★ M A I A ★
When we returned from dinner, Clarke went immediately upstairs to change. I went to the bar. Delilah was gone, so I grabbed the bottle in front of Murphy and took several long gulps. "That bad, huh?"
"Jordan told them everything," I told him, sitting the bottle back on the bar. "It was a losing battle from the moment we walked through that door. Russell was never going to let us stay."
Murphy looked at the bottle for a long time before taking another drink. "I guess we all have to go out somehow."
"Abby told me that you almost died."
"No," Murphy said sharply. "I did die. And I saw...something."
"When I was a little girl, my grandmother told me there was no such thing as an afterlife," I said quietly. "She said even if there was, we shouldn't waste time thinking about it. While we were living, we should focus on living, on being happy and making life more beautiful. On being in harmony with the world around us. If we did that then we'd live on in the memories of the ones we'd left behind and our spirts would return to the stars."
Murphy took another sip. "The stars, huh?"
"I think it was supposed to be nature, trees or whatever. But when you live in a floating tin can, you adapt." I shrugged. "But take that with a grain of salt. She also said if you lived your life focused on the negatives, you'd haunt the world forever as a ravenous ghost."
He snorted. "By that measurement, we're all screwed."
"I don't know, maybe not." I took a small sip. "Sure, everything around us perpetually sucks ass. But we've never given up. I mean, would we be here if we had? Everything we've done, we've done in the hopes of making a better life, of being happy. That's harmonious in my book."
Murphy looked at me for a moment. "You've thought about this a lot." I shrugged. On the Ring there hadn't been a lot to think about. I kept coming back to where are they now. "You never told me any of that."
"You never asked."
"If I had died, you would've remembered me?"
I rolled my eyes. "Have you ever known me to forget?" He laughed and after a moment I joined in. Maybe it was the alcohol, or just reliving the memories of my family, but I felt lighter. "Of course, I would've remembered you. And besides, you're Jordan's favorite. He's gonna be telling those stories to his grandkids."
"Then I guess we're all immortal."
I held up the bottle. "Damn right, we are."
★★★★
I lost track of time, and how much I'd had to drink. By the time Clarke returned with news and a bloody hand, I was well and thoroughly wasted. She filled us in about the Primes, how they revered nightbloods as much as the earthborn had. Delilah had almost been kidnapped, but Clarke had saved her and exposed herself as a nightblood.
I leaned toward Murphy and whispered. "Did you notice her leave?" He shook his head. I covered my mouth to stop myself from giggling. Before Clarke could catch on, the door opened and Madi came inside. Behind her followed Bellamy, Echo, Raven, and Alex.
I jumped out of my seat and ran over to Bellamy, throwing my arms around his neck. "I missed you."
Bellamy kissed me and then laughed. "How much have you had to drink?"
I scrunched my mouth to the side. "Plenty."
He shook his head, and his eyes drifted down to what I was wearing. Unlike Clarke, who'd gone immediately for her old clothes, I'd forgotten to change. "Wow, you look..."
"Like a princess?" I offered. "Gav's words, not mine."
Bellamy smiled. "For starters, yeah."
I ran my hands over the fabric and sighed wistfully. "I should probably give Delilah back her dress. It's the least I could do, considering I didn't even notice she got kidnapped."
"She doesn't need it back tonight, does she?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Hmm, it is getting late. I supposed I could return it in the morning."
"Will you two get a room?" Echo called from across the room. That was when I noticed Gavril was standing at the door talking to Alex. Cal and Kenna weren't with them. I glanced around the room and realized they weren't the only two missing.
"Where's O?" I asked glancing around. "Where are Cal and Kenna?" Bellamy sighed. I knew that sigh. It was the one that happened right before he told me something I did not want to hear. "Did something go wrong? Are they okay?"
"They were fine when we left them," he said simply.
"Left them," I repeated. "You left them outside the shield? Why in the fuck would you do that? We have no idea what's out there and if Russell is to be believed it's really fucking bad."
"Cal wouldn't get back on the ship," Bellamy said. "And if he was staying so was Kenna."
He was leaving something out. "You left her, didn't you?" I realized. Bellamy didn't deny it. "You wouldn't let Octavia on the ship." I shook my head. "Cal has a soft spot for fuck ups, so he couldn't just watch as you left Octavia to die. And Kenna's like his sister."
The others were starting to look at us. I was sure at least Alex and Gav would have something to say. But before either of them could weigh in, the doors opened again. Russell and Simone came in with their guards. "We've been talking. Sanctum was designed to be a sanctuary for the human race. After seeing you save Delilah, we think you deserve that too."
Clarke was the first to speak. "We can stay?"
"You may remain here, and we will teach you how to survive," Simone said. "But no more of you." I was glad I'd woken up the Shadows when I did. I couldn't imagine leaving them on the mothership indefinitely.
Simone approached Diyoza. I turned back to Bellamy but found that I didn't have the energy to be mad anymore. I just shook my head and went to join Gav and Alex. "I don't understand why they'd leave Octavia but not you," Gav was saying.
"Even Bellamy isn't that stupid," I said. "Cal never would have let him kick Alex off the ship. It would have been like starting a civil war and we need all the unity we can get right now."
"Escort this woman outside the shield right now!" Russell shouted. We turned to see the guards surrounding Diyoza.
I let out a long sigh. "Perfect."
★★★★
I woke up to find a pile of dresses draped over the chair in my room. I slide out of bed to inspect them; they were all gorgeous. Bellamy propped himself up on his elbows to look at me. "I guess Delilah heard I liked the clothes," I said. "Looks like she gave me half her closet."
"I'm sure being royalty comes with a whole new wardrobe."
"You're probably right." I laughed quietly. "Tomorrow she's going to be dressing like Simone."
I glanced around our room. It wasn't big, but I hadn't stayed anywhere this well decorated since Polis. The thought made my hand go to the scar on my chest, but if Bellamy noticed he didn't say anything. I turned back to the dresses and chose two. "Purple or yellow."
"Yellow," Bellamy answered with a yawn. He stretched out, showing no signs of getting up.
I shook my head. "Come on, get up. We've got a holiday to celebrate." Bellamy shook his head and I lunged toward him. He rolled on top of me, and pressed kisses all over my face before finally landing on my lips.
"Still want to get up?" He asked.
I bit my lip. "We're already late, what's a little bit longer..."
★★★★
By the time we made it downstairs, everyone was already heading out to the courtyard. Only Raven sat alone at the bar with a bottle of Jo Juice in front of her. I motioned for Bellamy to go on without me.
I leaned on the bar next to Raven. She glanced over and tugged on my leather jacket that I'd thrown over Delilah's yellow dress. "This is cute." She smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. "You should join the party. Apparently, we're making amends now."
I let out a short breathy laugh. "I guess we all have a lot of that to do." I pulled out a stool and took a seat beside her. "I'm so sorry about Shaw. I wish there was something we could have done." Raven looked intently at her glass. "He wanted you to be happy. That was the last thing he said to me right before..." I trailed off. "He said to tell you that you deserved happiness, even if you don't think you do. You do."
When Raven looked toward me there were tears shining in her eyes. "I wish–" She broke off, unable to find the words.
I put my hand over hers and squeezed. "I know." Raven leaned toward me and I wrapped my arms around her and let her cry.
♥ K E N N A ♥
We tracked the group through the woods until sunrise. They were going to meet with more of their people. We'd soon be outnumbered, but we could find an opening. At one point, they stopped to question Octavia about black bloods among our people. Another time to argue over whether to kill the little girl. But the one they called Xavier put a stop to that, and they continued on.
It wasn't until much later that we found our chance. Octavia and the girl, Rose, were tied to a tree while the others met with the rest of their unit. They were far enough away that we had a chance.
Cal started toward them, but I grabbed his arms. "I'm faster than you," I whispered. "Wait here." I pulled out my knife and ran toward the tree, staying low to avoid detection. "Don't say anything," I whispered to Octavia and the girl as I sawed at their ropes. "Just act normal."
♥♥♥♥
We ran through the trees as night fell. Octavia urged Rose along and kept her on her feet when she tripped. I fell back from Cal to help and Octavia shot me a grateful look. "I see them, up there!" A voice shouted behind us.
"Rose, I know you're scared, but we have to keep going," Octavia whispered to the girl. "Fear is a demon. You just have to close your eyes and tell yourself that you're not afraid. That's how you slay that demon."
We ran a few more feet before the group caught up with us. "Stop right there!" One of them shouted. Octavia held Rose tightly. Before they could converge, floodlights flashed on, lighting the clearing. Octavia dove to cover Rose as shots rang out. I joined Cal in taking out a pair of our pursuers who'd escaped the bullets.
Diyoza and one of the guards from Sanctum ran down the hill. "Rose, thank god you're safe!"
"Check to make sure they're all dead," Diyoza commanded.
One of the fallen bodies leapt up, and Octavia sprinted toward them, leaving Rose open. The woman fired off several shots before Octavia tackled her to the ground. "No!" The woman from Sanctum cried out. We all turned toward the sound and found black blood staining Rose's sweater.
Octavia went pale as she realized her vengeance had left Rose vulnerable. I took a few steps toward her, before realizing what I was doing. Maybe Octavia had enough humanity left for grief and regret. That still didn't mean I could see whatever it was Cal saw in her.
Still, I helped Octavia gather supplies from the fallen. Meanwhile, Diyoza helped the woman from Sanctum strap Rose's body to one of the motorcycles. Diyoza looked toward us and frowned. "What are you doing?"
"One of them wasn't here," Octavia told her. I had come to the same conclusion; Xavier hadn't come after us. "I'm going to kill him."
Octavia tossed me a coat off one of the bodies. I looked at it for a moment, before pulling it on. Cal started to do the same, but I shook my head. "Go back to Sanctum, Cal. They need you there, we can handle ourselves." He looked between Octavia, Diyoza, and me, and finally nodded.
That left two bikes. "You know how to drive one of these, O'Brien?" Diyoza called.
I scoffed. "I'm a tattoo artist from Long Island."
The older woman smirked. "That's funny. I seem to recall it was a nanny from Brooklyn who got herself thrown on my ship."
I raised an eyebrow. "If I remember correctly, you got that ship with Shadow help. I'm the bitch who put HoS back on their feet," I pointed out. "Seems like without me, we'd still be popsicles on a way to a dying planet."
I swung my legs over the bike without another word. "I'm driving, Tavs can ride bitch." I didn't wait for the inevitable sour look from Octavia, just revved the engine and put my foot on the clutch.