Chaos (Guards of the Shadowlands Book 3)

  “Were you in the alley the night he captured us?” I asked. “If you’re on our side and you knew what he would do, why didn’t you stop the ambush?”

  She gave me a puzzled look. “I suspected you were here to free him,” she said, nodding at Malachi, “but I hadn’t seen anything to indicate you were here for more than that. I helped you because I learned of your desire to destroy the portal, but I still don’t have any evidence that you’re willing to help the rest of us escape this city.”

  Ana ignored Treasa’s implied question about our intentions and turned to me. “That night near the Smith’s, Takeshi caught her a few blocks away. By that time, you and I had already been captured. She told Takeshi she was loyal to the Smith, and he offered her a grenade in exchange for information on how to get into the metalworks compound to save us.”

  Treasa nodded. “I told him about the master key and made him vow not to kill my master.”

  Ana held up her right arm, and I could see the odd dent and the swelling. “When Treasa pulled me out of the water, I was in so much pain and so angry that I was ready to cut her head off. But then she pulled the grenade out of her pocket.”

  Treasa looked slightly peeved. “The Guard said it was powerful, and that I could use it to destroy the Tanner, but he said he wouldn’t tell me how until after the two of you were safe.”

  Ana snorted. “He figured that if you were stupid or lying about being on our side, you’d end up blowing yourself up. I didn’t know you’d still have it with you.” She looked over at me. “After I broke my arm, I couldn’t make it up the ladder, so I told Treasa to get the grenade to you, that you’d know what to do. She said she’d take care of it, told me where to find a cache of supplies, and said she’d bring you and Malachi back if she could.” She winced. “And I was left to wait down here.” She looked downriver, toward the place Takeshi had been carried away.

  She hadn’t had him to help her heal, and it probably reminded her of how she’d lost him as she sat down here alone, healing badly. I ached for her. Where was Takeshi now? Was he suffering?

  “He was supposed to come back,” Ana said in a small voice. “He should be here right now.”

  “What?”

  She closed her eyes. “Nothing. It doesn’t matter now.”

  I didn’t know what to say, so instead I looked upriver at the wall of rock, now acting as a dam. The water level had already dropped well below the stony shore outside our cave, only a trickle where a raging current had once been. The avalanche of stones had completely cut it off—for now. “We’re going to have to leave soon. The river’s eventually going to bust through the dam, and I don’t want to be sitting here when it explodes.”

  Ana gave me a smile full of sorrow and nodded at Malachi. “Then focus on how much you love him.”

  I ran my tender, healing fingers through his hair and pressed my cheek to his, letting my thoughts float to that dream I had of him in the sunlight, of him turning his face to the light and enjoying its warmth on his skin. In that dream, there were no circles under his eyes, no scars on his body, no echoing memory of pain and fighting. He’d laid his weapons down, and he was able to rest. Malachi was a warrior, but in his heart, he wanted peace. He didn’t enjoy the battle, even though he’d always done his duty. He wanted a simple, happy, ordinary life, a dream he’d never had a chance to pursue. I wanted it for him. I’d never met anyone who needed it more. Whether I was part of it or not, he deserved that.

  I laid my palms over his wounds, my thoughts turning those images over—wishing hard, but not for myself. Not for what I wanted from Malachi, only what I wanted for him. I smiled as I felt heat return to his skin, as I watched open wounds stop bleeding and knit themselves together.

  He was starting to stir when Treasa cocked her head. “Do you hear that?” she whispered.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  Ana jumped to her feet, holding her right arm. “Someone’s coming.”

  I held Malachi tightly to me. “Can you tell if it’s Mazikin or human?”

  She released her arm and drew her knife. Next to her, Treasa did the same. Hesitantly, Ana peeked out of our cavern.

  Then she gasped and let out a sound halfway between a sob and a shout. She was out of the cave before I could say a word. I carefully laid Malachi down and grabbed a sharp rock, preparing to fight yet again. I stepped out of the cave, rock held high. Takeshi was standing in the slippery empty riverbed. Ana was in his arms, shaking as she clung to him.

  He looked over her shoulder and saw me standing on the shore. “You’ve accomplished your mission. The dome is open. Let’s get out of here.”

  Malachi was sitting up when we returned to the tiny cavern, running his fingers over his new, gruesome scars. Before he turned away to sling a cloak over himself, I saw a flash of despair in his eyes. I could tell that he was losing himself, wound by wound. My voice loud and overly cheery, I said, “Up for another hike?”

  He leaned out of the cave and sighed as he saw Takeshi. “I should have had some faith,” he said.

  “When I saw the Tanner’s map and how the tunnels connected to the river, I knew what I had to do,” Takeshi said, releasing Ana but keeping his fingers wrapped over her badly healed arm.

  Ana put her hand over his. “I agreed to let him go try to retrieve the grenades. I thought we’d need them to kill the Queen and destroy the portal.” She looked at me. “I didn’t count on you, Zip, and your mother taking care of the Queen without them.”

  “But I have them now,” Takeshi said, lifting his tunic and revealing five grenades, slung diagonally across his belly, nearly covering the grisly scar. “And we can use them to escape.”

  Malachi accepted Takeshi and Ana’s help in rising to his feet, then walked by my side as we ducked out of the cavern and descended into the riverbed with Treasa in the lead.

  “Did you know the Tanner was evil?” I asked.

  Takeshi nodded at Treasa. “I suspected, but Treasa confirmed what he really was. I knew you were probably trapped, and I’d been prepared to blast you all out of there grenade by grenade—but just as I got to the square, the palace began to collapse. I also heard a sound, like fabric tearing, that nearly brought me to my knees. From the southeast, there was a blinding light.”

  “Raphael opening the dome,” I said quietly.

  We were able to hike much more rapidly in the riverbed than we had on our way to the palace, when we’d been edging along the narrow rock ledge. Malachi draped his arm around my shoulders. His steps were steady enough, but he was leaning on me as if he was trying to save his strength—or maybe gather it. After a while, we passed the narrow arch that marked the beginning of the catacombs beneath the tannery. “Shouldn’t we go up that way?” I asked.

  Takeshi shook his head. “We can follow the riverbed all the way to the southern edge of the city, and it will be a straight run from there. It’s chaos on the streets, I’m sure. We can take advantage of that and sneak to the gate. We scale it, and we’ll be out of here.”

  Treasa stopped and turned on her heel, looking at each of us. I’m sure she was thinking the Smith had been right when he said we were only out for ourselves.

  Malachi shook his head. “It isn’t as simple as that, Takeshi.”

  “He’s right,” I said. “We can’t just sneak out. We have to get the humans out of here. There’s never going to be a better opportunity.”

  Takeshi’s grip on Ana tightened. “There are perhaps a million people spread throughout this city. In every den, in the meat factory, in the streets. Most of them are weak and broken, and the ones who aren’t seem more interested in dominating here than being free anywhere else.”

  Ana leaned on him. “We’ve completed the mission, guys. This is our chance for freedom, and you’re willing to give it up? Because that’s what you’d be doing if you try to liberate all these people. Think about how ma
ny there are. And what happens to them beyond the dome?”

  I frowned. “You’re willing to abandon these people here, just for a chance to save your own hide, Captain?”

  “I’m saying we served the Judge for decades,” Ana said quietly. “All of us. Except for you, Lela. You can’t possibly know what it’s like to work that hard, to sacrifice that much—and to still be treated like a pawn. We’re not responsible for these people. The Judge is.”

  “Fine. I haven’t suffered as much as you have. But I know what it’s like to be abandoned.” I pointed at Takeshi. “So do you. You know how much it hurts, to have your hope drain away day by day. How can you leave, knowing you’ve abandoned the people here?”

  “I’ve done my time!” Takeshi shouted. “I survived only to have Ana back in my arms, and to get the peace I was so close to all those years ago.”

  “And what about everyone else?” I yelled back. “They haven’t done their time? They don’t deserve peace?”

  Takeshi’s expression twisted with frustration. “You say that you love Malachi. If you do, I’m your best hope. I can get him out.”

  He was right. I could keep fighting. I was willing to try. But Malachi was falling apart. He couldn’t take much more punishment. I grimaced and put my hand over his, holding it against my shoulder.

  Malachi cleared his throat. “Do you know how I spent my time while I was chained in that square, waiting for the Queen to do her worst?” He raised his head and met Takeshi’s eyes. “I looked at the faces of the people. Each and every one of them, scars on their bodies, their backs bent, collars around their necks.” He swallowed and squeezed my shoulder. “And I recognized so many of them. I remember cutting their throats in the dark city. I remember saying prayers over their lifeless bodies and believing I was freeing them. It was a beautiful lie, one I clung to instead of facing the reality. All I was doing was condemning more innocents to this fate.” He stood up a little straighter. “I have to do something about that now. We can do something about it.”

  Takeshi stared at the ground. His hand was still curled over Ana’s forearm, like he wanted to make sure she was completely healed. I turned to Ana. “You’re my Captain. And I respect you. But if you tell me to leave this city without even trying to free everyone else, I won’t. I can’t.”

  “Neither can I,” Malachi said quietly. He released me and slowly stepped forward, putting his hand on Takeshi’s arm. “I believe we were chosen as Guards for a reason. We are stronger than most. We fight harder.” He leaned in. “And we have never done any of it for ourselves.”

  “When is it enough?” Takeshi whispered. “Why must I fight for a master who has not fought for me?”

  “We will not fight for a master,” Malachi said. “We will fight for the ones who have been abandoned.”

  I laid my palm on Malachi’s back, loving him more in that moment than I’d ever thought possible.

  Ana looked conflicted. “Takeshi . . .”

  “This is an impossible task,” he muttered.

  Malachi grinned, the scars on his face silvery white. “How many times have you said that to me?”

  “Of course you’d remind me.”

  “And how many times has it been possible only because we were in it together?” Malachi asked, more serious this time.

  Takeshi bowed his head. “This is a lot to ask.”

  Ana kissed him. “You know who you are,” she murmured in his ear. “And I know who I fell in love with.”

  He closed his eyes and touched his forehead to Ana’s. “Well. That settles it, then.” He kissed her.

  “We have to go back to the Smith,” Treasa said, clearly pleased.

  Malachi looked down at me. “The one who stabbed you?”

  I nodded. “But Treasa trusts him and was working against the Tanner on his orders. He also happens to have more weapons and vehicles than anyone else.”

  “He’ll have the best handle on what’s going on in the rest of the city,” said Takeshi as the ground rumbled again beneath our feet. “And we’d better hurry.” He looked upstream, toward the temporary dam that held back the powerful waters of the river. How long would it hold?

  We began to jog, following Treasa down the main riverbed and through a well-disguised crevice that connected to another tunnel system. Lit only by Treasa’s tiny lantern, our way was jagged and slippery, and we hit at least one cave-in that required us to backtrack. Takeshi knew another way, though, and led us easily, his palms sliding along the rock walls as he translated every vibration. “A lot of people moving up there. It’s going to be absolute mayhem.”

  “That might be a good thing,” said Malachi as we began to climb a set of rough steps.

  “We’ll see,” huffed Takeshi, pulling open a steel door at the top of the stairs.

  The cool night air of the city wafted over my face, bringing with it the stench of blood and fear. Screams and explosions echoed in the darkness, along with a deep rumbling that coursed up through the soles of my feet. A sharp crack came from above us, and I looked up to see fissures snaking along the surface of the dome. It brought a smile to my face, especially as a bright light caught my eye. Over the rooftops of the buildings, in the direction of the city gates, there was a glow, and the cracks in the dome seemed to be emanating from it. “We need to—” Ana began.

  “Welcome back, Guards,” boomed the Smith through his PA system.

  I spun around. We were standing at the edge of the Smith’s vast yard, right at the rear corner of the factory nearest the city wall and the dome. He stood on his platform, where he’d obviously been addressing his people, who were armed and at attention. And now all of them were staring at us.

  “Seize them!” the Smith roared.

  TWENTY-THREE

  TREASA STEPPED IN FRONT of us, and as soon as the Smith saw her, he shouted, “Stop!”

  The guards who had been about to grab us froze. The Smith came forward, yelling, “What have you done?” He glared at each of us, livid. “The Bone Palace is destroyed. The Mazikin are in a frenzy. It is only a matter of time before we are overrun. It will take everything we have to defend the factory.”

  “We’ve done it!” Treasa cried, a jittery excitement in her voice. “We killed the Queen and the Tanner, and the portal has been destroyed!”

  The Smith swayed on his stumpy legs as the ground shifted beneath us, followed by more deep rumbling. “These damn earthquakes are getting worse,” he replied. “I suppose you’re responsible for that, too?”

  Treasa looked stricken. She’d obviously expected him to be thrilled by what she’d helped accomplish, but he was so concerned with maintaining the status quo that he couldn’t think past it. “We need to get inside and lock this place tight,” he said.

  “The river is dammed,” Malachi said. “The Bone Palace collapsed in on itself and blocked it.”

  The Smith’s ruddy face paled. “That river runs like an unstoppable force beneath this city. If it breaks loose . . .” We all knew what he was thinking. We were trapped under the dome. If the river burst free, would it flood the city? Where would all that water go?

  “There’s a way out,” I said. “For everyone. We can leave now. There’s an opening in the dome.”

  The Smith’s bushy eyebrows drew together. “A way out? How can you be sure?”

  I couldn’t. All I had was the faint hope inside me and the light in the distance. I pointed to it, and he looked in that direction, squinting. “Because we destroyed the portal and killed the Queen, and because the Judge keeps her promises.”

  “Yes. The Judge is so benevolent.” He laughed—a bitter, awful sound. “There is no telling what awaits us if we try to leave the city.”

  “You’re right,” I said. “But what future do you have here?”

  He once again looked at the humans gathered around him, at those scarred faces and broken
bodies. Within each of them resided a soul he’d deemed worth saving. “I don’t know how to protect them if we leave the compound.”

  “You have vehicles and weapons. We can make a charge to the south,” Ana said.

  He crossed his arms over his thick chest. “The Mazikin will try to stop us. They’re massing down there already. I’ve gotten word that Ibram and his enforcement squad are at the gates. You say there is a way out, but apparently there is some force stopping them from leaving, so it seems the Mazikin have turned their efforts toward keeping humans imprisoned alongside them—and punishing any who would try to escape.”

  “Maybe the opening in the dome is only for people,” I said. “That’s a good thing.”

  Ana nodded. “The Wasteland doesn’t need any more predators.”

  “All the predators are in the city with us!” the Smith said in a strangled shout. “And they know we have the means to make it to the gates. The only reason they’re not at the metalworks already is that we’ve put up barricades and traps, and they know we’re ready for them. But if we leave . . .” He ran his hand over the top of his head and gestured at his people. “They could be torn apart. Look at them. They’re not warriors. They’re not strong.”

  Takeshi leaned toward him. “We can scatter the Mazikin,” he said. “You’ve seen me do it.” His eyes met Ana’s, and he touched his tunic, beneath which the grenades hung. “We can clear a path. We’ll help everyone get out.”