XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

CHAPTER SIXTY THREE

I lifted up the board and felt the draft rush upwards at me. I couldn’t see anything, it was pitch black, but I felt around and my fingers found a step. I reached further down and felt another one. I had no other choice, so slowly, I inched around and crawled into the hole.

I climbed down three stories. I felt the gunfire blasting against the walls. As I kept going, I felt the gunfire fade and I felt the coolness of the underground immerse myself. I kept going and going and going…finally my feet hit bottom. I felt around, gingerly, to make sure that it wasn’t a small resting area with a long way to fall.

It wasn’t. And then I felt the walls. They were wet and slimy. I felt the insides of any cave a person would go spelunking in. I felt my feet feel around the bottom and discovered that it was a narrow tunnel. With both feet spread on both sides and my hands holding each wall, I walked forward.

If the wall suddenly opened, I wanted to know.

Slowly, I kept going. The battle couldn’t be heard at all anymore. It was just me, the darkness, and my breathing.

After awhile, I quicked my pace, until I felt the cold air getting stronger. I was nearing the opening. I could feel it and without realizing it, I was in a full sprint. I no longer cared about the tunnel and the darkness.

I felt the opening and I hurtled to it.

I slowed as I saw the light teasing around the edges. It was a piece of rock with foliage that camouflaged it. I listened first and then pushed it to the side.

I was in the forest and I could hear shouting and gunfire behind me.

I had gone underneath them and come out over a mile behind them.

Jace would’ve circled around them. I rolled the stone back in place and set out to find Jace.

The damn trees. They were always there, always looming over me, and always reminding me of how small I really am. For a con, or a reformed con, that person hates to be reminded how small and powerless they are. No words or quick movements can outthink or outfake a tree.

And they just watched, like they had their own souls.

I had called them soulful before, but now they were just creepy.

Nonetheless, I was starting to get used to them.

I hadn’t trekked far before I heard a sudden burst of shouts and gunfire. Someone had been hit, someone had been angered, and another row of shots rang out in response.

And then I heard voices from behind me.

I froze, clambered next to a tree, and slunk as far to the ground as possible, trying to be completely hidden underneath it’s branches as they neared me.

Suddenly, a hand was thrown over my mouth, and I was hauled farther back.

I tensed at the first attack, but relaxed almost instantly as my back was swept against Jace’s chest.

“Shhh.” He murmured almost too softly for me to hear. He watched for me and I ducked my forehead against his shoulder.

We heard them traipse past us.

I heard Marcus and two others.

They were talking about the attack and how long it would last. One of them thought it would come to a standstill near noon the next morning, but the other thought they were too heavily armed for that. He guessed by the next nightfall.

Marcus snapped at them both and told them to keep going. He also told them to call for reinforcements if they needed.

As they moved farther away and no sound neared us, Jace pullled away and demanded harshly, “What the hell are you doing here?”

I shoved him away. “You left!”

“So?”

I shoved him again. “You said that I was supposed to stay with you and then you took off.”

“What do you expect?” Jace asked tiredly and glanced around us. “I have a shot to finish this without endangering my men. I’m going to do it and you were supposed to stay back there.”

“Yeah well…I don’t follow orders.”

“God, don’t I know it.” He muttered, took my hand, and led the way. “Come on. We have to keep going.”

“That was Marcus. What were they talking about?”

Jace melted against the landscape. He did it so naturally, I was reminded that so many called him a ghost. He moved as one, graceful and lithe. And in my current state of mind, he pissed me off even more because of it.

“They know our camp. They’re just going to keep shooting until the crew inside is out of ammunition. It’s why we have to hurry, find the encampment, and get back to help.”

“Let me find the encampment and you go back to help.” I bargained.

“No.” Jace stopped abruptly. I almost crashed into him as he turned around and said fiercely, “And besides, there’s a secret way out, right?”

“What are you talking about?”

Jace sighed. “Oscar chose that house for a few reasons. Yeah, it was close, but a little too close. He chose it because there was a secret way out, but he didn’t know where it was. We both knew that if anyone was going to find it, it’d be you. You found it, right?”

I couldn’t even act surprised.

“You really piss me off how you manipulate me all the time.” I dead-panned.

Jace grinned cockily and shrugged, “You’ve got some talent that no one can argue. You see things we don’t and you find things we can’t. How’d you get in Glory’s Basket? You’re resourceful, Maya. You learned that from the streets.”

I didn’t need to be told what I had learned. I shoved him forward, “We’re wasting precious time.”

“Did you bring your guns?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” And we were off again.

Jace didn’t hold my hand. He jogged lightly. His body flew over stone and log and I stumbled to keep up. It was just like before when we were going in to capture Oscar. I remembered how to point my toes right, but it was uncomfortable. We didn’t leave any tracks, that’s all that Jace cared about and we were silent—almost. When I didn’t brush against the rough tree barks—otherwise we were very quiet.

And then an explosion blasted in the distance. We didn’t see it, but we felt it. The ground rocked, literally, and then there was complete silence.

Jace froze and automatically reached back to stop me.

His hand gripped my arm.

I held my breath.

And then we heard screams in the distance.

“Those are the kids!” I gapsed.

Jace had already shot forward. I sprinted behind him. We didn’t care about being quiet. We didn’t care about anything except getting to them.

This was it. This was the time for the revolution to occur. I didn’t know what I should’ve been expecting, but….we flew over the forest and no tree, no branch, no leaf stood in our way.

The forest was there, but it didn’t matter.

Another explosion drew us up short. Jace stopped and anchored me behind him with an arm thrown backwards.

“Sshh!” Jace murmured.

He should’ve saved his breath. I wasn’t saying anything.

Screams, crying, and footsteps stopped us short. We inched closer and Jace pulled me to the ground beside him. As we topped a small ridge, my mouth fell open as I saw what was beneath us.

It was a small opening and children were running everywhere. I watched, horrified, as a little girl fell down and was trampled by the other kids. Some were blinded from their tears and some were just speechless.

Jace nudged my shoulder and gestured to the north and left.

There was the same river that I guessed ran next to Oscar’s land.

More and more kids poured out of a small opening. It was an underground cave. They weren’t in a mine at all. I held my breath just imagining what they must’ve been surviving in. Caves were dark, wet, and dangerous.

Another explosion rocked the ground, knocking most of the children off their feet. And then there was a slight pause and another outpour of children came from the cave.

“Someone’s letting those kids out.” Jace noted. “They aren’t stopping. Most just got out from that last explosion.”

“Marcus?”

“No. Marcus is focused on you.”

“Lily?”

“Maybe, but I don’t think so.”

Suddenly someone flung themselves next to us. I jumped and looked over.

Rafe winked at me and calmly readied her shooting hand before her.

“What are you doing here?” Jace asked. “You were supposed to stay back with the rest.”

“Right.” Rafe chuckled dryly. “Because when pretty princess is missing and you ordered me to protect her at all costs—you don’t actually think I’m not going to follow, do you?”

“Rafe.” Jace growled.

She winked again and grinned. “Don’t get your panties in a twist, boss.”

“You are unpleasant.” I stated.

“That’s a compliment where I come from.” She replied casually and focused on the scene before us. “So who do you think? My money’s on Stirley.”

Jace didn’t say anything.

“I don’t like this.” I murmured. “What are we waiting for?”
“Pretty princess isn’t all that talented, huh?”

“You can shut it.” I smiled coldly.

“Ah, she does have some balls.”

I said sweetly, “I have a knife that’s my eleventh finger. Grasp that, bitch.”

“And that’s the fighter that you must love to screw, boss.” Rafe said smugly.

“Shut up, both of you.”

“What’s the layout?” Rafe asked a few moments later.

Jace pointed to the north, “There’s a line of trees. My guys would be there. We didn’t come up on anyone behind us, so we’re safe to assume it’s open—for now.”

“They could circle around.”

“They could.” Jace murmured. “We’ll play some of this by ear, but Maya and I are going in. You stay back and cover us.”

“What are you going in for?”

“My nephew.” I said coldly.

To my surprise, the snitch turned agent was actually quiet.

“This needs to be quick.” She spoke to Jace.

“I know.”

“They’ll have the opening covered.”

“Who’s the ranking officer here?” Jace said sharply.

Rafe shrugged, “I just want to know we’re on the same page.”

“We’re in, grab the kid, and we’ll get out. You stay and cover us.”

“The others are back there.”

“Marcus won’t be.” I spoke up. “Those explosions will bring him back here.”

“It’ll bring everyone here.” Jace said sardonically.

The children were slowing. The end was nearing and still no Gray.

“Those kids are running everywhere and anywhere. How are we supposed to do crowd control?” Rafe griped.

“You don’t. They’re not shooting the kids. They’ll shoot us. Just…do your job. Let the kids go. We’ll round them up.”

Like cattle. I grimaced at the thought.

“Can I shoot the kids?” Rafe asked.

“No.” Jace snapped.

I didn’t even think she was joking.

And then something happened that I never thought I’d witness.

Gray appeared, tiny. His green eyes were clear and calm. His brown hair flopped in the wind. He paused in the cave’s opening and instead of scrambling away like all the others, he stopped and just stood there. And then he looked, slowly, to our exact spot.

I sucked in my breath, frantic, and rushed out, “That’s him.”

Jace glanced down, but he quickly went back to scrutinizing our perimeter.

“He’s a little weird.” Rafe grunted. “Why doesn’t he run away? And why is he looking right at us?”

“There’s no way he can see us.” I murmured underneath my breath.

“No way around it, that kid knows we’re here.” Rafe said grimly. “I don’t like that. If a kid can see us, everyone else can see us.”

“We’re hidden.” Jace said cautiously. “Don’t worry about the kid. No one else can see us.”

“You know, for all the shit that we’ve been through together, right now—I’m leaning more towards Pretty Princess. The kid can see us, we should hightail out of here.”

“Not before Gray.” I said automatically.

“Can’t you whistle? Send some ‘privileged people’ code in SOS. Tell the kid to meet us five clicks south in thirty minutes.” Rafe said sarcastically.

“Stop it, Rafe.”

And not to my surprise, she hadn’t been sarcastic.

“Remember when I broke your boyfriend’s finger?” I glared.

Rafe smirked, “Trust me. That night was a little uncomfortable.”

“Go!” Jace barked out. He lifted me up and we were both sprinting down the hill and over the covering.

As he had surged upwards, Rafe neatly tucked her gun to her chest and rolled to the side. I heard the gun click back into place and knew she was ready to shoot those who shot at us.

My heart pounded in rhythm as my feet sprinted across the ground.

Gray looked up, his eyes widened, and he was ready for me to scoop him up.

And then a shot hit the ground in front of us, Jace shoved me to the side, and I was on my back in the next instant.

It happened so quickly, but Jace and I were in a cave. A shot rang out and Jace said quickly, “Rafe got him.”

I scrambled up, “Gray.”

“He’s fine. He’s gone.” Jace pushed me back behind him. “Rafe got the shooter.”

“How do you know?” I didn’t care about the shooter, not then.

“Because he ran for cover when we did. He’s smart. He’ll be fine. And he saw where we went.”

Everyone did.

“Great.” Jace sighed and locked his shoulder in place. His gun was pointed and ready for anyone to come after us.

I stood behind him and asked, tentatively, “What do you mean?”

“We’re pinned under fire. No one can get to us, but everyone fucking know where we are.”

Another shot rang out and rocks spewed above us. They fell on us, but Jace held me against the wall and out of their fall.

I shoved his arm away.

“I can handle some rocks. You watch out there.” I snarled.

“What are you pissed about?”

I flung open my hand, “Let me start the list!”

More shooting was shared over the next few minutes until an eery silence filled the forrest.

Gray had looked right at us. He knew where we were. He hadn’t been scared.

Gray was more than just a kid. He was my nephew, but he was more than that. A normal kid would’ve been screaming, crying, running. Gray wasn’t even scared.

Grya was at the heart of this. He was what mattered, not me, not Jace, not Krein.

I was sure of that and I was pretty sure that Doron wasn’t an actual person.

“Jace.” I started, cautious.

“What?” Jace asked quietly, still watching the opening.

“I need to tell you something”

Oh god.

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s….” about Gray. I was about to say the words and then I heard, “Maya!”

“What?” Jace asked, confused.

“What?” I turned around. The voice came from behind me.

“What?” Jace asked again.

“Did you…did someone just say my name?”

“What?”

“…Maya…” It was the same voice. It was a sharp whisper, but I couldn’t place it.

“Did you hear that?”

“Are you going insane?” Jace asked grimly.

“Maybe.” I murmured and stepped around him.

“Maya, trust.” It was the voice again.

It came from the opening. I stepped forward again.

“Maya!” Jace barked out. “Don’t! Are you insane?”

“No…” I murmured.

“This is the pinnacle. This is the time. This is the sacrifice.” The voice said again.

“What? What sacrifice? What….it’s not now.” I murmured, distracted.

“It’s about trust. Do you trust? Do you believe? Is there a better hope?”

“Hope?” I echoed.

Jace hauled me back. I blinked and realized that I had almost stepped into the opening.

“What are you doing?” He demanded. He pinned me against the wall.

I couldn’t explain. I couldn’t…

Softly, I asked, “Do you love me?”

“What?” Jace asked, taken aback.

“Do you?”

“You’re asking me this now?” He gestured outside. “We’re under gunfire right now and you want to talk about you and me?”

It wasn’t about him and me. It wasn’t about our relationship and it wasn’t about the gunfire.

I couldn’t explain it, but I felt it.

Doron wasn’t a human. Doron was something else. And it had to do with Gray. There was a reason that Gray hadn’t been scared. There was a reason why Gray had seen us when no one else could.

“Jace.” I gripped his arm. “There’s…something else is going on right now.”

“What are you talking about?” He searched my face.

“When I was at the house, when I was in that secret room before—there was someone else there.”

“What? Who?”

“Not who, but…” I gulped. “…what. He said that….he said that events are unfolding and Gray is in the middle of it.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.” Jace frowned.

“I know.” I cut out, helplessly.

It was a drive. It was a purpose. And I felt it, but I didn’t know what it meant. I didn’t know where it was taking me.

“I just…” I opened my mouth. I never let words hang loose, but I couldn’t contain them this time. “I…this doesn’t have to do with Marcus, or Lily, or…something else is going on here, Jace. I know it. I feel it. I…I hear it.”

I expected lunacy. I expected to be damned, but I was surprised when Jace said quietly, “There’s always something more going on.”

“What?”

I blinked.

Jace turned around to face me squarely. He grasped my arms and spoke, “There’s always something else there when I kill someone or I see someone get killed. At every trauma, at every…something else is always there. I know that because I watch them when they see it. Their eyes always…they go warm, like they’re comforted. They’re…they’re not scared anymore. I see that and I’m not stupid.”

I blinked again.

A gunshot splattered some more rocks above us, but I nearly screamed when I saw Doron just behind Jace.

I slapped a hand over my mouth and reeled backwards.

Jace frowned.

Doron said gently, “He cannot see me.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I apologize for the long wait. I'm not quite sure about this chapter, but I'm posting it anyway.