Shattered (11 page)

“I’m not blaming you, Mom. Governor Seer has a way of charming those who can give him what he wants. He even had his own son fooled.”

“I’m a grown woman, Kama. I’m supposed to be wise to this kind of thing.”

“He recreated your childhood, tried to give you back what you’d lost in that first war.” She turned away and stared off in the distance. “He was obsessed with me, obsessed with the thought of giving me everything he thought I needed. I realize now how destructive that obsession became. He did unspeakable things in order to make Arcadia what it became, what he thought I wanted it to be. He enslaved hundreds of djins.” Shaking her head, she gazed at Torrid then turned to me. “I didn’t know. Al this time I had no idea how Arcadia had come to be. I assumed it was through hard work, wel thought out planning and simply his ingenious way with people. He’s always been smart and charming.”

I watched the love fizzle from her eyes, the love she’d had for a man for so long. I could only imagine the sense of loss she now had to deal with.

“And there’s more,” she went on. “I recently learned of the sick, vile and horrifying ways Pim has developed to ensure everyone does as he wishes.

There’s a place cal ed…” She glanced at the heavens as she sought the answer.

“The Coliseum?” I ventured.

“Yes,” she said, pointing a finger at me. “Yes, the Coliseum. I’d never heard of it before. For al my years here in Arcadia, al the time I’ve known Pim, I had never even imagined there could be such a place… not here, not in the perfect world we had.”

“They brought Matthew and Jocelyn there.” Her eyes instantly widened and fil ed with tears of horror. “How? Why? My God, they’re just children. What wrong could they possibly have committed?”

“They ignored their Life's Plan and was planning on running out of Arcadia.”

Shocked, she looked at me. “Like you did?

“Their biggest mistake was not running out earlier. They were caught. I was there. I saw them being hauled off.”

“What happened to them?” she dared ask.

I looked at Torrid. “I don’t know yet. We’re hoping to have a chance to go there soon. Perhaps later today.”

“Actual y,” Torrid said, “I had planned on returning to the Western Nethers. You were one of Kama’s biggest concerns. If we could have you in the Nethers where you’d be safe, we can then return and tend to the needs of her friends.” Mom frowned at h ~ siz/p>im and returned her gaze to me. “But, I can’t leave now, Kama. I have too much to do here. The people here need my help. You’ve seen the chaos. People of Arcadia haven’t a clue how to deal with everything that’s happening. They have no experience fighting. Al they’ve ever know is to be peaceful neighbors, to get along, to make concessions.”

“But, Mom, you're not a warrior either. How can you possibly help them?”

can you possibly help them?”

She chuckled and for the first time since finding her, I felt her relax. “Honey, you forget where I come from. I’ve known war before. It may have been long ago and I may have al owed myself to forget about it, but I think the instinct to survive is stil there.

It’s been buried for a long time, but with every passing day lately, it’s resurging.”

I glanced at Torrid. Not that I wanted to doubt my mother’s capacity to deal with al this, but…

“Don’t be disappointed, Kama. For the first time in my life I truly feel in control. Ironic, isn’t it. I want to counsel people. For years I’ve been counseling people who real y have no problems at al . I mean, hearing a woman complain about the effects of her liquid foundation versus powder, or the woman who had just gotten a huge promotion and raise, but felt she didn’t quite deserve it. I even had a guy come in one day to gripe about what great adults his kids were becoming. Turned out he thought they’d grown up on their own and he had no part in their achievements. Now I can real y put my talents to good use. Beyond the physical help people need, they also need someone to talk to.” Nodding, I reached for her hand. “I can’t real y say I blame you. I came back because I felt such an intense need to help. I can see where I got that from. You’ve always taught me to be considerate of others, and to help wherever I can.”

I turned to Torrid, knowing he’d argue, but knowing I had to convince him anyway. “We have to find my friends. I have to know what happened to them and help them anyway I can.”

After we left my mother in a safe zone, we headed to the Opal District. Civilians, armed with brooms, mops, rakes and hoes battled with Magical Ones and djins as best as they could. Some managed to evade capture, but most found themselves overpowered ~lign=bspby the enemy.

Torrid and I helped with the fighting, fending off dozens of Magical Ones and outsmarting djins.

After three hours of battle, the number of enemies became manageable and together we worked to capture and bottle three djins.

Holding the third bottled djin up to the light, I smiled. “I kind of like being able to take a big, bad djin and reduce him to a plume of smoke in a nice little bottle. It’s al so… gratifying.” Torrid held up his two bottles. “Then be prepared. When this is al over, you’l probably have dozens and dozens of bottles.”

With the fighting over, people stumbled along, lost. But a loud crash suddenly fil ed the silence and startled everyone. We al turned to the house that had just been demolished by a large shard of glass.

A young family ran out of the house, the mother holding a smal crying baby in her arms, while the father carried a young girl who held her bleeding head with her hands.

I rushed to them. “Is she badly hurt?”

“I don’t think so,” the father said as he set her down.

The little girl’s lip quivered as she fought tears.

“I think the roof coming down on us just scared her to bits.”

Just as I knelt to help the little girl, two other women came to our aid. So intent on the cuts of the child, we didn’t look at each other until she was al patched up.

I turned to thank the women. “Oh my God.

Melanie! Sarah!” Overwhelmed with emotions, we hugged each other. “I can’t believe I found you guys amidst al this chaos.”

I sat back on my heels and looked at them.

“Melanie, the last time I saw you, you’d escaped the Committee Building. I thought for sure they’d catch you… or you’d simply col apsed from hunger.”

“I ran into Sarah. She’s my lifesaver. Food has been a little scarce, but she’s managed to get me back to a more healthy weight.”

“We’re al trying to do what we can,” Sarah jumped in. “Since al this began we’ve had to band together. Some in the Diamond District didn’t agree.

They only wanted to help themselves, conserve the lifestyle they were accustomed to. But when their favored district began to be hit by this war, they final y saw that al of Arcadia was at stake.”

“We saw that the Committee Building had been hit when we arrived. How is the rest of the Diamond District holding up?”

They looked at me knowingly and I could feel Tt holdingorrid’s gaze on me.

“We haven’t heard from Liam in a while,” Sarah said.

“The last time I saw him he was standing next to you,” Melanie admitted.

Great… I hid my disappointment.

In the distance we heard another big boom and crash.

“Another shard of glass. Sometimes I wonder what’s worse; the djins who run around scaring everyone or that shattering force field that is literal y crashing on our heads.”

“We’re running out of places to house people. Some homes already have three to four families living in them. Some of the younger people have opted to simply live on the street, but with so many Magical Ones wandering about, it’s a dangerous choice.”

“What can we do to help,” I said.

“Until the war is over, there’s real y little we can do. We can’t rebuild anything yet. Al we can do is try to make people as comfortable as possible,” Sarah said.

I looked at them, girls I’d known in high school, girls I’d grown up with. Seemed like yesterday we were sipping shakes at the diner, laughing and carefree as we talked about classes, boys and the beauty of Arcadia. Seemed like not long ago we were discussing shared secrets, brushing each other’s hair and helping each other with our make-up prom dresses.

with our make-up prom dresses.

We al had to grow up so fast, to leave the comfort and security of our homes and go out into a world that was so vastly different from what we had grown up with.

“The minute this war is over, I want to be right by your side as we rebuild.” I stood and clapped the dirt from my hands. “But if you’ve got everything under control for now, I’d like to keep going through Arcadia, looking for those who might need our help.”

“Like Matthew and Jocelyn.”

“Exactly. I know they’re at the Coliseum and only hope we’re not too late to help them.”

“Last I heard they were stil being kept captive. I was saddened to hear they had not escaped, but at least they’re stil alive.” Sarah shivered and grimaced. “And I stil can’t believe such a place exists. I feel so betrayed… by Pim, by the entire government… even my parents. I don’t know how involved they were in al this, and I hate to think about it. I’m not real y sure I want to know for now.”

“I’m sure they weren’t real y involved,eighto know fo” I said reassuringly, but I was beginning to wonder just how many parents had voluntarily lied to their children about the truth of Arcadia. How many who worked on the Committee fabricated not only our Life's Plan but the fal acy that was Arcadia.”

“We’d better get going if you want to continue with our search,” Torrid said.

The girls looked at him with awe and envy, but limited their comments to a simple and appreciative nod.

Combing through the Diamond District proved futile. We searched every corner of the Ruby, Topaz and Garnet Districts, and the Pearl and Onyx burrows.

“Finding the girls was so easy. Why does Liam continue to elude us?”

Torrid said nothing.

“I know you don’t real y want me to find him, but I can’t just forget the relationship I had with him.” I didn’t want to get into how Liam stil loved me and stil thought we belonged together. Blocking out my thoughts, I tried to think of something else.

“I may not be able to read your thoughts.

You’ve learned to block them rather effectively, but I can tel when you block them nonetheless, and I know you're thinking of your relationship with him.

You’ve not yet perfected your ability to transfer your thoughts elsewhere.”

I turned to him amidst the rumble of the Stone Roundabout. “If I’m blocking thoughts of Liam it’s just to protect you.”

“You underestimate me, Kama. I highly doubt I need your protection.” Though his voice was strong and confident, the slight clench of his jaw spoke more of his true emotions.

“I know, but I don’t want to so blatantly put it out there. I’ve known Liam since I was a little girl.

You can’t expect me to just forget that, to forget the friendship I have with him.”

“I’m not.”<“If I/font>

“Then help me find him.”

“I am.”

“Then why do I feel like you're holding out on me. I feel like you know where he might be, but don’t want to tel me.”

He snorted with indignation and looked away.

Regretting my harsh words I reached for his hand and squeezed his fingers. “Please, Torrid. Put your emotions aside just for today and help me. I don’t want you to be jealous of what I had with Liam…”

“You're reading far more into this than there is. I’m not jealous.”

“No? Look at me.”

He brought his gaze to me and blushed. With a deep breath hissing through his lips, he final y shrugged his shoulders. “Okay, so maybe I’m a bit jealous. You have a lifetime with him and just a few magic lessons with me. He knows you inside out while I just know the woman you are now and a little background information that was fed to me by General Adar. And you know everything about him. I bet you don’t even know what my favorite color is.

You have no idea what I like doing when I’m not at war.”

Smiling, I got up on my toes and kissed him. “I want you to know me inside out. I want to spend hours discovering more and more about each other.

I want to know what your favorite color is and I want you to know what I was like as a little girl. And you wil .”

I wrapped my arms around him and pul ed him in for a more passionate kiss. I wanted him to know how important he was to me and how much I wanted to get closer. “Torrid.” The rest I didn’t say, but he could read straight from my mind…the love I have for him. The want and desire to be his.

As optimistic as I had been to find Liam, I was now beginning to think I might never see him again. Added to my growing pessimism was Torrid’s increased agitation. We had walked through virtual y every district in Arcadia and I sensed his relief, if not elation, with every failure in finding Liam.

He also did little to hide his disappointment with my every desire to keep searching.

When we reached the dark and mysterious community of Zinc Bay, I knew it was my last hope.