Now that I had both of them in my arms, I quickly activated my parachute, only to have it fail too along with the reserve. For a split second, I wondered if we had all been sabotaged, but I sensed that the others had slowed their descent significantly.
It was just us.
I met Trinity’s frightened gaze for half a second, and in that moment my fear – my fear for their lives – caused me to snap, and my instincts took over. My blood would do anything I wanted, and right now I needed to fly.
Without a thought, blood poured out of my back, shredding the worthless rig, and a pair of thin massive wings formed on either side.
Chapter 19: Trust
Abruptly, we stopped falling and instead began gliding rapidly towards the jungle below. But we were still going too fast – we had fallen too far before we began slowing down.
My wings automatically began reshaping themselves, splitting into two sets – one set stayed motionless while the second smaller pair began to beat rapidly, slowing our speed. Just as we reached the treetops, I had almost slowed us to a stop. I instantly repurposed my wings and shot my blood down into the forest below, forcing us to a complete halt. I heard Trinity take a deep breath now that we were stationary high above the ground, but I didn’t look at her.
As I began lowering us down into the trees, I realized Liz had passed out between the two of us. I wasn’t sure if it was from the fear or because she literally couldn’t breath in my embrace, but I lowered us more quickly when I noticed. It was pitch black already underneath the thick canopy above. Granted, I knew Trinity could still see just fine, not to mention my own unique sense.
We laid Liz down on the ground and Trinity immediately checked her heart rate and breathing. She was fine on both accounts, so we waited patiently for her to come to. We could hear the others begin to drop into the trees while we waited.
After a few seconds, Trinity finally spoke up, still watching Liz carefully. Her voice was solemn. “I’m starting to lose count of how many times you’ve saved my life.” She said in a whisper.
My tone was flat – emotionless. “I love you.” I stated simply. I felt like that alone was enough explanation for why I would risk so much to protect her.
Trinity abruptly looked up at me, just now realizing my empty expression. “Oh!” She exclaimed, quickly leaning over Liz to kiss me. But when she touched her lips to mine, I still felt nothing. I suspected the reason why.
She pulled back with a small smirk, expecting to see my eyes alive again, only for her expression to drop when up she saw the emptiness. “That didn’t work?” She whispered. “Did I do it wrong?’
I shrugged, my voice hollow. “Your kiss can do a lot. But I think right now I just need Liz to be alright.”
Trinity hesitated, and then nodded, looking back down at her. I felt Trinity slip her hand in mine, and it made me want to feel something, but I just couldn’t yet. Finally, Liz stirred, silently releasing my emotions. Trinity knew right away, because my hand finally tightened around hers.
However, as Liz slowly opened her eyes to complete darkness, she began to panic immediately. The moment her heart rate began to race, Trinity reached out to her.
“Liz, it’s okay. We’re right here with you.”
Liz practically jumped on Trinity the moment she felt her touch. She was still breathing heavily, but I was surprised she wasn’t crying with how panicked she seemed. Finally, after a second, she whispered. “Where’s Jake?”
“I’m right here,” I reassured her, reaching out to touch her arm.
She immediately grabbed it and tried pulling it across her chest between her and Trinity. I decided to let her. After a few seconds, she finally whispered again. “I can’t see anything.”
I saw Trinity reach down towards Liz’s waist. “You have night-vision goggles, don’t you?”
Liz shook her head. “No, Zane was holding onto them for me. These pants are too tight to get anything in my pockets.”
“Well, that’s alright.” I replied. “We can both see just fine, and I can carry you on my back.”
Liz looked up at me with an expression I assumed was happy, because her voice was abruptly eager. “Okay!”
I smirked at her enthusiasm and helped her climb onto my back. I wanted to have my hands free this time, so I wrapped by blood around her to secure her comfortably in a crimson harness. She still had her arms wrapped around my neck loosely. I looked over at Trinity to make sure she was ready. She nodded, and I slipped my hand in hers with a grin.
From her tone of voice, I knew Trinity had smiled back. “You can sense everyone right?”
I nodded, looking up at my surroundings to figure out who we should find first. I then paused briefly. “Wow Liz, you’re going to make this jungle hike really easy.”
“Why is that?” She wondered.
“Because your shield is pushing everything away, except for the trees – all the vegetation.”
Trinity chimed in then, looking around them. “Even the insects. We might not have to use the insect repellent after all if we just stick close to you. Granted, I could always just kill the little buggers myself if I wanted.”
I looked at her in surprise. “Trinity, you can use your ability on insects?”
“Well, yeah, although I don’t gain any benefit as far as I know, other than some sanity from not being bitten ten times a second.”
“Huh. Good point.” It occurred to me then that I also probably didn’t need to worry about insects if I were separated from the others. I was too durable now, and even before I doubted blood-drinking insects could steal my blood when it was always under my control. Really, Zayden and Ava could probably use their abilities to keep bugs away too. It was only Zane who would need the insect repellent if he ventured off on his own.
As we began making our way through the trees and vegetation, I could feel everyone converging on our general location, likely to find out if we were alright. It was light enough above the canopy that it was certain they had seen what happened in the dim twilight. Zane was tracking us down in his werewolf form, so he was the first one to find us. However, he remained transformed, probably so he could still see without his night-vision goggles. His voice was deep and bestial as he spoke.
“Succubus, that was clearly sabotage. There’s no way that was an accident.”
Trinity nodded. “Yes, that much is clear. Shield and I would have died for sure if Incubus hadn’t saved us.”
Zane looked at me then, his voice deep. “Did you know you could create wings?”
I shook my head. “No, the fear I felt from the idea of them dying made me snap again, and I ended up just letting my instincts take over.”
Zane nodded, crossing his arms. “Well, I guess you turning off your emotions can be a good thing after all, other than making you immune to certain abilities.” His pointy ears twitched then, sensing what I already knew. Zayden was close, although Ava was actually closer – she made no noise when she traveled in her shadow form.
“Alpha,” I began, “you go get Zayden. We can intercept Shadow.”
He nodded and took off. I squeezed Trinity’s hand in mine and then began jogging to intercept Shadow’s path. Granted, by the time we began moving, she had already changed course, having finally ‘seen’ us herself. She transitioned back to her human form once she was close enough.
While we walked back to regroup, we ended up having a similar conversation with her as Zane. Ava also complemented Liz on the use of her shield. It made the trek much more leisurely than it would have been otherwise. Then, once we were all together, we focused on finding the supplies. Zane had given Liz her night-vision goggles with a furry hand, so she could finally see. Zayden and Ava went ahead and wore them too, whereas Zane maintained his werewolf form to more easily track our supplies down.
All of their parachutes, including the one for the supplies, had caught high up in the trees. However, each rig had a reel with about a hundred feet of rope to descend to the forest floor
below. We found the supplies suspended from such a rope, hanging about eight feet above the ground. I cut the rope with my blood and brought the netting with the six backpacks down to the ground.
Zane turned back into his human form and equipped himself with a machete, pistol, and his night-vision goggles. He handed the other machete and the backpack with food and other random supplies to Zayden, and handed a water pack to Ava. Trinity helped slip one of the water packs onto Liz’s shoulders, although my blood ended up supporting most of the weight, and Trinity shoulder two herself. Really, Trinity could have comfortably managed several hundred pounds of water on her back and been just fine.
Zane then pulled out a waterproof map and compass from his pant pockets in order to get his bearings. Finally having an idea of which direction they needed to head, he glanced down at the radio pack on the ground and then back up at Trinity.
“Succubus, do you think we should report the sabotage?”
Trinity crossed her arms as she considered it. I decided to chime in, as well as take Trinity’s cue and start shortening Liz’s codename to Shield for simplicity. “Given what’s happened in the last few days, I think we should consider the possibility that the General wanted us dead. How do we know this isn’t just some repeat of the other day? Just because we’re on the other side of the world, doesn’t mean anything. We already know they wanted to get rid of Shield, and if they still do then that would have been a successful way to do it.”
Much to my surprise, it appeared I was echoing what was on everyone’s mind. Granted, I couldn’t clearly see anyone’s expression, but the rest of their body language seemed clear enough. Finally, after a few seconds, Trinity finally answered.
“Okay, I have a plan. I think we should report the sabotage, but don’t call it that. I want to explain what happened and see how the General reacts. That should give us some insight into whether or not he was involved.”
“And what if he is involved?” Zane asked.
Trinity didn’t answer right away, instead just staring at him. Finally, after a few seconds, she replied. “Let’s cross that bridge only if we need to.”
Zane nodded in agreement.
However, I felt like I was missing something. “But wait, how are you going to get ahold of the General with that,” I gestured towards the backpack on the ground. “Isn’t he on the other side of the world right now?”
Zane shook his head. “It’s not a regular radio. It uses satellites to communicate, so being half a world away isn’t a problem. Really, it’s like a massive high-powered cellphone.”
I looked down at the backpack with renewed interest. It was the first ‘phone’ I had been exposed to in the last few days. Granted, I quickly realized I probably couldn’t use it to call my family, nor would it be a good idea to do so. I had no idea what they thought had happened to me, but I doubted letting them know I was alive would be good for them. It was probably best if they assumed I was dead or missing, rather than know the truth – likely they would be in danger if they did know the truth.
Trinity bent down and turned on the radio, adjusting some settings. Overall, it appeared it was already preloaded to communicate with their home base. She reported in and had the General on the line within a couple of minutes.
“Sir,” she began, “Shield Maiden’s parachute failed.”
There was naturally a second delay, but the pause was much longer before the General responded. “Were you able to catch her?” He asked in a reserved tone.
“Alpha caught us both. We were riding together. I was able to hold onto him.” Trinity replied, lying slightly.
The next response was a little quicker, but it was obvious he was surprised she hadn’t flat out stated that her life had been in danger too. “Very well. We will do a full investigation to determine if it was sabotage. The chances of a parachute failing are exceptionally low.”
Trinity’s response was immediate. “Sir, Incubus’ parachute failed too. He survived and is fine now.”
This time it was silent for a lot longer. When he finally responded, his voice was hard. “That’s too coincidental. Succubus proceed with the mission, but you are to go dark until it is complete. Have no contact with anyone and avoid radio communication with each other as much as possible. We may have a mole on our hands trying to sabotage this mission. You may also want to take an indirect route to the target.”
“Yes sir. Going dark now.”
Chapter 20: Sacrifice
As soon as the General responded with ‘Copy’ she shut the radio back off. She then looked up at me expectantly. Zane responded first. “Well, that alleviates my concerns. His responses seemed consistent with someone who wasn’t aware of the sabotage.”
I nodded in agreement. “So then I wonder if we were targeted specifically, or if the mole was just trying to whittle our team down.”
Zayden shrugged, and Ava spoke up. “All I know is I feel a lot more appreciative about the fact that Incubus doesn’t sleep. I never would have suspected we would have to worry about keeping an eye out on base here.” Everyone nodded in agreement.
I sighed. “Me too. There was a guy that checked in a couple of times, but I didn’t think anything of it.”
Trinity picked up the radio backpack and handed it to Zane to shoulder since he was the only one who had space left. Zane accepted it and then spoke. “Right, so I guess we should move in an arc instead of heading straight there. It will take longer, but we should still be able to make it long before daybreak.”
Trinity nodded. “It’s roughly ten miles, so if we are able to keep up a decent pace, it should only take us about three hours. Shield’s ability will make it easier for us. We probably won’t have to use the machetes.”
Zane agreed and then began leading the way three feet in front of me and Liz. Out of all of us, he had the best overall perception of direction. He would be able to take us off course without getting lost. Trinity stayed at my side and the other two walked behind us. Even though we were protected from the insects, I noticed that Trinity occasionally zapped them just for the fun of it. I smirked at her the third time she did it.
“What?” She exclaimed quietly – her tone was playful.
“You’re just cute is all. Those poor bugs didn’t have a chance.”
Zayden scoffed. “Ugh, don’t even start that shit.”
Trinity snickered, but let it go. Liz was strangely quiet. I wasn’t sure if she just didn’t have anything to say, or if something was wrong. She at least seemed to be enjoying the ride on my back. I hadn’t set her back down because the five of us could speed walk probably almost as fast as she could comfortably run. She’d quickly get left behind if someone didn’t carry her, and I didn’t fatigue.
After almost thirty minutes of silence, I finally decided to ask.
“Are you alright?” I whispered.
She perked up right away. “Yes, why?”
“Just making sure. You’ve barely said anything since after we landed.”
She shook her head. “Trin– I mean Succubus said we were supposed to be quiet, so I was just trying to be good.”
“Oh!” Trinity exclaimed softly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean you couldn’t talk at all. I just didn’t want you to scream. You did a good job by the way.”
I felt Liz’s head drop a little. “Well…I was too afraid to even scream…and I sort of passed out.”
“We were all afraid,” I tried to reassure her. “I actually snapped again, I was so afraid.”
“And,” Trinity quickly added, “I couldn’t even bring his emotions back. He wasn’t back to normal until you woke up.”
“Really?” Liz sounded surprised…and hopeful.
“Yep,” I agreed. “I needed you to be okay. The moment you stirred it all came back.”
Liz abruptly hugged me tightly around the neck. “I’m glad,” she whispered. “And thank you for saving us.”
“You’re welcome,” I said simply. “I’m glad I could. I might never emotionally
recover if you both died, and I survived. I don’t even want to think about it.”
Ava chimed in then, her tone a little playful. “I don’t want to think about it either – it’s bad enough that we’d lose them, but then we’d end up having to deal with an emotionless Incubus forever.”
“Sorry,” I said seriously, glancing back at her. “I know it really bothers you.”
Ava hesitated, before being honest. “It’s not you specifically…I used to know someone who had that look in their eyes. He was a stone-cold killer, except it never turned off. Or rather, his emotions never turned back on. That was just his default, and my memories of him are not fond.”
“Someone we know?” Zayden wondered. For once, he sounded…sincere.
Ava shook her head. “No…” She then sighed. “I’m referring to my father.”
I glance back at her in surprise, but she was looking away now. From everyone else’s reaction, and sudden silence, I suspected Ava had never shared that before. Finally, after a few minutes, I decided to her again. “I know the answer is probably no…but is there anything I can do to make it easier for you? I can’t really control it, but maybe I can do something while it’s happening.”
Much to my surprise, she was quiet, appearing to consider my proposition. Finally, she replied. “Maybe if you could call me a pet name when you speak to me, like cupcake.”
I was immediately shocked, we all were, but Zayden appeared the most rattled.
He barely kept his volume at a normal level when he reacted. “Not you too! Why in the hell does everyone like this guy?!”
“It’s not that,” Ava hissed. “Chill out!” She then explained herself. “I don’t want you to call me something normal like honey or sweetie. It’s so I know you’re still there. If anything, it’s more like a password. If it happens and I’m there, I want you to say it right away. It’ll remind me it’s you and not…well, not my father.” Ava then crossed her arms and looked back at Zayden. “And if I did like him, it would be because he’s not an asshole twenty-four seven. At the rate you’re going, Zane’s got a better chance than you do.” I could sense that Zayden was immediately flustered by her bluntness, implying he liked her. I had already begun suspecting it, but it was clear he wasn’t ready for that to be public knowledge. I was momentarily concerned that Zane would feel bad hearing that, but he didn’t give any indication it bothered him. I doubted he had ever moved on from the death of the girl represented by his crying heart tattoo – the same girl who had been responsible for saving Trinity.
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