Reckoning

by Sonya Weiss

  He took my chin in his hand, forcing me to look at him. His grip was bruising. “Your breaking point is Maisy. That’s why you’re going to help us. You’re going to kill the Supernaturals fighting against us.”

  I jerked my head away from his hand. Was he crazy? I wasn’t going to kill my people, and I would set him straight on that point. “I will not kill my people.”

  “You can choose to do what you’re told and Maisy lives. Refuse and she dies.”

  I couldn’t have heard him correctly. The FBI wouldn’t give FAD the power to hurt children. “My destiny is to save the humans, and I’ll try my best to do that, but I won’t use my power to kill my people.”

  “If you don’t, I promise your sister’s death won’t be an easy one for her.”

  Rage took over and I lashed out at him, trying to hit him in the face. “Don’t you threaten my sister.”

  Because I was weak, the agent didn’t have any problem pinning my arms to my sides. He gave me a shake that made the side where Henry cut me to implant the fail-safes hurt.

  “I’ll do whatever I have to do. They’re winning the war, and you’re our only hope against extinction.”

  There was more going on with this man, but I couldn’t understand what. I needed time to plan, to think about how to get Maisy and escape with her.

  “I can guess what’s going on in your head,” Agent Davis said. “We had Henry put a tracker in your sister. Take her off base and we’ll still be able to find her.” He pulled out a cell phone. “Refuse to fight your people for us and she’s dead right now.”

  “Please. I don’t want to kill my people.”

  He started dialing.

  “No!” I held up a hand. “Wait. I can’t think.”

  He punched in another digit. “Picture her face the second she realizes you didn’t come for her. The second she knows she’s going to die. All alone when her sister could have—”

  “Stop!” I sobbed. “Please, don’t hurt my sister. I’ll do whatever you want.”

  He stopped dialing and smiled.

  I bowed my head. In that instant, I had never felt so powerless.

  RILEY

  I caught up with the Guards before they tossed Sada’s body into the Void. I couldn’t do much after the fact, but at least I could give this girl dignity in death. “Did Ide tell you to throw the queen’s body into the Void?”

  The Guards looked at one another. “Queen?”

  “She wed Ide. What does that make her?”

  The light went on. “The queen,” one of them said in awe.

  “Bury her outside in the flower garden.”

  “Yes, sir.” They bowed and lumbered out of sight with the body. I wished I could have saved her.

  Mallen approached, his expression somber. “There was nothing you could have done. He would have killed you and found another way to get to the president.”

  What he said was true, but it didn’t make watching the helpless die any easier. “Let’s go.”

  He fell into step beside me. “Our superiority has given us the upper hand in the war, but the humans have shown themselves surprisingly resilient. They’ve doubled the protection around the president, and they’re not afraid to kill those who’ve tried to breach their defenses. More than thirty Supernaturals have died without being able to get within a mile of the White House. I fear, sir, Ide may have sent you on a fool’s errand.”

  “I have no intention of approaching the White House from beyond the perimeters.”

  We walked outside to the massive garage where the cars were stored. My ’67 GT500 Shelby Mustang was parked where I’d last left it. A thin coating of dust covered the white racing stripes on the hood and roof. I hadn’t driven it since the last time Juliet had—I shut down that avenue of thinking. I went to the key box on the wall and took out the keys for the limited edition ST50 Venom, the fastest car the humans had created. It was powered by energy harnessed from lightning.

  The red beast sprang to life when I entered the code in on the panel beside the steering wheel. As I backed it from the space, Mallen said, “What are you going to do?”

  I shifted the gears and the car responded instantly, picking up speed to put distance between the castle and us. “I’m going to infiltrate the human base as a prisoner. Being on the inside will give me access to their maneuvers.” Plus, it would place me near Juliet, which is where I wanted to be. The memory of her assailed me. Her smiling face. Soft skin. Enticing lips. The fire of her touch. I squeezed the steering wheel, putting her out of my mind so I could concentrate. I drove toward the woods beside Command 47, keeping to the back roads, anxious to get started on my quest. In seventy-two hours, I would either be the king and gain control to stop the Night of Grief, or like everyone else on Earth, I would be dead.

  Chapter 10

  JULIET

  Agent Davis clicked his pen repeatedly. A nervous habit. He blinked more than humans normally did. What was it about him that troubled me?

  “If you don’t cooperate and answer my questions, my next stop will be to visit the prison where your sister’s being held. I promise you I’m good at extracting information. Poor Maisy. How do you think she’ll handle it when I—”

  I slashed my hand through the air to make him shut up. “I’ve already said I would do what you want. Ask your questions.”

  He settled back with a satisfied smile and rapid-fired questions at me. “Where will the royal family hide if the castle is attacked? Is there a bunker? A safe room? An escape passage?”

  “I don’t know. The castle’s never been attacked.” I tugged at the band on my wrist, checking it for any sign of give, but there was none.

  He made a noise like a game show buzzer. “Wrong answer.”

  “I’m telling the truth. I don’t know!”

  He wrote in a notepad, then looked up. “How many Guards protect the king at any given time?”

  “There are hundreds of Guards,” I said, hardly recognizing the flatness of my own voice. “At least seven of them protect the king during the day and five stand watch at night.”

  “What about shift rotations?”

  “I don’t know. I was never part of the inner circle.”

  “Is the life force of the king located in the abdomen like an ordinary Supernatural’s is?”

  “No. It’s closer to the heart.”

  He looked pleased with the information. “Are you strong enough to kill a royal?”

  “Yes.”

  “How many of them are left and who are they?”

  “If King Dacce has died, then King Ide is the last of the royal family.”

  “You don’t know if King Dacce is alive?”

  “No. He was still breathing when I entered the Void. Ide may have killed him.”

  “You said Ide was the last of the royal family.” He gave me a sharp look, then flipped backward through the notebook. “Rick said the former King Dacce had another son. Riley. Isn’t he part of the royal family?”

  I looked at him without flinching. “Yes.”

  “Guess you forgot. Did you also forget the two of you are involved? Are you protecting him?”

  “No,” I lied, desperate to protect Riley. “He abandoned me in the Void.” I worried about Riley. Where was he? Was he okay? Had he abandoned me because he’d discovered what I had to do?

  “No honor among aliens.” He chuckled like he thought he was funny. “I always knew bringing your people here was a terrible idea. Look how well it ended up for us.

  We gave your people sanctuary on Earth, and you repay us with a war?”

  I gave him a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding look. “Your president offered us sanctuary because the humans destroyed our planet. Then later she brought our worst enemy to Earth to try and kill us.”

  “The Ragespawn.” He tapped the pen against his knee. “Yeah, that was a bad move on her part.” He gave me a secret smile as if he didn’t really believe it was a bad move. “Do you know how many of them are still alive?” H
e studied me as if this answer mattered more than the others.

  “No.”

  “I’ve heard there are only a handful left.” A muscle worked in his jaw.

  “I don’t know.”

  He made another note, then gave me a mocking smile. “What’s the goal with this war? Your people want to colonize the Earth? Make us all your slaves?”

  “No. We want you dead.”

  His smile faded. “Wanting us all dead, that’s the way your king feels, not you, correct?”

  It was my turn to give a mocking smile. “Of course.”

  “I think this will do for now.” He shoved away from the chair and picked up the briefcase. “I’ll take you to see your sister.”

  I raised my eyebrows, looking for a hidden meaning in the offer.

  “It’s not an act of kindness. I want you to see what she’s going through. It’ll give you a motive to fight like hell for us. The sooner the war is over, the sooner she’ll be free.”

  He intended to torture me with mental images of Maisy being locked up. I clenched my teeth together and reached along the side of the bed to find the lever to drop the safety rail. When it lowered, I swung my legs over the side and struggled to my feet. Still weak and feeling dizzy, I wobbled and gripped the mattress for support with one hand while trying to hold the back of the hospital gown closed with the other.

  I wondered if they suspected Maisy was a mixed-blood. The human government had taken notice the day my leaders ordered the deaths of the mixed-bloods. The order made them question what the Supernaturals were afraid of when it came to these hybrid children. Made them believe if the powerful Supernaturals were afraid, then there was something to fear. For my sister’s sake, I hoped they didn’t ever figure out what she was. “How can you treat a child the way you are?”

  A muscle in his jaw worked. “My orders come from the White House.”

  “Your president ordered children imprisoned?”

  He looked disgusted. “Children? They’re not human. They’re creatures.”

  My stomach twisted into knots, and I took a step away from the bed. I didn’t want to stand here with this smug agent another second. Something about him, besides the fact he hated Supernaturals, creeped me out. I brushed past him, and when I got closer to the door, an alarm started ringing in the hallway.

  Rick rushed into the room, followed by two soldiers. They blocked my exit and raised their guns. I walked forward, intending to tell them Agent Davis was taking me to see my sister.

  “Stop, Juliet. You’re a hostile alien. They have orders to kill you if you don’t obey.” Rick grabbed my arm, eyes pleading with me not to fight. “Your band triggered the alarm.” He told the soldiers to lower their weapons, then checked my band. When he pulled on it, one of the prongs shifted and a thin trail of blood trickled to the side.

  I looked at Agent Davis, then at Rick. “How did you capture my sister?”

  “We received a tip giving up the location where she was hiding in a home with other Supernatural children.” Rick searched through a cabinet until he found gauze. “The weird thing is these kids look as if they’ve been through hell. One of them is missing an arm, one of them an eye. You know them?” He pressed the gauze against the prong until the bleeding stopped, then threw it in the garbage can by the bed. Pulling open another drawer, he took out a second hospital gown.

  “Doesn’t ring a bell,” I lied, not wanting to give them anyone else I loved that they could use to psychologically torture me with. I eased my arms into the hospital gown, thankful for the coverage. “Why? Are they your prisoners too?”

  “They’re with your sister. We plan to study them.”

  I kept my expression calm, even though his words terrified me. I had to find a way to get them to safety before then.

  Agent Davis passed Rick the notebook he’d written in. “She says Riley West abandoned her in the Void.”

  “I know how you feel about him. That must have been difficult for you.” Rick’s face held sympathy, and he drew in a breath like he wanted to say more, but after a glance at the other agent, he fell silent.

  “It was devastating.” I wanted them to think Riley and I weren’t together. It was bad enough they were using Maisy as leverage. I didn’t want them to add Riley to the mix. I was already at the breaking point with my sister. Knowing Riley would suffer too would send me over the edge. I would become whatever kind of monster they wanted me to be to keep the ones I loved safe.

  Agent Davis snapped his fingers as if he’d remembered something. “Those kids we have with your sister were found in the home of a friend of yours. Guy by the name of Gordon.”

  “Where is he?”

  “He tried to prevent the soldiers from taking the children, and unfortunately, they thought he was a hostile and not a human. He didn’t make it.” Agent Davis delivered the news in a matter of fact tone. Like death was as common place as the sun rising.

  I doubled over and a moan escaped my lips. “He was my friend,” I cried. Images of Gordon flashed through my mind. Us in fifth grade. Camping out together. Him teaching me how to ride a skateboard. Us in ninth grade. Me teaching him how to ask a girl out on a date. Him walking me home from school, bringing me a brownie when I was sick. He was a kind human. Tears poured down my face and splashed onto the floor.

  “Juliet—”

  I straightened. “Were you there?” I kept my arms wrapped around my body as if I could hold in all the broken pieces of me threatening to spill out.

  Rick nodded.

  “You’ve seen Gordon before. You knew he wasn’t an enemy.” As my grief and anger grew, my power attempted to surge only to be brought up short by the band. If not for the band, I might have defied my destiny to save and instead would have killed this human I’d once thought I could trust.

  “I tried to stop them.” His eyes held truth, but I didn’t want to hear it. I needed to lash out.

  “You’re a liar.” I might not have my power, but that didn’t mean I was physically helpless. Supernaturals were naturally stronger than humans. I moved close enough to be able to touch him.

  “I’m not lying. I did attempt to stop them.” Rick looked at my clenched hands. “If you try to kill me, the soldiers will shoot you. Then where will your sister be?”

  He was right. I pushed the rage deep within, banking the fire of it. To protect my sister, I could do nothing to avenge the death of my friend. For now.

  Agent Davis glanced at my leg when I shifted my weight. Standing on it had caused it to throb. “Do you need pain medicine?”

  I wanted to keep a clear head. “No, thank you.” My voice was polite, and I had a smile on my lips, but the agent did a double take. Had he caught a glimpse of the monster he was pushing me to become?

  He turned around and waved the soldiers out. Then he pulled out a cell phone, gave his ID number, and said, “I’m taking Juliet to Sector 7. Send a driver.” He pocketed the phone and glanced at me. “Shouldn’t be a long wait.”

  I stood in silence. I had nothing to say to either of the agents. Emotions rushed through me, each of them tangling over the other. How could you call for me to save a species that repays me by killing my friends? I silently raged against destiny. As usual, there was no response.

  Rick glanced down at my bare feet, then rummaged through a different set of metal drawers by the hospital bed. He returned with a pair of slip-free socks. Kneeling in front of me, he waited for me to lift each foot and he slid them on in turn. “Thank you,” I said, giving him a smile too.

  He backed up, shooting a worried glance at his partner.

  A knock sounded on the doorframe and a soldier appeared. “The Jeep is waiting, sir.” When Rick walked past him to the door, Agent Davis motioned me ahead, clearly not wanting me to walk behind him.

  In the hallway, Rick grabbed a wheelchair and helped me into it. He pushed it steadily forward while the soldier walked on one side of me, Agent Davis on the other. As we passed by the other rooms, I did quick ch
ecks and noted the ones that were empty. I raised my head to look up at the ceiling, searching for vents. They would make escape routes if I could get the tracker out of Maisy. The cafeteria doors were open, and I checked to see if I could spot the garbage cans. Humans rarely sifted through their garbage. The cans might work as part of an escape plan if I got the chance to get my sister out of reach of the humans. The noise and speed of the wheelchair changed when we crossed into the hospital’s front corridor.

  The soldier pushed the handicap button and the door swung open, letting a rush of air swoop in. The coolness felt good on my flushed face. Agent Davis and the soldier climbed into a standard Jeep, but Rick helped me into the passenger side of an Army-green 1968 Jeep Kaiser with a white star painted on the driver’s side door. I knew old vehicles only because my father had loved them. We used to go to car shows together. Spending money we didn’t have, he’d bought a 1966 two-stroke Harley Bobcat behind my mother’s back, and the argument between them had lasted for two days.

  The memory of my family threatened to break down the wall I’d had to build to keep myself together. I bit down on my lower lip until I tasted blood. Rick sped across the base to a barracks with Sector 7 painted in large letters on the side. Two armed soldiers flanked the front of the building. I shook my head when Rick attempted to get me to sit in the wheelchair to enter the barracks. I didn’t want Maisy to worry about me, and if I didn’t walk in on my own accord, she would.

  RILEY

  There were a little over two hundred Supernaturals gathered in the woods. I parked the car and got out. Trees and thick underbrush cocooned the location. Each Supernatural raised a fist toward the sky in a show of solidarity. My people would willingly die for me. I hoped we never reached that point.

  A Supernatural with blue tips on the ends of his hair walked forward. Despite the uniform he wore marking him as a human prisoner, he still managed to look fierce. “Adler, senior battle analyst of the soldier lineage, undercover as a human prisoner. Proud to serve you, my king.” He bowed, then straightened.