Chapter Forty-two

 

 

Star

 

I hate when people say I told you so, but at that moment, I felt like someone was saying it to me. We had the prisoners lined up behind us as we found the part of the wall behind the power generator which would lead us to the right tunnel. We were so close to getting home, but it meant the other ten people in the chamber would be sacrificed.

I didn’t like that. Not one bit. When the plan had been devised, I’d thought I would be okay with it, but now I had seen the faces of the people we were going to kill.

Clyde held out his hand for my cuff, which still held the explosive devices. I looked down at his palm, apprehension filling me like a flood. “I can’t do this, Clyde.”

He looked up, sweeping his eyes back and forth at me. “What are you talking about? We have to do this. Don’t you want to go home?”

I nodded. “Yes, but—”

“Then let’s go home, Star. I’m sick of this place, and I know you are too. Let’s go home.” He reached out, pulled me to his chest, and kissed the top of my head.

“I want to, but… I can’t kill them. They won’t even know what happened! What if they have families? Children? There has to be another way. I won’t be able to live with myself knowing I killed them.”

“Hey, Star.” He pulled back to look into my eyes. “You won’t be killing them. We’re collapsing the entrance to our tunnels so the Others can’t get any closer to the city.”

“But that means we’ll cut off the power. Same as killing them. It’s barbaric. When the pods stop functioning, they’ll die.”

Clyde sighed, glancing at Jacob and Baron, who remained in place, staring off into nothingness. I wondered if they had any thoughts inside those heads, or had the medicine suppressed more than their free will?

“I know, Star. But we have to do this. You came on this mission knowing we’d have to do this.”

I stepped away from him, nearly bumping into Baron. He wobbled a bit but stayed in one place. “I can’t believe this. You’ll do anything for the rebellion, won’t you? Even kill innocent people.”

“These people are far from innocent, that’s why they’re here.” Clyde groaned in frustration, running his hand through his hair, his complexion reddening. “Don’t jeopardize this for those who don’t deserve your sympathy, Star. It’s not worth wasting a thought on these people.”

“When did you get to be so heartless?” I asked.

His face darkened as he ripped his eyes away from me. “When did you ever care about people you don’t know?” He turned back to me, his blue eyes now like a stormy ocean. My heart stung at his words.

“I’m not that girl anymore,” I whispered.

“I don’t know who you are anymore, Star. We need to finish this. Now give me the cuff.” He held out his hand one more time, his patience waning.

I took a good, long look at his outstretched hand, a myriad of thoughts spinning in my mind. After what felt like forever, I shook my head.

“I—I don’t know you anymore either, but I won’t give you the cuff.”

“Dammit, Star! Don’t make me regret this.” Clyde closed the gap between us, grabbed my arm, and yanked the cuff off of it. I cried out as it scraped against my skin and left behind several angry, red scratches. I cradled it against my chest as tears sprung from my eyes. I was about to jump onto Clyde’s back as he fumbled with the cuff, unaccustomed to using its mechanisms, when someone stepped between us.

Baron’s brown eyes twinkled as he looked over his shoulder, bringing his restrained hands up to place a finger to his lips, hushing me. My eyes widened, confused. He was awake already? How long had we been fighting? Glancing at Jacob, I realized he was still lost in a stupor. Baron had somehow tugged the patch from his ear. There was no telling how long he’d been conscious, but by the very aware glimmer in his eyes, he’d seen and heard everything.

My mouth opened to warn Clyde, but I wasn’t fast enough. Baron used the gauntlets on his wrists to whack Clyde on the back of his head, sending him flying against the chamber wall and landing hard on the ground. I sucked in a deep breath, stunned at what had just happened.

Baron turned on the balls of his feet, just the standard-issue prison slippers on them. Facing me, his eyes dug into me like two daggers, flashing with something quite like madness. Now I wished I had read his file in more depth without assuming Gideon and Clyde knew everything about them and I wouldn’t need to. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

He took one step forward, enjoying my uncertain step back. “Who are you?” he asked, coming to a stop. His eyes narrowed as a spark of recognition flashed in his eyes. “Do I know you?”

I shook my head. “I—I’m… my name is Star.”

“I do know you. But… what happened to your hair? You said you hated the color red. Why’d you dye it back?”

My eyes widened. Was he insane? Studying him as we observed one another, I could tell he was as lucid as I was.

“I’m not… we’ve never met before,” I finally choked out.

He laughed, his smile broad, with a mouthful of white teeth. At least they weren’t pointed. He was tall and a bit lanky, but he looked friendly, like someone’s big brother, but I didn’t dare assume he was harmless. I may have been naïve, but I wasn’t that ignorant.

“Yeah, you don’t sound like the girl I know.”

“What was her name?” I asked, trying to keep him calm and answering questions as I took a tiny step back, hoping he didn’t notice. His eyes dropped to the ground at my feet. Oh, so he noticed everything. Not a good thing for me.

“Her name… she wanted to be called Alana. She said she wanted nothing to do with the name she was born with.”

“Oh, okay. Where is this… Alana?”

He shrugged, his smile diminishing as he thought about the girl. “I don’t know. I got caught robbing the treasury. I would’ve made it out if some crazy loon hadn’t walked in and hit the alarm before I killed him. I was so close, and then boom, it was over. I was put into that pod right over there, and that’s the last I know of anything.”

He looked around the room, as though finding it interesting. I felt my legs shake. I was stuck in the same room as a killer. Jacob remained out of it, and as Baron surveyed the room, he noticed the other man.

“Whoa, so why just two of us?” he flicked his eyes around the room once more, surely counting the pods before settling on me once more. I shrank under his stare, feeling a cold draft sweep across me as though he’d sent it my way.

I froze, unable to think of what to say.

“Oh, I know! You need me and this other guy for something special. Am I right? Some sort of a… mission? Right?” His charming smile returned, reaching his eyes and wrinkling the skin with crow’s feet. He must be older than he looks, I thought. That didn’t make him any less dangerous.

“Um, yes, but—” I began, but he stopped me.

“But… this isn’t going as you planned, is it, Star?” His face darkened again. With the smile still plastered on his face, it was frightening. He was an apex predator waiting for me to slip up and fall into his jaws. I had to keep it together if I was going to get out of this one alive. Clyde was badly hurt and probably hated me now. I didn’t even know what kind of monster Jacob was.

“We need to get back to the Glass Sky City. There were three of us tasked with retrieving you and the other guy. The rebellion needs your help. That’s all I know.”

He peeked over his shoulder then back to me. He loved to stare. It was unnerving.

“I guess things went askew, from what I see. Lover’s quarrel?” he questioned, an evil gleam on his face. I tried my best to not shudder.

“No. Clyde and I just had a disagreement about things, that’s all. I need to blast that wall to get out of here. Now let me do it, or we’ll be stuck here forever.”

He glanced past me. “What about using the front door, darling?”

I shook my head. “We can’t go that way.”

“Why not?” he snapped.

“Because… on that side, the tunnel that leads back to the Glass Sky is blocked. And the fae are out there, and monsters. Creatures who can rip us to pieces live in the dark.”

“You came from out there, did you not?”

I nodded.

“How did you survive these monsters?”

“I was escorted by a faerie lord to the edge of their domain. If we go back that way, it’ll lead right back to them. We wouldn’t survive without help.”

“I see.” He held up his hands, studying the gauntlets as though he’d just noticed them. “Take these off.” He looked at me over the metal, his eyes daring me to refuse him.

“No,” I retorted. If he thought I was that stupid, he had another thing coming.

Suddenly, he came rushing toward me, shoving me into the door behind us and knocking the air from my lungs. I gasped for breath as he held his hands to my throat.

“Take these things off!” he snarled. The veins in his temples popped out as his face reddened, the anger making him look like a monster too. I sucked in air, not able to really take a good breath as I struggled to unwrap his hands from my throat. If he wanted me dead, he would just have to squeeze. What was up with men slamming me around? My back was already bruised, and now it would be even worse come the morning. If I made it to another morning.

“Stop,” I mouthed, unable to create enough air movement to say the word. “Please stop!”

His face went slack as he continued to stare at me, his eyes widening as though he just realized what he was doing. Coming back to himself, he let me go, and I crumbled to the floor.

“How do I take these off, Star?”

I coughed and sputtered, still gasping for air. He waited patiently as I caught my breath. Once my lungs relaxed enough to breath more normally, I looked up at Baron with disdain. “I’ll never tell you.”

He glared at me, his upper lip twitching. It seemed like there were two people fighting for control inside of him, and his head jerked to the side, his eyes closing as he sucked in a breath, more than likely trying to calm his rage. There was a monster within him, as dark and twisted as a Rogue. I wasn’t sure which one I’d rather face. They were equally terrifying.

He turned around and paced the room, walking calmly down each row and looking at the pods with interest. He paused at the one with the girl in it, his eyes widening. I wondered if he’d known her, since she’d sparked his interest. Staring at the pod for a long moment, he ran his hand over the glass before placing his palm onto it and closing his eyes, breathing in a deep breath.

A moment later, he snapped his eyes open and turned my way, looking like he’d seen a ghost. Just as quickly, his shock morphed into rage.

“Open this pod. Now!”