Avoidables 2 Read online

  ‘I couldn’t believe it when I heard you last night,’ he said. ‘It’s been so long since I heard your whiny voice that I had trouble realising it was you at first. But I could feel you.’

  He smiled at me and put his arm around me. It was a manly show of affection and for the first time in five years I felt a little bit close to someone.

  ‘I was just bloody annoyed when I heard your name,’ I replied, laughing when Deep pushed me.

  ‘Come on, let’s go and talk to Leon,’ he said, standing up and offering his hand. I took it and he pulled.

  ‘Purple,’ Hope called out.

  We turned back. She had her head to the side. Her slim body was toned, her black trousers and top hugging her figure. Her dark shoulder length hair fell to the side. The light in her eyes was bright and made us want to look into them.

  ‘Are you not going to introduce us to your handsome brother?’ The women giggled and I rolled my eyes.

  ‘This is Deep,’ I said.

  ‘Hi, Deep, it’s good to meet you. Purple thought you were dead.’

  Hope always had a way with words. My brother raised his eyebrows and turned to me. I shrugged and started walking towards Leon, who I could see in the distance. A moment later I could feel my brother walking by my side. I glanced at him. He was looking down at his feet, hiding his thoughts from me.

  Chapter Four

  ‘I was brought here against my will too, but now I stay because I want to.’

  The long-haired woman had a warm voice. She’d sat next to me. I’d been staring at her blonde friend from earlier as she chatted to Hope. That woman was very good looking for an Avoidable. She had a birthmark on one of her arms, but her body was amazing.

  ‘Who forced you here?’ I asked, my gaze still fixed on the blonde girl.

  ‘My brother.’

  I turned to her then. Her dark eyes looked black, but the dancing fire illuminated the deep brown. I recognised the shape of them.

  ‘Noland…?’

  She nodded and a small smile spread her plump lips. She was attractive but in a classic way. I turned my attention back to the blonde woman and watched as she fell all over Hope, laughing hard. Hope was a little more conservative, but was giggling away with her new friend. This was the first time in a long while that I was craving the attention of a female.

  ‘Is Hope your partner?’ the woman next to me asked.

  ‘Sorry, what’s your name?’ I remembered my manners and turned back to her again.

  ‘I’m Alia,’ she replied, holding out her hand. I took it gently and shook it. I’d never been offered such a dainty hand to shake before.

  ‘I’m Purple. No, Hope is my best friend.’

  She smiled again and looked over at the other women.

  ‘Layla is mine, she’s amazing.’ If only I looked like that.

  The afterthought was just a caress in my brain, but I heard it. I looked at Alia again. She was sincere and not jealous.

  ‘It looks like you’re all amazing,’ I said, gesturing around us. The atmosphere was raw as the huge fire roared in the middle of the camp. Avoidables milled around eating, talking and laughing. Deep was sitting on the other side of me. He had a pretty woman on his lap and was chuckling as she whispered in his ear.

  ‘Yes, it is an amazing place. No discrimination here, we’re all just the same.’

  She was still looking over at the other women, who were now talking to Noland and another man. My gaze wondered to the blonde again as she laid her hands on both men’s chest and winked. She was feisty and I liked that about her.

  ‘Of course, we’re not the same, we’re all so different, but we accept our differences. That’s why I stayed.’

  Alia stood and walked over to the girls without glancing back at me. She said something to them and the girls moved away from the men and stood in front of the fire. A drum beat came from somewhere and they started to move. Hope was clumsy as Layla tried to show her how to dance. I watched Layla thrashing around and wondered how I could get her alone.

  Deep patted my back as he got up to leave. He winked at me and nodded at the woman in his arms. I grinned and looked back at the dancing women. For some reason, my eyes landed on Alia. Her hips were swaying to the beat, her arms were flowing to the tune of the whistle instrument that had joined the drumming, and her hair flew out as she spun. Her body was curvy and like liquid as she moved. I couldn’t tear my gaze away, even though I wanted to look at the blonde and work out a way to get her in my bed.

  ‘They’re all gorgeous aren’t they?’ Noland’s deep voice interrupted my trance and I glanced over at him. It didn’t last though, my gaze went straight back to the blonde, but it didn’t stay on her, as I moved my eyes back to the dancing Alia.

  ‘Yes,’ I replied. There was no point in denying it.

  ‘I like Layla, the blonde,’ he said, raising his eyebrows in challenge as I looked at him again. ‘Are you a betting man?’

  I shook my head and looked at Layla. She looked easy going and fun. The type of woman who was ideal for me. Then my gaze found Alia. She was womanly and intense. Something I couldn’t handle.

  ‘Yes, I suppose I am,’ I said, holding out my hand. We didn’t need to lay down any terms. Whoever got Layla into bed would be the winner. There was no stake, other than pride.

  I made my way over to the women. Hope was smiling as she spun and saw me there. She lowered her eyebrows, but then raised them when she saw who I was looking at. She laughed as I tried not to look too serious.

  ‘Yay, Purple has come to dance with us. Oh and Noland!’ Layla cried, putting her arms around my neck and grinding herself on me. I’d not even been introduced to the pretty girl and yet already she was all over me. I wasn’t sure what I thought of that. Not much to be honest. Noland stood near Hope, glancing slyly sideways at her. She stopped dancing under his gaze and Noland grinned at me and then grabbed hold of Hope’s waist. He pulled her against him and started to whisper into her ear. He moved their hips slowly in rhythm to the beat. Hope had her casted arm on his chest. She seemed…

  ‘I like your ridges,’ Layla whispered in my ear. She ran a hand up my arm and I shuddered. She was tiny as she pressed herself against me and tried to get me to dance. But I stood still, unable to move to the music. I glanced back at Hope and saw that she was enjoying Noland just a little bit too much. I bent down, kissed Layla’s blonde hair and stepped away from her.

  ‘Get off her, she’s with someone,’ I growled, pulling Hope out of Noland’s arms.

  ‘Woah, Purple,’ Hope said, grabbing my arm as I went to raise it.

  ‘Hope, we need to get out of here,’ I said, glaring at the other warrior. He grinned as Layla came up and wrapped her arms around him.

  ‘Come on, let’s dance,’ she said, pulling Noland away from us. I shook my head as she started to rub herself against him.

  ‘Let’s go.’

  I turned to see Leon standing there with Deep. They’d come to step in. Hope put her cast through my arm and we followed the leaders out of the fire area.

  ‘Noland’s clever,’ I chuckled when Hope looked up at me.

  She shook her head but I saw the small frown before she looked away. We were walking towards a different tent.

  ‘We need to talk about the plan,’ Leon said as he lifted the entrance to the tent and gestured for us to go in.

  ‘Did you ask them?’ Hope said, going in and settling on a chair in the corner. The rest of us lowered ourselves to the floor. I’d only been here twenty-four hours, but weirdly, it felt like home.

  ‘Yes, we heard back from them this morning and this afternoon,’ Deep said, looking at me. I was surprised he’d passed up his opportunity to bed the woman he was with. He grinned at me. I must have forgotten to hide my thoughts.

  I didn’t, brother, I don’t need long.

  He winked at me and I had to duck my head so the others couldn’t see my smile. I coughed to cover up the laugh. When I looked up, they were all looking
at me. Deep’s eyes were glowing and his white teeth were showing in the candlelight. I shook my head and looked away.

  ‘Sorry,’ I said. I could offer no explanation. It felt good to be around my cheeky brother again.

  ‘I must confess, we’re a little confused,’ Leon said. ‘The first reply was that they didn’t care and would find a new juror. The second reply was slightly different.’

  I looked at Hope. She was looking at Leon. Her face said nothing but her thoughts were going into overdrive.

  I wonder if Jason had anything to do with that. Would he bother now he has his lovely fiancé? I’m not so sure anymore. I don’t think he could love me as much as he said or he’d be here himself. Instead my best friend had to come to rescue me and not my lover. If only I wasn’t…

  ‘Hope,’ I barked.

  They all looked at me again. I avoided Deep’s gaze and blinked at Hope.

  ‘Sorry, I was miles away. What was the second reply?’

  I wasn’t sure she understood my meaning, but the distraction took her away from her thoughts. When my gaze did meet my brother’s, he nodded once. He respected that there was something they didn’t need to know. I nodded back. Leon was still looking at Hope. He was debating what to tell us. His mouth opened. I felt my eyes grow wide as I heard his thought and the words came out of his mouth at the same time.

  ‘They’ve offered to give Sandor back in exchange for your freedom.’

  Episode Two

  Chapter Five

  Politics in the rebel camp were handled by everyone. Leon included them all when it came to their cause and, bit by bit, I was slowly getting to grips with what they were trying to do.

  ‘So the government have offered Sandor’s freedom in exchange for Hope and Purple. If I’m honest, I’m surprised. Especially since it was such a solid no at first.’

  Leon stood in the centre of the camp. There was a little stage to the right of the big bonfire. It was morning and everyone was gathered around, either sitting or standing.

  ‘Why are they so important to the government?’ called a woman from the crowd. ‘Why would they abandon the trial and the chance to make an example out of one of us? It just doesn’t make sense.’

  I looked for the owner of the voice and saw Alia standing with Noland. I couldn’t help it, I scowled. Hope nudged me and I looked down at her. She was scratching her arm where the cast started.

  ‘Do you know the answer?’ she whispered.

  I shook my head. The only thing I could think of was that the angels had got involved and wanted to rescue us.

  ‘I don’t know. We interrogated the prisoners last night, but they’re not sure either,’ Leon said.

  The crowd started to talk amongst themselves. The noise grew and I looked down at Hope again.

  ‘It might be him,’ I whispered. I was wary mentioning Jason, Hope’s soulmate. They’d been together for three months but Hope had just found out that he had a fiancé.

  ‘I think I might know,’ came a deep voice from the crowd. Noland glanced over at us as he walked up to the stage. Leon gestured him to stand beside him. My brother Deep was standing to the other side. Noland took the stage and turned to everyone.

  ‘Hope has a love interest,’ he said.

  People started to shake their heads and roll their eyes. ‘Wow, Noland, a woman that doesn’t want you, what’s your point,’ Layla yelled out.

  I felt the corners of my lips lift in spite of the sweat that had just sprouted from my skin.

  ‘He’s a Perfect.’

  Bloody hell.

  The noise around the camp rose and everyone turned towards us. Hope cringed so I pulled her to my side. I looked up at Deep and decided something fast. I grabbed Hope’s arm and pulled her to the stage. Leon opened his arms and stepped back in invitation. If I could say anything about their leader, he was incredibly diplomatic.

  ‘Explain,’ I said to Hope.

  She looked up at me. She’d been whinging for weeks now that no one ever told her what was going on and how she wanted to know everything. Now was her chance to prove how much she’d grown. I really hoped she’d get it right.

  ‘Yes, I did have a Perfect as my love interest,’ she started hesitantly. ‘Have you never wondered what it was like being with one of them?’

  ‘No, they’re horrible,’ Alia shouted.

  I glanced at the long-haired woman and she smiled at me. Her smile was sweet but didn’t fool me. After watching her dance last night, I could feel the feminine power radiating from her. This woman knew what she wanted and she was powerful enough to get it. I’d never seen anything like it. Hope was strong, but her immaturity was also quite evident. Alia, although the same age as us, went far deeper.

  ‘Well, I was curious, so I took a partner. It’s over now though. He has a fiancé.’ Hope shrugged.

  I was the only one that could see how her hand gripped the corner of the cast until her knuckles went white. I felt my stomach clench. I could feel my best friend’s energy shift as she said the words and I resisted the urge to wrap my arms around her.

  ‘Good!’ shouted Layla. ‘We don’t want anyone that mixes with them here.’

  ‘Layla, why are you here then?’ Leon stepped forward and looked down at the pretty blonde.

  I saw her throat move as she swallowed. Her confidence was skin deep but it was very flawless skin and just like yesterday, I couldn’t take my eyes away from her. Layla’s big eyes flicked away as Leon’s stare forced her to look down at the dirty ground. I wished I was standing next to her so that I could take hold of her hand.

  ‘I just stood and watched you moan. You say that Perfects are horrible, so WHAT IS OUR CAUSE?’ he screamed the last part of the sentence. His fists were clenched at his sides. Both men and women cringed and looked down. He was good. He lowered his voice again, but it was just as strong. ‘We are fighting because we want them to respect us. We want to live in harmony and have the same treatment. Yet you judge them!’

  I looked around. His words penetrated every single Avoidable standing there.

  ‘So I ask you again, what is our cause?’ Leon spoke softer now. He pointed at a man with see-through wings.

  ‘Peace,’ he declared.

  ‘Freedom,’ shouted another female.

  ‘Harmony,’ Alia muttered when the point of his finger landed on her.

  She’d said that the Perfects were horrible. She’d also told me that her brother had brought her here against her will. I wondered if she really did believe in their cause. Unfortunately, I couldn’t single out her thoughts as there were too many people. I had to block others thoughts out when there were more people around.

  ‘Yes! We may not do it the way Artie and his crew think is the best, but we got results this time didn’t we?’ He’d gestured to us when speaking about Artie. The mention of my mentor’s name didn’t bring up my usual defensiveness. My gut was talking to me, but I couldn’t hear it over the rebels’ cheers.

  ‘So, our new friends, we accept you for who you are,’ Leon said turning to us. Hope looked up at me. I ignored her and looked directly into the leader’s eyes. He was telling the truth.

  ‘Let them choose,’ Alia called.

  Leon looked at her and smiled.

  ‘We have another mind reader it would seem,’ he laughed, looking at Noland. Noland shook his head. I knew that Noland had the gift of seeing into a person’s soul. Did his sister have a gift too?

  ‘I agree,’ Deep called from behind me. I turned to see my brother grinning at me.

  Other Avoidables shouted their agreement. I glanced at Alia and saw she was still watching me. I looked away as Leon held up his hands and the camp went quiet.

  ‘Okay, rebels, those of you that think that the outsiders should choose if they go free in exchange for Sandor, please raise your hand.’

  Every one of them did, except Noland. Leon didn’t even look behind him to check what his second in commands were thinking.

  ‘We will give you t
oday to make your choice. You can tell us tonight after dinner.’ Leon nodded and stepped off stage.

  The meeting was over and people started to walk away. Deep walked by and clapped me on the back. Alia and Layla looked at us for a moment before going back to their day. We were left standing on our own. I put my hand on Hope’s shoulder and squeezed.

  ‘How is your arm, Hope?’ I pulled her to a nearby bench and we sat.

  ‘It’s not hurting anymore, in fact, this cast is really irritating me.’

  ‘I wonder if you’re able to heal a lot quicker,’ I said quietly.

  She nodded as she looked at me.

  ‘What are we going to do?’

  ‘Get that cast off,’ I said, going to stand up.

  ‘Wait, Purple, we need to talk about this.’ She put her hand on my thigh and I froze. Looking into her eyes I saw a strange light and an image of Jason came into my mind.

  ‘No, we need to have our own time to think. We can’t make this choice together, Hope.’ I took her hand away from my thigh and stood. ‘I felt your pain. Jason…’ I stopped speaking as her eyes filled. She blinked and looked at the wooden floor of the make shift stage.

  ‘I know my answer, Purple, now can we just get this cast off?’

  Chapter Six

  ‘We’ve decided that we need the trial so that we can get into the Perfect government,’ I announced later on that evening. ‘Hope and I want to live in harmony with the Upper Side as much as you do, so we propose that we stay your prisoners, but you let us go and testify for Sandor. We feel Sandor would want it this way, otherwise there was no point in the bombings in the first place.’ We were standing on the stage. The firelight illuminated us as I spoke.

  Avoidables started to clap and cheer. Leon slapped me on the back and nodded at Hope. It had been easy to make the choice. We believed in their cause as much as they did. After all, it was the same as ours. Leon had been right. Our loyalties were with Artie, but the rebels were a little more proactive at getting their voice heard. I’d been with Artie for five years and nothing like this had ever been achieved.