Resist (The Harvest Saga Book 2) (15 page)

“Soup?” He sniffed the air.

“Yeah. Want a bowl?”

He pointed at me accusingly. “Stop distracting me with food.”

I laughed. “Kyan, you never could say no to my soup.”

Gray cleared his throat but kept eating quietly.

Kyan’s jaw worked back and forth. “What’s he doing here?” He ticked his head at Gray.

“He’s staying with me.”

“Is that how it’s gonna be?”

Gray’s eyes found mine. I think he was as curious as Kyan was.

“Yes.”

“Unbelievable, Abby Blue. You know how I feel—”

“Kyan, I know! I know how you feel and I’m sorry.” I softened my voice. “I am so sorry that I don’t feel the same way. You have no idea. But I’m not going to pretend that I do. It wouldn’t be fair, not to you or me. I can’t do that. You have to let me go.”

“Fine. This is me letting you go.”

He looked at me one last time before stomping out of the room and slamming the door behind him. I looked at the soup and then back at the door. I finally felt Gray move behind me. His hand found my hips and pulled me back until my back met his chest. He snaked his arms around my stomach and rested his chin on my shoulder. “It’ll be okay. Give him time.”

I nodded. If I spoke, I would burst into tears. I loved Kyan. Not in a romantic way, but I loved him just the same. And my heart hurt along with his.

Gray’s voice smoothly slid over my skin. “He needed to hear it.”

I nodded and a tear slipped out of my eye and carved a path down my cheek. I wiped it away. Gray moved my hair out of the way and rubbed his mouth over the curve of my neck. Back and forth, languidly. His soft lips grazed my skin, making it pebble.

He walked me slowly back to the plush chair we’d cuddled up in earlier. He sat down, pulling me down on top of him. Gray pulled my legs up over the chair leg and held them still. His other arm was wrapped around me, rubbing lazy circles over my side.

His eyes never left mine, but somehow I missed the fact that he was so close. It startled me a little when his lips brushed over mine. He paused, waiting for permission. I leaned up and placed a light kiss on the corner of his lips. That was all it took.

His lips were on a mission to find mine and before I knew it, I was straddling his lap, enjoying every stroke of his tongue, every time his teeth took my lower lip captive. His hands pressed the small of my back, and soon I was clawing at him, just trying to get closer.

“Shhh.” He broke away from me. “God, Abs. We have to stop.”

I shook my head. “We don’t have to.”

He smiled up at me, his orange eyes sparkling. “Yes, we do.”

What was he doing to me?

“Let’s go to bed.” I raised my eyebrows. Gray snorted. “To sleep, Abs.”

“On one condition.”

“What’s that?” he asked.

“You sleep with me.”

He smiled. “I can handle that.” He lifted me off his lap and we made our way to my room to get some much-needed rest.

I couldn’t believe her. I
knew she’d never led me on, but I thought that with time, she’d come around. Guess I was wrong. I trudged up the pathway that led to my parents’ place. I needed to see Mom while I could. I’d have to be back at work soon.

The first thing I noticed when I walked into the cabin was how dark it was. There was a fire, but it was burnt down to embers. Their orange-red glow flickered across the floor-boards. Surely they weren’t asleep yet.

I hung up my coat and all but tip-toed inside.

“Kyan?” my father yelled from the bedroom.

“Yeah.”

“You better hurry.”

Hurry?

I rushed into the room to find Mom lying in the bed, pillows propped behind her back lifting her up just enough to help her breathe. “Mom?”

“Kyan?” It sounded like razor blades were slicing her throat when she rasped.

I looked at Dad, who sat beside her on the bed, holding her hand. “Did you call for me?”

He nodded.

“I didn’t know. I was at Abby’s.”

“When are you gonna get it, Son?”

“Get what?”

“She isn’t the one for you,” he bit out.

“I don’t know, Dad. I wish I did though.”

His glare softened and he nodded.

Mom spoke up. “She’s always been your friend. That’s all you two need to be.”

“Is this because she’s part Greater?”

“No!” Mom’s voice shrilled. “It’s because we hate seeing you hurt.”

A coughing fit seized her and Dad handed her his handkerchief. She coughed until she was gasping for air and too tired to do it anymore. When she handed me the small square of white fabric, it was stained red.

“I love you, Kyan. I want to see you happy. It’s all I want for you.” She squeezed my hand and pulled me toward her. I hugged her. She was so small and frail now. It took every ounce of strength in me not to bawl like a baby when she hugged me.

Dad nodded toward a wooden chair behind me. I scooted it forward until I was seated next to her. We both held her hand until she gave up the ghost and slipped out of this world. It was just after one o’clock in the morning.

I didn’t bother telling Abby the next morning. I needed distance, and she sure had made it clear that she did. My Dad and I dug my mom’s grave deep into the frozen earth. We didn’t speak much while we took turns throwing shovels full of dirt out onto the growing mound beside us, but we did agree not to tell anyone about her. Who knew what Vesuvius would do. My mother was not a test subject. She was born, lived, and died in Orchard and that’s where we would bury her. Period.

“Kyan?”
Oh, no. Not her.
I threw my shovel down and took off toward the cabin. I found Julia on the front porch, knocking on the door.

“Hey.”

She grasped her chest. “You startled me, Kyan,” She giggled slightly.

“Sorry about that. Um, I’ll be in later. I have a family matter to take care of.”

Her eyes scoured me.

“Why are you muddy?”

I blew out a breath and scrubbed my neck.

“Look, can you keep something to yourself. I don’t want anyone to know yet, especially not your superiors.”

“Of course, Kyan. I will keep our conversation between the two of us.”

Her dark eyes searched my face.

“My mom passed away last night. My Dad and I are digging her grave.” I choked on the last word. It was the first time I said the words out loud.

She gasped and covered her mouth with her dainty fingers. What surprised me most was when her eyes welled with tears that spilled over onto those fingers. “Oh, Kyan. I am so very sorry.”

“Thanks.”

“I lost my parents only two months ago,” she cried.

“I’m sorry, Julia. I had no idea.”

She ran across the porch and threw her arms around my neck. Julia was so short that her legs dangled down as she clung to me. I patted her back, rubbing the strange material of her jumpsuit as she cried for us both.

Finally calming down, she sniffed and wiped her nose on my shirt. I should have been grossed out but she was so sweet, I couldn’t be. Sliding down to the planks below, she stepped back and said, “Kyan, I can help prepare her, if you would like. I can dress her. That way your father and you will not have to do it.”

An enormous lump formed in my throat. “You’d do that?” A tear ran down my face. There was no stopping it. I’d just lost my mama.

“Of course.”

I nodded. “I’d appreciate that, Julia. So damn much.” I grabbed her and hugged her again, stooping down to reach her.

“Go finish helping your father and I will take care of your mother, Kyan.”

I wiped my eyes and then nodded before turning and stepping off the porch.

Olympus had been bombarded. There
wasn’t a building left standing that wasn’t still on fire or at least smoldering. Rubble and debris of every sort littered the streets. Bits of ash and paper swirled through the air, riding on the cold breezes coming off the nearby ocean. We heard the initial blast, which I had assumed was how they had breached the wall. They had torn right through it. But the onslaught had not ended there. It had only just begun.

Toward the end of the strike, someone had found us, found the keys to the tiny cells. The old man had limped from cell to cell setting us free. He had to steady his arthritic hands to turn each lock properly. These locks were from a more primitive time. When his icy blue eyes found mine, different emotions washed over his face. I could see anger, disgust, and pity. It was the pity that surprised me the most. Why would anyone pity me? But perhaps the better question was would anyone take pity on me?

I had to get out of here, find Marian, and leave the crumbling city that I once loved. Its façade of perfection had been blown to bits.

I stood in front of the remnants of what had been the palace. The stone that had so long held up the great structure was just a large crumbled heap now.
Had Father and Mother been inside? Gretchen? Please tell me that Marian is okay.

Soldiers in head-to-toe red marched along the street toward me. This was not the resistance. This was something else. Red was the color of Vesuvius. We had been attacked by our ally. We had been demolished by our equal.

The Lessers and their resistance had not taken us down; we had done this to ourselves. I turned to leave. The soldiers’ footsteps, though still in sync, were approaching more quickly. With my back to them, I crossed the street and away from them. More soldiers approached. I tried to see if I could make it down an alleyway. It was blocked. I was trapped.

I walked back over to the palace gates, now twisted and hanging at odd angles, the giant “O” blackened and scarred. Waiting was the only thing left to do. They were coming for me.

When the first soldiers approached, I held my wrists out. “Prince Crew Cole, you are under arrest for crimes against all Greaters,” the enormous soldier barked.

A smart lock was coiled around my wrists and sealed with the print of his thumb. The glowing red rope illuminated my skin like a neon sign.

“Where is my father?”

I didn’t see his fist coming until the moment it connected with my face. “If he’s lucky, he’s buried in that rubble pile. If not, he’ll meet the same fate as you very soon.”

Down the street, I saw the blur of a familiar form run across the street. Zander Preston was free. What was worse? My parents had been in the palace when the attack took place. They were gone. I just hoped Marian had not been in there. And for Abby’s sake, I hoped Preston didn’t find his way back to Orchard Village.

I slumped down the side
of the cold tunnel, the rock behind me cooling my back deliciously. We had been walking for hours, and that was after we had run the first couple of miles to ensure we were out of the city. Gretchen and I had been attending a resistance meeting. The times had been staggered recently so that no one suspected that members only met at night. Thank goodness for that change or we would have been in the palace when the bombs went off. Instead, we were in the Lesser section. We were in a place that offered shelter and escape.

Gretchen and I leapt up and grabbed onto one another when the first blast occurred. Her eyes widened. “It’s happening. We have to go!”

We rushed out the door to complete and utter pandemonium. Most of the faces we saw were resistance members. One man that we knew from training ran to us. “It’s not us. We don’t know what’s happening, but it’s not the resistance. Get to the tunnels!”

Gretchen grabbed my hand and together, we ran between hovels to a place with a large, dirty rug over the ground. It was in someone’s back yard, of sorts. She threw the rug over revealing a large metal door. We both lifted the door until it was open enough for us to climb through and then lowered it behind us.

When the door slammed loudly shut, I held my ears. They rang from all of the noise and my head was swimming in the pitch darkness that surrounded us from all sides and angles. The sound of a match strike woke me from my panic. Gretchen’s face illuminated in the small match light and she ignited a hand-held lantern that hung on the wall nearby.

“We have to run! We need to go as far as we can as fast as we can!”

I lifted my skirts and we ran as fast as we could through the black, winding catacomb. We composed ourselves now, sitting for a moment to catch our breath. Easier said than done at times like these. I wondered about Crew. Was he still alive? Had they destroyed the amphitheater? Was the King still alive? I shuddered at the thought. I had never wished anyone dead until that moment.