Wasteland (Flight) (15 page)

“We can’t do this,” I protest, trying to push him away from me, the closeness of his body almost intoxicating, “you need to leave.”

“When will I see you again?” he whispers into my ear. His breath is warm and sweet, leaving a soft tickle on my neck. “Tonight, after this is over,” I reply.

“Tonight, then. Remember, Piper Madden, you belong to me, no matter who you’re dancing with,” he says, pulling away from me. Before he leaves I lean into him, my lips just grazing his earlobe.

“And you belong to me.”

When the music ends, I find Tor sitting alone at the bar, nursing a drink sloppily in his hand. Guilt stabs me, slicing gashes in my gut. I can’t do this anymore.

“Hey,” I say, sitting beside him. He looks at me, and it takes him a moment to realize who it is. “You’re drunk,” I state.

“So you noticed,” he mutters. “Who is he?”

“What do you mean?” I ask, heart pounding.

“I mean the guy you were dancing with, whispering with. Is that where you’ve been when you disappear? With him?” he slurs. He slams his drink on the counter, and the bartender eyes him warily.

“Tor, I just escaped the Harpy City,” I exclaim, keeping my voice as low and level as possible. He just rolls his eyes.

“Before that, I mean. Don’t try to tell me you’ve been
working
all this time. I’m in the task force now, I’ve seen the logs.”

“I was scouting.”

“Right. And that’s why you haven’t been over, or called me, or even made any effort to talk to me. I asked you to move in with me and you just laughed it off like it meant nothing to you!”

“Tor, let’s not do this here,” I warn, but he shakes his head almost violently.

“No. We’ll do this here. I know there’s someone else, Piper. You don’t need to hide it anymore. Just tell me who he is. Tell me what I’ve done wrong,” he pleads.

I squint my eyes closed, but hot tears still spill out from them. The betrayed look on Tor’s face makes this all too real. I’m not living a fantasy anymore.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. You’ve always been an amazing boyfriend—”

“Have? So you already refer to me as past-tense. Well, wake up, Piper! It would have been nice to know you didn’t want to be with me anymore. Or did you just forget about me? You were off in your own little world like always, not caring about who you step on!”

Everyone turns their eyes to us.

“Please, Tor. Please stop. I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you,” I sob. “I just want things to be okay.”

He takes another swish of his drink. “Well things aren’t okay, and they won’t be okay. I thought you were the one for me. I never even glanced at anyone else, and here you are, having a little affair like you’re in a goddamned fairy tale. You think the rest of us don’t talk? You think David hasn’t notice how much you’ve changed lately?”

My face pales at the mention of my brother. Could he have told someone that I’ve been talking to Harpies? This could be my life at stake.

“I just want to laugh right now. I mention David and suddenly everything changes. You’d do anything for your precious David. I don’t care if he’s your brother. You need to learn how to be your own person. You know what? I don’t even want to look at you right now. Leave. Go find your pretty boy or your brother to protect you. I’m done.”

I stare at him for a moment, but I know there’s nothing I can do or say to make this better. I feel exposed, like I’m going to throw up. There’s only one person I can talk to right now, and I have a hunch where he is.

“Goodbye,” I whisper to Tor.

He doesn’t watch me leave.

Just as I’d thought, I find David in the clearing in the mountains. He stands up when he notices me. His eyes are bloodshot, his pupils dilated. He’s been shooting that Corp drug too much.

“We need to talk,” he says. He’s not angry, but deep concern lines his eyes.

“Tor broke up with me,” I say. David looks surprised for an instant, but then the thought seems to leave him.

“I need to talk to you about something else, something bigger than all of this.” Cold wind rushes by, sending my hair flying behind me.

“What happened?” David is still wearing his tux from the ball, but the collar is undone, his hair dishevelled.

“It’s just… something isn’t right. Not with Rupert, or you. Even Rassler’s been hiding something. My world is falling to pieces.”

“David, I—”

“No. Please don’t. I don’t want to hear your excuses. Pie, I saw you with him. I was out looking for you when he dropped you off. I
saw
you kissing a Harpy!” His tone escalates as he speaks, and I back away from him.

“I’m sorry,” I choke. He wrenches his hands through his hair.

“Why?”

“I love him!” I scream back.

“You can’t love him!” he shouts. “He’s a monster. A Harpy!” He paces back and forth, his blood boiling over. I feel like tearing my own hair out.

“David, would you listen to yourself? What has the Corp done to you? They’re not monsters. Not all of them.”

“Lies!” he screams. “The Harpy Prince, Pie? You had to pick the Inherent?”

“It’s not like that!” I shout in return, “Do you honestly think we choose who we love? I didn’t choose this, nor do I regret it. We can live in harmony. I know we can.”

He lets out a sardonic chuckle, then turns and glares. “There can be no harmony. I can’t believe how selfish you are. He’s my enemy.
Our
enemy!” He grabs me by the wrists and no matter how hard I struggle, I can’t break free. We wrestle and spit at each other until I gain enough leverage to kick him squarely in the chest. On impact, he sputters as blood drips from his lips.

“Oh, shit! David, I’m sorry,” I babble as he drops to the ground. His skin begins to corrode, his face cracking up like a broken mirror.

“Don’t trust them, Pie,” he whispers. The last expression on his face is one of near-relief as his body crumbles away.

Ashes on the wind.

The Wasteland glows before me as the sun sets, the clouds turning into bright fuchsia and orange streaks across the sky. I reflect on everything that has brought me to this point. That final moment with David, how I dyed my hair, took off, hid in corners in the Underground, running from everyone I knew. Running from Mom. But not before Rupert found out. The chips he’d planted in us had recording devices. He heard everything, brought both me and Asher in, with Ciar’s permission, and erased our minds.

But it didn’t work. It didn’t keep us apart. But maybe in the end it didn’t matter. Because we’d be apart anyway. He must have known that. It was probably all a part of his master plan.

Another faint glow appears before me, but this one sharpens, turning from white to green, and finally into the body of a young woman with white skin and hair. At first I think I must be hallucinating after too many long hours in the battlefield, but then Io speaks to me.

“He will return,” she says. The wind whips her hair around her, like a light silver flag.

“How do you know?”

“Because I know. He will return, and you will need to make the hardest decision you have ever faced. This war is your test. The battle is your practice ground. All that has come before is preparing you for what is to come.”

“Can you be a little less cryptic?” I ask. Io smiles, and it warms me through to parts I’d thought would be cold and lifeless forever.

“Piper Madden, the fight is just beginning. The real war starts now. Asher is a big part of it, and so are you. You need to be ready,” she says.

“Why are you helping me? Why do you stay locked in those cells when you can teleport wherever you want?”

She comes closer to me, grabbing my hands in hers. Her eyes peer into mine, like she’s searching for the next clue to the future within me. “I can only leave for a short amount of time. My body is tethered there, but my soul is not. I help you because you will end the war. I help you because you are my sister.”

I don’t know how she can be my sister. My mother never had another child, and even if she did, she would never bear a daughter like this. Io was created, doesn’t she know that?

“You don’t have to rely on my words. Here, this is my gift to you. In it you will find the fire that you’ve lost. We are all counting on you, sister,” she says. She pulls some folded paper from within her smock and hands it to me. I take it, rubbing the old paper with my fingers.

“What is it?” I ask. She smiles again, a knowing smile that could mean anything.

“Open it and you will find out. We will meet again.”

She glows with light and then disappears as quickly as she arrived. Alone again, I flip open the papers, scanning through them quickly.

And with that, I know. Everything makes sense now. The war, Harpies, me. This changes everything.

I look out at the sky, my hands shaking, my heart jumping, my adrenaline bursting. I just want to scream.

I will kill Rupert Elder with my own bare hands. I will strangle every last breath out of him, and I will enjoy every second of it. I’m going to kill him and change the world.

I’m going to kill my father.

Lindsay Leggett is a writer, editor, horseperson, and dreamer. She collects hobbies, and enjoys coffee, amazing worlds, and time well-spent in the woods. Find her at
www.burningtree.ca

Also by Lindsay Leggett

Flight (Flight, Book One)

The Nightmare Room (As L.A. More)