Flight (24 page)

Ichton is quiet and dark when we reach it, it must be well after midnight and everyone underground is asleep. Luckily the air isn’t half as cold as the day before, and I make it through the window of the apartment consciously and only slightly chilled. As soon as we land in the warmth of the tower my vision starts to blur, and I can only remember the last time this happened; forced into chains as a needle dug into my skin, tearing part of me away.

Asher turns his back to me and closes the window, his wings retreating into his back, his serpentine scar still fresh, seeping.

“Look at me!” I shout. He turns slowly, and I realize his eyes have turned from their cornflower blue to a menacing black.

“I can’t fight it,” he whispers. I should be afraid, knowing his strength outweighs mine, but I grasp his arm and pull him into me.

“I can’t lose you again,” I whisper. But thinking we were all alone is only one of the many mistakes I’ve made. A steady clapping sounds from behind us, and we whirl around to see Darcy applauding us, a sinister smile on her face.

“Now isn’t that romantic. My dear brother and his Hunter lover saying their last goodbyes, all while his brother sits in chains in his own Palace and the Corporation decides how quickly they can kill the Royal family now that we’re firmly within their grasp. Touching, really, especially the part where the heir to the throne completely abandons his Empire for a piece of flesh. I think that’s my favorite part,” she says.

“Darcy, it isn’t like that,” Asher starts, but she throws up her hand, her silky auburn wings splitting out of her in an instant.

“You were never meant to be our Emperor,” she spits, “and the only way to change that is to kill you, so that’s what I’m here to do.”

“You can’t kill me, Darcy. You know that. You’re not strong enough,” Asher states, and then grunts as he doubles over in pain. I rush to his side, pulling his hair away from his eyes. His body is covered in sweat and his breathing is labored.

“I might not be strong enough to kill you, but I’m smarter than you give me credit for. You won’t leave her side, and that’s all I need,” she says, her smile widening coyly.

“What do you mean by that?” I ask, but she just drops her gaze, takes a book off one of the shelves and lights a match.

“You’ll burn to death because you won’t be able to save her. Then Gabriel can take the throne and be the true Emperor. Goodbye, brother,” she says. Her eyes flash as she sets the book aflame and tosses it to the floor. The old, rotting wood of the room quickly begins to burn as she turns her back to us and locks the door behind her.

“Ash, what do we do?” I ask, frantically searching for anything to put out the increasing flames. He rushes to the window, which explodes just before he reaches it.

“Elder Corp are outside, they’ve got artillery. We’re trapped,” he says. Another blast knocks me to the floor and I’m left helpless as I watch the flames work their way up through the room, knowing that even if I survive this, I won’t remember it. I’ve made it full circle and the only thing spinning through my mind besides Ash is the same thought:

It burns.

I wake up to the steady beeping of my heart on a monitor. The sound drones as my eyes fight their way open. I’ve been drugged heavily, and even the slightest effort to raise my eyelids seems monumental. As I come to I vaguely recognize the stark white walls of the infirmary at the Ichton Corp building, followed by the harsh smell of antibacterial lotion.

“Rupert, she’s awake.”

That sounds like Charlene. I twist myself to see the petite assistant at the foot of my bed, with Rupert standing over me, watching me.

“Can you hear me, Piper?” he asks sternly.

I nod my head slowly, my gaze never leaving his. He strides over to my bedside and perches on a stool. He stinks of old cigar and the faint musk of liquor.

“Can you speak?” he asks.

“Yes,” I reply, my voice hoarse and scratchy.

“And you know where you are?” he continues. In a flash it all comes back. The attack, the Hunters, the fire in the building, fighting off the drug with Asher.

“Is Asher okay?” I ask.

His steady gaze becomes unnerving, and his contemplation leaves my heart pounding wildly. What if something happened? Finally he sighs and shakes his head wistfully.

“Your Harpy is fine, but seems to have also fought off the Nano-machines. Very unfortunate, that,” he whispers. His lips curl in their contempt, and his eyes are cold and calculating.

“What are you going to do to us?” I nearly whimper. To this, Rupert stands and paces about the room while Charlene watches his every move, jotting down any dialogue.

“That is the question, isn’t it? Piper I’ll be honest, the corporation doesn’t want to lose you as an employee. You’re the most promising talent we’ve had in a generation. Unfortunately, you also seem to have a rebellious streak in you, and while we thought the drug would kill that, it seems to have only made it stronger. There aren’t many options left, so I’m prepared to offer you an ultimatum,” he drawls, his hands illustrating his motives as he speaks.

“And what is that?” I inquire.

He stops suddenly at the foot of my bed and gives me a menacing grin. “You will agree to never have contact with Asher again,” he drawls.

I nearly leap out of the bed, tearing IVs out of my veins. “No!” I shout, but Rupert raises a hand as if to stay me.

“You will agree to never have contact with Asher Owen again, if you’d like him kept alive. You see, we have him in custody right now, and can easily inject him with as much hunter blood as it takes to kill him. Hell, I’d even set you up in the same room so you could watch your lover slowly fade to ash. Or, you agree never to see him again, and he lives. What do you say?”

I slump down into the mattress, knowing he’s got me at gunpoint. Having the Prince under Corp control will give Rupert power over everything, and he’ll stop at nothing to get it. The thought of those bastards killing Asher tears my heart into pieces, and I can’t help the tears that spill over my cheeks. Would he not do anything to save me?

“Can I at least see him one more time?” I plead.

Rupert looks at his watch as if he’s pressed for time, then nods to Charlene. “Bring her to his holding chambers in an hour, then we’ll give him back to his people. Again, thank you, Miss Madden, for your time. I look forward to working with you closely in the future,” he sneers at me, then briskly leaves the room, leaving me crumpled over with my sobs.

In exactly one hour Charlene collects me along with a band of tough-looking guards. She smiles serenely as I’m transported across the now desolate Corp building.

“Everyone except classified Corp members has evacuated because of the fire,” she says, as if I give a damn about anything except what’s about to happen to me. My stomach is already wrenching, and I’m about to throw Charlene to the side to run to where Asher is. I ignore Charlene’s small talk until we reach a solid doorway.

“So, this is it. You get ten minutes, and then you’ll be on your way back to Central,” the woman says with a smirk.

“Only ten minutes?” I protest. Charlene just smiles and draws her finger across her jugular. I push past her and through the door, nearly colliding into Ash as he runs toward me.

“I love you,” he whispers over and over in my ear, arms wrapped around me tightly. Tears flow down my cheeks as I grip onto his shirt, wishing I could press my face into his shoulder forever.

“I don’t want to say goodbye,” I sob, my breath hiccuppingin my lungs. He kisses me softly on the cheek, then works his way over to place his soft lips on mine.

“It’s not goodbye. We could never say goodbye,” he says.

I can feel his tears on my cheeks; can taste their salt as the drip onto my lips. But I have nothing more to say. It feels like I could freeze time for a thousand years and it still wouldn’t be enough. How can I leave this room and live without him?

We spend the next nine minutes holding each other and catching each other’s tears, until it’s nearly time to go. Asher cups my face in his hands and raises it to meet his eyes.

“I’m always loving you,” he says, and the way his voice cracks with emotion only makes me cry harder.

“I can’t do this,” I whimper, “I’d rather they kill us both than force you out of my life.”

He eyes me sternly, shaking his head slightly. “Come on now, Red, we both know you’re stronger than that,” he says, and the glimmer of a smirk appears on his face.

Then, the moment comes. Charlene knocks on the door. “Time’s up, Madden,” she calls through. I cling to Ash tightly one last time, kissing his neck, his shirt lapels, his buttons, memorizing every last detail of how he is before me, right now. His hair is messy, as usual, and his eyes gaze never leaves my eyes
.

“This isn’t goodbye,” he says.

“I love you, Sparrow,” I reply.

The guards burst through the door, grabbing my legs as I hold onto Asher for as long as I can. He whispers it in my ear one last time.

“This isn’t goodbye.”

The helicopter blades whir above my head as we circle into the sky. I take a last look at Ichton, the sprawling brick and metal girders, the massive mountains in the distance, and the remains of the apartment smouldering on the ground. More appropriately, the remains of my life as I knew it.

I know, as we soar across snowy tundra and emerald forests, that things will be different. I’ve given up my freedom in order to live, but I haven’t given up the rest of my life. And I haven’t given up on Asher. I can only count on Myra to have a plan to get us out of this, and hopefully move toward something. What this new world will consist of, I don’t know. But I know that I’m going to fight for it.

The house is empty when I get home, and my only companions are the guards stationed permanently outside my house, ensuring I don’t escape. I notice a small white envelope on the table with my name on it. I sit down in the kitchen and open it carefully, my lips curling into a smile as I read.

What’s up, girlfriend? We all miss you tons, and wish you could be here with us. All of Ichton has been shipped off to an underground location closer to Central, but we still have access to Fresh Air Zones whenever we want. Tor’s nearly healed, but he doesn’t remember much of what happened. He thinks he fell out of a third storey window. The doctors say he’s going to be just fine. Grier and Sandy have finally gone public, and make the cutest couple, probably ever. Oh! And I have a new thing. You might know him, his name’s Dodge.
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I hope to be able to see you soon, but if not, I’m always with you. One last thing, the sparrow outside my window sends his undying love, always, always, always.

Love, Shelley.