Shadowmarked, p.6
ShadowMarked, page 6
I blinked, wanting to say something, but I kept my mouth clamped shut.
Caspian sighed. “If you won’t take the time you need to get better, then I won’t allow you back out there.”
“You can’t stop me,” I argued. “What will you do? Lock me up?”
“If I have to.”
I swiped away the tears. Anger rose inside of me. “You wouldn’t.”
“Oh, I would,” he said. “If it meant you were safe, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
“We’re done here.” I pushed off the wall and stalked past him.
He caught my wrist. “I’m warning you, Jayla… I won’t stand by this time.”
My eyes narrowed, and I knew the cold glare I shot at Caspian was completely foreign to any way I’d ever looked at him before, but he didn’t back down, and he didn’t let go until I wrenched my arm away. “If you try and stop me, this won’t end well.”
“If I don’t, it won’t either.” Caspian straightened. His tall body loomed over me. I suddenly felt so small. He pushed passed me and walked away without another look back.
GUNNER
I woke up with such a dry mouth I could hardly swallow. I was lying on the disgusting mattress on my side, one leg kicked over the side. My pulse was still racing and my head pounded. Every inch of my body ached. My hands felt as though they’d been clenched the entire time, or maybe I’d been punching something. My eyes were almost too heavy to open, but when I did, I found blood and bruising on my knuckles.
My ears rang, but in the distance, I heard the screams of the others. My sore throat told me I had likely joined the chorus of screams at some point. A door creaked open, but my vision was blurry, and I couldn’t tell who stood before me.
They kicked me. “Get up.” I tried to move, but my limbs wouldn’t work. “Now!”
I dragged my gaze up, blinking a few times before my vision focused on the guard looming over me. He had an arm full of clothes, which he unceremoniously threw down on me.
“Get dressed,” he ordered and moved back to the open door.
I managed to roll over. The mattress was damp with what I hoped was just sweat. A searing, almost itchy pain ran down both arms. When I glanced down at them, I found scratch marks I didn’t remember receiving. All I remembered was the pain. Blinding and burning. Starting in my arm and moving up my neck, then down my torso like a wildfire spreading through my entire body. I must have blacked out soon after I crashed on the mat because the timer on the wall now read zero. The last I remembered it started its countdown at twelve hours.
I pushed myself up, leaning against the cold stone wall. My head spun, and I had to grip onto the edge of the mattress to stop myself from falling onto my face. My tongue was thick, and I couldn’t get the pasty dry feeling out of my mouth.
I managed to wrangle the white shirt the guard had thrown at me over my head. My arms were anvils, and my breathing became labored with the effort. A headache, pounding like a base drum, had taken up residence in my skull, and I doubted it’d be leaving any time soon.
Once I’d taken another moment to catch my breath, I pulled on the shorts and pants, having to lie back onto the mattress just to pull them up, as I didn’t trust my legs to hold me. The shoes they’d given me slid onto my sockless feet with ease.
The guard glanced over his shoulder. “Let’s go.”
I tried to stand, but I only managed to land on my knees on the hard stone floor. The guard let out a low chuckle but made no effort to help. I managed to grip onto the wall, finding a small crack I dug my nails into. My legs wobbled, and I was lightheaded from the simple motion, but I stood.
“Move.” The guard inclined his head out the door and down the hallway.
I waited a moment, blinking away the black spots fleeting in and out of my vision, before I took unsteady steps in that direction. My hands supported my weight against the wall as my knees wanted to buckle with each step. Screams echoed from each door I passed, which were solid steel, so I couldn’t see inside, but they didn’t mask the sounds or the smell of sweat and piss. More rooms. More kids. My headache intensified the farther I went, and I was certain I wouldn’t make it to the door at the end of the hallway but I did. The guard pushed it open to reveal a large round room with several small beds, each separated by a curtain between them. The room was empty except for one person who had her back to me, but I already knew who it was.
Instinctively, I stopped. A rough hand pressed against my back, forcing my feet to move once again. I stumbled a step before stopping in the middle of the room. I heard the door behind me close, but my eyes were fixed on the woman a few feet away with her back to me.
“Have a seat,” Dr. Merinda said. I didn’t move. “Any bed is fine, pick whichever one you want.”
My heart pounded. Rage crept inside of me. This woman was the root of everything evil in the world. She had created genetic kids, the Marked, twins to their counterpart, the Pur, without anyone knowing. She’d used us in some sick game to stop the Reeks, to help her find the artifact I had risked everything to get to her, and she was only steps away from me. I wanted to wrap my hands around her throat and squeeze until her last breath was gone. I wanted her dead.
My fingers twitched at my side and I leaned forward.
“Sit.” She turned around, a sweet smile on her face. “Or I will find someone to make you.”
“And if I kill you first?”
Her smile turned cold, but amused. She tilted her head to the side, assessing me for a moment before she shrugged and stepped around to the closest bed a few feet away. “How about you just sit?”
Something in her tone told me if I so much as tried to harm her, I’d be dead in an instant. And I hardly had the energy to stand let alone do anything to fight back, so I took my time moving to the bed, stepping to the other side, and sitting as far away from her as I could.
She crossed the room, and the click of her heels raked at my skull. She reached for my wrist, and I flinched as her cold hands touched my skin. “I’d always wondered about you, you know.”
A needle pricked my skin. Deep red blood filled a little tube at the end of the syringe. Dr. Merinda waited for me to speak, to ask her what she was talking about, but I just glared and watched as a second tube filled with my blood.
“You are the only one who was created without a twin,” Merinda continued. “That alone makes you interesting, but when I found out who your father and mother were… that’s when things got really interesting.”
My jaw twitched with restraint. I had so many questions. So many things I wanted to know, but I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.
She pulled the needle out, placing a little ball of cotton over the small hole and pressed down for a moment before securing a small piece of tape over the cotton. She stepped back, examining my blood.
“Do you know why there aren’t more genetic kids in the world today?”
“Because you killed them all?” I spat back. My voice was hoarse.
She smiled, watching me for a moment. “Creating a genetic kid is expensive. Even more if you’re doing it off the books, as your parents did.”
Dr. Merinda placed the tubes of blood into a larger container. Closing the lid, she slid the samples into a cabinet against the wall across from where I sat.
“It had me wondering.” She circled around, crossing her arms over her chest. “Your mother was nothing. Came from nothing and brought up with only the bare minimum. Even when she finally became the Commander of the Watchers, she didn’t own any more than the average citizen of Cytos.”
I couldn’t stop seeing her face the last few weeks. My mother. I had watched her die. And now, every time I closed my eyes, I saw her. How could I not have seen myself in her? Had part of me known but been so angry with the feeling of betrayal I hadn’t stopped Caspian, hadn’t stopped her? She was right there, and I did nothing.
“Your father, he was a tad more important, but only in the form of authority not wealth.” Merinda watched as my expression turned to stone. I hadn’t thought of my father once since she’d given me his name—Simon—except when I made a vow to one day end his life. “I only had to follow the money to figure it all out. Your father somehow had money well before he became the leader of the Carbon Resistance, and it was quite interesting to discover that his money came from Governor Grayson. But why would she do that? Your father was nothing but a low ranked soldier in her growing regime. It made me wonder if she even knew you existed.”
“Why are you telling me this?” I finally asked, unsure I should believe one word she said. These people lied for a living; what was stopping them from lying now? But if they were—why?
“Because you’re the only one I can tell.” Dr. Merinda’s eyes lit up. “Something about you is different, important, and I can’t figure out why. But I will soon.”
A knock sounded at the door, and Dr. Merinda’s gaze jumped to it. She pulled the curtain separating the bed beside me and circled it around my bed, so I couldn’t see into the room. Before she closed it entirely, she placed a finger on her lips for me to stay quiet.
I instantly wanted to scream. Anything but listen to one more word from this monster. But my throat still burned with dryness, and I didn’t think I could scream any more.
The door opened and high-heeled shoes clicked over the marble floors and into the room. “You have five minutes,” a familiar feminine voice said.
“I found someone I thought you might be interested in.” Dr. Merinda’s voice was sharp with excitement. “I’ve discovered that the former leader of your resistance had a son. Gunner.”
That’s how I knew the voice; it was Governor Grayson. She was silent for a moment before she said, “You’re certain?”
“Yes. With the Commander of the Watchers, no less.” Merinda made no attempt to hide her glee.
“Is he here?”
“Yes.”
“And does anyone else know of his existence?” Grayson’s voice was stern and emotionless.
“Only Allard, but he knows not to say anything.”
Grayson hummed, and I heard pacing. “And why do you think I would care about this boy?”
“I only thought to tell you as he could be a good bargaining chip and a tool.” Dr. Merinda cleared her throat. “I wondered if perhaps you knew of the boy. Simon was the leader of your resistance, after all.”
I remained utterly still, wondering why Dr. Merinda would allow me to hear all of this. Why did she hide me when she clearly wanted me to know what Grayson would say?
“This is the first I’m hearing of it,” Governor Grayson said.
I heard softer footsteps moving closer to where I hid, and I held my breath. Under the closed curtain, I saw high-heeled feet stop in front of the cabinet Dr. Merinda had placed the tubes of my blood in. I heard the little door open and the container being placed on top of the counter. “I’ve taken blood samples. I think the boy is hiding something, or his genetics are anyways.”
“Why would you think that?” Grayson asked.
“His father had money that came from your accounts. And if you knew nothing about it, I can only assume he stole from you. How else could he be able to not only afford a genetic kid, but to keep it secret from anyone, especially us?”
Silence.
“Have you mentioned this hypothesis to Dr. Allard yet?”
“No,” Merinda said.
“Good.”
A sudden bang of gunfire had me flinching then I heard the distinct sound of a body falling to the ground. I held my breath, pushing myself back against the wall. Under the curtain, I could just see Dr. Merinda’s lifeless eyes staring blankly in my direction. Blood pooled around her body, staining her white cloak.
The click of high-heel shoes sounded again, moving towards me until the curtain slid open, and Governor Grayson stood before me.
“Hello, Gunner.” She studied me, her eyes narrowing. “Best you keep what happened here and what you heard to yourself.”
I didn’t realize I was shaking until she took another step forward and touched my shoulder. I jumped, pushing farther away.
“Why did you do that?” I whispered.
I didn’t expect an answer. And I most definitely didn’t expect what she eventually said. “My brother went to great lengths to keep the knowledge of your existence a secret. And family always comes first.”
SIENNA
“Keep your stance low, knees bent, and arms up and ready,” Tynan ordered in the distance. A group of kids stood before him with various knives and swords.
Another group of kids were with Petra practicing their archery, which I wasn’t too proud to say had come in handy a few days ago. The Marked kids had been given limited weapons, but a bow and arrow were easy enough to procure or make. Even with the small amount of practice I had, and with my bad leg, I’d managed to take down a few Reeks silently with the stealth weapon Petra preferred.
A final group of kids were with the Sweepers running swiftly through the sand. I was surprised so many of them had volunteered to help with our training. Tynan and Petra had offered their assistance without hesitation, but the Sweepers didn’t owe us Marked kids anything.
It’d only been four days, but they were already getting better. We hadn’t had any attacks since, but I could see the determination and fear in ever kid’s eyes after what they’d experienced. It was the same I felt the first time I’d stepped into the Void and faced the Reeks.
“Em and Logan will be back tonight,” Theo said. We stood a few feet from the group of kids training, watching and offering help where we could, but in truth, the Sweepers along with Tynan and Petra were doing most of the work. “They reported back already that they haven’t seen any sign of the Reeks near Cytos or Eres, but that Kuros was hit yesterday.”
“Did any get through their barriers?” I asked.
Kuros was built in a valley, surrounded on one side by the forest and the other by the ocean. They had strong walls surrounding the city not only for protection from outside forces, but the ever-changing weather and ocean that could pound the city if it weren’t for the walls.
“No.” Theo shook his head. “They stayed strong, and the Reeks were disposed of quickly I’m told.”
“Good.”
I kept my gaze down, still having a hard time looking at Theo knowing he was keeping things from me. I tried to forget it, tried to tell myself it was simply his way of protecting me, but after what happened with Gunner, I had a sinking feeling when it came to trusting anyone—even Theo. And I hated it, hated that I felt in any way like I couldn’t trust him, but I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“They’re moving faster than we predicted if they’ve already reached Kuros. I’m not sure if they went around the forest to reach them or if the Reeks inside the Void have broken through another section,” Theo said. He paced. His gaze followed the kids, but his brow was scrunched.
“We’ll find a way to stop them.” I placed a hand on his arm. Despite everything racing through my mind, he was still Theo, he was still mine—and I couldn’t forget that.
“How?” He shook his head. “There are so many of them and so few of us.”
I sighed. He was right. Even with the Marked kids we were now training, that was only another fifty, not nearly the numbers we needed. The Sweepers were still helping us without the permission of the Council, which meant the minute this reached outside of Eres, they would not be able to help anymore. Anyone Jayla had in Cytos was trapped, unable to leave the city even if they wanted to. And on top of all of it, we still had no idea where they had taken the rest of the Marked and other genetic kids.
“We have to focus on what we can do, not what we can’t,” I said. “Hopefully, Em will bring good news, then we can find a way to get Vic back, to get them all back. That will help our numbers.”
Theo nodded, stopping his pacing and moving back to my side. He gripped my hand, squeezing it as he pushed away a strand of hair from my face. I leaned into his touch, feeling my heart beat slow as my lungs filled with his scent. I wanted to be mad—I was still mad—but I needed him, I needed this.
“We’ll find her,” he whispered, pressing his lips to mine softly. “We can’t be everywhere or fix it all at once—all we can do is focus on one task at a time.”
“I just hope we’re not too late.”
“We still haven’t seen where they’re taking them, but we tracked a train from Cytos into the mountain range before we lost it,” Em said.
We were back in the large room housing Jayla and her team’s quarters. It was much bigger than the space they’d given the Marked kids. Separate sleeping quarters and a living room outfitted with plush couches and cushions to sit on. I couldn’t help feeling the slight sting of jealousy they were given this room, this beautiful space, while the Marked kids were crammed in a bunker holding twenty kids per room. I knew it wasn’t Jayla’s fault, they’d been given this place before we arrived, and we should be grateful we had a safe place to stay—yet I found myself realizing we were always the outcasts, always the forgotten and unwanted until we were needed.
I took in a deep breath, focusing back on the space and not my growing annoyance. The colors and smells of this place, jasmine mixed with the ocean, somehow reminded me of Ava. She’d always manage to comfort me, and I found the Sweepers’ Palace and the ocean nearby doing the same thing. Theo gripped my hand as we took a seat near the back.
Em was reporting on her and Logan’s last scouting mission. They’d gone out twice now. The first time they’d seen nothing. At least this time, they had a little more to go on, even if it wasn’t much.
