The Taking 02: Hover (18 page)

Chapter 27

I take my time getting dressed while Jackson grabs us some vitamin tonic from the kitchen. I dress in all black, fitted clothes, making sure that I can move easily in them. I have no idea what going up against Zeus will entail, but I’m not ruling out combat fighting and something tells me Zeus is much tougher than his age would suggest.

I run through potential scenarios as I open the weapons drawer in our closet, torn between using the gun Jackson gave me originally, the RES gun, or choosing something else entirely. Various knives and guns shine brightly back at me, all eager to be used. I grab a small knife from the stash, pulling it from its sheath. It’s nothing special, a standard six-inch fixed blade, one side razor sharp, the other serrated. I strap it to my right leg and walk around, checking to make sure I can still move easily. Satisfied, I return to the drawer and select one of the force field guns I saw the RESs training with a few weeks ago. With Zeus, immobilizing him will be key.

I slide the gun into my left boot and test my ability to move again. All feels good, so I start for the door, and then hesitating, choose another gun just in case. Dad always said you can’t have too many guns, and if nothing else, at root I am my father’s daughter through and through.

Feeling confident with my selections, I peek around at the clock. Ten thirty. Jackson went to get the tonics nearly thirty minutes ago. Worry slices through my insides, and I’m out the door, running through the hall. “Jackson? Jackson, where are you?” The common room is empty, the kitchen dark. There are no sounds through the house, no hints at all that he’s there somewhere, doing something and just lost track of time. I make my way into the kitchen, unsure of what else to do, and freeze. The kitchen looks completely untouched, except for two cups on the countertop, one knocked on its side, its orange contents still dripping to the floor. I feel my chest constrict, my lungs unwilling to suck in a breath. “Jackson…please,” I call, but I know he won’t answer. He’s gone, and only one person could have done this.

He knows. Knows all of it maybe. Which means Jackson isn’t just gone, he’s being used as bait.

The thought sends my body into turbo mode. I head back to the weapons’ drawer and shove another couple of knives and a gun into my boots and pants, anywhere I can think to hide one. Forget going in stealth-like. This changes everything.

I run into Vill on my way out, my mind so focused that I don’t hear him calling my name until I’m halfway down the front steps.

“Ari, what’s wrong? What happened?” he asks as I turn.

“They have Jackson.”

“Who?”

“Zeus. He took Jackson.”

“I don’t understand.”

I sigh loudly. “Look, I don’t have time to explain. Zeus took Jackson. We have mere hours before the plan starts. And I have to somehow find Jackson, release him from whatever hold he’s under, and kill Zeus. So as I was saying, I don’t have time for this.” I set off down the street, Vill now on my heels.

“Wait, you can’t just—Ari, wait. I can help.” He grabs my arm to stop me and I wiggle free, growing more frustrated by the second.

“You know Zeus, Vill. You know what he’s capable of. I gave the order to start our evacuation plan already. Everything is in motion. We only have a few hours to get Jackson out of there. Do you understand what I’m telling you? I don’t have time to create a new plan. There’s only time for action.” I start back for the bridge, when I feel his arm on me again. “Don’t make me hurt you. I don’t want that, but I will if you try to stand in my way.”

“I know where Zeus likely took him. I can help if you’ll let me.”

I stop, seeing for the first time just how worried he is over his cousin. “Okay, talk then. But you’ll have to talk as we walk. You think he’s in the Castello building?”

Vill keeps pace beside me. “Yes. I’m guessing in one of the holding cells in the basement. They aren’t used anymore, but they were built to question captives back when Zeus was waging war against the other regions. There’s a back entrance.”

“Good thinking.”

“Yeah, what were you going to do? Walk through the main entrance, point a gun, and demand Jackson? I’m sure that would have worked perfectly.”

I don’t look over. “Honestly, I haven’t given a lot of thought to how I’m going to get him. All I know is that I have to. There’s no telling what Zeus will do to him.” I swallow hard to keep my thoughts in check. I don’t want to think of what horrors Jackson is enduring right this second, all because of me. He won’t kill him, but death would be merciful compared to what Zeus might do.

I pick up my speed. “Do you think Zeus is with him?”

“Oh you can count on it.”

“Good.”

We slow down as we reach the Castello building and edge around to the back, though I’m sure Zeus already knows we’re there. Vill holds the back door for me and we go down a set of stairs that remind me of Jackson and my break into Parliament headquarters. It feels like years ago since we were there. I remember thinking that everything was so complicated, so intense. That day was a chocolate covered rainbow compared to what I’m walking into.

The basement level of the building has the same look and feel as the Vortex, all gray and business. Vill points down the long hallway in front of us, ignoring the six doors on the right and left along the way. “At the end of the hall is a containment room. It was once used to get information out of hostages.”

“And you think Jackson’s there?” I ask, lowering my voice, though I’m not sure why. If Zeus can see us, he can also hear us.

“One way to find out.” Vill is at the end of the hall before I realize it’s a setup. I call out for Vill just as the containment door opens and a guard exits, knocking Vill out with the butt of his gun. Another guard steps out and then Zeus appears from the shadows.

“Would you believe he said you wouldn’t come?” Zeus says, his hands behind him as he walks slowly toward me. “I assured him your love was stronger than that, but he claimed you wouldn’t be so foolish. He is too young yet to realize that love is tantamount to fool.” His head jerks. “T-tantamount: equivalent in seriousness to, virtually the same.”

“You’re insane.”

He smiles. “Greatness often mingles with insanity. They are, after all, old friends.”

“Where is he? What have you done with him?”

The smile deepens into an evil grin. “In time.” He continues forward as I reach behind me for the guns strapped to my back. “Admirable, but I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” He looks over my shoulder and I turn to see two more guards closing in on me. “See, I knew they would at some point ask you to kill me. Honestly, I’m surprised they had to ask. But what fun would it be to simply watch you try? I had to give you a reason to succeed. Hence, my grandson. Nothing ignites the passion to kill like threatening someone we love, wouldn’t you agree?”

“How would you know? Like you’ve ever loved anyone in your life.” I glance between the two guards, the intensity of the situation causing my senses to heighten. And then the decision is made before I’ve consciously accepted it, and I’m in motion, to Zeus before he can respond, whipping a knife from my boot, securing him from behind, and placing the knife to his neck. The guards all start forward. “Make a move and this knife finds its home in his throat.”

“I find it humorous that you feel you have the control here.”

“Well, I am the one with a knife to your throat.”

Zeus laughs, causing the knife to slice into his skin. “Very well, bring her out,” he says. I shake my head in confusion, assuming he’s talking to me, when the middle right door opens and another guard steps out, this one with a gun to Mami’s head.

I gasp, torn between keeping my position and rushing to save her. A million thoughts zoom through my head all at once—How did this happen? Did someone betray us? Who else does he have?—and then I realize I’m ticking toward a mental breakdown and force myself to draw a long steadying breath. I focus in on the gun, on the guard, and start to close my eyes when Mami speaks, her voice as calm as a spring breeze, “No. Focus on him, not me. He won’t kill me.” Her gaze falls on Zeus, equal parts disappointment and rage. “Will you, love? You’re too afraid to be alone. That’s why you keep your guards so close. Deep down you’re afraid.”

“Do you believe her words, Ari?” Zeus says, his voice taking on the manic tone I’ve heard from him when he’s at his craziest.

“Mami…”

“And do you want to know who he fears most?” she asks. “You. Because he knows you’re the one who is going to destroy him.”

My eyes dart to the guard, poised to shoot. What is Mami doing? She’s going to get herself killed! “Mami—” I stop at the look on her face. Oh no.
No
, I think, hoping she can hear me.
You can’t do this. Don’t.

Sirens sound from outside, and I know they’ve intercepted our escape route, that the fight has begun. I have to get to Jackson. Time is running out.
Mami, please…

Get to Jackson. He’s locked in Zeus’s office. I’m counting on you. He’s the only thing in the world that matters to me.
Her gaze turns soft.
I’m so thankful he found you.
Then she closes her eyes and the lights flash in the hall. The guard yells out in pain. “Stay strong, child,” Mami says. Zeus opens his mouth, but I’ll never know what he was going to say. A shot rings through the hall, Mami’s eyes widen, and then her body slumps to the floor.

“No!” Zeus screams, and in one quick movement, he’s out of my hold and to the guard, snapping his neck as though it’s nothing but a twig. He collapses on his knees beside Mami, his head jerking in shock. “Can’t. No. This—no, Mami, no.” I think he’s going to break into sobs, when he leaps up and starts for me, his eyes on fire. “You did this.”

“No. You have tortured her every day of her life with you. Don’t get remorseful now.
You
did this.” My lip shakes as I glance back at her limp body. “You killed her. And now I’m going to kill you.” I focus my gaze on him, listening to the drum of his heart, the gentle whooshing of his breath. I follow the sounds to the organs that create them, and then with a single blink of the eye, I lock in on them, sucking the life from each faster than xylem can heal them. Zeus bucks forward onto his hands and knees from the shock of it. I walk toward him, never feeling so satisfied in all my life. Finally, this monster who has created so much turmoil will be gone, and we can all live peacefully on Earth.

“Is that what you think?” he manages to wheeze out. “There is…no…such thing…as peace.” He falls sideways and I stand over him, torn between watching him die and getting to Jackson quickly.

And that moment of hesitation is what gives Zeus his single chance to strike. He pulls a knife from his pants and shoves it into my calf. I cry out, releasing my mental hold on him, and he leaps up, tossing me hard to the ground and reaching back to stab me again. I block his arm just as the knife is about to pierce my chest, grunting with the effort of holding him back.

Like Emmy, he has strength far greater than expected of his age and after several seconds of holding him, I feel my muscles wavering and the knife dips closer to my chest. I close my eyes, trying to find something, anything in me, to use against him, but the effort of holding him back has zapped all my focus.

“Oh how nice it will be to watch you die,” Zeus says, and then suddenly he screams out in pain. He falls away from me into a ball on the ground, clawing at his head. I jump up, more afraid than I’ve ever been in my life, and glance around, desperate to find whoever is doing this to Zeus. And that’s when I see Vill standing a few yards away, his eyes trained on Zeus, and I know he’s using his mind to weaken Zeus.

“Well come on, we don’t have all day,” he says to me.

“I’m not leaving until I know he’s dead.” I start forward, just as two more guards round the corner, their weapons drawn.

“Freeze. Weapons down!” they scream.

Vill tries to maintain his focus on Zeus, but each second Zeus grows stronger, pushing away Vill’s power over him. I eye the guards and then Zeus, knowing I have only seconds. I rip the gun from my left boot and fire twice at the guards, just as one shoots. I race forward, not stopping to make sure the guards are down, not stopping to make sure Vill is okay, all thought, all my energy on Zeus. I reach him, just as he leaps up, his knife raised.

“What now, Ari dear?”

He lunges forward just as a shot rings out through the halls. His body freezes midmotion, shock envelops his face, and then a blot of blood spreads across his shirt. I glance around frantically and see Mami’s head raised, a gun in her hand. She must have pulled it from the guard who shot her. I rush to her and her arm drops, the gun sliding across the floor.

“Mami? Are you okay? Mami?” I search for her wound, but her entire torso is covered in blood. I place a hand on her face. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Her eyes glass over and she takes a jagged breath. “Take care of him.” Then her head falls to the side.

I feel a hand touch my shoulder and I whip around, pulling a knife from my pocket. Vill raises his hands. “It’s just me. We have to go.”

I glance once more at Mami, my heart heavy, then stand. I walk over to Zeus and stare at his lifeless body, expecting him to snap back to life, return from the dead like one of those monsters in our storybooks back home. But he doesn’t move, his chest no longer lifts and his eyes no longer flutter. Every part of him is still, and for the first time since coming to Loge, an overwhelming sense of security washes over me. I had no idea just how afraid I was of Zeus until that moment. And now that he’s gone, I’m ready to go home. I’m ready to see my family and friends and to let them know that the fight is over.

Zeus is dead.

Chapter 28

Vill directs us through a series of hallways, to a set of stairs that leads up through the center of the building. Shots continue to go off in the distance, and in the back of my mind I wonder how many we’ve lost and what I could have done to better prepare them for the fight. But for now, I can’t worry about that. I have to get to Jackson.

The stab wound in my leg has nearly healed, but despite xylem’s healing properties, the wound still feels sensitive, like a fresh bruise. I remind myself that pain is a mental thing, that I can block it out. I have to.

We reach Zeus’s office to find a pair of guards waiting, as though they knew we’d arrive at just that moment. Worry seeps through my core. Vill didn’t kill the other two guards, just wounded them, so maybe they called up. That has to be it…Zeus can’t be alive. Mami shot him. His body was still. But I didn’t check for a pulse. Why didn’t I check for a pulse?

Suddenly loud footsteps close in on us from all sides, and within seconds, we’re surrounded, twelve guards to the two of us.

“This isn’t good,” Vill says out of the corner of his mouth.

“On the count of three, you get into the office and find Jackson. I’ll hold them back here and then meet you inside.”

I draw a long breath, ignoring the shouts from the guards for us to stand down, to drop our weapons before they shoot. “One, two, THREE!”

Vill races for the office door, while I fire at the guards closest to me, and take off down the hall to my left, hoping I can divert them from Vill long enough for him to find Jackson. A series of doors comes up on my right and left and I dip into the first one I see, crouching down out of view of the glass and wait until I hear the guards rush past. I can tell by the footsteps that not all of them followed, but hopefully enough did that I can handle the ones remaining by Zeus’s door.

I peek out the glass to make sure the hall is clear and edge out of the room and back down the hall the way I came toward Zeus’s office. Glancing around the corner, I can see two guards remaining, but know there could be others out of view. Regardless, I have to get inside that office.

I duck my head to ready myself for what I’m about to do. If there are more than four guards out there, I’m likely going to get shot. I close my eyes and try to sense them, their emotions, something, but feel nothing. They must be trained to control them in a fight situation.

I pull a second gun and swing out from behind the wall, both guns raised. As expected, there are two others waiting for me, both firing the moment I appear. I shoot quickly, racing for the door, and slip through just as a bullet grazes my arm. I scramble up and lock the door, spinning around with both guns poised to shoot, but the office is empty. The guards try to get through the door to no avail, so feeling safe from that side, I edge forward, my eyes alert for any movement. Being this close to the window, I can hear almost constant firing, much more than expected, which means some of the Ancients have joined in the fight. They’ve rebelled. All I can hope is that more are with us than against us.

There are four doors in Zeus’s office, one being the one I just locked, so that leaves three to check. I reach the first on the left, gently turning the knob, then jerk it open, gun extended. A closet. An empty closet. I start for the next door, when a loud scream of pain sounds from the third. Vill.

I’m across the room in one leap and through the door before my mind can slow me down. It’s a long hallway that seems to go on forever, like a secret passageway. I realize I have no idea where I’m going, so I stop and listen, hoping to hear voices or sense someone’s emotions. After several seconds, I continue forward softly, not wanting to miss a sound. I’m about to round a corner, when a familiar voice calls out, “No need to hurry. He’s already passed out.”

I turn the corner to see Lydian over Vill’s body and something comes alive within me at being betrayed so completely. Something cold, something soulless—something deadly. On some level, I have always had too much care for the enemy. I don’t enjoy war, the hypocrisy of it. We send in people to fight, who then become our enemies, yet those people are just doing their jobs. We fight each other because some higher figure tells us to. It’s not our fight, it’s theirs, yet they are cowards in their offices, watching while we bleed each other to death.

I have watched as Parliament issued a mass killing to their people. I have watched as Zeus killed for no other reason than to show his own strength. No more. These people can fight each other if they want, but I will not stand by while another innocent—human or Ancient alike—dies in this stupid war.

I drop my head and gaze up at her, my expression lethal. “Where is Jackson?”

“He is…detained?”

I start forward, instantly feeling Lydian’s strength pushing me back, but I continue on, fighting against it with a will stronger than anything I’ve felt before. “Where is he?”

“I told you—”

“Where is he?” I shout, firing the gun so it hits the wall, narrowly missing her head. “The next shot hits you square. That’s my one and only warning. Where is he, you traitor?”

Lydian’s jaw sets, and then a wave of nausea washes over me and it’s all I can do to stay standing. But I do. I hold my ground, locking my feet to the spot and concentrating on my own energy, breathing into it like oxygen to a flame. I won’t let her weaken me.

“You can throw everything you have at me and I won’t fall. I will
never
fall.” I raise my gun and shoot, hitting Lydian in the chest. Her body flies backward. Any other day I would feel a hint of guilt in my chest, something that reminds me that I’m human, but that’s gone now. I’m no longer a child. They’ve all taken that from me, stolen it from my very soul, leaving behind some remnants of a person. I don’t know what I am now—part human, part Ancient—but I do know that it doesn’t matter. None of that matters. I shoot again and her body slides down the wall, leaving a trail of blood in its wake.

I kneel beside her. “The next shot is a kill shot. Tell me where he is, now.”

Her body shakes as her eyes lock on mine. “He was never here, you stupid girl. All of this was a distraction. You thought you could beat Zeus. You can’t.” She closes her eyes and reopens them slowly.

“Zeus is dead. I watched him die.”

She smirks. “Are you sure about that?”

A rush of adrenaline courses through me. Why didn’t I check his pulse? Why? I press the gun to her temple. “Where is Jackson?”

Her breathing becomes labored. Xylem can heal her wounds, but it can’t push out the bullet. She’s slowly bleeding to death. “He’s gone. Zeus took him. Don’t you see? All this is for nothing. You can’t beat him, Ari.”

“We’ll see about that.” I rush over to Vill and press my palm to him, pushing some of my energy into him so he can heal. After an excruciating second he sits up, a trail of sweat on his face.

“What happened?”

“Zeus is alive. He has Jackson.” I start for the door beside Lydian, hoping it leads out of the building when she says, “You won’t make it. They’re already gone.”

I take one more look at her before firing a final bullet into her head. “Thanks for the confidence.” And then I’m racing through the door, forgetting everything else—all that I’ve done and all I know I’m about to do. I have to find Jackson. I feel myself slipping away, each second a fraction of me rips away from my body and I know he’s the only one who can keep me whole. Without him…without him, I don’t know what I’ll become.

Sure enough, the door leads to a private exit and within seconds, Vill and I are outside the back of the building, the gunfire so loud now it’s almost deafening.

“Where should we go? Where would he have taken him?”

Vill considers for a moment, then grabs my hand. “This way. He’s at the port.”

I run to keep pace with Vill, who’s directing us through the woods, toward the Juniper Gardens. “Why would he go to the port?”

“It’s quick access to the other regions. He’s either going to another region or teleporting to Earth. I can’t imagine he’d go to Earth yet. He’s got to be going to another region.”

I pull Vill to a stop. “What if he’s already gone? What then?”

Vill looks away. “Let’s hope we get there in time.”

We keep pace through the woods, around the factories, and slip into the Taking Forest, the fight coming into sight. There are fifty or more guards around the port, firing at random. Shots shine bright in the darkness from around the Panacea, and I realize with joy that those must be allies. We’re still in the fight.

Vill leads us to the back of the port, and we’re almost inside, when I hear fast footsteps approaching from behind and I turn just as someone slams me to the ground. I fight against the male guard, and then Vill fires, shooting him in the back. I roll his body off me and clamor to standing. “Thanks.”

My eyes dart around, but so far no one else is advancing, so we slip inside the port. It’s completely contained, no windows, and only the two doors on opposing sides. There is nothing inside, only two stone columns etched with symbols and characters, spaced at least six feet apart, and then a screen beside it with columns listing places and times.

“Is that it?” I ask.

Vill nods, concern on his face. “They’ve already gone, Ari. Here,” he says, pointing at the screen. “Someone left two minutes ago for the Briya region. That had to be them.”

“Well then let’s go. We can head there too, right?”

Vill stares at the ground, his head shaking in defeat.

“Vill?”

Just then the door we came through bursts open, and Cybil, along with five others, rushes in, shutting the door hard behind them and leaning against it. “They’re coming,” she says.

“What about the Unity tree? What happened?” I ask.

“They knew, Ari. I got some through before they came, then circled back here to get others before they realized what we were doing. They knew everything. We have to get out of here. Now.” Her expression changes. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t. He has Jackson. I can’t leave him, Cybil. I can’t.”

A pounding starts on the opposite door, and Vill and two others rush over to block it. I suck in a sharp breath, sure that any second my mind is going to crack. I glance from door to door, my eyes wide, unsure of what to do.

Cybil is to me in one long step. “Ari!” She shakes me hard. “What happened?”

I meet her gaze. “I thought I killed Zeus, but I didn’t. I didn’t. He’s alive. And he has Jackson. We don’t know if they’ve already gone through or haven’t made it here yet. There’s a time stamp for travel to Briya, but we aren’t sure.”

Suddenly the sound of gunfire starts to close in. I have seconds to make this decision. Seconds.

“Ari,” Cybil says.

I press my palms to my face and scream into them in frustration.

“Ari!”

I glance up at her, and for the first time, realize just how lucky I have been that she was here. I might have lost myself a long time ago if not for her. “You go. Take the others through. I’ll be right behind you. I just have to be sure.”

“Ari, he might not even be a—”

“No. Don’t say it. He’s alive. I know it.”

Cybil sighs heavily. “All right.” She turns to the others. “I’ll go in first in case we’re attacked on the other side. Remember, we’re going to the woods in Sydia. Follow close behind. I want someone going through every second, understand?” She pulls me into a tight hug. “See you soon?”

“Soon,” I repeat. And then she crosses through the columns, disappearing immediately. The rest continue to go through, one after another, until they’re all gone and it’s just Vill and me, blocking both of the doors, waiting, though I already know it’s futile. They’re gone.

“We have to go, Ari,” Vill says to me. “We have to go. I promised him.” I shake my head frantically, but before I can say a word, a force hits the door I’m standing against, knocking me forward. Vill races to me, grabs me around the waist, and yanks me through the the port, leaving everything behind.

“No!” I scream, and then a strange sensation rushes over me, beginning at my head and spiraling to my feet, over and over again, until finally I’m being tugged forward, and I fall onto my hands and knees into a bed of leaves.

Coughing hard, I scramble up to standing. “No! Jackson!” I start forward, when the sound of a gun cocking from behind me stops me cold.

“Weapons down,” someone shouts. I turn slowly and feel my stomach drop. Cybil and the others are all on the ground, cuffed. Vill is unconscious beside me. And there are Operatives on all sides, all heavily armed, all preparing to shoot.

“I’m Ari Alexander,” I say. “I have been working with my father, Commander Alexander, and Lawrence Cartier to take down Zeus and bring the humans home. I am not a threat. We are not a threat.”

“Weapon down!” the Operative in front of me shouts again.

“You don’t understand, I’m—”

“We know who you are,” he says, aligning the laser on his gun with my chest.

This can’t be happening. “I’m not sure who gave you your orders, but if you could just—”

“I gave the order.”

My insides sour as the voice registers in my mind. Law.

Lawrence steps around the Operative, dressed in Operative gear himself. “I gave the order,” he repeats. “Now drop your weapon.” He pulls a gun, and I feel like I’ve stepped into a nightmare. Law doesn’t handle guns.

This isn’t right. This isn’t real. It can’t be. This
can’t
be.

I hear the safety click off, and the world around me stops. “Law…what are you doing?”

“Drop your weapon!”

“Law—”

He fires, I feel a sharp pain in my gut…and then everything goes dark.