Gods of the Dead (Rising Book 1)

by Ward, Tracey

  “His name is Robby,” Bennett supplies glumly. “He wouldn’t hide. He probably went out the back like you said.”

  The second Pike stands up from his chair. “You’re running your mouth, Bennett.”

  The Stable Boy shakes his head, standing as well. “Your boy killed a Hive girl. When we find him, he’s dead.”

  “Over a whore? Are you serious?”

  “She wasn’t a whore,” Freedom says quietly.

  Castor points angrily at Bennett. “No one is dying over a stupid whore, do you hear me?!”

  “She wasn’t a whore!” Freedom shrieks, her voice piercing every corner of the room. “Say it again, you son of a bitch. Call her a whore again and I’ll put you in the goddamn ground!”

  Castor smiles and it’s a mistake. “You’re all whores, bitch.”

  Freedom is short but she’s quick. She covers the ground between her and Castor in the blink of an eye, dodging Kevin in the process, and lands a punch to his face that cracks through the room like gunshot.

  Castor’s head whips to the side and back, spit flicking from his lips that will be swollen in the morning. But he’s not the only one.

  Castor has been in a fight before. One hit doesn’t faze him and it’s instinct to give what you get, and he does. He hits Freedom hard in the face with his right fist as his left hand reaches out to take hold of her hair. He yanks down hard and drops her to her knees in front of him, raising his right hand to deliver another blow.

  Kevin is closing in on them, I’m on the move, but it’s Ryan that gets between them first. A growl like an animal erupts from inside his throat as he lunges at Castor. He plows into the guy’s stomach and doubles him over, loosening his hold on Freedom and delaying the blow. But that’s all he can manage – a delay. Castor is quick to spin with him and hurl Ryan across the floor. He flies into a set of chairs that clatter loudly and fall over him as Castor rounds on Freedom again.

  Kevin is waiting. He puts his fist in Castor’s eye, partially blinding and dazing him. Castor stumbles back as Kevin moves to his side, Castor’s newly minted blindside, and uppercuts him in the rib. Castor howls angrily, flailing for Kevin but he’s no longer there. He’s at his back grabbing his shoulders under the armpits and looping his hand up behind Castor’s head.

  Castor’s friend moves to tackle Kevin from behind, but I catch his eye and step toward him menacingly with a sharp shake of my head. He immediately steps back.

  From the position Kevin has him in, he controls Castor. He leans back and lifts him off his feet with one powerful boost. Castor’s feet fly up into the air, his back going nearly parallel with the ground, and Kevin lets him go. When gravity takes over it crashes Castor to the ground, connecting the back of his skull with the cement floor.

  He rolls on the ground moaning, trying to get up and failing.

  Kevin moves in for the kill, his foot lifted back and ready to kick him in the face and knock him out entirely. But the blow never lands and the world is a lesser place because of it.

  “Don’t,” Cobalt shouts desperately.

  Kevin hesitates, looking up at her in surprise. In fact, the whole room turns to her, making her flinch at the attention.

  “You could kill him,” she warns a little more quietly. “Marlow has rules about killing in his house. He’ll own you the way he owned Seven.”

  “And looked how well that turned out,” Natalie says bitterly.

  Kevin nods his head faintly, lowering his foot. “He’s not going to be happy about this as it is.” He looks up at me, his eyes tight with worry. “Trent, get Ryan out of here. Take him home before things get any uglier.”

  My eyes shift to the Pike still standing behind Kevin. “What about you? What are you going to do?”

  “I’ll be fine,” Kevin assures me.

  “I wasn’t talking to you.”

  “He’ll be good,” a deep voice chimes in. A tall, black man with a bald head and arms thicker than my legs stands in the doorway leading to the lobby, his eyes trained on the Pike. “Won’t you, Keith?”

  Keith takes a step back from Kevin. “I was just leaving, Asher.”

  “No, you weren’t. You were waiting for the boss to come back and sort this all out. You and your boy there drooling on the floor. You’re both staying so sit your ass down.”

  Keith obediently sits down.

  Asher looks at me sideways. “If you and the kid are going, you better go now. No telling what’s going to happen when Marlow gets back out here.”

  “You’ll watch his back?” I ask suspiciously.

  “I’ll make sure there’s no more fighting.”

  I help Ryan up off the floor, checking his body for damage. He’ll be bruised I’m sure but I don’t see any cuts. He walks evenly, his stride solid.

  “When are you coming home?” he asks Kevin as we head for the door.

  “Soon,” Kevin promises. “Before midnight.”

  “We’ll wait up.”

  “Okay. Thanks, buddy.”

  “Be careful,” I remind Kevin.

  He nods, his eyes following his brother out of the room. “Yeah. You too.”

  We make it home before dark. Ryan insists on going to the Crow’s Nest to watch for Kevin and I agree. We sit crammed in together on the small seat facing the same direction – southeast. I have my binoculars but with night coming they won’t matter much pretty soon. I was hoping Kevin would be home not long after us, but as an hour slips by I realize it’s not going to happen.

  Just before it gets too dark to see I spot several bodies leaving the Hive. Four to the west and two to the north – the Westies and the Elevens. None toward the Pikes or us. I tell Ryan but he doesn’t reply.

  An hour later and night is full upon us. Small fires and plumes of smoke are peppering the landscape. It’s the loners, people like the girl. People like me before I found a family.

  A family that feels ominously small at the moment.

  Ryan shifts nervously next to me. “Where is he, Trent?” he whispers.

  “In the Hive,” I tell him, but I don’t know if it’s true. “He’s safe,” I add, but I have a feeling he’s not.

  There’s a lot of ground between here and the Hive. A lot of darkness. A lot of zombies. A lot of hours.

  “It’s after midnight.”

  I nod in silent agreement.

  Another hour ticks by.

  And another.

  Another.

  Somewhere to the south a wolf cries.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Vin

  I have to take care of her the only way I can, the only way that’s left to me.

  I have to throw her body in the Sound.

  I gather her in a blanket and walk her out through the back corridors in the dark where no one can see. I leave Freedom crying in Kevin’s arms and I gather Madeline in a blanket. She weighs nothing, she never did, and I have to walk with my eyes on her to make sure I still have her.

  Her blood fills the blanket and soaks through onto my shirt, then my arms until it’s dripping onto the ground like sand sifting through my fingers, reminding me that I could never hold her. That I could never have her.

  When I reach the end of the pier I stand there silently staring at the water as it rolls in the wind. Tiny white caps froth and grow, then die out. The wind is cold coming off the busy surface and I wish I’d grabbed her a second blanket. I’m not crazy, I know she can’t feel the cold, but I can. I’ll know. And I’ll ache for her.

  “She’ll float,” Bennett calls from behind me. “Her little bird bones will bob her right to the surface.”

  I turn my head toward him, catching sight of him out of the corner of my eye. He’s a good ten paces behind me, bundled up in a jacket with his hands thrust inside. “Where were you?” I ask calmly.

  He shakes his head, looking away. “Man, I was where I was supposed to be. I was bringing out the girls.”

  “You forgot one.”

  “She was working. We couldn�
�t wait for her or Freedom so we didn’t.”

  “You left her alone with a Pike.”

  “They know the rules and the limits. They’re harmless.”

  I resist the urge to turn toward him and pull the blanket back. To show him the remnants of what used to be Madeline’s face. Instead I straighten up, facing the water again. “They’re far from harmless, you shitbag.”

  “I see that and I’m going to deal with it. Marlow just cleared the place and locked Castor and Keith inside the cage. He’s not letting them out until the guy responsible is taken care of.”

  “What’s his name?”

  “What do you care?”

  “Because I’m going with you.”

  “It’s not your business, Vin.”

  I kneel down and gently lay Madeline’s body at the end of the pier. I carefully pull the blanket tightly around her to make sure it doesn’t blow loose, then I turn to face Bennett. I eat nine of the ten paces between us until we’re nose to nose and he can see my eyes clearly. So he understands I’m not asking.

  “I’m making it my business,” I tell him coldly. “You got it?”

  His jaw clenches, his face hardening with annoyance, but he nods once sharply because no matter how much time has passed, he’s never forgotten what I did to him in the Underground. What I could still do to him today. “Yeah. I got it.”

  “Good.” I push past him, bumping his shoulder hard and spinning him on his heels. “Now help me find some stones.”

  Together we build a pile of rock and brick at the end of the pier next to Madeline’s body. Then I tell him to fuck off and wait for me back on solid ground.

  When he’s gone I pull open the blanket. I expose her body, naked and white, and I feel the hard sting of the cold wind burn against my eyes. They dry so hard they stick to my eyelids and I blink over and over again trying to wet them, to close them, but I can’t. So instead I look. I take in every ounce of damage, every fading bruise, cut, and scar. I memorize it and I vow that before this day is done I’ll recreate it. Blow for blow.

  Blood for blood.

  When the stones are wrapped in the blanket with her I throw her body in the water without a word. I don’t have any, none that matter. None that mean anything or that she would have wanted to hear, and even if words existed that could make this moment better I wouldn’t be able to find them. I’m out of touch with the world. I’m so far inside my fury that I can’t feel my own body. It’s a bad way to be. It’s out of control and that’s a place I never visit, but that’s how I’ve felt since I met her. Off balance and wild. So tonight as I grip my knife in my hand and fall in step behind Bennett, I go looking for trouble. I do it because I can’t contain this thing inside me and still live as a human being. I have to level the scales. I have to scratch this itch.

  I have to kill someone or I’ll die.

  Thank you for reading Gods of the Dead!

  If you enjoyed it please leave a review on Amazon.

  Watch for book two, Weapons of War, coming in 2016.

  If you enjoy this post-apocalyptic world the Quarantined and Survival series are both out now, both completed, and take place in the same world as the Rising series. While these three series do take place in the same world, they are written from the perspective of very different people and are meant to be independent of one another. They can be read and enjoyed in no particular order.

  Following is a short preview of Weapons of War, book two of the Rising series.

  Weapons of War Preview

  Vin

  The sun is rising on a new day when I make it back to the Hive. I’ve spent the night out in the wild with nothing by my knife and my mind, and I still don’t feel straight. I’m walking like a drunk, falling to the side and stumbling over the uneven streets and it’s a goddam miracle I’m not dead. I faced off with infected more than I have in years and my body is spent. My hands are shaking loosely at my sides, my body is coated in a thickening sheet of blood and bile, and I’m surprised when they open the doors for me without a knock. I probably look like a Risen – glassy eyed and shambling – but Asher is quick to pull me into the dark building and usher me toward the back.

  “He’s been looking for you,” he tells me hurriedly. “It’s about time you showed up.”

  “What does he want?”

  “I don’t know but he’s looking for Bennett too so it’s gotta be about what happened last night. He’s mad you weren’t there to run the Arena. He had to shut down everything.”

  “Boo fuckin’ hoo.”

  “Hey.” He shakes me roughly. “Tighten up, dude. I know you’re hurtin’ over Seven but you gotta get over it and get over it fast. Marlow is mad. Do you want me to repeat that or do you understand what I’m saying?”

  I take a deep breath, rubbing my hand over my tired face. “Yeah. I understand.”

  “Are you ready for this or do I need to hide you for a few hours?”

  “No, I’m good. I’m solid.”

  “Yeah, you look it,” he mutters sarcastically.

  He lets go of me and I walk next to him down the hall to Marlow’s office. Andy is outside the door as always. He nods to us as we enter.

  I’m surprised that it’s just Marlow and Hector inside, both seated and waiting.

  “Vincent,” Marlow greets me graciously with a large, patient smile. “Nice of you to show. Asher, thank you for finding him.”

  Asher casts me a quick look. “Do you need me for anything else? I can stay.”

  “No. We’re all set here.”

  “We’re still looking for Bennett,” he stalls.

  Marlow cocks his head, looking at me curiously. He’s still smiling but it’s changed. It’s not patient. It’s calculating. “Where could he be?”

  “We’ll find him.”

  “Yes, I’m sure in some fashion you will.”

  Asher casts me one last glance before taking the cue and leaving the room. Andy closes the door behind him, sealing me in with Marlow and Hector.

  “She’s dead?” Marlow asks bluntly.

  I nod my head. It hangs heavy on my neck, my chin threatening to hit my chest with every movement. With each even breath I breathe.

  “You understand why I have to ask you that, don’t you?”

  “Because you didn’t see the body.”

  “No one saw the body,” he agrees angrily. “No one but Freedom and the Hyperion kid, two people who I fully believe would have your back if you decided to do something stupid like, I don’t know, smuggle a girl out of my Stables.”

  He lets the accusation dangle like bait on a hook, but I don’t bite.

  “Where is she, Vincent?” he insists.

  “In the Sound. I sunk her body with rocks. Bennett helped me.”

  “So Bennett could corroborate your story.”

  I stare at him blankly, bristling under my skin.

  He grins. “It means he’d agree with you.”

  “Yeah. He would.”

  “If I asked him.”

  “Yeah.”

  “If I could find him.”

  I shrug, looking away. “Yeah. I guess.”

  “You guess. That’s helpful. When was the last time you saw him?”

  “Last night. At the Hyde’s.”

  In my peripheral I see him sit up straight. “You went to the Hyde’s with him?”

  “To deal with Robby, yeah.”

  “Robby is the man who killed her?”

  “Yeah.”

  “We can’t find him either.”

  “That’s no surprise.”

  “Is he in the Sound too?”

  “No.” I sigh, turning my eyes back to his. “He’s probably nothing but bone by now. We knifed him. Left him lying in the street crying as a pack of Risen swarmed him.”

  “And then what?”

  “They ate him.”

  Marlow’s eyes narrow angrily. He doesn’t think I’m funny. I don’t blame him. I’m poking the bear and it’s a bad idea. Asher was right. I
need to tighten up.

  “If Bennett didn’t make it back last night,” I explain carefully, “then we need to start looking for a second set of bones.”

  He nods slowly, accepting what I’m not saying. “So you and Bennett parted ways near the Hyde’s place and then you what? Wandered the streets all night?”

  “Fighting Risen, yeah.”

  “Why?”

  “I had some anger to work out.”

  “And how are you feeling now? Are you still angry?”

  “No.”

  My response is met with silence. He stares at me for a long time the way he loves to do, trying to unnerve me. To shake me. He wants to throw me but what he doesn’t know is that I’m already gone. I’m cast out to the west, to the Sound. I’m in the dark shallows where everything moves in slow motion and your skin aches from the icy press of the water until your nerves give up and shut down. Until you’re so numb you’re barely breathing.

  “What are you now?” he pushes.

  “Nothing,” I assure him quietly. “I’m nothing.”

  END PREVIEW

  About the Author

  I was born in Eugene, Oregon and studied English Literature at the University of Oregon (Go Ducks!) I love writing all kinds of genres from YA Dystopian to New Adult Romance, the common themes between them all being strong character development and a good dose of humor.

  My husband, son, and snuggly pitbull are my world.

  Visit my website for more information on upcoming releases, Tracey Ward