Alex and Azalea: Prequel to the Underground Series Read online

  “Are you even supposed to be telling us this?” John’s girlfriend, Penelope, said from beneath the crook of her boyfriend’s arm. “Isn’t this top-secret castle business?”

  Running a frustrated hand through his hair, Alex shrugged. “Probably. See? I’m just not king material. Here I am, giving the secrets of the Underground away without a thought.”

  John and Penelope had been bound to each other for the past two years. They were the annoyingly perfect couple that everyone both envied and adored. John was a Quinn Warrior, making it through the Warrior Test and Trial with nothing short of ease. And Penelope worked out of their home, using her Power to create beautiful perfume bottoms and vases made from the glass she could mold and manipulate.

  In fact, most of Alex’s friends had become Warriors. John, Quay, Atticus, Jakob, Kathleen, Anthony. Alex hadn’t taken the Test. He didn’t want to be a Warrior. He didn’t want to fight the Atrums. It just didn’t appeal to him in the slightest. Surprisingly enough, though, he was a good physical fighter. He had to be. The Power of Music wasn’t exactly that intimidating. Or useful. At least, not in the sense of an actual battle.

  “Speaking of the secrets of the Underground,” Atticus said, brushing his golden-brown hair out of his eyes. “We’re supposed to meet down on the training grounds in fifteen minutes. Dodge has something to tell us, remember?”

  John sighed. “Right.” He turned to Alex. “Bet it’s about those damn Atrums moving in on our territory. I swear we should just banish them all to Alder Island. That’s where they belong anyway. Evil bastards.”

  Alex frowned. He and his friend didn’t ever see eye-to-eye on things. For instance, Alex didn’t see the issue with Atrums living outside of Alder Island. As long as they kept to themselves. Olympus sided with John on this, though. Another reason Alex would be a terrible king. He was too empathetic. Too peaceful.

  Quay stood, pulling her black braids up and out of her face. “Guess we better head that way then.”

  John, Atticus, and the rest of the Warriors left Arbor Lake looking like a deadly force dressed in their usual forest green uniforms. Penelope and Alex were the only non-Warriors of their group of friends. Alex liked John’s girlfriend well enough, but she was rather quiet when she didn’t have John to lean on. So, she and Alex parted ways right after the others left.

  Alex moseyed up and down the paths of the sleepy town, kicking stray acorns and pinecones. Since finishing school, he'd found himself bored more often than not. He could play his etherelle—a wooden musical instrument with three holes down the middle and eight strings. But even that seemed dull at the moment. Olympus blamed Alex’s novels on his steadily growing apathy.

  Outsider novels, to be precise. Alex had been searching through the giant castle library for something to entertain his restless mind and had come across a small section of purely Outsider literature. And he devoured the books like they were candy. Some of them were complete crap, but most of them were packed full of things he’d never even dreamt of. Airplanes and technology. Towering buildings made of stone and steel and glass. Cars and telephones. The Outside seemed like a place that teemed with life. Like nothing was ever still or quiet.

  Unconsciously, Alex traveled the path up to the waterfall boundary—the place where the Underground and the Outside met. He’d been visiting this spot more and more as the days went on. The more boring meetings he had to attend, the more hours he spent pacing back and forth before the waterfall.

  If he could only muster the courage to just do it. Just walk through the water. What was the worst thing that could happen? Alex’s fists clenched, and he glanced over at his tired little town. So quiet. So peaceful. Where nothing ever happens, he thought.

  Turning back to the waterfall, palms beginning to sweat, Alex took a steadying breath and stormed forward, crashing through the sheet of water. Then his world turned upside down. And he fell into oblivion.

  4

  Invasion

  Vyra Vaun sat in her room, tugging at the heads of her dolls until they popped off. Her mother thought she was too violent for a six-year-old. Vyra thought she was just fine. They were a family of Atrums. Why shouldn’t she be violent? Besides, the regular elves were just as bad. They’d forced Vyra’s family to move from their homes more than once. They’d killed her cousins and aunts and uncles and friends. Just because they were dark and different. Who said the regular elves were so special? Who decided they should rule the Underground while the Atrums lived in the shadows?

  She hated them. All of them. Especially the Warriors.

  “I’m getting worried, Vex,” Vyra heard her mother say from downstairs. “We shouldn’t have moved here. It’s too close to Arbor Falls. The Warriors—”

  “The Warriors are just a bunch of show-ponies," Vyra's father answered brusquely. "They don’t even do anything. They’re pathetic. Why are you afraid of them?”

  “I’m not afraid of—”

  “Then why are you worried?”

  “I just… Vyra has been acting out lately. I think she’s scared. Just last week she was drawing a picture of her friends with blood all over their clothes and Xs for eyes. She’s only six years old, Vex. That’s too young to be so dark and affected.”

  Vyra moved from her room to the top of the stairs, listening. If they didn't want her to eavesdrop, they should have kept her name out of their mouths.

  “Vyra has a big imagination,” Vex said distractedly. He was probably reading the Arbor Falls Newsleaf, Vyra thought.

  “Vex.”

  “I don’t want to hear it, Elizabeth,” Vyra’s father growled. “You sound like an elf.”

  “I am an elf.”

  “No. You’re an Atrum. Start acting like one.”

  Vyra silently agreed with her father, nodding to herself and rocking forward and back. Her mother was too weak. Too kind. Nothing like an Atrum should be. It was pathetic.

  Her mother went quiet. So quiet, in fact, that sounds from the outside seeped into the tree home. At first, Vyra couldn’t make out what was happening. It sounded like distant shouts and screaming, slowly building like rolling thunder.

  “Vex!” Vyra’s mother cried. “They’re here! The Warriors! I told you. I told you they would—”

  “Shut up,” he growled, dousing the lights. “Don’t make a sound. Go upstairs and stay with Vyra. Make sure she doesn’t speak.”

  Vyra moved from the top of the staircase back into her room, sweeping to the small window beside her bed. Twitching the thick black curtain aside, she peeked out. Warriors stormed the area, riding atop winged horses bigger and more terrifying than any unicorn. The elves wore armor of deep green dragon leather and carried sheaths of arrows on their backs.

  Atrum men, women, and children could be seen being pulled out of their homes, arrows pointed at them. If they tried to fight back, they were immediately shot. Vyra’s eyes went wide when she spotted her best friend, Ollie, wielding his knife and swiping at the Warriors. A blond Warrior with gray eyes turned, looking down at Ollie with disdain before putting an arrow through his temple.

  “Vyra!”

  Arms pulled her away from the view of the scene. Her mother placed a hand over her mouth, but Vyra wasn’t screaming or making any sound. She knew better than that. She knew the Warriors would come for her if she did.

  “We have to hide, sweetheart,” her mother whispered. “Go to the secret room. Hurry.”

  Vyra stood, glancing briefly at the window before skittering to the closet and pulling open the wooden slat behind her clothes. Her mother followed closely behind. And soon, her father was there too, sliding the secret door closed, bathing them in darkness.

  Vyra felt like a rodent hiding from a snake, shivering in the lightless room. Bangs and voices could be heard from downstairs. The Warriors had invaded their home.

  “Anything yet?” a deep voice said from inside Vyra’s room.

  “Nothing,” another answered. “Someone definitely lives here, though.”

>   “Atrums,” the first voice sang from right outside the closet. “Come out, come out, wherever you are. Don’t make us burn your home to the ground.”

  Vyra felt her mother tense up, and her father placed a warning hand on her arm.

  “They’re probably out torturing animals or something,” one of the voices said. “Let’s move on. There’s no one here.”

  Soon the sound of footsteps disappeared, and the little family let out the breath they’d been holding.

  If it were up to her, Vyra would have stormed out of the secret room and sat resolutely upon her bed, crossing her arms in defiance. She would have stared them down, daring them to shoot her like they’d shot Ollie. What had the Atrums done to the Warriors?

  Nothing.

  They just existed.

  That was the problem.

  5

  Girl in Blue

  Alex wasn’t sure what he was expecting to happen when he emerged on the other side of the waterfall, but running into the back of another person was definitely not even on the list of top ten possibilities.

  “Oi! Watch it, will you?” a voice exclaimed. “Don’t you know boundary etiquette?”

  Blinking up from the rock on which he was now sprawled, Alex squinted through the sunlight to get a good look at the guy who was yelling at him. He was tall and thin and pale and dark-haired with a head full of curls. When Alex brushed his own hair from his eyes, the young man's mouth gaped, his gaze fixing on Alex’s wrist.

  Oh, right, Alex thought. Royal Mark.

  He moved to hide the black outline of the rose set in his skin, but it was too late.

  “Damn,” the young man said through a breath. “You’re Alexander Oaken, aren’t you? The prince? Listen, man, I’m really sorry about how I—”

  Alex held up a hand to stop him as he climbed to his feet. “Don’t apologize. You were right. I shouldn’t have run into the back of you. Would you believe this was my first time out in the real world?”

  The young man snorted. “Never would’ve guessed.” He held out his hand. “I’m Wesley. Wesley King.”

  Alex shook Wesley’s hand. “Haven’t seen you around Arbor Falls. Are you from Rose Valley? Windy Meadows?”

  Moving across the rocks on the still lake towards the bank, Wesley shook his head. “Nope. Don’t live in the Underground anymore, actually. I live in Blarney with my mum. Some of the time that is. When I'm not passed out on the couch of a friend in Dublin or London or Edinburgh.”

  Alex felt his face lift in surprise. “You live in the Outside?”

  “Yep. Wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve always been more about the fast-paced life. Cars, lights, booze, excitement. Not the sleepy, predictable air of the Underground. No offense,” he added.

  “None taken.”

  “So, you said it was your first time in the Outside?” Wesley asked, a sly grin spreading across his face.

  “Yeah.”

  “Need a tour guide?”

  Alex chuckled. “Probably wouldn’t be the worst idea.”

  “Right. First things first. If you walk into town looking like an elf, people will probably stare at you pretty hard.”

  Reaching up to touch the pointed tip of his ear, Alex realized Wesley was right. He’d forgotten Outsiders looked different from elves. “How do I do that?”

  Wesley pulled a firm leaf from a nearby bush and knelt by the water’s edge, scooping up the liquid.

  “Drink this.”

  * * *

  Azalea hung the last of her clothes in the closet that looked like it had been made for a small child rather than a young adult. Their dorm was split into five separate rooms, each with its own bathroom (thank God) and a shared kitchen and living area.

  The room across the hall was Zariah’s, and she could be heard huffing and puffing and struggling. Azalea shoved her empty suitcase underneath her bed and traveled across the hall to stand in Zariah’s doorway.

  The poor girl had brought twice the amount of clothes she actually needed and was attempting to stuff them all into her closet. It was a battle she was apparently losing.

  Azalea tried to force back a chuckle. “Having trouble?”

  “These closets were made for someone who is three feet tall. Not big booty girls like me.”

  “Or perhaps they were made for twenty pieces of clothing rather than fifty.”

  Zariah blew out a stream of air. “Nah. I’ll pretend that’s not it.”

  Joe appeared in the doorway then. “You said you wanted to go to Blarney?” he asked. Azalea nodded. “You know it’s, like, a three-hour cab ride from here?”

  “Well, we don’t have to go today. I just thought—”

  “No, we totally should,” Joe said. “Three hours is nothing.”

  “We should go soon then,” Azalea said, glancing at her watch. “It’s already eleven.”

  Zariah pulled open the closet door she’d just forced shut. “Okay, I just have to find something to wear first.”

  * * *

  Alex followed Wesley out of the forest and into a black tunnel that supposedly led out of an old castle. After thirty seconds of walking, though, Alex’s mind began to create an elaborate scheme in which Wesley worked for the Atrums and was planning to kidnap and torture him. He decided he read too many books.

  Then he saw the light at the end of the tunnel and let out a relieved breath.

  “Do our Powers still work up here?” he asked.

  “Not as well as they do in the Underground. And it takes practice. The gravity is heavier here, so it’s more difficult. What’s your Power?”

  “Music,” Alex answered lamely. “I can play any instrument. It sort of has a hypnotizing effect too.”

  “Any instrument, huh?” Wesley said as they emerged from the tunnel and into the dilapidated castle. “Ever played guitar?”

  If Alex hadn’t been an avid reader of Outside literature, he wouldn’t have known what a guitar was. As it stood, though, he knew exactly what Wesley was talking about. But he’d never played one.

  “I’ve played an etherelle.”

  “Close enough. Okay, I know what we’re doing tonight.”

  “What?”

  Wesley turned to face Alex with hands perched on narrow hips. “Open mic night. And if there are as many chicks there as last time, we’ll see just how well your Power works in the Outside.”

  * * *

  Azalea, Zariah, Joe, and Shayn all chipped in for a cab to Blarney. Raina, the black and red-haired girl covered in tattoos said she already had plans in Dublin that night.

  “How does she already have plans?” Zariah muttered as they climbed into the cab. “We literally just got here.”

  Azalea shrugged. “Maybe she knows some people.”

  “Maybe she’s a vampire,” Shayn chimed in.

  Joe laughed from the front seat. “That’s totally it.”

  The cab ride didn’t feel like three hours. Living most of her life in West Texas, Azalea had never seen so much green. Where she came from, the plains were mostly made up of dry brown grass and yellow tumbleweeds. Ireland was the opposite of that. Rolling hills of emerald. And sheep. Everywhere.

  They stopped for lunch at a little pub the cabbie insisted was one of the best in Ireland. Azalea wondered if it was just because he wanted to order a pint. She hoped he was still good to drive after downing two of them.

  Following a meal of tuna melts and soup, they got back on the road and made it to Blarney Castle by four o’clock. The cabbie’s eyes turned green as they piled cash into his hand for the ride.

  “This is why I worked at that damn Mexican restaurant for a year,” Shayn said. “I’ll burn through it all by the end of the month.”

  “They have Mexican food restaurants in Philly?” Azalea asked in surprise.

  “Not good ones…”

  Ms. King hadn’t been lying about the view from the top of Blarney. The inside was interesting enough—crumbling stone stairs and ancient walls. But the top was th
e real beauty. Azalea moved to the edge and looked over, feeling the breeze run through her hair. A contented smile broke out across her face as she took in the green fairyland before her.

  She definitely wasn’t in Texas anymore.

  * * *

  Alex followed Wesley out of the castle, taking in his surroundings. A balloon of excitement inflated inside him. It was so different from the Underground. The trees were smaller, but that didn’t bother him. The people were brighter. He’d never liked to think of them as Outsiders. They were just people. And their books never referred to them as Outsiders.

  The people flooding the castle walked with stars in their eyes, holding up black boxes and looking through them.

  “What are those?” Alex muttered to Wesley.

  “Cameras. They take pictures of things.”

  “Like memory paper?”

  “Yeah, only much faster.”

  Alex grinned. He liked faster.

  “Did you want to look around here or come back to my place? My mum has been in New York for the week. She should be back by now,” Wesley said. “She’ll be making a feast. Then again, she always does. Her power is Cooking. Never seemed like much in the Underground. But I’ve definitely reaped the benefits.”

  He patted his nonexistent belly and Alex chuckled.

  “I am pretty hungry. A feast sounds…”

  Alex trailed off as he looked skyward, his eyes landing on a human girl leaning against the edge of the top of the castle. A gentle breeze blew her chestnut hair back and he could see how blue her eyes were from all the way on the ground. Electric blue. They matched the color of the dress she wore. A wistful smile danced on her lips.