K smiled and placed her hand on the uninjured side of Maya’s face. “My, my, you have your own talents, don’t you?” Maya stepped away from her anxiously. Luckily, K didn’t seem to take offense to the gesture and continued, “No matter, don’t concern yourself with us, tell us what was so important that you to came all the way out here and endangered not only yourself but our young host here,” she gestured toward Dirik, who swallowed hard and backed a few steps toward the door.
Maya slowly looked to the Enforcer. “I came to apologize for what happened at the inn. I didn’t want to say those things, but my father threated to kick me and my mom out onto the streets if I didn’t.” She hesitated, “It probably would have been better if he had, it’s just he has protected us from the patrols and the inspectors for so many years. You see, me and my mom, we aren’t like the others either, and if the patrols found out …” She stopped, unable to finish the sentence.
“If they found out they would have called me,” Jarod finished for her, studying her bruised face. “And did he do this to you as well?”
Maya shook her head. “I fell—”
Dirik cut her off, “Oh no you don’t! You tell him the truth.”
Maya couldn’t look at any of them; she knew they all had figured out what had really happened and that made it all the more harder to explain. So instead she shut her mouth and stared at the floor.
“Well if you won’t I will,” he said, stepping forward to address Jarod. “Sam hits her all the time, her and her mom. Mikel has been to that inn so many times to reset broken bones and stitch up wounds it’s ridiculous. It’s amazing he hasn’t killed one of them already.”
“Is this true?” Jarod asked calmly.
“Yes,” Maya answered quietly. Tears began to well in her eyes as she continued to stare at the floor.
“How did you know he was here?” Jaron asked suddenly from behind K. “Dirik said you already knew Jarod was here when you sent for him, how?”
Dirik felt bad for Maya as he watched her teary-eyed, looking around at the room full of Full-bloods nervously. “Who is Jarod?”
“The Enforcer, Maya,” Citera answered.
“Oh,” She turned back to face Jaron, “I have the ability to track people. When he grabbed my arm the last time we met, I was able to make a link.” Turning back to face Jarod, she finally was able to meet his gaze again. “Although I didn’t think it worked until last night when I suddenly got the sense you were near.”
Dirik and Citera were both astonished at how calm Jarod was remaining as he stared Maya down suspiciously. “Useful skill, there are a lot of people who would pay for that service, you could make a fortune.”
Maya’s head jerked up immediately. “No, that’s not why I did it.”
K propped herself against the wall and smiled. “Then why did you?”
Maya hesitated as she glanced back at Jarod. “Because I wanted to see him again.”
Jarod’s face relaxed ever so slightly as he continued to stare into the beaten face of the young girl who had consumed his thoughts for the last two weeks. Meanwhile, Dirik and Citera’s jaws had fallen to the floor, reeling from the announcement that Maya had not only wanted to see Jarod again, but had gone so far as to search him out.
“Let’s give them a moment, shall we?” K directed, holding the door open. “There is no danger here.”
Dirik and Jaron both looked as if they wanted to protest, but a quick glance from K had them turning and sulking from the room with Citera close behind. K pulled the busted door closed the best she could, leaving the two of them alone together.
Maya waited a moment then walked closer to the bed, stopping a few feet away. “Are you all right?” she asked.
“What?”
“It’s your energy, it is off. That’s why I couldn’t pinpoint exactly where you were. Besides, you haven’t gotten out of that bed since I walked in, not even when you were angry.”
“Why are you here?” he asked, ignoring her questions. He studied her beaten face, the sling on her arm, but even like this he couldn’t help but see the beauty she was the night he saw her at the inn for the first time. “Don’t you know the danger you’re putting yourself in?”
Maya smiled and stepped closer. “I knew you wouldn’t hurt me.”
Instinctively he flinched away. “You don’t know what you are talking about. You need to run, get out of town as quick as you can and never come back.”
“What are you talking about?” As if she could read his thoughts, her bewilderment quickly turned into fright. “Your back for me?” Tears welled up in her eyes. “They sent you for me, because of what I said, what he made me say.”
He closed his eyes and hung his head, which was all the answer she needed. “What am I going to do? I can’t leave. If I do, he will kill my mom for sure.”
Jarod shook his head. “I was sent for him as well, I’m to take you both back. But if you run, I may be able to appease them with just him.”
Maya contemplated this for a moment. “At least my mom would be safe, but I still fear eventually the patrols will come for her if he isn’t there to stop them.” She paused, looking at the scarring on his hands and arms. “Wait, what happens to you if you don’t take me back?”
He was becoming more and more frustrated. “Why do you insist on asking me these stupid questions? It doesn’t matter what happens to me, you need to get out of town, tonight.”
He could tell he had hurt her feelings, but he was trying his best to save her life and she wasn’t helping. “It matters to me,” she replied, attempting to hide the hurt in her voice.
“Why, why does it matter? Everyone would be more than happy to see me dead, no one else cares, so why should you?” He ran his hands through his hair, trying to calm down; he didn’t want to be mean to her, but she didn’t seem to understand the danger she was in. “You don’t know me, you didn’t even know who I was the day I came to the inn.”
“You’re wrong, I knew exactly who you were from the first time I laid eyes on you, and I haven’t been able to get you out of my thoughts since the day you left.” Sighing, Maya lowered her gaze to the floor. “The night you walked inside the inn bloody and beaten, clothes ripped to shreds, I saw someone like myself, someone who had to fight constantly just to survive, forever alone and exhausted. Then when my dad tried to turn you away, when most people would have backed down out of fear of him, you stood there and faced him, you made him back down.” Maya paused as she wiped away the tears. “I have never seen him be afraid of anyone in my whole life and I couldn’t help but think of you as my hero.” She continued smiling at him with all her innocence. “And these people here, the one they called Jaron and that lady with the white hair, I can tell they care for you, too.”
Reaching out, he grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her in close. “I bring nothing but pain and death everywhere I go. You would do well to stay away from me, don’t you understand that?”
But there was no fear in Maya’s eyes. Carefully she reached her hand out and placed it on the side of his face. The calming sensation he had felt before at the inn returned, but this time with more intensity.
“What are you doing to me?” he asked as the calmness spread throughout his body. Not once in his entire existence had he ever experience such a feeling of peace, as if somehow all the problems, the hopelessness, and sadness in the world had been completely eliminated.
“You can feel it, can’t you?” she asked calmly. “I can. I feel your strength, your bravery inside me, I feel as if I could do anything, survive anything, as if I was unstoppable. And it helps you, too, right? I help you be calm, to control your anger, and let you feel at peace.”
He was confused. He wanted to be angry with her—for messing with his mind, for daring to lay her hand on him and cast her spell—but he couldn’t. And as he continued to gaze deeply into those pale gray eyes, he felt an intense need and desire to watch over and protect this girl from all the horrors of the world.
He glanced at her, unsure what to say. Without waiting for his answer she continued, “The night when you came to the inn, the very night you showed up I had plans to try and kill myself. I was going to jump from the landing with a rope around my neck, praying to the stars it snapped my neck and ended my suffering.”
“You what?” As the shock of what she had said slowly settled in, he eased her back to the floor. “But why?”
“I was tired, tired of seeing the pity on everyone’s face when they looked at me, tired of lying to cover for a man who continued to beat me day after day, having to hide who I am and what I can do, and more than anything tired of living in fear.”
She removed her hand from his face and held it out to him. “Help me up?” Instead he reached around her hand and grabbed her by the waist lifting her with ease to sit down beside him on the bed.
“Thanks.” She made herself comfortable then finished telling her story. “You see, I think you were destined to come to the inn that night. For the first time in my life I saw someone put the fear into my father that he had always instilled in me. That’s why I came upstairs to see you, and I won’t lie, I was scared to death of knocking on that door. I stood there for nearly half an hour before I finally got up the nerve. And then, when you came you just stood there and stared at me.” She chuckled at the thought. “Imagine my surprise, that someone as big as you are, who is willing to face down my father and a pack of thieves in the street, didn’t have the first idea about how to handle little bitty me.”
“Then, when I grabbed your arm I felt it, the strength and confidence that you carry within you, everything that I was missing, was within you.” She leaned over, resting her head on his arm, and could feel his whole body tense from the unexpected contact. But she refused to withdraw and after a few moments she could feel his body relax slightly, beginning to accept her affections. Smiling to herself, she basked in his strength, feeling safe for the first time in a long time. “Yet for all your strength and confidence, you were as lost as I was. Not in pity and fear like me, but in hatred and anger.”
Jarod looked down at the young girl resting on his arm. Why was she doing this to him? There was no way any of this was going to end well, for either of them. Yet he couldn’t deny having her this close made his feel stronger, more in control of his emotions.
“Maya, I don’t know what you want from me. All I know is that I am who I am, and if I take you to the Tower, they will kill you or make me do it for sport.” He felt defeated as he spoke to her, there was nothing he could offer her except this one chance to run and hide. Suddenly her small hand moved down his arm to take ahold of his.
“It doesn’t matter, I would rather die than to keep on living the way that I do now. At least he won’t be able to hurt me or my mom anymore.”
About that time Mikel came into the room and he smiled at the two of them. “Why am I not surprised? Dear girl, I always said you could calm the wildest of beasts with a single touch, and finally I have the proof.”
Maya smiled as Jarod lifted her back down onto the floor. “Let me see that arm,” he said, while he looked over her face. “Someone needs to do something about him, damn patrols are too busy enjoying his liquor and rooms to care he is killing the both of you.” He ran his hands over her arm, carefully checking the bones. “Broken in two places,” he stated, shaking his head sadly. “You know, I still have a little bit of red formula left, maybe it will be enough to—”
“No!” Jarod shouted suddenly. “Don’t. Leave her like she is, set the bone but that’s it, leave the rest of it alone.”
Mikel and Maya both were taken aback by the order. “Why would I do that, don’t you want her to heal?”
Jarod shook his head. “I have put this off long enough and I only want to explain it once, so would you get the others?” Mikel looked questioningly at him, then Maya before wandering out to find the rest.
After only a few moments he returned with the rest filing in close behind, Jarod watched as each one entered, K being the last and she propped herself against the door frame.
“When I leave here tomorrow, you all knew I was going to return to the Tower and to my duties as the Enforcer, it’s the only way to give K the time she needs to get stronger without drawing suspicion.” He took a deep breath and continued, “What I left out was that I was ordered to return with Maya and her father.”
“What? No, you can’t,” Dirik protested. “She only said what she did to protect herself and her mother.”
“It doesn’t matter. If he goes back without her its insubordination,” Jaron explained as he shook his head. “I hate myself more and more all the time for asking you to do this.”
“Quit being so full of yourself, you didn’t make me do anything.” There was a hint of bitterness in Jarod’s voice. “I knew what I was doing and why I was doing it, I had the final decision and this is the path I choose.”
“I hate to be unsympathetic here,” Mikel said, interrupting the two of them, “but what happens if he doesn’t take her, just her father?”
Jarod leaned back, averting his eyes to the wall behind them. It didn’t matter, all of them knew the answer to the question, it was as clear as the scars that covered his body.
“They have various methods for dealing with people who don’t do what they are told,” Jaron answered for him. “They won’t kill him, but they will probably make him wish he was dead.”
“But he has been through it all before,” Citera said, looking at him. “I mean no disrespect here, but he can handle it, but if they take her…”
Jaron spun around in anger. “Just because he can handle, doesn’t mean he should.”
K came to Jaron’s side and gently placed her hand on his arm. “Perhaps we should let Jarod decide what he is willing and unwilling to do.”
Everyone in the room was staring at him as Jarod focused his attention back to Maya. “Will you do as I asked and leave town tonight?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Maya, he is giving you a chance here, take it,” Citera pleaded. “Just go.”
“A chance for what? To be out there alone, running and hiding, continuing to live in fear until one day he or the patrols catch me. Honestly, how long do you think I will last alone?”
“I will go with you” Every head turned to look at Dirik. “I know how to live on the street, I can help you.”
“No, I won’t ask you to leave everything you have here behind to babysit me. I have already decided, I will go to the Tower with him, and whatever happens, happens.”
“There is no way to talk you out of it?” Jarod asked in a cold, emotionless tone.
Maya shook her head. “No, there is no way I will be able to live with myself knowing that I let you be tortured over something that I did.” She reached and took ahold of his hand once again, as she stood beside him. Citera and Dirik watched with round eyes and gaped mouths, fascinated and shocked at the affection she was showing him, but more so at the fact that he seemed to be accepting it.
“That is why I don’t want you to heal her,” he explained, returning his attention to Mikel, “I need her to look like she is. Then maybe, just maybe, I can convince them that she was forced to lie and to be lenient on her.” It was clear the stress of the situation was weighing heavily on him, as he continued to work the steps out in his mind. “My biggest concern is what to do about her ‘gift’, they are certain to sense it as soon as she walks through the door.”
“Convince them to use it to their advantage,” K spoke approaching the pair. “If they think she is of use then they won’t kill her.”
“No, that is worse,” Jarod protested, thinking of all the trials he had to endure to prove his loyalty.
K ran her hand over Maya’s face, as she glanced at Jarod. “It isn’t your choice. Maya is it? We can all tell you what we
think you should do, but in the end the decision is yours, you are the one who will have to deal with the consequences, so what is it you want to do?”
She turned and gazed up at Jarod. “I choose to go, and if I must stay, I will.”
Jarod shook his head. “You don’t know what you are getting into, what they will put you through.”
Maya smiled. “It can’t be much worse than what my own father has already put me through, except now I will have you there to help me.”
“Well that is settled then.” K turned to Mikel. “Why don’t you take her in the next room and fix that arm? Jaron, help him.”
“Come on, Maya,” Mikel called solemnly, and the three went out the door to the next room. Dirik, picking up on the feeling that K needed a moment with Jarod, nudged Citera and they headed upstairs to the apartment.
Jarod and K remained silent until the room had cleared, then K began, “What is this girl to you?”
“I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “There is something about her … when she is around I feel like a piece of me that has been missing all these long years has been found.” As he spoke Jarod was picturing Maya’s face in his mind. “Everything seems so clear.”
“She seems very infatuated with you as well.” K placed her hand on his face, studying him carefully. “I think she is good for you, but be careful that she doesn’t blind you so completely that you allow your enemies to get the upper hand.” And with that she turned and walked from the room, leaving him alone in the empty room with his thoughts.
Within minutes Maya’s screams of pain filled the clinic as Jaron and Mikel began to reset the bones in her arm. With each scream, Jarod braced himself, feeling every bit of the pain she was enduring and growing more and more frustrated at his own current helpless condition. After what seemed like an eternity, Jaron came back to check on Jarod and found him rigid and tense, crushing the metal frame in his grasp. Sighing, he stepped into the room. “She will be fine, she’s a tough girl.”
“That arm is nothing compared to what she will endure at their hands and you know it,” he muttered, head hanging and staring down at the floor.
K: The Awakening (The Shadow Chronicles Book 1) Page 27
