Savior (32 page)

“Leave?” I asked, stunned.

We had all heard Peregrine’s final command, the one to kill us, and they were intentionally ignoring it. Besides the defectors, I had never heard of a Vire thinking for themselves.

“So your loyalty isn’t to Peregrine,” mused Jameson, who’d picked up on the hint, too.

Comprehending his understated meaning, the one holding me seethed, “We are ‘ent fer sale.”

Without giving Jameson the chance to barter, the one holding him interrupted, “Since you’ve killed Max, we’ll be walking out. That means no talking, no calling attention to yourself, no looking for an escape. If you do, one of you dies. Do you understand?”

“You sound afraid. Does our prisoner army intimidate you?” taunted Jameson.

I stifled a laugh at his open ridicule, but this didn’t go unpunished.

The man tightened his hold on Jameson, twisting his wrists until he grimaced.

“Stop.” Both Vires were surprised to hear this demand come from my mouth.

I sensed their interest in toying with me at Jameson’s expense, the indication coming from their malicious grins. To keep them in check, and prevent them from demonstrating their power any further, I quickly added, “Sartorius will want us intact.”

They exchanged inquisitive looks and I knew I’d guessed correctly.

While they were still muddling through piecing together how I’d known which Seven had sent them, Jameson gave me a look that reminded me that he hadn’t been disarmed. I repositioned myself to slip my hand inside his cloak when the one behind Jameson caught on.

He grunted while leaning toward Jameson and removing the two daggers I’d been about to retrieve. “Don’t want you using these again,” he muttered.

“The side o’ me got a good scrape,” commented the Welch Englishman holding me. “Goin’ ta have ta get me revenge fer it, ya.”

His threat lingered as the one holding Jameson aggressively forced the hoods up onto our heads and kicked open the door. We were shoved outside and a single thought ruled my consciousness: We are now completely defenseless and entirely overpowered.

Purely by instinct and disregarding the warning we’d been given, I immediately began looking for a way to defend ourselves. We would need to do it alone or risk the lives of those who would come to our rescue.

My eyes scanned the area, noting that Jameson was doing the same.

Unfortunately, no opportunity crossed our paths. With each plank we crossed and every dock we traversed, we moved closer to the boundary of the village, farther from people and from any possible help.

Going against the flood of people coming in proved to be a challenge. We had to weave between luggage, roaming children, and wandering, dazed adults, all of which slowed us down. For them, I was incredibly thankful. They gave us time. Yet, as the sounds of the village quieted we reached the long, slender plank which acted as our pier. Numerous boats were normally docked there, but tonight I saw only one, a canoe. The rest of them were in use transporting passengers and possessions to their new living quarters.

“Get in,” the Englishman behind me commanded, and I stepped down into the hull. Jameson followed, settling down on the bench beside me. After securing our wrists with rope, the Englishman rowed in the rear while the other one sat directly behind us.

They avoided the main channels where new arrivals were coming in and stayed to the narrower, more vacant ones to the west. Progressively, the sounds of the village faded away and were replaced with the noises of the remote bayou: the hushed rippling of water as an alligator slithered along, the flap of an owl's wings as it left for a nighttime feeding, the splintering of a tree branch as it ripped from a decaying tree and plunged into the murky water.

The entire time, I focused on finding a way out for Jameson…or possibly both of us. With there being only two Vires, I had some measure of hope. There was a possibility, although a slim one, that we could take them on. We had almost reached the edge of the penal colony that suppressed our abilities. There, we might have a chance. Our abilities might return just enough to help us get out of this mess.

Then the Englishman navigated the canoe around a bend and my hope crumbled. Standing shoulder to shoulder, along the lapping edge of the waterline, was an army of Vires.

As I worked at settling my nerves, something else entirely unexpected happened. Words began drifting through my mind, ones that weren’t my own.

“Sartorius’ army…” they mused, carrying no worry in their tone, only contemplation.

What surprised me the most was that I recognized the voice.

It was Jameson’s.

Quickly, I dropped my gaze and found our legs were pressed together, an unconscious move in the midst of a menacing situation.

And then I recognized the significance of hearing him.

“Jameson,” I channeled back to him, attempting to keep the excitement from my expression. Every one of the Vires seemed to have their eyes locked on me. “Jameson, they’ve lifted the cast. Spencer and Dillon-”

“Lifted the cast,” Jameson’s voice interlaced with mine, catching on to follow my line of thought. He sighed with elation, quietly, undetectably. “And just in time…Jocelyn, when I tell you, send us into the sky as fast as you can.”

We had almost reached the muddy bank and time was running out.

I closed my eyes slowly, focusing entirely on conjuring the energy inside me. Strangely, it felt emulsified, like a peculiar slippery coating made it impenetrable. And I understood why. I hadn’t been able to use it or exercise it to its fullest ability for months. Other than to heal others, which had been augmented by Jameson’s channeling, it had been idle. Like anything left unappreciated for an extended period of time, it had begun to dwindle.

Then I heard Jameson’s voice, sudden and pressing. “Now, Jocelyn. Now!”

I directed all the energy I was able to summon into levitation then, but we remained in the same position, never leaving our seats.

It had been easier the first time I’d levitated, I realized. Shoving back that disheartening thought wasn’t easy, and neither was my next attempt, which failed.

“Jocelyn?” Jameson channeled to me, his voice urgent and filled with concern. I flipped my eyelids open.

We’d reached the shore.

The canoe ran aground on the muddy bank, sending all our bodies violently jerking forward.

“Are you all right?” Jameson asked, just as concerned about the jolt as to why we weren’t in the air.

I opened my mouth fully intending to speak but found that I was only able to shrug. The truth was, I didn’t know….

“Stand,” said the Englishman, his voice penetrating my awareness.

I hoisted myself to my feet. Yet, just as my knees straightened, my toes left the canoe and I was shot into the air. The next thing I knew, I was being carried over the bayou.

A single black cloak stood out within the swarm of black uniforms around me.

“Jocelyn!”

“I’m here!” I called out, and his head snapped in my direction, his face first showing relief and then falling in disappointment. He didn’t want me here anymore than I wanted to be.

We reached for each other, our hands stretching across the distance, trying to close the gap between us.

“Jameson.”

“Jocelyn.”

And then he was gone, jerked away, shooting into the distance, his black cloak flapping at the edges from the force of velocity.

“Jameson!” I screamed, but he continued to disappear, merging with the night sky.

The Vires surrounding us reached that far so I knew two factors at once. First, Jameson was now on the edge of the group. Second, someone had separated us.

As my eyes swept across our abductors, I noticed one particular Vire a few yards in front of me. He had been peering over his shoulder but was now staring straight ahead with the rest of them.

His message was clear…we were now at their whim.

Jameson’s and my future became impeccably clear then, stifling any rational thought attempting to come forth. I was captured by the realization of what lay ahead for us.

We would be taken, and used, at Sartorius’s discretion. He would undoubtedly force us to perform heinous acts, threatening to destroy either Jameson or me if either of us didn’t perform for him. And once his plans had been executed we would be imprisoned until the next crime could be committed.

We would be alive, but only in body. He would destroy our spirit, dominating us until we were nothing more than the object he saw us to be.

These realizations flooded forth when something injected itself into the middle of the Vires, crossing the night sky so fast it became a blur. I watched with puzzlement as bodies spiraled into space, crashing into each other, disrupting the perfectly aligned flock.

And then another slammed into them.

And another.

Whatever was coming at our abductors were like speeding bullets, only larger and with far greater impact.

By the fourth one, I knew the Vires were under attack, and so did they.

Immediately, they split, one faction encircling me and the other half farther away, encircling Jameson. Although, I knew this wasn’t for our protection…it was to contain us while they fought off their attackers.

One by one, they came around again, this time colliding with the wall the Vires had formed. Only then did I get a look at them.

The focused determination of Theleo’s face darted in and out of view, then Eli's, and then my mother’s. Following were a mass of defectors who I had seen and spoken to over the past months, each one bent on bring Jameson and me back. But they weren’t the only ones coming to our defense. It wasn’t until I caught the distinct purple hue of a scarf being used around the neck of a Vire that I knew the Weatherfords and Caldwells were up here as well.

Now…I was terrified.

They shouldn’t have come
, my mind screamed. They’re too vulnerable. I began clawing my way out of the Vires from the center. Taking the collar of the one directly in front of me, I heaved him backward. The momentum sent him flying past, but his arm extended and braced his fall against my chest, violently knocking the air from my lungs.

My body didn’t seem to function for several seconds, not until I drew in a staggered breath. It sounded hoarse in my ears, which frightened me.

With a roar this time, I heaved back another one, but he shoved me off, making me feel like I was fighting the weight of two men instead of one.

I was finally able to see Jameson. He was on the outside, working his way in and Theleo was by his side, levitating them both.

“Jameson!” I screamed across the chaos, and briefly, our eyes met, the translucent, clear green of them filling me with hope.

And then he was gone.

His entire body became immersed in the midst of a squirming cluster of Vires.

A raw fury burst through me, igniting the dull energy that had been laying dormant inside. I felt it come to life again in an explosion of pure determination driven outward from my core.

Suddenly, Vires began propelling to the side, flailing into the ones next to them and shoving them aside. A corridor formed through them, made by their disappearing bodies.

It was then I realized my actions no longer required the use of my hands. My focus was doing the job just fine.

One by one, their bodies flew from my path, until I reached the most crucial one. He had peered back at me before, just enough to let me know that he was levitating us, delivering us to Sartorius. As I flung him aside, and his body disappeared into the distance, I was freed.

With his incapacitation, several others were freed from his grasp, too, I noted as half the Vires dropped from the sky. Some recovered, but not many.

Jameson, I thought instantly and spun around in search of him.

Below me, through the sea of plummeting black uniforms, one stood out, his cloak fluttering against the wind. I rushed downward, dodging Vires and the defectors fighting them, approaching earth at a speed that would leave nothing of Jameson or me after the collision.

By the time I was able to discern the shapes of the expansive cypress trees, I knew I'd reached him. His eyelids were closed, concealing the brilliant green of them, and his mouth was slack.

Slowing our freefall, I lowered the two of us to a raised mound protruding from the murky bayou water, laying Jameson gently in the very center. Immediately, I placed my hand on his and leaned forward, over his unconscious body.

“Incantatio sana
,"
I recited, my voice wavering from emotion.

When he didn’t move, I repeated my incantation, this time with more persistence.
“
Incantatio sana."

Even so, he remained still. There was no rise of his chest, no flutter of his eyelids, no twitch of his muscles. Slowly, I comprehended what this meant.

“Don’t…,” I whispered, noticing my hands beginning to tremble. “Don’t do this…”

Dread engulfed me.

“Incantatio sana,” I tried again.

My hand moved to his leg.
“
Incantatio sana."

Then to his unmoving chest.
“
Incantatio sana."

And then to his face, where the slack of his mouth told me that I was making no progress. Regardless, I said it again.
“
Incantatio sana."

“No!” I shouted. “You can’t go. Not
you
. This isn’t how it’s supposed to be. It’s not - It can’t be - This…this can’t be the end. Jameson, I’m…I’m not ready to let you go." His name came out guttural, choking in my throat. I swallowed, hard, and said it with a far steadier tone. “Jameson, we have a future together, and children. That’s what the records say. That’s the prophecy.”

I felt a wave of anger rush over me, barreling through my body with a force of its own. It swept up the last of my will and carried it away as I collapsed across Jameson’s chest, where the roll of his muscles felt strong and defenseless at the same time.

My own body went limp, every bit of emotion gushing through me moments ago was now gone. Only my fingertips seemed to have any vitality.

They curled around the edges of his cloak, pulling him closer to me.