Jack of Hart- Wild Card

by Violeta Bagia

  ‘Ace, you and Dalca you’re the same person, you have to fight him like only you know how, that’s the only way you stand a chance, that’s why he got into your head, that’s why he remained when you killed him—’

  ‘Because I’m still alive…’

  Illarion’s hold on me tightened in response and just like all my emotions and my resolve, the world I created started to crumble, Illarion’s hold never faltered, not even when the scene around us began to rush around in a dizzying kaleidoscope or when the torrent of tears stormed from my eyes, my anger and pain rushing through the dream, rocking the foundations of the already weak world.

  ‘Don’t go, stay with me Ace.’

  I shook my head against the rage inside me, forcing up my walls, forcing away the tears that fell relentlessly.

  ‘Please stay.’ He whispered in my ear.

  I couldn’t focus on his words when the rushing of emotion around me roared like a fire bellowing.

  As much as I desperately tried to hold on, I couldn’t. The world was fading, the dream was slipping from me and Illarion’s hold was disappearing.

  ‘Stay, Ace, stay, hold on to me. Please…’

  ***

  Ace

  My eyes snapped open as a rush of adrenaline slammed into me, I rushed out of the bed and ran outside.

  The mansion disappeared behind me and Aaryon appeared.

  ‘Acacia.’ Aaryon’s voice sounded in my head.

  ‘What the hell was Illarion talking about?’

  ‘There is not time for this.’

  Troy appeared behind Aaryon.

  ‘What’s going on, I felt a huge shift in the atmosphere.’

  I ignored him and looked intently at Aaryon.

  ‘What the hell was he talking about?’

  ‘We have to get you ready; time has run out.’

  ‘You lied to me. How dare you?’ I walked, head held high with no intimidation or fear in my heart.

  Aaryon’s eyes shot up to me as I approached. I bet he didn’t expect that I could break through his walls, but damn him and his lies.

  ‘How dare you lie?’ I hissed; the words burned on my tongue, but the anger was real. I was determined to get the answers I more than deserved.

  Not only did they allow me to go through the worst hell anyone could imagine, they knew who I was and what I was going to become. That was a God damned joke.

  When I reached him, I shoved him, hard and his rock-solid body barely moved. But I shoved him again.

  He didn’t even flinch.

  ‘You and Solaris, me and Dalca. We share the same DNA. How dare you keep that from me?’

  ‘It was not of importance.’

  ‘Not of importance?’ I shouted, my voice raising and cracking. ‘What about controlling the Source?’

  ‘It’s too late for that.’

  ‘How can it be too late, we share the same DNA if he controls it I can too, I just need—’

  ‘You would die!’

  My mouth snapped shut.

  ‘You’re not strong enough, that’s why I kept it from you.’

  I couldn’t swallow the dryness in my throat.

  ‘If you went up against him, if you tried to fight for control over the Source, you would die.’

  ‘And I need to die for this to end, don’t I? Because we’re the same fucking person!’

  ‘It’s not that simple.’

  ‘Then make it fucking simple!’

  When he didn’t reply, I shook my head and turned around.

  ‘You’re not an offensive player, Ace, you’re built for defense, just like me. That is why I did what I did.’

  He opened his tightly pursed lips to argue, but something told me that he had not expected such fire from me. It also told me that he was pitying me and I’d bet that right about now, I looked like a really butt hurt jock who’d just been told they weren’t cut out for the team.

  ‘I know you’ve been told that it all ends with you, that you have the strength and the ability. And you do, but not in the way you’ve been led to believe.’

  Annoying tears pricked my eyes. I sulked back, defeated, disbelieving.

  For a moment, he stayed silent and then he spoke. ‘There is a lot you are yet to learn.’

  ‘Learn that I’m a useless bystander.’

  A ghost of a smile spread across his lips.

  ‘You are far from useless and you’ll certainly be much more than a bystander. You’re the key, the only one who can open that door, and when you do, you’ll be the one to end it.’

  ***

  Illarion

  My eyes snapped open, jolting me awake. As I quickly found my bearings I looked around. I was seated in the small wooden chair and a glance at the clock told me my meeting with Ace, although it only felt like fifteen minutes had passed, here, it had been more than an hour.

  Tears quickly welled behind my eyes. I was shell-shocked.

  What just happened?

  ‘Illarion?’

  Elena’s face came into focus.

  ‘She’s coming back, today.’ I managed to get out.

  Her eyes searched mine.

  ‘We need to get ready.’

  Elena nodded and called over the others.

  Josh and James filed in, followed by Alex, Matt and Peyton.

  ‘We’re getting everything ready.’ Alex explained. ‘Just give the order.’

  ‘Whatever you need.’ Elena added.

  Regardless of the small token of faith she was giving me with such simple words, I reminded myself how this all came to pass.

  Peyton’s sincere look of commitment matched Matt’s, everyone here was waiting with bated breath for Ace, everyone here knew what she was capable of and everyone here was ready to listen.

  ‘I’ll need a blood transfusion machine, Lara and a small, vetted team and board those windows up.’

  Matt took notes.

  ‘Send out a notice, everyone is to be ready and alert.’

  ‘What are you excepting to happen?’ Alex asked.

  With no other way to say it, I looked at each of the men and women standing in this large bedroom with determined faces.

  ‘War.’ I said. ‘And he’s done with the preliminaries.’

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Ace

  Aaryon looked at me with steely gray eyes. He was questioning my ability to actually do this, but he didn’t try to stop me. As much as he was firm on his stance of what I could handle, I was firm on my own.

  My ego was bruised, no doubt, but I knew Illarion’s belief in me was true. After everything I’d been through and seen, I was sure, surer than anything I’d been sure about to this point,

  But somewhere in that stony marble face of his, Aaryon looked concerned. Not that I’d fail but that I’d die in the process. I was his protégé after all. I swallowed back the nerves.

  The notion didn’t elude me. I’d thought about the very real possibility that this would be it. Everyone saw the way this ended, but no one, not even me, saw whether I was part of that end. But letting that fear consume me would have destroyed me.

  ‘This is definitive, Ace. Only do this if you’re sure, if you’re ready. Because when you open that door Dalca will have a way in.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘That door will expose every man, woman and child on Earth.’

  ‘I understand.’ I looked over to Troy. ‘But we can do this, I can do this.’

  Aaryon didn’t like it. But he must have known by now that I wouldn’t yield. He smiled, a warm and genuine smile I hadn’t really seen before. He gently wrapped his arms around me.

  ‘Everyone is counting on you.’

  Swallowing that pill was hard. I’d be responsible for the entire race being exposed and hunted. Whoever was working against us, would have a huge ass beacon directing them to every Sensitive on the planet and whoever was working with us, would lose the anonymity we’d relied on. God. This was the right thing to do. I tried to convince myself.

/>   The two realms colliding meant that everyone would soon know about us, we’d be out there for all the world to see and the world was afraid of what it couldn’t understand.

  Fear gripped me an unshakable hold, but this was the only way, I knew that now.

  This was the only choice left.

  Dalca had seen to that and in his attempts to hunt down the codes to the servers, he’d inadvertently started something we could never end. And it all held a certain sense of irony. By trying to evade him and what he wanted me to become, I’d become even more powerful than he’d planned.

  ‘He will consume you.’

  ‘I know.’ I confessed, finding his eyes. ‘I’m counting on it.’

  Troy’s expression softened. He knew it too. We were connected after all. He saw what I saw, and he saw the end.

  ‘What are you going to do?’ Aaryon asked.

  ‘I’m going to let him in, and then I’m going to close the portal. The Legion will not be able to do anything with me then because my blood won’t be what they need. Project Adam will be void.’

  ‘If you fail?’

  ‘I won’t.’

  ‘This choice cannot be made lightly.’

  ‘There’s nothing I’m taking lightly here, believe me.’ I murmured. A tightening mess of emotions squeezed at my heart. I was going to singlehandedly be responsible for all these deaths.

  They were inevitable, I saw that now. Casualties of war. It was always a possibility, I just hoped that I’d save enough lives to make the ones who didn’t survive, count.

  ‘Very well.’ He smiled and stepped toward me taking my hands into his and laying them over his chest.

  Confusion quickly ran through me, but his warm smile told me he knew all along this is where we would end up.

  Troy gave me an encouraging nod.

  ‘Then you’re ready.’ Aaryon said.

  ‘What? I don’t understand.’ I looked between them.

  ‘You’ve done what none could before you. You’ve passed the trials most failed, and now, you’re ready.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘For centuries, we’ve waited for the right Divine to come along. Many are created as victims of circumstance, some endure great challenges and surpass their realm, but you.’ He smiled, brushing a gentle hand over my cheek. ‘You are the embodiment of what we are. You are the only true Divine Sensitive who has walked the Earth, the only true replica of us—the Celestial Beings. I’ve waited a long time for you.’

  My tongue grew heavy in my mouth. No. No, this couldn’t be real. This couldn’t be happening.

  Again, he smiled. ‘This is your time to rule now, Ace, and my time to leave.’

  Fear started to rise inside me. Leave? He couldn’t leave. I needed him. He’d been in my corner from the very start. My heart started to constrict and a moment later, his hand was on my cheek again. Troy right beside me.

  ‘Do not be afraid. You’re stronger and braver than I could have ever imagined.’

  ‘I’m not.’ My voice was so small I barely recognized myself. ‘I’m terrified, Aaryon, you can’t leave…I can’t do this without you.’

  ‘I’ll be right there with you.’ Troy’s soft hand landed on my wrist. ‘You’ll be okay.’

  ‘No, I, I can’t do this.’ I stuttered.

  ‘You can.’ Aaryon nodded. ‘And, when I’m gone, you will reign.’

  ‘I don’t want to reign.’ I whispered. ‘I want your help.’ I blinked away the annoying haze covering my eyes and looked back at him. ‘I need your help.’

  ‘No, you don’t.’ He said gently. ‘You don’t need me anymore. You have a plan and your plan will succeed.’

  Before I could argue, he stepped closer and wrapped his arms around me. A strangely comforting gesture, one I never thought he was capable of.

  ‘Be strong, Ace. You can do this. You already know this part.’ He said with a smile. ‘Take your hand and let your mind guide you. When you find me, do not stop until you have it all.’

  My eyes widened and I jerked my hand back.

  ‘When that door opens, Ace, it’s game on. You and I will be free to travel between these realms, but so will Dalca. When we cross over, we won’t have much time.’ Troy explained. ‘I’ll hold him off until the last moment.’

  ‘No.’ I shook my head, rapidly feeling the tears fill my eyes. ‘I can’t. Aaryon…no…I, I can’t do that.’

  ‘I know you’re afraid, but you have to. This is what I was meant for. This is my purpose. Yours is to fight, to be better than me and better than us. Fix what we couldn’t. Save your Earth.’

  ‘No.’ I whispered, pressing my hands over my heart.

  ‘Ace.’ He motioned for me to go to him, slowly my feet led me and when I was in front of him, he took my hands again and placed them over his heart. ‘I’m so proud of you.’

  Letting the tears fall, I smiled. Looking up into eyes so unlike my own yet so similar. He was my blood, the same power ran through him and through my whole life, he was there…I always felt his presence even when I didn’t know what it was.

  Swallowing the sadness building inside me, I nodded.

  ‘When you take me, the energy will be strong, it will be painful, you won’t be able to hold it to begin with, but when you do, you’ll be able to find your way home, Illarion will bind your essence back to your body and Troy will ground you in this plane.’

  ‘I don’t understand.’ I whimpered. ‘You’re not coming with me?’ I turned to Troy.

  ‘I can’t cross over onto Earth, I have no body to go back to, so once this door is open, I can help you, but as soon as it’s closed, I come back here.’

  ‘I don’t want to lose you again.’

  ‘It’s okay babe, I’m always watching out for you, I’m always here and you’ll be able to visit now, you’ll be able to do it whenever you want.’

  Panic rippled inside me and somewhere among the chaotic emotions of fear and sadness, there lay hope, slowly, purposefully weaving its way through my essence.

  I looked up at Troy and then Aaryon.

  ‘Are you ready?’

  God no. How could I be ready? My mind was erratically racing all over the place.

  But here we were. This was it.

  With trembling hands, I pressed one over his heart and the other on his cheek and focused on his eyes and I began.

  ‘I’m very proud of you, Ace, now go and win this.’

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Illarion

  Whatever I was about to say died on my lips as an explosion rocked the sky. Aurel and I both rushed to the windows, preparing for an attack. But what we saw was unlike anything we’d ever seen.

  Through the boarded-up windows, we caught glimpses of lightning shooting through the sky, destruction rained down all around us.

  Hordes of people were panicking as their voices carried through the next room on the TV. The reporter was shouting unintelligible warnings, the crowd was going wild and I knew there was only a small window of opportunity now.

  Dalca was coming and Ace was searching for the tear.

  I rushed back and pulled Aurel with me. ‘We have to go now, it’s happening!’

  He ran after me, Josh, Matt and Peyton close behind.

  ‘What can we do?’ Peyton asked.

  As we reached Ace’s room, I shoved the door open and took her hand in mine.

  ‘Keep everyone back.’ I instructed and both she and Matt nodded, leaving the room.

  Josh moved over to my side in a hurry and waited. ‘Where do you want me?’

  ‘I’m not sure what’s going to happen next, but stay close, if we need anything, I want you doing it.’

  ‘No problem.’

  The nurses who were already on standby started prepping the syringes.

  ‘Hurry.’ I said to them. ‘We have one shot at this.’

  Both quickly jumped into action. One attached a syringe to Ace’s arm, the other to mine. Everyone else stepped back.
r />   ‘Do it.’ I instructed.

  Lara turned the small switch and I felt a tiny tug on my skin and the blood started to spill into the hose meeting in the middle with Ace’s.

  The sound of panic coming from the TV continued to filter through the hallways, everyone was reporting the same explosion with no known origin. My heart froze as Aurel’s eyes fell on me.

  ‘Is she doing this?’

  ‘I think so.’

  Aurel stepped closer to the TV, watching the screens in silence, he shook his head occasionally, like he too was lost for words. News of the Earth rumbling with no epicenter spread all over.

  What could we say? What could anyone say? It had begun.

  The end had begun.

  ***

  Ace

  Aaryon’s body recoiled, he wanted to move, but I was too strong now, it had already begun, I was pulling his essence into me, I felt it heat up through my veins, and my hands shook violently as I focused all my energy on finding his and pulling.

  All around me the world began to swirl, the sky above me blackened and lightning broke out tearing the sky into a million shards of blackness.

  He grit his teeth and tears spilled from the corners of his eyes but he never once looked away, as his essence collided with mine, the intrusion became too much and my body screamed in agony, my breaths were cut short with each attempt to suck in air and his eyes…his eyes started to fade and the subtlest hint of color started to form, the Celestial markings which covered his whole body began to disappear and as my eyes coasted over him, I saw them etching into my skin. I screamed as another ripple of his power crashed and fused with mine and slowly, painfully I felt the static burning around my skin, scorching the markings into me as Aaryon grew weaker.

  The roar of thunder rolled through the fragile sheet of this plane and I heard Dalca’s screams echoing through the expanse of tiny sheath of time between us. It was happening now.

  While I held on to Aaryon, Troy held on to me. His grip getting tighter with each cry that left my lips. He was screaming, shouting words I couldn’t hear and the noises around us grew so loud I couldn’t focus on anything but the blur of emotion.

  ‘Do it!’ Troy shouted, his voice somehow so clear, so close. ‘Now!’