The Light We Seek (Together We Fall Book 2), page 1
The Light We Seek (Together We Fall Book 2)
By Katie May
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
About the Author
The right of Katie May to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright Designs, and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only and should not be resold or given away to other people. This story is a work of fiction.
All characters and events depicted in this novel are fictious and any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Dedicated to Mommy. Love you so much.
CHAPTER 1
Addie
I squinted my eyes against the blinding sun, lifting my hand to create a visor. The building my parents led me to was small, smaller than even the lobby of the resort, with bushes lining the walls and the beginnings of a garden near the front entrance. A long trail dipped down a slope towards a pond. The translucent water glimmered like diamonds in the basking sunlight.
It might’ve been a beautiful sight if I had been in any other company.
Mother and Father liked to suck the joy out of things.
Smoothing down my black, pleated skirt, I followed my parents up the stone staircase. A woman, red-hair piled high into a bun, greeted us at the doorway. She exchanged a hug with my mom and kissed my father’s prickly cheek.
I couldn’t help but notice that her lips lingered a second longer than appropriate. I also couldn’t help but notice that Dear Old Dad grabbed her ass.
Yup, that was my father for you. A cheating whore. At least he was classy about it (read as: my mother had been looking away at the time).
I pondered this new blackmailing material when the woman stepped up to me.
“Adelaide,” she cooed with a stiff smile. The woman didn’t like me just as much as I didn’t like her. Even though this was the fifth time I had met her, I had never bothered to learn her name. What was the point? “You have grown into a beautiful young woman. How old are you now?”
“Fifteen,” I answered automatically but then winced when D.O.D gave me a penetrating glare. Apparently, I wasn’t allowed to talk, even when asked a direct question. That also meant I wasn’t allowed to think either.
You see, I had a little problem with my inner musings. As in, they became outer musings due to my good old friend “trauma”. My therapists had told me that my need to speak my mind (literally) stemmed from my past, or more specifically, the death of my best friend, Ducky.
“It is turning out lovely Rachel,” Mommy Dearest exclaimed, extending her arms to encompass the entire lobby of the apartment complex. Rachel, the owner, grimaced at being addressed by the “other woman”.
Oh boy. She was one of those. One of those women who thought D.O.D would leave his wife for her. I didn’t have the heart to tell Rachel that Daddy had approximately twenty other side hoes, both men and women.
How could he even handle that many relationships? I could barely handle one - not that I had one, mind you, but if I did, I wouldn’t be able to handle it.
My love life was seriously depressing.
“I can give you a tour of the upper levels,” Rachel said, purposefully turning her back on my mother to talk to my dad. I noticed Mommy Dearest slyly checking out Rachel’s ass.
Yup. Both parents enjoyed dabbling outside of their sacred marriage.
“What have you added?” Dad said. If he saw his wife’s blatant ogling, he chose to ignore it.
“Well, in the upper suites we put in new bathrooms, new flooring, and repainted the walls. I’m sure you’ll be quite pleased with how they turned out.”
Before D.O.D could respond, the front door opened, and a tall boy walked into the lobby.
The first thing I noticed was how huge he was. Seriously, he was easily a foot taller than my own five feet. His body seemed to be made entirely of muscle: broad shoulders, chiseled cheekbones, and mop of dark hair. Currently, he was scowling.
At me.
What the fuck did I do?
Without a word, he brushed past me, his leather-clad jacket cold against my bare arms.
“He lives on the second floor,” Rachel explained as we watched his retreating back. “He’s been emancipated for a couple months now.”
Conversation steered away from the angry boy to other matters. I didn’t think twice about him and his scowl...only once.
I mean, who wouldn’t think about a boy as attractive as him?
It would take me a month to discover that the stranger’s name had been Calax.
✽✽✽
My heart pounded erratically in my chest as I glanced out the window.
Despite being miles away from the Ragers, I couldn’t help but feel as if we were being watched. My hands were clammy as they desperately gripped Calax’s. Right now, I needed his comfort and support more than I needed to pretend to be brave.
“What the hell was that?” Calax asked, voice a breathy exhale. His arms tightened around me marginally, as if he was terrified I would be taken from him again. Considering he spent the last few days believing I was dead, that fear was valid. “Have you heard anything from headquarters?” This was directed at the driver, an intimidating man with shoulder-length hair and tanned skin.
Fallon glanced at us through the rearview mirror.
“Nothing new,” he said. “They’re just as confused as we are.”
“Headquarters? Does that have something to do with your school?” I knew that Calax and Fallon both went to a special boarding school. It was actually how I met them; after a fire destroyed their dormitories, the students rented out rooms in my parents’ resort. Through chance, I was introduced to Calax’s “team”, whatever the hell that meant. All I had been able to gather so far was that their school was not like any other school. They apparently took a heavy interest in orphans and foster care children (not at all shady). For the most part, I didn’t bother asking.
They had their secrets; I had mine.
“Yes,” Fallon answered briskly. Though I had only known him a couple of hours, I had quickly realized that Fallon - or Sarge to the others - was a man of few words. He much preferred grunts and snorts to get his point across.
I couldn’t say I blamed him. I would love to not have to interact with other humans.
Minus maybe Calax.
And possibly Ducky (Declan).
And the other members of Fallon’s team.
Besides them? Nope. I already had to deal with Elena, their scorned ex-lover, and I really didn’t want to invite any more people onto the “Adelaide talk to” train.
I mean, I had used to talk to Shannon but...
My hand immediately brushed at my neck. The skin was wrapped in bandages, and I could feel the stitches keeping the skin together. I doubted I would ever be free of this particular scar, nor did I want to, despite its horrific implications. I didn’t want to think about Shannon the last time I had seen her. Eyes red, veins darkened, a feral glint to her normally semi-kind expression. She had turned, there was no other word to describe it. The restaurant hostess had become something that no longer held a shred of humanity, just like the throng of people that had chased us out of the apartment complex. Something other.
A Rager.
That was the name Damn Brad had used to describe the virus-infected (or perhaps drug induced) humans.
As you could probably tell, I didn’t like Brad. He had tried to sacrifice me to the Ragers, and I really don’t like being a sacrificial offering.
That had all happened when we had been trapped underground for a day or two after a tornado struck. Yup. You heard me right. Brad decided that I needed to be killed after only a few freaking hours.
And people said I was messed up.
The three of us were quiet as we drove back to Fallon’s granny house. I didn’t think there was anything we could say. How could we possibly begin to process everything that had happened? I much preferred my oblivious bubble than the crap-fest that was my reality.
“What the hell?” Calax mumbled, glaring out the window. We had arrived at Fallon’s modest, two-story country house. In the driveway, which had been empty only hours before we had left, were three cars.
“Friends of yours?” I asked Fallon hopefully, though I already feared his answer.
With how little Fallon talked, I didn’t think the bastard had friends.
“Rude,” mumbled Fallon, parking the car behind a silver SUV.
I shrugged. He really shouldn’t have expected anything else from me, but it wasn't entirely my fault. I hadn't meant to
Unfortunately, I no longer had my wheelchair. That bad boy had been left behind when we were forced to flee from a group of Ragers. That meant, of course, that Calax had to carry me.
Normally I would’ve been fine with the physical connection, especially after he had just confessed his love to me, but I felt myself cringe when I met the keen eyes of my parents in the entryway.
It was odd seeing my parents in such a diminutive, cute house. They had always had a surplus of money, which meant that they were able to live in luxurious apartments and tropical islands. The two of them almost looked uncomfortable as they leaned against the photo framed wall.
“Addie,” D.O.D said stiffly. His nose was crinkled as if the house had a particularly pungent smell. “It’s time for you to go.”
“She’s not going fucking anywhere with you,” Calax growled. He hugged me closer to his muscular body, arms trembling with tension.
“He’s right,” I said, attempting to appear more confident than I actually was. That was surprisingly difficult given that I was being held like a baby. “I’m not going with you.”
“You are seventeen. You don’t have a choice,” Daddy snapped, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Knowing him, he probably looked up that information before arriving. Heaven only knew that, before today, he hadn’t known my actual age.
He referred to me as his thirteen-year old daughter last week.
Last fucking week.
Mother ignored the conversation, as was usual with her. Her eyes were fixated on the boys glaring at her from the living room.
My friends were attractive, there was no way to get around that, but did my mom have to stare at them as if she was imaging them naked?
“I’m not going home with you,” I repeated to my dad stubbornly, crossing my arms over my chest. Or, at least, I attempted to. The wrapping and sling around my arm prohibited such movement.
“Do you think you have a fucking choice?”
The men my father came with, his security detail, all stared at me intently. Their hands inched towards the guns I knew were in their holsters. Right thigh. A few centimeters below the waist.
I would know because I had been shot by one of them before.
Not something I would recommend.
Uncrossing my arms and raising them in what I hoped was a placating gesture, I said, “Could we talk about this privately?”
“Fuck no!” That outburst came from Ryder, a flirty musician who I was just becoming friends with. I gave him a reassuring smile, grateful that he was protective of me but knowing I had to do this alone.
His face was grim as he met my stare.
“Drop me off in the kitchen Callie,” I said, patting the big guy on the shoulder. “I need to have a word with my parents.”
CHAPTER 2
Addie
Calax dropped me gently onto the kitchen chair. With a scowl aimed at my parents and a gentle kiss on my forehead, he reluctantly left the room.
And then there were three.
Daddy remained standing, as was his usual intimation technique. He always needed to be the tallest, most imposing, figure in the room. I suddenly wished that the chair was on the table just so I could be taller than the condescending bastard.
I figured that might’ve looked a little weird. Just a little.
“You wanted to talk, so talk,” Daddy said bluntly. A scowl marred his handsome face.
“I’m going to be eighteen in a couple of weeks,” I began, folding my hands and placing them on my lap.
“And? Do you think that gives you the right to leave the family?”
Well yes, actually, but I figured that wouldn’t go over well with D.O.D.
My birth giver considered me thoughtfully, his hand absently rubbing at the stubble on his chin. I didn’t understand why he felt the need to do that. Did it really help his thinking capabilities?
“You’re right,” he said at last, surprising the shit out of me. I was a lot of things to my father, but right was never one of them. Maybe he had turned into a Rager. Maybe the virus actually flipped your personality. That would make more sense than whatever the hell was currently happening.
I thought I would have to beg, cry, threaten. I thought I would get beaten down before I would be able to rise back up. Life, particularly the life my parents gave me, taught me as much.
A sly smile touched Dad’s lips.
“We could always ask Nikolai for help.”
Just like that, the smile was wiped from my face. Something icy slithered down my spine. I had been fearful before when facing the Ragers, but this was something entirely different. Deeper.
I had never experienced such an intense fear before than I did at that moment.
“Leave Nik alone,” I whispered, stunned that they were even daring to bring him into this. Tears welled in my eyes, but I stubbornly held them in. “Please.”
When has “please” ever worked? Monsters didn’t listen to pleas; they used that desperation to their advantage.
Still, I was frantic enough to try anything.
“Please don’t.”
My entire life, my parents have owned me. There was no escaping them, no running away. I should’ve realized that the monsters would always come for me.
“If you don’t want to help us...” D.O.D trailed off ominously. I knew exactly how he wanted to finish that sentence.
If you don’t want to help us, Nikolai would.
And, just like that, they owned me again.
✽✽✽
I couldn’t meet any of the boys’ eyes as Fallon helped me out of the kitchen, door swinging shut behind us. My dad entered after. He looked so damn smug that I had to resist the urge to punch him. In the nuts. With a sledgehammer. While throwing monkey shit at his head. While he was tied to a train-track with me driving the train.
Now where to buy a monkey...
“Are you okay?” Calax asked immediately when he caught sight of me. His gaze flickered from my face to my parents’, and his expression darkened. I couldn’t decide if it was because of my stricken expression, or my father’s content one. “No. No, damn it, no.”
Before I could respond, Calax kicked at the wall. The plaster crumbled.
“Calax,” I whispered, indicating for Fallon to put me on the couch. He complied, and Calax immediately sat beside me. I reached forward to cup his face with my hand. He was trembling beneath my steady fingers. In the last few days, I had seen him more distressed and panicked than I had ever seen him before. I knew that I was to blame for that change. “I have to leave with them.”
“No, baby, you don’t have to. You can stay with me.” His voice was a mere whisper. I leaned towards him, our foreheads touching, and could almost pretend that it was just the two of us. My curtain of hair provided a barrier between us and the outside world.
“Addie, we need to leave,” Daddy snapped, and I knew I was going to be punished for saying goodbye to Calax.
“Please stay,” Calax pleaded. Even as he spoke, I felt strong arms lift me up. It wasn’t my father, thank God, but one of his security members. Calax’s hand gripped my shirt-sleeve ineffectively before he was forced to let go. It was either that or risk hurting me more than I already was; my parents were never letting me go now that they had me, so Calax had to bend.
“Addie!” Calax lunged forward, but both Ryder and Ronan grabbed him and held him down. I was immensely grateful for them. I watched them whisper something to Calax, and, though Calax still stared after me with a distraught expression, he wasn’t fighting against the two boys anymore.
It was only as we were leaving, the security guard all but dropping me into the car, that I saw a face pressed against a window.
Ducky.
He had been my best friend when we were young, and I had thought him to be dead for years. Apparently, he was still alive. And his name was no longer Ducky, but Declan.
A member of Calax’s team, Declan had been an asshole to me when we had initially re-met because he believed I had ditched him after he became deaf. I was still dealing with his abandonment, and he was still figuring out where, exactly, our friendship would head.
