I TOLD GRANDMA and Jake about what we were planning to do. When I finished talking, Jake let me know that it didn’t seem like I had much of a plan. He was right. The only plan we had was to show up in Screven and find the Resistance leader Allison. Of course, this wasn’t my plan. Regardless of what the others came up with, my job was to get to Jeremiah before my time ran out.
The three of us sat at the table and Grandma put out some bread and tomatoes. It wasn’t much, but it tasted good. Under the circumstances, however, I found it hard to eat. Facing the certainty of death had depleted my appetite. Not only that, but the moment I sat down at the table, I started to feel hot, and my neck began to ache. Must have been the start of the fever.
“What do you think it will be like when all this is over?” Jake asked, mouth full of food.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Grandma said.
Jake rolled his eyes but then looked at me for an answer.
“I think it will be better than we could ever dream,” I said. “We’ll be growing more food, maybe we can even keep animals again.”
“Oh, that would be great,” Jake said.
“Maybe you would think about getting married?” Grandma said with a grin. She tore off a piece of bread and did a short toss into her mouth. I could tell the grin was forced behind so much pain. She was doing her best to keep her mind away from the attack that morning.
Still, her question made me blush. And when I thought about it, it was stupid that I blushed. Marriage can’t happen for me. I’ve been infected. But I played out the conversation anyway, regardless of how painful it was.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Not sure who I would marry.”
“Connor seemed like a nice young man,” Grandma said. “Where did he run off to?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know exactly.”
“Or Aaron!” Jake said. “Can you imagine what your kid would be like? Shooting out lightening bolts and moving things with his mind all at the same time?” He moved his hands through the air and made an explosion noise with his mouth. “That kid would be unstoppable.”
“Could we not talk about this right now, please?” I asked.
The two of them smiled at me, but I just stared down at the bread. When I looked back up at them, their faces had turned very serious.
“I want you to know that it is a very dangerous trip we’re going on,” I said. “There is a possibility that I won’t be coming back.”
“Well, we don’t need to hear that kind of talk, Mora,” Grandma said. “You’ll be fine. You always are.”
She might have believed that, but she hadn’t seen how close I’d come to dying over the past couple of weeks. I supposed that even if she had, it would only make her conviction even stronger. But I knew the truth. I knew that I wouldn’t be fine this time.
As the hour passed, we talked about everything. The past. The future. When the hour was up, it was hard to tell them that it was time to go. A quick goodbye was all I could manage even though I knew I would never see them again. With the virus in my veins, I would be dead by the next morning.
They both hugged me tightly again as I stood next to the door. “No tears this time,” Grandma said. “I hope to see you here in no time, all right?”
I nodded at her. It was everything I could do not to burst out crying then and there. I knew I needed to be strong for them. I knew they needed to see a confident Mora walking away from them: a Mora that would be back after she set them all free.
With one last wave, I set out for the Tower. Along the way I spotted Christopher standing with his sister, Sadie, in the street. When I walked up to them, she looked at me and gasped. At first, I had no idea why she had such a reaction, but then I remembered that she also had a gift. She could read people’s thoughts.
I held up a hand to her, telling her to wait. “I just need a second to explain,” I told her.
“Explain what?” Christopher asked.
“She’s been infected,” Sadie said.
Christopher looked at me with wide eyes, shocked by the revelation. “How? When? Are you all right?” He shook his head. “Of course you aren’t all right. What happened?”
“This morning at my house,” I told them. “You can see why I want to get to Screven as soon as possible.”
He nodded. “I do now. What did you want to talk to me about?”
“I was wondering if your ability to heal would allow you to sustain me for a time,” I said.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
I wipe a bit of sweat from my brow. “I know you can’t heal the greyskin virus because it will kill you, but can you stave off the symptoms of it? I need more time.”
“What kind of time are you looking for?”
“I need all of today,” I said. “Getting to Jeremiah will be difficult. I might not be able to do it before the infection immobilizes me.”
“I don’t know,” Christopher said. “I’ve never really tried to heal someone a little at a time.”
“You want to try it now?” I asked.
He looked at Sadie, but she only shrugged.
“Do you know when you’ve reached your breaking point?” I asked him. “Do you know when something is about to kill you when you heal?”
He looked at me with serious eyes. “Yes. When I touch you, I will know if it can be done.”
I held out my arm. “All I’m asking is for you to take some of the symptoms so I can function longer. Don’t take the infection itself.”
“I understand,” he said.
“Right now I just have a slight fever.”
He looked around, almost to see if anyone was watching. He then grabbed my arm quickly and firmly. Closing his eyes, he held on with a tight grip. I immediately felt the fever begin to leave my body. My neck didn’t hurt and I didn’t feel abnormally hot.
He let go suddenly. “There,” he said with a deep breath. He rubbed at his neck and tried to pop it by wrenching it side to side. “I feel the fever. How do you feel?”
“Never better,” I said. “Like I did about an hour ago.”
Christopher nodded.
“No,” Sadie said. “You can’t take him.”
“What?” Christopher asked.
“She wants you to go to Screven,” she answered, almost in tears. She turned back to me. “He can’t go with you.”
“What’s going on, Mora?”
“If you’re willing,” I told him, “I want you to come with me. I know it’s a lot to ask. Jeremiah is looking for you. If I’m going to get to him, I will need you to help me. Eventually, my symptoms will prevent me from finishing this. That’s why I will need you. To take them from me, until it’s time for me to die.”
Sadie was crying heavily now. I desperately hoped that no one would see us. Christopher placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her in closer. “It’s okay, Sadie. Don’t cry.” He looked up at me. “If you need me so you can get to Jeremiah, I will help.”
“I can’t guarantee your safety,” I told him.
“I know,” he said. “But I am willing. You saved my life in Salem. I don’t know where we would be right now if you hadn’t come to get us. The least I can do is help you in your last hours.”
“I appreciate it,” I told him. I looked at Sadie. “I promise I will do everything I can to make sure Christopher is safe.”
She wiped her eyes and nodded.
“Sadie,” I said. “You can’t tell anyone about me. Nobody knows except for the three of us.”
Again she nodded.
“I want you to go and stay with my Grandma and Jake until Christopher gets back. Just promise me that even when I’m gone, you will never tell anyone about the scratch, okay?”
“I promise,” she said.
Christopher pulled Sadie in and hugged her. He whispered something into her ear, but I didn’t catch most of it. The last part was I love you so much. Part of me felt terrible for asking him to do such a thing for me. It was a risk for him. A huge risk. Not only that, but he would be subjected to physical anguish.
But I would keep my word to Sadie. I would do what I had to do to keep her brother safe. With Christopher’s help, I should have plenty of time to get to Jeremiah. I just wish I knew what I was doing, and how I would do it. With a final goodbye, Sadie was off for my grandma’s house and Christopher walked beside me toward the Tower.
“Your sister cares about you very much,” I said.
“We’ve been through a lot together,” he said. “We’ve had to learn to rely only on each other. It’s not often that we’re apart.”
“I want you to know, you don’t have to do this,” I said. “You don’t owe me anything. If you walk away right now, I won’t think less of you. I can find another way.”
“No you can’t,” Christopher said. “I know the process of becoming a greyskin. I’ve seen it too many times. You’ve got a few hours before the headaches come and the fever begins to send cold chills through your body. Then you will start to get extremely tired. A few hours after that, you will barely be able to walk. Your eyes start to turn dark. Fluids you didn’t even know you had start coming out and you start to have a desire for flesh. Then, almost exactly a day after the infection begins, you die, only to come back to life almost immediately.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Not exactly making me excited about this process,” I said.
He smiled at this. “Well, with our plan, you shouldn’t have to go through all of those things. You will just…die.”
The words hit hard, and we both walk in silence the rest of the way. It’s true. Though he may have to be the one to bear the transformation, he wasn’t the one that had to die. Ultimately, that was my part. I just needed to take Jeremiah with me.
At the bottom of the Tower, everyone seemed ready to go. Looking at the group, I couldn’t help but think that that seven people were too many to get through Screven quietly. But all of us were Starborns. We would be okay. It all depended on where Jeffrey was able get us in.
“Come to see us off?” Evelyn asked as she eyed Christopher.
“Actually, I’m going with you,” he said.
Each of them looked at Christopher like he was crazy and Evelyn simply laughed. But Christopher didn’t crack a smile.
“He is,” I said. “I’ve asked him to come. We could use him.”
Evelyn’s laugh stopped abruptly and her face turned very serious. “Jeremiah would love nothing more than for us to bring the healer to his front doorstep. You know this isn’t going to happen, sweetheart. In any normal situation, I would agree that he would be useful, but not today.”
Heather stared at me with an eyebrow cocked. Danny simply looked down at his feet while Aaron looked confused. Jeffrey cleared his throat.
“You do know that Jeremiah has been seeking out a healer, don’t you?” Jeffrey asked.
I don’t know why, but his question made me want to punch him. Of course I knew. That’s what Jeremiah has been after for many years. I’ve seen the dreams. I know his intent. If Jeffery hadn’t been new to our little group, I might have knocked him down with a thought, but I settled myself and stared back at Evelyn.
“Can I speak with you for a moment in private?” I asked her.
She seemed confused by all this, but she nodded her head and followed me away from the others. “Mora, I don’t understand what your problem is. You know why he can’t go, right?”
When we were far enough away from the group, I spun around to face her and held out my hand. “Grab it,” I said.
With only a little hesitation, she reached out and grabbed my hand. She closed her eyes and as I stared at her, I could see that she was getting all of it. This went on for at least twenty seconds and I was starting to feel weird about it. I was glad no one was watching because I was sure someone would have a question as to what we were doing. Finally, she released my hand.
The look on her face was one of horror. “Mora, I am so sorry. I think I’m going to be sick.” She bent over and grabbed her knees as if she were getting lightheaded.
“Tell me about it,” I said. “So you see why I want to bring Christopher? You saw the deal I made with him?”
“I do. And I did,” she said, standing straight. “But if your intention is to simply try to gain audience with Jeremiah, taking Christopher won’t help you.”
“I just said that for the sake of the others,” I told her. “I do want to meet with Jeremiah, but you were right. They will never just let me in the same room with him. Somehow I’ve got to sneak in and find him.”
Evelyn’s eyes lit up. “Connor. You can follow Connor.”
“Exactly,” I said.
“So he’s not a defector then,” she said, looking at nothing in particular. “The two of you worked it out so you can watch Jeremiah from here. To try and see his plans. His whereabouts.”
I nodded. “Only, when we made these plans I didn’t have a specific timeline. Now I’ve got less than twenty-four hours. If I can take Christopher with me, I will be able to make full use of those hours instead of writhing in pain. Jeremiah doesn’t know what Christopher looks like. He sure wouldn’t think we’d bring him to Screven.”
“Looks like you set up the perfect way to get to Jeremiah,” Evelyn said. “We still need to meet with Allison, however. She will know the best way to proceed. Also, your instincts to keep Connor’s false defection a secret from the others was a wise choice. If any of them were to get caught, Connor might be found out.”
“I think we have a pretty good plan,” I said.
She looked at me and sighed. “I can’t believe it, Mora. I’m so sorry this happened to you. I can’t help but feel responsible. I’m the one that got you into all this mess in the first place.”
I shook my head. “Jeremiah got us into this.”
She seemed to accept this as a good enough answer, but the pain of her self-imposed guilt was still etched across her face. It seemed as though she was more concerned than she should have been. How many people had she seen in her lifetime succumb to death by the greyskins? I suppose that maybe she had connected with me somehow. Maybe her vision of the future had included me standing with her and the others when we all declared victory over Jeremiah.
“If it is at all possible,” Evelyn said, “you need to find a place to rest and sleep for a few minutes.”
I let out a laugh. “I definitely don’t have time for that.”
“The dreams aren’t finished. What was the last you saw? The one about the assassination attempt?”
I nod.
“There’s more,” she said.
“Can’t you just tell me?” I asked. “Does it even matter to me now? Giving me more answers won’t help anything.”
“Maybe not, but you will at least die knowing the full truth,” she said. “It’s not anything I can just tell you. You need to see it.”
“Well, I can’t promise that I’ll be taking a nap today,” I told her.”
“I know. But if there is an opportunity for you to find some rest, take a moment and do so.”
“I will do what I can,” I told her.
“Here,” she said, reaching for the back of her belt. She pulled out a pistol and handed it to me. “I know you don’t normally have a use for guns, but if things get bad and you can feel that death is about to reach you…” she nodded toward the pistol.
“Shoot a bullet through my head?” I asked, a bit too callously.
She didn’t say anything to this, so I smiled at her. “Thank you, Evelyn. If things go bad in Screven, though, I might not even need it.”
“Well, you can still be shot and killed, but if they didn’t get your brain, you will still reanimate.”
“Well, if I do, maybe I’ll take a few Screven guards with me,” I said.
Evelyn didn’t crack a smile at this like I did. I knew she thought the whole thing was just horrible. It was. But dreading it and making a big deal out of it would do nothing to help.
We started walking back to the group where Aaron was handing out black wristbands to everyone.
“I’ve modified these to only communicate with each other,” he said. “Screven guards shouldn’t be able to pick up our chatter.”
He handed one to me, but his hand lingered and he gave me a questioning look. I just smiled at him. When he got to Christopher, he looked at Evelyn.
“He’s coming with us,” Evelyn said.
Aaron shook his head and handed a wristband to Christopher. “I hope they know what they’re doing,” he said.
As everyone put on their wristband and started testing them out, he grabbed my arm gently and pulled me aside. “What’s going on?” he asked as I fitted the wristband to my left arm.
I shrugged. “Just trying to figure things out is all.”
“I know you two have been up to something lately,” he said. “I don’t know why you are all of a sudden keeping secrets from me.”
“I’m not,” I lied. “Evelyn has a special relationship with us in our own way. Her relationship with you is much different than mine because we share different experiences. She knows all about both of us.”
“Yet we know very little about each other,” he said. “I think I’m going to have to remedy that.” He smiled at me and rubbed my shoulder.
He had no idea that he knew as much about me as he ever would. I would change that if I wasn’t supposed to die in the next twenty or so hours, but there was no way around it.
The more I was around the other Starborns, the more I hoped that I wouldn’t be traveling with them through the streets of Screven for very long. In just a few hours they would begin to see that there was something wrong with me. Or at least they would see that there was something wrong with Christopher as he took my symptoms upon himself.
The group was ready. We all stood outside of the Tower having no idea what we were doing. All any of us knew was that we had to find the Resistance leader in Screven, Allison.
“So, what do we do now, stand in a circle and hold hands?” Heather asked with a smirk.
“Actually, yes,” Jeffrey answered. He opened up his hands for others to join him. Evelyn grabbed his hand first, and then I walked forward and took the other. Christopher grabbed my right hand as he stood next to me. I could feel just the slightest bit of tingle as he took away a hint of sickness that had returned to my body. I was surprised by this, and when I looked at him, he just smiled at me.
“I’ve got your back today,” he said.
I don’t know why, but for some reason I squeezed his hand tighter. It was good to know that someone had my back. Today of all days. To know that I could finish out my last day without having to worry about the sickness was reassuring. I then knew that somehow, everything was going to be okay.
The others stepped up and held on to each other’s hands. We all looked at Jeffrey, unsure of what this was going to feel like.
“Remember,” Evelyn said. “Don’t use your Starborn abilities once we are in Screven. We’ve got to keep a low profile for as long as we can until we find Allison. If Jeremiah catches wind that Starborns are in his city and attacking his soldiers, he’ll know we’re coming for him. We’ve got to be as secretive as possible.” She looked at Jeffrey. “We’re ready.”
“You sure you can get us into the city?” Heather asked.
“I can do my best,” he said. “It takes up a lot of my power to be able to teleport this many people. The more people I’m taking, the less accurate I am.”
“Well, that’s reassuring,” she said back to him.
“On three,” Evelyn told him.
He nodded. Sweat dripped down his face as he stared straight ahead with a determined, but nervous focus. It had just occurred to me that he was probably scared to death of what was about to happen. I hadn’t really thought about the enormous pressure he was now facing. If he sent us to a secluded ally somewhere, we’d be fine. If he sent us to the middle of Screven’s soldier barracks, we’d be in big trouble.
Evelyn squeezed his hand even tighter. “One.”
Aaron shifted in his stance. Even he seemed nervous. None of us had actually ever teleported before. Well, except for Evelyn.
“Two.”
“Let’s hope we don’t end up in a factory meat grinder or something,” Danny said.
“What?” Heather asked as she turned her head sharply.
“Three.”
We were gone.