To Xander’s surprise, his father was standing rather close to the president. He knew the placement was not an accident, because Deryn mirrored him on the other side. Elvira was the one holding a knife to her neck.
If Deryn was frightened, she didn’t show it. Her eyes were brave, her expression defiant, and something in her posture made her seem almost bored with the whole situation. They locked eyes and she rolled hers, a small smile curving on her lips.
Xander smirked. “Have you been giving them hell, my love?”
“Every chance I get,” she said.
Xander pulled back his hood and shook the rain off of his coat. He did a few stretches before asking, “What is it you’d like me to do?”
Everyone turned to Deryn.
She looked around, her eyes stopping on every last Guardian. She lifted her nose high in the air and said, “Kill them all. I see little reason to show mercy.”
His smirk widened. “As you wish.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, he shot a blast at Elvira. She dodged, of course, but all of them were so tightly packed together that it ended up striking the Guardian directly behind her. To his great joy, it was Gordon Mackey, someone he’d always loathed. It only got his arm, though, and he would survive. For now.
Everyone began to disperse. Only President Saevus, Elvira, Soren and Atticus stayed where they were. And Deryn, of course, who still had a knife pointed at her neck.
“Are you not going after your son, Atticus?” asked Saevus as Xander battled his Guardians.
“No, sir,” answered Atticus. “I believe I’ve made my opinions on the matter very clear. Xander won’t be harmed by my hand.”
“Yes, I do believe you’ve harmed him enough,” said Saevus with a wicked grin.
He took a knife out of his pocket and poked it into Deryn’s neck, leaving Elvira free to join the scuffle.
While Saevus was distracted watching Xander, Deryn took out the knife she’d managed to steal from Soren - while he’d been guarding her oh so carefully. She sliced through her binds, refusing to be an easy prisoner.
Her gaze turned to Xander, who was playing the part of controlled servant so well. He’d already taken down Wenton and another Guardian she didn’t know, though neither were dead. He almost had another but Barath got in the way, shooting a stunner at him that he dodged with a somersault.
While Xander was down on his knees, Arron Von tried to hit him with a weak blast, but Luka knocked him - by accident, of course - and the shot ended up hitting ten feet too high. It struck a large statue in the shape of Saevus’s crest adorning the wall, which was now close to crumbling.
Out of the corner of her eye, Deryn noticed Elvira look at it. The statue was directly above where Xander was standing. If it happened to fall, the heavy stone would crush him.
Elvira lifted her Element. She positioned it so, by all appearances, it was aimed at Xander. But it was actually pointed slightly upward at the statue.
“Xander!”
Deryn had only a moment to react.
She stomped on Saevus’s foot. When he lurched forward, she clonked him in the nose with her elbow, then grabbed his knife wielding arm and flipped him onto his back.
Elvira fired quickly and turned to see why her father had shrieked.
Deryn sprinted forward as the blast struck stone, kicking the nearest armchair so it crashed into Xander and knocked him out of the way.
The remains of the stone crest crushed the armchair as it landed.
Xander barely noticed the statue as he suddenly looked at her. Their eyes locked and a silent moment of clarity passed between them. Deryn had just made a terrible error in their game and they both knew it.
It wasn’t that she’d saved him, that was to be expected, but that scream, that cry out for him as death came so close. That was proof it wasn’t just a game for her. It showed she cared. And the way Saevus looked at her as Atticus helped him off of the floor ... He knew.
The entire room was silent.
Deryn’s narrowed eyes locked on to Elvira.
“I believe your president wants Xander alive,” she spat.
“It was an accident, Father,” said Elvira. “I didn’t mean to -”
“Yes, you did!” shouted Deryn. “You’ve always wanted him dead! Some fucking servant. Xander would never betray my orders like that.”
Xander stood very still. Saevus looked at him for a split second. “Grab him,” he ordered.
Wenton did just that while Barath took away Xander’s Element. Xander meant to struggle but, at this point, he knew he had to give in.
“Elvira.” Saevus beckoned her with his finger.
Elvira walked over slowly. “Yes, Father,” she said upon arrival.
“Is what she says true?”
Elvira looked at Deryn and lifted her nose. “Of course not. This toxic piece of shit has told us nothing but lies since she arrived.”
Saevus took a deep, rattling breath. He obviously didn’t believe her.
In a flash, Saevus had his hand raised and struck Elvira hard across the cheek. “You will be punished for your betrayal later,” he hissed.
Someone in the room scoffed.
The president’s head snapped toward the sound. “Who was that?”
The crowd spread until Gordon Mackey was visible, his arm pouring blood while a wave took a good look at it.
“Do you have something to say, Gordon?”
Gordon looked unsure for a moment, his lips beginning to mouth the word, ‘No’. But then he pulled it back. “Forgive me, sir, but I don’t understand why you insist on keeping the little twat alive. We’ve kept the Outsiders under control for years, but now that we’ve burned their base and retaken the Leon girl, they’re certain to retaliate.”
Saevus stepped forward. “A war is not complete until one side is defeated.”
“Says who?” snapped Gordon, shoving the wave off of him so he could stand up straight. “We had this war under control but your actions these last few months have warped everything! If you’d just killed Xander when we had him before, we’d still have the upper hand!”
“We still have the upper hand -”
“You made me kill my son!” Gordon flushed with rage. “He was a loyal servant of yours and, yet, you ordered his execution to save face! Because of Xander we’ve lost more than enough Guardians in the last six months, yet you found it necessary to kill one! You drove Stuart to insanity for a reason that had nothing to do with him! He failed a mission, yes, but so what? We all have at one point. Give him a good beating and get on with it! Stuart, Veli, Aila, Eamon, Orson, Dougal, Mathis, and Wyatt were all loyal to you and are all dead because of this little shit, yet, for some reason, he’s still alive! Kill him!”
Saevus raised his eyebrows.
“Kill him right now or lose my loyalty forever!”
Saevus smiled. He activated his wristband and a hologram screen appeared in front of him. After clicking around for a few seconds, he looked at Gordon and said, “I think not.”
From where Deryn stood, she could see an image of Gordon pulled up on Saevus’s screen. He pressed a button below the image labeled ACTIVATE.
Gordon collapsed to his knees and screamed. A fog spread over his irises until his eyes were milky white. The veins on his arm just above his wristband became an ash gray, appearing similar to the black veins still marked on Xander’s forearms.
Gordon’s white eyes stared up at Saevus.
“Stand,” the president ordered.
Gordon stood in one swift, robotic motion.
“Gordon Mackey, will you pledge your loyalty to me?”
“Yes, my president.”
Saevus’s smile broadened. “Good.” He glanced around the room. “Let this be a warning to the rest of you, should you ever feel the desire to step out of line.”
“The fuck ...” mouthed Xander, staring wide-eyed at the obedient Gordon.
Deryn was busy watching Elvira. The woman was fuming, but no
t because of what her father had done to Gordon - she was incapable of feeling compassion for others - but when her father had pulled up Gordon’s image, she had noticed another image waiting to be activated. Hers.
Saevus paid her no mind. “Take a good look, Xander. I imagine you’ll have a similar eye color fairly soon.”
Xander winced. “You’re insane!”
“Not insane. Practical,” said Saevus. “Until we get a new wristband installed for you, we need to come up with a good form of punishment. Shall I send you back to floor ninety-two? Play the footage of your father fucking the girl you love again. Or the girl you’re controlled to love. Honestly, at this point, I really don’t care.”
Xander narrowed his eyes, but not at Saevus. For the first time since he’d arrived, he was looking at his father. Atticus stepped back.
Xander stood up straight, cracked his knuckles and took one steady breath.
He tried to hold himself together, he truly did, which was why he had no recollection of knocking Wenton out and Barath back, making sure to grab his Element as the man fell. He aimed it at his father and fired a blast. Atticus dodged quickly.
Xander went for Atticus again, this time tossing Deryn’s knife across the room. It missed and thrust itself into the wall. Several Guardians moved to intervene but Saevus held up a hand to stop them. He wanted to see how this played out.
No matter how many times Xander tried to hit Atticus, the older Ruby wouldn’t raise his Element. But he wasn’t against running like hell.
“Xander, stop!” shouted Deryn.
But he couldn’t hear her. His mind was only focused on one thing and that was killing his father.
Atticus headed Deryn’s way. She ran in front of him, held out her hands and shouted, “I said stop!”
“Get out of my way, Deryn!” shouted Xander, his Element not lowering in the slightest. “I couldn’t do it before but I can fucking do it now! I can kill him!”
“No!” she screamed. “Xander Ruby, you cannot kill your father!”
“Yes, I can -”
“No,” she repeated. “You can’t kill him because you don’t hate him. You’ll never forgive yourself if you do it.”
“But I do hate him!”
“No, you don’t. You hate what he did to me. There’s a difference.”
“Who cares?” said Elvira. “Let Xander kill him. This is the only chance you’ll ever get for vengeance.”
Deryn scowled at her. “This isn’t vengeance! It’s a game! It’s all a fucking game, and Xander and I won’t play any longer! My true vengeance will come the day you and your father are rotting in your graves! When neither of you are around to continually tear families apart! Look at what your father did to Gordon! He was a terrible person, but even he was pushed too far!”
“Xander, I’m sorry,” said Atticus, stepping forward. He put a hand on Deryn’s arm as he moved past her. “I didn’t mean to -”
“Don’t you fucking touch her!” shouted Xander, raising his Element higher.
Deryn moved in front of Atticus again. “Xander, please. If you love me you’ll listen to me. Don’t do this.”
And with those simple words, Xander’s anger melted away. Not all of it, but enough for him to lower his hand while hot tears fell from his eyes.
Why hadn’t he gone for Atticus the moment he’d walked in there? He’d wanted to, but something had held him back.
Soren watched the two of them gaze at each another, feeling a horrible, throbbing pain in his heart. It was a look he’d never seen her give before. A look he’d always wanted, always imagined being aimed at him.
But it was never going to be him. It would always be Xander.
Watching the woman he loved showing intense feelings for someone else shifted something inside of him. He never would have believed it could happen before, but his heart ... his poor, aching heart was actually broken.
“You fucking twat!”
Soren was torn out of his daze as Barath kicked Xander in the shins and seized his Element once more.
Xander winced, but he was still focused on Deryn, his face sinking as he realized this might be it for them.
“I am very disappointed in you, Xander,” said Saevus. He looked at Barath. “Lock him in a room upstairs. Keep him isolated and make sure a guard’s outside his door at all times.”
Barath nodded. “And the slave?” He looked at Deryn and licked his lips.
“I’ve already promised her to Soren.” Saevus looked at his son-in-law. “She’s yours until I say otherwise. Do what you want with her until then.” He tore the knife Deryn still held out of her hands and ran it across her throat. “I recommend a little torture.”
Deryn grabbed Saevus’s arm and shoved him away from her.
He laughed. “I must admit, I’m enjoying this new girl so much more than the old one.” He turned to Xander and walked forward. “Let me be clear about what’s going to happen next. Once your new wristband is ready, it will be installed and you’ll be placed under my control. You will be my puppet. I will pull the strings but your emotions will still be intact. You will still be very aware of your love for this trash when you cut her heart out of her chest. She will die slowly and you will both feel every last excruciating moment of pain.”
Saevus stopped in front of Xander. He moved his face so it was mere inches from the younger man’s, forcing him to look into his eyes. In a swift movement, Xander was out of Barath’s grasp and seizing Saevus’s neck. He gave it a tight squeeze, then tossed the man aside and ran for Deryn.
Elvira tried to grab Deryn from behind, so Deryn flipped her over her shoulder and ran until she was in Xander’s arms.
Xander held her close and whispered, “An army is coming, so just hold on.”
Deryn nodded.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she whispered back.
Their eyes remained focused on each other as they were suddenly ripped apart. Deryn screamed for Xander as her wrists were bound and she was dragged out of the room.
Xander tried to run for her again but his wrists and ankles were bound just as quickly. Someone kicked him and he was knocked to his knees. They kicked him again. And again.
The next kick hit him hard in the head and the world started spinning. He felt an inkling of hope when he glimpsed Luka and Finley exiting the parlor.
Luka glanced over his shoulder and gave him a small nod of understanding. Deryn came first. She wouldn’t be touched.
Xander’s head jerked from another kick and his world went dark.
Soren tossed Deryn over his shoulder and carried her up the stairs. She never stopped screaming.
He went to the third floor and opened the door directly across from the staircase. He put her down and closed the door behind them. As soon as the door was locked, Deryn came at him. She tried to grab the knife he carried. Her knife. She’d noticed him grab it from the wall after Xander had thrown it.
When Soren shoved her hands away, she hit him hard in the nose with her bound wrists.
“Fuck!” he shouted, grabbing her wrists and slamming her into the closest wall. “Will you stop and listen for one damn second?”
“No!” she screamed. “No! You won’t have me! You will never have me!”
Soren stared blankly at her. He pulled something out of his pocket. A syringe.
“No! Don’t knock me out!” Deryn screamed while struggling to get free.
“It won’t - AH!”
Deryn kicked his shins and kneed his ball sack.
Soren crushed his body against hers so she couldn’t move and jammed the needle into her arm.
Deryn gasped. Tears filled her eyes as everything grew hazy. “Xander ...” she whispered as the world darkened around her.
The moment Deryn was asleep, Soren lifted her up and carried her over to the bed. He put her down and sat beside her.
Her hair fell loosely in front of her face and he brushed it behind her ear, desperate to see her eyes.
But he couldn’t see the sea-green pools he’d longed for since the day she’d left him.
Soren leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. As soft as he remembered.
What he wanted more than anything was for those eyes to open, to see him there and to look at him in the same way she’d looked at Xander. For her to tell him that she loved him and to mean it. No brainwashing or mind-control or manipulation. Just her.
Soren cried as his fingers tangled in her hair. He pressed his forehead against hers, their lips no longer touching.
Until he’d witnessed that moment between Deryn and Xander downstairs, he’d still believed that there was a chance for her to love him.
But Soren had done everything wrong. He shouldn’t have stepped forward that first time, knowing damn well that Saevus would never give her to him. When the slave trade began, he should have taken her in. Shown her compassion. Shown her kindness. Shown her love.
But the damage was done.
Soren loved her. But Deryn would never love him back.
CHAPTER 49
A long way up, on the ninety-fifth floor, Dakota and April landed on the platform just above where the slide had once been. It was unclear how Saevus had even gotten rid of it, but it was gone.
Dakota took the lead down the staircase, having to crawl on his hands and knees to get through. On the other end, a doorway had already opened for them.
Dakota slinked through the fireplace. Someone shrieked his name and he was smothered by a tiny body.
“Took you long enough,” cried Ronan.
Dakota kept hold of him while he stood up straight. “Ah, come on, Ro. You knew we’d never leave you here.”
Ronan pulled back and pouted. “But gramps called you days ago.”
Dakota glanced over the boy’s shoulder at the old man in the wheelchair. He had to admit, when he’d first heard Asher Saevus was still alive he’d been skeptical, but the evidence in front of him was pretty damning. Asher had a face similar to his son’s, though withered with age.
“Yes, but they still have Miki, Kemp and Ulric. We couldn’t come for you but leave them behind, now, could we?”
Arise (Cruel and Beautiful World Book 3) Page 50
