by Melissa West
I cut open his shirt and peer down at the wound. There’s so much blood it’s hard to see where the bullet went in. I run my hand over his stomach, finding the entry point, then press my palm to the spot, focusing on healing from the inside, but with the bullet still lodged inside, I can’t heal the wound before more blood spills out.
A sob works its way up my throat, and I force it back down, but all I can think about is us in the forest behind my house, our hands intertwined. His lips on mine for the first time. The moment I realized that I loved him. Him carrying me from the execution site. Me cradling him close after Zeus hurt Mami. Water pouring over us as I healed his back, then his naked body flush against mine as we surrendered to our love for each other. How can all of that be gone? How can I lose him now? How will I live through this? Please don’t leave me.
I grit my teeth, but tears continue down my face. I blink hard, fighting for clarity, and look at him. His eyes are closed, no longer fluttering, his breath barely there.
I pull my shirt to my face and wipe away my tears and focus, knowing what I have to do, and a new sob bursts from my lips at the thought of the pain I’m about to inflict on him. “I have to get the bullet out before you can heal. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” And then I focus on the metal bullet, on pulling it toward me.
Jackson screams out, writhing around in pain as the bullet tears through his insides, creating more damage on its way back out. My body trembles, everything in me breaking into pieces as I watch his reactions, the agony I’m causing. The only hope I have is that I can heal him faster than the injuries kill him. But with the bullet inside, he’s…I trail off, unwilling to think the word “dead.”
I sense the bullet close and tug harder at it with my mind, speeding up its course to the original entry point. Jackson writhes again then passes out, and fear tears through me. What if I’ve killed him? What if…? Please. Please! I pray to everyone and no one. All I can do is focus on the bullet. Silver appears at the wound, and I pull it out and toss it to the ground, switching my attention to his injuries, healing one at a time. Xylem begins its work as well and the wound closes up before my eyes. A minute passes, then two, but he’s still not awake, his breathing so low I can barely hear it. Can barely feel his heart beating.
“Please…don’t die. I’ll do anything. Just stay strong.”
It takes another five minutes of waiting and healing for the color to return to his face and his breathing to relax. His eyes are still closed, but for the first time, I allow myself to hope.
I pull his head into my lap and sit as still as I can, taking my time raking my fingers through his hair, humming a tune that’s words I’ve long since forgotten. I know what’s happening back home. I know Zeus must be there now, doing whatever he had planned to do, but I can’t bring myself to move. Not an inch. I don’t want to miss him waking up.
My teeth chatter from the cold and fear and exhaustion as my mind drifts in and out, trying to figure out how Zeus succeeded in breaking me so completely. I lost everyone that matters to me. How can I find my will to fight when there is no one fighting beside me?
I press my forehead to Jackson’s and gently kiss his lips, deciding that this is my death, here, Jackson in my arms. For a moment, I almost feel content. A lifetime of fighting, and now it’s over. I tried…and I failed.
“You…can’t…fail.”
I jerk back, my eyes going wide. Was it my imagination? “Jackson?”
I press my palm to his chest, feeling his heartbeat. It’s stronger. Hope rises in my own heart. “Wake up,” I say. He doesn’t move, doesn’t respond, and I almost melt all over again. But I know I heard him. He spoke to me, he’s here. “Wake up,” I repeat. Then gripping his face, I lean in and shout, “Wake up! You’re not dying today. You are my other half. You. I can’t live this life without you. I won’t. So you wake up, you hear me? Wake up!”
“I’m right here,” he says, his eyes still closed, but his mouth is moving, his breathing growing stronger, his heartbeat speeding up. “No need to shout.”
A laugh bursts free before I can stop it, and I pull him to me, hugging him close, then lean away so I can see him.
His beautiful blue-green eyes stare back at me, alive and bright. “I told you. I go where you go. I will never leave you.”
“I thought…” I say, crying into his chest.
“Shh, we’re okay.”
I kiss his lips and eyes and cheeks. “I love you. So much. I just…I love you.”
He kisses me again, then pushes to standing, despite the pain I know he must be feeling. “I love you too, Ari Alexander. Always. Now, it’s time to end this thing. Zeus dies today.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“We need more weapons,” I say.
Jackson’s eyebrows lift, then he smiles. “I know just where to find them.” He leads me down a set of stairs and into a large room and goes for the door opposite from us. Inside the room is nothing but wall-to-wall guns and weapons. It reminds me of the training room in my house in Prospect, where Dad taught me to become a fighter, where he showed me again and again how much he loved me. I used to think he was unnecessarily hard on me. Now I know he had no choice. He prepared me for this moment.
I grab a few laser guns and then a few regulars, then we’re outside, going through the gate behind Zeus’s house that leads to the Unity tree.
“Was I there the entire time?” I ask. “In the same room as you?” I’m not sure I want to hear his response. I don’t want to know that I was there with him the whole time, unable to sense the person I love the most.
“No. He had you in another room, then brought you in before he left.”
“How does he control my mind like that? Why can’t I block it out? Is it all Ancients…or just me?” I don’t want to admit out loud how weak it makes me feel. Zeus can enter my mind whenever he like, toy with my thoughts, make me think and feel things that aren’t happening. I should be strong enough to block him…but I’m not.
Jackson stops to look at me, his eyes full of life again, and for a moment I just stare at him, grateful to have him beside me once more. “Zeus can wield his mind in ways no other Ancient has ever been able to. He could manipulate the thoughts of anyone. It isn’t just you.”
It isn’t just you.
The thought swirls through my mind, and I release a quick breath as it hits me. Why didn’t I see this before? I grip Jackson’s arm. “How many can he control at once?”
Jackson tilts his head, thoughtful. “I don’t know. He used to say he didn’t like to use it. That he wanted to win a battle because he was the stronger opponent or leader. That’s why he never used it on the Trinity leaders. It wouldn’t have been a fair fight.”
“I don’t think he cares about fair now. He’s lost everything—Mami. You. I think all he cares about is winning this war. And I think he’s going to force our side to stand down while they’re slaughtered. We have to get to Virginia. Now.”
The Unity tree comes into view, and Jackson turns to me, the RES in him returning. “Focus on the clearing at Virginia. Focus every thought you have on getting there. Okay?”
I nod. “I’ll see you on the other side.” He grabs my hand just before I step inside the tree’s opening and pulls me to him, his lips on mine, every worry and emotion pushed into that single kiss. We both know it could be our last.
He takes a step back, his eyes never leaving mine, and I can tell he doesn’t want to let me go. We have no idea what we’re about to face. “Focus on the clearing.”
“The clearing,” I repeat. And then I’m inside the Unity tree, my stomach dropping as I plummet down, down, down. It feels like forever before ground returns below me, and I worry I’ve somehow sent myself elsewhere, some lost land on Loge I’ve never heard of, when I see the familiar forest through the slant of the tree. I step out, and Jackson is there, his finger going to his lips as soon as he sees me. He points out to the clearing, visible through the barren trees. And that’s when I hear
the voice booming out, speaking to a massive crowd.
“We are the dominant species. We deserve to rule this land. And we deserve to rule it alone.” Cheers erupt through the crowd. Clapping and shouts of praise and assent. He’s rallying them now, filling their minds with hate for our kind so they will have no issue killing unarmed opponents. Sickness moves through my stomach as I watch them grow more and more excited. They want this. The question is do they want this because they truly hate humans or because they’re too afraid to stand against Zeus?
“I ask that you rally with me today in the name of a new world. A new Ancient world!”
Jackson and I reach the forest edge and peer through to see the Ancient army, all dressed in black, on the right side, on the left a mix of half-breeds and humans who must have joined the fight at some point, all of them staring blankly at the forest. I can feel their life, hear their thoughts, even from here, but Zeus has them under some sort of trance.
Zeus starts in again, rallying his soldiers from a hilltop to our right, just in front of the Ancient army. His arrogance marks him an easy target, and for a moment I’m tempted to test the distance of one of the laser guns we took from his house. Oh, how wonderful it would be to shoot him with his own weapon, but something tells me Jackson has a different plan.
“Can you freeze the Ancients so they can’t shoot?” he whispers to me.
I shake my head. “I was never as strong as Emmy. I can handle one or two. Maybe ten. I don’t know. But not this many.”
“Emmy always said you were the strongest person she’d ever met,” he says. “She believed in you. I believe in you. Now, I need you to believe in yourself, to try.”
I release a breath, taking in their numbers, doubt swirling through my gut. There are so many. “What about you? What will you do?”
He straightens, his eyes on the hill. “I’m going to kill my grandfather.” His eyes return to me. “Hold them as long as you can. I’ll address them as their Ancient leader once I’ve taken Zeus.”
“Jackson…” I can’t bring myself to finish my thought. I don’t want him to face Zeus alone, but I know I can’t ask him not to go. There’s only the two of us now. Two people to end a war. It feels like too much. But my human spirit still sings from my soul, desperate to do whatever it must to maintain human life. Even if it’s a new way of life. Our spirit must continue.
Jackson starts around the forest edge, and then he motions to me once he’s reached the bottom of the hill. The only hope we have is that Zeus continues his speech long enough for Jackson to attack. If he finishes first, he’ll sense Jackson there, and then he’s dead.
I can’t think about that, or Jackson’s goal. I have my own part in this charade—the hundreds of Ancients in front of me, my mind the only weapon I have to stop them. I wait until Jackson is halfway up the hill, and then I close my eyes and think of Emmy. The way she was always so sure of everything. I could be that sure, too. My eyes fly open, and I reach out to the Ancients with my mind, locking their limbs in place. And then everything happens all at once.
An Ancient screams out in confusion, then another for help, and instantly Zeus knows. His gaze searches the clearing, and I can almost hear my name whispered from his lips. Jackson steps up behind him, and Zeus spins around, shock, then enjoyment on his face.
“I should think you would be dead by now,” Zeus says.
Jackson stiffens, clearly affected by the harshness of his grandfather’s words, and again I contemplate testing the laser gun. He doesn’t deserve to have Jackson for a grandson. He doesn’t deserve to take another breath. “I’m sorry to disappoint you,” Jackson says, taking a step toward him. “I’m sorry you couldn’t kill me like you killed Mami.” Jackson pauses, his expression unreadable at this distance, and then he says, “Didn’t you ever care for us?” My chest aches at his words. Even now, he wants Zeus to feel something, but the Zeus he knew as a young child is gone, replaced by a madman.
Zeus laughs. “Care: to feel concern or interest.” He raises his gun. “What a silly word.” And then he shoots at Jackson just as he dives away, narrowly dodging the bullet.
My heart jumps into my throat, and the moment of distraction is enough to relinquish the Ancients. A shot rings out, then two, then five, before I can regain control, and all I can see are bodies dropping, but I’m unsure of who has fallen, which side.
I step out from the clearing and walk toward the Ancients, focusing all my energy on maintaining control, praying I can hold out until Jackson kills Zeus. Screams call out from the hill, and I cringe, wishing I were there, helping him. The fight breaks Zeus’s control over our side, and their freedom gives them the opportunity to attack the Ancients without threat. Fires continue into the night.
At that moment, the dark sky opens up, rain pouring down over us, making it impossible to hear what’s happening over the storm. Thunder booms, then a strike of lightning over the trees. Fear grips my chest as I realize Zeus could have other hovercrafts coming, other armies. How can I hold them all?
I’m contemplating seeking out Vill when a strong arm wraps around me from behind, tossing me to the ground, and even before I can flip over, I know I’m surrounded.
Five Ancients, three males, two females, all looking at me as though their mission in life is to kill me. I tamp down my fear, unwilling to surrender. I jump up and widen my stance to take them.
I know without having to look that I’ve lost the connection, lost my hold over the Ancient army, and now they’re back in motion. I try to hold them again while simultaneously controlling the Ancients encircling me, but I can’t focus. Can’t think. And just when I’ve decided to run for the clearing, a loud boom hits my ears, and I peer up at the same time as the Ancients surrounding me to see a hovercraft in the sky above us. But it isn’t the crisp black of an Engineer craft or the sleek lines and glaring silver of the Ancient crafts I’ve seen. So, if it isn’t ours and it isn’t theirs, then who is inside?
A thousand thoughts swarm my mind all at once, all eyes turned up now at this foreign vessel, all sides as confused as me. It’s then that I notice Zeus up on the hilltop, no longer concerned about Jackson, his head tilted up, a magnificent smile on his face. And I know.
It was never just us and them. Humans on Earth, Ancients on Loge. Two species, so consumed by our grandeur that we never stopped to realize we were two…of many. Hundreds, perhaps. Thousands. How many galaxies? How many planets? How many different forms of life? I have no idea if our leaders knew of the other aliens, but I’m certain that one leader knew.
Zeus.
And he’s using them against us.
Anger rips through me, and I fire at the Ancients encaging me before they realize I’m back in motion, killing one, two, three, then running before the other two can catch me. I will kill him. I will snap Zeus’s neck and drop his body to the ground. Because now I know he’s done the unthinkable—he’s invited another species into this fight, another ally for him, another enemy for us. I might not live through this war, but so help me, neither will he.
I reach the top of the hill and put all my control into throwing Zeus back, knocking him off balance, which frees Jackson from the hold Zeus has on him. Zeus gets back up with only the slightest bit of stumbling. All eyes below are either on us or focused on the craft in the sky. Fear and confusion swarm the area, hitting my senses from too many people and Ancients to count.
I run for Jackson to make sure he’s okay, and then spin back around, but Zeus has fled down to the clearing, the Ancients separating for him as he raises his hands up to the sky. To the new alien craft above.
It descends, Ancients and humans and half-breeds scattering to make room, some fleeing, others too scared or curious to move. Then a light shines down from its center, and too quickly to process, there are twenty of them on the ground—their bodies much taller than ours, their heads and eyes larger, their skin glowing as if a light burns from deep within them.
“Who are they?” I say to Jacks
on.
“The Zypids,” he says without hesitation. “But they’re a peaceful species. I don’t know how he convinced them to come here. What he offered.”
Zeus steps forward, and one of them meets him, a silent conversation going on between them. Every fiber in me tells me to run, this new piece of the puzzle too much. I have no idea what they are, how many populate their world, or what abilities they may possess. I have no clue the technology they may bring. And perhaps most importantly, like Jackson said, we have no idea what Zeus has promised them.
“Do you know what they’re saying?”
Jackson turns to me, his eyes full of intensity. “Do you still have a gun?” he whispers.
I nod.
“Shoot him.”
“What? Their craft is above us. They could wipe out the clearing with one blast. I can’t just shoot him. This changes things, this—”
A hand cradles my arm, and I jerk away, prepared to attack, when my eyes connect with Dad’s and relief courses through me. “Dad? I thought you were dead. I saw you get shot.”
He pulls me into his arms, then leans back, his eyes on mine, and I know without him having to say a word that he agrees with Jackson. “You’re small. You can go without much notice. We’ll cover you here,” he says, but I’m still uncertain. If I shoot and Zeus dodges the bullet, I could end up hitting one of the Zypids instead, starting a new war with a new species we know nothing about. My pulse speeds up as I watch the silent conversation continue, the expressions on the Zypids’ faces growing more and more intense. I reach behind me to pull a laser gun from my harness, flicking it on so the charge can build, but I’m buried in the crowd now, unable to get a clean shot. I have to make it to the hill.
I dip down and start running through the crowd, grateful all eyes are on these new beings. And then my gaze takes in the Ancients as I pass them. They’re as surprised as we are, unsure of what their leader is doing. I know this is the moment. If I can take out Zeus, they will rally behind Jackson. They will listen.
