The Returning Read online

Roth reached up and touched the younger man’s face, his eyes losing their dark haze and the rest of the bright world coming into view. He heard boots stomping down the hallway, and he knew more men were coming.

  “Take the blood—the blood is the key,” Roth said. His voice was returning to normal, but a tremendous ache was attacking his body. He struggled to breathe as the world faded in and out of focus, and he saw Jesse’s lips moving but heard nothing.

  Then the world went blank.

  16

  Nicolas stood beside a thick tree under the cover of heavy pines and stared at the city that stood only a couple of miles ahead. Night was starting to fall, and the army behind him, spread out through the woods, had started their evening tasks. Setting up tents, lighting fires, reporting to their commanding officers.

  Nicolas kept his focus pointed toward the target. Trylin City was built into the side of a mountain with a massive stone wall enclosing it. It was protected by its surroundings, closed off from the rest of the world, nearly impenetrable with only a single visible entrance through the front gate. So gathering and securing the residents inside, as he’d been ordered to do, relied on finding a way in.

  Or waiting them out. Eventually the people inside the city would need resources that would require them to step out from behind their mother’s skirt. But time was of the essence, and Nicolas wasn’t interested in lazily wasting days as they waited for the citizens of Trylin to move. He wanted to strike but knew they needed to be smart about it.

  They’d been here watching the city for a couple of days now. Every morning Nicolas sent out groups of scouts, trying to determine weaknesses in Trylin’s protective fortress. It was only a matter of time before they discovered an entry point, and then the city would be his.

  Nicolas pushed himself off the tree and turned back toward camp. He walked past gatherings of CityWatch soldiers moving about in the fading daylight. All nodded their respect as he approached, but Nicolas wasted no time in acknowledging them. He headed for the largest tent, the communications and tactical meeting point, sitting nearly dead center among the rest. As Nicolas approached, one of the two guards standing watch outside pulled back the large flap to allow Nicolas to enter.

  He stepped inside and found a small group of officers huddled around the main table. They turned at the sound of Nicolas advancing and their collective whispering fell silent. Nicolas paused momentarily, getting the sense that they weren’t thrilled to see him, and then continued toward the table. He didn’t care for discussion involving this mission to take place without him present; in fact, he forbade it completely.

  One of the officers must have sensed Nicolas’s displeasure with the situation, because he quickly began to speak up. “We were just about to bring this to you,” the officer said, speaking faster than was necessary and nearly choking on his words.

  “And what is that?” Nicolas could feel his quick temper beginning to boil under his skin. His familiar tic flared to life in his cheek.

  “We received orders from the Authority City. We have been instructed to return,” the officer continued.

  Nicolas worked to keep the surprise off of his face. “Really?”

  “Yes, the order came through just now.”

  “On whose authority?”

  “President Cropper’s.”

  “We are under the authority of Roth Reynard. We act on his orders alone.”

  “Dr. Reynard is no longer fit for leadership,” one of the officers said.

  Nicolas sent the man a puzzled look, and the officer glanced hesitantly at the others before continuing. “He has been given the Genesis Serum.”

  Nicolas felt his temper threatening to explode through his chest, but he bottled it before it erupted out of his mouth. Nothing was said for a long moment, and then Nicolas broke the tense silence. “That’s impossible.”

  “The report is clear.”

  “How?”

  “We were not given all the details,” another officer said.

  Nicolas was already done listening to them speak. “Why am I just being told this?”

  “We were only informed a moment ago, sir.”

  Again Nicolas let tense silence fill the tent. His mind turned in angry circles as images of the old man living as a lemon with the rest of society crashed into his imagination. The Scientist would have been the first to say he was nothing without his mind. Who would have done this to him?

  “The details are unclear . . .”

  The officer continued speaking, but Nicolas’s mind was already moving on to what their next action should be. He only partially listened as the officer reported that President Cropper had ordered all CityWatch personnel to report immediately to the Authority City. If Dr. Reynard no longer had his mind, then that meant control of the city was left solely in the hands of Jesse. A man Nicolas knew was too weak to rule. Jesse had been a pawn, easy to control and bend to the will of the Scientist. Not a leader. He’d let a girl bewitch him, for crying out loud.

  Thoughts of Elise crossed Nicolas’s mind and he interrupted the officer speaking. “Has there been confirmation on the execution of Elise Brant?”

  The officer paused and shook his head. “No, sir.”

  Nicolas’s rage banged against his skull like a caged animal as the enormity of the situation became clear. This didn’t feel right. Had Jesse done something to Dr. Reynard to save the foul girl he loved? Roth had been Nicolas’s greatest ally; he’d been the one to truly see the threat that the Seers and Elise presented. Jesse had always been blind to how toxic she was, and he’d always treated Nicolas with distrust because Jesse knew Nicolas saw his weakness. Jesse knew Nicolas was a better fit to rule and that his time was coming. But now, with the Scientist incapacitated . . .

  Nicolas could feel a tremor starting in his hands and he balled them into fists. The twitch in the side of his face pulsed, and as was his habit, he bit the inside of his cheek to maintain control. His mind rapidly calculated the situation. The Scientist was down. Elise could easily be alive. Jesse and the Council were making choices for the city. And the CityWatch army was being ordered to return. To what? To a leader who would surely sink the civilization Dr. Reynard had worked so hard to build?

  No, Nicolas thought, he wouldn’t let this stand. “Enough,” he said.

  The officer stopped talking and Nicolas could feel his confusion, but he ignored it. He continued running scenarios, tumbling through options, tearing away at possibilities, looking for a clear path. There was something in the air; change was coming, and this tragedy with the Scientist only gave more proof to that. The dark essence that had been slowly invading his chest stirred.

  The Scientist’s demise had not been part of Nicolas’s original plan, but he might be able to use this to his advantage. The Council might follow Jesse, but only because a stronger candidate had not yet presented himself. And without the Scientist to steer Jesse correctly, the president’s facade would fall and the Council would see him for the weakling he was. Nicolas could use that.

  Another guard stumbled into the communications tent, his chest heaving and his face red as if he’d sprinted a mile to get here. He took a stabilizing breath and nodded in respect to both Nicolas and the officers.

  “What is it?” one of the officers asked.

  “We’ve taken prisoners, sir—a family of four, leaving the city from the north side of the mountain.”

  Clarity sprang to life inside Nicolas’s skull. Exiting from the north meant they hadn’t departed through the front gate. Another way out meant another way in. Perfect.

  “Wait outside,” Nicolas said to the guard, who nodded before stepping back out of the tent. Nicolas then turned his attention to the officers. “We are not leaving,” he said.

  “But, sir, our orders are—”

  Nicolas hardly heard him; his mind was already looking forward to a new future. What would the Council think if he delivered an entire culture of formerly freethinking people, now controlled by the Genesis Serum as
the rest were? They would see then what he was capable of. Jesse would fail, as weak men do, and when he did, Nicolas would be there to push him aside. Then the real change would begin.

  “We will be operating under my command from here on out,” Nicolas said, cutting the officer off as he continued to babble about protocol and rules. The men looked at one another and Nicolas stepped forward, drilling them with hateful stares. “Is that going to be a problem?”

  “No, of course not,” an officer said for the group.

  “Good. We take Trylin tomorrow. Spread the word.”

  The officers nodded and Nicolas stepped out of the tent and addressed the young guard waiting for him. “Take me to the prisoners.”

  The guard started off and Nicolas followed. He would take this city, rid the world of the Seers once and for all, and then return to the Authority City and deal with the infection there.

  Elise sat beside Kennedy on a long platform above the empty factory floor. Both of their feet hung off the edge, dangling comfortably in the empty air.

  After she had been introduced to the rest of the group, Elise had followed Kennedy here so they could spend some time alone. The first couple of moments had been filled with long, awkward silences and uncomfortable pauses, but these had eventually melted into curiosity and wonder. Elise had so many questions, but for every one she posed, Kennedy had two more.

  Questions about the Authority City, the Capitol Building, the Genesis Compound. Elise tried to answer them the best she could, smiling at her younger sister’s childlike wonderment. Elise was vividly aware of how different she felt. Her reactions, her feelings, even her voice sounded different to her now. Subjects that once might have brought pain now felt insignificant in comparison to the power she knew was growing inside her. As if the moment on the roof with Aaron had followed her, the room around her buzzed with the energy of something greater. It made her wonder if this presence had always been with her, but even as she asked the question, she knew the answer was yes. It made her smile to herself.

  “Sorry,” Kennedy said. “I’m probably asking too many questions.”

  Elise turned her attention back to her sister and shook her head. “No, you aren’t. It’s perfect, in fact. I like listening to your voice.”

  Kennedy turned her eyes away from Elise, light-pink circles forming across her cheeks. Elise worried for a moment that she might have embarrassed her and reached for her hand. “I’m sorry.”

  Kennedy shook her head and smiled. She looked straight ahead, but Elise could still see the emotion sparkling in her eyes. “I’m not really a crier,” Kennedy said. “Not that you’d know it from the way I’ve been acting today.” She turned back to Elise. “I’ve probably thought about you every day of my entire life. Who were you? What were you doing? Were you safe? Would I ever meet you?” A tear slipped past her bottom eyelid. “It just seems unreal that you’re actually sitting beside me right now.”

  Elise paused and thought through her words carefully. “I’m not sure I ever dreamed of family. I was convinced my family didn’t want me, so it was easier not to want them.”

  Sadness filled Kennedy’s eyes. “We always wanted you. I can’t believe they told you we didn’t want you.” Her expression changed to anger quickly. “That monster.”

  “Which one?” Elise teased, but Kennedy’s face was hot with rage.

  “They called him the archer, but you call him president,” Kennedy said. “He’s the reason for all of this.”

  “Jesse?” Elise was taken aback by the vitriol in Kennedy’s voice. “He’s the only one who’s ever been kind to me.”

  “Kind to you? He stole you from us!”

  Elise gave her sister a horrified look. For the first time since realizing her family hadn’t abandoned her, a single question pulsed inside her brain: How had she gotten here? She couldn’t believe her mind hadn’t wandered there already. If her parents hadn’t abandoned her, then why was she here while they were somewhere else? Was it possible Kennedy was speaking the truth? “Stole?”

  Kennedy nodded, her nose scrunched up in fury, her eyes drilling angry holes into the ground below their feet.

  “He manipulated our people, gained their trust, and then, under cover of darkness, because he’s a coward, he had you stolen away, right from our mother’s side.”

  “But why?”

  “He’d better hope I never get close enough to him to ask him that.”

  Elise’s mind ran in circles. Her only friend and perceived ally had been her captor? But he had always shown such affection for her. He’d gone out of his way to make sure she was taken care of. On the other hand, he had abandoned her first to death by execution and then to the Scientist’s torture. And he had kept her locked away from the world and lied to her about her past. Had he been manipulating her into believing he cared for her all along? She suddenly felt violated. She’d trusted him, and he’d played with that trust.

  The voice of the Father whispered in her pain.

  Remember who I call you.

  Elise could feel anger and vengeance filling her chest. They should have to pay for what they’d done to her.

  You are the light of the world. What shall you fear?

  “Elise?” Kennedy asked, her tone softer now.

  Elise looked at her sister and searched for the power she’d felt so strongly on the roof. The power that had made her feel worthwhile, like she was more than an object terrible men had played with. “Sorry,” she said. “There’s just still so much I don’t know.”

  Know who I am, and therefore know who you are. Daughter of the Father.

  Elise took a deep breath and exhaled. Time to practice remembering. Time to let it go. She could feel the anger gripping her heart tightly. This was easier said than done.

  “I’m sorry, Elise; I shouldn’t have put so much on you all at once.”

  “No,” Elise said, squeezing Kennedy’s hand. “Don’t be. I’m more than what they made me believe I was. I just have to remember.”

  Kennedy chuckled. “You get that from Aaron.”

  Elise smiled and shook her head. “It’s still so strange to hear you talking about him.”

  “Why?”

  “I always thought that he was only mine, an invention of my own making.”

  “Yeah, he makes you feel that way, and he kind of is, in a way. He is something to everyone, but in such a personal fashion that it feels exclusive.”

  “Where did he come from?”

  Kennedy laughed out loud at this. “If you can get Aaron to tell you where he came from, I’ll eat that entire cardboard box down there,” Kennedy said, pointing to an old, dirty box on the factory floor.

  Elise scrunched her nose in disgust. “Gross.”

  And the two girls laughed together, softly at first, but it quickly spread into something more powerful, until their laughter was echoing off the walls and making the steel ledge they were sitting on vibrate.

  “Kennedy,” a male voice called, “we need you.”

  Elise glanced down to see a scrawny boy standing below. Davis, she thought his name was.

  “We’re kind of in the middle of something,” Kennedy said.

  “We heard from Trylin,” Davis said.

  The concern in his voice made Kennedy tense, and Elise knew something must be wrong. Both girls stood and headed back down the thin stairs and toward the room where the Seers were camped.

  Panicked voices drifted down the hall as the two girls rounded the corner into the room.

  “How can this be happening now?”

  “We have to go back!”

  “What’s going on?” Kennedy asked.

  Elise stepped inside behind her sister and tucked herself into the corner of the room. She caught Willis’s eye and saw the fear moving through his face. All of them looked afraid, and her heart quickened.

  “I was finally able to conduct a radio transmission with Trylin,” Davis said. “The city is under siege.”

  “Under siege
? Who? How?” Kennedy asked.

  “Apparently the Authority feels the city is a threat. There’s an army parked outside the front gate,” Timmons said.

  Elise watched the color drain from her sister’s face.

  “Nothing from them for twenty years, and now they’ve sent an army after us?” Lucy said.

  “Do they know how many?” Willis asked.

  “They estimate nearly four hundred,” Davis answered.

  “Too many,” Timmons said.

  “Don’t forget how secure Trylin is. The army is parked outside for a reason,” Sage said.

  “Yeah, until they find another way inside,” Kane spoke up from his spot against the far wall.

  Sage shot him a piercing glare.

  “Do you honestly think the Authority would send that many soldiers if they didn’t plan on taking the city? They’ll find a way in,” Kane said.

  “He’s right,” Willis admitted. “There’s no way Trylin can stand.”

  “We have to go back,” Sage said.

  “We can’t go back; we were called here,” Lucy said.

  “Our families are there! What are we supposed to do? Just let the Authority army kill them?” Sage demanded.

  “We can’t just stay here,” Davis said.

  “Where’s Aaron?” Sage asked.

  “Not here, naturally,” Kane said.

  “Enough, Kane! We need to stay calm,” Lucy said.

  Kennedy moved then, toward the mat where she had been sleeping, and started packing her bag.

  “What are you doing?” Timmons asked.

  “What does it look like she’s doing?” Davis moved to do the same with his own things. “We need to go help them.”

  Elise stood still, nearly becoming part of the wall, her mind racing. They wanted to leave the city, to return to where they came from, and she didn’t blame them. But the power she’d experienced on the roof, the force she was carrying around under her skin, flared in rejection. She couldn’t leave. She was exactly where she was supposed to be.

  “Everyone needs to relax so that we can think this through clearly,” Willis said, trying to assert some control as Sage moved to start packing her things as well. Elise watched as the group continued to argue, but their voices fell silent to the energy swirling inside her mind. She felt the pull of a familiar fear and anxiety, but she was different now, and she didn’t let it overtake her.