House of Ravens (The Nightfall Chronicles Book 2) (24 page)

He laughs in response, and the Black Knight strikes again.

Kai grips my arm. "The Black Knight…" he says, his eyes focused. "The way he fights…"

"What?" I ask.

He frowns. "I'll tell you later. When I'm sure."

I turn my attention to the fight. I hate that it isn't fair, but I'm glad our plan is secure.

The White Knight begins to stumble. He's struck in the shoulder. He falls to his knees. The poison must be taking hold.

The Black Knight, Crixus, pauses, soaking in the applause.

My friends don't smile. I wonder if they sense something is wrong.

Kai sneers. "The better man loses."

The Black Knight raises his sword for a final strike.

And the White Knight lunges forward, splitting his own blade into two. He spins, driving the Black Knight back. The arena shakes as the crowd stomps their feet and screams.

The White Knight strikes the Black twice. He is faster. Stronger. He was the mountain, but now he is the avalanche. He is unstoppable.

How could this be happening?

Who is this man who can ruin our plan?

The way he fights…

It can't be.

I whisper. "Evie, zoom in on the White Knight."

She does. And then I see it.

I gasp, shaking.

Kai grabs my shoulder. "Scarlett, what's wrong?"

"I know… I know who the White Knight is."

"Who?"

Tears build in my eyes. "He wears pilot wings on his collar. He left us to train. He left us to fight," I whisper. "Jax is the White Knight."

Corrine jumps in her chair. Wytt drops his jaw. Kai's eyes fill with sorrow. Then awe. "He's… he's incredible."

"He is," I say.

The White Knight lands a strike, knocking the Black to the ground. All he needs is a final blow. He raises his swords. He hesitates. The poison.

Crixus slashes Jax's arm, slicing through the armor. The White Knight stumbles back. He falls to his knees.

This is it.

I must choose. Jax or Crixus.

There is no choice.

"Evie, hack Crixus' eGlass. Distract him with something loud."

She does, and the Black Knight grabs his ears.

Jax can barely stand, but stand he does. He charges forward.

And rams his sword into Crixus' side.

The Black Knight collapses, bleeding onto the sand. He holds up his hand. On the projection, I see he holds up two fingers. The old symbol for surrender.

The crowd gasps. Then cheers.

Jax removes his helmet. His brown hair falls in his eyes. He smiles.

And everyone is silent. Murmurs spread. "
A Zenith?"
"
I never thought…
he was incredible
." The Pope rises, quieting all.

"Kneel, Sir Jaxton Lux, Champion of Vianney. And tell me, what do you wish for your Boon?"

He kneels. "I desire to be a Knight of the Third."

"Granted. Now rise—"

"And I desire a title and lands."

The crowd gasps. A second Boon. He asks too much.

The projection shows the Pope, his face young and cold. He grins. "So be it. You shall no longer be Sir Jaxton Lux, Knight of the Fourth, but Lord Jaxton of the House of Argent, Knight of the Third, Champion of Vianney. Rise, White Knight."

He rises.

And the crowd erupts in cheers.

Jax raises his sword. "Upon my land, I shall build an Academy. And there, all Zeniths will be welcome to train and master their abilities. All Zeniths will be treated as people. Because it is what all Zeniths deserve."

As the cheers continue, I study the royalty and grandmasters around me. Most look stunned. Ragathon is seething. But Varian… Varian nods, a proud look in his eyes.

And I realize, he was Jax's first sponsor.

Few of the royalty appear to share his view. But this fight wasn't for them. This fight was for the people. Thousands of them fill the seats. And they begin to chant.

"All Zeniths. All Zeniths."

I wonder if they believe their words, or are they so easily persuaded by charisma.

And then their chant changes.

"Jax. Jax. Jax."

He's doing it. He's rising up the ranks, and he's changing the world.

I smile and meet his eyes.

For the first time, he notices me. He grins.

And then he collapses, shaking.

I jump from my seat. The poison isn't done.

Crixus begins to stand. He talks into my eGlass. "This isn't over. We can still win. Red Eagles, these people have lost their way. Destroy them."

Explosions tear apart the arena, blowing the people across from me into bits of flesh and bone. Soldiers of black and red jump from the roof, slowing down with thrusters. They land in the sand and begin to fire.

Crixus stands over Jax. He places a blade at his throat. He speaks, his voice amplified for all to hear. "Goodbye, Lord Jax of the House of Argent. The others of your kind will soon join you."

He raises his sword.

And Kai jumps into the arena. His blade extends into a whip, yanking Crixus toward him.

The Black Knight twists free and counterstrikes.

Kai blocks.

And they fight.

***

I am surrounded by smoke and fire and dust and death. I am surrounded by the consequences of my actions. I sided with Crixus. I encouraged him to be the leader his parents dreamed of. 

And that leader does not lose.

The Pope disappears into the arena. The Red Eagles jump after him.

I jump after Kai.

The people I care for will not suffer because of me.

Kai and Crixus trade strikes. Crixus is injured, but Kai has no proper armor. They are matched.

"Evie, hack Crixus' eGlass again."

"I can't," she says. "He's disabled it."

Then I have to fight.

Dust and smoke spiral around me, clouding my vision.

I stop at Jax. He's trembling, but he's alive. I grab one of his swords, and charge at Crixus.

The Black Knight spins away, striking me with an armored fist. I fall to the sand. Kai attempts to take advantage, but Crixus blocks in time. Kai strikes again, driving him back.

I need to help, but they are far more skilled fighters, and my ability won't work through the Black Knight's thick armor. I need another weapon.

I find a fallen Red Eagle.

I grab their gun and aim at Crixus.

I fire.

The Black Knight's shoulder plate explodes, and he stumbles back. Kai charges, ready to strike.

He stops.

His eyes narrow at something through the dust.

A Red Eagle.

Holding a blade to Corrine's throat. Her dress is torn and blood-splattered, her eyes an inky mess from tears and makeup, but she doesn’t look harmed. Not yet.

"Let her go," yells Kai.

"Drop your sword," says Crixus.

No. This can't be happening.

No.

Kai drops his sword.

"You were always so loved by everyone, Prince of Ravens," says Crixus. He raises his hand.

And the Red Eagle slices Corrine's throat.

A thin red line forms on her pale flesh, spreading as she crumbles to the ground, her head flopping back at an unnatural angle.

Pain claws its way out of my throat as a primal scream.

"Now," says Crixus. "It's my turn."

He lifts his sword.

And runs it through Kai's heart.

Brother and sister lay in the sand. Their hands reach for each other as blood pools around them. As the life leaves their eyes. As death claims them.

I fall to my knees, weeping. Emotions overwhelm me. Rage for Crixus. Sorrow for Kai and Corrine. Disgust at myself and what I have wrought.

Crixus gestures to his soldier, and they disappear into the smoke and dust. Nothing can be seen around us through the billows of brown clouds.

There is still something I can do.

An impossible choice stands before me. One I must make in between heartbeats. Save Kai, or save Corinne.

I can't save them both.

Whichever choice I make will weigh on my heart forever.

I look over to Kai, who has fallen. Is dying. And I hear his voice in my head. In my heart.
I came here to protect them. To protect Corinne, especially. She's the best of us all. I would give my life for her.

And I know the choice I have to make. The choice that will break me. 

I turn away from Kai and run to Corinne. I save the person he would want me to save. And I let Kai die.

I am not injured. My body isn't, at any rate. My heart, well, I will have to think about my heart later. I can't process what I've done. I can't hold that level of loss in my mind right now. I would break, and too many people are hurt. I can't break right now. I try to block out what just happened.

The choice.

The blood.

The taste of Corinne's life on my lips as I chose her, saved her, left Kai. I went back for him, but it was too late. Even my powers couldn't bring him to life. But at least I found Jax alive, if unconscious. He was taken away, taken to heal. I tried to help in whatever ways I could, finding those hurt or injured, getting help to those who needed it. Now that things are settling, now that the Pope is safe and the area secured, I have to find my friends. I need to know they are okay.

The Infirmary has spilled out into the courtyard as the injured take up more beds than the room can hold.

But Corinne, Wytt and Jax are inside. They are the only people I care about right now.

As I walk through the beds, stepping around busy Hospitallers trying to treat all the wounded, I click on my eGlass. "Evie, get me Zorin."

"Are you okay?" he says.

"Physically, yes. The rest will have to wait. First, you need to organize the Dark Templars to find Crixus."

"Already done," Zorin says. "But he's disappeared, gone into hiding. We can't track him."

I want to punch something. "Okay, keep trying and keep me posted. I have to go."

I click off my eGlass and walk into the Infirmary. I see Corinne sitting up on a stretcher drinking some Life Force. She's going to be drinking a lot of that now. This isn't the time to tell her. I don't know when will be the time, but not now.

I walk over and hug her. "Are you okay?" I ask.

"Miraculously, yes," she says. "I know this sounds crazy, but I thought… I just have this feeling that I was hurt a lot worse. But I seem to be okay." She places a small hand over her throat, which is covered in a gauzy white bandage.

"It looked a lot worse," I lie. "The cut didn't go deep. It should heal fast."

Her eyes fill with tears. "Scarlett, how could this happen? I don't understand. How could Kai…"

She can't finish the sentence, and I don't blame her. I'm not ready to cry. I can't. So I hug her again and sit next to her on the bed. "I know. I know."

She sniffs. "Wytt's okay. He's hurt, but not horribly. He's flirting with all the nurses of course." She kind of laughs, though I can see it hurts her heart. I kind of smile. We will all kind of be okay, and kind of not. Because how are you ever okay after something like this? "I think he can't accept what happened to Kai yet. He's not ready."

I nod. I'm not ready either. "Have you heard anything about Jax?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "They aren't telling us much. And they aren't letting me or Wytt go, even though these beds would be better used for someone truly injured." She glares at the staff bustling around. "Just because of our royal blood. We don't deserve special treatment."

I kiss her forehead. "Just rest. Everyone who needs a bed, has one." I have no idea if that's true or not, but it seems to make her feel better.

"I need to find Jax," I say, squeezing her hand. "Will you be all right?"

She shrugs. "I guess we all have to be all right now. Don't we?"

I nod. "I guess so. I'll check on you soon."

It takes me a good twenty minutes of panic-induced searching to find Jax. Corinne was right that no one's being forthcoming with any information. When I do track him down, he's in his own room and is still unconscious, from the poison or injury I can't tell.

"Evie," I say to my eGlass, "can you hack into the medical records and find me anything on Jax's condition?"

"I've tried, but they aren't using the database. It seems in the chaos, they are using paper charts."

"Great."

I lay my hand on his, my heart torn apart. "I can't lose you, too," I tell him.

Tears flow then. I can't stop them. I rest my head gently on his chest to hear his heartbeat. It does, strong and rhythmic and my tears spill onto his chest, bandaged up and covered.

"Be well, okay?" I run a finger over his forehead, pushing aside a strand of hair. "I need you."

I stand and walk toward the door when I hear his scratched voice call out my name.

"Scarlett?"

I turn, tears still falling down my cheeks. "Jax?"

I run back over to his bed and hold his hand. He pushes himself up and wipes a tear from my cheek. "I'm okay."

He pulls me into a hug, and I try not to squeeze too hard. "I missed you."

He speaks into my hair, holding my head in his hands. "I missed you too, Star."

***

I spend the next two days hovering over the people I love but also wishing I could disappear and be alone. I'm watching Corinne constantly, looking for signs of her transformation, trying to think of how to tell her what I did. And what it cost us all.

We're sitting in the dining hall. I'm sipping a Life Force and watching Corinne, who pushes food around on her plate. Wytt leans in. "You sick?"

She shrugs. "Just not hungry."

"You have to try," he says. "We all have to try."

He's not just talking about eating. A piece of us is missing. We all feel it. Jaden and Lana bring their trays over and join us, but don't say much. The mood everywhere at Castle V is somber.

My eGlass buzzes in my ear, and Evie's voice alerts me to a new message. I click to play. It's Trix asking what they should do next. I type a message on my eBand.

Can't talk now. Don't know next step. Need more time alone.

They won't like that answer, but I'm not sure what else to say. I don't know where we go from here. Crixus has disappeared. No one knows where to find him. And I…

I just need time.

Halfway through lunch, Corinne excuses herself to go back to our room. Wytt catches my eye with a worried frown. He stands and holds out his arm. "Walk with me, fair maiden?"

I give a small smile at his attempt at normalcy. "Sure."

I take his arm and we walk through the courtyard. It's still cold, and our feet leave prints in the new snow.

"I'm worried about Corinne," he says. "She's not herself."

"None of us are," I remind him.

He sighs. "That's true."

We walk in silence for a few moments.

"Kai always underestimated his role in our lives," Wytt says. "He was my hero. I wanted to be just like him. I don't think he—"

Wytt's voice catches on his grief, and I squeeze his arm. "He knew," I say. "He knew you loved him. He loved you two more than anything. He would have done anything for you."
He did do anything for you.

Wytt looks at me with a small smile. "He felt the same about you."

I promise Wytt I'll keep an eye on Corinne, and I head to our shared room.

She's lying in bed staring at the ceiling, a blank sketchbook in her hand, when I arrive.

"Corinne?"

She sits up. "Hey."

I pick up her sketchbook, draw a line with an X through it and hand it to her. "Do you know what this is?"

Her eyes widen. "The Nephilim symbol."

I nod. "There's something I have to tell you."