Raven's Fall (World on Fire Book 2) Read online

  His lips had frozen, his cheeks felt like he could scrape them off, and his eyes as if they’d iced into his skull. Cloudy and dark one moment, the sun would peek through the clouds and threaten to blind him the next. It reflected off the snow and made it impossible to see until it went away once more.

  Dominick had a pair of sunglasses but hadn’t brought any for Haatim. The lesson, he’d informed Haatim a few hours earlier, was always prepare for anything.

  Right now, Haatim felt sure the lesson was never to trust Dominick.

  “How much farther?”

  “Two kilometers,” Dominick said. “It’s getting late, so this time, I mean it.”

  If Haatim could have run forward and punched Dominick, he would have. The problem was, he didn’t have enough energy.

  “I don’t think I can go any more,” Haatim said, stumbling down to his knees. His winter clothing hung heavy, and drenched in sweat now, it froze solid when the temperature dropped. It felt like he carried an extra kilo of body weight.

  “Sure you can,” Dominick said. “The alternatives are either stop here and build an igloo or die.”

  “You could carry me.”

  “This is about teaching you how to survive,” Dominick said. “If you can’t make it on your own, then it defeats the entire purpose.”

  “That’s why we form into cultures,” Haatim said. “So people can survive as groups.”

  “Your group is yourself for today. The only person you can ever count on is the same one that looks you in the mirror each and every morning. You need to test your limits and push past them. That’s what we’re doing. Trial by fire.”

  Haatim grumbled, “I don’t see any fire. Quite the opposite.”

  “Would you like me to add fire to this exercise?” Dominick asked.

  Haatim tried to imagine the myriad of terrible ways in which Dominick could torture him further using a torch.

  “No,” he said. “I’m fine.”

  “We’re almost back. I won’t push you more than you can go. Think about something else. Distract your mind and let your muscles do the work.”

  “What else is there to think about?”

  “How beautiful it is out here.”

  “It’s just hills, mountains, and trees,” Haatim said. “It stopped being beautiful hours ago.”

  “Think about a beach in Tahiti.”

  “Escapism has never been my thing,” Haatim said. “I can imagine the beach, sure, but I imagine it being just as cold as these stupid mountains.”

  “Then focus on Abigail,” Dominick said. “Tell me about her trial. They allowed you to observe today. Give me some clues about what’s going on.”

  “Frieda hasn’t told you?”

  “I’m not in the loop,” Dominick said. “She’s too busy.”

  He couldn’t imagine how it would help, but he’d try regardless. It couldn’t make things worse.

  “They talked for about an hour, and then I gave testimony,” Haatim said. “Told them about Raven’s Peak.”

  “Oh? What’d they think?”

  Haatim shrugged. “No clue. They aren’t exactly the most responsive crowd.”

  Dominick burst out laughing. “You can say that again,” he said. “It’s like talking to a brick wall, except the brick wall might get more done.”

  “The meeting didn’t end well, though,” Haatim said, and then told him about the video. “It didn’t look good.”

  Dominick fell quiet for a minute. They walked through the snow for a while, plodding along. The only sound came from Haatim’s heavy breathing as he tried to keep pace with Dominick.

  “Abigail has always been impulsive,” Dominick said. “She decides to do something, and then she does it before she can stop and realize how foolish her plan is. It’s one of the things that makes her so good at her job. She’s confident.”

  Haatim chuckled. “Boy, do I know that.”

  “And reckless. The Council has had it out for her for a long time. This is just the culmination of years of work from Aram. I just wish she hadn’t given them the impetus to actually do it.”

  They walked for a while longer, cresting another hill and climbing down into another valley. More trees, more hills. Haatim bit back his desperation, not sure how much farther his body could go. He’d never experienced so much exhaustion in his entire life or felt so broken.

  “I used to be jealous of her,” Dominick said.

  “Why?”

  “Arthur trained her.”

  “I’ve heard about him,” Haatim said. “But I don’t know much. He was Abigail’s mentor?”

  “That, and a lot more. It’s hard to explain just how influential he proved to the Council. I’m a normal guy. In better shape than most, tough, and I can handle my own. But Arthur, he was something else.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He would charge headlong into a building full of enemies and win. He always stood up for the right, even going toe to toe with Council members if they got out of line. Hunters never do that because they have the power to turn everything against us. If things hadn’t happened as they did, Arthur would have been on the Council in only a few more years.”

  “What happened?” Haatim asked. “No one will give me a straight answer.”

  Dominick stopped walking, frowning. He looked at Haatim. “Ever hear the expression that the men with the greatest strengths also have the greatest flaws?”

  Haatim shrugged. “Yeah, I suppose.”

  “Arthur lost it. He lost control. An incident happened, and he killed a lot of innocent people. To this day, I have no idea what happened or why he did it. I think he just … snapped.”

  “He murdered people?”

  “A lot of them,” Dominick said. “That’s why they locked him in that black-site prison. A lot of the Council wanted to have him executed instead. I bet you can guess which Council member pushed for that.”

  “My father,” Haatim said.

  “Bingo. But they couldn’t do it. You don’t murder Superman, even when he turns evil.”

  “But, he trained Abigail?”

  “He never trained anyone before her. Kept to himself and did his thing. Abigail proved different, and I always felt jealous that she got trained by the best.”

  “Did you and she ever …?”

  Dominick glanced over at him. “Date?”

  “Yeah,” Haatim said. “I’m sorry, that’s way too personal.”

  “Yes, it is,” Dominick said. “It’s fine, though. Abigail isn’t the dating type. Too independent. I guess that’s what makes her so appealing.”

  Haatim hesitated, realizing that Dominick hadn’t given him a straight answer. He knew better, however, than to push the issue.

  “What’s that?” Haatim pointed ahead. Hard to tell, but it looked like smoke.

  “I told you,” Dominick said. “We’re just about here. Top of this hill, and then we’re in the final stretch.”

  They crested the top of the next rise, and the hotel sat in the distance. Only a few hundred meters ahead now, tucked into the mountainside.

  Haatim stumbled forward. “Thank God.”

  “Only a little longer. Don’t press. Just focus on keeping up this same pace, and we’ll get there.”

  Haatim ignored him, practically running now. He could imagine the heat pouring over him when he stepped into the lobby. It would feel so good once he made it back to his room and could take a nice hot bath and order room service and …

  His foot slipped on a sheet of ice hidden under the snow. He fell onto his butt and rolled down the hill, bouncing painfully along the ground and getting snow inside his coat and clothing.

  He landed deep in a snowdrift on his back, staring up at the sky. Behind and above him, up the rise, Dominick laughed raucously.

  His entire body hurt, and he felt too exhausted even to stand. He tried to roll out of the snow, but it had packed tight, and he could barely move.

  Dominick appeared overtop him, blocking out
the sky and smiling.

  “You got yourself nice and stuck, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah,” Haatim said, reaching his hand up. “Can you help me out?”

  Dominick laughed. “Nope. I’ll see you back at the hotel.”

  Then he turned and set off walking. Haatim struggled to pull himself loose. More snow found its way into his clothes each time he shifted.

  “Trial by fire, Haatim,” Dominick called, disappearing from Haatim’s view toward the hotel. “Trial by fire.”

  ***

  It took another thirty minutes for Haatim to make it to the hotel and into the lobby, and by the time he did, his entire body ached and tingled. Never had he felt so cold or weak, and his entire body shook from the chill. He needed to get out of these clothes.

  Haatim tracked snow through to the elevator and pressed the button. With no Dominick in the lobby, just this once, he’d ride up. If ever a time had come when he needed to bend the rules and cut a corner, this was it.

  He stood there, rubbing his hands and blowing on them. The heat of the room enfolded him. Glorious. He couldn’t wait to warm his body with a nice, long bath.

  The elevator dinged, and the door slid open. Dominick stood there, leaning against the wall. He’d changed clothes and looked like he’d warmed up already.

  “No elevators,” Dominick said. “You know the rules.”

  Haatim groaned. “There have to be exceptions.”

  “No exceptions.” Dominick pointed toward the stairwell.

  “It’s five flights!”

  “Then, you’d better get a move on.”

  Haatim stared at him for a second, grumbled a few unmentionable words, and walked to the stairs. He trekked up slowly, putting one foot in front of the other, up each flight. His body screamed in agony, and when he finally made it to his room, he felt so exhausted that nausea rolled through him.

  By the bed, he peeled off his sodden clothes, letting them fall to the floor around him, and staggered to the restroom. Then he ran water into the tub and dipped himself in, letting out a long sigh.

  Haatim lay in the water for almost an hour, soaking his tired muscles and staring up at the ceiling. He couldn’t remember any time in his life that he’d ever gotten so beaten down physically.

  But, it had a good side, too. Being this tired released endorphins he wasn’t used to experiencing, and lying in the warm water gave him one of the most pleasant experiences he’d had in a long time.

  After an indeterminate amount of time, a knock sounded on the door. At some point, the sun had set, and the room had grown almost completely dark. Haatim grabbed a towel before checking through the peephole.

  Dominick. Of course.

  “One second,” Haatim called, rushing over and throwing on a shirt and shorts before opening the door.

  “Get warmer clothes on. We’re off to the city to have dinner. Five minutes, in the lobby.”

  Then he turned and headed down the hall before Haatim could reply. Quickly, he changed, putting on dry winter clothes. He felt refreshed from the bath, but at the same time, his body was weak, and he staggered everywhere.

  Also, however, he felt half-starved, and the idea of getting hot food sounded fantastic.

  When he made it to the lobby, Dominick waited for him. He looked chipper and excited as if they hadn’t just hiked for hours through knee-deep snow.

  “How do you feel?” he asked, as they headed outside.

  “Broken,” Haatim said. “My legs feel like I’m walking on rubber.”

  “You’ll sleep well tonight,” Dominick said.

  “I’m sure I will,” Haatim said.

  They climbed into Dominick’s sedan and headed out to the road. The twenty-minute drive, made longer by the packed snow on the roads, took them into late evening, and the city lights came on.

  They drove to an expensive restaurant near the center of town, the sort of fine dining establishment that Haatim had only been to a handful of times.

  “We’re eating here?”

  “It’s a special occasion,” Dominick said. “Come on.”

  They walked into the establishment. Haatim felt woefully underdressed for this, wearing jeans and a brown overcoat. Dominick went through the restaurant, nodding at the man behind the counter, and headed for a specific table.

  “If he asks,” Dominick said as they walked. “We work as technical consultants for a company called Central Development Agency.”

  “What?”

  “CDA. Remember it. And, we’ve been here for two weeks working on a Capital Expense project. We’re developing a web application for tracking employee timesheets. Got it?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Dominick ignored him, striding ahead just as a man in a business suit stood at a table in the center of the room. He had dark skin and a shaved head with a goatee and brown eyes. Dominick smiled, stepped forward, and embraced the man in an affectionate hug.

  “Hey, hun,” the man said, squeezing Dominick tight before letting him go. Dominick shifted to the side between the man and Haatim, holding up his hand toward Haatim and glancing back and forth at them.

  “Allow me to introduce you two,” Dominick said. “Marvin, this is Haatim. We work together. Haatim, this is Marvin. My husband.”

  ***

  It took Haatim a few seconds to regain his composure before he reached out and accepted Marvin’s extended hand. Neither man noticed his pause. Or, at least, they were gracious enough to pretend not to.

  “It’s a pleasure,” Haatim said.

  They took their seats at the table, Haatim on one side and Dominick on the other, beside his husband.

  “I thought you would make me wait all night,” Marvin said to Dominick. “I worried that you’d cancel on me.”

  “It’s been crazy at work,” Dominick said, picking up a bottle of wine from an ice bucket and filling his and Haatim’s glasses. “Several projects coming due all at once. We can hardly keep up with it, right?”

  Haatim, looking at his menu, took a second to realize Dominick sat staring at him. His eyebrow raised as he poured amber liquid into Haatim’s glass.

  “Oh yeah,” Haatim said. “Ridiculous. My boss works me to the bone.”

  Marvin laughed. He had a full laugh, disarming and pleasant, and Haatim found himself joining in.

  “The crazy life of a software developer. I don’t envy you guys.”

  “Marvin, here, is a doctor,” Dominick said. “So, he naturally distrusts computers.”

  “Not the computers,” Marvin said. “Just the people trying to use them. He said your name was Haatim, right?”

  “Yes,” Haatim said. “That’s me.”

  “Dominick has told me so much about you,” Marvin said. “It’s nice to put a face to the name.”

  Haatim looked over at Dominick in surprise. “He has?”

  “Yes.”

  “What sort of things?”

  “Only good things,” Dominick said, grinning. “I don’t tell him the whole truth.”

  Marvin laughed again, shaking his head. The waiter came by and took their orders. Haatim couldn’t help himself, he ordered the half-chicken, crab cakes, mussels, and a sharable portion of mashed potatoes just for himself. He also eyed the desserts, figuring he would still have an appetite after his meal.

  Once the waiter had disappeared, they engaged in pleasantries. Most of the time, Marvin spoke with Dominick, asking about work and talking about the crazy weather since he’d arrived in Lausanne, but occasionally, one of them would turn and address a question or comment to Haatim.

  He tried to follow the conversation as best he could, nodding and answering questions with the shortest and most mundane of answers he could. He knew nothing about writing software or tracking timesheets, but clearly, Dominick knew quite a bit.

  The wine made Haatim feel loose and relaxed, and when the food arrived, he ate as fast as he could. He cleaned up his entire plate. Marvin watched him with fascination.

&
nbsp; “And I thought only Dominick had such an appetite,” Marvin said. Haatim paused, slurping a mussel in one hand and holding a chunk of bread in the other. “Do all software developers eat like the two of you?”

  “Only the talented ones.” Dominick bit into his steak. He smirked and winked at Haatim.

  By the end of it, Haatim declined the dessert. Not because he wasn’t still hungry, but because it would have embarrassed him to eat so much food and then finish off an entire dessert alone. Dominick paid for the meal, they said their goodbyes, and then he ushered Haatim to the exit and out to the car.

  During the drive back, the exhaustion set in, and a heaviness fell over Haatim. He yawned, glad Dominick drove and not himself.

  “Your husband seems nice,” he said.

  Dominick nodded. “He is. We’ve been married four years, and I’m usually able to get positions closer to home. It’s not every day something crazy comes up like the trial of one of my closest friends.”

  “Seemed like it was supposed to be a date,” Haatim said.

  “It was,” Dominick said. “Marvin came to visit for the weekend and wanted to do something special.”

  “That’s weird.” Haatim shook his head.

  “What? That he wanted to see me?” Dominick asked with an amused smile.

  “No,” Haatim said. “That it’s the weekend. I forgot what day it was.”

  Dominick chuckled. “Hard to keep track when every day is the same.”

  “Why did you bring me?”

  “Backup,” Dominick said. “I hate lying to him, but there are some things I just can’t tell him. I’ve been so preoccupied with worrying about Abigail that I needed to add a distraction. He won’t ask quite as many questions when we have company. He heads back home tonight.”

  “He was okay with me coming along?”

  “I told him you were lonely, and I felt sorry for you. He was totally fine with it, and I have to say, you played your part perfectly.”

  “You told him about me?”

  “I told him you were a Java developer with an emphasis on full stack integration,” Dominick said. “The sort of thing no one understands outside of certain company. This way, he wouldn’t ask you any tough questions.”

  “How do you know so much about computers?”