The Red Tower (The Five Towers Book 2)

by J. B. Simmons

  The slap hits me before I can react, knocking my head to the side. My cheek feels hot.

  Melissa raises her arm again, for another swing, but this time Hank grabs her. His large arms engulf her, gentle but firm. She writhes in his grip, still screaming and shouting at me.

  I take a deep breath. We’re back in the tower. No more using the wind, if Apple would even let me.

  The group around us is silent. It’s a bigger group than when we started. There’s eleven from the Red Tower—everyone except Axe. Plus six others—four from Blue in their familiar robes, and two from green in brown leather. All of them are staring at me, surprised, confused, waiting to see what I’ll do.

  “We won,” I say, ignoring Melissa. “That’s what matters.”

  “You abandoned him,” Melissa says, calmer now. Anger twists her expression, but she has gone still in Hank’s arms. “You don’t deserve to be Alpha.”

  She’s partly right. I could have tried to save Axe. I could have fought back. But it would have risked too much, at least that’s what I tell myself. “We had to protect what we gained,” I reply.

  “You ran,” she growls, “you coward.”

  “There’s nothing we can do about it now,” I say. “Unless you want us to try to open the gate so you can go after him?”

  She takes a deep breath, scowling. But then she shakes her head slightly.

  “Let her go,” I say to Hank, and he does.

  She straightens her dress and stands up straight. I wonder how long she was paired with Axe. And what happens when a paired boy is captured? Does she still feel what he feels? Black must sever the Pairing somehow. Maybe it hurts. However bad it is, Melissa isn’t willing to risk her own place in the Red Tower, or her memories, to try to save Axe.

  “Welcome back.” Rahab’s voice echoes down the stairwell that leads to the Scouring and us. She appears moments later, taking the stairs two at a time in her long red dress. She quickly surveys the group, then looks to me. “So you caught six?”

  I nod. “Yes, and we lost one.”

  “Not bad,” Rahab says. “Not bad at all.”

  “Not bad?” Melissa snaps. “We lost the Alpha!”

  Rahab smiles at her, as if amused. “So it is a net gain of five. A good first showing for our new Alpha.”

  Melissa shakes her head defiantly, brown hair swaying. “No, it can’t be him.”

  “You know the rules,” Rahab says.

  “I don’t care about the rules.” Melissa steps boldly to Rahab. “Burn you. Burn the Red Tower and the new Alpha. I’ll never follow him.”

  “Melissa, Melissa.” Rahab sighs. “Must we do this again?”

  Melissa raises her hand like she did with me, readying to swing. Just as she springs into motion, Rahab erupts into fire.

  The light and heat are intolerable. I cower back instinctively, shutting my eyes.

  But in a moment it’s gone.

  Where the fire had burned, now Rahab stands alone. Melissa is nowhere in sight. There’s not even a pile of ashes. The others around me whisper in shock.

  “Khan,” Rahab says calmly, as if she didn’t just incinerate someone. “You lead this group and the captives to where they need to go.”

  “Of course,” he says, bowing crisply.

  Rahab moves toward me. I step back without thinking.

  “Some of us require many attempts, many fresh starts,” she says. “We give as many as are needed.” She lifts her hand to my cheek, to the same spot where Melissa had slapped me. It still burns. “But others of us rise quickly.”

  The group is silent, my heart is thumping, as Rahab’s hand slides down my check to my neck, to the collar. She presses—on the inside, at the back center—and the seamless metal flashes heat and suddenly unclasps. Rahab holds it casually at her side. The bright silver ring gleams red with the reflection of her dress and the torches on the wall.

  “Your new Alpha,” Rahab announces.

  “The Alpha,” Hank says softly, falling to a knee.

  The others stand still, like they’re not ready for this. For a new Alpha. For me.

  “Follow me, Alpha.” Rahab turns to leave. She doesn’t say anything to the group. No speech or coronation.

  I glance to Hank. He smiles and motions for me to go. I catch Apple’s eyes as I pass, and my hands go to my neck, to where the collar has been for so many days.

  “Do you know what I feel now?” I ask her.

  She shakes her head, looking more surprised than angry. “I can only guess.”

  So that’s it. No more Pairing with Apple. I wish it had gone better between us, but it could have gone worse. We made a decent team when it mattered. “Thanks for trusting me back there, with the power,” I say.

  “You’re not so bad, Cipher. But you can still be better.” Apple looks away, to where Rahab has gone up the stairs. “You should go.”

  With a final glance at the group, I hurry after Rahab, bounding up the stairs until I catch her. The others will probably report back to their normal places—the Barracks for the boys, the individual rooms for the girls. Rahab doesn’t speak as she leads me up through the tower. It reminds me of following Abram so long ago, when I’d first arrived in the Blue Tower. I’ve come a long way. But you can still be better. The Pairing made Apple the only person here who knew exactly what I felt. She didn’t talk much about that. Maybe that was a form of kindness.

  Rahab does not stop until we arrive at the Alpha’s chambers. She stands outside the door and looks me up and down. I can’t tell if she’s surprised, or disappointed. She seemed to like Axe. “You know your role?” she asks.

  “To lead our group into the Scouring?”

  “That’s a start.”

  “What else?”

  “Our tower has 96 members now.” She crosses her arms, like someone who is about to demand something hard from me. “We’re well short of equilibrium.”

  “You mean 144?” I ask.

  “Yes, as Abram told you. What you did for Blue, you must now do for Red. It should be your sole, consuming focus. Always be thinking and striving. Capture any one at any time and in any way you can.”

  “Any time?” I remember my voyage for the Hunting in the Blue Tower. Maybe this is like that. “You mean even outside the Scouring?”

  “Not every Alpha is capable of this,” she says. “Maybe you are. Use whatever it takes.”

  A hope rises in me. “Even my power?”

  “Yes, and tunnels and pairs and dragon teeth,” she answers. “Figure it out with that big brain of yours. You may have started Blue, but you’re ready to be fully Red now. As the Alpha, you are no longer limited by this tower’s rules. But your fate is tied to the tower’s. If you succeed and our numbers rise, the fire will show you the memories that you need to advance.”

  “And if our numbers go down?” I ask.

  “You will visit Behemoth. You will start over.”

  I swallow. Behemoth, the dragon under the tower. “Why is Behemoth here?”

  She leans closer and smiles, as if taunting me. “He is simply a creation, as you and I are. Just think, how powerful must one be to create something so powerful?”

  The question makes me think of Abram talking about the Genius in the Blue Tower, and Emma about the Healer in Yellow. Facets of the same jewel, Abram said. “Okay...so who created Behemoth?” I ask.

  “It is not for me to tell you who,” she says. “But there is a force that’s underneath all of us. It animates us. It sparks love and life, spirit and fire.”

  “What force is it?”

  “Passion, Cipher.” She puts her finger underneath my chin and applies just enough pressure to pull my face within inches of hers. Her breath smells like hot spices, cinnamon and clove. “Didn’t Apple teach you anything?”

  “To be afraid of myself?” I say. “And...of her?”

  “That’s a good start.” Rahab’s eyes blaze. “Passion must be controlled, but without it we attempt nothing. Abram knows this as well
as I do. Genius alone produces no virtue. It produces a machine without a heart.” She presses her hand to my chest. “You are no machine, Cipher. But you must not be an animal, either.”

  Rahab steps back and glances to the closed door. “I’ve seen what you risked to find Emma. I suspect you would like to see her? Maybe even pair with her?”

  “Yes, I’d like that.” Emma. She will be my pair. It can’t be a coincidence that Abram assigned her as my first target. And I caught her. She was my servant. But she was so...extraordinary. I wanted to serve her. I still do. I want to help her find the rest of her memory and heal it. She’s a healer. I was a doctor. We belong together. If any pair can raise a phoenix from these ashes, it’s us.

  Rahab holds out her hand. A ring with a single, huge ruby rests on her palm. It’s the same one Melissa wore. “Take it,” Rahab says. “Your pair will wear this. It works like the collar.”

  “You mean she’ll control me?” I ask.

  “No one controls the Alpha. But, with this ring, she will know what you feel. She can show you things in the fire that you cannot see alone.”

  “That...never happened with Apple.”

  “I feared this,” Rahab sighs. “Her story is especially hard. She struggles with Pairing. We have yet to find a good match. Do you think that she should be wiped?”

  The question stuns me. Would Rahab really leave that choice to me? I could never wish that for someone. Apple shouldn’t have to re-remember her hard past, over and over. “No,” I say. “I don’t want anyone to be wiped.”

  “Very well, we will let Apple’s memories remain for now. She has much more to see. Would you like her to stay in the Scouring group?”

  I consider it. She may not be as powerful as other girls, but we worked well together. “That’s okay with me,” I say.

  “So it will be. She must choose a pair, as you will.”

  “Does that mean Emma will take Melissa’s place?”

  “Yes, if you choose her,” Rahab says. “Remember, passion is like fire. It provides warmth and light in a hearth. But it remains dangerous. Here in Red you must look straight into the fire. You have to understand your past passions, and how they burned, before you can be scoured of the consequences.”

  “The Scouring,” I say, thinking aloud. “How does it work, with the white circle and this equilibrium that you and Abram want? Are they connected?”

  “Everything is connected,” Rahab answers. “You can’t rise above this process or earn your way to the White Tower. No one can. But rest assured, the Scouring cannot be stopped. Even if you must start again, and again, wiped clean like Melissa and so many others, you will be scoured.”

  29

  RAHAB LEAVES ME alone before the door to the Alpha’s chambers. Emma is within reach, but her mind is blank. I have to put my own mind in order before I can be much help to her. I’m the Alpha now. I guess I thought it would feel different, to be the one in command. But I’m the same boy who appeared in a dark lake underneath the Blue Tower. I’m the same Dr. Fitzroy. Apple had every reason to hate me after she learned my past. Hank had no reason to be my friend, except maybe that my failings were similar to his. We both failed to control our passions.

  Passion.

  Another facet of the same jewel. Rahab says we should pursue our passions, that we are made to feel them, to love. She says I came here cold. It’s true. I began in Blue with a cold, clinical mind. But that has changed. Passion drove me to do everything I could to reach my Mom, and now Emma. Is that what Rahab wants from me? It would explain why she hasn’t wiped me yet. Maybe this is all Rahab’s plan. Let me rise to Alpha and gain complete control over a beautiful, blank-slate Emma. She doesn’t even remember who she was before this place. She doesn’t remember that she linked with me in Blue, that I captured her from Yellow, or that she lived in Victorian England, ran away from home, had a child, and suffered hard consequences. I could tell Emma anything. I could paint a new picture for her. I could tell her that she loved me. That I loved her. That’s what I said to Samantha. That’s how I conquered the girl of my high school dreams. That’s how Dr. Fitzroy became a lying cheat.

  And so, that’s exactly what I must not do. If Dr. Fitzroy is the positive end of the magnet, here I must be the negative. Emma is too wonderful to be conquered. She is too good for lies. I must tell her the truth. All of it.

  I knock on the door. Wood slides away, revealing a set of eyes through a slit. Not Emma’s eyes. “Who is it?” the girl asks.

  “Cipher.”

  There’s no reaction.

  “The new Alpha,” I say.

  The slit closes and the door opens. The inside looks exactly like it did when Axe was here, including the two servants by the door. One is Emma. I don’t know the other.

  “What are your names?” I ask.

  “We are here to serve the Alpha,” they both say.

  “Okay. What are your names?”

  The girls exchange a look. “We are here to serve,” Emma says. “If you want us to have names, just ask. We will obey.”

  I shake my head. This is going to be complicated. Axe didn’t even give them names. As Alpha he had the right to these two servants. He must have treated them like pets, or worse. At least pets have names.

  Where to start? With the towers? With names?

  I ask the girls to close the door and make a fire and bring some food. They spring into action, as if delighted to have these tasks, and I walk into the other room, the throne room. It’s empty, with only the large chair sitting on a raised platform. To the left there are openings in the red stone, offering a view over the Scouring. The vast space is quiet and empty, as if no fight just took place there.

  Back in the anteroom, the girls have built up a roaring fire in the hearth. They are beginning to lay out a feast. There’s a fresh loaf of dark brown bread, butter, and what looks like a leg of lamb roasting over the fire. Except there are no lambs as far as I’ve seen around the Red Tower.

  “Where’d you get this food?” I ask.

  “From the Alpha’s supplies,” Emma says. “Is it not to your liking?”

  “No, I mean, yes, it’s fine. Is that lamb?”

  “Of course,” the other girl says. “The Alpha’s favorite.”

  They seem to be as confused as I am. “Do you know my name?”

  “Alpha,” they both say.

  I almost laugh, but it’s too surreal. They could have been wiped again to start fresh with me. Or maybe they’re wiped every day. The thought sends shivers down my spine. “Please, don’t call me that. Just call me Cipher.”

  “Cipher,” they both say.

  “You do know that I’m not the same boy who was the Alpha before, right?” I ask. “You remember him?”

  They stare at me blankly. This is not going well.

  “Axe?” I say.

  “You want an axe?” Emma asks.

  I sigh and step to the table. The food smells delicious. I grab a piece of bread and walk to the floor-to-ceiling opening on the far side of the room. Cool air blows up the steep rocky slope from the Scouring far below. I think while I eat, breathing the fresh air and gazing over the empty space. There must be some different food supply for the Alpha. Maybe it’s from more distant parts of the Red Tower’s land, or maybe Rahab somehow gets it from the other towers. The Black Tower is to my left. It looks close across the edge of the Scouring, but a steep mountain ridge separates us, blocking the view of Black’s lands. The Blue Tower, as usual, is obscured by clouds. Yellow glimmers in the sunlight shining from behind me and the Red Tower. Between Yellow and Red is Green. The giant tree is not as tall as the other towers but it’s certainly more...alive. Do people there live in the tree? Or do they all spread out in the dense forest beyond? I still know so little about these other towers.

  I turn back to the table and sit and peek into the chalice. Fresh milk! I’ve had it only once here, in the feast with Axe and the others before the Scouring. Do I get as much as I want now? And where d
oes it come from? I drain the chalice and wipe my milk mustache.

  Emma comes with a pitcher to refill. As she leans over the table, the metal collar at her neck catches my eye. She wore it when I last came to this room, but it must not be linked to me. I can’t feel what she’s feeling. Unless...she doesn’t feel anything.

  “Please, sit.” I point to the empty chair beside mine.

  Emma sits and stares at her hands clasped at the table.

  “Look at me, please.”

  Her large blue eyes meet mine.

  “That necklace, can you take it off?”

  She suddenly looks afraid. She shakes her head.

  “I know your name,” I say.

  She shakes her head, fear still in her eyes.

  “Your name is Emma.”

  “As the Alpha wishes,” she replies.

  This isn’t working. It seems the Alpha’s servants are somehow programmed to remain blank, like unthinking robots. I want Emma back, not a robot.

  “Do you remember anything?” I ask her.

  “You are the Alpha.”

  “And the Alpha before me?”

  She stares at me with innocent confusion.

  “His name was Axe,” I say.

  “As you wish.”

  I scoot my chair closer to her. “Stay still, okay?”

  She nods, studying me cautiously.

  I reach slowly to her neck, to the collar. If Rahab took mine off, could I take Emma’s off? My fingers feel along the silver band, all the way around on the inside. There’s no clasp or groove, not even at the back center. I press my thumb hard to that spot anyway, just as Rahab did. I summon the wind and direct a tendril of it into that spot. When nothing happens, I concentrate more and more power—enough to blow someone across the Scouring—into Emma’s collar.

  An invisible seal snaps. The collar falls off and clatters against the ground.

  Emma gulps, eyes open in shock, like she just swallowed a gigantic bug with a thousand legs crawling down her throat. She wretches but nothing comes out. She’s breathing heavily, eyes darting around, processing. Then her eyes land on mine. She sees me, she knows me, and she says my name like she used to: “Cipher.”