The Scorned (The Permutation Archives Book 3)

by Kindra Sowder

  “That you decided you wanted to continue with the tests. Your sister told me. She was worried about you, but, after what I heard about what happened while I was out, I think it’s a good idea,” Ryder explained. “You know, that whole knowledge is power thing. Except we’ll have both. Power in the form of knowledge and vice versa.”

  “Oh, well, how many others have taken that step? Any besides me?” I probed. I truly wanted to know. Had every Special in the place taken part in additional testing to fully understand their abilities? I surely hoped so.

  “A couple,” he replied with a nod. “Most were so traumatized that there was no way they could be talked into it. I heard stories while I was on the inside in the Spartan Compound about ones that would agree to it and then couldn’t follow through without hurting someone. Or ones that just outright refused because the thought of any further testing scared them.”

  “I get that,” was my only retort.

  There was no way to put into words the absolute fear you felt when faced with something new or something that had previously harmed you. The tests I had been given here weren’t nearly as invasive because the Fallen Paradigm had hacked Fuji-O’Hara’s systems, but what if they hadn’t? Would I be on an operating table being poked and prodded with scalpels? Pieces of me taken to be studied under the scrutinizing eye of the microscope?

  It took all I had not to run to a corner and cower there with my eyes closed and palms pressed against them to keep the images from penetrating my brain. If I could have avoided the entire thing, I would have.

  Deep breath in, deep breath out.

  One day the crippling horror of it all would lessen. At least, that was what everyone said to those who survived traumatic experiences.

  And this hadn’t just been one traumatic event. It had been a repetitive barrage of them — a parade, if you will – filled with death, screaming, bloodshed, and fear beyond your worst nightmares. All I wanted, what anyone wanted, was for it to be over. For good.

  Over would mean King dead and in the ground for the bugs and the animals to feed off until there was nothing left but bleach-white bones. Morbid, I could admit, but true all the same.

  “I wanted answers bad enough not to let my fear stop me,” I added.

  Ryder’s warm hand grasped my forearm, and he stopped walking. I stopped with him and turned to consider his brilliant green eyes. There was something in them I couldn’t decipher. His eyes were wide and brimmed with a trace of tears, his mouth set in a straight, grim line. It was an expression I had never seen on his face before. Like a mixture of resolve and sorrow. And rage? Rage resided there along with the other emotions he showed.

  “Mila, it’s okay to be scared. It’s okay to say no,” he stated.

  “It’s okay, Ryder. I’m okay. They didn’t ask me or force me. I volunteered to do it. All of it,” I replied, anxiety creeping back into the dark pit of my chest once again.

  He looked skeptical.

  “Are you sure?”

  I glanced down at his large hand around my arm and back up at him. His grasp didn’t hurt but was tight enough to be slightly uncomfortable and enough to show that he meant what he said. The conviction in his face and his posture told me he truly thought that my mother and the Fallen Paradigm would coerce me into giving into more testing that scared me. Or that I didn’t want any part of it because of my experience with King and his scientists. That just wasn’t the case.

  “Yes, I’m sure. I volunteered. I want answers. No,” I paused, “I need answers. Cato did something in the compound before he died and something is going on with my ability that I need to know more about. I think it’s growing, but I don’t know for sure.”

  “And how do you know it’s growing?” he probed.

  My eyes never left his as I answered, “Something happened while you were sedated. Something right after my mother told me that, one day, I’d have to lead these people. I freaked out, and something happened I can’t explain.”

  “What happened?”

  I didn’t know how to answer that. His expression went from sorrow to shock and then slid over into confusion and curiosity.

  “I’m not even sure what happened.”

  “How…” he began.

  “If I could explain it, I would. It’s one of many reasons I need to know. One of the many reasons I’ll do whatever tests are necessary to figure it all out. Once I get the answers and can gain some kind of control over this, I’ll show you.” I said the last portion with a smile, attempting to show him that I was all right. More than all right as long as I wasn’t being told that I would once lead the Fallen Paradigm. That statement alone was enough to send me into a spell of unease.

  He returned the grin and removed his hand from my arm to reach up and push a loose strand of hair from my eyes. Tucking it behind my ear, his lips lingered just over mine.

  “I’d love that,” he whispered.

  “Is that so?” I teased.

  My heart fluttered in my chest at the thought of his lips on mine in this stolen moment. A moment taken in the hushed hallway of the very place that took so many from us since we arrived. It was in that same moment I had remembered just how beautiful of a man Ryder was. Why I loved him to begin with. Not just his looks, obviously, but how deeply he cared and how quickly he made my heart race.

  With a soft chuckle, he replied, “You bet.”

  “I have a sinking suspicion you and I aren’t talking about the same thing,” I joked, knowing what I said was true enough. I could see by the glint in his eye and exactly where his mind was headed.

  “We aren’t?”

  His smirk only grew. All I could do was shake my head, the smile infectious as I stood in front of him. His hand now cradled my neck and, even with the large doors looming mere yards to our left, I couldn’t focus on them. Only the grassy eyes that never left mine as we stood there, locked in each other’s gazes. I felt his arms slide around my back to pull me against his broad chest. My breath came in a sharp gasp at the electrifying contact between the two of us, the way it had always been. I didn’t see that changing, even with the most recent of events. Or those coming our way. Not even death could separate us, as Cato himself had proven.

  “No, Mister. No, we’re not,” I sighed. Our warm breaths mingled in a seductive curling of air.

  “Oh,” he breathed, “I think we’re going to have to remedy that.”

  Leaning down, Ryder’s lips lightly brushed mine. We hadn’t been able to touch each other in a romantic fashion in only a day or two but felt like weeks. And his touch and his kiss were far too difficult to resist, even if it were just a taste of what I had recently had. The last romantic embrace between us took place within the walls of the underground compound at King’s Forge and was quickly shattered by the screams of those living just above us. Death followed on darkened wings that day. I had killed, I had been shot at, and I had run until my body was ragged with fatigue and wariness. Anything and everything was a threat. Everyone, even those I knew, were a danger.

  Not that I didn’t come with my own hazards.

  He brushed my lips feather light with his once again, but the sound of two massive metal doors stopped any further contact between us, and I moaned with frustration. I dropped my head, and my forehead leaned into his scruffy jaw as he turned to look toward the noise.

  “Come on, lovebirds. You two are keeping my class waiting.” Famke’s voice floated toward us and closed the distance with a slap of an indignance of playfulness. “I’m even prepared to get started without you, but we like to do a little show and tell here, and everyone wants to see what you’ve got, Miss Hunter.”

  Both of us laughed, full-hearted and without a care in the world. I looked up at him as his head fell back in a riotous uproar of amusement.

  “All right, all right, Famke. We’re on our way,�
�� he responded through fits of mirth.

  I turned my head to find Famke watching us, her brilliant red hair pulled up into a tight ponytail that hung past her shoulders. I had never realized her hair was so long before, but, as much as I had seen the last weeks, I barely noticed much except for what directly affected me. Psychologically or physically. Everything since that fateful day in my worn apartment with Joshua Cranston and his white-suited follower, there wasn’t anything in this world that didn’t affect me one way or another. And it didn’t matter how much I tried to act as if it didn’t. It didn’t change a damn thing. There was still a glaring possibility we wouldn’t make it to live in the world we bled to create.

  The world Cato died for because he believed in it enough to entrust me with its construction.

  “You ready for this?” he questioned.

  I couldn’t even look at him, but I knew that I was ready for anything as long as he was by my side. As long as those I loved and had wrestled with me since the beginning were there to continue the good fight. I had a feeling I had that in the group I left the Spartan Compound. And maybe more since we arrived at the Fallen Paradigm. I knew it since the very moment all manner of men, women, and children turned to me for guidance after the newscast no one expected.

  “Yes,” was my only response.

  Glancing at him for a second, I took his hand in mine, and we walked silently toward the shining stainless-steel doors. Famke stood in the sliver of yellow light just beyond them. She squinted her eyes at us and took a step away from the threshold, just enough space for me to see into the room behind her.

  From what I could glimpse, the room was massive enough for everyone within the Fallen Paradigm to occupy. Standing room only, of course, but that was good enough for anyone here. Just as long as it was safe. When we approached, she smiled broadly at us and took a step to the side, swinging one of the doors open a little bit farther. She waved her hand toward the room, all blaring white, metal, and glass, with a flourish of showmanship.

  We sauntered into the room, moving past her. I almost had to cover my eyes for a moment as my eyes took in the white shine of the large and intimidating chamber. As my vision adjusted, I began to make out shapes and figures.

  If I hadn’t made the transition myself, I would have never believed it was that bright in the room. Quite a difference from the hallway we had just came from. And it didn’t take me long to realized I, as a Special, wasn’t as alone as I thought I was. Now I got to see it for myself. That was when I realized I should have put more faith into Ajax’s words when he stated there were plenty of people here willing to fight against King to make him quake. Not his exact words, but it was what he meant all those days ago.

  As I looked around, the men and women came into brilliant focus. As did the metal shelves lining the walls filled with a range of weaponry that anyone would be jealous. This led me to believe that I had severely underestimated their influence. My own mother’s influence on those around her. She had so many people not only around her, but across enemy lines, waiting for the moment to strike in any way she saw fit, and it didn’t matter what she needed. She would get it. The amount of what I assumed were Specials in this room made that fact all too evident. They would do anything for her.

  I even spotted a few teenagers in the mix, one blonde girl as well as one with skin the color of a milk chocolate bar. Her eyes were a gorgeous, light violet eyes that glinted in the overhead lights as she watched us enter along with the others.

  Then I spotted a very familiar face among the onlookers.

  Jameson, smile wider than ever, nearly ran toward us as we entered. His trajectory pointed straight at me, and I was all too happy to oblige. My hand slid out of Ryder’s, and I picked up the pace, my legs closing the distance between the two of us in mere seconds.

  “Mila, thank God,” he cried out into the quiet atmosphere.

  My arms closed around him in a tight embrace. I never thought, when I first met him that I would be so happy to see him, but here I was. Ecstatic that he was still alive and breathing even though I barely knew him. All I needed to know was that he was there to help me when we needed him most, and would continue to be no matter what crossed our path.

  “You scared me to death, you son of a bitch,” I laughed as he hugged me.

  “I’ll try to keep that to a minimum, Miss Hunter,” he replied jokingly.

  Jameson cradled me against his gigantic chest, his chin rested on the crown of my head. Even though he was slouched over to do it, he didn’t seem to mind and never complained about how uncomfortable it was. He just seemed to be gloriously happy that I hadn’t been lost to the other side, alive or dead.

  “You know you don’t have to call me Miss, right?”

  “Yeah,” he laughed.

  With hands on my shoulders, he held me at arm’s length and looked me up and down. I was only slightly dinged up, but nothing like he had been. Or the rest of them for that matter. Nothing broken and nothing shattered. A few bruises and a small gash here and there were small sacrifices to make in the grand scheme of things. His deep brown eyes scanned over me, and he smirked.

  “Looks like they didn’t bang you up too badly.”

  “Or I’m just that bad ass,” I replied. I couldn’t help but smile back up at him as I said the words.

  That caused him to guffaw and drew a few nervous chuckles from a few others around us. But I only had eyes for Jameson as he stood before me. His fingers dug slightly into my shoulders like he was attempting to make sure I was indeed there. Whole. Corporeal.

  “I can’t disagree with you on that one,” he responded while using his bulk to turn me from him to the small group behind me. “Now, while I love reunions, I’m sure there are others here that would like to meet you.”

  “And, after that, we can get started with the more important things,” Famke said as she stalked toward us and came to stand beside me.

  When I had first entered the room and my eyes adjusted, I could’ve sworn there were more people in the room, but there were only six not counting Famke and Jameson as well as Ryder and myself. Energy, unique to each, ebbed and pulsed against my skin. I hadn’t noticed this before, but those with abilities seemed to emanate an energy that was barely perceptible to the unpracticed. It was something I would be looking for more often. It could always come in useful in battle when needing to identify another Special that could be on the side of the enemy.

  My eyes met Ryder’s for the briefest of seconds. Just long enough for him to shoot a comforting grin in my direction.

  Around us stood two men, two women, a young boy seemingly around fifteen years of age, and an eighteen-year-old girl. The girl stood out with her deep brown skin, violet eyes, and flashy, bright pink hair. Almost Day-Glo pink. The kind that you can still see even after you’ve looked away from it.

  “This is Howard,” Famke introduced. “He came from a compound located farther North.”

  The man was older with olive-toned skin and deep wrinkles that didn’t say as much about his age as his way of life. I reached out and took his hand in a firm handshake. His hands were callused and rough from hard work. The color of his eyes was like amber, and his black hair was just starting to gray at his temples. At almost a foot taller than me, I had to look up at him to make eye contact.

  “This youngster is Bryce. We found him after the raid of King’s Forge. Just east of it,” Famke moved on while she beamed at the boy. It was like she was proud of him. I just wished I knew why.

  I took his hand in mine and shook it. The flesh of his hands was smooth like he hadn’t had to work a day in his life. If he came from the forge, I couldn’t tell it. His chestnut hair fell over his gray eyes, and he blushed slightly.

  “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Bryce,” I chimed.

  “Y…yeah. You too, Miss Hunter,” he stammered.


  His palms were sweaty, and he seemed nervous like he was meeting royalty. I was nowhere near royalty. Famous, possibly, but not for the right reasons among King’s men or the rest of the country. Only the Fallen Paradigm knew the truth and, even then, their reasons for knowing me weren’t the reasons I’d want someone’s interest to peak when they heard my name.

  I didn’t want to chastise him for calling me anything but my first name, so I let it slide. The next three introductions went by so quickly that I could barely remember their names, nothing remotely memorable about them at all like the first two. The closer I moved toward the teenaged girl with the bright hair, the stronger the pulsating grew. It caressed my skin and left tiny goose bumps in its wake. There was an immense power within her slim form. That much I could surmise, and it made me even more curious about her.

  When we came to stand in front of her, Ryder had moved to stand at my back, a warm and comforting presence. Always there. Always present. The girl stared at me with large, round eyes the color of lavender. A shade I had never seen before in another human being. One so striking I was at a loss for words. The beauty of her extremely symmetrical features caught me off guard. Angel perfect like that you’d find in a magazine, altered to seem flawless. But there was none of that here. Seeing someone so clear of blemishes and imperfections like that in real life just didn’t happen, but there she was, standing in front of me with a look of reverence on her face. Granted, the expression clashed with her clenched jaw, but I chose to ignore it.

  “And this shining star is Genevieve. She actually came from the…”

  “The Spartan Compound,” Genevieve interjected, putting her hand out toward me with an awkward jerkiness of a teenager who hadn’t had much social experience outside of her home and the labs of King’s most brilliant minds.

  Closing my fingers around hers, I felt a shock move through my hand and up my arm. Not strong enough to hurt. Just enough to notice. Like when you get a slight jolt after rubbing your socks on the carpet. I couldn’t stop the grin from crossing my lips. This was the source of the thrum that moved through my body. There was no way I couldn’t notice that this small young woman in front of me had such impeccable control over her abilities, especially when it radiated off her like a static charge. I hadn’t expected it specifically, but I had expected something. A part of me couldn’t wait to see how she used her power. The other, not so much. The other was terrified. Granted, I could do things that would cause most to wet their pants, but so could she. Both gifts were so drastically different there was no way to compare the two.