The Corded Saga

by Alyssa Rose Ivy

  I had predicted this crossroad from the moment we left the club. Mason didn't need to say anything; it came through in his words and his touch. He valued me, he wanted to protect me, and although that kind of protection and care felt good, I couldn’t let it blind me to what was most important.

  I waited at first because it was the smart thing to do. The fire caused a commotion, and too many people would be sweeping the area for survivors—especially girls.

  I hoped the frenzy had died down, but no matter how long I waited there would always be people out there looking. There would always be risk and danger. Even hidden in the woods it was dangerous to fall into a false sense of security.

  I remembered the hours after the fire. The fear-infused adrenaline that had sent us running into the woods. It was too dangerous to risk going far and too risky to cross the city, so we were stuck in a small area with nowhere to go. We’d have to leave eventually, even Mason admitted that, but eventually wasn’t soon enough for me.

  I never went back to sleep that night. I waited until Mason was sleeping at his deepest and slipped down and out of his arms. Managing that maneuver was easier than I expected. Mason was sleeping deeper than normal. Maybe it was a result of being woken up earlier in the night.

  I kissed him gently on the forehead and slipped a small note beside his hand. Maybe one day he'd understand, but I wouldn't even pretend I believed I would see him again. I was getting too used to goodbyes, but leaving Mason would be one of the most difficult things I ever did. It was a short letter, but I hoped it gave him some semblance of closure. I knew I was doing the right thing, and I refused to let myself harbor regrets. There was far too much at stake to get sentimental.

  I watched him for a moment, maybe a moment too long. I wanted to remember him this way. Peaceful, happy, full of hope. He’d been none of those things when I first met him. Something in him had changed in the past few days. Maybe it was leaving the club. Maybe it was me. I needed to believe he would go on to find even greater happiness. Maybe not with a woman or family, but some kind happiness that existed in our less than perfect world.

  I wrenched my eyes from his sleeping form and hurried away through the woods. He might have been sleeping deeply at the moment, but I had no idea how quickly that would change. I couldn’t outrun him. I needed to move fast, both to stay out of his reach and to make sure I didn’t change my mind.

  Even in the woods the smoke from the city obscured the sky. There were no stars to guide me, so I had to rely on my memory from when we arrived a few days before.

  The ground was damp from the storm that had passed through earlier in the evening the night before.

  Thomas was the one who knew how to navigate without the stars. He remembered every overturned branch, noticed old footsteps where I saw nothing at all. I missed my brother desperately and hoped he had found an easier life now that he was no longer hiding his sisters.

  I concentrated trying to remember every step we took, but I’d been so frazzled because of the fire that most of the trip through the woods blurred together. We had mostly followed a straight line, but we’d also turned a handful of times.

  The hoot of an owl made me jump. I’d missed the sound of wildlife while at the club, but this sound wasn’t welcoming. What other animals were out here with me? Normally I wouldn’t have worried. What wild animal would be worse than facing the Reine? But falling victim to a bear would mean there was nothing I could do for Quinn and Bailey, and that wasn’t an option I could accept.

  Mason

  I stared at the off-white piece of paper again.

  Dear Mason,

  I am sorry. I know those three words cannot change anything, but I had to say them anyway. Quinn and Bailey need me. You have given me so much in such a short period of time, and I will never forget our time together. Thank you. I hope you forgive me one day.

  - Kayla

  I will never forget our time? That line jumped out at me, blazing itself in my brain. As if our time together could be forgotten? A mix of anger and fear surged through me as I searched the clearing. Gone? She had run off? She had such little faith in me she felt she had to face the world on her own?

  I had failed. I had failed to make her understand I’d do anything for her. But I would prove it. I’d find her and show her she no longer had to fight alone.

  I put the letter in my pocket and headed deeper into the woods to search for her. I couldn’t risk yelling out. That might put her in even greater danger.

  I heard nothing. Not the sound of footsteps even. I returned to the clearing to pack up and clear away any evidence we had ever been there before heading back the direction we’d come days before. I wasn’t sure how many hours she had on me, but I couldn’t waste a second more.

  I had never cared about someone more in my life, yet here I was somehow chasing her back to danger. I’d let my need to protect her endanger her more. If anything happened to her, I would never forgive myself.

  I understood her determination. I wanted to save her sister and the child too. How could I ever live with myself if I did nothing to help an innocent child? I’d experienced life in the system, and even as a male it was awful. The system destroyed any innocence I had ever known, and I shuddered to think of what Central was doing to Kayla’s young niece.

  The first few days after the fire had been only about survival. But as the days drew on other concerns set in. Bigger, more far reaching concerns that weren’t as easily solved.

  But we had a plan. We’d discussed it. Kayla had seemed to understand we needed to find Denver so we could get into Central safely. I only waited because I knew we had to. Nothing would be achieved if Kayla was captured.

  I thought over every conversation we shared since leaving the club after the fire. One stood out more than any of the others, and I found myself lost in the memory.

  It had been night, and I’d put my hands on either side of her face. Her skin was so soft—which seemed at odds with her years spent under the hot sun of the Rurals. “I can’t lose you.”

  “You aren’t going to lose me.” Her eyes had been wide and so full of emotion.

  “There is a very good chance I will if we go through with our plan.”

  “It’s a good plan.”

  I shook my head. “It’s not a good plan, but it’s our only plan.”

  “That makes it a great plan.”

  I loved the way her mind worked. She understood survival, and she understood doing whatever it took to reach a goal. At the same time, she got that not everyone viewed the world that way.

  “Denver is our ticket in. Otherwise they’ll never believe us. We need someone with connections so they will agree to our terms.”

  “I agree completely.”

  “But if we do this, if we go back into the city, I need you to promise to listen to me.”

  “Listen?” She balked. “That implies you are in charge. We are not at—”

  “I am well aware I’m not in charge, Kayla, but of the two of us I’m the less emotional about the situation.”

  “And being emotional about my sister and niece is bad?”

  “Being emotional isn’t bad, but it makes you susceptible to making mistakes.” Maybe that sentence had been where I went wrong. Maybe she’d interpreted my words to mean I wouldn’t trust her to make the decisions.

  Either way the damage was done, and my only hope was finding her before she got herself in even greater trouble.

  I hurried through the woods while attempting to also stay quiet. The sun was on its way up, and it was impossible to know who else was lurking on the edges of the city.

  I reached the city with no sign of Kayla. Either she’d had hours of a head start on me, or she’d hidden out. Considering her fear over wasting even a minute of time, I assumed it was the former. I’d slept deeply and longer than usual. It wasn’t like me, and I’d never forgive myself for letting Kayla slip away undetected. All of the other nights before I’d forced myself to stay awake to ke
ep watch. Why had it been that night when I’d given in to the lull of sleep? Why couldn’t it have been one night later. She would have left the next day then. I couldn’t ignore that truth. Kayla knew what she wanted, and she would have waited until the exact right moment to go for it.

  I was a mess. My suit was in ruins, and I would stand out like a sore thumb. No worse than Kayla I reminded myself. I thought over my options. She would have gone straight to Central. She didn’t know where Denver lived, and she had no other allies. She would have recklessly turned herself in to Central for a chance to find her sister.

  Turning her in had been part of the original plan—but not like that. Not without the guarantee she would walk out the door with me when it was all over.

  I could head right for Central, but if she was already inside, I had no leverage to get myself inside or to get her out. No, I had to go to Denver first. He knew enough people. He would find a way to get me in.

  I got quite a few stares as I maneuvered my way around the city. I had money, but it was mostly big bills—the cash I’d grabbed on our sprint from the Club. I knew breaking one of the hundreds, particularly considering how threadbare my clothes were, would bring unwanted attention. I searched my pockets and found two crumpled bills. It was enough to get on the train once. I pushed through the densely packed crowd and onto the equally crowded train. I tried not to make eye contact as I read through the headlines on the newspapers several men were holding. The front page headline was still about Sray burning down. My name was bolded under the section of the missing, but thankfully my picture was absent.

  “What a waste. I heard they didn’t find a single one of the girls.” A young man with a grey coat pointed to an article inside the paper.

  The man holding the paper folded it. “Probably because he took them all with him. I heard he started the fire himself so he could steal the girls away from the men who actually did the work in Sray.”

  “I’m sure that’s it.” The first man shook his head. “He’ll get his due. No way he can hide that many girls on his own.”

  “There’s also a few members of the Circle missing. He might have help.”

  “Either way they’ll get caught. Just wait and see.”

  I turned away from both men, trying to choke down the anger boiling inside me. As if I would have started the fire myself? Still, a sliver of hope ran through me. If none of the girls bodies were found, maybe they were all alive.

  I tried to tune out all the chatter for the remainder of the train ride. I couldn’t afford to let anger get in the way of common sense. Time was of the essence, and getting myself into a brawl could slow me down for days.

  I waited by the door as the train pulled up to Denver’s stop. I jumped off and hurried toward the dilapidated red brick building where he lived.

  The last time I’d knocked on Denver’s door I had been in a completely different position. I had wanted help getting into Central, but not to save Kayla—to save her sister and niece, two people I didn’t know. Knowing Kayla was safe in my room had made the task easier, even if I still worried constantly about her. I would spend the rest of my life worried constantly about her.

  I remembered the knock sequence Jarret had instructed me to use the first time. Three long and two short.

  I heard the sound of locks moving and the door opened. “Get in.”

  I wasn’t surprised by Denver’s greeting, and I did exactly as he asked. Immediately Denver relocked all six padlocks.

  “Mason?” It wasn’t Denver who said my name but a light female voice. “Mason? Where’s Kayla?”

  I stepped into the dark room. “Addison? Is that you?”

  The dark haired girl ran toward me. “Where’s Kayla?” Even in the dim light I could clearly see fear on her face.

  “That’s why I’m here.”

  “What do you mean? Jarret told me you had Kayla. He promised.”

  “I am sure Mason has an explanation.” Denver rubbed his long unruly beard. “I cannot imagine he would lose a girl.”

  “Is Jarret here?” I let my hopes go up.

  “No.” He shook his head. “He went out to search for the other girls. He never came back.”

  “But he left Addison here?” I glanced around the dark entryway.

  “He told me I’d be safe.” Addison wrapped her arms over her chest. She was wearing an oversized t-shirt and men’s pants folded several times at the waist. Clearly she had borrowed clothes from Denver.

  “And you are.” I looked at Denver. “Isn’t she?”

  Denver shrugged. “No girl is ever truly safe in the world today, but she is safer in here than she’d be almost anywhere else.”

  “You have a bunker in here, don’t you? With years of supplies?” I didn’t know Denver the way Jarrett did, but I knew he was a survivalist.

  “Of course.” Denver half-smiled. “I am not reckless.”

  “I know.”

  “Where’s Kayla?” Addison asked again. “Tell me, please.”

  There was no point lying. “She ran away.”

  “Why would she run away?” Addison’s eyes widened.

  “To find her sister I assume?” Denver led the way into a small and cramped living room.

  “Yes. I was going to take her. I had a plan. A dangerous plan, but one that at least had a chance of working, but she wouldn’t wait for it to unfold. I guess she didn’t trust me.” It was hard to admit all that out loud, but there was no avoiding it.

  “She might have trusted you, but she trusted herself more.” Denver took a seat on a couch.

  “Where is she? Her sister is in Central…” Addison sat on the arm of a chair.

  “I assume she’s tried to get in already. I need a way in so I can find her. That’s why I’m here.” I wasn’t particularly interested in sitting, but I chose an armchair so I wasn’t looking down on the others while I asked for help.

  “What was your original plan?” Denver tapped his fingers on the arm of the couch.

  This part was even harder to say out loud. It sounded awful. “To have you broker us a deal. She was willing to be tested by Central only under the condition I came in with her, and she would be released with me. Her personal Cording would give us some rights.”

  “Not a bad idea, and it might have worked.”

  “That’s what I told her, but I knew we had to be patient. It wasn’t safe to go into the city yet.”

  “In other words, you weren’t ready to let her go yet?” Denver rubbed his beard again.

  “Yes.” There was no sense pretending otherwise. I needed his help even if I wasn’t exactly sure how that was going to happen.

  “I’ll help.” Addison sprang to her feet. “I may not be personally Corded to you, but I’m Corded to Sray. Even if it’s burnt down, the Cording still has power. Right?”

  I shook my head. “I can’t let you do that. It’s too risky.”

  “I’m not doing it for you, Mason.” Addison frowned. “What I said about the Cording doesn’t mean I feel beholden to you at all. I am doing this for Kayla. I know how important her sister and niece are to her. And I know how important she is to me. I want to do this.”

  “It might work.” Denver shrugged. “I’ve seen crazier things work in a person’s favor.”

  “Do you realize what you would be stepping into?” I appreciated her dedication to Kayla, but I wasn’t sure it was truly worth putting herself in harm’s way.

  “And what is my other choice?” Addison sighed. “Hide out here for days? Weeks? Years?” She turned to Denver. “No offense, Denver, I appreciate your hospitality.”

  He leaned back against the couch. “Who has time to be offended anymore?”

  “What if they won’t let me stay with you, Addison? Have you thought of that possibility?”

  “But they might let me.” Denver’s lips twisted into a light smile.

  “Wait. You’d leave your house?” I had been hoping Denver would use some of his contacts, but I assumed he would do it
from home.

  “I’m not a hermit.”

  “I realize that—”

  “Do you?” He stared me down.

  “I do now.”

  “How does this work?” Addison sat down beside Denver. “What’s the plan?”

  “Are you absolutely sure?” I still didn’t like the thought of her getting involved.

  “Do you realize what my life has been like? Do you truly think this is the most frightening thing I have ever faced?”

  “No.” I hated knowing how much she’d been through at such a young age. Although saving Kayla was still my highest priority, I now understood I needed to save anyone I could. I was done standing back. Hesitation had cost me Kayla temporarily—I wouldn’t lose her, or anyone else, permanently. I would be the man Kayla needed me to be. “We will find you a better life after this.”

  “Do you really believe a better life exists?” Addison’s expression moved from determined to sad.

  I couldn’t lie, but I refused to give up. “I sure hope so.”

  Maverick

  I wasn’t prepared for the admission. I had been up all night watching Quinn. It was a bad habit, but one I couldn’t break. I’d never met anyone like her before. At first it was her physical appearance that called to me. She had such long blond hair, like nothing I had ever seen before. And her crystal blue eyes were so innocent, despite the evident fear. Clearly she wasn’t completely innocent. She’d borne a child, yet she had been sheltered and protected in a way I was unused to seeing. But it was the mystery behind her eyes that I felt I needed to solve. There was so much passion and determination laying just beneath the surface.

  I was positive she knew I watched her. She’d caught me once, but she’d closed her eyes again and fallen back into sleep. I’d left that night, but I’d come back every night since.

  I was nothing if not a creature of habit. I checked on Bailey twice each morning even though she wasn’t on my service. As a child, she was under the supervision of Dr. Tolerson. Still, I needed to make sure she was okay. She meant everything to Quinn. The only time Quinn ever smiled was when her daughter was with her.