Embrace The Night (32 page)

She looked out and saw Hell’s Wall looming dark in the distance. There was a deep, low rumbling sound. An ugly one that sent shivers up her spine. “The wall…it’s dark,” she said. “The crystal lights—”

“Are gone.” With a short, sharp curse in
caló
, he spun from the window and began to drag on his clothes. “Get dressed. We’ve got to get out of here. The Strangers—no, it’s fucking Florita—are sending a message.”

“What kind of message?” Sage asked, though she had a feeling, through her suddenly nauseated belly, that she might know. “Florita? You mean Tatiana?”

“An unpleasant one,” he said, shoving their electronics into the packs. “For me.”

“For you?”

“She’s telling me to come out of hiding, or the wall’s coming down.”

“But…the whole city will be destroyed.”

He stopped and looked at her. “I know. That’s her message. She wants me…in exchange for the city.”

May 11

Eleven months after.

I’m stunned. Hurt and angry and so, so, so shocked. I can’t believe he would do this to me!

How long have they been planning this?

Kevin came to me today and told me that he’s going to marry Britney. But he’s already married to me!!! How can he do this? Marry both of us????

He told me that they (I guess he and Robert and Thad) realized that during the whole nine months I’m pregnant—and the other wives too—that the men are unable to do anything else to help rebuild our race. Their hands are tied, and they feel helpless and weak. So they decided that it would make sense if they had more than one wife!!

They could be more efficient in spreading their sperm around, for crying out loud.

Well, how the hell does this make me feel? Like crap, that’s how. This is no way to treat a pregnant lady. No way to treat the woman he says he loves. I mean, I know we’re focused on having babies, but I just thought we’d be trying every month. You know, all the time. And trying to get pregnant as soon as possible after every birth.

I wasn’t planning on getting into some kind of polygamous arrangement.

And he claims to still love me. That Britney is purely for breeding purposes—yes, that’s the word he used. But I’m not so sure. She’s a little younger than me and she has bigger boobs.

Whatever. I hate this. I wish I’d never left Envy.

—from Adventures in Juliedom, the

blog of Julie Davis Beecher Corrigan

Fuck me fuck me fuck me.

I should have known. I shouldn’t have underestimated the bitch.

Simon drew in a deep breath and gathered control of his blazing fury, his roaring fear. One thing at a time.
Think. Plan.

She would give him time to show up, she knew he had to be in the settlement. She wasn’t going to drop the wall immediately, because then she’d lose him too.

It was a warning. A potent one.

And he’d been too distracted by a copper-haired woman, his drive to keep her safe, his engulfing need that made him ignore his honor…too distracted by Sage to think about the repercussions of pissing off Florita.

He shouldn’t have made such a mistake. Hell, the last time he’d shut her down, she’d tried to have him killed.

Apparently, this time, she wanted him badly enough to kill hundreds of innocent people instead.

All of these thoughts trammeled coolly through his mind even as he and Sage dashed through the darkness, making their way more haphazardly, more carelessly than before from tree to alcove to building.

The shadows were shortening, and a light gray burned along the eastern horizon. Dawn was coming, the threat of
gangas
was fairly nil. Theo should be arriving any time—to the meeting place, which was still miles away.

Grasping Sage’s hand, his body still humming, still damp and loose from being with her, Simon tore toward the massive pile of trash that he hoped…prayed…had the secret tunnel in it.

The massive wall rumbled in the distance like a mini version of Mordor, its crystal lights still dark. Simon glanced at it as it loomed ahead of them—the secret tunnel was on that side of the settlement—which in a way was good, because no one was coming in this direction searching for them if the wall was threatening to come down.

They reached the pile of junk and he darted around, looking for the old Lexus, knowing that after fifty years, it could be in any condition; it could even be gone. Using his flashlight—he didn’t care at this point, he had to get her out of here, had to stop that wall from burying the settlement—he scanned it over the pile, knowing that the entrance to the passageway would be lower rather than higher up.

Then the light caught on a license plate, rusted and old, but it said
LEXUS
2.
Thank you, God.
The plate was attached to a Lexus of indeterminable color, its silvery L-symbol gritty and dull, but still there in its recognizable oval.

Like the cars he and Sage had crawled through to get to the Beretta building back in Envy, this one had a door that opened. But this time, the other side of the car had been removed. And when they crawled in, there was plenty of room to stand once they moved across the split leather seats, long bereft of their stuffing.

He fairly shoved Sage in, acutely aware of how time was ticking by and how the rumblings from the wall were becoming louder and more ominous.
Hell hath no fury…
The crash of a massive boulder bounding down the side of the cliff had him pushing and scrambling in after her.

Hurry, hurry, hurry…
On the other side, the tunnel was tall enough for him to stand easily, and wide enough for three or four people to walk abreast. Simon considered whether there might be any booby traps or other surprises—like den-preferring creatures—or even
gangas
, and slipped ahead of Sage to clear the way.

Flashing the light ahead of them, he was gratified to see that the tunnel ran straight and empty. It couldn’t be that long, less than a half mile by his estimation, if it were to dump them on the other side of the wall. But though he went quickly, his scanned the path ahead, watching for any sign of movement.

The pack clunked over his shoulder, and Sage’s against her as they rushed along, the rumbling louder now that they were enclosed in a tunnel of metal and who knew what else. It was too dark to tell what was around them, and he didn’t care to stop and examine it. Time was running out.

At last, they came to a wall—or what appeared to be a wall, but was, after a brief examination, determined to be a door. It took him only a moment to figure out how to open it—a little lever—and he peered around.

Light. Scrubby trees and tall grass appearing in various shades of gray. “Stay here,” he said and slipped out, turning himself invisible as he did so.

Sure enough. There they were, outside of Falling Creek, only a short distance from the wall and on the opposite side of the main gate. Out of sight. No guards, no
gangas
, no glowing eyes of predators. In the distance, to the south, rose the trees from the forest through which he and Sage had come three days ago. Where Theo would, God willing, be waiting.

Simon slipped back inside with one last glance at the wall. Another large boulder tumbled down in raucous punctuation to the general warning, dragging three trees with it. It rolled to a halt only yards from the settlement wall, and he felt his belly tighten. He slipped back inside.

“Sage, get on the computer and try to get a message to Theo to come here. It’s safer than trying to make a run for it to the forest. They’ll be watching for us.”

“But we can be invisible,” she said, her eyes wide.

“Get on the computer,” he said again, tension rising. He wished he’d never had to show her his ability. It had blinded her to reality. Made her think of him as infallible. “We don’t have time. The wall’s going to come down.”

“But if it does, it’ll bury us here,” she said, yet she pulled out her computer and swiftly turned it on, her fingers clattering over the keys.

“No, that’s not going to happen. I’m not going to let that happen. But we don’t have time to run to the woods. Theo should be there already…it will only take him twenty minutes to get here and get you.”

“Me?” She froze, her hands on the computer keys. “What about you?”

He shook his head. “I have to go to her and get her to stop. It’s the only way. Otherwise, the whole city will be buried. People will die.”

“I’ll go with you and Theo can—”

“Are you
insane
?” His voice rose, cracked, and he gathered control of himself. “Do you know what she’d
do
to you?” He shook his head, aware that his fingers were hurting he was tensing them so tightly. “Just get on the damned computer and message Theo.
Now
, Sage.” He knew he sounded like an asshole, but there was no other choice. She had to listen.

“But what about you?” Her tone was higher than he’d ever heard it, panicked and tight. And angry again.

“Sage, I told you. You don’t know me. There are things you can’t understand, things I’ve done…” His voice roughened, nearly broke, and he forced himself on, concentrated on a surge of anger at Florita to keep himself from getting weak and emotional. “I’ve got so much blood on my hands, I can’t wash them clean. I thought I could…I thought this was my chance.”

He drew in a breath, collected himself again. “You don’t know me. You can’t. So
get on the damned computer and contact Theo and have him come and get you.
”

She was staring at him with circular eyes, her beautiful lips parted in shock, her breath coming in hitches that he knew portended tears, fucking mother-fucking tears, dammit…why the hell did his last image of her have to be tears?

“Go with him and give the man a chance, Sage. He loves you, for God’s sake, he’s a good man, and he is a far sight
better
man than me. And he can give you everything you need.”

“Simon,” she said, her voice thin and thready. “I love you.”

“No,” he said, desperate now. “No, you can’t. You don’t know me.” He had to go. He had to make her understand…and time was running out. “I’m not your damned superman.”

And he disappeared.

Simon waited long enough to see that Sage did send the email to Theo—though she was trying not to cry while muttering death threats as if she knew he was still there—and he actually looked over her shoulder and found that Theo had already replied to confirm his arrival at the original meeting place. Thank God. He’d be there in twenty minutes or less to get Sage, and now Simon wouldn’t have to worry about her.

Only about the other three hundred people here in Falling Creek.

He dashed back through the tunnel, silent, trying to ignore the furious string of curses mingled with frustrated tears echoing from Sage. He wasn’t certain whether she knew he was still there or not.

But regardless, he knew it was better this way. For all of them.

Moments later, he was running to the front of the settlement, toward the light that still burned despite the rising sun, aware of the increased number of boulders and even chunks of cliff raining down on the expanse of ground between Hell’s Wall and the settlement. More than one piece of debris had smashed into the protective wall, and several had tumbled down so rapidly that they’d cleared the wall and landed inside Falling Creek.

As he drew closer, he heard a shout, but otherwise, no other noise except for the sounds of destruction behind him.

When the crowd came into view—it seemed as if every resident of Falling Creek had gathered at the gate, which was tightly closed, effectively penning them in to their death—Simon was struck by the silence. Clustered there, staring at the dark cliff in the distance, they stood as if waiting for the inevitable. Shocked, frightened, but silent.

“I’m here,” he shouted, slowing his death-speed run to a fast trot. He wasn’t out of breath, but his chest was tight with black fury. The bitch. She would let them all die.

But why should this be any different than what she and her friends had done fifty years ago? This was a pittance compared to that.

“Tell Tatiana that I’ve come.”

The crowd parted, their faces still slack with shock, but hope rising in a few eyes.

He walked up to the gate and bellowed, “Florita! You win. I’m here.”

Silence, a bit of muttering and a wave of panicked gasps.

Simon waited. He knew she’d heard him. But she’d take her time.

The crowd began to murmur and he heard some soft crying as the rumbling in the distance became more ominous. A massive boulder, the size of a small house, barreled down the cliff and bolted over the settlement wall, smashing into one of the mansions on the west side. A little cry went up from the crowd, but then it settled into silence.

“Florita!” Simon shouted again. “Tatiana! Open up or I’ll go and you’ll lose.”

A child began to cry, a young one from the sound of it, and then another and soon it caught like wildfire—infants’ cries punctuated with the shushings of their frantic mothers.

When there was still no movement at the gate, Simon knew that he had to work fast to evacuate the settlement. If he could get them through the secret tunnel, at least they wouldn’t be trapped inside the walls. But the tunnel was on the other side of the community…far away. On the side facing the wall.

He looked around for one of the community leaders, someone in charge, someone who could help him gather everyone together…but then, at last, there was the sound of a vehicular motor. A low rumble, and then the gate shifted, jerking slightly.

The Strangers had parked their Hummers up against the gate to keep it closed.

A little buzz of hope erupted from the crowd and there was a bit of shoving and pushing. “Stand back,” Simon said, his voice clear and ringing.

They listened, settling back…although the panic and fear did not ebb. The gate opened a mere crack and Simon walked over. The people parted for him, but then curved back around, as if ready to follow him through the opening.