Jaden's Heart

by Melanie Jackson

A large foot kicked me and I bit back a cry of pain. “This one's dead,” a male human said.

  “Okay. Move into the mansion. Kill everyone,” another human male responded.

  So the rumors had some fact to them. They were humans but not Egipcion Hunters. These men were clearly amateurs.

  The walkie-talkie erupted with chatter. I smiled; my message had been received.

  Gunfire and the smell of human blood filled the air. Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I took account of my injuries: two silver bullets were embedded in my body, one in my left side and the other in my chest.

  Slowly, I reached down, unholstering my guns. I flexed my fingers around the black grips to stop them from trembling. The silver was already beginning to affect me. I could feel it gnawing at my insides, dampening my senses and zapping my strength.

  Then a scent filled my nose—one I had smelled before. I hissed lowly as two cloaked Immortals emerged from the darkness. Sicariorim! Assassins illegally bred for killing, starved and tortured until driven insane. Animals controlled by one master.

  They advanced on the mansion, not toward the fighting, but to the eastern wall. It hit me then: they are not heading for the council, but my king! I rose to my feet and ran, knowing every step pushed the silver deeper into my body and brought me closer to death.

  Humans being torn apart and Immortals set ablaze filled my vision as I ran past the banquet hall.

  The two assassins moved efficiently, unquestionably knowing the manor's layout. I turned the corner to see a large hole in the side of the mansion leading into my king's chambers.

  I entered his rooms, my body throbbing.

  “We bring your death, hated son, betrayer of the High King,” one of the assassins hissed.

  “Not as long as I draw breath,” I growled.

  They spun to face me. I launched myself towards them, shooting until both guns clicked empty. They reacted instantly, rolling to the left, avoiding most of the silver bullets.

  Now positioned between them and the Prince, I could see that their size was immense compared to my own. I trembled, dropped the empty clips from the guns and quickly reloaded.

  “We cannot let her interfere, brother!” one hissed, slurring his words.

  “We must kill her, brother,” the other replied.

  “Yes, kill her!” the first agreed. They advanced on me, one on each side.

  Turning, I pointed both guns at one of them and fired all twenty silver bullets directly at his massive body. He was not quick enough to avoid them all; seven found their mark. He stammered then fell, unmoving. Large arms grabbed me from behind and crushed me.

  “Die, protector of the betrayer,” the assassin said into my ear.

  I screamed as several of my ribs snapped under the crushing force. Every movement I made to free myself from his massive arms pushed the broken bones into my lungs. Desperate to free myself, I slammed my head back into the monster's chest. My vision blurred. He laughed and threw me like I was a rag doll. I landed on my back at the prince's feet. Black eyes met mine as I coughed up a mouthful of dark blood.

  “Little half-demon, so puny without its guns,” the assassin said, saliva running from his mouth.

  The Prince did not move, only stared blankly at me as the assassin approached us with murderous intent. I rolled onto my stomach and stood, clutching the grips of Ivy's silver blades.

  The monster looked at the weapons. “They did not save the Seer. We tore her arms off and fed on her sweet blood. The Egipcion's weapons and magic will not save you.”

  Cold hatred filled every corner of me. “You will pay for what you've done, monster!” I screamed, drawing Ivy's blades in unison.

  He laughed. “I'm born of the Master. I shall feed upon your corpse then that of the hated son!”

  I swallowed the remnants of blood in my mouth, my crimson eyes locked on him.

  “I will make you will pay for Ivy's death, monster,” I hissed.

  Aiming straight for him, I lashed out with both swords, my movements fluid and practiced. I sliced deep in his shoulder before he could evade it and he hissed in agony.

  “Die!” he screamed, charging me.

  Dropping, I rolled away from him, slashing across his upper thigh, cutting so deep I felt the blade scrape bone. He swung at me with his powerful arms, his fingernails like massive black claws. I jumped back but his nails dug deep into my chest. Dropping to one knee, I clenched the bleeding wound. He snarled, venom and saliva running from his mouth as he approached.

  “Now die, betrayer!” He charged me.

  I swept out with the swords, catching him across his lower chest and then again above his knees. The assassin fell and I did not give him time to recover. Quickly standing, I cut his head from his body in two strokes.

  I staggered to the prince's side and gripped the armrest of his chair.

  “We have to go. It's not safe here!” I said, grimacing as the toll from the battle caught up to me in deep waves of throbbing pain.

  The beast suddenly began to claw at my insides as it fully registered the heavy scent of human blood in the air. Every dark instinct I possessed demanded I feed.

  My red eyes fell upon the double doors where Annora and Desiree stood, weapons in hand. I collapsed, the pain and hunger too much to bear.

  Feet approaching me rapidly and then voices filled my pounding head. I attempted to open my eyes, fighting against the pain. Tired. Someone was screaming. They sounded familiar but so very far away. So distant it was difficult for me to make out the words. They sounded so desperate, so scared. Large shadowed hands held me beneath thick fog. I pushed against them, demanding my freedom, and they relinquished their hold. Loud voices hit me all at once.

  “Drink, Jaden,” Desiree was saying.

  Opening my eyes, I found I was once again staring into the blackness of Prince Arron's eyes.

  I shuddered.

  “Fear, good. Drink and live,” he commanded, his wrist inches from my mouth. His blood dripped onto my lips.

  The blood was richer than any I had ever smelled before, filling all my senses. Parting my lips, he placed his wrist over my opened mouth. I drank desperately. Suddenly, I burned from the inside—a cold, deep burning. He pulled away from me but the burning remained. A blood-curdling scream tore from my body, echoing through the room and my pounding head.

  “Relax. Don't fight it,” he commanded.

  Despite the searing pain, I tried to heed his words as I clenched my jaw tightly closed.

  “She will live!” The prince's voice echoed in my aching head as shadowed hands pulled me again into darkness.

  Alexis’s beautiful face twisted with fear as the six-foot man forced his way into the apartment.

  “No!” she screamed, running to the other side of the room and knocking a dining chair into his path.

  “Be a good girl, Alexis, and come home with Daddy,” the man said, his too sweet voice did not match his dark green menacing eyes or the triumphant smirk on his face.

  My scream matched Alexis’s as the painful darkness returned.

  “Jaden, can you hear me?” Desiree's voice was distant.

  “It hurts. Pleassee…” I clenched my chest, unbearable pain stealing the breath from my body.

  Large tears fell from Alexis's eyes. “Stay away from me! Help, someone! Please, Jaden!”

  “Alexis?” I cried, reaching for her.

  “No, it's me,” Desiree said, holding my shaking hands. Annora lightly tapped my cheek, trying to wake me.

  “Alexis, I saw...” my voice trailed.

  I once again stood in my L.A. apartment. Sophia launched herself from the dining room table onto the man's back. He spun, screaming, Sophia's claws deep in his flesh. She dropped and positioned herself between him and Alexis.

  She screamed the cat's name.

  I was once again lying on the floor of Prince Arron's study. “Please, I have to go,” I gasped, trying to sit up.

  “You can't, you're hurt,” Desiree
said, holding me against the floor.

  Blackness. Alexis's scream of pain filled my ears and I stood once again in the apartment.

  “No! Jaden!” She was pulling and tugging on his iron grip.

  “Shut up!” He smacked her across the face.

  An agonized scream left me as I was burned and frozen at the same time and gasped from the overwhelming pain.

  I watched Alexis run from the apartment. The man followed her, his gun clearly visible, tucked into his pants.

  “Alexis!” I screamed as two gunshots rang out.

  I was covered in darkness, held in place by hundreds of frozen, singeing hands. Stabbing pain tore through my side and chest where the silver bullets pierced my flesh.

  “ALEXIS!” I screamed, kicked, hit at them.

  “Jaden, stop! We are trying to help you,” Desiree exclaimed.

  I tore at the IV tubes connecting the blood packs to my body. “No, let me go, please, Alexis—”

  Annora grabbed my wrists. “Jaden, stop,” she demanded.

  “No, Alexis needs me. Please, no!” I continued to fight them.

  I have to go to her—save her. The hands grabbed me all at once and dragged me into icy, burning blackness. My life was draining from me and I had nothing left within me to struggle against it.

  I can't die. Not now.

  Twenty-Four

  a loud pounding woke Alexis from a deep sleep.

  She stood yawning and crossed the room in a daze. “Hello?” Alexis asked, unlocking and opening the door.

  He towered over her, brown hair and mustache stinking of beer and filth, scrutinizing her. The world slowed to a crawl as she blinked rapidly at his tanned, leathery face, unable to proses what she saw. Then it hit her like a sledgehammer and time once again sped up. Her eyes went wide with fear.

  “NO!” she screamed and tried to slam the door, but he put his foot inside and pushed hard.

  “Be a good girl, Alexis, and come home,” he said.

  How did he find me? Oh God please, Jaden—help me.

  She pounded at him in the doorway, trying to keep him from entering the apartment, but he was stronger than she was and shoved her and the door aside.

  “No!” Alexis screamed as she ran to the other side of the room, knocking a dining chair into his path.

  She grabbed the first thing her hands closed over, a soda bottle, and hurled it at her father. “No! No!”

  He knocked it away easily. “Be a good girl and come home. You know I love you.”

  “Then leave me alone, please!” she begged, her back now touching the hanging TV.

  “You know I can't do that. You belong to me.”

  “Stay away!” she screamed. “Help, someone, please. Jaden!” Her tears fell in large drops, clouding her vision.

  He reached for her. “Shut up and come along. Before you make me angry!”

  The apartment filled with an animalistic hiss. Sophia launched herself from the dining room table onto the man's back. Mr. Tanner screamed and spun, Sophia's claws deep in his flesh. Dropping to the floor, hissing and spitting, she positioned herself between him and Alexis, her claws bloody and her hair standing on end.

  Mr. Tanner turned, hate spewing from him. “Stupid fucking cat!” he growled and then kicked Sophia hard.

  Sophia's small body took flight and she made an awful sound before hitting the wall, her body cracking against it. “Sophia!” Alexis screamed, trying to make her way towards the cat that lay motionless on the floor.

  Mr. Tanner grabbed her by the hair, yanking her back. She screamed as he ripped some of her hair from her skull.

  “Help! Please, someone! Sophia!” Alexis cried, her voice hoarse.

  “Shut up! We're going home.” He dragged Alexis towards the door.

  “No. Jaden!” She pulled and tugged on his iron grip.

  “Shut up!” he screamed, smacking her across the face.

  She’s in France. She can’t help me, I have to save myself. Alexis kicked low and hard, sending Mr. Tanner to his knees, clutching his private parts, swearing and screaming at her. Run! Her mind screamed as she bolted from the apartment, nearly falling down the two flights of stairs. Her father’s heavy footsteps trailed behind her. Faster! She threw the outside door open just as two huge hands grabbed her and pushed. Stumbling forward, she bumped into a red pickup truck, its engine rumbling loudly. No! Jaden!

  “Help. Someone, help!” she screamed.

  “Shut up!”

  Grabbing her, Mr. Tanner slammed her against the truck. Blood trickled from Alexis's nose and two cuts on her forehead. The world spun.

  Mr. Valentine stood in his apartment by the window, his curtains open as he looked out onto the scene before him. His dog growled, pawing at the front door.

  He quickly dialed 911 on his cell phone and relayed the address to the responder. Then he pulled the door open and ambled as fast as he could out into the street, his dog on his heels.

  He grabbed the larger, younger man as his dog ripped at Mr. Tanner's pant leg.

  “Leave her alone!” Mr. Valentine yelled, pulling Alexis's father away from her.

  The loud echo of the .9 mm handgun sent paralyzing shockwaves through Alexis's body.

  She stared down at the kind old man, his blood soaking the concrete sidewalk in a dark red pool. The dog still barked frantically but stayed with his dying master.

  He shot him!

  “Get into the truck!” her father ordered, pointing the gun at her.

  She sobbed as she climbed into the pickup truck. I’m going to die, she thought as the door slammed shut behind her.

  Twenty-Five

  alexis reached FOR me. “Wake up, Jaden!” she called.

  “My love,” I said, reaching for her. She was alive.

  She screamed, blood pouring from her neck, her small hands trying to stem the flow.

  My mind fractured and threw me back into my aching body.

  A distant ringtone filled my ears.

  “Hey, Sam,” Desiree said.

  Everything was so clear despite the ice-cold, electric pain coursing through me.

  “Is Jaden there? She has not been answering her phone. I need to speak with her immediately,” Sam's voice on the other end was urgent.

  “She's currently indisposed. Why, what's going on?” Desiree asked.

  The waves of bitter cold made my body tremble and shake.

  “We picked up an incident at her apartment on the police scanners,” he said. “Someone's been shot... and Alexis has been kidnapped.”

  I stiffened, his words filling me with dread but also something much deeper, an emotion I remembered from my distant mortal life. It was fear, debilitating, hopeless, and impenetrable fear.

  Alexis. God, No! The images of her blood-soaked, broken body engulfed my mind. I had to find her, save her. I had promised.

  “What do you mean, Alexis was kidnapped?” Desiree tried to speak as hushed as possible but her voice was on edge.

  “From what we can gather, a man busted his way into Jaden's apartment. In the attempt to kidnap her, he shot and killed the old man who lived downstairs.”

  “I want you to find out where they're going,” Desiree hissed. “I want to know where Alexis is every second.”

  Desiree will find her. My friends will bring her back to me. It didn't ease the heartache but made it bearable.

  “You will do no such thing,” Annora said, her words filling me with anger. “This is a mortal affair. The police are already involved. If we involve ourselves, it could expose us. We will not use council resources to find a human.”

  There it was again, the crippling fear filling every pore of my body.

  “What? If he harms her and Jaden finds out we did nothing to save her, she'll never forgive us,” Max pointed out.

  I silently screamed her name as ice burned me.

  “You don't want us to go after Alexis because you're jealous of her and angry at Jaden for choosing a human over you. I wouldn't be s
urprised if you had a hand in this!” Desiree accused, throwing her words at Annora.

  “Regardless of Lady Annora's personal feelings about the mortal, she is right,” Prince Arron said. “The police are all over this matter and if we involve ourselves, it could expose us. We will look into a safer way of retrieving the girl.”

  “But it could take days, maybe even months,” James exclaimed.

  “We understand this mortal is important to Jaden, but we cannot endanger the safety of our Houses for one human,” Lady Marianna said. “I'm sorry, but we have no choice.”

  “But, Councilwoman, Jaden—”

  “Jaden will understand,” Joffrey said, cutting Desiree off.

  No, Alexis! They’re going to abandon me, abandon her; why?

  “Until we can devise a plan to retrieve the girl without exposing us to the mortal world, you will not pursue this further. Do I make myself clear?” Prince Arron said.

  I fought against the pain coursing through my unmoving body.

  “We understand,” Desiree said.

  “Are we going to tell Jaden?” Max asked.

  “No,” Prince Arron replied. “She can do nothing in her condition. Besides, there is nothing to tell until we find a way to retrieve the girl. It's best not to let her worry. She needs to concentrate on getting better.”

  They left the room and a deafening silence fell over me. It was thick and heavy, as if someone was drowning me in ice water. Wake up, Jaden! Alexis needs you! My mind screamed, but the heavy hands held me just under full consciousness. I struggled against them, fighting once again for freedom.

  Slowly, they relinquished their hold and my eyes fluttered open. A hospital—which? I worked through the cold fog, searching old memories. There were four hospitals under the council’s thumb and only one was anywhere near the summit.

  Kings Hill—Mr. Whitmore! I inhaled sharply, a plan slowly formulating. Gods! Everything hurts. The silk cover felt like a heavy sheet of iron as I pulled it from my naked body. Searching through clouded vision, I found my clothing on the chair across the room.

  I did not even bother to sit up, just rolled off the bed. Hitting the floor with a loud bang, pain soared through me. The tubes connecting blood packs to my body were now free, dripping blood onto the white floor. My wounds reopened and the bandages quickly soaked up the blood. The excruciating pain filled me with adrenaline and brought me to full and utter wakefulness.