I felt the solider die as I fell back into my own body, hitting the ground with a thud, hands shaking, reality still fragmented by whatever I'd just done.
The solider before me moved, lifted his head, blood pouring from his skull. He reached for his gun, but a sword impaled him before he could grab it.
I looked up and into the eyes of the last person I expected to see tonight. "Jax?"
Jax fell to his knees in front of me, the sword he just used still clutched in his right hand, his jaw hard, face determined. He didn't look shocked. He should look shocked.
"Are you okay, Scarlett?"
I didn't know how to answer that. No. I'd never be okay again. But I was alive. I wasn't going to die from my injuries. That was probably what he wanted to know. I gave a brief nod.
He glanced at my parents' bodies, but kept his face emotionless. "Do you know where the weapon is?"
"You know about that?" I asked.
"Yes, I know about everything. There's no time to explain, we have to get out of here, but first we've got to secure the weapon."
"It's not there," I told him. "It's gone."
"Show me," he said.
He helped me stand, and I led him to the truck, where the crystal remains were still swimming in pools of my blood.
"We have to go," he said after a quick examination. "Now."
"I can't leave them." I pulled him back toward my house. "We have to get my parents."
His eyes weren't unkind, but they held no room for sentiment either. "We don't have time. You're in danger, and if we don't leave now, they will come back, and we'll both be dead."
As if cued by his words, lights once again appeared in the sky. And I knew I couldn't be responsible for another death. For another life.
We ran toward my father's Cessna, and I tried not to spare a glance at my parents' fallen forms, but I couldn't stop myself.
As Jax prepped the plane, I looked at them one last time, lying together on the cold earth, their hearts forever stopped.
I'd never seen them in color while they were alive. They'd always been shades of grey to me. Now, in their death, I saw the rich oak of my father's hair. The golden beauty of my mother's long braid. I just wished I could see their eyes. Just one last time, I wished I could look them in the eyes and tell them how much I loved them.
Jax nudged me toward the plane, and I clutched the Token of Strife in my hand, relishing the pain it caused.
Their death would not be in vain.
Chapter 6
Midnight Throne
The inside of the Cessna smelled like my dad. His cologne. A musky, minty scent that made my eyes burn with unshed tears. I ran my hand over the control panels. I knew this plane better than I knew my own bedroom. I'd spent countless hours flying in it with my dad, learning what every light and button meant.
I could fly it myself, but everything inside me had gone numb, so I let Jax take the controls. I still had so many questions, so many things that didn't make sense about this night, but I only had the voice for one in that moment.
"Where are we going?"
He didn't take his eyes off the controls as we taxied down the short runway my dad had built. "Castle Vianney. In New York."
I knew where Castle Vianney was. Everyone did, even though no one had ever been there except those chosen for Vianney Academy or the Four Orders. It was on Vianney Island, what was once Wards Island, and was kept under lock and key by strict orders of the Pope. "Why are we going there?"
Nothing made sense anymore. The world had turned inside out and had taken everything I'd loved and destroyed it.
My stomach dropped as the plane left the ground and became airborne. I'd always loved this feeling. Relished it. But tonight, there was no joy, not even in flight.
"Everything will be explained when we get there. I…" he finally looked at me, his eyes softening. "I'm sorry, Scarlett. I'm so sorry. I can't tell you anything more. I'm not allowed. But, I promise, you'll understand soon. Can you trust me? Just for a little while longer?"
His dark eyes pleaded with me, but my heart remained unmoved. I trusted no one, I realized. Even my parents had betrayed me. Lied to me. I couldn't give him my trust, not anymore, but I could give him some time. How else would I get my questions answered? He was my only link to discovering the truth.
I reached down and felt the bulge in my shoe, making sure the chip was still there. Not the only link, then. I had one other place to look for answers.
I closed my eyes and the weight of the day smothered me in darkness.
***
His back is to me, the tall man with broad shoulders, a black cloak billowing around him. Woods surround us, dark, foreboding, the trees towering over us with long shadows born of the night. He walks forward, and I run to him, but the woods stretch before me, putting him forever out of reach.
The air around me is thick, heavy, coating my lungs, making it hard to breathe. Dead leaves fall from the trees as I run past them, catching the moonlight on their frail brown skin.
The man before me stops. I run faster, knowing I must reach him, knowing he is important, but again the woods trick me.