Soul Betrayed (13 page)

Jackson took the phone from my hands. “Hey!” I cried as he pressed a button and held the phone to his ear. We were speeding down the road toward a grouping of lights in the distance.

“I’ve got this, Cooper,” he growled. “You will never have this chance again. I will protect her.”

He tucked the phone under his neck and opened the window with his free hand. The phone disappeared through the window.

“That was Jamie’s phone!”

“She’s not going to be calling anyone anytime soon.”

“What have they done to her?”

Jackson pressed his lips together as we pulled through open metal gates. We passed several airplane hangars before arriving at our destination. He parked behind the closest one and disappeared from the car, reappearing outside my door and opening it before I could get the seatbelt off.

I sat in my seat, staring up at him. “I’m not going anywhere until you explain what just happened.”

Jackson grunted. “I will tell you when we are alone.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. I wasn’t going on an airplane to who knows where until he explained.

Jackson leaned over, his face inches from mine. His eyes were steely. “I will carry you if I have to.”

I licked my lips, narrowing my gaze. “I’d like to see you try.”

“I would like to see that as well,” a voice said from behind him. Shadowed Ollie stood in full gear between the car and the plane. “I’d also like to hear you explain what exactly you were doing with this.” He held up Jamie’s phone. The screen was cracked but it still lit up.

Jackson turned around, his soul blocking Ollie from my view. I peeked around his legs, my heart racing.

“They planted that on her. It rang so I threw it out the window.”

Ollie cocked his head. “After speaking to Allegra for ten seconds?” He stepped closer, his mouth twisted in a grimace. “I told the others not to trust you, and now I have proof.” His eyes flicked to mine. “I told him the second you saw her again you weren’t the same.” Tucking the phone into his pocket Ollie reached up and lifted his scythe from its sheath. Ollie charged forward and Jackson disappeared from in front of me. Ollie’s eyes widened and he stopped just as Jackson reappeared, broadsword in hand, at his side. Ollie blocked a blow from Jackson, their weapons crashing together.

Ollie landed a kick to Jackson’s stomach, taking him back a few steps. Ollie twisted the scythe in his hands. “Give it up, Jackson. You’ve finally lost.”

“Like hell I have,” Jackson said, lunging forward, slamming his sword into Ollie’s weapon. Ollie gritted his teeth under the pressure of Jackson’s blow.

“You will never save her,” Ollie said. “She is just a tool.”

Again with the tool thing. A lead ball formed in my middle. Both sides were using me. I’d just have to figure out how to use that to my advantage. I snapped off my seatbelt.

“No, Ollie,” Jackson spat. “This time you are wrong.” Jackson disappeared from his position and before Ollie could turn around, a sword sliced through his chest. His mouth opened wide just as his soul disintegrated in front of us.

My hands lifted to my mouth, stifling a gasp. I tumbled out of the car and ran to Jackson. He stared at the space where Ollie had been as if he were seeing something that I couldn’t. I touched his arm and he blinked several times before turning to me.

“Are you okay?” I asked, my voice shaking.

He bobbed his head. “I’m fine.”

The weight of the situation flooded me. “He was going to kill you—again.”

“Yes he was.”

I wrapped my arms around Jackson, all the doubt I had felt melting away as I held him.

Jackson patted my back. “We need to leave. Now.”

Taking my hand he pulled me toward the plane and my stomach somersaulted. For all the transporting I’d done when I was a soul, I’d never been on a plane before. Jackson ushered me up a steep set of steps attached to the plane. Inside the cabin six empty beige leather chairs lined the walls. He led me to one of the last seats. “Sit here and buckle up, we will be taking off shortly.” Then he disappeared, again.

The door to the cockpit opened and a short man dressed in a navy blue uniform entered the cabin. He adjusted his hat and peered out of the door I’d just entered through. A pop sound jolted me from my seat and I jumped.

He jumped as well, apparently not noticing I was on board. He smiled warmly and I saw he was chewing gum.

I settled back in my seat, trying to relax.

“Sorry ’bout that,” he said with a Southern drawl as he reached into his pocket and pulled a pack of gum out, offering me a piece. “It helps during take off.”

I furrowed my eyebrows and took the gum. “Thank you.” He didn’t need to know I’d never been on a plane before.

“You must be someone important,” he remarked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well—”He cracked his gum against his teeth, but this time I anticipated it. “They haven’t needed me in a few days now. Not since they had me transport another young girl around your age.”

I stood up again. “You mean Jamie?”

He pursed his lips. “Yes, I think that was her name.”

I inhaled sharply. Jamie was alive. Even though Ollie had confirmed it earlier, I couldn’t help thinking the worst.

“Are we going to the same place that you took her?”

His eyes widened. Leaning down, he looked out the window and then slowly backed away from me. “I should mind my own business.”

I unbuckled my seatbelt and stood up. “No, please. I need—”

A door opened behind me. Jackson and a flight attendant entered the cabin.

The captain nodded to Jackson and turned around, closing himself in the cockpit. The flight attendant eyed me but said nothing. She closed the door that we’d just entered through, and the locks clicked into place.

She turned to me with a saccharine smile. “If you could take a seat now we will be taking off momentarily.” Her voice was high and nasal.

I sank into my seat and reached for the buckles. I didn’t realize my hands were shaking until I tried several times unsuccessfully to get it around my waist. Jackson’s hands appeared in front of me. He knelt down, his legs brushing against mine and buckled me in. The engine vibrated my whole body as the plane came to life.

“I’m going to be right here and when we are high enough I will explain as much as I can.”

“Where are we going?”

He stood up and sat in the seat across the aisle. The flight attendant went over basic safety precautions and when she was finished, took her place at the front of the cabin.

“We are stationed in an abandoned military bunker out west,” Jackson said, by way of answering my question. He glanced at the flight attendant who seemed very interested in what he was saying.

The plane accelerated and I forgot about everything except for the roar of my heartbeat in my ears. I swallowed hard, my ears popping. My fingers clamped around the arm rest as a sudden weightlessness overwhelmed me. The feeling reminded me of every time I traveled between the After and Living Realms. The familiarity slowly calmed my thrumming heart rate. That was until the plane took a sharp turn and I sucked in a breath through my teeth, closing my eyes until the lightness in my stomach had subsided. We climbed higher in the air, the plane at what seemed like a dangerous angle. We veered two more times until the plane evened out.

A speaker crackled and the pilot’s voice filled the air. “I will momentarily be turning off the seatbelt sign. Please adhere to the seatbelt warning and when it is turned off you may move around the cabin. When you are in your seat please remain buckled in. We will be arriving at your destination in approximately six hours and thirty-five minutes.”

Almost seven hours? Jackson wasn’t kidding when he said it was out west.

The seatbelt sign turned off and Jackson lifted himself from his chair. He knelt at my side. “Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

He sighed and took my hand. “Sorry that was a little crazy. I planned on preparing you a little more for your first flight.”

“It wasn’t that bad.”

He smiled at my other hand which was firmly planted on the armrest. I took it off and wiggled the life back into my fingers. “See?”

“Are you hungry?”

My stomach lurched. “Not at the moment.”

Jackson went to the front of the cabin and said something to the flight attendant. Her eyes raked over him as if he were her next meal before her gaze slid to mine. Her nose wrinkled as if she smelled something putrid then turned away from him.

I ripped off my seatbelt and stood.

Jackson turned to me after she handed him something and handed me a bottle of water. “Keep hydrated.”

I took the bottle, untwisted the top and drank. The cool liquid soothed the dryness in my throat. I sat in my seat and relaxed against it. A sudden weightlessness startled me and I grabbed onto the armrest just as hard as I had for takeoff. I fell against the back of my chair which was farther back than I realized.

“You hit the recline button,” Jackson said, his fingers brushing against mine. “Come on.”

Jackson led the way to the back of the cabin where he and the flirty flight attendant had come in from earlier. He opened the door and I was surprised to see a bed three times my size taking up the space. On the far end was a love seat, but I couldn’t help staring at the bed. How many nights had Jackson and I lay on my bed all those years ago talking about our future together?

“Take off your jacket,” he said.

I raised an eyebrow.

“I need to clean you up.”

I shrugged off the jacket, wincing as the sleeves rubbed against my raw skin.

Jackson picked up a small first aid kit that was on the love seat. Had that been what he and the flight attendant discussed back here? It was a better explanation than the one I had imagined.

Jackson chuckled, shaking his head and I immediately shut down my thoughts of her, my neck radiating with heat.

I looked back up and my pulse quickened. His hands reached up, brushing my hair from my shoulders, sending a sudden thrill through me. I glanced up at him, watching how I felt through him. His nostrils flared slightly and his eyelids drooped. I smiled inwardly. Now that I could understand our connection through his memories of me, it was mesmerizing to experience.

He pressed his fingers into my shoulders and I sat on the bed. He sat next to me and the weight of him on the bed pushed us together. He adjusted so we faced each other. Those fingers that had wrapped around a broadsword and cut through Ollie nearly an hour ago delicately moved across my arms, cleaning the scratches. With the dirt gone, my arms didn’t look as bad as they felt. That was until Jackson added the antiseptic. I gasped and my hands fisted.

“Don’t be such a baby,” he teased.

I lightly punched him. “Let me cut you open and pour this on you and see how it feels.”

He smiled and continued to my other arm. I found myself silently mesmerized by his meticulous work and his thoughtful eyes. Each touch sent electric charges directly to my heart. Within minutes he had my arms bandaged. He stood from the bed and placed the kit back on the love seat.

Crossing the small room he checked the lock on the door before turning back to me.

“Sit down.” I placed a hand next to me. “You’re making me nervous.”

Jackson rubbed the back of his neck. “I imagined this so many times, but I can’t shake the feeling that I should have let you be at the cemetery.”

“What are you talking about?”

His eyes met mine, piercing my soul. “From here on out it’s just you and me.”

“That’s fine—” I began to say before he cut me off.

“There was a Shadowed spy within your father’s house. He is going to lead them away from the base if they get anywhere near it. We can’t be followed before their plan is in motion.” His tone was urgent as if at any moment a Shadowed would appear on the plane.

I shook my head. “What plan?”

“The reason the Shadowed wanted you for their side is to use your powers to open their passage to the After.”

I looked down at my hands, imagining the orange essence flowing out of them. “How am I supposed to do that as a human?”

“Initially the plan was to get you in soul form after you let your powers out with David, but Ollie informed them of your new status earlier today.” Jackson reached out and held my hands in his. “Your situation is unique so they are going to train you to use it.”

“But I’m not transformed—”

“Hannah isn’t either,” he stated. “She will train you.”

I stared at where our bodies connected. The Caeleste have been around for a very long time. Even though I knew the Rodas power was unique for a Prognatum, they couldn’t think that I would be able to manifest my powers before the transformation.

I thought of the last time I’d let my powers go. The night of Leha’s death. I drew in a slow breath, willing myself not to break down again. I snatched my hands from Jackson’s and drew my legs onto the bed, pushing my body back to the far end, pressing my back against the wall.

“Mags—” My emotions clued him in to who I was thinking about.

“Don’t.” I lifted my hands defensively. As much as I wanted to know everything about how to defeat the Shadowed, I wanted—no, needed to know why he had betrayed me.

“How could you?” I choked out, my emotions now betraying me. “How could you just let her die? She trusted you.”

He pressed his lips together before speaking. “If there is one thing that you ever need to know about me, it’s that I would do anything for you.”

“Including allowing that—that
thing
to take her from me?”

His gaze narrowed. “I tried to separate us that night, knowing Hannah was waiting. I was going to tell you everything but—” He shook his head. “Leha is so damn stubborn. Just like you.”

“Was,” I corrected.

“There was nothing I could have done,” he said softly, not quite meeting my eyes.

A scornful laugh burst from my lips. “Anything. You could have done anything to prevent it. And you didn’t. As much as I love you, Jackson, I don’t think I can forgive you for that.”

His jaw clenched and his eyes snapped to mine. “I am not asking for your forgiveness. But I am asking you to trust me now. I will do whatever it takes to finish this once and for all.”