Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26

Jacaranda

“ I cannot believe you did that,” Deacon seethed toward Sarah on our way off of the wooden path.

I had picked Sarah up to carry her to Allegiant . Her calf was too badly damaged for her to walk much, and she glanced at Deacon from where I held her against my chest.

“I already told you what I was going to do with the conduits—”

“That is not what I mean, and you know it,” he said furiously.

Sarah pursed her lips, clearly just as irritated with our companion. “You mean you can’t believe I let Rex possess me, right?”

“Yes,” he boiled, stomping along beside us. “You know how I—”

“I know many things right now, Deacon, do not test me,” she snapped at him. “I am in no mood.”

He wisely fell silent as we made our way back to the ship, and I was glad he didn’t push her on the matter. It was awkward being between them on any fight, but carrying her while they were arguing brought it to another level.

The swamp wasn’t quiet anymore, but that didn’t mean we weren’t on something’s menu. Our group marched as silently as possible between the trees for a while—I imagined everyone else was as tired as I was. Carrying Sarah was nothing, but the battle had been hard fought and we were all exhausted. The conduits were excellent fighters, and there were many.

Fewer now.

“I would have kept you safe,” Deacon muttered bitterly, unable to contain his anger for long.

“If you had been next to me, yes, you would have,” she conceded. “But we were separated, and I got stabbed. Twice, and more were coming. Omen saved me from my attacker, Deacon. Then Rex. You were nowhere near me. I’m not saying that like you were neglectful. I only bring it up to say that I was out numbered and didn’t have much of a choice at the time.”

“You had a choice,” Deacon grumbled. “You chose to let him in.”

“And I would again!” she shouted at him, riled up all over again because of Deacon’s needling. “I did it to save my life. The fact that you don’t understand that—” She cursed beneath her breath and struggled in my arms. “Put me down, Jac. I’ll walk.”

I didn’t want to let her go. She was injured and I didn’t want her to harm herself more. “Sarah, it’s a long walk—”

“Now!” she demanded.

Reluctantly, I set her on her feet, trying not to feel gutted when she grunted and winced from the pain. When she stood up, her livid gaze was on Deacon. “I need some distance from you at the moment. I’m going to join the group in the front—”

“That’s how you got hurt the last time,” he pointed out.

“Deal with it,” she barked and marched until she couldn’t anymore. Then, she hobbled her way up front with the others.

“She is so stubborn!” Deacon said in a heated tone as we started to walk again.

I gave him a pointed look. “Reminds me of someone else I know.”

He stiffened. “I am not stubborn.”

“Then why are you mad at her?” I asked him.

“You know exactly why I am mad.” He scowled, looking at me in shock. “Are you not mad at her for that betrayal?”

“What betrayal?” I asked him, because I did not see her doing what she had to do to survive the battle as any sort of infidelity.

“She let Rex possess her!” Deacon’s hands fisted at his sides, and a muscle in his jaw clenched. “That is the deepest form of betrayal!”

“Deacon,” I said, trying to make him see reason. “She did not sleep with Rex—”

“No, this is even more intimate, Jac. You can fuck someone and never learn their name. But to be possessed is to know someone’s life .”

I exhaled a deep breath and scrubbed a hand along my jaw in frustration. “Look, I don’t like that part of it,” I admitted. “But I am proud of her.”

He gaped at me. “What the hell for?”

“She is not a fighter, Deacon. Not in any traditional sense, though the trick with the jem’hora was outstanding.”

Even Deacon looked impressed and nodded at that sidenote.

“But she was in a fight, injured, and out of options,” I tried to explain to him. “She used the only tool she had left in her arsenal and kept herself alive. You may not like it, but she would probably be dead if it wasn’t for Rex.”

The tension left his body at the mention of her dying, but he said nothing.

“I am proud of her for surviving, with whatever means necessary,” I said quietly, but firmly. “You should be, too.”

“But did it have to be Rex?” he groused. “Why not Omen?”

“I don’t know how things went down, and neither do you. But you’re wound up about it, because of your history with him—”

“No, it is because she allowed herself to be possessed.”

I came to an abrupt stop, forcing him to do the same. Turning toward him, I shook my head ruefully. “You said it yourself, Deacon. Just now. ‘Why not Omen’. You aren’t upset about her being possessed—you’re just mad that it was Rex.”

We started walking again, quietly for a while, until Rex fell back in the group to join us. Not who I need right now .

I gave the man an amicable nod. The last thing I wanted or needed was to have a fight break out between Rex and Deacon. “Rex, how are you doing after the fight?” I asked, mostly out of courtesy.

“Not too bad, all things considered,” he said, his tone a bit too smug. “You?”

“No injuries to speak of,” I replied.

Rex glanced at my companion, and I didn’t care for the devious glimmer in the other man’s eyes as he asked, “Deacon, how about you?”

“Fuck off, Rex,” Deacon snapped.

The ghost almost smiled. “What has you so agitated?”

Deacon’s jaw clenched. “You know exactly what.”

Rex tapped his chin. “Hmm. I’m guessing that would be when I took your consort’s body for a spin? She’s much more limber than you might think. You should—”

“Stop right there, Rex,” I warned him in a low growl.

“Oh, come now,” Rex scoffed. “You can’t be that sore about it, Jac. I kept her alive.”

“ I’m not. He is,” I pointed out, jabbing a finger Deacon’s way. “Just leave it be and keep walking.”

But Rex wasn’t one to pass up a chance to rile my companion’s temper, and a cunning smile curved his mouth as he taunted Deacon. “So tell me, dear boy, are you mad that you couldn’t keep her safe yourself, or are you mad that you will never know Sarah as intimately as I do now?”

Deacon’s hand shot to his bone knife, but before he could draw it, the flock of jem’hora were back. They dove near the three of us and blocked the path. They flapped in place, studying us much too intently. We stopped following the others, because they gave us little choice in the matter.

“Sarah, your friends are back!” Deacon shouted out.

She turned around and saw us, and the birds. She hobbled back to us, wincing with each step she took. “I don’t know if I can control them again. I’m in too much pain—”

“Let me help you.” I moved toward her, but one of the jem’hora moved between me and Sarah, clearly protecting her. The bird’s eyeless face stared at me. “Tell it I’m just trying to help you.”

She put her hand out and the bird nuzzled her palm. After a moment, she said, “Try again.”

This time, the jem’hora moved away, opening up the pathway again. I picked Sarah up, taking away most of her pain, and she quieted down for a moment, closing her eyes as she snuggled against my chest. The birds flew high above us, blotting out the moonslight.

“There, I think we’re going to be alright. But you two,” she gestured at Rex and Deacon, “stop your bickering. That’s what attracted the jem’hora in the first place.”

“Fine.” Deacon sullenly stomped to the head of the group.

Rex began to speak, but Sarah put up her hand to stop him and said, “Not a word from you, either. Go.”

To my surprise, and relief, he left for the middle of the pack.

Omen joined us a moment later. “Looks like your jem’hora are staying with us this time.” She pointed toward the sky.

Sarah glanced up at the black birds and smiled. “I told them to keep an eye on us, in case the drecks were to come back. Or if anything else wants to try and harm us.”

“Smart thinking,” I said.

“Are you mad like Deacon?” she asked softly, glancing up at my face, looking more worried with me than she had with our companion. “About the possession, I mean.”

“No.” I met her gaze, feeling my heart tighten in my chest at the thought of losing her. “You found a way to stay alive. It’s all I care about. I don’t like that it was Rex, let me be clear about that. But I understand why you did it. It was the right thing to do.”

A tense smile curved her lips. “You really do think I made the right choice?”

I nodded emphatically. “Without question, Sarah. We walked into an ambush. You didn’t have a better choice.”

She wrapped her arms around my neck the best she could and hugged me. “Thank you for understanding. I needed that from someone.”

“Of course.” But I turned to the ghost by our side, needing to ask the question. “Omen, why didn’t you offer to possess Sarah, after the stabbing?”

“I would have, but I had four conduits on my ass, and I didn’t think that would improve her situation,” Omen said, a pained look in her eyes. “After I finished repelling them, I turned around, and Sarah was gone, so I went back to fighting and hoped for the best.”

Sarah frowned at Omen. “Why is it that I can control the conduits and the jem’hora to some degree?”

“The holy text says the conduit has an affinity with nature, but it doesn’t specify what that means,” Omen explained. “The conduits are closer to nature than most Ladrians. Some even use it in their magic. Not like magicians do, but still.”

I fought a shiver at the thought of magicians. Unsavory beasts .

Sarah was quiet and thoughtful for a few moments before speaking again. “Well, if the conduits refuse me as their queen, then why do I have that power? What’s the point? What does it all mean?”

“I’m not sure. I suppose it means you can force them to do your bidding, but you’re not the type. Maybe this is what it means,” she said, pointed to the jem’hora in the sky that were still following us. “That you can control the apex predators of Halla. Maybe it means there’s more to come and this is just the beginning.”

We continued down the path, and relief washed over me when Allegiant was finally in sight.

I smiled and said, “I will be very glad to leave all this nature behind.”

“Same here,” Omen agreed.

“I don’t know. I kind of like the swamp,” Sarah said sweetly.

“The same swamp where you got stabbed?” I asked, raising a brow.

“That’s not the swamp’s fault,” she countered. “It’s pretty in there. All the plants and everything.”

I grimaced. “The animals, the smell—”

“Okay, I could do without the smell,” she said, and laughed.

Deacon cursed loudly at the front of the line, and uncertain what was about to go down, I ran to him with Sarah in my arms. She held tight around my neck, bouncing against my chest.

When I reached Allegiant , Deacon was crouched at the base of the cargo bay door. My companion held frayed wires that should have been on the inside of the metal panel.

“What’s that?” Sarah asked as I gently set her back on the ground.

“The connection for the engine driver,” Deacon snapped angrily. “Someone sabotaged Allegiant .”