Steel Lily ARC

by Megan Curd

  “That’s why they’re testing your father and me. To see what the radiation did to us individually.”

  “So this place Riggs has constructed, it’s a Resistance headquarters of sorts?”

  “You could call it that,” Mom said, “but there’s so much you don’t understand. Secrets that this place hides.”

  “That’s not the first time I’ve heard that.”

  “And it won’t be the last.”

  She pulled me into their tiny bedroom. “Run as fast as you can from this place,” she whispered, “No one has to understand why, not even your father, but I know you’re different. Don’t let them change you.”

  My heart thrummed in my chest. Something wasn’t adding up. “Why wouldn’t you run with me?”

  Mom sighed. “The point of this place is that they’re trying to figure out the gene that allows the ability to pass from one generation to the next. If I stay, they may let you go with less of a fuss since they can test me.”

  I looked up in shock. “You’re willing to help them?”

  Her shoulders slumped and her eyes dropped to the floor. She sighed. “Riggs promised he would find you if I helped.”

  “And he did.”

  “And he did,” she repeated. Her eyes lifted to mine, and she placed her hands on my shoulders. “He never said he was bringing you back here. I’m a mother. There’s nothing more in the world I could ask for than to see you, healthy, happy, and whole. Now that I know you are, I regret assisting Riggs. I never wanted you to be a lab rat for experiments, I just wanted to know you were safe.”

  I took her hands off my shoulders and held them tight. “We’ll get out of here,” I said earnestly. “We’ll get out of here, and we’ll be safe together.”

  Mom laughed. “That’s a wonderful idea, but I’m quite sure I’ll take my last breaths in this place.”

  The thought of Mom dead stung worse than I could have imagined. “No,” I said so harshly that Mom’s eyes widened. “No. We’ll get out of here together.”

  “You don’t understand, baby girl,” Mom said as she stroked my hair and gestured around her meager home. “Once you’re here, you’re not getting out.”

  “Then why tell me I can escape?”

  She extended her hand, forearm up. I looked at her questioningly, and she shook her arm. My eyes looked down, where a small flashing red light illuminated the translucent skin at the crook of her elbow. I gasped. “What is that?”

  “My tracker,” she said. “I’m not going anywhere. Do you have one?”

  “Not that I know of…”

  “If you don’t know, you don’t have one. Good. Don’t let them give you one. Only the medical patients receive them. I haven’t seen many students, save for the medical apprentices that come and go, but none of them had them. Only test subjects.” Her smile was pained, but she managed to keep it in place.

  I would have never imagined her to have the bravery that she possessed when I was little, but she was fierce. Brave. Everything I wished I could be. I put my hand over the crook of her arm to hide the flashing light. I didn’t want to see the thing that chained her to this infernal hovel.

  “We’ll get out of here, the both of us.”

  She smiled and opened her mouth to speak, but there was a knock at the front door. I let out a frustrated sigh through clenched teeth.

  “That’ll be Jaxon. He’s a good looking young man,” she said with a wink.

  “And he’s Riggs’s son,” I added, making sure to lace my words with as much not interested as possible.

  “I don’t care who it is, he’s not good enough for my daughter,” Dad said, breaking his silence he’d held while Mom and I talked.

  Mom laughed and leaned her head into mine. The warmth of her skin and her clean scent made me think of the times I’d jumped into her bed on the weekends and curled up alongside her, content to spend the day listening to her stories. The memories vanished like smoke with the reoccurring pounds of Jaxon’s fist against their door. She pulled away but her smile remained, true happiness emanating from her. “Never judge a book by its cover, Avery. You’re a testament to that.”

  “As are you, Elementalist,” I said in jest.

  Her eyes warmed and the laugh lines from long ago—before the war had stripped her of all frivolity—stretched with her broad smile. As genuine as her smile looked, it also had the air of something new to her, almost as though the muscles of her mouth hadn’t performed that simple act in a long time. She kissed the top of my head before turning to open the door.

  Jaxon stood in the entryway, his hands clasped behind his back. He inclined his head slightly to acknowledge my mom. “Mrs. Pike, I hope everything is satisfactory?”

  Mom nodded quickly and the smile she’d worn vanished. She was all business now. “Yes, thank you, Mr. Pierce. We’re out of milk and cheese, so whenever you have an opportunity to order more, that would be nice.”

  He nodded, his eyes never moving from mine. “I can arrange that for you. Look for me in a few days’ time.”

  “Thank you very much.”

  Jaxon waved his hand dismissively. “It’s no problem. I can get Mr. Pike some more of those tarts he likes as well. One of the supermarkets still had quite a few left back in storage.”

  “Mr. Pierce, you nearly got kicked out of the dome for that last time—” Mom started.

  “Not a problem. I’ll be more clever with how I conceal my contraband this time.”

  Mom’s mask cracked and she gave Jaxon a hug like he was an old friend. “Thank you. You really do take care of us.”

  Jaxon was stiff when he responded, but I wasn’t sure it was because of the murderous glance I’d cast his way, or if there was a camera somewhere. “I try,” he said, “You deserve the best, Mrs. Pike. I’m sorry I can’t provide more.”

  Mom’s hand intertwined with mine and she squeezed gently. “I’ve been given the best gift ever today, so if you can bring her back again soon, that’s more than enough for me.”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” he said as he cast a glance at me. “Avery, we need to get going. My father wants you in the library before dinner.”

  I turned and wrapped both arms around Mom and squeezed as tight as I could. “I’ll be back,” I said loud enough that Jaxon would hear. “I won’t let this be the last time I see you.”

  “Bring that teapot with you next time, baby girl,” Mom said in my ear before she pulled away. “Even if it’s ruined, I’d love to see what we could do with it. Maybe between the two of us, we can fix it.” She patted me on the back and kissed my cheek. “I love you, Avery. I always have, and always will. Make me proud.”

  “I will,” I promised.

  Dad came to the door and put his hand on my shoulder, then pulled me in for a hug. I could feel his chest heave with a sob that he was holding in. “Avery, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything. When we—when I—decided it was best us to go with the Resistance, I was afraid. Afraid to house you. Afraid to die,” he swallowed and continued on. “After listening to you and your mother, I realize that there’s no place in this world for cowardice.”

  “Avery,” Jaxon said again, this time with more urgency, “we need to go.”

  My heart felt like it was pounding in my throat, not my chest. “Dad…”

  He waved me away. “Go. Do what you need to do, and promise me you’ll never stop fighting for what’s right.”

  Mom pushed me toward Jaxon and ushered us out of the door. “You need to get going. Remember what I said about books, Avery,” she said as she closed the door. “Sometimes you can be surprised.”

  With that, the door closed and left me standing beside the boy who’d known my parents were here and never thought to mention it, even after I poured my soul out to him.

  No matter what Mom said, he was a book I refused to judge by anything other than his cover.

  CHAPTER

  TWENTY-TWO

  We walked in silence past the burned man and before I knew
it, we were in the atrium. Light streamed through the glass ceiling and made my eyes water, thankfully masking the fury that also betrayed me with tears.

  As we walked through the corridor to the library, Jaxon coughed awkwardly. “So um, your parents.”

  I ignored his comment. People couldn’t hurt and betray you if you didn’t give them the time of day. I mentally chastised myself for getting to know my peers here, but then felt bad, because Sari was quickly becoming a confidant of the truest kind. Well, maybe only some people were untrustworthy, and I had a knack for attracting them.

  Jaxon stopped at the door of the library, obviously waiting on a reply he wouldn’t receive. He stuffed his hands in his pants pockets. “Yeah, so Riggs wanted to see you. He’ll be in the back by the fire, I’m sure.”

  I tried to dodge Jaxon as best possible, but he stood close to the door. I inhaled his trademark cologne as I passed, leaving me irritatingly breathless.

  What bothered me most was that his scent was familiar. I shouldn’t care. Shouldn’t notice. Shouldn’t have taken enough interest to even know he had a smell.

  The door clicked shut behind me, and I turned to watch Jaxon’s shadowy outline diminish in the light.

  I should have clocked him straight in the nose when I had a chance.

  “Ah, Jaxon delivered you right on time,” Riggs said.

  I turned to find Riggs’s giant frame in front of the fireplace. The flames seemed to lick his sides, giving him the appearance of being on fire.

  He signaled for me to take one of the overstuffed chairs in front of his desk. I was too tired to argue, too emotionally sapped to come up with a snide remark. I dropped into the chair and prayed it would swallow me whole.

  It didn’t.

  “How was the reunion with your parents? Good, I hope?” Riggs’s concern was almost believable.

  I nodded. “It was long-awaited and appreciated,” I said gratefully, all the while feeling like I was swallowing shards of glass. I hated being indebted to him.

  He sat back down in the high-backed oak chair, the pristine leather sighing quietly under his weight. “Good, good. I was hoping it would be a happy one.”

  Riggs’s smile broadened as he leaned back in his chair, his hands going behind his head in his habitual manner. “It makes me happy when I can reunite families. Makes me feel like I can still help the world find equilibrium in the chaos.”

  “What happened to your son? The one in the infirmary?”

  My question was so abrupt that Riggs didn’t have a chance to prepare himself. His brows scrunched together—in anger or pain, I wasn’t sure—and his eyes darkened like storm clouds. He leaned forward, his voice poisonous velvet. “I told you what happened to him, and I would prefer to leave my family out of our conversations.”

  It felt like I was looking into the eyes of a venomous snake, and the only option was to stare it down until it buckled. “Then I request mine be taken out of our conversations as well, Mr. Riggs.”

  A smile crept back over his face and he nodded. “Very well. I will say that I’ve arranged for you to visit your parents each Wednesday, should you excel in your courses, from after breakfast until lunchtime.”

  My heart leapt at the information, but at the same time I faltered from his words. “And if things don’t go well?”

  His eyes revealed a pained expression. “Then I assume you would understand why your parents might come across some, ah, minor road bumps, shall we say.”

  I jumped out of my seat. “Are you saying that my willingness to cooperate is linked to them?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying, Miss Pike. Now head to the dining hall; it’s time for dinner.” He waved me away as though I were as inconsequential as a fly. “This time, will you be so kind as to not destroy the tablecloth?”

  My fingers curled and bit into the soft flesh of my palms. “So you brought me here to give thinly veiled threats and tell me not to burn down your dining room?”

  “I thought we’d start small after meeting your parents.”

  “Well, thanks for the consideration.”

  Riggs seemed to deliberate, then his eyes brightened. “Let’s try one thing before you go.”

  Like a wolf that could smell fear on its prey, Riggs looked at me as though he was waiting for me to run. I smiled. “That sounds like fun. What would you like to try?”

  Riggs stood and looked toward the fire, iron pokers sitting beside the mantle. Coals crackled and hissed as he stoked the logs. “I know you can manipulate existing elements, such as changing water to steam, steam to snow.”

  I gasped. How’d he know I created snow?

  He turned to point the fire poker at me with an indulgent smile. Its tip glowed red from being in the heat of the fire. “Don’t tell me you didn’t think Dr. Alexander would tell me about your little display in his office?”

  It wasn’t the fact that Xander told him about the snow that worried me, but the potential that Riggs knew about Legs. There was no way Xander would tell Riggs about Legs, was there? That would get Xander in as much trouble as us.

  Riggs continued on through my internal deliberation. “Your manipulation of the existent elements is apparent. That’s not what makes you unique, although you wield the ability better than some of your older counterparts. It’s clear you aren’t currently able to summon elements out of nothing, so I want to try another avenue. What I’m curious about,” he said as he twirled the poker between his thin fingers like a baton, “is if you can alter elements completely.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He took a goblet of wine that stood innocently by his reading lamp on the oak desk and swirled it around. He sniffed the contents with his eyes closed, then took a small sip. With a satisfied sigh, he opened his eyes and looked at me inquisitively.

  “I want you to turn this wine into fire.”

  I snorted in derision. “That’s not possible.”

  “Not probable,” he corrected as he pointed at me, “but I believe that we as humans are capable of much more than we give ourselves credit for. You’re going to prove me correct in this hypothesis.”

  “And if I can’t?”

  Riggs swirled the contents of the goblet again and stared into the velvety red depths. His eyes crept upward and locked onto mine with despair. “Then it would be a shame if your parents didn’t receive their monthly rations, wouldn’t it?”

  “You can’t starve my parents!”

  “I can’t, but your inability to perform can.”

  “I don’t even know how to control what I can do, let alone try this stunt.”

  Riggs leaned over his desk and pressed a small black button on the corner that I hadn’t noticed. A woman’s voice crackled through speakers built into the oak right beside the button. “What can I do for you, Mr. Riggs?”

  His eyes locked on mine. “Have next month’s rations been ordered yet?”

  “No they haven’t, Mr. Riggs. Would you like me to order something specifically for you?”

  He played the part of tortured soul as sadness spread across his face, even filling his usually apathetic eyes. “I need you to take away two sets of rations, one for—”

  “Stop!” I screamed. “Stop! I can try, I just can’t promise anything.”

  Riggs leaned closer to the speaker, his finger white from the exertion he’d been using to press down the button. “Belay that request, my dear. Retain the usual rations…for now.”

  The voice sounded bored, as though this wasn’t the first time Riggs had contacted her with such orders. “Of course, Mr. Riggs. Have a good day.”

  I was silent; horrified that Riggs was willing to harm my parents. Part of me wondered how I’d gotten reattached so quickly, but I’d do anything to keep them safe.

  My body ached with mental fatigue, but I focused on the sloshing wine in Riggs’s cup. Flames, furious and unrelenting, filled my mind’s eye as I stared through Riggs and into the fireplace behind him, imagining them in his goblet.
<
br />   Imagining he might burn for threatening my parents.

  And then it happened.

  The contents of the glass burst into a fiery lake. Flames danced across the top of the wine before sending sparks over the lip of the cup, burning Riggs before he could drop it.

  The goblet turned end over end, as if in slow motion, before it hit the ground with a crash. Shards of crystal tinkered across the floor. The minute the fire hit the floor it turned back into wine and stained the rug under Riggs’s feet. Riggs looked at me, startled, but then smiled like he’d been crowned king. He clapped his hands and the applause echoed across the thousands of books shelved in the library.

  His jubilation scared me.

  “Miss Pike, you are the very meaning of an Elementalist! You have the capability to control the elements and manipulate them! Do you know how rare this is? How rare you are? Why, with training, you could very well be the one to bring us back to normalcy. If we could understand how you received your abilities, we could teach others to do what you just did.”

  He continued to talk, but I tuned him out until his voice was mindless buzzing in my ear. The wine stained the floor like blood, and I wondered what I was really capable of. I felt my knees begin to give out. Everything around me began to spin, and the last thing I saw was Riggs’s triumphant face turn to horror as I passed out.

  ***

  A hand waved in front of my face at the same time the noxious odor of smelling salts assailed my nostrils. I blinked and jerked my head away from the smell.

  “Avery, you there?” Xander’s reassuring voice sounded in my ears. His fingers pressed gently against the inside of my wrist. “You had us worried.”

  “Us meaning Riggs?” I muttered.

  Xander chuckled. “And myself. And Jaxon, if I’m not mistaken,” he added onto the end, as he wasn’t sure he should include Jaxon. “You’ve made a few friends here in your short time.”

  I tried to sit up, but one of Xander’s broad hands held me down. “Lie there for a second,” he instructed, in full doctor mode as he examined my pupils with a small flashlight, “so you can acclimate again. That was a nasty fall.”