The Last City Read online

  But there was movement in the darkness. I was sure of it. The only sounds were Jordan’s deep regular breaths, soft against my ear, indicating he soundly slept. And mine.

  “Don’t move,” Jordan barely whispered, during one long exhale. His words however, were barely there. And I had to wonder if he’d actually spoken, or if I’d only imagined it.

  I scanned as much of the room as I could see, from the corner of my eyes. I wasn’t sure if what I was sensing was only the remnants of a dream, or if there really was something or someone with us. And I didn’t want to wake Jordan unnecessarily, if he really was still asleep, and so, I waited, without moving, for anything to indicate otherwise.

  It was the gentlest of exhales on my other side, that sent that warning-fear through me.

  “Jordan,” I moaned, but at the same time he sat bolt upright, and pushed me behind him, as much as he could.

  I scrambled to get my feet beneath me, to be ready for whomever was in the room, but several hands grabbed me at once, holding first my arms and then my legs. I twisted and wrenched in their grip, but they were so much stronger, I could barely move.

  “Leave her alone!” Jordan roared at them.

  My vision in the darkness was limited as my eyes tried to adjust. All I could make out were numerous bodies, clashing and struggling. The sounds of fighting, of skin against skin, and bone against bone invaded my mind, and twisted my thoughts.

  “Jordan,” I called, but I was trapped. I couldn’t help him. “Light,” I commanded, but nothing happened.

  My mind reeled back to that moment with Grid and the ward, and I tried to ready myself for whatever may come.

  But when one of my captors was ripped from me, I found one arm had been freed and I swung it toward the coward holding my other. My fist however, connected with a solid wall of flesh, not even moving them. I swung again and again, but my hand was re-captured, and I was held in place once more.

  “No!” I screamed. Not again. Not again.

  “Lydia!” Jordan called. His voice was cut off, but I could still feel him struggling beside me.

  I couldn’t tell how many there were. It was a mass of bodies, converging around us, all of them silent. Not one of them said a word. And I realized they weren’t hurting me, they were only holding me down. But Jordan, I couldn’t see. I could only feel the fight he gave them.

  And then it stopped, almost as quickly as it had begun. I was released. And I was alone.

  “Jordan,” I whispered.

  But I knew he was gone.

  12

  Marked

  “Light,” I demanded again. This time it worked.

  Keep it together, I told myself. I couldn’t lose it now. It could have been worse.

  “It is worse!” I wanted to scream at myself, but my voice was weak and my words were barely a whimper. They took him!

  He wasn’t in the room. I couldn’t sense him. I couldn’t feel him.

  I jumped from the bed, scanning the room one more time, before running through the cottage. But I knew I wouldn’t find him. I hurriedly dressed, forcing my hands to still themselves, and then ran down the path toward Tira-Mi.

  Lena! I screamed inside, hoping she was awake.

  “Help me!” I called, this time out loud, but my voice failed to reach an audible volume.

  “Somebody!” I tried again as I approached the nearest houses.

  I banged my fists against the first door I came upon, but there was no response. I tried the next and the next, but the town was quiet. There was no one there. The houses remained dark.

  My next thought was for Rebecca, and I ran to her cottage. What if they’d taken Hammond? What if they’d done to them as they’d done to us? She would be scared out of her mind.

  I hammered at his door, until a light finally bled through the window, and the door was yanked open.

  “Lydia,” it was Hammond. He was safe. “What’s wrong?”

  He pulled me inside, and the words stumbled out of my mouth as I tried to explain what had happened.

  “I’ll come with you!” He began to leave the room, no doubt to change out of his pajamas, but I stopped him.

  What if Mason had brought the Guardian back? What if the wards were back, all of them, taking everyone in their sleep? It would make sense that Hammond and Rebecca wouldn’t be touched, they’d already been inserted. But then why leave me? And the image of the ward rose in my mind. He could be playing with me, tormenting me, following me, waiting for that moment at the height of his amusement to bring me down.

  I tried to sense Jordan again, and this time I could feel him. It was faint. All he could see, or from what I could sense, was darkness. He was angry, confused, and I felt his soul reach out to me in response to my call. But then it stopped. He was gone again.

  “No,” I urged Hammond to stay. “I don’t know what is going on. You need to stay here with Rebecca. Hide her if you can. Keep her safe.” And I ran from them.

  If this was the Guardian, and the ward, he would not have me.

  I ran through the winding streets, yelling for anyone to hear me, but there was no response. There was only the endless night.

  Giving up any hope of finding anyone else in Tira-Mi, I stopped and closed my eyes. I focused everything I had upon him. And I felt him once more. This time though, he was near, I was sure of it. And this time, he was in pain. The sense of him flowed through me in waves. Pain. Anger. And his concern for me. I was sure he could feel me too.

  It had to be the wards. Only they and the Guardian had wanted to hurt Jordan once before in the city, but he had escaped them.

  And knowing what they could do, what the Guardian was capable of, sent a chill down my spine.

  Calmly, slowly, I stepped out of the middle of the path, and hopefully out of anyone’s sight.

  His pain was decreasing, or perhaps he was just getting used to it. I had to find him.

  I made my way back through the town, sticking close to the walls of the cottages, concealing myself behind trees and bushes, watching for any sign of movement. My head turned with the will of the wind. Every shadowy movement leapt toward me, as I expected the ward to be hidden amongst it. My progress was slow, until I made it to the edge of the town. I had no choice then, but to follow the trail to the stadium, exposed in the night.

  It was hard to stay focused with Jordan’s soul calling to me, reaching for me. I tried to suppress the fear that pounded my heart almost out of my chest. And with every step, I evened out my breathing. I focused upon reaching that warrior sanctity. I didn’t want him to worry for me. He needed to focus upon saving himself, in case I couldn’t find help. And I almost closed myself off to him, but I didn’t want him to worry further.

  Upon reaching the stadium, I ran the length of the corridor toward the cubicles and changed into my warrior suit. My first thought was for the added protection and speed the suit would provide me, but once I was in it, I figured flying would be faster, and perhaps safer. I was quite sure the ward couldn’t fly.

  I initially wanted to reach the Colony, hoping to find Aleric, Haize, Mya, or any other Rathe that could help, but I decided against stopping there. If the ward was watching me, I didn’t want to lead him in their direction. But if it was the wards, the Colony would have been their first stop anyway. And so instead, I headed straight for the city.

  Upon landing, I concealed myself amongst the shadows, beside the first of the houses that met the trees at the city’s edge. Then closing my eyes, I tried with all I had to sense Jordan, hoping the Central Unit would help me find my way to him, once more. But nothing came to me. I needed to find Mason. I was sure he would be able to locate Jordan. However, my skin crawled at the thought of entering the Spire building at night. And the Spire was most likely where I was expected to go.

  I had only one place left. I didn’t want to disturb them, but I needed Grid’s help. And I carved a slow and stealthy path to his and Gia’s house in
the city.

  When he opened the door, a range of emotions flew across his face in less time than it took him to offer a greeting. At first, he was happy to see me. Then confused, no doubt at the time of my visit. And then concern crossed his face as he took in my condition.

  “What’s wrong?” Gia asked, pulling me into the room.

  I clutched at her hands as the words tumbled out of me. “They took him. I don’t know who they were. They attacked us in our sleep, and I can’t find anyone in Tira-Mi. They’re all gone. It’s the wards, I know it.”

  I heard Grid mumble through a groan as he wrapped a blanket around my shoulders, but I couldn’t make out his words.

  “I felt him. Their hurting him, Grid…”

  “Sit,” he commanded, as he pushed me toward a wide, soft couch.

  I did and he left me momentarily. Gia sat beside me, still holding my hands. But as Grid returned, I could tell from the glances they gave one another, that they were wordlessly communicating.

  He handed me one of his tubes of fluid, and told me to drink. My hands were shaking so badly I nearly spilled the liquid as I brought it to my mouth, but I managed to down most of it.

  And to my throat’s unpleasant surprise, I discovered it was the very thing I didn’t need in that moment.

  “Grid,” I groaned, as I felt the numbing effects of Aleric’s alcohol, begin to take over. That was several unsuspecting swallows. I normally wouldn’t need half that much. “Why?”

  “Just trust me. You know I would never hurt you, and he will be ok,” he said.

  Gia rose from the couch, taking the tube from me before I spilled its remaining contents, as Grid gently pushed me back, forcing me to lay down. He then placed another blanket over me.

  I shouldn’t have come here, I thought over and over. Grid was a ward. Gia could have been as well, for all I knew. What was I thinking!

  And I was losing Jordan. He was slipping away from me. I had to get up. I had to help him.

  But it was too late. My eyes closed of their own accord and they weren’t reopening. At least, not anytime soon.

  ∞

  “Lydia,” I felt him stroking my hair. His voice was soft, gentle, concerned. His soul wrapped around me, pulling me to him.

  He was safe.

  The moment I opened my eyes, Jordan pushed a tube into my hand and told me to drink. It was blue this time. One of Grids. I made sure to check it. And drink I did.

  Though with the removal of the headache, the memories returned in full force.

  I pushed myself up to a sitting position, and wrapped my arms around him.

  He was safe, I thought again. But he was different. I just couldn’t see it yet.

  I pulled away from him, just enough to take him in, only to see a small group behind him, all standing in Grid’s living room. I looked about in search of my hosts. Gia wasn’t in the room with us, but I found Grid standing several paces away, glaring at them all.

  I looked back at Jordan, trying to determine what it was that I’d initially sensed or seen, that was different about him, and as I looked from him to them, I gasped and slowly rose from the couch. He rose with me, capturing both of my hands.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t know.”

  I believed him. His soul indicated both his honesty and his concern for me.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, and tried to release my hands, but he held on tight, and I glanced down at his fingers trying to entwine with mine. He was dressed like them, in black warrior clothing, exposing his show of muscle and power. But that wasn’t what gave me pause, for what followed caused me to regret every complaint I’d ever had about his pure white, city clothes. Slowly, I lifted my gaze, taking the rest of him in as I went. His arms were covered in similar markings as theirs. A black swirl that slashed and danced its way over his muscles, across his shoulders, around his neck, and over his jaw.

  I didn’t know how to react. I was overwhelmingly relieved to know that it hadn’t been the wards. They hadn’t taken him, tortured him, inserted him. My nemesis hadn’t been chasing me. But at the same time, disbelief began to rage through me. They’d done this. They were the ones who’d filled me with fear, who’d hurt him, who’d attacked us in the middle of the night.

  They however, only smiled, all of them, as though there was nothing wrong.

  Movement beside me, pulled my focus from them, and I caught Grid pacing that small space beside the couch. After what I’d explained to him the night before, and knowing all too well what I’d gone through with him and the ward in the Colony, he was worried, and rightly so.

  “I’m so sorry about last night,” Jordan whispered again. “I had no idea what was happening, or who it was until after they’d marked me and released me.

  I couldn’t respond. His words once more, brought the memories of last night to the forefront of my mind; of my fear of the absolute worst happening; of my memory of the ward and a repeat attack.

  “Lydia,” he cupped my face in his hands. “Say something.”

  I looked behind him. To Lena, Seph, Phaedra, and several others I chose not to acknowledge. This was all some sick game to them. Jordan’s violent initiation into their level ten club, no matter who it hurt. And as they read my thoughts, violating my privacy, their smiles disappeared, one at a time.

  “Lydia,” Grid tried to speak to me, but I glanced across at him, silencing him too. I was too angry to talk.

  What they did may have been normal for them on their planet. Perhaps it was a well-known subject, much talked about. Much anticipated even. But we’d had no warning. This was not ok with me.

  I had to get out of that room before I said things I was sure I would later regret.

  I freed my hands, and pushed through the crowd. But I stopped at the door.

  “Lydia,” Lena began as though annoyed at my reaction, but I didn’t want to hear anything she had to say, and I rose my voice to speak over hers.

  “Someone needs to check on Hammond and Rebecca. I may have scared them senseless last night,” I said. And without looking back, I left the house.

  I stalked down one lane-way after another, not knowing where I was going. Not really caring, but as I went I felt an intense sense of guilt well up within me, and it stopped me dead in the street. It wasn’t Jordan’s fault. I shouldn’t have walked away from him. Not him. And I wished he’d followed me out. He’d suffered as well, last night. Perhaps more so. We should have left together.

  I needed him with me, his arms around me, his voice in my ear. And I almost turned back, but my feet had a mind of their own, and I resumed my forward momentum.

  After some time though, I realized I had no idea where I was. I needed a destination, and decided upon the Spire. Following the angles of the streets, I soon found the white steps leading into that grand central building. Then down one corridor after another, I stopped when I came across people.

  “Lydia!” Ani ran to me, capturing my hands. At first, she was happy to see me, but then her smile dropped in concern. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

  I’m sure she was reacting to my tear-streaked face. I hadn’t even thought to clean myself up before entering.

  “Mason,” was all the response I could give her.

  “He’s in his room. I’ll take you.”

  She firmly clasped one of my hands in hers and pulled me down one hallway after another. When she didn’t question further, I figured she had the same mind-reading abilities as everyone else in that place.

  “Mason,” she said softly, as we entered his room, and he looked up in response.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, but I knew he wouldn’t need me to answer. I stood there and let him read me. Every thought, every emotion, everything that had happened since yesterday.

  He sighed and pulled me to him, holding me for the longest time.

  “I’m sorry. They should have warned you.”

  He led me to the
small, side table, and requested two cups of tea from his modest counter in the wall beside it.

  “Have you eaten?” he asked me.

  I shook my head, and he produced a bowl of chicken soup. My grandmother’s recipe. And I wondered how much of me and my memories he’d delved into.

  “Sorry,” he said, reading me again. “Whenever you thought of her, there was almost always chicken-something somewhere in your thoughts, and I felt a need to try this one.”

  I smiled at his honesty. Glad at least, for him. He would not keep information from me.

  “Not entirely true,” he said, responding to my thought. “But we’re still analyzing the information.”

  “Who?” I asked. “What information?”

  “Aleric,” he answered, ignoring my second question.

  “How is he? I saw him at the Arena. He looked burned.”

  “He’s fine. He’ll be here later, if you want to stay, keep me company. I could use a break.”

  I thought about it. As much as I would love to hide out amongst his work, I couldn’t stay. I needed to see Jordan.

  “Don’t blame him for this. He didn’t know it was coming. I’d never discussed it with him and he never asked. And besides they shouldn’t have marked him.”

  “Why not?”

  “He won’t fight the way they want him to.”

  “He won’t, or he can’t?”

  He smiled at me before continuing. “He’s already proven he can. But he won’t. I first started taking him to the Arena to keep him busy, to teach him how to fight, should he ever need it. But when he connected with you, you became his reason for everything. He won’t fight the way they want him to, because his reason for fighting is to protect you. He won’t follow them.”

  “How come they never marked you?” I asked, staring at his arms.

  “They did,” he responded with a groan, and I wondered how painful of an experience the warriors had made it.

  He removed his shirt and stretched out his arms toward me.

  But there were no marks on his skin, not even scars. Just muscle. And I involuntarily smiled at his physique.