Arissa's Fate (Redemption Trilogy) (12 page)

Chapter Twenty-Two

"Who are you? How did you know I was here?” Arissa called out, her voice remaining smooth and quiet. She hadn't moved yet.

“
It doesn't matter, I'm nobody. But I know who you are. You're that little orphan. The one the General saved by giving you a job you didn't deserve.”

“
You think hunting criminals and killing people is a worthy job?”

The voice behind her was completely unfamiliar to Arissa, but the man seemed to know
her basic story. Her mind was whirling, rushing to fit together another piece of the puzzle in her mind. He chuckled, a haunting sound that filled the room.

“
I aspire to killing for the General. There is no greater cause than to be in his ranks.”

Okay, so he's obviously brainwashed
, Arissa thought silently to herself.
That eliminates the general population. This man is definitely military, if not government, or at least he’s associated with someone who is.

“
Turn around,” he ordered in a sly, disturbing tone that sent the chill straight into her bones.

Swallowing hard and ignoring the urge to shiver, Arissa grasped handfuls of her full, billowing cloak, s
weeping it around her as she swiftly turned to face the man. She felt a sudden déjà vu of when she had encountered the Captain in the mountains only days ago.

She found herself staring down the barrel of a gun barrel, held by a man that she immediately hated. Obviously, this was the man who had set her up, possibly even killed the Governor. Arissa had wanted so badly to recognize him, but she didn't.
Of course, that didn't mean that he wasn't an official.

Arissa needed to keep him talking, possibly make him spill a piece of information, unknowingly.
“If you think so highly of the General, I'm surprised you didn't bring him with you. Showing him how you captured the most wanted villain in the territory would up your status with him considerably.”

There was something about his laugh that made Arissa just want to cringe.
“You have no idea what's going on, so don't try to figure it out in that pretty head of yours. The idea...a common thief mingling with the likes of Captain Lovett and the General himself, and a woman no less! Even the Governor, that worthless wimp, forced to cohort with you. The only reason you're here is because you owed the General a debt larger than anyone else. Great men as they shouldn't have to be subject to such ghastly things.”

What debt
...she found herself thinking, stricken with confusion. She didn't allow for it to show on her face. In fact, she never broke eye contact.

He went on.
“I'm not interested in the fame that will come from being the one to hand you over. My goal is so much more than that, worth so much more than what you are. You can hide behind the General's power, even that revolting disguise you wear now, attempting to block your identity. It won't work on me. Or the Lieutenant, for that matter.”

Suddenly intrigued and aware, Arissa's eyes snapped back into focus, glaring into the dark, wicked eyes of this man. Only now was she seeing him clearly.

His skin was dark and
roughened, marred with years of battle wounds and the effects of natural elements. His eyes were devious, nearly black and his wild, untamed hair hung to his shoulders. The clothes were less than military grade, dirty and torn, a mismatched assortment of apparel. In an instant, she was convinced that this man was definitely not military.

But he had mentioned the
Lieutenant. She was right. He had been the one behind the Governor's murder. Perhaps this was the hit man he had hired. But then why was he here waiting for her? How did he know she would be there? Arissa tried to act as casual and disinterested as possible.

She mentioned, nonchalantly,
“You know the Lieutenant?”

“
Wouldn't you just love to know?” he smirked, his eyes darting frantically, as they had from the moment she first saw him.

“
You know, actually, I would! You're going to kill me anyway, so why not tell me? It's not like I'm going anywhere now. If I try to escape, you'll just shoot me, so what's the point?”

He began to pace, circling her like a vulture
targeting its prey. His steps were heavy on the smooth floor, echoing.

“
I find it amusing that you're so convinced that I'm going to kill you. Oh, it would be fun, I'll admit, but that's not what I'm here for.”

His rough hand reached out and touched her cheek, sending a wave of literal disgust through Arissa's stomach. The coarse skin of his hand swept across the length of her jaw, barely skimming
her loose hair.

“
What are you here for? To kill the rest of the Governor's family?”

He had made a full circle by now and he was once again in her line of vision, only much closer. Now she could see closer details in his abused face. There was a wide, twisted scar across his forehead, knotting his eyebrows into a gnarly pattern. His face was pitted from years of sun and probably alcohol abuse. He definitely seemed like the type Arissa had seen so many times around the pubs and taverns
.

“
I'm here for you, but not for the reason you think. I want to kill you, but I won't...yet. No, I believe in playing fair. That's why I'm here to give you a warning.”

Arissa scoffed, immediately.
“A warning? You're joking right? What, waving a gun around in my face isn't enough?”

His eyes grew darker,
wilder and more intense. He lowered the gun so that the end of the barrel rested against the hollow of her throat, pressing hard enough to make her gulp for air.

“
I can't be the one to kill you. Not if I'm to become worthy to the General. I have to follow his orders. And his orders are to get you to him so he can do it himself. The world...his world, will but a much better place without you in it. Filthy little street rat,” he spat, bitterly, shoving the barrel against her suddenly.

Arissa nearly fell off balance, choking on the restriction she still felt in her throat, even after the gun was gone. She coughed and tried to gasp for air while keeping on her
feet.

“
You're even more stupid than I thought. There's no way the General is going to manipulate me like that, he knows it won't work on a whim. He's too desperate.”

“
That's right. However...” the man agreed. He turned his back on her; taking a few, slow steps away. This would have been a terrible move if Arissa wasn't dependent on what he had to say for information. Plus, the light-headedness that had descended into her mind was making it hard to see clearly.

Instead, he brought his gun closer to his face, as if examining it carefully. He slid his hand gently along the barrel, polishing the already glowing weapon.
“Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

At that exact moment, a sh
rill gunshot pierced the air from outside. Startled, Arissa gasped, feeling a sudden burn in her throat as she did, ducking instinctively.

“
Cayl,” she whispered to herself.

The explosive shot had definitely come from the same side she had left Cayl on. Her heart cringed, painfully, and then broke into a ragged gallop. Still gasping for air from the shock, she struggled to form words.

This seemed to amuse the man even more.

“
Ah. That would be the desperate measures now!” He stood, grinning in satisfaction.

Before she realized what she was doing, Arissa threw herself across the short distance that
separated them, colliding hard with the surprised man. It all happened in a matter of a few seconds, but in the time it took Arissa to reach for her knife, bringing it up high enough to swing into the man's chest, was just enough time for him to slam the butt of his pistol into the side of her face with a sickening crunch.

The force threw her backwards and was so painful that Arissa thought she was going to pass out. Her vision was completely clouded with dazzling stars, her eyes ringing dreadfully fr
om the blunt force. Immediately she tasted blood from the deep cut her teeth had made on the inside of her cheek.

Before she could
come fully back to consciousness, she felt a hard boot smash into her ribs, a muffled grunt escaping her bloodied lips. She lay on her side on the wooden floor of the Governor's office and suddenly she heard one boot stomp hard on the floor, directly beside her face.

The man knelt down beside her, stabbing her knife into the floor, less than an inch away from her face. The handle of the dagger vibrated after he let go.

His hand curled strongly against her throat as he spoke through gritted teeth, “Leave before I can't control myself anymore and I do kill you myself. You have ten seconds to be out that door before I start shooting.”

His voice was uneven in her hazy mind, but the words were clear enough. Still wobbly, Arissa instantly began hauling herself to her feet, snatching her knif
e out of the floor board as she rose. The only thing on her mind now was Cayl.

She shouldn't
have left him.

Without even bothering to glance back at the ugly man, she started for the door, trying desperately not to trip over her cloak. Her ribs burned with every jolt and her jaw was throbbing so terrible
that it obscured her vision.

She made sure that she was almost to the nearest hall that she could duck into, out of sight from the office, before she summoned her courage. All in a flash, Arissa wound up her arm and spun back to face the man for only a second, letting the dagger sail
from her hand, flying across the air in a deathly spin. As she was dodging through the adjoining hall, she heard a terrible, pained scream echoing from behind her, followed by gunshots. One hit the wall directly beside her, shattering the wood beneath the wall. There was no time for Arissa to retrace her steps throughout the mansion; she had to get outside as quickly as possible, before she got caught in another trap.

Running as fast as her feet could carry her, Arissa searched for the easiest hallways
, but the one she was on now was long and narrow, and had no doors except for at the very end, which she knew only led into the maids’ quarters. It was amazing what she had retained on her tours of mansion over the years. If he caught up to her while she was trying to find a way out of the hall, she was as good as dead.

However, there was a large bay window positioned directly at the end of the hall, opening up into the light
of outdoors.

The thought sickened her, but it was her
only chance.

Sucking in as deep a breath that she could, Arissa ordered her feet
to run even faster as she barreled toward the glass window panes, nearly six feet wide and twice as high. A few moments before the encounter, she heard a mournful yell from behind her, a man's cry.

Without thinking any further, Arissa launched herself at the window, ducking her face deep into the folds of her cloak as she impacted with the shattering
glass.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Arissa landed on her shoulder with a shocking jar, pieces of shimmering glass still raining down around her. Throwing her cloak up over her face, she hoped it would block most of the falling shards, but she still felt several painful stings in her leg where the glass had torn through her clothing.

Still feeling winded and staggering, she struggled to her feet, running along the edge of the mansion trying to see into the forest where she had left Cayl. There was no more noise behind her, no more gunshots and no sign that anyone else besides
the strange man and several guards were anywhere near the house.

When Arissa arrived at the clump of trees she had left Cayl by, her heart dropped deep into her stomach, her heart twisting in fear.

Cayl was gone.

All she could think about was him being dragged back through the forest, with a possible second bullet wound. She couldn't comprehend all of what had just happened,
wondering if she had been led into a trap or if someone had simply been following them.

Cursing herself for being careless, Arissa quickly began scanning the forest floor around her. Expecting to find a pool or a trail of blood, she saw nothing. But then something else
caught her eye.

The small, black handgun that Landon had sent with them. She had left it with Cayl, but he had
apparently lost it. Arissa scrambled to pick it up, hastily, her fingers twitching and shaking as she fell to her knees beside it. With a trembling grip, she popped open the chamber for the bullets, knowing it had been fully loaded when Landon had given it to them.

Relief flooded her and she closed her eyes for
a moment, exhaling heavily.

There was a round missing. Cayl had been the one to fire the shot, not a soldier. If anyone had been hit, it wasn't him. Now she trembled even more violently with
relief.

But where was he? Something wasn't adding up, but Arissa couldn't seem to gather her mind enough to comprehend what was happening. All she focused on was that Cayl was on
ce again missing.

Thinking back to what the strange man in the Governor's office had said, suddenly, a light dawned on Arissa. She knew where they had taken Cayl this time.

The man had told her that he was to get Arissa back to the General, but they both knew full well they would have to outwit her to make that happen, and they had. Feeling ashamed, Arissa realized that all the while she thought she had been a step
ahead, she was actually exactly in the middle of their plot.

Somehow, they had found out that Arissa knew what had really happened now, at leas
t enough to clear herself. The Lieutenant had killed the Governor to clear the way for his own promotion, and had done it in a way that Arissa would take the fall. The leaders knew Arissa would stop at nothing to prove her innocence, which is why they needed her out of the picture completely.

They had kidnapped Cayl so she would be at her most vulnerable, in hopes of leading her directly into the General's grasp. Not expecting her to be able to outwit the Captain, the ploy at the mansion must have been their backup plan, knowing she would eventually return.

Now the General had her. There was nothing left for her to do except find Cayl. She didn't need to run to conceal herself anymore. He knew that and Arissa knew exactly where
they were.

Whoever had kidnapped Cayl had
taken him to their home in Daer.

The General was all about making a statement. Disarming and executing Arissa in the place she fel
t her most strong, would make a statement even more powerful than he needed to show the public his power. Using their home as a target location was smart, but they hadn't been counting on the fury that she felt now. She would feel the blood of the General on her hands yet.

The two horses remained exactly where they had left them.
Arissa still wore her hood up and the mask over her eyes when she untied both horses, letting one go free. At first, the bay horse didn't know what to do except bob his head frantically. When he realized that he was free, he dug his hooves into the loose soil and bolted away quickly.

After lifting herself into the saddle, Arissa urged the horse into a fast gallop in the opposite direction of where the
first horse had disappeared to.

She thought about the
grand house that she had lived in with Cayl, the same house that she had acquired from the General as one of her prearranged agreements. She hadn't chosen the house herself, but it was exactly what she had needed at the time to feel as if she finally had a home. Most of the houses in the territory were ramshackle, falling apart with broken windows and wide spaces between the boards, letting in the cold air. Landon's house had been one of the better ones for citizens, built by his father before Landon was even born.

However, the houses and manors that the government officials and leaders lived in were overly
extravagant, no expense spared for the best. Their house had been a few steps above what she had chosen herself, but Arissa had guessed the decadent house and beautiful piece of land that had come with it had also been a bit of a bribe on the General's part, to ensure her so-called loyalty to him. It was located only a few miles from the Governor's mansion, just out of sight and sound of the city of Daer.

If the territory had a capitol, it would be Daer. The people who were able to live there weren't the street rats or thieves looking to steal anything that wasn't tied down. The
majority of the population was respectable people, merchants or other tradesmen who earned an honest living. Being the city in which most of the government was based out of, it was necessary that they kept a good example around them, another reason why the reformatories had remained in Vailwood, a good distance away from Daer.

Arissa knew a shortcut through the forest that connected the Governor's property to her and Cayl's, having ridden it many times on Raze for the meetings she had usually looked forward
to with the Governor.

When the edge of her home property came into sight, Arissa felt a painful tug of longing in her throat. The last time she had seen her home was the night she had left in a panic, bringing only Raze and her black, hooded cloak with her. She had taken this exact path to the Governor's as quickly as possible and after that, she had run. Honestly, she thought that her home was something she would never see
again. She was almost worried about how she would react when she saw it again.

There was no sense in trying to make a plan or anything, because she was too outnumbered. There would most likely be an army of militia and artillery waiting for her in the s
hadows somewhere, and the General would be waiting to sink his bullet into her chest.

Arissa had long ago accepted that her life would not be long. Her death was too valuable for the General to pass up. Like she had said to herself before, he loved a good statement.

No, she couldn't worry about herself anymore. She couldn't even worry about her home or her career. The only thing she had to lose right now was her family and she needed to free Cayl if she had to die to make that happen. He needed to survive, no matter what. She owed him that much.

Arissa couldn't resist pulling the horse up to a halt when she finally reached the last, grassy knoll that revealed their estate spread out below. The house that looked nearly the same a
s the Governor's on the outside, but it held more memories and more joy for her than anything else ever had. But now she had to convince herself to let go on those memories.

Her emotions were just as much
her enemy as the General.