by LJ Andrews
“Where are we?” she asked. Her voice was hoarse and her throat burned as if she’d screamed all night.
“They have us locked in some kind of cave. We were covered in them bags and it took us nearly two days to get here. My guess is we be on some micro-island off the map.”
“I agree. I couldn’t orient myself against the route.” Atlas was watching her curiously as if waiting for something to happen.
“Why did it take me so long to wake up? Did they do something to me?” she asked, straining her mind to remember. All she recalled was a black shroud covering her face. She remembered the weakness overtaking her body. She remembered someone taking…
“My dagger,” she said, sitting straight up. “Where is it?”
“‘Fraid they took it, lass,” Briggs replied. “They took all our weapons, of course. And the copper.”
“What happened, Nova?” Atlas asked. “We wondered the same thing about you losing consciousness. Did they strike you in the head? I couldn’t find any wound once they had us here in the cave.”
“I don’t know,” she said, furrowing her brow. “I remember feeling…as if all my strength was leaving me. I couldn’t stop from fading to black.”
“Odd?” Briggs concurred. “I wonder what happened.”
“But now you can use the power and get us out of here,” Atlas said hopefully.
Taking a deep breath, Nova stepped closer to the bars. “I can try.”
Closing her eyes, she called to the Djinn power. It’s burning strength spread to the tips of her fingers, across her back, and down to her feet. She felt powerful, and smiled as she commanded the cage to release them.
As soon as the command had left her thoughts, Nova’s legs crumbled beneath her and a searing pain slithered across her head.
“Ahhh, what is that?” she cried to the darkness, clutching her forehead as she bent over onto her hands and knees.
“What is it, lass?” Briggs said rushing to her side.
Nova rolled onto her side, the pain subsiding, but every limb seemed as heavy as four cannon balls tethered together. With shallow breaths, she looked up at the dripping ceiling and felt her mind drifting to the only person she believed could help her.
Lurlina’s image was clear. Her perfect face was turned down in an urgent anxiety and she seemed to be shouting at Nova, but the words never came.
I can’t understand what you’re saying, Nova thought. I don’t know what is happening to me. I need your help.
Nova gnawed on the inside of her cheek with reluctance. If she allowed Lurlina in, what would that mean for her mother, or her father?
In her mind’s eye, Lurlina’s white robes began to fade to a dim gray. Her perfectly brushed face twisted and swirled until it was nothing but a hazy, tangled swarm of images.
Where are you going? Help me!
But it wasn’t the same as when Lurlina voluntarily ended their connection. No, this was something else; something intentionally keeping her from reaching out to the Djinn. Nova shouted in frustration as Lurlina finally dissipated into nothing.
“What is it?” Atlas said, holding her upright.
“I don’t know what’s happening!” Nova repeated. “I can’t focus, and it takes all my strength. Could they know about the Djinn power? How could they possibly block it out?”
“Nothing is right about this place,” Atlas concluded, helping her to a small cut out ledge in one corner.
They sat in somber silence for a long while. Nova grew restless once the pain in her head completely subsided. No captor had shown even a glimpse since she’d regained consciousness. If these people could keep her from connecting with Lurlina, she had to learn all she could before any hope of escape could be made.
“Have you seen anyone?” she finally asked.
Atlas and Briggs both shook their heads. “They are completely covered whenever they bring water. Only their eyes are visible.”
“They haven’t hurt you at all, have they?” she asked.
“No,” Atlas said quickly. “And it almost unnerves me more than if they were beating us.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It creates a question as to what they really want. What are they waiting for? No one kidnaps three people just to sit them in a cell to rot. It’s as if they’re waiting for something.”
Nova bit her lip. She glanced at Briggs, whose face fell into a deep, somber darkness. He leaned back against the stone wall and closed his eyes. She wanted to ask him his thoughts, but she held her tongue.
Nova wrapped her knees close to her chest. Atlas was right. Something was strange about their captors, and she couldn’t shake the feeling they were only biding their time, waiting for her to awaken. Now that the cave was a new reality, she believed it was only a matter of time before the men showed their true intentions.
Nova kicked at the stone wall as someone shuffled in the shadows close to their cave. She’d been awake for at least half a day; she’d even begun to count the drips of the relentless water droplets and the sound began to irritate every nerve.
“Why don’t you show yourself, coward!” she shouted to the recesses of the cave where she knew someone was watching them, unseen and concealed. But only the echoes of her own voice answered.
“It’s no use. They will only come to give us necessities. And it won’t be at least until tomorrow evening.” Atlas said, a hint of irritation evident in his voice. “I still don’t understand why you can’t break the stone like you did in the palace.”
“You saw why, Atlas,” she snipped. “Every time I try to react, it feels as if I’m going to faint. I can’t explain it. Perhaps you could devise a plan.”
She kicked her frustration at the wall again as she thought of Lurlina’s image fading before it even began. Something, or someone, was blocking the Djinn power, she was certain.
Atlas folded over his knees, clicking his fingers in notable agitation. “I would just like to know who has us. That could at least give us an edge on how to plan to fight back.”
Nova nodded in agreement, thankful someone else was seeing the situation the same as she did.
Briggs slowly stood. The older man hadn’t said anything since Nova had the painful attack from trying to use the power. “We be with the band of shadows. I should think it pretty obvious by now.” His eyes were wild with emotion, and he seemed ready to break while he turned and faced Nova. “I’m sorry, Lass. I promised yer mother I’d protect ye, and now we be with an enemy I don’t know how to fight.”
Nova’s lip trembled seeing the burly man who had spent years aboard the most feared pirate ship, the man who told her wild stories of Captain Phoenix, fall apart at the thought of harm coming to her.
“Uncle Briggs,” she said gently. She stood and wrapped her arms around his neck and let him sink in to her. “We are going to be fine. I don’t know how we’ll get out of here, but we will. I promise.”
***
A cold chill blew through the cave, signaling night had come upon them. Briggs had finally drifted to sleep and Atlas tossed pebbles at the wall repetitively.
“Do you think they have Kale too?” She finally asked in a small voice. “Dirk said he gave Kale to the shadows, just like us. Do you think he allowed him to be taken?”
Atlas stopped throwing the stones and rolled a small, oblong pebble between his thumb and forefinger. “Nova, I don’t know,” he answered shortly.
She furrowed her brow and scooted closer. “What is it, Atlas? Apart from being trapped in a cage, something’s bothering you.” She chuckled, trying to lighten the mood, but her smile fell when his jaw only clenched more.
Atlas finally tossed the pebble and glanced over his shoulder. “We’re never going to get past what I did, are we?”
Nova’s voice caught in her throat as her mind whirled wildly. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“I think you do,” he said with a half-smile. Atlas took one of her hands and interlocked his fingers with hers. “No
va, I want to go back to the way things were before that night on the Vengeance, but I don’t think you do.”
“Atlas, what do you want from me? There is so much we’re trying to do. Are you really going to judge my feelings when we’re buried in this cave?”
He shook his head. “It’s not just now. I’ve wanted this since the Vengeance, from that first moment I thought there might still be a glimmer of hope. I told you I wouldn’t give up, but as time goes on, the more I’m realizing I may just be a fool.”
“You aren’t a fool,” she said. “I do care about you.”
He gave her hand a tight squeeze. “I know you do, but I think your heart may want…someone else.”
Nova sucked in a breath of air. “I can only imagine you mean Kale.”
Atlas leaned back, releasing her hand. “Kale Tucker could never handle who you are, but yes, I mean him. He’s from a different world, much different from us. I see what you can be, and I’m not sure he does. Yet I find myself losing an uphill race against him. The funny thing is, I don’t think you two see it. At least you denied it at the Tuckers’ house.”
“How can you sound so harsh against him, when you have such a connection with Captain Tucker.”
Atlas paused. “Captain Tucker saved me. He was like a father to me—a true father. I will never be able to repay him, and I live in shame for disgracing what he did for me by my actions aboard the Vengeance. I respect Kale because he is Captain Tucker’s son, and he’s a good man like his father. But that doesn’t mean I have to like him. He doesn’t see you like I do, Nova.”
Her muscles pulsed in her jaw as she shifted from the growing tension. “Perhaps you only think you see me.”
“No, you just refuse to admit the power has made you greater, that it can do things you never dreamed of. I don’t understand why you still fight it. Yes, you say you’ve accepted it, but I can see you hesitate. Why resist such greatness, Nova? That is what I see—your greatness. But what does Kale see? A frightened girl searching for her father? Maybe if you ever find him, then Kale will want you to go home and cook and clean for him. Is that what you want?” Atlas’s face had turned a flushed red, and Nova clenched her fists, battling the strong storm in her chest.
“That’s not how he sees me, Atlas,” she growled. “I’m not weak in Kale’s eyes. Why am I even defending him to you? He isn’t here, and you and I are not together!”
Atlas’s lip curled in frustration. “You’re right. We aren’t because you won’t give us a chance! Think of what we could do together! With your strength and my knowledge of the kingdom, we could do anything we set out to do.”
“You’re saying it’s my fault we aren’t together?” Her jaw dropped incredulously.
“Really? Are you going to bring it up again? I’m sorry I hurt you, Nova, what else can I say? I’m sorry!”
“What are you really upset about, Atlas? That we aren’t together, or that I’m not willing to become an arrogant, dark, powerful being you can have in your back pocket?” she snarled, folding her arms.
“I would never do that and you know it.”
Nova studied his face; she’d crossed the line and regretted her accusations. Shaking her head, her face softened as she sighed. “I’m sorry. I know you wouldn’t be that cold. Atlas, maybe…maybe we are just too different. Should it be this hard if two people are meant to be together?”
Atlas frowned. His light eyes seemed sad, and for a moment she faltered, remembering the excitement of their former relationship. Rubbing a hand over his dark stubble lining his muscular chin, Atlas sighed. “I know what’s in you, Nova. Why can’t you see it, too? I would accept the darkness inside, and you know Kale would not. I’m willing to fight for it, but I know if he showed up, you would throw it all away. You would be someone you’re not meant to be.”
“Atlas, doesn’t it matter to you what I want!” she cried.
Atlas smiled sadly. “Yes. It just pains me to see you want something that will not lead you to your potential. The Djinn will be your greatest attribute, Nova. I wish you could see it as I see it, that’s all.” He slowly leaned forward and kissed her forehead before moving to a far, dark corner, ending the conversation whether she wanted to or not.
Nova rested her head against the rocky cave wall, feeling the sting of hot tears trickle down her face. She didn’t know why his words had stung so deeply. In a way, she had accepted the power but still couldn’t allow the Nova of Mollem to be buried. Her heart wrenched as she mourned what might have been. She couldn’t be the woman Atlas dreamed of; it would require too much sacrifice of who she yearned to be.
A warm muggy breeze shifting to cool damp air was the only evidence the days faded to night. Once a day, a masked captor would fill a water pail and dump lumps of meat or bread on the floor of their hollowed-out part of the cave.
“I’m back in the brig all over again,” Nova hissed, pacing in front of the thick bars. Her stomach and chest were in turmoil as the power smoldered like a fading ember that could never ignite into a blazing fire. “We have to find a way out of here. Is it possible to overpower the next one to bring us our rations?”
“Aye,” Briggs said. “Takin’ one down is easy, but what else be waitin’ out there for us when we do? Our best option is to wait and hope they move us. When they do, that be when we attack. We need to be certain we have an escape route before making a foolhardy move. Yer pap taught me that, and I always got out of a bind if ever I was in one.”
Nova huffed and slid down the wall, glancing at Atlas who carved a small stone back and forth along the floor of the cave. For two days, he’d been solemn and stoic but occasionally offered longing smiles in her direction. She wished she could forget everything between them and go back to their carefree romance again. The dark power inside swirled about like a vicious storm as if to remind her of all that had changed since then. She absently tugged at one of her curls, staring through the bars into the darkness.
After a few moments, she perked up. Someone was coming and they were dragging something along the path to the cage.
A masked man lugged a shrouded prisoner quickly to the bars. The captor was larger than any of the others dressed in black who’d delivered the damp bits of food. His eyes were dark and angry beneath the mask, and something about his shadowed countenance sparked a deep resentment within her. The iron bars creaked to life as he stepped through, holding a slumping figure with the same black sack she’d had thrown over her head.
“Ready to face us?” she said snidely, though her better judgment urged her to hold her tongue. “Or do you still insist on hiding like a trembling child in the shadows?”
“Nova,” Briggs warned from the corner.
The man didn’t say anything; he only tossed the prisoner on the stone floor and glared at her menacingly. He slammed the bars and stalked quickly back into the darkness.
Nova ran to the iron cage, gripping the bars as she called out after him. “We’ll get out of here, you pitiful excuse for a man! When we do, you’re the first one I’m coming for!”
“Lass,” Briggs said urgently.
Nova peeled her fingers from the bars, feeling the tightness in her chest. It had come so quickly, she hadn’t noticed the power hadn’t left her drained and weak. It wasn’t nearly as strong, but she was still standing.
Atlas stood off toward the back of the cave, his eyes filled with the same frustration she’d seen during their argument. Briggs was huddled over the prisoner when Nova made her way back. She stopped in the center of the room as he pulled himself to his knees. One eye was healing from a large bruise. He had gashes on his neck from the blade of a jagged knife, but his lips pulled back into his perfect smile.
“Kale,” she breathed out. Her heart pounded so harshly against her chest she feared it may beat out onto the floor.
A weakness that normally came with the power suddenly racked her body with the feeling her legs were nothing but wobbly twigs.
Kale looked up from the grou
nd. His brown hair was longer and tousled from days of captivity. His white shirt was torn over one shoulder and he wasn’t wearing any shoes, but Nova only saw him—the playfulness in his eyes, the way his cheekbones lifted with each smile. Her eyes burned with tears of relief.
Briggs laughed and slapped Kale on one shoulder, causing him to wince slightly. “Well, what do ye know. Ye survived this lot, longer than I…”
Briggs’ voice faded, as Kale raised stiffly to his feet. He closed the gap between Nova in two strides.
“You’re safe,” she said, her voice cracking slightly. “We heard you’d been taken and…”
Kale’s eyes were fierce, and without a word, he pulled her face toward his. His lips against hers sent a fire through her body she could have never imagined. Her knees felt unsteady, but Kale wrapped one hand around the small of her back and pulled her even closer, keeping her upright. Her heart seemed to give up its endless beating as the fog in her head blocked out the pounding altogether. Everything slowed as she relished the closeness.
Finally, after Briggs cleared his throat loudly, Kale pulled away, keeping one hand against her face.
“I had to do that before something happened again,” he said, leaning his head against her forehead. “Don’t you leave anywhere without me again, understand?”
Nova smiled, hiding her burning emotion by looking down. “Don’t tell me what to do,” she whispered.
“Take it easy, feisty,” he chuckled, and quickly kissed her once more. Kale turned, keeping one hand wrapped around hers.
Nova held her breath when Atlas stepped in front of them. It was the moment she’d dreaded for so long. Slowly, she raised her eyes to meet his, but he was looking directly at Kale.
His hand moved awkwardly at first, but then with more surety, he shook Kale’s firmly. “It’s good to see you’re all right. Though I’d be lying if I said I’d missed you much,” Atlas said, his face turned down in defeat.
Kale chuckled. “Same for you, pirate,” he teased.
Nova met Atlas’s eyes and she nodded gratefully, feeling her heart swell in affection for his gracious surrender to the inevitable.
