I swallow the lump of fear in my throat once I see Tater is fine, and my gaze shifts back to the battle around me. The number of soldiers are overwhelming, but the villagers ain't giving up without a fight.
“Mistress,” the wail of relief comes from my right as Talbert and Beanie make their way to me through the flailing bodies, but quickly fall under a barrage of soldiers. Before I can respond in any way, Jax leaps in the middle of it all with no thought to his own safety. My Chi is itching to attack, but I hold it back, not wanting to take a chance of hurtin' him or the other two.
“You stupid turd,” I bellow at Jax as I jump on the back of the soldier about to whip him with the butt of his shooter. Wrapping my arm around the soldier's neck, I jerk my weight backwards and we both tumble, us one way and his iron shooter another. We roll in the dirt, but he manages to stop our roll and land on top of me. His young, wild eyes stare down at me as he lifts a meaty fist, meaning to pummel me senseless, no doubt. But he realizes who I am, and he holds back on his punch.
Wrong move, idiot.
My power smacks him in the chest, and he draws a last breath as his eyes roll back, and he keels over, dead. I panic for a moment. I ain't meant to kill him, but yet another death at my hands. I push it to the back of my mind and scramble to my feet. My kin are more important.
I ain't got nuthin' to worry about, though. My attack was enough to give the frantic villagers the upper hand, and they're holding their own. Even from my quick glance, I see that there are more of my people standing than brown robes. Is it possible? Did we really manage to beat them at their own game?
“Jax.” I reach out for him as he hobbles my way. There's blood running from his split lip, and one eye is already swelling shut, but the huge grin on his face tells me he sees the same thing I do.
“We did it, Tara,” he says, beaming as he grabs my hand. “We did—”
The explosion lifts me offa my feet and rips Jax's hand from my grasp. I fly backwards as a pain like I ain't ever felt before tears through my thigh. I try to scream but I hit the ground hard and roll, my lungs deflating like popped balloons as every bit of air escapes past my lips.
I finally come to a stop on my stomach, gasping for air and trying desperately not to black out from the screaming nerve endings in my thigh. Sweat beads down into my eyes, blinding me. Ringing pounds through my head, deafening me. But still I push myself to my knees. My hand moves to my thigh and encounters something wet and cold. Shaking the sweat and tears outta my eyes, I glance down at the jagged piece of metal protruding from my leg. But it ain't that, that makes me wanna vomit. It ain't even the veacals that I had used to plug the valley entrance, now blown to smithereens and leaving the entrance wide open. It's the man moving effortlessly through the falling dust and debris, walking towards us and smiling like he's just here for a neighborly visit. The devil himself. The Prezedant.
19
The Ultimatum
The village has gone so utterly silent that I think I really have gone deaf. But then that oily voice slithers along my spine.
“Well, isn't this a pickle of a situation. Not quite the way I saw this going down. Blocking the village entrance with my own machinery? Brilliant ploy, I must say. Had to be you, Tara. Where are you, my dear? I feel you are quite near. Come out and say hello.”
I know there ain't no use to hide or to run. Hell, I cain't run even if I wanted to. The Chi in me reacts with a savage viciousness, and I wanna let it loose at the evil standing so close, but I know I cain't. Not with so many innocents around. Not just yet. Just gotta bide my time.
At first I ignore him and my pain as I get to my feet and search for the faces I love. That explosion ripped through us like wind through leaves, and not all of us were lucky. Villagers as well as brown robed bodies litter the ground, not moving. I search the carnage in desperation for Jax and Ben and Belle. I see them not far from me. All are covered in blood, but at least they’re struggling to their feet. I'm finally able to suck air into my lungs as some of the fear dissipates.
Mack catches my eye, raising a brow in alarm as his eyes move to my injured leg. I dismiss his concern with a shrug, even though it feels like my leg is being sawed off by a dull blade. That damn sliver of metal has gotta go, but it's embedded deep, and I feel sick at the thought of yanking it out. Instead, I limp forward, favoring my un-injured leg and stare at the embodiment of evil as he slowly struts through the carnage of bodies, stepping around some in distaste. He must step into something he don't like, I reckon, since he pauses to scrape his boot on a poor brown robed sod.
“Ugh. You do realize this is all your fault, Tara. This was supposed to be an easy takeover. You definitely surprised me with that move. Quite impressive. You've grown since we last met, little one.”
He takes another couple of steps, and his telepathic feelers crawl over me and settle on my chest as heavy as his real hand. He turns my way, smiling in pleasure that he's found me. And while I feel like a piece of chewed raw meat, he looks cool and collected. His white robe and trousers are spotless, not a wrinkle to be seen or a black hair outta place on his head. He looks more like he just stepped into his grand ballroom instead of on a battlefield.
“Ah. There you are. At least I think.” His brow furrows as he steps closer. “What strange thing has happened to your hair, my dear? Did you suffer some misfortune? The last time I saw a New Blood with white hair it was because I had drained her dry. Who was it again? Oh yes, the Sanctuary healer. I believe you two knew each other?”
He knows damn well we knew each other, and I'm sure his feelers trying to dig at my brain pick up on my distress and anger. But I don't give in to the hate festering in my gut. Not yet.
“How did you find us?” I growl at him, trying to distract him from his probing. I don't need him to realize how much my power has grown since we last met. I need to take him by surprise without hurting any more of my people in the process. And to do that I need him close.
His head tilts sideways as does his grin. “You really didn't think you could hide from me forever, did you? Silly girl. I would have found you sooner or later. But to be honest, we did have some help. And when I was told who was here with you, well, I had to come and see for myself. Imagine my surprise when I was told my old friend Ernst was here. Your dear ol' da.” He raises his head and surveys the village, cupping his hands around his mouth. “Ernst, where are you, old man? Come show yourself. Or are you still the same sniveling, miserable coward even after all these years?”
Ernst emerges slowly from the mass of soldiers and villagers on my right. The strain on his face is quite evident, but he stands straight and tall as he approaches my side, and something seems different about him. He looks stronger in his defiance.
“No need to shout, Max. I may be old, but I'm not deaf.”
The Prezedant studies the wrinkled face before throwing his head back and cackling with laughter. “Oh, my goodness. It really is you. I didn't think you were even still alive. You look so... so old.”
Ernst waits until the laughter dies down before responding. “I am old. As are you. I just don't steal the souls of others to conceal it anymore.”
“Whatever.” The Prezedant waves a dismissive hand and studies us, his face still beaming. “The New Blood and the friend who stabbed me in the back. Both of you, just as our informant said. I really didn't dare believe it to be true, but here you both are, and I'm pleased as punch. Can this day get any better?”
“You ain't answerin’ my question. How did you find us?” I say, tired of his antics.
He feigns surprise as he switches his attention back to me. “I didn't tell you? Oh, forgive my lack of manners. You know, there's an old saying from back in my day that certainly applies to this current situation. Ernst, you would remember this as well, 'Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.' Quite accurate. Ah, here she is now.” His slender finger points to the left, and I follow with my eyes. Outta the settling dust walks a figure I wasn't expecting to
see anytime soon since I figured she was already well into the out lands gathering our allies. Zoe walks into the center of chaos, sandwiched between two guards, but the dead and injured don't seem to affect her. Her eyes are fixed on me only, and they're fulla regret and sorrow. I can feel it oozing offa her, even between the distance separating us.
“Zoe?” The disbelief in Mack's voice is just as evident as he too spots her. “You did this?”
“I'm sorry,” she cries out as her gaze switches to Mack. “I'm sorry, but I-I didn't have a choice.”
“Lies,” the Prezedant says, laughing as he folds his arms and leans conspiratorially my way. “There's always a choice. She gave you all up quite willingly. Didn't even have to torture her, which was no fun at all, I might add.”
“I'm sorry. I'm sorry,” she utters over and over. The anguish is eating her alive I can tell. It really is. But all her words do is turn my heart to ice because the realization finally kicks in. She betrayed us.
“You led him to us?” I whisper, even though I know the answer.
“I already said that, did I not?” The Prezedant sighs in impatience. “Could even say offered you up on a silver platter.”
“You led him to us.” My words carry more force this time, and Zoe flinches under the accusation.
“There was no choice,” she insists as her head turns back to me. “He's killed so many of us, Tara. So many of those we love. And those men of mine he captured? One of them is my mate and one my brother. I can't have any more people I love die. You must see that. Lily, Flip, Riven, so many others. How many more need to die for this lost cause rebellion? How many?”
“Lost cause?” I repeat, ignoring the restrained laughter issuing from the devil in white. “You agreed with us that we could do this.”
“I was wrong. We can't beat him.”
He arches a brow Zoe's way and intercedes with “Truer words, and all that.”
“We can,” I yell, my anger finally starting to take control. “How could you betray us? How could you do this to us?”
“Because I will do anything in my power to save those I love,” she yells back, and for the first time since her arrival, I see the glint of anger in her dark eyes. “I thought you of all people would understand that. Not long ago you spoke those same words.”
I know she's right, but I cain't help the disgust at her treachery brewing in my heart. “What did he promise you for your betrayal?”
Her mouth sets in a grim line, and she looks away like she don't wanna answer me. But I ain't giving up that easy. I wanna know what her prize is in exchange for our lives.
“The New Blood asked you a question, girl. Answer her.”
The amusement in the Prezedant's voice is hard to miss. He's enjoying playing us off on each other. He thinks it’s funny. It only fuels my hatred.
Zoe's face falls with her surrender, and she rubs a weary hand across her eyes. “To free my kin. To let us live free from persecution and punishment in Littlepass. You would have taken the same offer. Don't try and lie about it.”
I shake my head. I probably would have at one time. But not anymore. “You're wrong. You should have trusted in me.”
“Hah!” Her cold snort of laughter catches me off guard. “Trusted in you? Like Lily did? Like Flip and Riven and the rest of my dead men did? Like these people did?” She waves her hand around at the bodies on the ground, and my anger flames red hot.
“Don't you dare blame this on me. This is all your doin'.”
“No. It isn't. This is a product of your empty promises. All I trust you to do, New Blood, is cause more death. More death and pain and—” Her eyes opening in wide panic is the only warning I get before her neck twists at an unnatural angle with an ominous crack, and Zoe crumples to the ground.
“Zoe,” Mack yells as I check desperately with my Chi, fearing I’d somehow done this. But the airy wave of the Prezedant's hand, and his casual shrug lets me know it ain't my doing.
“What?” he questions as my horrific gaze catches his. “Yada, yada, yada. She was boring me. Don't tell me you didn't feel the same?”
“You killed her.” I breathe deep through my nose, trying to contain the entity struggling to be set free and do some damage. “You promised her amnesty.”
He spreads his hands wide in a gesture of innocence. “I lied. It's what I do. Not my problem she was gullible enough to believe—”
My primal shout interrupts him as I leap forward and wrap my fingers around his throat before he can react. The Chi fires through my body, not even brought to life by a thought anymore. It has its own awareness. It's its own being. It lifts the Prezdant offa the ground, his toes dangling loose against the sands, and deep down I can feel the mad laughter bubbling in my gut at his panic-stricken face.
“Ernst, herd our people behind us, toward the valley,” I command my pa and he reacts instantly. I know if I can get the villagers behind me and outta harm’s way, I can take down the rest of the soldiers in one fell swoop. Already I can see some of the brown robes raising weapons outta the corner of my eye, and I hit 'em with a wall of sand, blinding them to the happenings around 'em.
The Prezedant finally over comes his shock, and I'm pummeled with a resisting wave of Chi. It collides with mine and reverberates down my arm, into my shoulder, but I don't ease my grip. His hands grope at mine, trying to loosen the hold on his throat, his face reddening from his inability to breathe, but my hand stays strong.
When physical resistance don't work, he tries to mind numb me again, like he had done when we first met. His tendrils of Chi try to rip into my brain, opening me up to his suggestions. I hear the whispering commands telling me to release him, and I respond back with one of my own.
Silence!
His obedience is innate, his Chi overwhelmed by mine. Even through his panic, I feel his shock at the abundance of my power.
“How,” he manages to croak, and I narrow my eyes.
“You ain't in control no more, old man. I am. I’m the enlightened one, and your time is over.”
My grip tightens even more as I know I gotta finish this right now. This is my chance. I focus on watching the light drain outta his eyes, my need for revenge so consuming that I don’t notice him lift his foot until it’s too late. His boot crashes down on the metal shard in my thigh, driving it in even deeper. It tears through muscle and bone as pain lances my body, and black spots swim in fronta my eyes. The scream that rips from my lips as my Chi slips for a split second is a mix of agony and fear.
The crack in my shell don't last long, but it’s all the time he needs. I feel my grip slip a slight second before the punch of unseen power strikes me dead center in the chest and sends me spiraling into the air. The world around me spins outta control as I flip over and over, finally crashing into the tin roof of the shanty below me. The fragile roof gives way under my weight, and I land in a jumble of falling debris, my whole body throbbing with hurt.
A tiny moan escapes me as an invisible hand grips my spine and jerks me outta the rubble that was once the shanty. It drags me back out into the shouting and chaos of battle. I hear Jax and others calling my name, their voices etched in terror for me, but my eyes seek only the one person controlling me right now. He strides toward me, his face a mask of pure rage and his power emanating from him with a halo of anger so intense I catch my breath. He is truly terrifying, and I realize for the first time how I must appear to others when under the influence of my own Chi.
“Enough of your trifling, New Blood. You think you're a match for me? I'm done with playing.” His bellow is powered by anger and hatred and so is the unseen blow that wallops me hard in the face. It stuns me, and I'm too woozy to fight against the force dragging me across the span between us. The band of Chi tightens around my throat, squeezing and squeezing, cutting off my air supply. My body convulses as I struggle to loosen his grip and suck in the much-needed air. But my struggle is in vain, and I can feel myself slipping under.
“Let her go!”
a voice commands. Shock replaces the anger on the Prezedant's face as the cords connecting us are suddenly broken. The lighter touch of Ernst's Chi is quite familiar as it releases me, and realization trickles through my confusion. I suddenly know why he appeared stronger earlier. The blood he'd taken from me when I’d asked him to show me how to use the syringe. He's used it on himself to enable his long absent power.
I sense the struggle for dominance between the two men, but it don't last long before Ernst is forcibly dragged the Prezedant’s way. He stumbles and falls to one knee as the Prezedant leers down into his upturned face. I know he knows he cain’t fight the Prezedant. One little bit of my blood ain’t gonna make him strong enough for that, but that ain’t what he’s trying to do. He’s just interfering enough to distract the devil’s attention away from me and let me catch my breath. He’s offering himself up to save me.
I take advantage of Ernst’s desperate dive back into his blood addiction, and sever the connection between me and my attacker as neatly as cutting a slice of bread. I fall to my knees, sucking in huge gulps of air as the impact sends jagged pain shooting through my thigh, reminding me of the metal embedded there. Reaching down, I yank the sliver outta my flesh. It lets go with a sickening wet, squishy sound, and I almost black out, but I know I ain't got much time.
Shaking away the dizziness, I leap to my feet and turn my attention back to the Prezedant. Energy jolts through my body and bounces at my fingertips, dulling the pain in my leg. I break into a slight run, heading straight toward him. My Chi is itching to send him a fatal blow, but almost as if he knows, the coward grabs Ernst and yanks the old man his way, using him as a shield.
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