by A. P. Jensen
Chapter Twenty Six
Jordan searched the stands of the audience, but they were so high up all she could see was a mass of dots. She searched the bottom of the stands, looking for a man with blonde hair and eyes of relentless black. She saw him last night in the Garden of Wintra and he was here. She could feel it.
Jordan looked over the stage at the Halloween colored stands. Nothing. She looked at the sea of Undala. Nothing out of the ordinary. She twisted around in her seat, ignoring the teenagers shooting her irritated looks. She ran frantic eyes over the Thishe and Eliten but couldn’t pinpoint the man throwing out so much power, her temples pounded.
Jordan was dimly aware that Gima and Cherry were staring at her. She ignored them as the premonition of danger grew. It was the same feeling she had in Walmart right before William murdered everyone. Jordan closed her eyes to concentrate. It was almost as if she had a compass within her, shrieking at her to run in the direction it pointed. She didn’t understand her power, but at this moment when she felt the caress of tainted power in the air, she would bargain with the devil to have her instincts confirmed. Cold, ghostly hands filled with cruel power stroked her face, her hair, telling her without words that she wasn’t safe even in the midst of thousands.
After several moments of her internal needle spinning like a windmill, she stilled. She turned her head to stare at the Eliten stands just as blood curdling screams echoed over Bertrand’s announcement for Barbara Urmin. A man at the top right corner of the Eliten stands was on fire. He jumped up in his seat and everyone near him dove out of the way. Fire spread as the coats of everyone near him blazed to life as he flailed. In seconds, a quarter of the stands crackled with flaming people. Eliten poured from the stands to avoid the fire.
The Lafita holding the perimeter around the students leapt into action, running or flying towards the Eliten stands. From the Undala stands, water cascaded over the burning Eliten, putting out most of the flames but the damage was already done. Eliten that escaped the flames hoarded over to the Darsana stands to retaliate. The Darsana met their furious faces with hands filled with lightning and proud tilts of their heads. Thishe and Undala pounded down from their stands to help divide the fighting races.
The ground trembled and the smell of burning flesh filled the air. Teenagers leapt up from their chairs despite Bertrand’s voice commanding everyone to stay put. Students ran towards the stands, looking for loved ones. Shouts of anger and rage reverberated through the cold air. Jordan stared up at the mass of people fighting in midair above her.
People threw bolts of lightning; ice blocks knocked people from the air and wind spread the fire. Everyone was drenched in icy water. Several Undala spewed hissing water and their opponent’s skin melted. There was a splintering sound and Jordan looked down as the ice beneath her began to crack and splinter.
There was a loud ripping sound. Snow began to fall in thick, big flakes as something pierced the invisible shield that kept it at bay. Jordan looked towards the stage, but none of the Council members were there. Jordan braced her feet as the ground trembled from the force of the running crowd. Jordan put her hood up and let the crowd carry her. It was move with the stampede or die. She tried to connect with Levi, but she couldn’t focus. Jordan tripped over something and went down hard and came face to face with a black, burned body. Jordan screamed as memories flooded her mind. She fled, shoving her way through the mob. Several times, she dodged people fighting blindly, caught in a battle not assuaged by anything but blood. Others clawed out blindly, terrified and reacting instinctively.
Just staying upright was a challenge and she was afraid of being trampled underfoot. Jordan found herself herded out past the stands and Ice Tunnels to the city beyond. People fled into empty streets, children in their arms.
A hand reached out through the flakes and latched onto the sleeve of her jacket. She wrenched away and rushed headlong into the city. People ran screaming in every direction. She ran with them for a time before she veered away. She needed to get away from everyone. She ran down streets that seemed so lovely and welcoming yesterday. The snowfall was so thick, she couldn’t see ten feet in front of her. Her boots sank three inches deep into soft snow. She ran until she could no longer hear screaming. Jordan stopped in an open alley between two buildings. She drew in painful gasps of air as snow fell, muffling any sound. She bent over as her breath came in ragged gasps. This couldn’t be happening. Not again. Another massacre. Snow fell around her, covering her tracks. Gradually, her breathing slowed.
“I’ve never met anyone so sensitive to my power,” a voice crooned.
Jordan straightened slowly and squinted to focus on the man in the green trench coat that stood at the entrance to the alley. A shock of recognition went through her. It was the same man she saw yesterday in the Garden of Wintra after her power returned. She didn’t believe in coincidence.
“What did you do?” she whispered.
He shrugged. “Used the animosity already there. I just set a match to the flame.”
“You’re a sorcerer.”
He bowed. “I am. And you… you are most definitely a Grounder.”
Another sorcerer claiming she was a Grounder, another sorcerer causing riots and deaths. Jordan’s hands clenched into shaking fists.
“I don’t have all the elements!” she screamed.
He smiled, amused by her outburst. “Sorcerers can sense Grounders… We can’t help, but be drawn to our antithesis. You fascinate us. Sorcerers can’t exist without the cure for madness.”
“I’m not-”
“You are. And you’re one of the strongest I’ve met and you’re so young.” He cocked his head and smiled as if hearing sweet music. “There’s something ancient about your power… something abnormal.”
Jordan’s eyes flickered between sapphire and black. William’s power and her own fought for dominance within her. Was it William in disguise? The sorcerer took a step forward and she knew without a doubt it wasn’t William. This man wasn’t as tall and the way he moved wasn’t as refined as William. His voice… it was light, not deep and resonant.
“Grounders are like singers. A lot of people can carry a tune, some are decent and then there are those that give you goose bumps. There are only a few that can do that. A lot of times, it’s not the voice, it’s the emotion behind the lyrics, something extra that takes their talent to the next level. Some Grounders just handle one sorcerer’s power better than the other. The stronger the Grounder, the stronger the sorcerer.”
He took a gliding step forward and Jordan took one back.
“Part of your allure is knowing you’re a Parker but the other half… There’s just something about you. I can’t explain it.”
Chills erupted over her arms. She snatched at her power, arming herself with it. She didn’t care about the taint of William’s power mixed with her own. She would use whatever she had to survive. Yesterday she was afraid of her power and now she drew on it for all she was worth. Her power rose to the fore, coating her in heat and straining to annihilate.
“I decided to test you after the way the Gem reacted to you.” He smiled. “And you reacted beautifully. It really is a shame how divided the races are. It’s so easy to cause a bloodbath.”
“I’m not going with you,” Jordan stated.
The sorcerer chuckled, a girly sound at odds with the power leaking from him, choking her with its potency.
“And how do you think you’re going to stop me? Daddy’s not here to save you.”
A cruel smile touched his mouth and Jordan was forcefully reminded of William. He stepped through the falling snow, fading in and out of focus.
“When I saw you yesterday, I could feel your power. It’s barely leashed. I can teach you how to control it, how to use it. There’s a connection between us. Can’t you feel it?”
She shuddered. Just as it had yesterday, something in her identified with this man but at the same it made her stomach twist sickly. “No.”
&n
bsp; He clucked his tongue. “Liar. We don’t have to fight.”
When Jordan braced herself, he shrugged.
“Have it your way.”
Her power bucked and her muscles quivered with the effort to keep it contained. She closed her eyes. Fear curdled within her, but she pushed it away. Her survival instinct kicked in and adrenaline pumped through her, jacking her power higher. For the first time in her life, she embraced all that she was. She looked at the ice buildings towering up on either side of her and let her power take over. Heat consumed her. She could feel William’s strands of power mixing with her own, becoming one. The snow in the alley melted instantly and turned into a boiling river. The snowfall turned into hot rain, stinging her skin.
The sorcerer scowled and raised his hands, creating an invisible shield. Hot water hissed and steamed as it hit the barrier. The confident, condescending smile faded from his face.
Jordan turned her face up to the scorching rain. She would rather die fighting than be tortured by another sorcerer. She clenched her hands into fists and channeled her power with her mind. She focused on the buildings on either side of her and poured heat into the frozen foundation. The ice buildings absorbed her power like a sponge and within seconds, her knees buckled, power depleted. Nothing happened and a smile flickered over the sorcerer’s face.
“Is that the best you can do, honey?” He took a confident step forward and froze when a sound like a starting pistol shattered the silence.
Buildings the size of icebergs cracked, the sound of splintering ice terrifying. Jordan watched the beautiful buildings of ice spider web. A piece of ice the size of an airplane slid from the top of the building and whooshed down at stunning speed. The sorcerer held his hands up and a flash of white burst from his hand. The block of ice shattered into smaller pieces, but they were still big enough to make the sorcerer dodge out of the way. Jagged blocks of ice rained down from above.
Jordan turned and ran, sloshing her way through six inches of water. She was moving too slowly. Rain turned back into large snowflakes that swirled around her, clinging to her. A chunk of ice the size of a globe hit her on the shoulder. She screamed in pain and tried to move faster through the water turning to slush beneath her boots. Her gaze narrowed on the mouth of the alley, but her eyes darted to the buildings on either side of her. There was a horrible rumble of sound as the buildings began to collapse. The ground shook beneath her boots and she knew she wasn’t going to make it.
Arms wrapped around her waist and lifted her five feet into the air. She was pulled back against a solid chest and her eyes narrowed as whoever held her put on a burst of speed. Jordan screamed and held her hands up as her rescuer dodged around falling ice. Just when Jordan thought they were going to die, another burst of speed pushed them through the mouth of the alley just in time.
She went limp in her rescuer’s arms and the hold tightened. They were moving too quickly for her eyes to focus on anything. The person holding her at their mercy flew through the air at a break neck pace through the quiet city. Jordan closed her eyes, heard a door close and then there was silence. Jordan was lowered to the ground. She opened her eyes and wiped snow and water from her face.
“You’re bleeding,” a calm voice said.
Jordan stood in the entrance hall of a richly furnished house. The floor was black marble and the walls were made of solid ice. To the right was a dark living room. The house was warm and a chandelier dangled above her head. Directly ahead was a staircase that led to an upper floor she couldn’t see anything of.
Jordan took a deep breath and turned to look at her rescuer… or was it captor? A guy as tall as Levi wore a long black coat that ended at mid-calf. He had black hair cut military short, big gray eyes, a straight nose, thick black brows and wide lips. Even as she watched, snowflakes melted and water trickled down his face. He didn’t look much older than herself.
“Your face has a couple of cuts.”
He didn’t seem at all ruffled by the fact that they barely escaped being buried beneath a mountain of ice. He put a gloved hand beneath Jordan’s chin and closed his eyes. Heat radiated from several places on her face and a moment later, he pulled his hand away. Jordan wrapped her arms around herself. Her clothes were soaked through and she began to shiver.
“Who are you?”
“That’s the best you can do? I just saved your life.”
Jordan clenched her teeth. “Thank you. Now, who are you?”
“You want to tell me what the hell is going on?”
“No.”
“Sure seems interesting.”
He shifted the curtain aside so he could look out of the window beside the door.
“Where did you come from?”
“I was in one of the buildings that’s now destroyed. I hopped out of a window just as you ran past me.”
“What were you doing?” Jordan asked suspiciously, not sure if she could trust him.
“I was reading at the Wintra Library. What were you doing? Do you know who destroyed the buildings?”
She crossed her arms defensively. “Why?”
“Why? Someone just took down some of the most ancient buildings in the city. I would’ve said the buildings were indestructible, but obviously I was wrong.” He took a closer look at her. “Shouldn’t you be at the Declaration Ceremony?”
“I was,” she croaked.
“So what are you doing this far in the city? It’s not done yet, is it?”
“There was a riot at the Declaration Ceremony.”
His eyes narrowed. “What kind of riot?”
“This Eliten guy caught on fire. Everybody started fighting. People are getting burned, knocked out by huge ice cubes-” she faltered.
“What? Did the Lafita get it under control?”
Jordan remembered what the sorcerer in the alley said.
“It’s a bloodbath,” she repeated.
“I need to help. Are you going to be okay?” he asked, already reaching for the door.
“You can’t go there!” Jordan stepped in front of him, focused on keeping the door locked and closed.
“I’m going to be fine,” he said impatiently. “You stay here. I need to go.”
“But there’s a psycho out there!”
He moved her to the side as if she were a piece of furniture and pat her absently on the head.
“We’ll talk when I get back. Don’t leave the house and you’ll be safe. No one’s going to bother you here.”
With that, he opened the front door and slammed it behind him. “Stupid asshole. Die then.”
She reached out a hand to open the door, but at the last moment stopped herself. If he was suicidal that wasn’t her problem. She wrapped her arms around herself and tried not to think about the carnage her rescuer was even now heading to. As she stood there, wracked by indecision, she peered out the window. Snow fell heavily, concealing the outside world.
A scraping sound came from the floor above and Jordan whirled. The sound came again followed by a sinister hiss. Jordan held her breath and waited for another sound, but there was none. She cautiously walked halfway up the staircase so she could see the floor above and felt her blood run cold. She looked into the open doorway of a dark room and saw the faint glow of a pair of inhuman eyes watching her.
Jordan leapt off the stairs to the front door and wrenched it open. Cold engulfed her as she slammed the door and rushed out into the front yard. She crouched behind a huge ice sculpture of a dragon in the middle of the yard as if it were a giant gnome. She leaned against the ice, lungs pumping with terror. She didn’t have enough power to fend off anyone and her heart labored in her chest from taking on too much power.
Through the ice, she spotted a distorted figure on the sidewalk. Jordan slid down on her stomach as the figure came straight towards her. She scrambled back as a man rounded the ice dragon and looked down at her.
“Why the hell didn’t you stop? I tried to grab you and you bolted into
the city.”
Jordan stared flabbergasted at Luther, the young sorcerer Monica was tied to. He frowned down at her, a pinched expression on his face.
“I didn’t know it was you,” Jordan bit out.
Luther looked at the dragon and then the house beyond. “What are you doing here?”
“How did you find me?” Jordan sputtered, lurching to her feet.
Before she could answer, Luther’s head snapped around and he held up one finger to signal quiet. Jordan looked at the white streets and silent surroundings. How could snow feel so menacing? Luther reached for her hand with his gloved one and started off at a brisk walk down the street. Luther was the last person she expected to see. Their eyes squinted against the unrelenting white. The tension radiating from him made her skin prickle.
Luther cursed and pushed Jordan up against the wall of a building and stood in front of her. At first Jordan couldn’t see or hear what caused Luther’s defensive stance and then she saw figures in white appear in a half circle around them.
“Sorcerers are evil,” one of the figures hissed.
“They murder and destroy,” another intoned.
“I haven’t done anything wrong,” Luther said.
“It’s just a matter of time.”
“You know you’re going to die,” Luther said conversationally.
The white figures tensed. “You can try.”
Faster than the blink of an eye, two men leapt out of the swirling snow, straight at Luther. A pulse of energy made Jordan keel over. Pain streaked through her temples and she let out a groan and rested her face in the soft snow. There was a dreadful hum that vibrated the snow as it drifted down and then… nothing. Jordan raised her head. Luther stood above her and beyond him lay lifeless white figures. Luther crouched in front of her and Jordan cringed away.
“It was quick,” Luther said calmly.
“You-” Jordan stammered and tried to scoot away from him, but he circled her ankle with his wrist and jerked her forward.
“Now’s not the time to be hysterical.”
“You didn’t have to kill them!” Jordan said, voice a little too high.
Luther raised his brows. “They would have killed us.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because that’s what Radicals do. They track sorcerers and Grounders and try to kill us because they think we upset the balance of power. You ready?”
Jordan rose and Luther deliberately placed himself in front of her so she wouldn’t see the lifeless bodies. He extended a hand towards Jordan who hesitated long enough for him to retract his hand. Jordan hugged her arms around herself. She knew Luther had a soul tie with Monica, but he was still a sorcerer and a stranger. His gold eyes glinted in the midst of their white surroundings.
“You don’t trust me. What did Donovan tell you about me?”
There was a dangerous edge to his tone and Jordan backed up a step. She felt vulnerable and shaken. Her power wasn’t around to back her up and there was no one around except this sorcerer no one really trusted.
“Nothing,” Jordan lied.
His mouth twisted. “I can’t believe your father hid you all this time. He’s the sneakiest bastard I’ve ever met.”
“Why do you care that I’m his daughter?” Jordan demanded.
“The Parker’s are one of the most ancient families in our world. Your dad’s done things most sorcerer’s only dream of. He’s the oldest sorcerer in existence without a soul tie. No sorcerer has ever lasted as long as he has without giving into madness. He’s ruthless, I’m sure you know that.”
“That’s him. That has nothing to do with me.”
She sidled to the left to get breathing room. Luther’s personality was intense and his power crackled around him, electrifying her. Luther tracked her every move.
“As sorcerers, we grow up knowing we can Fall so we try as early as possible to create a soul tie with a Grounder. Sorcerers will do anything to keep their sanity, Jordan.”
Luther stepped forward, invading her personal space. This time, she didn’t back up, didn’t yield. He leaned down so their faces were only inches apart. Clouds of cold air drifted from their mouths and melded in the space between them and she found herself mesmerized by him. A distant part of her mind suddenly understood why Monica tied herself to him.
“Do you know what you represent for sorcerers?” His eyes roved over her face almost hungrily. “Life, power. Do you know how I feel knowing if I waited, I could’ve seen if we were compatible? I focused on Monica, afraid I would never meet another Grounder from a strong bloodline and now here you are. You’re unclaimed and not bound to anyone. There hasn’t been a female in the Parker family for generations.”
“I wouldn’t give you a chance even if you weren’t tied.”
He shrugged. “We’ll never know now.”
Luther was relentless and dangerous. If he weren’t tied to Monica, he would have pursued her every bit as mercilessly as William. She eased back from him.
“When a sorcerer connects with a Grounder, each woman is different. There are some women with enough power to take the edge off, but a true Grounder matches the sorcerer… They could rule the world.”
Jordan didn’t respond.
“That thing with William in the news,” Luther said and Jordan jerked. “His wife dies in an accident and then he goes off the deep end and kills all those people in the store.”
“You think he killed those people?” Jordan asked, thinking of how they honored him at the Declaration Ceremony, how she witnessed his memorial on the TV at the Ice Tunnels.
Luther snorted. “The public believe what they want, but sorcerers know what really happened. William lost control. Everyone thought his wife, Grace, was a true match.” Luther paused. “I think he broke the soul tie and killed her, but what do I know?”
Jordan had the ridiculous urge to confide in him. Before she could make up her mind, Luther continued.
“I’m not sure what he was doing in that store, but I know he killed those people. I think he may have thought the girl was a Grounder and he was grasping at straws before he lost his sanity completely.” Snowflakes drifted onto his blonde hair. “What if Monica’s not my true Grounder?”
“You can’t tell?”
“We don’t know until it’s too late. The public doesn’t realize that most sorcerers commit suicide in private instead of Falling. What’s the better way to go?”
“Commit suicide?” Jordan repeated, thinking of the pact between Kelly and Mr. Parker.
“It’s pretty civilized now. All you need is a couple Ever After pills and it’s done. Usually when sorcerers realize they’re losing control, they start popping one pill a day to tamp down the beast. When they can’t take the pressure anymore, they take more. They’re dead within minutes. That’s the reality of being a sorcerer.”
Jordan shivered in the cold and suddenly she didn’t like the silence. It felt as if they were the only two people in the world and all she wanted to do was run.
“Patience isn’t a virtue of mine, but if I’d known about you, I wouldn’t have made the soul tie with Monica. Donovan knows that.”
Luther held out a hand to her, but before she could decide what to do, a pair of sapphire eyes appeared out of the falling snow. Knight growled and Luther leapt ten feet into the air and hovered. He glared down at the Valor.
“Tell him I saved you,” Luther said grumpily.
Jordan was done with sorcerers. She rushed to Knight and felt him vibrating with tension, with aggression. Had he known she was in trouble? As soon as she touched him, Knight infused her with his ancient power.
“Thanks,” she told Luther and jumped on Knight.
“Where are you going?”
Jordan didn’t answer and Knight leapt into motion. She lay flat on his back, hands clamped in his fur. Snow streamed over her as she buried her face against his neck. Take me away, she pleaded. Take me away from everything.
Birthright Series
Thank you for reading Birthright. I really loved creating this world and the characters, especially Jordan. Her story continues in Heart of Shadowa.
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Titles by A. P. Jensen
Standalone Books:
Emma’s Secret
Can’t Let Go
White Mist Series:
Hell on Heels Christmas
The Songwriter
Rockstar’s Ballad (2015)
Ever After (2015)
Unmemorable Series:
Unmemorable
Unleashed (December 2014)
Cormac’s Pack:
Lost in Wolf Dreams
Cursed Ancients Series:
Clutch of the Demon
Love in Paradise Series:
Closure (December 2014)
Birthright Series:
Birthright
Heart of Shadows
For news on upcoming releases, join A. P.’s mailing list!
About the Author
A. P. Jensen was born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii. She spent several years on the mainland before moving home in November 2012 to pursue her writing career.
A. P. Jensen loves to read, write, travel, and watch movies, listen to old-timer’s talk about the good old days and daydream. She has two dogs, Ali’i and Maile who are world travelers and tolerate the long hours she spends in front of the computer.
