Chapter 116 Chapter 116: A Fight With Kalen
Senna’s POV
We gorged on the food, sitting around in a circle. The fact that the sectors were staging an uprising gave us a renewed sense of hope. We’d become their heroes, their light in dark times. I was now more determined than ever to bring down the nobles and put an end to these games.
Junie sat close to me while she ate. She didn’t speak much. She just watched everyone with that careful, quiet attention children have when they realize that safety can disappear without warning.
Kalev sat opposite me, eating slowly. His gaze moved constantly between the cave entrance and the rest of us. Korrigan, Isolde and the other sector born ate freely. They smiled and laughed.
And then there was Kalen.
Kalen sat comfortably outside our circle. He hesitantly reached for food, like he was afraid that someone was going to tell him not to touch it. No one did though.
Talk turned quickly to the sectors once the food had settled into our stomachs.
“They’re not just watching,” Isolde said quietly at one point, fingers tracing the edge of the container she was holding. “They’re coordinating.”
Korrigan snorted. “Coordinating what? What can the sectors possibly do?”
“They can fight,” Kalev said. “They can build channels. Try to break the Capital’s control. There are a lot of people in the sector. More than in the capital.”
Junie shifted slightly closer to me.
Kalev continued, “They can act.”
Korrigan frowned. “Act how?”
“They can put pressure on the capital,” Kalev said simply. “The capital relies on the sectors for resources. They can break the supply chain.”
Isolde looked up at that.
“You mean a full blown rebellion,” she said.
The thought settled over us. I imagine all the people in the sectors, rallying. Organizing a way to take down the capital.
Kalev nodded. “I think you’re right,” he said. “I think there’s a rebellion brewing.”
Kalen laughed softly, leaning back on one hand. “They can try. But let’s be real. The capital will squash this rebellion before it even gets off the room.” His tone was derisive.
I set my food down, slowly. I’d had enough of Kalen. He didn’t get to join our conversation. And the fact that he thought he made my blood boil. His eyes met mine, still faintly amused.
“What?” he asked.
I held his gaze with a glare.
“You don’t get to weigh on this. I’m letting you stay. But you have no right to speak. You’ve been hunting flora wolves,” I said.
Everyone’s eyes went to Kalen. Korrigan stopped chewing. Isolde went still. Kalev’s gaze sharpened.
Kalen blinked once. Then his expression shifted.
“It’s not what you think…” he started.
“No?” I cut him off. “Then what it is? I know that you’ve been handing over children to Viktor’s guards,” I continued.
My voice didn’t rise. It didn’t need to.
Because once I started speaking, something inside me began to burn hotter than control could contain. I’d been trying to push down my anger. But I felt like I couldn’t contain it any longer. Kalen had a lot of audacity, sitting here with us, commenting on the sectors.
“You hunted them,” I said. “You hunted people. You hunted wolves.”
I hadn’t allowed myself to fully digest the enormity of what Kalen had done. Not until then. The thought of him handing over children to Viktor’s guards made me sick to my stomach. It was something I couldn’t even fathom.
All my pent up anger started filtering through me.
Kalen exhaled slowly.
“You don’t understand,” he said carefully.
“I understand enough,” I replied.
“No,” he said, leaning forward slightly now. “You don’t. None of you do.”
My hands curled into fists before I even realized it. He kept going anyway.
“We were starving,” he said. “What choice did I have? You of all people know what it’s like in Sector 6, Senna. It’s not about ethics. It’s about survival.”
“That is not an excuse,” I said.
“It’s reality,” he snapped back, louder now.
The cave suddenly felt tighter, smaller.
“You made a choice,” I said.
He furrowed his brows.
“I chose to survive,” he said, his tone blatantly dismissive now.
My anger rose. There was nothing I could do to quell it at this point.
He shouldn’t be here, in this cave, with us. Eating our food like he was one of us. I’d been a fool to give him my word. All the others were right. We should have killed him. The moment we got Junie back, I should have shot an arrow right through his back.
Word or not, he didn’t deserve to live.
Somewhere above us, dust loosened. I felt it that time. The island was reacting to my emotions. I was full of rage and the island felt it. The dust loosened some more. I glanced up. A large rock emerged from the side of the cave wall. It was positioned right over his head.
“It’s not as black and white as it seems, Senna,” Kalen sneered.
“You killed children,” I replied. Verity stood up. Her ears pressed back and her fur bristled. “That’s about as black and white as it gets.”
“You’re no better than me, Senna,” Kalen snapped. “Need I remind you that you just killed a child too? That young boy, Jett? With that wind storm YOU created.”
That was all it took. Something inside of me snapped. I gave the island the permission it needed. I was seeing red. I wanted Kalen dead.
The rock above him shifted. It made a loud grumbling sound. All eyes looked up the cave wall. Something deep in the cave groaned. The rock above Kalen shifted. I saw it happen in fragments. First dust. Then a fracture line widened across the cave wall.
Kalen looked up too late. The massive rock broke free. Korrigan shouted something. Isolde pulled Junie back instinctively.
Kalev moved toward me, but the rock was already falling, straight toward Kalen.
Straight to where I wanted it to. The island had felt my intention and had reacted. I didn’t even have to kill Kalen. The island was going to do that for me.