“No!” I shout, and I step toward him, but he lifts a hand stopping me.
“If you take one step closer, I will shoot.”
The trap door opens with a bang and Walker steps in, gun carefully aimed at Titus. “If you shoot her, I’ll shoot you.”
Titus’s eyes widen, then his mouth drops open. “Jonah.”
“That’s Uncle Jonah to you.”
“Some uncle.”
“You knew?” Aurora asks. “All this time, all your talk about how Walker is a terrorist, and you knew he was our uncle?”
He rolls his eyes. “Of course I knew. He was our mother’s brother, and mother was a traitor and a terrorist herself, so it came as no surprise. We could have had this talk privately, Rory. I would have explained everything eventually. But I’m out of patience and you’re out of time.”
He drops the gun, then slams a red button on his desk and Defenders storm into the room. And there’s at least twenty of them, and Jonah’s shouting at us to get out of the room, and I’m spinning around toward the exit but Aurora shouts, “No! The hall will be guarded on the outside. We have to jump through the window!”
“Are you kidding?” I ask. “We’re two stories up and the ground is concrete!”
“It’s our only chance.”
We all bolt to the window before the Defenders can get their hands on us. Jonah shoots the glass out, then gestures for Aurora to jump. She does, and he gestures for me to hurry. I step onto the ledge, look at the long drop, but I don’t have much time to chicken out because Defenders are shooting behind me and gunshots are ringing and deafening and I leap out of the window.
The long drop takes my breath out of me, and I land with a hard thud on the ground and a sharp twist of my ankle. Pain shoots up my leg, but no time to nurse it. I stumble to my feet and limp down the stairs to the road. A jeep darts up on the curb, and a sense of dread fills me, but quickly ends when I see the driver is Rain. Forest and Mcallister leap out and help Aurora, me, and Walker into the jeep, and then we’re off, rushing down the street at a neck-breaking speed that only Rain could pull off. Bullets ricochet off the windshield, but these military jeeps are built for war, and now I know why.
“Did you get the antitoxin?” Aurora asks.
“It was exactly where you said it was, princess,” Rain mutters, taking a swerve down another street.
“I guess she’s not as bad as you thought, huh brother?” Forest asks, gripping the window ledge with his life.
“Please don’t talk,” Rain says. “I need to focus if I’m going to keep you all alive.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
I don’t know how we made it out of Frankfort safely. How Titus’s guards aren’t posted at every entrance to Frankfort—or if maybe he thought nobody would care enough about me and Rain to rescue us. But he was wrong, because his own favored sister and his best friend apparently care for me and Rain more than they care for him. But somehow, fate or God, we arrive to Louisville safely, no sign of anyone following us.
When we arrive, Doc Reece is already working on Elijah outside, by the light of the sun. Dad’s looking over Doc’s shoulder, his arms crossed and a worried look on his face. Elijah is on his stomach and his back is coated in blood, and through the smeared blood I can just make out lashes. Elijah was whipped. At least five times. I bolt to Elijah’s side and kneel down, mumbling a string of curse words and prayers all in one long sentence.
Doc Reece pours some kind of liquid on the wounds, then places gauze over the strips.
And I’m so angry right now. I’m trembling, and feel like I could black out with blind rage at any minute when I hear a gasp from behind me.
Aurora is standing there, her hand over her mouth and a look of pure horror on her features.
“Titus did this?” She kneels beside Elijah and tenderly touches his face, as if it was her brother who was beaten to a pulp. But I guess…he is her brother. Elijah is as much her brother as he is mine. At least by blood. Which means he’s Titus’s brother, too. She strokes Elijah’s temple, shakes her head over and over and over again as she looks at his back caked in blood.
And I’m so shocked because this is a side of Aurora I have only seen once, and after all Rain’s talk about her being fake, I didn’t exactly anticipate to see this side of her again. But then she did help us escape, and she’s holding Elijah—she’s holding him like she loves him.
“Is he going to be okay?”
I look up at the sound of Forest’s voice. And I have to know.
“Please don’t tell me you were a part of this,” I say.
Something in his eyes breaks. “I had no idea, Ember. Titus promised he wouldn’t touch Elijah, but—”
“But Titus isn’t who we thought he was,” Aurora says.
Forest closes his mouth, swallows convulsively. “No,” he says huskily. “No. He’s nothing like we thought.”
Aurora gently lays Elijah back down, shakes her head again and again. “We should have killed him when we had the chance. I should have shot him in the head.”
I try not to snap at her that she should have, that if I had the gun that’s what I would have done. But I can’t. I shouldn’t. Because there are some things going on between Titus and Aurora that I don’t understand.
“Titus knows.” Aurora wipes her eyes with the heel of her hand. “Titus knows exactly where Gideon is. He knew all along.”
Who is Gideon? Forest obviously knows. He walks over and pulls her into a tight embrace. He cradles her head against his chest, murmurs in her ear, and her body seems to relax.
And something clicks. I suddenly get it. I get what Aurora meant about Forest’s empathy. Forest was always glue. He was always there to put people back together. He was there to put me back together all the time. But I don’t really need Forest’s glue anymore. Because I’ve moved on. I’ve healed. I’ve overcome.
But Aurora…I’m not sure anyone could overcome what she went through—being locked in one room for sixteen years by her own brother. And the oddest thing happens—I suddenly want her and Forest to be together. Aurora, the wounded. Forest the comforter. They fit together like a puzzle. Maybe she just needs time to reciprocate his feelings.
She pulls away, confusion clouding her vision.
“I just don’t understand,” she says. “Titus always seemed kind. He was always so understanding and compassionate. He would visit me every day—”
“In the one room where he kept you locked up?” I ask bitterly.
She looks at me through her tears. No guarded expression. No hardness in her eyes. She’s an open book. And she nods.
“It—it wasn’t like a prison. It was comfortable. I mean, I had a bed and a fireplace and a maid and a tutor—”
“But you weren’t allowed to leave,” Forest says, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “So it kind of was like a prison.”
I’m glad to have Forest’s old self back.
“It was for my own safety,” Aurora says to Forest. “So that my life wouldn’t be put in danger.”
But Forest shakes his head. “Living locked up in a room is no life at all Aurora. By keeping you locked up, Titus was, in a way, killing you himself. And now that we know he took Gideon and lied about it, I don’t think there’s a question about it. Titus is evil.”
She stares at him. She looks at Walker. Finally, she looks at me, and her walls are crumbling, the towers of defense falling apart stone by stone, rock by rock, and tears flood her eyes and drip down her cheek. She breaks away from Forest and says in a very quiet, very broken voice, “Excuse me.” And she walks into cavern.
And I think we all know it’s safe to leave her alone for now.
Well, most of us.
“So we’re just gonna let her go?” Levi asks.
“My thoughts exactly,” Rain mutters.
Isaac shoots Mcallister a look. “Go guard her.”
Something ignites in me the way Isaac commands Mcallister. “Don’t talk to him like that,�
� I snap. “He’s not a brainless Defender, he’s our comrade.”
“Well, someone needs to keep an eye on Aurora.”
Forest huffs out a laugh. “She just tried to help you take down her brother!”
“But she didn’t, did she?” Rain shakes his head and looks after Aurora, but doesn’t bother going after her. No point, really. She’s headed inside the caverns, and we’re all standing at the only exit.
“How am I supposed to know that I can trust you?” Rain asks, glaring at Forest.
Forest heaves out a sigh and drags his hand through his golden hair. “You’ll just have to believe me.” He scans the crowd and speaks louder so everyone can hear. “I don’t want to hurt any of you. I was…I was a fool for blindly following Titus’s orders. We’d been friends for so long, I thought—” His voice breaks off and he looks at me, his throat convulsing in a hard swallow. “I thought he would change. But he didn’t.”
“And now we’re just s’posed to believe you’re on our side?” Isaac asks. He looks at the others, the veins popping out in his neck. “We should put a bullet in his head right now before he smokes us out!”
Rain steps between Isaac and Forest. “Forest is a terrible liar. So I think he’s telling the truth. The person we can’t trust is Aurora.”
“If you trust me,” Forest says. “Then trust me when I say that you can trust her, too.”
“Just like you said we could trust the chief?” Rain asks. “Ember and I almost paid with our lives for that mistake. I think I can speak for the entire Resurgence when I say, we will never trust Aurora any more than we trusted Titus. They’re one and the same, Forest. She’s just better at wearing the nice mask than Titus was.”
The others mutter their agreement. Doc Reece and Dad carry Elijah inside the caverns, and everyone must be okay with keeping Forest alive for now, because soon it’s just me and him.
“You can trust her, you know,” Forest says, trying to press his case.
“I know,” I say.
His eyes lighten, and a look of relief flits across his features.
“Call it twin instinct or whatever. But I just know she’s on our side.” I shrug. “I might even trust her more than I trust you.”
He releases a hoarse laugh and nods. “I don’t blame you.” He locks his arms behind his back, and we begin heading inside the caverns. “Just for the record, I didn’t believe you. I didn’t believe you when you told me she didn’t want to come back to Frankfort. But, I think I understand now.” He presses his lips together and looks at me with those soft blue eyes that always seem to tug at my very soul. He looks at me like he owes me an apology. And then he says, “You were right all along, Ember. There’s no more time to waste, waiting for Titus to change things, because he never will. He’s…he’s a monster. And it’s time we. Bring. Him. Down.”
“That’s the spirit.” I grin. “I’ve been waiting for months to hear you say that.”
“I wish you didn’t have to wait so long. I wish…I wish I could have trusted your word above his, and seen what a monster he was from the very beginning. We could have avoided a lot of heartache.”
I lift my shoulder in a shrug. “But then what would have happened with Aurora? With us? Maybe that was necessary to bring us where we are now. I mean, it took me coming to the ashen city and spending time with these people to give me the incentive to want to change things.”
Forest nods. “Yes. Time has a strange way of changing people.” He stops at the entrance to the cavern and turns to face me. “Look, I know the past few meetings between us have been… rough. But, I feel like we need to clear the air. Shove away the awkwardness between us. Because you love Rain. And I’ve sort of developed feelings for Aurora, though I know I shouldn’t. But all that’s quite obvious. And we argued a lot the last few times we saw each other, which just goes to show how we’re not the least bit compatible. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends. And I think I would like to have you as a friend.”
I smile. I always thought it would hurt to hear Forest play the “just friends” card, but it’s actually a huge relief.
“I would like you as a friend, too. And I think you and Aurora are perfect for each other.”
“You do?” His voice holds hope, like my approval really means something to him.
“Yes. I came to the realization when you were holding her minutes ago. If you were a superhero, your superpower would be comforting. And I think after everything she’s gone through, Aurora could use a good comforter right about now.” I reach out and squeeze his arm. “Just give her time.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
Once Elijah is settled in his tent and Doc Reece has tended to his wounds, we gather around the fire. Still no sign of Aurora. Forest took a lamp and went out to look for her, and I honestly think he’s the best choice for her to talk to right now. Forest…he’s a good listener. Always slow to anger. And he knows Titus almost as well, if not more, than Aurora does. He’ll understand her misunderstanding.
Another shout echoes through the cavern.
“You got it!” Levi shouts at Rain, laughing. “You got the antitoxin!”
Hope seizes me. So much bad has happened in the past twenty-four hours that I forgot about the whole reason we all returned—to get the antitoxin. So Levi could turn it into a gas bomb to spread across the entire city.
In the midst of grief and question and doubt, there’s finally something that brings us hope. Something that promises change. And I know, as soon as Levi creates this antitoxin gas bomb and everyone is un-brainwashed, everything in Ky will be different. The entire country will want to rise up against Titus. Everyone will want change.
We stay up half the night planning our next few moves. Levi’s already working on the gas bomb with the tools he stole from Frankfort on his last visit. He has his own little campfire set up, and a few people standing around him, offering to help in any way they can.
“It may take days, maybe even weeks for Levi to perfect his gas bomb,” Jonah explains. “The gas he experimented with on the Defenders—it helped clear Beta compulsion, but they’re still under Alpha compulsion. And even when he does perfect the bomb, he’s planning on making eight of them, one for each county of Ky. As soon as it’s finished, he’ll go ahead of us. He and the other Fearless Six—well, Five, since Elijah’s not in any condition to fight—will begin traveling to each county, setting off the bombs. Chaos is sure to ensue, because people’s eyes will be opened. They’ll realize their brains have been controlled these past however many years they’ve been compelled to work like slaves. So we need to get to Frankfort as soon as possible. Take control of the situation.” Walker looks right at me. “We need you to be ready to take the lead, Ember. We’ll have our army of Defenders and whoever else wants to go along, and they will escort you to the capitol. We’ll get you into the building. We’ll take down Titus. And we’ll take this country back.”
I don’t tell him that I think Aurora should be the one to take the helm. Because, even after everything, I’m not entirely sure she can be trusted. She still has a soft spot in her heart for Titus. What will she do when she’s standing face to face with the brother she loved? What if he brings up this Gideon again?
It’s late when we finish planning. The crowd begins thinning, people heading off to their tents to get some sleep. Because the next week is going to be a big week.
I step into Dad and Elijah’s tent. Elijah’s still passed out, probably from some concoction Doc Reece gave him, and Dad is sitting beside him with his knees propped up, staring at Elijah’s bandaged back.
“How’s he doing?” I ask weakly.
Dad looks up and nods. “Okay. I guess.” He looks tired and strained, with dark circles under his eyes. I sit beside him and we both stare at Elijah, as if staring at him long enough will make his wounds heal faster.
“These last couple days have been terrifying,” Dad finally says, lifting his eyes to mine. “I’ve been worried sick about you and Elijah,
and when I heard you both were captured…” His voice trails off and he looks away, but even in the lantern light I can see the tears he’s fighting. Finally, he swallows and pulls a dagger with an ivory handle from under his sleeping bag and hands it to me. “I want you to have this. I want you to keep it on you at all times.” He searches my eyes. “Don’t hesitate to use it, Ember. I thought I lost you several times already. I don’t—” His voice chokes off again. “I don’t really want to risk losing you again.”
I nod, fighting back my own tears, and stuff the knife into my belt at my back.
“Try to get some rest tonight,” he says. “We have a big couple weeks ahead of us, and everyone’s counting on you.”
I nod and stand. His words don’t bother me as much as they used to. I guess I’m handling the pressure a little better. “You get some rest, too, Dad. Elijah’s going to need you when he wakes up.”
When I step out of the tent, most of the people have cleared and gone to bed. Soon it’s just me and Rain who are still awake.
I watch the embers of the dying fire, remembering Mom’s last words to me just before she died. When the fire goes out, supposedly dead, the embers still remain, tiny specks of dead wood and ash that have the capacity to start a fire large enough to burn down an entire city.
I remember how she looked at me, searched my eyes with her strange green ones, how she moved me to tears with that simple, world-shaking look in her eyes. That’s you, Ember. Everything seems calm. The fire has blown over, the White Plague wiped away, and our government established. And then there’s you. Ember. The hidden flake of ash, still burning, glowing, igniting into a tiny flame that will someday blow over the entire nation of Ky.
My only burning question now is, why me? Why didn’t she take Aurora instead? Why didn’t she take all three of her children? Surely she knew Titus would grow into the monster he is, being raised by Chief Aden and all. And what, exactly, happened to her that night she was captured? Before she died? Did Chief Aden interrogate her? And why—why didn’t he capture me, too?
ashen city (Black Tiger Series Book 2) Page 34
