Please, don’t see me. Those four words ran through my mind on repeat until the man and woman were dead on the ground and the soldiers had left the couple to rot in the yard.
It dawned on me. There was no way I could walk through the city. Tensions were high. Stakes were higher.
If I was going to make it, I’d have to blend better. I needed a disguise.
As I was standing up, getting ready to leave, a soldier walked my way. He never saw me coming in the dim alley. I had no tracker, so he wasn’t alerted to my presence. I used a hefty rock to bash the helmet into his head.
He was stunned and took his helmet off while trying to keep his faculties and look around. That’s when I hit him again. He went down with a loud thump.
Stripping him, I dressed in his clothes and dragged his body to lay with the couple the soldiers had killed.
Let that be a warning to them. There was a ghost in their city, and he was tired of their crap.
Waltzing down the street in a tight red guard uniform, complete with helmet and freaky visor and a crazy-big gun, I felt like I at least had a chance. I needed a ride.
I cut across a yard. There were no vehicles in the alley at all, so I checked the street. I hadn’t seen any belonging to Lessers, but the Greaters had to have gotten there somehow. And I doubted they took a PerT.
A black car was parked nearby, but it was locked. The doors wouldn’t open no matter how hard I jerked on the latch. The smell of something absolutely rancid floated through the air. I could hear footsteps approaching—a lot of them. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
The sound was getting louder and louder.
I had no comm and couldn’t pass as a Greater. Maybe stealing the outfit was a bad idea. Just a few feet away, I realized, was where the horrific smell originated. Along the road was a small metal circle engraved with the word sewer.
I swallowed my pride along with that stench, and eased the covering off, sliding it to the side. Everything in me hoped the soldiers heading my way hadn’t heard the screeching of metal on metal. It had been loud.
Climbing down a spindly ladder into the dark, foul abyss, I eased the cover back over the top of my head and descended into a small stream of who knew what. All I knew was that it stank—badly. And after I spent time there, my scent would match.
But I was literally under the radar, beneath the city. I’d heard all streams flowed to bigger waters, and figured it could take me east to the river. The only thing I knew was I had a long walk ahead of me, and in general, the crap got deeper and deeper in the land of Greaters.
The cool liquid flowed over my boots, chilling my feet, but didn’t penetrate the leather somehow. They were waterproof. Can’t tell you how glad I was about that fact.
I eased my visor up, getting ready to take the helmet off when it activated. I hit something.
Would they see me or think it was the guy I left in the Lesser section? Sliding the visor back into place, I waited. The thing gave me options. I scrolled through: Communicate. Orders. Illuminate.
Illuminate! I tried to ease a finger into the visor and peck at the glowing word, but it didn’t work. So, I carefully pronounced the word. “Illuminate.” And then there was light. The entire tunnel lit up like I had a lantern with me.
And, I was literally up crap creek. Thank goodness the visor was a paddle of sorts.
Navigate. Another option. “Navigate.”
A map appeared on the screen. In the center was a small dot, and in the bottom right corner was a compass of sorts. I started forward and the dot began to move. I was the dot. Okay, I could roll with it. I could figure it out.
The more I walked, the easier it was to see where I was and where I wanted to be. Sometimes the sewers didn’t align with the streets well, but eventually they all met back up. It was much better than trudging blindly through crap in the dark.
Let’s do this, I said to myself, guiding my way east through the waste of Greaters and Lessers. It didn’t matter whose it was. It all stank the same.
MY COMM BUZZED. ABSENCE APPROVAL RESCINDED. REPORT IMMEDIATELY. There was no doubt Phoenix had received the same mandate. I’d told Kyan to meet me by the river. It would take time for him to get there, if it was even possible. I needed to find him, and in order to do that, I needed access to the system.
I’d report to work, as commanded, if only to use the system to my advantage. Soldiers were positioned everywhere—along streets, at PerT stations, at the entrances to buildings.
Unbeknownst to anyone on the train, I’d slipped my handgun to Abby. I wasn’t sure if she knew how to use one, but Gray did. He’d help her. I could see he loved her.
Even the short-tempered, foul-mouthed one loved her in his own way. He was risking everything. Of course, his actions weren’t simply meant to free Abby; they were meant to free the entire Lesser race.
Kaia and I had always followed the rules. Before we met, I assumed no Greater was worth looking at, and there would be no way I’d ever fall in love with one. I’d assumed wrong. One very much forbidden look at her was all it took. It didn’t matter to me if she was Greater or Lesser. Though everything about her screamed the former.
What surprised me was that she didn’t seem to care about the fact that I was a Lesser, born beneath her in every way. She was kind. She smiled and carried on conversations with me. It was she who helped me obtain a better position in the factory in Olympus. It was my ear she filled with the secrets of her hopes and dreams.
Soon, our friendship developed into something much deeper. I loved her, and she loved me. And nothing would keep us apart. No rule could squash something so profound. Intimacy was the next natural step for us. It was forbidden to everything but our hearts.
When we learned she was expecting a child, we were both frightened. Kaia was unmarried at the time. We were able to keep everything hidden for a while. But her pregnancy and the child within her womb grew fast.
She was questioned relentlessly but never broke. Procreation prior to being joined was prohibited, even among Greaters. They said if she told them everything, she’d be protected.
But she never gave them my name. Her parents held high positions, and she’d been taught several things about the security interface. She was too valuable to banish or punish.
As our child grew, Kaia would sneak Abby to see me whenever possible. But as she got bigger and began talking, we knew she’d likely tell someone about me. Her innocence wouldn’t comprehend that her mother and I weren’t allowed to love one another. Kaia feared for my life. But more than that, she feared for Abigail. At the age of three, she’d be given the vaccination. Kaia didn’t want it because of potential side effects. It was engineered for Greaters, not Lessers. Abby was both, and Kaia felt her daughter might be harmed.
Olympus was no place for her. Instead of being a safe environment, it became clear Abby was in danger. She was a mixture of two separated worlds, an abomination in the eyes of those in power.
We’d raised her in the city as long as we could. But when Kaia was reassigned to Vesuvius, we knew Abigail would be discovered. The repercussions would be grave. Greaters didn’t procreate with Lessers. She would’ve been killed. Kaia and I would’ve also been exterminated.
Abby was only a toddler when Kaia’s reassignment came through. No one could protest a direct order. As a Greater, your duty was to royalty, and the various cities had differing needs.
So, Kaia called in a few favors owed to her, and together, we took Abby to the one person I knew would keep her safe, to a place Greaters ruled but most had never set foot in: Orchard Village. A single comm went out and was immediately answered. My sister, Luella, agreed to keep Abby. She’d be raised a Lesser, brought up the way Lulu and I were raised. And though Kaia was apprehensive about it, I was at peace. We could find a solution, and in the meantime, Abby would be kept safe.
Abby would be tucked away, raised without knowledge of her past. The most difficult part to swallow was knowing she’d have little or no
memory of us. It was a small price to pay to keep her safe.
We were lucky Kaia’s favors were kept secret. And with one of those favors, I was also transferred to Vesuvius, and an order was issued that our train make a very short, but difficult, stop along the way at Orchard Village.
I swallowed the regret and continued my walk until I reached my target. Security was tight. I expected no less. Queen Lillith must’ve been aware Abby was gone. Everything was on lockdown.
Not only did I have to pass through the normal scanners, guards checked my retina, comm, and forearm tracker.
No red flags must’ve been raised, because I was instructed to proceed to elevator four. It was strange receiving that command from a human instead of an automated voice.
But I did follow it. Elevator four hauled me to the fourteenth floor where everything was different. And I knew I was in trouble. We all were.
Outside of each cubicle stood a guard, watching over the work of the individual inside. They were watching every stroke of the keyboard, every move we made. Someone had helped from the inside. They knew it and were determined to find out who it was.
I moved to my cubicle, only to be stopped from entering by a rather large guard. “Identification,” he barked.
I provided it as he had asked. “Comm.”
Handing him my comm, he punched through several screens.
“Proceed, Adam Kelley.” The man moved to allow me access to my desk and then hovered overhead.
Booting the computer up was simple. I logged on with my passwords, and my orders popped up onscreen immediately. I was to attempt to locate Marian Cole. My heart skipped a beat as I wondered why I hadn’t been instructed to find Abby. Do they have her in custody? Has the train made it out of Vesuvius?
Following protocol, I ran searches on her tracker and located it in the Lesser section of town. I sent instructions for a team of soldiers to search for her there, including the exact coordinates.
The guard behind me lifted his visor. His eyes were bloodshot, and his skin was ashen. He clutched his stomach and winced.
“Are you feeling okay?” I asked.
“Just worry about your work, Lesser.”
Oh, I was. I was very worried about my work.
I had to figure out what to do when they didn’t locate her there. Not only that, but there was no chance of me finding Kyan, or even leaving the room. I was trapped.
But even if I didn’t make it out of there, it looked like Kyan had been successful. Glancing quickly around the room, it looked as if several of the guards were ill.
GRAY SAT BESIDE ME WITH his arm around my shoulder.
Julia and Kaia were opposite us. Julia’s angry eyes settled on me occasionally, making me squirm. The wrinkles that usually lightly lined Kaia’s face were deepened with worry.
The train rocked gently, vibrating beneath us.
“Do you know where we are?”
Gray shook his head. “No idea, but I’m glad we’re out of Vesuvius.”
Tires squealed as the train made its way around another bend in the track. I needed to stand up. My back was aching. Little bean was happy, kicking and turning somersaults, but my spine was really angry.
I used the wall for balance and got to my feet. Gray was already on his, steadying me. I looked up at him, jaw clenched, worried eyes. He thought I was going into labor every time I hiccupped. Smiling to reassure him, I grabbed his hand and squeezed. “I’m fine. I just need to stretch.”
He seemed to relax but stayed at my side.
And I tried to stretch, tried to ease the ache. I paced and stretched and paced some more, holding on to Gray’s forearm and using the rusted wall of the train car to steady myself as we rocked along the track. The bullet-holes were harsh, tiny reminders of what we’d gone through to escape, and the fact that Marian was gone. I wondered if she was still alive.
Another step, then I stopped and tried to stretch my back without pulling the thing in my side. But my low back pain was getting worse, not better. It was intensifying by the second. Beads of sweat formed on my forehead, carving tiny trails down my face. Before I knew it, the underneath of my hair was soaked, and I was gritting my teeth from the pain.
I went from uncomfortable to holy crap that hurts in about thirty minutes.
Gray’s every movement shadowed mine. I loved the guy, but he was getting on my last nerve. Lulu got testy when her arthritis flared, maybe I was grumpy because I was hurting.
Kaia and Julia had stood to stretch, too. Kaia had been watching me with her arms folded across her chest. For a second, she reminded me of hawk-eyed Lillith, eyes tracking every detail. The love and concern in Kaia’s was genuine, though. That set her apart. And it made her mine.
“Is the pain intensifying?” she asked.
“Yes.” I ground out, trying not to pant like a dog, even though I really, really wanted to.
“Is it a radiating pain or localized to one area?”
I turned around and showed her that it started on either side of my spine right at the low back and spread around to the sides of my stomach.
“You should keep walking.” She instructed nonchalantly, looking down to type something on her comm.
I wanted to throw that comm against the rusty wall. I wanted to scream. Duh! I’m trying to walk and rock and move and stretch. Nothing’s helping—at all.
Her comm buzzed like an annoying gnat from across the train car.
“We’re about an hour away from the closest village.”
“Which one?” I asked, trying to focus on anything but the pain.
“Diamond. We can stop there,” she said looking up at me again.
“Diamond. Why do we need to stop?”
At that moment, the blare of our train’s horn echoed over sky and land. It was met by the horn of passing train. Gray climbed the ladder and looked over the top of the car’s side.
“More guards.” He announced, jumping from the third rung like a mountain lion.
I would’ve broken my neck.
“Why are there so many guards, and where are they all coming from?”
Julia answered me. “They’re being recalled to Vesuvius from the villages.”
“But they started arriving in Vesuvius before we left, before the gates were closed.”
She pushed her dark hair away from her face. “That’s because Phoenix sent the command several hours ago. Some have already filtered in from the closest villages. The trains we pass now will be from the farthest away.”
“Will the Queen let them in?”
Kaia laughed darkly. “What else is she going to do with them all?”
That was a side of Kaia I hadn’t seen before. I wondered what Lillith thought of her “closest advisor” now. “How many guards are in the villages?”
“Thousands. There are villages everywhere. This country is vast, and though there aren’t that many guards and staff in each village, when you add them all up, it’s a staggering number.”
“And the Queen has no idea what’s going on?”
Gray chuckled. “I’m sure she does now!”
We all laughed, but mine was cut short by the steady stream of water flowing from between my legs.
“Oh, God.” I looked up.
Gray went pale, to match his name.
“I think I’m having this baby—now.”
Kaia and Julia rushed to flank my sides, their faces paling. Kaia looked at Gray. “Find something for her to lay on if you can. There are some supplies in the other cars. Find blankets, cloth, water, something... Just go look!”
Wide-eyed, he nodded, and for a second I wondered how he’d make it into the next car. But his agility was a thing of beauty. We could hear him drop into the next one, over the din of the train wheels grating against the metal tracks. He was throwing things. Every so often, something loud would crash into the metal wall just beyond our own.
A few minutes later, he peeked over the top of our car. “Watch out.” He threw the wooden crate
down and then disappeared again. Giving him something to do had been wise, even if it hadn’t been necessary. Busy hands kept minds occupied, and he wasn’t as pale any more. Purpose had lit a fire beneath him, and I was glad he was finding things that would be helpful.
The pain hadn’t gotten worse. It was pretty steady, all stemming from my back, which I thought was weird. “How much time do we have?”
Julia responded, “We can stop at Diamond.”
Breathing through an intense spasm, I shook my head. “Not how long to the village. How long do I have until the baby comes?”
Kaia hugged me tightly, tears in her eyes. “We don’t know. Greaters give birth within minutes after contractions intensify and active labor begins. Lessers can take several hours. It’s likely you’ll fall somewhere between the two extremes. But we have no way of knowing for sure which end of the pendulum you might tend to be closest to. So we need to be ready for either possibility.”
“I don’t know what to do. I don’t know if I can do this.” Panic. I couldn’t breathe. I hurt so badly.
“Shh,” Gray comforted me, weaving his hand into my hair. With his free palm, he massaged my back. “Let’s get you cleaned up and comfortable before we worry about anything else, okay?”
I nodded. “Okay.”
He stared at me, jaw set with determination. “I’m here with you.”
Swallowing hard, I blinked back the tears blurring my vision.
“I won’t leave you. You’re mine. You always have been.”
I sniffed and gave a wobbly smile. “Not always.”
“Yes. Always. Even before Crew. Before Zander. You were made for me, Abs. You and I just hadn’t met yet. But you’ve always been mine. And I’m yours... And this baby? This baby is ours. She’s ours, Abs.”
Okay. That did it. The tears fell like torrents down my cheeks. “She is. She’s ours.”
He smiled. “Let’s make sure she enters the world as comfortably as possible, okay?”
“Okay.” I squeezed him tightly.
Julia watched Gray and me with unabashed intrigue, while Kaia cried along with me. The tender exchange had been so passionate, so moving, even she’d been affected.
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