Shattered (12 page)

There was nowhere else to go after, unless we forever turned around in circles in the hope of simply bumping into Liam by chance.

Tal buildings, dark and seemingly without life, loomed high into the sky, stretching up higher than I thought possible. I couldn’t recal ever having seen a part of town that resembled anything like it.

“Are we stil in Arcadia?” I had to ask.

“I think we’ve hit the business end of the city.

Strange how it’s kept so out of the way.”

“Like the Coliseum,” I said, remembering Sarah’s depiction of the ugly and hidden part of Arcadia.

“Hopeful y this isn’t as sinister.” Torrid wrapped a protective arm around my shoulder.

I nodded and snuggled into his hold, immediately soothed by the warmth and comfort. As intimidating as our surroundings were, I felt safe with him at my side; almost invincible.

But when a distant movement caught my eye, I froze. My fear of the unknown, of the strange goings on of this dark neighborhood, took over. A huge bulk of a man stepped out of one of the darkened buildings, his gaze scanning the area, his fists tight with tension and anger. He seemed ready to throttle someone.

My heart stopped. Sensing my fear, Torrid tightened his hold of me, but it wasn’t his hold that calmed me, it was the sound of a familiar voice; a voice that brought me back to a time and space I knew so wel .

“I’l just take a breath of air. Let me know when you’re ready,” he cal ed out.

Liam, I thought with breathlessness. A wave of relief swept over me and, forgetting Torrid and his misgivings, I ran to the man I had grown up with, the one I’d been so worried about these past days. Al the guilt I’d bottled up since leaving him left me as I saw him, tal , strong and healthy.

“Liam,” I cal ed.

His brow creased with strain and uncertainty.

“Kama? What are you doing out here? You shouldn’t be out here.” He gazed around him as if impending danger surrounded him.

Caught off guard by his less than warm welcome, I stopped short of throwing my arms around him. Starring up at him with wonder, I realized he was so much tal er than he’d last been, and the breadth of his shoulders… it was amazing. I doubted I could even put my arms around his torso, he was so large.

“I came looking for you.” Thevoice tha words came out, static and unsure. While his face was familiar, everything else about him was so strange, so foreign. “I was worried. I had no idea what had happened to you.”

“Don’t worry about me, Kama. I’m doing better than you could imagine.”

My name sounded strange on his lips. It was cold and hard, somehow distant. I wanted to ignore the disdain that seemed to accompany his words. I wanted things to be back like before, when we’d been friends, when we’d been there for one another.

This new Liam left me uncomfortable and fidgety.

Though I knew circumstances had recently pul ed us apart, put us on opposing sides, I stil couldn’t understand why he was so cold, so stand-offish. I wanted to ask, but sensed he’d lie his way through it rather than tel me the truth.

“I saw Sarah and Melanie,” I said, feeling a need to fil the uncomfortable void. “They hadn’t seen you, and… everything is so chaotic, so different in al of Arcadia. I hardly recognize the town we grew up in.” Don’t you feel the same, I wanted to add.

“The Revolutionaries,” he grumbled. His eyes narrowed.

“The who?”

Shaking his head, he waved my question aside with authority and irritation. I’d never seen him this way and felt increasingly edgy. For the first time this way and felt increasingly edgy. For the first time since knowing him, I searched for something to say, something to break this unbelievable tension.

“I feared running into Dr. Sanz,” I said. “Have you seen him?”

He eyed me with curiosity, or perhaps even suspicion.

My heart raced, sensing eminent danger, but logic told me I knew this man. I’d grown up with him, had known him al my life. I shouldn’t fear being in his presence. He’d never hurt me; never do anything that could even remotely put me in harm’s way Yet, despite that lifelong knowledge, the sense of danger remained, even intensified.

“Have you been looking for me?” I dared ask.

“In a sense, yes.”

I wanted to grab his massive shoulders, shake him and scream: What do you mean, in a sense? But I took a deep breath as I wondered what could have happened to him these past days. What was responsible for such a dramatic change in him?

Then the answer appeared.

A smal er dark shadow emerged from the same building Liam had come from. Though smal er igo a="47n stature, there was an air of importance in the stance, in each stride the silhouetted man took.

Purposeful and strong, he came closer until I was final y able to recognize the face.

“Hel o, Kama,” he said, his booming voice breaking the night silence with al the assurance of a man who knew he belonged and had every right to make as much noise as he saw fit.

“Hel o, Pim,” I said, keeping the fear and uncertainty from my voice.

By the gleam of victory in his eyes, I realized I’d not real y succeeded in camouflaging my fear.

“This isn’t a neighborhood you usual y strol through, is it?” he asked. “You seem a little skittish, a little nervous. Have we spoiled you by having you over at the Diamond District a little too often?”

“I was looking for Liam.”

“And so, you’ve found him, I see.”

My gaze darted to Liam, to Pim and back to Liam again. Liam barely seemed aware of his father’s presence. At closer glance, I realized he barely seemed aware of his surroundings at al .

“What have you done to him?” The accusation spil ed out before I could contain it.

Pim’s robust chuckle was the only answer I received, and judging by the wicked gleam in his eye, the answer would not have been a pretty one had he bothered to give one.

“Everything okay here?” Torrid stepped up beside me and the light in Pim’s eyes changed.

With a scowl of disdain he turned to Liam and pointed to Torrid. “You know what you have to do, Liam. Deal with him and keep it clean.” A heavy sense of dread fel over me as I caught the glint of a lantern in Pim’s hand. He nudged Liam with his elbow and handed him the device meant to capture genies.

“Nothing personal,” Pim said to me, a beaming grin pasted to his face. “But the more genies we manage to capture, the faster we’l be able to restore the Force Field. Al this chaos is causing me such a headache,” he whined. Though his grin remained, his voice took on a sinister tone.

“Much like the headache your father has persistently given me for as many years as I can remember.

Seems he’s been giving me trouble ever since I’ve known him. You have no idea how I long for the day when I don’t have to even hear the name General Adar. I guess that is what it wil take in order to get Arcadia to work the way I real y want it to.” Once again he nudged Liam. “Go on, son.

Bottle that little…”

Liam

barely

glanced

at

me,

barely

acknowledged me, but took the lantern, his hold on the device familiar and surd keep ie.

I gasped as I stared at him. Had he done this before? Had he captured genies? The thought made me suddenly nauseous. I felt trapped between the two men I loved; a genie and a genie catcher.

Looking at Liam, in a flash I saw al he’d ever been; the young fair-haired boy, so charming in every way; the straight-laced kid who always did the right thing; the teenage guy so many girls fel in love with. I saw the Liam I’d loved, the Liam I’d trusted. I knew him inside and out. Had it al been a game?

An il usion?

Al those images were so far removed from the man who stood in front of me, his face somber, his eyes dead and the charm that had warmed so many completely gone.

“Liam, that isn’t what you real y want to do, is it?” I clung to the last hope that my words, my voice it?” I clung to the last hope that my words, my voice would reach him and make him see reason; make him see the absurdity of what his father asked of him. He wasn’t a Catcher. He wasn’t the type of man who could do such a thing.

He brought his gaze to me, but it seemed like such an arduous chore.

“What’s happened to you?” I asked. Despite the panic, I kept my voice soft and in control. “You captured a genie, didn’t you? It’s changed you.

You’ve changed, Liam. Can’t you feel it?” Desperation slowly crept into my voice. I wanted to deny the truth, deny what was right there in front of me. I fought to keep my voice from shrieking. “Snap out of it, Liam. Snap out of this hold your father has on you. He’l ruin you. He’l use you as he does everyone around him and dispose of you when you're no longer helpful to him.”

He ignored me. His gaze didn’t even flicker my way. Bold and brave, he faced Torrid. If Liam expected Torrid to back down or cower in the face of his genie-catching lantern, he was mistaken.

“I’ve faced far worse than you… the privileged Governor’s son,” Torrid said. “I’ve had a lifetime of battles. While you played with toy soldiers and games of strategy, I trained. While you went about building a cozy little social life with your friends, I dril ed to perfection, and while you squandered time and money on leisure, I went off to fight for my people. Do you real y think a simple order from your father wil give you the ability needed to capture the likes of me? Do you real y think that catching a few minor, probably inexperienced genies gives you enough strength, power and know-how to deal with a trained djin?”

Defiance and doubt played in Liam’s eyes.

His lips moved to answer, but nothing came. A commotion from behind him offered him the reprieve he seemed to search for; an easy way out of the situation.

I’d never seen him at such a loss; so confused and unsure. Despite the attempted strong stance he held facing Torrid, he lacked true conviction.

The commotion came towards us, a stomping of soldier bootn>

“Governor Seer,” a young Catcher cal ed out.

“Lieutenant Graves, I thought you were al out in the Garnet and Sapphire Districts.”

“Sir, the Djin army has invaded and is taking control of several districts.”

Pim turned to me. “You see what your father has done… and al to what end? For decades we’ve lived in peace. For decades life in Arcadia has been…” He gazed expectantly at me.

“Idyl ic,” I dutiful y said, the indoctrination I’d received al my life taking over. My voice even sounded like the twelve year old, dreamy-eyed girl I’d once been.

“Why has your father taken it upon himself to topple such an idyl ic arrangement?”

“The ideal you’ve created, Pim, is just an il usion, and you know it. It may have taken me a long time to discover it, perhaps it even took my father’s intervention, but you’ve created an il usion based on lies, and the imprisonment of so many innocents. There’s nothing idyl ic about that.” Pim’s lips reluctantly curled into a grimace.

“As you get older, Kama, you’l learn that a truly idyl ic world doesn’t exist. It takes a little coercion… a little push… and, yes, sometimes it takes a little ugliness to create something so perfect, so beautiful.”

“Like a little slavery?” I said, thrusting the words at him with al the venom I could muster.

His grimace deepened and his lips pursed into a bitter pucker. Obviously the word didn’t sit wel with him.

“Like a little torture?” I added, pleased with the reaction my accusations had. If nothing else I wanted him to realize what he’d done. I wanted him to take a closer look at the pain and suffering he’d caused so many… al in the name of creating a seemingly perfect world.

Cocking his head to the side, he gazed at Liam a moment, a blatant accusation in his eyes.

“Your dirty little secret is out, Governor Seer.” The title stuck to my tongue with a bad taste and I wanted to spit. “Liam may not realize, or want to accept the truth about his doting father, but I don’t hold the same reverence for you. You’re just a man, a man who thought he could make his people happy at the cost of other people’s livelihoods, their liberty.”

“Admit it, Kama, you’ve enjoyed your childhood. It was as close to perfect as your life could be. Isn’t that worth something?”

“Not the freedom of a whole population, no.”

“Not the freedom of a whole population, no.”

“Sir,” Lieutenant Graves said with insistence.

“Major Kaplan has asked that I escort you back to his base.”

Pim nodded and held out his hand to order the lieutenant to be patient then turned his gaze to his son. “I’l need you to take over, Liam. I wish I’d had more time to prepare you for al you're about to face. This isn’t real y the time or the way I wanted to pass the power on to you, but duty cal s and I need you to be a man.”

“I’m ready,” Liam said. “I’l do the best that I can. I’ve watched you enough throughout the years.

Surely I’ve picked up some things about running Arcadia.”

“The people of Arcadia rely on you.” Pim turned his glare to me. “The people you’ve grown up with. Don’t let them down.”

“I won’t. Go ahead and join the Catchers,” Liam said.

Pim retreated and fol owed the Lieutenant, his last gesture that of pointing to Torrid with a silent order to his son.

Capture him.