Edge of Truth (9781310978142)

by Hanova, Natasha

  “Run, Rena!” he shouted.

  Blaze’s grip on her arm tightened. She glanced at her friend. Her eyes were wide as she bit her lip and shook her head. Rena’s chest tightened, knowing her best friend didn’t want to leave Nevan behind to save herself either. This could be their one, and possibly only, chance at freedom. They would leave together or not at all. She watched and waited as he twisted and turned, struggling to break free. At least the men didn’t have a size advantage. It was a matter of finding the right leverage.

  “I got this.” With a swift kick to one guy’s knee and a head-butt to the other’s face, Nevan freed himself.

  He took off running while the fallen man struggled to stand. The other shook his head as if trying to ward off a daze. Blood flew from his busted nose or lip or mouth.

  Rena didn’t take the time to figure it out. She and Blaze darted toward the foothills with Nevan gaining ground behind them. Every time Blaze stumbled on loose rocks, Rena caught her.

  “Get the girl!” Topaz shouted. The words sounded muffled compared to the pounding of Rena’s heart.

  The fall of Nevan’s broad steps grew stronger as he neared. The awareness comforted her, but he never made it to her side. She heard a loud grunt and felt a heavy thump against the ground as Nevan stumbled and crashed. It tore Rena apart inside not to look back at the scuffle she heard and felt through the earth. Nevan is strong, he can handle himself became her mantra. She forced her attention to the wallop of Blaze’s feet beside her while also searching for the empty echoes of a cliff, not that she expected any on the flat land.

  They’d almost reached the tree line when Rena felt an exaggerated stomp ricochet through the ground. She looked back in time to glimpse a knife hurling through the air, but it was too late to throw herself in front of it. The hilt knocked Blaze in the back of the head. She yelped. The impact sent her hurtling off balance, causing Blaze to land hard on her elbow. Rena skidded on pebbles and dashed to her friend’s side. When she bent to help her up, she made the mistake of looking back at Nevan. She and Blaze gasped at the same time.

  Locked in a chokehold by the man with a busted lip, Nevan knelt on the ground and clawed at the arm squeezing his neck. His eyes pleaded with her as he mouthed the word ‘go.’ But she couldn’t leave him. What value did his life have to Topaz other than leverage to bully Rena into cooperation? Nausea washed over her and she swallowed back the sour taste in the back of her throat. Topaz’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction as she and Blaze hobbled back to him.

  “You can let him go now,” Rena said, defeated. Blaze stood next to her with eyes averted while she hugged herself.

  “No. You kids need a lesson about running away.”

  The big-nosed man punched Nevan in the gut, twice. He must’ve braced for it, because his expression hardly changed, save for his flaring nostrils and the wild look in his eyes. When the guy moved in for another round, Nevan kicked him in the stomach so hard, he stumbled back and fell.

  In a quick move, Nevan grabbed the elbow of the man choke holding him, bent forward, and twisted his body as he stepped back. He pulled his head free, while managing to twist the man’s arm behind his back. Nevan kneed him in the calf, and when he fell, he punched his neck. The man grunted and dropped to the ground.

  Nevan raced for the girls, but the big-nosed man tackled him from behind. Nevan lost a shoe as they tumbled across the ground, skidding to a stop two-feet from a deep crater. Its diameter was close to the length of a CityRail train car. Rena rushed to help, but Blaze held her back as the guys scrambled to their feet, each taking a defensive stance.

  Nevan punched the man once on the chin, twice between the eyes. He shook his head and swung to retaliate, but his fist only grazed Nevan’s shoulder. Nevan landed two more punches. Blood poured from the guy’s nose. He jabbed Nevan in the side where the Syn had hit him earlier, and it forced out a pained sound.

  Rena sucked in a sharp breath and struggled to free herself of Blaze’s hold, her ears deaf to whatever Blaze was saying. In the split second Nevan took to check on her, the man managed to grab him by the throat. At first, he tried to pry the man’s fingers free, but quickly gave up and wrapped his own hands around his rival’s neck.

  “Let him go. Please!” Rena begged. She tore her gaze away from the big-nosed man and looked at Topaz, only to find him grinning, enjoying the show. The knife thrower dabbed at the blood on his busted lip with a cloth while watching the fight with indifference.

  Blaze released her hold on Rena, raked her hands over her tangled mass of curls as if mustering courage, then stepped toward Topaz. “She’ll take you to the stupid cave.” Her voice cracked when she spoke. “Make him let Nevan go. Please.” She pressed her clasped hands to her chin.

  Topaz didn’t respond.

  Rena’s chest ached watching her best friend beg for Nevan’s safety. Her attention shot back to the dueling pair. She trembled as they teetered closer and closer to the crater’s edge. Gravel grated beneath their feet. She felt each and every pebble grind against rock, like a stab in the heart, as it carried them closer to danger.

  The sound of Nevan’s guttural growls filled the air, which suddenly became heavy, too thick to breathe. It didn’t matter, her throat felt too swollen to swallow anyway.

  Her voice cracked as she pleaded with Topaz. “Make him stop. You don’t understand. You have to stop this.” Her vision blurred as she dropped to her knees. Pebbles dug into her already injured kneecaps and shins. “We won’t try to run again. I’m sorry. I’ll take you straight to the cave. You can have everything. J-just make him let N-nevan go. Please.”

  Still on the ground, she turned her attention back to Nevan. Everything else around her fell away. Her attention clung to him and his battle for his life. His eyes bulged. He repeatedly clenched them as if it somehow helped him breathe. Both he and the man fell to their knees on the cusp of the drop off, both refusing to let go.

  Every molecule in her body trembled; their miniscule shudders bounced one off the other and built in intensity until the power made her head throb. She curled her knees into her chest, determined to control the building pressure. Nausea brought an acrid taste to her mouth and a burst of lightheadedness made her sway. When she caught herself against the ground, a current surged through her and out her fingers. Terror closed her throat, trapping all warnings about the impending quake inside.

  The ground shook. The man and Nevan simultaneously released each other, their feud forgotten. They scrambled to get away from the crater. The earth cracked with a deafening pop. In the blink of an eye, they both vanished, a plume of dust swirled above the empty space where they once stood.

  Nevan.

  Gone.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  “No!” Rena shrieked, her voice hoarse. The trembling bumped her farther away from the crater that swallowed Nevan. “No, no, no, no. No! This can’t be. This can’t.” Half-crawling, half-running, she scrambled across the quaking ground to the crater. Once the earth settled, she belly flopped against the rocks, arm outstretched as she peered over the edge into the deep pit below. Numbness settled over her as she braced for what she might see.

  The big-nosed man landed facedown on demolished rocks and chunks of earth. A pool of blood surrounded him. Nevan lay with his feet propped on the man’s back and his hands behind his head, as if resting. Only his gorgeous eyes, which were open, held no trace of their usual sparkle. A red thread of blood traced its way from the corner of his mouth to the ground. Rena squinted, willing his chest to move. She mentally counted to sixty. Nothing. With a trembling hand, she wiped tears from her eyes, squinted, and counted again.

  “Nevan!” She wailed. Don’t be dead.

  A warm hand touched the space between Rena’s shoulder, bringing with it a rush of awareness. Gravel bit into her stomach and felt like it drew blood in a few spots. Pulling into a sitting position, she shrugged off Blaze’s hand, not ready or willing to accept comfort. Her words came out between hiccupping so
bs. “This can’t. Can’t be happening. Not my Nevan. He...he only wanted to help.”

  “I know, Renie,” Blaze said in a soft, tender voice. “Come away from the edge.”

  “I can’t. I don’t.”

  Blaze hooked her hands under Rena’s arms and grunted as she tugged, every inch moving Rena farther away from the edge where she couldn’t see his lifeless body. This was the moment Trace had predicted. Did he know about her power? Had he known she would kill the love of her life?

  She shoved Blaze’s hands, struggling to get back to Nevan. “I’m not that girl.” Not a killer.

  “It’s too dangerous.”

  “He can’t be d-de. I have to get down there. I need to know for sure.”

  Blaze held her tighter. “I can’t lose you, too.”

  Her words zapped the fight out of Rena. Her gaze fell to the shoe on the ground.

  “Nevan’s shoe,” she whispered.

  It was all she had left of him now. Blaze reached down, picked it up, and handed it to Rena. She rocked back and forth while hugging it like a baby. How would she keep her promise to help him find his way home? Blaze wrapped both arms around her. This time, she didn’t push her away. Holding fast to the shoe, she crumpled into her best friend’s arms and wept as Blaze stroked her braids.

  Blaze tensed and a moment later, Rena felt Topaz’s signature stroll. He had a slow, deliberate roll from heel to toe with every step. He walked to the edge of the pit and peeked over. “Well, that’s that. Let’s go.”

  “He might not be de-dea.” Rena couldn’t bring herself to finish the word or look at Topaz.

  “Give it time,” Topaz said through a sneer, his voice full of disdain.

  Blaze shot a fiery glare at Topaz, the bottom dropping out of her voice. “Back off. You killed her boyfriend.”

  He stood his ground, arms crossed and lips in a tight line.

  Blaze leaned into Rena and spoke in a whisper. “I know nothing I say can make this better. Let me know what you want me to do, and I’ll do it. Legal or not.”

  Five minutes. That’s all Topaz gave Rena to mourn the loss of Nevan. Five minutes to grieve for a smile she would never see again, a voice she would never hear, a lifetime of memories she would never have. She started to dry-heave. Between her hiccups, sobs, and retches she sounded like a defective machine at the factory. Blaze rubbed her shoulder.

  “Enough!” Topaz motioned to his last minion. “Get the chokers.”

  She exchanged glances with Blaze as the man set the duffle bag on the ground and pulled out a card deck-sized black box and identical chokers. She recognized the heart-shaped lockets from her visit at the Underground. Her heart sank as she recalled Nevan’s warnings about them.

  He handed the items to Topaz. He pocketed the first choker and closed the second one inside the plastic-looking box with an audible snap. The thing glinted in the sunlight, revealing a seam and a tiny button on the side. When it beeped, he pushed the button and the lid opened. He dangled the choker on his fingertip. “See this?”

  Topaz balled it in his fist and threw it hard. It landed near a boulder about twenty five feet away. A smirk crossed his face as he took a step back. Intuitively, the girls scrambled to their feet and moved back, too. The locket made five slow, high-pitched beeps then exploded. Rena and Blaze both jumped as they yelped and covered their ears. Nothing remained of the choker other than a huge black scorch mark.

  “I can accomplish the same thing by pressing this green button.” He tugged the second one from his pocket and snapped the choker inside the box, like some kind of twisted present.

  Why would people go through the trouble to make something beautiful, yet deadly? Thinking back to the women at the cave, a new wave of understanding filled her mind. Those women might have been free in spirit, but they were trapped and bound by fear. She wondered if they belonged to Topaz. If so, would she and Blaze soon share their fate?

  Not without a fight. A big one.

  Topaz caressed the black box as he waited for it to program the detonation device in the second locket. He glanced at his minion. The stone-faced man stood with his feet shoulder width apart and hands behind him, all business like Rena’s first encounter with him.

  “Which one of them do you think needs to accessorize?” Topaz asked.

  Stone gave no response, not even an eye twitch.

  Rena went numb. She edged forward with Nevan’s shoe dangling at her side. “Me.”

  “What? Rena, no,” Blaze protested.

  Topaz stepped forward. The necklace dangled from his fingertip as he looked Rena up and down before turning to Blaze and smiling. “Matches your eyes.”

  Blaze swallowed hard, but didn’t shake her head or say no. Seeds of hostility for Topaz twisted Rena’s stomach. Maybe the bodink didn’t understand her the first time. She wasn’t putting her only remaining friend in any further danger. “I’ll wear it.” She spoke in the same tone she used with her brothers when they ignored her.

  “Already made my choice.”

  Blaze trembled as he stepped around her.

  Glancing at Rena, he fastened the clasp on the choker behind her friend’s neck. “You seem willing to die for her, but I don’t think you’d let her die for you.” He nodded toward the crater. “Especially after what happened to your little friend. Let’s go. I have no desire to spend another night in this repugnant wilderness.”

  Anger flared through Rena. She marched to Topaz and stopped inches away from him. Defiant. Her voice came out firm. “You will pay for this.” She shoved past him, causing Blaze to jog to catch up.

  “Don’t go too far, Red. I’d hate to see your pretty face splattered all over the mountain.”

  Rena hooked arms with Blaze and kept walking.

  “I expect you to take me straight to the cave. No more games.”

  She whipped around. “Oh, I’ll take you to the cave, and it will be the last thing you see. Expect that.”

  “Do not threaten me, little girl.” As Topaz spoke, Stone reached out to grab her arm.

  She yanked away. “I’m not scared of you.”

  He reached for her again, but a spark zapped him. He grunted and jerked his hand away, but didn’t reach for her anymore. She narrowed her eyes at him as if daring him to tell Topaz.

  “Let’s go!” Topaz shouted, startling them both.

  Stone pressed his lips together as he made room for her to pass.

  Blaze at her side, Rena led the group up to an area where maple, oak, and birch trees provided shade. She still couldn’t fathom how well trees thrived in the wild. Twigs, short shrubs, and a number of plants, which Rena didn’t recognize, covered the forest floor. The air grew hot as the Burning neared. Blaze stuck to the shade, which wasn’t a problem considering the number of trees.

  Rena’s stomach grumbled, begging for lunch. It made her think of her last normal meal with Nevan at the Underground and the kiss after. It felt surreal now. She cradled Nevan’s shoe in the crook of her arm. Her soul ached for his lightheartedness, his laughter, for the way in two brief days he’d made her feel like the most beautiful, most important person in his life.

  Why had she ever doubted his intentions? She knew the first time she’d laid eyes on him they were destined to be together. She was supposed to be Mrs. Rena Jelani. Maybe that’s what he wanted to tell her. Maybe he had more than ‘just friends’ feelings for her, too. She had seen it in his actions, heard it in his words, and felt it in her heart.

  But now…now her heart laid at the bottom of a crater. If it weren’t for Blaze, she would’ve thrown herself over the edge to make the aching stop. He didn’t deserve to die, not like that, and not because of her.

  Guilt wrapped itself around her, squeezing the breath from her lungs. This was her fault on so many levels. If she’d come alone to get Blaze, he’d still be alive. If she’d left the antiques in the cave, things would be different. Blaze wouldn’t have been kidnapped. They would still be able to spy on Nevan from a safe distanc
e. If she could, she’d give up everything that happened with Nevan to have him alive, to know he was safe, even if it meant she’d never hang out with him, that he’d never hold her or kiss her or ever call her Lil Mama again.

  Time pushes forward and never flows back. Her mom told her that after Grandpa passed. This was different. Grandpa had died of natural causes, not murder. She had no doubt she and Blaze would be next. She wouldn’t let anyone else she loved fall victim.

  Topaz proved unable to push through the heat during the first hour of the Burning. Rena found a thick cluster of trees where they could rest. She sat in a shaded spot with Blaze, as far away as he’d permit. Blaze leaned against a tree with her eyes closed. Between the dark circles under her puffy eyes and her slumped posture, she looked exhausted. Rena’s chest tightened and whatever appetite she had, waned.

  With Nevan’s brown shoestrings wrapped around two fingers, Rena picked the debris from her knees and plotted the demise of her captors. If only she could put enough distance between Blaze and them, she could trigger an earthquake and crush them. Squash all their dreams and hopes the way they’d crushed hers.

  She drew a deep breath, leaned back, and gazed up at the green canvas of leaves as a somber thought snaked its way into her head. If they managed to survive, she’d have to tell his family what had happened. She swallowed hard and realized how difficult it would be to look Chai in her big brown eyes, knowing the little girl could pull thoughts right out of her mind. There would be no way to hide the truth.

  Tugging at the silver choker, Blaze sat beside her. “How you holding up?”

  She dabbed the corner of her eye and shrugged.