Fall of grace variant se.., p.8
Fall of Grace: Variant Series Book 1, page 8
Around mid-morning, we approached a tent with a beautiful woman standing outside. Her dark silk hair and emerald green eyes lit up when she saw Jared. He gave her a tight hug, lifting her feet off the ground before setting her down.
“Alessandria,” he said, motioning toward me. “This is Naomi.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Naomi.” She reached out and shook my hand, her smile genuine. I returned it.
She turned to Jared. “I know you’re busy, but I would think you could make more time for me than just dropping off laundry.”
“Sorry, I promise to rectify that as soon as I don’t have to bodyguard this one around the clock,” Jared responded with a grin.
Alessandria arched her brow and looked over his shoulder, appraising me from head to toe. “Yes, I can see why that might take so much of your time.”
I froze. Last night, I’d tried to seduce Jared, not giving any thought to whether he was in a relationship. A wall of guilt came crashing down on me, but I pushed it back. I’d done what I thought was needed, nothing more, nothing less.
“Anyway, Alessandria,” he chided, giving her a warning stare. “While we are here, I wanted to see if you had her blouse ready? I’d like to get my t-shirt back.”
Alessandria smiled, seemingly not bothered by his patronizing tone. “Yes, I do. Hold on a sec.” She slipped into her tent, coming back out with a pile of clothes. “I had extra shirts and pants that might fit you. They were Jenell’s before she got pregnant and now she’s given up all hope of wearing anything but sweat pants.”
She put the pile in my arms.
“Thank you,” I whispered, surprised.
“You're welcome. Come by tomorrow, visit for a bit. It gets lonely doing laundry all day and I could use some company, also a little gossip about what it’s like to live in a palace.”
“Um…”
I looked at Jared and he raised his eyebrows. Assuming the gesture meant the decision was up to me, I said yes. After a quick goodbye, we left and headed down toward the river, walking in silence.
“She’s beautiful,” I said.
“Yes, she is.”
“Nice, too.”
“She’s the best,” he said, smirking.
I didn’t know what he found so amusing. Yes, I just met his girlfriend after trying to seduce him, but it’s not like he wasn’t guilty of trying to kiss me. I considering bringing that up, but it would get us nowhere. Instead, I let it go and tried a different direction.
“This group, did you all come here together?”
“Most of us,” he answered stopping to pick up a rock, tossing it from one hand to the other. “We were all in the same town. When the plague hit, we lost many. Those left helped to barricade the walls, protect what little sanctuary we had. We asked for help, but we were too far out, and they didn’t have the resources to save us. That’s when we found out about the camps. For weeks we argued over whether it was safer to stay or go. Word was the area north of us was not overrun with Inferti and we stood a better chance of survival there. Then another attack came, and the walls fell. We got them back up, but they would not hold long, so we left.”
His voice was pained. I couldn’t imagine what it had been like for them, chased out with death on either side.
“How many of you…,” I trailed off, unable to finish the question.
“Less than half of us made it.”
“I’m sorry, Jared.”
He nodded but changed the subject. “What about you? Ever have a life or were you always PRE?”
“Honestly, I was always PRE. It’s tradition for the second born to be raised to fit the position.”
“So you never had fun is what you’re saying?”
“Close,” I responded, shaking my head, remembering things I hadn’t thought about in years. “Sometimes Grace and I would sneak out. Play around the river. Those were the good days. I wasn’t allowed to make friends, not even with my own sister. They had no idea how close Grace and I really were. I was taught to control my emotions, to read body language, to handle situations. Even to fight to the death to protect the Queen.”
“That’s kind of messed up, but I guess it’s a fair trade for spending your days sipping tea with high society.”
I ignored the sarcasm in his tone. “First of all, I never had time for eating off a golden plate and sipping tea with high society. On another note, for someone who expects me to accept his people without judgment, you sure are judgmental.”
“Point taken,” he laughed. “Although, you are a lot more enjoyable to be around pissed off than you are crying.”
“Touché.”
Jared smiled at me and the wind ruffled his hair. That feeling, the one I had earlier, surged through me again, this time much stronger, and my heart did a strange gallop. Neither one of us seemed able to look away. He looked as uncomfortable and nervous as I felt.
I peeled my focus away, pretended to watch my step, pretended what just passed between us didn’t happen. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him doing the same.
I’ve been betrayed by my sister, by my friends, and now my stupid hormones.
My concentration needed to be on staying alive, on proving I wasn’t a traitor. There was no room for whatever was budding between the two of us.
Plus, he has a girlfriend, and she’s beautiful, not to mention sweet.
He threw his arm out in front of me and I was so lost in thought I walked into it, hitting it with my broken rib.
“Sorry, I didn’t realize you were daydreaming.” The attitude was back in his tone, but this time I was happy to hear it. Better than the alternative.
Still, crap that hurt.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I replied, taking small breaths, letting the pain fade. “Why did we stop?”
“It’s Micah,” he answered, pointing off through the trees. “He’s using his gift to move the logs. I didn’t want us to get too close and disturb him.”
Excited, I craned my neck to see. The gene which caused special abilities in variants was uncommon and considered to be a mutation. Although I spent my life having this knowledge, I’d never seen a variant use their ability. I stared at where he was pointing and saw nothing but trees. Close by, I heard rushing water. The air felt cooler, more humid.
“I can’t see him.”
“You can’t see that?”
I squinted and tried harder. Somewhere, off in the distance, I detected movement, but it was an indistinct blur. “Something, but I can’t make it out.”
When I looked back over to Jared, he was staring at me.
“What?”
“Are you sure you’re variant?”
“They tested me twice.”
He ran his tongue across his lips, stopping to bite it between his teeth before responding. “Come on. He’s stopped for now. We’ll get closer.”
Without checking to make sure I followed, he walked off, staying far enough ahead I had to move fast to catch up. He seemed tense, his back straight, shoulders pushed forward.
What did I do? All I said was I couldn’t see Micah.
Oh…
Variants had extremely perceptive vision. I should have been able to see what he saw.
But I’m variant.
Aren’t I?
###
Out of the three gathered around the dam, Micah appeared to be the only one working. Muddy water swirled around him, but when I looked further down, it was crystal clear. The river looked familiar. If it was the Triton, we were less than ten miles from the palace, to the north, which meant if I could get over the wall, I would be home in less than a day. Then again, maybe I was wrong. I could imagine camps being neglected if they were hundreds of miles away, but not one as close as this. I made a mental note to ask Jared later.
One of the guys turned at our approach and waved, calling out, “You come to help, Jared?”
“If I’m needed,” he answered, nodding to Micah. “I kinda figured hot shot over there had it under control.”
I saw Micah grimace, but he didn’t take his attention off the dam. Jared said he was using his ability but as far as I could tell, he was just standing there. The other two approached us and Jared introduced me. Logan was the youngest, nineteen maybe, with sandy hair and a bright smile. Randall looked to be in his early thirties and towered over the others, t-shirt clinging to his muscular arms and expansive chest. They both gave me a look of distrust.
“What is the dam constructed of?” I asked.
“Mostly logs, sticks, and clay,” Logan responded.
“How did you get the clay to hold it together? It seems like it has too much weight to keep the logs from sliding off.”
“It would,” Randall answered, a little more appreciative. “But we roll the clay out flat until it's nearly dry and then mold it to the frame.”
“That’s impressive.”
I meant it. When I was younger, we would go out to the dam a lot for repairs, the whole town did. Most of the time, the problem was because the clay was too wet. Instead of focusing on the consistency of the clay, we always focused on the weight of the logs.
“Not that impressive.” Randall waved his hands at the leak.
Before I could respond, Jared cleared his throat and pointed to Micah. At first, I couldn’t see anything different but then I saw a log, one of the larger, heavier ones, shift. Then another followed, sliding to the right, each piece seeming to move in unison.
My mouth popped open, and I stuttered, “How?”
Jared leaned down and whispered, “With his mind.”
Awe, followed by a deep fear of what Micah could do, caused me to shiver. The logs stopped moving, and the water quit trickling out.
Micah turned toward us. “I see we’ve decided it’s okay to show your new girlfriend our secrets?”
“What do you expect me to do? Walk her around the camp blindfolded all day?” Jared shouted back.
“That might be fun,” Micah responded with a grin.
“You might be right,” Jared laughed.
Apparently, jokes about me served to calm the tension because Micah became much more amiable. “Well, are you guys going to stand there or come and help me?”
Randall and Logan walked down the slope. Jared and I followed. I wondered if they expected me to help. I wouldn’t mind but the thought of being close to Micah again made me anxious.
Jared stopped at the edge of the water. “It looks like you’re already done.”
“Mostly,” Micah replied, pointing to the damn. “But we still have some little logs to fix and I don’t need to use my ability for that.”
Jared nodded, and they all removed their shirts. I pretended to study a rock on the ground.
“Hey,” Jared said, touching my arm. “I want you to stay up here, okay?”
I nodded, kept my eyes to the ground.
“Did you hear me?”
“Yes,” I mumbled.
“Look at me.”
I did as he commanded, trying not to focus on his bare chest. I felt my ears grow warm along with my face.
“You will stay…,” he stopped speaking mid-sentence. “What is wrong with you?”
I shook my head, embarrassed, aware several shirtless men were watching this scene unfold.
“What? You’ve never seen a guy with his shirt off?”
This time he sounded amused.
“Not unless they were on the whipping post,” I shot back.
“Seriously?”
“No, it’s forbidden for men to go unclothed if they’re not in private.”
He opened his mouth but then closed it, biting a smile.
“Well, um…,” he squeezed his eyes shut and laughed, “you might want to get used to it. It gets pretty hot in the summer.”
I didn’t see what he found so amusing about the situation. Not seeing a man half-naked before because of a law wasn’t something—Oh, no. I just inadvertently admitted I’d never been with a man. And last night…
“Hell, PRE,” Micah yelled from the water. “Even the women go topless here during the summer.”
I looked to Jared in a panic. “He’s joking, right?”
Instead of answering me, he laughed and plunged into the river.
“Jared?”
His laughter echoed off the trees and deciding I had been played with enough for one day, I sat down, studying the mixture of leaves and sand. I wondered what Grace was doing, if she was hurting as much as me. I wondered about what Jared said about my sight, whether it meant I might not be variant. Could the tests have been wrong? Switched? If so, why? Who would want to get me out of the way—except for the traitor? That was an option. If someone in our regiment was a traitor, then they would need to peg the blame on someone else. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t shut down the small ray of hope growing inside me.
There was a loud cracking noise, and I looked up, my thoughts interrupted. One of the larger logs slipped loose, shards of bark and wood fell into the river. Micah shouted a curse as the log came down. Randall, Jared, and Micah jumped out of the way, but Logan seemed unaware of what was happening. As the log fell, I jumped up and ran toward the river. Logan saw it at the last moment and tried to move but it was too late. The log hit him, knocking him under the water. The others swam in his direction. With my heart thumping, I waited a second for him to emerge, but he didn’t. I jumped in, reaching them as they were struggling to remove the log.
“He’s stuck!” Randall yelled, the muscles on his face strained.
I took a place beside Micah and pushed with all my strength. I felt pressure building underneath my broken rib. Micah stepped away, and between the dirty water splashing on my face and wet hair plastered to my skin, I saw his eyes roll back.
“Keep pushing. I don’t have much left, but I’ll try,” he said.
Everyone was pushing as hard as they could. I could see the veins standing out on Randall’s arms. There was a tingling sensation underneath my rib cage, then a crack. I knew the fracture had given away but was in too much of a panic to feel pain. When it seemed like we could take no more, the log moved, not much, but enough that Jared could pull Logan loose. He came up, coughing and sputtering, but breathing. Micah swam forward, helping Jared and Randall carry him to shore. Feeling dazed, I made my way in their direction. The water, which felt fine a moment ago, was now freezing, making it hard for me to move. Keeping my eyes on the shore, I watched as they checked Logan over. Randall sat down. Micah followed suit, leaning his head against a tree. All three men were breathing heavy, but no longer fussing over Logan.
He must be all right.
I saw all of this as I waded towards the shore, but with every step I took, they seemed further away. My body was light, buoyant, and the water felt so heavy. Numbness spread from the center of my back through the right side. I no longer felt the pain of my broken rib. My vision darkened around the edges until everyone appeared to be standing in a tunnel. Jared turned toward me, and I saw him mouth my name, but his voice came from a thousand miles away. I tried to answer but something cold and wet filled my mouth and nose.
Everything went black.
Chapter 10
I awoke to darkness, thick and infinite. Something stirred, caressing my body, moving my hair. With my hands in front of me, I searched the room, tried to locate a wall I could anchor myself to. If I could just find something, I could get to the intercom, call Grace for help.
I kept walking but the space was boundless. I grew weak. Giving up, I fell to my knees, and allowed the darkness to swallow me. Time became elusive, fleeting. Suddenly, I was floating, my body encased in warmth. I heard a rhythmic thudding and felt arms surrounding me, pushing the darkness away.
“Grace,” I whispered, reaching out. My hand touched something rough, scratchy. “Grace?”
“No, it’s Jared.”
“I need Grace.”
There was no answer, only mumbled replies.
“Send for my sister now!” I put all my strength behind the words. No soldier would ignore my command.
Voices rose in the background.
“Told you she was a spy.”
Then another voice, close to my ear spoke. “Go get Terrance.”
There was something else said but it was too muffled to understand.
“She helped save your damn life today. Get him now!”
Sleep took me. When I opened my eyes again, the world was upside down. My face was pressed into something warm and there were prodding fingertips against my back.
“She’s healing quickly. No internal bleeding. She’s just reacting to the medicine.”
“How much did you give her?”
“The lowest dosage to work,” the voice said. “A variant should have burned it off in less than an hour. It’s been five.”
Someone else spoke, but it was unintelligible.
“Not one word about this. Not until we figure out what is going on.”
More murmuring, incoherent.
“No, let me talk to Micah. He doesn’t understand.”
The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t figure out why.
My head was tipped back and something wet slid down my throat. I chased darkness again, pursuing it for what seemed like forever. Eventually, I became aware of the light. It surrounded me and shadows loomed behind, like ghosts. My eyes opened, and I stared at a triangular ceiling.
A tent.
My focus shifted and through a haze, I saw I wasn’t alone. At first, I couldn’t see his face but then my vision cleared. “What…”
I couldn’t seem to find the words. My lips felt numb, my body ached. Jared’s eyes were downcast, exhaustion showing on his face. When he spoke, I felt the brunt of his anger. “A broken rib. Did you know? Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”
“I’m sorry.” There was nothing else to say and I was too dopey to defend myself.
“You went into shock, nearly drowned.” His eyes blazed intensely. He stood, grabbed a cup of water off the table and put his hand behind my head, tilting it forward. My throat was raw, but I tried to drink too fast and choked on it. He pulled the cup away.
