Severed Ties Read online

  A laugh sounded from her right. Wendy didn’t have to turn to see Pelton standing nearby.

  “You should have come with me,” Pelton said. “You would have been safe.”

  “Go to hell,” Wendy said through gritted teeth.

  “Looks like you’re already there.” Pelton walked closer. His cold, blue eyes studied her.

  Wendy flexed her hands around her knives. Let him come. She met his gaze.

  Again, he laughed. “You never give up, do you?” He stopped.

  “No,” Wendy said. “I’m not giving up until you’re dead. Until you’ve paid for what you did to my family. To the Den. To me.”

  “You might not have that much time,” Pelton said. “This Council might kill you.”

  “I can get out.”

  “You think your friends will help?” Pelton asked.

  “They might.”

  “Don’t you think you’ve already put them through enough?”

  Wendy willed him to take a step closer. Just one and she could get to him with her knives.

  “You’ve always been stubborn, but I never thought you’d be crazy.”

  “I’m not crazy.”

  “Just like your mother. You’re becoming a monster.”

  “Shut up.”

  Pelton raised his eyebrows. “Listen to your own thoughts. You’ll see it soon enough.”

  He stepped within range.

  Anger lent strength to her limbs. She wrenched her feet free and let out a scream of rage. The gleam of her knives slashed through the air, but, just before they got to Pelton, he disappeared.

  “No!” she yelled.

  The walls began to melt around her. The ceiling dripped on her, pulling her to the ground and trapping her limbs. She thrashed forward but, in the span of a few seconds, couldn’t move.

  “Don’t hurt her!”

  The voice pressed the dark back and let in a little light.

  “Just hold her for a second. Wendy?”

  Wendy could feel her arms and legs being held. She was face down on the floor. The book Cal had brought her lay next to her head. She’d been reading.

  “Stop fighting.”

  Matt’s voice. Not Pelton’s. Wendy stopped struggling. She blinked, and her cell came into focus.

  Matt knelt a few feet away. Somehow, one of the guards and Jeff had piled in here and now held Wendy on the floor. Her head throbbed and her side ached.

  “Wendy?” Matt asked. He raised his eyebrows and met her eyes. “You with me?”

  Wendy took a deep, stuttering breath, as if her lungs weren’t sure if she should inhale. She tried to swallow, but her mouth was too dry.

  “Can you hear me?”

  This time she nodded, not trusting her voice.

  “If these guys let you go, are you going to be okay?”

  Wendy craned her neck around to look at the guard. Sweat poured down his face. An already darkening bruise adorned the side of his face. Wendy looked the other way and found Jeff less winded but more concerned.

  “Yeah,” she managed to get a word out.

  “Let her go.”

  The vice grip around her right side didn’t relax. Jeff’s hands pulled away.

  “It’s okay,” Matt said. “She’s with us now.”

  Wendy swallowed again. “I’m good.” The words came out as a croak.

  Now the tension on her arms loosened. Slowly.

  She couldn’t blame the guy.

  The guard stepped away, but did not leave. Jeff stayed kneeling on the ground, but backed up. Matt slipped around the guard and gently rolled Wendy over. Wendy let him, willing energy back into her limbs.

  “Nightmare?” Matt asked.

  Wendy gathered her strength and struggled to get into a sitting position. “Easy,” Matt said. His blue eyes bore into hers.

  Jeff’s dark eyes did the same. She felt like a specimen in a jar, like Doc kept in his office.

  Wendy coughed and held up a hand. “I’m okay.” She looked at the guard. “Sorry.”

  A flicker of pity went across his face. He gave her a slight nod.

  Jeff shrugged.

  “You can leave us,” Matt said.

  “No one can be alone with her,” the stoic guard said. “Orders of the Council.”

  Matt slowly nodded. “Right. I forgot. But Jeff will stay.” His tone clearly conveyed his feelings about the Council. Arie had spoken of them often enough for Wendy to know that they weren’t liked by everyone. Especially by anyone who held a shred of common sense.

  Matt returned his attention to Wendy. “Can you get up on the bed?”

  The remnants of the nightmare had almost faded. Wendy flinched as both Matt and Jeff got to their feet to loom above her. She managed to keep from jerking away. Or hitting anyone. Her fingers were curled into tight balls, and her hands twitched as she tried to relax them.

  Matt hauled her up by one arm while Jeff took the other. They deposited her on the bed as if she weighed nothing. The months in Shelter had put more meat on her bones, but it hadn’t helped her grow any taller.

  The edge of the bed sunk a little under her slight weight. More so when Matt sat next to her.

  It took Wendy a few seconds to gather the nerve to look straight at him. She knew what face he’d be making. He knew she was having nightmares that hardly let her sleep, and he was worried about her.

  She turned her head and found all that she had been expecting, but there was more. His lips were pressed into a tight line, and his eyebrows were furrowed together. “I’m okay,” she insisted. “Nothing new.”

  “Glad to hear it,” Matt said. He cleared his throat, swiveled his eyes toward Jeff, then back to Wendy.

  “Is there a problem?” Wendy asked. “Arie already told me about the trial.”

  Matt shifted on the bed. “Yeah, about that, I’m here to, uh, assess your fitness level.”

  Wendy’s fingers finally uncurled. She reached up and rubbed the back of her aching neck. “Fitness level? Like how many pushups I can do? One hundred and six.”

  Matt raised his eyebrows. “Seriously?”

  “Seriously.”

  “Well, yes, that’s part of it.”

  He let silence fall again. Wendy studied his expression, trying to guess what he was about to lay at her feet. She stole a glance at Jeff, but his face remained impassive.

  Matt swallowed. “I’m supposed to see if you are mentally and physically able to go before the Council.”

  “What does my mental health have to do with it?”

  “Before the Starvation, they had rules that someone who wasn’t mentally competent couldn’t be tried. It was unjust.”

  Wendy let that sink in. “So if I’m crazy or can’t walk, this trial won’t happen?”

  “Something like that.” Matt’s voice had gone quiet. Serious. His bright blue eyes darkened.

  “And you’re here to decide my fate?” Attacking Matt, Jeff and the guard probably hadn’t been the best way to start out this visit. Wendy could see the uncertainty in Matt’s face.

  “How often are you having nightmares?”

  Wendy thought the truth might be too much for him. “A few times since we got back.”

  “What are they about?”

  Wendy lowered her eyes. “Skinnies. The tunnels. Dennis. That cupboard. Pelton.” She interlaced her fingers. “Everything that’s been going on.”

  “Do you still have flashes?”

  “Sometimes.” All the time.

  “Do you think you can handle a trial? You’ll be in a room with the Council and a few others while they ask you and Dennis questions about what happened.”

  “Is he going to lie about it?”

  Matt winced. “His version of the story is different than yours.”

  “So that’s a yes.”

  Matt didn’t answer.

  Wendy turned to Jeff for verification. He nodded. She sighed. “Do I have a choice?”

  “No. But I can say that at this point you’re
not mentally competent to face a trial.” He reached out and placed a hand on Wendy’s knee, causing her to wiggle back and out from under the touch. “Sorry,” he said as he pulled his hand away.

  “Why would you tell them I wasn’t mentally competent?”

  Matt’s eyes dropped. “Because you’re not in control of all your actions. Maybe you weren’t in control when you attacked Dennis.”

  Wendy licked her lips. “So you can make it go away? The trial?”

  “Yes.”

  Wendy shook her head. “No. I’m having nightmares, but I know what I’m doing and I know exactly what I did to Dennis and why. Besides, if they don’t put me on trial, do I just stay in here?”

  Matt glanced around. “Probably.”

  “Then no. I can’t stay in here.”

  “But Wendy, you’re not stable. Not right now. You’ve been through more than most of us, and that’s saying something. Your mind needs time to cope.”

  Jeff stepped forward. “Matt might be right about this. Give yourself some time.”

  Wendy glanced back and forth between them. “This room is slowly strangling me. I may as well be in a hole in the ground for all of the comfort it gives me. I—”

  The clunk of the lock and the screech of the door opening stopped Wendy.

  Both Wendy and Matt stood. Jeff moved aside to reveal Mike.

  Wendy hadn’t seen him since they’d brought the map back.

  Mike’s face, pale and slender anyway, now sported sleepless nights and worry lines around his eyes. Two guards flanked him.

  Matt brushed past Wendy to Mike. “I’m assessing her health.”

  “Right.” Mike nodded. “Will you give me a minute?” The request went out to all in the room. All but Wendy, who Mike impaled with a glance. She fought to keep her place and not step back.

  Both Jeff and Matt hesitated.

  “I’m not going to hurt her,” Mike said. “I just need to talk to her.”

  “I’m not sure a Council member should be alone with her.” Jeff said.

  Mike’s eyes now bore into him. “I trust that no one here will divulge that bit of information.”

  Jeff swallowed.

  Wendy had only seen Mike a few times, and never before had she seen him as this much of a leader. Dangerous. Dark. Effective. She braced herself for this conversation. The sweat on her body chilled, sending a shiver up her spine.

  “Just ten minutes,” Mike said. “I assure both of you, I’m not going to hurt her.”

  “I didn’t think that . . .” Jeff waved his hand around. “I never meant to insinuate that you would—I know you wouldn’t do that.”

  Wendy raised her eyebrows. Did he?

  Mike pointed at the door. “Just ten minutes. You can stand outside. Both of you.”

  Jeff indicated that Matt should go first. He met Wendy’s eyes before he turned to follow and shot her an expression that said, “Listen to him.”

  Wendy took a step away from Mike as the door clanged shut. He turned. His eyes moved from the top of her head all the way to her feet and back up to her eyes. “You look better then when you got here.”

  “Eating will do that,” Wendy said.

  Mike sat on the far edge of the bed. “Matt doesn’t think you’re stable yet. Am I right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you?”

  The rushing began in Wendy’s ears. She shook her head, trying to clear it. “I’m fine. A few nightmares, but who can blame me?”

  “I don’t believe you.” Mike continued to study Wendy. “But you might be able to convince the Council.”

  “Convince them of what?”

  “That you were temporarily insane due to a flashback. That Dennis got in your way, wouldn’t back down and paid the consequences. We all know he can be stubborn to the point of stupidity.”

  “That’s not what happened.” Wendy ground her teeth.

  “I’ve heard both sides of it. This is the account I want you to give to the Council.”

  “And why should I do that? They’re going to lock me up.”

  Mike held her gaze. “You have a bargaining chip.”

  Wendy thought fast. They didn’t need her fighting skills—they had plenty of manpower. She didn’t do anything else particularly well. It took her a moment, but she got it.

  “The map.”

  “The map. We haven’t been able to translate it. Riggs said you could.”

  “I can read some of it. Not all of it.”

  “How much?”

  Wendy thought back to the few times she’d asked her dad about it, and the scanty information she’d gleaned from him. “Forty percent for sure. More after I get going. Even more if your scavengers have been to any of the places on the map and can tell us what’s there.”

  “That’s what we’re hoping.”

  “And?” There had to be more.

  Mike leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees. “And I’m here to make a deal with you. You play a penitent, remorseful young lady who has been through a lot in the past four months for the Council and take what punishment they give you, then you can stay.”

  “Why should I trust you? Dennis told me that you’d asked him to toss me in that cupboard.”

  “Did he?”

  Wendy leveled her gaze at him. “Did you?”

  A few seconds went by as the older man’s eyes narrowed. “No. Although I had my doubts about you. But I don’t send children to do my dirty work.”

  “I have no reason to trust you. You have no reason to trust me. Let me go and I’m out of your hair. This deal doesn’t sound like much of a win for me.”

  Mike held up a finger. “Help us translate the map. Once you do that, I’ll put you on the teams that are going after the Primate.”

  Wendy had her mouth open to retort, but shut it. “What?”

  “I plan to go after this guy. He’s destroyed at least four other settlements besides the Den. He’s killed everyone in his path. He needs to be stopped, and I’m going to be the one to do it. If you do as I say, I’ll make sure you’re on the first team that goes in.”

  Wendy’s mind started to work again. “If I lie, and play a good girl, you can guarantee that the Council won’t kill me?”

  Mike raised his eyebrows. “Yes. If you agree to help me with the map.”

  “And then I just get to fight?”

  “You take whatever punishment the Council decides on, then yes, you get to fight as much as you want. You can take your revenge on this Pelton guy and whomever else gets in your way.”

  The revenge that waited in the corner of her mind, ready to pounce, perked up. “Can I think about it?”

  “If Matt declares you stable, your trial starts tomorrow morning.”

  Before she could talk to anyone about her decision. Before Arie came back with more information. Wendy met his eyes and made the call. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

  Chapter 3

  The night passed slowly. Wendy woke up screaming, but couldn’t remember why. By the time the guards opened the door she’d been up for hours.

  Mike’s offer held merit, but only if he knew where the Primate was. He hadn’t divulged that bit of information to her, which meant that he didn’t know and needed her help with the map to even get started.

  Still, the chance to go after Pelton might be worth staying.

  “You’re supposed to shower and dress in this,” a guard said. He held out a pile of pale-colored clothes. “We’ll take you to the showers.”

  They’d let her shower after Doc had released her from medical. With all of the workouts she had been doing, she probably needed one now.

  Wendy only took a few minutes to enjoy the water running over her grimy skin. Since coming to Shelter, she’d learned to enjoy showers, but this time she couldn’t relax. The small space kept closing in, and the water became little stones attacking her. Wendy got out, toweled off and unfolded the clothes.

  Arie must have picked the outfit. Wendy q
uickly dressed, then scowled at herself in the mirror. A lavender blouse, a sage green skirt and a pair of flat, slipper-like brown shoes. She’d heard about dress shoes, and had seen a few people in Shelter wearing them, but she’d never had the privilege before. Her feet felt exposed, and the thought of running in the shoes was laughable. At least they didn’t pinch her still-injured soles.

  She had neither comb nor brush, so she smoothed her hair out with her fingers and pulled it back again. It had grown since she’d gotten here. The dark locks hung more than half way down her back. The color looked more alive than in the Den. Again, the wonders of regular meals.

  The effect of the outfit was not lost on Wendy. She looked harmless— almost pretty.

  Logically Wendy knew she was in possession of the attributes that attracted boys, but she’d never once thought about using them. Survival was more important, and it had always been her priority to seem strong and confident, not vulnerable and needy. The scowl ruined the effect of the dress. She made a mental note to keep the expression off of her face.

  The guards waited in the hall along with Arie.

  Arie raised her eyebrows and pushed away from the wall. “Did you pick the outfit?”

  “You didn’t send it?” Wendy asked.

  “No. I should have thought about it though.”

  “Then who did?”

  “Someone who wants to help you.” Arie waved Wendy with her. “Come on, we need to be there in a few minutes.”

  The guards trailed behind them as they made their way out of the detention area and back into the main areas of Shelter.

  Arie didn’t waste time. “I found out more about a trial. Since this is a security risk trial, you don’t have a choice about testifying. You’ll sit on a red bench at the front. They’ll put Dennis and Jordy on the stand first, then they’ll probably have Kev and Cal go. Matt will be there for the medical stuff, then they’ll put you up there.”

  “What do you mean stand?” Wendy walked next to Arie, rejoicing in the ability to travel more than a few steps.

  “Oh, it’s just a platform. Nothing grand.”

  “Dennis will lie about what happened,” Wendy said.

  “Yes, he will.”

  “What do I do?”

  Arie raised her eyebrows. “You’re entertaining something besides your word against his?”