The Starborn Saga (Books 1, 2, & 3) (76 page)

“I don’t know. Krindle forced her to go with Heinrich and Connor to help look for Aaron. From there, I’m not sure if she will go to Screven or if she will be taken home. My hope is that she will be brought back here so I can talk with her.”

“I don’t think it should be a talk,” Jeffrey said. “If you want her badly enough, you’ll want to
show
her. And gradually too. If she’s going to Screven to get help, it’s g
oing to take a lot of convincing to get her to just reject her plans and join our side. Start with showing her a meeting or something.”

“Meeting?” Evelyn asked.

“Sure,” he said. “Like between Danny and Heinrich or something. Show her that there are people who are really doing whatever they can to get out from under Jeremiah’s thumb.”

Evelyn nodded at this. 

“So, you’ll let us know when and if she gets back to Salem, right?” Heather asked. 

“Of course,” Evelyn said. “But all of you know what this means. If she joins with us, then we will begin our fight here at home. The Starborns will lead the revolution.” She looked at Jeffrey. “Perhaps other people in different colonies and villages will join with us once we’ve started.”

“Better hope somebody joins with us,” Heather said. 

Evelyn had left out the fact that there were other groups just waiting for Salem to make its move. She didn’t want her Starborns to get big heads about the Resistance. She wanted them to stay humble. To know they were small in number so they wouldn’t be over confident. But she knew she couldn’t keep it from them forever. 

The four of them talked at length through the night about how things might play out over the next few days, though Evelyn knew there was no telling what would happen. Not only were there so many different factors at play, but Jeremiah was unpredictable. All of this could work against them too. What if Mora took the opposite view and vowed to fight against Evelyn and her Starborns? Evelyn didn’t like entertaining the thought. 

Danny and Heather eventually left and it was just Jeffrey and Evelyn. He reached out and touched her hand. Of course he knew she could see into his mind whenever he did that, but neither of them cared. Though she was about twenty years older than he, they held a special kind of relationship. It wasn’t love. It wasn’t parental. The best way Evelyn could describe it was that the two of them were dear friends. They always would be. 

Jeffrey had never blamed her for the death of his lost love Sarah. He only used it to fuel his drive to help in the Resistance against Jeremiah. Evelyn was grateful for him. She was sure that she could have never done this without him. Especially the part of setting up pockets of resistance, ready to strike throughout the colonies. 

“We need this girl, Jeffrey. I just know we do.”

“If you are that certain, then I’m sure she will join us.”

“Jeremiah has been alive too long,” Evelyn said. “It’s
way
past time for him to go.”

“He will be gone sooner than you think, Evem">“lyn. Sooner than you think.”

CHAPTER FIFTY

My body was shaking. Someone was trying to wake me. The first thing I noticed was how difficult it was just to open my eyes. There was so much mucus on them that I had to use my shirtsleeve to wipe three or four times just so I could get them open. My nose was just as bad. Eventually, I could see Christopher and Jeffrey kneeling over me on the ground. Thinking back, I remembered passing out. I recalled sitting at the table with Jeffrey and Christopher and everything going black. 

When I tried to sit up, the pain in my neck and joints was almost unbearable. It felt like the worst fever I’d ever had. My brow was sweating. I was cold. When I looked down at my arms, they had begun to turn pale, with almost a hint of grey tone. I would have vomited if I could have. I felt like I was so close to the end. How were there still so many hours left? Maybe there weren’t after all. 

“How long was I out?” I ask them. 

“A long time,” Jeffrey answered. He walked to the front of the room and drew the shade. Sunlight broke through. “It’s early morning.”

My eyes widened and my chest seized at the thought. “How early?” I asked. 

“Dawn just broke,” Christopher said. 

“So, I only have a couple of hours?”

Christopher didn’t answer.

I felt the urge to cry, but all I had in me was goop. This infection wouldn’t even allow me feel sorry for myself. 

“How could you let me sleep so long?” My words were angry and harsh. 

“We tried to wake you throughout the night,” Christopher said. “I knew it was coming close to time, so I healed your symptoms a little to try and wake you. Now it’s dawn.”

“Did I miss anything?” 

“We don’t know,” Jeffrey said. “Apart from some screams in the distance and groaning of some nearby greyskins, it’s been quiet on this side of the city.” 

“I’ve got to talk to Connor,” I said. 

Not caring that they were watching me, I shut my syrupy eyes and focused on Connor. His head instantly shot up when he felt my presence. He was walking down a long hallway and looked over his shoulder to see if anyone was near him. He ducked into a closet when he felt the coast was clear. 

“Where have you been? I thought something must have happened to you!”

“Something
did
happen to me,” I said. 

“Are you alright?”

“I need updates.”

“I’ve been working all night,” Connor said. “I’ve been able to avoid Anthony and Jeremiah. I don’t think they’ve thought about me since they captured the others. I haven’t even seen Trace the entire night, though. I don’t know what’s up with him.”

“Updates,” I repeated. 

Connor shook his head. “I’ve been able to find out where everyone is located. I just have to get access to the cell control room. I can only get Danny, Heather, and Allison out though. I know where Aaron is, but he isn’t where I can help him.”

“What about Evelyn?”

“Jeremiah has her in a secure location. I can’t get to her eitdthher. I’ve heard that he plans to make some sort of announcement in the next few minutes. I’m not sure what it’s about though.”

“I have an idea,” I said. It felt hard to talk. It felt hard to breathe. “Just work on getting the others out. Tell them to meet us down in the basement level of the Center.”

“You’re here?”

“About to be. I hope.”

“Be careful.”

“I will.” I opened my eyes slowly and I looked up at Christopher. “Did you get any of your strength back?”

He nodded. “Some, yes.”

I shook my head apologetically. “I’m going to ask you to heal my symptoms just one last time if you can find it within you.”

“That’s why I’m here,” he said. 

“Just how to do you plan on getting into the Center?” Jeffrey asked. “Walk through the front door?”

“You’re going to take us there,” I said, as he helped me up to my feet. 

Jeffrey snorted. “You don’t want me to even try to get you in there. It won’t happen.”

I could feel my face flush with anger. We didn’t have time for his excuses. 

“You are so afraid of messing up and using more strength than you have, you haven’t been able to teleport within half-a-mile of a place! You have to stop making excuses and get us in there, or Evelyn and all the others are going to die! And even worse, Jeremiah will live.”

Jeffrey stood with his mouth open. Christopher stared at me with wide eyes. But I was running out of time. I didn’t feel like dancing around anyone’s feelings. 

“We’re going to drive the truck full of explosives right down the road, straight toward the Center,” I said. “Before we hit the wall, you are going to teleport us and the truck into the basement level.”

“You’re crazy,” Jeffrey said.

“And you’re going do it. Maybe you’ll die. Maybe you won’t.”

“Easy for you to say,” Jeffrey said. “You’ve only got a couple of hours left, if even that.”

“You’ve joined up with the wrong crowd if you’re afraid of dying,” I told him. I let him stand in silence for a moment. “Now you can drive the truck and help us, or watch us go in by ourselves, knowing full-well that you did nothing to help.” It was harsh. I hated saying the words. Jeffrey had been nothing but good to me and the others. But he needed a swift kick in the pants. None of us was safe. All of us risked death for this operation. He should be no different.

He stared at me for a long time, before finally nodding. “Okay. Let’s go.”

Christopher somehow found the strength to help me to the entrance of the building. Jeffrey peeked out the door. There were several greyskins lurking around the truck full of explosives. 

As soon as we walked out, they turned their heads toward us and instantly started to run. These greyskins were fresh. I held up a hand and pinned one of them to the truck. Jeffrey pulled out a pistol and shot the other two in the head. He then pointed the gun at the struggling greyskin that I held on to, but looked at me. 

“Mora,” he said. “Do you think you could move the greyskin away from the truck full of explosives?” 

“Right!” I said, grabbing the greyskin through the air and shoving it to the ground. Jeffrey pointed his gun at it and fired a bullet into its brain. Christopher helped me into the front of the extended cab truck and he sat in the back as Jeffrey climbed into the driver’s seat. Jeffrey started driving through the misty morning. An ominous fog shaded the streets and alleys. I didn’t like not being able to see fas risked r ahead of me.

I felt Christopher’s hand grab my shoulder and instantly, he started taking away my pain. He held on for as long as he could before falling to his side in the back seat. I couldn’t help but revel in the newness of having the sickness lifted from me. It felt too good not to smile, but I also couldn’t believe that Christopher had been able to take so much from me. Yet I knew it wasn’t perfect. I knew the sickness would come back, and it would come back fast. Over the next couple of hours, the virus would take over me and I would be dead.

I turned to Christopher who looked up at me. I could tell that he felt terrible. He was also on the brink of death, although I knew he would recover. I reached out to hold his hand. He held mine tightly. 

“You don’t have to do it any more,” I said. 

“If there was more time, I would be willing to try,” he said. 

“I know you would,” I said squeezing tighter. “I know you would.”

“Mora,” Jeffrey said. “You need to see about the others before we get there.”

I let go of Christopher’s hand and turned around in my seat, a new burst of energy running through me. I knew it was Christopher’s energy. I closed my eyes and thought of Evelyn. 

She sat in a room with large windows. It looked to be the floor just under the roof of the building. The windows were normally blackened so light wouldn’t attract greyskins at night, but all of them were opened now. A stairwell on the other side of the room led to the rooftop. No doubt it would provide Jeremiah’s exit via helicopter if he needed it. 

Jeremiah stood at the other end, greeting Trevor who had wheeled in a cart with several trays of something. It looked like meat. Jeremiah asked Trevor something and Trevor pointed to the middle tray. Jeremiah nodded and waved him off, taking in a big whiff of whatever it was. He let his fingers dangle over the food for a few moments until he found a piece that he wanted. He took a few bites and walked toward one of the open windows, closing his eyes and soaking in the sun. 

“I don’t think I even want to know what you just ate,” Evelyn said. 

Jeremiah turned to her and shook his head. “I actually eat other things besides people,” Jeremiah said with a grin. “What were we talking about? Ah, yes. My men have counted several hundred people dead. Many of them are you Resistance soldiers.”

Evelyn smiled at him. “They died fighting you. Then they died well.”

“I’m sure you think so,” he said. He walked closer to her side of the room and sat on a couch across from her. “I want that healer,” he said. “And I want Mora dead. I also want
you
dead.” He waited for a moment. “What can you do for me?”

“I want you to let the others go,” she said. “Allison, Danny, Heather, Aaron. Let them all go. 

Jeremiah shrugged. “How do you get me that healer? Mora?”

Evelyn shook her head. “I’m not exactly sure what you want me to do from here. If you let me go, I could get them both for you.”

“But you and I both know that won’t actually happen,” he said. “If I let you go, you would disappear for another twenty years only to show up in your eighties trying to knife me in the streets.”

“Oh, Mora would kill you long before then,” she said. 

“You mean, you would be fine with Mora getting to kill me instead of you?” he asked. 

“Of course. I have no preference. All I’ve ever wanted was to be there when it happened.”

Jeremiah cracked a smile. “That’s just not going to happen.ny, pr

“Well, the only way you are going to get Mora is if you fight her, but you wouldn’t stand a chance. She would kill you in a second.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Jeremiah said. 

Evelyn looked down at his hands. “What? Your burning power? The fact that your hands can get really hot? You think that will do it?”

Jeremiah sat on the couch, calmly picking his teeth. “No I took care of it. I came across something far more powerful than that. Possibly more powerful than your little Mora, albiet a bit more unstable.”

Evelyn shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

“Well, if you had the chance to look around the Center, you would notice that Trace, one of my Starborn hunters, no longer walks among us.”

Evelyn’s face twisted into one of disgust. “You ate him?” she whispered. 

Jeremiah shrugged. “I assumed you would tell me the only way to get Mora would be to fight her. What better way to fight her than with her own power? Trace had a magnificent gift. One that I couldn’t pass up in this…emergency. His back was to me and I bit into his neck. That was about the extent of it, but he bled out, and I stand here now as a man with an enormous power.”

“I thought you were afraid to try that,” Evelyn said. “You can’t lie to me. I’ve seen into your mind.”