Reckoning

by Sonya Weiss

  “Someone who wants to live for the sake of her own children. If you know anything about my family, then you know my youngest son is Maisy’s age. It’s important to me to live to see him grow up. You give me your service and protect me, Juliet. In return, I give you your sister and your life back. I’ll see you soon. Good night.”

  The call ended. There was no doubt in my mind the president’s words were a warning. If I didn’t protect her, she would have no qualms letting my sister die. The thought enraged me. She was as sick and twisted as Ide.

  “You were talking to the president?” Nixie asked.

  I hid the phone again. “Yeah.” I was troubled by more than my conversation with the president. What also bothered me was how Stone knew to give me the number. How did he have access to the president? I shook my head at the doubts trying to suggest Stone was the one I had to watch out for and not Riley.

  RILEY

  I never really grasped why after human couples broke up, they felt the urge to avoid each other. Until now. It was painful changing from two back to one. I’d marked Juliet for death. I’d done what I had to do. She was a traitor. She would kill us all if she had the chance. I wondered if she’d tossed and turned all night last night as I had.

  “Sir? You asked for a report from the castle?”

  I turned to Adler. His hands shook, and he clasped them in front of him. “Ide has shown a demonstration of the Night of Grief exactly four times. Two of those were mixed-blood children, one was a Guard, and the other a human. Our people are afraid.”

  “Tell our people to prepare. We’ll move on my signal.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Chapter 22

  JULIET

  Before the sun rose the next morning, we were roused from sleep and told we had ten minutes to get breakfast. My head hurt from the broken sleep and from the ice cream hangover. I swung my legs off the bed to jump down but had to jerk to the side to keep from landing on Nixie. “What are you doing on the floor?”

  She yawned and stood, then made her way to her locker. “Kalani and I talked for a while, then I fell asleep listening to the radio.” After putting on deodorant, she yanked a clean uniform shirt on, then pushed her hair away from her face. “You ready for today?”

  “Whatever moves me closer to getting to my sister.” I walked to my own locker and pulled out a uniform.

  “Kalani said Agent Davis is giving the psychological training.”

  I stopped. “What?”

  “Rick tried to stop it, but Agent Davis has friends in high places.”

  I dressed quickly, then shut my locker, and went to put on my shoes.

  Kalani came out of the bathroom with her wet hair braided around her head. “Hey. Thanks for last night. Good luck today.”

  “You too.”

  She pushed open the barracks door and walked out.

  I followed behind her, chewing on the end of my fingernail as I walked outside where the other Supernaturals waited. Thankfully, instead of a gray, overcast sky, the day was full of sunshine. The sky was such a bright blue it hurt to look at it and reminded me of lazy summer days spent at the lake with my parents and Maisy. The last time we’d all gone, Maisy had caught a frog and slipped it into Mom’s suitcase, planning to take it home as a pet. I smiled at the memory of Mom shrieking when the frog jumped out at her.

  “Traitor,” the Supernatural girl next to me hissed with a jab from her bony elbow.

  I elbowed her back hard enough to make her stagger into the Supernatural girl on the other side of her.

  The elbow jabber pulled a fork from the pocket of her hoodie and lunged at my neck. I thrust my body to one side and swung my leg out, tangling it with hers. She went down on one knee, and I wrestled the fork from her fingers. Pressing it against her throat, I pushed until the tines pierced her skin. Her lip quivered, though she tried to hide it to save face.

  “Not again,” I said. I threw the fork past her as hard as I could and walked back to my place in line.

  “Glad to see we’re all getting along today.” Agent Davis walked down the line in front of each of us, passing out bottled water and a breakfast bar. “You don’t want to miss breakfast. It’s the most important meal of the day.”

  I didn’t trust him not to poison me, but the wrapper on the bar didn’t appear to have been tampered with. My stomach rumbled, and I took the food from him reluctantly.

  When he’d gone down the line, he said, “It appears I brought too many breakfast bars. Why don’t we find out who’s missing?” Agent Davis snapped his fingers. “Wait a second. Now I remember who it is. Adler and Riley.” He looked at me. “Maybe they died from—”

  “Human contact?” Stone said and the Supernaturals laughed.

  “Funny.” Agent Davis turned his back and waved his hand toward a soldier who handed him a clipboard. “Polish off the food. Your psychological training is up first.”

  “For the crown!” Fork girl threw herself at me.

  I didn’t mean to lose my temper. I never meant to use my power on her. Everything happened fast. One second she launched herself at me. The next, I held my hand up, palm side out, and fired at her. My power hit the center of her chest and blew open a hole the size of a dinner plate. Her body fell and wisps of smoke wafted from her injury. The Supernaturals backed away from the scene, away from me. I could see it in their eyes. Traitor, we’ll get you.

  Breathing hard, I glanced up into the smiling face of Agent Davis. The agent walked up to me and stuck his face close to mine. “I wondered where the monster was hiding.”

  The shocked murmuring started immediately. I caught bits of conversation.

  “Did you see…”

  “Like her father…”

  “Traitor…”

  “You’ll be with me for this training,” Agent Davis said.

  “Alone with you?” I looked around.

  He nodded. “Something tells me I’m not a threat to you.”

  Rick jogged across the base to join us. “Sorry I’m late.” Without asking, he reached for the clipboard and his eyebrows shot up. “You’re going in with Juliet?” He sent me a worried look. “I’m not sure that follows protocol.”

  Agent Davis smiled. “I wrote the protocol for this training, Agent. She goes in with me. I’ve already cleared it with the director of FAD.” He smiled a grin that said he knew he’d won. “Unless you have a problem with that.”

  “One second.” Rick approached me and said loudly, “If you feel threatened, use your power.” He glanced at the other agent.

  His face darkening with anger, Agent Davis strode over until he got in Rick’s face. “I know what you’re doing.”

  “I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.”

  “I’ll bet you don’t. Juliet, with me,” Agent Davis snapped out. He led the way to the door of the building and opened it. “After you.”

  I entered the room he directed me to. There were two chairs in the center, facing each other. I chose the one closest to the door, automatically pushing it back when Agent Davis sat in the opposite one.

  “Why did you create more distance? Don’t you trust me?”

  “If you’re working on your comedy routine, it sucks.”

  For some reason, that made him smile. “You’re strong, Juliet, and more powerful than I think even you realize. But your power is self-limited by love and fear. In a life-threatening situation, you can’t afford to let love or fear keep you from doing what you know must be done.”

  “Why don’t you cut the phony wise-father act and speak your mind,” I said.

  “You’re ballsy, I’ll give you that. All right, I’ll let you have it straight. I suspect you’ve been set up to fail the president. There are humans who want her dead as much as there are Supernaturals who want the same thing. These humans are betting that when it comes down to crunch time, you won’t be able to kill your own kind to save the president. In fact, they’re counting on it.”

  “What?”

&n
bsp; “Oh come on.” He arched an eyebrow. “You’re a bright girl. Out of all the Supernaturals, we choose one with a faulty power system to save the president? Your power burns too hot, and you die, leaving the president vulnerable.”

  “These fail-safes are stronger.”

  “Not as strong as your power.”

  I considered that. “Are you the one who set me up?”

  He shook his head. “No. You want more honesty? I hate breathing the same air as you. I think the only good Tazavorn is a dead one. But strangely enough, you and I want the same goal. To save the life of the president so the world doesn’t erupt in hell if she dies.”

  “Is this where I’m supposed to believe you and me share a hug?”

  He smiled at that. I studied him. He was lying and there was something oddly familiar about him. Had I seen him before? “If you think there really are humans who want the president dead, and you know Supernaturals do, then why are you still planning to let me be the one who guards her?”

  “Because despite your faulty system, you’re stronger than the rest of your people. If anyone can save the president, it’s you.” He rose. “This training is designed to show you how you’ll react in a stressful situation. It allows us to gauge if a Supernatural is prepared or not. Follow me.” He led the way into another room filled with electronics. A giant monitor dwarfed one wall. “This will simulate virtual scenes outside and inside the White House. The enemies will be dressed in red. You have five minutes to save the president.” He turned off the light switch, plunging the room into darkness.

  I picked up the headphones and glasses and slid them on, then picked up the gun-shaped controller. The virtual world I stepped into was one of dark skies. A torrential rain fell, and the rainwater dripped from the bare limbs of the trees. In the distance, I could see the burned out desolation of Cane Creek. Wisps of smoke rose from devastated homes, and the hollowed-out structures sizzled when the rain hit them. I turned around, searching for any sign of movement. I was alone near the White House, carrying one of the human guns loaded with pellets. An ammunition belt was strapped across my chest.

  Leaves crunched behind me and I whirled around, raising the gun and firing. A Supernatural Guard dropped. I crept forward, searching for any sign of the enemy. When I saw a flash of red, I fired. Another Guard hit the ground.

  I continued searching and whirled when a twig snapped. Nixie was there dressed in red. She raised a gun at me. My lip trembling, I fired, telling her how sorry I was as she fell. My hands cramped from clutching the controller. I hated this virtual world. Hated Agent Davis.

  More rustling behind me. When I turned, a handful of Supernaturals aimed their power at me. I fired, hitting the mark with each one, crying as they all died. When the smoke from the gun cleared, Riley and Stone walked toward me. Both wearing red. I cursed the agent loudly as I fired.

  The virtual world moved me into the interior of the White House. I moved carefully through each of the rooms and made my way up the stairs toward the president’s private quarters. A Supernatural wearing a blue uniform jumped out at me. I didn’t fire, and the Supernatural vanished. I moved softly down the hallway and opened a door. The president was there. Then, off to my left, I saw Maisy. A virtual Agent Davis was torturing her, and she was begging me for help.

  I yanked off the glasses and headphones and threw them across the room, blinking as Agent Davis turned the overhead light back on.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  I rushed at him, slamming him against the wall with the force of my body. His head snapped back, hitting the back of the door. My body hummed, my power yearning to end the life of this despicable human. “Wanting me to virtually kill my own sister? You’re sick.”

  “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” He shoved me away from him and yanked out his cell phone as he tried to make a call.

  I snatched the phone from his hand and crushed it. He backhanded me across the face, splitting my lip and causing me to stagger into the monitor. I held my hand up, palm side out, and fired at him as he screamed for help.

  The door flung open and humans swarmed in, guns pointed, screaming at me to get on the floor. I complied because I wanted to stay alive to get to Maisy. One of the humans used a gun to shoot a pellet into the center of my back. I arched and sucked in a breath at the pain.

  After I was handcuffed and jerked upright, Agent Davis said, “When I do something, I have the guts to admit it. I did not insert your sister into the virtual world.” He nodded at the humans. “You’re out of control. Take her to one of the prison sectors.”

  The humans grabbed me roughly, dragging me forcefully down the hallway and out of the building. Outside, they took me to a Jeep and almost threw me into the back. I pushed myself up into a sitting position as they sped off across the base. My cheekbone and lip hurt where the agent had struck me.

  At the prison sector, I was dragged out and taken to a cell at the far end. Though it was sparse and uncomfortable, compared to the Void, it was a luxury accommodation.

  “Get in there.” One of the humans pushed me in and after taking off the handcuffs, left me alone.

  RILEY

  I entered the warehouse with Stone and turned on the lights. He was quieter than usual.

  “We needed her out of the way,” I said. “For her sake and ours.”

  Stone nodded. “She thinks Agent Davis was the one who inserted Maisy into the virtual world.” He looked at me. “She’s never going to forgive me.”

  “Knowing what she’s capable of, would you rather fight her? Would you prefer to use your power against her? What would happen if you killed her without meaning to? Could you live with yourself then?”

  “Could you?” He shot back.

  “Juliet is a traitor to the kingdom,” I said. No. I couldn’t live with myself if I caused Juliet any kind of pain. Knowing what I did about her, I hated that I cared, but I couldn’t turn my feelings on and off like a faucet.

  “Sure you’re not pissed off because the girl you love didn’t choose you over the humans?”

  “This isn’t about love. It’s about saving our people.”

  Stone scratched his head. “Juliet is one of our people.”

  “She knows about the Night of Grief and what Ide will do if we don’t bring him the president. Still, she chose the humans and she betrays me.” I gritted my teeth, fighting the urge to put my fist through a wall. Had I only been a means to her end? I wanted to scream out loud. Wanted to know if she’d ever loved me the way I loved her, but I kept the emotions locked down.

  “Yeah, I can’t figure that one out.” He shook his head and walked to a table where a box of the pellets waited. If anyone would have said Stone and I would someday fight side by side for a common goal, I wouldn’t have believed it.

  “You ordered her execution,” Stone said, still angry over the conversation we’d had on the way to the warehouse.

  I picked up a box holding the guns the pellets fit into. Did he think I’d done it with pleasure? That it hadn’t felt as if I’d sentenced myself to the same death? After I loaded the pellets, I handed it to him.

  “I won’t hurt her,” Stone said.

  “I didn’t ask you to.”

  The warehouse door opened, and dozens of Guards who were loyal to me spilled in. They were silent, tense, ready to fight. Some of them wouldn’t make it through the battle. “You’ll be the first line of defense. Getting through the Supernaturals on the outside of the White House won’t be an issue. Juliet was supposed to guard the president, but she’s in the human prison.”

  One of the Guards said, “We heard about her power when she used it to attack the agent hurting her sister.” He looked at his buddies. “What is she?”

  “She’s the daughter of King Faulk. Her arrival was foretold in the scrolls as the Supernatural of the seven suns destined to save the humans.”

  The Guard swallowed, clearly nervous. “But, sir, if that’s true, then the throne is her
s. If we fight her, destiny itself will rise up to defend her and slay us.”

  Another Guard nodded. “The scrolls are clear we’re not to interfere with destiny.”

  “Ide will release the Night of Grief if we don’t bring him the president.”

  The Guards gasped in unison.

  “Any more questions?” I asked.

  They shook their heads. Many of them had witnessed Ide use the NoG.

  “Everyone gather in the woods outside the base. When we attack, take down the communication center first. Free the Supernaturals and lock up the humans.”

  The Guards turned and marched silently from the warehouse. Stone grabbed my arm. “I need to see her one last time.”

  I knew Stone held on to the desperate belief he could get through to Juliet. I wouldn’t be the one to disillusion him.

  Chapter 23

  JULIET

  No matter how much I contorted my body, I couldn’t reach the pellet lodged in my back. I pressed myself against the wall and tried to scrape it out but to no avail. There were no windows I could break to get glass to try and dig out the pellet.

  I slammed my hand against the prison bars repeatedly and only ended up with my palm aching. Finally, I gave up and rested my head against the metal bars. That’s when I heard footsteps drawing closer. Not the self assured ones of my keepers, but quiet, furtive ones. Someone sneaking in, not wanting to be heard.

  I perked up, hoping I was about to be busted out of here. Stone came into view. I smiled, relief surging through me. “You heard what Agent Davis did?” I turned my back to him. “Hurry up and dig out the pellet. It’s in a little deep so you’ll have to use—”

  “Juliet.”

  The tone of his voice wasn’t right. I faced him, gripping the bars, sensing, but not wanting to hear it. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m not here to set you free. I can’t.”

  I looked around, craning to see down the length of the barracks. “Why?” I lowered my voice. “Is someone listening?”