Volumes of the Vemreaux Complete Collection: A Dystopian Adventure Trilogy, page 76
Claudia snapped him out of his reverie with a derisive comment about the new girl to Bernice. “We’ll have to see what Sam brings to dinner for Christmas this year. Maybe at least then this latest fling will have the sense to eat at home with her family.”
Bernice gave a simpering laugh to encourage the bad behavior in the woman. “Or sit up straight.” She tipped her glass. “Breeding.” She shook her head as if to say that some have it and others will never be as fortunate.
Bonnie giggled with the delicious gossip that she’d been itching to tell. “Well, nothing she can do about that. She’s Wayward.”
Claudia and Bernice both guffawed loudly, then Claudia burst into a fit of throaty laughter. “Oh, Bonnie! That’s positively the best thing I’ve heard all day! Sammy’s finally brought a girl to Thanksgiving, and she’s A-blood?”
Bernice shook her head. “I saw that diamond on her necklace. Do you think she stole it?”
Claudia tsked. “Probably. Waywards are mostly criminals. Oh, Sammy!” She giggled again, toasting Bonnie for bringing the good news to the table.
Though Frederick had not heard the conversation leading up to that, he decided that they had all endured enough. Never was it more clear than in that moment just what a horrible woman Claudia had become. She had used his considerable wealth to build for herself an immunity to social grace, feeling that she was impressive enough with her title and connections to say whatever she pleased to the world, and it would have her without question.
Frederick realized his mistake in all of it. He had opened the door for her arrogance. It was his refusal to put his foot down with her garish behavior that told the rest of the country that her bigoted attitude should be tolerated.
He pulled out his phone, summoning Alec and Brody. “Claudia, I warned you before not to speak ill of the child. Perhaps it’s my fault for allowing it the first time. She has been a comfort to Liam and to Sam, and does not deserve your snide remarks.” He stood from his elegant and heavy chair. “You both are no longer welcome in my home. Leave now.” He turned to address the Femreaux he’d allowed to be his daughter’s closest confidant. “Bonnie, Suzette will be informed of your behavior.”
Bonnie mumbled a shocked apology and excused herself from the table, scurrying out of the room, face flushed with chagrin.
Bernice’s cheeks drained of all color when it dawned on her how despicable her actions were. Both women gaped at the emperor.
Claudia was the first to break the silence when Brody marched through the swinging door. “Oh, Frederick, do sit down. We were only having a bit of fun. Surely the girl knows we were joking.” She waved him off as if he were a fly that had buzzed out of turn.
“Sir?” Brody greeted the emperor. Alec’s footsteps announced his arrival a few seconds later.
“Claudia and Bernice need to be escorted off the premises. If either of them is seen on my property again, inform the guards that they are to be removed.” Frederick stood back to allow Alec past.
Bernice stood reluctantly, as if snapping out of a trance. Claudia remained planted in her chair, convinced that her ex-husband could still be controlled with a snap of her bejeweled finger.
Frederick folded his arms across his chest. “I’ll be informing Sam to cut off your allowance, Claudia. You’ve squandered your last brandish from me.” When her mouth popped open to protest, he held up his hand. “If you even try to fight me on this, I’ll collect back child support from you for the years I raised the kids without you.”
He turned his attention to Bernice, who was sorely wishing she had not come. “And you, young lady, can plan your wedding to my son without my expense account. You can keep any money that’s already been put down for deposits, but you’ll not see another blank check from me.” Brody already had his hand on her elbow, but allowed Frederick to finish before hustling her out of the room. “You should be ashamed of yourself, Bernice. Your fiancé has been missing for weeks, yet you sit here planning your wedding to him as if his presence made no difference.” He shook his head, his tone unforgiving. “And Blue is like a daughter to me, yet you’ve spoken to her in a manner unbefitting a royal. You’ve disrespected this family enough, so you are no longer a part of it. Both of you.” He waved his hand to permit Brody and Alec to take the women away.
Brody did not struggle with Bernice, who could not leave quickly enough with her shame. Tears streamed down her cheeks as the stern guard marched her past the many lavish rooms she would never be privileged to see again.
Claudia was a bit more of a handful. When she finally stood, it was to lunge at the emperor with her palm poised to slap him.
It was Alec’s lucky day. The guard caught her hand and twisted it behind her back, his other arm wrapped around her neck in a choke hold that he relished every second of. “Do you know how long I’ve waited to throw you out of this house? I drove Frederick home from the hospital after he was born, and I’ve never known a finer man. I’ve been loyal to this family longer than you’ve been alive, you whore. I saw you walk out on your children and belittle them when you came back. You are the trash I’ve always wanted burned. And if you set foot in this house again, I’ll start the fire with your hair and smile while you scream…”
“Frederick! How dare you let him talk to me like that!” she yelled, terror in her eyes at Alec’s resolve.
“Enough, Alec. Just the removal will do for now,” Frederick sighed. “Though, I wouldn’t second-guess his sincerity, Claudia. Alec will always protect my family, which you’ve made clear you are not a part of. We look after our own.”
Her struggle and furious words only brought Alec more pleasure, for it allowed him to roughly drag her in all of her falsely elegant glory out of the house. Wrecking her fancy hairdo was a bonus as she thrashed about in his grip. Her fight made his smile more pronounced as he jerked her forcefully. Handing her off to an outside guard, he explained the situation and told him to spread the decree to the others.
Josephine came to the front entrance with the two extravagant coats that belonged to the women and dropped them unceremoniously on the gargantuan front steps with a satisfied smile. “Nicely done, Grandfather,” said the wrinkled woman.
Alec exhaled with new life. “Thank you, Josie. This may be our best Thanksgiving yet.”
35
Departure
The limousine carting six passengers to the airport was tense with apprehension. Frederick’s guards insisted he stay home, but Liam could not be persuaded otherwise. He waved off the note of caution from his night guard about riding home unescorted from the airport. They knew nothing of Baird’s well-earned strength and ability to sniff out any trouble. The prince rode between Brody and Alec, who were sitting erect with no signs of relaxing into the heated leather seats.
Baird had arrived at the mansion around nine that morning, giving the New World One aircraft more than enough time to switch pilots, refuel and get ready for the twenty-four-hour trip to old world Australia that would leave at just after two in the afternoon. This would give them plenty of time to account for time zone differences and a stop to refuel halfway through the flight. If they wanted to explore under cover of darkness, they would have to land after eight o’clock at night on the island. Then they had to kill the predator, liberate Killian and get back to the aircraft before the sun could shine light on their plan.
Frederick, with all of his seemingly infinite connections, found out that the airplane containing Willa Anders, the supposed “Light”, was due to arrive on the island a day later. The emperor made his hope clear to them that Blue and the boys would kill the predator and free any hostages before the misguided young poster child could endanger her life.
The four were dressed in dark brown pants and olive green shirts. Brody suggested army fatigues, but their sweep of the island had to be covert. If they were caught with Blue, they had to look like civilians on a vacation to the most dangerous island for Vemreaux on the planet.
Blue had to be believable, too. Her identification papers were tucked in her dresser drawer, and a black cuff around her wrist obscured her barcode from view. In case she was found, Liam insisted that her eyes and lack of sulfurous odor would lead anyone to believe that she was simply a Femreaux too young to be changed yet, on vacation with the rest of them. On vacation with a mace and a whip in her backpack.
If they thought Baird had been a pain in the training room, it was nothing compared to how he was that morning. He drilled them relentlessly. Currently he was interrogating them on the procedure for contacting the other team.
Alec answered him, since the others were too distracted for the task. “Phones on vibrate once we reach the island. When we run into trouble, we text ‘9’ to the other team.” Each phone had a homing device that, if activated, could lead them straight to it. “The signal for having located Killian or the other missing Vemreaux is ‘1’.” He sighed. “We’re ready, Baird.”
Blue’s head was down as she listened to her brother drone on and on about things they already knew. It was not nerves that were building inside of her; it was grief. The tease of having her brother stay with them the previous week righted so many unnatural wrongs. She anticipated many more training days, more time to research by his side, and more…just more. Longer days to experience all the “more” the family had given her in the new life she had come to treasure. This feeling of inescapable “less” threatened to shake her carefully composed shoulders with every breath.
Baird, Alec, Liam and Brody all shuffled out of the car, but Blue could not locate her legs. The buildup of being born for a specific purpose never weighed so heavily on her as it did in that moment. She had never truly understood that she had a choice in all of it until she realized that her legs would not carry her unless she commanded them to.
Sam’s arm around her shoulders did not bestow upon her the comfort it usually did. Instead it made her stiffen, and were it not the love of her life, she would have slammed him up against the door. Finally, the Vemreaux let himself out of the vehicle, taking Baird’s solitary raised finger to mean that he should give her some space.
The three guys said their farewells to Baird and Liam before boarding the vessel. Blue still had not moved and feared that this discovery of a choice would freeze her legs forever in place. As it was, she was unable to go forward, but incapable of running away, as well.
Baird slid back into the limousine across from his decidedly stationary sister. He folded his arms over his chest, trying to remain emotionless, so as not to make things harder on the girl.
Under the stress of his stare, Blue began shaking. “Do I really have a choice?” she asked, her voice breaking on the last bittersweet word.
Baird considered this. “Yes. I guess so.” He took in every centimeter of her body language so he could assess where she was at and what she needed to hear. “You can get on that plane, kill the predator, free the Vemreaux from its tyranny, and maybe even send back the prince’s body.” He rolled his tongue across the inside of his teeth. “Or you can come back to the diner and try to live with yourself while you hide who you were supposed to be. You can die a slave.”
Her hand ran over her arm as a chill gave her shaking some more ammunition. She bit her lower lip, but the imposition did nothing to keep the words inside. “I wouldn’t be a slave, Baird. Liam freed me.” She kept her head down and lowered her voice to make sure Liam could not hear. “Maybe Sam would let me live with him.”
Pretending to indulge her in this train of thought, Baird waited a beat before responding. “Do you think Sam would love the you that’s a coward? He’s always telling you to stop running away.”
This deflated her logic and forced her biceps to clench and release with ferocious tension.
“Even if he could look you in the eye after running out on doing the right thing, he’s a changed Vemreaux, Blue. Do you think he’s just gonna sit around for fifty more years and watch you turn into an old lady? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he’s been around the block a few more times than you have. Probably more than a prostitute has, for that matter.” The last remark earned a grimace from the girl, but he could see that he’d already ripped her wound open, exposing the insecurity she harbored and tried to erase with Sam’s unwavering affection. “You can’t live in the mansion with the royal family forever, Blue. I know you had fun, and I’m glad.” He fought hard to keep the bitterness out of his voice. “But it’s not what you were meant for. You weren’t born with better-than-Vemreaux abilities so you can go shopping and kiss your boyfriend.” The sour taste in his mouth came out in his words before he could stop them from callously spewing at his sister. “Lots of Vemreaux would trade anything for your gifts. They were given to you because you will do the right thing. Killing unsuspecting, innocent people – Vemreaux or not – is not the right thing, and you know it.” He sighed, unhappy with his progress. “It’s why you’ve never forgiven me for killing that Ariel girl in The Way, or any of the others.”
“Tell me again why I can’t just let the Vemreaux handle their own, Baird.”
Baird inhaled through his nose. “Are you a racist? Are you just as common as the Vems, who only care about themselves? Or are you better?” He stabbed his finger toward the window. “Something out there is slaughtering people. Not Vems. People. It has to stop, and you’re the only one who can put an end to it, so you should.”
“Baird,” Blue spoke to him while looking out the window. “When you left Griff and me in The Way, did you cry?”
Confusion and a mild coating of anger shadowed Baird’s face as he sized up his sister. “What kind of a stupid question is that? Since when do we cry? Crying’s for people who can’t control themselves.”
Blue went to a very far away place in her mind instead of answering. She could still recall the feeling of wet on her fingers and cheeks from Liam’s tears the night before.
“Look, I won’t make you do this.” He stared up at the closed sunroof in the ceiling of the car and marveled for a brief second just why such a luxury existed. “But neither of us will be able to live with you if you become less than you are. I don’t waste my time on selfish cowards, so don’t become one.” He slid across the leather and exited the car. “In or out, Blue.”
Blue tightened her fists so hard that her nails dug into her palms with slow precision. She raked her nails down her arms as the turmoil grew too much for her to bear. The ache in her chest began last night in bed and grew over the stretching hours. Sam had lifted the bottom of her shirt in bed to reveal the angry scars on her back while she read a book on the myths that Australian people used to hold to before World War Three.
Sam’s fingers traced each line, sharing in the pain of her beatings. He dragged his lips across every score, kissing her wounds, as if he hoped to somehow heal them. The mournful eyes with which he soaked up every bit of her torn skin tugged at her heart. Though she wanted to squirm and run from the tenderness and blatant pity, Blue kept her focus on the pages of her book and remained on her stomach atop the sheets. Her muscles wanted to run from the intimacy and utter acceptance each kiss bathed her in, but Blue stayed in place to honor her word that she would do her best to stop hiding from him.
When Sam’s full lips replaced his fingers, ice coursed through her spine, chilling her to the spot. The blessings from his mouth were not laced with sex, the way his other kisses were; they were supplications of undying love and acceptance of what she considered to be the worst part of her body, aside from her face. She had shaken much while he silently paid tribute to her painful past.
In her current state of anxiety in the car, Blue tried to recall the feel of his breath on the small of her back. Its warmth had soothed her so well only hours before. Where was its comfort now?
There was nothing for it. While she did not want to leave this blissful new life, she knew that she could not endure the look in Frederick’s eyes if she admitted to chickening out. She could not bear Liam’s forced smile and drinking binges, nor Sam’s distance, if Baird was right about him. She had twenty-four hours to spend in Sam’s arms, and she was wasting that time cowering like a baby from the responsibility her family had sacrificed so much for already. Elle had given too much of her life to hide Blue until the time was right. Her brother had sacrificed his very soul to get her ready for this moment. Blue stomped furiously on the floor of the vehicle before deciding that she would follow the path that fate and Baird had set out for her.
Blue slung her pack over her shoulder, determined to make it to the plane without looking behind her.
Liam had other plans.
He intercepted her stride and swept the girl up into a nearly bone-crunching bear hug. The air was pushed out of Blue’s lungs, and not a breath could enter her until he set her back down on the pavement. He looked into her eyes earnestly, the familiar blue matching blue. “Thank you.” He hugged her again, this time more gently. “When you get back, I’ll be the one making you sandwiches at two in the morning, yeah?” He grinned through the tears that sparkled on his lashes.
She pulled a folded piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to the man. “This is who gets my stuff when I die. Can you take care of it?” She did not look away from the hurt that slashed across his face at her words.
Liam nodded, placing the paper in his pocket somberly. “I don’t want you to think like that.”
Blue ignored his request. She put on her best imitation of Baird’s stern face and pointed her finger at Liam. “There’ll be no more disappearing for days. Do you understand me? You have a responsibility to your country, and you have a family who loves you. No more drinking yourself stupid. No matter who comes back and who doesn’t. This is your life, so face it head on. If I’m not allowed to run from things, neither are you. Promise me.”
