Arise (Cruel and Beautiful World Book 3) Read online

  Copyright © 2018 L. Stoddard Hancock

  All rights reserved.

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Book design by Inkstain Design Studio

  Cover design by Stephanie Brown

  For all the blackbirds trying to find their way home

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  CHAPTER 1

  Deryn hadn’t wanted to sleep that night. Lying in a bed only reminded her that there was no one there beside her. But Odette had insisted she at least try. Same as everyone else.

  In twelve hours, they would be infiltrating President Saevus’s tower in the dead-center of Utopia. Their one shot at saving Xander from execution.

  But every time Deryn started to drift off, the nightmare began. It was similar to the one she’d had for years, but also different. Because now Xander was there, forced to watch the horrors that happened to her inside the very walls he was now trapped behind. She screamed for him but he couldn’t get to her, held back by the very men who were all just waiting their turn to take advantage of her, to break her from the outside in.

  “Xander!” she had screamed to him, reaching out her hand as his father Atticus closed in on her.

  “Deryn!” he screamed back, tears pouring from his eyes as he fought with everything he had to get to her, his hand outstretched but too far to touch.

  “Xander, please! Run!”

  “I’ll never leave you behind!”

  “Run!”

  “Deryn!”

  “No! Xander, no!”

  “Deryn, wake up! You’re dreaming! It’s not real! Wake up!”

  Deryn’s eyes popped open as someone roughly shook her. Her vision blurry and mind fuddled, she saw the silhouette of a man hovering above her.

  “Xa ... Xander.” She blinked and her eyes became clear, the worried face of her brother Talon staring down at her. Not Xander.

  “Deryn, are you alright?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

  She shoved him off and turned her back to him before he could see the tears filling her eyes. “Yes, I’m fine. This is nothing new.”

  “But -”

  “Go to sleep, Talon. I’m sorry I woke you.”

  “I could make tea or -”

  “No, you don’t have to. I ...” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I just want tonight to be over, so it can be tomorrow already.”

  The door burst open. Deryn groaned. She slyly wiped away her tears before sitting up.

  “Why were you screaming?” asked Odette, her gun at the ready.

  “I sometimes have bad dreams, alright?” snapped Deryn. “Now, could everyone just leave? Talon, I know you’re not even trying to sleep and I don’t need you watching over me. We’re secure.”

  It was true. Shortly after Deryn, Odette and her husband Neo had procured the alliance with Talon and four other Resistance members, the forest had become overrun with S.U.R.G.E.’s - Saevus’s Utopian Robotic Guardians for the Elite - so they moved back into the underground, concealed by several cooperative tunnelers who were more than happy to share their protected space. They had survived just fine within those walls for years without ever being caught, so Deryn didn’t understand why Talon couldn’t just let her be.

  With a huff, she lay back down and said, “Your patrol starts soon. Might as well let Neetles off now.”

  She could hear Talon sigh behind her but couldn’t bring herself to say anything more to him. It had been ten years since they had properly been brother and sister, long before she ever became a slave. The truth was she didn’t know how to be his sister anymore, and with Xander constantly on her mind she didn’t have the drive to even try.

  “If you change your mind about the tea you know where I’ll be,” said Talon.

  The door opened and closed but Deryn was well aware that she still wasn’t alone. “Yes, Odette?”

  “I know it’s not any of my business or anything, and you know I’m not one to normally sympathize with the Resistance - they’re big picture and I’m all about the moment - but aren’t you being a little cold to him? I mean, he is helping us and he certainly doesn’t have to.”

  “I’ll stop being cold when he lets Xander into the Resistance’s base.”

  “You don’t believe he’s going to?”

  Deryn sighed. “No, I don’t. I believe he’s going to try and find somewhere else for him, but that’s not good enough. I won’t be separated from him.”

  “You won’t be, don’t worry. Neo and I will make sure of that,” said Odette. “Well, seeing as you’re okay, I’m off to do many sinful things with my husband. Just in case.”

  She winked at Deryn before slipping out, nearly screaming when she saw a silhouette in the hallway. But it was just Talon, wiping his wet eyes.

  Odette gave his shoulder a playful punch. “Toughen up, mate. It was only a dream. Deryn is just on edge. We all are. So why don’t you focus on getting Xander out first and then focus on the whole re-bonding thing once that’s over and done with.” She smiled and handed him a handkerchief from her pocket. “Well, I’m off to do -”

  “Sinful things with your husband. Yeah, I heard.”

  Odette smiled but her eyes narrowed. “Did you, now?”

  “Deryn doesn’t trust me.”

  “Of course she doesn’t.” Her smile dropped. “We all know you’re not going to let Xander into the Resistance’s base. But I’m not going to worry about that now. First, we get him out, then we beat the crap out of you until you let him in what is perhaps the only safe place for him.” Her smile returned. “Have a good evening.”

  Odette gave him the middle finger as she walked away. Talon wished he could be offended, but she was right. It
wasn’t that he didn’t want to let Xander in - after everything he’d done for Deryn he would be a bastard not to - but he simply couldn’t. His high standing position in the Resistance had been questioned recently. With little progress toward their cause, people were losing faith in his father Godfrey, and since they never saw Godfrey anymore they took out that loss of faith on Talon. If he brought a Guardian into the base then all hell would break loose.

  He was already failing as a leader. Now was not the time to be pushing boundaries.

  Talon wiped his wet eyes with Odette’s handkerchief and stuffed it into his pocket. He stared at the door Deryn was behind one last time, sighed heavily and went off to find Nita.

  There were three entrances into the underground crevice they were currently staying in, and whomever was on patrol would spend ten minutes at each before moving on. If Nita timed everything correctly, she would just be arriving back at the main entrance.

  Sure enough, when Talon arrived so did she. Always punctual.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked the moment she saw him.

  “Nothing,” he lied.

  Nita frowned. “Talon, she’s here. You shouldn’t push things so quickly.”

  “I didn’t!” he retorted. “I just ... I don’t know what I did to make her trust me so little.”

  “I get the feeling she doesn’t trust anyone anymore. Except Ruby.”

  “Yeah, about that. Do you think that maybe her mind’s been manipulated to -”

  “No,” Nita said firmly. “Don’t be an idiot. She trusts him because he’s given her a reason to.”

  “But what if this whole thing is a trap?”

  “I have no doubt that it is. But it’s not a trap for you and it wasn’t set by Ruby. It’s a trap for her and if she’s dead-set on going in then all we can do is be there and make sure she doesn’t get caught.”

  Talon sighed but nodded.

  “Talon, please tell me you understand why she’s acting this way? Irrational and cautious and untrusting of anyone who doesn’t have Xander Ruby’s best interest in mind.”

  He stared into Nita’s blue eyes, his skin paling.

  Nita smiled softly and pressed her hand to his chest. “She’s heartbroken. Like I would be if you were the one -”

  “Don’t say that!” he shouted. “You don’t know -”

  “But I do know. I can see it written all over her and so can you.”

  He shook his head. “No. He’s helped her and she feels loyal.”

  “No, Talon. It’s deeper than that and you know it.”

  “Not until I see it.”

  Nita rolled her eyes but didn’t push the issue further. She meant to walk away but Talon grabbed her hand before she could. She stared at their joined hands for a moment before looking up and meeting his sea-green eyes. Since the first time they’d met, those eyes had the power to make her melt.

  “Neetles, this animosity between us started because you felt I wasn’t involved enough in the action. Well, I’m here. I shouldn’t be, but I am and I’m trying. I’m trying really hard not to talk myself out of this. Because what we’re doing tomorrow, it’s a suicide mission. You know it, I know it, and I’m fairly sure Deryn knows it. And when ... if we die tomorrow I don’t want it to end like this between us.”

  Still staring into those eyes, Nita leaned up and kissed him softly. When she pulled away, she said, “We’re not going to die tomorrow. And when this is over, and Deryn is safely at the base beside your dad, we’ll talk.”

  “Maybe kick Everett out and I can join your group?”

  Nita threw her head back and laughed. “Yes, please. But I do think people will expect you to form your own group.”

  She kissed him again, smiled as she released his hand and slowly backed away. The farther she got, the sadder his face became.

  “Deryn said she didn’t want anyone watching over her but -”

  “I’m on it,” said Nita, turning on her heel.

  “And bring her tea! Peppermint used to help her sleep!”

  Nita headed to the kitchen, where her teammates Everett Jensen and Adrian Stone were sleeping with just one blanket between them and several pillows as a makeshift mattress. They had at least been kind enough to give their other teammate, Evangeline Bellamy, her own blanket and the pantry for some privacy. Nita headed there now, stepping over Evangeline to search the cupboards for some peppermint tea.

  “Is it my watch?” Evangeline quietly mumbled while Nita opened a container of loose tea and gave it a whiff.

  Her eyes watered. Nope. Not tea. It seemed the tunnelers had been venturing outside to gather some recreational herbs. Either that or they grew it themselves.

  “You already had your watch, sweetie. Ignore me and go back to sleep.”

  Evangeline nodded, her eyes never opening.

  Nita finally found the teas, and peppermint was among them. She took it back to the kitchen and heated some water. Everett grunted to let her know he was awake and she was disturbing him. She began humming a merry tune, clanking some pots and mugs for good measure.

  “If you insist on killing me off tomorrow, the least you can do is let me have a good night’s sleep!” he snapped.

  Adrian growled beside him. “No one is getting killed off tomorrow, you dumb shit. Neetles, make me a cup, will you?”

  “Already did,” she said, putting two steaming mugs on either side of them. “Only four hours until your patrol shift, Everett. You’ll want to drink that fast.”

  Everett sneered as he rolled onto his stomach and took a sip of tea.

  “Thanks, Neetles,” said Adrian. “I’ll clean up in the morning. Just bring Deryn her tea.”

  “Yes, and hopefully it keeps our executioner from screaming bloody murder again.” Everett rolled his eyes and took a longer sip.

  Nita carried her two mugs toward the exit, kicking Everett along the way. When she got to the room Deryn was in, she wasn’t at all surprised to find her wide awake and staring at the ceiling.

  “I told Talon I didn’t want tea,” she said without even a glance at Nita.

  “I guess he was just baffled by the idea that someone would ever choose no tea over peppermint tea.”

  “The reason peppermint tea helped me sleep when I was little was because it relaxed me, and right now I’m incapable of relaxation.”

  “Doesn’t hurt to try.” Nita nudged one of the mugs against her shoulder.

  Deryn groaned but took it. She sat up, blew on the steaming liquid and took a sip. She crinkled her nose. “Tastes earthier than the tea they have in Utopia.”

  Nita gave her own mug a sniff and a sip. “Tastes earthier than tea we make at the base too. Maybe tunnelers have spent so much time underground that they think all things should taste like mud.”

  Deryn chuckled softly and took another sip. “It’s growing on me.”

  Nita followed suit. “Not me,” she said, slumping onto the pile of blankets Talon had been using as a bed. “Have you slept at all?”

  “Must have,” said Deryn, her eyes glazing over as she remembered her nightmare. “But not well.” She glanced at Nita, studying her for a moment. She remembered wanting to ask her old friend about something when she saw her again, but she couldn’t for the life of her remember what it was.

  “Do you really trust these people?” asked Nita, her finger mindlessly circling the rim of her mug of tea.

  “I paid them, so yes. And they want the war to end just as much as anyone. Odette’s sister is a Guardian and she wants to get her out before she’s in too deep. They think I’m the key to the war officially starting.” Deryn rolled her eyes, but then she noticed Nita staring very seriously at her, her finger having ceased movement on her mug.

  “You are,” said Nita after several moments of silence. “Ask me about your dad.”

  Deryn sighed and shook her head. “Not until tomorrow is over and Xander is safe. Until then, I don’t care.”

  “That’s pretty cold, much like this tea,” sai
d Nita, putting it aside. “But I’d feel the same way if Talon was the one scheduled for execution.”

  Deryn smiled softly, but not at her. At her tea. “Talon doesn’t see it, does he?”

  “He sees what he wants to see. And he’s an idiot.”

  Finally giving in, Deryn laughed. Hearing that sound, Nita’s world finally started to feel whole again.

  CHAPTER 2

  Xander’s eyes opened slowly, the world blurry as the sounds of the surveillance footage continued on a loop. It was just starting over.

  The collar he wore started beeping, warning him that if his eyes didn’t open soon, he would be shocked again. He groaned and opened them wide.

  This was the second time he’d let the damn thing shock him into unconsciousness. It was the only way he could get any sleep, not to mention the only way he didn’t have to watch his father repeatedly rape the girl he loved.

  His eyes now open, he spotted a figure standing on the other side of the glass. He turned his head, a little surprised to see Soren standing there, watching Deryn’s hologram closely with a frown on his face.

  “The fuck are you doing here?” he spat, sitting up and facing away from the image of his father putting Deryn on that fucking table.

  “Just watching the show,” said Soren, though the intended malice was lost when Deryn’s hologram screamed.

  “Yes, because there’s nothing better than watching the girl you’ve been obsessed with for the past five years getting raped repeatedly. I believe your turn with her is coming up next.”

  A pause.

  “Seven.”

  Xander tilted his head farther. “Huh?”

  “Seven years. Not five. And I’m not obsessed with her!” Soren took a deep breath. “It’s not fair, you know. She wasn’t even on your radar back then. These past five years you haven’t even thought of her once. You didn’t seek her out every time someone new owned her, you didn’t bring her medicine, or sneak doctors in to see her, or get your ass beat by your brother every time he caught you doing that! If you love her so much then where were you?”

  Xander stared up at the ceiling. “She never told me you did all of those things for her. Know why? Because at the end of the day you kept raping her.”