The Starborn Saga (Books 1, 2, & 3) (77 page)

“Forty years ago!” Jeremiah said with a laugh. “A man can change in forty years.”

“You are hardly a man. But in forty years all that has changed about you is that you are reckless enough to try and take on more than one Starborn ability when you don’t even possess a natural ability of your own.”

Jeremiah grinned and put his hands in the air. “Yet I’m here and I’m breathing. When I found Trace, I knew I would take his power someday. It was too good to pass up. I let him have his run as one of my hunters, but his time was up.”

“Saying that you are ‘sick’ is an understatement.”

“I’ve been sick a long time,” he said. “Once I get that healer, I will have a great power, and I will live forever. Can’t beat that.” He raised his fingers to his lips, sucking the flavor from whatever he had just eaten. 

“How do you expect to make him heal you?” she asked. “You can’t just bite him and have healing powers. The boy can’t heal himself. Just others.”

Jeremiah stared at her for a long moment, his face suddenly serious. “You are bluffing.”

“I’m not,” she said. “I just figured you should know before trying to kill him.”

I felt something hitting my arm. When I opened my eyes, we were coming up on the Center. “Sorry,” Jeffrey said. “I thought you might like to see this.”

When I looked through the windows outside the car, I could tell that we were moving slowly. We had to. Citizens and greyskins were running all over the place. Some were feeding. Others were running. Most of the greyskins ignored the truck in favor of live, flailing victims. Several times, greyskins rammed into the side of the truck, thudding loudly against the metal as we crawled through.

“We need to hurry,” I said. 

“I’m trying to get there as fast as I can.”

I watched as a Screven Resistance soldier tripped and fell to the ground. I wanted to reach out and help the man, but it was too late. Within seconds, the man was greyskin food.

I had to look away. I couldn’t believe that Jeremiah had allowed such a thing to happen. To have them attacking people in his own city was sickening. It wasn’t like they were set on just Resistance soldiers. The greyskins went after everyone. Screven soldiers, citizens. It wahiss chaos.  

“Gun it,” I said to Jeffrey. 

“What? There’s stuff in the way!” 

Greyskins started surrounding the car. With the fog, it was hard to see where they were all coming from. 

“Then you better get us into the Center!” I yelled. A greyskin’s hand smashed through the window. I threw it back before it could grab me and I yelled for Jeffrey to move again. 

He slammed on the gas pedal and we zoomed toward the Center. With a scream, he closed his eyes and I could feel the sensation around my body like I was about to be transported to a completely different place. And I knew I was.

It was like a whirlwind as we spun through the air. I closed my eyes until I felt nothing anymore. When I opened them, I knew they would have to adjust to the darkness. But what darkness? From where?

When I looked at Jeffrey, he was smiling. “I did it,” he whispered to himself. “I did it!” 

“How do you know?” I asked. “Is this the basement level?

“Get out, I’ll show you,” he said. 

Before I opened my door, I took a peek at Christopher who seemed to be sleeping in the back seat. I was happy for him to sleep instead of staying alert, feeling my pain. Stepping out of the truck, I noticed that Jeffrey was right. This had to be the basement level of the Center. He pointed out row after row of columns spread throughout the entirety of the floor.

“I’ve never been that accurate with my teleportation before,” he said. 

“I told you, you could do it. You just had to stop being afraid.”

“I suppose you were right, though I’m not sure it wasn’t luck. I’m feeling quite drained too.”

You’re not the only one
, I thought.  

Jeffrey motioned for me to follow him to the back of the truck. He opened the back where there was a small stack of explosives ready to be used. 

Jeffery held one of them up to study it. “Simple enough,” he said. “We stick these onto strategic columns.” He then held up a small device that had been set next to the explosives. “Then, we use this thing to detonate them.”

“What if the one with the detonator gets killed?” I asked. 

Jeffrey smiled and pointed at the device. “Look closely. It’s a timer. I can set it for any amount of time that we need.”

“You know you have to do this alone, right?” I told him.

“I know,” he said. “You need to go after Jeremiah. Get Evelyn out of this place. If you can get the others out, perhaps they could find a way in here to give me a hand.”

“There are only thirty, right?”

“Thirty very strategically placed explosives, yes. I’m not exactly planning on carrying them all at once. This could take me a while.”

“Do we have radios?” I asked him. “I’d like to be able to stay in contact in case I need you to hold off on the charges.” 

“Yeah, there’s a couple in the front, hang on.”

As he went to get the radios, I looked down at the explosives. It was hard to see how these small packs were going to bring down the giant Center. I knew Allison had expressed some doubt about it earlier. I just hoped it would work. 

Jeffrey came around the truck and handed me a small radio. “Channel two,” he said. “I’d keep the volume down while you’re walking through the Center, though. Just use it if you need me.”

“I’ll keep you updated,” I said. I nodded at Christopher. “Check on him every few minutes or so thro. Make sure he’s okay.”

Jeffrey nodded. 

The two of us stood there awkwardly for a moment. He knew that I might not be coming out of the Center at all. He knew this could be the last time we saw each other. 

“I’m sorry about what I said earlier,” I told him. 

He waved his hand in the air. “It was nothing. What I needed.”

I grinned at him. “I’ve seen memories. Your Sarah was beautiful.”

He jerked his head up at me at the mention of her name.

“I will make sure Jeremiah pays for it with his life.”

Jeffrey swallowed hard. I could see water forming in his eyes as if the wound were still fresh. “Take care, Mora.”

With that, I turned and left the truck, making my way toward the stairs and up to the first floor entrance. I stopped for a moment and closed my eyes, thinking of Connor. 

He stood inside a room with all kids of screens and buttons. “Where are you?” I asked. 

“One of the security control rooms,” he answered. “Had to knock out a guard.”

“I found out why you haven’t seen Trace lately,” I said. 

“Why’s that?”

“Jeremiah killed him.”

Connor froze for a moment. “Why?”

“Because Jeremiah can eat someone and gain their power if they are a Starborn. Trace’s gift was very special.”

“That’s sick,” Connor said. 

“I know.”

“Hang on, I think I’ve found out how to get Allison, Heather, and Danny out.” He stared at a screen that showed the three of them bound by metal shackles. There were strips of metal that lay across their arms chests and legs. “It’s weird to see Danny tied up like that,” he said. “Usually he’d break through this kind of thing, but they are electric. If he tries anything he’ll be fried.”

“Can you turn it off?”

“Yeah, hang on.” Connor reached out in front of him and pressed a button. “Can you three hear me in there?”

Their heads jerked up, but none of them answered.

“Good,” Connor said. “This is Connor. I know you all think that I left to join up with Screven and all that, but you are wrong. I was here to be an informant for Mora and it has had some success. I’m telling you this, to let you know that I’m now setting you free, but I don’t have electronic access to Aaron’s room. He’s in a room labeled J-33. Does that number make any sense to any of you?”

“Yeah,” Danny called out. “It’s on the ninth floor. We passed by it as they were taking us here.” 

“Tell them to get down to the basement level,” I said to Connor. “Jeffrey needs their help placing the charges.”

Connor relayed the information. He reached forward and hit a couple of the buttons until the shackles on each of them were released. 

“Where are you going to be?” Heather asked. 

“I will meet all of you down on the basement level after I get Aaron out,” he said. “Make sure you’re careful. I don’t know if you’re being watched by guards somewhere else.” He let go of the button and left the room quickly. “I’m making my way to level nine,” he said. 

“I’m coming up.”

“Why?”

“I need to rescue Evelyn. She’s trapped up there with  Jeremiah.”

“Then she’s as good as dead,” Connor said. 

I wanted to tell him that I was as good as dead too. Honestly, from this point I had just as’ssumed that Evelyn would be going out in a blaze with Jeremiah and the Center just like me. I hadn’t intended on saving her life, and I didn’t think she expected me to.

“I’m going up there,” I told him. 

“Meet me,” he said. 

“Where?” I asked. 

“Ninth floor. East stairwell. I’m on my way now.”

I opened my eyes and went through the door ahead of me. It would be good to see Connor for the last time in person, but part of me didn’t want to. It felt like it would be too hard. I hated the thought of actually saying goodbye to him. I didn’t want him to know that I was planning to die, but didn’t he deserve to know? He loved me. I loved him. Isn’t that how love worked? Wasn’t I supposed to tell him?

I went up the stairs without incident, though my legs felt like they were about to give out when I finally reach the ninth floor. When I got there, I was alone. After a minute, I heard someone else coming down the stairs. Mentally, I prepared myself to fight, but within a second I saw that it was Connor. My heart felt light. 

He jumped down the next flight three steps at a time until he reached me and flung his arms around me.

“It’s so good to see you,” he said, hugging me tightly. “After all we’ve been through here, I almost wish I hadn’t left in the first place.” He held me back so he could look into my eyes, but his expression instantly turned to one of concern. “Are you okay?”

“I guess,” I said. 

“You look sick. Are you feeling alright?” His hand brushed some of my hair from my face. 

“I’ve felt better,” I said. 

“What’s happening?”

I couldn’t just tell him
nothing
. He deserved to know the truth. But it was hard to get the words to pass by my lips. I didn’t know how he would take it. 

“I’m infected,” I said. 

He didn’t let go of me or step back like most people might have in that moment. He actually held me tighter. “What?” he asked. 

“I’m in my last couple of hours,” I said. “The only reason I’m lucid enough to move at all is because Christopher came to help me shake off the symptoms. That doesn’t stop the virus, though.”

“Why? How?”

I shook my head. “You know there was a fight at Springhill yesterday morning,” I said.

“I don’t know a lot about it,” he said. 

“Jeremiah sent the greyskins,” I said. “One of them scratched me.”

“No.” Water formed in his eyes and he pulled me closer, letting my head rest on his chest. He had no fear of the infection for himself. He only cared about what I was feeling. He only cared that I was about to die. His world had been wrecked. “This isn’t happening,” he said. “It can’t be happening.”

I could feel his tears fall on the top my head. My eyes began to let out their own as I fe
lt his chest cave in and out with silent sobs. It was the first time that I felt completely helpless. It was possibly the first time that I actually felt true loss since I had found out about the infection. The whole reality of my death came at me like a train. In Connor’s embrace, I finally realize how much I would be losing. I finally realized how many other people would be losing something. The thought crushed me. 

“You can’t die now,” he said. “I love you.”

I held to him tighter. I knew what he said was true. It felt good to hear it, but it didn’t lessen the pain. It only made it worse. 

“I love you too, him tigConnor. I really do.”

Through a loud sniff, I forced myself to pull away from him. At first, it didn’t seem like he was going to let me, but in the last moment, he gave in and let me loose. His eyes were wet and red. I had never thought I would see Connor cry. Watching it shattered my heart into pieces. 

I reached up to his face, rubbing his cheek with my thumb. “I’m not going to die a greyskin. I’m going up there to make sure Jeremiah stays here with us when the Center blows up.”

“That doesn’t make it any better,” he said. He shook his head. “I just…I saw this future. You and me. I knew we were going to make it out of this. It was just a thought in my head, I guess.” More tears fell from his eyes. “You and me, we were happy. We were safe.”

“Maybe not a vision of the future,” I said, trying to hold back whimpers. “Maybe just a good dream.”

He reached up and grabbed my hand and nodded. “I very good dream.”

I wrapped my arms around his waist again and held him tightly. “I’ve got to go.”

“I know,” he said. “I don’t want to let you go.”

“You know you have to.”

I let go of his waist and reached for the back of his head. I pulled it down and turned it, placing my lips on his cheek. This was the best kiss I could offer him. I knew it was unlikely he could get infected from a kiss, but I couldn’t bring myself to risk his safety. I wanted him to live a long and happy life. One without Jeremiah in it. 

“Goodbye, Connor.”

“Goodbye, Mora.”

I left Connor standing in the middle of the stairwell. As I ascended, I looked back to find him staring up at me, crying quietly to himself. I had blindsided him with the information. It was a hard thing to do. I wished there was another way. I wished my heart hadn’t been ripped to shreds. I wished Jeremiah had never existed so the world could have stayed the way it was before he ruined it. 

But wishing didn’t change a thing. I had one mission left in my life. I had to get to the top of the Center and make sure Jeremiah stayed right where he was, so he could enjoy the fireworks.