Chapter 58
Waxing, waning and aglow
I turn and look at the terrified faces staring back at me. Why are they all looking at me? I can’t save them; I can barely save myself. I should run, but I won’t. These people need me.
I can try to save them.
“Run!” I shout.
That breaks them out of their shock. They run, rushing towards the tents, snatching up sleeping children.
I find my blond niece crying alone in a sea of adults and scoop her up into my arms, running towards the cave.
Halfway up, Marian sees me; her panic is clear as day.
She loves this child, I realise, maybe as much as Rae did.
I hand her into the omega’s arms, pushing back the bitterness and silently wishing them both well.
My mum would be proud of me. Rae would be proud of me. I step back, an impossible step, tearing my eyes from the child.
“I’ve got her,” she whispers.
She turns away, breaking the spell. I race back down to the tents and see an old man sitting on a log. He alone is still in the chaos around him. I grab his arm, tugging him. He pulls back, resisting.
“What are you doing? Come on.”
He leans back, shaking his head and smiling.
“Get up, you need to get to the caves!”
“Stop it!” he barks when I keep trying to drag him.
I drop his arm like it’s red hot. Disbelief has me turning around, finally seeing all the sad faces looking at me. Young and wounded, the elderly, they stare at me, some of them clutching each other and crying, some with heads lowered, whispering to each other.
But most noticeably not moving.
“They will not believe an empty camp,” the old man explains.
I stare at them. “What?”
“We’ve lived our lives. We’ve made our peace. It is our honour to be able to save the future,” his voice is gentle as he reaches out, taking hold of my hand and patting it gently. “If we can be the mask that saves those children, please, let us have this.”
“But,” I look around. They’ll all die. They know it; I know it.
He pulls back, turning to an old omega who sits beside him.
Jarek takes my hand. I don’t need to look at him, I just inhale that scent of his, roses and candles burning. His fingers squeeze mine, almost to the point of pain, but I don’t try to get free.
“We’re staying,” the old man says.
“You can’t; you’ll die,” I murmur, but the force and conviction in my voice are gone.
“We know that!” the old man says kindly. His weathered skin is brown with lines of age, and his hair is almost as white as mine. “Let us fight in the only way we can.”
I shake my head again, but another alpha sits beside him, wrapping an arm over his shoulders. He closes his eyes and leans in, pressing their heads together.
It could have been us, I think in a panic. It could be us.
“We need to seal them in,” Jarek hisses.
I look one last time, turn, and run back up to the cave. Bear is standing up there, handing the last of the children in.
“Good, be brave. You sit still and silent and don’t come out until someone comes to get you. You can do this. I know you can. You are all Resistance. I am so proud of each and every one of you!”
“What if you don’t come?” a crying boy asks.
“I will come,” Bear promises. “I will always come for you.”
The child hugs him and then goes into the cave. Sophie stands beside Bear holding a torch.
Bear grabs her and kisses her hard, then he shoves her back into the dark.
“Grab her!”
“No, Bear, stop. What are you doing?” She fights the people who hold her back, screaming like she’s being murdered. I didn’t once see her as afraid as she is right now, not in all our days in Foreen.
“I love you, Sophie.”
Bear slams his body against the rock, pushing and shoving.
Straining so hard his tendons stand out, his body shakes, and he’s almost horizontal. Mordecai and Cadel break through the small crowd and join him, moving it inch by inch.
“Bear!” Sophie wails. “Stop, please. You promised. You promised me.”
I put a hand to my mouth, blinking several times as the rock is moved across the cave entrance. Sophie’s desperate screams are silenced as the rock encloses them in a tomb of stone.
Bear’s shoulders slump, and he puts a hand on the rock.
“I love you. I promise you’ll be okay.”
Bear doesn’t look at any of us, just swipes his arm across his eyes. His shoulders curl, and he turns away. After a moment, he straightens and turns back, his expression grim.
“Come on.”
We run back to camp. People stare at us, the people who have stayed. I feel like they are waiting for something. The tension mounts. Legion jumps at Bear, tackling him hard to the ground.
Bear fights, rearing up, lifting the omega, but Mordecai, Cadel, and Jarek join the fray, holding him pinned. He fights, straining against them, but he can’t break free.
“What are you doing?” Bear hisses.
“He will be killed on sight,” Legion murmurs. “The world needs him. So says the silver-haired woman from my dreams. She told us exactly what would happen if Bear wasn't there.” Legion leans down, staring at him intently. “What is a pack if you’re the only one left?” he murmurs to Bear.
The alpha’s eyes widen.
“Listen to the dreams, Bear. You need to do exactly what she tells you. For once in your life, have faith in something you can’t see.”
I jolt, staring at him hard. “You dream as well?”
He nods and strokes Bear’s face. “My brother, it was an honour to fight beside you. Live long and make this world a good one.”
Why does that sound so much like goodbye?
Bear’s eyes widen, stricken.
“Thank you, Brother,” Mordecai whispers. “It was unforgettable. No matter what happens, remember we chose you. We believe in you to make this world great again.”
Bear fights in silence, his eyes furious, but they force his mouth open and pour a liquid from a vial into it, forcing his jaw closed and holding his nose until he swallows.
It takes effect in minutes. He goes sleepy and limp, and then he’s out completely. He looks dead.
“He will live,” Legion reassures us. “Just a drug; it will keep him out long enough to save him.”
They drag him to a place in the camp that I haven’t seen before. It’s got a grass-woven screen, and behind it are a couple of bodies. I choke, holding my nose at the smell. They lay Bear down and pull the bodies on top of him. Carefully making sure he can still breathe but hiding his face.
I take one look at the Resistance leader, wondering what good he’s going to do for the world, but I’m almost relieved my involvement ends here. Now all that’s left to do is wait for the Beta’s Path to come and kill us.
I hear a sob and turn to find Cadel leading a shaking and white Mia towards us.
“Mia!” Legion says in anguish. “No! What are you doing? We can still get her in the—”
“It’s too late; they are here,” the old alpha says. “Listen to the way the valley echoes. We live or die by the choices of our enemies now. It has been an honour to live and die beside you.”
I turn and take his hand. “Elder,” I say respectfully.
He turns to me and smiles, and, to me, it seems like he’s both old and young. “Trust your instincts, young moon. We remember the old ways. We remember who you are.”
Memories surface, rising like an incoming tide but vanish just as quickly.
I gasp, but it’s swallowed by the sound of the Path rushing in. Black material, black masks, angry shouts.
The Resistance cries out, screaming, recoiling in fear.
The old man is snatched away, our fingers breaking apart. As I watch on, pulling against Cadel, five swords plunge into his chest. His mate rushes them and is struck down with a blow that opens up his thigh to the bone. He falls and lies there, staring at his lover.
They are merciless.
I draw a sword but stop when I see the Warden with an arrow aimed right at my chest. I’m tempted to just swing it anyway and to hell with his threats, but he slowly moves the arrow to Mordecai.
I glare at him and slowly hold out my arm and drop the sword. Mordecai whips around, and because he’s watching, Jarek and Cadel are, too. One by one, they lay their weapons down and stand beside me.
Legion is shoved into me. I catch him and hold him to me, preventing him from darting out again.
“No, it’s done. Lower your weapon,” I hiss in his ear.
He growls in anguish and then tosses his sword.
“Kill any who can’t march. We’re going back to Foreen,” the Warden says coldly.
I’m punched in the face and my knives taken from me forcefully. Mordecai, Cadel, and Jarek are beaten while I watch in a daze. Mia screams and sobs, but other than a beta backhanding her, she remains untouched. So does Legion.
I’m put in strong steel cuffs again and chained to Legion, who is in front of me, and Mordecai, who is behind.
Not many people survived the slaughter, and the people who did are sobbing or staring with horror-blank eyes, the kind that just stare, seeing worlds that don’t exist. I hate that I am so familiar with them. This kind of night never gets easier.
We trudge through the cliffs, before long we’re in the cool night of the forest. I inhale and smell blood and the sharp scent of fear, pain, and pleasure. My skin crawls, and I step back into Mordecai, but there’s nowhere to go.
Legion lets out a whine of distress. His scent bursts through the scent-suppressing drug and into sharp, nose-burning notes of fear.
Chains rattle, but I step to the side so I can see past Legion’s trembling body.
Theo is hung between the trees. At first, I think he’s wearing a weird crimson suit, but then I realise he’s naked. They’ve peeled his skin from his stomach, chest, and thighs. He’s not screaming, not anymore.
“Why?” I whisper and turn as my stomach jolts violently. I turn my head away and vomit before I can ask anything else.
“He betrayed your location,” Walker says as he walks past on that massive black horse.