The Starborn Saga (Books 1, 2, & 3) (80 page)

The group stands in silence at the words from Jeremiah. “I can’t…I can’t even move,” I manage to say. “How can I…can I go?”

“I say we all go in there and cream him,” Heather says. 

“But he will kill Aaron and Evelyn,” Christopher says. 

Danny shakes his head. “Won’t he do that anyway?”

“Sure,” Christopher says. “But not immediately. If we all rush in there, they will certainly die. If we play this out subtly, there is a chance.”

“How?” Jeffrey says, motioning to me. “Poor Mora can’t even walk. There isn’t a chance that she’s getting to the prison in this condition.”

Christopher nods. “No. Not in this condition.” He stands for a moment, staring me in the eyes. He doesn’t say anything while he does this, but my heart sinks when I finally understand what he’s thinking.  

“There’s a reason he mentioned Sadie and not Mora’s grandma or brother,” Christopher continues. “He knows Mora is dying. He kÀon and nows she’s at her end.”

I try to nod, but I don’t have the strength. 

“I don’t know if Evelyn told him, or what,” Christopher says, “but he knows.” He swallows hard. “And I know if I’m dead, he won’t even bother going after Sadie.”

“What are you saying?” Connor asks. 

“Mora,” Christopher says. “I’m going to heal you.”

Somehow I find the strength to shake my head. It hurts to do it. “No.” I’m barely 
able to let the word out. 

“But that will kill you,” Jeffrey says. “Besides, we can move Sadie away. Jeremiah won’t find her.”

“I promised…promised Sadie you would be safe,” I say. “You can’t do this. Let me be.” 

Christopher kneels down beside me. “It’s about more than protecting Sadie,” he says. “It’s about more than whatever poison Jeremiah spits out of his mouth. I heard it from Evelyn, and I believe it. You have a passion to help others. She chose you to lead the Starborns because she knew you would be the one that could make this place better. You are meant to be the
true
healer, Mora. You’re going to heal the world.” 

He reaches down and grabs my hand. I wish there was strength in me to push him away. The disease inside doesn’t stop the tears from welling up in my eyes and falling to my shirt. I can’t bear the thought of Christopher giving up his life for mine. What did I ever do to deserve it? What did I do to show him that I could carry on the mission? That I could continue past this fight?

 “But what about you?” Danny asks. “Jeremiah said you have to be there as well.”

Christopher looks back at Danny, still holding my limp hand. “I don’t want to go in there for him to hold up a gun to their heads to make me to heal him. I’m not going to do it. If I’m going to die healing someone, it’s not going to be him.” He nodded at Connor. “He can go with Mora. From a distance, Jeremiah won’t know the difference.”

My eyes fall on Connor. He doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t move. He’s stunned by what he is seeing. So am I. Christopher leans toward me. With his free hand, he wipes away a tear that is immediately replaced by another. 

“Take them to New Haven,” he says. 

“Don’t do it,” I plead. I have accepted my death. I have expected it. He wasn’t even supposed to come here in the first place.

“This is all my fault,” I say. 

Christopher shakes his head. “I chose to come here. And I’m glad I did. The Starborns were meant to rid the world of greyskins. Start with Jeremiah. This is what
I
was meant to do.”

He closes his eyes and immediately I start to feel the pain lift from my body. I watch as he accepts the pain as his own. I can feel the rot of the virus leave my body. My blood is clean now; the decay has been replaced with purity. With life. 

But I can see the pain on Christopher’s face. I can see the suffering. It makes me want to pull away, but I can’t. My body’s desire for life can’t resist what Christopher offers. Then his grip simply loosens and I find that I’m the one holding on tightly to him. His eyes open for a brief moment and he smiles. He lays his head down slowly and stares into the sky. With one final breath, he closes his eyes, and breathes no more. 

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

The virus is gone from my body and Christopher lies dead on the ground in front me. I try to wipe away the tears from my eyes, but they flow uncontrollably. Christopher just died so I might live. So that I could carry on the mission. 

As I kneel over his body, staring at him, almost as if to will him to wake up, I think about what I’m supposed to do.
The Starborns were meant to rid the world of greyskins
, Christopher had said.
Start with Jeremiah.

The leader of Screven is waiting at the prisons. He hasn’t left Screven because he believes the healer is still here and Jeremiah won’t leave without him. I’m sure that if he knew Christopher was dead, he would be long gone. But this is our chance. If we don’t get Jeremiah now, we might not get another chance for a long time. I’m not willing to let that happen. 

The others stand around me. Everyone stares at Christopher’s body except Connor. He is staring at me. I stand from my kneeling position and wipe my nose with my shirt. I know I’ve got to say something, but I don’t know what. They are in shock. But so am I. 

“I didn’t know he was going to do that,” I whispered. “I couldn’t stop him.” They look at me, expressionless. It seems they don’t know whether to be happy or sad. Neither do I. “I’m not going to let his sacrifice be meaningless. It’s time to act.”

Their heads snap up at me as they try to focus their attention. 

“Jeremiah is waiting for me,” I say. “He’s also stolen a very powerful gift for himself. Last night, he killed the hunter, Trace. He now has the ability to mirror a Starborn’s gift when he touches them.” I shake my head. “I don’t know how to stop him. But I’ll figure out a way.”

“You can’t just expect us to stay behind and do nothing,” Danny says. “I know if he sees us, he’ll kill the others, but we have to help somehow.”

“Connor’s coming with me,” I say. “Do we have any bandages?”

“We can take a shirt off of one of the bodies lying around here,” Jeffrey said. 

I nod at him. “Do it. Connor, we’re going to wrap up most of your face.” 

Jeffrey comes back with a white undershirt from one of the Screven guards. “Here,” he says handing it to me. 

I start to rip the shirt until it is one long strand. I pass it to Danny. “Here. Soak up your  scrapes and cuts. Get this thing really bloody.”

Once the shirt is passed around, it’s hard to see any white on it at all. Allison gives it back to me and I hold on to it.

“What about us?” Danny asks. “We aren’t just staying back here.”

“You can’t go with us,” I say. “He
will
kill Aaron and Evelyn.”

“We could get near the prison,” Heather says. “We’ll just stay a few buildings back. Things get crazy, we’ll be right in to help.”

“How about I take a radio?” I say. “All of you can stand back just a little ways and if we run into trouble, I’ll tell you.”

Jeffrey holds up his radio. “I’ve still got one. We can use it.”

I nod at him and look at Connor. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah,” he says.

“Wait,” Heather says. 

All of us look at her. 

She stares at the ground, looking almost ashamed of what she’s about to say. “Christopher took the virus from you,” she says. “Can he wake up as a greyskin?”

I know that he told me when he heaˀ it tls someone, he doesn’t take the wound, only the pain. But does that work the same for illnesses?

Danny pulls out a pistol from his belt and sighs deeply. “There’s more honor in this than waking up as one of those things. We have to make sure. For his sake.”

I swallow hard and nod. Danny stays behind, waiting for the rest of us to leave. I point to a truck only a few feet away from us and ask Jeffrey to try and get it started. The others begin to make their way to it. Connor is still standing there, staring at me.

“When it hit me that you were
really
going to die, I didn’t know what to think,” he says. “I didn’t want to go on. I was ready to go down with the Center. Truthfully, I don’t want to live without you.”

I step forward and place a hand on his cheek. “I love you, Connor.” I close my eyes and lean in and his lips meet mine half way. It’s a sweet kiss. Tender. And it melts my insides. The idea of kissing someone has never felt so right, so…perfect. As he kisses me back, I know that this is the man I truly love. The one I want to be with forever. 

He breaks the kiss first, reaching to the back of my neck and resting his forehead on mine. Our eyes stare into one another. “We can do this,” he says. “We can finish this today. We will.”

“Let’s do it,” I say. I start wrapping the bloody shirt at his chin and pull it tight around his head. I cover one of his eyes, and finally end it by tucking it in at the back of his head. I step back and look at him. 

Heather walks up to let us know that Jeffrey got the truck started and the others are ready to go.

“What do you think?” I ask. “Recognizable?”

“That’s disgusting,” Heather said. 

“Good,” I say. 

Connor looks like his face must have been ripped to shreds. I don’t even think Jeremiah would recognize him up close, though I don’t plan on giving him the chance.

I tell Connor and Heather to go ahead and that I will meet them in a second. I bend down next to Christopher’s body and touch his arm. It’s already cold. I still can’t believe that he did this for me. But I know it wasn’t just for me. It was for him. For his sister. For the world. I vow not to let him down. I won’t let his sacrifice be in vain.

By my life, or even in my death, I swear I will see to it that Jeremiah dies today. 

Jeffrey smiles at me as I walk to the front passenger seat of the truck. Connor squeezes in beside me while everyone else piles into the back. As I look around the courtyard, everything seems so lifeless apart from the dancing flames of the rubble from the Center. Jeremiah’s announcement for people to stay indoors must have been heeded. 

Danny tells us to go ahead of him and that he will use the second truck to follow behind in a minute. Jeffrey drives through the streets toward the prison and a loud bang sounds through the air. Danny has made sure Christopher won’t wake up. A silent tear drops down my cheek. Christopher was more of a hero than any of us.  

I glance at Connor and he looks at me with his uncovered eye. We both understand what we’re about to do. We both know that we could die. Jeremiah usually has something up his sleeve, but isn’t it just Trace’s gift this time? Does Jeremiah know that I saw his conversation with Evelyn? When he had touched her, seeing into her mind, he knew everything she knew. But there were a lot of memories to sift through. He might not have a clue that I saw everything. He might not know that I can do more than just move things with my mind. 

I have a feeling he’s going to want to meet with me away from Evelyn and Aaron. He will want ˀe than jto have Evelyn’s ability so he can look into my mind to see what tricks I might be playing, but he knows it’s too dangerous to meet me without any kind of fighting power. So, instead, he will probably come in with Aaron’s ability, ready to electrocute me if I make any sudden movements. He also won’t be alone. No doubt there are guards all around the prison. Many of them are probably hiding in the shadows, ready to shoot. 

I fear for Connor’s life, but I know that as long as I don’t give him away and he keeps the head wrap on, he will be fine - at least for a few minutes. And I hope a few minutes is all it takes. 

I still silently question myself as Jeffrey drives forward. I had been so willing to die when I knew that it was inevitable, but now I actually feel fear. I have been given back everything. I still have a chance to see my little brother grow up. I might even get to see the day when the greyskins can’t reach me or my family. 

Jeffrey picks up speed as we drive past a large group of greyskins. All of them seem interested in one specific building at the moment. There must have been a lot of noise or movement there. I shake my head when I think about it. How sick has this world become over the past sixty years? How could we ever get it back to the way things were? I suppose things will never be truly the same. 

I close my eyes and think of Evelyn. She and Aaron are alone and talking. 

“I don’t know,” she says. “But I have to make him think she’s alive.”

“Has it been a full twenty-four hours?” Aaron asked. 

“I’m not sure. I don’t think so, but I can’t imagine she has the strength to get here or fight Jeremiah.”

“If she’s dead, we’re all dead.”

“I don’t know. I just don’t know.”

I open my eyes. Jeremiah is no longer with them. I’m sure he’s preparing his men to surround the area in case more of us show up than expected. I’m not exactly sure what the others with me are planning. I know they will be on standby, but by the time they get the call, won’t it be too late? 

I shake my head, trying to focus my thoughts on one thing: talking to Jeremiah. Somehow I’ve got to level with him. I have to be able to get close enough to him to take him down. I’m still willing to give my life, but I feel much more cautious about it now than I did. Thanks to Christopher, I’m not dying anymore. I’ve got a responsibility to destroy Jeremiah and stay alive at the same time. 

Jeffrey starts to let up on the gas as he tells me that the prison is just up the road. He finally puts the truck in park and everyone but Connor and me get out. I scoot over into the driver’s seat as Jeffrey places a hand on the window opening of the door. 

“I’m going to keep the radio on and turned up,” he says. “We’ll wait for your call, but if you’re not done in the next ten minutes or so, we’re coming in.” He shrugs his shoulders. “I’m leaning toward charging in there full-force. We’re ready to die if we need to.”

“That sounds like what I’d do,” I say. “I’ll try to be finished before you start to worry.”

Jeffrey smiled at me. “Evelyn picked a good one,” he says. 

I’m not entirely sure he knows that I know what he’s talking about. I’ve seen the meeting with Evelyn and the others. I saw how she talked about me and wanted me to carry on. I simply return Jeffrey’s smile and place my hand on his.