sting from my core and directed the impulse up my brainstem and stopped a few millimeters above the existing implant.

  Energy pulsed against the back of my head twice. A zing of energy drilled down my spine until it reached my toes. The snap of electricity traveled back up and exploded in a mass of fire.

  Everything went dark and my legs buckled under me. The ground met my knees with harsh resistance.

  Then the world surged back in. Darkness retreated to the corners where it had formed. I pushed to my feet. The general’s arm rose, his lips curved into a smile. He cranked the tamer to overload and pointed at me. “I’ll make you a submissive vegetable yet.”

  My heart thrashed against my chest as I braced myself.

  He hit the button.

  I clenched my fists tight. Nothing happened.

  It worked.

  “My turn.” I commanded my power with precision I’d never possessed. A steady stream of blood-orange rays seared his Slag leg to a pool of bronze liquid. Ryder shot a s
tream of energy and the general collapsed to the ground.

  All out hell reigned over the beach. Ryder slumped, lifeless in the middle of it all. I dove to his side.

  His dark eyes reflected the battle overhead. “Ryder.”

  “Leave me,” he managed.

  “I won’t. Take some of my energy.”

  “Won’t risk you.”

  I knew he’d never agree, unless… “If you don’t, we both die here.”

  “Go.”

  “Hurry, before we’re shredded by stray bullets.” I remained by his side.

  Ryder’s face twisted with grief.

  A blue light whizzed by my head and I pressed my cheek to his chest, burying my head into his vest. More than bullets threatened us. An entire arsenal of lasers and old fashioned guns roared.

  He stroked my matted hair. A cool chill tickled my brain then flowed into my chest. A cautious pull tugged at my core.

  A light scraping took threads of energy one microfiber at a time from my essence of life. Not even enough to cause me to sneeze. I had to distract him enough to take what he needed and quick, before his caution got us both killed.

  I lifted my head and pressed my body to his. He stiffened under me, but I crushed my lips to his and kissed him with all the restrained desire I’d contained since we met. My body burned with want, my power surged the way it had the first time we’d kissed. The world silenced around us. The war drifted into the distance in a blur of reality.

  His taste filled my mouth and I opened my heart and soul.

  A rush of energy burned my lips, but I refused to release him. Not this time. My skin burned cool and surged with electricity. Each wave extracted a little more of my energy.

  A bolt shot from my center and I flew from his arms, landing on the rough sand of the beach.

  A large hand grasped my leg and I kicked and twisted to free myself.

  “Semara, it’s me. Dred.”

  I opened my eyes to the dark haired man. Ryder stood at his side panting.

  “Go!” Dred ordered us both. I scurried to my feet but my legs wobbled under me. We ran, bent low for cover behind the downed scavenger ship. Bodies lay in awkward poses along the water’s edge. My stomach twisted and threatened to spill its meager contents, but I suppressed my fear and redirected my attention to the battle at hand.