Alive Like Us Page 16

  She considered Kai’s offer, staring up at the heavy, stone-gray sky that seemed to press down on her. A sharp wind cut through her coat, carry with a few stray snowflakes. Others drifted down in fat clumps. The main street was quiet for a Monday evening. Too quiet.

  Alarm sizzled up her nerves. They weren’t alone.

  “Something’s wrong,” she whispered as the snowfall thickened into a white curtain. A sharp yelp pierced the silence.

  “Frankie!” Kai said.

  “Wait—” Sanna reached for him, but it was too late. He’d already sprinted towards the sound. Sanna followed, dread twisting her stomach into knots. She had to stop him before he walked right into a trap. The wind picked up, stirring the snow into white haze. She squinted, her face burning from the cold, and kept going. She smacked into something solid, her nose buzzing from the impact, and landed hard on her butt.

  “Are you okay?” Kai asked, appearing beside her.

  “I’m fine—" her words ended in a gasp as a gloved hand shot out from the white. It clamped around her bicep and hauled her up.

  “Move,” Raj shoved her to the side. He was dressed entirely in black, complete with lines of red paint streaking across his face.

  He was dressed for war.

  More footsteps crunched through the snow, surrounding them. There had to be at least six other people—but were these soldiers or something else?

  “Kai Merrick, you’re under arrest.” The Lieutenant appeared next to Raj.

  “For what reason?” she demanded

  Ivan stepped into view. Dark lines ran across half his face like claw marks, including what was left of his missing eye. All of his usual jolliness had disappeared, and the man beneath might have been carved from granite. “He’s Inferno, Sanna. We found the old warrant.”

  Her stomach dropped to her knees. She turned to Kai. “Is that true?”

  His jaw muscle ticked. “It was the only way to survive after I was exiled.”

  “And how many innocent people have you killed in the name of your survival?” Raj sauntered forward, one hand resting on the hilt of his sword. “The warrant for you says ten by an act of arson, but that’s quite outdated, hmm? I’m sure the body count has risen in the last seven years.”

  “He’s not lying, love,” Ivan said as he passed Sanna a piece of frail, yellowed paper. The artist hadn’t captured the dark magic of Kai’s eyes, but it was unmistakably him, down to his slightly hooked nose and quirk of his lips. His jaw had been rounder then, caught between a child’s and an adult. Beneath the sketch the artist had scrawled; Member of Inferno Gang. Name Unknown. Wanted, Dead or Alive, for the Arson Deaths of Ten Souls at Broken Creek. He was listed as twelve years old.

  “Twelve?” Sanna whispered. That seemed so young for such a terrible crime.

  “It was an accident,” Kai said, quickly, “I didn’t want anyone to get hurt.”

  “Ha!” Raj barked. “You blocked the doors so no one could escape, and then you barbecued you.”

  “No, that wasn’t me. Hayes did that. I thought I was burning down an empty building.”

  “He saved my life,” Sanna said to the Lieutenant. “Please, that has to count for something. Why don’t we just let him go?”

  “So he can tell all his flame-throwing friends hiding in the forest where our armory is?” Raj said, his voice rising with each word. “How many guns we don’t have? If we let him escape, we’re basically handing the Inferno a manual for taking over our town!”

  Ivan’s frown deepened. “Raj is right. There’s only one way this ends.”

  “That’s not true,” Sanna said, her voice taking on a pleading edge. “Please, Dad. We don’t have to do this—” she spotted the Lieutenant raising his hand, his thumb and finger pressed together. She gave Kai shove. “Run! Now!”

  It was too late. The Lieutenant snapped his fingers, and a dozen soldiers materialized from the glittering haze of snow, surrounding them. The hunt was over before it even begun.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Ivan wrapped Sanna in a bear hug, taking her by surprise as the soldiers closed in around Kai, their faces covered with black bandanas. Sanna dropped to the ground, wresting free of her father’s grasp, and lunged towards them. Her fist cracked into a lanky teenager who might have been Simon. He crumpled to the ground. She tackled another, and his groan was sickeningly familiar while Kai fought off the others in a separate battle to her left. She grabbed the soldier’s wrist, slamming it onto the ice-rutted road. He dropped his sword and she grabbed it, her blood singing with adrenalin.

  “Control your her, Ivan!” Raj ordered from the edge of the melee. “Or she’ll share a cell with that filth.”

  “Sanna!” Pain knifed her skull. Someone had clawed her hair and was pulling her off her prey. “That’s enough. Drop it!”

  Sanna whipped around, ready to tear out the throat of whoever dared touch her. Then the red mist clouding her vision cleared. It was her father. Standing before her, his craggy face screwed into a rictus of shock.

  She stumbled back, her sword clattering to ground. She could’ve killed him. Easy.

  “Do you need help there, Ivan?” Raj asked, stepping forward. One gripped Frankie’s leather lead, and the dog skulked near his ankles.

  “No,” Ivan grabbed hold of her wrist and twisted her around, torqueing one arm behind her at an impossible angle. She crumpled, trying to escape the sudden agony. Ivan pulled her from the fight, and soon the snow had shrouded them all.

  “You can’t do this, Dad. It isn’t right,” Sanna said, when they were alone. “He saved my life.”

  “And what of the lives he took, girl? Don’t they matter?”

  “He was twelve!”

  “The same age I joined New Hope’s militia, where I would’ve been judged as a man for any crimes I committed,” Ivan said. “It’s justice, girl.”

  “Why does our justice always end in someone dying?. Just because he has a warrant doesn’t mean we have to be the ones who bring him in.”

  Frankie yelped, as if being kicked. Men shouted. Metal clanged. Flesh thudded against flesh. Someone grunted as if the air had been knocked from his body.

  “This isn’t right!” Sanna thrashed, kicking the sky as he lifted her in his steely embrace. “Let me go!”

  “Use your head, girl,” Ivan whispered into her ear. “You’re outnumbered.”

  He was right. Sanna knew it with a sudden clarity. There was no winning against Raj’s men. Kai would be taken to the dungeon, and there was nothing she could do about it. At least at the moment. She complied, letting her father lead her down the street like a hobbled horse. Curtains flicked open as they passed and Sanna knew it would a long time before she lived this moment down.

  “Go on,” Ivan said, releasing her at the base of their porch’s steps.

  Sanna opened the door and crossed the threshold, suddenly remembering the blood test and the questions it posed. On the other side of the darkened living room, yellowish light from the kitchen spilled onto the floorboards. Anne and Haven were framed by the arched entryway, sitting solemnly at the table Ivan had built so long ago. Bowls of porridge were set out before them. Dinnertime.

  Sanna approached them, clutching her throbbing arm to her chest. As she neared, she noted the many fine wrinkles etched around Anne’s mouth and eyes. Kai’s right. She’s are older than I realized. “They’ve arrested Kai,” Sanna said, crisply.

  “I know,” Anne said, wrapping her hands around the steaming mug of tea in front of her. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I know you liked him. Come and eat.”

  “I’m not hungry.”

  Anne glanced at Sanna’s aching arm. “What happened?”

  “Nothing.”

  “She was going to throw her life away for that Outsider, that’s what. Fighting her own people,” Ivan walked around her to take a seat beside Anne. The chair creaked beneath him. “It’ll take some of your sweet talking to smooth things over with Raj, love. Ah, what a damn mess this all tu
rned out to be.”

  Anne sighed. “I guess it’s a good thing you raised alarm when you did, dear,” she offered Haven a small smile, who sank deeper in her chair. “Who knows what that Inferno trash had in store for us.”

  “You told him?” Sanna stalked closer to Haven. “After what he did for us?”

  “I tried to warn you about him this afternoon. You wouldn’t listen.”

  “He saved our lives!” Sanna slammed her hands on the table. The china rattled, tea sloshing onto the worn word. “Dosen’t anyone care?”

  “I’m was looking out for you.”

  “I wish you wouldn’t.”

  “Stop it!” Anne said. “Just—stop it, both of you. We can’t let that boy tear us apart. We’re a family.”

  “Are we?” Sanna spun to her, the fury building. “How old are you?”

  “How old are you?” Sanna spun to her, the fury inside her building.

  Anne blinked, taken aback. “Sixty-eight.”

  “That would make me a miracle, wouldn’t it?” Sanna continued, her nails digging into the wood. “I mean—with fertility rates as low as they are now, what are the chances of you having a baby at fifty? I bet you got a parade and everything.”

  “Silence!” Ivan roared, spraying porridge across the table.

  “Theo’s back. He’s doctor now, and he tested my blood—”

  Anne sucked in a sharp breath. “Why?”

  “Kai was right,” Sanna whispered, the enormity of the moment hitting her. “You already knew, didn’t you? I bet you all three of you did.” The faces of the people she loved, the people she trusted morphed into strangers. Her gaze settled on Anne and Ivan. “And you’re not my parents, either.”

  Ivan’s lone eye bugged, his spoon clattering to the table. “Now wait a minute—”

  “That’s not true,” Anne finished for him. “We’re your family, Sanna.”

  Sanna shook her head, stepping backward. She’d been content living in darkness, ignoring the wrinkles on Anne’s face, the graying of Ivan’s hair. The fact that she looked nothing like either of them. But now, the lights were suddenly on and everything was different. Strange. “I don’t know...any of you.”

  A crackly noise filled her ears, obscuring Anne’s desperate pleas as she spun around and headed for the stairs. Time slowed as she crossed the living room. Memories of her family playing games on the threadbare carpet and cuddling next to a roaring fire faded into the mirages. She rounded the stairs, recalling the time she’d fallen down them and chipped a tooth. Anne had flown to her rescue, wiping her tears. Had Anne actually cared? Or was she merely worried her experiment had been damaged?

  The vision evaporated into smoke as Sanna raced up the steps to her room, locking the door behind her. A single question rang in her mind a the warning bell as she sank down to the cold, hard floor. If they aren’t my parents, then who are they?

  The doorknob jiggled a few mintues later.

  “Sanna, darling, open up and let’s talk,” Anne said, then added a rare, “Please?”

  “Go. Away.”

  A moment edged by. “Don’t you want to know about your mother?”

  Sanna gritted her teeth, anger roiling inside her. Anne was probably manipulating her, again, but the chance of learning the truth was irresistible. Sanna unlocked the door, stepping away before it opened.

  Anne entered, wringing her hands, her lips pressed into a trembling frown. The picture of sadness. “It’s dark in here—”

  “Say what you’re going to say.”

  Anne flinched at her harsh tone, then straightened, her face smoothing into a cool mask. “You don’t get to talk to me that way, young lady. I raised you, didn’t I?”

  “You kidnapped me. If anyone should be in the dungeon it’s you and Ivan.”

  “Don’t be so dramatic!” Anne dismmised Sanna’s anger with a flutter of her hand. “You’re so much like her sometimes, it’s like she’s standing right in front of me.”

  “Who?”

  “Cate. My daughter. My only child. She was a thorn in my side from the minute she was born and I...I,” she inhaled a deep breath. “I miss her every second of every day.”

  “You expect me to believe that? That I’m your...granddaughter?”

  Anne studied her face. “You may not look like her—she was dark like me—but tonight, just now, when you were defending that Inferno boy,” she paused, her chin quivering. “I swear, it was like she was standing right in front of me. She was so stubborn.”

  “I don’t understand...why would you keep that a secret?”

  “Because the woman who brought you to me warned that she might come back one day and I—I couldn’t bear to lose you. I was afraid she’d look for you, so I took the first position I could find outside New Hope and changed my name. I hired Ivan to bring us he. He was an old friend of Gerard, my first husband. Your grandfather.”

  “And then you married him?”

  Anne smiled faintly. “Ivan liked you long before he could stand me. At the time I figured if Iris did try to find—”

  “Iris?” Sanna stiffened, her heart thudding in her chest. “Are you sure?”

  “She’s not someone you’d forget. Strange little thing. She wasn’t that old. Early thirties, maybe. But her eyes—they were ancient. Cold. She looked straight through me when she said Cate was dead, like I wasn’t even there. When I tried to ask her questions, she shoved you into my arms and ran off, saying she’d be back one day. And that man she was with,” Anne shivered. “He must’ve been a priest or monk or something the way he was covered. I just knew you wouldn’t be safe with them.”

  He might have been Infected. Kai had said Iris used them like guard dogs. But what was Iris running from? And how did she know Cate?

  “It’s not nearly as bad as you think, Sanna,” Anne concluded. “I was trying to protect you from her.”

  “You still could’ve told me the truth.” Sanna said, though her anger had dimmed to hurt. She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “And what about my blood?”

  “I noticed a change after that breech—the one that killed Theo’s father. I’ve done a lot of research over the years, but I still don’t understand why it happened. In the end, you’re healthy. Normal. So,” she shrugged, “what difference does it make?”

  “Did you ever notify the CVC?”

  “No,” Anne said, her gaze narrowing. “They’d take you away if did. I’ll make sure Theo won’t either. That boy should’ve never taken your blood in the first place. After all we’ve done for him.”

  “It’s not his fault,” Sanna said, uncertain. “I-I asked him to.”

  “Listen to me,” Anne said firmly. “I know you’re angry. You have every right to be, but I promise you, I won’t let anything hurt you. I didn’t protect Cate like I should have, and I lost her. I won’t lose you too.” She reached over, patting Sanna’s folded arm. “You should rest, dear. You look tired.”

  She’ll never let me see Iris. Sanna watched as Anne headed for the door, confident that all crises had been averted. It was like Sanna’s past didn’t exist, and anything that reminded Anne of it was unimportant. Even the very blood flowing through Sanna’s veins.

  “Wait,” Sanna said. Anne froze, her hand resting on the doorknob. “What did my mother—Cate—call me?”

  “I don’t know,” Anne shrugged. “I didn’t have a chance to ask her. Sweet dreams, dear.”

  By the time the door shut behind her, Sanna knew what she had to do. It all started with freeing Kai Merrick. Inferno member. Killer. And the only person who could help her discover the truth.

  KAI SAT ON THE COLD, clammy floor of the dungeon, amidst the mold and squeaking mice, and wondered if his life had finally reached its bottom. He’d been spiraling down ever since that night at Broken Creek, when Hayes had pumped him full of so many drugs, he thought the world was sideways. Even now, that horrible evening had lurid glow to it, like the summer carnivals he’d gone to as a kid back in New Hope.r />
  The next morning things had slowly refocused. He realized, after he’d sweated, puked and shivered until he thought his bones would rattle out their sockets, that the sounds ringing in his head were screams. What had he done?

  Hayes had been there, ready to feed off Kai’s horror like a giant parasite. He’d offered him equal doses of blame and hollow, nihilistic comfort. The combination of fear and guilt over what had happened were the hooks that kept Kai with that awful group. It wasn’t until seven years later, when it was time for Esme’s initiation, that he realized how lost he’d become and what he’d endure to save her from the same, miserable fate.

  Esme. He’d failed her too. Would she be waiting for him, on the other side? Was there a place for people like him or was the end just...the end? A final darkness, an endless, dreamless sleep? Either way, Kai was about to find out. He doubted Sanna would come. She’d judged him and found him wanting. There’d be no salvation coming from her.

  Fire flared to life, blinding him. Kai flinched, blocking the light with his hand. His sight adjusted, and he saw Raj peering into his cell. Their gazes locked, and Raj gave him a wolfish grin before he straightened, tucking his hands into his armpits. “I see you’ve had time to think about your predicament, Outsider.”

  “What do you want?” Kai dropped his gaze to the cement floor. “Can’t you see I’m busy?”

  “Now, now there’s no reason to look so glum. You’ve still got,” he glanced at his watch, “about six hours left to live. We have a process here, you see, as any law-abiding community does. You’ll stand before a council before we hang you.”

  “Sounds like a waste of time.”

  “I suppose,” Raj sank down to his knees beside him, “but we must keep up appearances, right? Even for Inferno scum like you. I must say though,” he slipped a folded piece of paper from his breast pocket and unfolded it, showing Kai the faded ink that proclaimed his worst sins. “This is pretty damming. Did you really think all those lives you took would be worth so little? Then again, I guess it was just some small, worthless colony. I bet some of the people living there were even unclean.”