Broken Wings (Cruel and Beautiful World, Book One 1) (4 page)

With those final words, Deryn lifted her blade and slashed it across Soren's throat. He grabbed at the new wound and fell to the floor, struggling to stay conscious as he bled out.

Deryn watched him until he stopped moving, only then looking down at the bloody knife she held. She didn't think she could do it, take someone's life in such a cruel fashion, but she had and she hardly felt sorry about it. Soren was a Guardian. A murderer. She had probably saved dozens of lives by ridding the world of him, including her own.

Someone screamed.

Deryn turned to see Fontaine standing in a doorway. He ran away, dropping the medicine he held.

"No!" shouted Deryn, darting to catch it. But she was too late and the glass shattered. "Dammit!"

There was no time to stress over it. She hurried back to Soren's body, grabbed his right thumb, and pressed it to the back of her collar until it beeped and blinked red. She tore the thing off, for the first time in years feeling like she could breathe again.

Then she searched him. The only thing of any use to her was the guard wristband he wore on his left wrist. With it she could get out of Inner City without being questioned like a citizen. Granted, she would never get past Middle City before a trace was activated on the wristband to find her, but it was better than nothing at all.

She lifted her knife and cut the wristband off of him, cringing at the pink, wounded flesh just below it since guard wristbands were designed to burrow into their skin and bones. It was a good thing he was already dead, because when a guard's wristband was removed it signaled desertion. A horrible infection would take over their bodies, killing them within minutes. Black veins were already moving up his arms.

With the wristband in hand, Deryn ran over to the closet. She was just about to grab her coat when she noticed how tattered it was. She would definitely stand out in a crowd wearing that. So instead she grabbed a simple black one and put it on. She reacted a bit when she realized it smelled like
her
. Soren's wife and the person she hated most in this world. Elvira.

Once the coat was on, she stuck her knife and the confiscated wristband in her pocket. She opened the door and sprinted outside, forgetting all about her wounded ankle and not stopping until she was off of the property.

Pulling the coat's hood over her head, Deryn looked in every direction before walking into the night. She headed for the gate to Middle City, where she would find someplace to get lost in.

The streetlamps lit the way for her like a golden path, giving her hope for the first time in years. It was like they were leading her, guiding her towards what she desired most. To be reunited with her family and friends.

With her father. The man who'd risked everything for her.

With Talon. The brother who'd always looked out for her.

And with Dakota. Her sweet Dakota who'd probably blamed himself for her disappearance. Hopefully, they were all together and still fighting. For her. For everyone. For their future. And, above all else, for their freedom.

Several nights later, Deryn lingered outside of a bar in one of the grimier parts of Middle City, trying to stay with a crowd. She had initially hid under bridges that were built over their filtered water source or in dark alleys when it became late, but then the guards started searching those kinds of places for her, almost catching her nearly half a dozen times.

As Deryn stood there, an intoxicated woman stumbled into her without any sort of apology. She pretended to help her catch her balance, while slyly slipping off her citizen wristband. These ones were not burrowed into people's skin like the guard wristbands, so it was easy to take.

Once she had it hidden in her sleeve, she walked to the small market on the corner and put it on her wrist. Citizen wristbands were connected to their owners' bank accounts, so she was able to use it to buy a little food and some medicine to soothe her insides. The one praise she gave Utopia over the outside world was their medicine, which was much more advanced. No physicians had been in the first wave of people to become Outsiders, and those who considered leaving later were the first to die by the 'toxic air' leaking in from the outside. Her people had to teach themselves and they still hadn't gotten it quite right. Of course, the best medicines in Utopia were not available for purchase in stores.

Deryn swallowed the medicine before eating the small amount of food. She didn't want to use too much of someone else's money. President Saevus had really cracked down on the rules over the years, starting with the wristbands. They tracked everything their owners did and were checked by the guards daily. A large purchase at a market late at night would not go unnoticed, but a small one would most likely be ignored. There was no freedom anymore. For anyone.

She had found two gates to Outer City over the course of the last few of days, but security had been heightened since her escape and she was unable to get through before they were thoroughly checking everyone's information with twice as many guards as usual. No one was told why this was being done, which Deryn could only assume was because the president didn't want her father or the other Resistance members to catch wind of her escape.

So it seemed, for now, Deryn was trapped in Middle City, unsure of what to do next.

With the food down, she waited a few more minutes for the medicine to take effect. As soon as that mild relief set in, she stood back up and walked into the crowd, trying hard not to limp. She made sure to drop the wristband somewhat near its owner's foot. Then she continued to the curb, where she stared blankly at the road. She needed to come up with a plan but her mind was not as sharp anymore. Years of torture could do that to a person.

"My band. Where the hell is my band? Someone's stolen it! Someone stole -"

"Isn't that it right there?"

Deryn looked over her shoulder and saw someone pointing at the ground. The woman she had taken the wristband from looked at it, blinked, and laughed before picking it up. "Oh, thank Saevus! The Guardians would've had my head for sure!"

"We need another round to celebrate!" said a man, walking over and putting his arms around her and her friend who had spotted the wristband. "On me!"

The women both laughed and followed him inside. Deryn turned back to face the road and began to think.

"Did you hear the rumor that some Guardian got his throat slashed open?" a man asked his two acquaintances as they walked up beside her. He took out a pipe that smelled like strawberries, a poor tobacco substitute, and lit it.

"Yeah, I heard some Outsider slave did it. Wouldn't be surprised if we're all watching their execution this weekend," said a man with a large cleft in his chin.

"No, I don't think so," said the man with the pipe, taking a large puff. "Word is they escaped, which is why the whole Middle and Inner Cities are essentially on lockdown."

"How annoying," said a ginger man, rolling his eyes. "I hope they catch the damn slave soon. I hate not being able to just walk over here from Inner without all the damn questioning."

"Speaking of which, where is that damn tram?" asked the man with the cleft chin. "We need to get to the gates before they close 'em for the night."

"Don't think it's supposed to be here for another few minutes." The pipe man took another puff, only now noticing Deryn standing there. He turned to look at her, catching a slight glimpse of her profile. Luckily, this was the less bruised side of her face, so she probably looked fairly normal, albeit a little tired. "Where're you headed?"

"Nowhere." Deryn turned her head so he couldn't get a better look at her.

As she did this, a man walked up on her other side, wearing a black coat with the hood covering his face, much like hers. She moved her head so it was facing forward, reached into her pocket and clutched her knife. Just in case. The new stranger rubbed his eyes, appearing very weary.

"I can fix that," said the man with the pipe, grabbing her wrist.

His hand landed directly on a large bruise. It sent a horrible sting through Deryn's arm. "Ow!" she cried out automatically. She didn't mean to, since he hadn't even grabbed her that hard, but the pain was too strong.

The hooded stranger stopped rubbing his eyes. He stood frozen for a moment before glancing sideways at her.

"Shut your trap! I barely touched you!" shouted the pipe man, releasing her with a push so she flew backwards.

Deryn collided with the stranger in the hood. He caught her before she could hit the ground. The sleeve of his coat rode up and Deryn got a clear view of the wristband burrowing into his left wrist. It had President Saevus's crest on it - a dragon shaped like an 'S' with the words 'In Saevus We Trust' in a half-circle around the top, representing the protective shield around the city. Reserved only for his top Guardians. She tried not to gasp and pulled herself off of him. She needed to get out of there. Now.

Deryn turned to walk away, her hand still on the knife in her pocket, but the man with the pipe grabbed her again. "Where you going, princess?"

He pulled Deryn into him. Before she even had a chance to try and get away, the hooded Guardian grabbed the man's arm and shoved him off of her.

"You dare lay a hand on a lady?"

Deryn's heart stopped. Dear god, she knew that voice. She turned her head slightly and tried to get a better look at the man, but he was still well hidden under his hood.

"What's it to you?" asked the man with the pipe, pulling back his coat and showing the blade he had fastened to his hip.

"You have a permit for that?" The hooded man was quick to pull back his sleeve and show all of them his guard wristband, and Saevus's crest only made it more powerful. The men went white.

"S-sorry, sir," said the pipe man, looking nervous. "I didn't know you were -"

"Who I am shouldn't affect your treatment of others. I believe you owe this woman an apology."

"So sorry, madam."

Deryn said nothing. She turned to walk away again but stopped when she saw two Guardians in their dark-blue trench coats standing outside the bar. Wenton Pace and Gordon Mackey. Both had owned her at one time or another. They seemed to be asking everyone a lot of questions, probably looking for her.
Shit
.

The hooded Guardian followed her eyes. He waved at his comrades and shouted, "I'm off duty! Check their information for me, will you?" He pointed at the trio of men standing frozen beside Deryn.

"Send 'em over!" shouted Wenton.

The hooded Guardian looked back at the men in front of him. "You heard him. Go." He grabbed the blade out of the pipe man's holster. "I'll hold onto this. We both know you don't have a permit. You're lucky it was me and not one of those two who caught you tonight. And you better hope nothing else is wrong with your information. Gordon is an expert at catching counterfeits."

"I-it's all good and clear, sir," said the man with the pipe he had long forgotten about. He and his friends nervously headed over to where the two Guardians were waiting.

Not even ten seconds after they were gone, a large red tram turned onto the road, hovering above the ground and ringing its bell before stopping right in front of Deryn. She was just about to bolt when she noticed Wenton and Gordon were not just scanning the wristbands of those three men, they were scanning the wristbands of everyone.

When she turned back to the tram, the hooded Guardian motioned and waited for her to go first. Her heart was racing. If she ran now then she would surely look suspicious, but what other option did she have? Only one.

Taking a deep breath, Deryn stepped forward and onto the tram, the hooded Guardian following closely behind her.

Upon entrance, the attendant sitting behind a counter stared up at her, waiting impatiently and darting his eyes between Deryn and the scanner she needed to touch her wristband to for payment. Her nonexistent wristband.

"Get moving, lady. I ain't got all night."

Deryn froze. Clearly, this plan was not very well thought out.

"I've got the lady," said the Guardian behind her, reaching his arm past her and scanning his twice. "And give her a chocolate, as well. She's had a rough night."

"You got it, sir," said the attendant, pressing a button so the tram was back in motion and driving itself. He reached under the counter and pulled out a chocolate bar. The Guardian scanned his wristband once more and the chocolate was shoved into Deryn's hand.

She pocketed it and moved into the tram, making sure to grab a map of the area out of brochure holder before heading towards the back. She kept walking from car to car, very aware of the footsteps trailing behind her.

She reached the last car. There weren't very many people but the few she saw were either passed out drunk or possibly fornicating. At least they had the decency to cover themselves with a blanket so she wasn't quite sure. But really she was.

Deryn didn't stop walking until she got to the very back corner of the tram. She sat beside the window and rested her head against it, trying to ignore the sound of the seat across from her creaking as someone put their weight on it.

Keeping her head turned away from him, Deryn opened the map. A small hologram of the tram moved around, so she could see exactly where they were and where they were going.