The Tainted (The Tainted Series Book 1)

by Anna Hill

  “I guess I shouldn’t be the one to judge. I’ve had my fair share of run-ins with teachers and the law. Is rebelliousness a Truaillithe trait too?”

  “Not that I’m aware of, but issues with authority do seem to be a common theme throughout our crew, so you’re in good company…Can I ask? Was it your gift that got you in trouble too?”

  Rebecca fell silent, staring at Owen. It was the first time any of the others had inquired about her ability. She knew they had to be curious about what it was by now. They’d been living together for almost two months, and she’d yet to show any sign, whatsoever, that she even had a gift. Still, she wasn’t ready to tell the others just yet, not until she felt in control of her gift. As of right now, she was far from that.

  “It…Well…Not exactly…” Rebecca began, but was thankfully cut off as Faolan peeked her head into the room.

  “Training starts in 15. Etain says to get yourselves ready and meet her out in the woods,” Faolan instructed them from the doorway before quickly disappearing again.

  “Gotta go change,” Rebecca said, jumping up off the couch. “See you out there!” And with that, she bolted out of the room before Owen had a chance to say anything else.

  * * *

  It had been a particularly tough day at training. Rebecca had gotten good enough that Etain believed she should join the others in sparring. At first, Rebecca thought the crew might take it easy on her, knowing she was less experienced, but not a single crew member showed her any mercy.

  Today her sparring partner was Aeden, who seemed incapable of showing any pity whatsoever. No one used their gifts on sparring days, but even so, Aeden’s fighting was so superior that Rebecca spent almost the whole training session on defense, doing her best to remain standing.

  During their last bought, Aeden landed a particularly nasty side kick that knocked Rebecca straight to the ground, where she was still lying, struggling to regain her breath. Her ribs hurt from the impact, though, at this point it was only one of several intense pains across her body

  “Sorry Becs,” Aeden said as he offered her a hand, “didn’t mean for that kick to land so hard.”

  Rebecca exhaled heavily, grasping her side. “You know, I think I’ll be fine down here for a little while longer.”

  Aeden smiled and gave her shoulder a tight squeeze. “It might not feel like it yet, but I promise all this training is worth it.” He gave her another smile, then headed over to where Owen was standing on the other side of the clearing.

  “That’s good enough for today,” Etain said to the crew. “Take the rest of the day off. You all earned it.”

  Instantly, the whole crew perked up, thankful for the free time. After gathering their things, they headed back toward the house, leaving the clearing empty.

  Rebecca remained sitting on the ground, however, happy to remain so until all her pain had gone.

  “You may not believe me, but you fought well today.” Faolan said as she walked over.

  “Pfft,” Rebecca breathed out heavily, rolling her eyes at Faolan’s comment, “When did you start lying?”

  Faolan revealed one of her rare, soft smiles, “I said you fought well, I didn’t say you were good. Come, let’s take a walk.”

  Faolan turned and began walking into the woods, without offering Rebecca a hand up or even waiting for her to respond.

  Ignoring her aching muscles, Rebecca quickly pushed herself off of the ground and followed her friend.

  “You look happier today,” Faolan noted as Rebecca fell into step beside her.

  “I slept well last night.”

  “You didn’t have a dream?” Faolan seemed surprised, in her usual almost undetectable way.

  “No, I dreamt…a wonderful dream.” Vivid images of her mother raced through Rebecca’s mind, causing her heart to swell with happiness. However, she didn’t want to share what she’d seen. She still wasn’t ready to tell anyone, not even Faolan, what she really dreamt of each night.

  “I didn’t fight the dreams, just like you told me to do,” Rebecca said, hoping that her momentary pause hadn’t aroused Faolan’s suspicions.

  Faolan nodded as they continued to walk through the woods, “So, do you understand that you shouldn’t deny your Aillil side?”

  “Yes, I do. I’m still frightened of it, though. Just because I had a good dream last night, doesn’t mean that the nightmares have stopped.”

  “I understand your fear, but you need to remember that you control the gift, it doesn’t control you.” Faolan kept up a fast pace as she led them through the trees.

  Rebecca looked around, noticing how deep into the woods they’d gone. “Are we allowed this far out? I don’t think I’ve ever been this far from the house.”

  Faolan stopped so suddenly that Rebecca almost slammed into her. “I brought you out here to show you something.” Faolan looked at Rebecca for a moment and then tilted her face toward the sky.

  Slightly confused, Rebecca slowly followed suit. Immediately, an audible gasp escaped her lips.

  The world above her looked as though it were on fire. The bright rays of the sun pierced through the canopy of changing leaves, setting alight the array of luminous yellows, vibrant oranges, and brilliant reds. It was stunning. Copious deciduous trees packed so closely together, each glowing brightly. In all the time she’d spent in nature, she’d never seen something as wonderfully beautiful as this.

  “When I’m out here alone, I often stop and just look up at the trees. They’re so enormous and strong, and yet beautiful and majestic. They’ve seen and endured so much in their long lives, but they still stand tall and proud. They give me strength, help me not to be afraid.”

  Rebecca remained silent, still gazing up at the dazzling beauty above her. She understood what Faolan meant, there was something about these trees that felt magical.

  With a soft sigh, Rebecca looked over at her friend, “Thank you for this.”

  Faolan nodded silently and, without another word, began to lead them back toward the house.

  Rebecca took a final glance upward, willing her mind to remember this beauty forever, and then turned to follow her friend.

  That night, Rebecca slept calmly, once again returning to her clearing and finding her mother watching her from the trees. She examined her mother more closely this time, noting their striking resemblance, admiring how beautiful and strong she appeared. Rebecca could feel her chest swell with joy, her entire body overwhelmed with happiness. For the first time in her life, her gift felt like just that, a gift.

  Thirteen

  The call came late in the night. Owen had answered it, and was now running throughout the house, in a mad rush, waking the entire crew.

  Rebecca’s door burst open, causing her to leap straight out of her bed in alarm. Owen surged through the open door, breathing heavily, “Get changed quickly, we need to leave immediately.” Then, without another word, he was gone.

  Shocked, and still trying to fully awaken, Rebecca hurriedly changed out of her pajamas, pulling on the closest clothes she could find, and then sped downstairs to find the rest of the crew waiting in the foyer.

  “We have everyone?” Etain glanced over them all, nodded, and then rushed out the front door.

  Faolan sat waiting in the driver’s seat of a running SUV. The crew piled in, quickly filling the large vehicle. As soon as the last door was shut, she slammed her foot on the accelerator and they peeled off down the driveway.

  “Anyone mind telling me what the hell is going on?” Rebecca asked as she pulled on her seatbelt, feeling incredibly confused by everything that had transpired in the last ten minutes.

  Etain turned around in the front passenger seat and faced Rebecca, the worry apparent on her face. “A safe house contacted us. They just spotted the third scout in less than a week out in the woods near them. I don’t know why he…I mean, why they haven’t told us about this before, but we have to get them all out of there immediately.”

  Etain continued
talking, though more to herself, as she spun around in her seat, “I can’t believe he would put me in this situation...Thank goodness I have a house prepared. It was where our crew was meant to go to next, but I guess I’ll just have to find another place for us after all of this mess is figured out.”

  “So, where are we going? How far away is this house?”

  It was Owen who answered her this time, “Just outside of Lakeport in California, about a five hour drive. Whenever, possible we keep the safe houses relatively close to us.”

  “Yes, for precisely this reason,” Etain’s angry voice snapped from the front seat. “Everyone who can, try to get some sleep. I have a feeling we have quite the day ahead of us.”

  After all the craziness of the last half hour, Rebecca was far too awake to fall back asleep again. Turning away from the rest of the crew, she pulled her knees up to her chest and stared out at the dark woods flying by her window, allowing her thoughts to wander.

  * * *

  The car hit a slight bump in the road causing Rebecca’s head to knock against the glass, bringing her back to consciousness. She wasn’t sure when she’d fallen asleep, but as she rubbed the sore spot on her cheek, she could see that the eastern horizon was beginning to glow a soft orange and pink.

  “We’re almost there,” Owen said as she looked over at him. From the dark circles under his drooping eyes, she could tell he hadn’t been able to fall asleep.

  She took a quick scan around the car and, as far as she could tell, the only other crew member who’d slept was Trysten. He was still completely dead to the world, sprawled out in the back seat with his legs stretched over an anxious and unnerved Aeden.

  Etain began to rustle around in the front seat. Lifting up a large canvas bag, she handed it back to Owen. “Wake up Trysten and pass these out. We’ll be there in less than 15.”

  Owen grabbed the bag and rummaged around inside of it while Aeden unceremoniously shook Trysten back to consciousness.

  Lifting his hand out of the sack, Owen passed Rebecca a handkerchief and a large metal canister. Confused, she looked up at him and was about to ask what in the world he’d just handed her, when Aeden, taking his set of items, began to explain.

  “It’s a smoke canister. We use them when we fight the Aillil so we can see them coming. They’re cocky bastards, so when you fight them one-on-one, they wont use their invisibility--they like it when you can watch them defeat you. But when they fight in a group, it’s all about killing by any means necessary. So, unless you’re Faolan, you have no idea they’re coming for you.”

  Rebecca spun around to look at Faolan, who merely shrugged in response. Rebecca’s stomach lurched and she began to realize why the other crew members hadn’t been able to sleep.

  Etain turned around quickly in her chair, “Aeden, there’s no need to scare her like that! We may not even need to use them.”

  Aeden harrumphed from the back seat as he rolled his eyes.

  “Why doesn’t Trysten just make us all disappear? Can’t he just grab onto us or something?” Rebecca asked to no one in particular.

  “Doesn’t work like that,” Trysten said from the back. “I can only make myself disappear…trust me I’ve tried.” His voice trailed off and he turned away from her, a wave of sadness crossing his face.

  Rebecca looked down at the can in her lap, “How is this supposed to help us see then? If there’s smoke everywhere, how can we see anything, let alone breathe?”

  Owen answered her this time, “It’s not ideal, we know that, but it makes it as hard for them to see us as it is for us to see them, and harder for them to breathe since they don’t wear these,” he lifted up the handkerchief in his hand. “When we set all of these off, along with the ones the other Truaillithe have at their house, the cloud will surround everything. The smoke will be swirling around you. What you’ll need to look for is when it moves quickly or is pushed aside. That’s when you know a soldier is coming.”

  Rebecca’s nerves began to get the better of her and she looked down to see her hands trembling in her lap. The very idea of being stuck in a thick, smoky cloud, surrounded by invisible Aillil soldiers, was worse than any nightmare she’d ever experienced.

  Owen rested his hand on her shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. “It’s OK Becs, we’ll all be right beside you.” Though his voice sounded sincere, she couldn’t shake the horrible feeling of helplessness that was settling over her.

  The SUV made a sharp right turn onto a long, paved driveway that headed up a sloping hill covered in tall, thick trees.

  “Alright, as far as I know, they’ve been working through the night to pack everything up inside the house. So, when we arrive, we just have to move everything and everyone into their vans and get the hell out of there,” Etain said as she tied her handkerchief around her neck.

  As the rest of the group tied on their handkerchiefs, Rebecca followed suit. “Why don’t they just move everything into the vans themselves? Couldn’t they have done that last night?”

  “Everything needs to appear normal at the house. If the Aillil are watching them and even suspect that they’re going to run, they’ll attack immediately and we wouldn’t be there to help them. They’d never survive,” Faolan said as she pulled the SUV up beside four large, white vans. Behind them stood a massive house. It wasn’t as unique, or nearly as fancy, as the crew’s house, but what it lacked in flair it made up for in enormity.

  The group piled out of the vehicle and split up immediately. Everyone seemed to know exactly where they needed to be and what they were supposed to do, and before Rebecca knew it, she was standing alone. Frightened, she scanned the thick woods that surrounded the house. The sun had just barely made it over the horizon and, at this angle, it cast leering, dark shadows along the misty tree line that sent shivers up Rebecca’s spine.

  Suddenly, a hand grabbed onto her arm, causing Rebecca to leap back in fright.

  “Calm down,” Etain whispered, though when Rebecca turned to look at her, she could see that Etain was also looking warily out at the woods. “You’re going to help me move everything while the others scan the forest.” She continued to explain as she led Rebecca up the steps of the front porch. “When they finish out there, if all is clear, they’ll help us move anything that’s left. Hopefully, we’ll be out of here in less than 20 minutes.”

  When they reached the front door, it was immediately pulled open. On the other side stood a tall, strikingly handsome man. He had beautiful chocolate skin, shaved hair and high cheekbones that complimented his square jaw. It was his eyes, however, that stood out most. They were a bright, almost glowing, green, unlike any she’d ever seen before. They were the same colour as the young leaves in spring.

  “Come inside quickly,” he whispered harshly, waving them through the door and shutting it behind them.

  Once it had closed, he turned toward Etain. Though their eyes met only briefly, there was something in the glance that made Rebecca feel as if she were intruding upon their moment.

  The man moved his gaze over to Rebecca. His face hardened as he sized her up. “Who’s this?”

  “Rebecca. She’s new to the crew,” Etain answered, though she was no longer paying him any attention. She took a step away as she took tabs of everything around them.

  The man continued staring at Rebecca, though now she caught a hint of jealousy in his eyes that made her even more uncomfortable.

  Breaking away from his gaze, she too took stock of the chaos around her. The entire front room was piled high with luggage and boxes, packed and ready to be brought outside. Her eyes came to a halt when they landed on a basket sitting next to the closed door. It was filled to the brim with smoke canisters, like the one she had shoved in the front pocket of her sweater. She quickly turned away. Just looking at all of them, knowing what they were for, made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

  “Breadan, where are the others?” Etain asked, looking back at the man.

  “In the livin
g room. We’ve been waiting for you all to arrive. You know, this would have been a lot easier if you’d just let us…”

  “Not now!” Etain barked at him, cutting him off, though her face looked surprisingly empathetic.

  “Etain! I’m so glad you’re here!” A young woman, no older than 16, came rushing down the hallway toward them, ending the awkward moment. She was the spitting image of Breadan, from her beautiful skin to her breathtakingly green eyes.

  Breadan’s nostrils flared in anger as he turned and headed off down the hallway in the direction the girl had come from, mumbling back, “I’ll ready the others.”

  “Fina, how are you? How is everyone?” Etain asked as she embraced the girl.

  “We’re alright, but it’s been a hard week. We need to get out of here.” The smile quickly faded from the girl’s face as she spoke. “Breadan doesn’t want to admit he was wrong, but we should have been out of here a long time ago.”

  “It’s alright, we’re here now,” Etain said, allowing a small smile to part her tense lips.

  The girl turned toward Rebecca, smiling again. “I’m Fina, Breadan’s sister,” she said, offering out her hand.

  “Rebecca,” she replied as she shook the sweet girl’s hand. Though they might look incredibly similar, it was clear the siblings had exceptionally different characters.

  “Alright, first things first, we need to get all of this moved out of here and into the vans.” Etain bent over and picked up as many bags as she could carry.

  Fina opened the front door and then began to load herself up as well. Rebecca followed suit and together they drug the first load around to the back of one of the vans. Fina pulled out a set of keys, unlocked the back doors, and they quickly stacked everything inside.

  As they headed back toward the house for a second load, they passed by Breadan. He had three other older Truaillithe, two male and one female, in tow and they were all carrying their own loads of luggage. The three unfamiliar Truaillithe gave anxious, silent nods of greeting to Etain as she passed by, but took no time to slow down.