The Warrior - Initiation Driven Subversive Redemption Justice

by Rebecca Royce

  Chad nodded. “We need to be somewhere secure, somewhere where we can absolutely guarantee there are no recording devices, so Icahn can’t possibly hear us.”

  “I wish such a place existed. You know as well as I do there’s no way to guarantee it.”

  Silence fell over the room. Every word we’d just said could already have been transmitted to him. He’d built this place and unless we wanted to face living with the monsters—and these days the attempted attacks by other humans—we were stuck underground in a place he’d made and remade several times to suit his needs. Our scientists and engineers were doing their best to make things better, to defuse bombs when they found them and turn off the bugs.

  If the transmitters on the foreign attackers had been an indication, we might actually be winning the war. He couldn’t hear what we said. Maybe. Or maybe it was all a psychological game, cooked up to make us let our guard down.

  “Rachel has something she wants to tell you.”

  I turned to stare at Chad. “What?”

  “What we were discussing right before they got here.” He motioned to my parents.

  “Really?” If he’d been closer, I would have swatted him. “You want to make me do this right now?”

  “Seems as good a time as any. Don’t you think?”

  “What is it, sweetheart?” My mother walked across the room and poured herself her own glass of water. We wouldn’t have too many minutes left before we’d have to be in Patrick’s meeting. Telling them now didn’t feel appropriate.

  Like he’d read my mind, Chad spoke again. “Have to live for now.”

  Where Chad and time-talks were concerned, I had no leg to stand on in terms of waiting. He might not live until tomorrow. My mother could go down any second, too.

  I just had to hope my news didn’t kill her. “Well, I’ve decided to move out. I’m eighteen now.”

  My mother remained silent. Strange, since she always stayed the most forceful presence in our little family. After a moment, my father responded, “Where will you be living?”

  Pointing at Chad, I declined to answer verbally. I’d killed a man earlier in the day. I’d lived years in cryogenic sleep, put my father to bed when he’d been too drunk to stand, and had a madman erase me from the memories of my loved ones. Yet I remained a baby when dealing with my parents.

  Would I always be this way?

  My father nodded. “Well, good. We wouldn’t want you to be alone.”

  I swallowed. What had he said? I stood still. My mouth hung open and I knew I must look like a landed fish.

  Chad extended his hand. “Thank you, sir. I’ll marry her when she finally decides to have me.”

  He’d what? I turned on him. When was the last time I’d been so completely caught off guard? Well, hell: earlier in the afternoon with the damn attackers. What was happening to me? When had life started shaking me around so much?

  My parents—at least my father—didn’t mind me moving in with my boyfriend, although my mother remained stoically silent. And Chad wanted to get married?

  “This isn’t the room for romantic gestures.” I had to clear my throat to speak. “Life isn’t made for weddings and fairy tales anymore.”

  “Actually, I can’t think of a better opportunity for any of it.” My mother finally spoke. “And we’re hardly living in a situation when waiting solves anything. I try to imagine the two of you. Not just the two of you, actually. The whole lot of Warrior teenagers and young people running around here, saving the world.”

  She took a long sip of her drink. “You’d be going off to college. With your perfect grades and what were certain to be awesome boards, you’d have had your pick. Chad would be finishing school soon. Going off to be brilliant at something. Micah would have dropped out of college and finally enlisted like he wanted to.”

  She shook her head. “All of you would have had lives where none of us knew each other very well at all.”

  “I knew Rachel.” Chad smiled. “And I would have kept knowing her. When she got a little bit older.”

  This whole conversation had moved way beyond the realm of normal into strange and uncomfortable. I needed to digest it, somewhere else. “If you all want to be technical, we don’t know how old any of us really are. How long did we sleep? How many decades? For all I know, I’m eighty years old, Dad is over a century and, Chad, you and my mother are dead.”

  “Rachel.” My mother sighed. “You always did know how to bring down a room. My daughter, the dour princess.”

  I walked toward the front door. “Shouldn’t we, you know, go?”

  Chad took my hand. “If I’m dead, then you’re dating a zombie.”

  My mother walked next to us. “She’s going to move in with a zombie. Even worse.”

  Life had gotten really strange.

  ***

  I expected to hear a lot of arguing, but no one said a word against the idea. Patrick presented the facts. A battle needed to be waged, and the children had to be protected. End of story.

  The Lyons family would be sending their two smallest children away, as well as Tia, with her son. Keith’s wife, Tiffani, a Warrior, would also be going. The kids would not be abandoned. The irony of the whole thing came in where they had decided to hide everyone. They were going to use Redemption, Icahn’s previous habitat, as their temporary home.

  A smart move. It had been abandoned, and it could be easily defended.

  Finally, my father spoke. “Who will take care of them? They can’t be sent without one of us. What if they encounter a Werewolf or a Vampire?”

  “We’ve thought of that. Actually, the idea came from your wife.”

  If my mother had put me up as some kind of glorified babysitter, I was going to scream and yell. Even if behaving dramatically should be beneath me at my age.

  “Glen is going to go. His son and wife will be there. Tiffani is a Warrior. She can still fight.” I wasn’t going to insult either of them but I’d saved Tiffani the year before. Her skills were subpar at the moment. She needed Keith to retrain her. But because he was her husband, the whole experience would probably prove awkward.

  Patrick looked at Keith. “And to make sure our most vulnerable have our very best, I’m sending Keith, too.”

  My heart stuttered. No. I might even have shaken my head. We couldn’t do without Keith. He had to lead us in battle.

  I opened my mouth and Chad cleared his throat, stopping me from whatever I’d say.

  Chad whispered. “It’s his wife and child. We’re humans. We stay with our families.”

  I knew he spoke the truth. There had to be a way we kept our humanity. Even if we had to slaughter men every day in battle.

  I closed my lips and tried to breathe through my nose. Surely we could win, somehow, without Keith Endover.

  Somehow.

  “Three Warriors to protect all of them. It doesn’t seem like much.” I didn’t know who’d called out an objection but I was glad they had. We were sending our most vulnerable out. Shouldn’t we have more Warriors with them?

  “We can’t afford to send our fighters away right before the fight.”

  Micah stepped forward. Even with his arm bandaged, he still managed to look like some kind of avenging angel sent to rescue humanity from the pit. I heard an intake of breath from several of the women in the room. He would always have an effect on the female population.

  Once, I’d been one of them, but now I knew Chad to be the handsomest, smartest, most precious person on the planet. Micah would always be my buddy. But that was all.

  “Dad.”

  Patrick nodded to him. “Yes?”

  “Keith is amazing. No one would say otherwise, but how long could three Warriors—two if you don’t count Tiffani, who will have her baby to handle—hold out against an overwhelming force?”

  Keith laughed. “Your overwhelming confidence in me moves my heart. Let’s put it this way: we shouldn’t be gone very long. If you guys fall, if you don’t win, then we’re dea
d anyway. The best I can do is help everyone run.”

  With those dire words, my knees threatened to buckle. Chad touched the small of my back. I smiled and tried to look calm. We’d really come to the end here.

  “But you’re not better fighters than us. Not against humans. Monsters, yes. We’re just as good at defending ourselves in a fair fight as you are.”

  This time I knew the voice. My former lawyer, Teddy. He’d defended me when Icahn had made false claims against me to stop anyone noticing he conspired with the Vampires. He was a good attorney, who had kept me from dying once and had been the Warriors’ biggest supporter ever since. Before he’d gotten stuck with me as a client, he’d worked out agricultural deals with the farmers. Defending a crazed Rachel Clancy must have been a big change for him. He’d lost at least twenty pounds in the last year. I saw him working out all the time.

  Patrick stood up. “Because it’s our job to defend you, Teddy.”

  “But—”

  Chad’s father spoke over him. “Because whether or not it’s fair we were changed under cryogenic sleep to become fighting machines, it has been, since we awakened, the blessing for many of us to spend our lives keeping this place safe. Taking care of all of you is our role. It might not have been what we would have chosen for ourselves but it is what we do. There isn’t one Warrior in this room who would want you, or any other non-Warrior, hurt. This is what we do. And if the odds are matched for this fight, then so be it.”

  Patrick’s words moved me. I’d been feeling defeated, but now I stood straighter. Keith wouldn’t be with us, which would be hard. But Patrick Lyons spoke the truth. We were Warriors. Taking care of Genesis constituted what we did. We would do it because we could do no differently.

  Teddy nodded, looking down at his feet. How had Icahn decided I should be a fighter and not Teddy? Had it been random or had the fact one of Icahn’s henchmen, Darren, wanted me involved so he could keep both eyes on me? I supposed it didn’t matter. As Patrick had said, this was our life. We had to live it.

  “I’m going to count on all of you to help the non-Warriors get their things together and to get out of their homes. Tonight. Keith will lead them under cover of darkness. They’ll have a party of ten Warriors with them. If you were on duty tonight, you’ll go with them and return here in the morning.” Patrick rubbed his forehead. “The rest of you, get some sleep.”

  “He’s sending his daughter, his sons, his wife, and his grandchild away.” I squeezed Chad’s hands. “You should go be with your family.”

  He kissed my cheek and, in a room of people, I still shuddered like we were alone. “You are my family.”

  “Chad.” I stared into his big, brown eyes knowing I could look at him forever just like that, if we’d had the time. I could drown in the way his eyes devoured me. “You need to go be with them. For an hour. Micah will never stay. Emotional stuff sends him running. Your mom might need help.”

  Appealing to his practical side always got the job done.

  He nodded. “Will you wait for me?”

  I nodded, aware of what his question meant. “I’ll be in your rooms.”

  He walked away and I stood, watching him go. The manmade overhead lights were gone for the evening, giving the impression of nighttime. Lanterns lit the rooms and the streets. Somewhere, a baby cried.

  In all of this, the planning, the running, the readying for a fight, my mind had drifted to a subject I shouldn’t still be thinking about, not after six months.

  Deacon Evans. When push came to shove, would my best friend come to slaughter me? Would I have to use my newly discovered people-killing skills to take his life?

  Or would he come to his senses? I’d long since stopped believing in miracles. Still, I hoped in my deepest heart he’d come home to us and we could stand side by side when the end came.

  In whatever way that end happened to be.

  Chapter Three

  I waited for Chad, wandering around his rooms, touching his things. None of us had very much stuff.

  But Chad had some things around. A piece of paper with a picture of him that one of his younger brothers had painted. Chad had a smile on his face. I grinned at the look. He was a good big brother, had been in both the Before and After Times.

  He had a knife his father had given him. Too shallow to be of use in a fight, he stored it here as a memento . It had a white ceramic holder. I closed my eyes and touched it. So few things from the time Before remained in our lives. My mother had a collection of porcelain dolls in our living room from when I’d been a small girl. This didn’t feel as smooth against the pad of my finger but it was close.

  These days, I’d take what I could get.

  “You like that?”

  I opened my eyes. Chad leaned against the doorframe. He smiled, but his eyes looked tired.

  “Rough night at the Lyons household?”

  “Mom wanted to know why you didn’t come. You’re family, as you know.” He slipped his black jacket off and left it on the side of the chair. For as dark-haired as he was, he played it up by dressing in black nearly all the time. If asked, he would say he did it to disguise himself more easily from the Vampires. Having brighter clothes didn’t make sense to him. But I think he knew how handsome he looked when he stayed that way, mysterious and dangerous at the same time.

  “It’s different now that my mom is back.” She’d been dead for a while, as had Chad. “I can’t really justify spending time at your family’s house like we’re really family. It hurts her feelings.”

  “Where is your stuff?” He looked around the room.

  “My stuff?” I really had no idea what he thought I should have brought with me.

  “You’re moving in.”

  “Oh.” I shook my head. “Not tonight. It’s going to take a little bit of time.”

  “Why?” I thought for a second his question was a joke, but he waited, and I realized he really did mean for me to answer.

  “Because it is.” When I’d said I move in, it didn’t mean I needed to run over with my stuff immediately. I would move in. Eventually. “Baby steps, sweetheart.”

  “Sweetheart?” He scrunched up his nose. “Not my favorite nickname.”

  I knew how that went. I hated when they called me pixie-girl. These days my friends didn’t do it as much. Jason had been the first person to use the name. With him dead, the Warriors seemed to have retired the name as well. But the tattoo on my back remained.

  The fact they’d chosen that symbol for me, and placed it on my back after my first mission Upward, had been a reference to the Before Time even though they—and I—hadn’t realized it then. We’d all remembered my nickname without realizing we had. So, for the remainder of my life, I would have part of my dead ex on my skin. At first, I’d thought it would bring me good luck, but now it felt like I had a tombstone attached to my body. It could read Jason Kenwood was here.

  Only he’d never been where I pretty much thought Chad would go tonight.

  “Were you really expecting me to move in right this second?” I walked toward him. “I mean, someone is going to need to bring it here. Unlike you, I don’t have three or four things I alternate wearing all the time. I have, you know, different kinds of pants for different kinds of occasions.”

  He smiled. “Killing-Vampire occasions. Killing-Werewolves occasions. Killing-bad-guys occasions. Eating.”

  I pinched his arm. “I’m a girl.”

  “I’m aware.” He pulled me in his arms. “Very aware. And yes, I guess I hoped I’d come home and all your stuff would be here. Tonight.

  “Because we may not have a lot of tomorrows. Part of my family is being hauled off, as we speak, to go hide out. War is on the horizon.” He kissed the side of my temple. “You’re mine. I want you here all the time.”

  I drummed my fingers on his chest. “Well, I’m here right now. And if you want, I’ll be here in the morning.”

  I should have been feeling nervous but the heat generating between th
e two of us only made me anxious to get it started. I’d made us both wait, a long time. When Chad had been dead, I’d obsessed over it. What would have happened if I’d not said no? But the past didn’t matter now. Whatever the circumstances, we’d managed to find each other again.

  “You sure?”

  I didn’t have to ask him what he meant. I nodded and he grinned.

  “I’m not sure what I did in any life to deserve you, Rachel. You don’t see yourself as everyone else does. So smart, so pretty, so willing to throw yourself off a cliff to keep those you love safe. You’re the best person I know.”

  “Chad.” I didn’t do emotion well. I’d had to learn to protect myself. The way he looked at me, what he’d just said, it stripped me of every defense I had left. He might not know it, but I stood completely vulnerable to him.

  Chad sighed. “I love you. And if we get to live until we’re old, I’m going to love you then, too.”

  I kissed him. Because I had to. Because I loved him. Just because.

  ***

  I woke up the next morning to the sun streaming in through the window. It took me a moment to figure out where I was and then I felt Chad’s arm flung over my body. I didn’t think either of us had moved all night once we’d fallen asleep. I grinned at the thought.

  Like with all things Chad, it had been absolutely perfect between us.

  I moved slightly and he adjusted his arm until I could get out of the bed. He didn’t open his eyes as he spoke. “You’re not leaving. It’s still too early.”

  “I’m not leaving.” I leaned over and kissed him. How could he think I’d sneak out after what we’d shared? Of course, he knew me pretty well. I’d once been so convinced I needed to be on my own, I’d had myself erased from his existence.

  I walked into the kitchen and poured myself some water. It tasted good on my parched tongue. Realizing I wore only his T-shirt, I tugged it down a bit. I’d never been the kind of girl to walk around naked, or even half-naked, and I couldn’t imagine getting used to it anytime soon.