by Sonya Weiss
I rubbed my wrists.
Rick started walking out of the room. “If Agent Davis does get you somewhere alone, I suspect he’ll try to kill you and make it look like you attacked him.”
I fell into step beside him. “He really hates Supernaturals.”
“He does. His twin brother was killed the first day of the war by a Supernatural.” Rick held open the door. Outside, the temperature had dropped and a light snow fell. Rick shrugged out his jacket and handed it to me.
“Thank you.” I put it on. “So we’re clear, I am going to kill that agent.”
“You can do that in cold blood?”
“Sure. I’ll pretend to be human.”
Rick sighed.
“My destiny is to save the humans. Do you have any idea how hard it is to fight to save people like Agent Davis?” I put a hand over my rebelling stomach.
He frowned. “Are you okay?”
I nodded even as the pain in my stomach grew stronger. I suspected the use of my power had tasked one of the fail-safes to its limit.
“You fight even for jerks like Davis because life is full of tough choices, Juliet.”
“What choice? I’m only fighting because my sister is a prisoner,” I said.
He shook his head. “I don’t believe you’d sit back and watch the Supernaturals slaughter all the humans even if we didn’t have Maisy. You’d fight for us. Not because it’s your destiny but because that’s who you are. You’re the girl who will do what’s right regardless of how unpopular that choice is.” Rick paused as he stopped at the Jeep. “I don’t agree with my colleague on much. But one thing we do agree on is you were wrong to trust the Supernaturals. They’re on Riley’s side. Not yours.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because you defend the humans and the half-humans. Riley’s father made sure your people would fear and loathe humans and half-humans like your sister.”
I felt like he’d sucked all the air away from me.
Rick nodded. “Yes, I know what the children are. I’m the only one who does. I intercepted the lab reports before they reached Agent Davis’s desk.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Nothing. Go back to the obstacle course.”
My head spinning, I started walking off when Rick called out, “Juliet?”
“Yes?”
“I’m glad you kicked my colleague’s ass. He had it coming. But don’t kill him. Killing a federal agent will put you on the FAD’s Criminal Alien list. All right?” He didn’t keep watching to see if I agreed or not.
My body was on fire. My muscles cramping. Flashes of color exploded behind my eyes and sweat poured from my body. My power raced through me, coasting through my organs. Every bone in my body ached as the force of my power heated up the marrow.
I couldn’t let Agent Davis see me like this. He would use it to his advantage and kill me. I ran toward the barracks, praying, hoping I could reach the back of it, out of sight of the camera while the fail-safe continued to self-destruct. I’d known as I’d used my power to get to Maisy the fail-safe was in trouble. I’d felt the pull in my body. The twinge of warning. But when it came to Maisy’s safety, nothing else mattered.
I made it to the back of the barracks before I fell and the pain became unbearable.
RILEY
Adler rounded up the Supernaturals, and they were waiting for me when I arrived in the woods. I was still troubled by the display of power I’d seen Juliet use. No wonder she’d never acted concerned we were fighting on opposite sides of the war. With that kind of power at her disposable, she was untouchable…unless… I held my hand up to stop the murmuring.
I looked at Adler. “Get back onto the base. I need a box of the pellets the humans dipped with oil from the Void.”
“The pellets don’t affect the humans,” he reminded.
“They’re for use against Juliet. Once we secure those, we make our move.”
A Supernatural ran into the woods. “Sir? It’s Juliet. She’s at the back of her barracks. I think… I think she’s dying.”
A heartless king would have given the Supernatural a cold look. He would have shrugged a shoulder and said he hoped she was dying. The girl who would betray me. One less problem to worry about. If I didn’t have a heart, I could do that. Feel nothing. But I did have one. The color drained from my face, and my palms were clammy.
I’d seen what happened to Juliet before when a fail-safe blew. The pain would increase as the temperature of her body rose. If she had a secondary fail-safe, it might kick in and it might not. It depended on whether or not her power shut it down. It was the most destructive force I’d ever witnessed.
I raced back to the base and slipped through the fence. When I reached the back of the barracks, there were a group of Supernaturals standing around Juliet. Staring. None of them helping her.
She was on her knees, with her arms crossed over her chest, her teeth sunk into her lower lip to keep from crying out against the pain. I had the ability to absorb pain from any Supernatural, but I’d never been able to take it from Juliet. The first time I’d tried to help her, her power had left a painful burned spot on the side of my neck and hadn’t given an inch. It fought me each time I tried to stop it from killing her.
Seeing her agony, her pain, I couldn’t simply watch. “Get the hell out of here,” I snapped at the bystanders, and they scattered.
Pulling her against me, I wrapped my arms around her, concentrating, trying once again to take the pain from her.
Chapter 19
JULIET
My power wasn’t willing to subside without a fight. When a fail-safe weakened, my power saw it as a foreign invader and attacked it, but was unable to dial the temperature back down naturally. In trying to save me, it also tried to kill me. The pain increased in intensity, and I shoved my fist into my mouth to keep from crying out. I didn’t want to alert anyone.
Riley kept concentrating, refusing to give up. My power reacted strongly, heating up my skin, trying to force him away from me by making my skin hot enough to burn him. The skin on his arms reddened, but he kept holding on.
The edges of my vision tunneled. An iron grip fastened around my lungs, refusing to allow them to expand. This time, surely, my power would kill me.
“Let go before it kills you,” I said, feebly trying to push Riley away. He was strong but not strong enough to absorb my power.
He put his hand between our bodies and shoved the shirt of my uniform up. Pressing his hand against my side where Henry had installed the fail-safes, he used a short burst of his power, burning through my skin. He made a direct hit on the weakened fail-safe, destroying it.
My power abated like a full sink of water slowly draining away. I rolled over onto my side, drawing my knees up against my body, and cried.
Riley examined the burned areas on his arms.
“You saved me.”
He stopped his examination. His throat worked. “Because despite everything I know, I still love you.”
“And I love you,” I said.
He scooted closer and smoothed my sweat-dampened hair away from my face. “Then why?” Not understanding. Wanting to hope, to trust, to believe, and I couldn’t give it to him.
I cried harder and shook my head. If not for that stupid curse, I could tell him everything.
* * * *
Half an hour later, feeling like I’d been dragged along a highway for miles, I was back at the climbing wall. The mood was subdued. Nixie greeted me with tear-filled eyes. “I heard what happened to Maisy and with you. Are you okay?”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
Adler hovered near the wall as I walked up to him. His usual cocky confidence was missing. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he said, “I’ve never had a mission go wrong before. I don’t know how they found out where we’d hidden the children.”
“Did you double cross me?” I asked, putting a hand against the wall for support. Every time a fail-safe
blew, it left me weak.
“What? No!”
“Did you trust someone new?”
He scratched his head, taking a moment to think it over. “No. I feel terrible about what happened. I can contact my father and let him know where Maisy’s being held. He can get into the White House.”
I studied him, wondering if he was truly a traitor. “How well did you know Ide in school?”
He blinked. “Not well. We had a history class together. I always thought he was kind of weird. We never really talked.”
“Huh,” I said.
His eyes narrowed. “What are you accusing me of?”
“Why? Feeling guilty?”
“Power down, Juliet.”
I spun around at the familiar voice. The quick action made my side hurt. Stone.
“Hey.” He hugged me gently and whispered, “Riley left the base for good this time. It’s about to all go down.”
My stomach dropped. I pulled back, not bothering to hide my dismay. I couldn’t try to stop Riley. In my weakened state, fighting wouldn’t be a good idea.
Stone flicked a glance at Adler who was listening intently to our conversation. “Dude, take a hike.”
Adler’s expression darkened, but he walked away.
“I know Riley hasn’t told you what’s going on, because he didn’t want you to worry, but Ide plans to release the Night of Grief. Riley can stop that by bringing him the president. The plan is to act normal until it’s time for the Supernaturals to attack the base. You’ll need to back us up on this.”
“I can’t.” Angry at myself for not being able to think of a way to get Riley to understand tore through me. I was caught between such a rock and a hard place. Wanting to root for Riley’s courage, but being forced to stop him. He didn’t know because of the curse, regardless of what he did or didn’t do, he was powerless to stop the NoG.
He frowned. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
He cleared his throat. “Company.”
Rick joined us, looking lost in thought. He blinked and motioned to the wall. “This time, we have a mannequin behind the wall. You’ll go up as opponents. One will attempt to capture the mannequin, the other has to protect it by eliminating the threat.”
“How do we eliminate the threat?” Nixie asked.
“By any means necessary,” Rick answered. “Line up. Guys in one line, girls in the other.”
When we lined up, Nixie was behind me, and I was side by side with Stone.
“Juliet, I’m getting a bad vibe from you. Please tell me you’re fighting with us, not against.”
I sent him a glance. Since I couldn’t explain, there was nothing to say. Nothing I could say that would erase the helplessness or the guilt I carried.
One he didn’t like. “I’ll get the children out of harm’s way.”
I gripped the rope, wrapping it around my wrist, not answering him.
“Go!” Rick called out, and I started up the wall, gasping when Stone pulled on my rope, swinging me away from the wall. There was no way I was going to let go of the rope, but I was still too weak to fight Stone.
His jaw was set, his eyes narrowed. Determined to win. I tried to stop him by grabbing his rope.
“Dammit, Juliet. This is bigger than you or me.” With that, he pulled me into him, wrapping me up in the rope to trap my arms.
He shielded his hands from the crowd below and hit the center of my rope dead-on with a blast of his power, severing the rope in two. I let out a squeak of surprise when I started falling, waiting for the hard slam of the dirt to hit me. Stone didn’t let go of the rope. He held on, slowly lowering it until I was only a few inches from the ground before he released it.
I landed on my back, embarrassment burning my face, and quickly untangled myself from the rope. Rick looked disappointed. Except for Nixie, the other Supernaturals looked smug.
In the seconds it took me to untangle myself and stand, Stone was over the wall and walking out from behind it with the mannequin. He tossed it at Rick’s feet. “Your beloved leader.”
I flew toward Stone. “What’s wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong with you? You’re forgetting where you belong. You’re supposed to fight with us. Not against. Whatever issues you’ve got going on with Riley, you need to get over them.” Stone clenched his jaw, and I thought for sure it must ache from the pressure. “There isn’t time to engage in petty squabbles. I have a species to help save.”
“And I don’t? I’m trying to save the Supernaturals too,” I said.
“When I called the 1-800-bullshit hotline, they didn’t back up your story.”
“Whatever.”
“No, not whatever. Tell me what’s going on.” He touched the side of my face, gently pleading as the anger drained from him.
I glanced over his shoulder. Henry. Dressed in a military uniform, the older Supernatural blended right in. As soon as he knew I saw him, he turned around and waited. “I can’t,” I told Stone, and when I was sure I wasn’t being watched, I slipped away.
“Henry,” I said as soon as I reached him. “The humans took Maisy to the White House.”
“I know.” He stood with his legs apart, arms held behind his back in a soldier’s stance. “The time to do what you’re called to do is almost here. Whatever you do, you cannot let your love for Riley overcome your purpose.”
We’d never spoken about the Untolds. “Have you read things about me?” I asked. I let myself feel a kernel of hope. If he knew something, maybe I could find a way to end the curse without killing Riley. I bit my lip and leaned forward.
“I have, but I can’t discuss it. I’m sorry for what you must face, but it’s the only way. Otherwise, the Night of Grief will happen.”
Disappointed, I nodded and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Um…a fail-safe blew.”
He didn’t look surprised. “The amount of power you used against the humans, I don’t doubt that it did. You can’t make that mistake again or you won’t survive your destiny.”
“I know.” I drew in a calming breath. “I guess this is good-bye then?”
He nodded. “I’ll see you at the finish line.”
The finish line. Sounds brave and poetic. For me, the finish line was a horror to overtake all horrors. Each hour that passed drew me closer to it. Kill the boy I loved.
RILEY
I’d given her a chance, and again she hadn’t told me what was going on. I wanted to trust her, but she’d chosen a side I couldn’t be on. Juliet believed she had to fight for the humans because it was her destiny. What if she’d been created to save the humans and destroy the Supernaturals? Was that why she betrayed me? Or was it about her wanting the crown? Could she be that devious? That cold blooded? I thought back to the demonstration of her power I’d seen. She’d kept her full abilities from me. What else had she hidden?
If Juliet continued on the path she was on and unleashed her power against our people, I would have no choice but to declare her a traitor and order her execution.
The thought tore me up. I had to try one last time to get through to her. I might be on a fool’s errand, but I was willing to fight for our love. There had to be something about her I’d missed. Some truth that would show me the girl I loved would never harm me.
Chapter 20
JULIET
I managed to stumble through the rest of the training that day. Rick pushed us through the obstacle course repeatedly, then made us learn weaponry and hand to hand combat. I didn’t think the day would ever end. When the evening finally rolled around, I skipped dinner and hit the shower. Then I crawled into bed, pulling myself into a ball, hoping that sleep would claim me quickly. I didn’t want to dwell on the argument with Stone or what might never be between Riley and me. I closed my eyes, but no matter how hard I willed it, sleep wouldn’t come. The desire to find a way to fix everything and save everyone kept nagging at me, filling me with dread because I knew I couldn’t.
I flop
ped over onto my back. What was the point in trying to sleep?
Finally, I gave up on sleep and climbed out of bed. I tiptoed to Nixie’s bed and shook her shoulder gently.
“What?” she mumbled, lifting her head from her pillow.
“I’m going for a walk.”
“Now?” She rubbed sleep from her eyes.
“Yes, now, while there’s no one watching. Help me get out the window and then cover for me if anyone finds out I’m missing.” The urgency in my tone must have reached through to her because she sat up and blinked, trying to focus.
I slipped my shoes on. I rolled my pillow up and stuck it beneath the blanket to look like a body. Then we silently moved through the rows of bunk beds to the window. I pushed it open and while Nixie held it up, I slid out and dropped to the ground. A light but steady rain was falling, and the cold droplets ran down the sides of my face. I remained in a crouch for a second, scanning the area to make sure no one was around.
Keeping close to the side of the barracks, I made my way around the back, intending to pace back and forth while I thought things through, but when I stepped into the light of the moon, a silhouette shifted. Riley came toward me. Had he figured things out and come to kill me?
The rain coasted down his face, coating his long eyelashes. He blinked them away. He was dressed in the dark clothing royals wore to signify they were at battle. In the moonlight, the gold threads in the crest on his shirt glinted. Thrown across his arm was a long, thick dress coat.
My treacherous heart leaped at the sight of him.
“What do you want?” I whispered.
“To talk. Put this on.”
I slipped my arms into the sleeves, and he draped the coat around me. His fingers brushed my shoulders, then my hair as he lifted it from the collar of the coat. For a brief close-my-eyes-I-miss-him moment, I gave in to his touch. Every nerve in my body craved him. I eased out a breath, wondering if my touch still affected him the same way.
“Come with me.” He held out his hand.
In the past, I would have slipped my hand in his and gone with him without questioning, but that was before the war. Before destiny intervened and dragged us apart. I hesitated.
