Chapter One
“Where are you going, Evie?”
Evie jumped as the masculine voice called out from behind her. Hand over her rapidly beating heart, she turned and scolded the man who stood glaring at her. “Max! Don’t sneak up on me like that. You almost gave me a heart attack!”
“Sorry, sweetheart. It’s not my fault your hearing is so bad. I mean, a herd of thundering elephants could sneak up behind you and catch you off guard.” Max laughed before walking up beside her. Staring deeply into her eyes, he demanded, “What’s wrong with you lately? You’ve been distant these last few months. You’re lost in your own world whenever I see you. I know you too well. What are you trying to hide?”
“Nothing’s wrong, Max,” Evie hedged, biting her lip in nervousness. She hoped Max would drop the subject, not ready to confide in him yet.
Max was one of the few men at the camp Evie liked and trusted. He’d joined her father’s group when she was fifteen, shortly after she’d graduated high school. When an elite university called the Suoja Guild, a place only the wealthiest of families could afford, offered Evie a full grant after she graduated, Max tried to convince Evie’s father to allow her to attend the university by suggesting Evie could be an effective sleeper agent, spying for her father’s cause.
But, her paranoid, hate-filled father would not be swayed, no matter what argument Max employed. He wanted his only child to stay confined within the camp, safe from outside influences. In fact, he hadn’t wanted her to attend college at all, but Max stepped in again. She never knew the details of the conversation, but her father allowed her to enroll at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shortly after.
She’d been allowed to attend MIT’s virtual classroom, a program in its beta stage. While never allowed to leave the camp, at least, she’d been able to interact with her classmates via a computer screen.
She managed to complete her four-year degree in Molecular Science and Engineering in two years and graduated with her masters a few days before the Surmata invaded the camp. Now, despite her father’s efforts, she’d get the opportunity she dreamt about. The Suoja Guild would expand her knowledge of the supernatural and compliment her modern, traditional science education.
Max standing up for her early on, combined with an internal instinct to trust him, allowed Max to get close to Evie where others failed. While she’d never been able to bring herself to reveal her lack of faith in her father’s cult to him, over the last year they’d become good friends.
Max studied her face for a long moment before he asked, “Where are you headed?”
Evie continued walking with Max beside her. “I’m going to the armory to drop off the list of supplies my father wants ordered. Want to keep me company?”
A pair of girls nearby noticed Max and instantly tried to catch his attention. Classically handsome and in his early twenties, though at times he acted younger, he had an attitude as refreshing as a glass of sweet tea on a hot summer day. With his blond hair and sky-blue eyes, all the single women at camp threw their panties at him, hoping to lure him to their beds.
Evie secretly laughed at their desperation. The skimpy outfits they wore when Max trained them were wasted on him. He was gay. Evie wondered why no one else knew. She thought women were supposed to have an innate sense about those things.
Max ignored them and grabbed Evie’s shoulder, stopping her forward progress. He plucked the file from her hands. “I’ll take this for you. You need to head on back to your cabin.”
“What? Why?” She just left her house, and she had no plans to go back until she was forced to.
“I need you to trust me on this, sweetheart. You do, don’t you? Trust me?” A hint of doubt shadowed Max’s eyes.
“Of course, I trust you, Max.” And, she did. While she had a few secrets she wasn’t willing to share with him, she would do anything he asked.
Max smiled at her pronouncement, but worry still filled his eyes. “Okay, sweetheart. I need you to go lock yourself in your room. Don’t come out until I come for you, okay? I don’t have time to explain now, but I will when I see you again, promise.”
Evie contemplated Max’s words, weighing them before she made a decision. There was something different about Max today, a hardness in his gaze she’d never witnessed before. Taking him at his word, she nodded and hurried back the way she’d come without saying another word.
Quietness filled the cabin when Evie entered, the door to her father’s office tightly shut. She quietly took the steps two at a time to avoid alerting him of her return.
Once upon a time, her father had been normal. At every bedtime, he’d read her wild stories filled with adventure and fairy tale creatures. After her mother’s death, though, her easy-going father disappeared, changed overnight into a hollowed-out, belligerent, cruel bully who blamed others for his wife’s death, unable to hold himself accountable for what happened the night she died.
Evie possessed limited knowledge of what transpired during the night her life changed forever. She wasn’t with her parents when the attack happened. Tucked away safely in her bed at home, a nanny watched over her while her parents enjoyed a desperately needed night out.
Later, her father told her the guilt rested solely with the Surmata; their interference led to her mother’s murder. When she asked how and why, her father slapped her. “Children should be seen and not heard. Never question me again.”
Evie remembered holding her burning cheek and wondering why the Surmata, who everyone said were the saviors of the human race, took her mommy away from her and turned her daddy into a monster.
She was five at the time.
Afterward, Evie learned to hold her tongue. But as she grew older, her natural curiosity kicked in, and she researched the attack. Under her blankets each night, she used the dark, heavy material like a shield to hide the glow of light from her smuggled laptop. She didn’t want to be discovered by her father should he decide to check on her.
She searched article after article, and at ten-years-old, she discovered the truth. Sparse in details, the information alleged Surmata involvement but didn’t give specifics. The conclusion of investigators offered more insight. A Kosketti, a human corrupted by a demon’s influence, inflicted her mother’s mortal wound. Once demons fully tainted a human’s soul, they became unredeemable even in death.
Up in her bedroom, Evie closed the door behind herself. Walking to her window, she peered outside. Camp members and soldiers milled about. Nothing looked unusual.
Shrugging away the sense of foreboding, Evie sat at her desk and opened her laptop to kill time.
An hour later, bored with surfing the internet, Evie stood from her chair and stretched the kinks out of her back. Checking her watch, she realized it was lunch time. Since she couldn’t go to the dining tent, she raided the small stash of snacks she kept in her closet. Opening the bifold doors, she jumped when a loud noise sounded from outside. Before she made it to the window, loud shouts and screams erupted.
Yanking her curtain aside, Evie surveyed the situation. People ran. Mothers gathered their children, while fathers and soldiers grabbed any available weapon. Evie even saw a few holding rakes and shovels. The camp was in total chaos. From her perch, she couldn’t tell where the loud noise came from or see what had riled the camp up. She snatched her switchblade from the top of her dresser and shoved it into her boot.
She needed to go investigate the disturbance.
Running down the steps, her toe hit the last step wrong, and Evie grabbed the handrail to stop herself from pitching forward. Despite her fast reflexes, her foot slid on the small rug positioned at the bottom of the steps, and she ended up in a semi-split, one leg stretched out in front. Embarrassed, Evie glanced around to make sure no one witnessed her clumsiness. The cabin was eerily silent, the door to her father’s study wide open, the room empty.
With her father gone, Evie had no choice but to go outside. Planning to maintain a position on the front porch until she could better evaluate the situation, Evie grabbed the front door handle and yanked it open. A figure, clouded in smoke and shadows, blocked her exit. The figure cocked its head to the side, examining her. Panicked, Evie slammed the door, locking it with shaky fingers.
What the hell was that, and what was it doing on her porch?
Fully expecting the being to ram the door open, she was surprised when nothing happened. Alarmed, Evie ran for the back exit, just off the kitchen. She skidded to a stop five feet from the door when it opened unexpectedly. A startled scream caught in her throat as Lieutenant Davis walked inside. Relieved to see someone she knew, and not a faceless cloud of smoke, Evie almost hugged the man.
“What’s going on, Davis? What’s happening in the camp? And what is that thing on my front porch?” The questions left Evie’s mouth, one after another.
“The Surmata are raiding the camp, but you know that already, don’t you?” The man snarled at her, crowding into her personal space.
“What do you mean? The Surmata are here? Why?” Evie couldn’t wrap her head around this new development.
The punch caught her off guard. The force of his fist against her jaw threw her backward, her back hitting the floor before the pain even registered. Her hand lifted to cup her chin.
Turning her eyes up at the man, she demanded, “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Davis reached down and grabbed Evie by the collar. Hoisting her to her feet, he used the neck of her shirt to hold her up on her tippy-toes. “This is your fault, bitch. I overheard those pricks talking. Saying that you were in the cabin and needed to be protected. You sold us out, you little cunt.”
Evie shook her head vehemently, her hands desperately trying to dislodge his grip. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’re lying.” The lieutenant shook her like a rag doll.
Angry now, Evie ordered, “Let me go, Davis.”
“Like hell, you cunt. I’m gonna gut you and leave your entrails for the fucking crows to pick at.” Spittle formed at the corner of his mouth as he forced the words through gritted teeth.
Already on her tiptoes, it was easy to use the man’s strength against him. Dropping her weight, her shirt tore, and she plunged to the ground. Without hesitation, she kicked, taking out his right knee. The man screamed and fell into a crouch, clutching his injured leg. Evie pulled her foot back again, letting it fly straight into the man’s face. He crumbled, loose limbed, to lie still in the middle of the kitchen floor.
The kitchen door opened once again, and Evie scrambled to her feet, fists clenched as she readied for the worst.
Max’s stunned expression met hers. “Damn girl. I can’t leave you alone for five minutes without you causing trouble.”
Evie jumped into Max’s arms, so happy to see him. He hugged her back, swaying them side to side. “Time to go, sweetheart. The Surmata have taken the camp. They ordered me to come get you and bring you out with the others.”
“What’s going to happen, Max? Why are they here?” Evie stepped back far enough to see Max’s face while staying within his comfortable embrace.
“Don’t be scared, sweetheart. Everything will be explained soon, I promise. Now, let’s go. We don’t want to keep certain people waiting. They are impatient enough as it is.”
~
The unhappy expression on the passengers’ faces gave the bus a somber weight, the silence thick enough to make the air oppressive. It sat like a rock on Evie’s chest, and she panted, unable to draw in the oxygen her body required to slow her rapid heartbeat.
With no way to determine friend from foe, the once clear line blurred. Sprinkled throughout quiet conversations, Evie caught furtive glances thrown in her direction. While some people reflected on what could have been and what they’d lost, others plotted, blaming everyone else for their predicament. Somehow, despite Evie’s capture along with the rest of the Resistance, some believed her responsible for their current imprisonment. They’d seen or heard about the Surmata warrior who guarded her cabin door, and like Lieutenant Davis, they believed she sold them out.
She ignored them, fiddling with the ring on her finger. She didn’t know where she would end up when this journey closed, if she would come out unscathed and able to live a normal life or if she would pay for the sins of her father forever.
At the front and back, armed, human and Surmata guards watched over the forty-three adults crammed into the tight space, encaging them in an oversized monstrosity Evie christened Bertha. Miraculously, even in its dilapidated condition, the bus ran, the faded paint on the outside coated with more streaks of rust than color. Inside, the ripped and worn seats with nonexistent stuffing allowed springs to dig into Evie’s backside.
Bertha crawled down the highway, her pace slower than the surrounding traffic. A few miles back, Evie swore that when an older, gray-haired woman overtook them in the passing lane; she flipped the driver the bird as she drove past.
Bertha headed to one of the Guild schools, every individual onboard forced to attend the Surmata-run university in lieu of jail time. There, they would be reeducated before, hopefully, being released back into society.
Some would say they received a light sentence, lucky to be given this option. Others sympathized with their plight, knowing they had no choice in their fate. Like puppets, their strings tangled into a knotted mess while they swayed helplessly from side to side. Never given control over their actions, they moved at the mercy of influences stronger than themselves.
When the guards escorted them onto the bus and informed them of their fate, Evie masked her emotions, scared the others would pick up on her elation, almost to the point of bouncing up and down in her seat and shouting in triumph.
She needed to be careful.
She stood alone in her belief something good waited for them at their final destination. Attending the Surmata University wasn’t punishment, not to Evie. No. The true penalty came from being forced to attend the school with her father’s disciples. She fervently wished they had only taken her from camp and sent the others to a different location.
But, that wasn’t the case.
Her captors’ good intentions thwarted her one chance to escape from her father’s cult.
Before today, Evie hadn’t lived a perfect life. In fact, her life could be described as bleak. But, it was her own to do with what she would. Well, hers once she turned eighteen, the magical day when she could make all of her own decisions and choices. The day she would finally be free from her father’s rule.
Fully entrenched in the Resistance, Evie found herself labeled a blight on society because of her father and his irrational belief that all supernatural creatures needed to be exterminated in order to save humanity.
Since Evie’s father was the rebel leader for the entire southern region of the United States, his cause became hers, not by choice but by necessity. She wanted to live, and if she disobeyed him, he would have killed her.
For years, she lived in fear her father would discover how she truly felt. Fear that what her father preached every day to his thousands of little, toy soldiers around the country would come true. She refused to believe the human race was well and truly screwed.
Uneasy with her thoughts, she sighed and turned in her seat, pulling out her iPod. The bus fell into silence around her, the other occupants lost in their own reveries. A few people read books or flipped through magazines, while others dozed in their seats, sitting upright with their heads tipped back or cocked to the side.
Their ages ranged between eighteen and twenty-five. Two-thirds of the group were civilians like herself. The remaining one-third, all soldiers, included Dominick. With her birthday only a few weeks away, their captors allowed Evie, the youngest at seventeen, to accompany the rest of the adults. They meant for her to suffer this hell as punishment, along with her sisters- and brothers-in-arms.
Evie laughed bitterly to herself. The only arms she possessed were the ones attached to her body: flesh and blood. She stared out of the small window at the passing scenery, not really seeing it. Instead, her mind turned inward once more, replaying the past few days. Image after image popped up, no matter how hard she rubbed her eyes to dispel them. Yes. She trained in weapons and combat. But, she’d never fired a gun at anyone, nor launched a machete at a Surmata’s head.
However, she witnessed it being done. Recently, in fact, at the battle that landed her on this bus. The Surmata warrior walked away from the battle unscathed. Like a dancer, he moved gracefully, flawless and smooth, away from the incoming blade.
Max had led her back upstairs when more fighting erupted outside. From Evie’s vantage point at her bedroom window, she witnessed in detail the quick take down of the camp. She watched the fight, amazed it only took a handful of warriors to defeat the heart of her father’s rebel uprising. Outclassed, the men and women tried to defend themselves.
All of their training proved fruitless.
When the Surmata warriors stormed the camp, their strength and ability dominated the humans. Within minutes, the rebels knelt before their captors.
All, but the leadership.
Evie’s father, along with his most trusted lieutenants, escaped. They never knew the touch of Surmata steel against their throats or the urge to beg for mercy while they kept their mouths shut.
Men, women, children, low-ranking officers, and soldiers were all rounded up and grouped. The old and feeble or couples with small children had been dragged in one direction. The stronger soldiers, the ones more likely to cause trouble, were sent in another. Soon, the only ones who remained in the camp alongside Evie were those the Surmata deemed worthy of reeducation.
Found guilty by association, Evie never had a chance to offer up a defense. Loaded onto a bus along with the others, she knew their destination, but not what their education would entail. Perhaps their punishment would teach them tolerance or expand their worldview. Those confined within the old, decrepit bus and surrounded by heavily armed guards may not agree with Evie, but this was a chance at redemption.
Bertha rumbled on.
Soon, they passed a sign announcing their destination of Henley, North Carolina. Fifteen miles until her life changed forever. The other occupants noticed as well. They set their books and magazines aside. Seatmates shook their neighbors, who awoke with surprised snorts. The quiet atmosphere swiftly filled with heated whispers.
“I can’t believe this shit!” The angry words erupted from somewhere at the back of the bus. The voice, deep and abrasive, sent shivers down Evie’s spine. She recognized the hate-filled tone. It belonged to Tony Walters, one of Dominick’s goons.
Dominick Townsend, the perpetual thorn in Evie’s side, was a favored lieutenant and beloved by all in the camp. He knew it and used it to his advantage. He was a bully like her father, and when she was forced to date him, she made it obvious she wasn’t interested in him as a romantic partner.
Since then, he’d taken it upon himself to torture Evie whenever he found the chance. Unfortunately, since he was twenty-three, he received the same punishment as her. Luckily, he’d laid low since boarding Bertha, not bothering Evie.
“What kind of mind fuck is this, huh?” another voice Evie didn’t recognize whisper-yelled. “Do they really think we’ll believe any bullshit they try to shove down our throats? They’re monsters, the whole lot of them.”
“Maybe we’re wrong. Maybe they aren’t so bad.” This time, the masculine tone came from right behind Evie.
“Shut the fuck up, Max! Do you want to be labeled as a conspirator like the bitch in front of you?” Vitriol spewed from Dominick’s mouth.
Evie snickered. Guess he couldn’t keep quiet for long. At the sound, Quincy Martinez, who sat in front of her, turned around to glare.
The whispers started up around her once more. With her repeated attempts to thwart her father’s order to become a mentor, they assumed she would have something to gain by turning to the enemy. But like everyone else, Evie was in the dark. She didn’t know how the Surmata found them. If there was a collaborator, it wasn’t her.
“I’ve heard the Surmata take human women as lovers, using them and then discarding their bodies in mass graves.” Evie caught the fearful comment coming from the back of the bus.
One of the guards gave a quiet snort. He stood toward the front of the bus and overheard the woman’s comment. Evie smiled in agreement; she also doubted the woman’s story.
“What are you grinning about, you traitorous bitch? You sold out your own father! We’re in this situation because of you!” Before she could dodge, Quincy reached over the back of his seat and smacked Evie hard.
Her head bounced off the window with a thunk. Pain exploded in her skull. She leaned forward, a hand to her temple, and watched the man in front of her as she waited for the next hit.
An arm appeared in her field of vision, fisted in Quincy’s collar, and dragged him from his seat, lifting him into the air until his head hit the roof of the bus and holding him suspended.
The guard snarled up at Quincy, his voice laced with contempt. “You don’t fucking touch her again. If you do, I will personally rip your arms out of their sockets and feed them to you. Understood?”
Quincy nodded frantically before sputtering an apology, “Yes, sorry. I understand. I won’t touch her again.”
The guard growled a warning to emphasize his point before he tossed Quincy back into his seat, where he stayed slumped out of sight. When the guard turned his gaze on her, his dark-brown mahogany eyes softened, giving his face a less harsh appearance. He gave her a quick nod as if telling her she would be protected. She dipped her head in acceptance, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
No one had ever stepped in to physically protect her before.