Standing from her crouching position, she walked towards the edge of the roof. Her hair fell down her back and whipped with the breeze. The sun’s rays beamed around her. “Priestess,” Lena shouted.
All eyes turned towards Lena.
“Ahh, there you are.” The Priestess smiled wickedly, looking towards the roof where Lena stood. “Look at you, all grown up. What a pretty little face. I would not have recognized you if it weren’t for my dear boy Lucius.”
Staring back at the Priestess, Lena’s heart fell in recognition. She snapped her head to Gideon. She’d never seen him look so miserable. He pinched his lips together and shook his head with near imperceptible movement. Anger and confusion swelled within her. She scrambled to focus her thoughts. Scenes of her childhood flashed through her memory. Scenes of Gideon, and his mom she barely remembered. The mother who had abandoned him. The mother who now stood in the courtyard below, demanding her capture. Lena shoved the fear aside and courage consumed her. Turning back towards the Priestess she stepped to the edge of the roof.
“Selene,” she yelled across the crowd.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Laughing, the Priestess replied, “Oh, so you do remember me. I thought the Captain would have told you. It seems my dear boy likes to keep secrets,” she said. The tone of her voice turned to ice. “We’ll correct that error soon enough. Bring her to me now, Gideon,” the Priestess demanded. “You are surrounded. You are defeated.”
Gideon stepped up beside Lena. He no longer looked miserable. He looked defiant and fierce. With a rifle grasped in his hand, he stood defensively next to Lena. There was no question about whose side he was on. His eyes locked with Lena’s and gave her an encouraging nod. Lena stood taller, matching Gideon’s defiance with her own. The Priestess’s face turned stone cold. Her eyes gleamed like daggers.
“You are wrong, Priestess,” Lena yelled to her. Rippled gasps reverberated over the courtyard. “You have taken my home, my family, nearly everything that I love. But, you have not defeated me, nor do you control me. I am Evangeline Adhara, Child of the Resistance. If you want me, come and get me.”
Jonah’s jet rose behind them. The Priestess looked furious, “Get them!” she shrieked. Shots rang through the air. The courtyard erupted in chaos. Soldiers spilled through the rooftop door. Grabbing Lena’s hand, Gideon jumped and pulled her with him onto the jet’s wing.
Lena looked into the crowd below. In the middle of the chaos stood Corgy, his hand clenched. He raised his fist above his head. He looked straight at her. With a voice of thunder, he yelled, “Children of the resistance!” A small cheer rolled through the crowd of recruits as a few others copied Corgy’s stance. A soldier ran up behind him, knocking him unconscious.
Gideon shoved Lena towards the jet’s door. “Lena, we’ve got to draw the soldiers away,” Gideon yelled.
Lena cleared her thoughts and jumped through the door.
“What in the stars was that?” Jonah yelled angrily over the jets engines. “Evangeline Adhara?”
“Just get us out of here, Jonah,” Gideon demanded back.
Jonah’s clenched jaw pulsed with anger. His hands flew over the jet’s controls. The push from the jets engines knocked Lena into a seat behind Jonah. She scrambled to buckle up as the jet burst over the forest surrounding the compound.
“Were you ever going to tell me?” Jonah yelled.
“Jonah, just fly. Now’s not the time,” Gideon called.
Jonah’s nostrils flared. Gripping the jet’s controls he yelled over his shoulder. “Hold on!” Lena grabbed the edge of her seat. Jonah moved the plane as if it were an extension of himself. The confidence of his movements made it seem as if he’d been flying all his life. Rocketing shots screamed around them.
“It worked. We’re being followed,” Jonah yelled over the engine.
Searching the sky through the glass dome of the plane, Lena saw two jet planes speeding toward them.
“Good job,” Gideon yelled, looking at the pursuing planes. “The Priestess will go home while her troops pursue us.”
“Ruddy,” Gideon called into his comm. “We’re clear of the facility. Report.”
“Captain, your plan worked. She sent two planes after you. The third is acting as her guard. I imagine more have been called in, though,” Ruddy responded.
“We’ll be gone before they get here. I’ll be in touch Ruddy. You’re in charge. Do what you have to, to keep the recruits safe.”
“Yes, Captain,” Ruddy responded as the Captain closed the com.
“Captain,” Jonah shouted. I think I can get us in a position to shoot down these two closest planes.”
“Do it, Jonah,” he shouted. Lena gripped the edge of her seat, bracing herself.
Grabbing the controls of the gun, Gideon pointed it into the open sky in front of them. At Gideon’s signal, Jonah spun the plane in a circle. At the same time, Gideon released the gunfire. Neither plane had time to react. Lena saw them spinning towards the ground in two clouds of angry black smoke.
A blast suddenly sent their plane jolting through the air. Jonah scrabbled to regain control.
“Have we been hit?” Lena asked, frantically searching for signs of trouble.
“One of the planes hit us as it was going down. We won’t be able to stay flying for long,” Jonah cried.
Lena froze in fear.
“Jonah, you know how to jump?” Gideon yelled over the engine, motioning to a parachute.
“Did you seriously just ask me that?” Jonah barked back.
Gideon threw a parachute next to him.
“Hang on,” Jonah yelled. “Those forces got here faster than we thought. We have another tail.” Picking up speed, Jonah dropped the plane into a heart-wrenching spiral. Black smoked billowed from their injured plane. As they cleared the clouds, Lena saw the other plane spiraling behind them. With quick reflexes, Jonah straightened out the plane. The enemy didn’t make it in time. Lena felt the jolt of the plane’s explosion as it hit the ground.
“Lena, listen,” Gideon said, standing in front of her. “We’ll jump together okay. Put this harness on. I won’t let anything happen to you.” The tightness in her stomach turned into a molten ball of fear. She shook uncontrollably. Standing, she grabbed the harness from Gid’s strong hands.
Warm calloused hands calmly wrapped around her fingers. Raising her eyes to Gid’s, she saw wells of calm. He guided her hands till her harness wrapped around her body, tight and secure. He connected it to his own.
Lurching sideways Lena’s feet caught and balanced her.
“Jonah,” Gideon yelled, over the roaring engine.
“We’re still good, Captain,” Jonah said. “I’m going to turn into the sun and set autopilot. Hopefully, the sun will keep any other troops from seeing us jump. Jump from the tail door. I’ll be right behind you.” Jonah yelled.
The deafening wind from the opened door grabbed Lena’s breath, “Gideon,” she gasped. Their bodies clung so closely that Lena felt Gideon’s heart beating against her back. Jonah glared from his pilot seat.
“You’ll be ok,” Gideon whispered in her ear. He pushed the plane’s emergency bags out the door. Lena’s eyes flooded with the empty space between her and the ground. Her feet pushed away from the door. She felt Gideon’s strong arms wrap around her waist and lift her up. Without warning, they were falling through the smoke-blackened sky. She wanted to close her eyes, but either fear or faith kept them wide opened as they free-fell to the earth below. Feeling the tightness of the chute catch them, Lena let go of the breath she held.
“Jonah’s out. He’s right behind us,” Gideon screamed in her ear.
Counting each second of their descent, Lena prayed fervently that they’d be on the ground. Lena’s adrenaline reached its boiling point as they landed in a messy pile of arms and legs. Rolling off Gideon, she saw Jonah landing softly on his feet and trotting to a stop not far from them.
“Ya, let’s never, ever, do that again,�
�� Lena said, so relieved to be on the ground she almost laughed.
Jonah came towards her. His eyes squinted in anger. He looked peeved. “I think you have some explaining to do.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on now, Lena? ” Jonah’s words were poisonous. “Or would you rather be called Evangeline?” They walked across the red, withered landscape, gathering their equipment. The solid land left no footprints, and Lena saw no plants or other signs of life. Everything looked dead, including the ground. Huge cracks and fissures spread across the landscape. Lena felt grateful they hadn’t landed inside one.
“Give her a break, Jonah,” Gideon replied, razor like. “We all have secrets. Have you told her all of yours?”
Jonah glared at Gideon, then turned towards Lena. “How could you not tell me, Lena?” Jonah said. He shook his head and walked away from her. Lena didn’t follow. She felt horrible.
Gideon spun in a circle, his eyes probing their surroundings. Walking to the edge of a thin fissure he looked down. He beckoned for Lena. The canyon looked less than four feet wide, but as she stepped next to Gideon and looked down, she saw it was significantly deeper. Its waved walls arched and bowed at varying intervals to the canyon floor. Carefully stepping to a ledge inside the cleft, Gideon reached one leg across the canyon and braced it against the wall.
“Give me your gear,” Gideon said. Lena obeyed and Gideon threw it to the canyon floor. “Just brace your hands and feet on each side and follow me down,” Gideon instructed. “We’ve got to get out of sight.” He started down.
Lena turned her head to look over her shoulder at Jonah. He paced the ground, hands on his hips and face towards the sun. Turning towards Lena he paused when he saw her staring at him. His eyes, always so light and carefree, now looked heavy. Locked in his gaze, Lena held her breath. She hoped he saw how sorry she felt. Hoped he’d forgive her. Breaking their gaze, he turned again towards the sun. Lena saw him hesitate a fraction of a second. Swiping a hand through his hair she saw his shoulders rise and fall. Not saying anything, he walked to the edge of the fissure and followed Lena and Gideon into the ravine.
The coarse rock provided plenty of traction for their descent. Bracing against the walls, Lena’s hands felt like they were rubbing against grit. Her arm still hurt. By the time she got to the bottom, her hands felt like fire. Shaking the pain away she surveyed the damage. Layers of skin hung in shreds from the palms of her hands, but at least no blood accompanied it. She shook them as she looked around her.
Beams of sunlight radiated from the opening above them, leaving other portions of the canyon shadowed underneath its waved walls. Gideon pointed to a shadowed portion, wide enough for them all to sit but not be seen from the surface. Lena grabbed her gear and pushed it under a ledge before following Gideon.
“Jonah, did you see anyone following us?” Gideon asked.
“No. I think my plan worked. Our ship was still flying when we landed. I’m sure the Defense ships followed it,” Jonah replied. “It won’t be flying much longer, though.”
“Good work,” Gideon replied.
Even after the compliment, Lena had never seen Jonah look so downtrodden. He barely glanced at her. She placed her hand on his shoulder. He shrugged it off. Gideon gave her a sympathetic look and stepped towards Jonah.
“Jonah, we need to remove your tracking device,” Gideon said, reaching for Jonah’s arm.
Jonah looked to his hand, then to the sky slivered above them in the canyon’s walls. Taking a deep breath he gave his arm to Gideon to remove the tracking device.
“You’re not going to want to watch this,” Gideon said.
“I can handle it,” Jonah retorted.
“I’m not talking to you, Jonah.” Turning to Lena with concerned eyes he continued. “Can you see how far this fissure goes? If we can use it as a trail, we can stay out of view.”
Lena nodded and walked away. The fissure descended, with huge boulders jammed in the cracks. She ducked under some that hung between the walls above her. Others she climbed around or over. The fissure split, going in several different directions. The close canyon walls magnified each sound. She heard Jonah’s groans as Gideon started removing the tracking device. Climbing over another boulder, the groans turned into screams so loud they pierced her ears. Her insides clenched. Why had she left him? Climbing back the way she came, she rushed back to Jonah.
Gideon sat on top of him, pulling a thin wire from his hand. Jonah thrashed beneath him. Gideon looked up at Lena. “Hold his shoulders down,” Gideon screamed, “The wire is fused to the nerves. The pain is excruciating when removed. But it has to be done slowly to avoid damaging the nerves.” Jonah’s face gleamed white, and bullets of sweat dripped down his brow. “The process is slow. I’m going as quickly as I can,” he explained to Jonah.
“I think he’s going to pass out,” Lena gasped.
“Pray he does,” Gideon said. Jonah’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and he relaxed.
“I saw this happening to Thora,” Lena said, remembering the video on Dorry’s screens. “It sounded horrible.”
“It is. One of the most painful things I’ve ever experienced,” Gideon replied. “I took mine out myself years ago, when I was at off planet training.”
“Didn’t they notice it was gone?”
“If they did, nobody said anything. Dorry was in charge of monitoring the insignias. I tend to think he may have had his own agenda in not reporting me.”
Lena’s breath caught, remembering her old friend. She reached in her pocket to pull out the device he’d given her. Her heart sunk as she pulled out one piece of it then another. Jonah’s star was in the same pocket. She kept it hidden. “Dorry gave me this. It must have been broken in the explosion.”
“You can fix it later,” Gideon said. Lena stood and kicked the wall. She couldn’t believe she’d broken it. Putting her hands on her hips she paced in front of Gideon.
“Gideon?” she took a deep breath and turned towards him. “Selene. Your mom… how long have you known?”
“I found out the day I pledged loyalty to her,” Gideon answered stiffly, still removing the wiring. The slowness of it made Lena wince. “Now isn’t the best time to talk about it.”
Jonah moaned as the last of the wire was removed from his hand. Lena sat down and gently repositioned Jonah’s head on her lap. She stroked her hand through his hair.
“You’re going to need to wake him, Lena. Once they figure out he was with us, they’ll track the last known location of his insignia. We have to get out of here.”
“How long do you think we’ll have?”
“I’m not sure. I’m hoping luck will be on our side. But we need to get moving.”
Nodding, Lena started to prod Jonah awake. “Jonah, Jonah can you hear me?”
Moaning, Jonah started to open his eyes. “There is a beautiful sight to wake up to,” he said with his easy air. “If I wasn’t so mad, I’d give it a great big kiss.” Sighing he added. “Oh what the heck.” Grabbing her head he pulled her towards him and kissed her for several seconds.”
“You’re not alone,” Gideon responded, with a grudge to his voice.
Rubbing his finger slowly over her lips, Jonah pushed himself up. “Jealous?” Jonah said with a smirk.
“Grow up,” Gideon responded. “Lena, help Jonah stand.”
“I’ll get up myself. You weren’t kidding when you said it was going to hurt.” He looked at Lena. “I think we should knock you out first. Seriously, do we have any meds or anything to take the edge off? I don’t want Lena going through what I just did.”
Gideon looked at Lena and rolled his eyes. “How chivalrous of you. You gonna tell him, or am I?” he said to Lena.
“Tell me what?” Jonah said. Standing a bit unsteady, he grabbed Lena’s shoulder to catch his balance.
“It’s going to take more time than we have,” Lena said, grabbing a pack. “Let’s get moving. This fiss
ure goes down a bit, and branches in a few places. We can talk as we walk.”
Switching into Captain mode, Gideon ordered the gathering of gear. “Two packs plus the emergency kit I threw out of the plane, plus the guns should give us enough for a few days of walking. They’ll track Jonah’s insignia to our general location, but this stone we landed on makes it hard to track. We can try leaving false trails. Jonah, Do you know about where we landed?”
“Not exactly. But it’s obvious we’re somewhere in the canyon lands. I know the facility is that way.” He pointed to the north. “We turned into the morning sun. So that way’s east,” he said, pointing to the distant mountains he sent the airship crashing into.
Gideon nodded and took the lead. As they descended into the fissure, Lena felt the need for water nearly right away. She shifted her pack on her back. She felt grateful the walls of the canyon blocked the sun from shining directly on them.
“My insignia doesn’t have a tracking device,” Lena said, stepping over a boulder and onto another one.
“Okay, let me see if I got all my facts straight. A servant turned soldier who doesn’t have a tracking device and is best friends with the Captain. Oh, and is also the famous Evangeline Adhara. The same that’s wanted by the Priestess, who she somehow knows.”
Gideon looked at Lena, his eyes telling her not to bring up that the Priestess is also his Mom. “Eves, I’m going to scout ahead, make some false trails. See if I can find some water, and give you two time to talk.
He strode away without a backward glance.
“Were you ever going to tell me?” Jonah asked, his hand running anxiously through his hair.
Lena lowered her eyes. She wanted to lie but instead shook her head. “No,” she whispered.
Jonah blew his breath out. Turning away from her, he looked into the bleak fissure ahead of them.
“How’s your hand?” Lena asked, trying to ease the tension.
“It hurt like the Devil. It just smarts now.” He looked down at the bandage.
Jonah started walking. She didn’t know what to say. She knew she had hurt him and didn’t know how to fix it. They were climbing over some serious boulders now.
The Angel and the Warrior (The Mir Chronicles Book 1) Page 20