Anathema (25 page)

My fingers reach up to brush across the hard expanse of his forearm. The blood feels like it’s humming through my veins in pleasure, an excited electricity prickling through my awareness at his proximity. In the silence of the room, the only sound is our breathing.

Something nudges into my thoughts then. “You’ve been alone, though, haven’t you?”

“My sister—”

“Hasn’t been
here
with you
.
” My gaze leaps up to his. I look around the shadowy computer lab. The school is so dim and lonely at night. The emptiness settles in my chest like an ache. “This is how you’ve lived the last few years. By yourself.”

His lips soften. “You get used to it.”

“But you’re not alone, either. Not if you don’t want to be. I’ll be here, too.”

For a split second, I am so sure he’s going to kiss me. Excitement and nervousness electrify my veins and then the door to the lap pops open, light bursting into the room.

“Hey guys,” Noelle says. She’s stifling a yawn. “It’s almost four. She’d better get downstairs and out of sight.”

Knocking.

At some point while isolated in Alexander’s room, I dropped back into a deep sleep. Now I’m groggy and disoriented. When I sit up, I see that Alexander’s neatly folded his sheets. Noelle’s abandoned hers in a tangled heap. And someone is still knocking on the door.

My gaze flies to the door. Someone is jiggling the handle. My stomach coils into anxious knots. Alexander, Noelle and I agreed on a knock to alert each other to the fact that we wanted in. Noelle is at liberty to wander the school because nobody here would recognize her. Alexander left for class early this morning.

I’m supposed to stay concealed here. No one realizes I’m still in town, much less hiding at my own school

But now someone wants in. They’ll see me. They’ll find out I’m here. They’ll learn Alexander has been living here.

I draw my sheets up around me, holding my breath. There’s a clink. Someone is tinkering with the lock. I find my feet, my heart pounding.

Abruptly the door swings open, and the locksmith straightens up. Behind him is our school principal—and the mayor.

I’m still reeling as I sit in the Principal’s office minutes later. There were a few startled glances at me as I trudged down the hallway, flanked by the mayor and Principal Williams. Now Principal Williams argues with Mayor Alton.

“Well, given the circumstances…”

“Circumstances, nothing. It’s against the law for a student to remain on the premises after school hours. I’d also advise you fire your night watchman. Clearly he’s sleeping on the job.”

The two women face each other across the desk. Mayor Alton came all the way to the school, claiming to have been tipped off about my presence here.

How did Mayor Alton find out I was at the school? How did she know?

I rack my brain. The Wasters were the only ones who knew I came here. Could they have tipped her off? I immediately dismiss the possibility. If I’m driven from the school and caught by Wolfman Savage, then the scenario Liam feared would come true: I could get forced to tell the truth about the massacre. The truth about the Wasters and their firearms. That would lead to problems for them. Liam was planning to kill me just to stop that from happening, so he couldn’t have tipped anyone off. So how did Mayor Alton know where to find me?

The Principal gently smiles at me, and informs me regretfully that I’ll have to clear out as soon as school hours end.

“I’ll be killed,” I tell her. Principal Williams shifts uncomfortably in her seat.

“I should call your parents. They must be wondering where you are.” She reaches for the phone.

“No, don’t!” I say quickly.

My parents will come home tonight to messages telling them I’m at the school. Then I know what happens: they’ll come here and try to help me. They’ll attack hunters themselves and become anathemas before letting these people kill me.

I won’t let that happen to them. Whatever happens to me tonight, it’s not going to destroy their lives, too. They can live if I die. They won’t live if they lose citizenship.

Principal Williams looks torn, but she doesn’t pick up the phone. “Since you’re here, you can feel free to attend class. You can even stay for the school dance tonight.”

“Ah, yes,” Mayor Alton chimes in sweetly. “The proceeds are going to the families affected by the Shelter Valley massacre, aren’t they?”

“The Cordoba Bay Massacre,” I correct her.

They both look at me.

“It took place in Cordoba Bay. Not Shelter Valley.” My gaze flashes up to hers. “I’ll be sure to tell everyone before I die. I saw it happen, after all. I wonder how that will look at the polls when it gets out?”

Mayor Alton’s face hardens. “If you live long enough to spread the word.”

I flinch.

Satisfaction flickers over her face. She knows she scored a hit. “I believe we’re done here. Do enjoy your dance tonight.”

“
Conrad
and I will,” I reply venomously, enjoying the way the thin line of her lips goes thinner.

But it’s a fleeting victory. Mayor Alton has won and she knows it. I can’t even needle her so much about Conrad now that I’m likely to die in a few hours. Worse still, she led them right to the room where Alexander’s been living. He and Noelle will have to clear out at the end of the school day, too.

All three of us are going to be killed.

Amanda is horrified I’m back in school. Almost as horrified as she is about me bringing Alexander and Noelle to our backstage hangout place.

“Will you relax?” Noelle says to her. “The three of us will be dead, come tomorrow, so nobody will know about your place.”

Amanda folds her arms. “That is not funny.”

“It’s the truth,” Noelle says, leaning against the curtains beneath the light switches.

Amanda eyes them distrustfully, creeping closer to me. I just feel sick and tired, my head throbbing dully. “So you didn’t even make it out of town,” she says.

I shake my head. “I’d be dead now if Noelle hadn’t saved me. These, uh, anathemas had other plans for me. They were going to storm my house if I hadn’t come out.”

Amanda blows out a breath. “So what now? You guys just give up? Resign yourselves to death?”

Noelle leers at her. “What did you see outside when you looked five minutes ago, Princess?”

“Hunters.”

“Too many to get through. But the worst part is yet to come.”

Amanda’s eyes narrow. “And why is that?”

Noelle’s lips twist. “Because it’s when they leave that we need to be afraid.” She looks at me. “Remember what I said about the bad ones flying in? You’ll know they’re here when the amateurs clear out.”

I shudder. Amanda just frowns. “That makes no sense. Why would they leave because professional hunters are here?”

Noelle gestures for me to take it from here, so I explain what Noelle told me—about Death’s Disciples being a menace to other hunters as well as anathemas.

Amanda paces restlessly, deep in thought. Suddenly she whirls around, her eyes alight. “Guys! I have a brilliant idea.”

“What?” I ask.

“Oh, you’re all going to love me so much for this one,” Amanda exults. She pulls her cell phone out of her purse. “We film them.”

“Killing us?” Noelle says. “They’ll film that themselves.”

“I don’t expect we’ll be around watching it in five years for the happy memories,” Alexander adds drolly.

“No!” Amanda cries. “If it’s like you said and they kill competing hunters, then we film them
killing another hunter
. Fellow citizens. It’s illegal. Then we blackmail them so they back off.” She raises her eyebrows. “It’s perfect.”

“Except we have to catch them in act of killing another hunter,” Alexander points out. “That’s not something they do every single day, and certainly not in the open where people can see it.”

Amanda ponders that, tapping her hands restlessly on her thigh. I’m glad one of us is full of ideas and feeling hopeful. I feel drained, empty. Noelle’s shoulder is pressed to Alexander’s. She looks deflated, too. For his part, Alexander is watchful, as usual. His blue eyes catch mine. I gaze back, wondering what he’s thinking. My memory flickers back to the computer lab, where I swore he was about to kiss me. For a fleeting second, his eyes dip to my lips like he’s thinking of it, too, and then Amanda speaks.

“Okay, idea two,” she declares. “A setup. Kat, you go out and give them a look at your clothes. Then come back here. I’ll put on your clothes. Oh, and a hat, too, so they can’t see my hair. Then I walk outside. They’ll think I’m you and attack me, but whoops—it’s me, a citizen! They’ve injured me and it’s on camera.” She waves her cell phone again. “Then they get told to back off or I press charges, so voila. They back off.”

Noelle gapes at her. “That is the most idiotic idea I’ve ever heard.”

Alexander hides his smile behind a palm.

“Why?” Amanda demands, propping a hand on her hip.

“Look at you two,” she says, gesturing between us. “You’re six inches taller than her. You have different builds. You look nothing alike. Hunters aren’t that stupid.”

“Plus, they might not just hit you, Mandy,” I point out. “You could get killed. I won’t risk you like that.”

Amanda blows out a breath that flutters her hair. “Am I the only one here with any ideas, then?”

None of us answer. Alexander has his arms folded. His lowered lashes form dark shadows over his cheeks. Stillness grips him as though he’s captured deep in thought.

Footsteps thump on the stage. All four of us tense, but it’s only Conrad who appears. His coppery hair is in disarray, his face pale. “Kat!”

“Conrad,” I say, surprised.

He grins. “We’re seeing each other again.”

There goes my excuse for breaking up with him without outright dumping him. “Yeah, I guess we are.”

Suddenly he’s at my side, his arm around me. I can’t help looking at Alexander, wondering how he’ll react to this. He looks neutral. As always.

“I heard you were back,” Conrad says. “What happened, Kat?”

I shake my head. “Long story.”

“Look,” he says quickly, “I was just outside. A lot of the hunters are clearing out. You should make a break for it now.”

Noelle, Alexander and I look at each other, our eyes wide. We know what that means. It’s not good news.

Amanda realizes it, too. “Wait, does that mean—”

Then it reaches us. We hear it, even back here. Someone has a loudspeaker and it amplifies a hair-raising, bloodcurdling howl, a person imitating a wolf.

It’s a warning. It’s a taunt.

Death’s Disciples have arrived. Along with their leader, Trent ‘the Wolfman’ Savage.

Amanda’s idea of a setup begins to look better and better. As the other guilds clear out, our opportunity to try begins to trickles away. I can’t stand waiting anymore.

“Okay. Now or never. Let’s do Amanda’s plan,” I announce, sweeping to my feet.

Everyone looks at me like I’m insane. My heart is a drumbeat in my chest. But I’m ready. I’m ready now and never will be again.

“Wait, wait,” Amanda says. “My plan has flaws. Like the whole switching outfits thing. That was stupid.”

“But your plan is the only plan we have, right?” I say, my words coming out faster and faster, tumbling over each other through my lips. “Let’s do it. We can just try. Um, though, the clothes thing is kind of dumb, no offense. So how about I just… I just go out there, and the hunters will fight each other over me, and maybe I can get away while they fight each other? Or something? I mean, what do we have to lose?”

“Your life,” Amanda points out.

“I’m dead in a few hours anyway, Mandy!”

Alexander rises to his feet. “Okay.”

I swing my head towards him. I hadn’t expected him to agree.

“I think we need to do the plan. But with a few modifications. First of all,” he points at me, “don’t even think about crossing that fence.”

“How does the plan work if I
don’t
?” I’m desperate to know. Hopeful. I really don’t want to just jump into the midst of the people who want me dead. Or to send Amanda out to them in my clothes.

“You simply go up to them, stay on school property, well out of arm’s reach, and
talk
. Strike a bargain. A loud bargain with the local hunters, whoever’s left. Make sure Death’s Disciples hear you. You offer the other hunters your bounty in exchange for, say, choosing how you die.”

“Great,” I say faintly.

“You won’t follow through on it. The point is to be heard. If Death’s Disciples see the bounty slipping out of their reach, maybe they’ll try to intimidate the locals. And you,” he looks at Amanda, “keep filming. If they resort to anything physical, we’ve got them. That’s our leverage to force them to leave.”

“And if they don’t?” Conrad says, frowning, his arms folded over his broad chest.

Alexander swings around as though he’s just noticed him for the first time. “Then we’re in the exact same situation we are now.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I whisper.

“Even if it works, what about the local hunters?” Conrad’s eyeing Alexander distrustfully, not sure what to make of this anathema taking charge of my survival plan. “They’re still there, man.”

“You said yourself, most are leaving,” Alexander says, raising his slanted black eyebrows. “That means we’ve got far fewer of them to deal with. I’ll face them any day over Death’s Disciples.”

“So
you’ll
face them, then. You’re not just trotting out my girlfriend like a sacrificial lamb to take the heat off you,” Conrad says.

“Of course not,” Alexander says, his blue eyes deathly calm, fixed unblinkingly on Conrad’s.

The calmer he gets, the more agitated Conrad seems to grow. His voice rises. “There’s no ‘of course’ about this to me, buddy. I don’t even know you. Last I heard, you were threatening her in class, and now you’re helping her?” He whirls around to appeal to me, to Amanda. “Why is this guy making the decisions like he’s in charge of something?”

I lay a hand on his bicep. “Conrad…”

“No, Kat. You’ve gotta worry about yourself—”

“Conrad!” I snap, losing patience, my hand dropping from his arm. “Alexander had my back when you were busy making out with Siobhan. I trust him. I know you have a bad history, but you need to trust him now, too. If you don’t…”

He looks at me. “If I don’t, then what?”

“If you don’t, then you can leave,” I say softly but firmly.

He looks stricken like I’ve slapped him. I turn away from him. Amanda is looking carefully back and forth between Alexander and Conrad, her eyes slightly narrowed. Her gaze settles on me like she’s figuring something out. Noelle just wears a strange smile, watching me. For his part, Alexanders spears me with an unreadable look. I wish he showed more emotion so I could figure out if he’s pleased I sided with him, or what he’s feeling. He’s perfectly controlled. He’s always in control.

My gaze sweeps one last time over the people around me. My friends. I have to trust that they’ll have my back. The rest is up to fate.

Resolve fills me. I want this over with before my courage deserts me.

“Let’s do this.”

My legs feel numb and mechanical beneath me like they’re not really attached. It’s right between fourth and fifth period now, so students are flowing through the hallway. Their usual scrutiny is on me. They part for me.

I barely even see Russell through the haze in my brain when he saunters up to me, sneering, and says, “They know you’re in here, in case you were wondering. I made sure to go out and tell them everything. Oh, and tell my psycho ex that I’m not actually
touching
you.”

I ignore him and brush straight past him, heading for the lobby door. Amanda is following behind me. I hear her voice lash out, ordering Russell away. I hear them argue and exchange a volley of hasty threats.

I step out into the overcast day, my gaze reaching beyond the parking lot, to the hunters beyond the fence. Most are already in retreat, like Conrad said. I no longer see the bankers, or the Shelter Valley people in orange. The Puritans are clustered in a corner, praying. The Project Hope people look ready to retreat, too.

They’re all afraid of the newcomers.

Their bikes and trucks are parked across the street. They’re unpacking their gear, their chainsaws, their knives, their body armor. Death’s Disciples are clad in leather and chain mail.

They’ve seen me.

Binoculars flash in the sunlight. Gloved fingers point my way. Raucous shouts rise from them. Fear prickles all over my skin. I look backwards instinctively, and see Amanda behind me with her cell phone, already filming. She nods at me. I look beyond her, and see Alexander just inside the dimness of the lobby. He looks like he wants to come out. It would be a terrible idea, reminding the hunters there are three anathemas here, not just one. To keep him inside, I straighten up and shoot him a confident smile, then turn back around.

Footsteps scuff up behind me as I walk towards the fence.

“You like him,” Amanda accuses me.

“So what if I do?” Heat steals into my cheeks. Even now. “He’s an anathema. I’m an anathema. It’s not like I’m doing something taboo anymore.” And that never should have stopped me before. It shouldn’t have stopped me the first day he walked into this school. I should have smiled at him. I should have said hello. I should have been his friend. I shouldn’t have turned away and held my breath until he walked past me. If I hadn’t feared him for what he was, maybe everything would have been different.

Maybe he wouldn’t have been so alone.

My heart aches in my chest at the thought. I walk faster, hoping to look more confident.

“He’s okay,” Amanda says reluctantly.

“Really?” I look at her, surprised to get her seal of approval after all this time.

She smirks and rolls her eyes. “He’s gorgeous yet I have no attraction to him. That’s always a sign you’re dealing with a genuinely good person.”

I laugh, and shove her. She grins at me, too, and it’s so nice to have this moment right now. Because I can hear what Death’s Disciples are shouting.

“Come a little closer!”

“Get over here, little girl! We want to talk to you.”

“Oh, she’s eager for it.”

A shudder grips me. My eyes lock with Amanda’s dark ones. She’s always been my source of strength, whether I’ve wanted to admit it or not. She’s the person to have by my side right now.

She raises her phone. “Filming.”

I nod.

“And I’m right behind you. No matter what.” Her eyes hold mine.

My smile grows genuine. “I know.”

Then I continue on my solitary path to face Death’s Disciples.