Disclaimer: Not mine...
Author's Note: OK, folks. Hold onto your hats. It's gonna get bumpy! Please leave a review with any thoughts/suggestions :)
Chapter Ten
A thin line of mist hung over the barley field, casting an eerie silence over the farm as the late Autumn sun sluggishly peaked over the horizon. It was Scarlet's favourite time of the day, when all was at peace. Before the work began in earnest. Before the busy-ness of life took over.
"Have you found anything at all?" she asked Cinder, who was the only other member of the household awake at his point. They were sat together in the kitchen – the arguer burning away making it the warmest room in the old farmhouse at this time of the year – waiting for the others to surface.
Cinder pulled a face. "Not much," she replied. "Mallorie was incredibly secretive and a lot of her notes have been encrypted. Cress has had some success in cracking them, but even she has struggled."
Scarlet raised her eyebrows. She had not heard of code Cress couldn't crack until today.
"Whatever she was working on," Cinder continued. "It had something to do with finding a way to control shells."
Scarlet paused. "Do you think that's why she took Hanna?"
"It's possible," Cinder agreed. "I mean, there's that and Hanna was one of her original test subjects."
The thought of that sweet girl being treated like a lab rat made Scarlet feel sick to her stomach. Her gaze flicked to the field out of the window. The sun was beginning to burn through the mist and catch the tops of the barley sheaves. The field looked like it was burning with gold.
Something shifted in the distance and drew Scarlet's attention. A bird, probably, flying over the field. She turned her attention back to Cinder.
"Is there any point in me asking if you've set a date yet?" she asked, looking at the glowing opal ring on her finger.
Cinder smiled. "We haven't even had the official announcement yet," she said. "I'm fairly certain I won't get much say in the planning when we do get to that part."
Scarlet scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous. You're the bride. You get to make demands and get your way on everything."
"Yes," Cinder replied. "But this is going to be a state wedding. There will be an entire team of diplomats just to do the seating arrangement, let alone anything else."
"I wish I had had a team of diplomats to do my seating arrangement," Scarlet mused.
Cinder laughed. "Anyway, we're a way off that at the moment. There's too much going on for either of us to focus on planning the wedding yet."
Scarlet nodded. But her attention was pulled back to the field. Movement had caught the corner of her eye again. This time, she got up from the table and crossed to the window for a better look. Sometimes she wondered if living with Wolf had heightened her own sense of paranoia. His altered senses made him extremely jumpy on occasions.
As if on cue, Wolf came tumbling into the kitchen, his eyes bright and alert.
"Something's wrong," Scarlet said to him – a statement not a question.
"What?" Cinder asked, still blissfully unaware of any possible danger.
"Someone's out there," Wolf said in reply.
Then Scarlet saw it. The shift of movement in the field wasn't a bird at all. It was a person – no, more than that, ten people – moving slowly and carefully towards the house. She backed away from the window and headed straight for a storage cupboard on the other side of the kitchen. She reached inside and pulled out a shotgun. With practiced precision, Scarlet loaded the gun and edged back to the Window.
"You'd better go wake the others," Scarlet said to Cinder as she raised the gun to her shoulder.
She barely had time to think as it was snatched from her grasp. Wolf fixed her with a serious glare.
"You wake the others," he said. "There's no way you're getting into a shootout right now."
Scarlet glared back at him and thought about arguing with him, but the baby stirred and kicked, as if agreeing with her father. Traitor, Scarlet thought.
"Fine," she said. She leaned over to kiss Wolf. "Just be careful." Wolf nodded and passed a handgun to Cinder.
As Scarlet left the kitchen, she saw the pair of them slowly open the back door and step out onto the porch. They were alert and ready to strike. Scarlet couldn't shake her unease as she headed upstairs to alert the others. The day that had started so perfectly was not going to end well.
A hand clamped over Cress' mouth, jerking her awake in an instant. She tried to scream, but the hand prevented her. Her eyes flew open and quickly found Thorne standing over her. He brought a finger to his lips. His eyes were serious. Cress nodded and he lowered his hand from her mouth. The panic in her veins did not subside. There was a reason he had woken her like this and it was not going to be good.
"What's wrong?" she said in a whisper.
Thorne beckoned her forward and silently directed her towards one side of the window as he took to the other. The curtains were still closed. The gaps at the edges were just wide enough for her to see out to the field at the back of the farmhouse.
"Oh stars," she breathed. He eyes wide in shock and fear.
Moving slowly through the field, she could see ten figures. Nine of them walked hunched over. Their broad shoulders tense and ready for a fight. Wolf soldiers. There was only one person who would possibly still have control over such people – Cress refused to call them beasts, despite having seen first-hand how they could fight.
"It has to be Mallorie," she said quietly.
Thorne nodded in agreement, his jaw tense. He pointed to his own eyes and then out of the window at the final figure in the group. Look, he told her silently.
Cress followed to where he was pointing. The tenth person in the field, leading the soldiers forward made her gasp.
"No," she said. She leaned against the window frame to steady herself. "It can't be."
Tears threatened to build in her eyes, but she forced them back. She watched in horror as Hanna raised a fist to halt the soldiers and crouch in the long stalks of the barley field.
"What's that?" Cress asked, her eyes drawn to a blinking red light on the girl's forehead.
Thorne shook his head.
"We need to warn the others," he said. "We need to find a weapon."
Cress was about to protest that there was no way she would shoot Hanna, when Scarlet came bursting through the door.
"We're being attacked," she said without even hinting at a Good Morning.
"We've noticed," Thorne replied dryly. "Have you seen by whom?"
Scarlet crossed to the window. Her shoulders sagged on seeing Hanna in the lead.
"Cinder was just saying Mallorie had been working on controlling shells," she said looking at Cress. "I guess she had a break through."
Cress nodded gravely.
"Where are the others?" Thorne asked, focusing on the task at hand.
"Wolf and Cinder have gone out to face them," Scarlet said, her tone direct and to the point, a perfect military commander. "We're in here –"
She cut off as the door swung open again.
"Hanna," said Iko, distress on her face as well as in her voice. "It's Hanna!"
She was followed in by Gregg and Bryony-Rose, both looking shell-shocked at seeing Hanna in the field.
"We know," Scarlet replied. "We've seen."
Without wasting a second, Scarlet crossed to the foot of the bed and wrenched open the large wooden trunk there. She tossed aside blankets and sheets that were on top and heaved a false bottom out of the middle of the trunk. Cress, Thorne and the others gathered over her shoulder to see what lay beneath.
Guns. Lots of guns. More guns than Cress had seen since she had first stepped aboard the Rampion. In fact, she was pretty sure some of these had been on the Rampion at one point. They looked like they were American military issue. Cress glanced at Thorne, trying to gage whether he knew they were here. His expression suggested he had no idea at all.
"There's a stash like this in each of the bedrooms," Scarlet explained. "Get yourselves armed."
"Have you and Wolf even heard of child-proofing?" Thorne asked as he took a six-barrelled scatter gun from Scarlet. She didn't answer him.
Cress helped her to stand up straight and looked around the room.
"Cress, you and I should stay up here. We can lay down cover fire from the windows, maybe try to take out the soldiers."
Cress nodded, choosing an assault rifle from the pile. She caught an admiring look from Thorne and winked at him as she loaded the gun and headed back to the window.
"I'll go and help Wolf and Cinder outside," Thorne said, earning a nod of approval from Scarlet. He swooped Cress up with one are and kissed her goodbye as if it would be for the last time. She sincerely hoped it would not be.
"Iko," Scarlet said, handing the android a hand gun. "You should get Gregg and Bryony out the back. Head to the hanger and –"
"No way!" Gregg protested. "That's my sister down there. I'm not going to leave her to –"
"You're a shell, Gregg," Scarlet pointed out. "Right now, you, Cress and Iko are the only ones who can't be controlled by Mallorie. With Cress up here with me, you and Iko are Bryony's best chance to stay safe."
Cress could see that he was still torn.
Scarlet placed her hand on the back of his neck and forced him to look her in the eye.
"We will look out for her here," she said. "Bryony has to be your priority right now. It's hard, but that's just how it is."
Gregg set his jaw with determination and reluctantly nodded. He picked another weapon from the pile together with a box of ammo and followed Iko out of the room. Bryony-Rose was the last to leave.
"We haven't seen Mallorie yet," Cress pointed out. "Just be careful."
Bryony-Rose nodded and followed the others.
Cress turned her attention back to the field below them. She could see Wolf, Cinder and Thorne standing as a first line of defence. Slowly and gently, Cress cracked the window open an inch, making sure the movement was not sudden enough to draw the attention of the soldiers below.
She let out a steadying breath as she brought the rifle to her shoulder and took aim.
The sight of Hanna before them, the device on her head blinking red – on and off, on and off – made Cinder's stomach twist with both fear and anger.
"No sign of the boss," Thorne said quietly beside her.
Cinder nodded. She too had noted Mallorie's absence. She did not think it was a good sign at all.
Cinder's mind reached out. In her years as queen, she had received special tutelage in using her Luna gift. The training had given her such command of her gift that she could now easily control an entire pack of Lunar Special Operatives. She gently imprinted her thoughts onto Wolf and Thorne – for protection only. They knew her well enough and trusted her for that. She reached out further. She could feel the bioelectricity pulsing off the soldiers. Hungry. Violent. Primal. They would take a little time to tame in this state, but she knew she could do it. Eventually.
But Hanna was still closed to her. Just as she always had been. Just as Gregg and Cress were. The device on her head clearly gave control to Mallorie, but it did not seem that anyone could interfere with that control. Cinder was going to have to find another way.
Her gun raised, Cinder stepped forward. She felt Wolf and Thorne flinch beside her, but she held them back. Re-assuring them with her thoughts.
"Hanna," she said softly, non-threateningly. "It's me. It's Cinder."
Hanna's attention snapped to Cinder. She crouched a little lower in the barley and Cinder could imagine her muscles coiling tighter and tighter, ready to spring into action without a moment's warning.
"We're friends, Hanna," she continued. "We don't want to hurt you."
For the briefest of moments, a look of recognition flashed across Hanna's face, but it was replaced by a grimace of pain.
"No friends," she said, her voice no longer soft and sweet as Cinder had known her, but rough and forced. "Only the Mistress."
These were not her words, Cinder reminded herself. This was not their Hanna.
"I don't want to hurt you," she said. "But that doesn't mean I won't."
Hanna let out a snarl that Cinder would have thought had come from one of the soldiers if she had not seen the expression on the girl's face twist with hostility and rage before her.
A howl went up with the soldiers. As one, they attacked.
She couldn't get a clear shot at them. As the soldiers advanced, their movements were jumbled and erratic. It would be too easy to hit one of her friends. Instead, Cress fired at the ground in front of Cinder and the others. She fired to the sides. She fired behind the soldiers. She fired anywhere she could see that would distract the soldiers even for a split second to give the others time to retaliate. As she turned away from the window to reload, Scarlet took over. From the sound of it, she was adopting a similar tactic.
Cress turned back to the window and took aim again. One soldier reared up, ready to strike at Cinder. He was hers. She squeezed the trigger. The soldier dropped and didn't move.
"One down," she muttered to herself.
"Eight to go," Scarlet replied.
Cinder had forgotten the fierce waves of rage that accompanied battle. She had forgotten the confusion and the terror. She had forgotten to put on a jacket.
"Aaaahh!" she cried out as Hanna' teeth closed around the flesh on her right arm.
She balled her metal hand into her fist and swung hard at the side of Hanna's face. Hanna released her and stepped back several paces. Cinder hoped she may have damaged the device as well, but it blinked on as hypnotic as ever. As she regathered her own thoughts, she reached out again for Wolf and Thorne. They were still very much with her. The connection she had with them spurred them on. It fed back to her as well. She could feel their energy pulsing around her. Feel the rush of blood in their ears as well as her own. She felt Wolf's animal wildness and Thorne's disciplined strength. They added to her determination. They were an unbeatable team.
Hanna shook her head out and rolled her neck, cracking the bones in her spine as she held Cinder in her sights. Cinder had just enough time to brace herself before Hanna launched at her again.
The boom of gunshots rattled through his head and thundered so strongly through the ground and into his body that they became his heartbeat. Gregg clung to Bryony-Rose's hand as they raced out of the back door and headed away from the fight. They followed Iko towards the hanger. He could tell that she was not happy to be leaving her friends in the fray. She wasn't happy to feel so useless to them right now. He caught sight of Hanna as she ran at Cinder, her arms flailing and wild, her eyes cold and hostile. He was looking at a completely different person wearing his sister's face. His steps faltered and he stumbled to a stop.
Iko was at his side in an instant, pulling him forward.
"Come on!" she demanded. "We can't stop here. We can't help them like this."
Gregg's feet were moving again, his hand still holding Bryony-Rose's. But his eyes would not leave Hanna. He would never leave Hanna. She was his world. His only connection to any kind of family that they shared. They had survived so much together. Fought everything together. And yet here she was, against them. Against him.
The hanger door was mere feet in front of them. Iko reached it first and heaved it open two feet, wide enough for them to enter.
Suddenly, the world shifted. Gregg was knocked to the right, the air forced out of his lungs in one complete breath. He fell to the ground, landing hard on his right arm. A weight pinning him from the left. He glanced round and stared his attacker in the eyes.
It was a man, a few years older than Gregg, with black hair and dark, hollow eyes. His nose was hooked and crooked. His skin pale and gaunt. He wore the old uniform of a Palace Guard; the kind he only ever saw when Jacin was in a reminiscent mood.
Adrenaline pumped through Gregg's body as he swung his elbow and connected with the man's jaw, knocking him off balance enough for Gregg to struggle free. He scrambled to his feet and was back at Bryony-Rose's side in seconds. His eyes found Iko as she backed out of the hanger with her gun pointing at a woman in a long black coat with silver runes decorating the edges.
Mallorie.
Gregg instinctively pulled Bryony-Rose behind him to protect her.
"How quaint," Mallorie said, her voice as sickly sweet and black as liquorice. "Two shells between me and my prize."
Gregg saw Iko's jaw twitch as she bit back the truth of her identity.
"Crowe," Mallorie said, making a welcoming gesture towards Iko.
The man who had tackled Gregg was back on his feet and had now turned his attention to Iko. Seeing the flash of aggression in his eyes, Iko turned her gun on him. Mallorie casually stepped around her.
"Well, that just leaves one."
Gregg stood his ground. He would not fear her. She could not control him. He would protect Bryony-Rose.
He repeated this to himself, hoping to believe it as he felt his heart racing in terror as Mallorie stepped closer to him.
"Did you really believe I would not find her?" Mallorie said, her voice still calm and perfect. "Did you think I would not know the queen would turn to her pathetic allies to conceal her? Did you think a cheap trick could disguise her from me?" Mallorie was so close to him, if he had had a knife he could have pierced her heart. Her voice had grown harder and colder as she approached and now the true extent of her malice was clear on her face.
In desperation, Gregg swung his fist, but she caught his arm and, with as much effort as one would use to swat a fly, she pushed him to the ground and out of the way.
"Hello, dear princess," she said.
Gregg looked up in time to see the look of panic on Bryony-Rose's face as her own hand reached up and tore the holo-glam chip from her own shoulder. She let out a cry of pain as it disconnected, revealing her own terrified face beneath. Her skin was red where the device had been.
"I've been looking for you," Mallorie said, her voice once again like silk.
A dull thud to his left drew his attention and Gregg looked over in time to see Iko's body crumple against the hanger door. Crowe stepped around her and came to stand beside his mistress.
"We don't need him," Mallorie said to Crowe. "Just the girl."
At her command, Crowe moved towards Gregg. There was no time for Gregg to get to his feet. He tried to back away.
A boot connected solidly with his head. Gregg slumped to the ground and into blackness.
Victory was close. So close. She could feel the sweet joy that came with it rising in her veins. She stared at the helpless, weeping princess in front of her, paralysed by her own will. A cruel smile crept on to Mallorie's lips as she took the girl's mind. The weeping stopped. The silent tears were all that remained. Silently, she guided her forwards. She was in complete control. She could make her dance if she wanted to. She could make her kill the worthless shells, her would-be protectors. But no, it would be far more satisfying for them to live with the knowledge that they had failed.
Silently, Mallorie drew a long thin dagger from her billowing sleeves. Its blade caught a little of the sun's brilliance as she held it in front of her. Crowe came to her side and held out the vial of poison that had been prepared. Almost ceremoniously, Mallorie dipped the tip of the blade into the poison. She had dreamt of this moment for many months now. Her swift and satisfying revenge on the queen that would crippled the United Kingdom's royal bloodline once and for all.
Mallorie held the blade out towards the princess. With her mind, she lifted the girl's hand towards the blade.
"One touch," she said. "That's all. Just one."
Her words did not matter. The princess was hers to control. With her face blank and lifeless, the princess stepped forward with her hand outstretched. She reached her middle finger towards the blade and Mallorie suddenly felt her resistance rise.
The girl's hand hesitated. Determination crept into her eyes. Mallorie's smile faltered as she concentrated her gift just a little more.
Finally, her middle finger touched the tip of the blade. A blossom of blood ran down her hand. There was a gasp of breath and fear returned to her eyes. She collapsed. Still. Lifeless. But not dead.
Death would be slow for her. Mallorie's victory was complete.
Six soldiers remained. Cinder could feel her limbs growing heavy with exhaustion. She could feel Wolf and Thorne beginning to tire. Around her, she could hear the gunfire from the upstairs windows. She could feel bullets whizzing past her face.
Hanna stood over her as she collapsed to her knees. A fist came down hard against her head and stars danced in her vision. She didn't even try to read the green words of her retinal display as it churned through the various injuries and vital statistics of her heart rate and breathing and adrenaline levels and blood loss.
She could see another blow coming from Hanna and raised her hand to block it. But she didn't see the kick coming. It connected with her already sore ribs and she was sent spiralling into the barley. She lay flat on her back, trying to catch her breath.
Hanna took hold of her metal leg and began to drag her across the field. Every stone and grain and clod of earth raked against her back and neck as she struggled to release herself from Hanna's grasp.
When did she get this strong? was all she could think.
She heard Wolf and Thorne try to break through the line of soldiers to come to her aid, but they were held back.
At last Hanna stopped and let go of her leg. Cinder tried to stand up, but the three hostile faces staring at her forced her to stay down. Hanna, Mallorie and a gaunt looking man seemed to sneer at her as one, before Mallorie lifted her gaze to the rest of the battlefield.
"You fools!" She said, her voice carrying across the field as loud as the gunshots.
Instantly, the whole place fell silent. Deathly silent.
"Did you think you could defeat me?" she demanded. She all but doubled over laughing. A harsh, shrill sound that set Cinder's teeth on edge.
"Well," Mallorie continued. "Here is your precious princess." Cinder looked as the gaunt man heaved Rose's limp body over his shoulder. She gasped and tried to reach for her, but Hanna held her back, throwing a black hood over her face, plunging her into darkness.
Mallorie laughed again. "And your pathetic queen."
Cinder fought as hard as she could against Hanna as her arms were bound behind her. Hanna punched her hard in the back of the head to hold her still. It was effective. Cinder stopped struggling, but did not lose consciousness.
"Please," Mallorie continued. "Return to Queen Camilla. Tell her of your failure. Tell her she will never see her precious granddaughter again."
Cinder was hauled off the ground and forced to stumble along blindly as she was led away by Hanna. She felt the ground change from hard earth to metal as she was shoved onto a ship. She felt the thud of a weight land beside her. Rose.
Something sharp dug into her skin and she felt liquid swell in her veins as it was forced in through a syringe. It took a mere matter of seconds for the world to tilt and swim as consciousness ebbed away.
All was black and silent.