by Alan Marble
Jonah shook his head a little. “Ok, let me see if I can get this all straight. Carolus has this big plot to lure us all here so that the Syndicate can scoop us up and carry us away. Somehow you’ve gotten in on this but you’re actually playing the part of a double agent, and now you want me to do something about it?”
Abe flashed another one of his big, toothy grins. “That’s about the long and short of it, yes.”
“God.” He held his hands behind his head, locking his fingers together and started to pace back and forth between a couple of the scrub bushes, kicking up little clouds of dust as he went. “I’m still trapped, aren’t I? I mean, if I go along with you I’m risking my neck. I get dragged along with the others and I’m done for. I decide not to, go and rat you out and all is well until the Syndicate finishes what they’re doing and hauls us all away. That’s all assuming you’re telling me the truth …”
“God’s honest truth,” he said, raising his right arm to the square as he chuckled. “Look, kid. I realize there’s not a whole lot I can do to convince you that I’m not making it up, so I’m just going to play the part of a bad guy and manipulate you into doing what I want.”
Jonah blinked in confusion. “Manipulate me?”
Abe stepped over to loom large in front of Jonah, resting a meaty hand on his shoulder. “Don’t make this about you and me, kid. Selfish motives can only take you so far. What really counts is when you do something for someone that you care about. Me, I’m doing it for the clan. I’ll stick my neck out all day long. But you? There’s a young lady locked up in that building that I happen to know you care about. Do nothing and she’s going to be dragged off in a few hours to have her brain scrambled, or worse.”
Jonah blushed hotly, his gaze heading downward to his feet and looking away. “That’s ridiculous. I don’t know what you are talking about …”
“Nonsense.” The grip on his shoulder tightened a little, just shy of painful. “I don’t blame you, kid. A lot of fire in that one, a lot of spunk. If I were a little younger … a few hundred years, maybe … but she’s more in your league, kid. Don’t let her go. Don’t let them take her. Do something about it.”
“She can’t stand me,” he muttered beneath his breath, still looking down at the ground. He could remember the way she smiled from time to time, the sound of her laugh and how infectious it was to him. Something about her drew him in; in only a week’s time he had fallen completely head over heels for her, it was true.
It was obvious that she did not return the sentiment. He could also remember the way she scowled at him, the angry look she had given him, and the unmitigated fury that last time he had seen her eyes. He shook his head and grunted.
“Doesn’t matter.” Abe clapped him lightly on the shoulder and pulled his hand back away, pausing a moment before speaking again. “That’s not what it’s all about, Jonah. You do things for people because you care about them, not for any other reason. I’ll say it again. Don’t let her go. Help.”
Jonah clenched his hands into tight fists, tight enough for his knuckles to start going white. He wanted to argue but found that he could not. He had no response other than to breathe a long, low sigh. “What does it matter? There’s nothing I can do.”
The sound of Abe’s deep laughter was enough to get him to look up, the bald man beaming a broad smile. “I’ve got that all taken care of, kid. All I need to know is that I can count on you. Will you help me? Help her? Help all of us?”
“Just tell me what to do,” he muttered a little hesitantly, still refusing to meet the man’s gaze.
“Your job will be easy enough, Jonah. All you’ve got to do is get locked up with the others.”
That was enough to get Jonah to look up and meet him in the eyes - or, at least, the impenetrable black lenses of his sunglasses. “Wait, what?”
One again Abe laughed. “Ok, let me explain. Right now they are being held together in a single large room. Just like the room where you were captured, the room has a ward that has been placed on it to keep them from taking on their dragon forms. If that ward were to come down and they were able to change then they would have a real, fighting chance to escape.”
Jonah frowned skeptically. “So you want me to somehow take down this ward? I don’t know anything about it.”
“I got that one kid. The problem is that even if I take down the ward, there’s no way for the others to know it’s happened. It’s going to take a coordinated effort; I’m going to have to take care of that at the same time that you bring word to the others, and let them know that it’s time to make a break for it.”
“Right. And just how do you propose I’m supposed to get down there?”
Once again the bald man flashed a toothy grin and a soft chuckle. “That’s also easy. I’m going to escort you down there myself. Pretty easy when you’ve decided to rebel against Carl and I. We don’t want you running around up here causing trouble.”
Shaking his head, Jonah sighed. “Do you realize how cliché that is? Smuggling someone in as a fake prisoner?”
“Cliché, but it doesn’t matter. Will you do it?”
“I don’t know. I don’t see how it’s supposed to work.” Jonah turned his gaze to look back at the building behind him, wondering exactly where it was that the others were being held, wondering what they were doing at that very moment. “It’s not like they’re going to believe me, anyway. Not now. Not after seeing the two of you get all buddy buddy with me. As far as they know we’re both traitors, too.”
Abe shrugged slightly, and started to make his way back toward the compound. “That part will be up to you, kid. Beg, cajole, do whatever it takes to get them to cooperate. It’ll be their only way out, and once you’re committed to this thing, the only way for you to make your escape, too.”
The thought briefly occurred to him that he might try to escape while Abe was turned away, walking toward the building. If he got a running start, perhaps he could transform and fly away to safety. They’d give chase, of that he was sure, but he might be able to get far enough away, enough of a lead that he could hunker down and hide until the whole thing blew over.
As quickly as it came to his mind it fled. Sighing again, he started to follow behind. “Anything else I should know about this?”
“Like I said, your job will be pretty simple,” Abe called out behind him. “Once you are in, give me ten minutes. I’ll hold the ward down as long as I can, but it won’t take long for them to catch on to what I’m doing. At that point I’ve got to make a run for it, myself, so you’ve got maybe fifteen minutes, tops.”
“What happens after we make our break for it?”
The big man faltered in his step a moment and then chuckled. “Afraid I don’t know the answer to that one. We’ll have to play that one by ear, but, there is one thing I can say for certain. Once you guys break out of that room all hell is going to break loose. The Syndicate will unleash everything that they have at their disposal. You will have one goal, and one goal alone at that point : make it out alive.”
A powerful chill ran down Jonah’s spine as he nodded. “That it?”
“That’s it. Just do me a favor and make it out of there safe and sound. I’ll do my best, too. Let the others know that anyone else who makes it out alive, we will regroup to the north and decide what to do from there.”
Before Jonah had a chance to respond, the big man turned around and snatched him by the shoulder with surprising speed and strength, pulling him out in front in a rough motion. “You won’t be escaping now, whelp. I thought we could trust you, but you’ve proven me wrong,” he said, rather loudly.
The ruse had begun, and so suddenly that it was only too easy for Jonah to feign surprise and fright. The nearest door to the compound swung open, a thick necked guard peering out severely.
Abe shoved him against the bull drake roughly, hard enough to knock the breath from him as a meaty, powerful arm wrapped around him and held tight. “Take him. Lock him up with the others.
I don’t want to see this rat’s face again,” he said, twisting his face into a scowl before turning on his heel and disappearing into the doorway.
The point of no return had already come and gone. Without hesitation the bull drake dragged him into the building, forcing him along one of the corridors. Jonah struggled in vain to escape the man’s grasp, his hands like vises clamping down on his arms, twisting them back at a painful angle that made him cringe and gasp.
No words were spoken when they arrived in front of another doorway, guarded by two of the massive men. One of them unlocked the door, pulling it open, and he was shoved in and to the floor while the door slammed shut behind him.
Still gasping and reeling from being thrown around, Jonah rolled onto his back coughing and shuddering, shaking the dizziness from his eyes. When he was finally able to focus on his surroundings he felt his blood suddenly run cold. Never before had he seen so many glances of raw hatred cast at him all at once.
“This isn’t going to be easy,” he whispered to himself, working up the strength to push himself back to his feet.
EIGHTEEN
“What the hell are you doing here?”
He wasn’t sure who had spoken, but Jonah realized it didn’t matter who it was. All of the eyes upon him were livid, steps away from something like murderous, he thought to himself. Shivering, he hugged his arms around his chest and peered around, going from one angry face to the other. “I’m here to help.”
“You’ve helped enough for one lifetime, don’t you think?” It was Rebekah who spoke up this time, her green eyes burning with rage.
“No. Yes. I mean,” he cringed, fumbling over his words. “Look, it’s not like what you think. Abe sent me.”
This time it was Jenna, who had always openly despised him, who shot him the fiery, hateful glance before speaking up with a voice every bit as vitriolic as her stare. “One traitor sends another? To what end, to taunt us? You’ve truly done enough around here, whelp. Go back to your murderous conspiracies. We will have nothing to do with you.”
The force of her words and her gaze were enough to make him stammer, and he had to look away to get a hold of himself. There was no safe direction to look, however; no matter where he turned, there was hatred and anger. “No, you don’t understand. He’s on your side, we’re on your side! We’re trying to save you!”
“By turning us over to the Syndicate? Please. We already know what your idea of peace and prosperity is. Go, leave us alone,” she hissed dangerously.
Jonah felt like he was on some kind of timeline. He didn’t have a watch on and there was no need for a clock inside the room, and he felt a sense of panic beginning to rise up in his chest. “Listen! There isn’t much time. Ten minutes, he said ten minutes and then the ward would be down, we’d have a chance to escape …”
He was only just able to speak in something approaching coherence, but the others were quickly losing interest. Frustrated, irritated if not disgusted, they began to turn their backs on him one by one, and each time he felt a little more panicked. “Please! You don’t understand … the Syndicate is coming for you! They’ll be here in a few hours. He told me! They’re going to take you away, do something to you … brainwash you … I don’t know. But you can’t stay here.”
“You should be happy,” Jenna answered him, looking back over her shoulder at him. “That’s just what you wanted for us from the beginning.”
“No, it isn’t. It isn’t at all. Look, I didn’t understand what was going on. To be honest I still am not really sure what is going on, I’m not sure I get all this Syndicate stuff anyway. But I’m sorry. It’s not what I want. Please.” No one answered him again, their backs turned to him once more, arms folded over their chests, doing their best to ignore him. Infuriated, he felt like running up to the nearest one and pulling them around, beating on them until they would listen.
“Please,” he begged, a little more lamely than before as he feared the time was slipping away too quickly. “Please. I don’t really care what you think of me. I don’t care what you think of me later, either. I’m not asking for forgiveness. Just hear me out. Ignore me for the rest of your lives after, turn your backs on me all you want, but not right now. Hear me out. Please!”
A few of them turned back around to face him, hesitantly, dubious expressions on their faces - but they were not ignoring him. Gasping at his small victory, Jonah found himself beginning to pant a little as fear was creeping up on him. Once more, Jenna turned to face him, rolling her eyes a little as she chose to indulge him one more time. “Make it quick. I don’t even know why I am listening to you.”
“Abe … he’s not working with Carolus. He only pretended to, so he could … so he could …” Realizing that he did not truly know what Abe’s motives were or what drove him to play along, he stumbled a little over his words before continuing on. “So he could figure out how to stop him. He sent me here so we could get you out of here. He’s going to do something, shut down the ward protecting this room. He’s putting himself at risk so we have a chance, so we can escape.”
Jenna glared at him for a long moment, her eyes narrowing as her gaze became briefly distant. When they snapped back into focus, she sneered at him angrily. “Liar.”
“No! I’m not lying, he said that after we should meet to the north …”
“Liar,” she interrupted him once more, shaking her head. “This room is still warded. I don’t know what you hoped to accomplish coming here with that story. Get our hopes up so you could laugh at us when we failed? Well, forget it. Insult us all you want; we won’t play your games any longer. Now, just go.”
Jonah felt his jaw going slack, gaping at her incredulously while she turned around one last time, the others following suit. “Wait … no, wait, he said ten minutes. He said to wait ten minutes. God, I don’t know how long it’s been but he said ten minutes …”
None of them budged. Any hope that he had begun to feel was withering inside of him, and in desperation he began to ponder what options he might have, how he might convince them. Beg, plea, get down on his knees. Continue raving like a madman. Scream at the top of his lungs until they got the point. Something. Anything.
He ran up to Jenna and grasped her by the shoulders, trying to pull her around, but the woman was too strong, too solidly placed. “Please,” he begged to no avail as she would not move. He turned his attention to Ryan standing next to her and tried as well, tried shoving him forward, but the bigger man would simply not budge, solid as stone. “Please, someone, anyone,” he tried, his voice cracking as he turned around.
“Rebekah,” he croaked when he saw her turned away, the red locks cascading over her shoulders making it obvious where she was. “Please, you know me. You know I’m not a traitor, that I don’t work for the Syndicate … please, you’ve got to listen to me, make the others listen to me,” he started, crossing over to where she was and touching his hand to her shoulder.
With frightening speed she whipped around, backhanding him across the face with enough force to send him reeling backward, falling flat on his ass. Reaching up to clasp a hand over his jaw and stare up at her incredulously, he found himself drawing back as she spoke up. “Stay away from me. Don’t touch me, don’t get near me. I never want to so much as see you again, you bastard.”
Jonah was so stunned by the outburst that he could do little more than gape up at her, pulling his hand away from the corner of his mouth without even noticing the little spot of blood that it left behind. There was something inescapably terminal about the way she finally turned her back to him, leaving him alone in the center of a semicircle of backs.
They would come soon enough. Abe could only hold out for so long and then he, too, would be captured. They would be dragged away to some place far away and meet some fate that he really didn’t understand. Brainwashed, given a lobotomy, he didn’t know and wasn’t sure he really cared. His heart sank in his stomach as he realized he was going to fail.
The one time
when others really depended upon him. The one time in his life when he put himself in harm’s way to help. The one and only time when he was acting for the good of someone else rather than simply to satisfy his own needs and desires. Abe was right; there was something different about it when you were fighting for someone else.
Yet he was going to fail. When it counted most, he was going to fail.
He felt the world beginning to collapse in on him. The wall of turned backs around him began to spin, his vision began to slip as he let himself fall to his side, starting to curl up in a fetal position. His life would end on this, on what could have been his greatest moment, left curled up on a floor, already dead to those around him.
Darkness crept into the corners of his vision, blurring as his eyes began to well up in fat, stinging tears. He felt like if he exhaled long enough, deep enough that his spark might give up, that he might let himself pass into the yawning abyss that was threatening to engulf his mind. Get it over with, and not prolong the suffering. Concede to failure.
“No.”
The voice was his own, and he surprised himself by whispering it. The spark inside of him did not give up, and suddenly he realized that he had not yet failed. He still had hope, he still had a choice, and he was still in control of his destiny. He could choose to lie down on the ground and give up, cry like a child, and accept his failure.
Or he could choose to fight.
“No,” he repeated, a little more firmly, dragging himself up to his feet slowly, staggering a little, but finally getting there. He wasn’t sure if any of the others had heard him, if they were paying any attention to him at all, but it didn’t matter. He would not let their ire control his destiny. He was still in control.
“No,” he repeated one last time before turning his eyes on the door that held them in. While it was no proper prison cell it was still a solid, metal door with no window or opening to the hallway beyond. Bolted and locked behind him as he was cast inside, it was their only way out. Squeezing his hands into tight fists, shaking at his sides, he focused on that door, crouched slightly, and then threw himself in its direction.