He sighs. “For us to come up with a plan. We need information, and Illyana and her ghosts are the only ones that can get it for us.”
“So I’m the useless human relegated to the corner again. Perfect!”
“Kendry, you know it’s not like that.”
I roll my eyes, a futile gesture in the dark, but I think he sees it, because I can almost make out the muscles of his jaw clenching. But somehow this has become about more than my desperate need to be doing something. It’s about my confusion over him, too. “Don’t tell me what it’s like! We both know I’m only along for the ride, right? This was my rescue, Axel! She’s my mom!”
I suddenly realize I’ve gone too far when he pushes me up against the tree behind me, his dark eyes blazing. His voice is low, and dangerously quiet. “I get that you’re worried about your mother, and you have every right to be. But this isn’t just about you, or her. Like it or not, some of us are far older than you, and more experienced when it comes to situations like this. Brigid has been around for more than two millennia, and I’m not far behind her. We’ve been fighting this war for almost as long. All I’m asking for was a little bit of patience. Because you may be human, and I may be para, but I know exactly how valuable you are. Don’t ever think I don’t. If anybody here doesn’t understand, it’s you.”
His hands fall away from my shoulders, and he walks off, crashing into the undergrowth in obvious anger. I want to chase after him, to apologize for being stupid and selfish. But I can’t, because he’s right.
I don’t understand.
Way to alienate your best friend, genius.
God, I’m an idiot.
I spend hours avoiding him, wandering around in the woods. I’m ashamed, and I know I should be. Axel has done nothing but help. I don’t have the right to attack him because I feel helpless or worried. Honestly, I feel like a petulant child for having done so, not like the nearly-twenty-one-year-old I am.
And when I do finally come back, Axel is closeted with Brigid again. Discussing options and tactics, I assume. That still doesn’t stop his black eyes from finding me, but I can’t look at him for more than a moment, no matter how much I feel his eyes following me. I drift to our campsite to tuck in and try to get some rest, but I can’t sleep, either. I’ve never done helpless well.
So when I’m still staring at the trees at oh-dark-thirty, I decide I have to talk to him. May as well, since sleep seems to have decided to skip me.
The sky is starting to brighten when I finally track him down. He’s not where I thought he’d be, but where I should have expected—sitting at the highest point around, the apex of our hill, watching the river and the still-active camps across from us. I know he hears me coming, but he’s nice enough not to say anything even when I sit down next to him.
“I’m sorry.”
His eyes fall to his hands, but he still doesn’t say anything.
“You’re right. I don’t understand. I’m young and stupid, and I behaved even younger and stupider than I am. I should be in college, partying and panicking about graduation in a year, not traipsing around the wilds of Virginia looking for my mom. I thought I’d done a lot of growing up, dealing with the world falling apart. I was wrong. I’ve been acting like a teenager, the same teenager I was when it all happened. But I’m not, and I haven’t been for a while.
“I know next to nothing about your world, or what you’ve been through. I feel like my mom is the only reason any of you even let me come, and I’m desperate, Axel. She’s all I have, and I need to know she’s okay. But I have to grow up. I’m not a kid anymore, and if I want you to not treat me like one, I have to not act like one. So I’m sorry.”
Axel looks at me for a long second, before speaking. “Thanks. And it’s okay. Even I was young once.”
He says it with the slight quirk of his lips that I’ve gotten to know so well. I can’t help smiling at it, but I look down, still ashamed of my behavior. “I’m sorry I made it about humans and paras. I don’t think that way, really.”
He sighs, and it gives me reason to hope. “I know you don’t.”
“How?” What I’m really asking is how do you have such faith in me?
“You remember the first day you saw me?” He finally looks at me, and his deep black eyes say too much. “You asked my name, instead of running away. I knew right then you were special.”
I remember that day. I remember it every day.
He’d dropped out of the sky like a falling star, and then stood in this slow, dramatic reveal. It almost demanded the obelisk music from that movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey. And it wasn’t until his black eyes found me that I realized he was staring. I’d been gone on him since that moment, if I was honest. Not that I’d ever told him.
More than anything, I remembered how he said my name the first time. Like he was tasting it, rolling it around in his mouth, on his tongue. Like it was a fine wine, and he was a connoisseur. That moment had front feature in my dreams for months afterwards.
So yes. I remember it.
I turn back to him as the sun peaks over the horizon. His black eyes that never stop watching me close as the slow burning change passes over him, and he’s stone again. When he does open his eyes, it’s to look away.
And I suddenly wonder if he doesn’t think I could like his daytime self, his real stone self. And he couldn’t be more wrong, because it’s the living, breathing stone sitting next to me that caught me from the first.
“Axel…”
Thom’s light tread sounds through the underbrush behind us. “Illyana’s back.”
Damn that ghost. She has the worst timing.
*
“The humans from Greenbriar are over there, in the buildings on the far side of the river bend, but they’re not the only ones. They must have been collecting people from all over.” Illyana’s ghostly hand points to the east, where the river wraps around. “The plant actually sits on both sides of the river, inside the bend and outside. The buildings on the inside are the most heavily guarded, but the makeshift barracks where they have their captives are on the outer edge.”
“So they should be easy—well, easier to get to.” Thom’s voice is thoughtful as he looks back and forth between the river and Illyana’s sketched diagram.
“And we won’t have to cross the river,” muses Brigid. “This is good.”
“I don’t trust it.” Axel’s voice is hard as he stares at the diagram. “It can’t be that easy.”
Illyana cocks her head. “It isn’t. There’s still the perimeter alarm. Plus they have the plant running around the clock with whatever they’re making. So only half the humans will be there.”
“So where’s the plant?” I ask. “Where are the rest of them? And what about the paras?” Because there’s no way we’re doing this thing and only getting half of them out. Not if it means we miss the chance of getting Mom out. And I’m definitely not leaving any paras stuck there with those sadistic assholes.
Illyana points to a spot a little further around the bend in the river. “The plant is here. It’s why they put the barracks where they did, because they’re close. But the other paras…” She breaks off, and I’m sure she’s been avoiding the question for a reason. “We don’t know where they are. They might be in with the humans, or they might be somewhere else. We’re just not sure.”
“We could send two groups for now, get all the humans at the same time, at least.” Brigid stares at the diagram, looking for all the world like she’s done this a million times. Hell, she probably has. I don’t remember my Celtic mythology like I should, but I’m pretty sure the Tuatha Dé Danann were warriors.
“The plant itself has more guards.”
“No doubt,” Axel comments. “Still, we could. We’d need a distraction to make it work. And we need you to find those paras they took, as soon as you can.”
Illyana’s laugh is a silvery tinkle, something felt as much as heard. It creeps me out.
“I think my girls and I
can help with a distraction.”
Something tells me I don’t want to be those guards.
*
We wait for dark, because even I’m smart enough to realize that broad daylight is a lousy time for staging a breakout. And even though we spend the day preparing and planning, it still feels like the longest wait I’ve ever endured. So when the sun begins to set, and we start the hike towards the river bend, I’m nothing but nerves.
“You can still stay behind with Shelly.”
I glare at Axel while I strap Dad’s hunting knife to my leg. “Why are you trying so hard to keep me out of this? You couldn’t volunteer me to stay behind fast enough.”
He doesn’t answer, but looks away. I let it go. The last thing I want is a repeat of yesterday’s fight, even if he is being ridiculously overprotective. But he doesn’t try to stop me again, and we walk in silence, while I get more and more nervous.
The fields around the makeshift barracks are filled with overgrown grasses and weeds, giving us plenty of cover as we sneak in. Brigid and Thom peel off, heading for the plant itself, cloaked in glamour. Everyone looks human tonight, even Axel, whose wings are hidden by his own glamour. He stays with me, waiting for our distraction.
It doesn’t take long.
I’ve never seen Illyana’s girls, don’t even know how many ghosts hang with her. I’m thinking a lot though, from all the ghostlights that spring into the night. Shouts call out as the soldiers see them, and we hear their feet running away from our position. I count to ten, for good measure.
And then the screams start, and the proximity alarms join in with shrieks of their own.
Remind me never to piss off a ghost.
I’ve never thought much about it, not since the world discovered ghosts are as real as dragons and minotaurs. But everything they made movies about ghosts doing?
Yeah. They do all that.
And it’s scary as hell. Because you can’t hurt a ghost, but they sure as hell can hurt you, even if Illyana’s crew aren’t. So I’m glad I can’t really see as the sounds of terror light up the night.
“Come on,” Axel whispers. I shake my head, trying to clear the screaming, and follow him.
It’s odd, seeing Axel with his glamour. Or rather, seeing him look completely human. Watching his back move in the dark, without his wings. Seems so wrong. Even if he does look good in the long black leather trench coat he’s whipped out of nowhere.
Get a grip on yourself, Kendry. You’re brain is scattered from here to the coast tonight.
I sigh as softly as I can, trying to get myself to focus. I know it’s only the nerves. I also know breathing’s not helping.
The barrack doors loom up large in front of us, dark against the cloudy night sky. The building looks more like a warehouse or a hangar. But when we open the doors, I can barely make out what it really was. Lined with row after row of grey shelves, this was clearly the weapons depot, where the Army stored their finished munitions.
Now, it’s lined with people, instead of artillery ammunition.
My heart skips a beat, hoping to see Mom in the sea of faces that turn, one by one, in our direction. But I don’t recognize most of them, which means they’ve probably been pulling people from all over. They look tired in the darkness, overworked. I don’t see Mom, but there’re so many of them. It would be hard to see her.
“Remember, there’re more at the plant. She might be there, too.” Axel’s quiet voice comes as though he’s reading my mind. Not that he’d have to, with me peering around him like I am.
“Who are you?”
The captives have moved while I was searching, and now stand staring, questions written large on their faces. Questions, and fear. And maybe a bit of anger.
“You’re not soldiers, what’s going on?”
I push past Axel. “We’re getting you out of here, that’s what’s going on.” The distant screams turn to gunfire, and the captive humans flinch in the dark. “Come or stay, but do it now. The ghosts won’t keep them busy forever.”
It doesn’t take them much time to decide. Before I know it, Axel is leading them out, while I keep watch. Amidst the soldiers’ gunfire and screams, the quiet shuffling of feet on broken asphalt is almost completely drowned out. Almost. My eyes are as wide as they can get, and my heart pounds loud enough to rival the gunfire. I keep expecting that someone will find us.
The gunfire is beginning to quiet when the last person files past me. I still haven’t seen Mom, and I can only hope she’s with the other group. In fact, there are hardly any from Greenbriar that I recognize. Axel grabs my arm, his eyes occupied with searching. “We need to hurry.”
My own eyes are busy darting back and forth, but I nod. I have no idea how much longer Illyana’s distraction will last, and every second is a second closer to us being found out. Every crunching footstep, every whisper sends more adrenaline pumping through my veins. My fingers twitch in the darkness, my only outlet for the nervousness I feel.
I hope Thom and Brigid have gotten the others out.
We reach the long grass without a problem, but I want to scream from the tension I feel. Ahead of me, Axel’s shoulders relax more the farther we get from the plant, but mine don’t. I can’t relax until I know she’s safe. And I suddenly feel justified in my worry when I turn around, and notice the definite path we’ve cut in the overgrowth, so many feet walking the same ground.
Panic seizes my chest. “Axel.”
He turns back to me, face tight with worry, and I wave at the unmistakable trail that the soldiers will have no trouble following. Axel’s eyebrows pinch together. None of us thought about that. There aren’t enough trees to hide our tracks, not between here and the road we came in on. And once we reach the road, it’s a little too obvious where we’ll have gone.
“Shite.” I can tell he’s thinking all the same things I am, mostly because I’ve never heard him use even the mildest of curses before. “Stay with them. I’ll be right back,” he says, turning to me. In a blink, his glamour is gone, and the wings he’s seemed so wrong without are suddenly back. My heart leaps, even as he does, and then he’s aloft.
Even in the darkness, in this danger, I love watching him fly.
I tear my eyes away and race ahead to the front, quickly explaining the problem. “We’ll follow the old railroad until he comes back. At least we won’t leave any more tracks that way.”
They nod, and I send a few people who know me from Greenbriar back to the rear. Don’t want to lose anyone in the darkness.
The whole time Axel’s gone, I’m looking over my shoulder, pushing the people behind me to walk faster, and scanning the dark, cloudy sky for his return. The wind picks up, blowing into us. Feels like it will rain again, and soon. Great. Just what we need.
My train of people becomes more of a mob, and then begins to turn off the road to the side, into the bank of trees to the east. It’s good, because they’ll provide cover, but bad because it’s the wrong side. Dammit, where are you guys going? And then I see Axel, standing at the tree line, waiting.
“What’s going on?” I ask as soon as I’m close enough. He shakes his head, and his face is worried. His eyes refuse to settle.
“Not here. Come on, we’ve got a new rendezvous point.”
*
By the time we reach the spot Axel’s picked, it’s raining. The new meeting place is an abandoned house in the woods. There’s a small pond, and less undergrowth than the woods we’ve been in. Shelly is waiting on the porch, her face anxious.
“Shame the house isn’t bigger,” I say. Which is funny, because it’s pretty big. Just not big enough for all the people.
“It’s the best I could do on short notice.”
“Axel, what’s going on?” I know I should wait, let everyone get settled, but something about him has got me really nervous. Maybe it’s the way his eyes keep flitting everywhere, except to me.
“Shelly…”
She nods. “I’ll get them settled.”
>
When Axel finally looks at me, I get even more worried. “What is it?” I’m almost afraid of the answer.
“Kendry—”
He doesn’t want to tell me. It’s written in his eyes, all over his face.
“Tell me. Please, Axel.”
He looks around, and pulls me away.
“The others. They didn’t get out.”
My heart sinks. Mom’s still trapped. “What happened?”
Axel shakes his head, clearly frustrated. “Illyana couldn’t keep them off the plant. Their diversion only made the soldiers run to the factory. Whatever they’re making there, they mean to protect it.” He sighs. “Thom and Brigid are laying low. They haven’t been found out. Illyana’s back keeping an eye on them while her girls search for the paras.”
“Axel—”
“I know. We need a new plan, and fast.”
“I’ll get Shelly.”
At least the rain might help. There’s no way human armies would stoop to using a weather witch, and the rain will make them reluctant to check things as fast. But sooner or later they’ll discover we’ve stolen away half their workforce.
Shelly comes without asking questions. I guess one look at my face is all she needs. It makes me wish I’d gotten to know her before now. The three of us huddle under the trees, as out of the rain as we can get, while the liberated humans settle themselves in. Most of them crowd in the house, some outside. I’m glad they’re figuring it out themselves, and not asking us what to do. I wouldn’t even know what to tell them.
I shiver a little in the cold, pre-dawn rain. Adrenaline is the only thing keeping me going at this point.
Shelly nudges me, making me realize they’ve been talking, and I haven’t heard any of it.
“I don’t see we have any other choice,” she pushes. “The last distraction made things worse.”
Axel grinds his teeth, eyes hard. I don’t know what Shelly’s suggesting, but he doesn’t like it. “Whatever ammunition they’re producing there, it’s got to be something new, something important to the war. Massively important, judging by the sheer number of human soldiers there. I don’t want to walk in and find it out the hard way.”
ParaWars Uprising Page 5
