Lia’s heart began to pound as her eyes darted around the room, taking in the scene unraveling before her. Most of her visions were difficult to interpret or she could never work out the importance of them, but this? It was as if time was repeating itself, like she was stuck in an endless loop with the most unsettling sense of déjà vu falling over her. I shouldn’t be here. She wasn’t present in her vision, but she let Cade drag her out here. It was all wrong.
The lights, the guns, the shouting, and the stomping of heavy boots amplified on the wooden floors. She slid down the wall, curling into a ball, willing herself to calm down, to breathe. It was too overwhelming. Blood still rushing through her ears, she looked up to see at least ten enforcers standing in the room, guns pointed in every direction. At last, the noise died down.
One man stepped forward, decked out in protective gear. Upon looking at the letters sewn into his jacket, she recognized the man instantly.
HEWN
Despite his agedness and graying hairs on the sides of his face, he had a commanding air about him and she knew that he must’ve been the leader, especially when he spoke. Low yet clear, he said, “Head Councilman Alden, step forward.”
For a few seconds nothing happened, but then, slowly, Drake stepped forward, hands in the air.
“Are you Drake Alden?” the enforcer asked.
“That’s right,” the Head Councilman replied, inclining his head.
The enforcer lowered his gun a fraction and spoke aloud for all to hear.
“Two nights ago, a Dome trading vehicle was ambushed resulting in the murder of four officials. We have reason to believe that the culprits belong to this community after reviewing body cam footage clearly showing your family crest on a navy blue jacket.” He tapped on some sort of bracelet on his wrist which promptly projected a blurry image of the Alden crest.
Three trees, a wolf’s head engraved on the middle one. Blocking out her wonder at the sight of an image coming out of the man’s wrist, Lia whipped her head towards Cassian in shock. Murder.
She knew that Cade‘s father and brother had never been up to any good but she would have never guessed that they were killing people now. She even had trouble believing it until she saw the look of sheer terror on Cassian’s face. Lia didn’t like the guy by any standard but her heart squeezed a little at the thought of what was going to happen to him. He was so young. But there was no coming back from this. Then her eyes found Cade’s. He was staring at her too with a look that she couldn’t quite decipher.
Not fear, not anger. Maybe…regret? But why? He didn’t do anything. Before she had a chance to figure it out, the same enforcer spoke again.
“Two of the three males caught on tape have been apprehended and will be tried for aggravated robbery. The other, for the murder of the four officials that were in the vehicle. If you are responsible or know who is, speak now. Your co-operation would be appreciated.” His words were robotic as if they had been rehearsed and repeated many times.
“Tried? You mean slaughtered!” Drake snarled, evidently becoming fearful for his son who stood in the corner shaking.
“We have been authorized to use lethal force should you not co-operate. If you are responsible or know who is, speak now,” Hewn reiterated.
Cassian still hadn’t stepped forward and Lia’s apprehension grew. Her vision hadn’t gone like this. They should have arrested him already.
Drake took a step closer to the enforcer, outraged. “You come to my home thinking you can just take my…”
All of a sudden, Drake was on the floor with a thick boot pressing into his back, a gun pointed at his head, and an angry red mark on the side of his face from where he had been struck.
“Dad!”
As Cassian cried out Lia felt numbness seeping into her. She’d never liked Cade‘s brother, for obvious reasons, but seeing him cry out for his father, she tried and failed to muster up any sympathy in the moment. Not any more. He may be young but his actions had consequences. He needed to face them.
“For the last time! We have been authorized to use lethal force should you not cooperate! Now, if you are responsible, or know who is, speak!”
“It was me,” she heard quietly from the other side of the room. Lia breathed out a sigh of relief, glad for this to be over, and instantly felt guilty for it. She shouldn’t take relief in the fact that Cade would lose his only brother, even if she wasn’t fond of him. Suddenly a sense of unease started to crawl over her spine as she looked at the corner of the room, expecting to see Cassian being advanced on. No one made a move towards him but the sight before her sent her heart to her feet.
It wasn’t Cassian who had spoken.
It was Cade.
Cade
“Cade?”
Cade turned his head to find Lia staring at him, eyebrows furrowed in bewilderment.
He repeated himself, louder this time. “My name is Cade Alden. It was me.” His eyes found his brother who simply stared at him in shock.
“Cade Alden, you are under arrest for the murder of four trading officials…” the enforcer continued, while another was already hauling Cade to the center of the room.
“Cade!” Lia shouted trying to get his attention, but his eyes stayed on Cassian. He was frozen.
“You will be transported to the Dome where you will…”
Cade wasn’t listening anymore. He already knew his fate. For those unlucky enough to reside on the outside, all crimes against the Dome were punishable by death under the Prima Act. Tuning them out, he finally turned his eyes back to his best friend as his arms were twisted behind his back painfully, cuffs roughly slapped onto his wrists.
“He didn’t do it! He’s lying!” she screeched, her panic growing, eyes widening. When none of the enforcers acted as if they’d even heard her, she whirled on his brother. “Cassian, tell them!” she demanded. But Cassian just opened his mouth only to close it again.
Cade didn’t blame his brother. He didn’t expect him to scream from the rooftops that he was a murderer.
“Lia.” He tried to get her attention while her eyes darted frantically around the room, looking for someone to do something. “Lia!”
Even his father’s face was impassive. Not in the slightest bit ruffled at the prospect of his own son being put to death. Cade absently noted how all of the fight that his father held for Cassian had quickly dissipated when it was his life hanging in the balance. He barely even met Cade’s eyes.
“Lia!” he called out, finally catching her gaze.
Feeling a tug at his arms, he allowed the two enforcers holding him to walk him backward while he spoke to Lia in low tones as she followed them out the door. “I’m sorry. I had to.”
“Cade, don’t!” She was shaking her head vehemently. “He’s old enough to know better, he killed people!” she whisper-shouted.
“He didn’t mean to, you know he didn’t. You saw him, he was practically pissing himself in there.”
Lia was shaking as she started mumbling to herself. “I shouldn’t have told you. I should never have told you, this is all my fault…”
“Stop that!” he hissed, drawing her from her spiraling. Lowering his voice he tried again. “Please, talk to him.” If this wasn’t enough of a wake-up call, Cade only hoped that Lia could be the one to steer him away from his father. He obviously couldn’t. “Do whatever you have to do, but get these stupid ideas out of his head. Don’t let this be for nothing.”
“Don’t say that.” Tears spilling over, she begged, “Cade, please…”
The head enforcer opened the door of the vehicle waiting outside with the driver already in the front seat. The enforcer behind him pushed Cade’s head down so that he could climb in. Lia ran up to the window of the armored truck the second the door shut.
Cade leaned forward through the small space as far as he could to press a gentle kiss to her forehead while her shoulders shook.
“Please, don’t let my father get him killed,” he told her firmly. He wished he could’ve heard her say something, anything at all, but as he leaned back into the vehicle, the engine revved and with a jolt backward, they began to move.
Cade watched his childhood home in the rear window as it grew smaller and smaller. His brother, father, and other councilmen were now standing outside, watching him. It was the picture of a grim farewell. Just before they broke through the tree line, he looked through squinted eyes to see Lia march back towards the lodge, wind up a fist, and send it flying into Cassian’s jaw. She looked like she might leave it there before turning back to him and throwing a knee into his gut. Drake quickly moved to stand between Lia and Cassian, snarling in her face. Unfazed, Lia hissed something back before spinning on her heel and leaving the compound.
Cade thought that he must have lost it because, despite the circumstances, he let out a low laugh.
He was in deep shit.
