Page 1 of Kings & Carnage

PartOne

Chapter1

Willa

Iwas floating on a dark sea. The tide flowed gently under me, lapping at the shore of a distant beach. There was no moon, no stars. Just the dark sky overhead blending into the black fathomless waters.

And then, a crash.

Metal on metal.

I tried to right myself, hoping to tread water while I looked for the origin of the sound, but my body was paralyzed. I was frozen, a prisoner of the water that held me captive in its dark embrace.

The sound grew louder, accompanied by the guttural growls of an unseen monster.

Panic clawed at my insides. Where was this dark place? Why couldn't I escape? Why couldn't I see anything? I tried to flail my limbs to no avail, attempting to force my eyes open as the sounds in the distance grew more recognizable as shouting.

Someone — or something — was with me in the great sea.

And then, little by little, a sliver of light appeared.

I wasn't floating after all. I wasn't even in the water. I was lying down on some kind of bed.

My relief at being able to open my eyes was short-lived. The light was piercing, its brightness like a power drill in my brain, and I closed my eyes quickly against the pain before attempting to open them again.

"She's waking up," a woman said from the other side of my closed eyelids.

"What's taking security so long?" another voice — this time a man — said.

"I don't know, but keep him out of here," the woman said.

I tried again, forcing my eyes open against the pain shrieking in my brain, and was blinded by fluorescent lighting shining down from a white ceiling.

"Willa? You're okay,” the woman said. “You’re in the hospital, but you’re okay."

I blinked again and she came into focus above me, a middle-aged woman with brown hair and creases around her comforting blue eyes.

"What's happening?" I asked.

The commotion in the background was getting louder, a deep voice angry and insistent.

Animalistic.

And now that I was awake, I knew that voice.

I knew it in my blood. In my bones.

Neo.

Then I remembered: leaving the island with Oscar, Rock, and Neo. Driving with Rock to meet my mom, to tell her the truth about Roberto.

I remembered something else too. Gurneys being rolled past me in a long white hall, blood seeping through the clothes of the unconscious men on them.

My men.

I tried to sit up and winced at the pain that shot through my sternum. It was so powerful it took my breath away and I sucked in air as I fell back onto the pillow.

"The airbags in the car and your seat belt saved your life," the woman (doctor? nurse? I didn’t know) said. "But you got pretty bruised up."

---