by Rachel West
A dozen Praetors surround the building on hovering h-cyles. They are spread out before us like a crescent moon; their heights staggered so there is nowhere for us to go.
“Do not worry,” Jaxon whispers in my ear, “They want me alive.”
One of the Praetors yells something but I am unable to hear him. The wind whips through my ears as Jaxon edges the board forward. “Hold on,” Jaxon shouts to me. He wraps his arms around my shoulders and pulls me tight against him. Suddenly, the board dips, and instead of a dozen Praetors I am facing the oncoming ground. In the distance below me I can see the tall spires that make up the tops of the largest buildings in Haven. I wrap my fingers around Jaxon’s arms, knowing one mistake is our death and not even a Millennial could survive a fall like this.
Jaxon moves the board wildly from side to side – never breaking our downward descent. I bite the inside of my tongue and coppery blood floods my mouth. I see movement fluttering around us; like bats taking flight from a cave and I know it’s the Praetors but the wind is too strong for me to see how close they are through my watering eyes. I feel them though – their hate; it presses down like a trap surrounding us and I wonder if we will escape it.
Buildings flash by as we reach Haven proper. Jaxon tries to outmaneuver the Praetors but they are never far behind. He circles around buildings, cutting in between spaces so small no human should have fit but somehow they are always right behind us.
Something sharp cuts into my arm. I flinch and pull back. The board sways underneath us and I feel Jaxon tense as he tries to bring it under control. The ground is approaching fast. Too fast. We careen against the edge of a building. The blow tilts the board nearly sideways and my feet begin to slip. Shouts and cries sound out behind us as the Praetors close in.
My shoulder bumps against something and a dull ache races up my arm. I look around, buildings and balconies lean in against us. There is no room for the h-board. No room for Jaxon and I.
Suddenly we are falling and when my body hits the ground it’s like every bone is crushed beneath me. I groan and roll to my back. Above the only thing I see is buildings. No Praetors. No h-cycles. Jaxon must have planned our fall. A place with spaces so tight we couldn’t be followed.
“Jaxon?” I groan and roll back to my side. Jaxon is splayed out on the ground, one hand stretched out towards me. “Jaxon,” I repeat again this time more urgently.
“We made it,” Jaxon murmurs and a smile of pure unguarded sweetness crosses his face and causes my breath to catch. His eyes darken and he bounces to his feet, moving too quickly for someone who just fell from the sky. He rubs at his head and his fingers come away wet with blood.
“Are you alright?” he crouches down next to me and offers a hand.
“I’m fine,” I answer. I try to sit up but have to use Jaxon’s arm to steady myself. The streets seem to spin around me and nausea turns in my gut.
Something loud crashes to the ground next to us. Our h-board The board explodes as it hits the ground and I raise my arms to protect my head from falling debris. I look frantically around knowing the Praetors must be near. They must have seen where we fell. They would be coming soon.
“We have to go.”
Jaxon’s lips tighten against the fear. “Where to?”
A shout interrupts us before I can answer. Running footsteps approach; more than one set. They’re close. Too close.
“Where are we?” I whisper urgently.
“I don’t know!” Jaxon cries, “You tell me.”
I look around, trying to get my bearings. We’ve crashed near one of the giant Praetor Presidios. The purple and green light ripples around us like a nightmare. It’s the falling ash that finally tells me know where we are. Somehow, despite the odds, Jaxon has managed to bring us back to the slums. We’ve landed near the crematoriums that line the edge of the Westwick Slums.
“This way,” I say. We’ve only gone one street when a group of Praetors turns a corner in front of us. “Damn’t. Come on.” I dart down a side street, hoping we were quick enough to not be seen. My apartment is on the other side of the slums. I try to think but I can’t focus. The ground bucks underneath my feet and I struggle to stay upright. My apartment – how do we get there without being caught?
At the end of the alley I lean against the cement corner of the building and peer out into the street. There’s more of them. Small groups of Praetors. Searching like they know what they’re looking for.
“They are everywhere. How are they everywhere?” Jaxon yells and for some reason he sounds angry at me. Like this is all my fault.
“They always are,” I say. I try to focus on Jaxon’s face but something is wrong. His skin seems to stretch and pulse, his body going near transparent and waving from side to side. I lift my hand and press it against my temples. I must have hit my head when we fell. I feel woozy, heavy – like I am going to fall over any moment.
“Are you alright?”
“I--” I stumble forward a step and Jaxon reaches out to steady me.
“Evie. Come on. Keep it together. Tell me where we need to go.”
“The crematorium,” I point at the tall, factory-like buildings that span dozens of blocks.
“Alright. We can make it there.” Jaxon watches the street as the Praetors march by. “Now!” he whispers urgently while grabbing my arm and yanking me forward. We sprint across the street. I try to keep up, but my feet feel bogged down, like I’m dragging them through mud.
Jaxon drags me through the streets like this again and again. I’ve lost sense of where we are. Of time. Buildings and lights move in and out of my memory. The streets themselves reach up to stop me, small, spindly fingers grasp at my ankles trying to suck me down through the tar. Buildings leer down at me; their laughing faces of windows and doors waiting for my death.
Jaxon’s voice reaches out to me, caressing my skin and holding me in warm embrace. The sound of it the only thing keeping me going even though I can’t understand a word of it.
We stop somewhere. Somewhere dark. The blackness is crushing, suffocating. It reminds me of the Hollows and a whimper crawls out of my throat as I see shadows dancing just out of sight. We drop to the ground in a pile of warm snow. I reach down and draw nonsense symbols into it. Jaxon pulls at my arm and I look up at him and his face is all eyes and mouth and tattoos that seem to be trying to pull from his flesh. He pulls something from my arm; a dart that is then a sword, and then nothing at all.
“Sleepdart,” Jaxon says.
“Where are we?”
“The crematorium. Like you said.”
“Mmhmm,” I mumble because I don’t remember saying anything at all but the ground is soft and my body is heavy and all I want to do is sleep.
“Rest, Evie,” Jaxon says. He lays his hand against my forehead and it’s like the weight of it pushes me down into darkness.
CHAPTER 10
The next morning I wake covered in ash. It takes me a moment to realize where we are. The crematorium. Jaxon sits up against the wall with his knees drawn up and elbows resting on them. His face is pale and the shadows under his eyes tell me he hasn’t slept. My memories from the night before are foggy. I remember horrific images. I remember being hunted by monstrous creatures and I know that was only the effect of the sleepdart but I can’t shake the memories.
Nearly the whole morning passes before we reach my apartment. The Praetors patrol the streets in numbers I have never seen before. Everytime we turn a corner there they are. Watching. Searching. For me.
For Jaxon.
Seeing my apartment building is a relief. A sense of finally being safe even though I know we aren’t.
“I need to go see Red,” I tell Jaxon.
“What? Why?”
“Because now we know where my sister is. And you are going to keep your promise and help me rescue her. And to do that I need Red.” I think of the Praetors we spent all morning dodging. “And maybe it’s best if we left the city.” I say the words casually
but the weight of them nearly leaves me trembling. To leave the city? To go outside of Haven?
“Why do we need him?” Jaxon asks scornfully.
“He is one of the best fighters in the city. And he’s my friend. I can’t do this without him.”
“It is not safe out there right now. You saw them, the Praetors, they are everywhere.”
“Looking for you,” I say pointedly, “and not me.”
Jaxon taps his fingers impatiently against one leg as he stares up at me from the couch like he’s searching for an argument but can’t find one.
“I’m going,” I repeat with determination. “Rest. You look like shit.”
Jaxon gives me a wry grin that is broken up by a yawn. “I’ll go with you" he says but his eyes are already falling shut.
“No,” I say but I don’t think he hears me.
I slip out Red’s house key from around my neck when I reach his home. I need to tell him about Jaxon. I need Red to help me save my sister. So I stand outside his door, the small metal key shaking slightly in my hand. Red is gonna kill me. I know it.
Before I even set the key into the door Red pulls it open. “Evie?” He blinks confusedly at me, “what are you doing?”
“Oh,” I let out a breath I’ve held in for too long, “were you…leaving?” I hate admitting it, even to myself, but part of me hopes he is. I am too much of a coward and it would mean I could keep my secret for one more day.
“No--Sorta,” Red pauses, then pulls his door open, leaving enough room for me to duck under his arm. “Come in. What’s wrong?”
I frown at him, hating how he is always able to read my emotions from my face. Red ushers me to the table and sets a beer down in front of me. I stare as the condensation builds up on the bottle, bracing myself for the outburst I know is coming.
“Did you hear?” Red starts talking before I have the chance to. He is looking at me through narrowed eyes, a considering, knowing look.
“Hear what?”
“The Great Uniter’s son has been kidnapped.” Red stares, as if waiting for me to say something.
Why should I care about this? Good on whoever did the kidnapping. The Great Uniter deserves to suffer -and I can’t imagine his son is any better than he is. I hope they kill him.
“You remember him don’t you? The Millennial you stupidly brought home last month. Apparently he’s gone missing again.”
I swallow hard as I try to focus on what Red is saying. Millennial? The Great Uniter’s son? My head goes light and fuzzy and it feels like I’m at the bottom of the ocean, the pressure building in my ears until it feels like my whole body is about to burst. My hands go numb, and the bottle in my hand drops to the table, splashing beer across the wooden finish.
“Uhm,” the liquid drips down onto my pants but I hardly notice its chill.
“Evie,” Red says slowly, “What have you done.”
“Nothing!” I jump to my own defense and my words spill out in a rush, “I mean. I didn’t know who he was. I didn’t kidnap him.”
“But he left, right?”
I feel sick to my stomach. My head aches like I haven’t slept in weeks. This whole time... Jaxon? He’s the Great Uniter’s son? Is this all some kind of sick joke to him? Did he come here to spy on us - is he reporting everything we do to his father? Is this why he was so sure the Praetors wouldn’t kill us last night?
“Tell me everything. Right now,” Red demands. He looks like he’s restraining the urge to strangle me. His eyes are bulging out, and he’s got such a tight grip on the bottle in his hand I’m surprised it doesn’t shatter.
“We made a deal…” I start. “He could stay with me for a bit, and in return he’d help me save Annie.”
“You honestly think he can save your sister? Are you a fool? He’s probably setting you up. Spying.”
I close my eyes against Red’s words, but I can’t deny them. Not when the same thoughts crossed my mind moments ago. All this time – I trusted him? I let him watch over me while I slept. I let him sit at my table and eat my food.
“I have to go,” I push back the chair and stumble to my feet. I need to talk to him. I need to talk to Jaxon. I dart from Red’s apartment before he has a chance to stop me
I run home -- nearly two miles but I don’t remember a single moment of it. The streets pass by in a blur of lights and sounds and scents I hardly notice. The same thought repeats over and over in my head like a mantra. It can’t be. Jaxon can’t be the son of the Great Uniter. It’s impossible.
“You asshole,” I scream into my apartment. I slam the window down behind me in one violent motion. Spinning around I see Jaxon sit up from the couch.
“What has gotten into you?” He asks, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
I want to scream. Yell and curse at him until my anger blots out everything else. But I hold my anger in. Despite everything. Despite how he lied and tricked me. He’s kept his word. He helped me find where Annie is being kept. He protected me from the Praetors time and time again.
“I know who you are. Did you think I wouldn’t find out? They’re saying you’ve been kidnapped. The son of the Great Uniter. Stolen from his bed in the middle of the night. That’s what Darren was talking about.”
“Let them think what they want,” Jaxon waves away my concern.
“So it’s true then? You’re not even going to deny it? You’re the son of the Great Uniter? The person who--” I throw my hand out in a gesture that encompasses the entire apartment, the entire city. I can’t even put into words the things the Great Uniter has done to us. The degradation. The fear. The slow withering of hope that is killing every one of us.
Jaxon looks up at me and for the first time I think he sees my fear, not my anger. “It’s true,” he says solemnly.
“You idiot! They are never going to stop looking for you. Jaxon Prayer,” I laugh, bitter and cold, “you’ve damned me.” How could I have been so stupid? I look at the tattoos on his face, the lines that have become so familiar and I realize that I have seen them before. That the truth was staring at me the entire time. His tattoos are mirror images of the Great Uniter’s. I’ve seen them a dozen times. A hundred times.
“I cannot go back,” Jaxon says quietly, but his voice is so full of fear, so full of pain that my heart aches with it. I think of the half-healed marks on his back. I remember the panic on his face last night when Darren’s alarm first went off.
“Why not?”
“My father--“ Jaxon begins saying but chokes on his own words. He sits quietly for a minute, hands clenched in his lap. “My father is a cruel man. He has always been and I have always known it. But recently -- I think he is losing his mind. He no longer trusts anyone. Millennials he has known for years are disappearing. He is imprisoning them; having them tortured because he thinks they are positioning themselves to steal his power.”
Jaxon stops again, a sick look crosses his face. A memory of something horrific he’s seen and can’t bear to see again.
“At first I understood. He’s the Great Uniter -- the only reason any of us are alive. But he has been ruling for three hundred years now. A lot of people want his power. A lot of people think others should be given the chance to rule. The first night we met--“ he turns to look at me through serious eyes, “Father and I argued over Darren. My father believes Darren’s family has turned against us. We fought and then I fled like a coward. When I returned he threw me into one of his prisons. Father refrained from hurting me -- mostly,” Jaxon reaches up and rubs his cheek where bruises once rested. “But he stopped trusting me. He thinks I too am trying to steal his power. As if I would want to rule over this dying city,” Jaxon finishes with a frustrated shout.
“So you’re just going to what? Hide here? For the rest of your life? Forever is an awful long time for a Millennial.”
“I am not hiding,” Jaxon says. “Not forever. Only until I can find out some way to help him. If I could just show him somehow that none of us are after him.” H
e shrugs helplessly, “There has to be something I can do.”
“So that’s what this was about? Why you promised to help me with my sister? Are you an idiot?” I yell at him, “You think you can hide from the Great Uniter? From his dogs?” I stand up, leaving him behind in the living area as I walk into the kitchen. I need a moment to think. To decide. He’s helped with my sister. I know where she is now but without Jaxon’s help I’ll never get out of the city. And part of me, some deep, twisted part that doesn’t often see the light, relishes in the fact that the Great Uniter and his son are at odds. Despite all that, the rational part, a little voice at the back of my mind says if I let him stay, I’ll get myself killed.
When I look over to him, he is sitting neatly on the couch. Cool. Indifferent. The face he always wears I now know is a lie. I can’t put him out on the street. He would never survive. And it doesn’t seem like he’d be much better off if he went home.
I stare at him. Waiting for something...more. Some acknowledgment of the danger I am in. Some promise to protect me when the Praetors come. But there is nothing. He watches me quietly but there is nothing in his eyes and I wonder if I matter to him at all.
I’ve seen the way he watches me. The small smile on his face as he does. But looking at him now I wonder if it was all my imagination. If I made it all up in my head because I was so lonely, and so desperate for anything approaching kindness.
And I feel betrayed, because I thought, after all this time we were... Something. Friends. Allies at the very least. Bust all this time he was lying to me. Sleeping on my couch. Eating my food. And lying to my face with a smile.
I can’t even look at him. I can’t bear to face that blank look in his eyes. All this time I thought it was a mask. But maybe I was wrong. Maybe this is who he truly is. Maybe Jaxon isn’t the man I thought he was.
I scuff at a smudge on the ground with the tip of my boot. Was I wrong all this time. Did I put my faith in someone who will do nothing but betray me?
“I can’t believe you are the son of the Great Uniter.”
