Thin Hope

by Holly Hook

  "Got it," Kiki said. "I just need to check one thing."

  "Hurry. I don't have a good feeling about this."

  Kiki kept the phone to her ear as she pushed open the study door. Sunlight streamed in through the picture window, making her squint. More military badges hung on the wall around her as the computer glowed on its gigantic table, its cabinets folded out to reveal telephones, GPS screens of the entire city, and even a greenish radar screen on the left.

  Kiki started pulling open drawers, as she didn't have the password to access Patrick's computer. Maybe Damon had it now. She'd have to get it from him, come back here, and drain his hard drive of all its files. There had to be something incriminating in there.

  A small, leather-bound book sat in a nest of blank CD's and paper clips. "Riley, I think I've found something. I'll bring it back with me." She stuffed it into the pocket of her cammo pants.

  "What? What did you find?" her impatient voice practically yelled in her ear.

  Kiki froze. The computer screen glowed with a single message, hastily typed out on a word processor:

  ~You are never alone, my dear. I will always find a way to be with you.

  "Kiki?" Riley asked.

  "I've got to go, Riley. I don't think it's secure here." Kiki shut her phone and crammed it back in her pocket with one hand and reached for her pistols with the other.

  A figure in black moved into the doorway. At the same time, the closet door squealed open and another figure burst out, ramming into her before she could turn. Spots appeared in her vision. Her pistol went flying and skidding across the floor, disappearing under Patrick's huge desk.

  “What the hell?” Kiki flailed her arm and reached for her second pistol, but a strong hand, sleeved in black, wrapped around her and held her arm tight. Delainians! They must have found a way through the old catacombs after all.

  The sound of her second pistol hitting the floor filled the room, followed by complete silence. Her captor whirled her around with ease to face the doorway, and her heart stopped.

  Patrick stood in the doorway, dressed in a black-and-red Delainian soldier's uniform. A silver lightning bolt was pinned to the front—Darren Storm's insignia. His eyes, still green, glistened as he held up her second pistol, teasing her with that insane grin splitting his face. He wiggled it, twirled it around, and flung it back into the hall.

  She was unarmed. Unable to defend herself.

  “So you're the traitor to Keilara,” Kiki said. She needed time to assess the situation. "What did you do, Patrick? Purposely keep the military away from where Delainia was really going to invade?"

  “Keilara has nothing to offer,” Patrick said. “Delainia is my country now. I was getting overworked, and for what? To have a mansion I can never even spend any time in? To spend countless hours on end in front of this computer? How can I live when all I do is work? I wanted honor and glory, but I was a slave to the military even after all I gave for it. Delainia had so much more to offer for someone like me. Darren and Gracie Storm have offered me a real life of luxury, and opportunities to...advance beyond my dreams.” He smiled, a knowing smile, as he drew closer.

  Patrick stopped right in front of Kiki, their faces inches apart. Kiki refused to breathe, repulsed by Patrick's horrible breath.

  “Then you're selfish. And what good does helping Delainia start a war do, Patrick?” Kiki asked as the Delainian's grip grew tighter on her arms.

  “Darren wants land, first and foremost, to gain some leverage against Lateine. He and Emperor Ivan are competing, you know that. They're terrified one will eventually crush the other. The bargain was that if I helped his army invade, I could secure a high ranking position in his government. Besides," he paused for dramatic effect. "Allowing Delainia to take over Keilara is a far kinder fate than letting Lateine take it over. At least Darren Storm respects science and education, like you do. Emperor Ivan isn't happy unless his people are living in mud huts, and Delainia has gotten wind of the fact that he's been thinking about invading Keilara for some time now. The Emperor is truly a greedy, self-absorbed man who will stop at nothing to gain more power. He sees the educated people here as a threat to him."

  A chill seemed to rush through the room, raising bumps across her skin. “But Darren Storm is insane,” Kiki said. "He infected his own people with what? CDV? Whatever they are, they're not human anymore." The soldier's grip tightened on her wrists to the point of pain. Somewhere down the hall, crashes sounded as another struggle started. The cops, and maybe more Delainians. "What if he decides to use you for some experiment, Patrick? Or us? You don't know what you're getting into."

  “Oh, I do, Kiki. I'll be truly living the life of luxury, being able to start a new life...with you.”

  “In your dreams, you bastard.”

  Patrick leaned in, seized her cheek, and planted his lips on hers.

  His disgusting breath seemed to fill her world. She struggled and tried to break free from the kiss, but failed. At last, after what felt like a year, Patrick backed off and smiled at her. He then turned away and headed for the closet door.

  “Cuff her and put her in my car. It's out back. I know she'll struggle.”

  Kiki gagged to rid herself of his taste, spitting on the floor. She was not about to be captured by the Delainian forces. Darren Storm would have too much leverage on her parents. She watched Patrick lean into the dark closet, to where a figure in blue sat, arms tied behind his back. The first officer who had radioed them in, probably with Patrick holding a knife to his throat. The man glanced at her, then stared down at the floorboards. His look communicated what he couldn't say. I'm sorry, Your Highness.

  Patrick leaned down and relieved the officer of his handcuffs. "Here." He tossed them to the Delainian behind her.

  Now was her chance.

  The Delainian's grip loosened for a second, just long enough so that he only held her there with one hand. Kiki glanced down at his feet, raised her own, and came down on his with her boot, delivering a crushing blow.

  His grip loosened, and she came free.

  "No!" Patrick's form raced for the study door, and she had to skid to a stop to avoid running into him. "Kiki—it's best this way. You don't want to be here when Lateine invades. I'll have access to incredible power, and I'll share it with you."

  She glanced behind her. The Delainian was rubbing his foot and seething. It wouldn't take long for him to recover. If Lateine was really going to invade, she had to get out, to warn her family. To warn Damon.

  Somewhere, sirens wailed and grew louder.

  The soldier lunged at her once again as a fierce wind started to snap through the room. His black eyes locked on hers, almost glowing with a savage anger.

  There was only once escape left. The window. She just might survive. Even death would be better than a life with Patrick, or a life living under Darren Storm. He couldn't hold a corpse ransom.

  Damon, forgive me.

  Kiki whirled around, tucked her head into her arms, and leapt backwards.

  Patrick's agonized scream filled the air before the sound of shattering glass drowned it out. Air sailed up around her as stings covered her skin. Somewhere, sirens got louder until they sounded like they were nearly on top of her. She hit the ground and the sky turned black.

  Chapter Six

  August 22nd, 2017

  “If only I was there," Damon repeated to the tune of Kiki's heart monitor beeping away.

  "Damon, this is not your fault," the King repeated the chair next to him. He adjusted the curtains, opening them a little to illuminate the hospital room. "Kiki has always acted on her own. You know that. No one has ever been able to stop her."

  Damon watched the IV packet drip its serum into his fiancé's veins. She'd lost a lot of blood going through the window, and likely would have died if Riley hadn't activated the emergency services right after Kiki hung up with her. She did a lot of napping, mostly due to the constant interruptions of the hospital staff, but she was expected to
be out of here shortly. She'd already started doing much better yesterday, as soon as they got more fluids into her, and had even walked herself to the bathroom and back earlier today. She was a tough one, his Kiki.

  Damon took her hand and squeezed. "No offense, but I hope you're wrong about Lateine."

  He had the sinking feeling she hadn’t been. Their contact from Lateine, Revolution Fire, had been feeding Patrick information about Emperor Ivan over the course of the past two years. What had he told Patrick that Patrick hadn't told them? Then again, nobody knew who Revolution Fire actually was. All they knew was that the man claimed to live in the palace and have access to the radio transmitters there. Messages from him had been months apart, understandably. Ivan seemed to have the ability to watch everyone in his country.

  "I'm wondering if that's why Darren hasn't contacted us yet," the King said. "He might be waiting for to see what Lateine is going to do. If, in fact, my former brother-in-law was right about what he said."

  Damon's free hand clenched at the mere mention of that pig. The little book that Kiki had taken from Patrick's study trembled in the King's hands. They'd both read through it at least a dozen times, trying to gain some kind of intelligence, anything, to tell them how to get rid of the Delainians. At least Patrick had admitted his guilt, and if they ever caught him, there would be no question of his guilt in the trial. But why had he left it in such an easy place for Kiki to find? Maybe he wanted her to find it, or he hadn't expected her to escape the Maxwell Mansion.

  Damon took the book from his soon-to-be father in law and flipped through it as Kiki continued to sleep away. Every entry sickened him. Words swam in front of his eyes, confirming his fears.

  ~The military life here is quite ridiculous, but the only reason I stay is because of my precious Kiki. Even then, it seems like my life is more shit than good.

  ~I spied on Kiki again today, as she practiced at the shooting range. She remains as beautiful as ever. I wish she could understand how much I need to be around her. She's the only hope I have that I can ever escape this life on constant work.

  ~That bastard Damon Stanza keeps getting in my way. He's constantly hanging around Kiki, making sure I can't get anywhere near her. Maybe the only way to win her heart is to take him out of the equation.

  Damon shut the book and put it on a table beside Kiki's bed. He couldn't look at that disgusting thing again, and it took all his restraint not to knock it into the trash can to join the tissues already nesting in there.

  "He's turning power hungry," the King said. Lines formed around his eyes as he spoke. It seemed like he'd doubled his number of wrinkles in the past few days.

  Damon looked down at Kiki, running his hand through her long red hair and sitting beside her. Kiki began to open her eyes.

  * * * * *

  At the headquarters, Queen Dawn and Ashley stood on the top floor, waiting for Morris and Damon to come back with Kiki. The doctors wanted to discharge her today. Her blood count was looking much better. Her husband had told her an hour ago. She stared at the conference screen in silence, waiting for that first message from Darren Storm. There hadn't been any movement of his forces from the Industrial District since the incident at the Maxwell Mansion, and nobody was sure what was going to happen next. Dawn, who had taken over for Damon for a few hours, had considered sending an assault of their soldiers into the Delainian lines to drive them back, but a bad feeling gnawed at her gut. They weren't entirely sure what the Delainians were capable of other than their control over the air around them.

  Outside, low-hanging storm clouds hung over the Industrial District like a warning not to interfere. The thought of sending troops in there made a sick feeling bloom through her whole body. She hated taking part in this kind of thing for this exact reason.

  Ashley stood in front of the giant Keilaran National Bank sign, staring out through the glass to the sparkling Frelladon River to the north. She leaned closer to the glass as if trying to make something out in the distance. “My Queen,” she said. “you'd better have a look at this.”

  Dawn rushed over to the window and looked down toward the distant river, which snaked past a couple of suburbs and the sparkling stadium of Frelladon Field. Several black specks moved quickly down the river, leaving water rippling in their wake. Boats.

  At first she thought it might be some people on an outing, or trying to get back into town without the Delainians spotting them. No. There were dozens of the boats, too far away to see clearly, then seemingly hundreds, all pouring in from the Lateine border to the northeast.

  Dawn could barely keep the panic out of her voice. "Ashley, the binoculars, please."

  A drawer opened and closed as her former sister-in-law retrieved them.

  The view was worse through the lenses. Many of the boats had pulled up to the docks, and smaller specks disembarked and rushed up through the piers. People.

  One of them raised a hand as a white-blue ball of magic fire formed around its palm. The ball fired at a nearby power line, exploding and sending sparks through the air.

  The Queen nearly dropped her binoculars. It wasn't just people invading. It was their magic using neighbors to the north.

  Lateine had landed.

  Chapter Seven

  The Queen had to take immediate action unless she wanted more invaders inside the actual city. The Lateinians wouldn't take long to vacate the stadium and the parks and make their way into the suburbs or worse, downtown. Whatever they took would be almost impossible to get back, with magic like theirs.

  Without a word, she bolted over to the phone sitting on the table, waiting for a call from Darren Storm.

  "Damon," she called, jamming her finger down on the call button. "Lateine is invading from the north, via the river. We need to act quickly if we're to contain them."

  She barely heard her own words as she sent call after call to the generals stationed at the palace, urging them to move more troops to the north side of the city. Ashley stood by and hugged Amber close in silence.

  Two minutes later, a helicopter roared over the top of the building, headed for the new invasion. Then another, and another. Ryan and Riley came out of the lounge and rushed over to the window to watch. "What the hell?" Ryan started.

  Dawn joined them. Figures in steel gray uniforms marched through the streets just past the parks, firing off that white-blue magic everywhere, cutting off power to the citizens in those suburbs. Helicopters raced out to meet them like a swarm of huge, angry bees. Concrete barriers dangled from some of them, hastily put on by a military already on high alert. Frelladon Field and the largest of the parks already had enemy soldiers surrounding it like ants around a fallen ice cream cone. Only these weren't ants.

  Silence reigned inside the headquarters as helicopters dropped barriers on the streets, probably Frelladon Avenue, to keep the Lateinians from advancing any further. More of that magic flew through the air, barely missing the choppers. Dawn let herself start to breathe again. The recreational district was mostly surrounded by high walls, placed there back when Queen Fellina had been pressured for marriage by Emperor Ivan, back before the city of Frelladon had gotten bigger and expanded past its original borders.

  "My Queen, I think they've stopped advancing," Ashley said, joining her at the window and loosening her grip on her daughter.

  Dawn breathed a sigh of relief as tears stung at her eyes. She held them back. Their city couldn't handle holding off two invasions at once. It would only be a matter of time before their strained forces couldn't hold either Delainia or Lateine back anymore. No doubt, most of the helicopters now hovering over the new barricades had come from the Delainian lines. Was this why Darren Storm had invaded, and not bothered to contact them? Because he wanted to get a hold on Keilara's most powerful city before Emperor Ivan did?

  The phone on the meeting table rang, filling the room and making Ryan and Riley jump.

  Dawn froze for a second, staring at the glowing green light on the phone. At the same
time, the telecom screen changed to a graphic reading Telecom Meeting Requested.

  "Ashley, the button, please," she said weakly. It could be anyone: her husband, Damon, Darren Storm, or--

  The call screen showed Emperor Ivan with a golden crown on his head, shimmering with white-blue light. He was dressed in a black suit like a business executive, and stood in an extravagant bedroom that surpassed anything in her own palace. Just past the enormous canopy bed, pictures of the Emperor himself hung on the walls, framed in gold. In one, he laid on his back with his shirt off, one arm behind his head with his black ponytail hung over his shoulder. In another, he stood and flexed his muscles, also shirtless. The disgusting man was known for being the most self-absorbed monarch in modern times for a reason.

  Silence filled the meeting room. Ashley didn't move, and Dawn couldn't even hear her children breathing behind her.

  “Hello, my Queen.” Emperor Ivan gave her a slimy smile. “I have a proposition for you.”

  Dawn took a step back, unable to help it. Her heart felt like a trapped animal trying to break out of its cage. Ivan couldn't do anything to her through a screen, but he ruled an entire country of magic users with an iron fist, and was no doubt capable of doing much worse than taking over part of Frelladon. Several years ago, they'd received a report that a town in Lateine had simply disappeared from satellite imagery overnight. With all the magic of Lateine at his disposal, it was foolish not to fear him.

  “What is it?” she asked. “What do you want from us? My country has done nothing to yours except send aid to your people.”

  “I want to help you,” the Emperor said with a sweet voice. She wasn't fooled. “I noticed you had a problem with the Delainians, and I'd be willing to get rid of them for you. But, of course, you have to give me something in return.”