TWENTY-TWO JAY
TWENTY-TWO
JAY
By the time the guys came back from getting us supplies and reaching out to the Elementi, Lailah was in a deep sleep.
I felt like I could move now without fear of her waking up and feeling alone without one of us in bed with her.
Shushing them, I waved them over to the room my mother was sleeping in, knowing we wouldn’t wake her if what Lailah said about her was true, which I didn’t have any reason not to believe.
“How’s she doing?” Brayden asked.
“Well, she cried herself to sleep, but it looks like she’ll sleep soundly, which is all I can ask for right now,” I answered with a shrug. “I got her cleaned up and showered, so that seemed to settle her some. You didn’t grab any clothes by chance, did you?”
“Yeah, we found a little shopping area to get food and grabbed some basics. Hope she doesn’t mind wearing a dress. It was easier to grab that than pick out a whole bunch of clothes,” Hudson explained as he unpacked some of the bags, tossing me a pair of pants and a simple t-shirt.
I quickly changed before we got further into our conversation, then snagged a water bottle. “I know we all need sleep but we need to make a plan first. Rest will come easier if I know what the hell we’re gonna do when we wake up.”
“I was able to get in touch with Beth and filled her in on what happened. Let’s just say the news about Makoto didn’t go over well.
But now that we know his role in things, it helps her to keep information to herself.
There are networks he doesn’t have access to so that will help as long as there aren’t any of his people in the mix.
Beth said she is going to keep it to just Cami, Maggs, and herself for now, while we try and figure out who else is trustworthy,” Micah shared.
Nodding, I chugged down the bottle of water as I tried to determine what my father’s next steps would be.
He lost all of us and that would not make the Dark Lord happy.
I also didn’t think he learned what he wanted to from Lailah.
He could deduce some things from how we all got out of there, but that was still limited information.
The Dark Lord wanted to move up his plans, but it still seemed like he was missing something vital to making that happen and we were part of it.
Something to do with Lailah was keeping him from ruling the world, but he was being cautious on how he went after her, not knowing what powers she truly had.
I’d noticed that all the marks from her skin that the Dark Lord put there were gone, while still leaving all the other scars she got.
Could it be that her powers removed them like she did the venom in us?
If she could do that and heal my mother, was it possible that she was the antidote to the serum as well?
There were too many questions and not enough answers.
“Do we think it’s safe to say that the Dark Lord’s army is here?” Hudson inquired as he opened a bag of beef jerky to gnaw on.
“If there is one thing I don’t have doubt about, it’s that,” I stated, crushing the empty water bottle in my hand.
“My father has been protecting it from the Elementi for at least two years, leading us on a wild goose chase all over the fucking world. It makes me sick to think he’s been helping that bastard of a demon for who knows how long. ”
Hudson reached out and gripped my shoulders.
“Jay, there is no sense in beating yourself up when he had us all fooled. No one blames you for wanting to think the best of your father. I don’t think any of us would have done things differently.
What is important is that we know now and we’ll deal with the fallout. It doesn’t change the mission.”
He had a point, but it wasn’t their father who would have to be killed or arrested for their crimes against humanity. All I could do at this point was keep moving forward and make sure we didn’t lose anyone else to this battle. “We need to call Parker’s family. They deserve to know he’s gone.”
“Should we try and go back to find his body?” Brayden asked. “Seems like we owe it to him to at least try. He saved us all at the cost of his own life.”
“That fucking idiot shouldn’t have ever made a deal like that,” Micah snapped. “Who the hell would make such a stupid choice?”
Brayden shot to his feet and got up into his best friend’s face.
“You cut that shit out right now and be grateful for what he’s done for us.
If Lailah hears you talking like that, she’s going to lose her mind, asshole.
All of us know you hated the guy, but she loved him, even after all he put her through.
So take a moment to think before you say something that will hurt her. ”
My brows climbed in surprise at how aggressive Brayden was being about this. He wasn’t wrong and Micah should take a moment to deal with the fact that Lailah would mourn Parker for quite some time. This wasn’t something he could ignore.
“Fuck you, Brayden. You think I’m not pissed that he killed himself for me?
I don’t deserve a sacrifice like that from someone I was never even nice to,” Micah snarled, shoving Brayden back.
“I would never say shit like that in front of her. She’s been through enough.
It doesn’t change that Parker was selfish and in his last moments hurt her again.
Only this time, there’s no chance for him to make it up to her. ”
Ah, now I understood where this was coming from.
Micah was feeling like shit because Parker did the one thing no one else could to protect the woman we all loved.
If one of us died, we would kill her and take her down with us.
Parker wasn’t bonded to her, freeing him to make such a choice.
It could also be that Micah had a heart and was actually feeling bad about treating Parker the way he had the whole time we’d known him.
Not that Micah would ever admit that to a single soul, because heaven forbid the man was wrong about something.
“Fine, then get out whatever snarky bullshit things you need to before she wakes up,” Brayden shot back, not letting Micah get out of this easily.
“Parker was a brother to us and we need to honor him. I think we should try to find his body before we tell his parents. It will help if we can tell them the truth and have all the answers before we destroy their world.”
“That is a fair point,” I answered in agreement. “It’s best we have everything we can give them and not show up empty-handed.”
“You want to leave and head back to Ryevick?” Micah asked, a challenge clear in his voice. “We’re right where we need to be to end this. Why would we leave?”
I stabbed a finger in the direction of the other room. “You’re telling me if she wakes up unable to do anything but put one foot in front of the other, you’re going to make her fight a battle she doesn’t even want to be a part of? God, just when I didn’t think you could be a bigger jackass.”
“Fuck!” Micah swore, getting to his feet and pacing. “When did I become the punching bag?”
“Do you really need an answer to that?” Hudson asked, getting up from the bed. “I know we didn’t figure anything out yet but I need some sleep, so you’ll just have to fill me in on things later.”
“Truthfully, I think we all need sleep before we can be of any use. I’ll stay in here with my mother. You guys can have the room with Lailah,” I offered, wanting to keep an eye on mother as it was.
The guys all mumbled their agreement and headed back into the second room, leaving me alone to my thoughts.
I brushed a hand over my mother’s forehead, brushing the hair out of her face, making sure she wasn’t too warm or cold.
Her skin felt clammy and her breath was shallower than it was before, making me uneasy.
Lailah said that whatever was done to her was constricting her heart and we were short on time, but I didn’t know how to ask the woman I loved to burn herself out to save Mother.
Two women that I promised to protect and both of them were hurting in their own way and I couldn’t do a damn thing to fix it.
I was the person who protected others, now I was helpless, and I didn’t like that feeling one bit.
“Jay!” Micah yelled. “Get the fuck in here, now!”
I flung the door open and found the entire room glowing with a golden light that was emanating from Lailah.
Her body was pulsing with so much power it was blinding.
It was almost like you could feel it vibrating through the air.
The hair on my arms stood up on end and the air was thick, making it hard to breathe as I got closer to her.
I fought through the urge to back away from her and grabbed her hand, making me crumble to my knees, grunting at the feel of my power being ripped out of me.
Whatever she was going through, she needed lots of power and I’d just given her access to mine.
“Touch her,” I bit out. “She needs us.”
Even though I couldn’t see the others and if they were doing what I told them to, the moment they made contact with her, the wave of power fluctuated.
This was just like the feeling of when Lailah pulled our power during the drive to Paarl.
Only this time, it was all four of us giving her power and creating a perfect circuit, connecting all of us making a pass-through for the power to grow stronger and stronger.
In my mind’s eye, I could see the red, blue, green, and silver energy intermixing with her golden aura.
What surprised me was the fact a purple energy was appearing and growing as the power pulsed.
Why would Parker’s power be showing up in this?
It’s never shown up before. Even when we created the barrier to protect the property, it didn’t flow with ours.
I assumed it was because he wasn’t bonded with Lailah like we were, but now I wasn’t sure of anything.
Just when I didn’t think the power could grow even more, it pressed against my skin as if it was just to the point of bursting out of my very skin, and it popped.
If it had been a bomb, it would have leveled the whole town, if not the next one over.
As the power shook the ground under us, I clung to her, trying to keep from breaking the connection we still held, feeling like the process wasn’t over yet.
There was still more to be done and I couldn’t break the circuit.
Just when I didn’t think I could hold on for a moment longer, my fingers convulsing around her wrist, I was pulled into a blinding white light.
I remember Lailah telling us what it was like when the angel came to talk to her and it made me curious if that was what was happening now.
Why else would there need to be so much power gathered?
Was it to combat the darkness that was around us, being so close to the Dark Lord’s army?
As my vision normalized and adjusted to the brightness, I found Lailah standing with someone, holding their arm and leaning into their body as if they were a part of her.
I noticed this person’s hair was ginger, glistening in the bright light like a beacon.
“Parker?” I asked, taking a step forward. “How...?”
Lailah’s face shone with pure joy and excitement. “We saved him, all of us together. We brought him back.”
“Are we dead?” Micah asked from beside me.
I snapped my head in his direction, not having noticed he was even there. To my left were Hudson and Brayden, meaning all six of us were back together in this strange place.
“No, you’re not dead,” Parker answered. “Trust me, I know what that looks like and it’s not this.”
“We’re in Heaven’s limbo, just like the darkness is Hell’s,” Lailah explained. “This is where the angel brought me in my dream to tell me what was going on.”
As if talking about them caused one to appear, a flash of white light faded for us to see a being with large white wings and a white shapeless dress. I couldn’t tell their features or anything else about them as they stood there, but I could feel their eyes on us.
“Knights, I have brought you here because it is finally time for Synergy’s true powers to be unlocked.
Each of you have shown great sacrifice and stayed true to your Oath and nourished your Bond with Synergy to the point that you can now defeat the Dark Lord.
Trust in each other, for Synergy’s purpose is to take that which is singular and combine it to make it all that much stronger.
You have done well, our brave knights. You’ve survived more than any before you have had to withstand.
God smiles on you, extends his favor. Be blessed and remember my words when the outcome looks bleak. ”
Finished with what they had to say, we were sent back to our bodies with a flick of a wing, causing me to gasp as I landed on my back, looking up at the ceiling of the hotel room. “Holy shit,” I wheezed.
Slowly, I sat up and found the others in the same state of shock as myself but when I glanced at the bed, I froze. There, holding Lailah to his chest was Parker, in the flesh, looking just as he had when we last saw him. I knew without question that the two of them were bonded.
“Jalen?”
Spinning on my heel, thinking I must be crazy to hear what I just heard, I decided not to question it as I rushed forward and pulled my mother into a tight hug. “Oh thank God, she did it. She saved you, too.”