★ M A I A ★
Hours passed uneventfully. Kenna dozed off, and after a while Alex sat down. Then the screaming started. I move toward the window, but I couldn't tell where it was coming from. "I think that's Miller."
"The one you trust more than me," Alex muttered. I glanced over my shoulder. "You think I'm just some lap dog, doing Cal's bidding. Isn't that true?" I opened my mouth to deny it, but the words didn't come. He stood up. "I voted you in too. But that doesn't matter. To you I'm just the monster that killed a woman in cold blood."
"A woman that you loved," I reminded him. The words came out with more venom than I'd intended them to. "How am I supposed to trust someone like that?"
Alex shook his head. "I did it to save your life."
"Why? Because Cal saved me first?" I rolled my eyes. "If Cal hadn't taken that bullet, you wouldn't have batted an eye. You don't know me. You don't care. Stop pretending you do."
Alex tugged on his restraints. "Shadows take care of each other. Ella didn't give a shit that Cal wanted you in. She broke the code, she did that to herself. But you didn't help. You were a goddamn spy, and Peter died trying to help your friends." I stared back at him, silent. "But we left that shit on Earth. You're a Shadow. The fact that you think I would hurt you now proves you have no idea what that means."
"You can't just forget that shit," I countered. There was so much I never let go, so many ghosts that haunted me. I couldn't imagine just wiping it all away. Even with Echo it had taken years to fully trust each other, to become family. That didn't come with a tattoo. "I got Peter killed, I pushed Ella off the deep end. It was my life or hers. It was my fault. You should hate me." I do.
"You don't fucking get it, do you?" He took another step toward me, pulling the chain taut. "When Kenna put that knife on your arm, you became family. If we judged each other on our fuck ups, we'd all be six feet under. Damn right, it's your fault. But you're one of us."
I narrowed my eyes. I could feel that urge to push the knife in deeper. That voice that said it was safer to turn on others before they turned on you. "But was it my fault, really? What about you? Or Gav, or Peter?" I counted. "Ella Garipova was fucked up long before she met me."
I took a few steps toward him. "You never thought to stop her? She said, hey, Alexander, let's massacre a hundred fucking people. And you and Peter just said, okay." I let out a humorless laugh. "And that's just the one story I know." I shook my head disgusted. "You don't want me to see you as a monster? Stop being one."
Before I had time to react, Alex was lunging at me. The chain snapping off the wall was so loud it reverberated around the room. A moment later he was shoving me against the wall. I hit the metal hard and tasted blood in my mouth as I bit my tongue.
"Throw me my key," Kenna shouted across the room. I struggled to reach into my pocket, but Alex was ready for me, tossing me to the ground as easily as if I were a rag doll. I yanked my chain hard, catching Alex by knees and sending him to the floor beside me. My key fell out of his pocket. "No!" Kenna yelled. "Maia, don't."
I unlocked my restraint before Alex could get to me and scampered toward Kenna. Alex followed me into the center of the room. I pushed myself to my feet and circled, waiting for Alex to strike. "God damn it!" Kenna shouted, right behind Alex. He glanced toward her, just for a moment, and I took the opportunity to lunge.
Alex hit the ground. Kenna yelled again, like a battle cry, as she shoved me off of him, one-handed. She slammed her other arm into his chest. It took me a moment to register the tranquilizer in her hand. "Do you need one of these too?" She threatened. I held up my hands in surrender.
✵ C A L ✵
By the time Charmaine and Raven freed us from the mess, everyone had calmed down. The hostage they'd taken had warned them of a toxin which turned friends against friends. Our people were down there in it. When Raven took the Gagarin down to the Alpha, Gav and I were on it. Abby had protested that I needed more rest, but it was hard to argue when all our families were in danger.
The door opened before us, and we fanned out looking for signs of our friends. "It's nice here," Gav said quietly. I was too focused to pay much attention to pretty. Kenna, Maia, and Alex were out here somewhere. Maybe injured. Then Gav added, "Peter would have loved it."
I felt a tightness in my chest. It was hard to forget the mess that was Ella, Peter, and Alexander. They were inseparable and had been as long as I'd known them. And of course, Gav was Ella's baby brother, she would've done anything for him. But Gav had spent years with Peter and Alex as well. They were like brothers.
We'd all been so focused on Gav losing Ella, on Ella losing Peter, on Alex losing both of them. The thought of Gav missing Peter just as much as his sister had never even crossed my mind. I patted Gav on the shoulder. "Yeah, he would have."
Octavia blew past me, heading toward the trees. "They went this way."
Gav looked after her for a long moment before shaking his head. "She's going to be trouble."
I smirked. "Reminds me of a few people I know."
✵✵✵✵
The top of the mountain was a technicolor wonderland. But it wasn't the colors that got our attention, it was the bodies on the ground. Clarke, Bellamy, and Murphy were sprawled out. Abby ran to her daughter's side to check for a pulse. "They're alive."
"Where's everyone else?" Gavril asked. The two of us scanned the houses, looking for signs of life. But before we could search, children appeared on the steps. They walked hesitantly toward us until the adults following behind called them back.
"His pulse is too weak," Abby was muttering. I looked down to see that Abby had pulled Murphy's shirt back. Black veins covered him like a spider web. "He's dying." She turned toward the crowd. "Help us, please!"
"Let me through." As the man walked forward, the crowd parted before him. He took one look at Murphy and motioned a younger man forward.
A dark-skinned woman approached the one-time intruder at my side. "Kaylee? Where have you been. Where's your family."
The woman beside me looked over our group. "They killed them." Shit.
On the ground, Murphy was breathing more evenly as the poison in his system was dealt with. Then the commanding man looked toward the rest of us. "Lock them up."
"Wait," Clarke protested. But there were far more of them than there were of us. Two men grabbed my arms and pulled me toward one of the buildings. My only choice was to follow or be dragged. "Our friends are still restrained."
No one spoke to us as we were pushed inside the building. The door closed in our faces. "Well, they seem friendly."
I turned to survey the room. It wasn't a prison; it was a bar. Everyone fanned out claiming their own corners, much as they had in the Gagarin's mess. A few minutes later, the doors creaked open again and the rest of our friends were ushered inside.
Bellamy lifted Maia up and whispered something in her ear. Kenna hugged Gavril, and Alex joined me at the bar. "They got any good booze?" Alex didn't wait for my answer, just walked behind the bar to see for himself.
"You should not be down here." I turned to see Kenna standing an inch from my face. "You took a bullet two days ago."
"Give or take a hundred and twenty years," I quipped. Kenna did not find my joke as funny as I did. "After you all let the Gagarin be stolen, we got hijacked. Raven and Charmaine are the only reason any of us are here right now. I wasn't exactly in the mood to wait around and see what bullshit would be thrown our way next."
Kenna hit Gav in the arm. "Some babysitter you are."
He raised an eyebrow. "Next time, you can do it. Keeping Cal in bed is not easy."
A door opened in the back, and a man emerged with a tray. "If it's true you survived the red sun, you deserve a drink." He began passing out glasses with the help of a girl. Jordan approached her with a goofy grin on his face. I nodded toward him and Kenna grinned. Her annoyance was momentarily forgotten in favor of watching the boy trip over his words.
Bellamy refused his drink, so Alex shrugged and took two. I swirled mine around and gave it a sniff. Maia walked over, leaning on the counter. "Not everyone wants you dead, Malikov." She took a sip from her own glass and her eyes lit up. "Oh, this is way better than that rocket fuel Jasper and Monty tried to pass off as booze." As soon as the words were out of her mouth her smile faltered, but she quickly covered it up with a laugh. "Well, if you're not going to drink it, I will." Before I could protest, she whisked it out of my hand and knocked it back.
"It's our specialty," the girl told us. "We call it–"
The woman trailing behind her shot the girl a sharp look. "Delilah." From the looks of it, the three of them were a family.
Delilah rolled her eyes and smiled. "Relax, mother. I doubt they'll be stealing your recipe." Jordan was still looking at her with that dopey grin. "We call it Jo Juice, after Josephine Prime, hallowed be her name." Her parents echoed the line. Maia and I shared a look.
Alex slammed his glass down to the bar top. "What's a Prime?" he asked bluntly.
The family looked toward us. For a moment no one answered, but then Delilah launched into the story. "Sanctum was colonized by four families. The Primes. Their blood rules us still."
"Oh, good," Kenna muttered under her breath. "A monarchist cult."
The front doors opened, and guards filed in. I reached for my gun instinctively, before remembering they'd taken our weapons. "Make way for the Primes." Kaylee was among them, along with the man who'd saved Murphy's life, and the woman who'd been speaking with Kaylee.
"Which one is the pilot?" The man asked. Kaylee pointed out Raven, and the guards moved toward her. Maia sat her glass down and stepped in front of her friend. "Stop," the man commanded his guards. "Did I say to take her?" They shrunk away, leaving Maia staring him down.
"If this is about what happened on the ship, your people stole our transport then boarded us by force," Clarke said, coming to stand beside Maia. "My people were just defending themselves."
Kaylee stepped forward. "Lies, she wasn't there. No one was hurt."
Maia narrowed her eyes. "Well, locking people up on their own ship isn't the best way to make a first impression."
Russell looked between Maia and Clarke. "What your name?"
"Maia." She pointed at herself, then at the blonde. "Clarke. Who are you?"
Before he could answer, the woman beside him darted forward. "He is Russell Lightbourne, seventh of his line, savior of Sanctum. And you will bow before using his name."
Maia looked the woman dead in the eyes, silent. After a moment, the woman sank back into her place and Maia turned her attention back to Russell. I looked down to hide the smirk on my face. Maia may have never gotten the crown Murphy claimed she almost had, but I could see why he called her Ice Queen.
"It's alright, Simone," Russell said quietly. "My wife is a stickler for protocol. I'm sure you all have questions, but first we must get your transport ship moved within the shield." He looked us all over, before looking back to Maia and Clarke. "Choose your most disposable people. There are far more dangerous things outside the shield than the red sun." Maia and Clarke stepped forward almost in sync. "Neither of you strike me as disposable, and we have things to discuss."
Maia and Clarke shared a look before nodding. The Primes and their guards left the tavern, and Maia turned to face us. "Raven, you'll have to fly the ship." She looked apologetic as she did so. Those of us who'd come late had seen Raven's reaction to Shaw's grave. He had never been my favorite person, but he hadn't deserved to go out that way either.
"Bell, Echo," Maia called out the names as she scanned over the room. "Octavia." Bellamy frowned but didn't protest. Maia glanced at me and shook her head. "You should be on the mothership."
"I'm going," I told her. She shot me a scalding look. "You should know by now that doesn't work on me, Space Girl. I'll take Gav and Alex, I'll be fine."
"I'll go," Kenna spoke up. "Gav can stay here with Maia." Gavril shrugged and I nodded.
The others headed for the door; Maia went on to give more directions to those staying behind. I put my hand on Gav's shoulder. "Stick with her. I don't trust these people."
"I'll watch her back," Gav promised. "Try not to get yourself shot again, boss. And keep Kenna out of trouble."
"I'm not a goddamn babysitter, Garipov." I laughed, turning toward the door. "And I couldn't keep a leash on her if I tried."