Authors: Katlyn Duncan
I searched their faces but all were unfamiliar. A sharp pain pinched my chest. The Guard’s mission had been to find Abidan— what if they were able to find us but had left the others at the base locked up in cages? Abidan hadn’t even mentioned them and I had regretfully not added their safety to my conditions. Not that that mattered to him. Everyone I knew was going to suffer. Myself included.
“Got her!” one of the Guard yelled.
They moved as a unit and charged the Shadowed. Two of the Shadowed moved out of formation and stood directly in front of me. One grabbed my arms and I toppled over him, suddenly off balance.
“Hey!” I wrestled with him as the Guard took down half of the Shadowed in seconds.
“Get down,” the Shadowed yelled at me.
“Mags!” Jackson’s voice called.
My body snapped up from being hunched over the Shadowed. My chest lightened seeing the relief on his face. Cooper stood behind him, his hand in Jamie’s. She was disheveled but alive.
More Shadowed appeared on the deck, quickly outnumbering the Guard. Both Shadowed nearest to me reached for me once more and I knocked one of them in the face with my fist but the other grabbed my waist. Twisting away from him I soon realized my mistake. I had overcompensated my weight and fell back against air. My legs kicked up over me as I tumbled weightlessly. My breath was knocked out of me the second I hit the water and I sank like a rock, the cool water slicing through me. My limbs were heavy and weak as I fought for oxygen.
I opened my eyes to darkness. I couldn’t tell if I had been sinking or floating. Which way was up? Bubbles formed from my nose as the last of my breath escaped my lungs and I started kicking and pushing my arms through the water. Something hard knocked into me and I screamed, the sound muffled by the water. I fought with the hands that grabbed for me and kicked out, but my movements were slow and weak. The hands disappeared from around me and returned seconds later, moving around quickly, I touched a thick substance. I moved my fingers down the length of the object. It was a rope.
The hands moved around my waist, wrapping the rope around me. I started to pull the rope toward me as my body pushed upward.
My face was the first part of me to break the surface. I inhaled deeply, sputtering water out of my mouth. My body was propelled forward by the rope and I didn’t have the energy to fight it. I didn’t see the boat ahead of us. But I turned around and there it was. Guard were pitted against Shadowed on the deck. I turned to my savior.
Jackson faced me, the lines of his cheeks more severe in the struggle to pull me.
“Jackson?”
“We’re almost at the shore,” he said, not stopping. “Do you think you can swim? We need to get as far from that boat as possible.”
“What about Jamie?”
“She’s safe. I promise.”
“Cooper and Ally—” I said pumping my arms in front of me. “Everyone got out?”
“Not everyone,” he said. “But most of them, yes.”
Another soul had died because of me. I wanted to ask who it was but I also didn’t want to know. As long as Cooper and Ally were safe, that’s all I could think about at the moment.
“How did you find us?”
“It was Cooper who told Jamie of the location. We were trying to lure Abidan here. We just didn’t know how he was going to get here with you.”
“I think he already knows that it’s a trap but he seems okay with it.” I told Jackson about his plan to use me, but I kept Abidan’s plan to kill me to myself. As much as I wanted to be safe, I didn’t want Jackson to be distracted by keeping me alive. He had done it too many times already, it was my turn to save all of them. I’d just have to find out a way to do it.
Soon enough I could touch the sand with my feet. Jackson stood and grabbed my arm. He pulled me up and I fell against him but he kept moving forward. “Are we going to the Gate?”
“Not just yet,” he said. “That is the first place they are going to look for you. We need to retain the element of surprise.”
We slugged through the water until we were on solid ground. I turned to the boat and saw that it was quickly gaining on us. “Not that I would want this, but why haven’t any of them come to shore yet?”
Jackson squinted. “I’m not sure. But I’m also not about to ask for it. Come on.” He tugged me alongside him until we were under the cover of trees.
My legs tingled with numbness making them clumsy and slow, but I pressed on. “Have you been here before?”
“No,” he said, shoving away tree branches from our path.
“So what’s the plan?” I tripped over a thick root and Jackson grabbed my hand.
“I’m sort of making it up as I go.” His hand tightened around mine.
“That’s comforting,” I mumbled.
He chuckled.
We traveled through the trees until we reached a clearing. There was another copse of trees in the distance.
“This is where the Veil is supposed to be,” Jackson said.
“I thought we weren’t headed for the Veil,” I said, surprised.
“We aren’t.” He started in the other direction, keeping us under the cover of the trees. “If we can get to the other side of the clearing we should be fine.”
“But what about Jamie?”
“What about her?”
I took my hand from his. “She was the whole reason I went to the base.” He winced and I quickly tried to correct myself. “One of the reasons. I can’t just leave her.”
“It’s my job to protect you. Jamie will be safe with the Guard.”
A shrill scream echoed in the forest. Jackson pushed me ahead of him and turned around toward the sound.
“That’s Jamie.” I just knew it. “We need to go back for her.”
My feet crunched over the forest floor as I pushed past him. “Mags, no—”
The fear in his voice made me stop.
“What?” I followed the direction of his gaze and my heart skipped a beat.
Hundreds of Shadowed appeared in the clearing.
“Stop right there,” a voice boomed behind us.
I froze in place and grabbed Jackson’s arm.
We were too late.
Father and Sophia stood behind us in the trees, both of them in full Guard gear and with their broadswords pointed at Jackson.
“Margaret,” Father commanded. “Get over here.” His eyes were murderous and they flicked down to where our hands were connected.
“He’s on our side—” I began.
“And you believe him?” Sophia interrupted. Their matching glares reflected the family link.
“Maggie,” Father pleaded.
Jackson touched my shoulder, pushing me aside. “I don’t deserve your trust after what I did,” he said to Father, “but you should know that I did everything for your daughter.”
Father laughed, a sardonic sound I’d only heard when he had been in the foulest of moods. “And we are supposed to just trust you?” But the smile disappeared from his face as quickly as it had come. “You say you did everything for Margaret, yet you made her watch her daughter die?” His mouth twitched as he said the last word.
Jackson’s lips pressed together.
“You’re a liar and I should have destroyed you when I had the chance.”
Jackson darted out in front of me and Father lifted his sword to Jackson’s neck, making him stop dead. Sophia matched his stance, her sword closer to Jackson.
Jackson looked down at the sword, but only with his eyes. He didn’t dare move. “I know you would like nothing more than to end me,” he said gruffly. “And I could honestly care less what you think of me, but I will do anything for Maggie.” He leaned closer to father. “Anything,” he repeated. “Can I show you something?”
Father narrowed his eyes.
Jackson opened his hand in a conciliatory gesture. Father shot daggers at it.
“Please,” Jackson said.
Father sighed, slapping his hand on Jackson’s. They both stood still, staring into each other’s eyes. I wondered if that is what I had looked like each time Jackson had given me a memory. It was as if they were frozen in place by some invisible force.
A few seconds later, Father blinked his eyes and ripped his hand from Jackson’s, his eyes darting to mine then back to Jackson’s. He glanced at Sophia. “Put down your sword,” he said, defeated.
“Thank you,” Jackson said.
My eyebrows shot up almost as high as Sophia’s had. Father agreeing with Jackson? What on earth was going on?
Sophia glared at Jackson but complied, sheathing her sword. “What’s the plan?” she asked Jackson, her tone suggesting she still didn’t believe him.
“We have to get Maggie under the protection of the Guard.” Jackson moved to my side. “You’re the only ones who can protect her in her human state.”
“No,” I said. “I promised Abidan that I would help him.”
“You did what?” Father asked, stunned.
“In exchange for Jamie I promised I would help.” I didn’t mention Jackson’s bond as well. Father would fight even harder to keep us apart if he knew.
Sophia scoffed and Father rubbed a hand over his face.
“Mags,” Jackson said, taking my hands in his. “You can’t do that. Think of all the souls on the other side.”
“And I don’t intend to add Jamie’s to that list,” I snapped and turned to the others. “That’s their plan. I can distract him for a little while by pretending to be on his side.”
“I can make sure Jamie stays safe,” Jackson offered.
“No! You know the plan now. Take it back to the Guard and prepare them.”
“How is he going to use you?” Father asked. “You’re human.”
I met his gaze, then Sophia’s. Her face fell.
Father shook his head and closed his eyes. “You couldn’t.”
“I did. But I can control it. At least for a little while.”
Jackson turned toward the Shadowed, his face pinched. “I need to go. She’s calling for me.”
Sophia arched her eyebrow. Not enough time to explain about his bond with Hannah.
“Prepare the Guard,” I said taking Jackson’s hand.
Father took my other one. “Don’t do this.”
“I have to.” I took my hand back, not wanting him to feel them tremble. “He will never stop coming for me.”
“I’ll protect her,” Jackson said to Father.
Father flicked his gaze to Jackson then back to me. “I wasn’t lying when I said I didn’t want to lose any more of my family.”
I sighed. “Jackson said Ally is fine—”
“I meant you,” he said softly.
My heart squeezed. “Thank you.” I pushed Jackson toward the throng of Shadowed. It was now or never.
Hannah appeared next to us just as we reached the edge of the trees. I froze, not looking back to reveal my father and Sophia’s position. I hoped they had already transported out of there. Her eyes shot daggers at mine.
“She fell off the boat,” Jackson said, putting himself between Hannah and me.
Hannah mumbled something about stupid humans but I held my tongue.
She grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the Shadowed. “It’s almost time.”
I tried to wrestle from her grip but she held on. “Let go of me.”
Her essence flowed around her feet and I moved away from it. “That’s not happening.”
“Hannah,” Jackson warned.
“Sorry, dear,” she said. “Abidan’s orders.”
We were nearly up to the Shadowed when Jackson disappeared from my side. Didn’t he realize I couldn’t do that? But he appeared in front of her holding a broadsword. She paused, looking down at it.
Her essence reached up in finger-like tendrils. “You don’t want to do that,” she said calmly. Her voice was deeper, commanding. His hand shook, the sword wobbling in his grasp.
It was the power of the bond.
Jackson tried to resist her but it wasn’t working. Her essence reached up and I had a sense of déjà vu from my dream where Hannah had taken him. But we had been one in that dream.
Flickers of my power rolled restlessly through me mirroring my protective emotions toward Jackson. I glanced at the Shadowed. A few were turned in our direction. I had to act fast. She never intended to let him go, so I had to force her.
As her essence reached his throat, Jackson moaned slightly, his hands vibrating with effort. I wasn’t going to let her take another soul away from me. I loosened my grip on my own essence and it sprung free from its cage. I focused on Hannah’s essence as mine overwhelmed hers. A searing pain like a thousand knives cutting through every inch of my body made me falter but I fought for control. The orange essence flowed from my finger tips and toes as it surrounded hers.
Her head snapped round to mine and she grinned. “You’re so predictable. Like I would ever let go of Jackson’s bond.” She reached out with her free hand and her essence followed. It sliced through mine and I sucked a breath through my teeth. The pain intensified as she used her powers against mine. I stumbled back but her grip on me tightened.
“Abidan!” she bellowed.
Crap
! I’d done exactly what they wanted me to do. As I frantically tried to reel in my essence, Abidan parted the crowd of Shadowed and sprinted toward us.
I turned my gaze on Hannah. I had to fight now. She still held Jackson in place but her essence was expanding around us. I felt it behind me. She was a lot stronger than I realized.
A hundred Guard appeared on the other side of us, all with their swords at the ready.
“Maggie!” Ally called.
Images of David fluttered through my mind’s eye. Hannah had urged me to think of him, but I also remembered the visions I’d had myself. The taste of him made my powers uncontrollable. I had enough trouble focusing through the pain, what if I lost myself?
“Take her!” Abidan called to Hannah.
Thousands of pin pricks moved up my back.
I risked a glance at Jackson and his eyes went wide. I willed him to understand my omission.
Her essence had reached my neck. She was going for the connection that the True Soul used to take a soul from the body. My heart slowed as I realized she would stop at nothing to take me. It came down to me or her. And I wasn’t going anywhere.
I turned my head to Ally, homing in on her eyes. The ones that she shared with David. I burrowed deep inside of me where I had locked all thoughts of him away. My essence vibrated excitedly. I allowed it to express itself through my human body, finally melding my soul with it, accepting my fate to save all of those around me and the souls in the After.