Chapter 6
SIX
JACK
Far away from the palace, on a rooftop where they could barely hear the words the new queen shouted, Jack and Saber watched.
Jack hadn’t slept much since Elizabeth put into his mind that his father was still alive. For many reasons he’d shut down the voice in his head that told him it couldn’t be true, yet there was always some way for his mind to work around his logic and hope Elizabeth was telling the truth.
Abigail wasn’t in much of a better place. Since their foiled run to steal weapons from the armory, Abigail hadn’t said much. She had even refused the offer to go on the reconnaissance mission Jack and Saber found themselves on now. It was unlike her, and Jack was worried.
“She killed her own sister for power.” Saber looked across the rooftops to the tiny forms of the people all listening to Leah’s speech. “This isn’t good, kid. This isn’t good at all.”
“How are you so sure she killed the queen?” Jack asked, following Saber’s gaze to the distant palace. “Maybe she had someone else do it.”
“That nut did it herself.” Saber heaved a weary sigh.
He rubbed his short hair with this right hand.
“We’ve traded a shrewd enemy for an insane one.
She’ll play to the people, giving her sister a hero’s burial tomorrow, and then she’ll come.
She’ll use all of this as a reason for a full-out war with us and Azra. ”
“She’s not going to want to leave.” Jack was already thinking of where Saber was going with this conversation and what it would mean for Abigail. “I’m not sure I want to go if my father could be alive.”
“Enough of that.” Saber glared at Jack with his one good eye.
“Elizabeth was saying anything to get under your skin. Your father is dead, kid. I’m sorry to be so blunt, but that’s what you need right now.
Put anything else out of your mind. If you love Abigail like you say you do, then the only thing you should be worrying about is how to get her to come with us to Azra. ”
“And if I can’t? If she won’t leave without Elizabeth?”
“We have a day, maybe a day and a half, before Leah mobilizes the entire army and goes door by door through New Hope. When that happens, we have to be long gone. Azra is the only safe place for us now.”
Jack just nodded. He knew Saber was right, but any scenario he came up with where Abigail willingly left New Hope and her sister behind with it seemed like a fairy tale.
“We leave tonight, Jack.”
Saber’s use of his actual name instead of ‘kid’ made Jack give his mentor his full attention.
“Get her to come with us. If she doesn’t, she’s dead.”
“I’m not leaving, no matter what. I’m not giving up on her.” Abigail shook her head. She turned her back on Jack. “She wouldn’t give up on me if the tables were turned.”
Jack sat in Abigail’s room. Even with her twin bed pushed into a corner, the space still seemed small. He stared at the far wall, looking for answers, but the flaking, white paint gave him none.
For the first time, fear crept into the pit of his stomach. What if Abigail refused to come? He wouldn’t leave her. But that meant they would face the entire New Hope army alone. They would die.
“You’ve thought this out, then?” Jack tried using the most non-combative tone he could muster. “In a few hours, Saber’s taking the New Order with him to Azra. You and I are going to stay behind. When the vampire soldiers come knocking, it’ll be the two of us against an army.”
Abigail turned to Jack, her face a picture of torment. “I can’t … I can’t give up on her. I’m all she’s got. She’s my little sister. No matter how lost she is, I can’t just leave her.”
The two sat in silence for a moment.
“You go.” Abigail walked over to Jack. She took his hands into her own and lifted him up off the bed. “I love you too much to ask you to stay here with me. I know it seems like I’m crazy, but I couldn’t live with myself if I left her.”
“You never asked me to stay with you,” Jack corrected her. “My love means you’ll never have to ask me to stay. I’ll always be here.”
Tears began to fill Abigail’s eyes as she pulled Jack in close for a kiss. Jack allowed himself to be led into her embrace. Alone in her room, the warrior and the wizard enjoyed a moment of peace.
It was Jack who’d finally broken away. “I’ll tell Saber. He’s not going to like it.”
“We’ll both tell Saber,” Abigail corrected him.
As one, the two walked through the New Order’s secret hideout to the large mess hall where the relocation process was taking place. All around them, New Order rebels ran back and forth, some carrying items to pack, some shouting orders, all of them scared.
Jack scanned the wide room for any sign of his mentor. He finally caught sight of Saber in one of the corners of the room, ordering what was to be taken and what could be left behind.
“We need to pack light,” Saber was instructing a handful of new recruits from the queen’s army who had just joined the New Order.
It seemed there were more than a few soldiers unwilling to go through with the transformation from human to vampire.
“Make food and weapons a priority. Go, hurry. We leave within the hour.”
The group of ex-soldiers scattered to obey.
“I see you’ve come to your senses.” Saber looked at Abigail and then Jack. “Hurry up. We have enough mounts for all of us, but pack light. We’ll be leaving soo?—”
“We’re not going with you,” Abigail said to their mentor. “We’ve come to let you know and to thank you for everything you’ve done for us. But I can’t leave my sister.”
Saber titled his head down, his eye still looking up at Abigail and then Jack. “And you, kid? Do you feel the same way?”
“I can’t leave her.” Jack swallowed hard, forcing himself to meet Saber’s glare. “And there still may be a chance that Elizabeth was telling the truth about my father. I have to find out for sure.”
“You realize you two are more valuable to our cause alive than dead, right?” Saber stood up straight.
“Stay, and your fate is sealed. You’ll be dead in forty-eight hours.
Come with us, and you live to fight another day.
You’ll be alive and still have a chance at finding out the fate of your loved ones. ”
“I’m sorry.” Abigail shook her head. “I have to stay.”
“Me, too,” Jack echoed her words.
“Well then, I’m sorry.” Saber shook his head.
“Sorry for what?” Jack asked.
“For the headache you’re going to have when you wake up.”
Saber was so fast, Jack was still processing his words when Saber kicked out and connected with the underside of Abigail’s jaw. Her head snapped back violently.
Jack’s magic was already in his hand. He was raising his right fist to block the next kick coming for him, but he was too slow.
The last thing Jack remembered was seeing the underside of Saber’s boot as it struck his right temple.