Reckoning (14 page)

We gave your people sanctuary on Earth, and you repay us with a war?”

I gave him a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding look. “Your president offered us sanctuary because the humans destroyed our planet. Then later she brought our worst enemy to Earth to try and kill us.”

“The Ragespawn.” He tapped the pen against his knee. “Yeah, that was a bad move on her part.” He gave me a secret smile as if he didn’t really believe it was a bad move. “Do you know how many of them are still alive?” He studied me as if this answer mattered more than the others.

“No.”

“I’ve heard there are only a handful left.” A muscle worked in his jaw.

“I don’t know.”

He made another note, then gave me a mocking smile. “What’s the goal with this war? Your people want to colonize the Earth? Make us all your slaves?”

“No. We want you dead.”

His smile faded. “Wanting us all dead, that’s the way your king feels, not you, correct?”

It was my turn to give a mocking smile. “Of course.”

“I think this will do for now.” He shoved away from the chair and picked up the briefcase. “I’ll take you to see your sister.”

I raised my eyebrows, looking for a hidden meaning in the offer.

“It’s not an act of kindness. I want you to see what she’s going through. It’ll give you a motive to fight like hell for us. The sooner the war is over, the sooner she’ll be free.”

He intended to torture me with mental images of Maisy being locked up. I clenched my teeth together and reached along the side of the bed to find the lever to drop the safety rail. When it lowered, I swung my legs over the side and struggled to my feet. Still weak and feeling dizzy, I wobbled and gripped the mattress for support with one hand while trying to hold the back of the hospital gown closed with the other.

I wondered if they suspected Maisy was a mixed-blood. The human government had taken notice the day my leaders ordered the deaths of the mixed-bloods. The order made them question what the Supernaturals were afraid of when it came to these hybrid children. Made them believe if the powerful Supernaturals were afraid, then there was something to fear. For my sister’s sake, I hoped they didn’t ever figure out what she was. “How can you treat a child the way you are?”

A muscle in his jaw worked. “My orders come from the White House.”

“Your president ordered children imprisoned?”

He looked disgusted. “Children? They’re not human. They’re creatures.”

My stomach twisted into knots, and I took a step away from the bed. I didn’t want to stand here with this smug agent another second. Something about him, besides the fact he hated Supernaturals, creeped me out. I brushed past him, and when I got closer to the door, an alarm started ringing in the hallway.

Rick rushed into the room, followed by two soldiers. They blocked my exit and raised their guns. I walked forward, intending to tell them Agent Davis was taking me to see my sister.

“Stop, Juliet. You’re a hostile alien. They have orders to kill you if you don’t obey.” Rick grabbed my arm, eyes pleading with me not to fight. “Your band triggered the alarm.” He told the soldiers to lower their weapons, then checked my band. When he pulled on it, one of the prongs shifted and a thin trail of blood trickled to the side.

I looked at Agent Davis, then at Rick. “How did you capture my sister?”

“We received a tip giving up the location where she was hiding in a home with other Supernatural children.” Rick searched through a cabinet until he found gauze. “The weird thing is these kids look as if they’ve been through hell. One of them is missing an arm, one of them an eye. You know them?” He pressed the gauze against the prong until the bleeding stopped, then threw it in the garbage can by the bed. Pulling open another drawer, he took out a second hospital gown.

“Doesn’t ring a bell,” I lied, not wanting to give them anyone else I loved that they could use to psychologically torture me with. I eased my arms into the hospital gown, thankful for the coverage. “Why? Are they your prisoners too?”

“They’re with your sister. We plan to study them.”

I kept my expression calm, even though his words terrified me. I had to find a way to get them to safety before then.

Agent Davis passed Rick the notebook he’d written in. “She says Riley West abandoned her in the Void.”

“I know how you feel about him. That must have been difficult for you.” Rick’s face held sympathy, and he drew in a breath like he wanted to say more, but after a glance at the other agent, he fell silent.

“It was devastating.” I wanted them to think Riley and I weren’t together. It was bad enough they were using Maisy as leverage. I didn’t want them to add Riley to the mix. I was already at the breaking point with my sister. Knowing Riley would suffer too would send me over the edge. I would become whatever kind of monster they wanted me to be to keep the ones I loved safe.

Agent Davis snapped his fingers as if he’d remembered something. “Those kids we have with your sister were found in the home of a friend of yours. Guy by the name of Gordon.”

“Where is he?”

“He tried to prevent the soldiers from taking the children, and unfortunately, they thought he was a hostile and not a human. He didn’t make it.” Agent Davis delivered the news in a matter of fact tone. Like death was as common place as the sun rising.

I doubled over and a moan escaped my lips. “He was my friend,” I cried. Images of Gordon flashed through my mind. Us in fifth grade. Camping out together. Him teaching me how to ride a skateboard. Us in ninth grade. Me teaching him how to ask a girl out on a date. Him walking me home from school, bringing me a brownie when I was sick. He was a kind human. Tears poured down my face and splashed onto the floor.

“Juliet—”

I straightened. “Were you there?” I kept my arms wrapped around my body as if I could hold in all the broken pieces of me threatening to spill out.

Rick nodded.

“You’ve seen Gordon before.
You knew
he wasn’t an enemy.” As my grief and anger grew, my power attempted to surge only to be brought up short by the band. If not for the band, I might have defied my destiny to save and instead would have killed this human I’d once thought I could trust.

“I tried to stop them.” His eyes held truth, but I didn’t want to hear it. I needed to lash out.

“You’re a liar.” I might not have my power, but that didn’t mean I was physically helpless. Supernaturals were naturally stronger than humans. I moved close enough to be able to touch him.

“I’m not lying. I did attempt to stop them.” Rick looked at my clenched hands. “If you try to kill me, the soldiers will shoot you. Then where will your sister be?”

He was right. I pushed the rage deep within, banking the fire of it. To protect my sister, I could do nothing to avenge the death of my friend. For now.

Agent Davis glanced at my leg when I shifted my weight. Standing on it had caused it to throb. “Do you need pain medicine?”

I wanted to keep a clear head. “No, thank you.” My voice was polite, and I had a smile on my lips, but the agent did a double take. Had he caught a glimpse of the monster he was pushing me to become?

He turned around and waved the soldiers out. Then he pulled out a cell phone, gave his ID number, and said, “I’m taking Juliet to Sector 7. Send a driver.” He pocketed the phone and glanced at me. “Shouldn’t be a long wait.”

I stood in silence. I had nothing to say to either of the agents. Emotions rushed through me, each of them tangling over the other.
How could you call for me to save a species that repays me by killing my friends?
I silently raged against destiny. As usual, there was no response.

Rick glanced down at my bare feet, then rummaged through a different set of metal drawers by the hospital bed. He returned with a pair of slip-free socks. Kneeling in front of me, he waited for me to lift each foot and he slid them on in turn. “Thank you,” I said, giving him a smile too.

He backed up, shooting a worried glance at his partner.

A knock sounded on the doorframe and a soldier appeared. “The Jeep is waiting, sir.” When Rick walked past him to the door, Agent Davis motioned me ahead, clearly not wanting me to walk behind him.

In the hallway, Rick grabbed a wheelchair and helped me into it. He pushed it steadily forward while the soldier walked on one side of me, Agent Davis on the other. As we passed by the other rooms, I did quick checks and noted the ones that were empty. I raised my head to look up at the ceiling, searching for vents. They would make escape routes if I could get the tracker out of Maisy. The cafeteria doors were open, and I checked to see if I could spot the garbage cans. Humans rarely sifted through their garbage. The cans might work as part of an escape plan if I got the chance to get my sister out of reach of the humans. The noise and speed of the wheelchair changed when we crossed into the hospital’s front corridor.

The soldier pushed the handicap button and the door swung open, letting a rush of air swoop in. The coolness felt good on my flushed face. Agent Davis and the soldier climbed into a standard Jeep, but Rick helped me into the passenger side of an Army-green 1968 Jeep Kaiser with a white star painted on the driver’s side door. I knew old vehicles only because my father had loved them. We used to go to car shows together. Spending money we didn’t have, he’d bought a 1966 two-stroke Harley Bobcat behind my mother’s back, and the argument between them had lasted for two days.

The memory of my family threatened to break down the wall I’d had to build to keep myself together. I bit down on my lower lip until I tasted blood. Rick sped across the base to a barracks with Sector 7 painted in large letters on the side. Two armed soldiers flanked the front of the building. I shook my head when Rick attempted to get me to sit in the wheelchair to enter the barracks. I didn’t want Maisy to worry about me, and if I didn’t walk in on my own accord, she would.

RILEY

There were a little over two hundred Supernaturals gathered in the woods. I parked the car and got out. Trees and thick underbrush cocooned the location. Each Supernatural raised a fist toward the sky in a show of solidarity. My people would willingly die for me. I hoped we never reached that point.

A Supernatural with blue tips on the ends of his hair walked forward. Despite the uniform he wore marking him as a human prisoner, he still managed to look fierce. “Adler, senior battle analyst of the soldier lineage, undercover as a human prisoner. Proud to serve you, my king.” He bowed, then straightened.

“Give me a status report.”

“The human police forces have been overtaken by our people. The 911 system belongs to us. We’re in control of the major airports and hospitals. The military bases remain strongholds as does the White House.” He indicated the Supernaturals gathered. “With a greater show of force, we can bring the humans of Command 47 to their knees.”

I shook my head. “Our people have fought against the military bases and the White House with a stronger show of force than we’ve ever had to employ. They’ve proven their strength in those areas. At this point, we need to outthink them.”

Adler stiffened, not liking me questioning his suggestion. “I disagree. If we swarm the base under the cover of darkness, we can overtake the humans.”

“Is that right?”

He nodded, full of cockiness and bravery. A mistake I’d seen cost lives under my father’s rule.

“Tell me the details for Command 47.”

Adler puffed his chest out. “The human head count on the base is 436. Their armory houses the XM2s and ammunition. Their hand device weapons, the grenades and launchers, aren’t stored there.”

“Here’s why we won’t swarm the base. We’re outnumbered two to one. Their XM2s are long-range weapons with the ability to zero in on a heat force, which is essentially the basis of our power. Before we could get close enough to kill them, they could pick us off. Do I need to continue?”

Shame deflated Adler. “No, sir.”

“Take the XM2s out of commission. Locate the other weapons.”

“Yes, sir.” Adler nodded. “I’ll put my people on destroying the weapons tonight.”

“Good.” I nodded. “In three days we move on the White House. On my signal, you’ll swarm the base. Don’t kill unless you have absolutely no choice. I’ll need a dozen of you with combat training to enter the White House with me.”

“I’ll have a team ready and willing,” Adler said. “But, sir, they have a weapon we don’t have the ability to stand against.”

I frowned, wondering what I’d missed. “Go on.”

“I’ve heard talk around the base that when it all hits the fan, Juliet Sawyer will be by the president’s side. With the updated fail-safes Henry implanted in her, the level of power she can use now makes ours look like the equivalent of cigarette lighters,” Adler said.

“It might be better if we kill her first,” one of the Supernaturals said.

Kill Juliet?
A pounding began in my ears, and I clenched my teeth. Pain shot through my jaw at the thought of someone hurting her. I looked across the crowd, staring them down until they shifted uncomfortably. “No one touches Juliet. This is an order that has no grace with it.” The one who’d suggested it lowered his gaze.