“You’re not going to survive,” he taunted.
He threw another light bolt at me, but I dodged again. Moving in, I grabbed his neck with both hands and threw him against the nearest wall.
Stomping over to him, I shouted, “You’re the one who won't survive, you sick bastard!”
I slammed my knee into his family jewels and found pleasure in his pain as he grunted. His hands gripped my forearms. Searing pain bit into my skin from his scorching grip as he tried to force me away. But I ignored the pain. My body swelled with unknown power.
I jerked him toward me then slammed his head against the wall. “Who's the second person!” I demanded as I pressed my thumbs against his windpipe. His eyes bulged.
His fingers tried to claw my face, but I squeezed harder and jerked my head out of reach. He kneed me in the stomach, but I never felt it. I was immune to the pain. Made so by my fury. I was going to kill him.
A clean masculine tang teased my senses as a hand touched my shoulder. I pulled away from it.
“Hannah.” It was Snowden. “Baby, you gotta let him go. The warriors are here.” The earth shook as my hands tightened. The psychopath I held beneath my fingertips gasped pathetically from lack of breath. I was going to kill him. He deserved it! For Jamison. For Hooks.
“Hannah! Let him go!” commanded a sharp voice that demanded attention. It was Drex. I could see him closing in from my peripheral vision. “Let the council deal with him.”
I felt him weakening. “No! He killed them. Took them from me.” The bastard.
“Baby, this isn’t who you are,” Snowden whispered. His voice was like a soothing, comforting balm. “You’re stronger than this. You're not him. You once told me I was your warrior. Let me be that. Let me take over.”
“Jumper,” Drex touched my other arm, and I felt his power. “Let him go.”
I growled in satisfaction when Vic’s eyes rolled back as he passed out. Only then did I meet Snowden’s gaze. “Make him pay.”
His green eyes were dark. “I will.”
I let Vic go, and Snowden caught him. I sagged into Drex's waiting arms. My body trembled. My heart beat to the rhythm of a thousand drums. I panted, drained, until a soul wrenching sob escaped, wracking my body. I clung to him. “D-drex... he killed them. He’s crazy. Talking nonsense. And there was someone else helping...”
“Shhh, it’s okay,” he soothed me, using his Lydent talent as his tall frame engulfed me. “We’ll find them. Don’t you worry, Jumper; they won’t be hidden long.”
I peered around his arm and stared in shock at the men in black fatigues everywhere. Mournfully, I glanced back over to the bodies and felt an instinct to be near them.
“Please,” I whispered, my voice high pitched with anguish. “I need to see them again. I promise. Just them.”
Drex released me, and I moved over to Hooks and Jamison. Drex followed behind as did the rest of my guys. That's when I saw it. The same wound in both of them in the same spot. Did the bullet go through both of them? “Why? She told me... but why? Why did it have to be this way?”
I rocked back and forth until I reached out with shaky fingers for Hooks. The barest touch and his body started to crumble. He disintegrated, turned to dust.
I jerked my hand back. “W-w-what in the world...” As his body disappeared, something else began to occur.
“Look!” Drex whispered, and my gaze swung to Jamison. His wound was closing up, the blood disappearing, and his chest started to move.
“By the lights!” Win whispered in awe as a spirit from Jamison’s body drifted out and shot through the ceiling of the house we were in.
“Never in all my years...” I heard a warrior murmur from behind us.
Jamison gasped and his misty green eyes met mine. I let out a sob and threw myself down on him. Kissing his cheeks, his lips, anywhere I could. “You’re alive.” I kept repeating the words, reassuring myself that it was true, until his arms curved around me. He kissed me back. He was alive!
“I guess not all girls are sweet and spice and everything nice,” Quinn muttered.
“No, some are kickass, engage the rage, and don't think twice,” Snowden responded. “She was hot. Glad to have you back, man.”
I sighed against Jamison’s mouth, relieved. I had the ones I wanted. My heart twinged at the thought of Hooks being gone, but I couldn’t help but feel that this was the way it was supposed to be.
“Don’t ever leave me.”
“Never.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chaos filtered around the space as more warriors shimmed in, wanting answers I barely had.
Dr. Churchill came and took Jamison to look him over at the clinic. I was shimmed away with a Lydent warrior to be questioned.
The room we shimmed into was cream with only one way in and one way out: shimming. I had yet to figure out how to do it. A conference table made for four sat in the middle of the space with three outdated gray plastic chairs with cream cushions on them. I glanced to the warrior, pretty darn confused. “What's going on?”
He gave me an encouraging smile. “Sit, take a moment to collect your thoughts, and I’ll be back.” He glanced over my body, his friendly grin dropping. Sympathetic eyes coming back to mine, he asked, “Do you need anything? Maybe a wet rag to wipe off the blood? Food or a soda to help with nerves?”
I was about to answer that I couldn’t have soda when a thought came to me. I didn’t have my life pack on, hadn’t for awhile, and I felt pretty darn good. Like, really good. Best not to chance it though. “I-I’ll take a wet rag and a water... please.” I lifted a shaky hand to wipe away a strand of hair and smeared something along my forehead. My heart thumped when I pulled it away and saw the crimson liquid. Hooks’ blood. I hurriedly wiped it off on my pj pants, letting out a brief noise of pain. The kind from the heart. I clamped down on my lower lip with my teeth, preventing any more noise from escaping. I swallowed down the nausea that threatened to come up. Glancing away from the pity in the warrior’s gaze, I asked yet another question. “Do you know how long I’ll be in here?”
“I’m sorry, no. Sit down, rest for a moment, and I’ll see to getting those things for you.”
I went to a chair and sat before turning to him again. He seemed to be waiting for me to tell him to go. “Hannah, my name’s Hannah. And... thank you.”
He gave a nod. “I’ll be right back with those items, Ms. Hannah.” He lifted his hand and the glow appeared. For a brief moment, before he was gone, I heard him say, “My name is Liam.”
A smile met my lips as I rested my arms on the table and let my head drop on them. I was so tired. Adrenaline or not, my body knew what it needed.
Despite the uncomfortable situation, I drifted off.
I was in the same white room with the cloud filled view out the windows and the green leaf drapes that framed them. I glanced over to the wall with the picture frames, hoping to see more memories of my parents, but was met with a black canvas. I moved to the next one, empty. I continued down the line with an urgent feeling, like someone had gone in and stolen the clips of my life, until I reached a frame that wasn’t empty. I had been going so fast that when I saw it and stopped, I almost tripped over my own feet. It was my first bridge. The one I was going to jump from to end everything. The one that gave me my new beginning.
I didn’t want to touch it. To make it play those memories from that dark time in my life. I was embarrassed that I had stooped so low.
“Remember that, Hannah.” My heart stopped.
I whirled around to see Hooks there in a whole other light. Green robes, blinding smile, it seemed that all the brooding and darkness he had held within him was gone. I was so happy to see him, I didn’t think before I acted. I ran toward him then grabbed him in a hold. “You’re here!”
He chuckled, his arms coming around me in a tight hug. “My little Jumper. I’m only here for a moment. My time has ended, but my light and spirit have stayed. I am here to answer your questi
ons. To help you learn about the Lydent ways and what's to come.”
He pulled back and cupped my face, green eyes shining. “You look just like her.”
“Anna?”
He nodded and kissed my forehead. “Yes.”
My eyes fell soft. “You loved her.”
His green gaze filled with pain. “I still do.”
“Why did you do it? Why kill her?”
“There are lights that are white and there are lights that are grey. Not all Lydents are good.”
“And what does that mean?”
He stared off into the distance, his expression stony. “I was forced to; my will was taken away.” He glanced back to me, eyes fierce. “But those who have wronged me and Anna are long gone. Justice was given.”
He stepped away from me and held my hand, leading me back to the picture frame.
“Okay. So you lived after the justice part, but how? How did the whole thing work out with Jamison? Were you latched onto him like Vic said?”
He nodded slowly. “Yes. What Vic said about me and Jamison being connected is true. And there were many, many others. That's why it looked like Jamison got shot along with me and why I had your mate mark. Because I was connected to him. I'm not your mate, Hannah.”
Humbled, I nodded. “I kinda knew that.” I pointed to the picture frame. “So, what’s with this memory?”
Hooks shook his head. “You wondered why this would be the only memory the Spirit Whisperer would leave for you, but you have not touched it yet. Play it, Hannah.”
My smirk dropped and I gripped his hand tightly. “I don’t want to. It’s not a time I want to remember.”
His green eyes filled with understanding. “Because you were sad?”
I pulled my hand away from his and folded my arms. Sighing, I replied, “It’s because I was stupid. With a crazy plan to jump and kill myself. I was wrong to think that.”
“But you didn’t die,” he pointed out.
A smile crept up on my lips. “No, I flew.”
“So touch the memory.”
I reached forward, then hesitated.
“What's wrong?” Hooks asked soothingly. “What has you afraid?”
I let out a breath. “The pain.”
“Pain is a part of life. As is joy. You can’t have one without the other. Just like mistakes and forgiveness. Touch the memory, Hannah. See what the Spirit Whisperer wants you to see.”
I braced myself and touched the painting. It distorted, like a ripple in the water until it cleared and a silent memory played. Though soundless, the emotions and thoughts played in my head like the volume had been turned up.
My heart raced as I listened to my childhood reasonings about jumping. The pain I had been in. The feeling of not knowing how to go on. Then that split decision when I jumped and the nanosecond later when I changed my mind. My father was a reason worth living for. I wanted to live. That's when I soared.
“You have to want to live, Hannah, for the light to stay with you. It’s these moments in our lives that teach us monumental lessons.”
I turned to him, not sure why I had to go through it all. “Why show me this now? Life is full of challenges, mistakes and lessons.” I waved to the memory. “But why this?”
He nodded to the frame. “That was your darkest hour. Mine was killing the woman I loved. This- this is hers.”
I turned back to the frame and a new memory arose. And what I saw broke me. “This, Hannah, this is her darkest hour. How you decide to deal with it will determine what's to come.”
The in-between started to fade as Hooks’ voice rang out. “It’s time for you to wake up now. But remember, where there’s light, there is also darkness, mistakes and forgiveness. Choose wisely.”
Darkness surrounded me and the sound of other voices filtered in. I felt a hand on my shoulder and shot up to see Liam, the warrior, there along with two others.
He pulled his hand away, sheepish. “Sorry.”
I nodded, brushing the hair out of my face. “It's alright.”
One of the older warriors with jet black hair, blue eyes and a soft smile stepped forward. “I’m Patrick from Flag. I have some questions for you. Feel up to answering them?”
I took the rag Liam held out and wiped my face before I answered, “Yes, I think I am.”
***
Patrick sat down across from me while Liam and the other warrior stood against the wall like they were standing guard.
Patrick smiled warmly and conjured up a pen and paper, but left them on the table beside him. “Tell me what happened, starting from when you arrived at your grandfather's house.”
As I spoke, the pen picked up and I watched it move on it’s own, writing down my story.
“My grandfather picked me up after school, just like Young asked. We drove back to his house where I was shown my room and settled in. The family came over- ”
“What happened then? Anything out of the ordinary?”
I watched him curiously. “Everything would have been out of the ordinary, because I didn’t know them. I wouldn’t know what was normal.”
Patrick nodded. “You have a point, go on.”
I let out a breath. “So, we did the family dinner; I met everyone. Later I went to the fridge and got my medicine and replaced the old one in my lifepack.”
He held up a hand. “And by medication, do you mean this?” he asked, revealing a vial of medication from thin air that was exactly like mine.
I nodded. “Yes. But that’s the vaccine, isn't it?”
His shoulders stiffened. “You are correct. And let me guess what happened afterwards: you felt sick.”
“Yes. I did feel sick and went to bed.”
He tapped his fingers on the desk, giving me a crucial stare. “Mm-hmm. Carry on. What happened after that?”
“There was a fire, but I couldn’t get up. Someone came in and shimmed me away. I thought they were saving me.”
Patrick’s eyes narrowed. “But they weren't.”
My gaze held his, knowing this would be a hard pill for him to swallow. “No. Vic took me, tied me to a chair and spouted off nonsense about Hooks being Lamont Hall.”
Patrick’s eyes widened as he gave a laugh. “He thought what?”
“He wasn’t wrong, sir. Hooks was Lamont. And he has a message for you.”
Amused, Patrick nodded. “Okay, I’ll humor you. What is the message?”
“Ask Carly to draw.”
His brow rose. “That's the message?”
I shook my head. “No, that's your answer for the runaway you’re trying to find. She goes by the name Hopper.” Patrick’s mouth fell open.
I nodded to the vial. “The answer to that, the vial, you already know. Marrain, a human carrying Lydent babies. She took the vaccine for her children, so they could be strong, never once considering repercussions of it. My mom knew. She and Marrain argued. Addiction is a choice but also a disease of the mind, rotting away and consuming, until there's no other desired goal left. She saw a way out. Vic gave it to her, but at the last moment, she said no.”
He snapped his jaw shut. “And what was it that Vic promised her?”
Lips twisting, I told him, “My light. But she made a mistake, which spiraled into another one, and then another, until she came to her darkest hour. She didn’t pull the trigger; she never even came. But she made yet another mistake by choosing not to save me, to reach into her fridge and pull out that vial and take a hit instead.”
Patrick’s gaze went dark. “It was the wrong vial. How do you know this?”
I nodded, my body winding taunt. “Hooks told me. He also explained a few things. How a Lydent could take another's free will away. Make them do terrible acts without an ounce of control. Do you know who could possibly do something like that? Be so cruel?”
Silence.
One second.
Two seconds.
I glanced up to Patrick who had an array of emotions on his face that eventually settled on pain
. He finally answered, “No.”
“There will always be darkness,” I whispered. “How’s my grandfather holding up? My cousins and uncles?”
Patrick's face fell neutral. “They are upset and saddened that the two Lydent healers we have were at your side during the time she died.”
“Do they know? That it was her?”
“No.”
I looked him in the eyes. “Let's keep it that way. Mistakes can’t be forgiven from beyond the grave. Let’s not give them one more reason to grieve.”
He nodded. “You are very wise, Hannah.”
“I know. Hooks gave me what I needed to know.” I lifted my wrist. “Can I get the bracelet off?”
Amused, he shook his head. “No. You may have blindsided me, Hannah, but even the Lydent Council has rules that can not be bent. Time to go.”
Chapter Thirty
They shimmed me out of the interrogation room and into the courthouse where Dr. Churchill was waiting. Just him. The warriors released me into his care. From there he took me to the hospital to do some tests... and to see my dad.
I was sitting on an examination bench in a gown as he drew my blood. “How long has it been since you’ve been hooked up?”
I stared down to the floor, the world around me standing still.
Hooked...up. Hooks. The vial. How could I have not made the connection?
I snapped my head up, and Dr. Churchill’s eyes widened. He quickly snapped his attention to the doorway and then back to me. “What? What is it?”
“I took the wrong one.”
Shoulders dropping, he came back and finished up. “Wrong what?”
“The wrong vial. And then... all his blood. The curse states: For my own shall you bleed. Only then will you be freed.” A bubble of laughter escaped. “I’m free. I’m better.”
Dr. Churchill's face grew cautious with suspicion. “Hannah, don’t get too ahead of yourself.”
I nodded to the vial of my blood, grinning. “Check it. You’ll see. I’m a healthy Lydent female. I feel great!” I jumped off the table, gathering my clothes. “Where’s my dad? Did he wake up yet?”
The Bridge Over Snake Creek Page 23