Moirai (6 page)

“
We're
reading about Greek mythology,” I offered,
opening the book. “I want to read it to you.”

Joshua laughed. “You know I'm not a little kid,” he
teased. I nodded but didn't care. I wanted us to share something together.
“Okay, go for it.” Joshua smiled. “What legend are we reading about today?”

“Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos.” I turned to the first
chapter. “The three Moirai.”

“What does that mean?” Joshua asked.

I laughed, “Will you let me read or not?” He smiled but
didn't answer. “The Moirai were responsible for every mortal from birth to
death. Clotho spun the thread of life. Lachesis measured the thread and Atropos
cut the thread, ending one's life. They’re destiny, if you would —though no
human could blame the Moirai—for we are responsible for our own failures.”

“Free will.” Joshua nodded slowly. “Do you believe in
destiny?” He stared at me curiously.

I glanced up at him, thinking about his question. “I
don't know. I don't think our life is laid out for us. We have the right to
make it, however we choose,” I answered. “Though the authorities in Cabal would
disagree. We still have the ability to choose. We face consequences though,
based on those choices, our actions.”

Joshua stared at me. “But the question is, do you believe
in destiny? Do you believe that even with free will, some choices are still the
same? Say, for instance, you and I were best friends as children and now, we're
engaged.” Joshua smiled. “I'd say that's destiny.”

I disagreed. “What one might consider destiny could be
completely chance, or rather chaos,” I rationalized. “It was men who decided
we'd be matched together in marriage.”

Joshua considered my words. “How did those men decide
though?” He pushed on. “Was it not destiny that brought us together? We were
the same age, born in the same town. Soul mates.” He grinned, enjoying the
banter between us.

I couldn't help but laugh. “You believe in soul mates?” I
didn't. I couldn't. It wasn't that I thought there was anyone else out there
for me. Joshua was all I ever wanted. It was more to do with the idea that only
one person could be right for someone. I didn't buy into it.

“I'm guessing you don't.” his smile faded.

I shrugged, gesturing towards the antique book as he sat
back and let me read to him.

 Nearly an hour had passed, and I glanced over at Josh,
closing the book in my arms. “You never did tell me how you managed all this.”
Joshua took the book from me, putting it on the table beside us. “Let's just say,
I owe someone a favor.”

“One heck of a favor,” I murmured. “Do you think you'll
be able to pay him back for all the books?” There was no possible way we could
afford it. Maybe one or two but not the fifty or so he had on the shelf. It was
astonishing.

Joshua leaned in, kissing me. “When the war is over and
the world is finally righted and just,” he grinned, “I've managed to secure
myself a job.” I frowned, confused. “The printer in town would like me to come
work for him.”

“As payback for the books?” I guessed. I had no idea
there was a book printer in Shadow!

Joshua laughed. “No. I reprinted all these for him. These
are the originals but the newer copies are in his store.” My jaw must have
dropped. I couldn't believe it! We'd been here a few months, but still, how had
Joshua found the time to reprint dozens of books? It was a mystery to me.
“Don't look so surprised,” he laughed. “We all have special abilities now.”

“Yours is book printing?” Every day I learned something
more about Joshua. I didn't care about his special abilities or talents that
the Mindonsiphan had done to us. What mattered to me was deep down who he was,
that he would do this for me.

There was a knock at our front door and Joshua glanced
back at me as he stood up. “You rest here. I'll see who it is.”

“Okay.” I nodded, putting my feet up on the sofa. Joshua
headed for the door. I couldn't see who it was from where I sat. I waited
patiently, surprised to see our council members coming inside, all of them.
“Hey guys?” I noticed everyone but Hazel and figured she was resting at home.

“Sorry for the interruption,” Cate announced. “We wanted
to hold a meeting and since you shouldn't be out of bed, we thought we'd bring
the meeting to you.” She took a seat on the sofa beside me. Of all the people
in the council, she was the last one I wanted to sit next to. I knew I should
have been thankful she came to my rescue, but I didn't want to have to owe her
anything.

“Meeting?” I asked, glancing at the Chancellor. “Why
today?” It wasn't our usual meeting time. “What's going on?” I asked. I moved
my legs to sit up and Joshua grabbed a seat beside me.

Elsa grabbed a seat on the floor, making herself at home.
“We had a visitor this afternoon after the drones flew overhead. There's no
word yet about Jaxon, Margo, and Mason but Thena was hit.”

“Thena?” I asked.

Cate sighed shifting uncomfortably on the sofa. She
picked at her fingernails, staring down at her lap. “Yes, that's where Mason
and I come from. One of the five cities.”

“Oh.” I slowly began to understand. “Who was the visitor?
How did they get here? I thought no one knew where we were.” I didn't entirely
understand what was going on.

Chancellor Collins grabbed a seat on the chair opposite
us. “Taron is a member of Thena's high council. All council members have a
vague understanding of Shadow’s location. We don't hand them a map per se, but
we do tell them how to get here. Should the need ever arise.”

I glanced at Joshua, remembering the night months ago
when we were recruits. We had snuck out and caught Chancellor Collins
conversing with a stranger at night, from a car. We had learned the stranger
was my uncle, my father’s younger brother who lived in Fora. I still hadn't
visited him. I didn't know if I ever would or even, if the time came, what I'd
say. That hadn't bothered me nearly as much as the fact he had come into town
and left without hesitation. I was beginning to understand how. Perhaps, my
uncle had been a member of Fora's high council. “Where is Taron?” I asked,
glancing at Chancellor Collins.

“Right now he's at the recruits’ center.” Chancellor
Collins remarked, “I'm not crazy about keeping him there permanently. After we
clean up your old living quarters, we may let him stay in your old home.”

I nodded, unsure how to feel about our home belonging to
a stranger. I knew it wasn't our home anymore. The house we sat in was where we
belonged. I glanced at Cate. “Do you know Taron?”

Cate sighed. Her eyes were red and I wondered if she'd
been crying earlier. “Yeah, everyone knows him.”

The Chancellor folded his hands together over his lap.
“I've been considering all our options this afternoon, but I think it's in
everyone's best interest if we devise a search and rescue mission for Thena. I
want to send Cate and Aidan to retrieve any survivors from the site.”

I glanced at Cate, realizing now why she was so upset. It
wasn't just her old home that was destroyed but the people she loved and cared
about. Her family lived in Thena, and they were likely dead. “Aidan?” I
scoffed. “Why can't you send me?” I wanted to help. I was tired of training and
practicing for what? To sit around when help was actually needed.

“Out of the question.” Collins shot me a pointed look.
“You know you can't go.”

“I'm fine!” I rolled my eyes. “This,” I gestured to the
fact I was cooped up on the couch, “isn't permanent. I can get around okay.
Besides, Cate
needs
me.”

“I need you?” She repeated, catching my stare. Her eyes
were red and slightly swollen and she held her breath, refusing to cry in front
of us.

“Yes,” I was adamant, “I can help.”

Chancellor Collins glanced at Aidan. He hadn't said a
word, giving no indication of whether he wanted to travel to Thena or not.
“What do you feel up to, Aidan?”

Aidan shuffled his feet as he leaned against the wall.
“I'd rather not go into the Gravelands, if I have a choice.” He lifted his
head, his gaze locking on me. Was he actually trying to help me out? Or was he
doing this because of his own fears? I didn't care the reason; it was a chance
for me to be a part of something bigger.

Cate sniffled and wiped a few stray tears with the back
of her hand. “Someone has to come with me.”

“Someone will, I will,” I repeated forcefully, staring at
Collins as I pushed myself into a sitting position on the sofa. “I'd like to
come, to help those in Thena and be better prepared for whatever awaits us in
the Gravelands.”

Maya heaved a sigh and finally spoke up. “There are
others with more training, but I think it would be good for Olivia to gain a
little freedom. Besides, if we're expecting her to fight, she should know what
she's fighting for.”

Was she seriously batting for me? “You can count on me.”
My eyes lit up from excitement. “What about sending Sydney too?” I wasn't
trying to suggest Sydney could replace me, not after Maya offered me exactly
what I wanted. However, neither of us was a doctor.

Collins sighed, “We can't risk Sydney being gone. She's
too valuable to the community right now. Cate's been trained as a nurse,” he
informed me. “She had training back in Thena, and she spent time interning with
Sydney. She's plenty qualified.” His gaze turned towards the other council
members. “Does anyone have any objections?”

Joshua cleared his throat, “I do.” I elbowed him hard in
the ribs to shut up. He didn't so much as look at me as he stared at Collins.
“If Olivia is going, I want to go with her.” I breathed a sigh of relief. At
least he wasn't fighting the decision.

Collins ran a hand across his forehead, clearly
frustrated. “You can't, Joshua. I need you here. There are things you're
responsible for and the entire community needs your help. Besides, her safety
is dependent on you being in Shadow.”

“How is that possible?” I scoffed. I hated that they
wanted to separate us. It was like Haven all over again. Except I knew this was
my choice, wanting to go to Thena. No one had imposed the decision on me.

“Olivia's right,” Joshua acknowledged. “I go where she
goes, we're a team.”

“Team or not,” Collins gritted his teeth, trying his best
to keep under control, “Shadow may be under attack if Joshua leaves.”

Josh squeezed my hand and gently let go. I glanced at
him, wondering what he was thinking. “Collins is right,” he sighed.

“What do you mean, right?” I didn't understand what they
were talking about.

“The drone that flew overhead—we managed to bring it
down,” Joshua explained. “
I
managed to bring it down. Actually, I
brought down all five drones.” He clarified. “Collins thinks I may be able to
interface with the system.”

“Really?” I couldn't believe Joshua hadn't told me the
minute he'd found out.

“It's all theoretical,” Collins cleared his throat, “but
we need Joshua to help us understand the inner-workings of the drones and
possibly even fly them again.”

My mouth hit the floor. “What?” I couldn't believe what
Collins was suggesting. “What makes you think Joshua is capable of that?”

The Chancellor answered matter-of-factly. “He's the one
that brought them down. He's also turned off the drones so that the government
can't locate the downed planes. All in a matter of minutes.”

I let the information sink in. “So you have to stay here,
while I go to Thena?” I wasn't crazy about leaving Joshua behind. We were a
team, always looking out for one another.

“I'd rather not,” he glared at Collins, “but he's right.
I might be able to protect you better from Shadow. If I can rewire the system
and get the radar to be functional, I'll know if another drone is coming.”

“Don't you worry they'll come after us? They're going to
want their missing fleet.” I asked.

Collins answered me, “We have it covered.”

“How?” I couldn't understand how they were calm when just
a few hours ago we were under attack. “What if they send soldiers on foot?”

“Relax.” Joshua rested a hand on my thigh. “I promise,
you're safe here.”

“And if I go to Thena? Will Cate and I be safe on the
way?” I glanced at Cate. Her eyes were red but the few tears had dried. I knew
she wanted to go and someone needed to search for survivors, but if it was a
trap and the government was planning on sending more drones, we needed to be
prepared.

“That's why I want to rewire the radar,” Joshua reminded
me. “I'll do everything in my power to keep you both safe,” Joshua assured me.
I didn't know how he intended on keeping us safe but I trusted him.

As soon as dawn broke, Cate was at my front door. I gave
Joshua a goodbye kiss and headed for the vehicle parked on the street. Seeing
the familiar van sent a chill down my spine. It was the same vehicle we'd
driven in when we were recruits and had been required to undergo Mindonsiphan.
It made my stomach somersault. I was glad I’d skipped breakfast, because I
thought I might vomit.

“I brought some food and water,” Cate told me as I
climbed into the van. Cate started the vehicle and together we headed out of
Shadow. The last time I was out of the city, I'd been on the run. I sat in the
front seat, glancing out the window, hoping no drones would circle the skies
again today. “Don't look so worried,” Cate remarked. “I won't leave you out on
the side of the road.”

“I wasn't worried,” I answered, shifting to look at her.
At least, I hadn't been worried about that. I didn't know what to say. She was
the last person I wanted to travel with. The trip by car would only take a few
hours. Any more and I couldn't bear it.

The further we drove from Shadow, the dryer the land
grew, the earth becoming caked and cracked. Cate rolled down her window and I
felt the cool air pummel us through the open window. I reached for the heat,
turning it up a notch.