Jeffrey paused to take a deep breath. It was fascinating to see how the others knew so little about Jeremiah. Sure, most of them knew bits and pieces, but they had obviously never been told in such a straightforward way. I had learned of it through a series of dreams that Evelyn had planted in my mind. I knew every gruesome detail of how it all began. Christopher knew about it because I had told him.
“I tell you all this,” Jeffrey continued, “because I want you all to know exactly the kind of enemy we are dealing with.”
The room was silent. All of them had known how bad Jeremiah was. None of them had any love for the man, but this information was heavy. This was something the common person had no idea about. This is what the world needed to see.
“You all have been a part of something much bigger than you realize,” Jeffrey said. “You are part of the Resistance.”
“We know,” Heather said. “We started it.” Danny nodded his head in agreement.
Evelyn spoke next. “Not exactly.” We all looked at her with confused looks on our faces. “You have been part of the Resistance, but you were not the beginning of it.” She paused for a moment. “It’s been in motion for almost twenty years now.”
My mind went straight to the last dream I had when Evelyn had attempted to assassinate Jeremiah. She had told him that she was going to kill him no matter what. She said this just before Jeffrey grabbed her and he teleported away from Jeremiah’s reach. Had the Resistance been part of that? Had all this been her plan?
“Jeffrey is a teleporter,” Evelyn continued. “For the past eighteen years he has been going between colonies, setting up pockets of defectors, telling people the truth about Jeremiah and what he has done.”
Everyone looked at Jeffrey but remained silent as Evelyn explained further.
“It took years to get people to catch on that Jeremiah was somehow causing the greyskin attacks. The very attacks that he swore to protect them from.”
“So it was all an act?” Christopher asked. “All the attacks? Even the ones after villages became colonies?”
“We don’t know about all of them,” Jeffery answered. “We do know that he sent attacks to places like Springhill just so someone would eventually come to him and ask him to be a part of Screven. I don’t doubt that he often sends greyskins to established Screven colonies just to show that he is still protecting people.”
“The trucks full of blood,” Heather blurted out. “I saw trucks spraying blood on the ground to make a tӀd to makrail for greyskins. That’s how they were led here. Still doesn’t explain where they found the greyskins though.”
Jeffrey shrugged. “I don’t know that either, but we know that Jeremiah is behind it.”
“Makes you wonder where all that blood came from too,” Aaron said with his arms crossed as he stared into the floor. He then looked up at Jeffrey and Evelyn. “Is the Resistance everywhere?”
“In many colonies,” Jeffrey said. “Sudyka, Seymour…a lot of places. Even Screven.”
“And we were just one of the groups?” Danny asked Evelyn.
“The most important one,” Jeffrey answered. “Once you three came along,” he said to Aaron, Danny, and Heather, “we knew we would use Salem to lead the entire cause.”
“Because you are all Starborns,” Evelyn said.
“Are there others in the Resistance that are Starborns too?” Danny asked.
Jeffrey shook his head. “Most of them are just normal people.” He looked at Evelyn almost as if to ask if it was okay to move on. She gave him a slight nod. “Which brings me to the next point.”
He looked at me when he said this.
“When Mora showed up at Salem, things started rolling,” Jeffrey said.
Aaron looked over at me with a grin. I recalled a conversation we had some time ago where he told me that I had caused the little rebellion and didn’t even mean to. That I would be the one to lead them.
“Even though she never meant to start a fight with Jeremiah,” Jeffrey said, “it happened anyway. Evelyn saw the potential immediately and then the fighting began before we were ready.”
“We had always meant for the fight against Jeremiah to start in Salem,” Evelyn explained. “News of a Starborn revolt in Salem was the original signal to Resistance leaders in the other colonies to lead their soldiers to do the same.”
“When we got the news in Sudyka that Starborns in Salem had killed a bunch of guards, we were surprised,” Jeffrey said. “But we knew what we had to do. We started fighting.”
I was shocked by his words. “But we were framed,” I said. “We never killed those guards. In fact, we tried to save the colony, not take it over.”
“But that’s not what it looked like to us,” Jeffery answered. “And in a way, Jeremiah hurt himself by trying frame you. In a way, he signaled the revolt on his own.”
Aaron cleared his throat. “So that’s why someone was trying to get help over the radio.”
Jeffrey nodded. “Springhill is our closest neighbor and we were desperate. We didn’t do well in our part. Somehow Jeremiah had greyskins and guards attacking us. The fifty or so people outside are all we have left of the Sudyka Resistance.”
Evelyn’s head dipped at this. A look of sadness betrayed her. They had not been ready for all of this. Her plan to take down Jeremiah had started as a personal matter. Jeremiah had killed her love, Mark. He had taken everything away from her. When I looked at Jeffrey, I remembered that he, too, lost someone dear to him. Sarah. I remembered seeing his heartbreak as the tears streamed down his much younger face. But when I thought about it, we had all lost something because of Jeremiah. There wasn’t a person in the room that remained untouched by the pain Jeremiah had brought upon the Earth. The thought brought confidence to me in what we were doing.
“Has fighting started in other places?” I asked.
Jeffrey nodded. “All of them.”
“Even in Screven?” Aaron asked.
“Even in Screven,” Jeffrey answered. “Jeremiah is getting nervousӀtting ne.”
“As he should,” Evelyn added.
“So why haven’t we ever been told of these others in the Resistance?” Aaron asked. “Why have we been made to think that we were the only ones?” His question was obviously directed at Evelyn who shifted slightly.
“I know that to you it may seem like a betrayal of trust because I haven’t told you,” she said, “but it was for your protection. For the protection of others. We didn’t want Resistance soldiers contacting each other from different colonies.”
“For instance,” Jeffrey said, “if someone in Sudyka knew about the Resistance in Salem and one of them were caught and interrogated, everyone would be in trouble. Only Resistance leaders in other colonies know that there are more of us ready to fight at the same time.”
“Keeping you in the dark was the safest thing we could do,” Evelyn added.
The room was too silent after this. Every person sat and considered what it all meant for them. I knew what it meant for me. It meant that we had to go to Screven and finish what we started. And I needed to do it quickly before my condition worsened.
“Do you know what needs to be done in Screven?” I asked them.
Jeffrey nodded and shrugged. “A lot. It will be the most difficult place to take down, obviously. The Resistance there is smaller than I would like, but it’s also the hardest place to get anything done without being seen.”
“What’s been done already?” Aaron asked.
“We don’t know,” Evelyn said. “They are afraid to communicate outside of the city for fear of being picked up. Could be chaos, could be very little happening.”
“We need to get there now,” I said, hoping I wasn’t being too obvious. I nod at Jeffrey. “You’re a teleporter. Can you get us into Screven from here?”
Jeffrey let out a little laugh and scratched the back of his neck. He looked at her then back at me. “My ability isn’t very accurate. That’s the only problem. I could get all of
you into Screven, but I couldn’t guess where we would end up. We could appear in Jeremiah’s living room for all I know.”
“Sounds good to me,” Heather said. “We can take him.” Danny smiled at this.
“It’s the only option we have,” I told him. “Going inside secretly is the best way. We won’t stand a chance if we try to take a car or helicopter.”
Jeffrey looked at me with a concerned expression on his face, obviously taking the suggestion to heart. I didn’t think he had expected to go into Screven so soon. None of them had.
“I’ll have no shortage of electrical sources there,” Aaron said. “It’s no problem with me, though I’m not sure what the plan is when we get there. I wouldn’t mind running into Connor.”
He said this with a hint of anger in his voice. A big part of me wanted to blurt out that Connor had gone to Screven to help us get information about Jeremiah’s plans. But Connor had told me not to tell anyone. He didn’t want to take the chance that Jeremiah could find out about him. All Connor had going for him was knowledge of us and how we operate. I feared greatly that Jeremiah would soon find him useless and kill him, but I figured he still had some time left. I was conflicted about telling the others about him. So, I held my tongue.
It pained me to see Aaron so angry with him. The two had never truly been able to reconcile with each other over the death of their parents. I had recently learned that Aaron was the adopted son. In a terrible twist of fate, Aaron had once been forced to kill their undead parents in order to survive. The whole situation was tragic.
I couldn’t understand my emotions. I had feelings for both of them. For Aaron it was the allure of learning more about who I was as a Starborn. I had always felt that he would be able to take me on a journey to show me who I truly was. But then there was Connor who showed me more about myself than anyone ever could. He had shown me that I am not immortal. He had shown me that despite the great gift I had, we were all in this together.
I had spoken to Connor only minutes ago. I had told him that I loved him. And for the first time, I was honest with myself and I knew that I meant it. I couldn’t explain it, nor did I want to. All I knew was that I was sad and I was scared of him being near Jeremiah. He was so brave, and yet I couldn’t help but think it was a stupid move too. What made him think Jeremiah would let him live? Yet there he was. Alive. Having Connor there would be beneficial when I would attempt to take on Jeremiah. Because of Connor, I would know where the Screven leader was. I would be able to stay a step ahead of the enemy.
My urgency to face Jeremiah only reminded me that my life was coming to an end soon. I knew I would never be able to enjoy Connor’s love. I would never be able to hold him. It struck me that with the virus overtaking my body, I wouldn’t even be able to kiss him goodbye.
The thoughts running through my head were enough to make me sick. I needed a distraction. I needed to get out of Springhill. I needed to get to Screven.
“I don’t mind giving myself up,” I said to them all. “Jeremiah will see me if I surrender. Then I can just kill him.”
“You don’t fear for your own life?” Aaron asked.
“I don’t,” I said. I’m going to die anyway.
Aaron shook his head and set his jaw firm.
“Your willingness is appreciated,” Jeffrey said, “but Jeremiah will have precautions set in place. It wouldn’t be that easy. What we need to do first is meet with the Screven Resistance leader, Allison. She will know what needs to be done. She knows Screven better than any of us.”
The spirits of everyone in the room felt heavy. We could hear each other breathing, but, to me, it was a welcome sound. The sound of life.
All of us were exhausted. It was only midmorning and we had all given so much of ourselves already. We needed a break. We needed a rest. But I knew I couldn’t afford to wait. The others might not have understood my haste, but it seemed to be interpreted as determination. Though I was determined, I was also afraid. Terrified actually. I didn’t know what this process was like. I didn’t know what it would involve to try and take down Jeremiah as my body moved rapidly toward death.
The talk was finished and it was decided that we would all meet in exactly one hour. I knew I had to give Grandma and Jake a final goodbye. I wouldn’t tell them about what was happening to me. I would die on the mission and hopefully that was all they would know.
Before leaving the Tower, I placed a hand on Christopher’s arm and told him that I needed to talk to him about something. He nodded with a smile, but I didn’t think he would be smiling when I told him what my idea was.
But first, I wanted to spend some time with my family.
It had been a long morning already and I couldn’t help but think that this day, my last day, would be the longest day of my life.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
I told Grandma and Jake about what we were planning to do. When I finished talking, Jake let me know that it didn’t seem like I had much of a plan. He was right. The only plan we had was to show up in Screven and find the Resistance leader Allison. Of course, this wasn’t my plan. Regardless of what the others came up with, my job was to get to Jeremiah before my time ran out.
The three of us sat at the table and Grandma put out some bread and tomatoes. It wasn’t much, but it tasted good. Under the circumstances, however, I found it hard to eat. Facing the certainty of death had depleted my appetite. Not only that, but the moment I sat down at the table, I started to feel hot, and my neck began to ache. Must have been the start of the fever.
“What do you think it will be like when all this is over?” Jake asked, mouth full of food.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Grandma said.
Jake rolled his eyes but then looked at me for an answer.
“I think it will be better than we could ever dream,” I say. “We’ll be growing more food, maybe we can even keep animals again.”
“Oh, that would be great,” Jake said.
“Maybe you would think about getting married?” Grandma said with a grin. She tore off a piece of bread and did a short toss into her mouth. I could tell the grin was forced behind so much pain. She was doing her best to keep her mind away from the attack that morning.
Still, her question made me blush. And when I thought about it, it was stupid that I blushed. Marriage can’t happen for me. I’ve been infected. But I play out the conversation anyway, regardless of how painful it is.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Not sure who I would marry.”
“Connor seemed like a nice young man,” Grandma said. “Where did he run off to?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know exactly.”
“Or Aaron!” Jake said. “Can you imagine what your kid would be like? Shooting out lightening bolts and moving things with his mind all at the same time?” He moved his hands through the air and made an explosion noise with his mouth. “That kid would be unstoppable.”
“Could we not talk about this right now, please?” I asked.
The two of them smiled at me, but I just stared down at the bread. When I looked back up at them, their faces had turned very serious.
“I want you to know that it is a very dangerous trip we’re going on,” I said. “There is a possibility that I won’t be coming back.”
“Well, we don’t need to hear that kind of talk, Mora,” Grandma said. “You’ll be fine. You always are.”
She might have believed that, but she hadn’t seen how close I’d come to dying over the past couple of weeks. I supposed that even if she had, it would only make her conviction even stronger. But I knew the truth. I knew that I wouldn’t be fine this time.
As the hour passed, we talked about everything. The past. The future. When the hour was up, it was hard to tell them that it was time to go. A quick goodbye was all I could manage even though I knew I would never see them again. With the virus in my veins, I would be dead by the next morning.
They both hugged me tightly again as I stood next to the d
oor. “No tears this time,” Grandma said. “I hope to see you here in no time, alright?”
I nodded at her. It was everything I could do not to burst out crying then and there. I knew I needed to be strong for them. I knew thۀem. I kney needed to see a confident Mora walking away from them: a Mora that would be back after she set them all free.
With one last wave, I set out for the Tower. Along the way I spotted Christopher standing with his sister, Sadie, in the street. When I walked up to them, she looked at me and gasped. At first, I had no idea why she had such a reaction, but then I remembered that she also had a gift. She could read people’s thoughts.
I held up a hand to her, telling her to wait. “I just need a second to explain,” I told her.
“Explain what?” Christopher asked.
“She’s been infected,” Sadie said.
Christopher looked at me with wide eyes, shocked by the revelation. “How? When? Are you alright?” He shook his head. “Of course you aren’t alright. What happened?”
“This morning at my house,” I told them. “You can see why I want to get to Screven as soon as possible.”
He nodded. “I do now. What did you want to talk to me about?”
“I was wondering if your ability to heal would allow you to sustain me for a time,” I said.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
I wipe a bit of sweat from my brow. “I know you can’t heal the greyskin virus because it will kill you, but can you stave off the symptoms of it? I need more time.”
“What kind of time are you looking for?”
“I need all of today,” I said. “Getting to Jeremiah will be difficult. I might not be able to do it before the infection immobilizes me.”
“I don’t know,” Christopher said. “I’ve never really tried to heal someone a little at a time.”
The Starborn Saga (Books 1, 2, & 3) Page 46
