I Am Forever (What Kills Me) (37 page)

“I’m going to do whatever it takes to protect us.”

“I don’t want that. You can’t put that on me.”

“You’re not making me do anything. We choose our own path, remember?”

How could I live with myself knowing that I pitted the brothers against each other? Especially if one of them died?

“Zee, don’t think about this. Rest up. We have a big day ahead.”

“No. You rest. I’m not tired. Plus, I don’t want to dream. I don’t want any visions. No spoilers. I’m going to make my own history.”

“How’re you doing?” Lucas said over his shoulder.

“I haven’t had blood in a while so I’m a little ‘hangry,’” I said. “And this cold, slimy water isn’t helping.”

We were bent at the waist, moving through a brick-lined tunnel with sour-smelling brown liquid sloshing over our ankles.

Cormac had put us on a direct flight to the palace’s shipping hangar. A forklift had carried our crate from the airplane. When all was silent, Lucas broke through our wooden carrier with a crowbar. I strapped my sword to my hip and we snuck out among the innumerable boxes stacked to the warehouse’s ceiling and disappeared beneath a floor panel that Lucas pulled up.

He hadn’t been joking about the sewer. Luckily, vampires had no bodily functions. What floated on the surface appeared to be a nacreous, oily film.

“We should be under the arena right now,” Lucas said.

“How do you know about this path?”

“My father used it to get out of the palace to visit my sisters.”

The water receded and my runners squeaked and squelched. Lucas pointed up a metal pipe. “You first,” he said.

“Oh, I’ve had plenty of practice crawling up enclosed spaces,” I said, thinking of the well and the prison.

I pressed my palms and soles against the sides of the pipe to crawl up.

I reached the top and discovered it ended in a T junction. “Which way?” I whispered. “Left,” Lucas said.

I was like a mouse in a maze, creeping through the ducts. My knees were slimed with what looked like pea puree. My hand slipped in some sort of slate-gray, fatty goo.

“If the vamps could only see the Divine right now,” I muttered.

Lucas tested me again. “Tell me again how to escape.”

“Follow the pipes downward and to the right.”

“Until...?”

“Until the pipes open up to big tubes of water.”

“Then?”

“Follow the current to the ocean.”

Lucas nodded and paused. “Right here,” he said, pointing down. He listened for a moment. I could smell cardamom and berries. Maids were passing under us carrying wet towels after bathing someone. They were talking about having free time while the clerics held court in the main hall.

Lucas and I looked at each other.
Oh geez. The main hall. Again. How many final stands can I make in that room?
At least I’ve had some good luck there.
The main hall was where I’d fought and killed the previous general.

When the maids were gone, Lucas pushed the grate out with his palm. He hopped into the narrow corridor first and caught me in his arms. As we ran down the hall, my sword rattled against my leg.

Lucas paused, pressed his ear against the wall, and then pulled on a candelabra attached to it. A doorway swung inward to reveal an empty hallway. I recognized it—the string of chandeliers and the orange and red Arabian rugs that made it look as if the space was covered with autumn leaves. We were close to the big hall.

Lucas rushed across and pushed on the opposite wall, which gave way. We disappeared into another hidden corridor.

“Remember this path, Zee,” he said, not breaking his stride.

“I will.”

“You’ll need to come back this way. Remember, the entrances to the maids’ corridors are at the exact midpoint of any hallway. When you get back into the tunnels, remember to go toward the east. That’s to the right. Keep going and you’ll end up at the ocean. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

He was speaking fast. I knew he was scared. But I was too.

“Zee, this is important,” he said.

“I understand. But you’re going to be with me to show me the way, okay?”

He stopped in front of another candelabra and didn’t acknowledge my words. “Once I open this door, go left toward the open area. There will be soldiers guarding the entrance to the main hall. Probably ten of them.”

I nodded but I was losing my focus.
This is it. We’re going to do this.

“Zee, listen to me. Once we’re in the main hall, if it doesn’t go well, they’re going to have electroshock weapons. Don’t show anyone any mercy. Take them out with one cut. Don’t let them drive you back toward the Empress. Stay near me and near the exit. If you can make a clear escape, you run. I’ll be close behind you. If we get separated, I’ll meet you in Nice.”

It’s all happening so fast.
I felt like I was about to jump out of a plane and Lucas was barking instructions at me.

“I understand,” I heard myself say.

“Remember that I’m here with you,” he said, reaching for the candelabra. I gripped the handle of my sword and steeled myself.

“Wait,” Lucas said abruptly.

He stepped up against me and grabbed the back of my neck. His mouth was suddenly on mine. His tongue caressed my lips. I pressed against him and kissed him back. It was cruel—feeling like there wasn’t enough time, but knowing that we could have forever.

He pulled back, then kissed me more tenderly.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I know.”

A puff escaped from his lips. “Really? That’s all I get? That’s kind of conceited of you.”

“But I’m the Divine.”

He smiled. “Yes you are. Now let’s go show everyone who you truly are.”

I tugged on the leather strap across his chest that held his swords at his back. “You’d better not die,” I said, “because I’ll be really mad if we don’t get to kiss again.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Lucas?”

“Yes?”

“I love you too.”

“I know.”

He grinned. It was fleeting. He opened the passageway and I walked through, ready for a fight.

The Aramatta guarding the door looked at me, at each other, and then back at me. One opened his mouth, but no sound came out. I didn’t meet their eyes or slow my stride. I just walked at them, until at the last minute they parted to let Lucas and me through.

I am the Divine.

I put my weight into the door and it cracked before opening.

As I marched into the hall, the crowd gasped. They were arranged like rows in a choir along the walls. But I only saw her.

You.

The Empress stood up from her seat on the balcony. She was wearing an ivory snakeskin pantsuit. A four-inch-thick gold choker encircled her neck.

Her eyes drank me in. My clothing. The sword on my hip. The knife strapped to my leg. For a few seconds, we glared at each other, waiting for the other to react. Then a wide smile spread across her face. She raised both hands to the sky.

“The Divine has returned home!” she said.

The vampires murmured and then they bowed. The Empress placed her fist against her chest. I saw Uther among the clerics in the corner and gave him a soft nod.

Lucas let me move a few feet ahead of him. I stopped in the center of the hall, likely the location where I’d killed the general. I had fought him in a desperate rage. This time would be different. This time I would have control.

“Hail!” someone exclaimed and a cheer rose up. I tuned everyone out and fixated on the Empress. Her red mouth smiled, but it was forced, as if she was sucking her bottom lip against her teeth.

“Hail the blessed Divine,” she said. “Hail the Divine who went to battle for our great nation. Hail the Divine who defeated one of the terrorist leaders in the name of justice, peace, and freedom. She who protects us. She who gives us strength. Hail!”

While the vampires clamored, I stood still.
Well played, Empress.

As she went on, I wondered if she’d known that I would return and had prepared a speech.

“The terrorists thought that they could attack us at home. They thought they could instill in us fear and chaos and shake our resolve. But we are strong. We will defeat this evil. We will not rest until every terrorist is found and brought to justice. With the Divine, we will prevail.”

Would this be a bad time to roll my eyes?

Taren took his place in front of three rows of Aramatta just beneath the Empress. I assumed that he was about to speak. So I put my hand up. The Empress tensed. I caught the almost imperceptible tightening of her throat, which drew her chin in.

I scanned the crowd, and as my arm lowered, so did their voices.

“I have something to say,” I told them. Many had probably never heard my voice. I was glad that it was clear and without hesitation.

“You’ve all welcomed me and given me a home here. And I’m grateful,” I said, looking at Uther. “But I did not leave the palace to go to war with the rebels. I left the palace because I found out that my human family was in danger. The rebels had taken them and I needed to save them. I killed the leader because he threatened my family.”

Their whispers traveled around the room. I took a few steps forward and addressed the Empress.

“And I know the truth,” I said. She didn’t blink, which infuriated me more. “I know you gave the rebels the order. I know that you agreed to release rebel prisoners in exchange for killing my family.”

Everyone was talking now. But the Empress wore the same calm expression, the corners of her lips slightly upturned, her hands at her sides. Uther was trying to push his robed colleagues aside to reach me. He argued with them in another language. His arm batted helplessly at the air over someone’s shoulder. I didn’t know if he wanted to stop me from speaking further or if he wanted to question the Empress.

She parted her lips and the crowd hushed. “The Divine has been deceived by the terrorists. The Divine has been a victim of manipulation.”

“I know it was you. I know because I saw you with my own two eyes. You were wearing some ridiculous metal necklace. It looked like those protective cones that injured dogs wear.”