The Starborn Saga (Books 1, 2, & 3) (60 page)

“You sure you can get us into the city?” Heather asked. 

“I can do my best,” he said. “It takes up a lot of my power to be able to teleport this many people. The more people I’m taking, the less accurate I am.”

“Well, that’s reassuring,” she said back to him. 

“On three,” Evelyn told him. 

He nodded. Sweat dripped down his face as he stared straight ahead with a determined, but nervous focus. It had just occurred to me that he was probably scared to death of what was about to happen. I hadn’t really thought about the enormous pressure he was now facing. If he sent us to a secluded ally somewhere, we’d be fine. If he sent us to the middle of Screven’s soldier barracks, we’d be in big trouble. 

Evelyn squeezed his hand even tighter. “One.”

Aaron shifted in his stance. Even he seemed nervous. None of us had actually ever teleported before. Well, except for Evelyn. 

“Two.”

“Let’s hope we don’t end up in a factory meat grinder or something,” Danny said. 

“What?” Heather asked as she turned her head sharply. 

“Three.”

We were gone. 

CHAPTER FORTY

Teleporހting was an amazing and terrifying experience at the same time. It felt like we were flying at such a high speed that everything around was a blur. I didn’t know if it was the distance from Springhill to Screven, but it seemed like we were in this hazy, fast-motion for a long time. Then as quickly as it had begun, it stopped and I felt myself crashing into the floor of some overstocked room. 

It felt like someone had just thrown me down and the wind was knocked out of me. I couldn’t help but cough as I tried to breathe. I wasn’t the only one either. Christopher pulled me up from the ground and when I looked around, all I could see were wooden boxes scattered throughout the dark room. 

“Is everyone alright?” Evelyn asked. 

No one answered, but everyone seemed fine. Danny reached over to one of the boxes and ripped open the top. Glass bottles. He opened a few more and all of them contained bottles. 

“Hey look,” Danny said, holding up one of the bottles of the dark liquid. “Free booze.”

“Must be in the basement of some bar,” Aaron said. 

“Screven has bars?” Heather asked. “What have I been living in Salem all these years for?”

“Yes,” Evelyn said, pulling herself up from the floor. “Screven has bars, though, not usually for citizens.” She gave Jeffrey a long look. “Bars are usually built for Screven soldiers.”

Jeffrey let out a tired huff. 

“Not quite the Screven Resistance headquarters, is it?” Heather asked him. 

“I did the best I could,” Jeffrey said. 

“Do you know where we are?” I asked. 

Jeffrey shook his head. “I have no idea. Could be anywhere.”

Aaron motioned to a set of stairs at the other end of the room. It seemed to be the only exit out. “Want me to have a look?”

Evelyn nodded and he took each step slowly. When he got to the door, he pushed it open just a crack so he could see what was beyond. He let it close quickly as he cursed. He looked back at the rest of us and shook his head. “Full of guards.”

“This early in the morning?” Danny asked, shaking his head. “Drunks.”

“Still don’t want us to use our abilities?” Heather asked Evelyn. 

“No, I don’t want you to,” she said. “The last thing we need is to look like Starborns right now.”

“Couldn’t Jeffrey just try to teleport us to a different part of the city?” I asked. 

He shook his head. “You don’t want that. Teleporting all of you here was a big enough strain already. Trying to be more accurate right now would be a bad idea. We could end up in Seymour for all I know.”

“Then we’re going to have to fight,” Danny said. 

“We don’t have to jump to that first thing,” Evelyn said.

“We could just walk out there like we’re supposed to be there,” Christopher chimed in. “Maybe they won’t even stop us. They are at a bar, you know. Many of them might not even take notice.” He looked at Aaron. “Are all of them in uniform?”

Aaron turned toward the door and cracked it open again. He let it close softly before speaking. “Some of them aren’t. But they’re all soldiers. Same haircuts and everything.”

“I think we should go Christopher’s way,” I said. “Going out with guns blazing will certainly call attention to us. At least his way there is a possibility of getting out without having to fight.”

Evelyn nodded. “Okay then. Let’s do that.” She looked sharply at Danny and Heather. “Remember, do〜Remembe not use your abilities.”

“We got it, Your Highness” Heather said.

Evelyn ignored the sarcasm as she climbed the stairs. Aaron led the way while Christopher and I joined the middle of the group. When he opened the door, the smell of alcohol and smoke filled my nostrils. It wasn’t a very pleasant experience. The seven of us walked through the bar just as Christopher suggested – like we were supposed to be there.

For the first few seconds, we only got a couple of looks our way, but as we got closer to the exit, the talking and laughing started to quiet down until the only thing we could hear was our feet tapping against the wood floor. It only took about five seconds for one of the soldiers to take initiative and stand between us and the door. 

The guard was obviously drunk, probably having come straight to the bar after a long night shift. Two of his friends stood next to him, squinting their eyes as if to get a better look of the group. 

“What do we have here?” he asked with a devious grin. 

Aaron stood his ground at the front of the group. “Let us pass through. We just want to get out of here.”

“You don’t look like you’re a soldier,” he said as his glazed eyes scanned each of us. “None of you do. Except maybe him.” He pointed at Danny. “What’s your name and rank?”

“I’m not looking for a fight,” Aaron said. “Just let us through.”

The man shook his head. “I’m not gonna do that,” he said. “This bar is reserved for Screven soldiers, not the common folk. You all aren’t those Resistance rats are you? I usually just shoot them.” He spat on the ground.

“We just came through here by accident,” Aaron answered. 

“You give me a name and rank, and I’ll let you go by. If you don’t, I’ll shoot you.” The man pulled out his pistol and pointed it at Aaron’s head. 

I had to play it smooth. I had to be delicate. I was able to concentrate on the bullet in his gun. There was no way it would be leaving and entering anyone’s head. But I also didn’t want to just slap the gun out of the man’s hand either. That would be a very Starborn thing to do. I wished there was a way that I could tell Aaron that the bullet was secure. 

Danny moved to the front of the group and stood next to Aaron. “Let us pass,” he said, clenching his fist. 

The man pulled back the hammer on his pistol and shook his head. “Nope.”

He was dropped to the floor before he could even think about pulling the trigger. Danny’s punch had landed so hard that everyone in the room could hear the man’s jaw break. He had used his Starborn gift, but Danny was so big it didn’t look any different to anyone else. 

I thought that such a display of power and tenacity would have scared anyone off, but this was not the case at all. In fact, Danny’s punch inspired just about all of the people in the room to jump us. 

Chairs flew and glasses shattered as soldiers charged at us. Christopher and I ducked low to the ground as Danny, Aaron, and Jeffrey landed punches. Heather pulled out two knives and cut the throat of a man who was coming after her. 

The bartender pulled a rifle out from behind the counter and pointed it at Aaron, but Evelyn had seen it coming and snatched the gun from his hands. She turned it around on him and fired into his chest. 

Within seconds the place was trashed. Sharp debris mixed with blood covered the entire floor and I knew it was time to get out of there. I grabbed Christopher’s arm and pulled him up to run for the door. Before I could get there, a man jumped a man juin our way. He was holding a knife and was ready to stab someone with it. The grin on his face made him look as though he had been waiting to do this for a long time. Everything within me wanted to use his head to smash open the door, but instead I pulled the pistol from my belt and shot him in the stomach. He fell to his knees, spitting up blood as I ran passed him. 

Christopher and I tore out of the bar and into the street. Thankfully, no one was there to meet us. Aaron was the next person to charge out of the bar. and into the street. When we looked back at him, he waved for us to keep going as he ran to catch up with us.

“What about the others?” Christopher asked, going as fast as his legs could carry him. 

“They’re coming!” Aaron yelled. 

We cut through an ally between two large buildings. We then made a left, a right, and another left. Finally, when we felt there was no sign of our pursuers, we stopped. I leaned against a brick wall, trying my best to catch my breath. Aaron brought his wristband up to his mouth, trying to ask the others if they made it out. He didn’t get an answer at first. 

Christopher leaned over to me. He was also breathing hard. “Are you alright?” he asked. I looked up at him and nodded, finally getting the air I needed. 

“They aren’t answering,” Aaron said, still looking at his wristband. 

I briefly closed my eyes, looking for Evelyn. She and Jeffrey were also hiding next to a pile of rubble and there didn’t seem to be anyone near them in pursuit. When I thought about Danny, I could see him sprinting as Screven soldiers came at him with everything they had. He had to duck low and run in a zigzag motion to avoid getting shot. Pieces of wall shattered next to his head as he rounded a corner. That’s when Heather came out of nowhere with her insane speed and cut down the soldiers. When Danny realized no one else was coming after him, he slowed to a stop. 

I opened my eyes to find Aaron still trying to talk to the others over the wristband. “Are any of you out there?”

“
Jeffrey and I made it out
,” Evelyn said. “
Not sure about Danny and Heather
.”

“
Yeah, we made it out too
,” Heather said over the radio. “
No idea where you guys are right now. We didn’t even see you leave, much less see what direction you took.
” 

Aaron was about to answer when an alarm across the entire city sounded out. It cut through the air in a shrill, high-pitched noise that made me want to cover my ears. This is exactly what Christopher was doing. 

“Is this because of us?” I asked absently. 

Aaron shook his head and shrugged. He started walking toward the main road away from the alley and motioned for Christopher and me to follow him. At the sound of the alarms, citizens in the streets clambered to get back into their homes. It made me think that the alarms weren’t about us at all because this seemed like a routine drill for most of them. 

Across the street and to my right, I saw a little boy, maybe five years old, crying his eyes out. He seemed to be looking for his parents, but had somehow lost them and didn’t know what to do. I started to run out there to him, but Aaron gripped my arm firmly and shook his head.

“It’s too dangerous to go out there,” he said. “We can’t risk being discovered.”

I pulled my arm from his grip and started to ignore him, but that’s when I saw the trucks. These weren’t normal trucks. They were huge. They barreled down the street with armed Screven guards hanging off the sides. The first five trucks carried what looked like huge water tanks The nr tanks ext five trucks were covered with large cloth tarps. 

I couldn’t help but watch the little boy as the trucks came nearer. There was a feeling inside of me that told me something really bad was about to happen. All ten of the trucks drove by, but in the distance I could see one more. This one was smaller and full of Screven soldiers. They scanned the areas as though they were looking for something. Then, one of them spotted the crying little boy. The truck came to a stop. Three of the guards jumped out of the back and started walking toward him.

“
Where are you located
?” Came the voice of Evelyn over the wristbands. 

Each of us jumped to turn down the volume and Aaron answered by whispering for her to wait a second. 

“Aaron, we can’t let them hurt that boy,” I said. 

“I know,” he answered, not taking his eyes off the truck full of guards. 

As the guards moved nearer to the boy, a man ran out of one of the buildings with his arms in the air, screaming. 

“Leave him alone! He’s just lost. Please, don’t hurt him.”

The guards pointed their guns at the man and he slipped to the ground onto his knees.

“You know the law,” the lead guard said. “When the alarms sound, citizens must stay inside or they will be shot on sight.”

“Please,” the man said. “I’m just here for the boy. He’s just a child!”

A shot blasted and the sound echoed off the walls surrounding the street. The man was on the ground in a puddle of blood. The soldiers then turned toward the little boy. 

“Well, this just isn’t going to happen,” Aaron said as he jumped from behind the corner and ran toward the truck. “Hey!”

I followed behind him as the guards turned their attention toward the yelling. They started to point their guns at him, but he drew electricity from the truck and fried whoever was left inside the vehicle. The guards on the outside were stunned for just a moment, but it was enough time for me to reach out my hand and make them smack to the ground with a thought. With the guards in the truck dead, Aaron used whatever energy there was left and sent the bolts into the three guards on the outside of the truck. The three of them writhed in pain until they stopped moving altogether. 

It was about this time that the alarms stopped. I ran up to the little boy and held him in my arms. He wrapped his legs around my waist and held tight to my neck like I was his mother. I simply hugged him, trying to get him away from the sight of death all around him. But who was I kidding? If this is was what Screven citizens have been going through for the past few days, this boy may have seen a lot worse than that.