Reckoning (13 page)

“Kill who?” I mouthed, wondering if he was talking about the humans getting ready to treat me. One of the orderlies gave me a suspicious glare, and I looked away from Henry, directing my attention up to the rectangular florescent lights lining the ceiling. I counted eight of them before the stretcher took a sharp left turn through a set of massive steel doors that slid open, then closed immediately behind us. The room was cold, but no one paid any attention to my shivering.

The anesthesiologist reluctantly consulted with Henry about which medication to give me. After he told the woman, Henry patted my shoulder and said loudly, “You’ll be fine.” Dropping a surgical tool on the floor near my head, he leaned down to pick it up and as he bent over, he whispered, “You have to kill Riley to save us.”

* * * *

When I woke up, it was morning and my leg was no longer throbbing with pain. The area where the crocogon had attacked me was swathed in thick, white bandages. The muscles were weak but not having a decent meal in days could contribute to that. The room I was in reeked of dampness and cleaning solution. Everything in it was white. The lack of color hurt my eyes. I closed them again, only to bolt upright in the bed when I remembered Henry’s words. Henry was Riley’s friend, almost like a father figure. He must know what I had to do, and that made it more real. I lowered my head to my hands, mentally begging for a way out of the nightmare. My shoulders shook with repressed sobs. “Please,” I begged out loud, to who I didn’t know. “Please, I don’t want to have to do this to Riley.”

What am I doing? This wasn’t the time to sit and cry. I needed a way out. I wiped a hand down my face. Henry would have answers.

A cord leading to a nurse’s call button hung over one side of the bed railing. I pressed it and after a second, the door opened and a nurse wearing a military uniform entered. A soldier walked in beside her, his hand resting on the butt of the gun on his hip. Both of them stared at me without smiling, without blinking.

“I want to see my doctor,” I said.

The two shared a glance. “We’re not authorized to bring you any visitors.” The nurse didn’t look as if she cared one way or the other.

I patted the bandaged area. “My leg hurts,” I lied. “Henry needs to check it.”

Another shared glance. Then the nurse told the soldier to watch me, and she left. I studied the man. He was older than the ones I’d seen outside the hospital, maybe in his early fifties. He had cropped gray hair and dark blue eyes. His face was weathered, and he had a tough vibe, ready to spring into action if he needed to. From the expression on his face, he definitely wouldn’t mind if that action meant hurting me.

The door swung open again, and a man I’d never seen before entered. His brown hair was cut unflatteringly short, making his ears look like cup handles on the side of his head. He wore a black suit, carried a briefcase, and had the coldest eyes I’d ever seen. Taking a chair from against the wall, he twisted it around, and straddled it, regarding me with the expression of an animal about to strike. “I’m Agent Davis, with the FBI’s Friendly Alien Division or FAD as you people call us. Rick Simon is my partner.” When I didn’t return the greeting, he went on. “The anesthesia wore off faster than it normally does.”

“Is that right?”

He gestured toward me. “What is it you want?”

I was starving. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten a meal, but I wanted answers more than I wanted food right now, and I didn’t think I’d get those answers from this guy. “My leg hurts. I need Henry.”

His eyebrows rose when he glanced at my leg. “It hurts?” There was only a trace of disbelief in his voice, but I caught it.

I gave him a sweet smile. “The anesthesia is wearing off too soon, I guess.”

The disbelief became annoyance. “You and I both know this isn’t about your leg. Why don’t we have a little chat and lay all the cards on the table.”

I crossed my arms and leaned back against the thin hospital pillow.

My action irritated him further, and the intensity of his gaze was a little unnerving. I couldn’t shake the sense that though I’d never met this guy, I knew him, and that scared me. I’d ignored my sixth sense with Ide, and that hadn’t turned out well.

The agent lifted the briefcase, snapped open the locks, and pulled out a file with my name on it. “Juliet Sawyer. Parents deceased. Aunt, uncle, and cousin deceased. Remaining relative, one younger sister who is currently a prisoner on the base.” He clicked his tongue. “Being related to you is dangerous.”

Wait
.
They have Maisy?
“Y-you have my sister?”

“Yes.”

I could have done cartwheels. Maisy was right here on base. I could get to her.

He flipped to another page while I mentally celebrated. “I understand your father worked closely with Rick in an attempt to betray the Supernatural leaders?” He glanced at me.

I clenched my hands at the word betrayed and waited for him to continue.

“Your leaders found out about your father’s treason and rightfully killed him, yes?”

“My father was not a traitor,” I burst out, then mentally kicked myself for letting the agent goad me.

“You’ve lived under the cloud of your father’s actions since he led that failed rebellion attempt.”

I remained silent so I wouldn’t lose my temper.

“I can see your anger and your attempt to stay in control. It’s an illusion, you know. Being in control.” He smiled. “Everyone has a breaking point. The place within them where they cross a line and become what they think they’re not, what they hate.” His voice carried a ring of triumph. He slipped the file back into the briefcase and snapped it shut. I turned my head away from the smugness on his face.

He took my chin in his hand, forcing me to look at him. His grip was bruising. “Your breaking point is Maisy. That’s why you’re going to help us. You’re going to kill the Supernaturals fighting against us.”

I jerked my head away from his hand. Was he crazy? I wasn’t going to kill my people, and I would set him straight on that point. “I will not kill my people.”

“You can choose to do what you’re told and Maisy lives. Refuse and she dies.”

I couldn’t have heard him correctly. The FBI wouldn’t give FAD the power to hurt children. “My destiny is to save the humans, and I’ll try my best to do that, but I won’t use my power to kill my people.”

“If you don’t, I promise your sister’s death won’t be an easy one for her.”

Rage took over and I lashed out at him, trying to hit him in the face. “Don’t you threaten my sister.”

Because I was weak, the agent didn’t have any problem pinning my arms to my sides. He gave me a shake that made the side where Henry cut me to implant the fail-safes hurt.

“I’ll do whatever I have to do. They’re winning the war, and you’re our only hope against extinction.”

There was more going on with this man, but I couldn’t understand what. I needed time to plan, to think about how to get Maisy and escape with her.

“I can guess what’s going on in your head,” Agent Davis said. “We had Henry put a tracker in your sister. Take her off base and we’ll still be able to find her.” He pulled out a cell phone. “Refuse to fight your people for us and she’s dead right now.”

“Please. I don’t want to kill my people.”

He started dialing.

“No!” I held up a hand. “Wait. I can’t think.”

He punched in another digit. “Picture her face the second she realizes you didn’t come for her. The second she knows she’s going to die. All alone when her sister could have—”

“Stop!” I sobbed. “Please, don’t hurt my sister. I’ll do whatever you want.”

He stopped dialing and smiled.

I bowed my head. In that instant, I had never felt so powerless.

RILEY

I caught up with the Guards before they tossed Sada’s body into the Void. I couldn’t do much after the fact, but at least I could give this girl dignity in death. “Did Ide tell you to throw the queen’s body into the Void?”

The Guards looked at one another. “Queen?”

“She wed Ide. What does that make her?”

The light went on. “The queen,” one of them said in awe.

“Bury her outside in the flower garden.”

“Yes, sir.” They bowed and lumbered out of sight with the body. I wished I could have saved her.

Mallen approached, his expression somber. “There was nothing you could have done. He would have killed you and found another way to get to the president.”

What he said was true, but it didn’t make watching the helpless die any easier. “Let’s go.”

He fell into step beside me. “Our superiority has given us the upper hand in the war, but the humans have shown themselves surprisingly resilient. They’ve doubled the protection around the president, and they’re not afraid to kill those who’ve tried to breach their defenses. More than thirty Supernaturals have died without being able to get within a mile of the White House. I fear, sir, Ide may have sent you on a fool’s errand.”

“I have no intention of approaching the White House from beyond the perimeters.”

We walked outside to the massive garage where the cars were stored. My ’67 GT500 Shelby Mustang was parked where I’d last left it. A thin coating of dust covered the white racing stripes on the hood and roof. I hadn’t driven it since the last time Juliet had—I shut down that avenue of thinking. I went to the key box on the wall and took out the keys for the limited edition ST50 Venom, the fastest car the humans had created. It was powered by energy harnessed from lightning.

The red beast sprang to life when I entered the code in on the panel beside the steering wheel. As I backed it from the space, Mallen said, “What are you going to do?”

I shifted the gears and the car responded instantly, picking up speed to put distance between the castle and us. “I’m going to infiltrate the human base as a prisoner. Being on the inside will give me access to their maneuvers.” Plus, it would place me near Juliet, which is where I wanted to be. The memory of her assailed me. Her smiling face. Soft skin. Enticing lips. The fire of her touch. I squeezed the steering wheel, putting her out of my mind so I could concentrate. I drove toward the woods beside Command 47, keeping to the back roads, anxious to get started on my quest. In seventy-two hours, I would either be the king and gain control to stop the Night of Grief, or like everyone else on Earth, I would be dead.

Chapter 10

JULIET

Agent Davis clicked his pen repeatedly. A nervous habit. He blinked more than humans normally did. What was it about him that troubled me?

“If you don’t cooperate and answer my questions, my next stop will be to visit the prison where your sister’s being held. I promise you I’m good at extracting information. Poor Maisy. How do you think she’ll handle it when I—”

I slashed my hand through the air to make him shut up. “I’ve already said I would do what you want. Ask your questions.”

He settled back with a satisfied smile and rapid-fired questions at me. “Where will the royal family hide if the castle is attacked? Is there a bunker? A safe room? An escape passage?”

“I don’t know. The castle’s never been attacked.” I tugged at the band on my wrist, checking it for any sign of give, but there was none.

He made a noise like a game show buzzer. “Wrong answer.”

“I’m telling the truth. I don’t know!”

He wrote in a notepad, then looked up. “How many Guards protect the king at any given time?”

“There are hundreds of Guards,” I said, hardly recognizing the flatness of my own voice. “At least seven of them protect the king during the day and five stand watch at night.”

“What about shift rotations?”

“I don’t know. I was never part of the inner circle.”

“Is the life force of the king located in the abdomen like an ordinary Supernatural’s is?”

“No. It’s closer to the heart.”

He looked pleased with the information. “Are you strong enough to kill a royal?”

“Yes.”

“How many of them are left and who are they?”

“If King Dacce has died, then King Ide is the last of the royal family.”

“You don’t know if King Dacce is alive?”

“No. He was still breathing when I entered the Void. Ide may have killed him.”

“You said Ide was the last of the royal family.” He gave me a sharp look, then flipped backward through the notebook. “Rick said the former King Dacce had another son. Riley. Isn’t he part of the royal family?”

I looked at him without flinching. “Yes.”

“Guess you forgot. Did you also forget the two of you are involved? Are you protecting him?”

“No,” I lied, desperate to protect Riley. “He abandoned me in the Void.” I worried about Riley. Where was he? Was he okay? Had he abandoned me because he’d discovered what I had to do?

“No honor among aliens.” He chuckled like he thought he was funny. “I always knew bringing your people here was a terrible idea. Look how well it ended up for us.