“Let’s go then!” Jax exclaimed.
“There’s a hangar where Xarren keeps his personal collection of ships in the westernmost wing of the manor. We should head there so we can blast out of here.”
“Sounds good to me,” El said.
From there, we charged up the stairs to the cellblock above. We were prepared for a fight, but as we came to the top, the manor shook again from a blast, this one a lot closer and louder. I had to put a hand against the wall to keep from falling. Suddenly, the fluorescent lights in the hall went out…and stayed out.
“This is about to get interesting,” I said with a grin.
And I was right. As we emerged onto the level where I’d been held when I’d turned myself in as part of our bid to break into the vault, the power was mostly out, except for the silvery lunar lights that didn’t run on the grid. The electric doors to the cells were all open and the prisoners here were all out and rioting as they had the night I used the EMP to knock out the power.
As it had been that night, the riot only helped our cause. The more Xarren and the Elexaes had to deal with, the more likely we could escape.
I pushed through the riot, as Elexaes and prisoners alike battled and died all around. I tried not to look to closely. I had to duck a few prisoners who didn’t realize I was on their side, and one Elexae thug nearly shot me, but he was blindsided by another prisoner. I moved on. Soon, we made it through that cellblock and into the adjoining one in one piece, though I had a few more close calls.
The last door before the main manor loomed ahead. Right as we got there, the door swung open and three Elexae guards came through, but the first was barely a few steps in before El was there with her grav-axe. She took him off guard and buried the blade in his stomach. Jax and I swerved around her and met the other two. Mine shot at me but missed, and I was able to get in close before he could get another shot off. He was skinny and clumsy, so I was able to hook my leg around his and knock him to the floor. His head hit the metal floor with a resounding bang and his eyes rolled back.
I pushed past him and onto the final set of stairs. I glanced back really fast; Jax and El were right behind me. Good. Jax had switched out his grav-blade for a blaster rifle, which was a smart choice. I needed to do the same if I got the opportunity.
At the top, I pushed the door open. Came to the chief jailer’s office, from what I remembered from the manor plans. Beyond the next door was the foyer. Another blast rocked the manor. The lamp on the large wooden desk to my right crashed to the floor. Dust and drywall rained from the ceiling. Another blast. So loud and so close, this one did throw me to the floor.
“Whoever is doing this is really letting Xarren have it,” Jax said as he scampered to his feet.
“Hopefully, they’re friendly,” I said.
“Any enemy of the Elexaes is a friend in my book.”
“Don’t be so sure,” El said, taking a moment to catch her breath. “A rival family isn’t going to think twice about gunning you down. Neither would imperials on the off chance this is them cracking down, which I highly doubt.”
“Hmm, noted.”
With yelling and footsteps pounding up the stairs behind us—hopefully the prisoners—it was time to go. “Alright, here we go,” I declared, then threw the door to the foyer open.
We walked into a ruinous inferno.
The entire front façade of the manor was blown away, all the way up to the third floor. Flames were everywhere, as were bits of debris. The large chandelier that was worth more than my ship was a pile of broken crystals in the center of the room. I saw some bodies as well, too covered in soot and blood to tell if they were thug or servant. I hoped for the former.
There was a loud whoosh and a boom as a large ship flew outside the hole in the manor. It was too dark to tell what or who it was, but they sent a plasma bolt towards the west wing. A second later, the blast made the floor quake.
“Let’s move! Before they blow up the ships we need to get out of here.”
Jax frowned. “Can’t we just go through the giant flaming hole in the wall?”
“This whole district is under Xarren’s thumb. They’d catch us quick on foot.”
“Yeah,” I said, agreeing with El. “I want to get the hell off this forsaken planet.” And go rescue my family. I left that part out, though. I didn’t want El to think she had to come with us. If we made it out, we could drop her off wherever she wanted to go, within reason.
We continued on, careful not to burn ourselves or take in too much smoke. We went through the mostly-intact double-doors to the next wing. Here, it was smoky, and all the paintings, light fixtures, and furniture had been thrown around and broken, but we could still run. I led us down hall after hall, remembering the map in my head. We passed several servants running for their lives, but no guards thankfully.
More winding halls, a few more thugs that Jax dispatched. More servants, more death, more explosions. Chaos. But we were making progress. Almost there. Just a few more turns and we’d be in Xarren’s private hangar.
I turned a corner down the final hall. A long, white linoleum nightmare filled with bright lights that were no longer bright but dim and flickering from the explosions. I started down it, but then a trio of men appeared from around an adjoining hall. Jax shot them, because they weren’t looking at us. He missed the last one, though. They covered their head with their arms. He was built but had the pale skin of a Goon.
“Wait, don’t shoot! I’m not with them!”
I ground to a halt. Every hair on my body stood up. My heartbeat spiked. And stopped. And spiked again. My chest ached. Was I having a heart attack? No, I was being filled with uncontrollable rage.
Because cowering before us was Rowan.
The man who killed Jinx. The man who I once called friend, who betrayed me. The man I swore I’d kill if I saw again.
His eyes focused on me. They blinked. Disbelieving, like he thought I was an apparition. But then they cleared, and he knew I was real, and he gulped.
“Yan,” he croaked.
“Yeah, it’s Yan,” I said back. My grip on my grav-blade tightened.
Rowan put his hands up. Jax was beside me with his rifle raised. He didn’t shoot, though. He just held Rowan in place as I stalked toward him. Rowan’s lips quivered. Sweat dappled his skin. Probably from the fire, but also probably from how terrified he was. Of me.
“Y-you’re alive.”
“I’m alive, Rowan.”
He chuckled nervously. “Look at us, who’d’ve thought.”
“Not me.”
Each word I spoke was another step. Each heartbeat another step. Each breath another step. Until he was right in front of me. Just out of reach of my blade.
He didn’t try to run. His whole body shook, but he didn’t move. Either because he was frozen with fear, or maybe he knew there was no point. Jax would shoot him if he ran. Of that, I had no doubt.
Killing was wrong. Every part of me believed that. I hated it. Every time I had to take a life—even in defense of my own, when it was at its most morally justified—I still loathed it. Taking a life. Nothing could bring back the dead. They were gone, good or bad. It was wrong. Killing was the worst sin.
And yet, right in that instance, I didn’t feel those things.
As if he could read the direction of my thoughts, Rowan stopped shaking and licked his lips. Almost content. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
That did it. How dare he? HOW DARE HE?
My eyes saw red. I was blind with rage. With a roar that reverberated off the walls, I ran him through before I could have a second thought.
We both shuddered.
For a second, it was like time stopped. He looked into my eyes—his were wide, disbelieving, confused. Filled with remorse. Mine, I’m sure, were wild and raging. I didn’t want his remorse. I didn’t want his apologies. They weren’t worth a thing to me. He didn’t get to say he was sorry for what he did and expect me to accept that. No. No, no, no
. Just…. No.
Then the blood came.
Rowan coughed and gagged as blood poured from his stomach and mouth. He stumbled forward into me, but I pushed him back. His legs gave out and he fell to his knees. His eyes didn’t leave mine, and I didn’t want them to. I wanted to watch as he died, watch as he realized the terrible mistake he’d made, paid for the sins he’d committed. We had the same saints, but they were not smiling on him.
I pulled the blade free. It had gone in far too easily and came out just the same. I should have been sickened, ashamed, disgusted with what I just did. But I wasn’t. He deserved this. Deserved it. And the saints would see to it that he would see damnation.
He kept gagging on his blood. His eyes still on mine, he reached a shaky hand for me. “I… I-I… I…” But whatever he was going to say never came. His gagging stopped. His body stilled. The light left his eyes. He just stared blankly at the flickering lights above us.
Dead. He was dead. Gone.
I let out a sigh, then a sob. And dropped to my knees.
We should have gone for the hangar, but I needed to cry, needed to let it all out. Jax came to my side and patted me on the back. He said nothing, but his presence alone was enough to make me feel better. El was silent too. That was good. I didn’t want their words, no matter how sincere I’m sure they would have been.
I just wanted the screaming in my mind and heart to lessen, and for the hurt to go away. I feared that it never would.
Finally, I picked myself up. Didn’t bother to wipe my tears. “Come on, let’s get out of here before the whole place comes down.” My companions nodded. We were on our way.
And then the doors to the hangar snapped open. Four figures rushed in, as well as smoke from the hangar. Jax raised his gun, and they raised theirs, and it was about to get messy, but then the smoke began to clear. I put my arms up and yelled.
“Wait!”
Jax hesitated. So did the figures. One of them gasped. I was seeing a ghost. It couldn’t be real, could it? Because the ghost dropped their rifle, undid the rebreather from their mouth, and brought their hands to their mouth to muffle a sob.
“Yan?” they asked, through a sob they did their best to choke down.
Jinx. It was Jinx. My sweet, sweet Jinx.
And my heart exploded. She was alive, in the flesh. And so was Amara, looking pleasantly surprised behind her rebreather. Two strangers I didn’t know, but that hardly mattered. Jinx was here, with me, alive. Alive.
Jinx was alive!
14
Chapter 14 (JINX)
Yan was alive!
I crumbled to my knees as tears streamed down my smoke-stained cheeks. I couldn’t believe it. A lot of me had hope that he was alive, that I would see him again, but another, darker part of me kept whispering that he was gone, that my best friend was dead, and I would never see him again.
Yet here he was.
My heart swelled.
“Jinx…” he said, his voice catching. Tears streamed down his cheeks, but it seemed like he’d been crying before we got there. But that didn’t matter. He jogged toward me, and I jumped to my feet and ran to him. We met in the middle and his arms were around me and hugging me tight around the waist. He lifted me off my feet, which was a surprise because he was not strong, but I still laughed and cried and buried my face in his neck and ran my fingers through his hair as I held him tight. I didn’t want to ever let go.
“I can’t believe you’re alive,” he said. “I-I thought… Rowan said…” he sobbed. “Xarren said he had footage of you being shot, and I—”
I pulled back so I could look him in the eyes. He looked so relieved, yet so tired. There was a hint of anger behind his eyes, though I had the sense that it was directed at something else. Something had happened, but I couldn’t tell what.
I looked down at my stomach. “I was shot. But I survived.”
“Thank the saints.”
We laughed and hugged again, and then Amara was there when we broke apart and she lifted Yan off the ground and spun him around like he was a child even though she was so small. That Zarthian strength was so deceptive. Her eyes glistened and she smiled as brightly as I’d ever seen her.
“Glad to see you missed me,” Yan said with a grin.
She put him down and swiped at her eyes. “Shut up, idiot.”
We all looked at one another, smiles and tears, just so happy that we were all alive. Yan swiped at his tears and put a hand on my and Amara’s shoulders. “So you’re both okay? What happened?”
I was about to regale him with the whole story, but the building rumbled again from K doing strafing runs over the manor, leveling it with our plasma cannons.
“I’ll tell you in full later, but we don’t have a lot of time.”
He pursed his lips and nodded, then pointed behind me. “Who are your friends?”
I looked back at my unlikely saviors with a blush. “Oh, huh, sorry. Yan, this is Beleak and Rayvan. They saved me after I was shot. If not for them, I would be dead. And they helped me find Amara and rescue you.”
Rayvan extended her hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you. Jinx has told us a lot—”
Yan ignored her hand and pulled her into a hug. “Thank you so much. I don’t think I can ever repay you.”
He pulled away. Rayvan blushed and scratched her head. “Don’t worry about it.”
“It was a pleasure to help amshen,” Beleak added.
They shook hands. I looked past them to see the others with Yan. “So who are your friends, Yan?”
He stepped back and motioned to a very tall Elarri woman with beautiful amber eyes and short braids. Like most Elarri, she had several raised white scar designs that corded her muscular, ochre arms. She held a very large, very wicked-looking grav-axe. I doubted I could even hold it, but she casually nuzzled it like a baby.
“These are my cellmates. We kept each other alive and sane. This strapping woman here is Elvonna. We…have some prior history.”
The Elarri—Elvonna—snorted with a dramatic eye-roll that would have made Amara proud. “Yeah, history. He’s lucky I didn’t bash his brains in as soon as they put him in my cell.”
Yan groaned. “I said I was sorry.”
“You’re the reason I was in that cell!”
“You like me, and you know it.”
She wriggled her lips and looked away from him. “I tolerate you, Slim Hands. Don’t push your luck.”
I just stared at the exchange with wide eyes and my lips pursed. I had a feeling that Amara and I were going to get along with Elvonna. I was curious as to the type of history they had together, but that could wait for a later date.
Yan was smiling wide, which was great to see. Made my heart skip a beat. He waved a tall Torgoran forward. He was awestruck, his eyes wide with a smile that seemed so relieved. Calling him handsome would have been an understatement, with his piercing blue eyes and features that only a laser sculptor could dream of. He had deep red hair similar to my own.
He was so achingly familiar.
He was on the verge of tears, it seemed. “Hey Jinx,” he said, smile wide, chuckling lightly like he couldn’t believe he was seeing me.
His voice made my ears perk up. Familiarity pulled at my heart, but I couldn’t place him. Until he cocked his head to the side and the shadows under his jaw fell away to reveal the mess of burn scars around his neck. The same as mine. As if I’d been in a trance, all the memories came rushing back to me.
“J-Jax?” My voice hitched.
Jaxellion. My oldest friend. One who I thought was gone forever. He was from another lifetime ago. So many bad memories from those days, but he was responsible for nearly all of the good ones.
He’d grown tall. We’d been the same height last I saw him, but now he was more than half a head taller than me. He put his leanly-muscled arms around me and held me tight. Tears came to my eyes as I embraced him back. I came into this day praying that perhaps I would get my best friend back. Materel
le had blessed me and given me two of them back.
I pulled back. “I-I can’t believe this. I never thought I’d see you again.”
“And I you, Jinxenna.”
I hadn’t heard my full name in years. It filled me with a yearning for my people that I hadn’t felt I needed. Torgorans often had longer names that we only told to people we loved and trusted. It was not something we told to casual acquaintances. Of my current friends, I’d only told Yan. Though that didn’t mean I didn’t love the rest of the crew. Honestly, it was a part of the old culture that I’d forgotten.
Yan was grinning like an idiot. “That there is a good man. I’m glad we can both call him friend.”
I wiped away my tears, which proved a futile effort. “This is incredible.”
“It is,” Amara agreed.
Everything was great. Perfect, even, until my eyes wandered past Yan and Jax to the mess of a body lying face up on the floor behind them in a pool of blood. I stiffened and froze. Yan noticed.
“Jinx…”
I gulped. “Is… Is that…”
He came to my side and put a hand on my shoulder to steady me. “It is.”
Rowan. Dead. I looked at Yan. Truly looked at him then. I finally saw the blood on his shirt. Wet and fresh and heavy. His grav-blade still vibrating, dripping blood. Yan had done it. Yan had killed Rowan. And based off the sadness and rage in his eyes, it was hurting him, even if Rowan deserved it.
He knew what I was thinking too. He looked away, blinking as shame flooded his features, as if he just realized what he’d done. “I couldn’t help it,” he said in a broken whisper. “I saw him and I… I just snapped.”
My heart broke. No one loathed violence more than him. He’d always tried to be a pacifist as much as situations allowed him to. The pain that this situation had caused him was clear as day.
I slipped my fingers into his and squeezed. “It’s okay.” A part of me wanted to weep. Rowan deserved this. Betrayal was an awful thing. He’d been our friend, one of our best friends for Yan and me. It had been so real, so good. The times we had, the laughter, the comradery. That was why it hurt so much.
The Xarren Escape (Plundering the Stars Book 2) Page 13
