Denounced (Exalted Trilogy: Book 2) Read online

  We climb the steps. I’m hesitant because I’ve never been in this building. “I thought Exalted weren’t allowed in the Capitol?” I ask, clearly confused, as we get closer with each step. I don’t want to openly break the rules. Maybe Garret and Millie are tricking me. Is this a test of some kind?

  “Some are allowed. Dr. Fredericks’ personal guards and those he has requested to come may enter,” Garret answers without looking back at me. “Come on. You don’t want to be late.”

  No, I do not want to be late. I proceed ahead, trusting my instructor’s words. We enter through the front doors that I’ve seen many Ambassadors use. Inside, there are marble floors and more stone pillars. There is color everywhere. Brightly colored fabric banners hang from the ceilings. Plants have been brought inside to add some green to the space. They sit inside golden pots. There are large rectangular frames, with images of landscapes and people, mounted on the walls. My eyes and mind are overwhelmed. I can’t process all of the stimuli. It’s so different than the Exalted’s black and gray world.

  Millie looks back at me and notices me looking around the vast entrance room. “Don’t speak to the others about anything you see here. Understood?”

  “Yes,” I answer and turn my attention toward my instructors’ backs as they walk ahead of me.

  I follow them to a stairwell. We easily climb to the fourth floor, where we open the door to a long hallway. It’s lined with rich wood flooring, and the walls are painted a deep red, like blood. We walk the length of the hallway and stop in front of an unmarked door. Garret knocks twice. In response, an Exalted guard opens the door from within. Garret and Millie step away from each other, allowing me to pass between them. Realization that I must enter the room alone, dawns on me. My head hammers as the memory of fear pounds at the back of my mind.

  “We’ll be waiting here to escort you back when you finish,” Millie says without the offer of a smile or something to give me hope that I will return to them.

  I hold my head up high as I walk past my former instructors and into the belly of the beast. The door shuts behind me with a tiny click.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Dr. Fredericks is sitting behind an ornately carved, mahogany desk. There is a book lying open on the desk that holds his attention. I take in the room as he ignores me. I have never seen furnishings like these before. There are ornaments and trinkets throughout the room lining the full bookshelves. Exalted and citizens aren’t allowed to possess such things. He must want them all for himself. But where did he find so many?

  Most of the items aren’t things that I recognize. I spot a furry, pink cube with black dots on it. Next to it is another cube with smaller differently colored squares. It’s slick and not furry like its neighbor. Then a tiny figurine catches my eyes. Its hair is red, and its face is painted white with red around its mouth. It appears to be smiling, but something about it seems sinister. Why would someone want such a thing?

  After scanning the shelves, I notice there are two other Exalted in the room. They are behind me now, flanking the doorway. I want to turn around so badly because something else in the room doesn’t feel right. However, that assumption is not surprising to me—this is the devil’s lair, after all.

  Eventually, Dr. Fredericks looks up from his work. He takes his wire-rimmed glasses off and lays them atop his book. He uses his index finger and thumb to massage his tired eyes for a moment, and then puts his glasses back on his face. He smiles, showing a little bit of his snake-like fangs. He hisses, “I’m so glad you’ve returned. I have such high hopes for you. Was it a hard decision to come back?”

  I need to play this the right way if I want to find out more. It’s why I came back. I can’t ruin this opportunity. “No sir, not at all. This is where I belong,” I lie to him.

  “Yes. You are correct about that. And how are you feeling as of late?” He’s still hissing his words, or so it sounds to me. Is it possible that he can be both snake-like and rat-like at once?

  “Like an Exalted, sir,” I answer, keeping my voice flat and unemotional.

  Dr. Fredericks pushes back his chair and stands. He walks around his desk and then slithers up close to me—too close. He looks into my eyes and watches my mouth, waiting for me to slip up. He’ll be waiting for a long time, because I am actually still emotionless. In my mind I know what I should be feeling, but my physical self is not cooperating.

  The snake-man circles me. “You have shown great loyalty by returning. It’s a good thing, because I have big plans for you. You will be appointed as one of my personal Exalted—not as a guard, but an Exalted for . . . hmm . . . shall we say, special missions. I’ve had my eye on you for quite some time. You have the perfect physique for what I have in mind.” He stops behind me and leans in to whisper in my ear. “You can pass for one of them.” His breath is bitter. It stings my nostrils.

  “One of whom, sir?” I ask.

  “Citizens. Marauders,” he says, obviously pleased with his discovery of me. I wonder what he could possibly have planned for me. Most likely something that goes against what I have planned. He slithers back over to his work place. His white pants hike up and expose his socks as he perches on the edge of the wood desk. “Will you accept this new position?” he asks the question, though we both know it’s not really a question I can say no to.

  “Absolutely, sir. I am here to serve you.” I bow my head as is to be expected.

  “Good. Good. Now, to ensure your compliance and loyalty, I’ll be requiring a weekly blood test from you, along with your physicals. Is that okay?” He watches my face for a reaction.

  My face doesn’t betray me. I say with confidence, “Yes, sir,” but I’m thinking, how am I going to stop taking the Pump if I’m being tested on a weekly basis?

  He smiles again and says, “You are to report here every morning after breakfast for your daily assignment. Understood?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  I bow again as I prepare to leave. Dr. Fredericks stops me. “Wait, dear. I’d like you to meet your new partner. You’ll be working with each other every day from now on . . . until I reassign you.” He motions behind me for someone to join us.

  I can feel my new partner approaching from the right. It’s not where the two guards are standing, so he or she isn’t one of them. This person was further off to the side. I don’t know how I missed him or her. I turn to look at the same time as Dr. Fredericks says, “Oh, well, I suppose you two know each other already, don’t you?”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Ryker comes to stand beside me. He’s tall and handsome, but he’s . . . he’s . . . My head is banging. My brain feels like it’s about to pop. An immense pressure is growing larger by the second. It takes everything I have not to sway or crack under the intrusive eyes of Dr. Fredericks, who is still waiting for a physical reaction from me.

  Here’s my reaction, “Yes sir, we’ve met.” Externally, I remain indifferent.

  “Wonderful.” He claps his hands together and smiles. “I like to use Ryker to test people, from time to time. He’s excellent in the field. He’ll show you the ropes and get you ready for your future mission.” He nearly squeals with delight.

  “Yes, sir.” Apparently yes sir is the extent of my vocabulary at the moment.

  Ryker stands next to me, not looking at me. He’s very careful not to show anything on his face . . . or maybe he can’t, like me.

  Dr. Fredericks walks back around his desk and slides down into his luxurious chair. I get the feeling that he’s a little disappointed that I had no reaction to Ryker’s appearance. “Alright, you can go now. Your job is secret by the way, so keep your mouth shut,” he warns. He dismisses me from his office with his hands, like he’s shooing away a dirty piglet about to ruin his white clothes. “Go! Go!” he shouts.

  The Exalted guard standing closest to the door opens it up wide for me to pass through. As promised, Garret and Millie are waiting for me. I nod to them and let them take the lead. They escort me back toward the Exalted
dormitory. As we walk, it’s like I have developed tunnel vision. There is nothing peripheral. I can’t even hear the birds chirping or the wind blowing the trees. I float along, a gray blob in a world full of secrets and disappointment.

  Neither escort asks me why I was needed. This is good. In fact, they don’t say anything to me until we reach the stairwell of our building. This is better. Millie pulls open the door and says, “Good night, Mena.” She lets the door shut behind me as I climb up the stairs to my floor.

  As I ascend the quiet shaft, my muddled mind explodes with questions. Why would Ryker lie to me? Why would he betray me? Where’s Lily? Are there even any real villages outside of the Republic? Sure, I ran across a lot of horrible marauders, but is there something good out there? Yes, there was Tom and Francis, but they are only two people. Do my parents know about who Ryker really is? They’re the ones that asked him to tell me about The Pump. And once again, WHERE IS LILY?

  Ugh. I feel sick. My headache has gotten worse.

  I reach my floor, but keep climbing up the stairs. I climb until I reach my parent’s floor. I shouldn’t be doing this since it’s prohibited, but I need some answers. I wonder if they even know that I’m back. They were pretty set on me leaving and staying gone. I hope it won’t come as too much of a disappointment to them.

  I push the metal door open on their floor. The hallway is empty, so I cautiously enter. When I decide it’s safe, I sprint down to their door and lightly tap a few times. No one answers, so I tap with more force until my mother opens the door.

  She’s not under the influence of The Pump, so it’s no surprise to see her shocked expression when she sees me. “Come in. Hurry!” She pulls me inside by the hand. Her black pants and shirt are clean and without wrinkles, giving me the impression she hasn’t had patrol duties today. My attention abruptly shifts back up when she grabs the sides of my face and inspects my eyes. “What are you doing here? Are you okay?”

  “No. I’m not okay. I mean, I’m okay for now because I can’t feel anything, but I suspect that in a few hours that will change.” I maneuver out of her hold and walk over to sit in a chair across from their sofa.

  My father walks into the room, having just showered. His hair is still wet. He stops dead in his tracks when his eyes land on me. “Mena?” He looks over to my mother. “What’s going on?”

  “I came back. I had to find out why this is happening. I felt like if I left, I was taking the easy way out. I didn’t think I’d really be able to do anything from out there—not without more information. And Ryker . . . Did you know that he works for Dr. Fredericks? Did you know he was sent to see if I was loyal?” I inhale a deep breath. There are too many unanswered questions.

  My mother’s face pales. “Fergus, you don’t think that means that Dr. Fredericks knows about us, do you?”

  “So, you didn’t know about Ryker?” I ask.

  “No. Of course not,” my father answers me. He turns to answer my mother. “I don’t know dear . . . Damn, that traitor. I trusted him.”

  I shake my head furiously. “It just doesn’t make any sense. Why didn’t he turn me in? Or the two of you? Why didn’t he tell Dr. Fredericks that I returned to find out more about why this is happening? If he was really doing his job, would you be sitting here now? Something has to be going on that we don’t know about. It has to, right?”

  My mother looks at me curiously and asks, “Mena, are you okay? I would’ve suspected that this would upset you more than it is.”

  “Dr. Fredericks found out about me—probably from Ryker—and he injected me with a huge dose of the Pump at the end of the Banquet. That’s why I never came back from the bathroom. I can tell it’s starting to wear off though. My head has been pounding all afternoon.”

  She gasps, “That’s terrible. They told us they took you early for the transport to the Third Trial. How was it? Are you okay?” My mother glances over my battered face and body. I can tell she doesn’t like what she sees. I’ve never had this many injuries before.

  “I came in first. Well, I actually came in second, but they knocked a bunch of points off of Kinah’s score because she killed one of the other trainees. They didn’t say who it was.” Shouldn’t I be upset about this? I shake off the emotionless thought and continue with my story. “The Third Trial was not what I had expected it to be. I guess it started off as I expected, but then I ran into a young girl. I saved her from some murderous marauders, and then she clung to me. She wouldn’t stop following me, even after we met a nice older couple that took us in for the night. They fed us and let us sleep in a bed.” I look closely at my parents when I ask, “Why doesn’t the Republic tell us there are people like that out there? They were good, kind people. The fed us and clothed us. Why are we told to kill people like that?”

  “Because the Republic is in the business of keeping us all under their control and inside their gates. People like that cause problems,” my father admits, though I know he doesn’t agree with the Republic in the slightest. He’s angry and frustrated. His bushy red eyebrows are knitted together and his jaw is set. I’m not surprised when he stands and starts pacing behind the sofa.

  “What happened to the girl?” my mother asks, her eyes full of worry.

  Little trickles of emotions are starting to push their way into my mind. My upper lip is starting to perspire. “I don’t know,” I admit. “I left her with Ryker when I told him I was going to return. He promised to take her to his village, but there’s no way he would’ve had enough time if he’s already back here. And now I know that he was never part of any settlement to begin with. You don’t think he turned her over to the Republic, do you? They’ll kill her.” And I will kill Ryker if that’s what has transpired, though something is still telling me he would never do such a thing.

  My mother’s delicate hands come up to cover her mouth. “I sure hope not, Mena,” she says.

  Her answer is not the one I want to hear. It stirs doubt inside me. That is one emotion I can definitely feel now.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  I wake up in the middle of the night covered in sweat. Nausea is rolling within me, but not enough so that I need to vomit. Yet. I feel like my bed is spinning. I flip over onto my side and stare at the wall, hoping the feeling will pass. My hand touches the surface of the cinderblock wall that is painted gray. It’s cool on my palm. I scoot closer to the miraculous wall and press my forehead against it. It feels good. As the wall warms under my skin, I move onto another spot that’s cool. I keep moving every few minutes to ease the nausea.

  Behind me, Val says, “You starting to feel bad?” I must have woken her up with all my jostling.

  “Yes,” I mumble.

  “Sorry,” she says.

  I can hear her moving around, so I turn back over to the other side to face her. She’s sitting on the edge of her bed, messing with her short hair. “So what did they want with you after dinner? Did you really go talk to Dr. Fredericks?” she asks.

  “Yes, I had a meeting with him,” I admit to her. I’ve decided that I’m not going to keep any more secrets from Val. “He wants me to be one of his personal Exalted—a scout or something. Basically, I’ll have to do whatever he wants, which could be anything. I couldn’t refuse him.”

  “I just got the same field duty I had before we left,” Val says. She drops her shoulders in disappointment over her less important job. None of that stuff matters anymore. But, I can’t fault her for being disappointed. It’s etched on our bones—the need to be the best.

  “Ryker was there,” I blurt out, trying to get her mind off something so twisted as job status within the Republic.

  “What?” She looks utterly shocked. Her mouth falls open and her eyes grow wide. She stops playing with her hair. “What do you mean he was there? Where?”

  I pull myself up into a sitting position, knowing this isn’t going to be a quick conversation. “He’s going to be my partner. Dr. Fredericks uses him to find traitors within the Republic. I think that’s w
hat he wants me to do.”

  “But Ryker told me to get off the Pump! And I did! What should I do? Should I start taking it at breakfast tomorrow? Do you think he told on me?” Val panics. I would too if I didn’t still have traces of the Pump in my system.

  “I don’t know. I don’t really know much of anything as it turns out. Although, I can’t help but think if he was going to turn us in, he would’ve done it already—but something’s not right. He’s hiding something.” My hands cradle my face as I take a moment to myself. I shake my head and then peek up at Val. “I think I fell in love with him,” I whisper, “and it was all a lie. I believed his stories about Toledo Lake. I believed we could change things here. Now all I know is that he lied to me, and I’ll have to face him every day from here on out. And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, they’re going to start blood testing me every week to make sure I’m taking the Pump.” I’m exhausted from relaying my saga to Val. The hard wall slams against my back as I slump against it.

  “That’s bad, Mena,” Val states the obvious. “What do you think we should do?”

  “I’m not sure. I’m scheduled for duty with Ryker in the morning. Maybe I’ll get an opportunity to ask him some questions.”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea? He could still turn you in.”

  “For some reason, I think that if he wanted to do that, he would’ve already done it.” I answer. The Pump is letting me think clearly with hardly any emotions ruling my plans. In this situation, I believe it to be a good thing. I’ll need to remember that when my feelings come flooding back to me. And it will happen soon—I can feel it.

  “Are you going to take the Pump in the morning, since they’re going to start testing you?” Val asks.

  “I haven’t decided yet. The withdrawals have started already, so I don’t want to stop that process. But, I also don’t have a way to get out of the blood tests.” I flop back down on the bed. I stare at the ceiling above me. The tiles seem to ripple like the waving corn that filled the fields. “I think my head is going to explode.”