Kingdom Come

by Michelle Smith

I just had to not be stupid. I could do that.

  Danny stared at me for another moment before stepping back into the walkway, his heavy boots clunking against the floor. My pulse thudded in my ears and I squeezed my eyes closed, willing my heart to slow down and give me some sort of mercy, but it refused. Danny greeted someone just a few feet away, and I recognized Joseph’s voice. Seconds later, footsteps retreated in the opposite direction.

  One . . . two . . . thr—

  A low whistle sounded through the bars, and I jumped to my feet. I peeked out of the cell and saw Danny at the very end of the corridor, jerking his head toward the last cell. It’s now or never. With one final glance at the wooden door, I hurried to Danny, only to slow when I registered the rifle in his hands.

  “It’s procedure,” he explained. “Don’t freak out. I’d never use it.” His eyes darted to the side, and I noticed the hallway branching off in that direction. It probably led to the guards’ quarters. “You wanna see your boy or what?”

  My feet moved of their own accord, and I ran the rest of the way until I slid to a stop right in front of the cell. Ethan lay on the metal bench, curled into a ball with a shabby burlap blanket on top of him. Dressed in nothing more than a t-shirt and the jeans he’d been wearing since leaving Sunrise, he had to be freezing. I looked down at my brand-new sweater and pants in disgust.

  “Clock’s tickin’,” Danny said. “I figured he’d want to wake up to your pretty face instead of mine. Dude tried to punch me the first time we were alone in here before I had a chance to explain.” He snorted. “‘Bout like you did the other night.”

  I reached out and squeezed his arm. “Thank you,” I whispered, a tear slipping down my cheek.

  He smiled, and I turned into the cell, padding over to where Ethan snored softly. His body trembled beneath the tattered blanket, and more tears spilled down my cheeks. Though his face was slightly hidden, the bruises weren’t. The entire left side of his face was swollen and purple, with a fresh cut across his cheek. I knelt to the floor, holding a hand to my nose so my sniffles wouldn’t echo. Carefully, I placed that same hand to his shoulder, giving it the gentlest of shakes.

  He jerked and popped up, panting and looking around frantically.

  “Shh, shh.” I slid onto the edge of the metal bed and grabbed his shoulders, forcing his attention to me. “Ethan, it’s me. It’s me.”

  My heart screamed at me to hold him, to kiss him, to whisper the three little words that’d been swirling in my head for the previous two days. He cupped my cheek, confusion filling his features. I grabbed his hand and held it there as his eyes searched mine. The battered right side of his face matched the left, but I fought back the sob in my throat because he was here and that was all that mattered. He was alive and here and finally, finally, we were together, even if for only a few precious minutes.

  “Kerri,” he whispered, and then his lips were on mine. Warmth filled me, consumed me, and I looped my arms around his neck, holding him as close as humanly possible. His skin was freezing, which only made me hold him tighter.

  He pulled away just enough to rest his forehead against mine as he caught his breath. His eyes, just as warm and beautiful as they’d been in my dreams, bore into me with such intensity that they took my breath away more than the kiss.

  “Danny told me you were okay,” he rasped.

  More tears streaked my cheeks. When was the last time he’d eaten? Had something to drink? His voice sounded as terrible as his wounds looked.

  “He told me, but I . . . I was so fucking scared . . .”

  “Me too,” I whispered.

  He straightened until he stared at me full-on, smiling. And I knew then that somehow, we’d be okay. He nodded to my bracelet. “Still there.”

  My gaze never wavered as I said, “I never take it off.” I sniffled. “The thing’s just as strong as you are.”

  Using the pad of his thumb, he wiped the wetness from my cheek. “Strong as you are.”

  “Guys,” Danny drawled. The alarm in his voice spiked my blood. “We’re about to get company.” His eyes were trained on the hallway leading to the guards’ quarters, and once I focused, I heard the footsteps heading straight in our direction.

  Ethan and I jumped up as Danny whirled around with panic all over his face. “K, you’re gonna have to go. Can you get back alone?”

  Ethan’s arm circled around my waist as I shook my head rapidly. “No. I don’t know my way around here.”

  “Daaaamn it,” Danny groaned. “Well, you have to try, and fast. And right the fuck now.”

  Ethan pulled me to him, and I held him with all my heart, all my soul, all my strength. Every memory of his kisses, of his hugs, of his very presence forced to the front of my mind, and I prayed to all that was holy that I’d get another moment like this before I died.

  He pressed a kiss to the top of my head and released me just as a door clamored open in the distance. My lips parted with those three words on the edge of my tongue. “Ethan, I . . . I lo—”

  He shook his head. “Me too,” he whispered. “Now get the hell out of here.”

  With a shattered heart, I did the only thing I could do: I ran like hell. And hoped to God Ethan would live another day, so I could tell him what I now knew to be true.

  I loved him.

  Chapter 19

  From the time I was a preschooler, not a day went by without a vision of some sort. I’d always considered them to be a curse. A nuisance. They intruded on my thoughts, on my life, and at the worst of times, it seemed. Sometimes, they were no big deal at all—they could be as simple as what I’d be having for lunch the next day. But they could also be as gruesome as a super-gory slasher movie. That said, my visions were part of me. I expected them.

  Since arriving at the estate, however, my mind had become silent. Still. Lonely. For the first time in my life, I had the normalcy I’d always craved. And that silence frightened me more than the most horrid of visions.

  My calendar read January 1st, a day that my sister and I used to spend lounging around in our PJs. We’d watch movies, load up on popcorn and chocolate-covered raisins, and sit down with our parents for a huge dinner that evening. It was tradition, a tradition that hurt to even think about. But as I stood on the balcony of my room, staring out at the rolling hills beyond the estate, I caught myself doing just that. I missed all of them more than words could describe. Without a second thought, my parents had taken in a little girl who’d been labeled as “troubled.” Now, that same troubled girl was part of the reason they were dead. Fate was a sadistic bastard.

  Then again, so was my brother.

  The frigid breeze tore at my tear-stained cheeks, and I wiped away the wetness. I needed to go back inside, but I wanted to feel the clean, crisp air for just a little longer. If things didn’t go right today, it could very well be the last time I had the chance to enjoy it. Because today was the day—the day Danny and I had deemed D-Day. And I still wasn’t one-hundred percent sure of our “plan.”

  I’d been by Bennett’s side for six and a half days, and after seeing Ethan, I was even more determined to make it work. I learned how to play by the rules. I did my best to portray the picture perfect sister and New World co-leader; at least, that’s how I was seen by the guardsmen. My instincts told me otherwise, though. One look into Bennett’s cold eyes told me everything I needed to know. He had no intention of allowing me to rule with him. People like him didn’t share power. I was simply a means to an end. And today was likely the beginning of that end. The end of the world as we knew it, the end of democracy . . . the end of me.

  I would probably die soon. In a strange sort of way, I’d accepted that.

  But that was just it. I could die. As paranoid as I was about our plan going awry, as scared as I was for what was to come, that was one thing Bennett didn’t understand about me. I’d survived far too much to lose this fight. I’d nearly met my death a dozen times over the previous weeks, and I’d conquered it. If anything, at
this point, I was the master of death. And I refused to roll over and let Bennett have the control he so desperately craved. He didn’t deserve a happy ending. Not after everything he’d done.

  For the millionth time, I ran over the plan Danny and I came up with. It really wasn’t even a plan, but more of “this is what has to happen, and however it happens, so be it.” Danny leads the group to the foyer for the ceremony. At some point in there, Danny pulls his firearm and shoots Bennett. It obviously wouldn’t be that simple. It couldn’t be—not with the legion that followed Bennett everywhere. And even if Danny managed to get his shot off, he’d probably be killed before he dropped his arm.

  I knew I’d likely meet the same fate. But for the sake of everyone else in this God-forsaken world, it had to be done. If I did die, at least it would be on my own terms.

  Without Bennett, the scroll couldn’t be opened, and the previous three weeks would be for naught. We would have suffered for no reason. But, there would be no more suffering to come for the rest of the world. Not at the hands of Bennett. It was the best possible solution. The only solution.

  A knock at the door ripped me from my thoughts, and I rushed off the balcony and crossed the room to let my partner-in-crime inside. Despite everything that was to come, he managed a small smile once he saw me. “You look nice. Where’s the party?”

  I rolled my eyes and looked down at the sleeveless blue dress I’d selected for the day. Bennett told me to dress as if I were attending a wedding. “It’s the beginning of the rest of our lives,” he’d said. Disgusting.

  “Well, I won’t even mention that you’ve been wearing the same uniform for six days now,” I said. I tried to smile, but tears burned my eyes as I looked at Danny’s freshly pressed clothes. With his cap and uniform, he looked more like a soldier than the seventeen-year-old tough guy I’d met just a few weeks earlier. That seemed like a different lifetime. “You okay?”

  His jaw stiffened. “Yeah.”

  “Nervous?”

  “Yeah.”

  I nodded, my throat tightening. “And Ethan?” My voice was barely above a whisper. I glanced down at the very-worn bracelet still tied to my wrist. It’d probably fall apart soon, but I prayed it would last through the day. I needed it. I needed him in any way I could have him. “Is he . . .”

  “Still alive,” Danny answered. His own voice held a slight tremble. “For now.”

  I nodded again. Bennett had to at least keep Ethan alive until he got what he wanted from me. “And how much time do we have?”

  “Bennett’s calling the outsiders together now. They’ll convene in the main courtyard for the announcement. He said the same will be happening at the other safe havens around the world, too. That all of the citizens are being debriefed right about now.”

  Sorrow filled me at the thought of thousands, maybe millions of people, all hoping and praying, for an answer, gathering together to find out the man they trusted was a power-hungry fiend. My heart broke for them. “They’re not going to like what he has to say, you know.”

  “They’ll either go along with it, or die.”

  That meant those already dead were the lucky ones. My parents and sister may have met an untimely death, but at least they weren’t around to witness this. I held out my hand, which Danny took before opening the door.

  “You know,” I began, stepping into the hall, “in just a little while, I’ll be walking to my own execution, Danny. Both of us will.” I turned to face him. “Anything you want to say to a girl on death row?”

  He let out a breathless laugh and shook his head, but there was a smirk on his face. Never in a thousand years would I have imagined becoming so close to this guy. But the thought of him dying, of not living out his life, shattered me.

  “Yeah,” he said, grabbing my hand. “Let’s go give ‘em hell.”

  Hand-in-hand, we started down our dimly-lit path. Our footsteps were silent as we navigated through the maze of halls, the sound concealed by the ornate carpet. Once we reached the set of stairs leading to the third floor, which housed Bennett’s office, I froze.

  Danny inhaled deeply. “I know it’s freakin’ terrifying, K, but we have to go. We’ll be late.”

  I squeezed his hand as I gazed at the steps. “What do you want to be, Danny?” My eyes, swollen from a night spent crying, met his. “When you grow up, I mean.”

  He winced, and his own eyes glazed over with tears. “Don’t do this—”

  “What do you want to be?”

  He held my gaze for a long while, studying me before replying, “An architect.” A trace of a smile ghosted his lips. “I, uh, always liked building things. Designing them. It gave me something to focus on when the rage shit flared up, you know? Good distraction, and I was pretty damn good at it.”

  I nodded. “I want to be a psychologist.”

  “What? Even after—”

  I laughed, the sound echoing in the deserted space. I’d almost forgotten what it felt like. My heart fluttered with the tiniest flicker of joy. “Yeah, even after years of sitting in front of shrinks. I like listening to people, and helping them.”

  “You’re a good listener, you know.”

  I took a deep breath, looking again at the staircase. It seemed a little less daunting. “In about ten years, expect a call from me. I want you to build me a kick-ass office building in the new and improved Pittsburgh. Deal?”

  “You got it, Pretty.”

  As we continued on to Bennett’s office, the roar of the crowd outside echoed throughout the mansion. The noise, however, was dull in comparison to the thoughts rushing through my head. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.

  When we reached the office, Danny knocked on the door, and I chanced a glance at him. His face was calm, but I knew deep down, he was just as much of a wreck as I was. Seconds later, the door swung open, and someone yanked Danny inside. What the—?

  I took a tentative step into the office. Joseph held Danny beside Bennett’s desk with his arms pinned behind his back. He stood with no resistance, but gave me a quick shake of his head. What the heck was going on here? My gaze shifted to Bennett, who was staring out the doors of his balcony, which overlooked the courtyard where the crowd was forming. Nate and Aaron stood on either side of him, both at full-attention. The room was quiet. Too quiet.

  “Kerrigan.” Bennett, whose voice was eerily calm, didn’t even bother turning around as he spoke my name. “Please, come in.”

  My legs shook more with each step I took across the room. I cast a questioning glance at Danny, but he only shook his head again. I gulped and kept on until I stood at Bennett’s side. Nate and Aaron closed in behind us, and a rush of other guards whooshed into the room. I looked to Bennett for some sort of explanation, but his face was one of utmost composure. Mine was flushed and already covered with a thin sheen of sweat thanks to my racing pulse.

  “Bennett?” I said. “What’s going on?”

  He rocked back on his heels, still not meeting my gaze; his attention was focused on the crowd, which was becoming louder by the minute. “It’s a funny thing, trust,” he said. “I’ve always kept people at arm’s length, and for good reason, might I add. But then you came along, and I thought, ‘Why not give her a little leeway? She shares the same blood as me. She should be a worthy confidant. She is my sister, after all.’”

  My breath caught when he finally looked at me. The eyes that were usually cold as stone now blazed with rage. “Midnight chats with my guardsman? Sneaking around my holding cells? Plotting the murder of your own brother?” He tsked. “Shame on you.”

  My lips parted, but no words came. Somehow, someway, he knew. And that meant . . . I whirled around, but was met with a wall of guardsmen. I couldn’t even see if Danny was still in the room. Panic settling in, I turned back to Bennett.

  “What happens to Danny?”

  He smirked. “Let’s just say, I now have another bargaining tool.” His smirk turned to a scowl as he pushed the balcony doors open.
“After you, sister.”

  My attention darted to the balcony. As much as I wanted to protest, I couldn’t. Not with a slew of guards standing behind us. So I stepped onto the balcony, covering my ears when the shouts of the crowd grew to a deafening level. I’d heard the expression “sea of people,” but I never knew just how accurate that description was until then. The crowd quieted when Bennett stepped to my side, microphone in hand.

  “Hello, my dear people,” he began.

  I winced as his voice boomed through the speakers surrounding us. But again, putting up a fight wasn’t worth it. He’d only make things more miserable for me, for Ethan, and now, for Danny.

  “Many of you have been here for three weeks now. Some have only arrived just a few days ago. No matter how long you’ve been here, though, I still consider you all members of our movement. Today, this movement climbs to another level.” He cleared his throat. “Today, this world will be transformed into The New World, and a new world requires a new leader. I will be that leader.”

  He paused, as if allowing the crowd a chance to cheer. All he got was silence. While I should have been terrified by the look on his face, it was priceless. He looked like my sister had when she was told she couldn’t have a pony.

  “This new world will have new laws, of course. Rules by which you must abide, or you will be punished accordingly. The first, and most important law by far, is that I will be your ruler. Your king.”

  That sent the crowd into an uproar. Screaming ensued, along with a lot of shoving and a lot of angry gestures as far as I could see. People were pissed. They were livid, and I couldn’t blame them. They’d come here with the promise of safety. Sanctuary. Now, they were being told they had to bow to a freakin’ self-proclaimed king?

  Bennett’s breathing intensified so much I could actually hear it above the crowd. He shoved the microphone into my hands, and my jaw dropped. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

  “Say something,” he ordered through gritted teeth.

  “What? What do I say?”