Chapter 14
The girl’s eyes focused for only a brief flash, but it was long enough for Faydra to see that she’d broken through the killer’s exterior. She smiled apologetically, knowing that no simple and useless words could ever undo what had been done for so many years. But the truth was important, perhaps more now than ever before.
“I’m your mother,” she repeated, as if that explained it all. “I let you believe I was only your stepmother to protect you. Your father knew, and he agreed that it was best if everyone thought your mother and her powers were long gone. That’s why he would never talk about her, not because it was too painful, like he told you, but because it was simply a lie. I was right here the whole time.”
Jessica shook her head, unable to register how those two reasons lined up. How could a mother protect her child by practically casting her out? How could any human do that, let alone a mother?
“I had to save you from this, and in order to keep you from becoming who they wanted you to be, I had to be horrible to you. No mother could ever treat her daughter the way I did, so I lied to you. I killed your father to keep you from fulfilling their plans for you, plans to turn you into a violent weapon that could destroy whole masses of people.”
“What? But… why?” she managed to sputter. Years of empty hatred for her stepmother—or mother, if the woman was telling the truth for once and not just using this as another way to abuse Jessica—had poured out of this woman, the one who dared to look her in the face and claim to be her real mother. There was no way. It wasn’t possible.
“Our people, the Hirbadin, bred you to be a killer, Jessica, but I escaped. My former consort, Rageeb, knew his experiment could create a demon so powerful that our enemies, the Balkat, would even hand over their own children to be sacrificed in order to be spared. When I realized what his intentions were, I fled, carrying you inside of me. But giving you a perfect life, a perfect childhood, would only let you grow up to be the confident and determined creature that could one day unleash this kind of dark power. I had to destroy you little by little every day to keep you from becoming who they meant for you to be.”
Jessica’s mind was in total chaos. The most hated person in her life had not only explained away her years of tormented madness, but had also in the same breath begged her to understand that it was for her own good? Never mind about her thirsty task, it was clear that this woman had no heart for Jessica to take.
If only the aroma of her stepmother’s hot blood didn’t contradict her. She wanted Faydra’s heart now more than ever, fueled not only by her hunger for it but also her hatred of this bitter woman. Had Faydra dared to think that Jessica would help her? She’d taken Jessica from her home, killed her new father, and treated her so badly to keep her from growing up too confident, then had the nerve to hope Jessica wouldn’t kill her the first chance she got?
“Jessica, please. Listen to me,” Conlan called out as he tried to stand, clutching his ribs where he’d taken the worst of the hit. His words came out in broken rushes as he fought to breathe again. “They want you to kill her so they can kill you! Why can’t you understand that?”
She tuned out the sound of his voice as she reached her hand out and pressed her fingertips to Faydra’s sternum. She prepared to slip her fingers through the skin until she could fit them between the woman’s ribs and grip her breastbone in order to pull it away from her body, leaving her beating heart exposed and ready for her feast.
Stop it! Stop it! Why are you doing this? she screamed at herself, only there was no sound. Her words were lost in the emptiness of whatever barrier held her at bay. There had to be some way to reach herself, as this kind of out-of-body experience was only the stuff of nightmares. You’re awake! It’s not the dream this time, you can’t do this!
Faydra smiled and closed her eyes, prepared for Jessica to finish. She had confessed her sins and was ready to pay for what she had done. Once the girl completed her vicious task, the real fun could begin, and only Faydra knew it.
“Jessica, listen to me. Just hear me. Then if you still want to kill her, I’ll even help you. It’ll be like a really gross class project!” Conlan came to stand in front of Jessica, wedging himself slightly between the table and the girl. He looked her in the face and softened his expression. “If you do as they want, you will only make Faydra stronger. If you consume her heart, she will be born again inside of you. She will have your power and she will see to it that the purpose you were created for comes to pass. Don’t you see? This wasn’t about protecting you from your own evil, this was about making you hate her enough to fall into her trap! But even worse, if you do this, the others will have a reason to destroy you since Faydra will use you to get to your power. You will be unstoppable, and they’ll never let that happen!”
“You lied to me. You made me trust you, you even made me think you cared about me. And it was all a lie. How can I trust anything you say?” she asked in a distant voice, her focus and her will still intent on Faydra’s heart. What was it about that particular blood thirst that wouldn’t let go? Jessica had never wanted anything the way she wanted to eat her stepmother’s beating life force.
“I had to lie to you. You had to come here so the Balkat could help you. Jessica, this isn’t who you are. You’re not a monster or an unholy thing, you’re a smart, beautiful, and important human girl. Even if the Hirbadin want you to be their weapon, that’s not who you are.” He stopped speaking and searched his brain for the words that would help her understand. He finally knew what to say to her. “Do you want my heart?”
Jessica tore her eyes from Faydra’s rib cage long enough to gawk at Conlan. What did he think she was, some bloodthirsty creature that went around… oh, right. Yes, that’s exactly what he thought, and with good reason. She was practically frothing at the mouth trying to get to Faydra, so of course he would think…
She shook her head. That’s not who she was. Then why was this thirst so powerful?
“That’s her doing,” Conlan explained, pointing a finger at the woman on the table and answering Jessica’s unspoken question. “She can only have your power if you kill her and consume her. You don’t want to do that. If you just wanted blood, you could have killed me a hundred times by now. But you didn’t. Because that’s not who you are. Now snap out of this so we can get out of here!”
She struggled to understand his words, even though he was speaking as plainly as he could. From above, Jessica’s consciousness watched with horror as she wondered what her physical body would do. Would she really kill the woman who had brought her so much misery? And would she willingly hand over these so-called powers, whatever they might be, to such a vicious woman?
Jessica battled with what she knew was true, what she knew was right, and what she barely knew was even possible. Conlan watched her to see what she would do, prepared to physically hurt her if it came to that.
“Stop this,” the voice Jessica recognized from her dream announced coldly. From the dark perimeter of the large room, she finally saw a face, one that she realized she would recognize anywhere. She had never clearly seen it in any of her dreams, but somehow it had always been there and she knew it. The man’s solid black eyes and hollowed cheeks didn’t look as menacing now that she was awake, or perhaps it was just because she’d seen far more terrifying things since the last time she’d dreamed of him. He had no power to frighten her now.
“What do you want?” she asked timidly, instantly intimidated by the presence of the old man. He wasn’t overpowering in build or stature, but he commanded a presence that let others reflexively know that he was going to be respected, whether it was intentionally given or not.
“I merely want you to know,” he said quite simply, folding his hands together in front of him and waiting for her to react. He even smiled at her in an endearing way while waiting for her to understand his meaning. When he saw a glimmer of recognition on her face, he spoke again. “You are an amazing creature, Rankin.”
She bristled at the use of the foreign name, but somewhere in the cloudiness of her mind it was a familiar name, one that maybe she remembered being called some time ago. It had a feel to it like being home after a long time away. It was strange, but not unpleasant. Still, it was not who she was and she couldn’t allow a stranger who had put her in this situation to take from her the last thing she had, which was her own identity.
“You are unlike anyone else who has ever existed, and hopefully… unlike anyone who ever will exist. We are desperate to make sure that you are one of a kind, as they say,” he continued, keeping his voice measured and his tone reassuring. “But first, you have a choice to make.”
“What choice is that?” she asked, consciously making the effort to try to keep her voice from shaking. She failed at that horribly. A confident and powerful creature would go the “kick ass and take names” route right now, but that wasn’t who she was, thanks to Faydra’s brutal upbringing. She wanted nothing more than to be allowed to rest and wake up to find this was all a very real continuation of her age-old nightmare.
The older man looked at her with a calculating gaze, as though trying to read her thoughts and coming up empty-handed. Jessica felt self-conscious as he stared, feeling the urge to fidget or speak up, to say something silly that would lighten the mood and deflect attention off her. When he finally did speak, his words had lost all pleasant reassurance.
“Whose destiny shall you fulfill? The Balkat’s, the Hirbadin’s, or your own?”
“I get to have a say in this? No offense, but that’s a first,” she answered cautiously, none too eager to upset the first person who’d shown anything close to kindness and understanding since this started.
“No, that isn’t an offensive statement. Given how you even ended up here, I’d say it’s a pretty fair assessment of the situation.” He smiled at her boldness, pleased to see there was still some spark of life left in someone who’d been sired by Rageeb and raised by Faydra. He touched her shoulder reassuringly before continuing. “Yes, you do have a say. In fact, you have quite a few decisions to make. There are guilty parties here, and they must be punished. What remains to be seen is who’s actually guilty, and who has the right to judge.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t get it.” She looked around nervously at the people who began to emerge from the edges of the room, one by one, until their faces began to blur in her mind. Her instinct was to protect herself from the growing group of people, but something about their expressions told her she had nothing to fear.
“I’m afraid it involves quite a history lesson,” the man said with a smile. “The easy version of the story is that there was a time when these two factions of people were united. Much like different countries that exist in your everyday world who endure civil wars that divide them for generations, the Hirbadin and the Balkat have been fighting for so long that only the record keepers could ever tell you why. We’ve been waiting on the fringes for their hatred to subside, not wanting to interfere or take sides in their battles, but the time has come for us to stop being the ineffective peacekeepers. The fighting has now extended into your world, with very real consequences for the humans who inhabit your everyday life. And it has to stop.
“We, the Marjeen, will assume control and yes, we will have to see many faces from both sides of the fighting stand trial in our court. But I’m afraid the first trial will have to be yours.”
Chapter 15
“Mine?” Jessica shrieked. “What have I done to deserve being put on trial? I didn’t know anything about any of this until yesterday! What could I possibly have to stand trial for?”
“Oh dear, I didn’t mean that to come out so bluntly. It’s not so much a trial to determine your innocence or guilt, but to decide what we must do with you. You are far too powerful a creature to be left to her own devices, I’m afraid. That’s one thing Faydra got right, even if it’s the only thing.” For her part, Faydra didn’t answer the thinly veiled admonishment.
“But I don’t even know what powers you’re talking about. And if I did know, I wouldn’t want them! Can’t you just cast a spell or something and take them away from me?” she demanded, becoming more and more afraid of what steps these people might take to prevent her from doing harm.
“I’m afraid it’s not that kind of magic. You weren’t so much as given powers as you were… created with them. Taking them from you would be like taking your eye color or your blood type. These powers are who you are. It’s a strange situation for all of us. No one more than you, I can admit.”
“So are you saying you have to kill me to protect the rest of humanity, or something like that?” She looked to Conlan, who only hung his head with a defeated look. He’d known what she was, and that betrayer had never said anything or hinted to her that she was a wanted criminal with a target on her back for three different warring factions.
If I live through this, so help me I’m gonna be pissed at some people!
“That’s what we need to determine,” the elder said solemnly. “We cannot strip your power from you, and you will constantly be under the terrible threat of living with these growing capabilities and fighting the urge to use them. But the very grave danger is from anyone who finds out who you are and what you’re capable of. Faydra thought to provoke you into assisting her reincarnation to give your powers to her, but not everyone who covets your abilities will be so spiritual in their approach. Some would simply cage you like an animal and force you to bow to their will, using you as a force of destruction and making you cooperate through mental and physical torture. Despicable beings like the unfortunate traitor Rageeb, for example, who’s already been dealt with permanently.”
Jessica didn’t want to think about what permanently might mean to these people. She shook her head to clear it, grasping at any idea that would convince them she would never harm anyone.
“But that’s the thing. I’ve already told you, I don’t know what powers you’re talking about! I’m not even good at anything. I’m barely keeping A’s and B’s in school, I almost flunked geometry, and other than the fact that I like to go for a run every day, I don’t have anything special about me.”
“My poor girl, that is so far from the truth that it’s almost a crime in and of itself that Faydra tortured you emotionally for so long. But if you truly do not know what you’re capable of, it stands in your favor. The problem becomes what do we do with you in the future when you uncover your abilities? What then? How do we stop a creature who cannot be stopped once she learns how to channel her power?”
“Can’t I just promise never to do that, or something?” she asked in a meek voice, realizing as soon as she said it how stupid it sounded. She’d just made the paranormal version of a sixth-grade pinkie promise and expected a war council to take her at her word. As if they would say, “Oh well, she pinkie-promised never to rain destruction on the world and overthrow all governments. That settles it, we can all go home now!”
“It’s not quite that simple, but maybe you’re on the right track,” he admitted, giving Jessica the first thing that felt like hope since she’d first arrived… how long ago was it? Only a day? He smiled caringly, and seemed truly saddened by the heartache the whole situation had caused her. More important, though, he wore the look of someone who’d grown tired of fighting a never-ending and unwinnable battle, and was just ready for it to be over.
“If you can agree to some concessions, I think we might be able to reach a mutually beneficial consensus.” He gestured with his outstretched hand for her to follow the group of people that was already exiting the gruesome torture chamber, but stopped as he neared the table where Faydra lay eerily accepting.
“There is something we need from you first,” he said, inclining his head towards her stepmother. “We need your decision on this one.”
“My decision?” Jessica asked, blinking in confusion. “She’s nothing to me. I don’t have any control over her.”
“True, but she was intended for you
to… well… have dinner with?” he joked lightly, avoiding the more conventional and horrific terms for being someone’s meal. “That leaves us with a conundrum. While she hasn’t directly harmed the Marjeen, she has proven to be untrustworthy and to have deceitful intentions that involve using your powers. She cannot be allowed to go free, but I’m not as confident that we can contain someone of her ambition.”
Jessica looked at Faydra for a long time, trying to see anything in this woman other than the hateful monster who would destroy her own daughter. As much as she wished to be the better person and to extend benevolence, Jessica couldn’t find it in her. This was the woman who had taken everything from her and yet was still willing to let her die. And to do it in the name of keeping Jessica from ever becoming dangerous was beyond comprehension. As if beating her into submission and creating someone without the self-esteem needed to move forward, let alone become a monster, was any justification for the lack of warmth, the lack of love in her life.
“Kill her. She’s nothing to me,” she said coldly before following the others, sealing Faydra’s fate. Her stepmother’s screams for her to reconsider echoed off the bare walls, punctuated by her cursing her daughter before the door closed shut behind her.
Chapter 16
“So that’s it?” Conlan asked as he walked her to the front gate to say her goodbyes. “No romantic ending? No dreamy filter on the camera angle as we share a passionate but PG-13 kiss before riding off together, staging our own happily ever after coup?”
“I’m afraid not,” Jessica said, letting his typical sarcasm make her smile for once instead of frustrating her. “You, my friend, are still a liar. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, you’re not exactly seventeen years old. Did I hear someone throw out the number four hundred seventy-two?”
“Aw, come on, what’s a few hundred years’ age difference when true love is at stake?” he said, grinning sheepishly.
Stolen Hearts: Book 1 (Grim's Labyrinth Series) Page 7
