She Rises, page 11
But at the last possible second, a body slides through the tiny gap left between the elevator door and wall. All I see as he slides in is a back, but I’ve been friends with that back for most of my life.
“What do you want, James?” I ask.
He turns and stalks toward me in the small space we have in the elevator with his hands in the air like he’s going to give me a hug. I take a step back, and Ned moves between us to fill the space.
James’s eyes widen when he sees me move away but instantly narrow and harden when he locks eyes with Ned.
“So what? This is your new boyfriend?” he snaps, ignoring Ned.
“I don’t remember ever having a boyfriend in the first place,” I snap back.
James leans back like I’ve physically slapped him, but I couldn’t care less. He actually did slap me, and I have the shiner to prove it.
We stand there in silence until the elevator reaches the livestock level. Ned slides the door open, and I slip out of the elevator, keeping Ned between me and James. I’m not afraid of him; I just don’t want to deal with him again. I want James to stay in the elevator and go away but I know he won't just go away.
Like I thought, James follows us out of the elevator. I walk away from the elevator toward Raven’s pen. After last night I normally would never turn my back on someone who'd just hit me, but with Ned between us, I feel safe enough to walk with my back to James. I hear James bitching at Ned behind me.
“Get out of my way! I need to talk to her.”
I keep walking.
“What are you? Her bodyguard?”
“You could say that. After last night, I should be bashing your face in. But in respect to Attina, I won’t do that unless you give me an excuse to do it.”
I cringe. James is going to take that as a challenge.
“All right, old man, let's go!” I hear him scream.
I turn on my heel and stalk back over to Ned's side. Calmly I say, “I don’t know who the hell you think you’re talking to, but it better not be Ned. You hit me. Do you even realize what that's like? Being hit makes you feel lower than dirt, like you don’t even deserve the decency every human being deserves. And you know who was there when I needed him?” I point at Ned. “Him. He was there when I needed someone.”
“I’ve been there for you almost your entire life!”
Without raising my voice, I answer, “And you lost any leverage that got you as soon as you lifted your hand toward me.” My eyes drift down to the hand he hit me with before locking eyes with him again. “Go away, James, we have nothing to talk about.”
I see tears welling in his eyes, but now his hurt gives me pleasure. Good, he better cry after what he did to me.
“Attina, I’m so sorry. I don’t know how I can make it up to you. Please, just let me know what I can do to fix this, to fix us.”
“No, James, there is no fixing this.” I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose. “Just go. I have things to do, and we don’t have time for this.” I don’t let him answer, I whirl around and walk off without another word. I notice Ned follows me but doesn’t turn his back to James, he walks backward instead. A few seconds later, Ned is walking by my side. I turn to him as we walk. “Did he leave?”
“Yeah, he did. I wouldn’t have turned my back on him if he didn’t. Some tears started flowing, he turned, and I watched him get in the elevator.”
“Good.”
I hadn't noticed him, but now I see Nathan down the aisle, his eyes wide. I guess he must've heard our conversation.
"Are you okay?" He walks up to me and puts his hands carefully on either side of my face as he inspects my bruise.
"I'm all right," I answer as Ned moves past us, giving us a moment.
"I heard you were leaving and I came down here to check on you after last night's earthquake, say goodbye, and tell you to be safe."
I take a step forward and wrap my arms around him. "Thank you, Nathan. I really appreciate it."
After a second of holding each other, he pulls away and holds me at arm's length, locking eyes with me. "I can't believe James did this to you. Stay away from him, Attina. It's an unforgivable mistake, and he will have to live with the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life. You deserve better."
I stare at the ground as my eyes tear up.
Nathan pulls me back into a hug, whispering into my ear, "Be safe."
"I will, I promise." I pull back, nodding quickly to him, and walk over to Raven.
It only takes a few seconds for me to reach Raven's pen. She trots over to me and with the way her body is slightly shaking, I can tell she is panicking.
“What happened? What’s going on?”
“I’ll tell you on the way. We need to get moving before we’re held up anymore. Right now, though, I could sure use a hug.” I climb through the bars and into her pen and wrap my arms around her neck. She puts her neck down and around me, doing her best to hug me back. We stay there for a few minutes before I hear Ned clear his throat behind me.
“We really should be getting ready to go, girls.”
I wish I could stay here all day holding Raven and all my problems would just melt away, but Ned is right. It’s time to pull on my big girl pants and get moving. I pull away from Raven. “We’ll tell you what happened on the ride.” Raven perks her head up, and we start getting ready for our mission.
Ned walks up to us with a red horse Sanctuary he uses as a warhorse and tells me his name is Mylo. The horse's face entices me. While Mylo's eyes are soft, his face is slightly dished, making him look like he's pointing his nose up in the air snottily. After we get Raven and Mylo saddled and packed with supplies, Ned slides up to me with a gorgeous dagger in his hand. Examining the dagger, I'm completely shocked to see the same curves, the same cross-guard, even the end of the handle has a rose in bloom; just like my mother's sword. The only thing missing is the runes down the blade.
"What the...?"
Ned smirks. "My mother loved the sword my father made for Titania so much he made a matching dagger for her. I want you to have it."
I shake my head. "No, no, I can't. That's your mother's dagger. I can't take it from you."
Ned reaches out and grabs my hand, placing the dagger in it. "My mother would want you to have it. She'd love it if the sword and dagger were together." His voice catches and his face gets tight. "Please take it."
I quietly bow my head, and he releases my hand. I place the sheathed dagger in my boot before getting on Raven and heading out.
The way we get outside from the livestock area is interesting. We have to ride out the northwest side of the level to where weapons and the leaders' offices are. On the right side of the level are the offices, and on the left is the weapons storage and between them is a gigantic door.
Soldiers are posted at this door twenty-four hours a day, just like the door at the top level. They must already be aware we are heading out on a mission because before we completely reach the door, they are already unbolting bolts, turning tumblers, and pulling up the huge metal barricade that crosses the backside of the door. The whole process takes a few minutes, but then the door opens to a red rock ramp leading up to ground level.
I didn’t realize how far underground we actually were. When the door opens, all I see is a black void. I gaze over to Ned. “Is it already nighttime? Did I sleep in that long?” I grab at my necklace, seeking comfort.
He chuckles. “No, we’re just so far underground the light doesn’t reach all the way down here. Once we get going you’ll see.”
And I do see. The ramp isn’t a straight shot up like I thought it would be, it's switchbacks. The ramp is so steep the horses have a hard time walking up it. Without the switchbacks running back and forth, I’m not sure even the horses could make it up the ramp.
In a few minutes, we finally reach some sunshine. "Let's get off now and walk with the horses. They see better in the dark, but now since we can see, let's give them a break from carrying us up this steep incline. We can get back on as soon as we get to the surface.”
We dismount and slowly follow the ramp up to the surface. In total, it probably took us twenty whole minutes to crawl up that damn slope and by the time we hit the surface, my butt is on fire, and I can feel the threat of a charley horse in my calves. I throw my leg back over top of Raven, and we head out to the east, away from Sanctuary. Away from anywhere on a map I’ve ever seen.
I peek to my right, where Ned is walking next to me on his horse. “Where are we heading anyway?”
“It’s about another day and a half’s ride but there's a small town that way.” He points his head in the direction in front of us. We'll go there and search for supplies. It’s the closest town to Sanctuary. I haven’t been out here in years, and back then, the town was becoming slim pickings, so I doubt we’ll find any supplies, but it’s worth checking. If there aren’t supplies there, we'll move on to the next town and the next until we find enough supplies to bring back to Sanctuary.”
Then Ned spins in his saddle, looking in the other direction. “And just to orient you, James and his team found you a half a day's ride back that way.” He points back behind us.
“Okay, enough jibber-jabber, you two,” Raven pipes up. “What the hell happened between you guys and James?” I hear something between fear and anger coating her voice. “I heard something about him hitting you, Attina. You have a nasty shiner on your face and there was the earthquake last night. Was that you? He actually hit you?”
“Yeah, he did. Ned, could you please tell her what happened? My heart still hurts thinking about it.” Ned silently nods as he tells the story.
When he finishes, Raven is dead silent until she slams on her brakes, and I almost topple over her shoulder.
“Could you please warn me next time you’re going to do something like that?” I spit out, annoyed.
“Get off right now,” she orders.
“Okay…” I climb off, and as soon as my feet touch the ground, she spins around faster than I can keep up with and her shoulder slams into me, and I lose my balance, falling to the hard rock ground. But right before I hit the ground, Raven somehow awkwardly catches me by putting her head under me and rights me.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hit you. I just needed to give you a hug.”
I chuckle. “Well, next time, just say so, silly.” I wrap my arms around her, and we just stand there holding each other. I think both of us are broken up about the turn of events with James. It was clear to me over the years that Raven had her own sort of crush on James. He never rode her, but anytime he was by her pen at our house, she would position herself next to him, obviously asking for pets. On her face you could always see how happy she was to get his attention.
“I hate him for this,” she spits out.
“Me too, Raven, me too.”
I’m about to pull out of our hug when I hear a voice behind Raven I never thought I’d hear again.
“There you are. I’ve been searching everywhere for you.”
Allister.
17
Attina
He’s ethereal. His shoulder-length, black hair flows in the slight breeze, his purple eyes almost sparkle, and a great big smile spreads across his face. He's in the same dark tunic and black fighting leathers from our last encounter, but now a cloak blows behind him on the breeze, making him look like some God out of the storybooks. His smile is the kind you give when you see an old friend after being separated for too long. Why in the world is this man so happy to see me?
He throws his hands in the air and starts walking toward me. “Attina!”
It’s only then that I realize my bow, the bow my parents made together, is strapped haphazardly across his back. So that’s what happened to it. I only get a glimpse before Raven spins sideways, positioning her body in between me and Allister. Her ears are pinned, and I can see all over her muscles are tense like she’s ready to attack.
Allister stops in his tracks and lowers his hands, his head cocks to the side, his face pinches, and his eyes narrow in annoyance. “Why don’t you knock off the dramatics Fae horse. I’m not here to hurt her. Obviously. If I wanted her dead, I could have killed her a long time ago.” He crosses his arms and taps a foot. “Are you even sure you’re a Fae horse anyway? How did you not hear me coming?”
Raven ignores the jab, though. “Stay away before you get yourself killed.”
Allister quietly stares at her for a second before breaking out in a loud, exaggerated laugh. He laughs annoyingly loud and hard for a minute before taking a deep breath and wiping his eyes like he laughed so hard he cried. When he peers back at us, he’s met with three stone faces.
“Oh… you weren’t joking.” He drops his hand from his face and places it on his hip. “Who exactly was going to kill me? The old half-Fae, the half-Fae with no control over her powers, or the Fae horse who didn’t even hear me coming?”
I’m surprised Ned hasn’t moved or piped up but now he does. “Don’t underestimate this old half-Fae.” I take in a sharp intake of air and grab my necklace as he turns his horse toward Allister and runs full force at him with his sword raised above his head, screaming.
When he reaches Allister, I think he’ll run past him and slice down but in the flash of an eye, he launches himself up and over Allister, slashing his sword down at him as he goes just like Allister did during our first meeting.
Allister lazily unsheathes and lifts his sword, blocking Ned’s attack. Ned lands on his feet next to him and doesn’t lose a beat as he goes after Allister. They attack each other so fast it’s hard for my eyes to keep track of them. All I can really make out is blurs, but they slow as they clash swords, giving me a glimpse of them. They seem like they're pretty evenly matched until I see Ned go rolling. Allister must have tripped him.
Ned comes up on one knee with his sword lifted but it’s not enough. In a flash, Allister is behind Ned kicking his sword out of his hand. Allister brings his sword down to Ned’s throat, holding it there. Allister leans down and whispers something in Ned’s ear, and I can just make out Ned’s eyes widen.
“Allister, stop!” I shout, trying to put as much force and authority in my voice as possible while I push past Raven. She lets me move her but sighs and gives me a dull, sad look as she moves. I know she doesn’t like this but she obviously knows we have no choice.
I walk toward Allister, locking eyes with him. I stride with purpose, my head up and my spine straight as a rod with Raven following close behind until I reach the two of them.
“You want me. Leave him alone.” I incline my head toward Ned without breaking eye contact with Allister.
“I do want you.” He doesn’t move, but a devilish smile crosses his features. He’s trying to trip me up, but I won’t let him. I cross my arms and plaster a bored expression on my face.
“Release him and we can talk,” I say like I’m uninterested in what’s going on in front of me.
Allister gradually takes a step back, carefully pulling his sword away from Ned's neck. Ned slowly reaches for his sword and gets up. I break eye contact just long enough to glance at him and make sure he’s uninjured before locking eyes with Allister again.
Without looking at him, I say, “Ned, get over here.”
Ned cautiously moves until he’s standing beside me, squishing me in between Raven and him.
Allister’s eyes widen and a sly smile crosses his features as he glances over to Ned.
“Good puppy.”
I narrow my eyes and lower my voice, anger spilling out of me. “Don’t pick on other people, it’s not attractive. Now, you wanted to talk, so talk.”
“Well, technically, I wanted to hug,” he says as he throws up his hands again. Ned flinches, but I don’t, I won’t give him the satisfaction, and to my surprise, neither does Raven. I’m so lucky to have her by my side.
“What do you want, Allister?”
Ned slices his head over to gape at me, I see it in my peripheral vision, but I don’t turn to him. I just think to myself, Yes, this is him, knowing Ned can hear me.
Then Allister does something interesting, he glances between me and Ned.
“He can hear us too.”
I peer over to Ned. “Fucking wonderful.” Then peer back over at Allister.
His eyes are wide and his smile spreads. “You guys talked about me?” he asks in the most annoying high-pitched voice, it grates against my ears.
“Never mind that.”
“All good things, I hope.” He flutters his eyelids.
“You must be having a seizure; I’ll give you a moment.” I quietly stand there and just watch him, which seems to blow the wind out of his sails, and he actually pouts. Full-on lip hanging pout. It takes a minute, but he finally pulls himself together, clears his throat, and answers my question.
“I want to help.”
“Help me? With what?” I say, crossing my arms.
“I want to help you take down Henrik… Queen Attina...” With a grand flourish, he shocks me and bows to me.
I lose all my composure, my mouth flops open, and I’m left speechless.
“You’ll catch flies that way, you know.”
I shake myself out of my shock and notice Allister has a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. I think to myself, I hate that grin.
“What’s wrong with my grin?” he asks like I’ve somehow wounded him.
“How did you know?”
“About my grin? You just thought it remembers?” he says excessively slowly like he’s talking to an idiot.
“No, jackass. Queen Attina. Henrik. All that, how did you know?”
Then I hear a meek voice from my right, “I think it’s my fault.” I turn to stare at Ned but Allister continues.
“As he was running toward me on his horse like a crazed animal, he thought This Fae won’t come between my queen and Henrik, he will not jeopardize this mission.” He waves his hand in the air. "I had an inkling you were Titania's daughter, so he just confirmed it." He glances over to Ned. “You know there are Fae out there like you and you still lay out all your plans like that?”
