Steel Lily (The Periodic Series)
Page 30
Jaxon chuckled and closed his eyes, pulling me close to him. “When you’re ready, we’ll face this together, starting with elemental courses.”
I leaned forward. “Elemental courses? You’ve got to be kidding!”
He laughed. “You’re back home. What did you think would happen? Just because you’re kind of a big deal doesn’t exempt you from honing your craft. You’ll need it more than ever, and I want to be able to hold my own. When you were out, I had them give me a little vial of your blood. We’ll see if Xander was onto something.”
“I did too,” said Sari.
Alice nodded. “And me as well.”
“Guys…” I said, shocked. “You guys shouldn’t have done that. And I thought you didn’t want to be a guinea pig, Jaxon.”
“Well, if I’m your guinea pig, I guess I’m okay with it. Let’s just keep calm and carry on.”
That sounded like a good place to start. I released my hold on his hand and stood to walk over to the dresser. I delicately laid down the flower and smiled as the moonlight danced off the brushed steel.
Mom would have loved to dance in the moonlight.
I turned to see Jaxon smiling serenely at me. His words came out in a whisper, but they were fervent and laced with emotion. “You’ll do her memory well, I know it.” He extended his arms out and waited for me to fill them. “Come here, Steel Lily.”
There was no hesitation as I allowed him to hold me, his warmth making me feel safe. I snuggled in and took a deep breath, inhaling his scent. Alice leaned into my other side, and Sari joined in.
It was a gift to have such an amazing group of friends.
Although we had a long way to go before we were really safe, I knew that together we could stand against anything the Resistance would throw at us. Our strength was forged in the bonds of our friendship, and if we could hold onto that, we would win the war.
< >
“Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have.”
--Ronald Reagan
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This is my fourth book, yet the acknowledgments never seem to get shorter. Instead, I think they’re growing. I will probably never be able to truly thank everyone involved in the creation process of each of these books. By the time it hits your—my readers—hands, it has been through so very much. So much blood, sweat, and tears go into every word, sentence, and chapter, and I hope that you love Steel Lily as much as I do.
That said, first and foremost I have to thank my Creator. Thank you, Lord, for continuing to allow the creativity to flow and air to fill my lungs. I pray that I always glorify You in my endeavors.
A close second goes to my amazing husband, Matt, who continually lets me sneak away to a café to write or hole up in my office until the wee hours of the morning when a writing binge hits. You are amazingly patient, even when my word vomit gets the best of me.
Thank you to my wonderful cover designer, Regina Wamba of Mae I Design, who created a stunning cover. Thank you for dealing with my crazy. You’re awesome. Also, thank you to Jacob Neff, my copy-editor. You know how much I appreciate you.
Massive thank yous, hugs, and cupcakes to Michelle Zink, without whose help I’m not sure where Steel Lily would be. You are a wonderful friend and confidant, and without your honesty and cheering, Steel Lily would not be what it is. I hope the finished product makes you proud.
Thank you to my merry band of writers, Mindy Ruiz, Angeline Kace, Heather Hildenbrand, Eisley Jacobs, Adriane Boyd, and Hope Collier. You are truly some of my favoritest people in the world, and our conversations continue to make me laugh and confuse the bejeezus out of Matt. That’s a win-win.
To the writer’s conference that has changed my mantra, excited my soul, and pushed me to dream big. UtopYA, this series is fueled by the dreams you instilled in me. What a difference a year makes. I’m excited to prove that come next June.
To my friends and family who continue to support me unconditionally, I love you. Mom and Mamaw, thanks for reading countless revisions and loving them all. Mary, thank you for letting me borrow Jaxon’s name. I’m not sure what I would have done if you had said no! I hope you approve of the final product. Krysta, I’m so glad you were only mad at me for initially giving you twelve pages. I really don’t know what I’d do without you. Here’s to becoming the unlikeliest of best friends. God knew what He was doing there!
To the cafés where Steel Lily came to fruition: Acoustic Café in Eau Claire, Wisconsin; Expressions Coffee House in Fairborn, Ohio; 4Starters Café in Beavercreek, Ohio; The Cairn in Winchester, Kentucky; and Common Grounds in Lexington, Kentucky. Your coffee and local auras fueled me. Thank you for being awesome. Kathy, thanks for always guarding my table, and Brian, I will gladly accept decaf whenever you deem me too excited for the real stuff.
Music. Oh my word. Where would I be without music? To the bands who fueled Steel Lily’s soundtrack: MUSE (Oh, how I love Muse!), The Civil Wars, Silversun Pickups, 30 Seconds to Mars, Carolina Liar, Christina Perri, The Spill Canvas, Civil Twilight, Jason Walker, Mumford & Sons, and Coldplay. There were so many, but truly, I am convinced Muse’s 2nd Law album was written for Steel Lily. I owe them big hugs, and I may die from excitement after giving them said hugs. February 28th, 2013 Matt Bellamy touched my hand in Cleveland, Ohio. That day is engrained in my mind forever. Thank you, Mr. Bellamy, for making me question whether I should ever wash that hand again. You put on an amazing show.
To every reader, every book blogger, every person who ever recommends a book to someone. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. Without you, I would be nothing. Without you, I wouldn’t do this. You guys keep me coming back for more. I love each and every one of you. Please never hesitate to contact me. I love hearing from you! Let’s keep this merry little adventure going. I’m having way too much fun to do anything else.
Finally, to my Carter-Man. Thank you for always smiling, and yes, now Mommy can chase you.
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Here’s a sneak peek of the sequel to Steel Lily, book two of the
Periodic Series: IRON PENDULUM!
CHAPTER
ONE
My father said there were two things certain in life before World War III: death and taxes.
There were still two things after World War III, but one had changed.
Now it was death and lies.
While I might not be able to cheat death, I would make sure to uncover the lies and live a life that would have me going to the grave with a smile on my face.
And nothing would make me smile more than to make sure Xander went there before me.
A voice buzzed in the earpiece of my new oxygen mask. “Earth to Avery, care to come back to us and tell us which tunnel to take?”
Sari’s eyes were hidden by the polarized lens of her oxygen mask, but her voice revealed her amused annoyance. The Alliance had provided us these new and improved devices, capable of allowing us to speak without lifting up our mouthpieces and exposing us to the low oxygen levels.
I adjusted the map and clicked on my headlamp. The dull glow shone just enough to light up the wrinkled, water-stained blueprints we were following. “Give me a second,” I traced the lines with my fingertip. “I think we need to go left.”
“You think?” Jaxon’s voice said, but not through the muffled sound of the speaker.
No, his was loud and clear and sent shivers through my spine, even when he was being infuri
atingly sarcastic.
Jaxon’s ability to breath in lower-oxygen situations was because of his father, Riggs, doing research on him from a young age. While he was forced to do it by Xander—the man behind the Resistance and responsible for us living in hiding—I still didn’t have much love loss for him. He’d hurt Jaxon, and that hurt me. It would be a while before I trusted him.
Jaxon leaned against the cement wall with his arms crossed, his dreads pulled back in his standard leather tie. His headlamp sat cockeyed on his head, a tribute to his off-kilter humor and devil-may-care attitude.
And I wouldn’t want it any other way, even though I knew that he did care, and he wasn’t nearly as unimpressed with the world as he’d like everyone else to think.
I’d let him keep his secrets, so long as he shared them with me when no one was looking.
He came and leaned over my shoulder, examining the map.
“I think you’re wrong,” he said with a drawl, wrapping his caramel-colored hand around my porcelain one and leading my finger along a new route, “That’s the route we need to get into Dome Four.”
“And what if you’re wrong and get us into a predicament like last time?”
Jaxon shrugged. “I have no recollection of a predicament caused by my navigational prowess. What I do recall is you wailing like a banshee when a cockroach scuttled down your shirt, then a bunch of bats flying out of a tunnel, which in turn forced us to go back home, because Alice got pooped on half a million times and needed to shower.”
“Hey, bat poop carries diseases!” Alice said, peeking her masked face out from behind Sari. “Guano isn’t something to mess with.”
“Guano, schmano. Put on some big girl panties. I don’t know why you insist on coming with us if you can’t take a little crap, literally and figuratively.”
Alice’s huff echoed in our headsets, and I was glad she couldn’t see my face.
“Avery, don’t act like you’re not smiling behind that mask, woman.”
I put my hands up in submission, and Jaxon took the map from me.
“Like I said, let’s go left.” He didn’t ask for a vote, but turned that direction and expected us to follow.
I was thankful for the mask, as it dulled the stench of refuse that floated along the shallow water in the tunnel. Rats scurried along the waterline, our lights sending them into a frenzy. Each step caused the water to slosh and echo through the tunnel, to give our position away.
“We should try to stay out of the water if possible,” I said into the mic, hoping someone would agree with me before Jaxon could argue.
No dice.
Jaxon touched his earpiece and spoke into the little mic that wound down to his mouth. “Why? Are you afraid of your toes pruning? I promise I’ll still give you a foot massage when we get back, even if your feet look like a ninety-year old woman’s. I won’t tell anyone.”
“It’s not that.”
“Contrary to the old legend, there are no alligators in the sewer.”
“That you know of,” Alice quipped.
I knew she really did like Jaxon, but she enjoyed making him squirm. I enjoyed watching it happen. Their relationship was hilarious to watch unfold.
“That I know of,” Jaxon admitted, “But I’ll take one for the team and wrestle one into submission if it floats down our tunnel. Then I expect minstrels to sing of my heroics in future years. You can be the minstrel, Alice. I bet you’d look great with a lyre and kilt-y getup.”
Alice shook her head. “If anyone would look good in a skirt, it’s you, chicken legs.”
“Oh please, you know you wish you could look as good as me in a skirt. Have you seen your calves lately?”
Everyone laughed as Alice huffed, sending static through the earpieces. Jaxon took the lead as he sloshed through the water, purposefully making more of a ruckus than need be.
But then he went still. As still as a dog on a hunt that had caught a scent.
Everyone stopped.
Alice’s whisper came through the earpiece. “Jax, what did you hear?”
I watched as the muscles in Jaxon’s back tensed and his shoulders squared. I heard the minor intake of breath, and wondered if everyone else knew that meant he was afraid.
“Jaxon…” I said, trailing off.
“Run.”
Alice’s voice rose in panic. “Jax, what do you mean—”
“When in the history of the English language, has run ever meant anything other than RUN?” Tension laced his every word. His body shook, but he didn’t turn. I took two steps to his side, and he put his arm. “Avery, so help me God, do you remember what I told you in the tunnel on the way back to Chromelius Academy?”
My mind raced back to two weeks ago when he could hardly walk, when both of us had barely escaped with our lives from the Plagues inside Dome Seven. “You wouldn’t let me go in front of you.”
“That is correct. So why would you think that I would let you go in front of me now?”
“Jaxon, there’s nothing down here.”
“Incorrect.”
“Incorrect?”
“Fatally incorrect.”
And that’s when I heard them—the feral snarls of what used to be human beings echoing down the tunnel. Ground Zeroes—or Zeroes, as we’d come to call them since meeting up with the Alliance. The burned army of Xander’s Resistance.
Sari took three steps backward before turning on her heel. “I think we should go now.”
Everyone began to back away, following Sari’s suggestion. “I knew one day I’d figure out why they called you a genius,” Jaxon said, “Avery, Alice, you need to go too.”
“And what are you going to do, let them tear you limb from limb?” Alice asked, incredulous.
“Maybe they’ll only rip one limb off before killing me. I’m feeling particularly lucky today.”
“You call this luck?” I asked incredulously.
I never got an answer from him, because just then Alice stepped on a rat skeleton. The crunch of the bones echoed down the tunnel, and everyone sucked in a breath.
Silence. Silence that was deafening as we waited for the inevitable deathblow.
And then it came. Wild, livid, tortured growls that shouldn’t come from any human being rang through the tunnel. The cement shook, and I knew we were done for. There was nowhere to go, nowhere to hide.
“Time to go,” Jaxon said.
Want more by Megan Curd?
— The Periodic Series —
Steel Lily
Iron Pendulum (Coming Winter 2013)
— Bridger Series —
Bridger
Traitor
Protector (Coming 2014)
— The Guardian Chronicles —
Forbidden
Keep your eyes peeled for more information, updates, excerpts, appearances, and signings on the author’s website at www.MeganCurd.com!
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One