Revolutionary Love (The Revolution Series Book 1) (16 page)

"Jewel. She could have been vaccinated. She didn't vaccinate herself when we stole the medicine from The Unit. She said somebody out there needed it more than she did." His laugh held no humor and it sounded choked. Forced.

My stomach tightened into a knot. I barely knew her, but her death made me hurt inside.

Seth sighed under his breath. "She was all for the people. Selfless."

Rugter nodded. "I know." He glanced down at his hands. "Does it make me a bad person for hating her for that?" His voice sounded empty.

I forced my feet to stay glued to the ground. He looked broken and empty. I wanted to give him a hug. I wanted to bring back life to those blue orbs. I knew I wasn't the person to do that.

"No." Adam responded. His voice sounded one hundred percent sure.

Rugter looked at me now. The emptiness in his eyes tugged at my heart. "I'm sorry for blaming you. It wasn't your fault. My emotions were out of line and I let it get the best of me."

I froze. I wasn't expecting an apology from him. I felt like I should be the one apologizing. I couldn't speak. Something thickened in my throat and I fought the urge to cry. I gave him a nod of my head and a soft smile.

Rugter looked between us three. "I thought I was strong enough to do this. This revolution. I'm not. I can't do this anymore."

I could sense Adam and Seth were confused like me. I noticed Adam's back had turned rigid.

Rugter ran his hands through his brown hair and looked towards the ceiling. "I am going to leave. Travel by foot. I need to go. To get away from all this." He looked between the three of us. "I wish you guys luck and happiness. One day we will be real Americans again. We will have our freedom and our life's. I am going to leave. Don't follow me and don't try to stop me."

Until now, I didn't notice the back pack on his back. Nobody spoke as he walked the rest of the way down the stairs. He stopped in front of Adam and hugged him.

"Good luck." Adam spoke in a distant voice.

Rutger thanked him and walked over to Seth. They shook hands in a manly way.

"If you need me you know where to find me." Seth told him.

Rugter moved in front of me. He stared at me for long moments before pulling me into a bone crushing hug. I couldn't breathe.

"I know who you are." He whispered in my ear. "If you ever need to get away from all this, I'll be on the border line of Canada. Come find me."

Shock ran through my entire body. He backed away and left. Just like that. Like it was the easiest thing in the world to leave and forget all of your problems.

He knew who I was. Seth knew who I was. Jessica knew who I was. Dr. Lynn knew who I was. Everybody was finding out who I was without me saying anything.

After Rugter left, Seth, Adam and I all piled onto the couch. Adam and Seth were having light and easy banter. They were teasing each other in a friendly way. They were acting like nothing happened. All the problems around us and consuming us were being ignored.

I silently watched them. Adam's green eyes twinkled with laughter at something Seth had said. It was nice seeing him relax and laugh. Something eased inside of my chest. It felt easier to breathe.

"What happened with you and Chantel?" Adam's questioned pulled me out of my thoughts.

I looked at Seth. He easily blanked his face of all emotion. He looked like the man I met in the woods. Harsh. Cold. Distant. Seth tapped his fingers on his knees. "I broke up with her." He didn't elaborate.

Adam lifted his eyebrows in surprise. "You get shot, almost died, come back, and break up with your girlfriend?" Irritation flitted across Adam's voice.

Seth caught the irritation and frowned. His copper hair hung around his face loosely. Seth's jaw clenched. His dark eyes darkened even more, if possible.

"It was not working out. I can't have a woman going into hysterics every time I am in the line of battle. She asked me to demote myself." Seth calmly informed his brother.

Adam tensed next to me. I felt like I was watching a movie. Where was the popcorn?

"She thought you were dead and mourned your death. We all did. She is in a fragile place right now, Seth. She isn't thinking clearly."

Seth stared at Adam for a long moment. "I do not love her like that. I will never love her like that. I do not need her holding me back. I do not have the time for juvenile situations. We are in the middle of a revolution, yet she just wants to play house."

Adam blew out a breath and chuckled. "That she does."

Seth relaxed when the thick atmosphere dropped. "She asked me to run away and leave the rebels with her. She wants to start a family."

I fought back a smile at his words. How old was she? She already wanted to start a family?

Adam grumbled under his breath. "Who would want to have a child in this generation? Nobody can even take care of themselves."

"You guys are really just sitting there and talking about me like I am not even here?"

Seth and Adam's head whipped towards the stairs. Chantel stood there, arms crossed over her chest. Pain filled her eyes and her lower lip trembled.

"Chantel." Seth's voice sounded tired. He didn't seem to want to deal with her.

Chantel straightened her spine and gazed at Seth with her sharp brown eye. "I don't need you, Seth. I am not as dependent on you as you seem to think. You only ever wanted to feel needed, but I genuinely do not need you." She spun on her heels and marched back upstairs.

I bit the inside of my cheek. I felt guilty, yet highly amused. Seth stood up, as if to follow her, then shook his head and sat back down.

Adam looked at Seth. "She is upset. Go make her feel better."

Seth leaned further back into the recliner chair. "She doesn't need me."

I opened my mouth to intervene, but froze when I heard a crashing sound. Before I could stand up, smoke filled the entire living room.

Bullets blasted into the house. I coughed and dropped to the floor. In the back of my mind, I registered Seth ordering me to get behind the couch. The Unit had found us. I didn't hear a helicopter. They snuck up on us. What if they caught Rugter on his way out? Where was David?

My eyes were burning from the smoke. I didn't want to lay on the floor helpless. I dragged myself through broken glass. When a hand wrapped around my ankle, I opened my mouth to scream.

"Don’t scream." It was Seth's smooth, calm voice. He helped me to my feet and pushed me back against the wall.

His warm breath tickled my ear when he leaned in to whisper. "There is more ammunition and guns upstairs. Go get one and stay there. Do what you have to do in order to survive. If something happens, go to Canada. I hear things are different there."

I reached my hand out and froze when it connected with his stomach. He was bleeding again. Was it a new shot or did he tear his stitches open?

“You’re hurt.” I stated.

Seth ignored my words and gave me a small push towards the stairs. My chest felt constricted. I couldn’t breathe again. What if he died? Where did Adam go? Tears filled my eyes as I made my way up the stairs. I just wanted to be back in Seth’s presence. I wanted to know that he was okay.

I paused at the last step. Some of the smoke from down stairs had filtered up here. The hardwood floor was covered in dust. I saw small footprints leading to one room and bigger footsteps leading to the other.

Everything was perfectly quiet and still. My breathing sounded like loud booms across the still air. I followed the dusty foot prints to Chantel’s room. Her bedroom door was open. She was lying on an old cot with a sniper rifle in her hands. She was aiming outside. Although they described her as little and weak, I could see the soldier within her.

She was perfectly relaxed, lying there, ready to murder someone.

I looked out the window and almost choked on the spit in my mouth. Jessica was perched in a tree unarmed. She was just sitting there swinging her legs back and forth as if she was watching some kind of movie. Her body language was at ease. She was not worried at all. I had forgotten all about her.

Hearing my small choke, Chantel dropped the sniper rifled, turned around, and aimed her handgun at me. She didn’t lower her weapon when she saw it was me.

I took a step back.

“I hate you.” She informed me.

Oh, God. Was she going to shoot me over a boy? Over uncontrolled emotions? “Lower your weapon.” I cautioned.

Chantel's brown curls sprang as she stood up gracefully. She was the same height as me, but a lot more slender. Where she had bones, I had curves. Well, what was left of my curves. She was smaller boned than me. Her movements were slow as she approached me.

“You know all I have to do is say is you snuck up on me and I pulled the trigger. Honest accident. Everyone would believe me. These men have known me for many, many years.”

I held my hands together when they shook at my side. Every day I got a gun pointed at me. “They have known me.” I pointed out. It was a terrible comeback to what she was saying. They all hated Evelyn.

She gave me a slow smile. It was a cruel one. It didn’t look right on her innocent face. “I want you to know at any given moment I can kill you. Seth is mine. He will always be mine. He is confused right now, but he is mine. Stay away from him.”

She placed the handgun in my hands and resumed her position. In that moment, I realized something. Chantel was bat shit crazy. I backed out of the room slowly, afraid she would shoot me in the back once I turned around.

I sat next to the top of the stairs, ready to fire at anyone who came up here. The smoke had dwindled down to a small looking fog. Nobody was shooting. Everything was perfectly quiet. Too quiet. I took in Chantel words. She had warned me away from Seth.

I was not going after her man. Yes, I cared for him. Yes, on the occasion, I felt an odd attraction towards him. He was not what I wanted. Now was not the time to get mixed up in some kind of love triangle. I spent the last twenty years of my life without a man and I sure as heck didn't need one now.

I froze when I heard a creak on the stairs. I kept my gun lowered, so that if I had to shoot it would hit the person in their knee cap. I did not want to add another body to my list.

Once I saw the pants, I knew it wasn't anyone on our side. The person was wearing faded blue jeans. The rebellion wore all black. I pressed the trigger on my gun when he made it up the last step.

Except, the jokes on me. My gun jammed. I looked up into ice, cold eyes. My mouth dried and a tremor shook through my body. This man looked ruthless. A jagged scar went down the right side of his face. His skin was a dark shade of bronze.

He wore a fitted black tee shirt that easily showed off the muscles in his torso. His biceps were the size of my thighs. This man was huge. He stared at me as I shook on the floor. Although his eyes were void of emotion, I knew the image he was staring at was not what he had expected to see.

I took a deep breath, trying not to panic. He could easily snap my neck with his hands.

His eyes darted over the baggy uniform I was wearing. Was he a part of The Unit? He didn't appear to be one of them.

"Name." His voice was deep and gravely.

He didn't know who Evelyn was. Something inside of me eased a little bit.

"Brianna." I hated myself when my voice shook.

The man yanked me up by my arm and shoved me into the wall. My head knocked back against it. "I do not accept lies. Name."

I closed my eyes. It technically was not a lie. "Evelyn." I whispered.

A beefy hand wrapped around my throat but did not apply pressure. "What are you doing way out here Evelyn?"

I opened my eyes and peered into his pale blue orbs. My fear brought out my sass. "I could ask you the same thing."

Amusement flickered across his face so fast I thought I imagined it. "I do not have time to play games. I can get the answers out of you the easier way, or the hard way."

"She is with us." The man dropped me like a potato sack and aimed his handgun at Chantel.

She seemed unbothered by him pointing a gun at her. She flipped around and raised the back of her shirt. She had the same markings as Jewel and Rugter. It was her rankings in the rebels. She had more than I thought she would. She dropped her shirt and turned back around. The girl who seemed to be a snotty, teenage child now carried herself like a warrior.

I rose to my feet on shaky knees. Chantel gave me a fleeting glance. This was twice now that she had saved my life.

"Is this how you make your presence known? Shooting the place up?" Chantel walked right up to his face with ease. "You could have killed someone." She was angry.

The beefy man peered down at her, unbothered by her attitude. "I saw the sign that the rebels needed help. I did not expect to see someone in The Unit uniform. I thought The Unit had gotten to you guys before I made it here."

Chantel rolled her eyes. "Maybe you shouldn't assume things." Chantel reached out her slender hand. "I am Chantel."

The man reached his out as well. "Ares."

Ares. Like the God of war. I stared at his huge frame strapped with weapons. The name fit.

"Were you the one that set off the torch?" Ares asked, letting go of her hand.

"No. That would be the man at the top." She switched back to using David's nickname.

Ares chuckled. A deep chuckle. "I heard about what happened over here. It's all over the news. Everyone is saying a mass number in the rebellion has been caught."

Chantel snickered. "Most of us have made it out. Stephan only wishes."

Ares looked behind him at me, still cowering against the wall. "What are you guys doing with his daughter?" His cold eyes looked me over. "You carry yourself differently than I remember."

He had known who I was the entire time.

"Apparently she is free to go of all her charges because after she got blasted by my bomb she lost all of her memory." Chantel said it in a tone implying that she didn't believe I had no memory.

Ares face fell back into a mask. Our eyes stayed connected for a long moment before he looked away. I pulled in air after he released me from his look.

I jumped when I heard glass crunch downstairs.

"Everything is okay. It was just one of our enforcers." Chantel called down stairs.

When silence met out ears, she smoothly walked down the steps. I followed shortly behind, not wanting to get left with that monster of a man.

David stood in the middle of the living room, Seth and Adam flanking him at his sides. Relief showed on all of their faces when they saw us. Nobody had been hurt. We were wall okay. David’s muscles relaxed when he saw me. His eyes trailed all over me as if looking for an injury. I frowned. Why did my well-being begin to matter to him?

"Mind telling me what happened?" David demanded, looking at Ares. David appeared almost angry.

"Saw the torch, came to help, only to discover someone was wearing a uniform in here." Ares nodded his head towards me.

He was blaming me. "That was not my fault at all!" I exclaimed. I turned around to face him. I stood toe to toe with him and poked him in his rock hard chest. "Maybe you should have scoped the place out better instead of blasting it up. You would have known everything was under control if you paid attention to your surroundings here." I lectured. I was furious now. He tried blaming me for what I was wearing?

I stepped closer, only to have a hand wrap around my elbow and pull me back.

"Sorry." That was Seth's voice. He tucked me into his side protectively. He gave Ares a look that said he would kill him if he touched me. "Sometimes she gets a bit mouthy."

Before I could think of a retort, David spoke. "Do you have a vehicle?"

Ares nodded.

"Good. Let's go."