Arise (Cruel and Beautiful World Book 3)

by L. Stoddard Hancock

  Saevus walked over to them, pacing back and forth.

  “Instinct tells me to go with the bitch who thought it wise to pretend my son was her own,” he said, looking at Miki. “Or perhaps a worse punishment would be to kill the one who clings to you.” His eyes drifted to the young man beside her.

  The older man stepped forward. “I volunteer,” he said with his head held high.

  The president smiled softly. “Touching. But I didn’t ask for a volunteer.” He shoved his palm hard into the bottom of the man’s nose, successfully breaking it and causing him to stumble back a few steps. “Grab that bloodied one who can barely stand,” he said, walking back to the fireplace.

  Wenton grabbed the youngest of their four prisoners. He dragged him forward while the other’s screamed. The man who’d been clinging to Miki tried to run for him, but he was blocked by Barath, who wrestled him to the floor.

  “No! Please!” the man screamed. “He’s just a boy! Anan!”

  Anan was forced to his knees.

  His breath was uneven, tears falling from his eyes and stinging his beaten face.

  “You look like a fighter. Such a shame,” said Saevus. “Luka, step forward.”

  Finley felt Luka tense beside her. His face remained calm but she could hear his heart beating. Even the burning flesh in the fire hadn’t made him cringe yet and she wondered how the hell he always kept it together.

  Luka obeyed, his gaze meeting Anan’s as he walked up to him.

  “Do you know this boy?” asked Saevus.

  Luka stared at Anan, nothing in his face revealing what he was thinking.

  “No, sir,” said Luka after he had a good, long minute to study the prisoner.

  “Really? Because you went to their hideout with Xander.”

  “I don’t remember.”

  Saevus smiled. “Then you should have no problem killing him. A clean swipe to the neck, if you will.”

  “Shouldn’t you wait for a public execution?” asked Luka, the first indication that he didn’t want to do this.

  “We have three others for that,” said the president with a wave of dismissal. “I don’t think we’ll need to kill all of them before Xander comes crawling back, so why not get a headless start?” He laughed at his little joke. “We’ll kill this one today and tomorrow we’ll kill the volunteer.”

  “Kill me now!” shouted the man who’d volunteered. “Xander doesn’t even like Anan! I’d be a better head for the gate!”

  “And you’ll get there, don’t worry. All in good time.” Saevus’s smile widened. “I’m waiting, Luka.”

  Luka looked back down at Anan. The boy was shaking, his eyes wet and terrified. He swallowed as Luka took out his Element, the crotch of his pants growing wet. The other Guardians in the room laughed but Luka didn’t flinch. He pricked his finger and switched the setting on his Element.

  The other prisoners screamed but Luka drowned them out, focusing on the terrified eyes of the boy in front of him. He lifted his Element.

  “You were right,” said Anan.

  Luka froze. “About what?”

  “About war. There are shades of gray and we’re all mentally fucked in the head. If the situation were reversed, I’d do the same thing to you. So go ahead.”

  Luka hesitated, a small crack breaking through his poise. “I’m sorry it had to end this way.”

  Anan whimpered and closed his eyes.

  Luka raised his Element, released the streak of light, and let it fall.

  • • •

  Elvira put Ronan down the moment they entered the elevator. She glanced at him every now and then, watching as he wept for the mother they’d shared. It was something she’d been trained to hold back when she was his age.

  “I suggest you stop your whining, ‘less you want to receive a good beating.”

  His wide and frightened eyes stared up at her.

  “Not by me. I have no interest.”

  “You’re meaner than Mom says.”

  “Said,” Elvira corrected.

  Ronan gulped, but he sucked back his tears.

  “She told you about me?” she asked, watching the floor numbers rise.

  He nodded. “She showed me your picture.”

  A pause.

  “She’s dead,” he eventually said. “I couldn’t see, but she is.”

  “Yes.” The elevator could not move fast enough

  “Why did it smell like that?”

  Elvira grimaced as she remembered her mother’s burning head. “Death smells awful.”

  “Awful is bad?” he asked, looking up at her again.

  The elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open.

  “Worse than bad.”

  Elvira grabbed Ronan’s hand and pulled him toward the stairs. He kept up fairly well and had stopped his crying. She had to admit, he seemed pretty intelligent for a four-year-old. She didn’t know much about children, but the few she’d encountered weren’t quite so articulate. And she was fairly certain none of them would just stop crying when ordered. Her mother must have prepared him for this.

  When they reached the ninety-eighth floor, she walked toward the bare wall.

  “In Saevus we trust,” she said.

  A robotic voice responded. “Identification Confirmed. Elvira Saevus. Access granted.”

  Elvira frowned as the wall slid open. Her father refused to change her access in his home to her married name.

  Where the hell was Soren?

  There was no way her father hadn’t noticed his absence that evening.

  That, combined with the fact that she’d deceived him for five years meant nothing good for her and her husband. Not only had she lied to her father about killing her mother, but she’d manufactured proof by bringing him her hand.

  Elvira might die for this.

  Especially now, with the small boy whose wet hand clung to hers. She stared down at Ronan, her indifference to his existence suddenly shifting. He was her father’s heir. The boy he’d always wanted.

  So what the hell did that make her?

  A mother killer.

  Her mother’s bloodied head being kicked into the fire flashed through her mind again and, this time, it did not leave.

  She had killed her mother as an act of mercy, not vengeance, and her father had chopped off her head.

  Shit.

  Shit.

  What the hell had she -

  “You’re shaking.”

  Elvira’s mind began to focus as she looked down at Ronan, watching her with his green eyes. Her green eyes.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” she snapped, tearing her hand out of his. “Grandfather!” she called, refusing to enter the old man’s bedroom.

  Asher wheeled his chair into the room. “Elvie, where have you -”

  His gaze fell to the small boy by his granddaughter’s side.

  “Who is this?”

  “My brother, apparently. Father has requested that he stay with you.”

  “What?” Asher’s face fell. “And where’s his mother?”

  “Dead,” Elvira answered nonchalantly, even though visions of her head being kicked into that fireplace kept replaying again and again ...

  Asher sighed. “Elvie, we need to talk about -”

  “I have no interest in speaking with traitors,” she said, turning around and heading for the exit. “And remember, if you’re in touch with the Resistance and you tell them about him, they will undoubtedly rescue him and leave you behind. Then Father will kill you.”

  Cut off his head and kick it into the fire ...

  “Wait!” called Ronan as she reached the open wall. “Mom said you’d protect me. You c-can’t leave me here.”

  Elvira looked over her shoulder at him and raised her eyebrows. “My mother knew nothing about me. You will stay here, and it is likely that you will never see me again.”

  Ronan broke then, the sucked-up tears and brave face gone in an instant. “Don’t go.”

  If Elvira f
elt anything in that moment, she hid it well. “Grandfather will take care of you. If Father comes and he hurts you, don’t fight back. That will only make it worse for you.”

  She left the room, the wall swishing shut behind her.

  While Ronan fell to the floor and cried, Elvira walked down the stairs, her face placid as she headed toward her inevitable punishment.

  CHAPTER 36

  “I don’t understand why you’re actually taking time to think about this. If it were me, it would be a solid fucking yes. No question.”

  Deryn looked at Xander and raised her eyebrows. “Would it?”

  “Absolutely. If I weren’t so happy and in love.” He stroked her hair and she swatted him away.

  “I don’t know,” said Dakota from across the table.

  He glanced sideways at April, who was chatting with a girl named Autumn in the corner of the mess hall. April caught him staring and gave a devious little grin. Before getting up from her seat, she’d asked him to follow her back to her room. Well, asked wasn’t exactly right. She demanded it.

  “She’s pretty scary,” said Adrian as he ate off of Harper’s plate. She glared at him, but he just smiled and kissed her cheek.

  “Exactly!” said Xander. “Scary in life always equals wild in bed. It’s science.”

  “If it equals something then wouldn’t that be math?” asked Deryn.

  “No, it’s science,” said Xander, without missing a beat. “Now, come on. I’m in a committed relationship and so are all these idiots around me.”

  Both Adrian and Talon narrowed their eyes at him.

  “I need to live vicariously through someone!”

  “Just what a girl wants to hear,” said Deryn. “Sorry I’m not wild enough in bed for you.”

  “We’re working on that, darling,” said Xander, kissing the side of her head.

  She rolled her eyes and shoved him away. “I’m going to see if I can steal some extra cookies from Neetles. Your break’s almost over, Xander.”

  “Love you, too!” he called as she walked away. “Okay, she’s gone. What’s the real reason you’re hesitating?”

  Dakota blushed. “There’s no real reason. I just ... I barely know April, and she only wants me to go because she hates Hera and she knows she’s watching.”

  “So?” Xander, Adrian and Harper all said together.

  “Dax, you need this,” said Harper. “And I imagine hearing this jerk talk about sex with Deryn is only making you need it more.” She pointed her thumb at Xander.

  Xander shrugged. “If giving you a detailed account of our fucking is what you need to get it up, I’d be happy to -”

  “Oh my fucking god, I’m right here!” snapped Talon. “And Dax doesn’t care about that shit anyway. He cares about -” He cut himself off mid-sentence, holding his lips closed tight.

  All eyes were on Dakota.

  “What do you care about, mate?” asked Adrian.

  Dakota groaned and glanced down at his empty plate. “Okay, fine. Despite recent accusations, I was, in fact, waiting for Deryn,” he said, his gaze slipping to Xander. “I only slept with Hera a handful of times, and I was always drunk. I chose her because she annoyed me and I knew I’d never feel anything more for her. So, out of risk of developing feelings, I’ve never ...” He paused a took a deep breath. “She’s the only one I’ve ever ...”

  Xander’s mouth dropped. “You’ve only had sex a handful of fucking times?”

  “Say it louder, why don’t you?” snapped Dakota, leaning forward and speaking in a hushed tone.

  “It sounds to me like you need to get drunk,” said Adrian, reaching into his coat pocket and coming out with a flask. He handed it across the table to Dakota, who shoved it away.

  “No. I just ... I figured the next time would mean something. And it wouldn’t just be with some visiting lesbian.”

  At that moment, Sam sat down next to him with a mouthful of cookie. “What’re we talkin’ bout?” he asked.

  “Sex with lesbians,” answered Harper.

  “Who? April?”

  Everyone nodded.

  “She doesn’t like labels. And even if she did, she’s not a lesbian. She has sex with men all the time. We’re all pretty open in the Peace Ops. Marriage isn’t allowed, so those of us who plan to be in it for life try our best to avoid feelings.”

  “It just seems like the only reason she wants me to follow her, other than to annoy Hera, is because she hasn’t found a woman here to sleep with,” said Dakota.

  Sam knitted his brow. “What are you talking about? April’s been shagging some girl almost every night since we got here.”

  “What girl?” asked Harper.

  “Umm ...” Sam glanced around the room and eventually pointed at Autumn, who was still chatting with April in the corner. “That one.”

  Right on cue, April and Autumn headed for the exit together.

  Sam smiled. “Oh, would you look at that. The little minx.”

  “What?” asked Dakota, staring at the door the women had just gone through.

  “If she invited you to her room tonight, I think she has bigger plans than just riding your dick.”

  There was a collective jaw dropping around the table.

  “Holy fuck, Trigger. You have to go. For all of us stuck in monogamy,” said Xander.

  Deryn walked up behind him. She rolled her eyes again as she sat down. “You act like it’s a damn burden, or something.”

  “Deryn, I love you, but this is bigger than you and me right now.” Xander looked at Dakota and pointed toward the door. “Go.”

  Sam smiled across the table at Xander. “If you want a threesome, little devil, I’ve offered more than once -”

  “Fuck. No.”

  While they argued, Dakota very slyly stood up and walked out the door.

  “Yeah! Get it, Dax!” Adrian called after him while Harper hooted.

  Deryn shook her head and bit into her cookie. She noticed Hera sitting at her usual table. She was crying pretty hard, but it was unclear if she was crying over Dakota or her banishment the following morning. Then she stared desperately at the door Dakota had just gone through.

  Deryn wished she didn’t enjoy Hera’s misery quite so much, but damn it felt good.

  “So why exactly did you ask that Guardian from earlier to bring you his slave?” Sam asked Talon as he finished his last cookie.

  Talon glanced at Deryn and said, “Just a test.”

  “I don’t believe that for one second.” Sam licked his fingers, eyeing Xander seductively as he did so.

  Xander crinkled his nose in disgust.

  “She’s the sister of a friend of ours,” answered Deryn, throwing a chunk of cookie at Sam’s head to get him to stop trying to entice her boyfriend. “He’s in Utopia and won’t leave until she’s out.”

  “You’re going to have a hell of a time getting him out now,” said Adrian. “The underground is swarming with S.U.R.G.E.s.”

  “We’ll figure something out,” said Deryn.

  “How’d his sister end up a slave?” asked Harper, a curious twinkle in her eye.

  Deryn pursed her lips. She hadn’t forgotten that Harper said she was from Driftwood, the same Outsider town where Bronson, Quigley and Fiona had all resided. She most likely knew them.

  It didn’t feel right to keep her in the dark.

  “Actually, Harper, I’ve been wondering if you might know our friends. Bronson and Quigley.”

  Harper stiffened. “Mason.” She looked from Deryn to Xander. “The slave is Fiona?”

  “Mason,” repeated Adrian, knitting his brow. “Your ex-boyfriend Mason?”

  “Really?” asked Xander, looking Harper up and down. “Do you always date men physically beneath you?”

  Adrian punched his arm, hard.

  “First off, Adrian is sexy as hell,” said Harper. “And Mason was my cute little boy next door. But when you stand next to Bronson all the time it’s easy to get passed over.”

&nbs
p; “I get that,” said Deryn, sighing as she thought of Bronson’s handsome face. God, she missed him.

  “We dated when we were teenagers but we had a falling out over ...” Harper paused and blushed. “Over Bronson and Fiona and ... my brother.”

  Deryn and Xander cocked their heads.

  Harper groaned and said, “Bronson cheated on Fiona with my brother, okay? It was a small town and when he found out Bronson might be interested in ... other men -”

  “Who is this?” asked Sam, perking up. “Do I need to know him?”

  “He’s taken!” snapped Deryn. “But yes, I’m pretty sure if you met Bronson you would immediately forget about me and Xander.”

  “Then let’s break him out of the damn city already,” said Sam with a grin.

  “I can’t believe they’re alive,” said Harper, shaking her head a little. But she was smiling. “When they went back I thought for sure they were goners. I love them both, but they’re not exactly the savviest of people.”

  Xander laughed. “That’s putting it mildly. They’re alive for one reason and one reason alone. Me. I took pity on the two Outsider idiots with crappy forgeries.”

  “Do you think Soren will really bring Fiona?” asked Harper. “She and I were best friends when we were young. It would be so great to see her again.”

  Xander and Deryn looked at each other, silently agreeing not to mention Fiona’s current mental state.

  “I guess we’ll see,” said Talon, looking lost in his own head.

  • • •

  Bronson hurried into the alley for his break and took out a cigarette.

  He wasn’t even supposed to be there. It was his day off, but when one of the other cooks went home sick, his boss had called and ordered him to come in.

  He could have said no. He should have said no. But he didn’t. Because he needed to act like nothing was wrong and the normal Bronson was always happy to pick up more shifts.

  But fuck ...

  He couldn’t get them out of his mind.

  Del. Miki. Kemp. Ulric. Anan. Ronan.

  What was happening to them?

  Were they alive?

  Bronson lit up his cigarette even though he should be saving them. He knew he was being watched and he couldn’t risk going to the Black Market.