Irreverent

  Irreverent

  Book Two of The Relevance Series

  © Sarah Addison-Fox 2019

  ISBN 978-0-9951188-3-6

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  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Afterword

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Mallory.

  No man’s land. Gallathia borderlands. Solar month December New Age 2129.

  Tears are stinging my eyes, mingling with the sweat trickling down my forehead. My skin feels like it’s cooking on my body, but I don’t stop running.

  I can’t trust him. I thought he was gentle and sweet, but he’s not. He’s lethal and volatile, and he’s exactly what I have been told all Irrelevants would be like. I’ve never seen anyone lose control like Cristan did. It terrifies me to think it takes so little for him to get so angry. I start to think about the times I’ve seen him this way. Is there a common factor? A reason that stirs him to violence? Why won’t he talk to me? He’s hiding so much, what if he’s lying about a lot of things? What if he brought me out here for a different reason?

  I stop running and bend over to catch my breath, sweat dripping onto the parched soil. My body is clammy with sweat and I feel as though I have more dust inside my mouth than sticking to my skin. I squint at the huts in the hazy distance. My heart is in my throat as I search for any sign of him.

  I don’t understand his behaviour. I’ve never been that angry about anything. Not even being cast out as Irrelevant. Maybe I should be angrier. Maybe if I punched something or kicked things, I’d not feel this crushing despair?

  I take a shaking breath and look around at the landscape. The sun is painful on my skin and my head is beginning to hurt again. I shouldn’t be out here in the unfiltered sunlight. I should have thought about what I was doing before I impulsively ran away, but I’d been driven here by fear and my fear has never been rational. I place my palms on my knees as I try to catch my breath and try to sort through all the emotions running through me.

  My mouth is growing drier and I’m beginning to see the recklessness of my actions. With a sigh I stand straight again. My legs feel shaky, my head too light. I’m not sure if it’s the strange pain relief I took, the sun, or my untamed emotions, but I feel myself swaying. I think I see something moving in the distance so I squint even more, but pain is blazing around my head. My equilibrium feels off. I take a step, but my knee buckles underneath me and I hit the dirt at an awkward angle.

  Moisture builds in my mouth and I have little warning when I start to vomit. I roll onto my side, hot dirt sticking to my face as I lose the contents of my stomach. I’m retching and beginning to shake when I think I hear a voice. I peer upwards and am both terrified and relieved to see Cristan frowning down at me.

  He drops to his knees and unscrews the water in his hands. “Damn it. You have sunstroke. Have a drink, then I need to get you out of the sun.”

  I do as he says and allow him to tilt the water so it reaches my dry lips. He only gives me a little before he snatches it away. I try to stand up but I’m too weak. I try to tell him and he seems to understand. He doesn’t ask for permission and I’m too tired to protest when he pushes my knees so they are steepled, then grabs my arm and tugs me forwards. He throws me over his shoulder so I’m dangling. I groan as the blood rushes to my face. His arm wraps around me and he hugs me close so I’m snug against him.

  I bounce around, my hair impeding my narrowing vision as he moves swiftly. I’m too disorientated, my head too painful to do anything but quietly weep at the mess I’m in. He doesn’t say anything but his breathing is laboured, and I have nothing worthwhile to say to him anyway. Stars start to flicker in my vision and my throat seems to be closing over.

  The last thing I’m conscious of before everything fades into black is his sweat-soaked shirt and a loud rumble that sounds like the roar of a dragon.

  * * *

  Cristan.

  I hear the four-wheel drive but I’m too focused on getting Mallory out of the sun to even look. I stumble into Kit’s hut and gently lay her down on the bed. Her skin is even redder and she’s hot to the touch. I didn’t think I could feel any worse than I already do, but my self-loathing is cranking up to unprecedented levels.

  It’s my fault. I never should have let things get this bad. I should have done better. Done more. But I’ve never been enough. Not for my family. Not for my little brother. Why should I be for her? Just because I want to change, doesn’t mean I can. I should have stopped hoping I could a long time ago.

  Losing control like I just did, confirms precisely what I always thought. I’m a danger to myself and everyone around me. The look on her face before she took off makes me hate myself even more. I can’t hide from what I am. I can’t pretend the good guy is always in control because he’s not. Hyde is always going to win some of the time. I should have been more careful. I should have known he’d pry himself loose at the worst possible time.

  I hear Trey first, then Kit’s curse as they come inside. Kit’s face is full of anger as she points at Mallory and drops a bag on the floor. “What the fecking hell did you do?”

  Trey looks even angrier than Kit as he shoves me away from the bed. “We only left you two alone for a few hours.”

  I can’t answer. I can’t justify my actions or lack thereof. They’re both staring at me like I’m lower than something that needs to be scraped off their boots. And that’s precisely how I feel. I want to crawl into a hole and die, but I can’t because even if I suck at it, I made Mallory a promise not to abandon her. A thought stabs me painfully. I promised Jed the same thing too. My chest tightens and I know there’s no way out of this.

  Kit is fussing around Mallory, but I can’t see what she’s doing now that Trey is blocking my vision. His lip is curling as he scans the hut I near destroyed. His eyes snap back to me and he shakes his head. “I don’t know who you were inside your Unit, but out here, we look out for the newbies.” His disgust is evident as he turns away and I catch a glimpse of what Kit is doing and am halfway relieved they are here.

  From her bag, she’s pulling out items, including cooling strips she’s placing under Mallory’s arms, that will help to bring her body temperature down. When she pulls out a needle, I can’t help but flinch. From the expertise she’s showing, hooking up a saline drip is something she’s done a lot of times before.

  My stomach is knotted as she flicks the bag of liquid and hooks it over her arm as a makeshift holder. Her eyes narrow as she looks at me. “She’s severely dehydrated, not to mention burnt to a crisp. A few more hours and she’d be in organ failure. You should have known better.”

  My fists clench at my sides. I should have known better. I do know better. Better than anyone.

  Trey rubs at his hairless chin and sends Kit a glance. “This complicates things.”

  From her crouched position on the floor, Kit’s face scrunches up. “Probably best to not move her until she wakes up.”

  My heart rate speeds as Trey motions outside. “Kit knows what she’s doing. Better than you at any rate. You better have a good reason for letting her get this bad.”

  I take a last look at Mallory before I step back outside into the harsh sunlight. I take two steps before I’m blindsided. I back away, reaching for my gun, but whoever is attacking is faster. I see a blur, a shadow, then hear Trey’s chuckle, before pain s
creams through my skull and I’m slamming into the dirt.

  I have enough time to roll away before I see a boot flying towards my mid-section. I make a grab for the blurry leg I see and yank hard. With a grunt and a hopping step, my attacker gets his footing and is in my face before I can blink. I feel the cold steel pressed against my temple, but it’s the sound of a knife unsheathing behind me that draws all the fight from my lungs.

  I peer up and squint as a figure crouches down to examine me. He’s a little older than me, probably older than Trey. He’s lean, dressed in authentic camo pants and shirt that are just holding together, his skin is even tanner than mine and his hair is cut close, almost like he’s military. His eyes look like they could cut through wire, and he’s armed to the teeth.

  My lip curls as I spit the words, “Get the hell away from me.”

  But he doesn’t move. He just stares down at me. His boot nudges my shoulder and a flickering of amusement crosses over his face. “Want to tell me what’s been going on out here?”

  I don’t answer his question. I ask my own. “Not really. Want to get your bloody gun out of my face?”

  His eyebrow raises but he slowly withdraws the gun. “It’s your gun, bro. Get up. We need to have a little chat.” I don’t know what he means by chat, but given the weapons strapped to him and the way he’s backing off with my gun in his hand like he’s expecting me to fly off the handle again, he’s not someone I should be messing with. I pull myself to my feet and rub at my jaw where he must have slugged me. A crooked grin appears on his face. “Sorry about braining you.”

  Something in my middle twists, but with this guy locked and loaded, I have no choice but to listen to what he has to say. He gestures to Trey’s hut and I follow carefully, leaving room to duck in case he tries to hit me again. Trey stays behind us, and I can feel my shoulder blades itching in preparation, but nothing happens and we make it inside the hut again.

  Sweat is clinging to me and my nerves are causing my body to flood with adrenaline. I’m primed to fight, but I also know to do so, will probably end me. Trey’s eyes flick around his hut and light on the mess Mallory made, and the tangled mess his sheets are in. A sly grin covers his face but he doesn’t say a word.

  The man’s eyebrow raises, then he looks over to where Trey is hovering by the door. “Trey, go watch the girls. And keep an ear out.”

  Trey slips out the door without a word, leaving me to believe this guy is his superior. If that’s even how it works out here. The man is eyeballing me with an intensity that makes me fight to hold his gaze. We stare each other down for a few seconds until my eyes are watering with the desire to blink, but he isn’t backing down and I get the feeling he won’t. He reminds me of Drew. They both exude a quiet confidence that demands respect, but I don’t know this guy and I don’t give respect out without it being earned. He holds my gaze, unblinking as he runs a hand over the hilt of a knife at his waist.

  “What they did to you can’t be undone by running. The sooner you learn that the sooner you figure out how to control yourself,” he says.

  I don’t breathe. I can’t. He’s staring at me, and his eyes are piercing me straight through. I’m too stunned to speak. How does this guy think he knows so much about me? I don’t react, but I need to say something. “What’s your name?”

  He smiles then and extends his hand. “Stone. Jackson Stone.”

  My jaw slackens, my body rigid as I stumble to process what’s happening. I recover as I grab his outstretched hand. “You look pretty good for a dead man.”

  He squeezes my hand and tugs me forward so we’re eye to eye. “Yeah. They covered that escape up. I was supposed to get the lethal injection.”

  I squeeze his hand a little harder. “You have someone working for you in the hospital?”

  His hand stays locked around mine and his other slaps down on my shoulder hard enough to make me flinch. “Think you can handle yourself out here?”

  I jerk away from him, anger starting to fizzle and pop as I wrench myself out of his grip. “What are you talking about?”

  Jackson shrugs. “You’ll find out.” He turns on his heel and stalks outside with such force I can hear his boots crunching the dirt beneath him.

  I exhale slowly and run a hand over my sweaty face. “Should have brought another gun,” I mutter to the empty room.

  Chapter 2

  Mallory.

  The dragon must be breathing fire on me because there is no other explanation for the scorching pain on my face and arms. My eyes feel like they are glued shut and my throat is so raw it hurts to breathe. I can feel pressure on my skin, but it’s not unpleasant.

  I gingerly open my eyes expecting to see Cristan, but it’s an angular feminine face with a shock of red hair and green eyes that greets me instead. Her face is contorted in a half sneer as she places more cooling gel on my arms and checks a line someone has inserted into my vein.

  My momentary horror is replaced by curiosity and shock when she grumbles under her breath. “You’d think someone who’d spent so much time in a hospital would know better.”

  My eyes flutter along with my heart. Is she talking about Cristan? She must be. My voice is a croaking rasp as I speak. “Is Cristan’s father a doctor?”

  Kit’s eyes widen as she stops putting gel on my skin. “Huh? I expected you to be out a few more hours. Cooling strips must be doing their thing.” I follow her gaze to find cooling strips lying on my neck and wedged under my arms, they stick to me as I try to move. A flickering of a smile curls her lips. “Must be tougher than you look, darlin’.” I try to sit up, but she shakes her head. “Just lie there and rehydrate.”

  I allow my head to flop down on the pillow and try again. “How do you know Cristan’s father is a doctor?”

  Her eyes narrow as she pulls a temperature stick out of a small bag on her lap. She waves it over my forehead and frowns at the result. She puts the stick aside and pulls out another instrument. She holds it in front of my eyes and a light burns into them. I blink rapidly as she leans over me. “I didn’t say he was the son of a doctor. Things might have been easier for him if he was… what the?” Kit leans back and frowns harder at me. “You been hitting the wacky backy?” I frown back at her, until she points to the ground where the medical bag lay, that Cristan had found. “You took some of the stuff in the tin?”

  I nod and wince at the annoyance on her face. “My head was hurting so bad, and it said pain relief.”

  A flash of amusement grows on her face before she shakes her head. “That was Trey’s idea of a joke. It’s THC.” I frown even harder as I try to unravel the riddles she’s speaking in. She slaps her head and grins at me. “Oh, hells bells, girl. Did he take it too? He’s paranoid enough without adding Trey’s homegrown into it.” She shakes her head. “And what about you? You take a nice trip?”

  I’m still trying to figure out what she means by a trip when a man enters the hut. He’s tall and strapping with intense eyes that seem to probe into me. I shrink back against the pillow as he stalks towards me. It’s hard to focus on what he’s saying with all the weaponry attached to him.

  His voice is a deep grumble when he introduces himself. “I’m Jackson.”

  My eyes flick to the door and I’m relieved to see Cristan stagger in. His jaw is working as he scans the hut, but his eyes pop a little wider as he sees me staring at him.

  His mouth parts like he wants to say something, but Kit has slunk across the room and is jabbing her finger into his broad chest. “You brainless twerp. You didn’t think that maybe getting her stoned wasn’t the smartest choice?”

  Cristan steps back, his eyes flashing annoyance. “She was already starting to exhibit symptoms of heat stroke, she had a killer headache, it was the only thing I could find, and I had no way of knowing how long you two would be gone.”

  His voice is getting louder and I cringe at the volume and his need to defend himself. The fierce-looking man beside me raises his hand and both Cristan and Kit
stop arguing. “I get why she took it, but your pupils are dilated. Why’d you take it too?”

  I answer in the hopes they’ll stop fighting. “He was testing it first. I took it when I was supposed to wait.”

  Jackson’s eyebrow raises and something resembling a smile flashes across his face. “Seems like you had some party here.”

  Heat blazes across my cheeks as Cristan growls and takes a step closer, but Jackson only chuckles and looks to Kit. “Trey’s plan finally worked, just not on you, eh?”

  Kit’s cheeks colour as she ignores Jackson and gestures at Cristan. “Your shirt is on inside out.”

  Cristan stares down at his shirt then grimaces. His eyes flick to me and looks as embarrassed as I feel. “Um…”

  Jackson snorts and looks down at me. “You paired up?”

  My entire body tenses and I shake my head so violently it hurts. When I look at him, Cristan seems even more irritated than I am. He glares at the man. “It’s not like that.”

  Jackson’s lips twitch into a smile but he seems unbothered. “But she is the reason you came out here, isn’t she?”

  My heart starts to thud in my chest as I wait for the answer I already knew to be true. Cristan doesn’t respond, just glares at Jackson. I swallow and try to draw myself further into the bed in a vain attempt to hide.

  Jackson lets out a breath and gives me what I hope is a kind smile. “Eh, I’m not one to judge.”

  I’m still puzzled when he steps away from the bed and sidesteps Cristan to talk to Kit. While Kit starts to tell him how I’m doing, they both exit the hut and Cristan takes a tentative step towards the bed.