Jaded Warriors book 2 (Jade Series)

Chapter 39

Chapter 39


My mind continued to whirl around the conversation with Mateo as I walked out back. My last bag in one hand and my loaded rifle slung over my shoulder. More than ready to leave I scanned the yard as I walked through it to the barn to saddle Fire.


The full moon cast a beautiful silvery glow on everything its light touched, illuminating the trees and the silhouette of the barn behind Gage’s home. Crickets chirped in the bushes but stopped as I passed through the gate. The hinges creaked as it shut behind me. My eyes narrowed as I looked back through the darkness one last time to make sure I wasn’t followed.


My anxiety boiled to a new height as every little sound sent a panic that pulsed through my veins to the beat of my racing heart. I wasn’t sure what to make of earlier. I couldn't bear to think what would have happened if Mateo hadn't shown up. I was certain, the person in the back bedroom had to be Damian and a shutter ran through me at the thought of him so close to me.


I took a deep breath as I reached for the handle. Suddenly, in a blur of motion someone grabbed me from behind and slammed me, face first into the barn door with a crash. I dropped my bag as a large figure crushed against me and pinned me, grinding flesh and bone into the rough wooden boards. Slivers cut into my cheek as I strained to reach for my gun.


In a swift move, overpowering hands whirled me around. He threw me to the ground as he ripped my gun off my shoulder and tossed it aside with a muted thump. Gravel gouged into the palms of my hands as momentum took me to the ground and I braced for the fall. I looked up to see a silhouette in the darkness, one I’d recognize anywhere, even in a pitch black night, especially in a pitch black night.


“Did you miss me?” Damian asked, then lunged after me before I could answer. I scrambled away as I got to my feet. He grabbed my shirt and yanked me back. I threw an elbow back into his nose and heard a pop as he groaned. Then I kicked him in the shin, recoiled and kicked him in the knee. He staggered to the ground but grabbed my leg as I tried to run away. He pulled me to the ground, his strength, overpowering as he hovered over me. A sharp pain shot through my cheek and I cried out as he backhanded me and I twisted underneath him as I tried to get away. Stars shot through my vision as his image spun before me.


His hand clamped down on my neck like a suffocating vice. The pounding in my chest from my racing heart grew increasingly painful. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t scream. The flashbacks of my imprisonment whirled in a chaotic mess with my current fight to get away. His face, inches from mine, blood smeared across his cheek from a bloody nose, viciousness embedded into his cold grey eyes. ‘This can’t be real! This can’t be real!’


Tears welled in my eyes, from my need for air or the surging fear that Damian finally caught up with me, I didn’t know, maybe both. I felt my energy wane. The contrasting shadows in the moon lit night that surrounded him tunneled then blurred to a morbid grey as I felt myself fade. Then he loosened his grip, just enough to control my air, as if to prove a point. He determined whether I lived or died, his demonstration of mercy, his leniency.


I coughed and gasped for what little air I could get as if I sucked it through a straw.  He pulled me to my feet by my neck. Stretching my toes, I struggled to support my weight and keep them on the ground. I clawed at his hand as he slammed me against the barn wall, then lowered my feet to the ground.


His eyes bore into me as if they could break down my soul, dissolve my strength and determination to get away. I was strong, stronger than a year ago and I worked too hard to let him beat me. I refused to go back and I would die fighting if it came to that. Anger welled inside of me and I clenched my jaw to control my tongue. He will not take me! My chest caved with each struggled breath, enough air to survive, enough to calm myself, enough to think. He wouldn’t kill me. I stopped struggling with mocked submission as my racing heart slowed.


“Damian, please,” I begged as a smirk surfaced across his face, just as deceptively good looking but also as devilish as I remembered.


“Going somewhere,” he asked.


“Yeah,” I paused, I knew he saw my bags inside and I had one with me when I walked out. I quickly scanned my surroundings, or what I could see while he pinned me by my neck to the wall. My bag sat maybe three feet away but I couldn’t spot my rifle. “To one of my safe houses in the city.”


“You think you can hide from me? You will be running for the rest of your life, Jade,” he said. His voice curdled with his continuous threats, his stalking would never end.  “Is that what you want? To always have to look over your shoulder?”


My eyes burned and I let the tears fall, a sign of weakness, submission, a sign of defeat. “No,” I paused, my voice raspy from his grip but I felt it lessen making it easier to talk. “I don’t want to run anymore, please… what do you want?”


“You… I want Kane dead… I want to send Gage to the brink of death to suffer for the rest of his miserable life, knowing I took you from him and he couldn’t save you… I want you, Jade,” he said, so calmly, so cool, you would think I asked him his favorite color. “But if you come quietly, I will settle for just you.”


“You’ll leave them alone?”


“I’ll leave them alone,” he said, his words laced with cynical promises he would never keep. I held his gaze as I looked into his icy eyes. They possessed a wildness about them, crazed with something hidden deep in his warped mind and only visible if you dared to look close for longer than a few seconds.


A drop of moisture trickled down my spine and sent chills that crawled up the back of my neck and into my hair. Every follicle on my body stood on end. “Okay…” I heard myself say as if I were an innocent bystander watching the exchange. I didn’t believe I said it until I watched him drop his guard, felt him remove his clenched hand around my neck and he took a step back. I took a step forward to follow him, then suddenly rammed my knee between his legs.


He attempted to shield himself, but too late. I made contact. He staggered back, gasping for air and stared at me in shock as he cupped his groin and dropped to his knees. As if time stilled around me, I stood stunned with my feet nailed to the ground.  We exchanged glances, both of us surprised, then time caught up with me and my surroundings became a whirling rush in my mind.


I lunged for the strap of my bag and spun it around, nailing him in the head as he attempted to stand. He tilted off balance, his hands flailed out to catch his fall. In a rush, I scanned through the grey hues of a moon lit darkness and creviced shadows for my rifle. I spotted it butted up to the fence, its metal glinting under the reflection of the moon.


He righted himself and staggered after me, slower and injured but furious as I scrambled for my gun. He shoved me forward to throw me off balance and I fell to my knees as I brandished the rifle. I pressed my back into the fence for support and spun the stock around into position against my arm as if second nature and shifted a bullet into the chamber in one swift move. “Stop!” I yelled, my voice far more forceful than I ever imagined it could be, far more confident than I was as my insides vibrated with the fear of pending defeat. The barrel of the gun wavered in the air from my arms that trembled and shook like an unbalanced tire. 


He stopped as he stood a mere three feet away. His eyes narrowed under stern brows as his jaw twitched and tightened. “You’re not going to shoot me!” He stepped forward to challenge me.


I squeezed the trigger and a loud crack split through the air, disturbing the quiet night. Unable to aim properly I hit him in the arm. His shoulder jerked back. I jumped, startled as I heard two more gunshots and stray bullets disturb the ground in a cloud of dust behind him. He looked up, past me to someone in the distance then he bolted and disappeared behind the barn clutching his arm.


My emotions spun inside me. My chest caved with each effort and I gasped for air as I struggled to breathe. The shock of the attack surfaced as my insides shook uncontrollably. I heard rushed footsteps. Two persons who I didn’t know came from behind me and launched over the three foot picket fence and landed at a run as they chased after Damian. Another person rushed to my side. I looked up.


“Mateo,” I said, stunned and breathless as his name came out barely above a whisper.


“You okay,” he asked, his dark eyes wide with concern.


“Yeah,” I said, not completely convinced as I felt my chin tremble. My breaths whistled in and out of my chest, too fast, I felt dizzy. I wasn’t injured, not badly but my insides flooded with panic.


“You’re hyperventilating. Breathe slowly, Jade… in through your nose.”


‘Don’t cry! I refuse to cry!’ I repeated in my mind as I breathed slow and deliberate with my jaw clenched tight. My restrained tears welled inside me begging to be released as my chest grew painful, constricted with each breath I tried to control.


Slowly, I felt myself relax and my panic gave way, replaced by a burning anger that fueled with the playbacks in my mind of moments earlier. I hurt him. A miniscule reward of satisfaction grew inside me, maybe the size of a grain of sand, but it was there. I refused to let him take me, and he didn’t. He was human, barely, not some indestructible monster, but human, and now I knew he could bleed. 


“Who was that?” I asked, of the two that chased after Damian. “Your men?”


“Yeah… Santiago and Elias. In my position… Over the years I’ve made a lot of enemies. I don’t go far without them. We have each other’s backs. When I’ve met with you, I asked them to stay back. Just because you don’t see them, doesn’t mean they aren’t there.”


“Oh,” I managed, still somewhat distraught.


“They’re my eyes and ears when I have my guard down.”


“Jade!” I heard Megan cry out, along with the swooshing sound of her running through the grass somewhere in the darkness. Mateo and I both looked in the direction of her voice. She suddenly stopped at the gate as she saw us, a partial scream, partial stunned gasp escaped her as she stared at Mateo with a confused look on her face.


“Megan, it’s okay… he’s a friend,” I said, quickly before she could alert anyone.


“What happened? I heard gunshots!” She asked, frantic.


“Damian,” I said, then without waiting for me to completely answer, she looked back over her shoulder beyond the front of the house then back to me as she approached us.


“I’m one of Kane’s contacts,” Mateo said as she watched him closely.


“The guards are on their way over,” she said, somewhat out of breath as she crouched down in front of me. A look of terror on her face as her eyes shifted back and forth between Mateo and me.


“Jade!” I heard Deanna’s voice. Mateo had barely enough time to jump under the shadows of the willow tree maybe ten feet away. Its thick trunk, big enough for him to take cover behind.


Deanna, along with two guards, a man and a woman who I waved at earlier today rounded the back of the house and ran over to us. I realized I still clutched the gun in my hand as Deanna glanced at it, my hands still trembled, but not as much.


“Damian is here, he attacked me,” I said, my voice jittery as my body tried to expel the rush of adrenalin from the attack. Deanna spoke first as they bombarded me with questions all about the same time.


“Why were you outside?”


“Do you know for sure it was Damian?”


“What way did he go?”


“Yes… I know it was Damian and he ran that way,” I paused as I pointed in the direction behind the barn. “I shot him in the shoulder so he’s injured. You might see a trail of blood.” I said, hoping the guards would follow after him.


“I think we’re okay here,” Deanna said to the guard. “He’s not going to come back tonight.”


The two guards left and I breathed a sigh, the first deep breath since I walked outside as Deanna glanced around and spotted my bag in a heap on the ground behind her.


“Are you going somewhere?” She asked, her eyes wide with worry and confusion.


“Yeah,” I said.


“You’re still going… after Damian-” Megan started to question but I cut her off, more abruptly than I wanted to.


“My plans haven’t changed,” I said, then stood and headed for the barn with my rifle in hand. I swooped up my bag and looked back at Megan. “This changes nothing.”


“What plans,” Deanna demanded, her hands on her hips, then she looked at me closer. “And what did you do to your hair?”


I forgot about my hair, thankfully it still remained braided, tucked under my ball cap. During the entire struggle with Damian, the hat remained in place, slightly askew and I adjusted it, but in place. I reached for the barn door. The hinges creaked as it opened and lightened the dark shadows of the barn. Fire instantly whinnied nervously, the whites of her eyes visible in the darkness as she danced in her stall ready to run.


“She’s catching a train in Mountain Dell,” Megan said, then gave me an apologetic glance. I knew I had to tell Deanna, there was no getting around it now and I hoped she didn’t feel hurt that I didn’t tell her earlier.


“Morrison has control of the railroad, Jade,” Deanna said. I slipped Fire’s bridle on over her halter and led her out into the open then tied her to a post.


“I know,” I paused as I took a deep breath and reached for a brush. I smoothed over her coat, probably missing a few spots, then stopped as I turned to face her. Worry etched into the faint laugh lines at the corners of her eyes and lips. “They’re all in trouble, Deanna… and I need to warn them before it’s too late. I’m catching the train up with the Militia as a laundry girl or something so I can find Kane and warn them… any information I can gather for them while I’m there, the better.”


Her jaw dropped, her eyes widened with shock. I dropped the brush in a bucket and grabbed my saddle, with the saddle blanket underneath and tossed it onto Fire’s back. “You’re going in?  Undercover?  As a spy?”


She waited for my answer as I fumbled with the cinch. I hadn’t thought about it like that, but if I were caught, I would be considered a spy. “Yeah, only long enough to reach Kane, then I’m coming back.”


“How do you plan to get back?” Deanna’s voice rose out of desperation.  Her next words, full of sarcasm as she tried to persuade me not to go. “With the Militia? On the train? Kane may not be able to bring you back... and where did you get this information? We could tell someone, tell Olivia, she can get the information to Mike-”


“Mike’s dead… Dr. Walstrom and Darby are the traitors… and they set him up,” I said as I looked her in the eye. The sudden sorrow that filled her eyes made my heart ache. I knew how she felt but I couldn’t stop to think about it. Too much death, too much hatred, how did we ever become stuck in the middle of a civil war. A war that should’ve never happened. It was too much to fathom that there were people among us that wanted it. My eyes glossed over and I blinked them dry. “There could be more traitors with them… how do you know who to trust? I trust Olivia, but then who? Not to mention she won’t be back for three days. She’s meeting Prescott.”


“But,” she hesitated with resignation in her eyes. She reached out and slipped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me close.


“Deanna, I know you don’t want me to go, but they won’t make it if I don’t. I need Gage back,” I said with a waver in my voice. The thought of him ambushed and outnumbered ripped painfully through my heart as if strangled by barbed wire. “Kane’s communication by radio is hacked. It’s a failed system. Darby has full access to it, controls it even... and I guarantee he’s listening to everything they say and giving them up to Morrison… anything that comes through to warn them, he will intercept… Kane won’t get the message.”


She gave me a melancholy smile as she pushed a stray hair back under my hat. “A thousand men are coming in from California… Militia.”


Silent tears spilled over the rims of her eyes. “And you’re getting on board a train with those men…” she said, more in a statement, than a question.


“Yeah.”


“Find him, Jade… find Kane then get out.”


***


Once home, I took a deep breath and forced myself to relax. I focused on the task at hand as I closed the doors and walked up the old creaky wooden stairs to the loft of the barn. My barn, the only structure that still stood beside my mom’s greenhouse shed.


My cheek felt tight and I absently rubbed at it, then realized it was tender to touch. I had another bruise. My mind was beyond non-functional and grew increasingly numb by the minute. I might go as far as to say it had turned to mush but despite my diminished cognition, I still needed to look around.


The moon shown perfectly through the skylights in the roof but still gave very little light to the big room. I found the old lantern at the top of the stairs and lit it. The dim glow grew brighter and I waited for my eyes to adjust.


I turned slowly as I stared blankly at where I used to play as a child. Trey and I used to hide up here. We played hide and seek all the time and I smiled at the memory. I sighed as I sat on a child-sized chair. It belonged to a set. It matched a child-sized table that stood next to me and I rested my elbows on it. The ache throughout my body, drew me further into the tiny chair.


I noticed an old homemade rag doll perfectly placed in the chair across the table and found it odd. I wondered how it got there. I reached over and picked it up as I recognized it from when I was very little. It used to be mine and I carried it around everywhere when I was about three, a forgotten memory, suddenly cherished as I remembered how big it seemed to me then. As I held it in my hands, I realized it was no bigger than a real baby, probably a little smaller. It had dirt smudged on the face and the clothes, worn and tattered. I guess there was a time when I was very young that I liked to play with dolls, but I grew out of that time very quickly. I stood and smiled as I sat the doll back on the chair and walked back down the old creaky stairs.


I felt so tired all of a sudden, my limbs heavy as if weighted by sandbags and I had to hold onto the wall as I descended the narrow, steep stairs. My strength left me. Whatever it was that I looked for would have to wait until morning.


I had already settled Fire in for the night and fed her good. She stood with her head hung and her eyes half closed and relaxed, asleep and comfortable in her old stall. I hoped she was up to what we were about to do. It would be just her and me and my success depended a lot on her now.


Palpable exhaustion moved through my body by the time my head hit the bed of straw. It hemmed me in like a warm blanket, soft and comfortable and I let my eyes close as I breathed in the sweet smell. I pulled the blanket up around my neck. My mind drifted off. Tomorrow would be a big day.


***


I walked past the old table with the doll that still sat in the chair. It was a nice memory last night, but today, I had things I needed to get done. I found my backpack and a few other things I thought might be needed for the trip. Our old hunting equipment had always been stored in the barn so I searched through it. I really had no idea what I needed. I found my old hunting boots and camouflaged jacket. I searched more through our stuff and found my dad’s old hunting knife. I decided it could come in handy so I grabbed it. I pulled up my pant leg and fastened it inside my boot. I found my old gun case that strapped to my saddle and grabbed that too, along with a couple of boxes of bullets. 


I looked in the mirror of my mom’s old vanity as I walked to the stairs. I almost forgot I colored my hair and surprised myself when I looked into the mirror at how the darkness of my hair made my green eyes stand out. I looked closer at the purple bruise under my eye then lifted my hair to look at the abrasion from when Damian shoved my face into the barn door. Dark red, almost black and scabbed that ran from the side of my forehead down to my cheek. Not pretty, thankfully I had a hat and sunglasses.


The dusky sky started to turn a lighter shade of grey over the mountains to the east as I walked out of the barn. The sun would rise soon and I wanted to be at the lake by then. I looked over to where I had Fire saddled. My saddlebags and my backpack, ready with a bedroll wrapped in canvas tied on the back of the saddle. Fire rubbed her nose up against me and I scratched her forehead then smoothed my hand along her soft muscled neck as I reached up and gave her a hug.


“It’s you and me, Fire. I hope we make it through this,” I said, then kissed her nose. She flapped her lips at me and flipped her head in the air as if to tell me everything would be okay.


“Where are you going, Jade?”


I spun around quickly, startled by the familiar voice. “Raύl,” I paused, I knew before I saw him. I hesitated to answer. “I’m... going to go help Kane.”


“Are you sure he needs your help?”


“Yes.”


His dark brown eyes almost black were shaded by the brim of his hat. “Are you sure you are ready for this?”


I hesitated. “Yes.”


“Then I won’t stop you… But don’t forget who you are girl,” he said, with a sternness in his eyes.  For some reason, I felt he meant more to his words than his actual statement. “Do you know who you are, Jade?”


"I don't know what you mean?”


“You are their jadeite sword. You hold those men together, the meaning behind their will to make things right. You always have, Jade. You give them strength, a purpose, a reason worth fighting for… And it is worth fighting for. Without that, they are just men killing men.”


“It can’t just be about me, I can’t watch them die knowing it was because of me."


“It isn’t just about you, don’t you see, it’s so much bigger than you. It’s too much for a man to grasp and make sense of sometimes. You represent that, what is too big for understanding. Men will die, Jade, maybe my sons… Maybe, Kane… Maybe, Gage, I pray they don’t, but, this has already started, and as much as you want for life to be as it was, it can’t now. Morrison won’t allow it. He wants to take what isn’t his to take. I don’t have to tell you what kind of devastation this man has caused already because you know better than I. It will continue. He must be stopped and you will give those men the strength to do it… but you need to stay alive.”


“Do you think so? Do you think we can beat them?”


“Yes… I’ve already watched them do amazing things. I watched them grow, each of them with the courage of ten men. They’ve pushed a tyrant who thought he was larger than life and send him out of Little Creek and out of the city. They will do it, Jade. Just let them know you believe in them. Each of them holds a place for you in their hearts. Us men sometimes can’t show it, but it’s there. You grew up as one of them, but they’ve had to change a lot in the last two years. They’ve become men. You’ve changed too… you’ve opened their eyes to what’s really important.”


“Thank you, Raύl.”


“You go find Kane. It won’t be easy, you will question yourself, but, you are stronger than you know. Hector told you that because it’s true, now you need to believe it.”


I looked around my yard. My mom’s garden, the pasture, the arena where Fire and I spent a lot of our time, where I waited and watched for a guy to walk by, the barn, what was left of my home. I would trade all of it to know that Gage and Kane would come home safely.


“It will all be here when you get back... I’ll make sure of it.”


I mounted my horse and watched Raύl walk away. Fire pawed at the ground as she waited impatiently for me to fix my gear and give her the word go. I could tell she felt something from me and was anxious to go.


“There’s one more place I need to go before we start this, Fire.”


I smiled as I looked around one last time before I rode off. I didn’t feel sad like I did when I came home with Gage. This place was familiar and calmed me. I was home. I could never stay away from this place for long. I would always have to come back. It was a part of me. A part that I would never lose, even if the house didn’t stand, this was my home.


As I reached the trail behind our house, I looked back one last time as if to instill the sight to memory. A warm, calm feeling moved over me and I turned to leave as I felt satisfied, I would return home someday. I looked down the trail towards Marge's, only to see a welcomed, unexpected site. Mateo stood just off the trail leaned against a tree maybe fifty yards away. Our eyes met briefly, a sense of trust, security moved over me, and then he turned away as if to let me go on my own. I smiled inside, as I knew, I wouldn't be followed by Damian.


***


Fire’s head dropped in the tall grassy meadow as I walked slowly up to the top of the hill to the mound of rocks. Kane told me where to look. He buried Trey here. It was a perfect spot with a nice overlook of the valley. I saw our barn from here, along with most of Little Creek.


The rocks were positioned nicely, one on top of the other, all but one. It sat next to the others but alone in the grass and looked like it had rolled from the top. I picked it up and held it in my hand. A knot formed in my throat as I knelt down in the soft grass that surrounded the grave. Tears filled my eyes.


“Hey Trey,” I barely managed. I used to love the sound of that, ‘Hey Trey’, when I was younger. But now, it made my heart ache. I swallowed hard as the tears flowed freely.


“I’m so sorry I wasn’t here … Can you forgive me?”


“I miss you so much…” I cried, tears streamed as I fumbled with the rock in my hands.


I’m heading out again, off on one of my crazy ideas… And I wish you were coming with me.” I wiped my tears but not before one snuck away and dropped onto the rock below.


“I don’t know if I will be able to do much good in time. I hope I don’t make things worse… I really need this one to work out… I can’t lose another brother, Trey...” I cried. “Things aren’t going so good here… Gage is in trouble, too. It might already be too late. I hope Mateo gets there in time.” I pulled my knees up, rested my head on them and let the tears silently fall.


Then I sensed him near me, felt but not touched, right before me but unseen.  His love surrounded me and I knew Trey was close by, awareness far more tangible than the rock I grasped in my hands and I looked up at the sky as I wiped my eyes. “It’s a perfect morning for fishing, Trey. The lake looks beautiful…”


A light breeze picked up and rustled through the tall blades of grass and brushed my hair off my shoulders.


“I have to go... But I’ll be back.” I stood and firmly placed the last rock at the top of the mound. I smiled. It fit perfectly, right at the top.


***


For some reason, as I headed for the trail that went north, I felt like Fire and I would be fine. I stopped as I reached the top of the hill that over looked the lake. It looked calm and serene in the early morning sunrise. I turned and looked back over the valley and took a deep breath.


I was a little nervous and scared out of my mind but felt everything would find a way to work out. I didn’t know what a seventeen year old girl could do to help, but I wanted to do try. This was my way to tell Damian that in spite of everything he had done, he couldn’t beat me.


I was tired of walking on eggshells and tired of how I allowed him to dictate how I would feel and live my life. It was time for me to show them what I had, even though I wasn’t really sure what that was yet. I guess I would find out soon enough and I hoped it was more than enough to do some good.


We were at war, a real war where men bled and died every day. I needed Gage to make it back to me. Kane and his men needed help and this was my one way to repay them for how they were willing to sacrifice everything to save me.


I headed back into the hands of my enemy, the ones I feared, who hurt me and scarred me so deeply. But this time I would go in on my terms. I was about as prepared as I could be and as far as I knew, they had no idea Jade Kennington was on her way.


The day was May fourth, six months to the day of my rescue. That had to mean something.  I thought back to that cold December day. I had come a long way since then and now I was ready for a fight, their fight, their way. And if I had anything to do about it, I was determined to beat them at their own game.


THE END