Chapter 31- Reunion
I love your reactions to Marian being shifter. Was it really that shocking? Guess I didn't leave as many clues as I should've. Oh well.
There's probably about 4 or 5 more chapters left.
Enjoy this chapter!
Fang
Ella yawned next to me, stretching upwards, "How long is it going to take?"
"Ten minutes? I don't remember," I tell her, the cart going slower than I remembered it. You'd think that moving in a dark tunnel would have some sort of novelty, but it really doesn't. After a while, the whole underground cave thing gets old.
Nudge was surprisingly quiet until I noticed she'd fallen asleep. I said a silent prayer to whatever omnipotent force made that happen.
The cart jolted to a stop.
"Wake Nudge up," I tell Ella. I climb out of the cart.
"Why do I have to do it?" she grumbles. Ella changed. She's never been that angsty. Maybe she's moving on to her rebellious teenage phase. She's only fifteen but still…
"What is it!" Nudge rolled over in the seat… and then off the cart. She landed with a loud thump. "Ow!"
She growled and combed her fingers through her unkempt brown hair. Then she immediately perked up, "Okay, I'm up, but that was a terrible way to wake up, you know? I think we really should invest in some kind of alarm to wake me up. Like an alarm clock. Ugh, does someone have a hairbrush? Or a toothbrush? I need fresh clothes. Anyways, where're we headed? I'm starved. What time is it?"
"Nudge," Ella gives her a pointed look.
"Oh, Fang!" Nudge notices me again, "I completely forgot, although I'm not sure how because I remember almost everything. Which reminds me, I have to go to the new play by Ainsley with Mary. Never mind, I'll cancel with her later. So, you missed your birthday! Tessa, Ella and I had a small birthday cake we put on your grave but it rained and I'm pretty sure some dogs ate it."
"My birthday?" I asked. How could I forget my own birthday?
"Right," Ella added, "Your eighteenth birthday."
I smacked a hand to my head.
"You forgot didn't you?" Ella asked, "What's so important that you forgot your own birthday?"
"Try saving a race," I answered.
"Right…"
"Come on, Mom's going to figure out that we're gone soon," I waved them over and pushed open the big doors slowly. But then I figured out that I didn't have to bother being careful. There was a gaping hole on the side of the complex and the whole place was deserted.
"Oh," I eased the door open.
"What is this place?" Ella murmured. I guess it appealed to the artistic side of her. Cue art lesson in one, two, "The balance and chaos of the mankind and nature. Look at it. It's gorgeous."
"Aha," I choked out a laugh, "You wouldn't say that if you knew what this place is, come on. We have to meet the rest of them."
Max
"Max," Angel tugged my elbow, "I'm hungry."
"Right, I'll get food," I yawned. It was about six in the morning and I didn't sleep all night, "Just- just wait here."
I wandered away from the group towards the 7-11. There was about three dollars in my pocket; I could probably get two bags of chips or a couple hotdogs.
"Maximum Ride," a low, familiar voice called out. A tall, tough-looking man in a gray t-shirt and khaki shorts appeared from the shadows. He had close-cropped brown hair and gray eyes, "Remember me?"
"Um, no?" I wracked my brain. He sounded really familiar.
He coughed, "Harold Lewis? Does that ring a bell?"
I gasped and the dead body of Harold Lewis flashed before my eyes. I jumped back into a defensive crouch.
"Relax, Cardinal," the killer held up his hands, showing that he was unarmed, "I'm not going to hurt you."
I didn't relax, my hand moved down to the pocket knife at my belt, "Who are you? What do you want? How do you know my name?"
"Good questions, but I'll answer them after you've put down the knife," he said, "I've shown that I'm unarmed, now courtesy says you should do the same thing."
"Funny, no one ever said I was a polite person," I snarled, my grip on the knife tightening.
He sighed, "All right, all right. I'm Jeremy Kurtis, I'm also a shifter but I escaped with my family when I was two."
"Your family?" I exclaimed. How many people escaped the realm without people noticing?
"Yes, my family," he said dismissively and continued, "We left the Realm and a scientist named Dr. Hamilton helped us adjust. When I was 7, he started training me to bring down Itex."
"Why?"
"Didn't you figure it out already? Itex's scientists genetically mutated us to be shifters," he explained.
"Is that even possible?"
"Not in the Realm, it's not. They decided to create this artificial bio-dome to keep us in. Analiese Porter was in charge of taking care of us, she created the Cardinal system and she had an obsession for the Renaissance era of the human world. That's what the Realm's based off of. That's why all this technology," he gestured to the streets, "Marian was her daughter. Your little lover boy is Analiese's grandson."
"That covers my first question, two more to go," I fold my arms over my chest.
"Cardinals have a special energy trace which can be found by most infrared goggles," he explains, "All Cardinal records including names, and ID tags are kept in Harold Lewis's office. I figured out you were a Cardinal when you tipped out the window and your bangs were swept aside."
"Figures," I roll my eyes.
"As for what I want," he starts, "I need you to go lead me back to the Realm."
"Why?"
"So I can kill her," he says like it's the most normal thing in the world.
"Yeah, next question," I say just as calmly, "Why do you want to kill all these people?"
"Because Dr. Hamilton told me to."
"Why…?" I prompted.
"Because Itex is bad?"
"And what if I don't?"
"I don't have any problems with getting my hands more dirty. Starting with your beau." I stiffen slightly. Well, that isn't much of a choice at all.
"I feel like Dr. Hamilton has an ulterior motive. You can come with us and I'll show you where the door is," I yawn, feigning nonchalance, "After I get food for the rest of the pack."
"Here," he hands me a ten.
Fang
"Where are we going? I'm hungry. Do you have food? Do you think Max has food?" Nudge babbled.
"It's just a block away to the park," I explain.
"Are we going to finally meet this Max of yours?" Ella asked.
"You already met her when Mom captured her during the purge."
"We've never met her properly," Nudge said, flipping her hair back, "I only saw her in that cage in the throne room. You have to introduce us."
Ella added, "And I'm pretty excited to see Iggy again."
I roll my eyes, "Of course."
There was a guy jogging on the other side of the street who whistled at my sisters. I frowned, "They're under-aged, perv!"
He sticks up his middle finger at me and continues on his way.
"You talk different now," Ella commented.
"Well, you'll get used to it."
"Hey, Iggy!" I called out as the pack was in sight. Iggy popped up from the pack and waved.
"Hey Fang! You're back!" Iggy exclaimed, "I thought you were dead for sure!"
"Iggy?" Ella said excitedly and ran up to him.
"Ella!" he beamed, wrapping her into a tight hug. He murmured something in her hair and I thought he was going to cry.
"How did you guys get out?" Gazzy asks, "And who are they?"
"I think some introductions are in order," Ella remarks.
"Yeah, sure, you guys do that," I tell her, "Ella, Nudge, this is Gazzy, Kate, Holden, Star and Ratchet. These are my sisters."
"Oh, yeah, I think you mentioned them," Holden grins and Star shoots him a look.
Iggy and Ella were talking to each other quietly on a park bench. And Nudge was only thirteen so I don't think Star has much to be jealous about.
"Where's Max?" I asked and everyone shrugged in unison. That's creepy.
"You called?" Max saunters out from behind me with a guy on her tail. No pun intended, "I got food." She lifted a bag of food.
"Who's he?" I frown.
She raises an eyebrow and says the next three word's very carefully, "Harold Lewis's killer."
"What?!" everyone screams.
"At your service," the killer bows, "The name's Jeremy Kurtis."
"He's going to stay with us for a while and he wants back into the Realm, he's shifter," she seems like she's leaving something out.
"Right, so we're going to harbor a murderer with us," I growl.
"Can we not fight about this?" Max says pleasantly, munching on a bagel.
See, there's something extremely troubling about the prospect of traveling along with a killer, even if he's a shifter and Max trusts him. And there's something else troubling about Max being too pleasant to me even after I growled at her. Which means she's hiding something from me I'll most likely disagree with.
Max catches my look, "Come on." She gets up and expects me to follow. I do.
"I'm so happy to see you," she smiles in relief, wrapping her arms around my neck. She leans up and presses her lips against mine.
"Max," I murmur against her lips.
"Shh."
I relax and press her against a tree, kissing her neck.
Max
He doesn't need to know anything yet. It'll kill him, but do I have a choice? There's a dangerous killer who wouldn't hesitate to actually kill him. Marian's a monster. She killed so many people. Does that mean she has to pay for it with her life? Do I get to choose for her? I swallowed and Fang pulled away.
"What's wrong?" he asks.
"Nothing," I shake my head and hope I'm convincing.
"One more thing I found during my night at the castle," he adds, "Turns out my mom's a Cardinal."
"What?"