Chapter 38
Zyperia, Murphy and I were holed up in the Captain‘s townhouse in upper Boston and I was going stir crazy. My bodyguards were outside the kitchen door keeping an eye out for anyone suspicious or out of context. I had received a phone call from Juris inquiring where I was and what I was up to, with both bodyguards reporting in a language too swift and monotone to translate.
The Captain‘s wife cooked or the little company and I ate until I thought I would bust.
She was a pretty woman with silver yellow hair and kind blue eyes. She had been especially fond of me since I‘d found her great-grandmother has lost diamond stone years back. She made the comment that she‘d rather clothe than feed me, my throat tightened up as my eyes welled at the same words my mom had often said to me. Zip stared, rubbed my shoulders as I pushed back from the kitchen chair bolting for the bathroom where I bawled into a towel to muffle my sobs.
I mourned. For my mom, my dad, my world but mostly for me. There were things I would never know because of my circumstances and my shoulders were only so broad. I felt as if I carried the weight of the universe on them.
A soft knock on the door preceded the call. "Jade?" Murphy‘s concerned words penetrated the hardcore door. I wiped my eyes and swallowed.
"Yeah?"
"You okay?"
"Yeah. Burned my tongue," I flushed, washed off my face and opened to him. No one commented on my red eyes or dripping nose. I pretended nothing had happened. "So," I said and cleared my throat. "What are we going to do?"
"I thought you had a plan, Jade." I looked away from Murphy‘s face.
"I did have but that was before I found out the Colonel was President. How am I going to get past the Secret Service and the Druz? They will…smell me coming. In fact, I‘m surprised that the Colonel doesn‘t know already that I‘m back."
The Cap interrupted. "He does, Jade. Twenty minutes ago, the FBI put out an alert to all Law Enforcement agencies with your description and name. They are planning an assault on Celene Towers, calling it a terrorist stronghold."
"Good luck with that. The Tree will protect herself," I retorted.
"Even with access to your blood?" Zip questioned and I was silent, digesting that.
"She is sentient and knows the difference between me as a being and the presence of my blood," I answered carefully, almost positive. "Plus, I‘ve warned her."
"What will Brightarm do?" The Captain asked.
"He‘s already a martial law dictator," I pointed out. "He‘ll head for Celene next and then the rest of the planes. He‘ll look for the real Druz, try to bring them back to rape, pillage and slaughter everyone alive. I don‘t know if he can access the other planes without me."
"What you mean the ‗real Druz?"
"I sent them all to hell physically. What‘s here are the… Leftover essences married to human bodies in a hybrid alliance, the best and worst of both worlds."
"Why?" Selwyn demanded, and I paled as I answered him.
"Because I screwed up. When I sent them away, I tore their strings. It was too much for the… balance. Nature fill the vacuum with another threat. I can‘t eliminate the problem, I have to destroy it."
"Uh oh. I don‘t like the sound of that," Murphy muttered.
"You should see it from my side," I said under my breath. "How close to DC. Can you get me?" I stared at Captain Jacobs.
"I don‘t know. Probably closer than you can get on your own. I take it you can‘t use your…talents to get you inside."
"No. Not without calling the Druz attention to me. I‘d rather avoid that," I said with tight lips.
"Ya think?" Murphy rolled his eyes and the captain nodded.
"I can send Murphy, Reilly in your bodyguards and a SWAT vehicle to DC. There have been rumors of a faction eager to cause trouble. They be grateful to get the extra help."
"When?" I paste, staring out the windows and was aware that no one was lounging around the neighborhood, no kids on bikes, no Jalvers on what was once a well-used to track. No pedestrians of any kind. The streets were eerily quiet.
"People are afraid, Jade," he spoke softly. "If you stand out too much, or are… Different, you disappear."
"Have you heard of the Celene foundation?" I asked idly, my hands were clenched into fists, and I felt my nails digging into the skin.
"Yes. Brightarm has tried to annex them, but their headquarters or out of state now and he can access the building. He‘s tried, but it‘s warded. Can you get in?"
I didn‘t respond, that answer was unhealthy for him to know. I turned the Selwyn and my other bodyguards and spoke to them in my mother‘s tongue. "I must leave and no one can come with me. Can you support this?" Their faces protested violently, but neither spoke. "No one.
Your strings will announce me; put me in danger faster than if I shouted in the streets."
"We cannot protect you, if we cannot see you," Kiannyn snarled.
Zip stepped in. "I will guard him," she said quietly. I shook my head. "Do not protest they will sense me, Jadewyn as you know that is a lie. The Druz never felt me in their midst until you came." I shut my mouth. "I am as well trained in the arts, the Selwyn, Eilywyn or K iannyn."
"Murphy, I need to be an Epic Park by tomorrow night. Can you get me there?" I named the small park near the Potomac River and the Beltway.
"Yes," he said. Amidst the violent argument, I packed what I needed and sat, waiting for the captain to produce a vehicle.