Across The Divide (15 page)

Lexie kept her eyes on the floor, swaying on her crutches.

“You would like that, wouldn’t you, Lexie? To be allowed to see Zoey again?”

“Yes, sir,” she replied. Even I could hear the fear in her voice. Rapava frowned, and his fingers clasped around Lexie.

“Let’s go.”

“No.” My mouth opened, leaping forward along with my body.

Rapava’s eyes darted to me, full of warning.

“It is your decision, Zoey. How much do you want to see her on a regular basis?”

“You can’t keep her from me. She’s my sister.” I could feel my will rising up, big enough to escape the room.

“Actually, she’s not. She is not your blood relation, nor did you ever adopt her. She belongs to the government. You have no claim on her.” He tugged on her arm, and she hobbled after him, out of the room. “Liam will escort you back to your room.”

He stepped out, walking alongside Lexie, a threatening grip on the back of her neck.

Liam stepped up, holding the door with his shoulder. “Come on. I have better things to do than babysit you.” He motioned with his head for me to leave.

Drawing in a deep breath, I followed him. Until we disappeared around the corner, I kept looking over my shoulder, trying to get a last glimpse of Lexie.

“They started the fire. Lightning never struck the neighborhood. They killed Joanna.”
Lexie’s claim swirled round and round in my head. DMG purposely set our house on fire, killing Joanna. Why? To get to Lexie?

I never loved Joanna, but she had been in my life since I was eleven. There was a level of caring somewhere there. I dreamed about moving out and never seeing her face again, but I certainly never wanted her dead. Rapava killed the only parent figure I had even really known, burned the home where Lexie and I grew up together. Rapava took this away and more. The fire he started at our house jumped to the neighbors, burning the whole neighborhood down.

He probably ordered it to be done without even a thought to the lives he could take.

Sacrifice a few to save the masses.

My fear of Rapava only deepened. There really wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do.

We were in greater danger than I thought.

After Liam returned me to my room, I paced and plotted. Sprig was absent. I had no doubt he was probably being tested upon. I needed to act now, to get into the protected room. Whatever was behind those doors was my prize. Either I got the information I needed soon, or we needed to escape.

On both counts, Kate was my only hope.

Hours went by and still Sprig did not return. It didn’t help my nerves, but soon I fell back on the bed with exhaustion.

The endless roundabout thoughts in my head drew my lids closed. I needed a break. Just for a moment…

“Zoey!”
 
A man’s voice bellowed my name so full of fear and agony it sent a chill down my spine
.

Bolting up, my lids popped open, my lungs gasping for air.

The sound of the doorknob twisting jerked my head quickly to the door. Someone was coming in. I fell back down, slamming my eyes shut, pretending to be asleep. My heart pounded from the strange dream, mostly lost to me now, except for the way my name rang in my head. I turned over, keeping my head facing the opposite wall, hoping whoever entered would think I was sleeping and leave me in peace. It was a struggle every moment to keep up my façade—to pretend Rapava wasn’t the devil and my sister’s life didn’t hang from a thin thread. I felt close to breaking.

“Hey! Did you hear me? Get up,” Liam’s deep voice commanded. “Rapava wants you.”

I didn’t move.

“It wasn’t a question. Get up now.” Irritation rolled off his tongue, whipping me in the back.

Silence.

“The thought of touching you disgusts me, but I will pick you up and carry you there.”

I grunted in response. Today I wasn’t in the mood to play the good little soldier. The chance to cause Liam distress would probably be my only perk of the day. But I also couldn’t afford to hurt my progress and lose my visits with Lexie.

I dragged myself up, retying my boots. I swear some days they were the only thing propelling my feet forward. I snuck a glimpse into Sprig’s cage. He was curled in the corner, fast asleep. Blood and wounds dotted along his arms and sides. As I watched his tiny body roll up defensively, I felt like kicking down the doors of this foul place in my rage.

Liam escorted me down the hall and into the elevator. He slid a card into a slot and pushed the last button. I subtly glanced at the card in Liam’s hand before he shoved it into his pocket. It was a red-coded card. We were going to the bottom floor.

The elevator descended, levels below the surface. I gulped, my nerves coming alive and waking me up.

Why would he need me here?

The horrors on this level were enough to haunt me forever. Rapava requesting I come down here? Not good.

We rode the elevator in silence. Liam stayed as far away from me as he could, but still close enough for him to grab me if necessary. After losing Sera, his reactions toward me were more negative, as though “fae” was a disease he could catch.

The doors beeped and opened.

“Move.” Liam kicked at the heels of my boots. I bit my lip so as not to snarl at him. Liam turned us along a familiar long corridor, and we moved to the secure doors at the end of the hall. My breath caught in my throat. 
Was I going in there?
Was I finally going to see the terrors behind the door? Was I ready?

“Here.” Liam’s finger pushed me to a door right before the divide. One I hadn’t noticed the night I was down here. This door also had a key code safeguarding it. Liam tapped a code into a panel at the door. He was fast, but I caught the two last numbers: four and nine.

When the door lock released, he opened it and nodded for me to enter. The room was dimly lit. Dr. Rapava stood waiting for me on the far side of the room. The room reminded me a lot of others I had been in. A room within a room. The outer room was arranged like chemistry class: beakers and test tubes covered the shelves and tables. The inner room’s windows were covered with automatic blinds, keeping me from seeing what was on the inside.

“Thank you, Liam.” Rapava nodded at him, taking a few steps toward me. “You may wait outside. I don’t think this will take long.”

Fear bristled my skin, but I kept my expression blank. Foreboding and anxiety locked my limbs, as though I could never be ready for what was coming.

The door clicked behind me, locking as Liam shut it, leaving me alone with the doctor.

“Don’t worry, Zoey.” Rapava waved me over to him. Neither his voice nor face held any sort of softness, making his words hard to believe. “I merely need your assistance.”

I swallowed back the fear, schooling my face. “How may I help you, sir?”

“Remember when you said you would help in any way you could?”

The thin hold I had on the façade I maintained was about to be challenged by my own words. I kept my mouth closed, waiting for him to continue.

“I need you to assist me with interrogating a fae. Your seer sight and knowledge of their world will be extraordinarily helpful in this matter.” He kept his eyes locked on me. “You
do
want to help your sister, don’t you? Want the best for her?” I could feel the layers of meaning rolling out of his words.

“Yes, of course.” The question was an ultimatum. Of course I wanted to help her, the best for her, but we both knew this was not the real matter here.

“If you help me with this fae, I will not only make your sister’s case my priority, but she will no longer be used in my new drug testing. You can be with her anytime you want.”

My chin jerked up.

“You miss your sister, and I am sure she misses you. If you do everything I ask, prove yourself to me, show yourself as genuine to our cause as you once were, I will be sure Lexie gets the best treatment and is discontinued from any more mind testing.” He let voice trail off. The unsaid “if you do not” threat hung in the room.

The thought of my sister being free filled my eyes with emotion. To be allowed to be with Lexie all the time, to have her back fully, mind and soul, felt like a gift. But DMG’s gifts were not without teeth and claws.

My knuckles curled toward my palms. I wondered if this was how he was raised, by intimidating, bullying, and threatening. It was now the only way he understood to deal with people. To control them by fear.

“Will you aid me?” Rapava slanted his head, his crisp gaze fixed on me.

Why did I feel I was about to be handed the ultimate test? My feelings for fae, no matter how much they had altered and softened, would never compete against my sister. She was everything to me. I would do whatever I needed to protect and save her.

Really, Zoey? Could you kill and torture Sprig?
My mind shot at me. My stomach sank at the thought. There was no way I could hurt him. But what would I do if he were on the other side of the curtain? Or Croygen? 
Please, don’t make it either one of them and I will be okay.

“Yes, sir.” My stomach rolled as the words came out of my mouth.

“Good.” A strange smile stretched Rapava’s mouth and I had a sinking sensation in my stomach. I struggled to swallow, keeping my gaze firmly on him. We stood assessing each other before he gave a quick nod.

“I’ll be turning off the lights. You can go to the window. It will not be able to see you.”

I turned to the glass and moved close. Rapava went to a switch on the wall and flicked it down, plunging the room in darkness. The light bled through the blinds of the inner room and cast shadows all around.

A buzz hummed in my ear, the curtains slowly rose, displaying the figure behind the curtain.

My world dissolved under my feet, tearing breath from my lungs. My heart curled up and shattered into pieces.

Of course.

Ryker.

RYKER

“Promise me.”

“No.” My muscles trembled under my skin, desiring action. I knew what she wanted of me. But I couldn’t. Didn’t she see that?
 
She wanted me promise to kill her before she died of the weakness in her.

“Promise me.”

It was like her voice was charmed, twisting my certainty and determination to dust. Her vivid green eyes held a power over me no one had ever before. Without realizing, I nodded. “I promise.”

As I uttered the words, blood pooled out of her mouth, sliding over her chin. Red liquid dripped from her eyes. Her body went rigid as her black pupils bore into me. A fire surged up behind her, burning shades of scarlet and auburn.

Her lips parted, and streams of black liquid coated her mouth. “Loving you only brings death and devastation.” She sneered and her eyes reflected the flames, appearing cold and inhuman. “Your lover, family, unborn child…me. When will you pay for the suffering you bring to us, Ryker, the Wanderer?”

I jerked awake, my chest pumping frantically up and down. The dream evaporated into a sour lump in my stomach.

Blinking, I glanced around the dank cell keeping me prisoner. It was a room built out of thick stone, deep underground. The single metal door had a small opening at the bottom for food and a slit cut out at the top for viewing their hostage.

I had no idea how much time passed between consciousness and unconsciousness. The first couple of times I woke, the separation between dream and reality was hard to decipher. The goblin poison inflicted from the blades caused a fever so ravaging I had no sense of truth or logic. Over time, the discomfort of frozen stone seeping through my sliced clothes, penetrating deep into the slashes carved in my skin, told me this was real. I trembled, sweat coating my forehead. Metal cuffs dug deep into my wrists. The throbbing could have been eased if I sat up, but I didn’t move, punishing myself. The pain of the knife cuts sliced across my arms, neck, and stomach were nothing compared to the anger and torture billowing inside.

She was gone.

And I did nothing.

My fists clasped into tight balls. The chains rattled, and my muscles convulsed with violent tremors. The goblin poison kept me weak, slowly killing me. I might have welcomed it. I was dying anyway…but something kept me from letting myself give in to the reaper.

A girl and a promise.

Zoey
.

The image of her being dragged away circled my mind like a whirlpool. Around and around, faster and faster till it made me sick. The fever growing in my brain churned the voices and faces into a blurry portrait.

Sprig’s cries flashed in my head—his screams for Zoey, before he was silenced.

“Bhean!” Loud, high-pitched chirps and wails bounced off the buildings of the small village, shredding my eardrums.

“Shut up!” Maxen, one of Vadik’s minions, violently shook Sprig’s small body.

“No!” Sprig cried, his arms stretched out as Zoey’s body went limp. “Bhean!”

I shoved off my knees, barreled forward, my instinct moving me straight to her. Knives slashed across my skin, the toxins working deep into my bloodstream. A roar tore from my throat.

Crimson death.

It was the best way to describe the boiling anger crashing around inside—my desire for the blood I wanted to spill on the cobblestones underneath my feet. The rage tinted my vision as if it couldn’t be held in my gut and chest alone, bubbling into my eyes. It was the sign the monster within wanted out to destroy anything and everything in its path—the part of a Wanderer most didn’t know about. Or didn’t want to.

Many had heard the rumors but not seen a true Wanderer firsthand. I was feared for good reason. I didn’t shift into anything, except a larger, angrier version of myself when provoked. It was enough. My adoptive father spent years teaching me how to calm and control the fury within by doing meditation and Kalaripayattu, an ancient martial art from India. Mind over instincts.

And in one evening it all crumbled to dust.

One girl.

One human girl.

My world, and everything I struggled to tame, were gone.

“Silence him,” Vadik demanded.

Maxen tightened his fingers on Sprig’s throat, crushing his windpipe. A cry strangled from Sprig before his body fell limp.

A thunder of rage pushed me past my own pain, where I felt nothing. I don’t know when the little pain in the ass got under my skin, but my need to protect him, to keep him safe, clawed my throat and pushed me onward.

Another sharp sting stabbed my side, and my gaze darted to the nuisances. The hilt of a goblin blade stuck out from my stomach.

My eyes flashed back to my attacker then over to Cadoc. His arms curled under Zoey’s lifeless body, picking her up.

“Take her away. They are waiting for her,” Vadik ordered, his voice sounding farther away than where he stood. Shaking my head, I try to clear my senses. Cadoc nodded and turned.

“Who’s waiting for her? Where are you taking her?” I tried to demand, but the words came out mangled and garbled.

Vadik motioned to Maxen, glaring at the monkey hanging from his fingers. “Take that thing with her. They wanted it as well.”

No! It was like my feet grew roots in the earth; picking them up was like tugging at knotted rope. I stumbled forward. I felt nothing, but my body was no longer listening to me. I grunted, taking another step toward Zoey and Sprig before my knees crashed to the cobble. The world spun around me, thick bile coated my throat. I reached out, trying to keep myself from completely losing my center of gravity.

Vadik sauntered up, a smug smile twisted on his mouth. “Your mistake was thinking you were smarter than me, that you could outplay me. I know you have the stone on you.” He squatted in front of me, his hand cupping the back of my neck, keeping my head upright. “You will pay for your disobedience.” He withdrew his hand and I fell, landing on my side. My body twitched and jerked uncontrollably as more poison seeped into my blood.

Helpless, I watched Cadoc carry Zoey off, slipping into the shadows. I still felt her. The promise I made would tie me to her till my death. Or hers. My lids lowered, following the images into darkness.

A hand stroked my face, stirring me awake. 
Zoey
. My eyes stayed shut, taking in the pleasure of her touch, the moment of peace before Sprig would be yammering relentlessly to get breakfast. Her fingers traced the side of my face, her nails lightly tracking back into my tight braids. A soft exhale tumbled from my lungs. Her hair tickled my face, provoking me to open my eyes, but they were determined to stay down like heavy curtains.

“I’m here,” she whispered in my ear, her breath hot on my neck. Only one part of my body reacted to her words, the rest of it stayed fixed in place, ignoring my commands to move. Her hand skated down my chest, sliding over my pants, till they found me. Her hand massaged at the fabric, my dick responding. “Is this what you want?”

A moan broke out in reply. Her response was to rub harder. I couldn’t seem to shake the sleepiness keeping me from moving, to touch her. I wanted nothing more. From the day she walked into my life she caused violent emotions to stir in me. From hatred to wanting to fuck her so fiercely we both would drown in my lust. It was a thin line, and I fell over it. She crawled in and was all I craved now, all I wanted. I hated a human had this much control over me.

Soft lips kissed my neck, working up to my chin. Teeth scraped at my bottom lip, and I felt my cock grow harder. Her hand worked beneath my pants, grabbing my shaft.

Everything except my dick was numb, which magnified the sensation. 
Why can’t I wake up?
As good as it felt, I wanted to touch her back, to see her green eyes watching me.

I felt her climb on me, her legs constricting around my hips, but still my lids refused to open. 
What did we drink last night?
No memory of the previous evening flooded back. All there was fuzziness and flashes of images I couldn’t pinpoint.

“I know you want this,” she purred in my ear, rubbing herself into me. “You want me.”

Yes.
It frightened me how much I wanted her. And
nothing
usually scared me.

“Tell me, Ryker.” She kissed me, her fingers gripping my shaft again. “Show me. Fuck me.”

I paused. Zoey could be aggressive and unrelenting, but the words struck me as odd. It wasn’t like her to command or say it. She would simply act.

Lips crushed into mine, demanding me to react.

“Zoey,” I mumbled between breaths. Wanting to forget my doubts and continue to enjoy the moment. But I couldn’t deny something was off, the way her figure fit on mine, the way her lips felt, the taste of her kiss.

“Yes, Ryker. I’m here,” she spoke against my mouth. “Tell me where the stone is. I want to keep it protected.”

Another flicker went off in my head. 
You know where it is,
I thought.

“Tell me again. You know how easily I forget things.”

I hadn’t realized I spoke out loud. Dream and reality fought for dominance in my head.

Another warning went off in my gut. Zoey would never forget where the stone was. She was the furthest thing from forgetful. My forehead creased in confusion. Deep inside a restless energy was building, contradicting my weak body and mind.