ashen city (Black Tiger Series Book 2)

by Sara Baysinger

  “I said if you turned yourself in, we wouldn’t touch him.”

  “So he’s okay, then? Nobody’s touched him?”

  “Your brother is safe and unharmed.”

  Relief. I never knew it could feel this good.

  “Have your people release Aurora,” Forest says. “And we will release Elijah.”

  “Aurora doesn’t even want to come back,” I say.

  Both Forest and Rain look at me in obvious shock.

  “I just spoke to her last night. She’s realizing the monster Titus is.” I shrug and look at Rain. “I actually invited her to come along with us, and she refused.”

  “You’re lying,” Forest says.

  I glare at Forest, but shake my head. “All true. She did not want to face Titus.”

  Forest stares at me a long moment, and I almost think he’s going to let down his guard, decide we’re in the right and maybe help us escape, but then he shakes his head.

  “I won’t believe it. You’ve already lied about so many things, Ember. Unlike you, Aurora actually gets along with her brother. She wouldn’t just decide not to like him while being kept hostage. That’s the most backwards thing I’ve ever heard.” He laughs a sad sort of laugh and says, “Tell your comrades to bring me Aurora, and Elijah will be returned without a mark on him.”

  “And what of us?” Rain asks. “What will become of me and Ember?”

  “You and Ember dug your graves. Your future is set, and you know exactly what it is.” He looks at me. “What every rebel deserves.”

  “And you’re just going to let us die?” Tears are burning my eyes now, and I can’t fight them. Because Forest, the boy I loved, hates me now. He’s turning his own brother in to a death sentence. And I just…I can’t handle it. Can’t handle any of it.

  “You’re scheduled to burn,” Forest says. “Unless you provide the location of the Resurgence.”

  Rain snorts. “Nope. Not gonna happen.”

  “You’d give your life for the rebels?” Forest’s voice rises a notch.

  “For the future of Ky?” Rain says. “Absolutely. Too many people have suffered and are suffering now at the hand of Titus.”

  “And I’m going to fix that,” Forest says.

  “Sure you are.” Rain smirks. “In a decade or so. After hundreds more houses have been burned down. After thousands of people have been brainwashed and forced into slavery. After more Defenders die brainlessly fighting for a cause they know nothing about. I’m sure you’ll help change things in a peaceful manner by then. But I’m afraid I don’t want to wait that long. I want change now.”

  “Then you’ll die.” Forest looks at me. “Ember? Any information you would like to dispense on the Resurgence?”

  Me? He wants me to speak? About the Resurgence? All my words have left my brain, and I can’t think of anything to say, and then I realize I don’t really want to say anything about the Resurgence. Because they saved my life. They rescued Dad and Elijah.

  And this is the cause Mom died for.

  “Too many people,” I say, “have died for the cause of freedom. I didn’t really want anything to do with the Resurgence before, but, I owe them everything.”

  “They’ve brainwashed you.” Forest laughs, drags his hands through his hair. “Unbelievable.”

  “No, they haven’t,” I say. “My mom left Chief Aden for the sake of Ky. Jonah left his position in society as a Patrician to lead this…rebellion. Hundreds of people risked their lives sneaking off to find the Resurgence just so they could fight with them. This isn’t just a fad. This isn’t a joke. This is life and death. This is people giving up their lives to shake the world. The Resurgence is a body of people who hope for change and joy and freedom and life. So if you don’t believe in any of those things, Forest, then I guess I can see where you’re coming from.”

  His eyes narrow.

  “You like your comfort,” I say with a shrug. “You like your control. You like your incredibly high position in society, your aristocracy. You like the normalcy you’ve created for yourself. So why change it? Why blow up the country for the sake of freedom when you’re already free? Maybe someday your eyes will be opened. Maybe someday you’ll see Titus for the monster he really is. But Rain and I will be dead, and you’ll hate yourself for the decision you made. And you’ll wish more than anything that the planet would open up and swallow you whole.”

  Forest strides up to me, and I flinch, think he’s going to strike me like he struck Rain. But he stops inches for my face. He takes a gentle hold of my chin, forces me to look into the ocean of his cerulean eyes.

  And he whispers. “It’s such a shame Ky is losing a girl who would have made a very compelling politician.”

  And I think—I think—I see sheen of tears blurring Forest’s pupils, but I’m not sure, because before I can get a good look, he spins around and strides out of the room, shutting the door firmly behind him.

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  “Well,” Rain says. “That was ineffective.”

  “He’ll be back.” I release a shuddering sigh and sink down on the couch beside Rain. “Or Titus will be in to torture us. Either way, I have a feeling they won’t be finished with us until we give them the Resurgence’s location.”

  Rain nods, heaves out a sigh, leans his head back.

  “Why did you do it?” he asks.

  “Do what?”

  “Turn yourself in? I’m sorry, Ember, but this might have been the dumbest idea you’ve ever had.”

  “He threatened to torture my brother!”

  “And you think turning yourself in will stop him?” He lifts his head, looks at me, his eyes gray slates. “Titus doesn’t care about your brother.”

  I swallow hard. “Forest promised he would be okay. And despite the fact that Forest is currently the bad guy, I still believe he will keep his word.”

  Rain lifts a brow. “Except he’s not the one who’s in control.”

  He’s right. Titus will do whatever he wants, no matter what Forest’s promises are.

  “Still,” I say. “Maybe there’s some way we can save Elijah.”

  “Locked up like this? We would have had a better chance if we’d stayed out there and then snuck into Frankfort. Now there’s no way. No way we can get him. Not while we’re prisoners.”

  I grit my teeth. “Then why did you come, too? If it was such a dumb idea, why didn’t you stay out there? Why did you follow me?”

  “I couldn’t just let Forest take you.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because who knows what he’s going to do? You might be tortured yourself. Someone needs to be here to keep a lookout for you.”

  “And that’s exactly why I came. I couldn’t take my chances. I had an opportunity to save Elijah. And I took it.”

  “Impulsive little—”

  “Just as impulsive as you, Rain.”

  He narrows his eyes. Then his shoulders sag and he looks around the room. “We’re in the conference room of the prison.”

  I’m surprised he knows our exact location. I didn’t even know this room had a name. But then I remember Rain worked in the prison for awhile. He used to come visit all the time. I thought he was spectating. Watching us criminals suffer in the arena. Now I know, he was just looking for people like me. People immune to the Patrician manipulation. People brave enough to stand up against the government.

  And look where it got him.

  “I’m sorry, Rain.”

  He looks at me. The blood around his temple has dried, but the area is already bruising. “Sorry for what?”

  “For…everything. You risked your life for me by taking me to the Resurgence, and even now, you didn’t leave me alone with Forest. You…you came after me.”

  “Don’t flatter yourself.”

  I open my mouth to object, but his lips curve into a lazy grin, and he takes my arm and gently pulls me against his chest. Here he is. The Rain I’ve slowly fallen for. And for some odd reason, I feel safer with
him than I ever did with Forest, looming death sentence and all.

  I lay my head on his chest, cross my arms to fight off the chill, listen to his heartbeat. It’s so much steadier than mine. Calm. Almost like he doesn’t think we’re going to die today or tomorrow. Or maybe he’s been faced with death threats enough to be able to deal with it. Or maybe he doesn’t think he’s going to die.

  “What do you think Titus will do to us?” I ask, snuggling deeper into his embrace.

  “Oh, you know. He’ll probably invite us to a feast. Maybe even host a picnic in our honor.”

  I grin. I can’t help it. “Right. Okay. Keep fantasizing.”

  I hear him laugh softly, and his hand slides down my shoulder to my waist, where he links his fingers with mine.

  Rain. He knows me in ways even Forest never could. I’ve said things to Rain, so many things, that would make every other person hate me. And he’s said and done things to me that have made me want to rip out his heart. But that’s what makes us compatible, I guess. We’re rocks and dirt and roots and trees that merge together to make a mountain. His razor cuts my edge. We’re perfect together in ways Forest and I never were. Forest is good for someone who needs a comforter. Forest is a refuge. And I don’t need a refuge. Not anymore.

  “If I could choose anyone to die next to,” I say to Rain. “I would choose you.”

  “That’s possibly the most romantic thing anyone’s ever said to me, lil’ apple-picker. Really. All the feels, right here.” He pumps his fist on his chest.

  “Do you think he’ll do it?” I ask, lifting my eyes to his. “Do you think Titus will kill us?”

  “Oh, no doubt about it.”

  “And Forest…do you—” My voice chokes off, and I suddenly can’t seem to push the words out. But I try again. “Do you think he will try to stop Titus?”

  Rain clears his throat. This has got to be hard for him. I might have loved Forest, But Rain is his brother. They grew up together. Played together. Laughed together. And now they HATE each other.

  “Forest…” Rain’s chest heaves with a deep, tragic sigh. “Forest will do whatever he thinks is right. Please don’t blame him for his faults, Ember. He’s naïve. He blindly follows the law. Always has. Even as children, he went out of his way to make Father proud, even going so far as to admitting he did something wrong. He would do all this, knowing he would get a whipping. And if he thinks that the Resurgence is bringing down a very good and stable government, then he will think that, yes, it’s best to dispose of two people—no matter how close—in order to keep order in the country.”

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  The day bleeds into night, and soon our room is cloaked in darkness. No lights in here. It’s really just as bad a prison as any, despite the comfort of the couches. Rain falls asleep on his couch, and I lay down on the other couch, but sleep seems overrated right about now. And I wonder how Rain could possibly sleep with death bordering the horizon.

  Sometimes—sometimes I’m tempted to call Forest back in here, tell him exactly where the Resurgence is located just so he’ll release me and Elijah and Rain. Because death is a terrifying thing to consider, and wouldn’t it be better to live as a traitor to the rebels than to die such a brutal death on the Rebels Circle?

  But then I remember that Mom gave her life for the Resurgence, and so it must be important. And how would I be able to live with myself if I turned in the cause Mom believed so profusely in? I wouldn’t be living. The guilt—it would slowly kill me. I would die, not by a swift death of flames on the Rebels Circle, but by a slow death of guilt, guilt, guilt, walls and walls of guilt, closing in on me, suffocating me, crushing me beneath its weight.

  And guilt is possibly the worst way to die.

  Night wears on and on, and I eventually slip in and out of sleep. Anxiety eats at me. I’m too familiar with fear. The sick feeling curling in the pit of my stomach. The despair.

  Rain wakes up at one point.

  “Why are you awake?” he asks, his voice thick with sleepiness.

  “Um. We’re going to die soon,” I say, in case he forgot. “I guess I’m just trying to get all my affairs in order in my head.”

  He chuckles, and the sound is so foreign in the light of what’s about to happen, that my heart lifts, just a little.

  “You need to rest,” Rain says. “If you want to face the Rebels Circle with utter defiance.”

  I almost ask what he means by that, but then his breaths even out, and I know he’s asleep again.

  Rain. The mystery I’ll never understand. Cold and warm all at once, like a summer storm. He’s always in complete control of his emotions and never fearing the worst.

  So I sit on my couch, alone, biting my nails, biting my lip, my tongue, my cheek, until the flavor of blood invades my mouth, and I wonder which part of my body I chewed through. And then I suddenly wish I could just gnaw my own heart out and get it over with quickly.

  Rain wakes up again. Studies me through sleepy eyes.

  “Come here,” he says. He moves over on his couch, making room for me to snuggle up beside him. Completely lonely and terrified, I do. I let him spoon me, let his arms curl around my waist and let his fingers weave through mine, and I finally close my eyes and surrender to exhaustion.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

  Just as the sunlight slants through the slit in the ceiling, Forest enters the room, shutting the Defenders out again. He looks at the two of us curled on the couch, and I get the feeling I’m doing something I shouldn’t. But then I remember how I’m a rebel and Forest knows I’m a rebel and, hey, he already wants to kill me so it doesn’t matter how much I piss him off by snuggling with Rain.

  So I turn to face Rain, who’s just now waking up behind me. I place my hand on his cheek, and kiss him full on the mouth. He groans against my lips, and without opening his eyes, curls his arm around my waist and deepens the kiss. And I don’t know how it all happens, but in seconds he’s on top of me, and he’s kissing me, and I’m suddenly lost in the moment because Rain is so passionate and strong and one hand is sliding beneath my shirt and the other is cupping the back of my head, and he shoves his knee between my legs, and he’s kissing my neck and my shoulder and my jaw and every inch of my face, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt this alive in my entire life.

  Someone clears his throat. Rain tenses.

  Forest. Forest is in the room. He’s watching us. Rain lifts his head, opens his eyes for the first time, glowers at Forest.

  “This is kind of bad timing,” Rain says.

  Rain rolls off of me, and I look at Forest. But where I expected to see pain, I see only anger. Nope. He definitely doesn’t love me anymore. He’s had all night to build up his hatred toward me.

  Rains sits up, places his hand on his bruised temple. “Do you have any medicine on you, brother? Or just plain old peppermint tea will do.”

  Forest doesn’t even crack a smile. “Do you have any information for me today?”

  “Of course not,” Rain says.

  “Then, no. I don’t have any peppermint tea for you.”

  He looks at me, his eyes softening. “Ember? Would you like to save your life today with news of the Resurgence?”

  “No.” The word slips my mouth before I make a decision to say it.

  “Good job, little apple-picker,” Rain says. “You’re officially one of us.”

  I grin.

  Forest frowns. “Fine, then. I tried to convince Titus to give you both a week, but he seems to believe you won’t break in a week, and that a week will only give your rebel friends a chance to rescue you.”

  He lifts his phoneband, about to press a button. Wow. Traitor Forest is the last piece of Forest I’ll ever see. Four Defenders stride in and grab me and Rain. Their tight grip on my arm makes me wince, and I grit my teeth against the pain. I won’t go down whimpering or crying. Not this time. I consider compelling them, but why would Forest bring four Defenders to bind two prisoners? If I compel one, the other will sho
ot him. I’ve made that mistake twice. Not doing it again.

  “Ember,” Rain says. Both his arms are pulled behind his back, his lips curled in a disgusted sneer as he looks at the back of his brother’s head. Then he looks at me, and his eyes soften, and he offers a lopsided grin. “I just want you to know that—I never ever thought I’d say this to any girl—but—”

  Oh no. Is he going to—

  “Don’t say it,” I say. And I’m suddenly laughing, because if Rain is about to say what I think he’s going to say, and if he’s going to say it in this very incredibly terrifying, most inconvenient moment, then this is seriously the most hysterical day of my life.

  “Ember,” he says again, beaming. “I lov—”

  “No! Stop!” And I’m laughing so hard now. I don’t know if it’s nerves or lack of sleep or if every person who’s led to their execution turns crazy, but I’m laughing. Out loud. And I really just can’t help myself.

  “Holy Crawford, would you let me finish?” His gray eyes are dancing now, and he has that dazzling smile on his lips, the one I only just recently was introduced to, and I’m so incredibly thrilled that we can spend our last few hours laughing together like old times. “Now, listen this time,” he says as we’re dragged farther down the hall.

  I shut my eyes, bracing myself for the words I honestly didn’t think Rain was capable of saying.

  “I. Love. You,” he says.

  I open my eyes, and despite the fact that his arms are pulled behind his back and we’re on the march to our deaths, he’s smiling so big right now, and his smile warms my core. I’m so happy, so elated, and death suddenly doesn’t terrify me anymore because I’ll be dying with Rain by my side. And he, Rain Turner, loves me.

  “I think…” I say. “I think…I love you…too.”

  I didn’t think it was possible, but his grin broadens.

  “If I could kiss you right now,” he says. “I would. I would kiss both corners of your mouth. I would kiss your rainbow eyes. I would kiss your temples—Argh!” His Defender jerks him, and we’re shoved into another room, and it happens so quickly, I don’t have time to look at the door to see which part of the building we’re at.