Sunset Rising

“Why not?”

“She said it hadn’t occurred to him that you would hide down here.”

“So his own prejudices are preventing him from making good decisions again.”

I gave him a curious look. I wasn’t sure I was following.

“Holt would never be caught dead down here, and he thinks I’m every bit as prejudiced as he is. See, I told you he’d keep repeating his mistakes. At least it gives us a bit more time.” He gave me a weak smile. We both knew that eventually we would be caught and killed.

“Then let’s use the time we have left. Did you think about what I asked you? About teaching the miners how to defend themselves?”

“You’re asking me to do the impossible. First of all, Reyes is never going to trust me, so his friends never will either. Second, there is no place away from the eyes of the guards to teach them. Third, it took me years to learn martial arts, and I have maybe a few days at best before I’m caught.”

“So now I know why your family still hasn’t won against the Holts,” I said, almost to myself.

Jack gave me a blank stare.

“You talk yourself out of every good plan. Sometimes you just need a starting point.” I found it frustrating to want to do something to help my own people, but being told I couldn’t. If Jack didn’t want to help, I would find another way. “Never mind. Let’s go to di

“Su

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” I didn’t need him to convince me my plan was a bad idea. I had already made up my mind. If people saw me as a hero, then I needed to live up to the title. I wanted my death at the hands of the president to at least inspire change.

At the risk of missing di

“Su

“What is it?” I knew something bad had happened to my father.

“They took him. I tried to intervene, but there was nothing I could do.”

“They took him?” I repeated stupidly. I’d seen her form the words and I’d heard them, but my brain refused to accept the information.

“I’m so sorry. I wish I could have done something.”

“Are there still Domers down here?” Jack asked.

“No. They left with her father.”

I turned on Jack. “Where did they take him? You of all people would know where they would take him. Tell me!”

“Su

“Tell me!” I yelled.

But he didn’t tell me. He just looked at me with a defeated expression, and I wasn’t ready to be defeated. In only a few months my entire life had been shattered beyond recognition. The only anchor I’d had left in my life was my dad still living in our family home where I grew up. He couldn’t be gone.

“Tell me!” I yelled again.

But he just shook his head, and my anger flared. I was sure he knew where they took him, and I would do anything to get that information out of him. I pummelled my fists against his chest, but he grabbed my wrists, preventing me from doing much damage.

“Su

I didn’t want to hear his lies. “You tell me!”

“I’m going to take her home,” he said to Bron over my head.

“This is my home! And I’m not going anywhere with you!”

I tried to break away from his hold on my wrists, but he pulled me down the hall with him. I wasn’t ready to leave my home yet. I needed to see for myself that Dad wasn’t in there. Maybe Bron had made a mistake. I pulled against his hold, but he just tightened his grip.

“Let me go! I need to go back and see. Maybe he’s still in bed, and Bron just didn’t see him,” I sobbed.

Jack pulled me to him by my wrists and looked into my eyes. “He’s gone, Su

I didn’t want him to tell me that. I didn’t want to believe it. But somewhere deep down inside, I knew the truth. Bron said Domers took him. Domers didn’t come down here to kick people out of their homes. There was only one reason they would come for my father. Me.

I couldn’t have stopped the flood of tears that came pouring out even if I’d had the strength to try. I had been so naïve to trust Leisel. I thought she had been worth the risk of helping, and yet it had cost me far more than I ever could have imagined. Just thinking of her set every fibre of my being tingling with hatred, and it sapped the rest of my strength. I felt my legs give out from under me, and Jack let go of my wrists to catch me.

“I’m going to take you home.”

“No. I don’t want to go.”

“What the hell are you doing to her?” Reyes yelled from down the hall.

I lifted my head from Jack’s shoulder and looked up to see Reyes bearing down on us. He looked like he was ready to kill Jack. I pushed away from him, hoping my legs would hold me up. They did.

“Reyes, it’s not what it looks like.”

But Reyes didn’t listen. He headed straight for Jack. “I told you not to touch her,” he ground out between clenched teeth. He pushed Jack hard, making him back up a few steps.

“He wasn’t touching me like that!”

Reyes was taking another run at him, and I put my hand on his arm and stopped him. I saw Jack getting ready to spring at him. I knew what damage Jack could do to Reyes, and I silently pleaded with him to leave Reyes alone. I saw Jack relax.

“Then what the hell was he doing?” Reyes looked at me for the first time. “You’re crying.” He gave Jack another accusatory glare.

“Can we go somewhere and talk?” I asked Reyes calmly.

He turned back to me and gave me a nod. I slipped my hand into his and walked down the hall with him. I hadn’t been alone with Reyes since the night I was drafted to work at the bachelor party, and I owed him so much.

“They took my father,” I said when we’d found a place to be alone.

“I heard. It’s always big news when Domers come into the Pit. You know I’m still here for you.”

He looked into my eyes and brushed away my tears. I looked back into his dark eyes. When he wasn’t angry or upset, he had kind and loving eyes. I always thought they were his best feature. He brought his lips to mine, and we kissed. The kiss was gentle at first, but then he became more aggressive. He backed me up against the wall, and his hands started searching under my t-shirt.

“Stop!” I said, breaking away from his lips.

“I don’t want to stop this time.” He kissed my neck while his hands continued their search despite my struggles. “What are you wearing?”

“God, Reyes, this is not the time!” I pushed hard against his arms, trying to free myself from him.

“It’s never the right time, Su

“For god’s sake, Reyes! I just found out that my father’s been taken into custody. I don’t know if he’s being tortured or already dead.” I was astonished by his complete lack of sympathy.

“And I might lose you.” Despair laced his voice.

Now I understood his desperation to make love to me, even though it wouldn’t help either one of us. In fact, it would just make things more difficult. Not only was I a felon on the run, I was legally married now. “Oh, Reyes,” I said softly. “I’m sorry I did this to you. I’m sorry we can’t be together.”

“We can still be together. You don’t have to live with that bourge.”

“But I don’t have anywhere else to go and neither does he.”

“Who cares if he has somewhere to go? Get rid of him, and I’ll move in with you.”

I tried to figure out what he was asking of me. Why was he bringing this up now, just when I was trying to deal with the news of my father? Didn’t Reyes know that my life was a mess? Why was he trying to complicate it even more?