The Fallen Prince, page 1
ALSO BY AMALIE HOWARD
The Riven Chronicles:
The Almost Girl
Alpha Goddess
The Aquarathi
Waterfell
Oceanborn
Seamonster
The Cruentus Curse
Bloodspell
Bloodcraft
Copyright © 2016 by Amalie Howard
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews and articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Sky Pony Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.
First Edition
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are from the author’s imagination, and used fictitiously.
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available on file.
Cover illustration by Steven Wood
Cover design by Sarah Brody
Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-0170-0
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-0173-1
Printed in the United States of America
For my mom,
who never believed in labels
and who told me to be myself
no matter what
CONTENTS
Prologue
1 Deep in the Otherworld
2 Negotiation
3 Keep Your Friends Close
4 Political Agenda
5 Fracture
6 Power Play
7 Braving the Outers
8 The Breach
9 The Art of War
10 Survival Instincts
11 Preparation
12 Hostile Territory
13 Predator
14 Blood and Bones
15 The Ultimate Weapon
16 City of Wonder
17 Alliances
18 Lines in the Sand
19 Man or Machine
20 Princes and Pawns
21 The Reptile King
22 Tactical Warfare
23 Deconstruction
24 Buried Underground
25 Prototype
26 Master of the Game
27 Coup de Grace
28 Life, Death, and Second Chances
Acknowledgments
PROLOGUE
THE FLARE OF blue fire is blinding. Then again, it’s gone so quickly that even if you were staring right at me, you’ d blink and it’ d vanish. The emissions from the process of eversion—shifting between universes—are unavoidable. However, I try to be careful, everting in concealed areas away from people, and away from the eyes of the Faction and the Guardians. They’re always watching for those who break the law—those who don’t remain where they belong.
Me, more so than ever.
I belong in Neospes, a domed city in a parallel dimension to the Otherworld. But I’m here in pursuit of a man who everted over a year ago. A man who nearly destroyed my world in his quest for power. A man so consumed with retaliation that to let him loose in either world would be a colossal mistake.
And so I hunt him. I’ve been hunting him—across thirty states and always a step or two behind. He’s clever, brilliant, and a master strategist.
After all, he’s my father. And he’s my creator.
I may look like an ordinary girl, but I’m far from one. It’s something I’m still coming to terms with, ever since I learned the truth. I am a product of genetic experimentation and advanced robotics. I am the girl with nanoplasm for blood—the perfect combination of human and machine, an aberration of nature—and yet, its greatest creation. I am the only one of my kind.
My name is Riven.
And I am a killer.
1
DEEP IN THE OTHERWORLD
STOOPING TO LACE the untied shoelace of my combat boot, I meld into the crowd at Grand Central Station in New York City. It’s strange to think that once upon a time in my world, infrastructure like this could have existed. Pre-Tech War, that is. Not that I would know—I was born in a dome where the tallest building is a castle three stories tall.
But my people often recount tales of grand mirrored spires that rose to defy the skyline, and thriving metropolises with skyscrapers that’ d dwarf the ones in this world. Our historical records talk of buildings that were twelve times the size of the Empire State building I’ve just seen, and of hovercraft that flew between the towering structures on aerodynamic superhighways.
Everything was computerized, automated.
The offshoot of civilization on my version of Earth saw the human race building machines that superseded the rules of our own programming. We invented metal monsters, reveling in our superior brilliance, so much so that we didn’t see it coming. In the end, when the artificial intelligence we’ d built became self-aware and turned on us, we became theirs—vast cities of human slaves, caught in a nightmare of our own making and bound by the very electronic shackles we had created.
Our citizens rebelled—and eventually won—but only at enormous human and environmental cost. Ten long years of devastation in a war against our android captors saw our oceans gone and entire populations decimated. Surviving cities are covered by huge glass domes; ones built to protect the people within them from the unpredictable elements and volatile temperatures beyond.
While extant pockets of humanity claim the unburned plains of my world, the rest of it is ruled by the Reptiles—half-organic, half-android hybrid scavengers. They’re the worst things surviving in the Outers beyond the city walls—amalgamations of animal and human parts in various states of decay, coupled with robotic operating systems. Some of them live in packs, others are more solitary, but they are all intelligent… and they’re lethal.
Feeling the rush of bodies passing beside me, I glance upward at the artistically etched ceiling of the station, admiring it for a brief second. There is nothing like this in Neospes. Not anymore. But even though my world is a shadow of what it once was, we are rebuilding beneath a new king with new hope.
My pulse thrums at the thought of Caden. The boy—now king—who had stolen my heart without my knowledge, and the one I’ d had to leave to make sure he and the people of Neospes would be safe. It’s been so long since I’ve seen him, almost a year. I wonder if he looks the same with his too-long hair and his intense green eyes—eyes that I vividly remember, even now. Eyes that could always see right through me.
Awareness prickles along the back of my neck, and I tuck my head below my arm, scanning the area behind me. The Guardians had closed in before I’ d shaken them off in Boston, jumping on a bus outside the city. I’ d considered everting, but the electrical displacement leaves too much of a trace. And the Guardians are nothing if not vigilant, particularly after the influx of Vectors under the last King of Neospes’s rule.
The Vectors were a soldier army created by my father—reanimated corpses fueled by nanoplasm—the very same nanoplasm coursing through my veins. And because of the microscopic nanobes in my body, I run hot—way hotter than any normal human. Suffice it to say, I’m as easy to track as the Vectors are. I set off the Guardians’ eversion detectors like clockwork.
Standing cautiously, I duck around the circular information booth and peer over my shoulder. It’s clear. I flatten myself against the window, trying to get a look around the other side, and catch a glimpse of a green jacket that seems vaguely familiar. I shake my head. I’m overreacting. Green is a popular color.
“Ma’am?” a voice says. “May I help you?”
I meet the impatient stare of the clerk sitting on the other side of the window. “What? No.”
“Then, kindly make room for those who are waiting.”
“Um, sorry,” I reply.
Stepping away, I feel the prickly sensation again at the edge of my consciousness, and I crouch to fiddle with my boot. Precious seconds fly by before I see them—two men and a woman scanning the area. Looking for someone. Looking for me. I narrow my eyes, the nanobes in my retinas running a brief threat analysis. To anyone else, the three people seem ordinary, dressed in dark pants and dark shirts, but the advanced weaponry holstered out of sight on their belts suggests otherwise. So does the careful, methodical way they’re casing the area. My jaw clenches. There’s no mistaking it—they’re Guardians. How did the Faction catch up to me so quickly?
I take a breath and make a run for it, skittering among bodies and ducking beneath a couple holding hands.
“Stop her!” the woman shouts. “She took my purse!”
A thousand eyes pivot in my direction as I dodge the two NYPD officers rushing grim faced toward me, and dart down a long poster-plastered hallway. The policemen are hot on my heels. Glancing over my shoulder, I count the two officers and the three people I’ d seen before. Two more guys in army fatigues and really big guns join them. I curse under my breath and pick up the pace. Now’s no time to play it safe. If they catch me, my father will disappear for good.
Gritting my teeth, I let the nanobes in my bloo d take over. Within seconds, my body receives a jolt of adrenaline so powerful that it makes my back arch with the force of it. Everything inside of me electrifies as my internal programming responds to my commands, my legs pumping like well-oiled pistons. I throw another look backward to my pursuers, hearing the broken static of two-way radios and shouted directives. The distance between us is now considerable.
Shoving the jacket cuff off my wrist, I engage the nano-suit beneath it, tapping manual commands into the console. Defense. The suit’s armor solidifies against my skin, just as I slide across a railing leading to an underground staircase, taking the stairs six at a time. I weave in between columns and double back up another staircase to the previous level with the giant posters on the walls. A sign above my head indicates I’m near Forty-Seventh Street, but that’s too obvious an exit. They’ll expect me to go aboveground.
Instead, I swing right in the wide passageway near the escalator, darting up yet another narrow staircase a few tracks down. A loud beeping announces that the waiting commuter train is about to leave. Without a second thought, I slip through the doors as they close. While the tinny voice of the conductor announces the stops, I take an empty seat, hunching down near the window, and pulling my hood over my head. Connecticut is as good a place to crash as any.
I calm my labored breathing. That was too close. Although, I’m not entirely sure what would happen if the Guardians do get their hands on me. Era Taylor, the leader of the Faction, knew that I’ d be coming after my father. I’ d made no secret of it once we found out that he’ d everted to this world. There’s no way I can let him get away, not after everything he’s done, and knowing everything he is capable of. My father is a scientist at heart, one driven by the demands of his ego. There’s no telling what he’ll do with any technology at his disposal, and I can’t afford to take the chance that he won’t attempt to re-create another monster like me.
I consider my options. I could evert, but who knows where I’ d end up—in the Outers, or somewhere way worse. The only safe eversion spot that leads directly back to Neospes is in Fort Collins, Colorado, and I’m two thousand miles away. I’ d everted once out of desperation with the Guardians hot on my heels in Nevada, and had ended up in the midst of a Reptile nest back in my universe. I’ d escaped by the skin of my teeth. With my luck, I’ d evert from this train and end up in the deep end of an acid swamp. No, I’ll take my chances here.
I slouch down in my seat as the woman and the two men from earlier burst through the staircase entrance to the platform, steely glances combing the windows of the departing train. For a second, the light falls on one of the men, and I blink. A face shimmers into my memory of a boy I haven’t seen in months—Philip, Era Taylor’s son. But it can’t possibly be him. The facial structure is similar, but that’s where the resemblance ends. This boy is taller, broader, and bearded. I’m imagining things. There’s no way Philip would be in New York. For all I know, he died that day we faced the Vectors en masse… right before Shae did.
My heart skips a beat at the memory of my sister. She’ d died to save Caden and me, and everything she’ d ever done had been to protect us. My jaw aches from clenching it so tightly. That’s another thing my father will have to pay for—because he’ d made her into a monster, too.
The train picks up speed on its way out of the station, entering the darkness of the tunnels, and I heave a sigh of relief. I’m sick of running from the Faction when all I want to do is find my father. Every time I get close, he manages to slip away. It’s frustrating. If I didn’t have to keep an eye on the Guardians every infernal second, maybe I’ d have caught him by now.
I pull a thin tablet from my backpack and punch in a sequence. The facial recognition software that’s been my breadcrumb trail runs in the background. This world may not have the advanced technology of mine, but some of the software is remarkably useful. I’ve patched in to the FBI database, bypassing their security with a mimic program of my own design. To them, I’m just another field agent accessing their internal database.
I tap on the screen and a pattern of red dots shows up. My father has been busy. The trail has no rhyme or reason—a handful of dots along the east and west coasts, with the majority of them located in central Colorado. My best guess is he’s looking at zero-gravity eversion points because whatever he’s planning has to be connected to Neospes. His last known position was here in New York City but, as always, I’ d been a hair too late. It’s almost as if he’s toying with me, leading me on a wild goose chase just to prove that he can.
Six months ago in Los Angeles, we’ d come face-to-face in a nightclub with only a six-inch-thick glass partition between us. It had spanned the room, separating the diners from the bar, and in the precious seconds it would take to get around it, I knew he’ d be gone. Without the stupid barrier, it would’ve been so easy to reach out and lodge my ninjata through his traitorous heart. Instead, I’ d stood there powerless, in furious silence.
“Riven,” he’ d said coolly as he leaned back in his chair and placed his tumbler on the white table. “You’ve been following me. Why?”
“To take you back to Neospes to answer for your crimes.”
He cocked his head. “You and I both know that’s not true.”
“To kill you, then.”
“Why?”
“Why?” I choked out. “You murdered Shae. And after what you did to me…”
He took a sip of the amber liquid in his glass, his insouciance making me feel like snapping those slender fingers, cupping the tumbler, one by one. “I made you stronger. I made you better. You’re untouchable, invincible.”
“You put tech in me when I was an embryo. You could have killed me. You could have killed Aurela.”
“But I didn’t,” he said. “And your mother knew what she signed up for. You are the future, Riven. We are the future.”
My fists clenched against my sides. “Don’t you get it? There is no we. You have no future, Danton. I will hunt you to the ends of any universe, and I will kill you. Next time, there won’t be a wall between us.”
“So fierce, and yet, so foolish,” he said, smiling as he indicated the seat on my side of the glass wall. “Sit. Chat a while.”
A part of me knew that I should have walked away. Engaging with him was dangerous. He knew how to press every one of my buttons. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it, not when he was right there.
I sat, rigid. Paralyzed. “Let’s talk, then. What are you doing here?”
He shrugged, waving a careless hand—his gesture simultaneously elegant and ugly. “I should think that would be obvious. I’m saving our dying world.”
“How? By destroying this one? We aren’t meant to be here. We had our chance, and we blew it. You can’t just take something from one universe and put it in another. The Faction won’t stand for it.”
“How is darling Era?” he said with a laugh. “The Faction is useless and obsolete. The only way for Neospes to survive is to take what we can from this world. Help ourselves to its vast resources. The people here have more than enough, after all, and they don’t care for half of it. They are on the same path of destruction that we were.”
My tone was laced with sarcasm. “So, you’re trying to save them?”
“I am simply offering our people an alternative, and they will thank me for it.”
“You’re wrong.”
“You never could see the big picture, could you, Riven?” He finished his drink in one swallow, and we both stood. “You’ll come to heel soon enough.”
“I’m not a dog.”
“Aren’t you?”
I shoved my chair back, punching into the transparent wall and watching tiny cracks branch outward in the tempered glass. “And still so predictable.” He nodded to the two burly bouncers behind me. “That will be your downfall.”
I’ d shoved past the two men who were double my size, sending them skidding across the floor, then rounded the wall to the now-empty table where my father had been sitting. The only thing left was an empty tumbler with the imprint of his lips on it. I’ d hurled it at the wall in frustration, and made a hasty exit.
Ever since then, I’ve been chasing a ghost… always several steps behind. And now the Guardians have upped the ante, closer on my trail than they have ever been.
