Anarchy (The Stone Legacy Series Book 4) (11 page)

Blade snatched the knife from his side and pressed it to Jay’s throat. “If I take off your head, will you die then?”

Jayden jumped back. Good question.
Something
had to kill him, and decapitation seemed like a pretty sure way to get it done.

Blade raised the knife and lunged forward, bringing it down at Jayden’s chest. Jay spun and punched Blade in the back of his head, sending his face slamming into the floor. When Blade turned on his back, blood drizzled from his mouth, down his chin.

Hawa ran between them, extending her hands.

Jayden froze.

“It doesn’t have to be like this.”

Jayden examined her hunched posture and the circular bruise encompassing her neck. “How’s it going to be, then? Blade beating up on you some more, and you running to save him?”

She stood up a bit straighter. “No. But you don’t have to be like him. You’re better than that.”

Jayden ground his teeth.
“Maybe.” He shifted, the heat in his gut slowly cooling. “I want to be.”

Hawa smiled softly. “I know it.”

Blade stood, and Jayden caught the motion over Hawa’s shoulder. Her ex loomed behind her, his eye twitching, and he lifted the knife to his side, aiming the pointed steel at her back.

Jayden sucked in a sharp breath. “Move!”

Hawa dropped on instinct, just as Blade jabbed the glistening weapon in the air. Jayden seized Blade’s wrist as tightly as he could and gave it a swift twist. The loud snap of bone made even him wince.

Blade shouted, and the knife clattered to the floor.

Jay grabbed the fabric of Blade’s shirt and punched him in the face once, twice, three times—after a few moments he’d lost count. But Blade’s inner fight was stronger than Jay had anticipated. Even with blood dribbling down Blade’s nose and his lip split open, he managed to land a solid punch to Jay’s gut, tearing open the stitches from the knife wound Hawa had stitched.

Jay stumbled up the stairs as Blade pushed forward, raw fury burning in his contorted features. Blade swung again, missing his target. It didn’t take long for him to charge forward, forcing Jay further up the stairs to the upper floor.

Swaying at the top of the stairs, Blade gave a bloody, sinister smile. “She may not want me, but if I can’t have her, neither can you.” He charged forward and plowed into Jayden like a pissed off bull seeing red. Blade crashed through rusted iron, taking Jayden down with him. They fell three stories, and the wood boards cracked and splintered when they hit the floor.

Chapter Fourteen

Jayden blinked open his eyes, fog drifting around the edge of his vision. With a grunt, he rolled off Blade and onto the cool, wood floor.

“Jayden.” Hawa’s voice was breathless. He lifted his head and found her, hunched on the floor, clutching her stomach with one hand while the other pressed over her lips. She slowly stood. “What have you done?”

“What?” He blinked again, still trying to recall what had happened that day. Everything was cloudy and muddled.

Hawa shook her head, staring at the person beside him.

Jayden scowled, planted his hands on the floor, and pushed himself up. His fingers landed in something thick, wet, and warm. When he picked up his hand, scarlet covered his fingertips, dripping down his palm. “What…”

Run.
Modem’s voice brought it all rushing back.

Jayden sprang to his feet, still staring at his blood-coated hand. He looked at Hawa, whose gaze was now locked on him, and not Blade’s lifeless body.

“We need to get out of here,” Jayden said softly. He quickly analyzed himself by tightening his muscles, surprised he didn’t take any damage from the fall. He swallowed against a dry throat and fisted his hands. “Now.”

The creaking of rusty hinges on hotel room doors filled the air. He raised his gaze to a few of the orphan kids who were now in the hall, some of them leaning over the railing, staring down at the scene below.

I said run, while you still can.
Modem’s voice in his head somehow soothed the sheer panic streaking through him.

I can’t just leave you here,
Jayden replied.

Tiny whispers from the orphan kids carried through the air, growing louder by the second.

I’m not strong enough to walk.

He turned to Hawa. “I’m getting Modem, and we’re getting out of here.”

Hawa nodded. “We better hurry.” She approached Blade’s body and crouched beside him. After a moment of hesitation, she glided her hand over his face, closing his eyes. “I’m sorry.” A tear slid down her cheek, but this time she didn’t wipe it. “I wish things could have been different.”

Jayden tried not to watch, but he couldn’t look away.

Hawa sniffled and reached into Blade’s front pocket, pulling out an old flip phone. She opened it and pressed a few buttons, then held it to her ear.

She must have been calling Peter. That was the smart thing to do right now. They would need him.

Jayden left Hawa to the call and dashed up the stairs, trying to ignore the wide eyes and tiny faces of the children he passed in the halls. Some were crying. Others were pale and standing with their backs pressed against the wall, dirt streaked over their faces. One tiny girl was curled into a ball, rocking herself back and forth in the doorway. He paused beside her, but couldn’t find the courage to speak.

After a few more strides, he flung open the door to the room Modem and Tic-Tac were in. Modem stood with Tic-Tac’s support. Her arm was slung around his shoulder, both of them making their way toward the hall.

Jayden ruffled Tic-Tac’s hair and winked. “You did good, kid.” He scooped Modem in his arms and gestured toward the hall with a nod. “Let’s go.”

“Me too?” Tic-Tac said, blinking up at him.

“Hell yeah, you too.”

Tic-Tac beamed. “Yes!”

As he darted out the door, Jayden snagged him by the arm and swung him around. “Listen to me.” He crouched as low as he could with Modem in his arms. “When you go out there, don’t look over the railing. Don’t look around at all, even when you get down to the foyer, you got it? Just keep your eyes down, and go from this door, to that main exit.” He jabbed his finger in the air as he spoke.

“O…okay.” Tic-Tac nodded.

“Good.” He stood and waved him on. “Run.”

Jayden cradled Modem tighter against his chest and gazed down at her pale cheeks and limp, curly hair hanging around her face. “You up for this?”

“I kind of have to be, don’t I?” Her voice quivered, but it was stronger than before.

“Yeah, I guess you do.” Jayden drew in a deep breath and walked forward, through the hall, down the stairs, and to Hawa’s side.

Modem nestled her face against Jayden’s chest. Her small fingers curled around his shirt.
Is it bad?

Thick blood had pooled under Blade’s body, reaching out in tiny rivers, flowing into the seams of the beaten hardwood floor. Jayden clenched his jaw.
Yeah, it’s bad.

All he’d wanted to do was take Blade out. Now that Blade was dead, he’d give anything to take it back. Blade may have been the world’s biggest douche bag, and maybe even a killer, but he’d kept all these kids alive, and Jay had stripped them of that protection—however little it may have been.

Tic-Tac’s tiny footsteps grew louder behind him until the kid passed them to the front door. He walked straight out, onto the sidewalk without a word.

“Where’s Peter?” Jayden asked. Modem was weak, and could use a healing session.

Hawa shrugged. “I haven’t talked to him.” She wiped the cellphone clean with her sleeve and then tossed it beside Blade’s body.

Sirens pierced the air.

Jayden stared at the phone, then dragged his gaze back to Hawa. “What did you do?”

Hawa looked up at the dozens of hotel room doors and the hallways with kids staring down at them. “It’s over. These kids need a real home.”

Jayden’s throat tightened as his focus shifted, and he watched Tic-Tac standing outside the open door. “What about the kid?”

Hawa stole a glance over her shoulder. “He needs a good home more than anyone.”

“So he’s not coming,” he said, more as a statement than a question. Her silence gave him the answer he needed. The sirens grew louder. “Are we going to tell him?”

“We don’t have any time. The police will be here soon, and if we don’t want to end up in handcuffs, we have to go.”

She was right. He knew she was right. It was the right thing to do. Even so, it was still seriously fucked up.

There’s no time.
Modem’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

Jayden took one last, long look at Tic-Tac through the smudgy glass doors. With a good home, he’d have a chance to grow up and be someone. He deserved that much. He turned and carried Modem to the side exit, Hawa hot on his heels.

***

Jayden watched Peter open the windows in the Marriott suite he’d reserved for a few days. “I talked to Renato. He was happy to hear everyone’s okay.” A warm breeze swept through the room, whipping around the sheer curtains and playing with strands of Hawa’s dark hair.

Hawa sat on the king size bed at Modem’s feet, her hand rested on the kid’s foot. “Did you tell Renato about her?”

Peter nodded. “He was just as surprised as the rest of us. He said he hasn’t seen another dreamwalker in decades.”

Jayden leaned against the wall, his arms crossed and his gaze trained on Modem. “How much longer before she’s good to travel?”

Peter crossed the room pressed his hand over Modem’s forehead. “She’s getting better. There’s color back in her cheeks. I don’t sense the fatigue like before, so she should be waking up soon.”

“What about her ability?” Jayden asked. “Is it still freaking out?”

“Not that I can tell,” Peter said.

“Good.” Hawa stood. “When she’s better, we can bring her down to the police station and—”

“What?” Jayden pushed off the wall. “What are you talking about? She’s coming with us.”

“No, she’s not.”

“Yes,
she is
.” Jayden narrowed his eyes. “We can’t throw her into the system. Especially in Guatemala. No telling what foster care is like here.”

“I know it’s hard, but she’ll be better off.”

“Listen to me.” He stepped toward Hawa and took her hand. “I grew up in the system, remember? I know what it’s like. As soon as whatever case worker is assigned to her realizes she’s different, they’re going to throw her in the kind of place me and Zanya grew up in.” He tightened his jaw. “I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”

“And coming to Renato’s with us will mean she’s always looking over her shoulder. If you haven’t realized, shit is about to hit the fan. Contessa is getting stronger, and we don’t know if we’ll be able to fight her off when the time comes. Bringing Modem along will just put her in more danger.”

Peter rested his hands on both of their shoulders. “Why don’t you guys let her decide for herself?”

Jayden turned and looked at the girl, her big brown eyes blinking open. She parted her lips and drew in a deep breath, then stretched her arms over her head, as if she’d just woken up from the world’s best nap. “Hey guys…” She pushed up onto her forearms, skimming over the faces in the room. “What’s…what’s going on?” She looked around the suite. “Whoa. Where are we?” A faint smile touched her lips as she ran her hands over the plush comforter adorned with satin threads.

Hawa gathered Modem’s coat and shoes from the corner of the room and placed them on the bed. “Get dressed. We have to get moving.”

“Moving, where?” Modem sat up straight and retied her dark, curled hair back into a puffy bun.

Hawa studied Jayden’s rigid shoulders and tightly pursed lips.

If she cared about him past the convenient fling, she wouldn’t make him leave Modem to the fucked up fate she was in for.

“Brisa?” Modem’s tiny voice carried through the air with the warm wind. “Where are we going?”

Hawa studied him a moment longer, and let out a long, soft exhale. “To Renato’s.” She displayed a warm smile. “Where else?”

Jayden grinned. He’d never wanted to kiss her so much in his life. Doing it now would just be…weird, so he took her hand instead, and squeezed it extra tight. “Let’s get our stuff together and—” A sharp, piercing pain tore through his temples, shrouding his vision in black, forcing him to his knees. He gripped his hair and ground his teeth before a scream tore out of his chest.

A pair of hands rested on his shoulders, but he couldn’t define who it was. Then another. His muscles coiled and he curled into a ball, pressing his forehead harder against the floor as the moment stretched, and the pain bore deeper into his mind.

Chapter Fifteen

Flashes of light blinded him as the pain lifted, leaving him standing in a fog. He shifted his feet in cool sand, and craned his neck to see the seemingly dormant roots of the underworld overhead. A chill ran over his skin.

He turned, squinting through thick fog. He could barely see a few feet in front of him, let alone far enough to figure out what the hell was going on. And why was the underworld so cold? Assuming he was in the underworld…

“Hello?” Calling out probably wasn’t the best idea, but he had little choice. If he stumbled around this realm, he could land in some pretty bad shit. “Um…” He stepped forward carefully, feeling each patch of sand beneath his feet before taking his next step. “Hello?”

“I have been expecting you,” a voice purred from the blanket of fog.

Jayden spun and peered through the clouds, his heart bursting into overdrive. That voice. That silken, alluring voice. It could only be one person. A moment later, a shadow appeared in the distance revealing curves like a goddess and long, thin limbs.

A knot tightened in his gut. “Why do I keep seeking you?” He shifted back as the shadow grew closer, and bits of Contessa’s features became clear. The fog swirled and snaked around her as she pushed through it with every step.

“Perhaps your heart is tied to this realm. After all, your soul is tainted from this place. Perhaps your spirit yearns to return home.” She stepped closer—close enough for her bright green eyes and polished, pink lips to tempt him.

Jayden shifted back again, recalling Renato’s warning about the witch. She was beautiful, but that was her poison. She would consume his soul if she seduced him…if he still had a soul anymore, like she claimed.

“Perhaps your heart is tied to
me
.” She tilted her head, displaying her long, elegant neck, and the sharp angle of her jaw line, half-hidden beneath waves of red, glistening hair. “You have been watching me. I’ve felt you close.” She curled one side of her mouth into a tempting smile and leaned into him, her lips inches from his. “What is it that you want,
boy
?”

Jayden’s breaths were sharp and shallow, uneasy from Contessa’s hot breath caressing his mouth. He swallowed, staring at her lips. His muscles coiled as he fought an unbearable urge to dive into her entirely.

“Our souls are aligned, you know. We are like each other, you and I. Both from this realm. Both with—” She bit her bottom lip. “Desires.” Contessa rested her hands on his chest.

Jayden winced beneath her touch. He swallowed and forced himself to speak. “What happened here?”

“This realm is under new rule. The king and I. Well…” She licked her lips. “We came to an arrangement.” His skin flushed with a sick heat where she had rested her hands. The warmth reached into his muscles, asking him to move in closer. Caught in a bewitched haze, Jayden reached up and brushed his thumb across her cheek. Her skin was like milk, flawless and glowing. She turned her head and brushed her lips across his palm, spiking his blood with adrenaline. “Be wary.” Her voice was softer this time. “You may find more than you can bear.”

Jayden’s skin was like fire. He sucked in a breath and blinked away the trance luring him into her. Jayden dropped his hands. “What do you want from me?”

She laughed again, but this time with a sharper edge. Her eyes narrowed. “You unfortunate boy. You never did stand a chance, did you?”

“What are you talking about?” He had to get out of there, fast. Without Modem to keep him safe, he’d have to help himself. Reclaim his ability, control it, and somehow find an escape.

“Death, followed by a brief resurrection,” she continued. “The love of your life rejects you, and then bonds with another. You flee, and find comfort in another woman’s arms. Now…” She sighed, curling her fingers around his shirt. “Now you find yourself here, again, in this realm.” She clutched his shirt tighter. “Which you will not again escape.”

Jayden’s hands shook as Contessa’s sickness brushed against his heart.

She clenched her jaw. “I will not allow you to sabotage my new empire.” Contessa’s eyes rolled with dark magic, shadows slithering under her once-fair skin. “Aside from the Guardian, you are the only Riyata left with the ability to seek. Yet you are the only Riyata who can seek with open access to my new realm,
underworlder
.”

“What?” Jayden swayed and grasped Contessa’s forearm, his legs losing strength. What was she talking about? He wasn’t an underworlder. He wasn’t like her. “What do you mean?” His voice faded into a mere exhale as the witch’s icy power coiled around his heart.

“It is in fact a rare privilege, seeker, to have underworld ties. How very unfortunate you will not live to understand your true potential.”

Panic spiked through his mind and he fell to the ground, scrambling away, his fingers raking through the sand. His mouth gaped as he tried to pull in a breath, but it was if the air had turned to stone. An invisible vise had clamped down on his lungs. His eyes widened as fog clouded his mind, and his heart became like a molten rock, sucking the life out of him with every passing moment.

The air around him shook, and a wavering wall of water plowed between them, spitting sand in every direction.

“Can you be any dumber?” Modem said from beside him.

The familiar wall of water shot up in front of him. Jayden gasped in a breath, desperately clawing at the ground.

As the sick heat lifted from his chest, he drew in several more breaths. “I didn’t do this,” he choked out, struggling to rise to his hands and knees. His muscles quivered.

“That doesn’t matter now.” Modem swayed while she stood beside him. “I can’t hold the barrier for long.”

Jayden forced himself to his feet and turned to face Contessa. Modem’s protective wall had not only severed Contessa’s hold on him, but now shielded them from all directions. The temptress stood on the other side of the rippling barrier, staring at the wall with a slight tilt of her head. Her eyes flashed with a glint of darkness, and her lips parted. “Fascinating.” She stepped toward the barrier. “This is what withheld your presence. I was sure I had sensed someone nearby.” She reached out and touched the barrier, making it shudder. Tiny veins of black crawled over the spot she had touched.

Modem groaned and clutched her stomach. “Whoa.” She blinked and tightened her grip on her belly. “Just her touch hurts. She’s no small fish, is she?”

Jayden shook his head. “No, she’s not.” He examined Modem’s contorted features. For a kid, she was putting up with a whole hell of a lot of pain. “How much does it hurt?” He reached out to her.

She held out her hand with a flat palm. “Don’t.” Her throat tightened. “I’m barely holding it together as it is. We need to get out of here.”

Jayden paused, searching his mind for a way out. “You.” He gestured toward the barrier. “I usually came back after the wall of water hit me. Not always, but it’s worth a try. You need to get us out of here, not me.”

“I guess it’s the only chance we’ve got.” She stood up a little straighter. “You ready?”

Jayden nodded. “Does a bear shi—” He snapped his jaw shut. “Um, yeah. Totally ready.”

Modem let her hands fall to her sides and curled her fingers into fists. She drew in a deep breath and exhaled. Her chest dropped, and her features softened.

Jayden waited for ice-cold water to crash into him, but the barrier hadn’t moved. Contessa walked along the wavering wall, skimming her fingers along it, leaving streaks of black in her wake.

Modem opened her eyes and looked around. “Something’s wrong.”

“What?”

“I…” Modem shifted. “I tried, and it didn’t work. She must be manipulating my mind somehow.”

Particulates of soil fell from above them, landing on the barrier shielding them. He snapped his head up to see roots from the tree shift and churn in the sky as if it were waking up from hibernation.

“Even if I did allow you leave this realm a second time,” Contessa said, “you are too late.” She extended her hand above her head, as if reaching out to the tree. “And after you are gone, there will be no other with the ability to seek, and who also holds ties to the underworld. No other to observe me in times of necessary discretion.”

Modem gawked at the tree above them, her cheeks drained of color, and her eyes growing wider by the second. “
Oh my God
…”

Jayden scanned the abandoned realm, spotting the distant shadow of a ruin within run-like-hell distance. Jayden glanced up at the tree’s roots again, only to see them reaching down from the soil. “Go!” Jayden dashed toward her. Modem stood, her neck craned and mouth gaping. She’d been in the underworld before, but always behind her own barrier. Now it was a world torn wide open, ready to swallow her whole. “I said run, damn it! Go!”

A booming crash echoed in his ears. He stole a glance over his shoulder just as a second root from the tree crashed through Modem’s barrier, punching a hole in the shield.

Modem’s feet were stuck fast to the ground while she continued to stare up at the tree. She might have been in shock, but there was no time to explain what was happening. If they didn’t find cover soon, they wouldn’t have a second chance to escape. He scooped her into his arms as he passed and ran faster than he’d thought possible. A third root slammed through the barrier. Black shadows spread through the wall in thick veins, as if the tree had poisoned it with its assaults.

With every frantic step, the stone ruin grew closer. Jayden slipped on the sand, and quickly gained traction again, just in time to dive behind the base of ruin. Panting, he pressed his back against the cold stone, searching for his next grand idea. Now they were stuck, with nowhere to go and nothing but a pissed off woman and a man-eating tree trying to turn them both into an evening snack.

“Damn it, damn it, damn it.” He pressed his head harder against the stone, pressing his eyes shut. “I don’t know what to do.” He turned to Modem. “Any ideas?”

From the sudden awareness behind her eyes, she’d snapped out of her daze. She shook her head. Dreamwalker or not, she was still just a kid, and he was the only one around to protect her.

“Okay.” He nodded, hoping for a miracle. That’d happened once already when Zanya broke him out of the underworld. It wasn’t likely to happen again.

“
Marco
,” Contessa called, as if they were playing a devilish game of hide and seek.

Modem rested her hand on his. “Is what you guys said true, about me never getting any older? Am I really gonna be like this forever?”

Jayden searched her eyes. “You weren’t asleep, were you?”

She shook her head.

Modem had gone long enough being scared, lonely, and unsure. Even if it scared her, she deserved to know the truth.

He nodded. “Yeah.” He forced a smile. “It’s true. You’ll never get old. Pretty cool, huh?”

Without a word, Modem simply turned her gaze forward. Staring into the barren distance, a low sob bubbled from her throat.