“What’s happening, Finn? What’s going on out there?”
“There’s no time. We have to go now.” Finn’s arms went around me, keeping the wailing baby sandwiched between us with great care. He gripped my waist, while his other hand touched Ana’s head tenderly.
When the wooden door burst open again, Ezra shouted a frantic, “Go! Get them out of here!”
Then Ezra tripped forward, pelted with something from behind that hit him with too much force. A large stone followed up the assault, missing Ezra and smacking Finn in the head. Ezra’s intake of breath and the sudden surprise on his face scared me more than the thrumming I could hear coming from outside, mingling with the whirring in my ears. Ezra’s fall felt ominous and made my heart race as I ran toward him. My dad’s mouth popped open in a pained moan as he toppled forward again, smacking his face on the stone to reveal an arrow sticking out of his back.
Four.
Father on the Floor
I don’t know how Finn ported all three of us out at once, but when the four of us arrived in my living room, my favorite captain blacked clean out and collapsed on the carpet. I nearly dropped Anastasia, but managed to hold onto her, clutching the tiny baby for dear life as I tried to make sense of what had just happened, so I could form a plan.
Finn was a warrior; he would be fine dealing with a fainting spell and a blow to the head. He would be priority number two after Ezra.
Ana was pissed, but she was alright. I needed both hands to tend to Ezra, who was busy bleeding as he lay face-down on my beige living room carpet. Though she screamed operatically, I ran Anastasia to my bedroom and laid her in the bassinet. I knew she wanted to be held, but breathed through my panic when I reasoned she would be at least physically okay in the bassinet. I shut the door to keep the smell of her baby skin away from Ezra, hoping with everything in me that Ezra didn’t shift and turn into a lion in my house. I shoved the throw that had been folded over the arm of the couch under the door, to stem the baby smell from tempting fate.
I raced to the bathroom and yanked my first aid kit from the counter under the sink. I dove headfirst into nurse-mode as I ran to kneel between the two men, checking Finn’s pulse and then turning my focus to Ezra. I didn’t have time take him to the hospital or even to wash my hands. I’d only just gotten my brace off from my run-in with some monsters in Sombi, so my dexterity wasn’t all that reassuring. Using the scissors in my kit, I clumsily cut a slit from the hem of the back of Ezra’s shirt and suit jacket up past the arrow, folding the material out of the way so I could see his back and his side fully exposed. I counted his ribs to make sure the arrow hadn’t punctured anything vital, praying that my shaking hands wouldn’t make more of a mess than what was currently painting his body red.
Treating inmates was different than trying to save your surrogate father. I didn’t blink twice when someone came in with a shiv sticking out of their leg. Ezra was the man who’d done everything he could to save me from my life and myself. I couldn’t let him die on the day of his daughter’s funeral. It was too awful.
I blew on my hands and then took in a deep breath as I gripped the arrow where the steel married with crude wood. Anastasia screamed in time with her grandfather when the jagged tip slid slowly out. More blood bubbled out from Ezra, trickling down over his side as he bit down into the carpet to take his pain out on the soft fibers. “It’s out. It’s okay. I know it hurts, but I don’t think it got anything vital.” I ignored his groans as I pressed my fingers around the area, making sure I wasn’t speaking my hopes as if they were fact. My shoulders drooped in relief. “No, your organs are intact. Let me clean this and sew it up. Then we’ll take you to the hospital so they can give you a second look to be sure.”
Ezra was sweating, and I wasn’t sure he could even hear me. I set to work disinfecting, apologizing for every cry he uttered at my hands. When he was cleaned, stitched, and bandaged, his body went limp on the floor. Ezra’s eyes closed as the pain mixed with his grief and took him to a place where no one could reach him. Where I couldn’t reach him.
I hadn’t cried at the funeral. Blame it on shock, or blame it on the millions of people watching my every move, but there it was. I was a robot. I hadn’t been able to feel the awful sting of the girl I’d regarded as my sister dying since they’d placed Anastasia Grace in my arms. Since then, the world had revolved around Ana: her feeding schedule, babyproofing the house, moving the baby stuff in and setting everything up (if you ever want to see your fiancé talk in only a string of swears, let him set up the crib without the directions he promises he doesn’t need), her sleeping schedule, and a litany of other things I was still trying to figure out. I couldn’t cry. There wasn’t any time.
Anastasia had no problem telling everyone and their mailman how unhappy she was. The pediatrician had assured me that colicky babies are just like this, and that time is the only thing that helps, though I was welcome to spin my wheels trying everything under the sun. The super nutritional allergen-free fortified formula was no help. Girlfriend had lost her mother, and was grieving the way she should – the way I should, but couldn’t.
“I have to go back down to Terraway. They need my help down there.” Ezra tried to get up on all fours, but didn’t make it halfway to kneeling before I laid him face-down again on the floor. “Easy, now. You’re not going anywhere.”
“But I’m on the council. I have to help the people.”
“You won’t help anybody if you bleed out. Just rest. There’s nothing you can do right now.”
Ezra exhaled, tears coming to him even more, now that he had mountains of physical and emotional pain to surround him. I placed a kiss to the back of Ezra’s head, holding his hand when he reached for me in his haze of never-ending sadness. “She’s gone,” he whispered, his eyes shut tight. “My little girl. I did everything I could, but she still... I never expected Terraway wouldn’t be the thing what brought her down. I didn’t think to safeguard her from motherhood.”
He was still lying on his stomach, so I didn’t know how to comfort him without moving him, which I didn’t think he was ready for yet. I brushed his blond hair back with gentle fingers around his temples while he clutched my other hand. I didn’t have words of solace to offer him. I mean, what was there to say? Dude had lost his wife, his fiancée, and now his daughter. I reached into my heart and produced the only thing I could think to give him. “Ezra, we’re all here for you. The Vandershots, Ollie and me, Anastasia – we all love you. I’m so sorry I can’t fix this.”
“My little girl,” he moaned, cupping my palm to his face so he could weep into my skin. He winced when his breathing was so erratic that his wound made him gasp in pain.
My free hand ghosted over his back, landing on the center and slowly rubbing the ache in his heart. “Easy, now. The more worked up you get, the worse your injury’s going to hurt.”
Ezra seemed to come to himself marginally, sucking in the tears I could see he was embarrassed by, though I couldn’t tell you why he thought I’d judge him for breaking down. “I’m sorry, dear. How dreadful, me lying on your floor, bleeding and weeping all over. Help an old man up?”
“No. You lie down and take it easy. I don’t want you moving for anything, understand? I don’t think the arrow hit your vitals, but I can’t be sure nothing got nicked. That means you’re not moving.” I stood, clumsy in my too-long dress and took a throw pillow from the couch, working it under his head. “There. That’s gotta be a step up from your face on the floor.”
“Indeed. Thank you.”
I slid the second throw pillow under Finn’s knees. Then I pulled Ollie’s comforter off his mattress to cover Finn with it. I checked his steady pulse again, his pupils to make sure they dilated properly, and placed a kiss to his forehead before digging in my diaper bag and pulling out the balisong blade Finn had given me. I didn’t know who had shot at Ezra, but I was certain we weren’t out of the woods yet. I had a baby, a king and a friend I cared deeply for to prote
ct. With Ana shut in the bedroom, I positioned myself between the two men, my knife drawn as I waited to kill whatever came through the front door to get at my family.
Five.
Sama’s Useful Pillow Talk
Von was not thrilled that I had the knife out, aimed and ready to stab him when he stepped into the house using his key. “Will you put that thing away? He’s not coming here to attack you.”
“Who?”
Von looked at me like I was playing around. “The Easter Bunny.” He gasped when his eyes fell on Ezra, and the drips of blood that stained the living room carpet. “Is he...”
“He’s alright, just not moving for now. The arrow was in deep, but it’s out.”
Ezra raised his arm. “I’m alright, son. Mason and you are well?”
“I don’t think any of us will be well after today. But no arrows in my bum, if that’s what you’re wondering.” He made his way to the bedroom, unable to let Ana cry for more than a minute without intervening. He came out with the red-faced angel, and I knew from the way her operatic cries slowly lessened in waves that he was pulling a small amount to get her to calm down.
I narrowed my eyes at him and pointed with the knife. “We agreed we wouldn’t use pulling. She has to learn to self-soothe. It’s in the book, Von.”
“I can’t think when she’s screaming. I can see myself throwing whole cars out of the way when she gets going, just so I can get to her and calm her down. She’s already been through so much. Baby’s first war – and me without my camera to capture it on film for the baby book.”
“Huh? What happened down there?”
Von looked up to assess my serious tone. “You really don’t know?”
“Of course not. Finn passed out from porting three people at once and getting hit in the head with a rock, and Ezra’s been resting. What happened?”
Ezra reached up to paw at Von’s pant leg, silently asking for help to stand. Von lay Anastasia on the carpet and took one arm of Ezra’s while I took the other. “Slowly,” I cautioned. “Try not to move your back so much.” We carefully lifted Ezra and lowered him onto a chair in the kitchen, taking in his “oof” to mean he would not be leaving the house for a while. When he was situated, I poured him a glass of water and set in on the table before him. “Now tell me what happened in Terraway. Who shot Ezra?”
Von came back into the kitchen with Anastasia holding onto his finger. “Take your pick. I don’t know how Sama got his hands on so many live soldiers, but they were all wearing a mark – an X burned into their foreheads.”
The blood drained from my face as I sat down, my head in my hands. “What did he want? Just the general mayhem and dominance?”
Ezra was pale, but he managed to sit mostly upright at the kitchen table. “I didn’t stick around to find out. I knew he would want you, so Finn and I ran to port the both of you out. I need to go back down there.” He tried to stand on his own, but Von and I were firm on him not going anywhere. “Our people were ambushed! The nations were grieving together, finally united in something, and Sama shows up to attack. What for? What could he possibly want? The more people he kills, the less potential clients he has for selling rations to. And some of those mourners could’ve already been his clients. It makes no sense!”
“More deaths could mean more soldiers for him,” I suggested.
“Sure, but he would have sacrificed many of his own, waging a war like that. I don’t buy that he’d be so reckless. Sama is a man of many plans. I’m missing something, and I’ve learned that underestimating Sama is a danger to us all.”
Von’s jaw was set in a tight line. “Maybe he wanted to slaughter the council. They sunk an arrow in you easy enough.”
I shook my head, wishing I didn’t know Sama better than most. “He wants you to know he can. That’s what this is about. It’s the largest gathering Terraway’s seen in ages, right? There’s usually always fighting between the nations. Now everyone’s in one spot, united in their sadness, so Sama shows up to let everyone know he can dominate without the council, with an undead army, and do it all at any moment.” I rubbed my forehead. “He’s punishing Terraway for coming together. He wants them only united under him.”
“How can you possibly know all that?” Von gaped, bouncing his knees slightly to soothe Ana as he stood between Ezra and me.
I shrugged, wishing for a different answer. “Pillow talk. Sama told me way more about himself than he ever got outta me. Like it or not, I know him. He needs people to know he’s in charge.” I thought back to all of our conversations about his “management” job, and the subsequent ones about him ruling with me by his side. “So yeah, he might go after the council, but he prefers people come to him on their own, not as a last resort. His pride runs deep. It’s not all that complicated. He likes trophies and respect. If he killed Ezra, that would be his trophy. With the army he brought, that gets him the respect. Simple as that.” A wave of dread washed over me, and I realized my brain had been sorting things in the wrong order of priorities this whole time. “Ollie! Ollie’s down there! Your mother, Von! And your brothers. We have to go back. Where’s Mason?”
“He’s still at the mansion, love. And you’re not going back down there. You’re staying in this house, where the guys and I have reinforced the charms too many times to count. This is your fortress, so you and Ana don’t step a toe outside, understood?”
“I can’t leave Ollie there!”
“Ollie will be alright.”
I stood, indignant, rolling my shoulders back and staring up at Von defiantly. “I don’t need anyone to patronize me. We’re talking zombie army, here.” I stalked out to the living room, kneeling down beside Finn and running my knuckle down his cheek. “Finn? Finn?” I tried to rouse him, but he only responded with a weak groan.
Von strolled out from the kitchen with Ana in his arms and a cold smile on his face. “Really? That’s your plan? Ask Finn to take you to Terraway? The one thing I trust Finn with is your safety. Next time you probably should pick someone who isn’t mad about you to help you throw yourself to the wolves.”
“Wolves! Thanks, babe.” I retrieved my cell from my bedroom on the nightstand and called the mansion, requesting Mason when Lynna answered in a fretful tone. “Ezra’s alright. He’s just resting. I’ve got Ana, Von, Finn and Ezra at my house, and we’re all safe. May I speak to Mason, please?”
When Mason came on the phone, I could hear the relief in his voice at my confirmation that we were all safe. “I was worried. I need you to stay inside your house, hani. I mean it. Stay with Von and in the house. And make sure the baby stays there, too. Don’t open the door for anyone but us.”
I cringed at Von’s cocky look that didn’t have an ounce of understanding to it. “What’s that? Is Mason telling you to run your quick little legs back to Terraway?” He clicked his tongue. “Oh, is he telling you to stay put? Oh, dear. How embarrassing for you. It’s almost like you’re wrong. Now, I forget. Do you like being wrong?”
I palmed Von’s face to get it away from mine. “Mason, Ollie’s still in Terraway. You have to take me back down there so we can yank him out. Sama’s already messed up Allie and me. I don’t want him anywhere near Ollie.”
I bit my lip through Mason’s pause. I wanted to yell at him to just get over here already. When he finally spoke, it was slowly, as if he thought I was stupid. “You can’t honestly think I’d take you back down to Silo smack in the middle of a war. I know we’ve had our differences, but do you really think I’d gamble with your life like that? I love you.”
I hung my head while Von gloated. “I love you, too. Doggone.” I harrumphed when Von started turning in a slow circle, shaking his booty while he whisper-sang a song he made up on the fly about how I loved to be wrong. I swatted at his butt and tried to focus on Mason. “Are you alright over there?”
“I’m fine. I’m heading back down in a second. If I see Ollie, I’ll try to get him to safety.”
Dread clutched me around
the throat, making my voice come out a pathetic squeak. “Mason, no! You can’t do that. Not without me. There’s no way you can go down into a war without backup. I can help you!”
“I have to try. My brother’s down there, too.”
“No. I’m putting my foot down.”
Mason chuckled in that way that warmed me. “Is that so? Mighty big threat, that is. You’re allowed to be scared for your brother, but I’m not allowed to be worried for mine? You forget my brother was in the chaos, too. I’ll port down, but you know the landing spot’s a couple days’ journey from the castle. It’s the best I can do, though. Have Ezra summon me if the battle ends before I get there, and I’ll come home.”
“Just stay where you are. You’ll never make it there in time anyway. Best be safe Topside.”
I could hear his indulgent smile. “Oh, you know me better than that by now, I hope. I’ll wolf out and run most of the way, so it won’t take me all that long. Plus I’ve got to help port Von’s brothers back. See you soon, hani.” He hung up the phone before I could try to talk him out of going there without me to help him fight. I’d wanted him to just port down and bring back Ollie, but I’d forgotten about only being able to land in the porting spot when you go down. Stupid magical rules.
Von had slowed his rump shaking. His brief break from the reality that our families were stuck in the middle of a war came to a crest. “I hate that I’m up here instead of helping my brothers. It doesn’t feel right.”
Ezra tapped his fingers on the kitchen table. “It’ll take a week to get our families all out. Finn ported the three of us, and it severely compromised him.” He shifted uncomfortably, and I wished I had some pain meds to give him. “Though, that could be the blow to the head, as well.”
Finn’s voice greeted us from the entryway to the kitchen. “I’d like to know when everyone lost their faith in my abilities. I closed my eyes for a few minutes. I think that’s allowed.”
Trap Page 3
