HEART OF THE CHOSEN (CASTE BOOK 1)

Chapter 30

“Everliegh, it’s time.”

Blake spoke this sentence with a determination that said a lot about his desire to fight. He was aware of not being powerful enough to compete with his brother. Previously, he confided in me that he failed by rushing and would never make the same mistake again. Without dwelling on the subject, I could guess that, if one day he left this terrible place, he would never stop preparing for his revenge. For my part, I was nothing more than a wreck, unable to participate in the battle that was looming, and Gilles would arrive soon with a new shot that would plunge me back into my usual torpor. My condition no longer allowed me to be won over by the slightest excitement about our escape project, but Blake’s was more than palpable.

Gilles arrived with his syringe case, Blake squatted in the shadows of his cell. The little man stood beside mine for a moment and, as usual, pulled out the object and flew it up to me in a very awkward way. I also found it strange that a caste was so bad at his own gift. Before the needle stuck in my arm, Blake stood up straight. Gilles took a step back.

The syringe was thrown against the wall and immediately burst. The little man rolled his eyes, a visceral fear hit him when he saw Blake’s new appearance. I hadn’t realised until then all the physical changes due to his new diet. It had been a while since he had received a single drop of drugs while methodically manipulating the minds of our jailers. He had regained weight and all his confidence. His face, until then emaciated by his long and painful captivity, had regained joy despite his bushy beard and dirty hair. But the most noticeable change was in his eyes. He could have pierced a brick wall with that look, and his barely concealed smirk said a lot about his thirst for revenge.

Gilles’ face went from fright to inertia in barely a second. Staring blankly, he turned and dialled the code that instantly opened our cell doors. His automaton behaviour suddenly reminded me of Olivia’s.

“Olivia…,” I tried to say while Blake picked me up.

“Ethan told me that Carmichael would do everything to free her, but right now you have to think about yourself.”

Blake put both hands on my temples. A suffocating heat shot through my head, so painful that I screamed instantly. After a few moments, I felt a wave of sensations shoot through my body. My heart was racing and my limbs were shaking with spasms. My senses redoubled and I was suddenly transfigured with new energy.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Blake said, opening his eyes and removing his hands, “you won’t be strong enough to use your gifts and this energy will only last an hour, at most. All I want is for you to hold this tranquilliser gun and feel free to use it.”

He stood up and looked at me with a strange expression. My body rose from the ground and followed Blake when he turned to Gilles, his face devoid of the slightest expression, Blake ejected him against the wall without a gesture. He took off his coat and put it on him. He was far too short for this tall man but had the merit of covering up some of his miserable appearance.

Gun at arm’s length, I hovered behind him. Unable to know what Blake had done to my brain by touching me with his hands, I had a strange feeling as some of my senses were once again on alert. It had been months since I had felt such an impression, but it was as if my whole body was rehabilitating itself. I had underestimated my cellmate’s powers and was beginning to realise that, if I hadn’t been there, Blake could have staged his escape much sooner. Ethan’s intervention must have been the element he was waiting for and I promised myself to devote an unlimited friendship to this man if we ever miraculously succeeded in escaping.

Once in the elevator, Blake activated the cabin by thought alone, then stopped it a few seconds later before pushing the doors apart with incredible force. Barely above the threshold of the floor, he led us down with the dexterity of a young man while I observed the place which turned out to be a sort of airlock between the cabin and the exit door.

“They’re behind that door,” he said to me.

Thanks to Blake’s intervention, I managed, albeit with difficulty, to gather the strength in my right arm and raised the gun. I was dying to use it now. Suddenly, a huge noise broke out and the door opened instantly. Conway rushed towards us, I fired as surely as if I could have killed him with real bullets. Two syringes lodged in his stomach. He collapsed. Blake walked towards the exit. Yanosh wasn’t at his post and the spectacle unfolding before our eyes made my heart beat faster.

Ethan was alone against everyone. About fifteen caste were on him. He managed to eject most of them by his telekinesis but didn’t escape some very well placed blows which destabilised him several times and prevented him from using his abilities decently. His face was nothing but blood and bruises, but I felt his rage run through me with the same power as the day he had wanted to slay Thomas at Mortain Castle. A little further, Thomas and Eric were in a very bad position against Yanosh who immobilised them using his psychic power. Other caste were playing punching bag with their poor bodies while Salomon was bleeding out on the ground. The Panchaks’ faces were contorted with pain and Ethan couldn’t get rid of his opponents to help them.

An incredible explosion shook the walls of the tower. Since the noise wasn’t coming from the lobby, I wondered if Carmichael was the source. He himself fought his own battle alone. Blake walked towards Yanosh, who hadn’t noticed our presence yet. He stood behind him and suddenly made him turn around. Eric and Thomas were immediately freed and froze, their eyes startled, noticing me behind Blake, floating in my rags with all the misery displayed by my sad appearance. My saviour levitated Yanosh and placed him right in front of me. The Scandinavian twisted and ran his hands over his neck as if he wanted to push aside the noose that held him tight. His face flushed with asphyxiation as I looked him straight in the eye with all the hatred he inspired in me, him and what he had done to me. And it was without any emotion that I heard the sound of a c***k when his neck snapped. With the release of the Panchaks, more than half of the caste lay on the ground and distant siren sounds began to approach the tower. The police would arrive in a few minutes and Eric picked up the pace, Thomas imitated him. Their speed prevented me from seeing the action, but the opponents were dropping like flies. Ethan took care of the last ones and Blake walked towards the exit.

“But where do you think you are going like that, my brother?” resounded a voice, echoing in the vast hall. “You didn’t think that my son could control me?”

“Thomas!” Blake yelled suddenly. “Take Everliegh in your arms!”

By thought, Blake deposited me in Thomas’ arms as delicately as a father would have done with his infant. Magnus stood at the top of the steps, ready to do battle with him. He was accompanied by Olivia, still oddly silent, and Carmichael, frozen like a statue.

“Let them go, Magnus, and we’ll settle this matter between us,” Blake said decisively.

“That’s out of the question,” replied his brother, “I’m keeping the girl and Carmichael, who’ll understand that you don’t betray your father with impunity.”

“I’m staying!” Ethan shouted back. “But let my sister go.”

“Shut up, Ethan,” shouted Magnus, mad with rage, “You betrayed me!”

“No! I just want to help my sister! You didn’t listen to me and you should have!”

“I won’t let her go!” yelled Magnus.

In a rage, he kicked Carmichael violently in the back, who was thrown from the top of the stairs with a terrible crash. I heard bones breaking as he fell. Magnus descended, Olivia, following him by a metre at most. Blake walked toward his brother.

“You don’t think you can measure up to me in your condition!” declared Magnus. “Would you forget your previous failure when you wanted to challenge me?”

“No, I haven’t forgotten it, but I see that your self-assurance has once again made you underestimate this little girl’s willpower.”

“Maybe you’re right. I wouldn’t have thought she would risk her life for a man like you, my brother. She definitely ignores a lot of things.”

“Shut your mouth!”

The sequence of events happened so quickly that my eyes couldn’t follow. Carmichael got up despite his injuries and threw himself on his father while Ethan lifted Olivia’s body and threw her directly into Eric’s arms.

“Go!” Ethan yelled.

Eric placed Olivia on his shoulder and took Salomon in his arms. Thomas hesitated a moment and left the tower at speed. A cold wind whipped my face. I hadn’t felt the fresh air in so long that I found myself smiling. But the little mental and physical strength inoculated by Blake began to abandon me inexorably.

After a while, Thomas stopped, finally followed by Eric who, with the weight of two bodies, had taken longer to arrive. Ahead of us, a black van opened from the back and Sam hurried out.

“Oh, my God!” he yelled, discovering my emaciated body. “Get her in right away and lay her on the stretcher. For Salomon, I have an emergency kit, we’ll take care of him in the helicopter, we can’t stay.”

“But Ethan! Carmichael! And the other guy who helped us!” Eric questioned him quite rightly.

“We can’t wait for them, believe me. If Magnus Burton Race escapes them, then believe that we’ll not survive long. We must leave immediately. They’ll understand, I assure you.”

“Where are we going to hide?” Thomas asked.

“I’ll drop you off at a safe distance from here where there’s transport waiting, and then you’ll be on your own, unfortunately, I can’t do more at this stage.”

We boarded the helicopter which was half an hour away. Lying on my stretcher, I plunged into unconsciousness, all the galvanising effect that Blake had given me had irretrievably disappeared.