"When an Inquisitor was sent to hunt her down, she defeated him in single combat. She's the first person to do that since the Nephilim War. Since the Nephilim were all killed, no one has been able to stand against the Order, no one had the strength. Not until the Shadow."
That part wasn't in the news. "How'd they capture her?"
"The Inquisitors captured some of the rebel forces and used them as bait. When she attempted to rescue them, they surrounded her. It just happened a few days ago."
I pushed through the crowd to get a better look. Jax held out his hand to stop me, but I went anyways, curious to see this woman who incited such fear in the most ruthless of Orders.
She looked so… small, sitting on her knees on the stage, her head down, red hair falling in front of her face. The Shadow of Rome looked up, making eye contact with me, and I took a step back, shocked. She looked no older than me. How did she defeat the undefeatable?
An Inquisitor dressed in robes of red and gold and wearing the customary hat of his Order as a Knight climbed to the stage and stood beside her. He carried a giant hammer in one hand. A hammer no mortal could have lifted. He turned to address the crowd, his face appearing on all the e-Boards, and I recognized him. Ragathon. The Council member who didn't believe me.
"Citizens," he said, his voice amplified by unseen speakers, "this is the Zenith responsible for the deaths of your friends, your families. You may have heard her called many names. But I assure you, there is only one that matters. Criminal. Criminal!"
The crowd took up the cheer. "Criminal!" "Zenith scum!" "Half-breed!"
Even children were encouraged in their blood lust. It disgusted me, and I turned away from the stage and studied these people who could so easily stand and watch someone die.
I noticed, however, that not everyone in the crowd had raised their voices. A few people stood quiet, still. Waiting.
Behind us, a white truck moved through the crowd on a street otherwise blocked. Jax turned, worry lines marring his face. "I don't want to watch this," he said.
"Then you can go."
He growled at me, but stayed by my side. He knew me well enough to know I wouldn't budge once I set my mind to this.
Something hummed in the air. Not an audible noise, but an energy shifting. I had to stay. I knew that much.
As Ragathon finished the speech, the crowd erupted in cheers once again. I waited to see what the Council member would do. I expected a needle, not electrocution considering the setting.
Instead, Ragathon raised his hammer.
I gasped. He was going to…
No!
He slammed the hammer into the rebel's chest. In high-definition duplicate, on every e-Board around us, she cried out. Over and over, she screamed as he hit her again and again.
She spit out blood, the red viscous fluid dribbling down her chin, marring her pretty face.
"How can he do this?"
"She killed an Inquisitor," said Jax. "She must be made an example of."
"You have to stop this," I told him.
Jax bowed his head without saying a word, and I understood. Of course he couldn't stop this. The Inquisitor was one of the Councilors. No one could stop him now.
Unless…
If I could get close enough to him… if I could take control, just for a moment, maybe…
I pushed further into the crowd, positioning myself closer and closer to the stage as Ragathon took evident joy in hurling his hammer at the young woman.
A ringing buzzed in my ear, power pulling in me. Jax called my name but his voice sounded distant, as if he spoke through water.
I hesitated as several Inquisition Officers walked toward me.
Wha—
But they walked past me, waving their hands, shouting. "No vehicles here." "This road is closed off."
I turned to look back. The white truck I'd seen earlier had made it closer to the platform, and it continued on, driving slowly, not stopping.
Something was going on.
I looked around and noticed one of the guys I'd seen before, someone who hadn't been cheering along with everyone else.
He wore a heavy cloak though it wasn't cold.
He kept a hood over his head, but a ray of sun caught the copper highlights in his hair, the green specks in his eyes. He turned around and looked straight at me.
And smiled.
Chapter 10
The Shadow of Rome
Something flew above me and smoke filled the air, obscuring my vision of the smiling man. Someone had fired smoke guns. The man ran into the smoke and I followed, covering my nose and mouth with my shirt to avoid choking.
People ran in all directions, screaming, crying, gagging as they inhaled the smoke-filled air around them. Jax tried to follow me, calling my name as I dodged through the crowd, but too many people got between us and the smoke obstructed his view of me. I didn't know why I chased the mystery man, didn't know why it was important that Jax not follow me, but I'd long believed in trusting my instincts and I did so now. Trust what's in your heart, little Star. No one else knows the right path for you but you.
My dad's words rattled in my mind as gunfire broke out around me. Real guns, with bullets instead of smoke.