by Tracey Ward
“How did you ever survive out here alone with skills like that?” he asks.
“Shut up. I’m good.”
“You’re slow.”
I stow my weapon before casting him a smirk. “Am I?”
Before he can answer, I’m gone. I’m running.
Vin is good at a lot of things: overthrowing a dictatorship, taking out zombies, wooing women, getting stabbed, singing show tunes. But what Vin is not good at, what he’s gotten soft on, is cardio. He’s lived too long and too cushy inside The Hive. He hasn’t had to run for his life on a regular basis for years, and while he’s still in great shape, he’s not in as good of shape as me. Not even close.
The second my foot hits the grass of the park, though, I throw on the brakes. I barely maintain my balance, and when Vin slams into my back we both stumble forward. His arms go around me to keep me standing but instead of feeling closed in or freaked out, I’m amazed. I’m too shocked to notice anything but what I see in front of me.
The woods are full. There are tents peppered in with the trees, sections of tall grass have been trampled down to make what looks like a small road, but most importantly is this: there are people. Lots of people.
“What’s happening?” I breathe.
“I don’t know,” Vin replies, his voice low and tight near my ear. “But we’re about to find out.”
“Hold it right there!” a man shouts, jogging toward us.
We’ve been noticed. How could we not be? We came barreling toward this place at full speed right out in the open, and as stupid as it sounds, I thought it was safe. I never thought in a million years that the Colonists would take the woods. Why would they want it? It’s out in the open, it’s vulnerable, it’s dangerous. What are they doing here?!
“Are they the cannibals you sided with?” Vin asks me.
I shake my head. “No. There are too many and they wouldn’t come out in the open like this.”
“Colonists,” he growls.
“I think so.”
“Who are you?” the man asks, slowing as he approaches us.
I look him over quickly, checking for weapons. So far his hands are empty but I recognize the matte black shell of a gun on his hip. When I glance at Vin I see him eyeing it too.
“No one,” Vin tells him calmly.
The guy frowns at Vin, his eyes on his neck. On the tattoo openly displayed. “You’re Hive.”
“What of it?”
“You should leave. This isn’t your fight.” The guy sneers at Vin. “Nothing ever has been.”
Vin takes a menacing step toward him, ignoring the gun. “You think you know something about me?”
“I know about your kind. You’re as good as Colony which means you’re an enemy and you should leave before I put you down.”
The guy’s hand is resting on the gun now. I don’t know if Vin believes he has bullets for it, but as the man’s words sink in, I realize I believe it. 100 percent. As though that very gun were pressed against my forehead.
“You’re a Vashon,” I say quickly.
The guy’s eyes flicker to me. “Yeah. I’m from the island. Who are you? A Hive whore?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “No. I’m Joss.”
“What’s a joss?”
“The girl about to kick your ass if you call me a whore again.”
I can’t see his face, but I hear Vin snicker.
“Sure,” the guy replies sarcastically. “Why don’t you and your man pack it up? No one here is shopping for what you’re selling.”
“Where’s Crenshaw?” I demand.
That gets his attention. He steps back from Vin, looking at me with interest.
“How do you know Crenshaw?”
“How do you know Crenshaw?” I fire back.
“He was one of the founders of the island. Every Vashon knows about Berny Crenshaw.”
“Berny?” I nearly choke on the sheer normalcy of it.
“How do you know him?” he repeats.
“He’s a friend.” I shrug, feeling weird using the word.
The guy looks doubtful but he hollers over his shoulder for someone to get Berny and bring him to the perimeter. When he looks back at me his hand is still on his gun and his eyes are narrowed.
“We’ll see how your story shakes out in a minute, won’t we?”
“You’re way less fun than the other Vashons I’ve met.”
“When have you ever met a Vashon before?”
“I was on your island.”
“We don’t allow Hive on our island. Ever.”
“I told you, I’m not Hive. And I was there to meet with your council.”
His eyes harden. “You’re one of the three. The ones who sold us out to the Colony.”
“No, that was…”
Oops.
“Who then?”
I glance nervously at Vin. “No one.”
“It was Marlow,” Vin tells him plainly. “He sold everyone out. It’s why The Hive has fallen.”
“That’s not the story we’re hearing here.”
“What story is that?”
“That The Hive tried to take a Colony. That the Pod cleared out before they could get their claws in it. That the Colonies are marching on that Pod right now.”
“The Colonists are attacking the Pod in the north?” I ask incredulously. “How did they kn—”
“Athena!”
I look past the guy to the tents of roughspun cotton in raw colors. To the clean, easy moving people around them. To the break in the crowd that has formed around a great, white wizard. He has his staff, his robe with the little blue sailboats, and the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on his face. He looks at home here with these people. Like Merlin at Camelot.
“Crenshaw,” I say with relief.
“Come, child! Come,” he calls, beckoning me forward.
I glare up at the guy who held us back, tempted to flip him off as I pass. Vin follows slowly behind me as I make my way into the forest I don’t recognize anymore. The air feels different. There’s so much more movement in it. It’s so much more alive. There are smells I don’t know and some I thought I’d never know again. And there are so many people. The park is swarming with them but they don’t feel like insects. They don’t make me cringe like Risen or Colonists or cannibals lurking in the dark. It feels… I don’t know. Almost good.
Crenshaw hugs me for the second time this year and I’m worried I’ll get used to it. I might even like it a little. When he releases me I can’t get over how happy he looks. The man is literally glowing.
“You have done well, Athena,” he tells me in a hushed tone. “I did not believe it possible, but you have proven me wrong. You have made me a believer. Perhaps I always should have been.”
“Cren, what’s going on? That guy—”
“Ah, yes,” he interrupts, nodding to the jerk who called me a whore. “The soldiers at the perimeter. They are imperative. The gates to Hell have been flung open. Wraiths are again a danger. But these soldiers, they have made my home a safer place than it has ever been. I owe them a great debt.”
“Not that one,” I mutter. “That one gets nothing.”
“Did he treat you poorly?”
“Sort of.”
Crenshaw’s face falls into a scowl. “Well that simply will not do.”
“What’s going on here?” Vin asks bluntly. “He started to say something about the Colonies marching on the northern Pod where The Hive attacked.”
I suddenly realize who I’m standing with: Crenshaw and a Hive member. I would tell Vin to cover his tattoo if there were even a millisecond of time to do it, but there’s not.
“Who is this?!” Crenshaw demands, his voice bellowing and angry. Heads turn to see what’s happening. “Who have you brought here, Athena? What devils have you consorted with?”
“Calm down, Cren. He’s not a devil.”
“He is a hornet of The Hive. In my house!”
I put my hand on Vin’s arm, pushi
ng him back gently. “You should step back.”
Vin looks down at me, disbelieving. “Are you for real?”
“He doesn’t like The Hive. I wasn’t even supposed to go to them for help.”
“You went to Marlow for help?!” Crenshaw bursts.
I literally growl in frustration. “I didn’t have a choice!”
“There is always a better choice. Defeat is a better choice than dirty dealings with the devil.”
“Crenshaw, I’m sorry. I tried everything else, but there was no other way. And he isn’t Hive anymore. He helped me escape the Colony!”
“Where is Helios?” Cren demands, searching the woods and road behind me. “He would never—”
“He’s not here?” I ask, the fight leaching out of me.
I hate the sound of my own voice. It’s weak and afraid.
Crenshaw’s eyes sharpen at my tone. “No. He is not with you?”
I shake my head mutely.
“When were you separated? You cannot be separated, Athena. To succeed you must remain together. It is how I have seen it.”
“Seen what?”
“The End.”
I nod slowly, acting as though I understand. “The end of…”
“The End of Nothing. The Beginning of Everything.”
“Okay,” I tell him calmly. “Okay. I’ll find him. I promise. Has anyone else shown up here recently?”
“The Vashons.”
And my annoyance is back. I sigh tightly, reining it in. “Yes, I see the Vashons. Anyone else?”
“Who else should I expect?” he asks suspiciously.
“No one.”
“Athena.”
“Cren, I hate when you take that tone with me,” I complain.
“It’s because it’s fatherly,” Vin says.
I shoot him a warning glance, one reminding him to keep his mouth shut. So far the fact that I’ve lost Ryan has bought him a chance at being forgotten for a moment. He should capitalize on that.
“Do you know who Trent is?” I ask Crenshaw. “He’s a member of Helios’ family. Tall, thin, blond hair, creepy as balls blue eyes that see right through you into your soul.”
Crenshaw leans on his staff, nodding sagely. “I have seen the boy, yes. Excellent hunter.”
“He really is, yeah. He hasn’t been here, has he?”
“Maybe with about two hundred people running for their lives?” Vin adds.
Crenshaw eyes Vin with open disdain, then shakes his head. “There has been no such visit. Should I be expecting one?”
“Maybe,” I reply reluctantly.
“And who are these people the boy has with him?”
“Refugees,” Vin says solemnly. “Former prisoners of the Colony to the north. We have released them from the bonds put on them by the Colony. They are now free men and women of the wild, although they will need shelter and guidance in order to survive.”
I stare at Vin in amazement. He sounds exactly like Ryan when he’s talking to Crenshaw. Did I miss something in my meager childhood? Was there a book I was supposed to have read? The Complete Idiot’s Guide to King Arthur’s Court? It seems like silly me has been reading any survival manual or How To book I could get my hands on while all these Lost Boys were reading Lunacy: A Visitor’s Guide.
“I see,” Cren replies softly. His eyes are still wary, but they’re not as sharp. He’s not quite ready to crack Vin over the head with his staff anymore, though, and that’s a plus. “You helped to free these people?”
“He led them to freedom,” I correct in my best imitation of crazy speak.
Cren’s eyes widen. “For truth?”
“Yeah.”
“And he has returned you to me unharmed.”
“I returned me to you unharmed, but he was there. He didn’t hurt me.”
“I saved your life, Kitten,” Vin protests, dropping the act.
“Don’t oversell it. You helped a little, and so did I. We’re even.” I turn back to Crenshaw. “How did—”
“Saved your life,” Vin mutters under his breath.
I take a steadying breath. “How did this happen, Cren? How are the Vashons here?”
The old man beams at me. “Persephone.”
My heart skips a beat. “Seriously? Ali is here?”
“Persephone is here.”
“Yes, yes, Persephone. She’s here? She brought the Vashons here?”
“Yes. She was moved by your visit. There are those who believe you to be a traitor, but Persephone is not one of them. She convinced a large number of the Vashons to travel with her across the waters. They came here to me to find shelter.” Crenshaw chuckles as he looks around. “I must say, it is lovely to have visitors.”
“How large of a number?” Vin asks.
Cren turns to him, his eyes narrowing slightly. “How large of a number of what, Hornet?”
“How many people came across the water?”
“Over three hundred.”
My knees go weak. Three hundred. Three hundred people!
I want to dance. I want to sing. I want to kiss Vin soundly on the mouth in front of everyone here. I can hardly breathe as my mind does the math.
I don’t know if we can win this thing, but we have a snowball’s chance in hell now and that’s a lot better than we were doing ten minutes ago.
“I need to find Ryan,” I say urgently.
“Yes,” Crenshaw agrees. “Helios is imperative.”
“Assuming he’s still alive.”
Crenshaw and I both glare at Vin. He stares back at us unflinching.
“I’m being realistic,” he tells us.
“Why would Helios be dead?” Crenshaw asks me.
I bury my face in my hands for a second, unwilling to look at either of them. Unwilling to let the terror in my heart show.
When I lower my hands, I look Cren in the eye. “When we ran from the northern Colony we left through the tunnels. Ryan stayed behind to help blow the entrance to make sure none of The Hive could follow us. Vin and I were running in the dark. We couldn’t go back for them and we couldn’t wait. We were lost. So we ran.”
Crenshaw presses his warm, dry hand to my arm, squeezing it gently. “He is alive. Of this I am sure.”
“How?” I whisper pathetically. Hopefully.
He smiles at me like I’m a child—one asking how he knows the sky is blue. “Because I can feel him. Can you not feel him, Athena?”
I shake my head.
“Well,” he replies, clucking his tongue and removing his hand from my arm. “You will. When you are ready to admit it, you will.”
“Admit what?”
“Incoming!”
We all turn to look at the perimeter of the forest where Crenshaw’s soldiers have gathered. They’re standing tense and ready, facing off with a herd of people running straight toward us. Past the pounding of their footsteps and the occasional panicked cry, I can hear the low constant moan of another herd.
“Is this your friend, my dear?” Crenshaw asks me bitingly. “The one leading a horde of wraiths to my front door.”
I nod stiffly, my eyes easily finding Trent in the crowd. “Yeah, Cren. He’s one of mine.”
Chapter Sixteen
The Vashon soldiers are good. They collapse on the weak side of the park in a heartbeat, forming a line of defense so thick I wonder how Trent and the Colonists will get through. Then they split, just before the crowd mows them over, and they let the panicked mass spill into the makeshift village. It fills quickly. I’m bumped from side to side, my shoulders brushing with others, and my body stiffens in annoyance. The old fear begins to build. I can feel the tightness in my gut and in my limbs that warns me to get away. It’s telling me that if one of these people turns, we’ll all be dead.
I turn to tell Crenshaw we should move out of the crowd, but when I look for him he’s gone. Vanished silently into thin air.
“Wiley old SOB,” I mutter.
“Joss.”
I spin arou
nd to find Trent effortlessly jogging through the crowd toward me.
“Trent, where did you go? What’s happening?”
Before he can answer me, Trent spots Vin. He holds out his hand to him, surprising both of us. It’s such a human move for my robot.
“I hereby happily return your people to you,” he tells Vin. “Good luck.”
Vin smiles as he shakes his hand. “Not a fan of leadership, huh?”
“People are whiners.”
“I won’t argue with you there.”
“Trent,” I nag.
“What?”
“Where did you go?!”
“To the cannibals. I led them through the tunnels to the cannibals’ home, but none of the Colonists wanted to be there and I don’t think the cannibals were very happy about it either. I released the prisoners, then—”
“You did what?” Vin snaps.
Trent looks at him with utter calm before repeating, “The Colonist Leaders you had locked up. I let them go.”
“They’ll go straight back to the Colonies and tell them what’s happening!” I cry.
“I certainly hope so.”
“Why would you want that?”
“Because they don’t know what’s happening.”
I look to Vin, completely confused. He looks back at me with an expression that clearly says, Fix it before I kill it.
“All right, all right,” I mutter. “Trent, what’s your plan? Please tell me you have a plan. Please tell me there’s a reason why you just completely screwed us.”
“The Leaders only know that a Hive member,” he points to Vin, “took over the Colony, held them hostage, and that The Hive came to the Pod to take it over but the people were evacuated. That’s all they know. That’s exactly what they’ll tell the Leaders in the stadiums.”
“They’ll immediately send an army up there to take back the Pod before The Hive can get too comfortable,” Vin says, understanding much more than I do.
Trent nods. “Yes.”
“We’ll have to move fast.”
“We should already be moving.”
“What are we talking about?” I demand.
Vin grins at Trent. “Your creepy friend here is smarter than I gave him credit for. He’s diverted Colony forces away from the stadiums to fight The Hive for the northern Pod. They’ll be weakened because they think the only threat is in the north. They don’t know anything about us down here right outside their door.”
