28. Ash
Chapter 28
Ash
I rushed onward, around the building in hopes I could intercept the soldiers with the blonde woman by watching the future carefully.
Several soldiers guarding a door greeted me on the side of the building, but there was no blonde woman in sight. I skidded to a halt as they all turned to take me in. Flee or fight? My objective was to get to the blonde woman, but she wasn’t here. Run. I had to get out of here, away from all of them. I had to find my father; he could help. Before any of them saw my face, I turned the other direction and walked until I was out of sight. Then, I ran.
My legs beat wildly underneath me. I wanted to get away. I wanted to go home and see Nan. I turned a corner, my flimsy shoes slipping on the frost-covered cobblestones, but I had a taste of freedom, and I wasn’t about to give it up .
Nan. If I ran, the King would surely kill her. My panicked breaths came harder, but I kept moving through the streets and broken buildings. It made sense now why he gave me that ultimatum. It kept me from running, it kept me under his thumb to do his bidding. I ducked into a decrepit building, hiding myself in the shadows and held my breath as Jerek ran by, his heavy boots thumping on the ground like a wild beast.
I tried to control my ragged breathing as my fingertips dug into the damp stone wall behind me. What do I do? Nan, tell me what to do?
More footsteps passed, and it was time to leave my hiding spot. I rushed out and found a ladder on the side of a building and clamored up it until I could decide what to do.
Tears stung the back of my eyes at the thought of going back and living every day with the memory of Jerek and Kane as they sat idly by and let the blonde woman almost die. Could I make it back to Cedar Hill and get Nan before the King could get word to his soldiers stationed there with her?
Thoughts swirled in my head as I backed away from the ledge on the top of the snowy roof, watching for Jerek below me. I forgot to use my ability that I wasn’t used to having, and an arm wrapped around my waist and a hand that smelled like apples covered my mouth.
“Ash?” A man’s voice whispered in my ear with a slight tremor. I’d never heard that voice before, but something about it made me pause. “I’m going to let you go now,” he said, releasing his hold on my mouth and waist.
I turned slowly and peered at him in the darkness. The first thing I noticed was the bright blue eyes under his dark hood and the salt-and-pepper beard that was almost identical to Maximus’s. Those eyes…Maximus’s eyes…my eyes.
“Dad?” I whispered.
His lips trembled, and his eyes started to well with tears. “My daughter,” he choked out and took a step toward me. “It’s me…your father. Liam.”
My hands shook as he cautiously stepped toward me. A tear streamed down his face, and he tentatively wrapped his arms around me. I could feel the sobs that shook his body and wrapped my arms around his back, still watching the future to ensure this wasn’t a trick. My dad. I had finally found my father. The tears that had only been a slight sting earlier pooled in my eyes. I had asked Nan what to do and found my answer. The world shifted and it all felt like I was living in a dream. How could this be real? How was my father suddenly here with his arms around me sobbing like a baby after all this time? I felt like a stranger in my own life.
“You look so much like your mother,” he murmured. “I finally found you.”
I pulled out of his embrace, still feeling slightly awkward with the affection from a man I couldn’t remember. The person I’d wished to find for years stood in front of me, and my emotions were a tangled mess. My chest filled with anger at him for leaving me alone all these years, and I didn’t expect that. I expected to feel relief and joy from finally finding him, but not this.
“Denny said you spoke to him,” he said, with eyes searching mine.
“Where have you been all these years?” I blurted. It felt like a question for the wrong time, with Jerek still running around below us, searching for me .
“I’ll explain everything, but you must come with me now. I don’t know how you got away. but we must get away from Hope this instant.”
He threaded his arm through my own and pulled me toward the edge of the roof.
“Wait, Dad…uh, Liam. I need answers before I go anywhere with you.” I tugged out of his grasp. I was angry at him for abandoning me and angry at him now for showing up and pretending like he cared or that it never happened.
“Is this about the Etan boy? You can’t stay with him any longer, Ash. It’s not safe for you to return to the estate.”
What? No this was about him. A perfect stranger for all I knew. Sure we looked alike but other than that I knew nothing of his character. I wanted to believe him to be a man of honor but how could I know?
“Look, I don’t know you. I’ve heard rumors that you killed Beth, that you cheated on her with my mom. How do I know I can trust you? You don’t get to walk back into my life after fifteen years and tell me what to do.”
His eyebrows pinched together. “That’s fair.” He nodded. “Come with me and let me show you something, and then you can decide whether you want to come with me?”
“Okay.” This was my father, and I had to give him a chance, no matter what I felt at the moment.
We climbed down the ladder, and I saw Jerek approaching from around the building in a desperate attempt to find me. I hurried my father around the other side of the building and away from Jerek before he could see us.
“Follow me,” Liam said, leading me away from the slums and further into the night as we ducked through buildings and avoided Jerek. My mind went to Kane then. What was he doing? Was he searching for me? I snapped my mind away from those thoughts as quickly as they started.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“The Pit.”
“Come this way, we mustn’t be seen,” Liam said as he stepped off a trail and into the trees. I followed, shuffling through the snow. As we walked further into the trees, streams of light began glinting through the forest. We crouched down near a tree and peered through the thickets to what lay in front of us.
The first thing I noticed was the tall metal fence with links that you could see through, topped with pointy wire so no one could climb over. A slight humming noise seemed to be coming from the fence. Large buildings with several doors and windows spread out around a massive hole in the ground. I couldn’t even see across the pit in the earth to the other side. There were only a few lights outside the buildings and a few in the windows, revealing soldiers sitting around tables inside the buildings.
“Welcome to the Pit,” Liam whispered, “where all the blondes are kept to mine for the King.”
“Where are all of them?”
“It’s past curfew now. They all should be inside, asleep.”
“How many are there?”
“Far too many.” He shook his head. “Thousands. Besides the manual labor, they are well taken care of. They have plenty of food and amenities, but it’s still not right.”
“Is that why Maximus considers you a traitor to the kingdom? Because you sympathize with them?”
He nodded .
“It’s never been right, what is happening to them. I saw that from a young age, but my father saw it differently. That’s why you must come with me. He would never willingly let a blonde into his estate. He is up to something, even though you are his own granddaughter.”
I turned to look at my father then. The way his brows drew down and the distant light shone in his eyes, lighting up all the sorrow he held. He cared for these people without a shadow of a doubt.
“He’s looking for you,” I said softly.
“What?”
“That’s what the King is up to. He is using me to find you. He said if I don’t find you by spring, he…he’ll kill Nan…my mother…Henry’s wife. How did you know Henry? How come you never came to get me?” My voice squeaked out higher than I intended, my emotions rising to the surface. I had so many questions for him.
He looked sad, so sad. “I didn’t know where you were.” He put his hand on my wrist and squeezed. “You have to believe if I knew where you were, I would have come for you as soon as I could.” His eyes pleaded with my own, and I knew he told the truth. “I met Henry at a bookstore in Brocket. He loved to read and research as much as I did. We were both searching for a way to change Novum. We studied books together and came up with ideas. Of course, Henry never knew who I really was, and he never told me where he was from. When I gave you to him—“ He stuttered, closing his eyes. “I was running from the soldiers my father sent after me, and I didn’t ask where I could find you in case the soldiers caught me, but I knew you would be safe with Henry. He was one of the best men I ever met, and I found out that he’d been leading a rebellion of his own right under my nose the whole time we had known each other. Of course, he never knew who I was, and he never offered up very much information about himself. Now I know why. We’ve searched for you for years… When Will finally sent word that he found you, I left immediately to come to Cedar Hill.”
“Will…” I whispered. “You know him?”
“Yes. Will was looking for you.”
My breath came out hard, and my eyes burned with unshed tears. “Where is he? Kane said that he has him somewhere, but he won’t tell me where. We have to find him.”
Liam gave me a quizzical look. “Will is okay, Ash. I know where he is.”
“What?” I nearly shouted. “But Kane said… How? Where?”
His eyebrows pinched together. “How much do you know of Kane?” he asked.
“That cruel bastard…” I started, but I was interrupted by a door slamming shut in the Pit, pulling our attention away. A soldier came out of a door and disappeared from sight. We backed away from the fence so we could speak further, and another thought raced into my head.
“Why didn’t Will tell me the truth?” I asked, and Liam looked down and chewed on his lip.
“I didn’t want to bring you into a war that you didn’t deserve to be in the middle of. I told him and…Jackson to leave you alone if you seemed happy and safe.”
“So, you weren’t even going to give me a choice?!”
“I didn’t know that my father had you followed. I didn’t know that he left someone watching you all these years. We had no clue it was Gabriel who you had fallen for. All I heard was that you were back in Cedar Hill with a man who loved you, and you were happy. That’s all that mattered to me—that you were happy. I was coming to Cedar Hill to see for myself, but when I got there…” He shook his head. “You were already gone.”
“How’d you know to come here?”
He closed his eyes like he didn’t want to tell me something.
“Dad?”
Then he slowly nodded. “I met Anne and Pete Thompson.”
My hands trembled, and I was afraid to ask the next question. “And Nan?” I choked out.
He shook his head and swallowed hard. “She died, Ash… I’m so sorry.”
Grief and sorrow were like two snakes wrapping around my heart and squeezing until I couldn’t breathe. I felt like I knew deep down that she was gone. That night, the wolf howled right after we left Cedar Hill. The deep sense of despair that touched my soul that night—she had left. I put my hand to my chest to quiet my breathing and bring myself back to reality. The blackness wouldn’t win this time. My body swayed until I fell backwards into the snow, pulling my knees up and putting my hands to the sides of my head. Not Nan. Dozens and dozens of memories flooded into my head. My mother was gone—the woman I’d spent my whole life with. How could a person be on this earth, smiling back at your jokes and telling you to be careful one moment and the next vanish like she was never there to begin with? How did mortality have a way of swallowing up someone’s spirit until there was nothing left but memories and a lifeless body that would return to dust in no time?
Tears streamed down my face in hot, heavy rivulets.
“I’m so sorry, Ash,” Liam said, rubbing my back.
“How?” I cried.
“She went to bed one night and didn’t wake up. It was simply old age that took her.” The pity was evident in his voice .
“Where did they bury her?” I sobbed.
Liam peered down at me with pity in his blue eyes. “At your cabin, next to Henry. I brought them flowers before I left Cedar Hill.”
My sobs came harder, and I staunched the noise the best I could to not alert the men inside the Pit. “Thank you,” I choked out.
How did I let this happen? How had I not been there when she died? Who held her hand as she passed on? Questions of what I could have done better tormented me until I snapped back to reality. In an instant, the fire of hatred burned in my chest once more. I knew what I had to do. The King knew she was dead; he knew and still held her over my head. Too bad for him—I had the upper hand now. I knew what he was holding the blondes for; I knew Jones was the only one that had the knowledge of the injections; I would see that the King would fall and that I would win. And Gabe—Gabe took me away from Nan when I needed her the most; I couldn’t forget that.
“I can’t go with you, Liam,” I said, suddenly standing and wiping my tears.
“What—“ he stuttered. “Can’t you see how dangerous it is for you to stay? He will kill you, Ash. It’s just a matter of time.”
“Not unless I kill him first,” I said with a hard edge to my voice.
“No. I just got my daughter back after fifteen years. I am not about to let you go again.”
“Dad… Don’t you see? I’m already on the inside; no one can change things like I can. No one can get to Maximus like I can.” And I would. He would pay for his crimes.
“You don’t know how dangerous he is,” Liam whispered.
“You didn’t give me a choice last time. You thought it would be better to leave me in oblivion, not knowing any of this. Ignorance is bliss, right?” I snorted. My hands shook with grief and animosity. “Not anymore. You cannot keep me out of this to protect me anymore. I am a grown woman, and I will make my own choices, and I am choosing to take the King down from the inside.”
He swallowed. “Okay, but we have a lot to discuss before you go back.”
“What are the rebels’ plans?” I asked.
“Nothing in Hope has been set in motion yet. We are working in the North to get Croydon so we have enough weapons to take on the King.”
“That’s part of the rebellion?”
“Yes, we have been trying for months to take it. Ash, when Henry took you, I gave him a book. It was full of poems your mother wrote, and Henry had another that he was always writing our ideas in. Do you have them?”
The book of poems that Pop used to recite to me. They were from my mother. A knot formed in my throat. All those years of wondering who my mother was, and I had a book written by her the whole time. And Pop. I couldn’t help the sense of further betrayal I felt at him having a hand in the blonde rebellion and never telling me about it.
“Yes, I have it.”
His eyes flooded with relief. “Does it have names and places in it?”
I questioned telling him the truth. Protecting Pop’s people was my top priority. Then I nodded.
He looked skyward. “It’s the final piece of the puzzle we’ve been missing. I’ve been trying for years to find all the people and contacts he had made. They never trusted me, and I couldn’t find them. I believe they had a keyword they used to ensure the safety of the rebellion.”
He eyed me, and I nodded again.
“Good. Don’t tell me. Do not show that book to anyone under any circumstances. You are the last piece of our puzzle. I never thought we would see that book or get those people back again, but they might come back to the rebellion for you.”
My ability had been thrumming in the back of my skull since we got here, and it came to life before my eyes, showing me that Jerek was about to find us. He must’ve tracked us down somehow.
“Go! My guard is coming. He found me!” I whispered urgently.
His eyes widened in shock. “You can see the future too?”
I searched his face—too? Who else could see the things I could?
We heard Jerek’s boots shuffling through the snow behind us.
“Go! Hide! I will contact you,” I said. “Denny at the bakery. I will get him a message. You work from the outside, and I will make them crumble from within.”
He gave me a funny look that I couldn’t decipher. “Yes…Denny,” he said. Then suddenly, he wrapped his arms around me. “Please be safe.” He pulled away and gazed at me.
“Ash!” Jerek called.
I glanced down at our footsteps in the snow and swore. “He’s going to know someone was out here with me,” I said urgently.
“Give me your coat,” Liam said.
I peeled the large coat off in an instant without any questions and handed it to him. The cold seeped through my long sleeve shirt once the coat was gone, pebbling my skin.
“Tell him you gave a bum on the street your coat if he’d show you the Pit. ”
Jerek would never believe that, he was too clever, but it was the best idea we had. Liam gave me one last look before he vanished in the night.
I heard Jerek again before I saw him. “I swear, Princess, if you are not out here…” he mumbled under his breath.
He cursed when he saw me, standing there shivering from the cold and waiting for his arrival. He limped on the leg I had embedded a skewer into, but only slightly; you could probably only tell if you were looking for it. I expected anger on his face, but rather, it was filled with…concern.
“There you are… What the hell are you doing? Where the hell is your coat?” He looked around with the lantern he held. Then, he quickly shucked his coat and wrapped it around my shoulders. I was taken aback by the gesture. I had stabbed him and run away, and now he offered me kindness again. My head was a confused mess—finding one family member and losing another all in the same night, and now this.
“What’s wrong?” Jerek asked, searching my face. “What happened? Who’s with you Ash; why are there two sets of tracks?” He held the lantern closer to the ground to inspect the snow.
“Do you have some sort of freaky, super tracking skills? How’d you find me?” I asked blandly, deflecting his question. I felt…numb.
“I’m your guard for a reason. I’m the best at what I do.” A slight smile cracked his lips, but nothing could stop the inner pain and anger roiling inside me.
His smile fell, and he scrunched his brows together. “Did someone hurt you? ”
I didn’t meet his eyes. “No, I traded a bum for my coat if he’d show me the Pit.” My voice came out lifeless and monotone. “He’s gone now.”
He looked as if he didn’t believe a word I said but didn’t question me further. “Come on, we need to get back.”
We turned and left. “Seriously, Ash, I thought we were past this. I thought we were…friends now, and then you go and run off again—making me track you down in the middle of the night like a damn bloodhound.”
“Sorry.” I wasn’t. He had stood by and watched as the blonde woman got beaten and who knows how many others before her.
Jerek stopped in his tracks. “You really want to see the Pit?”
His question caught me by surprise, and I nodded. He must’ve seen the vulnerability in my eyes, because he clenched his jaw and gave me a sharp look.
“Follow me,” he said, barely above a whisper. Jerek crept through the snow and trees, and I followed until we came to the very edge of the fence. We stood next to a tree, where the shadows hid our figures from the dim light that was cast out from the buildings. He peered left and right, seemingly trying to gauge how long we had until the guards came back down this stretch of fence. The slight hum I’d heard earlier was much more prominent.
“Don’t touch the fence. It’s electrified,” Jerek whispered, crouching low. “Welcome to the Pit. In the center is the entrance to the mine, and on the outskirts are the buildings where the blondes are housed.”
“Have you ever been inside?” I asked quietly. If he felt bad enough for me that he was willing to give up information, I wasn’t about to waste the opportunity .
“No. The soldiers that are on guard here are specifically trained for the job, and the punishments for breaking the rules of a Pit guard are…much harsher than the firing squad.”
Just then, we heard a commotion inside the fence. A trail of blonde-haired men and women came up a walkway from the hole in the ground with soldiers leading and trailing them. They were dirty and looked exhausted, but other than that, they didn’t look any worse for wear. Their bodies were thick with muscle, indicating that they had plenty to eat. A soldier behind the group of blondes urged them onward, continuously shoving the man in the back forward. Even at this distance, I could tell that the man was getting angrier with every push, until finally he snapped.
The last blonde man in the line whipped around and socked the soldier right in the chin, and the rest of the group erupted in chaos. Fights broke out between guards and prisoners until a soldier drew a weapon that looked like a gun and fired it at the blonde man who threw the first punch. He fell to the ground, and his body shook with convulsions. No. I couldn’t watch this any longer. I lunged toward the fence, and Jerek wrapped his arms around me, pulling me back down.
“Stop. They aren’t killing him, only electrocuting him. The blonde will live to see another day.”
He was right. I probably wouldn’t even make it past the fence. I broke his hands apart from around me and watched in silence as the soldier subdued the rest of the group, and the man that had been electrocuted slowly stood and walked back into a building, disappearing from view.
“Let’s go. We need to get back,” Jerek murmured. Why did he show me that? Why did Kane bring me out tonight? Why did both of them seem so kind and then so cruel at the same time?
I had one last look at the Pit with a promise that I would be back to see all these people freed.