Chapter 16
Eva reached for her knife, cursing herself for not bringing her gun. When was she without it?She hadn’t expected to need weapons at the Harvest Celebration. She felt stupid for letting her guard down.
Her people’s fear-filled screams radiated off the huts, echoing through the forest. Smoke filled the air as she reached the ground level. Her head spinning, she realized Krieger wasn’t with her. Hadn’t he been right behind her?
Before her, chaos unfolded. People ran by her, some yelling for help, some of them fighting back. It was dark, but the fire lit the area.
These men who had invaded the settlement didn’t wear the Stone Haven red sash. They looked disheveled, thin—like the Others from the villages. The feral men who lived in the destroyed buildings. What were they doing here? Krieger had said that General Rush was coming. Had he brought these men?
She watched as the residents of Everwood brought buckets of water and dumped them on the fires that lit the buildings and foliage.
A woman screaming drew her attention, and she ran in the direction of the victim, her knife bared. She ducked into a hut where a woman with light hair held a small child tight against her chest as she pressed herself into the corner. The feral men who were raiding her home turned toward Eva.
But she was on them before they could move. She slammed her fist into the closest man’s jugular, then spun and kicked the other in the gut.
While they were both down, she turned to the woman and yelled, “Run.”
They were out the door in a flash, and Eva kicked the second man once more.
Shots were fired just outside, startling her.She left the hut, scanning the area. Her people were getting the fires under control as they made an assembly line of water buckets, but smoke was still floating heavily in the air.
She caught a glimpse of the gate and saw it had been blown open on one side and men were sneaking in.
How could this have happened? The peace treaty—she agreed to it, why would Stone Haven... Unless the general had gone rogue? Had he taken matters into his own hands and gone against Thomas Beck’s orders? Is that why he needed the Others?
Eva’s fists tightened at her sides. She would make him pay for this.
As she had thoughts of revenge, a hand gripped her shoulder. She crouched and spun her leg, knocking the person’s knees out. The man fell with a thud onto his back.
“Ugh. Thanks, Eva!”
Recognition hit her hard. “Luke! I’m sorry.” She held her hand out to him. “Get up, we have work to do.”
He took her hand, and she hauled him to his feet. “Get as many as you can to safety. I need to find my father and tell him it’s General Rush. We need a plan—orders.”
John stood behind Luke, a gun trained in his hand as he protected his brother’s back. “I saw your father, he was near the weapons supply hut, by Tucker’s—”
She brushed past them. “Thank you, stay safe.”
The snow was falling steadily now, the chilled breeze bringing the smell of sulfur and wood smoke to her nose. She winced at the stench. Had they used that to blow the gate?
She flew up one flight of stairs, noticing snow had started to accumulate on them, and took the slick steps two at a time, then turned down the bridge that brought her to Tucker’s place.
His door was ajar, a blood smear coating the molding and drops of the crimson liquid dotting the floor. She clenched her jaw as her hand tightened around the handle of her knife defensively. She took a deep breath and kicked the door open to see Tucker lying on the floor, his right hand cupping his throat as his blood seeped through his fingers. No!
When she knelt next to him, he weakly raised his hand to take hers. She gripped it tightly as his wide eyes pleaded with her.
His face paled as a brutal noise left his lips. “Took... your father.”
A heaviness filled her chest, and her eyes clouded over. The metallic smell of his life leaving his body filled the small room. “Where, Tucker? Where did they take him?”
He coughed, and blood dripped down the corner of his mouth. His voice was hoarse as he whispered, “Save him.”
Then his body jerked, and his head rocked back onto the wood flooring, his eyes staring lifelessly at the ceiling as his last breath left his body.
“No! Tucker!” Tears streamed down her face, but she wiped them away and gently placed his hands over his chest. Blood coated her fingers, and she gasped at the sight. No, not Tucker.
She scrubbed her hands down her jacket, trying to rid her fingers of the death that now coated her skin.
She rose and let out a roar of frustration. Focus, Eva. Where would they take him?
Eva knew the general to be an arrogant man. He would look for a place where a lot of people could gather and see him—so he could humiliate her father before killing him.
No, she wouldn’t let that happen.
She strode out of the hut. People were rushing past her as she climbed the next flight of stairs. Fear caused gooseflesh to rise on her arms. She couldn’t lose him too.
Fear would not stop her—it couldn’t.
As she placed one foot in front of the other, she eased over the threshold of the hall. Her knife felt heavy in her hand as she moved into the room.
Only moments ago, this place had been the epitome of peace and beauty. Now, it held the stench of unwashed bodies and the ugly face of General Rush as he held a blade at her father’s throat in the middle of the stage. Three feral men stood around the hall, guns pointed at her people, but her heart stopped when her gaze fell to one man. No guns were pointed at him—that could only mean one thing.
Lava-hot rage filled her chest where her heart should have been as her eyes locked on him.
“Does your betrayal know no bounds, Derek?”
He stepped forward, a sneer on his face. “I told you, Eva, you were going to have a change of heart.”
She raised her hands as two of the general’s men flanked her, guns aimed. “Drop your weapon, girl.”
Her knife fell from her fingers. “Is this where your plan ends, Derek, or is there more?”
His eyes never left hers as he made his way off the stage. “The deal was I get them safely to the gate, and in return, I get to have you. As for the rest, you would have to ask him.” He turned slightly toward General Rush.
Her eyes roamed over Albert Rush as he assessed her with a predator-like gaze. “Hello, Evangeline. Nice of you to join us. You’re probably wondering how you’re going to save your father and your settlement. I’m going to enlighten you.” He patted the top of her father’s head, a smile turning up his lips. “She’s gonna love this part.”
He laughed before continuing. “Tell your soldiers to stand down and announce me as Everwood’s new leader. Then you and your father are free to leave with Derek. If you don’t, the Others will kill your soldiers, I’ll kill dear old Daddy, and Derek will drag you away to wherever the hell he’s planning on calling home.”
She clenched her fist so as not to show her anxiety as her hands began to shake. This was her worst fear come to light.
“Geh, Eva, verlass mich!” Her father forced the words out through clenched lips.
Albert’s fist connected with her father’s side, knocking the wind out of him. Her father folded, a strangled gasp escaping him.
“No talking!” Albert yelled.
Go, leave him? How could he think she would do that?
It took all her might to keep her feet planted and not go to her father. She had to play this smart if she was going to save him and the settlement.
If the general had made a deal with Derek, maybe he would make one with her too. It was a fool’s thought. What did she have to offer him?
Damn her emotions. Her eyes were filling with tears again as her people patiently waited for her answer. Her throat tightened, but she swallowed past the lump. How had she let it come to this?
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. There was only one choice. “I—”
Before she could give her decision, the wall behind the stage erupted in an explosion.In the midst of all the chaos, Eva was flattened to the floor. Hot air rushed by her as wooden tables, chairs, and debris rained down on the hall. She tucked her body and covered her face defensively as smoke filled the room.
As the debris began to settle, her eyes shot open, but she couldn’t see for a damn. She coughed to clear her airway, but the thick smoke coated her throat and burned her lungs. Her ears were ringing as strong hands lifted her from the floor. She didn’t know who it was, so she struck them with her fist, connecting to a shoulder.
“Eva, it’s me, we have to get our people out of here.” Her father’s deep voice reached her, calming her nerves. His gentle blue eyes bored into her.
“Dad?”
A scuffle sounded inside the haze-filled room, the acidic smell burning her nose as she inhaled deeply, trying to catch her breath. Who was fighting?
Her father stood. “Get to the bridge, Eva, be ready to take our people out the back.” Then he was gone into the cloud of smoke.
She took a step toward the door to do as her father had asked, but before she could get far, a hand wrapped around her ankle. The smoke was starting to clear, revealing Derek. He was pinned under a banquet table.
“Get off me!” She shrugged out of his hold and kicked his hand, then made for the door, leaving him there.
Men were fighting inside the room, but she still couldn’t see their faces. Where was Krieger? Had something happened to him?
Her father fought with one of the general’s men near the door. With his hand restraining the sickly looking man, he said, “Hurry, Eva, take as many civilians as you can.”
Some of their people began to emerge from the smoke, and she ushered them to the bridge, then went back for more. The smoke was dissipating more rapidly now as her people rushed toward her.
“This way,” she yelled.
“Eva!” Sarah, Luke, and John were jogging down the bridge. Sarah reached her first and said, “Thank Mother Earth you’re okay. We heard the second explosion.”
Eva nodded. “I’m okay, but we have to get the people out of here until we can regain control of the settlement.”
Her father was keeping the Others at bay while she scanned the room for more people. Then the stage came into focus. Through the mist-filled room, she spied Krieger fighting General Rush in hand-to-hand combat. Her hand flattened over her heart, her breaths coming hard.
Had he set up the bomb as a distraction to give them a chance to escape?
Samuel struck the last of the Others over the head with a chair, then tossed the item and moved to their side.
All of their people had been vacated from the hall. Even Derek was no longer pinned under the table, but he had disappeared into the night.
Krieger and General Rush were still locked in battle, and she noticed blood running down Krieger’s lip and chin.
The snow was coming down faster now as her father started after their people. Sarah, Luke, and John helped some of the women and children descend the stairs.
Her father grabbed her hand. “Eva, come.”
She retracted her hand from his grip, hereyes traveling back to Krieger. How could she leave him?
“Eva, let’s go, that’s an order.”
She wrapped her arms around her father and whispered in his ear, “I have to help Krieger. Go, I’ll be right behind you. I love you, Dad.”
She released him and ran back into the hall before he could respond. One of the Others lay unconscious on the floor, his gun next to his limp body. She reached for it and took aim.
Her hands were shaking, so she took a calming breath and focused.
General Rush had Krieger pinned against the floor, his fist connecting to his face over and over. She pulled the hammer back and pressed the trigger hard.
At the impact, Albert arched his back as he reached for his shoulder. Damn, she missed his head. His eyes locked on her as he stood.
“Well, the kitten shows her claws. Have you come for him?” Albert nodded in Krieger’s direction as he stood on steady feet.
Krieger wiped the blood from his lip, then gained his feet and circled the general, who was laughing.
She cocked the gun—pulling the hammer down once more, then took measured steps toward him. “You won’t touch him again.”
He raised his arms, his one hand covered in blood. “Kitten, I think we should talk. You see, there’s something you don’t seem to know.”
“Shut up,” Krieger yelled, the deep tenor of his voice startling her.
He had a hard look in his eye, a look that twisted Eva’s gut.What did the general know?
“Speak, before I get bored of you and shoot you dead.”
“Eva, don’t. Just shoot him!” Krieger looked over his shoulder at the gaping hole that had been blown in the wall. “Hurry, do it now, more of his men are coming.”
“Tsk, tsk. Lying to the one you love is no way to start a relationship.”
Eva’s arms wavered as she looked to Krieger. “What’s he talking about?”
“Eva, please—”
Her arms shook. “Tell me!” she screamed, not even recognizing her own voice. Her heart was beating so hard in her chest surely they all heard it?
Now, Krieger was moving to her side, reaching out to her for her weapon. “Eva, give me the gun, I’ll do it.”
She blinked hard to clear her blurring vision. “Krieger—”
Footsteps sounded outside the wall, and voices carried into the room. The Others were here, they had no time for this. When they rounded the broken wall, the general lowered his arms.
Krieger forced her behind his back, nudging her back toward the door, his eyes never leaving the enemy before him.
“Eva, give me the gun.”
“Yeah, Eva, why don’t you give—Oh, son, I’m sorry, what’s your name again?”
Name? Hadn’t Krieger mentioned something about his real name before the first explosion? A prickling sensation danced up her spine.
Albert looked to the Others, then back to Eva, his face widening into a smile. “Right, I remember now, Cillian Beck.”
Krieger was still backing her toward the door until they reached the threshold, but at hearing his name, she stilled. No... no. This wasn’t real.
“You’re lying.”
The general moved to one of the Others, took his gun from his hands, and walked to the edge of the stage with it. “Afraid not, standing next to you is Cillian Beck. The next heir of Stone Haven.”
A knot formed in Eva’s stomach as she lifted her eyes to his. “Tell me it’s not true.”
“Angel, I can explain—”
She shook her head. “Is it true?”
He let out a breath. “Yes.”
She felt ill. All this time... she had trusted him and had—oh Mother Earth.
She swallowed the bile rising in her throat as more feral men ran down the bridge. Realization hit her—they were surrounded.
“As touching as this all is, I have a settlement to take over, and frankly, Cillian, I don’t appreciate you trying to stop me.” He cocked the gun as he said, “See you both in the next life.”
Time seemed to slow as the general raised his gun and took aim. The Others also raised their weapons.
In a breath, Cillian moved, twisting her to his front, his strong arms wrapping around her as he threw himself across the bridge and against the rail.
Gunfire erupted, and the railing broke under their weight. For a brief second, she felt weightless, then they were falling.
He pressed her closer to his chest, his words meeting her ear. “I’ve got you, Angel.”
She closed her eyes, the cold air rushing past them as they fell into the dark of the night.