Chapter 8
EIGHT
JACK
The first thing Jack felt was pain—a deep throbbing, like someone was battering his skull with a steel hammer. Jack winced, realizing two things at the same time. First, he was in some kind of carriage, and the bumps had rattled him to wakefulness. Whoever was driving was in a hurry.
Second, he wasn’t the only one in the carriage. Abigail sat across from him on a long, leather bench. She was slumped down in a sitting position, her eyes closed.
Panic wrestled Jack’s thoughts away from the pain in his head, and he moved across the space between his carriage bench and the one upon which Abigail rested. He placed two fingers on the side of her neck.
Immediately, he was relieved. Her skin was warm, her pulse steady. Jack let out a sigh and allowed himself to relax for a brief moment.
Just as he let his guard down, the carriage jolted high into the air. Jack and Abigail were lifted off the ground and slammed down hard.
Incoherent yells came from somewhere overhead where the driver and his passenger were arguing.
Jack made sure Abigail was still in her seat before opening the carriage window and sticking his head outside.
He had an idea as to the identity of at least one of the carriage drivers, and he was going to give his mentor a piece of his mind.
Whatever Saber’s position was in the New Order, he had no right to knock them unconscious and take them along to Azra. He had basically kidnapped both Jack and Abigail. Jack hadn’t signed up to be a slave to anyone.
Jack unlatched the black metal hook holding the thick window in place. As soon as he swung it open, the actual noise of the mayhem filled the carriage, along with a rush of wind.
Shouts from multiple voices rang out, not only above Jack, but also behind and all around him. Jack’s eyes went wide as he took in the severity of their situation. Three carriages and at least a dozen riders had just exited New Hope, all riding hard as they left the city.
Shouts echoed all around, the rushing wind playing with the voices, making them faint when they were actually only a few yards away. Jack recognized a few of the riders who made up their caravan. They were all members of the New Order.
The stars and the moon gave Jack just enough light to also make out a rush of bodies exiting the New Hope gates behind them. Vampire soldiers—more vampires than Jack had ever seen or could imagine—poured after them.
“I thought you said we had another day, at the very least?” Sasha’s voice reached Jack’s ears from a spot on the upper carriage bench. “I just got in from Azra. I could have just stayed there.”
“Yeah, well, I guess our new queen gets over her grief quickly. I didn’t expect her to attack before her sister was even in the ground.
” Saber leaned over from his spot next to his sister.
He smiled at Jack with a surprised grin.
“Glad to see you, kid. We could really use your help right about now.”
“Are you crazy!” Jack screamed up at the grinning, one-eyed madman. “No, I can answer that myself. You are crazy. You knock us out and then expect me to help you?”
“Just because I’m crazy doesn’t mean I wasn’t right in doing what I did.” Saber drew his pistol, pointing it at Jack’s face. He fired without hesitation.
BAM!
The bullet exited Saber’s pistol, whizzing so close to Jack’s ear, he could feel the wind as it passed. Jack turned just in time to see the bullet topple its target: a New Hope vampire soldier who’d managed to catch up to the fleeing carriage. Saber’s bullet took it square in its forehead.
The vampire soldier toppled backwards. Once again, Jack’s gaze was directed behind them. The massive walls of New Hope were beginning to diminish in the distance. The vampires chasing the fleeing New Order members, on the other hand, were only growing in size.
Jack was amazed by the vampires’ speed. Not only were they able keep pace with the fleeing horses, but they were also gaining on them little by little.
CRACK!
One of the other two carriages fleeing along with Jack had fallen behind.
In seconds, vampire soldiers were climbing all over the outside.
The sudden noise had come as one of the vampire soldiers had torn off a carriage wheel, and the horses screamed as the carriage tumbled into a pile of dirt and bodies.
BAM! BAM!
Gunfire tore through the air as the fleeing New Order members realized they weren’t going to escape without a fight. Hundreds of vampire soldiers still sprinted after them, looking like a black stain spreading over the landscape.
“Kid!?”
By the way Saber was yelling, Jack knew it wasn’t the first time he had called for him. He turned to the one-eyed leader of the New Order rebellion. Saber held out a gloved hand, offering to swing Jack up onto the top of the carriage.
“Want to buy our friends some time to make a run for it?” Saber smiled through the dark. What little illumination there was glinted off his white teeth. “What do you say?”
Jack accepted Saber’s hand. “I say we still need to talk about what you did.” Saber lifted Jack to an unsteady seat on the top of the carriage. “But right now, we need to save some lives.”
“For what it’s worth, I told him he was wrong.” Sasha looked over her shoulder for a brief moment, both hands on the black leather reins. “Whether I agree with your decision or not, it’s your decision to make.”
“Can we talk about this later?” Jack swayed on top of the carriage as they passed over an especially rocky piece of ground. He reached for the wand that stuck out of a holster on his right hip. “They’re gaining on us.”
“Pull back a little, Sasha.” Saber barked over his shoulder. “Let’s get between our group and the vampires. We’ll be the buffer.”
“Oh, great.” Sasha obeyed, allowing the horses to decrease their speed by just a fraction. “When you refer to us as a ‘buffer,’ I can’t wait to follow orders.”
Keeping steady on top of a speeding carriage was harder than it sounded. Jack wobbled and fought for his footing as he channeled his magic and sent green bolts of fire into the oncoming vampire ranks.
“There’s too many of them!” Jack fired again and again. He hit both times, striking one soldier in the chest and another in the right leg. Both erupted into balls of green flame.
“Naw, this is just what’s called a ‘target rich environment,’ kid.” Saber produced a pistol in each hand. “But I probably don’t have enough bullets with me for all of them.”
BAM! BAM!
Saber emptied his pistols. Two more vampires fell. As soon as they did, two others filled the empty spots in their ranks.
So far, their plan was working. The other remaining carriage and the horses carrying New Order rebels were ahead of Jack’s carriage. The downside to this arrangement? All of the vampire soldiers were solely focused on Jack and his friends, and they were closing in fast.
Another bump rocked Jack as he stumbled to a knee.
“What the f?—”
Jack missed the rest of what Abigail had said as he blasted one particularly quick vampire who reached for their carriage with an outstretched hand.
“Oh, you’re in for it now.” With a flick of his wrist, Jack extended his wand into a staff. The ranks of vampire were within yards of their carriage now, so close, Jack could see their red eyes hungry for blood. “She’s not going to be as nice as I was.”
Saber grunted as he unsheathed his mage sword he had held on to since their escape from the armory. The sword shone to life. Saber took a kneeling position at the edge of the carriage, swiping his blade at the oncoming vampires.
A moment later, Abigail’s head popped up over the carriage’s edge. She looked at Jack, then at Saber. “What in the name of all that is holy is going on!”