by Jenn Vakey
By the time I reached the building and grabbed the knob on the door, my hands were shaking. Maybe it was irrational. Maybe they were just talking about some camp business. I still couldn’t keep from making sure my movements were as silent as possible.
I eased the door open and looked inside. It looked like a storage building. There were rows and rows of shelves and boxes. What I didn’t see was Rhydian.
Not even taking the time to see what was actually being kept in here, I walked between the shelves to the right and the wall. After a few feet, I was able to hear muffled voices coming from ahead.
This felt wrong. Like I was spying on him. The man I was supposed to trust. Okay, I actually was spying on him. Still.
Wrong or not, I walked with quiet steps down the row until I found what I was looking for. From in between a tall stack of boxes and a shelf filled with blankets and bottles, I could see an open area where Rhydian and Maizie were now standing. She wasn’t touching him anymore, but they were still standing close together. Closer than I felt he should be standing to someone who wanted to be with him. Something he wasn’t supposed to be feeling himself.
“You were the happy thing I would think about when I felt like I couldn’t take it anymore,” she was telling him. “You have no idea how horrible it was there. Part of me felt like I deserved it for what I did to you. I knew if I ever got out of there and made it back to you that I would never be able to do enough to make it up to you. I’m still going to try.”
Rhydian sighed. He looked… sad. Like her words actually hurt him.
“You don’t have to make anything up to me, Maizie,” he said. “We had a fight. You don’t need to blame yourself for that. If anything, it’s my fault you were there so long. It was my job to have your back. I’ve always blamed myself for not being there with you when you needed me. For the Sentry even being able to get to you at all.”
It felt wrong listening to this, but I couldn't make myself either show my presence or walk away. I wanted to trust him. I felt like I should. That there was something going on here that I just wasn’t understanding. Some part of me that I couldn't quite reach that told me he was a good guy. That he would never do anything to hurt me.
But that was the problem. I couldn't remember. The only thing I really knew was what I could see and hear. And that didn't leave me with a good feeling.
"I've really missed you," Maizie said.
Rhydian sighed again, running his hand through his hair. I could tell he was struggling. I could see it written all over his face.
"I've missed you too, Maiz," he said.
Those five words made me feel like my whole world had crumbled around me. It wasn't just that he had said it. It was that he had meant it. He wasn't lying. He had missed her.
I couldn't listen anymore. Turning, I quietly made my exit before it could get any worse. Before he said anything else and made the final strings that were holding me together snap.
I didn't stop to see if anyone was watching me when I stepped out into the yard and made for the tree line. I didn't want to talk to anyone. I didn't want anyone to try to rationalize it to make me feel better. I just needed to be alone.
The first tears started to flow as soon as I crossed through the tree line. I let them. I knew now that one of the only things that had been keeping me from completely falling apart had been the idea that Rhydian would be there for me, no matter what ended up happening.
Now I wasn't so sure. Maybe if Maizie hadn't been here. But what if I was really his second choice? What if the only reason he had been with me at all was because he thought she was gone forever?
Could he have only been trying as hard as he had to help me because he felt bad? I was the broken girl. How would it have looked if he left me to be with someone else?
Maybe it would be easier for everyone if I made the decision for him. His evil cousin had already taken the only thing that would have really tied us together.
Dex.
This was all his fault. He had been part of the reason Maizie had been taken in the first place. He and his father had taken my sister from me. He had set off the bomb that took my child.
He was to blame for all of the pain I felt.
I wanted to make him pay for that. Then maybe I could be free to move on.
I didn't slow as I moved through the trees. I didn't know where I was going. I willed my feet to remember something I couldn't. To point me in the direction I needed to go. I might not remember how to fight, but I had to believe that it was still in there somewhere. Even if it was only a muscle memory. Something similar to the response I had given Gryffin about my hair.
As I walked, I started to think about what I actually knew. At least that wasn't a difficult thing to do. My knowledge was limited to what I had either been told or overheard.
Dex was the current king in Eden. Someone had said it was a city to the west. I stilled for a moment and looked up at the sun. As long as I wasn't completely misunderstanding what information I did have about navigation, I seemed to be going in the right direction. That was something.
Dex and his father assassinated the king. Rhydian's father. Adler had sent me to help him kill Rhydian. They also held Gryffin prisoner in that place. While I hadn’t been told any specifics, I could assume they were the reason Linley was living in hiding.
And as things stood now, at least based on what little I had heard, he was getting rid of anyone in the city who opposed him.
In a nutshell, he was a really bad guy. One that needed to be stopped. In my current state of mind, I had no problem doing just that. Then Gryffin could be king. Rhydian could go back to his life as a prince, with Maizie at his side. I could get on with my life here without having to see them.
I groaned, my pain and anger surging again.
I hated this. It felt like I had been toyed with. It was bad enough that I couldn't remember. Apparently I was seen as so broken that people were walking on eggshells around me. Not just being honest and letting me deal with things.
That would have hurt so much less than finding out the way I had.
I was so caught up in my inner turmoil that I missed the way the air around me changed. The echo of my steps growing louder. The prickle at the back of my neck that told me something wasn’t quite right.
Something was happening that I didn’t understand. My mind reeled, my body wanting to do something. Before I could understand what it was trying to tell me, pain erupted through my skull and everything went black.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
RHYDIAN
I felt off. It was like my skin was crawling, an uneasy feeling eating at me. It had been that way since Maizie cornered me earlier.
I was good at a lot of things. There was a reason that I ran the training sessions. I had become proficient at reading people and knowing what technique was best when teaching them. I could adapt the way I did things to suit each individual.
I could also lead the people here and make the calls others didn't want to. Maybe not as well as Orson could, but I had grown into the role over the years.
People followed me. People trusted me.
One thing I wasn't good at was dealing with someone else's emotions. That was my current problem with trying to figure out what to do about Maizie. I didn't want to lose her again. I just couldn't make her understand that things weren't the way they used to be. Not without hurting her.
She had said she needed to clear the air. I think I had needed it too. There had been a lot that I had kept inside over the years when it came to what happened between us. The guilt I had, knowing that I had been avoiding her in the city and hadn’t been by her side like I should have been. I had been angry, hurt. Because of that, she had been grabbed by the Sentry. I had spent years thinking she had been killed because I didn’t know how to deal with things.
She didn’t outwardly say it, but it was obvious she was still wanting to get back together. She made a point of making sure I knew which room was hers in the dorm.
That if I wanted to get away from my brother, I could always stay there with her. Without actually telling her the truth, I told her again that I couldn’t offer her anything more than friendship. I needed her to understand, to accept it before she learned about Leeya.
Maybe it was finally settling in, because she left pretty quickly after that.
I needed to get out of here for a little bit and clear my mind. To remind myself where my focus needed to be.
There was only one person who could do that for me, and I had the perfect place in mind to take her. I know she wanted to get out on the training field, but I just needed to be with her for a little while without anyone else around.
The dorm hall was empty as I walked down it and stopped in front of Leeya's door. I knocked and waited, but there wasn't an answer. Knowing she could be asleep, I tapped again.
Still nothing.
I reached down and twisted the knob, slowly pushing it open. "Leeya?"
My eyes passed through the room. It was empty.
Turning, I moved to the door across from my sister's and tried again. This time I only had to knock once before it swung open.
The face that greeted me was so much like the one I had been looking for that it took me a moment to remind myself it wasn't. It was something I was still getting used to. At least they didn't have the same hair. Knowing Leeya as well as I did, though, I could easily see the differences between them even with them being identical. Lillith was sweet, but she wasn't my girl.
"What's up, pretty boy?" Lillith asked, resting her hip against the door.
I smirked. "How long is that going to last?"
She shrugged. "Maybe another day, maybe forever. I guess you'll just have to wait to find out."
I let myself smile at that. She might be more timid than her sister, but I still liked her attitude. She would fit in well here.
"Is Leeya with you?" I asked.
Lillith shook her head. "I haven't seen her since this morning," she said. "Have you checked with Dallin?"
Sighing, I shook my head. This was a lot easier when Leeya spent all of her time on the training field. It had never been difficult to find her. "I'll check there next. Thanks."
"No worries."
Paxton said something I couldn't make out as I turned and shut the door. Aarys wouldn't have taken over her watch without telling me now that she knew how serious this was, so that at least left me with only one other place to check.
Like his daughter, because that was what she really was, Dallin had been spending the time he wasn't working on the new houses on the training field. I knew as soon as I walked out of the dorm that was where I would find him. I could easily hear his voice as he gave instructions.
When I rounded the corner, though, I didn't see Leeya anywhere.
Pushing down the pang of worry, I walked out toward where Dallin was training one of the new guys. A Maker, I believed, but I didn't remember his name.
"Dallin," I called.
He stepped back from the man and turned toward me. When his eyes searched briefly behind me, that worry started to grow again. I knew instantly what he was looking for. Or who.
"Have you seen Leeya?" I asked.
My concern must not have been hidden well, because the man tensed in the same way I found myself fighting not to.
"She's supposed to be with Lillith now," he said.
I shook my head. "I just talked to her. She's with Paxton, but she said she hasn't seen her since this morning. When was the last time you saw her?"
He shifted, like he was struggling not to run off and track her down. He worried about her just as much as I did, even if he didn't know how serious the threat against her could be.
"I was with her after breakfast. She left to go join you."
My pulse started hammering in my ears. That meant neither of them had seen her in hours.
"She never found me," I said, voicing my thoughts more than telling him. "Did you see which way she went?"
He nodded, worry filling his expression. "Toward the middle of camp. She said she saw you. I should have walked with her."
"You know Leeya," I said, trying to lessen his guilt. It wasn't his fault. I had chosen not to tell him. I didn't think I had to. He was already worried enough without me adding to it. "She probably just wanted to be alone. I'll find her."
"I'll check the clinic and my house," he said. He turned to the man he had been working with and told him training was done for now, then started walking with me as I turned.
"I've got a few places to look. Meet me back here in ten."
He nodded and we split, both moving quickly.
I checked the places I knew she had already been when wanting some solitude. The clearing, then our house. Nothing. Before meeting Dallin again, I tracked Aarys down at the schoolhouse. As I had suspected, she hadn’t seen her.
By the time I turned the corner and found Dallin waiting, alone, I wasn't able to keep my fear down any longer.
"Come with me," I said, not slowing as I passed him. There was one place I could get answers.
Dallin didn't question me as we crossed the center of camp and walked through the empty meeting hall. Taking out my keys, I paused just long enough to open the door at the back before stepping through.
"What is this?" he asked, taking in what I had come for.
In the middle of the room sat a miniature version of Alkwin. Not just the city. Everything inside the wards.
The base of it had been carved out of wood long ago. It had the main landmarks, like the river and the archway. There were even some of the paths that we used. The ones that had been there since the start of our little community. Everything else had been added and changed over the years as the city grew and reformed.
That wasn't what had grabbed his attention, though. It was the glowing dots that filled the area, moving around with purpose.
"It's our security system," I told him. "Each of these dots is a person within the wards."
"Magic?" he asked, looking over the map.
I nodded. My eyes passed first over the woods surrounding camp. There were usually a few people out there, but I had seen the hunting party come in earlier with their kills.
The woods were empty now. As was the river and the caves that lined the mountain at the back of the wards.
Once I was certain she wasn't just wandering around, I chanted one of the incantations that was included in this spell. It didn't do anything to the actual location monitoring, but it did freeze the movements of the dots for sixty seconds. Just long enough to count them before they jumped to wherever the individual they belonged to currently was.
"Count quickly," I said. "All of them so we can compare the results."
Dallin didn't question me, nor did he delay. It took a little longer than usual with all of the new people, but we were both able to finish before the map was active again.
I just hoped I had counted wrong.
"One hundred forty-one," he said.
I almost asked if he was sure, but it had been the same number I had gotten.
"We have one hundred forty-two people currently in camp," I said. "We're missing one."
"What does that mean?"
I shook my head. "I'm not sure. We need to find Orson. He might have sent a runner out to another camp."
Although now that we knew the Hallers couldn’t be tracked inside the wards, that wasn’t something we really needed to do anymore. I couldn’t bring myself to voice those doubts, though.
Dallin nodded, but he looked about as comforted by the possibility as I felt. There was a deep pit in my stomach that told me what we were going to find out. That no one had left. That Leeya was the missing one.
After ensuring the door was securely locked, Dallin and I walked outside. Thankfully, Orson wasn't hard to find. He was just stepping out of the dining hall with Faida. At our approach, he stopped and tensed himself. He must have been able to tell we were concerned.
"Has anyone left camp?" I ask
ed. "Been sent outside of the wards."
He shook his head, as did Faida. Dallin cursed. Orson looked to him briefly, then met my eye again. "What's going on?"
But he already knew. I could see it in the anger he was trying not to show.
"Leeya hasn't been seen since this morning," I told them. "We checked the security system. There are only one hundred forty-one people accounted for, all within camp."
"You were supposed to be guarding her," he snapped.
