“Where’s William?” Lucie asked, then, “Goodness, girl. What happened to your eye?”
“The sonsofbitches hit me,” Kris responded. “It doesn’t matter. We’ve got to get out of here right now!”
“Where’s William?” Erin asked. She came out from the back as well.
“He …” Brighten choked. “He sacrificed himself so I could get to Kris.”
“What do you mean, boy?” Lucie asked. “’Sacrificed himself?’ Does Rendal have him?”
Brighten nodded, tears in his eyes.
“Y’all fuckin’ wish Rendal had me,” William’s voice boomed from outside the ragged metal door. “He couldn’t handle me on his best day, with me on my worst.”
The door opened, and William practically fell through. He landed on a knee, grimacing.
Erin rushed across the shanty’s dirt floor, kneeling in front of him.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, my lady.”
“Oh cut the ‘my lady’ crap!” Kris groaned. “And if you’re fine, I’m a pig’s titty.”
Brighten’s vision was still blurry, but he walked over next to Erin, barely able to believe what he was seeing. The big man was burnt in places, his flesh blackened and raw. He was dirty and looked beaten up...but he wasn’t dead.
“How? How did you get away?” Brighten asked.
“Not with his brains, I can tell ya that,” Kris quipped.
“Hush it, girl. You’re worse than fuckin’ Riley.” William slowly pulled himself to his feet, favoring his side as he did.
Erin put one of his massive arms over her shoulder, doing her best to steady him.
“I don’t look great, but neither does Rendal the Dickless,” William bragged.
“Where’s your sword?” Lucie asked.
“That’s why Rendal don’t look so great, I’d imagine,” Verith commented.
“Besides the lady here helpin’ me, Verith’s the only one in this place with an ounce of fuckin’ intelligence.” William sat in a chair, Erin easing him down.
“I’ll get water and a cloth.” She hurried to the back kitchen area.
“I chucked my damned sword at the bastard,” William continued. “Cut his side wide open and then tried to roast him. I think he was able to keep my flames off him, but it gave me a chance to get away.”
“And now you’ve got no sword,” Lucie chastised.
He looked up at her. “Woman, are ya mad? It was either my sword or my life. What did ya expect me to do?”
“Keep both, of course.” Lucie winked at him, barely able to stifle her smile.
“Are any of you numbnuts listening to me?” Kris exclaimed. “We’ve got to get out of here! Now! They know where we are. That fucking...mage knows everything!”
“Okay, okay.” Lucie walked to Kris’s side and put her arm around the girl. “Let’s all calm down for just a minute. I need to understand the lay of the land, and so does Verith.” She looked at William. “You injured Rendal, but he’ll survive?”
William nodded as Erin approached. She gave him a wet cloth and a small cup of water. “Yeah, he’s gonna be okay. It just bought me some runnin’ room.”
“And your sword is really gone?” she asked.
“Ask again, Lucie, and I’ll start using you as a sword,” William responded.
Lucie chuckled and looked at Kris. “You’re sure they know we’re here?”
“One hundred percent sure,” Kris answered. “I bet they’re sending guards right now.”
Lucie turned to Verith. “What do you want to do?”
The head general was a quiet man, and one not prone to exaggeration. He waited for a few moments, thinking about the question. “We’ll need to leave here, obviously. Kids, where else is there for us to go in this city?”
“I ain’t no kid,” Kris shot back.
“Hush.” Brighten finally spoke up. “This is serious.” He looked at the general. “We could go to Connor’s.”
“Hell, no!” Kris shouted. “I’m not goin’ nowhere near him. I don’t care if that mage is standing outside and threatening to blow the whole shack down. I am not going to Connor.”
“Who’s Connor?” William asked.
“He’s an asshole, that’s who.” Kris could barely contain herself.
Brighten smiled. “They have a bit of a rivalry. They both think they’re the best thief on the streets.”
“No. Fuck that. He thinks he’s the best. I know I’m the best. I’ve been up to that damn tower twice now. He ain’t been once.” Kris was irate.
Verith ignored her, looking at Brighten. “What can Connor do for us if we go there?”
“It’s a place to hide out. He’ll let us stay, especially after what happened today. I imagine most of the homeless kids are scared shitless.” Brighten continued, ignoring Kris’s huffing and puffing.
“He’ll take us five in?” Verith asked.
“Only way to find out is to go to him,” Brighten answered.
“How many people live with this little twerp?” William took a sip of water.
“Who knows?” Kris was exasperated. “People fawn over him, and I can’t fuckin’ stand it.”
“Sometimes he’s by himself. Sometimes he has five or so with him. You can never tell. Kids like us aren’t exactly stationary,” Brighten told the group.
William stood up with a groan.
“Does this Connor have any medical supplies?” Lucie was looking at William’s burns. “He’s going to need some.”
“He should. He’s one of the only ‘homeless’ people I know who doesn’t move a whole lot. That’s why a lot of people consider him the best.” Brighten winked at Kris.
“Fuck you,” she responded. “He ain’t the best.”
“Enough, you two twits,” William grumbled. Erin had put his arm around her again, and he looked comfortable with that situation. “The girl twit is right. We gotta get out of here. Rendal could already be coming, and we don’t have nearly enough weapons to stop him—”
“Especially not without your damned sword,” Lucie quipped.
William gritted his teeth and Brighten saw him clench one of his fists.
“Calm down, big man,” Kris joined in. “You might break a hip in your current condition.”
“Father and Mother help me, I’m going to kill ya both before Riley ever gets here.” William was trying to hold back his grin, although everyone in the room could see it.
“Okay.” Verith stepped farther into the room. “She’s right. We need to get out of here, and we’re probably wasting too much time as it is. You two know the way to this Connor?”
“I do, but I ain’t telling no one.” Kris was beyond obstinate.
“I’ll show ya,” Brighten volunteered.
Kris stomped her foot, but there wasn’t anything else she could do.
“Come on, squirt,” William bellowed. “Even hurt, I can still protect ya.”
“Not without that damned sword,” Lucie quipped but made sure she was out of arm’s reach.
Chapter Two
“We’ve got to leave, Worth.” Riley had been with The Chosen for three days now, and she couldn’t take it any longer.
It wasn’t being underground or training in the sweltering heat above.
It was the fact that she was away from William and the rest of the crew. That she wasn’t chasing Rendal and retrieving Mason.
“No.” Worth shook his head. “Not time.”
“What do you mean, it’s not time? I can do a hundred more things now than I could before. I’m ready, and they need my help.”
“Oh?” Worth raised an eyebrow. “How you know? You Psychic?”
“I...” Riley closed her mouth. The answer to that was no. The Chosen called that type of magic “Psychic” and Riley couldn’t do it at all.
Yet…
“I can tell, Worth. They’re not doing well.” Riley had arrived at Worth’s room a few minutes before. Eric was with them in this undergroun
d lair, but she’d left him out of this conversation.
Worth was sitting with his legs crossed, staring at the opposite wall.
He had no wine anywhere around him; it was one of the first times she’d seen him stone cold sober.
He looked at her but didn’t say anything.
“Why you think something wrong?” he asked.
“I don’t know. They just need me. What are you doing, Worth? Why are you sitting here staring at the wall?”
“Worth busy,” he answered. “You need be busy. You need practice.”
Riley shook her head. “No, I need to leave. We need to leave.”
“You ask queen?” His eyebrows raised higher, and a slight grin spread over his lips.
Riley sighed and sat on the bed next to him. “No.”
“Why no?”
“You know damn well why.” She shook her head.
Worth laughed. “I do. Now leave me in peace. Go. Go away.”
Riley couldn’t tell the queen she was leaving, not alone. The woman... Well, the entire group now thought Riley was “the Chosen One.”
She couldn’t walk down the hallways without people showing great reverence. Literally, the two who had been massive pricks when she first arrived, Thomas and Rachel, now treated Riley with the same respect they did Queen Alexandra.
Riley could go tell the queen she was leaving, but the woman would be coming too. Along with the rest of her crew.
“You still here?” Worth questioned. “I say go. You hear, right?”
He tapped the side of her head.
She slapped his hand. “Quit playing around. Tell me what you’re doing in here.”
He shook his head.
“Why the hell not?” Riley asked.
“It make you worry. Ask questions. So many questions.”
“Worth, I’m going to throw you through the wall if you don’t tell me what the hell you’re doing. You’ve got no booze in here. Your lips are a human’s normal color, which is abnormal for you. That means something is not normal.”
The bald man shook his head. “Worth tell you. Not yet. Later. Now go. You give Worth headache.”
She stared at him, not sure what she’d expected to get out of this encounter. She knew what she wanted, but Worth wasn’t going to agree.
He was serious. He thought she needed more time.
As she watched, he turned his head back to the far wall and started staring again.
“Damn it, Worth. You’re more frustrating than William sometimes.”
Riley stood up and left the room.
Alexandra was at the other end of the hall.
“Are you serious? You followed me?” Riley asked good-naturedly. Out of everyone in these tunnels, Alexandra was the only one still treating her somewhat normally. Riley knew the queen still thought of her as the Chosen One, but she wasn’t groveling like the rest.
“It’s time to test you.” The queen grinned, and Riley wasn’t sure she liked the look.
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve been practicing these past few days, but we believe the greatest way to learn is... Well, I believe the saying is ‘trial by fire.’ You ready for some fire?”
Riley’s eyes narrowed.
She didn’t need to be asked twice. Riley fought for Justice and for New Perth, but mostly she fought.
“What do you have in mind?” the Right Hand asked.
“Above. Raiders are coming,” the queen answered.
“How do you know?”
“Time of year. To the east, tent people are moving. They do this every year, and every year the raiders come. It’s cyclical, but every year, each does it regardless of how many die.”
Riley started walking down the hall. “What do the raiders want?”
“The same thing all outlaws want: Money, women, and horses.”
“Will they win?” Riley asked.
“The tent people outnumber them, but they’ll kill a lot, yes. They’ll take a lot.”
Riley looked confused. “Why do the tent people move? Why do they follow the same path every year?”
“I’d imagine it has something to do with food, but you know us now, Riley, We don’t associate with non-believers. The question is, do you want to practice when the practice might mean life or death?”
“Hell yeah, I do.” Riley grinned and patted the hilt of her sword.
“You smell it?” the queen asked.
Riley did—the same smell that she’d encountered before the sand wave and being brought to the Chosen.
“Yeah,” she answered.
The two had traveled two hours east on camelback. Riley knew what camels were, although she’d rarely used them before. The Chosen had a handful of them that were well tended to beneath the ground, and it would have been nearly impossible for them to travel without the beasts.
Now they looked at a long caravan of people. Humans, massive folded tents, camels, other animals. It truly was majestic, and nothing she’d never seen before.
“Do they smell it? The burning?” Riley asked.
Alexandra nodded. “Of course they do.”
“Why don’t they do anything?”
The queen gestured at the expanse around her. “What would you do? What do you see?”
“Where are the raiders?” Riley understood what the queen meant. She saw nothing, only smelled the burning odor on the wind.
“They’re moving closer, waiting for the right time. They want to strike at a weak point where there are more women than men, and preferably where there is loot as well.”
Riley nodded. “But they see us, right? Why aren’t they attacking us?”
“We’re two women standing far from the caravan. There’s no reason for them to worry. At least, that’s what they think,” the queen answered.
“So we wait?” Riley asked.
“Not too much longer, but yes.”
Riley grew quiet and watched. The people of the caravan seemed to take no notice of them, yet the burning smell was constant.
“There,” Alexandra whispered. “See them? The green stones?”
Riley’s eyes immediately found what the queen was talking about. They were small and far in the distance but seemed to be floating in the air.
“When those start showing, the raiders are about to reveal themselves,” the queen instructed.
Sure enough, Riley watched as a group of fifty people shimmered into existence. People in the caravan shrieked and started trying to run away—the women and children, at least. Men up and down the line were turning, gathering their weapons, and rushing toward the attackers.
Riley gasped. “We’re too far away!” The camel she sat on wasn’t going to make it across the distance in time, certainly not before the fighting started.
“You’re too far away without magic, that’s true.” The queen dismounted her camel, landing softly in the sand.
Riley followed suit, her heart starting to beat faster in her chest.
“You can make it there in mere seconds, though, Riley.” Alexandra came around her camel so that the two stood in front of the beasts, and stared at the attackers.
They were striding forward now, weapons bared. Screams rolled across the desert.
“How?” Riley was running out of hope. People were about to die.
“Your sword, of course.”
Riley’s eyes widened as she looked at Alexandra. “It’s not going to lift me into the air and float me there!”
“When Worth gave you that sword, he told you it was magic, right? Or that it would be when you are?”
Riley nodded. “Please hurry. We’re running out of time. They’re going to die.”
“It’s magic in the sense that it will allow you to focus your power. You will be able to do more with it. It’s an extension of you so that when you focus all your will on it, you will amplify what you can do.”
Riley gritted her teeth. “How the hell is that going to get me over there? This is theory. We have secon
ds left.”
“What do you need to do to get over there?” the queen asked. “Before anyone dies?”
“I’d have to fly.”
The queen shrugged. “Then make it so. Pull your sword out and make it so.”
Riley whipped the sword from its sheath and stared at it. She didn’t have time to ask any more questions. Women and children were in trouble.
She stared at it, the green stones reflecting the sunlight.
Focus, Riley thought.
She closed her eyes, thinking of the sword.
I’d have to fly.
Then make it so.
Riley did something she would have never considered before.
Her eyes flashed open and she ran forward, her feet picking up speed and sand flying out behind her. Her focus was iron-strong, and she took her sword and thrust it into the ground while simultaneously leaping into the air.
She rose.
And rose.
And rose.
The wind whipped past her short hair, and she looked down at the caravan stretching for miles in both directions.
She was moving faster than any horse or land animal could.
She was nearly flying.
The descent came quickly, and screams rose into the air to meet her. Riley concentrated on her sword again.
Just before reaching the sand, she tucked and rolled. She brought herself to a stop quickly, whipping around so that she faced the coming raiders.
Their animals squealed as the raiders brought them to a halt.
“Where are you kiddos going?” Riley asked, flashing a grin, her eyes still blazing red.
“What the fuck is she?” the raider in front shouted.
“WHERE DID SHE COME FROM?” someone else yelled.
The caravan was quiet behind her, and Riley could tell they were paying attention. Wondering if she were friend or foe.
“Oh, I just floated down from the heavens,” Riley quipped. “Probably best you all just head the opposite way. Try again next year. Whaddaya say?”
“Fuck this,” someone called from behind. The group of fifty were all here now. “I don’t care if she’s got magic. We’ve got the numbers. Take her, and then we’ll get the rest.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.” Riley caught a quick glimpse around the crowd of Alexandra in the distance. The queen hadn’t moved. She was leaving this completely in Riley’s hands.
Hand of Justice Boxed Set Page 39
