His hands slid up the sides of my body, pulling my arms free from my sleeves as he pushed my hands over my head and held them there. He pressed into me—or tried to—then paused.
His forehead dropped on the pillow against my head, his breath tickling against my ear.
“Razz,” he said, breathless.
“Don’t stop,” I purred back, untangling my fingers from his to curl them into his hair.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
He meant physically, though I was worried more about what came next. After. The hurt if all this was only physical to him, if didn’t mean to him what it meant to me. But my body craved his so badly in that moment that I didn’t care.
“You won’t,” I said. “Just…go slow.”
As if anything about this was slow.
But despite everything about Henrick’s energy and personality being forceful, he was gentle with this. Tender. Careful. He waited for my body to adjust before pushing in farther. Although there was some discomfort, the sensation was delicious once my body accommodated him, driving me quickly to the edge.
His body rocked against mine, his pelvis rubbing me in all the right places. I slid my hands up and down his back, urging him on. He still wasn’t giving me all of him, but the friction was enough to build up a needy pressure. Faster than I’d thought was possible, I clenched around him, my walls squeezing him tight and sending sparks through the rest of my body.
He grunted a little, as if holding back, one of his arms holding him up while his other hand fisted in my hair. He pushed in a little deeper, drawing out my orgasm, and then thrust into me harder. I bit into my lip to stop the pleasurable scream that threatened to escape me.
He buried his face into my neck as he climaxed. The warm whisper of his breath in my ear, saying words I couldn’t make out, made me feel warm and safe.
I had never felt like this before, so connected to someone through sex. It was transcendent of lust. I…
I loved him.
Just as I had the thought, his gaze came to mine, gentle but unreadable. What passed between us in that moment was almost spiritual. Inexplicable. Being with him made me feel like everything would somehow be okay.
And then I heard the screaming.
A loud growl accompanied the high-pitched female voice.
“Mi-Ta,” I muttered as Henrick rolled off me and stood. He threw his pants back on and rushed out into the open air.
I hurriedly put my clothes back on to follow, still flushed, but now also sick from the sudden shift in my adrenaline.
As I ran barefoot outside, I saw the horror I had hoped would never come.
Ravagers surrounded us, drool sliding down their yellowed fangs. They had no eyes and no nose, but they must have been able to somehow sniff us out with their mouths. They opened wide, making a hissing sound as their claws swung toward us.
Everything was on fire and Mi-Ta was on the ground, bleeding from a gash that ran from her neck all the way down her now-tattered body.
She must have tried to fight them off, to do what she could. And this was what had come of it—an inferno and a ravager-fueled disaster.
Brula had found us. Really this time.
“Get out of here, child,” she choked out as her eyes met mine. “Your father would want you to—”
Another ravager pounced on her, tearing at her throat and silencing the native woman forever.
All of them would be dead in minutes.
This wasn’t Park and his people come to throw up a light show and save us. This was the regent’s forces. We were no match. No one was going to survive this unless Brula needed them, and the natives here were too old.
No, these people who had helped me, protected me, would die while I would live, all because Brula needed me. Needed a young body that would buy her decades in which to plan her next move.
But I’d be damned if I was going to give it to her.
Guardsmen poured out from the brush, some on foot and some in vehicles.
My power surged, and the ground beneath me, as well as the air around me, cooled off.
I hadn’t come this far to go softly into that good night. I was going to bring a blizzard to that bitch. If I did fail, I’d fight so hard that my body would be unusable by the time her greedy, wrinkled hands got to it.
I shot ice out in every direction, bringing death to these people in a way I didn’t think myself capable of.
The encampment would look like the backside of a summer storm by the time I was through unleashing my icy torrents. Ravagers and guardsmen alike were subjected to the terror I was doling out.
And then I felt a pinch.
It was just a small thing at first, just enough to get me to stumble backward.
But, looking down, I saw that it wasn’t that simple.
A dagger…no, a spear…jutted from my gut.
I instantly felt woozy, and my powers stuttered to a stop. Whatever this was made me feel like I was fading fast. I was either dying, or I would be falling asleep long enough for the regent to hollow me out and take over my body.
“Razz!” Henrick’s voice was close, but not at my side. Not where he’d been when we’d first stumbled out into the carnage.
As I fell backward, I found myself in his arms. He’d found his way back to me.
The snow was still coming down, a reflex of my abilities, but I wasn’t sure how much longer I could sustain it.
“Hold on,” he said, looking down at me, his chest still bare. “I’m going to get you out of—”
Chapter 25
Before Henrick could finish his sentence, a jolt of energy knocked us both to the ground.
The spear drove even deeper into my gut as Brula’s soldiers circled us. A rush of energy poured over me, lifting me into the air and depositing me onto one of the four-legged creatures.
The original native was standing there, bleeding at least as much as Mi-Ta had been before she died.
He wasn’t going to make it.
“They’ll listen to you, child. Listen to your mind.” His voice was weak and faltering. “Think of a safe place, and it won’t stop until it delivers you there. Go quickly.”
“I have to help him,” I yelled, looking back at a surrounded Henrick.
“There is no help for the helpless,” the native said. “Give him your love. It’s all you can do. It is our way.”
He slapped the creature’s backside again, and it took off.
It went even faster now. As blood poured from my wound, I thought of somewhere safe.
Or, more than that, of someone safe.
“Gemma,” I muttered.
She was all I had left. If I was going to die, I wanted to see her face one more time.
I felt cold all of a sudden, and then I passed out.
When I woke up, I was in an unfamiliar bed, dressed in clean linen pajamas. The room was plain, but nice. Bandages spackled my arms and hands.
As I sat up, a rush of pain and sickness surged through my body. The mental ailments I felt followed soon after the physical ones. The ones of the heart. Heartbreak. Sadness. Hopelessness.
The memories of what I just went through rushed back to the forefront of my mind.
Brula had found us. She had come for me. She had killed what was left of my biological father’s people, and she had taken Henrick from me.
And right after I had truly found him.
Now that he was gone, I could see the way I truly felt about him. Of course I loved him. It was so obvious. It had been there all this time. It was in the way we sparred, in the way we fought, and in the way we…made love. Right before Brula took him from me.
I squinted, trying to remember what was happening the last time I saw him. Groaning aloud, I leaned against the headboard.
He’d been surrounded by ravagers. No one could survive that. Not even him.
I was alone. Park and Henrick had died to save me—and for what?
I should have just marched up to the top of
a building and tossed myself off. At least then I could die knowing Brula would soon follow me.
Maybe that would be enough. Maybe that would make it all worth it. I would be the woman who brought down the regent. I would be a hero or a villain, depending on the perspective.
But I would also be gone, and I would be leaving my little sister all alone. And I couldn’t do that, regardless of how much pain I was in.
As if she could sense my thoughts, Gemma walked into the room. She held a tray in her hands and looked well rested, which helped my heart.
“I was hoping you’d be awake,” she said, setting the tray down on a counter beside the bed.
My mind flashed back to my time back in the center, to Park giving me a tray almost identical to this one. And to everything that had happened since then.
“Where are we?” I asked. When the words scratched my throat, one of my bandaged hands instinctively went to it. As if that would stop the surprising pain.
“In the east,” she answered. “A less than populous piece of the Dustlands.”
“It’s always the Dustlands,” I muttered, running fingers through my hair.
Gemma shrugged. “What can I say? It’s home.”
“I guess it is…” I dropped my hand back to my side and allowed my fingers to trace over the knit blanket. It felt soft; so soft that it made me feel out of place. Cold. “How are you?”
“None of that,” she said, sitting on the bed beside me. “You can’t come rushing up to us half dead in the middle of the night on some weird animal and be concerned about me.” She grabbed my forearm and squeezed. “How are you?”
Tears filled my eyes. For the first time since all of this started, I didn’t feel the need to hold them in. I let them roll down my cheeks, and something about that felt good.
“It’s okay,” Gemma said, wrapping me up in a hug.
Suddenly, it didn’t matter that I was the big sister or that I was the one who was supposed to be taking care of her. We were just here, together. And that was enough.
“It all happened so quickly,” I said, crying into her shoulder. “One minute, everything was fine. Everything was good. And then they were on top of us. I don’t even know how they found us.”
“Park,” Gemma said.
My body stiffened.
“What?” I asked.
“He didn’t mean to. Apparently, his mother had been on to him for years. And she followed him after his perceived death. That’s what she’s saying anyway.”
“What do you mean?” I sat up straighter. “What is she saying? What’s happening? How long was I out?”
“Only a day,” Gemma said quickly. “And I wouldn’t have let you sleep that long, but you had lost a lot of blood when we found you on the lawn.” Her mouth went tight, and her lips got thin. “As for the rest, maybe it’s better if I just show you.”
Gemma stood, reaching her hand out to help me up. I took it and stood, wobbly at first, but I got my bearings as I followed her into the common area.
A few of Park’s men were there, and I had never been happier to see perfect strangers in all my life. These people had kept my sister safe. Given the way things were going, they might still be tasked with doing so. If they were willing…even after their leader’s untimely demise.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” I said, tears still fresh on my cheeks. “I tried to save the pri—the Beacon,” I said. “I…I tried to save them all.”
“What are you talking about?” Gemma asked, settling in the middle of the room.
“They’re dead, Gemma,” I said, looking from her to the people around us. “I tried to stop it, but both Park and Henrick were killed.”
“Really?” Gemma said, arching an eyebrow. ‘Someone should let them know then.”
Gemma snapped her fingers, and the holo-vision cam blared through the living room. “Brula released this earlier this morning. I think she means business.”
The hologram that filled the room was a tight shot of the center’s throne room. Brula sat on her throne, her mouth turned down in disgust. Before her stood Prince Park and Henrick, both shackled, both beaten and bruised.
“How in the sector?” I stammered. “I was sure they were dead.”
“Quiet,” Gemma said. “This next part is important.
On the hologram, Brula rose to her feet. As her horrible dress flowed out, I thought of Mi-Ta. That body had once belonged to her mother. Now that I knew that, I could see the similarity of features. She had the same chin and the same nose, but completely different eyes.
Brula’s eyes were cold. Already dead.
“It is with great sadness that I must inform my people of the greatest act of betrayal this sector has ever seen,” Brula said, settling in front of her son. “It has come to our attention that the Beacon, the terrorist who flicked his nose at our sacred laws and endangered our way of life in nearly every way imaginable, is none other than my dear, sweet son.”
She shook her head. “There are no words to describe the shame I feel. There are no words for the anger. The only word that matters at all is justice.” She turned to me, to all the people in the sector. “And justice will be served. No one is above the law, not even your prince, not even my son. And certainly not the people who helped him in these horrible endeavors.”
She moved a little and settled in front of Henrick.
My heart lurched.
“But there is a bigger criminal than even these two, than even my son and his hooligan.” Suddenly, a photo of my face flickered across the hologram. “This woman wishes to shirk her duty. She wishes to impose a death sentence on your regent, and, with her, the safety of the sector as a whole.”
Fire swooshed around Brula’s hands. “But she will not get away with this. She will face justice just as we all will. She will do what is right. And, to that end, she has one hour to report to the center and give herself up.”
Brula looked back to Park and Henrick, fire licking her fingertips.
“If she does not, then I’ll be forced to convince her with the blood of these two men.”
Chapter 26
“This just doesn’t seem right,” Gemma said, standing in front of the transport with a hood pulled over her head.
There were tears in her eyes, tears I both understood and was, at this moment, in the process of reciprocating.
“I know you don’t, Gem. And, if I’m being completely honest with myself, it doesn’t seem right to me either.” I bit back a sigh, not wanting to give evidence to her of the feeling of defeat flowing through me. I had to be stronger than that. Not just for her, but for Henrick, Park, and myself as well. “We’ve spent so long running, so long trying to keep each other safe, that it doesn’t feel right for me to just go marching into the belly of the beast like this.”
“Then why are you?” she asked with desperate eyes, grabbing my hand forcefully. When I winced, she let go immediately. “I forgot. I just—”
“It’s okay,” I said, holding my bandaged hand up between us. “I think this is the least of my problems.”
“This isn’t the time for jokes, Razz. Come on; let’s just get out of here. Hide out. We’ll go beyond the wall if we have to. You told me you fought off a ravager. I’m sure you could do it again.”
“Probably,” I conceded. “But what about Henrick? What about Park? These are good men who fought for us, Gem. They don’t deserve to die like this.”
“And you think you’re going to be able to save them?” she asked.
I could tell from the look on her face that she didn’t believe it was a possibility. She was probably right, but I couldn’t just let them suffer and die without trying to help. Gemma needed to understand that, and she needed to understand why. Especially if this was the last conversation we were ever going to have.
Especially if I never came back.
“I owe these people my life, Gemma,” I said flatly. “And yours.”
“And you think they saved you so that you could just
give yourself up for them? Because I doubt that.”
“I’m sure you’re right.” I spread my hands. “I’m sure that, if given the opportunity, Park and Henrick would both tell me to run away and never look back. But they don’t get to tell me what to do, Gemma. And unfortunately, neither do you.”
I steeled myself against my emotions. The ones that made me want to just give my little sister whatever she wanted. The ones that made me want to coddle her.
“I know you don’t understand this,” I said, “but there are things more important than living. One of them is honor. The other is love.” I cleared my throat. “If they’re going to die, then they’ll die knowing I didn’t abandon them, that what they did mattered to me. That they’re not alone.”
“Then let me come with you.” Gemma stepped closer to me, pulling up to her full height. “You said I’m part of this, that my life is part of the reason you owe these guys. So let me help you.”
“Absolutely not.”
“You just said that you couldn’t be told what to do!”
“And I can’t,” I said. “But you can. I know you don’t like it, but that’s the world for you. You don’t get to risk your life for me, Gem.”
“But you get to risk yours for me? How is that fair?”
“It isn’t fair, Gemma. It’s life. You’re way too important to me to put you at risk.” It was hard to blink back the tears as I continued. “They can’t hurt me if you’re okay. Understand? They can take my body. They can take my life. They can twist me up and turn me into something I never wanted to be. But they can’t hurt me, not as long as you survive this.”
I leaned in and hugged her hard. “So please, Gem. I need you to survive this for both of us. Okay?”
“You better come back,” she said, tears flowing down her cheeks. “Promise me.”
“You know I can’t do that,” I said.
“I know,” she said, her voice just above a whisper. “Do it anyway.”
“Fine.” I put my hands on her shoulders. “I’ll make it through this, Gemma. I’ll be okay. Everything will be okay. I promise.”
Under: an Adult Dystopian Paranormal Romance: Sector 5 (The Othala Witch Collection) Page 18
