The intrusion sent chaos through the room, and the screams were incessant. I instinctively ducked and then ran, searching the walls for an exit, a passageway, a window, anything.
There was nothing.
This place has been build as a last resort. A stronghold. It had not been designed with more than one entrance.
Mercenaries flooded the room, and cries of pain mixed with the cries of fear. In the midst of the panic, I thought, Leo's not here. If nothing else, he's safer than we are.
But thoughts of him would do me no good now. The soldiers stormed around the room, carefully inspecting girls before carrying out judgement. Most of the time, it seemed to be a bullet. Occasionally, a soldier would pull the girl to a corner and leave her there. I shuddered to think what that was for.
It wouldn't be long before they reached me, and I'd have a death warrant on my head for sure. To my left, Echo sobbed as a man grabbed her, looking her over, and I froze. He brushed her jaw with his thumb, then put his gun to her head.
I didn't look away in time.
I knew that memory would haunt me for months and years to come. The way her blood splashed the wall just behind her. The sight of her small body crumpling to the ground, weak, listless.
My head spun as the soldier reached for the next victim. Slipping around him, I dropped to Echo's side, wishing I could cry over her. I wanted to mourn the precious life lost. Instead, I let myself fall onto my back next to her, pulling her head over my chest.
I fought the nausea that rose as her warm blood pooled on my chest. Ripping the knife I carried from my boot, I carved a tiny hole in my shirt in the middle of the stain.
The guards were still making their rounds, and my actions went unnoticed. In front of me, a mercenary carved a design of some kind into Valentina's chest as she shrieked before finally stabbing the knife through her heart. To the left, I heard Lou Ellen pleading with the man towering over her.
Making sure all the soldiers were still occupied, I replaced the knife and rolled away from Echo, letting my head relax and my eyes close. The darkness was a welcome relief from the hideous sights around me, but I could not block out the horror of the sounds. Those cries could never be forgotten.
Finally it quieted, and the only remaining sounds were the few girls crying in the corner and the soldiers scuffling around, looking over their kills.
A shadow fell over me and presumably Echo. I forced my body to relax completely, not allowing a single muscle to twitch. Such things are easier when your life depends upon it.
The man grunted and then moved on, and I almost sagged with relief. My act was convincing enough. I'd done it.
A shallow, wicked victory, won at the expense of another girl's blood.
I opened my eyes just a little, and studied the girls still alive in the corner. There were four: Hazel, Khione, Juniper, and Rachel.
There had been roughly twenty of us. About fifteen were dead now.
Tears brimmed beneath my closed eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I could not fail now. Maybe I could save someone else.
A shout came from across the room. "These are Demeter's girls! Why're they dead? We're to leave the Council members and their family alive for trial!"
Katie and Miranda, then. I'd hardly spoken to them, but they'd always had smiles for me when I was with Leo. Dead. They'd been good friends of his.
"Oh, sorry, didn't recognize them," someone behind me called. "It's alright. They're just daughters, they won't care."
I choked back a sob, adding them to my list of people to be mourned. It was getting longer by the minute.
Another voice sighed. "Someone messed up. This one's still alive. Barely, but hanging in there."
The panic that flooded me was blinding, and I opened my eyes to catch one last glimpse of the world when the gunshot rang out.
Across the room.
In the corner of my eye, I saw the guard nudge a body with his foot, verifying the girl's death. My breathing was erratic, the fear that had gripped me still hanging over my head.
A familiar voice interrupted my thoughts. "What are we waiting for? Let's get them out of here. We have business."
Ice froze in my veins, and I cracked my eyes open again to catch a glimpse of Khione with her hands on her hips, arguing with the captain of the rebel squadron. Letting them close again, I silently cursed Khione and her treason with every choice adjective I had ever heard.
Before long, the soldiers gathered up their three remaining captives and left the room, banging the door behind them. The moment I heard it close, I leaped to my feet.
I was not prepared for the sight before me. The vision of bodies of young girls, all with their lives ahead of them, mutilated and torn was too much for me. I leaned over and vomited the small contents of my stomach onto the floor.
So many familiar faces. So many girls I'd grown with through the Selection. Life snuffed out premature.
A few feet away, one of the corpses coughed, and I nearly jumped straight up. "Lavinia?" I whispered.
Lavinia's eyes opened, dark and weary. "He missed the lungs. I think he got the stomach. I faked it."
I was so grateful for another living being in this room that I dropped to my knees. "I have to get a medic."
"When it's safe," Lavinia murmured. "Go...go help stop it." She gestured weakly at her side. "Note attached to my skirt. Last....things I needed to say."
I shook my head. "You won't need it."
"Yes, I will."
"No!" I said fiercely. "I won't take it."
"Fine. Then go..." Lavinia winced, pressing her hands to her abdomen. "Go save yourself. Survive. Come back for us. Take it with you when they collect us."
I had expected to still be fighting tears, but my eyes were strangely dry. "I will. I will make it."
A smile curved Lavinia's lips. "Good."
I resolved to return, to bury these girls as they deserved and to save Lavinia's life. So much of me wanted to stay here, hiding with her, but I knew I could not. I had to help whomever I could.
Slowly opening the door, I slipped into the empty hall. Pausing, I thought to myself, in all this chaos, where would Leo be?
Then I knew. There was surely only one place Leo would run in case of an attack such as this.
How to get to the basement? I sidled down the hall, keeping my gun firmly in front of me. I was getting far too good at walking as though prepared for a threat.
I'd made it down several corridors and past many bodies before I ran into trouble. A soldier dashed around the corner, and I fired without thinking. The bullet whizzed past him, and he lifted his own gun.
Frantically I fired twice more. He slumped to the ground, his hands going to his chest, and I ran by him, trying to put as much distance between us as possible.
Another death. Another life snuffed out.
Evidently the majority of the invaders had moved on to the higher floors, and my path was mostly clear. I passed far too many dead or dying servants, and I prayed Madeleine was not among them. In a strange twist of fate, Leah's death may have prevented Kate's.
I found a set of servant's stairs and followed them down, hoping I was on the right track. Rounding the corner, I almost gagged.
Opal was against the wall, weeping. Her arm was pinned to the wall with a knife. Fighting the desire to run, I crouched next to her. "Opal. Are you strong enough to stop the bleeding if I remove the knife?"
Opal managed a shaky nod, and I untied her apron in preparation. Gritting my teeth, I gripped the knife and tugged.
The poor girl screamed and I cringed, flinging the bloody knife away from me, wishing I could have waited for a doctor. But I couldn't leave her here, trapped.
Prying her hands away from the wound, I wrapped the apron around the wound and then replaced her hand, forcing her to keep pressure on it. "Get up."
Opal kept sobbing.
"Hey. Get up!" I jerked her to my feet, and my heart twisted as she flinched away from me. "Just get to a different room. A closet or whatever, I don't care. Is there one nearby?"
Wordlessly she pointed at a door near the end of the corridor. Supporting her with my arm, I dragged her down to it, wrenching it open. She fairly dropped to the ground inside it, her whole body trembling.
I wanted so badly to comfort her somehow. Instead, I shut the door and kept moving. There was nothing better I could do than live to find a medic for her.
Continuing on, a pit of unease was growing in my stomach as I searched. I had only been down here twice, and I wasn't sure I could find it again. What if he wasn't even here?
But then I recognized a painting on the wall, and there -- yes! That was the door I remembered. Checking the halls for any sign of life, I rapped sharply on the door. "Leo? Are you in there?"
Nothing. Then, "Calypso?"
"Yes, yes, it's me!" I gripped the doorframe.
I heard a latch being unlocked on the other side, and the door creaked open. Leo's dark eyes peered out, and he pulled me inside, quickly locking the door behind him.
The workshop was a mess. It looked like Leo had been rooting through the boxes and projects with little care for order. Screws and nails were scattered across the floor, and I watched my step carefully as I moved farther back into the room.
"What are...you were supposed to...oh, Cal, where are you hurt?" Leo touched my dress, his eyes wide. "What happened? We have to get you to a doctor!"
I glanced down at my chest. "I'm fine. It's not my blood."
Leo's eyebrows raised, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides.
I swallowed. "We -- me and a bunch of the Selected, and a couple courtiers -- were hiding in a safe room. They broke through the door. It was all us girls, and they took a few with them and killed the rest. I escaped by faking my death in the chaos." I choked on the last word, remembering Echo's lifeless head on my chest.
Leo embraced me wordlessly, stroking my hair with his hand. "I'm so, so sorry."
"The Gardners are dead," I whispered. "Lavinia survived her bullet, but she's still there. She could die."
His hands stilled. "Who else?"
I tried to think back. "Mostly the Selected. Valentina, Echo, Billie..." I stopped, trying to compose myself. "I don't think any other palace residents. They took Hazel, Juniper, and Rachel with them. Oh! Khione is working with them!"
Leo's jaw clenched. "It figures. One of the Elite, no less. Are the rest of them okay? Piper? Jason?"
I hesitated. "I haven't seen them. I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault. You did the right thing. Although you should never have left the first room." Leo moved towards the table where Festus lay. "Calypso, I want you to stay here."
I lifted my chin. "You tried this already. I'll stay where you stay."
"No." Leo's gaze was more intense than I'd ever seen it. "Stay here. It's well-defended, and they'll not think to look for royals here. I have plans to carry out."
"You can't endanger yourself! Do you realize how critical your survival is?" I exclaimed.
"I could turn the tide of this whole fight. Have you seen the battleground in the courtyard? It's not going well for our soldiers. We re-deployed so many already. I could win this for us." Leo gestured at Festus. "If he works."
I stared at the long metal dragon. "Does he work?"
"He moves. He's nearly indestructible once I activate him." Leo grinned. "And he's programmed to wreak havoc."
"But you'll have to put yourself in danger to utilize him." I shook my head. "That's not worth it."
"I don't have a choice anymore, Cal. I'm doing this." Leo fiddled with Festus' control panel. "You are not going to stop me."
I watched him silently as he screwed down the latch. He was braver than I'd ever imagined, and I despised it.
Leo glanced up. "Stop looking at me like that. I'll be fine. The best thing you can do for me is stay safe."
I snorted. "Only if you return the favor."
"I need to help them." Leo dragged Festus onto the ground and to the door. "It's ready. I have to do this, okay?"
"Leo?"
He paused, his hand on the latch.
I tugged at the neckline of my shirt. "Be careful."
His gaze softened. "I will come back for you, Calypso. I swear it on the River Styx."
I had not heard that oath in so long I'd almost forgotten it. It was powerful, and it was said that if you broke an oath sworn on the Styx, fear and pain would haunt you all your life.
A load of malarkey, perhaps, but it still meant a lot.
Leo messed with his controls, and something in Festus activated, unfolding his legs and allowing him to move forward. Focused on steering the creature, Leo shut the door without looking back. I waited all of two minutes before finding two extra guns and readying myself to follow.
No matter what he told me to do, I could not let him go to his death alone. I would be behind him, providing whatever help I could give.
I hurried back through the hallways, towards the servants' entrance, where I could access the courtyard. Then, thinking better of it, I backtracked to the staircase and made my way back to the second floor. I ran by so many bodies that I began to grow accustomed to leaping over and around them.
Seeing a balcony through a set of glass doors, I burst out onto it. The scene below me was pandemonium.
I had always wondered what a battlefield would be like, and now that I knew, I desperately wanted to erase the scene from my brain. Man cut down man below me with a brutality that I could not truly fathom.
Philosophers spoke of man's truest evil core. If any of them had chosen anything other than war, they were wrong. This was the epitome of man's worst nature, the most awful thing I could conceive, and it would haunt my dreams for years to come.
Down below, I saw Clarisse leading a troop, yelling at the top of her lungs as she fought. Thalia ran through enemy ranks with lightning speed, taking out the most threatening targets, and Reyna held her own against Koios. Lifting my gun and positioning it against the railing, I fired down at my uncle twice and was rewarded with a hit to his shoulder, giving Reyna the upper hand.
In the middle of the attackers, my great-grandmother stood with Hyperion, yelling orders. They were both protected by a small squadron of security, blocking any errant bullets.
Then a wave of soldiers separated, and a metal monstrosity thundered across the ground. Festus had grown in size with his extended legs, and I caught a glimpse of Leo running alongside him, messing with a controller, shouting commands, a gun in his other hand.
The man-made dragon was fired upon, but bullets bounced off his hide. He swiped at enemy soldiers, his long claws leaving deadly gashes. Using him, Leo was slowly clearing his way through the enemy ranks. I grinned at his genius.
But there were still many enemies to defeat. Balancing my gun again, I fired upon the densest groups of enemy fighters again and again, taking out men and women one by one. Whenever I spotted a friend in trouble, I did my best to take down the opponent from afar.
A bullet ricocheted off the marble railing, and I ducked. Evidently someone had singled me out as a threat. Pinpointing the shooter, I took aim and fired till he stumbled.
I took out enemies as fast as I could, but reinforcements were pouring through the gates. There was no way our tired armies could win this as things were. What could we do?
Then Leo climbed up onto Festus' back, ignoring the fighting around him. He was well into the midst of the enemy ranks, nearing Gaea and Hyperion, and Festus was the only thing keeping him alive. He began messing with the control panel on Festus' head, and I focused my sights on taking down anyone who went after him. Keeping him safe was the priority.
Through the chaos, he flipped a switch. Dread mounted on my stomach as he sat back and gazed down at the battle around him for a moment, and I opened my mouth to cry out.
Then the world imploded.