I get up from the couch and rush back towards the bedroom. Braxton meets me at the door, blocking my view into the room.
“Trea!”
At first I thought it was Braxton who summoned me, but it’s Jagger. I know this is going to be bad, as he’s never called me by my real name before.
“Let me pass,” I say to Braxton, who continues to block my way.
“You don’t want to go in there,” he replies, stepping closer.
Jagger lets out another howl. Braxton sees I’m not backing down, so he steps aside to let me by.
The sheets of the bed that were once white are now deep crimson. Jagger’s many wounds continue to bleed no matter how much pressure is placed upon them. He thrashes as pain spasms seize his body. Tobin steps aside, allowing me to pass so I can be by Jagger’s side. I brush the blonde tresses that keeping falling into his face. He turns his head towards me, tears welling in his eyes.
“Trea,” he whispers, a small smile forming on his tight face.
I feel my shoulder being bumped and look over to see Tobin tapping the handle of a Levin gun against my back.
“Jagger wants you to do it,” he says to me, voice cracking with emotion.
“No. I won’t.” I turn my head away.
“Please,” Jagger gasps, gripping my arm, leaving behind bloody impressions.
“He’s dying, Trea.” Braxton states in a matter of fact manner. “This is the only way to ease his suffering.”
“I won’t do it,” I protest, tears welling in my eyes.
I try to move away, but Jagger is in the middle of a seizure causing his muscles to contract, tightening his grip on my arm.
“Trea, I’m ordering you to do this,” Braxton shouts at me. “As a soldier you have an obligation to follow orders.”
Anger begins to build inside.
My right arm is on fire with delight.
I take the gun from Tobin and aim it at Jagger’s chest while the others begin to recede to the other end of the room.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper to him, as my finger begins to tighten on the trigger.
I begin to sweat as the air around me dramatically increases in temperature.
“No, wait,” I hear Lehen shout from the doorway.
I barely hear him through the pulse of blood coursing through my veins. His sudden appearance causes me to hesitate, as if I’m waiting for an absolution.
“There’s another way,” Lehen says, as his hand guides the gun down to my side.
He removes the gun from my hand, giving it back to Tobin.
“Keep him comfortable. Trea, come with me,” Lehen says, as he takes my hand, escorting me out of the room.
Braxton follows the two of us out.
“We’re going to need that,” Lehen says, as he points to the Morrigan uniform Braxton is still wearing.
“What for?” he asks, walking closer to Lehen, whose energy has surged.
“To get into the city. Specifically, the healer’s den.”
“You’re not going back in there, and neither is she,” Braxton shouts, pointing at me. “Now let’s calm down and discuss this.”
“No. The longer we wait the less time we have to save Jagger.”
“What’s in the healer’s den?” I ask, trying to get Lehen and Braxton to back off from each other.
“You were taken down to the chamber, like me, correct? They drained you too, right?”
“If you mean the room with the stone table and the bloodletting, then yes.”
“The doctor who collected your blood has refined a process to remove the Quarum and synthesize it. Anyone who injects the substance, Antaean or not, will experience our advanced healing ability…the body will self-repair.”
Realization dawns on me. The hypocritical coward! “That’s the real reason the Parson wants the Antaeans, isn’t it? So he can save himself from ever dying?”
“Yes. The supply they harvested from me only lasted a few months each time, and then the Parson’s body started to break down, so he had to keep injecting himself. However with your blood, he won’t have to replenish every couple of months. The supply he took from you will last years. It will work the same on Jagger.”
“Braxton, give Lehen the uniform,” I say forcefully.
“Trea, let’s think about this.” Braxton walks over to me, placing himself between Lehen and I. “I know you care for Jagger, but you don’t know what that stuff will do to him…if it will even work at all.”
“It works on Parson Mathan. And anyway, I have to try.”
“Then I’m going with you. But Lehen is staying here.”
“Why?” he protests.
“Because you’re not well enough. You’ll only slow us down.”
“Captain,” Keller calls from the doorway. “What if we all go? I don’t relish the idea of staying here, and we should all stick together.”
“Carrying Jagger will only slow us down,” Braxton retorts. “Besides, moving him might kill him. No, we’ll stick with just the two of us going in. If you run into any trouble while you are out here, head for the woods.”
“You’ll only be able to go two miles into the forest before a trap is set off,” Lehen chimes in. “No one has ever reached the boundary.”
The group agrees not to venture far from the house even if they are forced to leave. Braxton makes sure the weapons he has confiscated are fully functional. I’m outfitted with a Morrigan uniform that he brought back with him in the sack.
Lehen gives us directions on finding the healer’s den. Before leaving I secure my knife into a hilt attached to my belt, along with a Levin gun. I say a silent goodbye to Jagger, who has passed out from the pain. Braxton and I leave the small house then enter the tunnel just as the sun is rising.
The battered body of a Morrigan lies between the caskets as we enter the tomb. His body is clothed only in an undershirt and shorts.
“You’re wearing his uniform,” Braxton says to me, as we step over the corpse’s outstretched legs.
I’m a little uncomfortable with the thought, but Trea just shrugs.
We retreat down the stairs, reach the
