Ordinaries: Shifters Book II (Shifters series 2) (11 page)

Chapter 19

I Have an Idea:
How About You Put a Sack on Your Head?

–TANNER–

Ryland is right! They would think nothing of destroying a planet of Ordinaries.

“No, no, no, no,” the small bony woman keeps saying, rocking back and forth in horror. I wonder if she has children to worry about.

“How long will it take for them to get here?” I ask the leader.

“A day? A week? It depends where they’re coming from,” he says, sounding desperate and hopeless.

“What if we turn them in?” Quinn says. “Maybe they won’t kill us.”

The crowd begins to close in on us.

Marcus steps out in front of us shouting, “Wait!”

“Get out of our way!” the leader spits.

“Don’t you see?” Marcus yells. “This is exactly what they wanted.”

“What are you talking about?” Quinn yells.

The leader eyes Quinn and turns to Marcus. “What who wanted?”

“No, no, no,” the woman still cries, her shoulders shaking with her sobs.

“Quiet, Zee!” the leader shouts at the woman.

She stops chanting, but she still rocks with her lips quivering like a frightened child.

The leader eyes Marcus. “You were one of us.”

It wasn’t a question.

Marcus nods.

“Which colony?”

“Homeland,” Marcus answers.

The group takes in a collective breath.

“You were an insider?” the leader asks.

“Prove it! You’re not all buying this, are you?” someone yells from the group.

The leader softens and asks, “The Cron access protocol?”

“Alpha 15 juno 2894 beta 6,” Marcus recites.

“We thought they killed you,” the leader says, making it obvious that whatever gibberish Marcus just said was the correct answer. “We weren’t sure any Homelands got out.”

“Wait,” Ryland says. “You were part of a resistance?”

“Is that how you lost your wife?” I ask. “And your daughter?” I say in almost a whisper.

Marcus looks hurt, and I immediately feel bad for bringing it up.

“That is the past,” Marcus says, straightening up. “We have much to do. They know we are here. We can only assume they are expecting us.”

“You brought them here?” the leader shouts.

“I didn’t bring them here!” Marcus replies. “Your fate was sealed when they leaked the transmission.” Marcus stares him down. “
They
brought us here.”

“What transmission?” the leader asks.

“We received a distress call on Earth,” Marcus says. Then seeing that “Earth” means nothing to the group, he waves his hand and says, “The Lost Colony. We received a message from a young one they captured; their message led us here.”

A woman calls out, “We can still turn them in. They won’t kill us if we turn them in.”

The group agrees in unison.

Marcus points to us saying, “These young ones you are so intent on turning over to them are
The
Young.” He looks around and sees the bitter, jaded looks all around him. “From the prophecy.”

“How can you be sure it’s them?” the leader questions.

“We have a Seer,” Kyle answers. All eyes are on Kyle as he points to me, my sister, and Kai. “I was there when she saw it. It’s one of them.”

“We need to talk,” Marcus says to the leader.

“We are talking.”

“In private,” Marcus says.

They agree, and Marcus follows him into a dark room. The squeaky door closes loudly, leaving us in a room full of people that clearly want us dead. The group gets uncomfortably close, surrounding us and eyeing us suspiciously.

A woman looks between Kai and my sister and says, “You don’t look much like a savior to me.”

I jump as another woman right next to me says, “This one looks familiar. He’s not from some other world. I know I’ve seen these eyes before.”

I take a small step backward, but with the others crowding around, I can’t really get away from her claw-like hands and hungry eyes.

“Listen,” Ryland explains. “We are not saviors. We’re just trying to end the tyranny.”

The woman has her face right up to mine. I don’t think they’ve taught these people the importance of oral hygiene. Or food. They’re all so thin. I back away from her, hoping that maybe my sister will protect me.

The door to the darkened room opens, and Marcus and the leader guy come out as if they are old friends.

“Miles has agreed to help,” Marcus proclaims. “They want you, right?”

“Yes,” I say, not sure where he’s going with this.

“So that’s what we’ll give them,” Miles says flatly.

“What?” Kai screams.

–RYLAND–

This has to be some sort of joke. There is absolutely no way that we came all the way here, and we’re just going to surrender. No way!

“I don’t understand,” Tanner says slowly. “What exactly is your plan, Marcus?”

Tanner always was the optimistic, trusting one. He really is the good, all-American hero type. He honestly sees the best in everyone, even when it’s barely visible under some sort of high-tech microscope.

“The only way to stop some off-world attack that would doom the entire planet is to give them what they want most. The work can continue. The rebellion will go on. We just have to sacrifice you,” the leader says flatly. “Maybe that’s what the prophecy really meant, after all, that you would be a sacrifice, a martyr for the cause that would inspire a greater rebellion.”

I can’t believe what I’m hearing. My head is spinning. They are going to let us die so that they can continue fighting!

“How are you any better than them?” I challenge them sharply. “You’re willing to sacrifice the lives of children so you can overthrow the government, just like they were willing to kill children to keep their power. You’re no better,” I spit. “You’re monsters, too!”

Marcus shifts his feet uncomfortably and stares at the ground. He doesn’t answer. Part of me feels justified in his silence. He doesn’t deserve a chance to answer or try to explain away his guilt, but part of me feels that after all this he should at least try.

“So, that’s it?” Kai snaps. “Decision made? We all have to die?”

“I
won’t
let you take them,” Greg says, his grip so tight on Cooper’s hand that they are both white.

“You don’t have a choice,” the leader growls.

We are surrounded so quickly I don’t have the time to shift or fight back. I don’t know I even could have. My heart is heavy with betrayal. I feel as though it’s trying to pump lead through every vein.

A rough, burlap-like sack is shoved over my head. My hands are tied too tightly behind my back. The rope burns my wrists, but I bite back the cries and tears. I will not let them see me weak.

I am pushed about twenty feet before being shoved to the floor. The building’s dirt floor bruises me when I land, but it’s no more painful than that. The earth, though packed down, is soft and warm beneath me. Can I even call it “earth” here?

I hear cursing and scuffling, followed by Kai’s groans. No doubt despite being bound and blind, he is attempting to fight back. He won’t let them take him down without a battle. I smile a little at that.

Tanner is still in the other room. I can hear his calm, soothing voice. He is trying to reason with them, I am sure. He’ll try to talk our way out of this, but I can already see it’s hopeless. We are lost.

I think about Clay back at the ship and am glad he isn’t here with us. He would have fought as well, to protect us. At least I know he will be safe. He can keep fighting.

A strange loud siren begins sounding somewhere in the distance. In the building, everyone is shouting, running. Someone stomps on my left heel as they all clamor to leave the building through the narrow doorway.

In the back of my mind, I wonder what that sound might mean, but really I stop thinking or feeling anything. I just let myself sink down until the blackness overtakes me . . .

I am in a bright room, lights blinding me, forcing me to see imaginary stars. Someone is yelling, but I’m hearing them through a pane of glass, their voice muffled. My eyes finally adjust, and I see the walls are stark white. My hands are cuffed to a stainless steel table that is bolted to the cement floor.

The person screaming at me is a man. I don’t recognize him. He’s yelling about how I could have hurt myself, how I need to be more careful. It doesn’t make sense. If he cares about my safety, why am I chained here like a prisoner?

“I’m sorry,” my mouth says against my will. “I’ll be more careful.”

“You could’ve been killed!” he screams. “The rebellion is dangerous! They would kill you without a second thought!”

“I’m sorry,” I say again, although all I feel is confusion. “I know that they are the enemy. It’s just still hard to believe my brother is a traitor.”

What? Tanner? A traitor? Never!

“How many times have I told you Tanner is not your brother?” he says with a sigh. He sits down in the chair across from me and reaches over to take my hands. “They brainwashed you.”

“I know,” my voice says. “Because I work for The Council.”

I’m jolted awake when freezing cold water is thrown on me. I still can’t see anything, but the burlap clings to my wet skin and hair, choking me.

“Wake up!” someone’s screaming. “They’re here!”

Chapter 20

We Meet an Old Fiend
(No, That’s Not a Typo.)

–TANNER–

There are too many of them to react. I’m lying on the floor with a mouthful of dust when I see them throw a sack over Ryland’s face. It feels like there are ten or more people holding me down with knees, arms, and elbows. I meet Kai’s desperate eyes before the sack covers his face.

My sister and Kai are dragged out of the room, and a door loudly bangs shut. The sound is so final, but I am still here. My hands are tied, and I’m at the bottom of the pile of people, but no sack. I flip my head over, and Cooper is inches from me with a determined look on her face despite the knee driving into the back of her neck. Greg and Kyle are still standing with several people holding them back.

Marcus pulls up a chair and sits. He leans forward as if he’s going to say something.

I beat him to it. “How
could
you, Marcus?”

“Listen,” he says calmly. “We have to do it this way.”

“You brought us all the way here to turn us in?” I spit. “After you helped us? Don’t think they’re gonna just lie there and take it,” I say, referring to my sister and Kai.

“Don’t worry about them,” Miles tells us. “They’re going to sleep for a bit.”

“Worry about us then,” Cooper says. “We won’t let you do this.”

Miles steps down hard on the back of her arm, and she bites down on her lip, not letting herself cry out in pain. I can’t believe how tough this girl is. She is a warrior.

“From what I’m told,” Miles tells her, not letting up on the pressure and continuing, “you’re not mentioned in the prophecy. We don’t need you, Shifter.”

That reminds me. “What are you going to tell Sol
é
? And Alice? How are you going to explain this?”

“Miles,” Marcus says, giving him a stern look.

“Fine,” he says, stepping off of her.

Marcus turns back to me, lips pursed tightly. “If Sol
é
had foreseen this, she would probably have been here already.” He shrugs. “Since she isn’t, it’s safe to assume we can tell them you were captured.”

Cooper spits in his general direction. It doesn’t hit him, but the message seems to be received.

“We’re going to let you up,” Marcus says slowly, holding his hands up slightly like a mock surrender. “We’ll have to trust each other.”

What? He expects me to trust him after this?

“Trust me, Tanner,” Marcus pleads. “We have a plan.”

I look back at Cooper, and she shakes her head. But what choice do I have? I turn back to Marcus and give a slight nod. He motions for the pile of people on me to let me up. I can feel the weight lifting off me. Cooper is still being held down and shaking her head.

I get up and motion toward Cooper. “Let her up. Them, too,” I say, referring to Kyle and Greg. “Coop, we have to trust them,” I tell her, holding my hand out.

They release her, and she refuses to take my hand. She stands straight up and stares them down before walking over to Greg and glaring at the men holding him; they reluctantly let him and Kyle go.

“See? We’re all friends now,” Miles tells us.

I glare at him then turn to Marcus and ask, “What is your plan then? Why did they take my sister and Kai?”

“They’re too emotional. It’s best they believe we have betrayed them,” Marcus says. “It will help sell it.”

“Okay,” I say. “Help sell what?”

“We are going to turn you over to them,” he says.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” I say. “They’ll just kill us. It will stop the prophecy.”

“They won’t,” Miles says. “Rian has too much riding on this. He will want your death to be an event. It will crush the rebellion.”

“What are you talking about?” I ask. “Who’s Rian?”

The whole room erupts with laughter.

“The head of The Council,” Miles says, incredulously.

“The universal ruler,” another guy tells us, like we’re total idiots.

“Is he the one that killed our parents?” I ask.

The room is silent.

“Listen,” Marcus says. “I believe they will take you to the Delfis quadrant to prepare for transport.”

“Devon,” I say, in almost a whisper.

Marcus nods. “You’ll have your iPhones with you. Even if they find them they won’t know what they are, but we can track them. Just keep them active and silenced. When you locate Devon, any switch or button will signal us.

“We will have Viktor keep his ship close by. They won’t be able to detect it. Cooper, Kyle, and Greg will take a team back to the colony ship with supplies. Miles will have a team create a diversion with one of their ships. They will destroy it, and if we’re lucky, they will think that is the unauthorized landing.”

“What about the crew?” I ask. There is no way I can let someone die to hide our ship.

“It will be unmanned,” Miles tells me.

“Okay,” I concede. “How do you know they will take us to Delfis?” I ask Marcus.

“We don’t,” Miles answers.

I can’t believe I’m doing this. I walk into the room and look at my sister next to Kai. I glance nervously back at Marcus. I sit down as they tie me up and throw a sack over my head.

“Are you ready?” Marcus asks.

I swallow hard and say, “Yes,” but there is still so much that could go wrong.

Then there is running, yelling, and a strange siren, and I am shocked as ice cold water drenches me.

–RYLAND–

My whole body aches as though I were in a car accident. I can’t understand what’s happening. Everything is so loud. There are sirens.

I wonder if my mom forgot to turn the car’s lights on again. Sometimes she forgets while driving at night. Maybe we were in an accident.

It’s so dark I can’t see anything, but I am wet. That doesn’t make any sense. If we were in an accident, I wouldn’t be wet. Unless it’s blood.

I try desperately to remember what is happening. My dream comes back to me, but I shake it away. It doesn’t make sense, and I don’t have time to figure it out right now.

In that moment, with my head pounding, I remember Marcus’s betrayal. I grind my teeth in frustration. I cannot believe that he would do this to us, sacrifice us for his cause as if we are nothing more than lambs.

I’m dragged roughly by someone with large, calloused hands. As he pulls me backward by my wrists, a small cry escapes before I can stop it. The ropes bite my wrists, and I feel a trickle of blood run down my arm.

“Shut up, Shifter!” he snaps over his shoulder.

I recognize his voice from the earlier fray. He was a wiry man with beady eyes and a smile that made me shudder. He seems to be enjoying my suffering.

I wonder briefly if on other worlds they have sadists and murderers. I wonder if they look like ours. I wonder if this man might be one. His eyes say he might be as they bore into my memory.

I am shoved into the back of some sort of vehicle, which jolts forward before I have time to adjust, throwing me into someone else. Kai curses, and Tanner yelps as we tangle together. “What’s the plan?” I hiss to Kai through the sack.

Surprisingly, no one shouts at us to be quiet. They must not be able to hear our talking over the roar of the engine. It’s so much louder than any car, ship or plane I have ever heard.

“When the truck stops, run,” Kai says authoritatively, despite the whisper and pain in his gruff voice.

“I don’t think running is a plan,” Tanner mumbles.

“You two, run,” Kai says again, more firmly this time.

“What about you?” I hiss, noting his absence in the plan.

“I’ll distract them.” Even with the hood on and the fear knotting in my stomach, I can hear the grin in his voice. This is the one thing he is sure of, the one thing he knows he can do: fight.

“No,” Tanner says emphatically, ramming my stomach with an elbow as we take a sharp right turn. “We all go together or not at all.”

Something is off in his voice. This isn’t brave, noble Tanner trying to ensure that his friends are safe. Tanner is desperately trying to keep us from running. I can’t imagine why that would be since staying in this truck means we all die.

For a brief instant, the word “traitor” from my dream rolls around in my mind.

“Tanner’s right,” I say, putting my faith in my brother. He isn’t a traitor, and we can’t leave Kai behind.

“Do you have a better idea?” Kai snaps.

Tanner breathes for a moment, and I can tell that he is thinking hard about his next few words. “We need to find Devon.”

“Tanner, we know that, but we have a more immediate concern,” I snap, clearly annoyed by my brother’s one-track mind.

“No,” Tanner says slowly, patiently, as though speaking to a toddler throwing a tantrum. “We need to find Devon, but we already know who has her,” Tanner says quietly, waiting for us to catch on.

“You’re suggesting that we turn ourselves in so that we can find your girlfriend in whatever Nazi death camp the Shifters have placed her?” Kai says snidely.

“Yes,” Tanner shrugs.

It’s ridiculous and stupid and possibly even suicidal, but at the same time Kai and I both answer, “Okay.”

That is when the vehicle stops, and my blood turns to ice. Because the voice I hear, I would know anywhere.

“Well, well . . . It seems you’ve come right to me,” Lena says with what sounds like a malicious smile in her bell-like voice.