“Why? Why did he need to find me so badly? And how did he know I would become what I’ve become?” I say.
“He didn’t. No one did. We hoped and prayed that you would take after your mother. That you would be as strong as her. And from what I have been told, it appears we have been right. He wanted you badly because he wanted to kill you. We needed you badly to stay alive because we want you to kill him. Just like your mother was attempting to do and would have done had she not fallen herself.” She says the words calm and offhand like it was just normal conversation, like we were just talking about the weather.
“Are you crazy?” Jax ain’t said a word up ‘til now, but he’s looking back and forth between me and Lily. I ain’t sure, but I think his words are directed at her.
“You want Tara to go up against a powerful, immortal being that’s protected night and day by his Army and kill him? Just like that? She’s just a girl. She may be a mutie, but she doesn’t have the ability to take on someone like that. She would just get herself killed.”
Lily don’t seem to take no offense. In fact, she nods like she’s agreeing with Jax’s words. “You are quite right; she doesn’t have the ability, not yet. But she will. That is why her Grada sent her back to me. That is why he protected her to the end. He knew she had to stay alive.”
Her words confuse me. How did she know so much? How did she know what Grada had done for me that day? Before I can ask, though, I hear Finn whisper, “Tara,” and I look at him across the table. His eyes have gone all big, and he is pointing towards Lily. But it ain’t Lily he’s looking at. It’s the flower. The bright yellow flower rising from the pot, which only a moment ago had been a wilted stem. Shizen. What kinda magic is this?
Lily sees what we are looking at, and her smile grows wider. “You asked me what you are, child? This is what you are. All your power comes from within. There are no limits to it. This Chi, or bio-energy as it is truly known, is said to exist in everyone. A gift from the gods? Maybe. But in New Bloods, it is immensely powerful. While others can only use their Chi within their own bodies, New Bloods can use it externally. Apply it to others or objects as we desire. Our Chi flows freely through our energy field. Some never learn how to use it, while others have enormous Chi. It overflows, crying to be released. Ours is abundant and until you learn to control it, it can overwhelm you. Through us, it has the ability to impact anything it comes into contact with. We are able to control and manipulate, well, life energy itself.”
“How is that possible?” I whisper, still not believing what I’m seeing. “It was almost dead. I cain’t do something like that …,” I trail off, but then another question pops into my head. “Why didn’t I know I had this energy? I ain’t had a clue about this Chi ‘til the attack on Rivercross. Why didn’t it show ‘til then?”
“It has always been a part of you, Tara. Your hair—those white stripes—they are a result of this massive energy trying to manifest itself. Your ability to heal quickly, to feel the lands, to control the sands is all bio-energy. Your Chi was always there; it was just brought to the surface by the stress and grief you suffered. And it flows strongly through you, Tara. I can sense it. It flows through your blood. That’s where your energy is the most powerful. When you learn to control it, you can awaken new possibilities of strength and influence. That is why he needs you so badly. He takes New Bloods and drains them of their power, their blood, and uses it for himself. Our bio-energy carries the ability to heal this Earth and make it livable again for all mankind, yet he chooses to keep us from doing so. Instead, he depletes us to make his own life prosperous while the rest of the people live in despair. Starving. Sickly. Why should such a callous, ruthless creature continue to live? You have to be the one to finish what your mother started, Tara. It is your destiny.”
None of us speaks for a moment. It’s like what we’re hearing and seeing is just too unbelievable for words to even express. I cain’t even pretend to begin to understand what Lily has just told me, but I do know one thing for certain. If the Prezedant is looking for me so badly, then I cain’t put the two sitting across the table from me in any more danger. I cain’t expect them to follow me anymore. They need to get as far away from me as possible. Maybe Jax would find it in his heart to let Finn go with him back to Gray Valley, him and Cat. Keep them safe. But I also cain’t expect to do what Lily is asking me to do. It’s just craziness. How does she expect me to go up against the Prezedant and his Army?
“No,” I say simply, but she looks at me like she don’t understand. “I cain’t do what you’re expectin’ of me. I’m sorry, Lily, but I ain’t who you expect me to be. I’m just … Tara from Rivercross. I cain’t do the things you think I’m capable of. I don’t know nuthin’ ‘bout no bio-energy, whatever the hell that is. Like Jax said, I’m just another mutie who can pull off a couple of tricks, and I cain’t even control those. The only thing I want to do right now is find my kin and go as far away from this Prezedant as we can. You’re a New Blood. You found me. There’s probably a hundred more out there somewhere; you just gotta find the right one.”
She don’t react at all like I expect. Instead of getting angry at my refusal, she merely smiles and takes my hand, causing that tingling again. “I’m sorry. I have rushed this. This is not at all the way I wanted this conversation to go.” She sighs and gives my hand a little shake. “I know this is a lot to take in right now, child, and that you are scared, but—”
“Hah,” I say, cutting her off and pulling my hand away. “Scared? I’m terrified beyond words to have a madman breathin’ down my neck wantin’ to kill me, accordin’ to you. I’m afraid for my kin, for what they may be sufferin’ right now. For my friends and their safety even to just be around me. I’m so angry at what he did to Grada and to everybody I ever loved. They died ‘cause of me. Nah, scared ain’t the word I would use to describe how I feel at the moment.”
“You are feeling doubt, Tara, and questioning your abilities. That’s normal. But we will help you with that. We will help you learn and grow into your powers. Trust me. You are the one. We have been waiting for you for a very long time,” she says.
“Who exactly are ‘we?’” I’m getting a little frustrated now that she ain’t taking no for an answer. “And what exactly is this place? And how is it that the Prezedant ain’t come for you? It’s not like you’re exactly hidin’ here.”
She shrugs. “I have found the best way to hide is to stay in plain view. This is Sanctuary, a place of healing and recovery. We are well-known for our treatments and get paid quite handsomely for our services. The Army bring their wounded here quite often.”
“You heal the Army? The same men you want me to defeat?” I’m starting to think she’s even crazier than Orakel.
“The best way to fight is from the inside, Tara. Over the years, I have gained their trust, their respect. They have no idea what I am. In this way, I have been able to plant many of my own people—spies, if you will—into his elite circle. It is the only way we are able to stay ahead of him at times.”
“Aye, well your spies didn’t help with savin’ Rivercross, now did they?” I say, and my words are bitter. For the first time, she drops her gaze from me.
“No, and for that, I am truly sorry. We tried to get warning to you when we heard of his men traveling to the sand lands, but my messenger … he was too late. He did; however, save you all from the raiders and the Army. At least it was some form of redemption,” she says.
“You mean the mutie-Po—he’s one of yours?” I say surprised, and she nods.
“He’s one of us, Tara. A New Blood in his own right. We all share a connection, a blood bond if you will. He tracked you across the sand lands, following you. Protecting you.”
It makes sense now, the feeling of being followed. Of sensing something … something I just couldn’t put my finger on. I look up sharply. “We lost track of him at the attack. Is he …?” I can’t finish, but Lily knows what I am about to ask, and she eases my fear.
>
“He is well. They did not capture him.” It makes me feel better. He did save our lives after all.
“So all the people that rescued us last night. They work with you? What are you, some kinda little army yourselves?” I say.
She laughs at this. “I guess you could call us that. We are in our own right a rebellion. We try to warn as many people as we can when we get word he is on the move. We provide shelter to those attempting to flee his oppression and help them with their journey into the sand lands. We try to save the mutants from the games.”
At my questioning look, she explains, and her voice hardens with each word. “Oh yes, he is very fond of his ‘mutie games’ as he calls them. He captures these poor, innocent, altered souls from the outlying areas and forces them to fight each other in arenas just for the sheer enjoyment of watching them fight to the death. Many of them are women and even children at times. But it all ends with the same result. You are given the choice to beat your opponent to the death or a wild, starved wolfling is let loose in the arena with you, and you are both torn to shreds anyway. It is quite the popular pastime among his elite.”
Jax and Finn’s faces both mirror my own horror. Is there nuthin’ this madman ain’t capable of? It makes my fear for my kin and the two sitting across from me grow twofold. It’s like Lily knows what she’s saying is terrifying us, and the hardness in her voice drops away.
“So you can see why it is crucial we stop him, Tara. With each passing year, his madness grows and spreads to those around him. And it is the innocent, the mutated, the righteous that suffer from it. Your mother knew this, and she gave her life in her attempt to stop it. Will you let that go unpunished?”
I hold onto my flower, clutch it in my hand tight as if expecting an answer to come from it telling me what to do. The things Lily’s telling me … they are horrible and savage indeed, and I admire this little band of rebels for trying to fight back. But it ain’t my fight. There ain’t nuthin’ I can do about the Prezedant or his Army. My concern, my only focus, is to free Ben and find Jane and Thomas. Find them and run, hide far enough in the sand lands so that he would never find us. Besides, they had that magical weapon that made me weak as a newborn babe. How am I supposed to go up against that? I look up to find Jax’s eyes on me, silently asking what my decision will be. Surely, he will understand. The Prezedant had killed his pa and his sister. He never went looking for revenge ‘cause he knew it would be just asking for his own death.
“I’m sorry, Lily. But I ain’t the right person to help you with this. All I’m aimin’ to do is find my kin and go far away. Somewhere safe,” I say. I tense, waiting for her response to my words, but at that moment a voice that I ain’t never expected to hear again interrupts what she’s about to say.
“Ah, so the rebels were able to free you successfully. That is good news, indeed. It is wonderful to see you safe and sound, my friends.”
I think I would have been less surprised to see the Prezedant himself standing there in front of us than the half-man. He’s smiling that toothy grin of his, looking not the least bit ashamed for what he did to us. I don’t even stop to think what I’m about to do. My chair flies out from underneath me, and I tackle the little man, the knife I had used earlier to butter my bread pressed threateningly into his throat. His eyes pop from his head in surprise, and he claws at my hands, trying to get them off of his neck.
“Tara … stop … for the … gods’ sake …,” he gasps words at me, and I can hear Lily yelling from behind. Finn too. But I don’t take no heed. All I know is that Tater will pay for his betrayal. I press harder on the knife, and a drop of blood appears on Tater’s neck.
“Tara, stop. He hasn’t betrayed you.”
I hear Lily’s words, I do. But just like every time before, my anger is so overwhelming it’s like I cain’t control what I’m doing. I watch as the drop of blood turns into a bead and trickles down his neck.
“Tara, you promised.”
Finn’s plea is what stops me. I look up into his beseeching brown eyes, and I know I cain’t do it. I cain’t go back on my promise to him. I cain’t betray his trust like Tater had done to me. I push myself away from the little man in disgust as Lily helps him to his feet. His hand clutches his neck, but his eyes watch me warily as if afraid I will attack him again. Lily examines the wound.
“He’s fine. It’s just a flesh wound,” I say coldly, indicating that he’s very lucky it isn’t much worse.
“I take it you have not imparted to them—to the girl—how their miraculous escape came to be then?” he says to Lily, but he’s still watching me with cautious eyes.
She bows her head. “My apologies, Tater. In all the excitement, I’m afraid I have forgotten to tell them who their savior was.”
What are they talking about? I look at Jax who seems just as confused as I am.
“Do you two know each other?” Jax asks.
“Only as of yesterday.” Lily is the one to answer. Tater by now is, I’m assuming, realizing how much of a close call he just had and is making his way to the nearest chair on wobbly legs.
“Imagine my shock and dismay when this gentleman shows up on my doorstep yesterday with information of your capture. I had no idea you were so close. When Po lost track of you after your escape from the raiders, we searched high and low for you. But it was like you had disappeared from the face of the Earth. Po couldn’t sense you at all.”
Tater had come to Lily?
“But you said you didn’t know Lily. You lied to us ‘bout that too?” I growl ‘cause my anger is still very real.
“I did not,” the half-man answers in a haughty tone, picking up the cloth Lily had wrapped my finger in earlier and holding it at his neck. “I did not know of your Lily, but I did know of Sanctuary. You told me Lily was a healer. I just put two and two together. Imagine my surprise when this lovely lady here had already heard of me and my association with you from the mutie. And my even greater surprise at learning she was the brains behind the much-rumored rebellion.”
“But you turned us over to the Army.” I’m glad Jax is questioning all this ‘cause I still cain’t wrap my head ‘round what they’re saying. “Why would you turn us in then get us rescued?”
“Ah, yes, well, that move was born out of necessity, I’m afraid. We were surrounded, captured, with no chance of escape. If I had not done what I did, we would all be on our way to Skytown right now under the watchful eyes of the Prezedant’s elite guard. I saw a chance for one of us to be free, and I made my choice. Luckily for us all, it worked.”
Lily picks up the story. “Tater informed us of your capture and of the location where you were being kept. If it wasn’t for him, we would have never known to rescue you.”
“You are quite welcome by the way,” he says sarcastically as he dabs at his bleeding neck. “However, my reward for my heroism has definitely been a disappointment, I must say. Especially now that your escape ensures I won’t see a single piece of iron from said reward.” He keeps dabbing at his neck and staring daggers at me like I was the one who’d done the betraying.
“I knew it! I knew you wouldn’t betray us, Tater,” Finn says, grinning from ear to ear. “Tara, Tater saved us. Ain’t you glad you didn’t kill him?”
“I ain’t decided yet,” I say, torn between what I’m hearing and the hurt I’d been carrying ‘round since yesterday. I keep staring at him, still not convinced of his innocence. Yesterday at our capture, he’d been so cold, so callous. Had he just been pretending, or is that really his true colors?
“Why did you help us?” I say. “You ain’t got no loyalty to us. You could have taken your reward and walked away, washed your hands of us. Why did you come here lookin’ for Lily?”
He sighs and drops the cloth back on the table. An awkward silence follows, like he don’t have an answer for me. Finally he says, “To be quite honest, I’m not sure myself. The reward was indeed enticing. Riches like that … they can indubitably turn a man’s head. Mayb
e I’m just as crazy as those poor wretches we left back in the dead city, but I think there is hope yet.” Disbelief tinges his voice like he cain’t believe he’s actually saying these words. “I think that maybe you are the one they’ve all been waiting for, and that these dark days will indeed come to an end. Maybe it’s just the wishful thinking of an old man who’s soon to meet his gods, but I think I have regained my faith.”
Whatever I expected to hear Tater say, it surely isn’t that. Is he being truthful? Or is this just another act?
“Well, I hate to disappoint you old man, but your faith is put in the wrong person,” I say. “Ain’t nuthin’ I can do about the Prezedant. All I’m fixin’ on doin’ is freein’ Ben from the iron mines, findin’ my other kin, and gettin’ the hell away from Littlepass and Skytown. Hell, I don’t even wanna speak those two names ever again.”
I can tell Tater is genuinely surprised by this. “Your young man, he’s here? In the iron mines? Are you certain?”
“Aye, we seen him while we were bein’ held there,” I say.
“Well, that is wonderful news indeed! To find him alive and well, that has to be of prophetic significance,” Tater says. “It is a good omen, Tara. It is destiny telling you that you are where you should be in Littlepass with Lily and her rebels.”
Did Tater get dropped on his head since the last time we’d seen him? Or had he been in the ale already this morning?
“What if we can help you free your kin, Tara?” Lily picks up on what Tater is saying. “Would you be willing to listen to us then? To at least listen to what we have planned, what we believe you can be capable of?”
I know she’s just using Ben as bait for her own purposes, but at the thought of them helping to free him, I cain’t resist the offer.
New Bloods Boxset Page 26
