by Nina Walker
My sister.
Dread overtook me as I took her in. Blood was smeared all over her arms and chest; her face white as a sheet. What happened?
“Jessa,” Christopher shouted just over my shoulder. When he took her in like that, his expression completely crumbled.
“Don’t go up there,” I said, reaching out to calm him. “There are officers.” It was true, they were swarming the royal family’s table, desperate to protect them. Some of them formed human barriers. Others were locked in combat with our soldiers. But I noticed there weren’t very many of them…
Somebody grabbed me, yanking me to my left and throwing off my center of gravity. I stumbled but quickly caught myself and turned. A middle-aged alchemist crushed a yellow flower between steady hands. A brief cloud of magic, and then they threw a punch. I ducked out of the way, barely grazing their knuckles, but even that would bruise. I caught a glimpse of the centerpieces on all the tables. Oh no! Why hadn’t I realized this immediately?
They were filled with all the colors in floral arrangements and were easy access to anyone. We were on an even playing field. I fought back blow for blow. I didn’t personally know most of the alchemists fighting around me, but I recognized most. It unnerved me, but I focused on the woman in front of me. I felt for the yellow alchemy inside and kicked her hard. She flew against the table, breaking it down the center. I leaped into position, ready to take her out, when another alchemist pounced. This one was a teenage girl and she was lethal in her movements. She ripped my ponytail back and kneed me in the kidney.
“What do you think you’re doing, Sasha?” she growled in my ear. Hearing my fake name motivated me to fight back.
I head-butted her from behind. I felt the cartilage of her nose shift and break. She screamed. We turned toward each other and erupted in combat, our movements strong and catlike. The magic worked its way through our blood, enhancing every movement to dangerous levels. Tables broke. Chairs went flying. Table settings clattered to the floor, dishes splintering into glass shards.
I lunged for her, taking her down and bashing her head into the metal leg of the table. A sickening crunch sounded, and she passed out. I sighed and shot some healing green into her, enough to save her life, but not enough to wake her up anytime soon.
I glanced around the room and saw others engaged in combat. A lot of the newly trained alchemists that I had worked with were not as bad as I had first feared. The youngest had stayed home, obviously. But these people seemed to be holding their own against the guardians. Pride swelled as I watched them. And still, it helped that many of the color guardians stood back in shock. And even more pushed away to the edges of the room. A few darted out of the ballroom completely. But that didn’t make up for the fact that there were guardians willing to fight any threat against their king. I needed to get back in there!
“Stop them!” I heard Richard boom again, his voice still attached to some microphone.
Why haven’t they gotten to him yet?
More than anything I wanted to get up there and get in on the action. But I growled as I began to fight off yet another of these alchemists. If they knew why we were really here, what our mission really was, would they turn and join us?
I managed to get away from my attackers, immobilizing them both, as I headed farther into the ballroom. All that training was paying off, but this was taking too long. Then I glanced at my father. Christopher. He was stronger than he looked—a man on a mission. He had more motivation than most of these people had, and he was going for it, blow for blow.
This king had taken two of his daughters, and he was hell-bent on getting us back. But I watched in horror as he began hand-to-hand combat with a hulking officer. The man had a gun in a holster, and it would only be a matter of time before he used it. I veered in their direction, cursing Christopher. I needed to stay on task! I’d known he was going to be a distraction.
The officer had him in a tight headlock; the wrinkles around Christopher’s eyes were deep as his eyeballs bulged. His face turned beet red as he struggled to breathe. I screamed and jumped on his attacker’s back, beating my fists into his head. He didn’t see it coming, and he didn’t match my magical strength. Only a few hits were needed before the body beneath me went limp.
Christopher gripped his wrist. “I think it’s broken.”
“Come,” I said. Quickly, I edged us to the corner of the room.
“Here.” I reached out and gently held his wrist. During the fighting, my necklace had begun to press deeply into my skin under my shirt. The gems felt warm, and I knew they allowed me access to the magic instantly. I was lucky to be skilled enough not to mix the magics accidently. I’d coached the newer alchemists to keep their necklaces on the outside of their clothing for that reason.
I thought about the green gem and instantly sensed the magic coursing through my veins. It twirled out and into Christopher’s wrist. He sucked back a shocked grimace as his wrist righted itself with a sickening crunch.
“That’s amazing,” he whispered.
“For someone who has three daughters for alchemists, you sure don’t know a lot about alchemy.”
He grimaced.
Welcome to the truth, old man.
“Please,” I chastised. “Stay out of everyone’s way. I’ve got to get back.”
“But I want to help.”
We turned to watch the action going on all around the room. We were gaining ground! Richard was not only surrounded by our people, but most of the officers had been taken out. Only a few alchemists still fought. The mood in room was shifting—on the verge of surrender.
“You did well. The best thing you can do now is to stay safe.”
I didn’t wait for a reply this time. I took off running. Cole held a gun against Richard’s temple. It was all about to be over. I caught up to Tristan who stood on the edge of the action. Sweat dripped down his face as he huffed.
“I can’t believe we did it,” he said.
I laughed. “Now he tells the truth.”
He shook his head, smiling. “Your friend is one hell of a fighter.” He nodded to Mastin, who had one of the officers in a headlock. With expert skill he flattened the man twice his size.
I scanned the crowd until I found Faulk. She was handcuffed between three of our guys. I narrowed my eyes, studying her. She looked strange; a knowing smile pulled at her face. A wicked glint lit her features as she glanced around the room. I froze. I knew that look. What was going on?
Something was wrong.
“Put the gun down,” Richard calmly said to the man who had him. Cole.
“You attacked my country, unprovoked. You’ve killed my citizens. You’ve destroyed vast amounts of our land. Tell me now why I shouldn’t just kill you.” Cole spat at Richard’s feet, anger rolling off him.
Richard began to laugh. The laugh of a maniac, high and mechanical.
The room froze, all eyes trained on him. Had he lost his mind?
An echo popped through the room. A gunshot. A spurt of blood sprang out the front of Cole’s head. He startled and collapsed in a heap. I stepped back just as screams echoed through the room.
Richard dove to the floor as more shots broke out. More people fell. Were they dead? I flattened myself against the ground. Then I frantically reached up and pulled Tristan with me.
“Get down!” someone shrieked. More screams. More shots.
Tristan and I crawled under a table. It was one of the only remaining tables that hadn’t been completely destroyed from the fight. The tablecloth hung low, covering us.
“It’s a trap,” Tristan growled. He grabbed my hand and fixed his gaze on me, unease in his eyes. “We have to get you out of here.”
Feet pounded across the floor. More bullets sounded.
“I said don’t kill the alchemists!” Richard yelled again. No microphone this time, his voice howling from farther away.
I peeked under the tablecloth. Officers swarmed the room, securing the perimeter. Where had th
ey all come from? There had only been a few tables of officers when we first came in the room. But now? Their numbers had practically quadrupled.
“Go!” Tristan said, forcing me in the direction of the closest unmanned exit. It was our only chance.
We crawled across the floor, dodging bodies at every turn. Most of them were alive, thank goodness. Many people were still lying flat on the ground for safety. Some had tranquilizer darts embedded in their skin and were unconscious. But I knew some were dead the second I laid eyes on them.
I recognized too many of their faces.
Tears stung my eyes. How could we have been so eager to rush into this place? Of course it had been a trap. We couldn’t expect anything less from a man like Richard. We’d been led like lambs to the slaughter. I had willingly led people who weren’t ready for this kind of combat into the situation. I should have trusted my instincts from the beginning. I should have never listened Mastin and Cole. Or anyone else.
We were all going to die. Innocent people were going to die.
“Go,” Tristan hissed, pointing again to the unmanned door.
We jumped up, sprinting toward it. Just as we were about to push through, Mastin popped up at our side. He nodded, huffing quietly, his face grim. “Go!” he mouthed. We erupted into the hallway.
“Wait, where’s Christopher?” I skidded to a halt.
The men exchanged a glance as they both shook their heads. “He’s probably out already. We’ll sort that out later,” Mastin said. “We have to get out of here now.”
Four or five of our people sprinted down the hallway from the same direction we’d just come in.
“The choppers are out here,” one of them called, motioning to us. They didn’t wait for us to follow.
“You go,” I said, pushing the men in front of me. “I’ll catch up.”
“I’m not leaving you,” Tristan said. Of course, it was only to be expected. He’d been my protector since we were kids. “Fine,” I huffed. “But, Mastin, you need to help those people get out of here. We’ll be out soon.”
He hesitated.
“I’m serious, Mastin. If we’re not there, you still have to go. Tristan and I know this city. We’ll be fine. We’ll get out. You have to get out of here. You have to get home and get reinforcements.”
I could tell he didn’t want to leave me, but he had to.
“I mean it,” I said, nodding at him, then turning back to the ballroom. When I heard him take off, I exhaled, momentarily relieved.
Christopher! If he’s not dead then I’m going to kill him.
Tristan and I edged our way along the shadows, peering into the doorway. There were too many officers. Several stood just beyond us now. It was hopeless. We couldn’t go in there.
The moment I was about to give up on Christopher, I saw him.
He was crawling on the floor, along the back of the room—in the wrong direction. He was moving toward the action, not away from it. He slowly crept nearer to Richard and Faulk, both of whom were now standing over Cole’s body. Others were littered around them. The soldiers who’d been caught, I didn’t think any of them had even been given a chance or a second thought. Bullets into the heads of each. Our alchemists had been spared.
I gripped my hands into fists. Magic…
“We need to go,” Tristan whispered into my hair, his body against mine, tugging me away. “We can try to make the helicopter if we leave now.” He needed to get out of here. We both did. We were traitors to our kingdom, and if we were caught, it would be an instant death sentence.
I nodded, and we began to back away. We’d already wasted too much time. There was nothing I could do for Christopher. He was in the thick of it and there was no way I could get him out without getting caught myself. That was a suicide mission. Impossible. They might save me, but Tristan would be killed on the spot. I just hoped they took mercy on Christopher, or that maybe, by some miracle, he got himself out of that room before someone realized who he was.
“This way,” Tristan whispered, as he pulled us into a room and shut the door.
The window was open, but it wasn’t near the ground. It was at least ten feet up. I didn’t know this room. We hastily found a table to move and give us a leg up. The thumping of one of the helicopters starting back up sounded through the room. More gunfire.
“We need to move it,” I hissed. Tristan was ahead of me, already on the table. I grabbed at my necklace, feeling for it under my shirt. “Yellow alchemy,” I said. “I’ll boost you up and then come over.”
It only took a second for the magic to connect, igniting my veins and filling me once again with that burst of power and adrenaline. In a flash, I wrangled Tristan up and out of the window.
I crouched low and readied myself to jump.
“Are you lost?”
I shouldn’t have looked. I should have just jumped through the window. Run. Moved. Anything!
But my curiosity got the better of me. I turned to the voice.
“We’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Faulk said.
She pointed a gun. Everything burst into a flash of white.
And then there was only darkness.
19
Jessa
As soon as the chaos started, Lucas grabbed me. He never let me go.
When the first gunshot erupted, I thought we were going to die. It was a mess of bodies and bullets, and we huddled together in shock. There was no way we could overcome the attack sitting at this table. But they knew me, right? Even though I was sitting at the table with the royal family, had Jasmine told the Resistance about me? Did they know I was one of them? So much about the Resistance was secretive. People didn’t tell me anything, so how could I expect her to tell them? That thought circled my mind over and over, bringing me to sheer panic.
I had allowed hope to come in once that man had Richard. But then that man was shot through the back of the head and the screaming started again. More blood. After Jasmine’s death, I didn’t think I could take it. The fear was exhausting, and it just kept coming. I focused on my breathing, letting the minutes tick by as Richard directed the room.
We lost…
“It’s okay,” Lucas said. He wrapped me in his arms, kissing the side of my face. “It’s okay. It’s okay.”
I’d lost track of his fiancée. Not that he seemed to care, but I did. She had appeared to be just as terrified as me, if not more. And no one had been there to comfort her. “Where’s Celia?”
“Some of the officers already took her away.” He breathed into my hair. “She’ll be fine. She’s a big girl.”
Guilt swept through me. If I’d been in her shoes, I certainly would have wanted Lucas to hold me instead of another girl. I must’ve said something out loud because Lucas squeezed me tighter.
“It’s okay. I’m not with Celia anymore. I’m with you.”
I didn’t fully understand. Well, I kind of understood since we were secretly engaged. I couldn’t believe that it had been less than twenty-four hours since Lucas had come to my room, begging for my forgiveness. Maybe that was what he was talking about.
“Things are starting to calm down now,” Lucas said. “Why don’t you close your eyes for a minute?”
I just wanted to get out of there, more than anything. I was sure he could see that. I looked at my hands. They couldn’t stop shaking. “Can’t we just go?”
“We shouldn’t leave until the officers say it’s okay.”
“I really thought…” I mumbled, trying to sort through the events in my mind. It was all a mess. “I really thought the Resistance was going to win this time.”
Lucas didn’t say anything, his expression grew somber as he took in the scene around us. Too many people had died. Pools of blood circled the bodies. Alchemists, officers, and even some of the waitstaff had lost their lives. I glanced at the face of a waitress who had tended to me at dinner, and I grimaced. Tears filled my eyes as I took in the bodies of soldiers. Where were they from? And the Resistance?
They had either fled, been shot, or been captured.
The wounded cried out around the room. Luckily, enough alchemists were helping out with that, green magic circling.
“I should go,” I said, pointing to some of the wounded. “I can help them.”
Lucas nodded his agreement. “But I’m not leaving you.”
I stood on shaky legs and walked to some people who still needed to be healed. Even for those who seemed to be gone, we still stopped to see what we could do.
“Check for pulses,” I told Lucas.
Then we began making the rounds—him checking for wounds, and me healing where I could. Even in my frazzled state, the magic came more naturally to me than ever. One after another I healed wounds, extracted bullets, pulled out tranquilizer darts, and even mended a few broken bones. It felt good to do something to help others. Right.
For once in my life I was actually making a difference.
The king yelled through it all, but at this point, I’d tuned him out. He’d gotten what he wanted. He’d won, and in the process probably squashed the Resistance. Jasmine was gone, as were most of those who came in to fight. It was a devastating blow, one I didn’t imagine the Resistance could come back from.
I didn’t know where I fit in anymore. The ache of loss threatened to tear me apart, but I just kept moving.
At least I had Lucas. I looked up at him, catching him checking more pulses. He handled everybody with care. That look of pain, it still held strong on his face. He was sweating, and blood was splattered across his suit. His hair was a mess, and he strained to lift somebody up into a chair. An officer. They cried out, and I rushed over to administer magic.
Technically, the officers were my enemy. I was Resistance. But I couldn’t see somebody with that look on their face, the pain so terrible that they were on the verge of passing out, and not step in to help. That wasn’t me. I’d learned that my magic could be a gift. Or it could be a curse.
