Dark Vengeance

Chapter 4

Four

Questions crowded Justice’s mind, but she remained silent as she followed Jackson to the truck depot. He had enough to deal with without her adding to his burden.

She bit her bottom lip as she considered the coming move. It had been the plan all along, for them to take the cure to the rest of the world. Harlington was the closest town, making it the logical choice to start. But Justice had not forgotten the brief time she’d spent there before moving on to Brimfield. She’d witnessed half-breed children being beaten in the streets by gangs of human youths, and had been stopped from helping by Jonah Smith, the mercenary compelled to protect her. He’d been killed by freaks moments after they’d arrived in Brimfield and Jackson had taken his place.

So much had happened since that day. She finally had the chance to live a normal life, no longer constrained by a destiny chosen for her by someone else. She rubbed her palm, the faded birthmark marking her as the Earth Goddess Gaea’s living scales barely visible. But while the mark might disappear, her memories of what she had witnessed during her years travelling the world never would. Nor would she forget those who had given their lives so she could fulfil that destiny, whether because the bond had given them no choice, or their own conscience set them on her path.

Daniel Zarb, Hannah’s mentor and surrogate father, had died defending her. Miranda Wilson, former captain of the Brimfield Ward, had sacrificed her life to save Justice’s. They were both buried here, along with many other wardens and half-breeds who had given their lives in the hope mankind would be spared. Now Jackson was saying they had to leave it all behind and venture to another town, one that had no knowledge of what had taken place on the day justice had been delivered to mankind.

A second chance.

That was what the scales of justice weighed up inside her had gifted to mankind, but she wasn’t naïve enough to believe it was going to be easy.

They reached the truck depot, and she spotted Geoff, shaved scalp gleaming with sweat as he laboured alongside a group of half-breeds to lift a thick support beam into place so they could begin construction of a new roof. This roof might never be completed if the Ward was evacuated.

Beam in place, Geoff straightened up and dusted his hands against the legs of his work pants. With no freaks to guard against, hardly any of the wardens wore their body armour these days, unless they went out the gates. That would all change once they headed to Harlington.

The wide smile on the big warden’s face dimmed as he stepped toward them.

‘Why do I get the feeling you’re not here to lend a hand getting this roof up?’

Jackson slowly shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, Geoff, I really am, but raising a roof is the least of our problems.’

A ball of dread formed in her stomach as Justice listened while Jackson recounted his conversation with the general in charge of all wardens and filled Geoff in on what was happening outside the gates.

For his part, Geoff listened without saying a word, even after being told his promotion to captain was still in limbo. Finally he said, ‘You think Dillon is behind the mob?’

‘He’s been looking for a way to get to us from the moment he found his son’s body. According to General Butcher, after I declined to be arrested, Dillon immediately applied to the Over-Council to have every single one of us charged with breaking the Ward Charter. But such a serious accusation requires an independent investigation sanctioned by the Over-Council, as well as an internal one conducted by High Command. You know yourself how long that kind of red tape takes, and there are no guarantees they’ll find in his favour. He’s not willing to sit back and let someone else decide whether he gets his revenge or not. His security guards are no match for our wardens in a fair fight, so he has to come at us sideways, before our relief arrives.’

‘A mob of humans isn’t much of a threat either. They may outnumber us, but they sure won’t out-gun us,’ Geoff said, rubbing his chin.

‘So you’d be willing to fire on unarmed civilians, people we’re sworn to protect?’ Jackson crossed his arms in front of his chest and gave his old friend a knowing look. ‘Break the Ward charter, for real this time?’

‘Of course not. I just meant …’ Geoff’s deep voice petered out.

‘The Brimfield Ward is in its weakest position ever. This is the perfect time for Dillon to make his move. Once we’re taken out, he can spin whatever story he wants when the investigators and a fresh influx of wardens arrive. I guarantee he’ll make sure there are no Ward survivors to dispute his version of events.’

Jackson scrubbed at his eyes, and Justice resisted the urge to take his hand again.

He lowered his arm, expression grim as he looked to Geoff. ‘The thought of evacuating, giving up ground we fought so freaking hard for, it burns. But wardens weren’t created to hold their ground. We were bred to fight freaks, and the best way we can do that is to get Hannah’s cure to the world. Dillon has created a mob and set it at our gates. When he’s ready, he’ll make sure they’re whipped into a frenzy and then set them loose. We either wait for that to happen and wear the consequences, or we get out now, before any blood is spilled, and before all chance of using the cure is lost.’

Geoff gave a slow nod. He wiped the sweat off his face with his sleeve, turning to look to where his workers were shoring up the beam. ‘Lieutenant Jensen, I want all wardens assembled on the parade ground in fifteen minutes.’

Andy let another worker take his place at the beam and took a couple of steps toward them. ‘Sir, the beam isn’t secured yet.’

‘Fifteen minutes, Lieutenant. Make it happen.’

Eyes wide, Andy snapped off a salute and spun on his heel to face his team. ‘You heard the man. Set that beam down and spread out through HQ. You have fifteen minutes to get yourselves and everyone else in this joint to the parade ground. Move it.’

The beam hit the ground and his team set off at a run. Shouts rose up in the distance as the message was passed around. Justice waited beside Jackson as he filled Geoff in on his plan for the evacuation. Wardens and half-breeds strode past them, worried expressions on their faces as they made their way to the parade ground.

Soon the remaining wardens of the Brimfield Ward were assembled, along with the half-breeds they had taken in. They all lined up in their patrols and a hard lump lodged in Justice’s throat at the gaps in their ranks. The garrisons had been emptied, all the wardens now residing at headquarters. By rights the parade ground should have been filled, but so many had died they barely covered half of it now. So many lives lost due to Callaghan’s insane plan to proclaim himself as a god, and now Councillor Dillon’s quest for revenge threatened the rest of them.

Tears stinging her eyes, she listened as Jackson informed his troops that they would have to abandon their post. The noise created by the mob at the gates swelled without the sounds of construction to mask it. Ugly, relentless, the noise proved a compelling counterpoint to what Jackson was telling them, filling the air with a sense of urgency.

To their credit, the wardens listened without protest, though she noticed some of them shifted position to look toward the gates as if expecting the mob to break through at any moment. The half-breeds looked resigned but determined. They had thrown their lot in with the wardens and were committed to the new life they hoped to build for themselves. When Jackson dismissed them, they all set off at a run to accomplish the tasks he’d just set them.

Justice turned to Jackson, sure he was nowhere near as calm as his demeanour suggested. Having to abandon his post was bound to be cutting him up inside.

She placed a hand on his arm. ‘It’s the right thing to do. You said it yourself. Councillor Dillon will not stop until he has destroyed the Brimfield Ward, and Hannah’s cure along with it. We have to leave or everything we fought for will be lost.’

‘I know.’ Jackson’s gaze darkened as he looked over at the graveyard. ‘But some things are harder than others to leave behind.’

Justice gave a sad sigh. ‘We can’t take their bodies with us, but their memories will live on in our hearts no matter where we go. And I’ll be right beside you, every step of the way.’

His gaze sharpened. ‘I want you to stick close to Hannah. It is vital she and the vaccine make it to Harlington. That cure is the best way we have of proving we did not break the charter. I’m putting my best people on the truck that will carry her and whatever else she needs to create more of the vaccine. I need you to travel with her, so I know you’ll be safe. Dillon isn’t going to let us leave town without a fight.’

The ball of dread sitting in the pit of her stomach tightened. ‘And where will you be? You’re the best warden there is. But you won’t be one of the ones guarding Hannah, will you?’

‘I’ll be with the crew charged with getting the town gates open. Dillon’s got to know we won’t sit here and wait for him to come to us. He’ll have it heavily guarded to make sure we can’t escape.’

‘If you’re with the gate team then so am I. And what about you? It’s your blood Hannah uses to create the vaccine. You’re just as valuable as she is. You should be on the same truck as her.’

‘Plenty of other people have been cured. Hannah could use their blood to make more vaccine. I need to be out there, making sure we get away safely.’

Arms crossed in front of her chest, Justice shook her head. ‘We don’t know that. We don’t know anything about how Hannah’s vaccine works or if someone else’s blood would be anywhere near as effective. You were cured by the power that came from Gaea. Until we know for sure if Hannah can use blood from the rest of us, keeping you safe should be our prime objective.’

‘Prime objective, huh?’ Jackson wore a teasing smile as he pulled her close. ‘With talk like that, we’ll make a warden out of you yet.’

Hard as it was to resist the urge to snuggle into his embrace, Justice held back. ‘I’m serious, Jackson. If anything were to happen to you …’ Her throat closed up and she could only shake her head, tears filling her eyes.

Jackson wrapped his arms around her, tucking her head under his chin. ‘I’m not that easy to kill, remember?’

The steady beat of his heart and the familiar scent of him enveloped her in a warm cocoon but did little to soothe her fears. Not when she could sense his air of confidence wasn’t as rock solid as he would like her to believe. He was expecting trouble when it came time to commence the evacuation, trouble he was determined to make sure did not reach her.

She was human, vulnerable. For all his joking about making a warden of her, they both knew it would never happen. Until a short time ago, she had been indestructible and never had to worry about gaining physical skills to defend herself. Training her how to use weapons or to fight would take time they couldn’t spare.

She was a liability.

If she insisted on sticking with Jackson while they evacuated Brimfield, he would be distracted by the need to protect her. The thought of something happening to him due to his divided focus gave her the courage to step out of his arms.

‘Okay, I’ll ride with Hannah.’ She did her best to smile as she said, ‘I’ll head to the lab and see if she needs help getting everything packed up.’

Jackson leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers in a heated kiss.

When he finally let her go, his voice was husky as he said, ‘We will make it through this. I’m not letting a psychotic councillor destroy my Ward.’

Justice nodded and then turned away before the fears crowding inside her spilled out. Determination alone would not see them through the next day.

Trouble was brewing in Brimfield, and she had a feeling none of them were prepared for what would come next.