Scavenger Blood

by Janet Edwards

  Donnell helped me down the narrow flight of stairs, and along the corridor, but stopped when we reached the main staircase and looked over his shoulder.

  “Why aren’t you walking alongside us, Tad?” he asked.

  “I wasn’t sure if you wanted to include me in this moment.”

  I glanced back at Tad. “Of course I want to include you.”

  “But what about Donnell?” asked Tad.

  Donnell laughed. “I think you’ve earned the right to be included in everything now, Tad, and it’s time you started calling me Sean rather than Donnell.”

  Tad looked confused for a moment, then came to stand on the other side of me from Donnell. “Thank you, Sean.”

  Chapter Forty

  After breakfast the next morning, Donnell’s officers escorted Bronx division into Reception at sword point. The prisoners had spent the night locked up in the Sanctuary wing, so they were brought into Reception through the Sanctuary entrance, and ended up standing in a huddled group on virtually the same spot where they’d declared the existence of Bronx division yesterday.

  Back then, they’d brandished their weapons with aggressive confidence. Now they had their hands tied in front of them, and all looked frightened, or at least subdued. All except for Major. I had to feel a reluctant admiration for the way he stepped forward from the group and stood glaring his defiance at us all.

  Donnell went to stand facing Major and Bronx division, exactly as he’d done on the previous day. “We originally considered taking you upriver on the Spirit of New York and abandoning you on the Bronx riverbank, but we’ve got Cage imprisoned inside the Citadel defences now, and feel it’s a better solution to escort you there to join him. There’s plenty of food and water in the Citadel to last you until the alliance leave New York, after which we’ll arrange for the defences to release you.”

  “Isn’t it a little premature to be telling us our punishment?” asked Major. “You have to hold our trial first, and the alliance rules state we’re entitled to a full week to prepare our defence.”

  “You aren’t entitled to a trial,” said Donnell. “You announced that you were leaving your divisions, which made you renegades. You formed a new division that was not part of this alliance, which made you outsiders with no rights under our laws. You raised weapons against us, which made you our enemies.”

  “Are you making this decision all alone, Donnell?” asked Major, in a mocking voice. “Have the other division leaders lost their power or just their voices?”

  Wall, Ghost, Raeni, and Ice came from their corners of Reception to stand alongside Donnell. “We’ve made a joint decision on this,” said Ghost. “If you don’t like the idea of being imprisoned in the Citadel, Major, then we could always execute you for attempting murder in Sanctuary.”

  Raeni gave Major a look of pure loathing. “There’s a strong argument in favour of executing the leader of Bronx division.”

  “Bronx division will be imprisoned in the Citadel with Cage,” repeated Donnell. “You’re all his ardent supporters, so you should be delighted about going to join him.”

  Major had an odd, calculating expression on his face. “We are Bronx division now, not Cage’s supporters. We don’t wish to go to the Citadel. We’d prefer the option of being taken upriver on the Spirit of New York, and making a new home in the Bronx.”

  “What Major means is that he’d prefer to go to the Bronx,” said Raeni. “He got his nickname because he enjoys giving people orders, so he naturally wants to remain leader himself rather than go and serve Cage. I get the impression that the rest of Bronx division feel very differently though. Their loyalty was never to Major but to Cage himself, so they’ll want to go to the Citadel rather than keep following a man who has already got two of them killed.”

  Looking at the expressions of the prisoners, I thought Raeni was right, but Major ignored her words and kept talking to Donnell. “We’d just need a few basic supplies to take with us to the Bronx, and we’d never trouble you again.”

  “You aren’t the ones deciding your punishment,” said Donnell. “I feel we’ve been quite generous enough treating the wounds of traitors and giving them breakfast. Since it’s winter, I’m willing to let you have some old coats and hats to wear when we escort you to the Citadel, but that’s where our generosity ends.”

  “You can do a lot better for us than that,” said Major. “You will do a lot better than that. You’ve been putting on a brave display of unity here, but Cage told me all about his plans, including the fact that he had a secret hold over one of the division leaders.”

  Major paused for a moment to let everyone take in that information. “Cage knew something about that division leader which could create open warfare in the alliance. Cage used his knowledge in the past to prevent the division leader from challenging him. Cage probably intended to use his knowledge again at his trial, but he ended up escaping instead.”

  Major looked at each division leader in turn. “Now I’m the only person here who knows the secret. I’m perfectly happy to keep quiet about it, and let your alliance continue in peaceful ignorance, but the price of my silence is that my people are dropped off on the Bronx riverbank with a decent supply of food, clothes, and weapons.”

  Major was being careful not to give any clues about which division leader he meant, but I knew who it was. Back when Cage was making his bid for leadership of the alliance, Major was still in charge of Queens Island division. Donnell, Machico, and I had worked out that Cage was blackmailing Major and one other division leader to make them support him.

  I hadn’t known which other division leader was being blackmailed until I stood on a table in Reception and called general justice against Cage. I’d never seen Ice’s face show any emotion at all before then, so his expression of anger and shame at that moment had convinced me that he’d been the one being blackmailed.

  I’d still got no idea what hold Cage had over Ice though. I could imagine Ice doing many things, up to and including committing murder if he felt it was necessary to protect the members of London division. He’d do everything openly though, publicly explain his reasons, and face the penalties without flinching.

  Raeni had stepped forward to glare at Major now. “If you’re planning to make accusations against Wall, and start a battle between Queens Island and Manhattan, then you’re wasting your time.”

  She turned to Wall, and touched his bandaged left shoulder with her right hand. “Manhattan owed a blood debt to Queens Island, but Wall offered his life to save mine, paying the debt with his blood.”

  She raised her hand in the air, and turned to face the Queens Island corner of the room. I saw the members of Queens Island raise their hands as well. The gesture was echoed by Wall and the members of Manhattan.

  Raeni faced forward again. “Queens Island and Manhattan are at peace, and I will not listen to your lies, Major.”

  “My knowledge is about the death of a loved one,” said Major, “but not about Rogue’s death or the old murder in Sanctuary. Sadly, I can’t be more specific without starting a war between you.”

  Donnell sighed. “I don’t believe a word of this, but Machico will take charge here while I hold a private meeting with the other division leaders.”

  “There’s no need for private meetings,” said Ice. “I gave in to Cage’s blackmail once, held back from calling general justice against him, and deeply regretted it. I will not be blackmailed again. Let me be publicly accused and face my punishment.”

  I remembered Donnell once comparing Ice to granite, and I could see that unyielding granite in him now. There’d been times when Ice had shown compassion for the weakness of others. Now that he was judging himself, he was being utterly merciless.

  Ice turned to face London division. “You already knew that Reynard was my choice to succeed me as leader of London division one day. That day has arrived faster than any of us expected, because I am handing my position to him at this moment. Rest assured that Reynard has pr
oved himself trustworthy for more than a decade now and will care for you well.”

  Ice paused. “My last order to Reynard is that he will not defend me. My last order to London division is that none of you will defend me.”

  The entire alliance watched in stunned disbelief as Ice faced Major again. “Accuse me then.”

  “This doesn’t need to happen,” said Major hastily. “All Bronx division wants is to be taken upriver on the Spirit of New York and left with a few basic supplies that the alliance won’t miss.”

  “I will not be blackmailed again,” repeated Ice. “You will get nothing from threatening me, Major. Not a bowl of food. Not a fishing line. Not a broken knife. Secrets have no power over anyone once they are told in public, and I will free myself of this one now. If you won’t openly accuse me, then I will accuse myself.”

  “Nobody is accusing anyone,” said Donnell. “Bronx division will be escorted back to their prison cells in Sanctuary, and we will hold an immediate meeting of the division leaders. Ice will explain what this is about, and we’ll reach a joint decision on how to deal with it.”

  “Explaining this in a division leaders meeting won’t help the situation, Donnell. You will be there, Blaze will be there, and it doesn’t matter who else hears this.” Ice paused for a second. “Donnell, I killed Keira.”

  I stared at Ice, trying to rearrange the words he’d said into something that made sense. He couldn’t have killed my mother. It was completely impossible.

  “You are welcome to lift your right hand and shoot me for killing your wife,” said Ice. “You mustn’t blame London division for my actions though, and they mustn’t blame you for yours. The alliance must remain united to escape the coming firestorm and find a new home.”

  Donnell had a strange, dazed expression on his face. He lifted his right hand and looked at it, as if he’d never seen the flashing tendrils of his gun before. I didn’t wait to see what Donnell would say or do, just walked over to stand between him and Ice.

  “Now tell us the rest of what happened, Ice,” I said.

  Ice shrugged. “There’s nothing else to tell.”

  I shook my head. “Yes, there is. My mother died in the London firestorm. My memory of what happened back then is a confused jumble of fragments. I’m perfectly sure of one thing though, Ice. It was the London firestorm that killed my mother, not you.”

  Ice waved his hand in dismissal. “It was the London firestorm that killed your mother, Blaze, but her death was still my fault. I might have been able to save Keira, but I left her to die.”

  “Braden is a dedicated pacifist,” I said. “His core belief is that all human life is sacred. Yesterday, he hit Shark over the head with a baseball bat and killed him. Ever since then, Braden has been blaming himself for doing something that he believes is fundamentally wrong. He’s so tortured by guilt that he just keeps accusing himself of killing Shark, while never mentioning the crucial point that he did it to save Phoenix’s life.”

  I sighed. “Your core belief is in mutual loyalty, Ice. That’s why the people of London division have trusted you to lead them for thirty years. They know that if they are loyal to you, then you will be loyal to them in return. My mother was your cousin, so the bonds of mutual loyalty were doubly strong in her case. So, tell us the rest of it, Ice. Tell us why you broke your core belief in mutual loyalty and left my mother to die in the London firestorm.”

  Ice hesitated before speaking. “Isn’t it obvious? Everyone was afraid of the flames.”

  “No,” I said. “There’s far more to it than simple fear. If you’d run away in terror, then you’d be openly saying that. You don’t want to say what really happened because you’re protecting someone. It’s possible that you’re protecting Donnell, but I think you’re protecting me.”

  Chapter Forty-one

  Ice stood facing me in silence. He was as expressionless as usual, but I thought there was a hint of wariness in his stance.

  “Yes, I’m sure that it’s me you’re protecting,” I said. “I think you would have called general justice against Cage months ago, but you gave in to his blackmail to protect me. When that led to me calling general justice against Cage myself, you bitterly regretted your decision.”

  Ice was still silent.

  “I’ve been reliving my memories of the London firestorm in my dreams for years,” I continued. “In those dreams, I’m eleven years old again and terrified. I’m with my brother. The smoke is choking me, blinding me, and the heat is making me feel faint. I can hear my mother screaming from behind a door. I try to reach her, but the door burns my hands. My brother tugs at my arm, and shouts at me to run, but my legs won’t move. Then there’s a blank in my memories.”

  I rubbed my forehead. “I’ve always assumed that I passed out from the smoke and my brother carried me to the inter-continental portal room, because the next thing I remember is being in there with him. The portal room is crammed with people, and some men are desperately trying to hardwire a portal so we can escape to New York. Everyone is waiting to see if we’ll live or die, then suddenly the portal starts glowing.”

  I paused. “That’s when my brother picks me up to carry me through the portal. I have a vivid memory of his arms holding me tightly, but something has been nagging at me about that moment. An oddness about the feeling of my brother’s arms holding me.”

  I grimaced. “Now I know what that oddness was. Someone else had been holding me earlier. Someone with a much heavier build than my brother. My assumption about what happened in the firestorm was wrong. I did pass out from the smoke, but it wasn’t my brother who carried me to the portal room. It was you, Ice, wasn’t it?”

  I waited for Ice to reply, but he still wasn’t talking.

  “Cage somehow found out there was a point where you could have tried to save my mother from the firestorm, but didn’t do it. Cage would naturally think you’d chosen to run from the flames and save yourself, because that’s what he’d have done in your place. He was right that someone ran from the flames, but wrong about it being you. It was my brother who ran in fear, and you who carried me to the portal room.”

  I shrugged. “You can tell me the truth now, Ice. I might have found it too hard to cope with six years ago, but I’m not a child any longer. Braden didn’t want to kill Shark, but it was the only way to save Phoenix. You didn’t want to leave my mother to die, but it was the only way to save me.”

  Ice finally spoke. “I was on my way to your rooms, groping my way through the smoke, when your brother collided with me. I caught him by the arm, asked him where you and your mother were, but he just yanked his arm away and ran on in panic. I kept going, found you lying on the floor unconscious, and heard Keira screaming from the next room. She’d been trapped by the fire. The ceiling was about to collapse on us, and I wasn’t sure if I had time to reach Keira or not, but I knew I could save you.”

  He shook his head. “Survivor guilt – knowing that you are alive because someone you care about is dead – can be a dreadful thing, Blaze. I understand that because I suffered from it myself as a child. You can blame me for choosing to save you rather than Keira, but you mustn’t blame yourself.”

  “I’m not going to blame either of us,” I said. “If I wanted to blame anyone, then I’d blame my brother. Seamus was big enough, and strong enough, to either carry or drag me to safety with him, and then you’d have been free to help my mother. Seamus was only sixteen years old though, and too terrified of the flames to do more than yell at me before running away himself.”

  I ran my fingers through my hair. “And when we arrived in New York, you let everyone think that Seamus had heroically saved me. You did that to protect me and to protect him. It must have been a difficult pretence for both of you though, so you didn’t protest when Donnell said he wanted Seamus and me to move to the Resistance.”

  Ice nodded. “It seemed the best solution for all of us.”

  “Seamus was angry about having to leave London division, but ap
peared to genuinely like being in the Resistance. I never understood why he betrayed us back then, but it all makes far more sense now. Once Seamus was in the Resistance, away from the only person who knew the truth, he thought he could forget the past.”

  I studied the palm of my right hand. Nadira had packed my wound with regrowth ointment, and bandaged it overnight. The ancient medicine had worked with magical speed, so it was almost healed already. I had full movement of the hand, but a faint white ridge ran across the patch of shiny new skin, and Nadira said that it would probably remain as a permanent scar.

  “Seamus discovered it’s not that easy to forget the past though,” I said. “Both physical and emotional wounds leave scars. Moving to the Resistance wasn’t enough to free Seamus from his guilt. He decided the only way to escape it was to leave Earth itself. He made a deal with the people at America Off-world, agreeing to destroy the New York portal relay centre in exchange for places for him and me on one of the colony worlds.”

  I winced. “Seamus came to talk to me before he left. He told me he’d arranged to take me to one of the new worlds. When I said that I didn’t want to leave Earth, he claimed that it was Donnell’s fault that our mother had died in the London firestorm. He said that if Donnell had taken his family with him when he went to New York, then she’d still be alive.”

  I shook my head. “Thinking back on it, there was something wrong about the way Seamus said those things. Of course there was. He wasn’t trying to convince me with his argument, but to convince himself, and shift the guilt he was feeling onto Donnell’s shoulders. I still refused to leave Earth, so Seamus left without me. I was so stupidly upset at him going that it didn’t occur to me that he’d have had to do something in exchange for getting those places on the colony world. Then the New York portal relay centre exploded.”