Jarrett took a step back. This wasn’t at all what he intended. He reached for Tyla’s arm, but she slipped out of his hold.
“Jax is dead,” she said.
All attention snapped to her.
“Dead?” asked the woman.
Tyla exhaled. “I was with him when he died.”
Greyburn settled the club on the bar. “He said they’d fix him up in Temeron.”
“We tried. When he got there his leg was so badly infected, we couldn’t stop it. He talked about Brodie a lot toward the end. He worried about him, worried he might have given him the sickness. I promised him I’d come find Brodie myself and make sure he was all right. It was Jax’s last wish.”
“He was one of Brodie’s only friends,” said the woman.
“Jax couldn’t stop talking about Brodie teaching him to sail. He said it was the happiest he’d ever been, sailing with Brodie.”
Greyburn looked down and shook his head. “He was a good guy, Jax. He always bought Brodie supper, wouldn’t let him drink on an empty stomach.”
“He was better than that,” offered the woman. “Brodie’s an old man. He don’t have no family. That boat of his was all he got, until Jax came along. He used to sleep on it, said no one had any use for an old man. Jax gave him purpose again by asking him to teach him sailing. Jax wanted to pay him, but Brodie wouldn’t take it, said he was having too much fun. Jax set him up though before he left.”
“Set him up?”
The woman sighed. “We got a room upstairs. Rent it out sometimes. Jax rented it for Brodie, paid the next six month up front. That’s probably where Brodie is right now, since he ain’t come down for supper.” She made a tsking sound. “Gonna break his heart to hear about Jax, but I guess he oughta know. Go on up and tell him, then I’ll have something strong for him when he come down.”
Tyla flashed the smile that made Jarrett’s heart skip a beat. “Thank you, both. I really appreciate it.”
They nodded and Greyburn replaced the club beneath the bar. Tyla turned for the door and Jarrett followed, amazed that she’d been able to salvage a situation he had created with his bumbling. Once he could have charmed them as she did, but somewhere along the line, he’d lost that touch, that ability to empathize with people.
As they stepped outside, Jarrett reached for her arm and pulled her up. She shook off his hold, but she turned to face him. “That was a good story you came up with. It really calmed things down.”
“Story?”
“About Jax’s last wish.”
She gave him an odd, sad look. “It wasn’t a story. Jax was worried about infecting Brodie. He cared for the old man.”
Another thought crossed Jarrett’s mind. “You calmed them, didn’t you? With your power?”
She gave him a mischievous wink. “I’ll never admit to that.”
Jarrett tried to smile. How he’d missed such exchanges with her, the intimacy, the shared experiences. He remembered how it had been, just the two of them, alone in their thoughts. He started to reach toward her, wanting to brush back a curl that curved over her cheek, but a banging sounded from the alley, then a man shouted.
“Brodie!” Tyla said, her eyes widening. She started toward the sound, but Jarrett grabbed her, shoving her behind him.
He reached for the hilt of his sword as he swung around the corner of the tavern. He hesitated a moment on the bottom of the steps, glancing up. In the darkness, he could just make out a shadowed figure at the top of the staircase, plunging against the door over and over again.
Another muffled shout came from inside and Jarrett started climbing, taking the stairs two at a time, his sword hissing from its scabbard. The figure at the top turned when Jarrett was a few feet away. A stray beam of moonlight fell across his features, illuminating his brilliant blue eyes.
Nazarien.
Jarrett braced himself for an attack. He wasn’t thrilled at the idea of fighting on the staircase in such close quarters with Tyla on his heels, but he couldn’t let the Nazarien breech that room. Brodie would be dead. He remembered too well Kalas’ tale of the suicidal attacks he’d endured on the trip from Sarkisian.
The Nazarien glared at him, then reached behind him. Jarrett tensed, but instead of launch himself down the staircase, the Nazarien vaulted over the banister. Jarrett charged after him, cresting the landing and grabbing the railing as he stared down into the alleyway. The Nazarien landed on the ground, nimble as a cat, looked back once, then sped away, back the way they’d come until he disappeared around the side of the building.
Jarrett met Tyla’s stunned gaze, then she hurried up the rest of the stairs, banging on the door of Brodie’s room.
“Brodie? Brodie Daegan? Are you all right? Open up. Please.” When he didn’t answer, Tyla leaned close to the door. “Brodie, please. We’re here to help you. I’m a friend of Jax.”
They waited in the darkness, the sounds of the street distant and muted. Finally, they heard the bolt slide back and an old man peered out. He saw Tyla first, but when he saw Jarrett, he tried to close the door again.
Jarrett had enough time to wedge himself inside the opening and force the door inward, causing Brodie to stumble back. The single room was dark and dingy, lit only by a single lantern, and the old man looked small and forlorn, cowering in the middle of it. Tyla pushed past Jarrett, shoving him in the side.
“Put it away, you idiot Nazarien,” she hissed. “You’ll give him a heart attack.”
Jarrett remembered he was holding his sword and he sheathed it at once. She shot him a last venomous look before she approached the old man.
“Brodie, I’m Tyla. I’m sorry we scared you, but we had to make sure you were all right. You weren’t hurt, were you?”
He glanced up through bushy eyebrows at her. “He tried to kill me. The other one. He knocked on the door, then tried to force his way inside. He had a knife.”
“I know. I’m sorry. We scared him off. Are you all right? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
Brodie looked at her fully now. “No, I’m not hurt, but what’d he want with me? What have I ever done to the Nazarien?”
“That’s a long story and one I intended to explain.” She looked around the room. A tattered, broken-down sofa, a ladder-back chair, and a scarred table were the only furnishing. “Can we sit so we can talk?”
Brodie nodded and motioned toward the sofa. Tyla gave Jarrett another severe look and nodded toward the seating.
“I’ll just keep watch,” he said, amused by her annoyance.
She tilted her head, then swung away from him, moving to the sofa and taking a seat. She settled her pack on the ground beside it and watched as Brodie retrieved the chair and turned it backwards, so he could straddle it. He folded his arms on the back and pressed his forehead against them.
“Scared the hell out of me.”
“I’m sorry,” Tyla answered. Jarrett could almost feel the calming pulse of her power, and the emerald was glowing a warm, soothing green at her throat. “Brodie, I’ve come a long way to find you.”
He lifted his head and squinted at her. “I know who you are. I remember.”
“I’m sorry?”
“You were once Queen of Adishian, Tyla Eldralin, wife of Tarnow.”
Tyla nodded. “Yes, a long time ago. I’m Stravad Leader in Temeron now.”
“If I wasn’t so shaken, I’d do a better job of greeting you, but…” He shrugged and glanced over at his open door. “He tried to kill me. I just can’t get over it.”
Tyla clasped her hands. “He’ll try to do it again once we leave.”
Brodie sat up straight, his eyes widening. “What the hell did I do?”
“Nothing. You did nothing, but that doesn’t matter. They’ve marked you and they won’t stop until they succeed.” Brodie started to come to his feet, but she held out a hand. “I’m going to protect you. They won’t touch you as long as I’m here.”
“Protect me? I don’t even know what I need protecti
on from. Why are they after me? What did I do?” His voice rose in panic.
“It has to do with Jax. Jax Paden?”
“Jax? Jax wasn’t Nazarien?”
“I know. It’s a long story and I intend to explain everything to you, just give me a little time.” Her expression grew solemn. “Jax is dead, Brodie,” she said.
Brodie reared back and his hands gripped the chair so hard, his knuckles turned white. For a moment, he didn’t speak. Jarrett feared he might be having a stroke. Then his lower jaw began to tremble.
“Dead?”
Tyla nodded. “I’m so sorry. I know you were close.”
“He said they’d fix him up in Temeron.”
“We tried. We tried everything we could, but it wasn’t enough.”
“You?”
“I was with him when he died. I was one of his healers. I had no idea what we were dealing with, no idea what was wrong. I thought I could figure it out, but I couldn’t. I let him down and in turn, I let down my people.”
Jarrett moved away from the door, drawn by the raw confession in her voice. He understood failure, he understood defeat.
Brodie shook his head. “I don’t understand. How did he die? What happened? I know his leg was bad, but…”
“It started in his leg. It started there and moved to his lungs. We amputated his leg, hoping to stop it there, but it was already too late. He bled to death, he drowned in his own blood.”
Brodie looked down. In the light of the single lantern that burned from a hook in the wall, Jarrett could see the twin tracks of tears that flowed over the wrinkles and planes of the old man’s face, dropping toward his chin.
“We were friends.”
“I know. He told me. He asked me to find you. He was worried about you, afraid he might have gotten you sick.”
Brodie wiped at the tears with both hands. “You came all this way for that?”
Tyla glanced at Jarrett. The look sent a shiver up Jarrett’s spine. “No, not only for that.” She leaned forward and clasped her hands before her. “I need your help, Brodie. I need you to take me to the island that Jax found. I need you to sail me there.”
Brodie’s eyes widened and then he scrambled to his feet, putting the chair between himself and her. “Oh, hell no, oh hell no, I’m not going to that island. I’m not going anywhere near it.”
Tyla rose also and moved toward him. “I understand you’re afraid, but I don’t have any choice. I need to find that island.”
“No, no, you saw what happened to Jax. You saw his leg. I ain’t going there. No way.”
Tyla went still. Jarrett watched in horrified fascination, wanting to leave, wanting to be free of the stuffy room, but unable to move.
“I made a horrible mistake, Brodie. I brought Jax into Temeron and I didn’t quarantine him. I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t think it through. People were infected. People who had contact with him, and they died. They died too in the same way he did, drowning in their own blood. It was a terrible death, a horrible way to go.”
“Not my problem.”
“People are dying here too. He infected people in Kazden, Brodie. They have wards in the hospitals dedicated to this plague. And the morgues receive bodies daily. The only way to prevent infection is to burn the bodies, denying the families the right to bury their loved ones.”
“I know, but it’s not my fault. I just told him about the island. I didn’t take him there. I can’t help you.”
Tyla looked over at Jarrett. Their eyes met and held. A sick feeling settled in the pit of his stomach and he felt like he was going to retch. He swallowed hard and a cold sweat broke out along his body.
She broke the look and turned back to the old man. “I made so many mistakes. I was one of his healers and I didn’t take precautions. I was infected too.” She drew a deep breath and exhaled. “I’m dying, Brodie. Just as Jax did, just as the others did.”
Jarrett felt a roar in his head and his vision swam, but he locked his legs and forced it down. He’d known. He’d known from the moment he saw her, but he’d wanted to deny it, pretend it wasn’t so.
“I have a son, he’s just ten. I want to see him grow up, I want to watch him become a man. He needs me. My people need me. I brought this sickness to them and now I need to find a way to take it away. I don’t have much time. Every day the disease grows stronger, I can feel it. I need your help, I need you to take me to that island. Please, Brodie, please. If you won’t do it for me or my people, do it for Jax, do it for the man you called friend.”
CHAPTER 13
Tyla wanted to go after Jarrett, but she was afraid to lose the momentum she’d gained with Brodie. The old man sat down hard in the chair, no longer straddling it, his back to her. His hands dangled on either side, the knuckles large and misshapen. She could see the balding crown of his head and the cords in his neck as he gritted his teeth.
She looked toward the door and saw Jarrett on the landing, leaning against the rail, gripping it in his hands. She knew she should have told him, she should have told all of the Stravad and Allistar. And she should have told Kalas. She was risking more lives every day. Especially anyone that came into contact with her. She didn’t think she was contagious yet, but as she’d told Jarrett, she just didn’t know.
However, soon she would be. Soon she would begin coughing blood and she knew then that someone was bound to get it, unless she could get to the island, find the plant or dirt or whatever had infected Jax.
“What exactly did Jax tell you about the island, Brodie? What did he tell you about getting infected?” she asked.
The old man didn’t answer. His fingers curled into his palms and he leaned forward, bracing his arms on his thighs. “You said they would come after me again, the Nazarien.”
“Yes, I’m afraid they will.”
“He was going to kill me. I saw it in his eyes. Why? What does he have to do with Jax?”
“It’s complicated. He doesn’t really have anything to do with Jax and yet he does.”
“You want me to take you to that island, but you aren’t going to tell me why someone wants to kill me?”
Tyla sighed. The dankness of the room made her feel hopeless. “If I tell you, will you tell me what Jax told you about the island?”
Brodie gave a short nod.
Tyla tried to explain why the Nazarien wanted Brodie dead, but it sounded crazy even to her. The old man didn’t give any indication he even heard her, until she finished. Then he braced his head in his hands.
“Jax found the island just like I told you.” His rough, sad voice echoed in the nearly empty room. “He said there were two species of aliens. One pale green with white hair and another so pale it looked translucent. The second one was almost seven feet tall.”
“He saw them?”
“The translucent one touched him. Scared him half to death. He ran and he fell. Said he got some pycantra in the wound. He thought that’s what made him sick. By the time I saw him, his leg looked like ground meat and he was coughing blood.”
Tyla frowned. She knew people who ground pycantra into their food. Sure, it was volatile stuff, but it was more likely to explode than cause a plague. “Anything else?”
Brodie shifted in the chair and looked over his shoulder at her. “He could hear them.” He tapped his temple. “He said it was like a thousand people speaking all at once.”
Tyla tilted her head in contemplation. “Hear them?” She was aware that Jarrett had moved back into the room.
Brodie nodded. “Hear them, in here.” He pressed a finger to his forehead. “Said it hurt.”
Tyla stored that information away. She eased forward on the couch. “We need you to take us to the island, Brodie. Please say that you will.”
The old man started to shake his head no. Tyla narrowed her eyes on him. She hated to force him to do something he feared, but she had no choice. “The Nazarien will return and they will kill you. The only way I can protect you is for you to take u
s to the island. They can’t follow us there.”
“I don’t want to see the aliens,” whimpered the old man.
Tyla exerted a bit more force. “I know, but we’ll protect you. The aliens can’t harm you as long as we’re there.” Not that she was sure Jarrett would accompany her, but he hadn’t left yet, so she figured she was doing all right so far.
“And when we come back?”
“I will make sure you have all the protection you need, around the clock guards.” She glanced around the dank room. “And a place to stay that is far superior to this.” She gave him a direct look. “What do you say? Will you please take us?”
Brodie shifted uncomfortably, still fighting the control she was exerting on him. If she used any more, he would really be beyond the powers of his own choosing and she didn’t want that. Not yet. He needed his free will, so he could remember how to get to the island. Not to mention it made her feel less guilty about using him.
“If I agree and that’s a huge if, how you gonna get the boat out of the docks? They have them guarded round the clock.”
“Show us to the dock and I’ll figure out a way.”
“Wait a minute,” said Jarrett, moving further into the room. “We’re taking Brodie back to Kalas. Kalas and the Baron can arrange us passage. Brodie only needs to provide the bearings.”
Tyla met his look, clasping her hands in her lap. Here’s where she might lose him. “I can’t go back to Kalas, Jarrett. I can’t risk it.”
“What?”
“I don’t believe I’ve been contagious up until now, but I can feel the disease progressing. I have a week, maybe more until…well, until you both will need to stay as far away from me as you can. I can’t go back to Kalas and risk it.” She rose to her feet. “I can understand if you want to leave. I’ve been selfish enough taking a chance with your health, but I can’t risk spreading the disease beyond my own infection.”
The World of Samar Box Set 3 Page 72