Brandon twisted between the two Monomi to look back at Finn. “You. You’re—” His eyes widened and he pulled against the guards, his pupils dilated. “My daughter, Adeline, she’s injured. A grievous sword injury. Please—”
Zebediah pressed his hand between Brandon’s shoulder blades and pushed him toward the door. “She’s been taken care of. And we’ll settle everything later.” Zebediah looked back at Ben. “Let’s leave them to it.”
Ben glanced at Raine and Finn and nodded, following the strange procession out. He’d done barely anything helpful on the way. He was always just a moment too late. Weariness sank into his bones, and he shook his head with a sigh.
He had to get stronger. He had to finish piecing together his past. He knew he didn’t belong here—that his sister was waiting for him back home. How to get home, how he’d gotten here, who he could trust with that information…all that would need to be discovered still. For now, he had to accept that this would be his new normal. He’d have to regain his strength here, do what he could to help—and find a way home.
And that meant getting back to Jade and Zak. And the rest of the Sapphire crew.
Blood stuck to the bottom of Ben’s shoes as he paused in the doorway, glancing back at Raine and Finn. Finn held his hands up to the barrier, head bowed. Raine waited close to the keystone, watching Ben. She offered a quick, tight smile, and motioned for him to leave.
Ben nodded and turned away. Whatever the future held, he wanted to be strong enough to face it.
Chapter Sixty
Jade
Jade woke silently, her body tingling as she tried to place what was wrong. A quick inhale reminded her of the jagged cut across her chest. Her lungs ached with a sharpness that she’d never felt before this day. Her eyes popped open. They were in Doldra. The keystone. Her father!
She tried to sit up but red-hot fire raced through her body, and she dropped her head back against the pillow.
This wasn’t the open, golden hallway in which she had fought that swordsman. She was in a room now, stretched out on a plush couch. Luminary crystals in sconces shone dimly, illuminating an elegantly carved and gilded door frame and a center table with a crystalline sculpture. Jade craned her neck to look back, and she could barely make out what looked to be a wet bar. Her breath hitched.
Zak sat in a chair by her head, his bare sword across his knees as he watched her, his green eyes glimmering, dark and inscrutable. His fingers twitched, but he didn’t move toward her. “How are you feeling?”
Jade leaned her head back, attempting to keep him in her line of sight without pulling the skin on her chest. The tender skin on her shoulder stretched, and agony lanced through her, so she forced herself to relax into the couch, letting her head loll to the side. It’s awkward to talk to someone I can’t even make eye contact with. “I’m alive. What have I missed?”
She heard his quiet snort, and she jumped when his knuckles brushed against her matted hair. He moved to the couch across from her, allowing her to see him without straining herself.
“Alive is good.” Zak glanced at the open doorway as someone hustled by, their shadow momentarily darkening the square of light that illuminated the rug. “We’ve taken over the palace.”
Exhaustion and pain fogged Jade’s mind, and she blinked at Zak. “We?”
“We Monomi.” He smiled grimly, and a minute shrug lifted his frame. “Now we’re all guilty of breaking the Monomi Treaty. Either some major reform will happen since Bentley has just been kicked out, or they’ll all be banished like me.”
Zak’s words didn’t make sense to her, and she licked her dry lips as she struggled to make sense of it all. “Bentley is gone?”
“He fled.” Zak leaned against the couch, and the dim light did little to hide his muscles as he folded his arms behind his head. “Coward left as soon as Brigley showed up and announced that he’d been to the shipping yards, witnessed the cleanup there, and that you—our crown princess—are alive and had been attacked by Bentley’s men dressed as bandits.” His lips quirked. “I guess Ellie decided it was time to let the secret free.”
Jade struggled to sit up and grimaced when Zak sprang from his seat to help her. No matter how injured she was, there was just some news she wasn’t going to be lying on her back for. Sweat beaded her forehead, and she tried to blink back the tears that sprang to her eyes as pain radiated through her chest.
He brushed a wayward tear from her cheek.
She searched his eyes. “Zak, I don’t want to be a princess.”
“I know.” He rubbed his thumb against his forehead. “I don’t know what to tell you. You are who you are.”
The doorway darkened, and someone rapped lightly against the frame. Samantha and Ben walked in, and Krista pushed past them and rushed to Jade’s side.
Tears shimmered in Krista’s eyes as she knelt by Jade, her hands over her mouth. “Oh, Jade, what happened?”
Samantha nudged Krista, and Krista scooted over to make space. Sam’s belt tools clattered as she sat next to Jade. Samantha’s hands trembled while she gently un-braided Jade’s hair.
“Hey,” Ben greeted softly. He tweaked the toe of Jade’s boot as he sat with his back to the door, keeping himself in her line of sight. “How are you feeling?”
She was going to be hearing that question often. Jade’s lungs ached, but she smiled tremulously regardless. “I’ll survive.” She closed her eyes against the dizziness that threatened to overwhelm her. So many questions to ask, where should she start? She strained to reach out and brush her hand against Krista’s cornrow braids. “Briar?”
Krista grasped Jade’s trembling fingers and pressed them between her brown hands. Her smile quivered. “He’ll live.” She took a deep breath and rubbed the back of Jade’s hand. “When you’re up to it, we’ll need to design a prosthetic for him.”
Some of the pressure in Jade’s chest eased. “That’ll give me something to do while I lay about, I guess.” She studied Ben’s drooping brow and slumped posture. “How about you?”
Ben sighed and shifted his gaze to the sculpture on the table. He glanced at Samantha.
She looked sideways at the woman she considered her mother and read the story of pain and loss in the lines around Samantha’s eyes. “What happened? Was there another attack at the shipyard?”
Samantha shook her head, and loose strands of brown hair brushed her cheek. “No, love, the yards are safe again. Aunt Garnet and Aunt Rebecca are overseeing the cleanup.” A small smile lightened her eyes before they dimmed with sorrow again.
Another stone of worry off her chest. “That’s good news.” Jade’s smile slipped away as she surveyed her mother. “There’s more, though. Where’s Father?” She hesitated, and added, her voice almost inaudible to her own ears, “Slate.”
Samantha closed her eyes, and two tears trailed over her cheekbones. She swallowed and thumbed away the proof of sorrow before she blinked open her eyes and looked at Jade’s lap. “Garnet told me that they finally told you. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for that.”
Zak shifted on the couch across from Jade.
She shot him a look to prevent him from jumping in with his opinion on her uncle and aunt’s poor timing. “It is what it is. Nothing between us has changed; you’re still my mother. Family is a choice.” She tried to suppress her shiver of trepidation. “What aren’t you saying?”
Jade played with the fringe of a pillow just within reach of her fingers and tried to swallow the lump of fear in her throat when no one answered.
Zak’s gaze found hers, and she could see her quiet dread reflected there. Where is Father if Mother is here?
Ben gripped the wooden arms of his chair and crossed his ankle over his knee, then dropped both feet to the floor. He leaned forward, pressing his palms together, shooting Samantha a look that Jade couldn’t decipher. Krista’s eyes dropped.
Samantha sniffled in the silence.
Zak sheathed his sword and settled it across his kne
es. He crossed his arms. “Out with it.”
Samantha motioned to Krista and turned her face away.
Krista’s brown eyes filled with slow tears. “He’s gone.”
Jade heard wrong. She let go of the fringe and struggled to pull in a deep enough breath to banish her dizziness. “Say again?”
Ben stood and paced away from her, and she finally noticed the blood splatters on his pant legs and the grime that dirtied his hands. He turned and settled his hands on the back of the couch that Zak sat on. “A vapor of the barrier touched him.” Ben’s voice gentled, and he shook his head. “I’m sorry, but Captain Slate is dead.”
Black spots swam in her vision, and she couldn’t make out what Zak said over the rushing in her ears. Her eyes fluttered shut as she wordlessly mouthed her denial, tears brimming. Samantha leaned into Jade, her arm gently winding across Jade’s back, tugging her into a side-hug. Krista gripped Jade’s hand.
“When I left, Finn and Raine were working to stabilize the keystone,” Ben answered Zak, his voice distant. “Sounded like the captain had prevented its collapse, and they were going to use a ring or something to finish the job.” Ben knelt before Jade. Compassion softened his face as he squeezed her ankle. “I’m truly sorry that we’re the bearers of such bad news.”
Jade swallowed thickly as tears streamed down her cheeks. “He did it though? He helped with the barrier? Protecting us?”
Samantha nodded, her voice hoarse with tears. “As best we understand, yes.”
Heartache curled Jade over until her chest felt like thousands of knives were being stabbed into it, and she straightened as best she could. Breathing felt impossible now. How could he be gone? Dead?
Jade shook her head, desperate to reject the ring of truth in Ben’s voice, the tears of sorrow on Krista’s cheeks, and the sound of honest grief coming from Samantha. I want to wake up from this nightmare.
A muscle in Ben’s jaw twitched as he pressed his shoulders back. “There’s more. Victor stole the bloodstone and escaped.” Ben pressed his lips together. “And he apparently had a hand in killing Zane.”
Jade watched Zak’s face pale to ashen gray. Then he wore broken, naked sorrow. Finally, his eyes burned. His knuckles cracked as he squeezed his hands into fists. “Victor?”
“Victor,” Ben confirmed.
Jade’s body ached as she rubbed at her eyes, but she couldn’t halt the flow of grief any more than she could stop the burning pain across her chest and lungs. Gone. Father is gone. We had a traitor onboard. “But he was our friend,” Jade whispered.
Zak rubbed his face in his hands.
The light pressure of Samantha’s comforting arm pressed into Jade as her mother began sobbing quietly. Jade held her breath while she shifted forward just enough to relieve the strain on her back. Krista jumped up and slid a pillow behind Jade, and she smiled her thanks up at her childhood friend. Then she clutched Samantha’s slender fingers, trying not to break down herself.
“We’ll give you ladies some privacy.” Ben glanced at Zak, and his expression hardened. “I need to talk to you.”
Chapter Sixty-One
Ben
Ben stepped into the brightly lit hallway with Zak. They moved across the wide hall, keeping in sight the room where the ladies mourned together.
Reflexively, Ben settled into a wide stance, hands clasped behind the small of his back. Parade rest, his mind supplied. He pressed his lips together. When he’d started thinking of Zak as a superior officer, he didn’t know, but the role fit the Guardian well enough, and Ben didn’t mind giving respect where it was due.
And it was another thing that distanced him from the situation. He wasn’t from here. He had a flesh-and-blood sister waiting for him back home. An image of a magnificent metal-wrought tower, lit up for Christmas, flashed through his mind. Paris. My home is in Paris. How he’d traveled from Earth to Terrene, he had no idea. But it’d happened. Somehow.
Ben’s eyes followed Zak as the Monomi paced, his stride sharp and jerky—not his usual smooth, prowling saunter.
Zak finally stopped in the center of the burgundy carpet and exhaled deeply. “What more is there?” Loss radiated from Zak’s eyes. “How do you know Victor killed my brother?”
Ben centered his weight and lifted his chin, ignoring Zak’s questions. “This is all hypothetical, but I’m guessing that Victor is the one who somehow figured out who Jade is, told Everett, and got Andre arrested. He must have also helped to orchestrate that attack on the shipping yards. Probably told Bentley of our recent trouble with bandits. Apparently those ‘bandits’ at the yards were actually Bentley’s men.” He smirked. “Their military-issue boots would have given them away, even if Geist hadn’t overheard Bentley talking about the attack and put the pieces together. Irony is, the real bandits attacked the palace here while the guards were at the yards.”
Zak crossed his arms and rubbed his jaw, his gaze distant. “Victor stole the bloodstone, you say?” He dropped his hand and tucked it under his arm. “Why? What was his motive?”
“From what I was told, I’m guessing bring it down.” Ben relaxed and shoved his hands in his pockets, studying the intricate whorls woven in the rug. “It sounds like he didn’t do anything to help the barrier today.” He looked up to see Zak staring at him with knit brows. “And a Void Born joined him.”
Zak blinked several times and raised a hand to his forehead. “What do you mean, a Void Born joined him? How do you know all this?”
“I’ll get to the ‘how’ in a minute.” Ben lifted his hands in a shrug. “A man joined Victor in the citadel, got knocked into the barrier during a fight, and walked out, unscathed.”
Color drained from Zak’s face. “That’s impossible.”
“I’m just repeating what I’ve heard.” Ben paced away, then back. “And this is a guess of mine, but I think Jaxton had been working with Victor to take down the barrier.”
“Lord Everett’s mani-meds agreed with Jaxton, though.” Zak scowled. He settled his hand on his sword hilt and tapped his fingers against it. “Unless he’s in on it and they lied, too. Does Everett want the barrier down? Why would he risk his power and control against the north?”
Ben shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. But apparently Jaxton altered the scrolls we sent to Lord Everett’s mani-meds.”
“Who’s this source you know so much from?”
Spine straightening as he sighed, Ben clasped his forearms behind him, and he led Zak to the portrait that had caught his eye when he’d come in with Samantha earlier. He stopped and silently took in the young couple sitting for the portrait. Though dignified, humor sparkled in the red-headed woman’s blue eyes, and, even in the painting, Ben could see the dusting of freckles across the woman’s creamy cheeks. The man next to her held himself with a regal air, a simple crown resting on his blond hair. Though somber, his lips had a slight curve to them, as if he was about to laugh or smile.
“You know these two, right?” Ben asked Zak.
Zak raised a dark eyebrow and nodded. “Jade’s parents. Prince Brandon and Lady Sapphire.” He swallowed convulsively as he stared up at Sapphire. “I made a promise to her, on the day she died, that I would protect her daughter. I failed today.”
“Jade’s alive—and her injury isn’t your fault.” A lead ball settled in Ben’s gut. What a twisted web this was. He inclined his head to the painting.
Zak sighed. “What’s your point?”
“You won’t like this. And Samantha hasn’t heard this yet, so be forewarned.” Ben gestured. “Blade is Brandon. He’s my source. He was there when the barrier was first disrupted, he saw Victor kill Zane, and he was enslaved by Jaxton.”
Ben ignored Zak’s jaw drop and continued to look up at the portrait. Now that he could really look at it, he could see the similarities between the young, happy prince and the broken, toughened swordsman. From what he’d overheard between Blade—Brandon—and Zebediah, the prince had been through hell and back. No wonder h
e hadn’t recognized his own daughter. He hadn’t even known she’d survived the attack against the palace as a baby.
Zak blanched, and he widened his stance, presumably to stay steady on his feet. “This is confirmed? How do you know?
“He’s under arrest and was talking to your father with familiarity.”
“Whales of the bleeding Void,” Zak swore, pushing both hands through his dark hair as he stared at Ben. “That’s why he looked familiar.” He lapsed into silence, hands still in his hair, while he processed the information. “I knew I recognized him in Vodan, but I thought it was impossible. But it was him. And he hurt his own daughter.” He clenched his fists. “He’s not getting near her again. Ever.”
“Agreed.” Ben scratched at his beard and shrugged. “But how do we explain all this to Jade? Samantha?” He leaned against the cool wall and looked down to the dark doorway. “They’re already processing so much. And I don’t know how Jade would take it, losing her adopted father and nearly being killed by her biological father all in one day. Let alone Briar’s injury.”
Zak pinched the bridge of his nose and breathed deeply. “I’ll tell her myself in a bit. She needs some time for Slate first.” He shook his head, and Ben noticed the glimmer of tears in Zak’s eyes. “The man who murdered my brother…I’ve dreamt of killing this faceless man for so long, and now I find that I trained, worked, lived alongside him. Unbelievable.”
Ben crossed his arms and waited for a few minutes to let Zak mull over everything. “What are you going to do now?”
“I don’t know.” Zak stared at the floor, his brow wrinkled. “I’m not leaving Jade’s side.” He closed his eyes and pressed his lips together, fists clenched. “And I don’t want Zane’s killer to walk free. I’ll need to think about it.”
Ben stared down the elegant hall, taking in the sweeping portraits, the gilded doorways, the carved luminary crystals. This was supposed to be Jade’s home. “Here’s to hoping we have time to think. Lord Everett won’t waste a second when he finds out that Jade’s still alive. He wants her dead.”
Renegade Skyfarer Page 34