Justice Keepers Saga - Books 1-3

Chapter 5

Darkness slowly faded into a haze of colours that bled together, blues and grays and whites swirling together in a whirlpool. Half a moment later, objects solidified in his field of vision and he realized he was looking at the ceiling of a hospital room with daylight coming in through the window.

Jack felt his jaw drop. He turned his head, mashing his face into the pillow. “Oh, God, what the hell happened to me?” he whispered. “Or maybe I need to ask the devil.”

The girl from the thrift shop was sitting in a chair at his bedside. “I had the oddest dream,” he went on, “and you were there! The Scarecrow and Tin-Man too! Although the presence of Ronald Reagan remains a mystery.”

youAnna. That was her name.

She flashed a smile, a flush creeping into her cheeks. Closing her eyes, she bowed her head to him. “Well, it"s kind of a long story,” she began. “You see, I needed a date to my cousin"s wedding.”

“Right…”

“And lacking social skills of any kind, I decided to corner you, knock you out and then drag you to the banquet hall.” Anna hunched up her shoulders like a turtle shrinking into its shell, hiding the grin on her face behind the tips of her fingers. “Then it occurred to me that you wouldn"t be a good dancer in that condition, so I brought you here. I"m not a total monster.”

totalSitting up on the mattress, Jack pressed a palm to his forehead. He winced and let out a groan. “A date to your cousin"s wedding,” he murmured. “That"s quite a lot of work for arm candy.”

“I didn"t say I was smart.”

Jack chuckled. “Good thing I"m a masochist.”

“It"s very convenient for me.”

veryWhen he glanced over his shoulder, the girl was staring at him with her lips pursed, her big blue eyes practically glistening. “You stood up to a d**g dealer,” she told him. “A rather nasty man. And you did it to protect some poor junkie.”

Jack clenched his teeth, his face suddenly on fire. He shook his head in frustration. “Yeah, that"s me,” he muttered under his breath. “Always doing the stupid thing and then suffering for it.”

“Stupid?” she replied. “Try brave.”

Anna wore the most serene expression as she studied him, blinking as though his words left her confused. “It was truly remarkable,” she said, nodding to him. “You were willing to put yourself in harm"s way for a total stranger.”

Hearing that only made his embarrassment deepen. Jack Hunter was a bit of a goof and a whole lot of screw-up, but the word hero had no place on his résumé. Besides, the only thing he did was take a beating.

heroA true hero – not that he had the audacity to assume Anna would call him as much – would have stopped the crime rather than just defy it. Which, got him thinking…how exactly did he get to the hospital?

Glancing over his shoulder, Jack frowned as he studied her. He squinted, thinking the matter over. “What happened to the d**g dealer?” he asked at last. “Did you frighten him off with your puppy-dog eyes?”

“No, I just flashed him.”

Clamping a hand over his mouth, Jack squeezed his eyes shut. He trembled as a fit of laughter went through him. “I see…” he said into his palm. “How very…innovative of you. I would have never thought of that.”

Anna grinned into her lap, her cheeks painted red. She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I keep telling you,” she said in tones of mock annoyance. “Men are all helpless under my thrall.”

“You wanna make with the truth?” Jack inquired. “Because I"m pretty darn sure you Vampire Slayered that guy into the next century.”

“Vampire…what?”

Well, there was a shocker. How did a girl with such rapier wit not appreciate the all-consuming awesomeness of Buffy Summers? There was something about her, something he couldn"t quite put his finger on.

Jack was about to bring up the point when the sound of a man clearing his throat brought an end to their conversation. A pity. He was really starting to think he could like this young woman. True, she was leaving town, but there was this magical thing called Skype that could solve that problem.

A doctor stood in the doorway to his room. Tall and slim, he wore a white lab coat with pens in his pocket, his sun-darkened face matched by brown hair that he wore cut short. “I hope I"m not interrupting,” he said, striding into the room. “I wanted to look in on you, Mr. Hunter.”

“Right as a rainbow, Doc.” Jack replied. He was quick to dismiss any thoughts of getting to know Anna. After all, there was a zero-point-one percent chance that she would care about what he had to say now that there was a handsome doctor in the room. With a zero-point-one percent margin of error, of course.

“That"s good.”

The doctor scrawled a few notes on his pad with his pen. His brow furrowed with concentration. “We found no evidence of any major head trauma,” he went on. “But just the same, it"s good that you came in.”

Grinning and shutting his eyes tight, the doctor shook his head. “I want you to take a few days off,” he said, approaching the bed. “I"ll write you a note. Just make sure you get some rest.”

Anna seemed fascinated by this discussion. In truth, Jack could almost see the gears turning in her head. He filed that little tidbit away under the heading things that make her a bit weird.

things that make her a bit weirdThe doctor noticed her for the first time. “Is this your friend?” he asked, giving her the once-over. “We called the store to check your emergency contacts. They gave us your sister"s number, but she didn"t answer.”

“She may not be there,” Jack replied. “She"s frequently out of town, so you may not have been able to reach her.”

“Well, we"re willing to release you but…”

Tilting her head to the side, Anna grinned at him, her big blue eyes glittering with amusement. “I will make sure he gets home, Doctor,” she said softly. “It"s the least I can do considering the circumstances.”

“Well, that"s settled then.”

Yes…Jack thought. Yes, it is.

Yes…Yes, it is.

Through the window on the seventh floor, Anna looked out on the street below. A dozen or so cars were lined up between this intersection and the next one over, moving at a crawl. She spotted pedestrians on the sidewalk – some old, some young – all whizzing about like bees collecting honey.

The sun was a blazing sphere in the western sky, hovering just over the tops of the tallest buildings. Evening would come soon and she could already feel a rumbling in her stomach. To their credit, the doctors had insisted on running every test on Jack just to be sure he was all right. Of course, that required a large amount of patience on her part, but she didn"t mind.

Anna pressed her lips together, then lowered her eyes to the floor. She took a deep breath and let it out again. You should mind, she told herself. Each and every second you waste with this young man is one more Denario can use to get away.

You should mind,Each and every second you waste with this young man is one more Denario can use to get away.Chastising herself would accomplish nothing. She had made a promise to see Jack home safely, and prodding the snarl of emotions that had settled into her chest would only bring unnecessary aggravation.

She had seen many things in her three days on this planet, most of them leaving her with a bitter taste in her mouth. There was vanity here, selfishness and a casual disregard for the well-being of other people…but also nobility, strength and kindness. Jack Hunter had proved that to her.

It was easy to thumb her nose at a society that embraced values her own people had long since cast aside, but that would be a mistake. Hard as it was for her to admit, she had allowed herself to grow complacent. The first step down a road that led to bigotry was a little too much confidence in one"s own convictions.

So where did that leave her?

Her people believed in a simple maxim: serve the servants. By putting himself at risk for a complete stranger, Jack had demonstrated a willingness to take care of others, and now she was honour-bound to take care of him. But she was also honour-bound to pursue Denario with every breath. The man had captured a sentient being and there was no telling what he had planned for the poor Nassai he had taken. A Justice Keeper must make the hard decisions, Anna told herself. She must control her emotions and act based on who has the greatest need.

A Justice Keeper must make the hard decisions,She must control her emotions and act based on who has the greatest need.The Nassai had a greater need.

Of course, that did nothing to make her decision easier. She knew next to nothing about this city. Denario could have gone anywhere, and somewhere deep down Anna felt as though she had already failed. By now, the symbiont could be dead…or worse. If she was to have any hope of saving the poor creature, she needed help.

Is that why you arranged for me to find Jack? she thought at the Companion. When you had analyzed the situation over and over, added up all the factors and found yourself unable to make a decision based on logic alone, sometimes faith was the only thing you had left. Not faith in the Companion – to Anna, that was no more than an abstraction, an attempt by humankind to articulate truths beyond their understanding – but faith in the idea that there was a purpose to the universe. Fate gave you a chance to make the correct decision; after that, it was up to you.

Is that why you arranged for me to find Jack?“Are you ready to go?”

She turned.

Jack stood in the small waiting area, dressed in his blue jeans and a brown coat over a black t-shirt. “That is if you insist on escorting me.” He went red, then bowed his head to her. “You don"t have to.”

“No, it"s my pleasure,” she replied. “I think we could both use something to eat.”