Saven Disclosure (The Saven Series Book 2) (6 page)

“Sadie.” He uses that tone. The one that says “you will not argue with me.”

“Please don’t Sadie me. Anything but that. I’ve had a lifetime of it, and I don’t need to hear that from you.”

Muffled conversation echoes in the background. “I have to go, but we’re not finished with this discussion. Please, please, do not do anything rash. We’ll figure out something, okay?”

“Fine.” I grit my teeth. He can barely spare me five minutes, and it does nothing to improve my bad mood. I feel as insignificant as dirt.

The connection cuts out, and I’m left wallowing in a sea of despair.

One of the absolute best things about Haydn is his quiet companionship. Perhaps he’s adept at reading my moods, but I think it’s more to do with his personality. That steely, unwavering, quiet confidence he carries about his persona. He doesn’t need words to convey his meaning or words to fill the empty space. And the words he does use are used circumspectly.

It’s easy to be in Haydn’s company. There is little drama. Except when we’re training, and I mess up, then he fully embraces his inner diva. I chuckle inwardly.

I wish I could say the same about Logan. Today’s tense atmosphere was new, but it’s been brewing for a while. It’s not that I’m ungrateful for all he is doing to care for me—especially considering everything else he has going on right now—but I don’t take kindly to being mollycoddled. My life is different now, should be different now, but the reality is that not a hell of a lot has changed.

I get up, go to work, and come back to my abode. Sure, the job is much better than my previous position in Medi-Tech, and the king’s apartment is a damn sight finer than the Owens family’s home, nonetheless, I feel like I have no control over my destiny. I swore a few weeks ago that I wasn’t going to be a bystander in my own life, but that’s exactly what I’ve been relegated to.

That stops right now.

I’m not sure how I’m going to achieve it, but I’m determined to take an active stance, starting right now.

“We’re here.” Haydn maneuvers the vehicle alongside the curb and kills the engine. I haven’t said one word to him the entire journey to the Outer Circle. I squint up at the recognizable high-rise as a nasty taste floods my mouth. I wipe my suddenly sweaty palms down the front of my jeans.

Haydn hops out and opens my door. “You sure you’re up for this?” His kind eyes search my face.

I’ve filled him in on the less-than-pleasant aspects of my upbringing during one of our many nighttime chats, so he has some understanding of how difficult it is for me to be back here. But my nervousness is more than that. Potent fear for Ella overrides everything else. I have a very bad feeling about all this, though I’m fervently hoping I’m wrong. I nod. “Come on, let’s get it over and done with.”

The elevator is broken—some things never change—so we trek up the twenty floors by foot. There were plenty of occasions when I’d had recourse to take this exact journey, and typically, I’d be completely breathless by the time I reached our apartment. This time it’s a walk in the park. There’s no denying I’m fitter thanks to Haydn’s persistent training regime.

I stop outside the apartment door, blood pooling in my ears. Haydn squeezes my hand, and I look up into his reassuring eyes. “You can do this.”

Lifting my hand, I rap twice on the door. As it’s slowly opened, I gasp. Mom seems to have aged ten years since I left. Her dark hair is threaded with copious strips of gray, and the fine lines around her eyes and mouth are more pronounced, entrenched and heavy set, making her appear older than her fifty years. Clothing hangs off her skeletal frame and she’s thinner than I ever remember. Wizened lips purse into a typical scowl. “Well, well. Look who finally decided to show up.”

“Can we come in?”

“No.” She shakes her head emphatically.

“What?” My eyes pop wide.

“You are not welcome here anymore. And his kind are definitely not welcome.” She lobs a sneer in Haydn’s direction.

“Mom, I know I haven’t been around, but I can help you. Let me help you.” I take a step forward.

Her hand pans out in front of me. “Don’t come any closer.”

I reach out to her.

“Don’t touch me!” she screams irrationally, her whole body trembling.

Haydn places his hand lightly against my lower back.

“Mom—”

“Don’t call me that. I’m not your mother anymore. Don’t come back. Ever.” She moves to shut the door, but Haydn implants his foot at the edge of the doorframe. He glares at her and she lurches back, losing her balance and plunging to the floor.

I bend over to help her. She screams blue murder. Shunting backward along the floor, she frantically inches away from me like I have the plague. “Go! Get out of here or I’m calling the cops.”

“Sadie,” Haydn says, wrapping an arm around my waist. “Come on.”

“No.” I wriggle out of his grasp. “Not without Ella.” I duck my chin and stare at the virtual stranger on the floor. “Where is she?”

“You’re too late. She’s gone. Daveed too.” Mom hauls herself to a standing position. “This is all your fault. I told your father what we should have done, but he refused to give up hope. If he saw you now …” She turns her gaze to Haydn again, but this time the cold sneer has been replaced with fear. “I bet he’s turning in his grave.”

“Enough.” My voice wobbles as I start to lose control on my fragile emotions. “Where’s Den?” I ask after my other brother.

“He’s at work. I’ve answered your questions, now go.”

“You want me to go? I’ll go. But only if you tell me where Ella is gone. Did the government take her?”

Mom stalks toward the door as Haydn and I back up. “Yes. Now get out of my sight. I never want to lay eyes on you again.”

And just like that, the door closes on that particular aspect of my life.

I race out of the building as if a swarm of angry bees is hot on my tail. Haydn keeps pace beside me. I pitch myself in the passenger seat as Haydn gets in the driver side. Then the floodgates open.

Huge gut-wrenching sobs let loose, and I can’t control the deluge. Haydn floors it, breaking all speed limits in his haste to get me far away from that poisonous place. When we reach the highway, he veers into the hard shoulder, ramming the vehicle into neutral. “She can’t be your mother.”

I half-snort and half-cry. “Oh, believe me. If there was some way of officially separating myself from her bloodline, I’d take it. If the devil himself showed up promising
that
in return for my soul, I’d make the deal on the spot.” I pull my legs into my chest and rest my head on my knees.

Haydn hands me a tissue. “Why does she treat you like that?”

I squint at him through foggy eyes. “I don’t know. I’ve never known. My dad said she was scared.”

“Of you?”

I shrug. I swipe my hands under my eyes, brushing the moisture away. I’m not wasting any more tears on that woman. “They’ve taken my brother and sister to Sector Twenty. I need to get them out of there. They are my priority, not that horrid woman.” If she refuses to label herself my mother, then I won’t bestow that honor on her either. I level a determined look at Haydn.

“I understand.” He kicks the Autovee into gear, and the vehicle glides smoothly out onto the asphalt. “But we’ve got to think this through carefully.” He quickly glances at me.

“Of course.” I smile sweetly the whole time I’m computing options in my head.

Making it back in good time, we spend a few hours training in the rooftop gym, at my request. It’s an effective distraction technique, but that doesn’t stop my brain from making plans the entire time. Afterward, I’m as hyper as a hyena on steroids and I can’t sit still, so when Haydn suggests a special outdoor training trip, I practically jump all over him.

Haydn teleports us to the middle of a densely populated forest. Though it’s only mid-morning, you would never know it here. The trees form a formidable cover, masking us from the outside world. I’m glad Haydn advised me to dress warmly, because it’s frigging freezing. Even so, I shiver under my long-sleeved thermal and hoodie. “What have you planned?”

“Follow me.” He gestures with a flick of his wrist, and I follow him out to a small clearing. Slats of buttery yellow sunshine warm my skin through my clothes, and I stop, closing my eyes as I soak up the glorious heat.

Haydn’s soft tread strikes purposefully against the forest floor as he walks ahead. Fearful of getting lost, I run after him. We stop three hundred yards in front of an old gray brick wall. A line of empty glass bottles rests atop the wall. Haydn withdraws a weapon from the back of his pants and hands it to me. “Target practice.”

The gun feels like a dead weight in my palm. I stare at it, running the tip of one finger over the cold, steel exterior. I tremble all the way from my head to my toes. Decisively, I place it back in Haydn’s hand. “I know how to defend myself without the need for a gun. I’d really rather not.”

He whacks it back into my hand, curling my fingers around it. “You are doing great, Sadie, but there may be occasions where that’s not enough. It’s prudent to know how to use a gun. Knives too,” he says, bending over and rolling up the bottom of his pants. A small knife is strapped securely to his calf. He straightens up, expertly twirling the knife between his fingers. “Which do you want to start with?”

I swallow a gulp. “Neither. I can’t …”

“Here, try this for size instead,” he says, replacing the gun in my hand with the knife.

A sheen of sweat coats my forehead as I gape at my rigid fingers curved around the solid handle. All I can think when I look at both weapons of destruction is that G expects me to use something similar to kill Logan. The knife slips from my fingers, falling to the cushiony forest floor.

Haydn stares at me as if I’m deranged. “Perhaps today wasn’t the best day to suggest this,” he says, retrieving the knife and pocketing it.

“The thought of killing anyone is …” I can’t even articulate my thoughts.

“Hey.” He tilts my chin up. “I know it’s not an easy step to take, and I know you don’t want to take a life. But what if someone is pointing a gun in your face or threatening someone you love? Threatening Logan? Don’t you want to know how to defend yourself and those you love in every way possible?”

“I do,” I answer truthfully, “but I don’t know if I have it within me to do it.”

He grasps my shoulders fiercely. “I know you can do this. You are stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

His earnest look nearly kills me. Guilt consumes me. If only he knew the things I’ve been asked to do, the terrible secrets I’m hiding. I don’t think his assessment would stand up to scrutiny then, because in this moment I’ve never felt weaker in my entire life.

I press my ear to the bathroom door and verify that Haydn is indeed taking a shower. Quick as lightning, I run to my room and dash out a quick D-pad message to Jarod asking him to pick up me up in an hour. I don’t give him any opportunity to refuse.

I change back into my skintight jeans and soft pink sweater and slip my feet into my patent black ballet pumps. Removing some juice from the refrigerator, I start mentally compiling my explanation. Which is totally ridiculous, because I’m almost eighteen, and after that little run-in with Mom earlier, I’m now completely responsible for myself. So, needing an excuse to leave the apartment for a few hours is absurd. But the last thing I want is a pissed alien bodyguard trailing me today. Or a more pissed alien boyfriend worrying about me. I drain the last of my drink, and I’m at the sink washing my glass when Haydn materializes.

“What do you want to do this afternoon?”

I spin around and my jaw slackens. Haydn has traded his standard black tactile pants and shirt combo for jeans and a gray sweater. His clumpy black boots are missing, replaced with a pair of black sneakers. Understated looks good on him. Guilt punches another hole in my gut. He’s obviously making an extra effort on my behalf, because of what went down earlier, and I’m ditching him. Awesome.

“Oh. You forgot?” I kick start the charade.

He frowns. “Forgot what?”

“Remember I told you that I was meeting Jarod for a late lunch today?” I plaster my best innocent look on my face, praying that the acting skills I gleaned during my short sojourn with the Thalassic City Drama Club are working in my favor.