Thin Hope

by Holly Hook

  “This whole situation,” Damon said, pressing his palm against the window. “I've got a feeling that it is only going to get worse.”

  He sighed, a sound filled with pain. The loss of his parents from the Lateine Border Skirmish was so loud, it filled the room. This had to be agonizing for him.

  “At least we have Riley back.” Kiki put her arm around his waist.

  “Guys,” Ryan said, appearing next to them. “Dad and Jacob need to speak to you both. Now.”

  Kiki followed Damon over to the meeting table, to where her father and Jacob sat. Jacob, now dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt, had his eyes squeezed shut, concentrating.

  “No,” he mumbled, squeezing his fists. “They had nothing to do with it. Stop!”

  “Jacob.” Riley marched out of the other lounge and slapped her hand down on his shoulder from behind. “What’s wrong?”

  He sat upright, blinking, as if he wasn’t sure where he was at first. “Nothing. Just thinking. I’m fine.”

  Jacob didn’t sound fine, and Riley seemed to sense it. “I don’t believe that.”

  “I’m okay. Really.” He ran his hands through his hair, leaving behind sweat marks on the table.

  Kiki eyed Riley, who glanced at Jacob with genuine concern. Did Riley—

  She kept her mouth shut and patted him on the shoulder instead. It seemed to be true. Riley just might like Jacob, but she didn’t want to tell the family yet. It was understandable. Jacob was a Lateinian. Her mother especially might not be too warm to the idea.

  Kiki nodded to her sister and gave her a little smile. Jacob seemed like a very nice man, very gentlemanly in a way that reminded her of Damon somehow. Anything that could make Riley happy at a time like this was welcome, because there wasn't much more happiness to go around.

  "Did you see a vision?" Riley pressed on.

  Jacob's face betrayed him: he couldn't hide the cornered look that crept over it for a split second. He sighed. "Yes. I was spying on Ivan. He...he's in a fit of rage that you're gone."

  Her father scratched his balding head. "That is to be expected. I suspect that's why he's moving more troops to our border. Did you see anything else?"

  Jacob squinted as if he were in pain. "He's taking out his anger on the servants. I saw him holding one of the maids up against the wall."

  Riley blanched. "No."

  "It's time for us to move," Jacob continued, looking up from the table. "Without me there to keep Ivan calmed down, he'll make rash decisions."

  "How do you propose we do that?" Kiki asked. "The Lateinian army is too powerful. We have been unable to drive them out of the city. They shot down one of our helicopters yesterday, and we lost four soldiers. Our forces are overstretched with the Delainian invasion as well."

  "As former Imperial Commander, I know what frequencies the military uses to communicate." Jacob nodded to everyone, as if trying to gain approval. "If I have access to a radio transmitter, Your Majesty, I can begin broadcasting to the soldiers occupying the north side. Let me assure you, many Lateinians are not truly loyal to Ivan, and that includes the military." Riley nodded to this. "And, I believe that because these soldiers have now seen how others outside of their country live, they may be easier to persuade to come over to our side and stand against the Emperor. I was unable to broadcast to soldiers when I was still living in the palace, but I am free to do so now. If someone reports me, Ivan can do nothing."

  "No one has ever stood up to Ivan like this before," the King said. "He instills an intense fear in your people."

  "And ignorance," the former Imperial Commander added. "He has ruled so long that people have forgotten what Lateine was like before. Ivan has erased our history from before his rule. If we break that ignorance and expose Ivan for what he truly is, we can begin a rebellion. I am a trusted source of information."

  "You may be right," Kiki said as her mother joined the table. Perhaps, if Jacob was able to get even half the soldiers on the north end of Frelladon to turn against Ivan, they could stand a chance at getting some of the city back, and possibly even pushing back Delainia. Delainia had attacked them due to the Emperor, and they might be more willing to back off if that happened.

  Riley backed away from Jacob and brushed off her dress, eyeing her mother for a second, as if she'd nearly been caught smoking. It was true, then. Riley and Jacob had something going on beyond a friendship.

  Kiki wiggled over and hugged Damon from the side, enjoying the moment as Jacob went on about far more serious things.

  * * * * *

  Jacob stood in silence at the end of the row of bunk beds, all disheveled from days of use. Riley crept into the room, swallowing as she recalled what he said about Ivan tormenting his servants. It was all because of her...of them.

  "Jacob..." Riley's voice broke the awkward silence.

  Jacob turned to face her. He bit his lip, in a rather cute way, Riley thought. But the look in his eyes told another story, one of pain. "Riley, what the Emperor is doing is not your fault."

  Riley gazed to the side, at her bunk which was neatly made. She scratched her head, lost for words. "Do you think he'll come back?" The thought of the Emperor coming to kidnap her again sent a chill up her spine. All he had to do was take control of a guard's body or worse, that of someone she knew and loved. "He knows my family's hiding in this building." She had been staying near her bunk almost all day, in this room with plain white walls, so that the Emperor couldn't tell where she was when he spied on her. The prickling sensation had come twice since she'd returned here, the last one fifteen minutes ago. They couldn't be too careful, however. "He was with the convoy that picked me up here."

  "If he does, he'll have to go through me first. I won't let him take you away again," Jacob said, approaching her. "I doubt he will try possessing anyone else while I am here. Lateinians can always tell. We're gifted at that. He has no soldiers here to aid him now. Also, we have an Emoshi with us. That may be what's holding him back."

  It didn't make Riley feel much better.

  Jacob reached down inside his shirt and produced a chain with a golden lizard hanging off the bottom, unhooking it from around his neck. It was beautiful, even with a funny bend in the tail from some kind of blunt force. Riley hadn't seen it before, despite spending so much time with Jacob at the palace. "My mother sent this home with my father when he visited her once. I've had it since my father passed."

  "It's a Varanus," Riley said. "The ancient symbol of Lateine, before Ivan came to power hundreds of years ago." She smiled, proud of herself that she'd remembered from her history lessons. "Why is it bent that way?"

  "Correct." Jacob gave her a warm smile that made liquid sunlight rush through her. "Ivan demanded all of these destroyed soon after he came to power, so that history would start with him. It means prosperity and honor for all, and reminds us to be proud of our long history. Ivan saw me wearing this one time and stepped on it. I managed to rescue it from the garbage chute."

  "No wonder Ivan wanted them destroyed."

  "Not all of them were, though. Some families have passed them down generation to generation." He swallowed. "I want you to have this." He reached up towards her neck with the Varanus.

  "What? But your mother gave it to you." She couldn't take it. It meant too much to Jacob.

  "That's exactly why you should have it," he said, placing it around her neck.

  Chapter Fourteen

  "Darren Storm said he would keep in touch," Kiki said, staring out the window at the skyscrapers. Lights were beginning to come on inside them, as the few remaining people in the city continued their vital duties to keep Keilara running. The sky slowly morphed from orange to purple behind them, dotted with an occasional helicopter. "We have not heard from him in a few days."

  "You're right," Damon said, planting a kiss on her cheek. He turned to Alexander, who stood on the other side of him. "Do you think it's like Darren to be this way?"

  A dim mumble came from the other side of the roo
m, where Jacob had set up shop broadcasting to the soldiers on the north end. Wires now crisscrossed the room. Technicians had spent the day getting the headquarters' old radio equipment out of storage and tweaking the antennas on the roof, as the Lateinians knew no other forms of broadcasting.

  Alexander scratched his chin. "No. Darren always struck me as a very ambitious man. Something must be holding him back from communicating."

  "There were power failures on his end when this first started," Damon said. "They should be fixed now, however. I'm surprised Ivan hasn't made contact again."

  "...this is Jacob Ortiz, former Imperial Commander for Emperor Ivan. Jacob Ortiz, coming in..."

  Static, then a muffled voice came from the other side of the radio. Kiki couldn't make it out. Hopefully, he could make contact soon. The only chance they had at driving Ivan back was if some of his troops could come to their side.

  She grabbed the binoculars off the table and wiped the fingerprints off the lenses. They’d been in heavy use for the past several days. Lateinian boats still occupied the river past the barricade, visible past the barbed wire their side had put up to keep them out. Two more were arriving from the north, fresh arrivals from Lateine. The Emperor was ramping up his attack. It made her sick. If Riley had to go away again, she’d go with her, even if it meant having to be torn away from Damon.

  “What’s that?”

  Ryan’s voice cut into the silence. Kiki lowered the binoculars and followed his gaze to the top of a skyscraper.

  A dot approached from the south, from the direction of Delainia, barely visible against the darkening sky.

  “Are you there? This is Jacob Ortiz, former...”

  The ringing of the phone interrupted Jacob’s first attempted radio broadcast. Someone was trying to call at last. Meanwhile, the dot grew larger.

  “Someone get that,” Kiki ordered, raising her binoculars to study the approaching object.

  Damon rushed over to the phone as it continued to ring. Jacob stopped talking as the button clicked. “Damon Stanza, Keilaran Royal General speaking. State your business.”

  Kiki’s binoculars focused, bringing the unidentified object into focus. The dot had wings. Batlike wings, like nothing she had ever seen before. They were spread wide, taking in an updraft between the skyscrapers.

  “Is that a bat?” Ryan asked, tapping on her shoulder.

  “Too big,” Kiki said, unless Darren had managed to mutate one. A frantic feeling of terror rose up inside of her, fueling her heart and constricting her throat, and she wasn’t certain why. “Ryan, get me the shotgun. Now!”

  Her brother disappeared from her side, rushing for the gun cabinet back in the lounge.

  The phone crackled as the speaker filled the room with its tinny voice. “This is Darren Storm. I need to speak to you. It’s very urgent.”

  Oh, now he calls. Kiki barely registered his voice as her brother returned, weapon in hand. The dot wasn’t turning away or getting any smaller, dispelling all her hope that whatever it was, it wasn’t headed this way. The shotgun felt cold and heavy in her grasp as she backed away from the window, dropping the binoculars. The winged figure swooped down in front of the buildings now, blocking some of the glowing windows from view, approaching fast at her eye level. It saw her. How did it know she was here? You couldn’t see through the Keilaran bank logo from the outside.

  “Yes?” Damon asked. He wasn’t alerted to the full danger.

  “Everyone back!” Alexander’s voice made her eardrums ring as he seized her arm and pulled with superhuman strength.

  Kiki stumbled back, nearly into the meeting table, as the Keilaran National Bank logo exploded into a million glittering glass shards.

  Hit the ground. The command from the Academy rang through her like a bell. The deafening roar of the breaking glass faded as the floor raced up to meet her. Somewhere, Ryan yelled and a chair toppled to the floor. Mind blank, Kiki cocked the shotgun as the noise faded and dared to look up, expecting to see an enemy helicopter with guns aimed through the window at them.

  No. It was worse. Much, much worse.

  A human-shaped, winged figure stood framed in the window, dressed in a black-and-red Delainian soldier’s uniform. This was no Delainian, however. This creature had ghastly pale skin, purple eyes that bordered on black, and wings Kiki had only seen on the gargoyles in front of the Keilaran National Library. He also had brown hair and a sneer that had invaded her nightmares for the past week.

  “Jacob, go get security,” Damon barked before she registered what was happening.

  “Hello, Kiki,” Patrick said, nodding to her.

  Behind him, Ryan edged towards the lounge, clearly heading back to the gun cabinet. Kiki needed to keep Patrick’s attention away from her younger brother.

  “Patrick? What—” She was too stunned to open fire. Whatever Patrick had become, he was no longer an Emoshi. He was something worse—far worse.

  He didn’t let her finish. He flapped his wings, sending a breeze through the room. It was cold, like his entire being. “I am now a strengthened crossbreed. Half Delainian, half Emoshi, and stronger than both, thanks to Darren and Gracie. Of course—” he nodded back to his wings and back to them, “There were some unexpected...perks...to the merger. It’s a shame the two of them wanted to dispose of this experiment. It very well could have made them invincible to Lateine.” He smiled, all perfect teeth. “It certainly worked well for me.”

  It was a threat, and Kiki had every reason to believe it. She glanced over to Alexander, who lay on his stomach next to her, squashed up against his chair. His purple eyes were wide with shock.

  “Kiki,” he whispered. “Let me control your emotions before he does.”

  An avalanche of terror crashed somewhere inside of her. Patrick could still manipulate emotions. She had no choice. If she didn’t want Patrick to make her fall for him right there, she had to trust Alexander.

  She nodded, hoping that Patrick wouldn’t notice. Instantly, a prickling sensation rolled over her skin as Alexander extended his control over her. A strange calm swept through her being as her mind cleared and her heart rate slowed. It was welcome. Kiki needed to think and react quickly to get out of this alive.

  She stood, facing her insane uncle, unafraid to stare in his eyes. The shotgun clicked as she pumped it. “You greedy bastard.”

  “Kiki...” Damon started behind her.

  “I didn't plan on hogging this blessing,” Patrick continued. He raised one hand, now decked out with fingernails that resembled claws. Perhaps, they were claws. Patrick raked them across his forearm, bringing forth an ooze of purple blood that vanished a second later as his wound closed. “I want to share it with you and eventually, others. All I have to do is give them my own blood. It's quite simple, really. We can create a superior race unstoppable even by Ivan. You, Kiki, will be the first. No one will stop us from being together. We will set right what happened to the Emoshis decades ago. Together, we will lead the revolution that unites the continent, with all other races under our control."

  "You sound like the Emperor," Alexander said, rising beside her.

  Even with Patrick's words, no terror crept into Kiki's chest. Only a steely resolve filled her being. She raised her rifle, pointing it at Patrick's grinning face. "You were mistaken to come here."

  "Do you think as former Royal General, I didn't know your strategic hiding places?" Her uncle stared her down, no doubt trying to manipulate her emotions. She could almost feel the force it pressing in on her, like a wall of static electricity, but Alexander closed his eyes and concentrated next to her, keeping it at bay. Next to her, Damon fell to the floor, whimpering and dropping his pistol. Alexander couldn't protect him, too. It was up to her. Kiki curled her finger around the trigger, holding her breath.

  A shot rang out from the other side of the room before she could fire. Purple blood burst from the front of Patrick's chest, staining the carpet. Her uncle barely flinched. He watched as the hole closed up
in his chest, leaving his black uniform ripped in front of perfect skin.

  Ryan stood in the doorway of the lounge, rifle in hand. His jaw went slack as he stared at his uncle.

  "No!" Kiki yelled, a hollow terror opening inside her despite Alexander's emotional control. Patrick wouldn't hesitate to hurt her brother. She knew that since the night Damon had proposed to her. She fired as Patrick turned to face his nephew.

  The bullet cut through his shoulder this time, sending another spray of blood through the air, but Patrick paid no heed. “You shouldn't have done that, Ryan,” he said in a voice bordering on a growl. “Now, instead of sharing my gift with you, I have to punish you.” He started for Ryan, who dropped his weapon in shock.

  Kiki reloaded as the steely resolve melted back into her. Damon rose from the floor, seizing his weapon and firing at Patrick's back. The bullet flew in between his wings, making him stop in place.

  Ryan disappeared back into the lounge, slamming the door behind him. Patrick didn't give chase. He keeled over, hand over his chest. She'd hit a weak spot.

  “You stay the hell away from my brother,” Kiki yelled, advancing on him. Scarlet rage raced through her veins, and Alexander wasn't helping with that. She fired another shot as the stench of smoke invaded her nostrils, but Patrick turned and seemed to vanish in a blur of black and red.

  "Where—" Damon started, appearing next to her.

  "You don't have it in you, Kiki," Patrick said, smiling.

  Her uncle stood against the wall, arms folded, as if she had never shot him. Damon raised his pistol and opened fire again, only to have Patrick become a blur again and appear on the opposite wall.