Anne Winchell - The Last War

“Speak of the devil,” Lydia said slyly. Scott vaguely recognized the religious figure as a quote from an old book, but couldn’t quite place it. He tried to open a visual communication but it was text only.

Scott started to write that Lydia was finally earthside and expected a visit from Raven, but Raven sent a three-word message that shocked him to his core: i need help . Raven never asked for help, not directly. Scott thought that Raven was secretly terrified that if he ever asked people for help, those people would refuse. Raven’s normal reaction to a crisis was to isolate himself, not reach out to others.

i’m in the west

about to be taken by atheus

medane will help

The terseness of the message was nearly as frightening as the content. Scott started to ask if he was all right but the connection was lost. Raven had probably hacked into a computer illegally and couldn’t maintain communication, Scott figured. Which meant that he wasn’t on his private computer and in serious trouble. The West. Raven was terrified of the Western World, though he had never fully explained why to Scott. He only said that if he ever went to the West, he would be killed.

Lydia’s hips shifted against his and he stared at her in surprise, having almost forgotten that she was there in his temporary panic. She pressed his shoulders down and helped him sit in his chair, then started typing at the keyboard.

“Do you know where to find Medane?”

Her voice was even and business-like and Scott loved her.

“No. Government building, probably, but Lydia,” Scott’s voice drifted off and he stared at her, the woman of his dreams. Raven was his friend and Scott needed to help him, but Lydia was his wife and his future. Lydia had every right in the world to resent Raven’s constant interference in Scott’s life and if she wanted him to stay, he knew he would.

“You need to go,” Lydia said firmly. “You need to make sure he’s okay. He promised to see me, after all,” she added, her eyes starting to water. “Help him keep that promise.”

“Thank you, darling,” Scott said, cradling her precious face between his hands and studying her as if he would never see her again.

Kaela waited at Atheus’ side for his permission before she sprinted after Raven. She was terrified by the thought of what her employer would do to punish her for the moon incident. So far, he had done nothing except look at her as if she were a pawn he might sacrifice. He had only told her that Raven was in the West minutes before the small, unchartered plane had settled into the New Chicago wasteland. When Raven’s limp form on the ground sprang to life and disabled the two people guarding him, Atheus had simply told her to bring Raven back. He didn’t make any threats but she knew what would happen if she failed.

Kaela ran, surprised that Raven had gotten so much of a head start. It was best that she hadn’t seen him up close, though. She wasn’t sure how she would react when she saw him again. Chasing him was one thing, but she might need to fight him to get him back to Atheus. Kaela thought of Raven leaving with Nalia and knew that she would be able to fight. He was the only man to ever care for her, and he had walked out with another woman.

A few small buildings scattered the abandoned landscape and Raven dashed inside one. Kaela hoped no one else was using the building; most rural areas like this were home to thieves and worse. Not that Raven couldn’t handle it, she knew. But Atheus would kill her if she brought Raven back injured. And, although she didn’t want to admit it, Kaela didn’t want Raven to get hurt if she could help him. She tried to keep her anger fresh. He had abandoned her. But he did have reasons, she knew, and Kaela couldn’t help but feel sympathy for him now.

She reached the building. Raven had jammed the door, of course. He was probably trying to communicate with someone. There would be a computer of some sort in the building and Raven undoubtedly knew how to get in contact with his friends. Kaela remembered how easily he had manipulated the moon base’s security. An aging outpost like this would pose no problems for Raven if he were really determined to get in touch.

She slammed her body against the door and it shuddered, but didn’t give. Circling the building, she identified the only other possible exit and waited in a position where she could see everything. He would eventually come out, she knew. She had no real desire to hasten their reunion and was content to wait. She didn’t even mind if he did manage to contact his friends. There was little they could do to help now that Raven was in Atheus’ hands. Or would be, Kaela amended, once she brought Raven to Atheus.

Minutes passed and a siren wailed in the air behind Kaela. Six police cars pulled up around the building. Twelve officers leapt out with stunguns ready as they circled. She approached the person who appeared to be in charge and attempted to explain the situation, but he ignored her and ordered the police to surround the area.

“Dangerous, armed suspect in building,” the police officer said. “Hostages suspected.”

“He’s not armed,” Kaela said. “And there aren’t any hostages.”

The officer gave her a condescending glance. “Look, lady, we’re the professionals here. Why don’t you go back to whatever you were doing and leave this to us, okay?”

Kaela imagined punching the man in the face, knocking his teeth in and bloodying his nose. She didn’t. Instead, she pulled out her United Western World ID and showed it to him. He went pale and started apologizing. It was not as satisfying as punching him, but it had fewer ramifications.

Kaela approached the door to the building, impatiently waving at the police officers all around her to back off. From the way they were carrying their stunguns, they were more likely to hit each other than Raven. She knocked loudly.

“Raven. You’re surrounded. Come out.”

One of the officers scoffed. They had probably been told that there was a highly dangerous killer inside, and that was true in some respects. But Kaela knew that Raven was also an intelligent person who wanted to avoid conflict. He wouldn’t put up a fight if it put other people at risk. Even if those other people were idiot police, she thought in annoyance as she once again told the officers to back off.

The door opened and Raven emerged. Blood stained his bare arms, bruises covered his face, and he held the doorway for support. The anger and hate Kaela had carefully cultivated vanished into concern and she wrapped an arm around his waist and helped him forward. His eyes were dilated and his breathing shallow. The assassins who kidnapped him must have drugged him, and the drug was still very much in effect.

“Open the car door,” Kaela ordered the nearest police. She helped Raven into the back seat—he passed out immediately—before taking the keys from the confused officer.

“I’m confiscating your car,” she told her. “You’ll get it back in a couple of days.”

She ignored the outrage that surrounded her. Atheus always warned her against flouting her authority, but he had given her higher permissions than the police for a reason. They had no choice but to accept her decisions and she managed to take a little delight in the fact that she got to steal one of their cars. Ever since the way the police had ignored the attack on her years ago, she had deeply despised them. Stealing a car wasn’t much, but Atheus would punish her if she did anything else. She started the engine and looked around. Atheus would be waiting at the airport. She glanced at Raven through the rearview mirror. He was unconscious and lying across the back seat. She longed to stop and check on him, but Atheus would be able to get him to medical care faster than she could.