“Oh excuse me, but from where I was standing it looked like you might need some help,” Jade said, leisurely turning and strolling back toward the door. “But if you have this under control …”
Maya looked down at Jarod bleeding and unconscious. As much as she hated to admit it, Maya couldn’t deny the fact she did need help. And according to what little Jarod had told her about the wench, Jade had been inside the Tower even longer than Jarod. She had to know how things worked and might even know someone who could help him. Maya really had no other option. Gritting her teeth, she called her back, “Jade, wait.”
Stopping, Jade stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips and glared at her. “I’m sorry,” Maya ground out, swallowing her pride. “You’re right, I do need help.”
To her credit and Maya’s relief, Jade didn’t rub in her victory. She simply dropped her hands to her sides and came back into the room, locking the door behind her. Maya sighed, relaxing her stance somewhat. “It’s just … I don’t know anyone here and he told me not to trust anybody.”
Jade relaxed as well, and strolled back into the arena, kneeling next to Jarod. “Good advice,” she said, carefully looking him over. “What happened? The guards said both he and Aziel were standing when they were run out of the room.”
“He was, but then suddenly after they left he collapsed,” Maya answered, kneeling beside him again. “And I don’t see any injuries that look bad enough to have caused this.”
“What did he do right before he collapsed?”
“Nothing, he just drank the vial of red formula and passed out.”
Jade’s eyes snapped up and locked on her intensely. “I thought he was banned from the formula. Where did he get it?”
Maya’s stomach twisted as she collapsed onto the floor beside Jarod, holding her head in her hands. “Kai, gave it to him.”
“Damn it, girl, have you made him completely stupid?” Jade yelled at her. “Ever since you arrived he has done nothing but make mistake after mistake. He never would have drank anything Kai gave him a year ago. But with you around he is so damned concerned for your safety he has forgotten to watch his own back.”
Maya said nothing. As much as she wanted to argue and protest that none of it was her fault, deep down she knew Jade was right.
Jade began to desperately search the floor until she came across the vial. Picking it up she sniffed inside, then touched her finger to a drop on the edge, and placed it in her mouth. Frowning, she got up and headed out of the room. “Wait here and lock the door, I’ll be back in a moment.”
Maya followed her to the door, doing as she was told. Several agonizing minutes passed waiting for her to return, and as she continued to wait, Maya’s concerns as to what Jade’s intentions might be continued to grow. She knew Jade wasn’t just a whore, she was the whore, exclusively reserved for the Tower’s elite, namely the Shadows and Jarod. Images of Jade betraying them to the Shadows began to fill her mind and knot her stomach. Maya was just about to sign her own death certificate when a weak knock sounded on the door. Slowly she walked toward the sound, trying to avoid making any noise and alerting whoever was outside that she was there. “Maya, open up, it’s me,” Jade’s voice whispered from the outside.
Swiftly Maya unlatched the lock and in dashed Jade with a grey-haired man. “Who is he?” Maya demanded, looking over the strange character while Jade hurriedly latched the door shut. She had never seen anyone who looked quite so odd. The man, who was in quite a disheveled state, appeared half confused, as if Jade had awakened him from a deep sleep and dragged him from his bed. On top of his head was a thick mass of matted grey hair, which stuck out in every direction and shined in bright contrast to the black beard that he sported on his face. But even more distracting than his mismatched facial hair was the rainbow of colors that he wore for a robe, that is if the thing he wore covering his body could even still be considered a robe. It looked as if he had been wearing and patching the same outfit for the past century until all that was left of what had once been a fine outfit, was a hodge-podge of colorful material sewn together in quite an unpleasing manner.
“He is the one who made this,” Jade stated, holding up the empty vial.
The old man looked across the room, his eyes bouncing wildly from one object to the other until they fell on Jarod lying motionless on the floor. Immediately his wild eyes went clear with purpose and he dashed across the room and knelt next to Jarod.
“Everyone calls me Patches,” he said as he looked him over. “How long has he been like this?”
“Hours.” Maya answered, unable to divert her attention away from the variety of multi-shaped and colored patches that covered him. “What was that he drank?”
“Valerian mixed with chamomile and lavender. Wonderful sleep aid in small doses, however in large doses it’s rather lethal,” Patches answered matter-of-factly. He began digging around in his bag and pulled out a vial of green liquid and removed the top before turning to Maya. “How much did he drink?”
“The whole thing.”
Jade and Patches both looked at her like she had lost her mind. “The whole thing?” Jade repeated accusingly. “I thought you said he believed he was drinking the red formula. If that’s the case, why would he drink the whole thing?”
“I don’t know,” Maya snapped back. “I asked him that very question, but he blacked out before he could answer.”
Patches continued to work, ignoring the two of them as he poured the entire contents of the green vial into Jarod’s mouth. “He must have a lethal injury somewhere,” Patches answered, disrupting their banter. Carefully he began examining Jarod’s body for signs of significant trauma. “It’s the only reason he would have drank what he thought was a whole vial of red.” After a few moments of scrutinizing every inch of visible skin and coming up empty-handed, Patches looked up at the girls. “Help me turn him over.”
It took all three of them working together, with Jade and Maya pulling as Patches pushed, before they finally managed to get him onto his left side. “Ah, there it is,” Patches said, pointing to a large bruise on Jarod’s back just below his rib cage.
“That?” Maya asked, studying the spot doubtfully. “I have seen him recover from stab wounds that were much worse than that.”
“Looks can be deceiving, my dear.” Patches ran his hands over the area. “He’s slowly bleeding to death inside.”
“What?” Maya gasped, struggling to fight back the tears.
“Well can’t you give him the real red Formula then?” Jade asked, appearing as distressed as Maya was about the news.
“Afraid not, he will have to recover from this on his own. You can’t mix green and red, it’s a deadly combination and would prolong the amount of time he was down.” As he talked Patches began packing his things back into his bag.
“Then why didn’t you give him the red instead of the green?” Maya could feel herself beginning to lose control, but fought with all her might and managed to push the tears back down.
“Because this he can recover from in a few weeks, but that much valerian, even in a man his size … well, he could have been out for months if not longer.”
Maya sighed, looking down on the lifeless form that had been her protector these last few months. How was she supposed to manage alone for two weeks? She barely knew her way around the Tower, and there was no telling what the Shadows would have her doing with Jarod not around to cover for her.
“I just don’t get why,” Jade said suddenly. “Why would Kai want to down him?”
Patches jumped up suddenly, startling both Maya and Jade. “Now that is the question we need to answer.”
Both of them turned questioningly back to Maya. “What exactly happened in here?” Jade asked, looking slightly perplexed. “Did he make Kai angry?”
“No, he hardly said two words to any of them and they all left seeming fairly content,” Maya responded. Focusing her attention back to Jarod, she racked her brain for some sort of exp
lanation, but could come up with nothing. “As far as Kai goes, he didn’t even seem interested in the duel at all. Actually, the only thing he seemed interested in was harassing me the entire time.”
Maya was watching Jarod as she spoke, but when the room suddenly fell deathly silent around her she looked up and was panic stricken by the looks on the faces of Patches and Jade. “What is it?” She gasped glancing back and forth from one to the other.
“He’s coming for you,” Jade said quietly, averting her eyes to the floor. A sadness crept into her voice as she continued, “Maya, I’m so sorry. But that has to be it. He’s not like Aziel, he doesn’t like to physically fight.”
“What exactly are you trying to say?” Maya asked, unable to control the high-pitched sound of her voice.
“He drugged the Enforcer so he can have his way with you.”
Maya’s heart rate soared as she backed away from Jarod’s lifeless form. “But it’s been hours since he drank it and there haven’t been any signs of Kai.” The words poured from her rapidly as Maya paced the room, trying to conceal her trembling hands.
“He doesn’t know how much he drank, and I’m positive even he didn’t expect him to drink the whole thing,” Patches said calmly, watching as she continued to pace back and forth across the room. “He most likely assumed the Enforcer would drink a small dose trying to heal. Of course he would have known immediately when it didn’t work that he had been drugged and his first goal would have been to get you back to the safety of your room. Kai is probably on his way there now looking for the two of you.”
The room started to spin uncontrollably and Maya sank to the floor. “What do I do? I can’t let this happen.” This was more than she could handle, desperate and afraid, Maya drew her knees into her chest and released the flood of tears she had been struggling to hold in all day.
“Maya,” Jade spoke softly as she knelt beside her, gently placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, “there is nothing you can do. If you are what he wants then there is no way to stop him. It won’t be all bad and it will be over with before you know it.”
Furious, Maya brushed Jade’s hand from her shoulder. “I don’t care what happens to me,” she yelled, pointing at Jarod. “It’s him I’m worried about. What do you think he is going to do when he finds out? You said it yourself, when it comes to me he makes stupid decisions. Didn’t you hear what he did when he thought they were attacking me before?” Jade’s gaze dropped to the floor as Maya continued, “If Kai does this the Enforcer will try to kill him, and if he goes after Kai they will finish him for sure.”
“But what else can you do?” Jade asked sullenly.
“There’s blood,” Patches said quietly from across the room. Both their gazes immediately snapped upon him. “It would heal him completely and speed up the effects of the green.”
“Of course!” Maya said excitedly as hope filled her heart.
Jade looked from Jarod to Maya. “I would offer, but they see every inch of me. There’s no way I could hide a new bite mark from them.”
“No, its fine, I’ll do it,” Maya said, looking to Patches. “How do we get him to wake up enough to drink?”
“All it takes is a drop and then usually instincts take over.” Patches paused, studying her carefully. “But, dear, you know what they will do to you if they spot the fresh scar.”
“What if it is an old scar?” Maya asked, pulling down the neck of her shirt to reveal her old scars. “These are his, so if he bites the same spot again they won’t know the difference, right?”
Patches stared blankly at the scars, while Jade moved in for a closer look. “So the rumors are true. He chose to save you, even knowing the danger he was putting himself in.”
“Yes, and I won’t let him suffer for it any more than he already has, so will this work or not?”
Patches jumped excitedly into action and resumed rummaging through his bag. “This just might, if we can get him to drink from the same spot using the same angle, then I can use the red formula to heal you. Your neck will look no different than it does now.” Digging around he pulled a long needle-like object out of the bag, then turned to Jade. “Help me get him into a sitting position.”
It took several tries but somehow they managed to pull Jarod’s body into an upright position. Jade moved behind Jarod, struggling to hold him there while Patches turned his attention to Maya, needle in hand. “This may hurt a bit.” She nodded, pulling down the neck of her shirt. Using great care he hit the center of one of the scars with the point of the needle, drawing back a single drop of her blood. The drop dangled precariously on the sharp point as he made his way back toward Jarod, pulled open his mouth, and place the drop inside.
“Now it’s up to you, my dear,” Patches said, stepping out of the way.
Knowing he had taken her from the front the first time, Maya sat straddling Jarod’s legs and pulled his head in toward her neck and waited. After several tense moments passed—in which the only sound that could be heard was the occasional exhale of breathe—Maya felt him begin to stir. At first it wasn’t much, a flicker of a muscle followed shortly by a slight increase in his breathing. But she remained patient, waiting, hoping for a miracle. Suddenly he grabbed ahold of her, wrapped his heavy arms around hers and pinned them at her sides. Then, without warning, he bit deep into her neck, sending a jolt of pain coursing through her body.
She gasped at the initial shock, but remained calm, allowing him to drink his fill. It was a strange, euphoric sensation, a wonderful mixture of pain and pleasure that was both frightening and peaceful at the same time. Closing her eyes, Maya could feel their two hearts beating together in unison. But as he continued to satisfy his hunger and heal his wounds she could feel herself beginning to grow increasingly sleepy, and slowly his heartbeat began to overtake hers. In the background, mixed with the sound of her own heart slowing, Maya could hear Jade and Patches pleading with Jarod to stop.
But they were wasting their breath. Deep within, Maya could sense the darkness that had taken control of his mind. They were no longer dealing with the Jarod she had come to care for, the one who longed for freedom and an end to the killing. Instead the man draining the life from her had a soul darker than a moonless sky; this was a man who took pleasure in causing pain and lived for the hunt.
Knowing she was nearing her final breath, Maya struggled to free her arms but he was too strong. A low growl rumbled a warning from deep inside him as he tightened his grip around her, squeezing out what little air she had in her lungs and crushing her ribs.
In a last ditch attempt to save her own life, Maya tried the only thing she could think of. Moving slowly so as not to anger him further, Maya managed to wrap her lower arms around the bare skin of his torso and let her own energy link with his.
“Jarod, it’s me, it’s Maya,” she whispered. “I can’t hold on much longer, so I need you to come back to me …please.”
Unable to fight the exhaustion any longer, Maya’s head fell back as she collapsed into his arms. Jarod instantly released his bite and cradled her limp body. Confusion marred his features as his gaze met with hers and she smiled weakly back up at him. And as the room and the people surrounding them faded into darkness, the last thing Maya saw was the horrified expression on Jarod’s face as he stared down at her realizing what he had done.
Chapter 3
“Would you care to explain what happened today?” Jaron asked, stepping into K’s tent. “Or is this another one of the many things that I don’t need to know?”
Sighing, K looked up at him from her seat. Of course he was upset, she had left him standing there with no word or explanation and disappeared for hours into the woods. Only minutes ago, after darkness had swept over the camp and most of the people had gone to sleep did she bother to return. “Were you watching my tent?” she asked, obviously trying to avoid his questions.
“Don’t do that,” he snapped. “I asked first. What the hell happened today? You looked like you had s
een a ghost.”
K couldn’t control the smile that crept across her face; he had hit the nail on the head and didn’t even realize it. “Did you speak with the parents of the little boy I was talking to?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Did you by any chance get the mother’s name?”
Jaron stopped to think for a moment. “I believe she said it was Nina … yes, that’s right, her name is Nina and her husband’s name is Lucas. Why?”
“And the little boy’s, did you happen to get that as well?”
“No. K, what is going on?”
With a defeated sigh K lifted a bottle Jaron hadn’t noticed her holding and frowned as she consumed a large amount of the liquid inside. Quietly she then leaned back into the chair, closed her eyes, and allowed her mask to fade away.
“Please tell me you are not drinking alcohol.” Jaron stormed across the room, jerked the bottle from her hand, and smelled the contents. “Hell, K, where did you find this stuff?”
“Every camp has someone who knows how to brew, this one is no exception,” she replied, grinning from ear to ear. “Now give it back. Alcohol he can make, but bottles are a little harder to come by so I have to return that one for a refill.”
“No.”
“Give me that back,” she demanded, the dark marks flickering underneath the scars.
“I will when you give me some answers.” Jaron walked across the room, grabbed a chair, and sat down directly in front of her. “K, I can’t help you if you keep hiding everything from me. We used to trust each other, help each other, but ever since you came back from the other side of the border all those years ago all you have done is lie to me.”
“I never lied,” K muttered, slouching down in her chair. “I just chose what to tell you and what not to.”
Jaron straightened and eyed her disapprovingly, then lifting the near empty bottle to his mouth he gulped down a huge swig of the liquid inside. The mixture of fermented fruit and spices tasted as bad as it smelled and burned the entire length of his throat as it went down.
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