Arise (Cruel and Beautiful World Book 3)

by L. Stoddard Hancock

  Xander turned and lifted his eyebrows.

  Sam smiled. “From what I understand, I’m in the company of a whole group of people who have complicated relationships with their parents.”

  Talon and Xander both laughed. That was putting it mildly.

  “I love my parents,” said Dakota.

  Piz, who was deeper in the cave taking inventory of weapons with Laramie and Matilda, grinned proudly. “If only I didn’t have such shit sons.”

  “I love my dad,” said Talon, warming his hands over Nita’s growing fire. “Doesn’t change the fact that he forced me into a position I wasn’t ready for. Yet, here I am. Still.”

  “I don’t love my father,” said Xander, though the words felt wrong in his mouth.

  “Yeah, me neither,” said Sam. “Doesn’t help that I have no idea who he is, but I’m probably closer to loving the faceless, nameless sperm donor than I am my mother. I never even met her until I was placed on her ship after my former captain retired. Aside from birth, that is.”

  “It’s getting late,” said April. “If our army is going to arrive on time we need to call.”

  Sam nodded. He moved his back against the cave wall, so there would be no indication as to where he was. He pressed the thin metal band he wore on his head. A hologram appeared in front of him and he clicked around until a signal was being sent to a hard-looking woman in the top right corner of his screen.

  It was only a matter of seconds before a life-sized head appeared in the center of the hologram.

  “Commander Knight.” The voice was deep and coarse and filled with accusation.

  Sam smiled. “Captain Black.”

  “Another day gone and I was ready to switch your status from AWOL to deserter. Where are you?”

  “You know where I am,” said Sam.

  “The old Americas west coast, I presume. Are you done playing vigilante?”

  “I wouldn’t have to play vigilante if you agreed to my request -”

  “They’re not our concern.”

  “I’m sorry, I was under the impression that World Peace Ops meant the whole world. My mistake.”

  “Don’t use that snark with me, boy. You were given an order -”

  “But it was the wrong order!” interjected Sam. “These people need our help and -”

  “You have twenty-four hours to get back here.”

  “And if I refuse?”

  “I have already requested a demotion for you and Lieutenant Commander Park. The two of you go before a committee in three days to defend your position. If you’re not here by then, it’s not my problem.”

  Sam laughed. “They won’t demote me and you know it. Because I’m someone people follow and you’re someone people defy.”

  “What does that mean?” asked the hologram head, her ears turning bright red.

  “Like I said, these people need our help,” said Sam. “I’ve promised them an army and I plan to deliver. Now, for the last time, will you send me my army?”

  Without even a pause for breath, she said, “I will not waste our time and resources on a community that chose to govern themselves.”

  Sam took a deep breath. “Then we’re done here.”

  He clicked off of the call before Captain Black could argue. Then he pulled up another figure, a dark-skinned girl with a toothy smile. She answered his call after one ring.

  “Commander Knight.”

  “Commander Cavanaugh.”

  “What’s the word?”

  Sam looked beyond his hologram to April. His lieutenant commander nodded.

  “Move out.”

  The woman’s smile widened. “You heard the man. Move out!” she called across an intercom. “See you soon, Commander.”

  Sam clicked off the hologram. Four-thousand miles away, two thousand and fifty-three soldiers took off in two hundred eighty-three flying ships. Some of them had been hiding in those ships for hours, waiting for that very moment. All were ready to face the consequences.

  “Will you actually lose your rank for this?” asked Nita as she leaned against Talon.

  “Possibly. If we lose a lot of soldiers. But I’m a young commander, as it is. I have plenty of time to raise my rank again,” said Sam.

  “We’re not going to lose our rank,” insisted April. “Captain Black is the one in the wrong. No soldiers are being forced to come here. They each made their own conscious decision and she can’t demote everyone.”

  “She’ll try,” said Sam, forcing a laugh.

  Evangeline and Everett walked in a short while later, carrying food. Xander took a piece of bread but after just one bite he put it down. His stomach was in so many knots there was no room for food.

  Somewhere out there, Deryn was waiting for him. He wished he were already on his way to her. Even though he understood why he had to wait, it didn’t make it any easier.

  Odette wandered into their cave soaking wet. She’d decided to go for a swim in the ocean, despite the rain. She’d taught herself to swim years earlier when she and Neo had left Utopia. She claimed it relaxed her whenever she was feeling stressed.

  “Can we call Finley now?” she asked, plopping down beside Xander. “I want to check on my husband.”

  Xander nodded. He’d been eagerly awaiting her return so they could do just that.

  There was a good chance that the president was keeping his fiancée close, but they had to try. To ease both of their minds.

  So Xander lifted his hand, pressed the stone in the center of the ring Sam had given him, and waited.

  • • •

  President Saevus hadn’t let any Guardians leave his tower while he prepared for Xander’s arrival.

  Finley sat on the couch, her head resting on its arm as she drifted between sleep and consciousness. When the ring on her finger vibrated, she shot up.

  “What’s with you?” asked Elvira, who sat on the other end of the couch, sipping a glass of her father’s brandy.

  “I have to pee,” said Finley, standing up and heading for the closest bathroom. It was currently occupied, so she went up the stairs to the second floor and found an open one there.

  Once inside, she waited a good minute and listened at the door, just in case Elvira had decided to follow her. She hadn’t.

  With a sigh of relief, she clicked off the safety and pressed the center stone of her ring.

  “I’m in the tower so keep your voice low,” she whispered as Xander’s head appeared.

  “Is Deryn alright?” he asked quietly but desperately.

  Finley nodded. “Yes. Saevus gave the order not to touch her until you arrive. Elvira did strike her twice, but I sent down a wave with some salve. She’ll be fine.”

  Xander sighed in relief.

  “She’s locked up with the others on the first floor of the dungeon and -”

  “Others? Is Neo there, Finley? Is he alright?”

  Finley’s heart stopped. Tears filled her eyes as a woman’s head shoved Xander’s aside. “O-Ode -”

  “Way to give her a fucking heart attack!” shouted the voice of Dakota, just out of view. “Making her think that zombies are roaming the forest, or something.”

  “Sorry,” said Odette. “Finley, I’m here! Not a zombie, just me! Okay?”

  Finley nodded, her tears spilling over as she stared at her best friend, alive and well and with the Resistance.

  “Luka didn’t kill me. He used some creation of Xander’s that just looks like that heart stopping thing on Elements. Then he had my body thrown underground and left me a note leading me to a hover-bike. He remembers he’s on our side!”

  Finley suddenly flushed with anger. “What?”

  “Do you know where he is?” asked Xander, moving the ring so the focus was back on him. “I want to talk to both of you.”

  “I can find him,” said Finley. “Give me a few minutes.”

  Finley clicked the ring’s stone, put on the safety, cleaned the tears from her face and looked back into the hallway. When she
saw the coast was clear, she walked down the hall and up another flight of stairs to the third floor. An hour earlier, Luka had gone upstairs to sleep in one of the bedrooms. But so had five other Guardians. She just had to figure out which room he was in.

  She approached the first door and pressed her ear against it. Two people were talking in there and neither voice belonged to Luka. She went to the next door. Two people again, but they weren’t talking. She recognized one of the voices as a lesser Guardian who liked to follow Wenton around, but she couldn’t figure out who was grinding into him. It was definitely another man and quite possibly Wenton. She laughed quietly at the thought and moved on.

  On instinct, Finley decided to try the room where Luka had stayed while healing. After putting her ear to the door and hearing nothing, she assumed it was safe to check.

  Luka’s head popped up as the door swung open. He had some hologram hovering in front of him but quickly closed it. “Finley. What are you doing here?”

  Finley shut and locked the door behind her. Then she marched right up to him, grabbed him by the coat and yanked him off the bed. She slammed him hard against the wall. “You fucking bastard!”

  Luka’s eyes widened. “Th’fuck -”

  “For three weeks, three weeks I’ve been trying to get you to crack! You really trust me so little?”

  “What -”

  “Explain this!”

  Finley pressed the stone in her ring and held it up so Luka could see. A hologram of Xander appeared and Odette leaned in. She smiled and waved.

  “Th’fuck?” said Luka, adjusting Finley’s hand so he had a better angle to view his friends. Then he looked at Finley. “When did you go traitor?”

  “A hell of a long time before you did!”

  “Luka!”

  Luka looked back at the hologram of Xander. “I got your message.” He held up the chip.

  “Uh huh.”

  “Why didn’t you just send it with me?” asked Odette.

  “In case you got caught, I didn’t want to lose it. I wasn’t exactly expecting shit to go down like that.”

  “So you have your memory?” asked Xander.

  “You told me not to forget,” said Luka with a smile. “It was all a bit foggy at first, but about a week in it all kind of snapped back into place.”

  Xander gulped. “Luka, I’m sorry I left you -”

  “Xander, I told you to go. You needed to stay with Deryn.” Luka closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Look, I didn’t know the president found out about Quigley’s sister. That’s what he used to get him to betray you. I would’ve tried to get word to you sooner if I’d -”

  “It’s fine, Luka. We’re finishing this.”

  Luka opened his eyes. “What?”

  “I’m coming for Deryn and then we’re going to war.”

  Luka swallowed and nodded. “I assume Finley already told you that Bronson and the others are -”

  “Yes, we know,” said Xander.

  Luka’s eyes clouded over. “I don’t understand why Quigley didn’t warn Bronson about his deal with Saevus. He could’ve gotten at least him out. And what were you and Neo doing there anyway?” he asked Odette.

  Odette shrugged. “After we got Deryn out, some people came to the Black Market looking for us. We went there because Xander trusted them so we knew we could too. Plus, Bronson was easy for Finley to access when we needed to exchange information.”

  Luka looked sharply at Finley.

  “We had to keep in touch somehow. And we only just started using him.”

  “Then send a fucking messenger. You shouldn’t have gotten him involved.”

  Finley shook her head. “Why were you so convinced I couldn’t be trusted?”

  “Honestly?” he asked.

  “Obviously,” she answered.

  “All this time, I thought you were plotting something with Atticus to bring Xander back and screw over Deryn.”

  Finley’s eyes widened. “What?”

  “You were spending so much time with him. And then I saw you go to his place after he brought Miki there. That was when I started to wonder if maybe the two of you were fucking.”

  Her eyes nearly bugged out of her skull. “What? Why does everyone keep thinking that?”

  Xander and Odette laughed through the hologram.

  “Because why not? He’s not bad looking, just old. And we all know you have fucking daddy issues,” said Luka.

  Finley turned bright red. She swung her arm and hit him hard in the jaw.

  “Ow! Fuck!” he shouted. “Dammit, Fin!”

  “She hits people a lot, doesn’t she?”

  “What was that, Trigger?” shouted Finley, staring into the hologram. Xander turned the ring to face Dakota but he was quick to duck out of view.

  “If the two of you are finished, we have more important matters to discuss,” said Xander, turning the ring back around so he was visible.

  “Hold on,” said Luka, rubbing at his wounded jaw. “I want to know why Finley got Bronson involved in all of this. Why’d you even approach him?”

  “Because I knew Odette and Neo were there. I’d been trying to find an opening for days, and then I saw the two of you in the alley together.”

  Luka’s jaw dropped.

  Finley smirked. “That’s right. I told him to stay away from you since your father was watching you.”

  “And we just want you to know, Luka, that we all support you in your newfound sexual preference,” said Odette.

  “What?” said Luka.

  Silence.

  “Voclain’s gay?” asked Dakota.

  “I’m not fucking gay!” shouted Luka, moving in front of the hologram again.

  “It’s okay, Luka. Your friends support you and, well, Bronson is one hell of a man to start with.” Odette winked.

  Luka groaned. “Fucking shit ...”

  “More important matters!” said Xander, shoving her out of the hologram.

  “Finley shouldn’t be involved with your plan,” said Luka. “Not if Quigley knows -”

  “He doesn’t know about me,” said Finley. “Bronson didn’t want him involved.”

  Luka relented. “Sorry about the daddy issues -”

  “It’s fine,” said Finley. “Sorry about outing you.”

  “GUYS! THE FUCKING PLAN!” spat Xander.

  “Sorry!” they both said, turning toward the hologram.

  Luka smiled and said, “What do you need us to do?”

  • • •

  Deryn looked over at Bronson in his cell. He was leaning against the bars near her with his eyes closed. Fiona was curled into a ball beside him, sharing her coat, though she wasn’t happy about it. Especially when he insisted on staying near the ‘whore’.

  Beyond them, Neo was lying spread eagle in his cell and crying. Chace was staring at a spot on the wall and kept fidgeting with something in his pocket. Deryn didn’t dare ask what it was. They all knew they were being both watched by the small cameras hiding in the walls.

  Kemp and Ulric looked just as defeated in that first cell. Deryn wished she could tell them that Miki was okay.

  It was close to pitch black in the dungeon. Deryn wished there were a window so she could at least make a guess at the time. The fact that Xander hadn’t come yet was a good sign. It meant he was thinking this through. Or that Talon had him hogtied somewhere.

  The door at the top of the stairs opened and footsteps could be heard descending them. A light emitted throughout the room. Everyone opened their eyes and looked up, all visibly disappointed when Quigley stepped off of the staircase.

  “What do you want?” Bronson asked with disdain. He reached into Deryn’s cell and took her hand.

  “I was told to come down here,” said Quigley, looking sad as he avoided everyone’s eyes. “I ... I’m sorry for how this all turned out.”

  “Yeah, I’ll fucking bet.” Bronson squeezed Deryn’s hand tighter.

  “I was going to tell you,” said Quigley, fi
nally looking at him. “I’d already decided that I was, but then Saevus came to me again and told me if I didn’t deliver Ruby or Deryn by the next day he was going kill Fiona and lock me up. I didn’t know what else to do,” he cried. “So I agreed, but he never said he was going to take any of you prisoner. I never even told him about everyone staying with us, I swear!”

  “No one wants to hear your shit!” shouted Neo, sitting up in his cell. “Because of you my wife is dead! She’s fucking dead!”

  Quigley looked away from all of their stares, tears prickling his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry really isn’t going to cut it this time, Quigs,” said Bronson. “If you haven’t noticed, there are more people locked in these cells than you can bargain for.”

  Quigley paled. He avoided looking at Neo completely but glanced nervously at Deryn. “I’m sure Ruby is going to come for you.”

  Deryn huffed. “Yes, Quigley, he’s going to come for me. And do you know what’s going to happen next?”

  Quigley didn’t answer.

  Deryn let go of Bronson’s hand and pushed herself to her feet. She moved slowly toward the front of her cell. “They’re going to kill him. Maybe not right away, but they will do it. They’re going to kill him, they’re going to kill me, they’re going to kill Bronson and Neo, and they’re probably going to kill you and your fucking sister too! You do not make deals with the devil!”

  Deryn slammed her hands against the bars, making Quigley jump.

  “You should have told us!” she spat. “You should have told us the moment Saevus approached you! We would have helped you, Quigley! We would have done anything for you!”

  “No, you wouldn’t,” he said, his eyes narrowing. “Ruby knew where Fiona was and he sent her back there. He didn’t even try to get her out!”

  “Fiona didn’t want to leave!” shouted Bronson, jumping to his feet. “She was safest where she was at the time and you know it! Just look at her, Quigley!” He motioned toward Fiona, who lifted her head to stare at him. “Look at your fucking sister and accept that she doesn’t need you to rescue her! Until the manipulative bastard who owns her is dead, she’s not going anywhere and you know it!”