He started walking down the tunnel, his shoulders slumped. All the fight was gone from his stance. If anything, he looked… disappointed.
I knew how he felt.
I had to run to catch up with him. There were still things we needed to discuss. “Tell me what you know, then. Why are the adults here? Why didn’t they die with the rest of them?”
Jet kept walking, not even slowing down to listen. He led me up the ramp, the pathway a sheer drop down the side into the cavern. One wrong step and it would be all over.
“Jet, will you just slow down?” I pleaded.
He ignored me.
“Jet, please.”
We left the cavern, turning into the dark tunnel and starting down the labyrinth. He remained silent, refusing to say another word. I pushed him too far. I made too many demands. Any kindness he might have had for me had vanished into thin air.
But I was still angry. I still needed answers. There was no point in beating around the bush when there were children dying above ground. It wasn’t a trivial matter.
And it wasn’t only a few children.
The death toll would continue to rise during the winter. Whoever wasn’t taken at the hands of others would be snapped up by the ice and snow. It wasn’t a matter of if, but when.
“Jet, I need to know what’s going on,” I started again. We had walked so far we were almost outside his room again. “Please tell me. So many are dying.”
He suddenly stopped without warning, pushing me against the wall. Both his hands were leaning behind me, boxing me in so I couldn’t do anything except look at him.
My heart instantly started racing. It wasn’t his close proximity, but the fear of what he might do to me. Clearly, I had made him angry.
“It’s not my secret to tell, princess,” he said, his breath running over my skin.
For a few moments, we did nothing but stare at each other. I was certain he could hear my heart pounding. That, combined with his sharp breathing, was all that filled my ears.
My mouth was dry, I had to lick my lips just to get them to work and form words again. “Whose secret is it then?”
Jet dropped his arms and stepped back, releasing me from his hold. The relief was instant and I couldn’t help but sigh from the action. I could breathe again now.
“I’m telling you now, just drop it,” he said evenly. Whatever had caused his outburst had subsided. “There are some things you don’t want to know. This is one of them.”
“I should be the judge of that. I don’t need you telling me what I should and shouldn’t know.”
He balled his right hand into a fist and hit the wall. The dull thud echoed down the tunnel, making me flinch. I didn’t want my face to be next. “You’re not listening to me. Walk away and don’t come back. Okay? Forget about the adults, I shouldn’t have shown them to you in the first place.”
“But you did. For some reason, you trusted me with that knowledge and now I don’t have the option of walking away. I have to stay and I have to know why,” I replied, trying to keep the quiver out of my voice. I had no idea why he was reacting this way or what he was trying to tell me. Everything was just so… wrong.
“I was stupid to show you.”
“But not stupid enough to trust me with the rest of your secrets.” I started walking. If we were at Jet’s room, I could probably make my way back up without him. It would take me much longer, and I’d probably get lost more than once, but I would be able to do it.
I didn’t need Jet.
I didn’t need anyone.
My feet made it about ten paces before Jet spoke again. “I know what happened to your sister.”
I froze. Either I was dreaming, or he was just saying anything to keep me here. Or perhaps he was trying to get rid of me and knew the mention of my sister would have that affect on me.
But how did he even know I had a sister?
I hadn’t told him. I didn’t let anyone know about her if I could avoid it. Only Oliver knew of Faith and her connection to me. Nobody else.
I turned around. “What did you say?”
He hadn’t moved from his position by the wall. “I said I know what happened to your sister. I take it you would probably like to know, too.”
“You’re lying. You know nothing about her,” I called out, my voice rising with panic I couldn’t hide.
“There isn’t anything I don’t know about in this city.”
He was lying.
I was a toy he enjoyed playing with. Nothing more and nothing less. He could not have known anything about Faith. I was her sister and hadn’t managed to find her in over a year. It was ludicrous to think Jet, a stranger, could have any answers.
“You know nothing,” I muttered, shaking my head and turning. I couldn’t look at him anymore. Keeping some dark secret about the remaining adults was one thing. Lying to me about my sister was something else entirely.
It was cruel.
Inhumane.
I wound my way through the tunnels with stomping feet and fuming anger. I let the darkness swallow me whole, glad for the deprivation of my senses. I had failed in getting the information I came for. The information I needed. I deserved the darkness, it matched my mood.
Jet didn’t follow me.
If I ran into one of the mole people, they would probably have taken the opportunity to kill me while nobody was watching. My heartbeat sounded like footsteps on so many occasions my nerves were shot by the time I saw daylight again.
The sun was on its way down already, refusing to linger in the cold weather. Strong winds whipped around my thin clothes, sending the chill right down to my bones. Once it wrapped itself around my body, it refused to release its grasp.
The real light at the end of the tunnel wasn’t the sun, however, it was seeing Oliver waiting for me. He was alone, obviously deemed unlikely to be a threat by the mole people. Either that or Jet’s ownership extended to him, too.
Perhaps he owned everyone in the city. He had implied enough down below.
I wanted to run into Oliver’s embrace and let his strong arms wrap about me. I wanted him to whisper into my hair that everything would be alright and warm me with his body.
But I didn’t.
I stood there wanting to cry instead.
“Everly? Everything okay?” Oliver prompted. He was reading my face, taking me in and working everything out before I needed to say anything.
“I didn’t find out anything,” I said.
He offered me a kind smile, it was only the start of what I really needed. “We’ll work it out.”
I didn’t want to believe him. My logical brain said the odds were so far stacked against us that it was impossible to work it all out. But that was the thing about Oliver. He made you believe in him. If he said we’d work it out, he wouldn’t stop until his promise was fulfilled.
We’d work it out.
We didn’t have any other option.
One minute with Oliver and my world was spinning on its axis again. I gave him a small nod and we turned to leave. If we didn’t hurry, it would be dark again. Being out after sundown was not wise in the city.
Oliver kept a brisk pace but it was one I could easily match. We passed the debris from fallen buildings, past the pile of rocks covered in brown snow, and past the white building with no windows.
At the very least, the walk warmed me. After being underground in the tunnels that were much hotter than above, the cool wind was almost a nice change. I enjoyed it while it lasted because it wouldn’t take too long before it chilled me to the core again.
As we reached the grey building with only half its side still standing, I thought we were home safe. There might even be time to get some food from the shelter before we hid away for the night.
I was wrong.
So very, very wrong.
Five boys jumped out from inside the building. They had to have seen us coming and waited for our approach. Their attack was instant. Fists and legs flying everywhere,
all aimed at us.
They formed a barrier around me, blocking off my view of Oliver. All I could do was hear him repeatedly screaming my name. Over and over again, the desperation growing with each one.
“Everly. Everly. Everly.”
A fist connected with the back of my head, sending stars swimming in front of my eyes. I had nothing to trade with the boys for my life. If they wanted anything of value they had chosen the wrong people.
“Please, stop,” I begged as a leg collided with the back of my knee. I fell forward, straight into the arms of one of the boys. He threw me backwards, knocking me to the ground.
My head hit the steps of the building. Pain radiated out as my vision blackened from the edges inwards. I couldn’t get up again. I wanted to. My brain screamed at me to. But I couldn’t.
“What have you got? Give us your shirt,” one of them ordered me.
My hands started working the buttons but they were shaking too hard to get a good grip. They wouldn’t wait for too much longer but there was nothing I could do to make my fingers work properly.
“Hurry up! We don’t got all day.”
“Just tear it off,” another replied. Their eyes were wild as they moved from foot to foot with impatience. I would bet their hearts were beating just as quickly in their chests as mine was.
For completely different reasons.
Mine, fear. Theirs, anticipation.
I got one button undone and moved on to the others. There were a dozen of them in total, we were going to be here for a while unless they decided to tear it off me like the one boy wanted.
“I’m sorry,” I groaned.
One of the boys crouched down and I flinched, thinking he was preparing to hit me again.
Instead, he started helping me with the buttons. He wasn’t one of the ones telling me to hurry. Perhaps not everyone in the city was so bad after all.
Although, he was still robbing me so he couldn’t be that great, either.
“Hurry up.”
“Just get it off already.”
“Do you have anything else on you? Food? Water? Where’s your home?”
“I don’t have anything else,” I insisted.
“Where are you staying? What are you keeping there? Huh? Tell me or I’ll kill you.”
I didn’t doubt his words were true.
I still couldn’t see Oliver through the boys’ bodies. They were keeping us separated with a human barricade. “I don’t have anything except what I’m wearing. I eat at the shelter, they don’t let you take food away.”
“That’s true, they don’t, boss,” the boy helping me said without looking up at his friend. He was halfway done with my buttons. I probably could have shrugged my way out of the shirt by that point but I couldn’t stand to do it. Taking on the last few buttons would buy me a few more minutes to get my balance.
All of a sudden, the boys’ heads shot around to the side. They stared for only a moment before running down the street and darting into an alley. Even the one helping me left his task to run. I didn’t know what had spooked them, but I wanted to thank whatever it was anyway.
Oliver loomed in front of me. “Everly, I’m so sorry. I couldn’t stop them. Are you okay?”
I pushed myself forward, my head spun like a whirligig. It took several blinks before I could focus on any one thing again. I concentrated on Oliver, making him the center pin of my world that would make everything else fall into place.
I started working on doing the buttons up again, something to keep my mind occupied for a few moments more so I could compose myself.
“Everly, are you okay?” Oliver repeated.
When I was done with my shirt, my fingers touched the back of my head and returned covered in blood. There was nothing I could do about it. There were no doctors to stitch me up. Hopefully the cold would help dry up the flow of blood.
“I’m fine. Did they hurt you?” I asked. My eyes scanned over him. He appeared to have escaped any harm but I couldn’t be sure.
“No, I’m good. I was more worried about you.”
I gave standing up a try.
A quick grasp of the railing stopped a second fall.
“Why did they choose us? We didn’t have anything to rob,” I pointed out. Surely there had to be better kids to steal from? A few of the more naïve ones actually carried everything they owned around with them.
Robbing us was pointless. They took off without anything.
“I don’t know. Something interrupted them.”
“Did you see what it was?”
Oliver shook his head. “No. Come on, we should get back before it gets any darker.”
I couldn’t argue.
We walked faster this time. My eyes didn’t miss a thing as we moved. I jumped at every leaf that blew in the wind, every rodent that scurried away, and even at my own long shadow. Everything was a threat and it scared the hell out of me.
Our musky basement apartment was a welcome refuge. Even my growling stomach couldn’t send me out into the night again. Once we were certain we were alone in our place, we sat on the floor together.
Oliver barely shivered in the cold, I wished I had his stamina. I needed to do something for warmth. Desperate, I searched through the moldy apartment and into all the dark places I didn’t dare before. In what used to be the kitchen, I found a small linen cupboard. A black coat was still hanging, waiting to be washed.
It reeked of mildew and it was too big but it would offer warmth. I slipped it on, instantly grateful for the person who once lived in the apartment.
Checking the remainder of the cupboards, there was little more than a few rags. Nothing to offer much warmth or comfort for anyone. I returned to Oliver and did a twirl.
“Nice work,” he exclaimed, impressed.
“Do you want it? We could share it?”
He shook his head. “No, I’m fine. You keep it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. I’ll tell you if I’m not.”
He would, too. Oliver wouldn’t be too polite for my benefit. He knew I wouldn’t want that.
I sat on the floor and pulled my new coat around me tighter, trying to create warmth where there was none. It was all I could do to stop my teeth chattering. The warmth of the underground was all but a distant memory now.
My head was throbbing and I felt nauseous from the attack. Or the lack of food. Or the anger from my encounter with Jet. It was probably a combination of all three.
The only thing in my life that never let me down or hurt me was the guy sitting beside me. Oliver was the only constant in my life, the only one I could count on.
The only one I loved.
As I looked up into his emerald green eyes, I knew it without a doubt. Any lingering hesitation was gone, lying on the street somewhere under the wet snow.
My childhood friend, the one whom I had grown up with, he filled my heart like nobody had ever done before. All those fluttery feelings I had heard about from the other girls at school, he was the reason behind them all. He was my light, my sunshine, the reason why I wanted to go on when everything else was so hopeless.
He was my everything.
The reason why I couldn’t give up.
Oliver was looking at me intently, as if he could read all the thoughts running through my head. Lightning crackled between us, something intangible that I could never describe with words.
Love.
Care.
Trust.
Forever.
It was all there in his eyes as they burned into me with the intensity of a million suns. I felt everything he was feeling. The emotions coursed through my body like I was experiencing them all at the same time.
Perhaps I was.
In those eyes I couldn’t see the friend that I used to. He was gone, lost in the pages of history and replaced with something so, so much better.
Sitting next to me was the man I loved. The man I could trust with my life and never be afraid that he would let me
down. He was right here and it had taken me too long to see him.
We had wasted too much time already. In our new world, the next minute was never guaranteed, they belonged to those brave and strong enough to survive and see it. So many people had already proven unworthy. Our very existence of still breathing proved we were.
While my heart still beat in my chest, I was determined not to waste any more time.
I wanted Oliver.
I wanted all of him wrapped around me and whispering how much he wanted me, too. It wasn’t a stupid schoolgirl crush. It was a deep, true love.
The kind they wrote poems about.
We were magnets, being drawn together with nothing to stop us colliding. We didn’t have parents. We didn’t have rules. We didn’t have anything besides each other.
Our heads started leaning toward one another. My lips were ready, my stomach clenching and already anticipating the sweetness of our kiss.
I wanted it so badly.
I needed it.
My eyes automatically closed. We were so close, all I had to do was angle my head upwards just a little, and our lips would collide in our first kiss.
The first of many.
So, so many.
My breath hitched in my throat and I waited for it to happen. I waited for the warmth that would spread through me, making the cold long forgotten. I waited.
And waited.
I opened my eyes. Oliver was pulling back, shifting uncomfortably on the hard floor. “Sorry,” he whispered.
I guess I got what I wanted, my cheeks burned with the blush that ran over my face. I felt warmer in my embarrassment than I had all afternoon. Even if he had slapped me, it wouldn’t have hurt as badly as his rejection.
“No, I’m sorry. I… I didn’t mean…” I stammered. Full sentences weren’t possible while my mind still reeled. My fingers touched my mouth where his lips should have been instead. They wondered what was wrong with them.
Oliver smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. He shifted away from me, leaving a gaping chasm between us that wasn’t altogether space related.
There were no words that would make our situation better. I thought Oliver was feeling the same electricity between us.
I was wrong.
Legends of the Damned: A Collection of Edgy Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance Novels Page 289
