Reckoning (22 page)

I managed to school my expression to hide what I was thinking. “Did you bring the information Mallen gave you?”

He lifted his shirt and removed a folded leather pouch to give to me. “I did.”

I closed my hands around it, holding it for a second without moving. I didn’t want to open it. Didn’t want to think there might be something in here that would tear apart my faith in Juliet. In us.

I removed several sheets of thick paper from the pouch and spread them out before me. As I read, the blood drained from my face. Mallen had written:

Forgive me for my determination to make you see the truth, Riley. I know if you’re reading this, it’s because my life has ended. No doubt, the power of the curse bound in the Untolds have conspired to cut my time short because I dare to write this.

I lifted my gaze away from his words and took a second to compose myself. The old Guard had given his life in what he believed was a bid to save mine. I blew out a breath and finished reading.

In the writings, Juliet is called the “harbinger of death.” Your death. It plainly states she will kill the seventh in line for the throne. Counting King Faulk, your father Dacce, Nisher, Ebom, Gutuar, and Ide, that leaves you as the seventh. Even the ancient
scrolls back up this prediction when it warns of destruction at the hand of the Supernatural with the seven suns. She will betray you. She is a traitor and she must die before she kills you. I beg you to heed my warning.

“Do I need to do anything more, sir?” Adler asked quietly after I folded the pages and returned them to the pouch.

“No. I’ll handle this.” I wanted to rage, to scream aloud that there was no way the girl I loved would think about betraying me, much less actually carry out the deed. Was it possible Juliet had only pretended to love me to get close enough to kill me? No, she loves me; my heart assured. Her love is a façade, logic said.

The girl I love betrays me
? It was hard to wrap my mind around the thought. But then again, her mother had betrayed her father. Like mother, like daughter?

Chapter 17

JULIET

I didn’t wait for the alarm to ring across the base before I was up and dressed in my uniform. The sooner I started, the sooner the day would be finished and I’d be one step closer to bringing an end to all this. I was the first one to leave the barracks. Though it wasn’t as cold out as it had been yesterday, my breath still hung on the air in puff clouds when I exhaled.

Rick leaned against a Jeep, waiting for me. He handed me a cup of coffee and a sausage biscuit. The sunglasses he wore prevented me from seeing his eyes, so it was hard to read him.

“An hour ago, the president requested a meeting with the Supernaturals to discuss a peace treaty.”

I blew on the coffee and took a tentative sip. It was strong and bitter but I drank, anyway. “King Ide denied it,” I guessed.

“He did. The president was going to offer to give your people the spaceship you were brought to Earth in, free all the imprisoned Supernaturals, and allow you to leave.”

I took a bite of the biscuit. “Leave? To go where? Finding another planet in our galaxy to live on won’t be easy. When Shimea Prime exploded, it destroyed nearby planets where the atmosphere was compatible enough to support Tazavorn life.”

“I know that.” Rick pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head and squinted. “We’ve had our scientists working on it for months. They found a planet located near the Andromeda Galaxy called Shion. It means remembrance. The atmosphere is identical to Earth’s, making it suitable for your people. The planet has six suns. While it’s no Shimea Prime, it’s a consideration if Ide would take the offer.”

“The problem Ide would have had with the offer is the president is assuming the humans win the war.” I washed the bite of biscuit down with a sip of coffee. “He didn’t take the offer because he plans for all the humans to die.”

“I thought that too.” He glanced at me. “Though this won’t be much comfort, I’m sorry. It was never my idea to force your hand like this. Using Maisy and the other children, it’s barbaric.”

“But you don’t make the rules,” I said.

“Right.” His cheeks puffed out as he exhaled.

“Thanks for the key to Maisy’s cell.”

“I hope it does some good.”

“Aren’t you afraid you’re going to get caught helping me?”

“Yes, but I’m more afraid of not being able to face the man I see in the mirror every morning.” Rick pushed away from the Jeep when the other Supernaturals began joining us. “Grab a breakfast bar and a drink. The obstacle course is on today’s schedule.”

* * * *

While we waited for the agents to arrive, I stood in the line behind Nixie and grimaced when I saw the height of the climbing wall. The sight of it made me nauseous.

“One step at a time,” Adler said behind me.

“Everything okay?” I asked, searching his face. The way he glanced at me was different. Like he couldn’t stand to be near me.

“Yeah. Right on schedule. What were you and 007 talking about earlier?”

“Rick?” I shrugged. “The humans found a planet for us. Shion, located—”

“By the Andromeda Galaxy.”

“Ide would never go for that,” I said.

“Ide won’t be the one making that decision,” Adler said with confidence. His gaze shifted to my left as Riley approached. “Soon we’ll have a new king.”

“Juliet’s not so sure about that.” Riley’s voice was silky. He ran a finger along the back of my neck. “Is this where you’ll press the tip of the blade?”

His touch made my skin pop with goose bumps and I shuddered.

“Is your reaction from dread or anticipation?” He looked over the Supernaturals gathered. “Move away and give us privacy.”

They immediately walked several feet away.

I took a step back, unable to read his expression. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied.

“Beautiful, lying Juliet. You wear the innocent look a little too well. The royal dagger was found in your locker. I can’t wait to hear you tell me how you’re being set up. Someone stuck it in your locker, and you have no idea what’s going on.” He grabbed my arm.

I glanced down at his hand, my stomach rolling. “Riley…please.” What I pleaded for, I didn’t know. This was the moment I’d feared. Somehow, his suspicions had been raised.

His lip curled. “Look me in the eye and tell me what’s going on with you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Even I could hear the lie in my voice this time. He had to believe me. If he didn’t, he would order my death and if I died, everything would fall apart. My sister would suffer unimaginable pain. We all would if I didn’t break the curse and the Night of Grief released.

“Why do you have the dagger?”

“I’m… I don’t have any idea. Riley…” As I fumbled through trying to speak, to come up with an excuse for why I had it, his face grew stonier.

“Henry told you to kill me. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I…it’s…um….”

“Forget it. I won’t believe a word you say.” I’d never seen his face so cold. Not even in the beginning when we’d first met as enemies. He motioned between us, his voice scornful. “We’re through. How could I have fallen in love with something like you?”

We were through? That I managed to remain standing was a miracle. Something like me? I barely kept myself from begging, from explaining, from throwing away the salvation of the world to see love in his eyes again. His words tore through me with a ferocity worse than the crocogon attack. His beautiful eyes I’d once thought held such a vast amount of concern and love for me held nothing but anger and contempt.

My fears were right. He hated me. My lip trembled and I forced it still. I kept my head high and my gaze steady, forcing myself to toughen up. I wouldn’t crumble and cry where everyone could see me.

Removing a leather pouch from his pocket, he pulled out papers and waved them in my face. “Mallen died trying to warn me about
you
. His death is on your head.”

“No. He made his choices and created a truth of his own, not one that’s reality.” I bit down on my lip, marveling that I still held the frayed edges of myself together.

“You want reality?” Riley lashed out. “Reality is I’m the guy born to wear the crown, and you’re the girl who betrays me.”

“That’s right.” I snapped my fingers. “An elderly Guard brought his crystal ball and told you the future. Based on that, you’re throwing me and us away.” My eyes pleaded with him to see past what was right in front of him. To choose to believe in what he couldn’t see rather than what he could.

Riley gritted his teeth and forced out, “Ever since I showed up at your house and took you to training, you’ve planned to betray me. Why don’t you tell me how I’m supposed to believe in you or in us now?”

“When it comes to love, you just do, Riley. When you love, you give trust until you’re proven otherwise. You take it on faith love is enough to overcome anything.”

He scoffed. “Love isn’t enough to overcome betrayal. I know what you’re capable of, and you know yourself I can’t trust you. That’s why you’re having trouble looking me in the eye.”

I forced myself to meet his gaze. “You mean you
choose
not to trust me.”

“You’re right. I choose not to.” He turned his back to me and went to join the other Supernaturals.

No. Please, don’t do this, Riley. Please find a way to trust me
. I threaded my fingers through my hair, rocking back and forth. Surely I was bleeding to death internally. No wonder there were sad songs about love. It was the most confusing, the most painful of all emotions. I wanted to run after Riley and tell him our love was meant to be. I wanted to assure him my silence had nothing to do with us or how much I loved him.

But even if I wasn’t forbidden to tell anyone about my place in the Untolds, how could I convince Riley in the face of his pain and disbelief? My knees ached from the effort to keep standing when all I wanted to do was collapse. I couldn’t do this. I wasn’t strong enough to survive him hating me. I took a deep breath and started after him. I had to talk to him, to figure out a way to make him see I loved him and would never willingly cause him heartache. Agent Davis showed up before I could carry out my plan.

“Move it, aliens.” He pulled out a stopwatch. “You’ll all be timed on how fast you get over the wall. The quickest ones can have lunch. The rest of you won’t.”

“He’s such a—”

The word Adler used was drowned out by a Supernatural girl’s shriek. When everyone looked at her, she held out her hand and said, “A bug bit me. I have allergies. I need to see the doctor.” Her voice rose with each word in an annoyingly high nasal pitch.

Adler and Riley exchanged a glance after two soldiers showed up to escort the girl to the base hospital.

“That was the signal. The doctor is here for Maisy,” Adler said, barely sparing me a glance.

“What’s the hold up? Quit yakking.” Agent Davis glanced up from his clipboard.

I walked forward in the line and he said, “Heard you visited your friend Stone in the hospital.” He flexed his fingers around the clipboard. “Any idea why he had the blueprints to the White House?”

“Maybe he likes the design and wants to build a home like it for himself.”

He bared his teeth in a fake smile and rubbed his chin. “Or maybe he’s part of the plan to attack the White House, and we should eliminate him now before he attempts anything.”

Probably wrong of me but at this point, I didn’t care about the agent or his personality deficit. Whatever hurt he brought to me couldn’t compare to the one I was already feeling. Not wanting to get drawn in by his taunting, I reached for the thick rope hanging from the wall and gripped it tightly. I put one foot on the wall and leveraged my weight against the rope. Moving slowly, I inched my way up the wall, thankful I didn’t feel dizzy once I reached the top. Swinging my leg over, I dropped to the ground and walked back around to the front.

As soon as we’d all gone over the wall, Agent Davis said, “Clearing an obstacle when no one is against you is easy. But when you’re fighting to stay alive while dealing with an obstacle at the same time, it’s riskier.”

Rick divided us into teams before placing another rope on the opposite end of the rappelling wall. “If your opponent makes it to the top of the wall before you do, you lose.” He called Nixie and a large Supernatural boy up to the front.

“He’s twice her size,” Adler protested.

“You think your enemy will care if you’re small?” Agent Davis asked and motioned for the two of them to begin.

Nixie reached for the rope. The Supernatural swung out with his fist and punched her in the shoulder, knocking her to the ground. He pulled himself over the top of the wall. When he came around the side, Adler jumped him, pummeling the boy’s face repeatedly.

I ran to check on Nixie and make sure she was okay, thankful Adler was taking care of the boy so I wouldn’t have to. With my emotions running high, I might end up doing more damage than I intended.