Reckoning (25 page)

“
I can’t
.” Angry at myself for not being able to think of a way to get Riley to understand tore through me. I was caught between such a rock and a hard place. Wanting to root for Riley’s courage, but being forced to stop him. He didn’t know because of the curse, regardless of what he did or didn’t do, he was powerless to stop the NoG.

He frowned. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

He cleared his throat. “Company.”

Rick joined us, looking lost in thought. He blinked and motioned to the wall. “This time, we have a mannequin behind the wall. You’ll go up as opponents. One will attempt to capture the mannequin, the other has to protect it by eliminating the threat.”

“How do we eliminate the threat?” Nixie asked.

“By any means necessary,” Rick answered. “Line up. Guys in one line, girls in the other.”

When we lined up, Nixie was behind me, and I was side by side with Stone.

“Juliet, I’m getting a bad vibe from you. Please tell me you’re fighting with us, not against.”

I sent him a glance. Since I couldn’t explain, there was nothing to say. Nothing I could say that would erase the helplessness or the guilt I carried.

One he didn’t like. “I’ll get the children out of harm’s way.”

I gripped the rope, wrapping it around my wrist, not answering him.

“Go!” Rick called out, and I started up the wall, gasping when Stone pulled on my rope, swinging me away from the wall. There was no way I was going to let go of the rope, but I was still too weak to fight Stone.

His jaw was set, his eyes narrowed. Determined to win. I tried to stop him by grabbing his rope.

“Dammit, Juliet. This is bigger than you or me.” With that, he pulled me into him, wrapping me up in the rope to trap my arms.

He shielded his hands from the crowd below and hit the center of my rope dead-on with a blast of his power, severing the rope in two. I let out a squeak of surprise when I started falling, waiting for the hard slam of the dirt to hit me. Stone didn’t let go of the rope. He held on, slowly lowering it until I was only a few inches from the ground before he released it.

I landed on my back, embarrassment burning my face, and quickly untangled myself from the rope. Rick looked disappointed. Except for Nixie, the other Supernaturals looked smug.

In the seconds it took me to untangle myself and stand, Stone was over the wall and walking out from behind it with the mannequin. He tossed it at Rick’s feet. “Your beloved leader.”

I flew toward Stone. “What’s wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong with
you
? You’re forgetting where you belong. You’re supposed to fight with us. Not against. Whatever issues you’ve got going on with Riley, you need to get over them.” Stone clenched his jaw, and I thought for sure it must ache from the pressure. “There isn’t time to engage in petty squabbles. I have a species to help save.”

“And I don’t? I’m trying to save the Supernaturals too,” I said.

“When I called the 1-800-bullshit hotline, they didn’t back up your story.”

“Whatever.”

“No, not whatever. Tell me what’s going on.” He touched the side of my face, gently pleading as the anger drained from him.

I glanced over his shoulder.
Henry
. Dressed in a military uniform, the older Supernatural blended right in. As soon as he knew I saw him, he turned around and waited. “I can’t,” I told Stone, and when I was sure I wasn’t being watched, I slipped away.

“Henry,” I said as soon as I reached him. “The humans took Maisy to the White House.”

“I know.” He stood with his legs apart, arms held behind his back in a soldier’s stance. “The time to do what you’re called to do is almost here. Whatever you do, you cannot let your love for Riley overcome your purpose.”

We’d never spoken about the Untolds. “Have you read things about me?” I asked. I let myself feel a kernel of hope. If he knew something, maybe I could find a way to end the curse without killing Riley. I bit my lip and leaned forward.

“I have, but I can’t discuss it. I’m sorry for what you must face, but it’s the only way. Otherwise, the Night of Grief will happen.”

Disappointed, I nodded and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Um…a fail-safe blew.”

He didn’t look surprised. “The amount of power you used against the humans, I don’t doubt that it did. You can’t make that mistake again or you won’t survive your destiny.”

“I know.” I drew in a calming breath. “I guess this is good-bye then?”

He nodded. “I’ll see you at the finish line.”

The finish line. Sounds brave and poetic. For me, the finish line was a horror to overtake all horrors. Each hour that passed drew me closer to it. Kill the boy I loved.

RILEY

I’d given her a chance, and again she hadn’t told me what was going on. I wanted to trust her, but she’d chosen a side I couldn’t be on. Juliet believed she had to fight for the humans because it was her destiny. What if she’d been created to save the humans and destroy the Supernaturals? Was that why she betrayed me? Or was it about her wanting the crown? Could she be that devious? That cold blooded? I thought back to the demonstration of her power I’d seen. She’d kept her full abilities from me. What else had she hidden?

If Juliet continued on the path she was on and unleashed her power against our people, I would have no choice but to declare her a traitor and order her execution.

The thought tore me up. I had to try one last time to get through to her. I might be on a fool’s errand, but I was willing to fight for our love. There had to be something about her I’d missed. Some truth that would show me the girl I loved would never harm me.

Chapter 20

JULIET

I managed to stumble through the rest of the training that day. Rick pushed us through the obstacle course repeatedly, then made us learn weaponry and hand to hand combat. I didn’t think the day would ever end. When the evening finally rolled around, I skipped dinner and hit the shower. Then I crawled into bed, pulling myself into a ball, hoping that sleep would claim me quickly. I didn’t want to dwell on the argument with Stone or what might never be between Riley and me. I closed my eyes, but no matter how hard I willed it, sleep wouldn’t come. The desire to find a way to fix everything and save everyone kept nagging at me, filling me with dread because I knew I couldn’t.

I flopped over onto my back. What was the point in trying to sleep?

Finally, I gave up on sleep and climbed out of bed. I tiptoed to Nixie’s bed and shook her shoulder gently.

“What?” she mumbled, lifting her head from her pillow.

“I’m going for a walk.”

“Now?” She rubbed sleep from her eyes.

“Yes, now, while there’s no one watching. Help me get out the window and then cover for me if anyone finds out I’m missing.” The urgency in my tone must have reached through to her because she sat up and blinked, trying to focus.

I slipped my shoes on. I rolled my pillow up and stuck it beneath the blanket to look like a body. Then we silently moved through the rows of bunk beds to the window. I pushed it open and while Nixie held it up, I slid out and dropped to the ground. A light but steady rain was falling, and the cold droplets ran down the sides of my face. I remained in a crouch for a second, scanning the area to make sure no one was around.

Keeping close to the side of the barracks, I made my way around the back, intending to pace back and forth while I thought things through, but when I stepped into the light of the moon, a silhouette shifted. Riley came toward me. Had he figured things out and come to kill me?

The rain coasted down his face, coating his long eyelashes. He blinked them away. He was dressed in the dark clothing royals wore to signify they were at battle. In the moonlight, the gold threads in the crest on his shirt glinted. Thrown across his arm was a long, thick dress coat.

My treacherous heart leaped at the sight of him.

“What do you want?” I whispered.

“To talk. Put this on.”

I slipped my arms into the sleeves, and he draped the coat around me. His fingers brushed my shoulders, then my hair as he lifted it from the collar of the coat. For a brief close-my-eyes-I-miss-him moment, I gave in to his touch. Every nerve in my body craved him. I eased out a breath, wondering if my touch still affected him the same way.

“Come with me.” He held out his hand.

In the past, I would have slipped my hand in his and gone with him without questioning, but that was before the war. Before destiny intervened and dragged us apart. I hesitated.

He kept his hand still, leaving the decision up to me.

Feeling weak from his nearness and hoping I wasn’t making a mistake, I put my hand in his. His fingers threaded in between mine, and I was glad for the dark, glad he couldn’t see the raw emotion I knew showed on my face. I wanted to take this moment and put it in a bottle to save it for the darker, lonelier days that loomed ahead.

He led the way to the corner of the fence and burned through the metal with his power like he was slicing through bread. Peeling back the wire mesh, he reached for me, pulling me through the opening.

“Aren’t there Guards nearby?”

“Yes, but they’re on my side.” He gave my hand a reassuring squeeze as we darted from the base into the woods bordering it. We jogged for a few minutes until we reached the banks of a fast moving river. Without a word, he lifted me up, the motion throwing me off balance. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around his neck as we headed for a series of jutting rocks marking a pathway across the water. He crossed them nimbly.

“I wanted you here to see this.”

“This?” I turned my head to look at him. Our faces were too close, my lips too near his. Our breathing twined together. I wanted him to kiss me, but I couldn’t go there. It would only make the end harder for both of us.

I pushed against his chest and he let go, allowing my body to slide down his until my feet touched the ground. I smoothed down my T-shirt where it had ridden up. I opened my mouth to ask him again what this was, but before I got a word out, there was rustling in the woods, and hundreds of Supernaturals spilled out, surrounding us.

I froze, wondering for a split second if I’d been set up. Sensing my fear, Riley said, “You can relax. They’re not going to hurt you. I wanted you to see how many are fighting with us. There are more than a dozen teams with hundreds of Supernaturals.”

“Why is everyone hiding in the woods?”

“No one is hiding,” he said, staring at me intently. “Look at your people, Juliet.”

I swept my gaze over the Supernaturals, trying to hide my worry at their stone-faced expressions.

“
This
is where you belong. This side of the war.”

I clenched my teeth.
Don’t think about all I stand to lose.
Don’t think about having his blood on my hands
.
Don’t think at all or otherwise, I can’t
do this.
A machete carved me up inside, making me want to fall to my knees and scream out against the future I knew was coming.

I fell back on what was still a truth but not all of it. “You know I can’t risk Maisy. Especially after the rescue failed. It’s impossible.”

“If you trusted me, you would know I’d figure out a way to protect Maisy.” His jaw clenched. “Since I received the information Mallen left behind, I’ve been searching for answers about you. Ones I can’t understand. I keep coming back to the fact that betrayal’s in your DNA. Your father betrayed mine with the rebellion. Your mother betrayed your father.”

I squeezed my hands into fists. “Your father was a cruel murderer and so is your half brother. Are you like them?”

He dismissed the idea as if it was crazy. “Of course not.”

“Exactly. We are not our families. Our histories, our DNA doesn’t matter. We choose the kind of Supernatural we are. We choose what we feel. Even though you’re from the house of my enemy, I choose to love you.”

His face paled and he gave a short, bitter laughter. “You didn’t deny that you would betray me. Not
once
have you denied it.”

“Riley, please…”

“I’ve been stupid to believe we could overcome years of prejudice between our families.”

I understood where he was coming from. I’d hated Riley and his family. He’d hated me and mine. The wounds created throughout history were passed down from generation to generation and rarely healed. I should never have lost sight of that. Should never have fallen in love with Riley. But I had and it was beautiful.

“Tell me the truth,” Riley demanded.

“The truth is I love you.”

He glanced away like my reassurance wasn’t enough. A muscle worked in his jaw before he focused on me again. “Emotions are humanistic in nature and therefore a weakness. I had that drilled into my head by my father from the time I was a toddler. Then I fell in love with you, and my world exploded with meaning, with warmth. Now, I can’t help but wonder if my father was right all along.”