Defiance Rising (10 page)

Toren looks up from the map he’s studying atop the altar-like table and waves us over.
 
I can tell by the look on his face that my absence caused quite a stir last night.
 
I hang my head low and follow Eamon’s lead, knowing a stern reprimand is waiting for me.

Eamon’s hand is tugged out of mine as a flash of golden blonde slips in between us and wiggles close to his side.
 
Zahra grabs my sack from his shoulder and tosses it carelessly to the ground.
 
“I’m so glad you’re back, Eamon.”

I roll my eyes and dip low to retrieve my supplies, grateful not to have to watch Zahra fawn over Eamon.
 
She does it every night we return from a hunt.
 
Most nights I can hardly stomach watching her paw over him.
 

When Eamon looks back down at me, I turn to the side and gag on my finger.
 
He laughs as Zahra shoots an icy glare at me before turning her simpering smile back to him.
 
“Think you can help me in the kitchen?
 
I’m making your favorite-Roasted rabbit.”

I nearly applaud at his hesitation.
 
“I’ll be there in a few minutes.
 
I think Illyria brought back some supplies with her.
 
Why don’t you take those to the pantry for us?”

Her scowl would bother me if I had the slightest inclination to care, which I don’t.
 
I didn’t lay claim on Eamon.
 
It was the other way around.

Aminah waves at me from the far side of the room.
 
Although I can tell she’s happy to see me alive, I know by the droop in her slender shoulders that my absence hurt her.
 
Her auburn curls hang over her face, but I can see the puffiness under her eyes, evidence of a long night spent crying.

I wince and turn my back on her, sure that I’m about to hear all about it from Toren.

“Have fun?” He asks, rounding the stone table.
 
He crosses his arms over his chest, and although I know it’s his most intimidating pose, he struggles to carry it off like Eamon does.
 

“I wouldn’t call it fun,” I grimace, cupping the dried blood on my right side.
 
Toren’s gaze flits down and hardens at the sight of my wounds, barely hidden behind the scraps of my shirt.
 

He sighs and runs his fingers through his wavy chestnut hair.
 
He keeps it short so his curls don’t take over, but it’s been a while since he had a decent trim.
 
“Are you hurt?”

“Not really.”
 
I absently rub my chest, trying not to think of how differently last night could have gone for me.

“Hey!
 
What’s that?”

I turn to find Eamon peering down at my chest.
 
I bristle and realize just how low my torn collar really goes.
 
“Well if you have to ask-”

He snorts and pulls the tattered collar of my shirt to the side, exposing a larger amount of my chest than I would like.
 
His finger brushes over my flesh and I struggle to hide my shiver.
 
No one has ever touched me like that before.
 
Even though it’s hardly risqué, I’ve always kept a pretty strict no touch policy with all of the guys in the commune.
 

“Where did you get this?” He whispers, tracing the raw flesh with his thumb.

I tuck my chin and try to see what he’s looking at.
 
Whatever it is, I can see his concern mirrored in Toren’s eyes.
 
They exchange a glance as I shove Eamon’s hand away.
 
“It’s nothing.
 
Just a burn I got last night.”

“That’s no burn,” Zahra says, sounding thoroughly bored with the topic as she appears next to Eamon.
 

Toren ignores Zahra, staring hard at me.
 
I flinch under his gaze.
 
He normally doesn’t try to lord his authority over me but I can tell he’s about to question me.
 
“Where did you get that mark?”

“What the heck are you talking about?” I cry.

Aminah’s feet whisper across the Temple floor as she ushers a small group of children out of the room.
  
Several of them pause at the doorway, peering curiously back at me.
 
I bite my lower lip, scolding myself for my outburst.
 
There’s no sense upsetting them with trivial things like a burn.

When Aminah returns she pushes past Toren to stand before me.
 
“You can’t see it, can you?”

“See what?”
 
I try to hide my frustration, but it’s hard.
 
I’m too tired to be polite right now.
 

She reaches out and peels back my shirt, her eyes narrowing with concern.
 
Eamon peeks over her shoulder and I’m struck yet again with self-consciousness.
 
He chuckles as Zahra smacks his arm.
 
“What?
 
I’m just concerned is all.”

My cheeks burn with embarrassment as Toren leans in for closer inspection.
 
“Really?
 
Am I a sideshow act or something?
 
This is a bit personal, ya know,” I snap.

Toren blinks and looks to Aminah, who smiles kindly.
 
“Sorry, he doesn’t always think about girls like that.”

“Well, he should,” I reply, turning away from Eamon and Toren.
 
Zahra rolls her eyes and steps between us as a shield. I have no doubt this gesture isn’t done for my benefit.

Her bright green eyes lock onto mine.
 
“I’ll tell you what it is so everyone can stop gawking at your…chest.”
 

Zahra sports a haughty smirk as she forces out the final word.
 
I roll my eyes.
 
I’m way past caring about her petty jokes.
 
Yes, I’m aware of the fact that I didn’t develop quite as much as she did, but at least I can fit my hips through the narrow passage leading to the waterfall without having to turn sideways.

“It looks like a throne bush, rooted right over your heart and vining out.
 
Sort of like that tattoo Bran used to have.”

I remember Bran.
 
He died when I was about seven years old.
 
Mom said his tattoos were from before the Assault, when people imbedded ink into their flesh…on purpose.
 
I never could understand the desire to do that.
 
I only saw Bran shirtless a couple times but I distinctly remember a vining, scroll-like tattoo that decorated his shoulder and ran down the center of his back.
 
He had other markings but none so fierce or memorable.
 
In its own way, I found the tattoo to be beautiful.

“How is that possible?” I ask, pulling my shirt down so far I’m sure if Zahra hadn’t been standing there I would have given the guys a real eyeful.
 

Aminah watches me, her doe eyes far too insightful for my liking.
 
“You have no idea how this happened?”

I can tell by the edge to her voice that she’s suspicious.
 
I know if I try to speak that she will see through my poorly veiled lie so I opt for a shrug.
 
It pulls the wounded flesh taut but I refuse the urge to grimace.

Zahra steps back as I cover myself and tucks into Eamon’s side, completing our dysfunctional circle.
 

“I think it’s time to tell us what happened last night.”
 
All eyes are on me as Toren waits for my response to his request, but mine are firmly planted on the floor.
 
I clear my throat, my thoughts scattered as I rush to create a highly edited version of events.
 

Eight

There is only silence when I finish.
 
I shift, awkwardly rocking my weight from one foot to the other as I wait for the news to sink in.
 
I managed to leave out my harrowing escape from Commander Drakon and my confrontation with Kyan while still revealing the Caldonian’s plans.
 
Mentioning spending much of the night with Bastien was enough to visibly raise Eamon’s blood pressure through the roof.

I know I fumbled through my cover up though.
 
I can tell Eamon’s not buying it, nor is Aminah, and Zahra looks irritated that I’m getting so much attention.
 
I wish she’d just head back to the kitchen to finish prepping lunch.
 

Toren clenches and unclenches his fists at his sides.
 
When he finally speaks, he sounds as if something is strangling his voice.
 
“So, you’re saying the aliens are digging their way toward us?”

I nod, nibbling on the broken edge of my fingernail.
 
“I’m not sure how far they’ve reached, but judging by the increase in tremors I’d say it won’t be long until they find us.
 
I can rest up a bit tonight and head out tomorrow to take a closer look.”

“No!
 
No way!” Eamon instantly protests.
 
“You barely made it out alive this time.
 
There’s no way I’m letting you go anywhere near that place again.”

I can tell by the tilt of Zahra’s head that she’s contemplating siding with me on this one.
 
I suppose a normal person would be thankful, but I’m not.
 

“Look, I know what I’m doing now.
 
I can get in and out without being detected.
 
Bastien showed me the subway and I can just follow that to the other side of the city.
 
I won’t even have to come up to the surface until I reach the dig site.”

“What makes you think the aliens don’t know about the tunnels?”
 
Aminah asks, curling her finger around a small clump of hair.
 
Her heart shaped face is pinched with worry, her rosy lips pursed tightly.
 
She cuddles into Toren’s side, naturally leaning into him.
 

Aminah is the most fragile member of our group.
 
Her big heart and delicate emotions are endearing, but poorly suited for this life.
 
Maybe that’s why we’re best friends.
 
Maybe opposites really do attract.

“I say let her go.
 
She thinks she can do it, so let her.”
 

Eamon scowls at Zahra, pushing her away from his side.
 
“Well don’t hold back how you really feel, Zahra.”

“What?” She raises her shoulders in an indifferent shrug.
 
“She’s the one with a death wish, not me.”

“And you’re happy to stay behind, all fat, dumb and happy.”
 
I snap at her, my patience having fled completely by this point.
 

Her eyes blaze with anger as she lunges toward me.
 
Toren catches her around the waist and spins her away.
 
“Your cat fighting really is getting old,” he growls at both of us.
 
I plant my hands on my hips but say nothing.
 
We elected Toren as leader for a reason after our parents went missing.
 
I’m not about to buck his authority over something this small.

“Tomorrow Eamon and Illyria will both scout out the area and report back before nightfall.”

Toren’s tone resonates with finality as he releases Zahra.
 
She huffs, smoothing the wrinkles from her shirt.
 
I’m not really sure where she came up with the idea for her ensemble: a patchwork of colorful fabrics sewn together to create an ankle length skirt and tan cotton shirt knotted at her hip to reduce the bagginess of it, but it’s obvious she spent a lot of time pressing it with a hot rock.
 
Judging by the way that she watches Eamon from the corner of her eye, her efforts were meant solely for him.

“Aminah, please see to the children and reassure them everything is ok. Zahra, you may return to the kitchen fires to finish preparing the meal.
 
Illyria, why don’t you go get cleaned up?
 
We can’t risk your wounds festering.”

“What’s Eamon supposed to do?” Zahra pouts.

His wicked grin forms immediately.
 
“I’m going to help Illyria take a shower.”

I laugh and shove him away.
 
“If you come within a hundred feet of that waterfall, I won’t think twice about tossing you over the side.”

My nose twitches as I breathe in a tantalizing aroma.
 
I open my eyes and find a piece of warm meat dangling over me.
 
“Rise and shine.” Eamon grins.

I bolt upright and snatch the meat from his grasp, sinking my teeth into the juicy animal flesh.
 
Despite my aversion to the gamey taste of wolf meat, I devour the chunk in two large bites.
 
Eamon leans back against the wall with a knowing smirk tugging at his lips.

“Oh, get over yourself.
 
I’m hungry,” I say, pushing back the tattered blanket to rise from the floor.
 
A longing for the soft couch in the abandoned home flits through my mind as I twist the kinks from my back.

I lift my hands high overhead and stretch toward the ceiling, arching my back.
 
My fingers just graze the rock as I groan and sink back to the flats of my feet.
 
“So what’s with breakfast in bed?”

“One of the scouts found something.”

My fidgeting ceases as I stare hard at him.
 
“Have they found a real supply line this time?”

I would give props to Eamon for his calm demeanor, but the glow in his eyes doesn’t fool me.
 
He’s just as anxious behind that stony façade as I am.
 
I poke him in the stomach and race off, ducking low for the last thirty feet of the tunnel before I slide into the Temple.

“I see you got the good news,” Toren says as he snatches up a sniper rifle from the altar beside him and crosses the room toward us.
 
“You might want to keep it down a bit though.
 
The kids are still asleep.”

“Really?”
 
I frown.
 
It’s impossible to tell what time it is from this deep within the cave system.

“You slept like the dead last night.
 
Snored so loud I thought the whole mountain would fall in on us,” Eamon taunts as he ducks out of the tunnel.
 
He stands upright, reminding me of how much height he’s added over the past year.
 
His face has lost the childhood baby fat I used to love to tease him over.
 
The lines on his face betray his maturity.
 
By all intents and purposes, he’s a man now.
 
How did I fail to notice that?

“Ha-ha.”
 
I stick out my tongue at him over my shoulder before turning back toward Toren.
 
“So are you sending us on another wild goose chase?
 
I thought we were going to track the tremors today.”

Toren shakes his head.
 
“That can wait a day.
 
Right now, our top priority has to be food, clothes and ammo.”

I frown.
 
“What about all of those supplies I brought back with me?”

Eamon scoffs as he stops at my side.
 
“Zahra can’t figure out what half that stuff is.
 
She certainly didn’t seem too impressed with your soda.”

I grin back at him.
 
Images of Zahra covered in sticky foam will keep me occupied for quite some time.
 
Toren hands Eamon the rifle and motions for me to follow him to the map he was staring at the night before.
 
On it is a grid of red x’s and check marks.
 
I recognize many of them as locations our parents hit before they died.
 
The others have been faulty guesses of where the Caldonians might run the next supply line.
 
We’ve been wrong four times in the past six months.
 

After the Assault began, our parents fled into the mountains with a small group of survivors.
 
Not long after the smoke lifted they discovered a Caldonian base set up less than five miles away, an alien hub for transporting enough firepower to control the Midwest.
 
The rebellion was born out of duty and honor.
 
Our small group tried to hold off the Caldonians in the forest, to give America a chance to get back on its feet.
 

That never happened.

When the last of our parents died, many of us wanted to make a mass exodus right out of this region and leave behind the painful memories, but Toren convinced us to stay behind and honor our parent’s legacy.
 
To keep fighting.
 
That was the day I renewed my oath to the rebellion, knowing that my place was right here.
 

“Antone stumbled across a group of Caldonians last night while on patrol.
 
Apparently, there’s some discourse among the soldiers about changing the route at the last minute.
 
I think many still fear our attacks.” Toren says, running his finger along a red line that runs near the base of our mountain.

“We haven’t attacked in six months,” Eamon says, rubbing the light stubble along his chin.
 
I can tell he’s just as frustrated as I am about this fact.

“I don’t like it.”
 
I chew on my lower lip as I point to the ravine just beyond Toren’s finger.
 
“There’s plenty of tree cover to hide in on either side.
 
Why risk an ambush this far from their base unless it’s a trap?”

Toren nods, withdrawing his hand from the map as he straightens his shoulders.
 
“That’s what I’m thinking.
 
It’s too easy.”

“But can we risk not going?” Eamon asks.
 

“No.”
 
Toren shakes his head.
 
“I’m only sending you two.
 
No one else knows about this and I expect it to remain that way.”

Everything about this mission makes me nervous and very suspicious.
 
“You know this can’t be a coincidence.”

Eamon’s stares hard me.
 
“You think this is because of your little adventure into the City?”

I refuse to be baited by him as I grip the edge of the stone.
 
“Bastien and I saw stuff we weren’t supposed to see.
 
It only makes sense that this Drakon would come looking for us. Maybe they think we’re stupid enough to lead them right up to our front door.
 
He can’t possibly know that Bastien and I are strangers.”

Rubbing his temples, I can tell Eamon is beginning to suffer from yet another headache.
 
He’s been having those frequently over the past couple weeks.
 
I joked that it was just birthday jitters, but he brushed me off.
 

I’ve often wondered why I’m the only one who seems amused by the fact that our birthdays are all within a week of each other.
 
Aminah says I have too much time on my hands to think up crazy fantasies, but Eamon has always claimed his belief that it is fate, or something equally ludicrous.
   

“I want you both to observe for now.
 
Do not engage the aliens or give them any reason to sense your presence.
 
I want to know what they’re planning before we make our move.”