Before the Raging Lion Page 6

  I ignore Alexander as he rants at me, cursing and spewing venomous hate. I ignore him as his fist connects with my face, as he yells at me to fight him, to fight back.

  “Fight me, Josh! Fight back!”

  He wants me to try to kill him. He wants to know that he’s the strongest. He wants me to try and fail.

  But I won’t. I won’t fail.

  I collapse to the ground as Alexander continues to hit me, straddling me, his fists slamming into my face and neck and chest over and over, the wounds healing just as fast.

  He screams. “It was mine! It was meant for me!”

  Alexander beats me into a pulp, my blood staining the grass, splattering the dirt, splattering the tree as I break and heal, break and heal.

  There’s no pain when the lion reaches me and lowers its head to mine. It nuzzles my cheek, its fur soft against my skin.

  “I’ll save her,” I promise.

  The lion roars.

  I know I’ll see it again soon.

  Chapter Eight

  Ava, now

  I COULDN’T kill him. But I wouldn’t let the children stay in this place. My flame creatures roared down on the guards, forcing them up against the walls.

  I screamed. “Run, children! Run!”

  Behind me, the children lurched to their feet and scrambled to the edge of the water, wading into it.

  If I couldn’t kill Alexander, then I would restrain him long enough for the children to swim to safety. One of my shadows split from me and wound around his body, tethering him to the spot. Another ran with the children, diving to the bottom of the pool and burning through the concealed opening in the bottom of it, swimming down and beyond as they followed.

  My flame creatures snapped at the guards as they tried to stop the children. I waited only long enough for the last child to dive into the deep. My third shadow swam after them, making sure they swam as deep as they needed to reach the bend in the pipe before swimming up into the river outside.

  A moment of fear pierced me as my shadows travelled further away from me than they ever had before—what if they couldn’t get back? I shoved the doubt away. My safety was not important right then.

  I would never let those children live in this place again.

  Behind me, my flame creatures exploded, energy crackling from them to the guards, striking where their hearts glowed. The men and women dropped to the ground and stopped moving. Above us, cracks formed in the ceiling. I’d walked down enough staircases to know it would take more than that to bring the whole place down.

  Alexander didn’t even struggle as my first shadow pinned him. He stared back at me with pure challenge in his eyes.

  He wanted me to try. He wanted me to fail.

  I gathered everything inside me, every part of hate and love, every moment of sun on my cheeks, wind in my hair, every time I’d raced through the ice, pushed through the snow, every memory of fighting with bears and leaping from cliff faces—I gathered everything I had inside me and I pushed.

  His heart glow flickered. Paused.

  It was only for a moment, but the certainty slipped from his face. “You can’t kill me.”

  I leaned in to him, anger swirling inside me. “Are you sure about that?”

  Alexander wrenched away from me, forcing his way out of my shadow’s grip, shouting for Aaron. “Shoot her! Do it now!”

  Aaron wrestled with his weapon, untangling himself from Sarah, but for a moment his eyes flickered to the place where the children had been.

  They were all gone now and my connection with my shadows told me that the first of them had just swum to the surface of the river, coughing and spluttering. My shadows were whispering to them to swim north, stay out of sight, and follow the river to Starsgard where they would be free.

  Aaron slid up to his knees and raised his dart gun. Sarah half-leaned on him and half on the wall. I was fast enough to get to Aaron before he shot me. I could kill him in self-defense as surely as I’d defended myself against his brother. But the way he’d checked that the children were safe first … the realization that he wanted them to escape…

  It was enough to make me hesitate.

  He pulled the trigger.

  The dart struck my torso, shooting its poison right into my heart. A scream worked its way up into my mouth. Behind me, my shadows howled like ghosts as they sped back to me, dripping and sloshing, thumping into me hard as I fell to the ground.

  I struggled to breathe, gagging, clutching my stomach as pain from the poison tore through me.

  Alexander’s shadow dropped me into darkness. “Very clever, Ava, but you’ll never pull a stunt like that again.”

  I drew a breath, my voice hissing out. “Listen to me very carefully, old man. I will never do what you want. Never.”

  “We’ll see about that. Where is it?” His voice grew to a shout. “Where’s the other pearl?”

  He pushed and shoved at me. I’d slipped the other ball of nectar into my pocket and it didn’t take him long to find it. He pulled it out with a snarl. Then he pitched it into the pond.

  There was a plink as it hit the surface and sank from view.

  Alexander’s breath heaved over my face, but his anger faltered. He stared at his hand and over at the pond. “Look what you made me do!”

  I gasped, trying to speak against the agonizing pain rocking my body. “No more easy nectar … to kill people.”

  “Never mind, I have a whole branch.” He took hold of my hair and pulled me half upward.

  I blinked through the pain and calculated a punch, my fist connecting with his chin. I didn’t have the strength of nectar anymore, but the defensive skills my brothers had taught me were just as effective without it. On reflex, Alexander let go of my hair, lurching backward as I fell. I knocked the side of my head against the ground, crying out in pain.

  Alexander launched himself at me before I could get to my feet. Normally, I’d be faster—even without nectar. But the poison had made me so sick that after that one surge of adrenaline had allowed me to hit back, I had nothing left.

  I didn’t even have the strength to scream my frustration as Alexander thumped me against the dirt, driving the air out of my lungs. More pain exploded throughout my body, but instead of making me scared, it made me mad. I struggled to inhale while he remained on top of me, pressing me down.

  He said, “You’re mine.”

  I had enough breath to whisper. “No.”

  He grabbed my face with his free hand, forcing me to look at him. “You will obey me.”

  Air slipped into my lungs and I knew I needed to make it count. “You’re not so scary without the lion skin. You’re just a man. A man who can be beaten. Just like Naomi beat you.”

  My words hit the mark. Color flooded to his cheeks.

  Naomi had thrown herself in front of Snowboy. She’d taken the mortality bullets that Alexander had meant for him. She’d stopped Alexander from killing one of my mortal brothers. It wasn’t the first time she’d tried to keep Alexander from something he wanted. The Starsgardian Councilor, Ruth, had told me a story about when Naomi was a girl in Seversand, about how she’d tried to stop a man from killing a lion for its skin. That man was Alexander, I was sure of it, and his next words confirmed my suspicion.

  “It was my kill. My lion. My skin to take.”

  I demanded. “How old are you?”

  He frowned. “Why do you ask with so much accusation?”

  “Because someone as old as you should know better.”

  He smiled, his words a breathy whisper. “Oh, you remind me of Mother. She was always making judgments. Now I’m the one who gets to judge.”

  He turned from me to speak to Mr. Bradley. “Robert, get the tank.”

  There was a pause, and when Michael’s father spoke, his voice was laced with shock. “But … she’s not strong enough. She won’t survive…”

  Alexander spat. “Don’t question me. Bring the tank. She’ll soon understand the consequences of disobe
ying me.”

  Mr. Bradley shook his head, frowning hard as he disappeared into one of the openings at the side of the cavern. Aaron slid down the wall next to Sarah, keeping her face turned away. I wondered what would be so awful that he didn’t want her to see.

  Within minutes, a large, rectangular object floated through the opening. It was taller and wider than a person with a metallic coating around its base and some sort of drone positioned on top, flying it slowly forward, holding it above the ground. The sides of the tank were clear and it was full of translucent liquid.

  The shape of the drone reminded me of a beetle because long tethers extended from it, attached down each corner of the box keeping it securely afloat—but the drone’s main body was squat and more tethers coiled and writhed on top like an octopus.

  I shuddered as Mr. Bradley guided the tank toward me, his expression closed and unreadable. The tank stopped moving in the center of the cavern, waiting.

  Alexander held out his hand and Mr. Bradley placed a pair of translucent glasses onto his palm. Alexander attached them to his face and they suctioned on, conforming to the contours of his cheekbones and forehead, imperceptible other than the sheen of film across his eyes.

  He took my hair in his hands once more and his grip was hard enough that I wished I’d shaved my head like my brothers did.

  His expression was hard as granite. “Will you obey me?”

  Anger flared even though I had no strength to sustain it. “No.”

  His dreadlocks fell over his face as Alexander pulled back, but instead of releasing me, he dragged me with him. Pain exploded through my scalp and I barely heard Mr. Bradley over the sound of my scream.

  “Don’t do this!” Robert Bradley positioned himself in front of the tank, blocking it. “There’s no oxygen connected!”

  Alexander’s response was a low growl. “She’ll know how much she needs me.”

  He dropped me beside the tank. Mr. Bradley’s expression was more concerned than I’d ever seen it. He knelt down to me, examining my scalp and clicking his tongue at the blood dripping down it. “You took a big risk, Ava. Now you’ll need to take a deep breath.”

  The relief I felt at Alexander letting go of my hair was quickly replaced by growing dread. He pulled his dreadlocks back from his face and tied them. Then he towered over me, his fingers twitching at his sides and I guessed he was signaling the drone.

  A chill rode my spine.

  The octopus slid to the edge and returned my stare. Its eyes were glassy and cold. While the tethers holding onto the tank remained where they were, its free tentacles shot downward, wrapping around my body, crushing my arms and legs inward, dragging me upward. Suction cups all along its legs kept me from pulling free. It lifted me higher and higher, until I dangled directly above an opening in the top of the tank.

  Liquid sloshed below me. I took a deep breath just like Mr. Bradley said. The octopus slid me inside the tank, feet first.

  Into watery silence.

  The box was tall enough that my feet touched the bottom with a full foot of water above me. The entry of my body into the tank had forced water up and out of the opening. The octopus quickly slid over it again, sealing me in. I wondered if there was a sliver of air left at the top—whether I could swim upward to breathe.

  For a moment, I was transported back to the time when Michael and I had plummeted into the river to avoid the guns of Bashers and Hazards alike. Michael had pulled me along under the water for such a long time that I’d nearly blacked out.

  My eyes burned and I squeezed them shut. Hot tears mingled with the lukewarm water. I missed him. It was such a simple emotion at such a complicated time, but I missed his smile.

  I pushed through my tears to press against the front of the tank. Outside, Alexander stood firm, waiting for me to make a decision: would I choose to drown or obey him?

  I shook my head at him, my hair swirling in the water. The movement caused ribbons of blood to curl around my face. My scalp was still bleeding from where he’d ripped my hair.

  The first bubbles escaped my mouth before I could stop them. I had only a few more moments of air.

  Don’t let them break you.

  Josh’s dying words rang in my ears. Ever since he’d spoken them, I’d lived by those words, forging my own way, never giving in, fighting for my freedom with every breath I had. Every single breath. And then I remembered what Mr. Bradley had said: sometimes the best thing you can do is bend.

  Bend, instead of break.

  I could swim to the top of the tank and thrash against the creature plugging the opening. Or … I could deprive Alexander of his prize. It was an enormous risk but I was about to find out how much Alexander wanted me alive.

  I swam to the front of the box again and let out all my air in big, visible bubbles. Then, I curled downward with the top of my head nearest to the front.

  Alexander stepped toward Mr. Bradley. I couldn’t hear what he said. My power of hearing was gone along with my ability to heal and survive. I needed to convince him how far I’d go to thwart his plans for me.

  I lifted my legs and placed my soles flat against the back of the box, my arms outstretched on either side for leverage. With as much effort as I could manage, I forced my head forward against the tank. The water resisted against me, but I managed enough speed to connect with a thud.

  I did it again, pain striking through the wound in my scalp. Blood swirled in the water. Enough blood to be a problem if he wanted me alive. The movement outside the box turned frantic.

  Light opened above me. The octopus’s legs darted down to curl around my torso. I thrashed against them, clawing at the walls, trying to stay under to prove my point—I would always fight him—as everything turned black around me.

  I had to inhale.

  The creature zoomed upward and my lips opened into air. I breathed again, dangling once more in the air above the water. But this time, I’d splashed out enough water on my exit that there wouldn’t be enough in the box to seal it completely. If he dunked me again, I’d have an inch or so to breathe. If I had to do it over and over again, I would.

  Alexander lost his calm. “Will you obey me?”

  I exhaled a scream. “No!”

  Mr. Bradley turned to Alexander. “She knows we need her alive. She won’t break.” His words became quiet. “She’s as strong as her brother.”

  I gasped to hear his words. Mr. Bradley had been a big part of my brother’s life before he died. A part that I’d never known about until it was too late. If I made it out of this, I was going to make him tell me everything he knew about Josh.

  I yelled. “I will never do anything you want me to do!”

  Thunderous anger filled Alexander’s expression. I worried that I’d pushed him too far. What I’d learned about him was that he was quick to surrender to his fears and even quicker to give in to anger. I needed to use that knowledge to my advantage, but I couldn’t push him too far, too soon.

  His lips twisted into a cruel line. He wasn’t giving in.

  The octopus lowered me again. The water touched my toes.

  I was going back in and this time, I didn’t know if I’d ever come out.

  Chapter Nine

  JUST AS MY calves slid into the water, a man strode out from the dark staircase. “Stop!”

  President Olander was taller in person than I’d expected. He was a thin man and his face held sharp intellect, not the brutal intelligence that Alexander displayed, but more calculating, patient, the kind that waits to strike.

  He wasn’t alone. A swarm of soldiers filed into the space behind him along with a dozen drones—beetles and wasps. These soldiers didn’t wear the Basher uniform, but the new uniform of the united Hazards and Bashers—a deep green with a blue slash across the chest like the Evereach flag.

  Olander said, “Get her out of there right now. You were supposed to bring her to me first.”

  Alexander left me dangling in the water. “Don’t forget our deal. I
stepped aside for you, and the girl is mine.”

  “Alexander, I haven’t forgotten, but you must keep things in perspective. Obviously, we can’t make use of her if she’s dead.”

  The President pierced me with his unwavering gaze. “I believe she knows that.” Then he frowned, tilting his head. “Why is it so quiet? Where are the children?”

  I kicked my feet forward as the octopus lowered me to the ground. “Not here.”

  Irritation washed across his face, but he shook it off. “We’ll get them back. Take her to the Terminal. Get her ready. I want her presentable by the morning.”

  Even though my feet were on the ground, the drone didn’t release me. Instead, it wrapped me up and pulled me along in the air like a package.

  “Robert, you will oversee her preparations. And Alexander…” Olander half turned in the doorway as the drone floated me behind him. “Don’t worry. You’ll have your prize in good time.”

  Mr. Bradley followed us and I was too sick to protest as the drone carried me toward the door, but there was a scuffle behind me. Alexander had grabbed Sarah and was trying to pull her back toward the cells. She was crying and Aaron was trying to stop him. “No, leave her alone!”

  Alexander hit Aaron square in the face. “Or what, boy? What will you do?”

  He grabbed Sarah and hauled her through the dirt.

  “Stop!” I kicked out, connecting with the door so I could fight the drone’s pull. “President Olander! Let Sarah come with me.”

  The President stared at me. “Sarah Watson belongs in here. That way her mother toes the line. She stays.”

  I kicked again, clawing with my hands, knocking into the nearest soldier. “Let her come with me and I won’t fight you.”

  He leaned in close as I kicked again, upsetting the drone even more. He didn’t seem to care that I might kick him too. “I don’t think you’re in any position to bargain.”

  I opened my mouth to retort, but Mr. Bradley interjected. “If I may, Mr. President.” He flipped my wet hair from my damaged scalp, revealing the wound. “She did this to herself. To put it bluntly, Ava Holland is willing to die to defeat us. It would make things a lot easier if she comes willingly.”