Flight (22 page)

I honestly don’t know what I was expecting. Maybe for him to just burst to ash right then and there like usual, but deep down I know better. As soon as I withdraw my dagger the blood around the wound coagulates as if on fast-forward, the flesh healing over to leave fresh, peachy skin. I try again, harder this time, digging my blade deep into his shoulder and dragging it down his back.

I swear loudly as the wound heals almost as soon as it’s inflicted. I leap back decidedly just as Gabe thrashes around. He stands up dramatically, eyes now thoroughly black, and laughs sinisterly.

“The vaccine,” I whisper, half in awe. So it does exist. For the first time in a long time, I’m completely helpless, with no weapon and an immortal enemy. It’s like a video game level that’s so impossible to beat you just want to give up, except I can’t give up. In this world, I only have one life, and I intend to preserve it at all costs.

“You knew about this?” I ask Asher, voice harsh. He’s facing Gabe, ready to lunge at him.

“Not really the time, Piper,” he says through gritted teeth.

“No really, you two have time for a last lover’s quarrel before I kill you. Of course he knew about the vaccine, Hunter. He was the one who commissioned to have it developed,” Gabe spits venomously.

I run my hands through my hair, thoroughly frustrated and unsure of what to do. I can’t even give Gabe a basic nosebleed, let alone stop him from killing everyone in the city.

Things go from bad to worse. I don’t know why he would be up here, maybe he got a tip from someone, but Tor stumbles onto the scene. He stops at the open door, eyes wide as he sees both Gabe and Asher, topless with wings sprouted out their backs and me with my dagger pointed.

“What’s going on, here?” he asks. Gabe focuses on him, his eyes narrowing in contemplation.

“Get out of here, Hunter. This is none of your business,” Asher growls.

Tor must be in some state of mental shock, because he just stands there, staring.

“Run!” I scream, but I’m too late. Gabe zips by me, grabbing Tor by the shirt collar and dragging him down the hall. We follow him out just in time to see him burst through the large picture window, glass shattering everywhere.

“Shit!” I scream. This is all my fault. Tor’s dead, the city is dead, and it’s because of me.

“I’m going to try to follow him. You go talk to Myra. I shouldn’t be here right now,” Asher says.

I understand what he means. When he’s changed, there’s always the potential for him to lose his mind. It’s best for him to leave. Not that I don’t have my own issues being here. Dealing with Myra is going to be no pretty picture, now that I know what she’s been hiding from me.

“Please let me through, Wanda,” I say urgently to the receptionist. She gives me a wary smile.

“Myra’s in a meeting right now, Miss Madden. You’ll have to wait,” she says with false cheeriness.

“Actually, I can’t wait. It’s important.” I bypass her and walk purposefully toward Myra’s office.

“Miss Madden, wait!” she exclaims, but I’m already pushing the door open.

“Absolutely perfect,” I mutter. Myra’s seated at her desk while the Harpy Queen is pacing the room. I lock the door behind me, ignoring their incredulous stares.

“Miss Madden, I am in a meeting,” Myra scolds, folding her arms across her chest. Asher’s mother simply stares at me, pretending as if she doesn’t know me.

“There’s been a situation. You should sit down for this, Ciar,” I say. The woman looks at me sharply, narrowing her eyes.

“You know me?” she whispers.

“I know everything.” A shadow falls over the room, and I wonder if they think I’m dangerous to them. Then I remember Tor, and his mortal terror.

“Gabriel discovered us. He changed and kidnapped Tor. Ash is following them now, but I don’t know what he’s going to do. I…tried to kill him, and nothing happened,” I say quickly. Myra’s already on the telephone, dialling frantically. Asher’s mother, Ciar, drops onto one of the cushy leather chairs, her eyes blank, like she can’t believe what’s happening.

“How do you know?” she whispers. I was expecting her to be angry with me, but instead her eyes well up with tears.

“Dodge had an antidote,” I admit. Myra finishes her telephone conversation and stands up straight, giving me a foreboding look.

“Rupert’s on his way,” she whispers. I stand awkwardly by the door, unsure of what to do. Myra carries a mixed look of anger and terror, and Ciar looks like she’s about to have a breakdown. Gabriel has broken the treaty, Tor’s life is in danger, and Asher is out there trying to fix it all while I just stand here.

“What can I do from here?” I ask, pacing the room while both women stare. It’s too silent, and too many thoughts are running through my mind. The lies came from all corners, and even after I thought I could trust Myra, still there were more secrets.

“Piper, you need to understand that I couldn’t just tell you about the procedure,” Myra says quietly.

I run my hands roughly through my hair, angry tears welling up in my eyes. “Of course you could have told me. The last two years of my life have been a complete
lie
!” I nearly shout.

She looks down at her feet, and I’m wondering if she really feels remorse or if it’s just an act.

Ciar answers instead. “Piper, you need to understand. It was for everybody’s best interest,” she murmurs.

I turn to her, my teeth clenched together. Everyone’s best interest? Bullshit.

“Everyone except for me and your son,” I reply.

“Piper, sit down. You still don’t know the entire story,” Myra says harshly.

I want to glare at her and tell her off, but instead I plop down right there on the floor. Myra gestures to Ciar, who takes a deep breath in preparation.

“There’s something you need to know about Asher,” she begins.

An hour later, Asher bursts through Myra’s office window, sending shattered glass everywhere. Tor is in his arms, covered in blood, but whole, alive. Myra rushes to the two bodies and drags Tor toward the door where a nurse is waiting with a stretcher. I remain on the floor, crying as Asher collapses onto the ground. A team of Hunters is waiting, and they shackle him with handcuffs, dragging him, still unconscious, to the underground.

Eventually Myra escorts me to one of the Corp’s resting rooms where I lay awake all night, trying to process exactly what Ciar told me. Now I know the entire truth: Asher’s more than just a weapon.

He’s an atomic bomb just waiting to go off.

A casual passerby would think the circus is in town, complete with trick ponies and fire-breathers, by the way the Ichton faculty is lined up outside the largest conference room. Most of them have never seen any Hunters from Central, let alone the President of Elder Corp and his entourage. Their stares are tangible as I creep past the file, trying to keep my head down and out of sight. By now everyone’s heard about me, or exaggerated versions of what happened. I’m the Corp’s new leper, having been caught with the Prince of the Harpies not only once, but twice, as well as putting another Hunter’s life in danger.

My stomach churns at the thought of Tor, bruised and unconscious in the nurse’s station, because of me, even after all he’d done to wrong me. When I reach the conference room, Myra’s resistance partner, Jake, is manning the door. He gives me a curt nod as he swings the door open, the gentle lull of curious conversation dissipating into complete silence as the door slams behind me.

Seated at the large table are familiar faces. Rupert, his assistant Charlene, and the Elder Council, made up of the leaders from every Hunter base in the area. Then I see Asher at the head of the table, dark hair hanging in his eyes. His skin looks chalky, almost, his breathing labored. All I want to do is run over to him and hold him, but Myra catches my eye and motions for me to sit down.

“Hello, Miss Madden,” Rupert says politely as I take a seat. There’s something different in his voice, sinister almost. He looks like he always has, bald head so shiny you can see your reflection, wearing a sharp black suit and a cigar hanging from his lips. His hands, perfectly manicured with only a hint of yellow tobacco stains on his fingertips. I nod my own greeting, not wanting to open my mouth and give away how nervous I am. I can only imagine what Asher’s been put through this morning. The Elder Council is relentless in their inquisitions. I can already see some of the members taking down notes, commenting on my hair colour, the red rings around my eyes, how I continually let my glance waver toward Ash.

“Now, I’ll assume you already know why you’ve been summoned here today, so we’ll move on promptly with the interview,” Rupert says abruptly, gathering his papers in his hands.

“If I may sir, there’s something I’d like answered first,” I interrupt, eliciting scandalous looks from my colleagues.

“And what is that?”

“Illegal memory erasion. It’s recently come to my attention that multiple members of the Corp and Royal families, respectively, have had Nano-machines placed into them without permission. If I understand correctly, is that not against protocol?” I’ve been practicing this speech all morning, hoping to get some leeway on the council. Instead, it backfires.

“You are out of line, Miss Madden. Any procedures that were performed were given approval by the entire council, and were done only to protect the masses,” chimes in an older man, who I think runs the Western base.

I feel the anger bubbling inside me, the injustice of this council making my blood boil. “Rupert, how could you do this to me? This wasn’t just some stupid procedure, you erased my memories! Now you expect me to just sit back and accept that? I’m not the one in the wrong, here! The Corporation killed David with technology, and now you’d like to do the same for the past. All this time we’ve been fighting Harpies, when maybe we don’t have to!” I shout, exasperated.

Myra glares at me from across the room, shaking her head slightly, no. Not yet.

“Piper Madden, you will learn your place. This is an official tribunal, not a free for all suggestion box. There will always be war between the Hunter and the Harpy. It’s in our nature. Harpies feed on the bones of our human families, could you honestly allow that to happen without fighting back?” Rupert booms angrily.

I shake my head, unsure of what to say. “But with all our technology, couldn’t we just clone meat for them? Sell it, make a profit from it?”

“I’ve had enough of this, Rupert, let’s move on to the tribunal,” the Western leader butts in again. In this instance, I wish I was older, so these people would actually listen to me.

“Charlene, ask the questions,” Rupert says gruffly.

His assistant focuses on me, her eyes perhaps the only ones not filled with disgust. “Piper, did you know Asher was a Harpy, and did you not report it to Central?” she asks.

“Yes, but—”

“Just a yes or no, please,” she quips. So much for expecting to be favored.

“And is it true that you persuaded fellow hunter Grier Lan to embark on an unsanctioned hunt?” she continues. Her head is tilted downward, eyes judging me behind wire-rimmed glasses.

“Yes,” I reply quietly. How do they know all of this? Grier must’ve told them.

“And is it true that you found a body that night and didn’t report it?” she continues, barely masking the contempt in her voice.

I’ve had about enough of this. “Where is this leading?” I ask, looking pointedly toward Rupert.

He frowns, taking a thick puff from his cigar. “Piper, you have seriously abandoned protocol during your time here. The Council needs to decide an appropriate plan of action,” he drawls, no doubt reciting it from his stupid rule book.

I’m left wondering when everything changed. In the past, it was never an issue if I veered a little bit off course; we just brushed it under the table. Now it seems like any infraction will line me up against the firing squad.

“You
have
to be kidding me,” I retort, “I’ve gone against protocol? You illegally erased my memories!”

“To protect you and the rest of the world,” Charlene interrupts.

I send her an angry glare. “From what?”

“From him,” she replies, sending a venomous look toward Asher, who’s sitting dejectedly at the other end of the table.

“This is ridiculous. He’s not a monster!” I shout.

“Piper, please,” Asher says quietly. The look in his eyes is unbelievably sad. What have they done to him to make him this way?

Rupert slams his fist against the table and stands abruptly. “Would you listen to yourself? What would everyone think if they found out one of the top Hunters of the generation fell in love with a
Harpy
?” he growls, twisting his face with contempt.

“What would they think if they found out the President of Elder Corp deliberately broke the law to save face?” I retort angrily. I’m expecting another angry outburst, but instead Rupert sits down slowly and takes a long drag on his cigar. There’s almost a smile glimmering in his eyes.

“You seem to forget, Miss Madden. Elder Corp
is
the law.”

I slump, defeated in my chair. Of course, he’s right. All of the angry faces staring at me confirm it, I’ll never win. Even if I quit the Corp, the council will find some way to pin a suit against me, but what will they decide? Prison in the very slums of the underground? Torture? Death?

“I won’t let you get away with this,” I spit under my breath. This time, Rupert lets out an audible laugh, sinister in its malice.

“We already have. Take her to her room while we deliberate. Guard her door,” he says, motioning toward two burly Hunters I’ve never seen before. I think about struggling and causing a scene, but Asher’s face stops me as he slowly shakes his head. Begrudgingly, I let them take my arms as I trudge out the door, wondering what disastrous outcome my fate will hold.

Grier’s waiting in the room when the guards toss me in there, warning me there’ll be trouble if there’s any funny business. The door slams behind me and I realize  she’s been pacing, her eyes lined with smeared mascara. She nearly crushes me when she sees me, wrapping me up in an unbearable hug.

“I am so sorry!” she sobs into my shoulder, “They made me tell them, they said they’d hurt everyone in my life.”

“It’s okay,” I whisper, delicately pushing her back to a standing position.

“It’s not okay. You can’t let them get away with this!” she shrieks dramatically.

I let myself fall onto the bed, cherishing the awkward creak of springs like I might not hear it again. “There’s nothing anyone can do, Grier. Rupert controls everything and everybody. And I’ve commit like, the cardinal sin of Hunterdom, we can’t forget that,” I point out.

“I made out with a guy once, if it makes you feel any better, and I had no idea he was a Harpy before he was dragged out by the squad,” Grier replies.

I can’t help but laugh at the look of disgust on her face as she recalls the memory. “This is different. I knew Asher was a Harpy the entire time, it’s not a case of mistaken identity, it’s a case of mistaken morals.”

To my surprise, she lays next to me, resting her head lightly on my shoulder. “No one should be able to tell you who to love,” she says.

In this moment I’m so glad Grier exists. Having even one person supporting me means the world to me.

Then she looks quickly at her watch and gasps. “Looks like it’s just about time for you to go,” she says, leaping from the bed and rummaging through my closet, bringing out a stuffed canvas bag.

“What are you talking about?” I ask, just as there’s a light rapping at my window. Grier squeaks excitedly, carefully opening the window to reveal a fresh-faced Asher. My heart nearly skips a beat as he squeezes through the window and rushes to take me in his arms, kissing my neck with intensity.

“What’s going on?” I ask breathlessly, kissing him once deeply.

“We’re leaving,” he whispers, hurriedly taking my bag from Grier. Leaving?

“But where?” I ask.

Asher motions for me to be quiet as Grier hugs me quickly. “We’re getting out of here before the Corp can ruin our lives again. I’ll explain more once we’re in the clear,” he says quietly. Then, before the guards can even realize it, he pulls me out the window and we fly off into the cold, snowy night.

We soar with incredible speed, the icy wind nearly blinding me, until we’re about a mile away from the city. I cling onto Asher tightly as he drops to the ground, narrowly avoiding the sprawling branches of dense forest. He leads me to a clearing where the moonlight softly peeks through the tree-top, covering everything in soft blue.

Shivering, I intake our surroundings as he places our bags on the ground, breathing heavily from exertion.

“What are we doing here?” I ask. The forest hums in its quietness, the lack of sound transforming to sound itself.

“Waiting,” he replies, dropping onto his suitcase, “Sandy’s meeting us here.”

Settling down next to him, I rest my cheek on his shoulder, relishing his warmth. It feels like forever since we’ve been alone and I’ve been able to actually talk to him. After a year of not knowing each other, I need to revive my senses by filling them with him.

“So we’re really doing this?” I say, torn between mirth and anguish. Here we are ready to embark into the world together, but there’s still so much pain in what we’re leaving behind. Families, friends, and enemies alike, we may never see again. There isn’t even a guarantee of our survival. Seeing Rupert’s face, I can’t say that he wouldn’t put in to have us destroyed. It makes life seem so clinical.

“I think we have to. Piper, we owe it to ourselves and the ones we’ve lost because of the Corp to escape. Then we can find a way to take them down.” His eyes flash violently as he pictures it, and I can’t help but wonder if he imagines tearing them apart and devouring their flesh. It’s not the most comfortable thought.