Page 31

MARA

N othing she said or did was going to keep me from storming that room. I whirled around and threw open the parlor door like I owned the place.

The room had been completely transformed.

Maps of the North, Telvia, and the UFA hung all over the walls.

Each one had red, green, and blue flags marking different locations across all three, as well as little symbols: triangles, circles, and X’s.

Parallel to the door, in the middle of the room, was a long wooden table with seating for twelve.

A free-standing white screen stood at the far end of the table, while a projector and a hologram box sat in the middle.

Everyone reacted by standing to my sudden intrusion—out of surprise or respect, I didn’t know.

And I was hyperaware of Edith standing right behind me.

My eyes landed on Krous first, across the table on the right-hand side, whose formal decorated military uniform and disapproving grimace was hard to miss.

Screw him .

Beside the general was Marissa. Gone were the satin dresses, replaced by an elegant black suit coat, white ruffled blouse, and exquisite black pencil skirt that came just below her knees.

Black leather stiletto heels and blonde hair settling in smooth, shiny waves across her shoulders completed her ensemble.

She had definitely risen to the occasion of being the North’s First in Command.

On the same side of the table, but to the left stood Giza.

A rich, dark complexion and cleanly trimmed goatee made him elegant, while well-groomed salt and pepper hair showed his older years.

He was also sporting his formal military uniform with medals and stars proudly proclaiming his achievements in the Dissenter army, as well as his rank as Sergeant General.

Sasha De’vor, President of the Free People of Telvia and leader of the rebellion, was beside him.

Unlike Marissa, I always knew Sasha to wear pantsuits, usually navy blue, with her hair in a neat braid that rested over her shoulder.

And, as always, a golden pin with the Dissenter emblem—a phoenix—resting over her heart.

Today was absolutely no different. Her aging eyes fell on me, but her face gave nothing away, because Sasha was a master of remaining calm and serene no matter the problem.

Wes was in the middle, flanked on either end by these individuals.

And his eyes darted up, meeting mine, with a grimace that told me he was worried.

Because across from him, closest to me, stood two individuals: a woman and a man.

Both wore the same black uniform—black cargos, black boots, black shirts, and coats.

Black.

And all I saw were their backs until the woman turned around. Her light brown eyes caught sight of me. Round face, soft features, long dark lashes, and brown mahogany-colored hair wrapped up in a messy bun on her head—it was like looking in a mirror twenty years from now.

“Mom?” I whispered, my chest tightening like a vice.

A warm smile crossed her pink lips shaped like Cupid’s bow. “Hello, Mara. I’ve waited a long time to meet you. We have a lot to talk about. ”

What. The. Hell.

“But how—” I couldn’t even finish. I was in complete shock. It was her . It was really her . “But…you’re supposed to be dead.”

Cunning. That’s how she looked. Cunning. As though she was plotting something and all the chips were landing right into place. “I’m sure many wished I was. But I think you’ll find me very much alive, as well as another ghost from your past.”

“What?”

The young man on her right—maybe twenty?

—glanced over his shoulder before turning around completely.

Glossy, sleek black hair framed eyes that were such a dark brown, they looked like obsidian.

A strong jaw, dimpled chin, and a face that sported a five o’ clock shadow made him look ruggedly handsome.

Full lips, straight and pointed nose, thick lashes and eyebrows, and tanned skin.

He was stunning, dark and mysterious, and for some reason… strangely familiar.

He faced me, and that nagging feeling that I knew him, that I’d seen this guy before, grew. “Who…who are you?”

An easy-going smile gave off a suave and sophisticated attitude. “It’s me, primita.”

Primita? Nobody had ever called me primita before. Nobody but… My jaw dropped. Oh. My. God. “No,” I uttered, the realization causing cold sensations to slide down my spine.

His smile grew bigger. “Yes, cousin. It’s me.”

“Javier?” His name rolled off my tongue as doubt and confusion and overwhelm wrapped their icy grips around my heart. “That’s not possible.”

A wrinkle formed between his brows, and his voice was deep and sweet and kind, just as I always remembered it. “Sí, primita. It’s true.”

“No.” I shook my head. “Javier died two years ago—”

He lifted his chin with knowing eyes. “My father, Luis de la Puente, died in the last civil war and my mother, Serena de la Cruz, died years later when I was young,” he said smoothly, cutting through my doubt like a hot knife through butter.

I froze, jaw slackening.

“Tío Raúl and Aunt Belinda raised me until I was initiated with Jacob. You were always being sent into the basement, but no one ever told me why or what happened. Pero yo sabía…I knew. It didn’t take a genius to figure out you were being mistreated.”

I couldn’t move a single muscle. Because there was no way this man could know all of this without being in the palace himself.

He ran his bottom lip between his teeth, and I thought I heard Edith purr behind me. If it weren’t for the fact that I was completely and utterly frozen in place, I would have turned around and smacked her.

Javier kept talking. “After Initiation, I was assigned beyond the wall to serve as a member of the REG at one of the reeducation camps. There was a riot. All the prisoners got out—”

I shook my head more forcefully. I didn’t understand. How could this actually be Javi? He’d been gone for two years ! “But you died .”

A knowing smile graced his handsome face. “No, Mara. I finally lived .”

My chest was aching. My stomach was twisting. I…I didn’t know how to feel about any of this. I placed my palm on my forehead. “Oh my god,” I whispered.

Javier took a step toward me.

“I’d stop right there, de la Puente,” Wes’s voice came out in warning, like the hiss of a snake before it strikes. “Another step toward her, and you’ll discover my personal brand of hospitality.”

Javier glanced back over his shoulder with a cocky grin. “Is that so?”

There was zero humor in Wes’s face. “You’re welcome to test it, but I rather you didn’t. I actually like the carpet in this room.”

Javi tipped his head back and laughed. “No eres tan simpático como tu hermano…you’re not as friendly as your brother,” he added, translating into English, “but I can appreciate bold honesty. ”

Chase. Javier knew Chase. Javier and Jacob were the same age and graduated from the Academy together. That placed Javier in the same class as Wes’s brother.

Wes scowled.

“ Javier ,” my mom scolded him with a sharp, whip-like crack of his name. “ Enough .”

Javi gave her a sideways glance, sporting that cocky grin, until he finally raised his hands up in mock surrender. “Lo que tú digas, General. Whatever you say.”

I covered my mouth as I gasped. Oh my god…this man really was Javier. It really was my cousin. Everything about him rang of exactly who I remembered him to be. Smooth, suave, witty, and confident. But how the hell was he alive?

“Would either of you,” Wes began, swinging the attention back to him, “like to tell me what the hell you’re doing in my house?”

***

WES

The look on Mara’s face tore me apart. Her eyes told me that grief and disbelief were at war within her. They spoke to me as they always had. And I wanted to hold her. To comfort her. To help her ride the waves of the turmoiled emotions within her.

I caught Edith’s eye and ticked my head, letting her know to bring Mara my way. There was no fucking way I was going to keep a table between us when I had two strangers in my house that I didn’t know if I could trust.

The woman proclaimed to be Nora Pierce, and Sasha appeared to accept the claim, as did my mother.

They both knew Nora from the original wars.

Until her identity could be confirmed, however, I wasn’t going to allow her a second with Mara alone.

The same for the asshole who I was moments away from throttling.

I didn’t like his attitude.

We were all standing at this point, them versus us, with nothing but a table as a barrier. Sasha eyed the woman, ever calm and serene. “Where have you been?”

“Hiding,” Nora answered. “Training. Preparing.”

Mara’s eyes remained transfixed on her mother and cousin as Edith guided her around the table. I tracked her. Followed her as she rounded the far end of the table, and finally came to stand at my side.

“When you, the North, and I fell into disagreement, Sasha, over the importance of rescuing my daughter, I left the Dissenters and sought to create my own rebellion. One that would focus on returning the UFA back to its former glory as a true republic.” Her eyes narrowed on President De’vor.

“Unlike you , I wasn’t opposed to tapping into natural allies already in the Presidential Palace.

” She looked at Mara. “Your Tía Serena and I were good friends, Mara. When your father took you, she promised me that she would keep you safe until I could get you back.”

Mara stiffened beside me, and her eyes grew wide with recognition and pain.

Fuck , I hated that this was happening to her.

I’d only just ripped her out of hell to now have her past trying to drag her under again.

And it wanted to…I could see it in her eyes.

See the pain and the anguish and the suffering clawing at her.

But Nora kept talking. She kept spewing out words that had to feel like shards of glass in Mara’s heart.

“When your aunt died, I didn’t know what happened.

I lost my only connection to you and what was happening in Telvia.

So I focused on growing my forces, on making us strong enough, so that I could come back for you. Today is that day.”

Mara’s body shifted back as though she wanted to run. I reached out my hand, taking hers in mine. She wasn’t alone in this. She needed to know that I was here for her. I’d always been there, and I would continue to be there no matter what the world threw in our way.

Nora shifted her attention to the rest of the room. “We’ve come to offer you an alliance. You’re fighting a war you cannot win, and you’re up against something that cannot be undone.”

“And how can you help us?” It was my mother, always ready to see how something could be used to her advantage.

Nora smiled, cleverness gleaming in her eyes. “Numbers. I want to offer you soldiers.”

“And what soldiers are those, Nora?” It was Sasha this time. The history between them was bubbling.

“The ones in the army I’ve been building over the past seventeen years,” she shot back, never skipping a beat.

“Our organization is the Lotus Libertarians, founded by Serena de la Puente and myself after I left the Dissenters. Javier de la Puente is one of my lieutenants. He joined my forces roughly two years ago.”

In-fucking-credible.

Nora set her gaze back on the room at large.

“You need our help. Raúl’s forces are growing too fast, and with NIT-V2 activated, his army only expands as yours dwindles.

We are 5,000 strong. I know that seems like nothing compared to the Telvian army, but my soldiers are trained and ready to fight. We can help you.”

I frowned. As much as the thought of having these two strangers here bothered me, Nora’s words made too much sense to ignore.

“Mr. President,” Krous spoke, calling my attention to him. “With their numbers, we can push back the need for a draft—”

“We should discuss this privately , General,” my mother said. “Our guests don’t need to be privy to our military strategies and discussions.”

Krous blanched, and then nodded. “Of course, First Commander.”

Sasha spoke, taking the hint from Mother. “Nora, we will need time to discuss your proposal—”

“If it helps,” Javier cut in, “tenemos una idea de cómo parar a mi tío.”

Silence. What the fuck did he say?

“Ahem…perhaps try English, Lieutenant,” Nora said softly at his side.

He cocked a brow and smirked. “We know how to stop my uncle. We have a plan, but we’ve got a little over a month, or all bets are off.”

Fuck.