Morningside Fall (32 page)

Cass felt herself floating. Or rather, it seemed more like she was falling, but upwards. Her eyelids weighed heavily on her eyes, as if the pressure from the speed of her movement was forcing them into the sockets. Memory fragments returned. Her right hand clenched, desperate to cling to Gamble’s knife, the one that had been in her family a long time, the one Cass had sworn she’d return. But her hand was empty. They had grabbed her. Dragged her away. The Weir had taken her. Again.

Her eyes drifted open, blurred. Tongue too big in her mouth. Everything felt too heavy. She was on her back. A hulking figure loomed. It reached for her. Cass tried to withdraw, but her body barely responded.

“Easy, sister,” a deep baritone voice soothed, the grip firm, heavy, but gentle on her arm. “You’re safe.”

She’d heard that voice before. A long moment. Then her mind processed.

“Mouse?” she said. It took more effort than it should have.

“I’m here,” he answered.

Her eyes still hadn’t focused. “I feel heavy.”

“I had to dose you. Probably going to feel groggy for a while.”

She inhaled deeply. It seemed to take a long time. “Why the dose? Am I hurt bad?”

“They carved you up a little, and you took a hard blow to the head. Nothing life threatening.” He chuckled a little. “I had to dose you because you kept trying to fight everybody.”

“Where’s Wren?” Cass asked.

“Sleeping. It’s the middle of the night. He’s perfectly fine. Not a scratch on him.”

“We made it?”

“We did.”

“All of us?”

He paused. “Almost.”

Cass closed her eyes. “Wick?”

“He’s in rough shape, but he’s hanging in there. Had to give him a fresh whole blood transfusion on the trip back. Got a little lucky there. Turned out Lil was a match.”

She opened her eyes again, turned towards Mouse. Her vision was clearing some. She could see his features. He looked tired. “Wick’s alive?”

“He is,” Mouse answered. He clenched his jaw with passing emotion. “We lost Elan.”

“No,” was all Cass could say. Mouse didn’t respond. There wasn’t really any reason for him to. She had prepared herself as best she could, expecting to lose some of their own. But to cost Lil and her wounded community another life… it seemed unconscionable. And Elan. She remembered him talking with Wren back before they’d left the village, talking about his son. What was his name? Ephraim. Now fatherless.

“How?”

Mouse shook his head. “It was a battle, Cass.” But something in his voice, or his expression – or both – said more. The last moments replayed in her mind. The Weir pressing in around her. Hands dragging her backwards, as angels met the advancing creatures. She’d thought she’d been hallucinating. Now Cass knew she hadn’t been. Not completely.

“He died saving me.” It wasn’t a question.

Mouse took a moment, searched for the words, and then just said, “It wasn’t your fault. And if not for you, more would have died.”

“That doesn’t bring Elan back.”

“Neither does feeling guilty.” She just looked at him, saw pain there, but also grim acceptance. “He knew what we were up against, Cass. He wanted to come help. He
volunteered
to come help. I guarantee you, if he’d known for sure how it was going to turn out, he still would’ve come.”

“You sound awfully sure for someone who didn’t know him.”

“I knew him. He was a warrior, same as me. And if you gave me the choice between staying behind while others went to war, or laying down my life to see my brothers and sisters safely home, it wouldn’t even be a choice.”

Cass looked up at the ceiling. It was a bond she’d witnessed before, but had never known herself, not outside of her children. “How’s Lil?”

“Glad so many made it home.”

They fell into silence after that. Cass still had many questions, but they seemed to slip through her mind before she could fully grasp them. And while she chased them, a deep and dreamless sleep overtook her.

W
hen Cass awoke, she knew it was morning from the light streaming in from the high narrow window above her head. She was still on her back, but her mind was sharper, her vision clear. She recognized the room now. The same one she’d been in during their previous stay at the refuge. Wall on her right. And to her left, on the bed across the small room, Wren sat next to Lil. They reacted to her movement; Lil smiled at her, and Wren slid off the bed and timidly approached.

“Hi, Mama,” he said.

“Hey, baby.”

“How are you feeling?” Wren asked.

“Still trying to figure that out. But better, I think.”

“Do you think I could give you a hug?”

“Absolutely.”

Cass held out her arms to him and he came and sat on the edge of her bed. Wren leaned down, gently tested his weight against her. Cass pulled him in tight. He responded by sliding one of his slender arms under her neck and squeezing fiercely, and pressing his face into hers.

“How are you?” she asked. “Are you hurt at all?”

She felt him shake his head against hers.

“I was scared for you,” Wren said. “Mouse said you would be OK, but it didn’t look like it.”

“Mouse was right. I
am
OK. You don’t need to worry.”

He turned his face into the hollow where her neck met her shoulder, and whispered, “I hate it when you’re hurt, Mama.”

“Well, I’m OK now. How long have we been here?” Cass asked.

Wren finally released her neck and sat back up on the bed. “Just the night. We got back a little before the sun went down. You’ve been sleeping.”

Cass decided to test her strength. She pushed herself up, slowly, to a sitting position. She still felt weak and a little dizzy, but she managed. There were bandages wound around her torso and her right biceps, and covering her left shoulder. She worked her left arm, felt a hollow pang deep, so deep it almost felt like it came from
within
her shoulder blade. With her fingertips, she gently probed the side of her head, from her hairline backwards. There was a goose egg just above and slightly behind her ear. The skin didn’t seem to be broken. Small comfort.

She drew her legs up tentatively. A burn stretched through her right thigh and made her breath catch. After a moment, she exhaled slowly and patted Wren on the side. He scooted towards the foot of the bed, giving her room to swivel and swing her legs over the edge. She gingerly moved back so she could lean against the wall, and then straightened her legs out again.

The pain was hard to define. It hurt certainly, but the raw edge was missing. Cass wasn’t sure if that was due to the injection Mouse had given her, or if it was a new way her body processed injury. The bandage around her thigh was discolored, like a bruise beneath the cloth, where the wound had oozed, but not enough to soak through.

Once she settled into position, she held up her arm and motioned for Wren. He slid in next to her and cuddled up.

Lil sat across from Cass, watching them together. The smile was gone, but she had a pleasant expression on her face. There was a heaviness in her eyes, though.

“Mouse told me about Elan,” Cass said. “I can’t even begin to express how sorry I am…”

Lil’s gaze dropped for a moment at the mention of his name. But then she gave a nod and looked back up at Cass. “We will all miss him very dearly.” And something in her voice said more, and Cass knew then that there had been more between them than she had previously guessed. More than friendship. Lovers. Perhaps only in secret, or maybe only in their hearts, separated by some other circumstance.

“His son… did I make him an orphan?” Cass asked.

Lil shook her head. “Ephraim’s mother is here with us.”

“How is she?”

“It’s a difficult time for her. Their relationship had been strained for quite a while, and I’m afraid they didn’t part on the best of terms.”

“And how are you?”

Lil hesitated. But she seemed to soften slightly, and after a moment, an unspoken understanding passed between them. “It’s a difficult time for us all.”

The emotions swelled within Cass, the sorrow, the anger, but most of all the guilt. “Lil, if I could go back–”

Lil raised a hand and shook her head. “Don’t, Cass. We know our enemy; our enemy took his life, not you. The seven of us made our own decisions, and we did so fully expecting that some wouldn’t return. That six of us did, with all of you as well… it’s a triumph beyond what anyone would have imagined. If you must feel sorry, pity Mouse. I think he has taken it the hardest of all.”

She dropped her gaze again, but a little smile crept across her lips. “He is something of a mystery. A valiant warrior, yet even more fierce a healer. ‘A poet in a barbarian’s body’,” Cass said, recalling Swoop’s earlier joke. Half joke.

“He fought relentlessly to save Elan. When it was clear we wouldn’t be able to resuscitate him, we had to physically restrain Mouse.”

“That couldn’t have been easy.”

Lil chuckled. “It was not.”

“But you were able to bring…” Cass almost said
the body
, but stopped herself, “…him home?”

Lil nodded. They sat in silence for a time. Cass ran her fingers through Wren’s hair, kissed the top of his head.

“Can you tell me what happened?” Cass said at last. “It’s all confused in my mind.”

Lil drew a breath and remained quiet a few moments.

“I’m sorry, you don’t have to,” Cass said, but Lil shook her head.

“When we arrived, we spread out just north of the enclave and remained hidden. I came closer than the others, to scout. I confess, I thought you had exaggerated how many Weir were there. If anything, you may have underestimated their numbers.

“After the explosion, the dust and smoke were thick, and I couldn’t see much at first. But we closed ranks as planned, hoping to provide a front against the Weir, for you to retreat behind.”

She paused, her eyes momentarily distant, unfocused. Cass waited patiently.

“You killed a lot of them, Mama,” Wren said. “A
lot
.”

Cass glanced down at Wren and then back up to Lil for confirmation. She nodded.

“I’ve never seen anyone move like that before,” Lil said. “Even now, I can hardly believe that what I remember is true. The explosion had thrown many to the ground, but it killed only a handful. Fifteen, maybe. We estimate you alone killed over forty.”

“It wasn’t
just
me,” Cass said. “Gamble and her team were firing from the building.”

“No,” Lil said, shaking her head. “That was before your team made it to the door.”

Cass thought back to the moments before she first heard gunfire. The ground had been covered with the slain, but she’d thought most of them had come from the explosion.

“The Weir didn’t seem to even notice the others until they were already behind us. We called to you then. But you didn’t hear. The Weir…” Lil trailed off for a moment, searching for the words. She shook her head again. “It was like a human whirlpool.
In
human. That was when we feared for you, and came to get you.”

“I think… I think that was Asher,” Wren said. “He didn’t want you to get away.”

“After I fell, I must’ve already been losing consciousness. I thought I saw…” Cass said; it was her turn to trail off now. She was almost embarrassed to say it. “I don’t know. Something like angels, I guess. And I could swear I heard singing.”

“That was Lil,” Wren said. “She sings.”

“We learned long ago that when one is surrounded by unearthly screams, a human voice can sometimes reduce the terror.”

“No one sings like Lil, though,” Wren added. “It makes you brave.” Lil looked at him with a warm smile.

“Well, that’s reassuring,” said Cass. “Good to know I didn’t hallucinate the
whole
thing.”

“You didn’t dream any of it, Mama,” Wren said. “They were doing their trick.”

Cass looked at Wren, and then back to Lil for an explanation. Lil didn’t seem to understand exactly what Wren was saying either, at first.

But then she said, “There’s something Chapel taught us. He called it broadcasting. We’re not sure what it really does, or why it works, but it seems to make the Weir more hesitant to attack.”

Cass thought back to her last view of the battle, and though her final thoughts had been full of dread, her curiosity nevertheless won out.

“Show me.”

Lil was initially reluctant, but after a moment, she drew herself up on the bed and inhaled deeply. She locked her eyes on Cass’s. At first, there was no change. But after a moment, a faint glow started to gather around her, subtle and shifting, like a thin wisp of electric smoke. Lil closed her eyes briefly. The glow rippled. Where once it had appeared to be drawing from the air around her, it now surged as if emanating from within her. Her skin became as white as lightning, and when she opened her eyes, they burned with white-orange intensity, like coals in the heart of a fire.

She was terrible to look upon. Terrible, beautiful, utterly impossible to withstand. Even knowing that Lil was a friend and would do nothing to harm her, Cass felt her heart quail within her. And yet she felt unable to look away.

In the next instant, the angel of destruction was gone and only Lil remained. Cass realized she was holding her breath. She closed her eyes and exhaled, tried to force the tension out of her body.

“Can you teach me?” Wren asked.

“It was difficult to learn,” Lil said. “But I can try, if it’s OK with your mother.”

Wren looked up at her.

“We’ll see,” she said. And then to Lil, “It was you. It was you that I saw. You came, ran into the swarm and saved me.”

Lil dipped her head forward in acknowledgment, and said, “I was there, with Elan and Mei. Swoop, Finn, and Mouse as well. Together we were able to push the Weir back and scatter them. Then we ran.”

“They didn’t pursue?”

Lil shook her head. “I don’t know why. We thought maybe the daylight made it difficult for them.”

“Asher lost control,” Wren said. “I don’t think he was expecting that.”

“Expecting what?” Cass asked.

“Any of it. For us to attack. Or to have help. I think it was too much for him. This time. I think he’s still learning.”

“I still don’t understand it,” Cass said. “You’re sure it’s Asher?”

“I’m positive.”

“Do you know how he’s doing it?”

Wren looked down at his hands, clasped in his lap. After a few moments, he shook his head. “No, I don’t, Mama. I’m sorry.”

Cass leaned over and kissed him on top of the head again. In her hazy state, she’d almost let herself forget. She wanted to forget. But if it was true, and she had no reason to doubt her son, then Asher was out there, somehow. And that meant that Asher would, one day, come for them.

She thought back to the attack on Morningside’s gate. The destruction of Chapel’s village. Chapel’s village. Had Asher known that they’d sheltered Wren before he first came to Morningside? A sudden chill settled over Cass as the thought crystallized. It was exactly the kind of thing Asher would do. Scorch the earth of any and all who may have had a hand in his undoing. Or something else. Not even revenge. Just to destroy something beloved by his little brother. Pure malice.

It was too much to consider for Cass in that moment. Her thoughts were still scattered, hard to capture. As much as she hated to admit it, she was in no shape to do anything about Asher, or even to think about doing anything.

“You should rest,” Lil said. She got to her feet.

“Didn’t I just do that for sixteen hours or something?” Cass said. But even as she said it, she felt a hint of relief at the suggestion, as if it gave her permission to feel as exhausted as she did.

Lil chuckled. “A drugged sleep is rarely a restful one, and your body needs time. Are you hungry?”

Cass shook her head.

“I’ll check on you in a couple of hours,” Lil said.

“Thanks, Lil.”

Lil bowed slightly and gracefully left the room.

“I think I need to lie down again, baby,” Cass said.

Wren slipped off the bed and stood next to it while Cass gingerly repositioned herself. The mattress hadn’t seemed all that comfortable the first time she’d slept on it, but now it seemed as good as any bed she could remember.

“Can I stay with you?” Wren asked.

“Of course.”

Cass scooted over and started to put her back to the wall, but found there was no way she could lie on her back or left side that didn’t cause her some measure of pain. In the end she moved to the edge of the bed, to lie on her right side, and let Wren slide in between her and the wall. He lay on his back, with her arm under his neck and his head on her pillow. The pressure hurt her biceps a little, but she found the comfort of his weight outweighed the pain, reassuring her that he was here and safe. She laid her other arm over him and nuzzled his soft, warm cheek, and let her eyes fall closed.

Wren lay alongside his mother, listening to her steady breathing. It used to help him relax, to focus on her breathing. Now it just made him feel worse. He had lied to her. He’d never lied to her before. But then, he’d never had need to before.

It had been hard to say it, to actually get the false words to come out of his mouth. But he’d done it, and even though he felt bad, he was still sure it had been the right thing to do. Pretty sure, anyway. He’d told her he didn’t know how Asher had gotten into the Weir. But in truth, he knew exactly how he’d done it.

Asher had found his way into Underdown’s machine.

Wren had spent hours running it through his mind, replaying Asher’s final moments, still vivid in his memory. Even after all this time, he wasn’t certain what he had done. He wasn’t even sure what he’d meant to do. He’d just wanted Asher to stop, and to go away, so he’d told him to. And then. Then it was like Asher had just… dissolved.

And maybe he had, in some way. Because Wren had never sensed Asher again. Until yesterday, on the rooftop.

He’d wondered from time to time what might have happened to Asher, of course. And now, though Wren still didn’t have the exact answer, he felt he had at least some clue. Whatever Wren had done to him, Asher had managed to undo. To reclaim his consciousness. Or reassemble it, maybe. Outside the bounds of usual storage. Unsecured.

Wren guessed Asher had interfaced with the machine plenty of times before. He might in fact have been connected to it in that last moment. And from there, it would’ve been a small thing for someone like Asher. A small thing to infiltrate the minds of the Weir, already slaves to some other purpose, and bend them to his will.

The first time, the only time, Wren had connected to the machine, what he’d seen had reminded him of Asher, but it’d never occurred to him then that Asher might really have been there. Wren wondered now what he could’ve done differently, if only he’d recognized it sooner. The system or systems that Underdown’s machine created, or tapped into, had been overwhelming. Underdown’s machine. His
father’s
machine. His father’s creation had given Asher a place to dwell, to grow in power, and Wren had sent him there. A dark legacy, his to bear, made darker by his own foolishness.

It was his fault. Really and truly. Wren had brought Asher to Morningside. And Wren had released Asher too. And now wherever Wren went, he was sure to attract Asher’s wrath.

He had to fix it. He had to make it right. And that meant Wren had to get back to Morningside to shut the machine down.