Madly & the Jackal (5 page)

“And really there are only a couple of suitable places in that area.  If there was ever a time to take a chance and see if we can find her there, I think you’d also agree the time is now.”

“But how can we get in there?”  I asked.

“Well, now that all the bracelets are back in Atlas, you should be able to work some pretty powerful magic with your father.  If you and Jackson were invisible, I think I could get the guards to let me through the gates.  I’m sure they wouldn’t let me go past the outer ring, but that wouldn’t matter.  All we need is for them to open the gates long enough that you and Jackson could sneak in.”

“I won’t allow it!  It’s too dangerous,” my father said.

“But Hennessey, it’ll be much more effective for you to use your magic from here.  That way if they run into trouble, you can always go to the prison to intervene.”

“I don’t like it,” Daddy said.

“And what’s your plan for getting us out?  We’d have to make it through the gates again,” I asked casually, as if the decision had already been made.

“I could accidentally leave something behind.  Tell the guards to just bring it to me.  They’d still have to open the gates to return it, giving you two the opportunity to sneak Truly out.  Of course, you’d have to have enough magic to make her invisible, too.”

I looked from my father to Jackson and back again, wondering if they had any objections to the plan.  No one was saying much and, considering that I thought the idea was riddled with holes, I found that odd.

“So we’re just supposed to sneak in there and, what, look in every door and corner for Truly?  I mean, we have no idea where she might be,” I pointed out.

“Like Aaron said,” my father injected, “there are a couple areas that would make much more likely places to keep her.”

Daddy launched into a detailed explanation of the locations and routes to reach them, directing most of his information toward Jackson.  Although I knew he thought a lot of me, it was obvious he believed Jackson to be the most important component of the plan.  And he was right.  Jackson was unparalleled.  Not only was he highly trained, he was born to do this and we all knew it.  He was one of the most incredible Sentinels to ever grace the ranks.  And he was mine.

I couldn’t help but smile as I watched them interact.  An unwanted memory surfaced, the memory of Jackson telling me that Daddy had sent him away to finish training in an effort to keep him from me.  I gritted my teeth and pushed the aggravating thought to the back of my mind, telling myself it didn’t matter now anyway.  Daddy hadn’t known it then, but there was nothing on earth that could keep Jackson and me apart.  Despite what tradition or culture or the Warden Major or anyone else had to say, we were mates.  Against all odds, we were destined to be together.

Finally, after listening to all the planning and discussion, I felt the need to have some input. 

“Isn’t this all sort of pointless if we don’t know for sure we can make us invisible?”

Daddy and Aaron looked at each other, back to Jackson and then on to me. 

“You’re right, Madly.  Let’s see what we can do.”

“Wait,” I said, holding my hand out.  “Let me see if I can take care of me and Jackson. If I can do that without your help, then you can take care of Truly. It’ll be hard enough for you to exert that much magic over such a distance, so it’s probably better if you have to do it for only one person rather than two.”

Jackson’s lips twitched and I knew he was proud of my rational train of thought.  I wanted to grin impishly at him, but I didn’t.  I kept my expression carefully blank.

Closing my eyes, I cleared my mind and reached out to feel the water swirling around the city.  I drew in its power, its enchantment.  I let flow through me the magic of the Mer, of my home and of my heritage, until I felt it swell like a tidal wave.  My bracelet warmed against my skin and I concentrated as I had before on changing our appearance. 

Cloaking our features behind different ones was quite different than making something disappear altogether.  I strained until I felt the magic bend in my direction, until I could feel control of it slip easily into my grasp.  Nearly a minute later when I finally opened my eyes, it was to see that my father and Aaron were staring at me in stunned disbelief.

I looked toward Jackson.  I could still see him perfectly, but I knew that would be the case, just as we’d seen each other when I’d disguised us.  It was the look on my father’s face, however, that assured me I’d been successful.

Tentatively, he reached toward me with his hand, as if trying to place it against where he remembered my cheek being.  He didn’t miss it by much, his fingers first making contact with my temple.  He chuckled and I grinned, reaching up to place my hand on the back of his.

“By Neptune, it worked!” he exclaimed.

Aaron was smiling as well, albeit he looked much more thoughtful than pleased.  I wondered if he worried about the wisdom of the plan as much as I did.  I tried to put any reservations out of my mind.  After all, my father and Jackson were two of the most intelligent, competent Mer in all of Atlas.  If they were confident in the plan and their ability to pull it off, who was I to question it?  And yet, I found myself doing exactly that.  Although its form was nebulous, I felt as though I could see trouble on the horizon.  I just couldn’t make out exactly what it was.

Chalking it up to understandable paranoia, I pushed the niggle of fear far from my mind and concentrated on what the men were saying as they went over the details of the plan one more time.  When it seemed we were all clear on what had to happen, and every foreseeable variable had been accounted for and dealt with, my father walked across the room and stopped in front of the door, turning back toward us.

“If at any time it seems that things are going awry, just get out. It’s not worth the risk of getting caught,” Daddy warned.

I was so surprised by his statement, so hurt by it that I was mute for several seconds before I found my tongue.

“Daddy, how can you say that?  It’s Truly.”

He had the decency to look immediately contrite.  When he attempted to speak, he fumbled and mumbled incoherently.

“That’s not what I, uh, I meant, um, it’s just that, uh…”

Finally, he trailed off uncomfortably.  My paranoid antennae twitched at the scent of deception in the air.

“What is it you’re not telling me?”

My eyes narrowed on my father and, even though he couldn’t see me, I saw him look away as if he could actually feel my displeasure and suspicion.  He was visibly disconcerted.

“Nothing, sweetheart. It’s, um, nothing.”

I stepped forward until I was standing within inches of my father’s wide chest, looking up into his reddened face.

“Dad-dy,” I said warningly, letting the invisibility fade.

“Madly, don’t give me—”

“Tell me, Daddy.  I’m not leaving this room until you spill whatever it is that’s bothering you.”

When I watched my father’s lips clamp shut, a gesture I knew meant he was finished with the discussion whether I was or not, I turned my gaze to Aaron.

“Do you know what this is about, Mr. Saint?”

He slid his gaze to my father and then quickly away before he turned back to me and cleared his throat. 

“You must not know about—”

“Aaron!” my father warned.

“She needs to know what she’s dealing with, Hennessey.  She needs to know the risks, what’s at stake,” he argued defensively.  When my father huffed and stalked away, Aaron returned his gaze to me and continued.  “Madly, although whoever is behind this has provided proof that Truly is alive and well and unharmed, certain rules have been put into place with regard to rescue attempts.”

“Rules?  Like what?”

“Well, if anyone is caught in an attempt to free Truly, it summons Leviathan.”

I heard Jackson’s gasp mingle with my own.

CHAPTER FOUR

“Leviathan?” I whispered.

Aaron nodded solemnly.

“Does that mean…”

“Yes, Rumpel is one of the Lore that was freed.”

That would always be the case.  Where Leviathan was, Rumpel was never far behind.  The monster was solely under his command and had been ever since Lucifer had given Rumpel the creature as a gift for services rendered. 

A creation of Neptune, Leviathan had started out as a source of protection for Atlas.  Unfortunately, the creature was very susceptible to outside influence and could become particularly unruly.  It wasn’t hard for Lucifer to infect and corrupt it, turning it into a tool of evil that tortured the Mer for many years before Lucifer gifted it to Rumpel to use as he saw fit. 

Since that time, Leviathan had been mostly absent from Atlas.  Rumpel had reportedly chosen to use Leviathan on dry land.  It could shift into many different forms, wreaking havoc on Rumpel’s behalf.  Rumpel’s capture and subsequent imprisonment, however, had led to the inactivity of Leviathan.  For many years, all of Earth’s inhabitants had been safe from its carnage. 

Until now…

“How do you know?  Are you saying you’ve seen it before?”

I followed Aaron’s eyes to my father, who was staring morosely at his feet.

“What happened, Daddy?  Tell me.”

He looked ashen beneath his tan, almost green with upset and shame, which made me even more apprehensive.  I didn’t prompt him again, but simply waited until he began his story.

“When the alarms first went off to notify us of the breech, I got a note advising me that Truly had been captured from school and was being held as insurance.  I was under strict instructions not to try and find her and not to test the shields and get help.”

I remembered Jackson telling me that my father had been the one to break free just long enough to get word to Transport about what had happened.

“What happened?  Did they catch you on the way back in?”

“No, no they didn’t, but somehow they found out.  I’m still not sure how.  I’ve done everything I could since then to be cautious, to play my cards close to the vest and so far, we’ve been pretty safe.  But anyway, that day, within a few hours of my return, I got another note.”

He paused, a silence so long I thought he might not finish.  When he finally spoke, his voice was low and miserable.

“The note informed me that the lives lost were a consequence of my decision to ignore the rules and that next time there would only be one victim.”

I felt my heart pound in fear.  “Lives lost?  Who, Daddy?” 
Mom!  Where is she?  He hasn’t even mentioned her.

Emotion clogged my throat as the full weight of what we were about to attempt arose to choke me.  “Daddy, tell me what happened?”

I watched a far-away look creep over my father’s face as he remembered that day.  I knew it was obvious to all in the room that he was still greatly troubled by it.

“I was standing in the conservatory, looking out over the Square, just thinking, when I felt the first tremble.  It was so faint, I would’ve missed it had I not been so quiet, so introspective.   The shells in the chandeliers chattered the tiniest bit.  I saw some people on the street pause, as if they’d felt something but couldn’t be sure.  And then came the screaming.”

“Screaming?”

My father shook his head slowly, distractedly.

“I’ll never forget that sound.  It was as if a thousand tortured souls cried out at once, like a siren of death.”

“What was it?  Who were they?”

“It was Leviathan.  I was the only one who could hear it.”

“You?  Why you?”

My father’s eyes rose to meet mine, the haunting sadness in them enough to make my heart squeeze.

“Because I brought it on us.  I was the one who left to make contact with Transport.  I was the one who disobeyed.  I was the one who was responsible.”

“What did it do?  Did you see it?  I mean, what happened next?”

“Yes, I saw it.”  My father looked like he was about to become physically ill. 

I waited, my chest burning with the air trapped in my lungs.  “Daddy what?”

“I saw something…ungodly leaving through the side of the house.”

My heart stuttered in my chest and my blood buzzed in my ears.  “And?” I whispered, afraid I knew what came next.

I watched my father struggle to keep from crumbling in front of us.  “It took your mother.”

His face seemed to age another ten years right before my eyes.  He appeared so weak and haggard, I wondered if he could continue to stand. 

The relief I had felt at finding him alive and well was replaced with a new fear.  I had known my family needed saving, but it seemed the chances of that happening right away grew less likely by the minute.

As the latest development worked its way into my consciousness, I felt a desperate panic rise into my throat.  “Have you heard anything since then?  Is- is she alive?  Is she the life lost?”

I felt tears sting the backs of my eyes.  It was too painful to even consider that she might be dead.  I found that my scrambled mind shunned the possibility of it.

“No, she is alive.  I feel our tie. I would know it if she’d been…” he trailed off miserably.  His words triggering an instant, nearly-crippling flood of relief in me.  “But four Mer are dead because of my arrogance.  As that…that…
thing
left with your mother, it floated over them and they just disintegrated.  It’s like they were there one minute and not the next. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

 “But how?  I thought the only way Mer could be killed was—”

“As did I, Madly.  Whether it’s because it is controlled by the Lore or something else, I don’t know, but that thing has power over the Mer like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

My father shuddered as he remembered the scene.  I was having difficulty imagining it.  Historically, Mer had few things to truly fear. It appeared that there was much to learn.

“You can’t blame yourself, Daddy.  You didn’t know.  Who would’ve thought something like that could happen?”

“But it
is
my fault.  These people are my responsibility.  I exist to protect them, to protect their home, and my arrogance cost four innocent lives.”

“Daddy, you did it to
protect
those people.  How many times have you lectured me about the greater good, about making the tough decisions?  You tried to get word out, to get some help the only way you could.  Yes, it’s terrible to lose four of us, but how many thousands might have been saved?”

I saw the light of pride flash in his blue-green eyes.  I was glad to see it.  It wasn’t enough to erase the sadness in their depths, though.

“Spoken like a true leader.  I’m so proud of you, baby girl,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.  “At least now you understand why I can’t leave here, not without her.  I’ll do anything to save you girls, but she’s my mate.  I just…I can’t…”

“I know, Daddy.  I know.”

I understood now more than ever the agony he felt at the thought of losing the one to whom he was tied.  I imagined it would, in many ways, be a fate worse than death.  I felt the same way about Jackson.

My gaze flickered to him where he stood listening, like a confident statue.  Like a rock.  Like my rock.

When my eyes returned to my father, he was frowning.  His gaze narrowed on me for an instant before he continued.  I wondered if I’d given us away, if my feelings for Jackson had been written on my face.  I could only hope not.

“Jackson,” he barked, his eyes never leaving mine.  My stomach sank and I tried with all my might to keep the alarm out of my expression.

“Sir?”

“Make sure my girls get past the shields.  If you can’t get Truly, then make sure Madly gets out of the city.  Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

Finally, Daddy looked away.  He was then in profile to me, so I couldn’t read the look he sent Jackson, but it appeared he communicated a wealth of meaning in it.

“No matter the cost, Jackson.  She is our future.  She must survive to carry on the royal bloodline with Aidan.”

Jackson’s jaw clenched and he nodded sharply.  “She is my top priority, sir,” he said again.  “I’ll keep her safe.  No matter the cost.”

I was just about to argue when Aaron spoke up.  “If we’re going to try this, we’d better get moving.  Time is of the essence.”

His reminder seemed to innervate each of us.  The tension in the room ratcheted up several notches.

“Jackson, take Madly back out so there is a record of you leaving.  Aaron, where would you like them to meet you?”

“How about in Strawbridge Park?  It’s only a block away from the prison, which is likely why it’s usually empty.  Be invisible when you arrive, just in case we’re spotted.”

“Yes, sir,” Jackson and I responded in unison.  I looked up at him and grinned.  Although he didn’t glance in my direction, I saw his lips twitch, so I knew he saw me. 

“Then let’s get going.”

We all walked to the door together, my father insinuating himself between Jackson and me. 

“Promise me you’ll be careful, Madly.  It’s obvious that you have a grasp of your duties as royalty, but you can’t lose sight of your importance to the Mer in a situation such as this.  If Atlas were to be taken, heaven forbid, you would be the only chance our race would have to survive and continue.  Thousands of years’ worth of royalty flows through your veins.  That is not to be taken lightly.  So don’t think of being concerned for your own welfare as being selfish.  Think of it as your duty.  Your primary concern.”

Even though I disagreed on many levels, I agreed with my father just to appease him.  Now was not the time to debate the value of common Mer versus royalty.  “I know, Daddy.  I’ll be careful.”

His smile a bit shaky, Daddy pulled me into his arms for another breath-stealing hug.  When he pulled back, he was blinking quickly.

“Jackson,” he said, looking over my shoulder.  His expression was steely and serious, conveying what his words couldn’t.

I could picture Jackson’s curt nod, even though I couldn’t see it.  When my father let me go, it was back to business—all short, clipped comments and reiteration of plans.  Like a whirlwind, before I knew it, Jackson was telling me to transform us back into John and Mary Rainns and we were making our way from my father’s study, quite possibly never to see him again. 

I refused to consider that truth, even though my aching heart already had.

********

Jackson and I exited much the way we’d entered.  The only differences were that he held my hand tightly, comfortingly and we said absolutely nothing once we’d left the study.

We had just left the guard’s shack, officially signing the Rainnses out of the Warden’s company when it hit us.  A high-pitched sound split my eardrums and made my head feel like it was about to explode.  It was excruciating. 

When I managed to crack my eyelids and glance toward Jackson, I could see his discomfort through my blurry vision. In some corner of my mind, I was thankful he was faring much better than I. 

I saw Jackson tilt and my scrambled brain thought at first he was falling over.  I wanted to do something about it, but before I could gather the strength, I realized it was my knees buckling, that I was the one falling.

I wanted to lift my hands to my ears, to cover them and try to block out some of the siren, but I was incapacitated by the whistle.  Unable to keep them open any longer, I let my eyelids fall shut once more.  I knew I was going down.  I could feel unconsciousness clawing at the doors of my mind.

And then I was in Jackson’s arms. I felt them come around me like bands of warm steel just before my body crumbled to the pearl sidewalk on which we stood.

A rhythmic thump assured me we were moving.  It took a mammoth effort to open my eyes again, but I managed it, looking up into Jackson’s handsome, sweaty face.  He was struggling to keep us both upright and on the move. 

That’s when I saw it.

Like a wraith, something dark passed over Jackson’s head.  I saw its form for only a single breath before it disappeared behind a wavy cloak of shimmering light that mimicked the crystalline skies of Atlas.  But what I’d seen in that fraction of a second, I would never forget.

It was Leviathan.  I’d only heard the legends during school, seen the age-old drawings of what it was rumored to have looked like, but I’d never met someone who had actually seen it.  Nevertheless, I knew.  Instinctively, I knew.  Its true form was just as the High Councilors had once described.  Just as terrifying.

Each of its three heads was clearly visible.  Eyes like the orange rays of dawn hovered above nostrils that streamed with white smoke.  Each mouth was round and wide and ringed with hundreds of sharp, triangular teeth and its single breath was laced with fire.  Its body was serpentine and covered in dozens of hard scales that protected its tender skin like so many shields.  And then I saw its belly.  It was lined with jagged spikes that appeared razor sharp.  One brush with that belly would gut a Mer.  Or decapitate one.