Glory Alley and the Star Riders (The Glory Alley Series) (82 page)

“
Little girl
,
”
Jason
said, face contorted in a mixture of pain and hope
.
“Help me.”

That was the last thing she expected J
ason
Belway to say
.

“If only I could.”

“You can, I know it, because w
hen the
Weinling
said your name
its
mouth went dry
and
its
body shivered
.
”
Jason
reached for her
.
“
It
fears you.
”

“Don’t touch
him
,” Needle warned
, pulling her away from Jason.
“When I turn on the Nightburner to full power, the
Weinling
will spit us out, so hang on.”

Jaso
n
’s muscles and bones protruded from his wounds
.
Yellow bile covered his body
.
Glory gagged at his appearance,
but too
k h
is
outstretched hand
anyway
, giving a yank in an attempt
to dislodge h
im
from the spears of teeth
.

Needle hollered
.
“We can’t leave
until y
e
let go!”

“Please, don’t
leave
me,” Jason pleaded
.

“I won’t,”
Glory
said
.

“
If
the
Weinling
swallows,
life as we know it will change forever, and not for the better
.
”

“Please,
little girl,
”
J
ason
pleaded
, his
grip
crushing
Glory
’s fingers in a death grip
.
“
Give me another chance
!”

“It’s not up to her,” Needle scolded
Jason
.
“
Release her
and face
the consequences of your wasted life alone.
”

“Ow, you’
re breaking my hand!” she cried out. “Loosen your grip, but I promise not to let go!”

White Feather’s muffled voice yelled from outside the mouth.

“
I’m opening the dimension now
.
Get out of thar!”

“Sorry,
Rock Collector
, ye give me no choice!
”

Intense pain came from
Glory
’s bicep
.
It took a second to realize Needle had bit h
er
wrist, trying to
make
her let go
of Jason Belway
.

“
Bad
Wybbil
, bad, bad
.
”

The last thing
Glory
remembered was
Needle’s
painful bite.
Expecting to wake inside the belly of the
Weinling
,
she
was relieved to
gaze up
at undulating
lines of
green
emerald
s
flowing
tranquilly
over
a
high
vaulted ceiling
. Somehow she was back in
North Star Cathedral
.
The
star riders
had saved her,
at least for the time being, but poor
J
ason
was nowhere to be seen.

Lady
Gost
leaned over
her,
long white hair
brushing
Glory
’s
cheeks
. Her red lips were
mov
ing,
but the words sounded like gibberish.
The guards and
sky riders
circled
around
.

“Can y
ou
hear me?
”
Lady
Gost
’s
mouth
form
e
d the words
.
As
Glory
’s hearing returned, she
slowly
acknowledged the question with a nod
. “Y
ou
have seen
the
Wein
,”
Lady
Gost
said.
“
What
do you have to say?”

The guards pulled
Glory
to
a standing position
.
T
he storm outside the window
s had grown. The
waves were higher and the lightning now came in rapid succession
.
Is the storm my doing? Glory wondered.
Choosing my family over an entire planet
—
w
hat’s more wicked than me
?
She stifled the thought.

“
Are you ready to confess the whereabouts of the
Elboni
?
”
Lady Gost demanded to know
,
dark
eyes
seeming to bore deep hole into Glory’s brain. Unbelievably tired, Glory lacked the strength to carry on the charade anymore. Might as well admit the truth, at least some of it anyway. She took a deep breath.
“All right, all right, I took your precious stone
.
But I swear I didn’t know what it was
at the time. I
didn’t think it belonged to anybody
.
The
Elboni
was just sitting there like it
wanted to be taken. Honest.”

“Where
is
it so
that
we may retrieve it?
”

“I can’t return it to you.”
A
fter holding onto the secret so long, it was
much harder to let go of than she had anticipated. Just return it! Glory’s own good sense was screaming at her, but she recklessly held on.

“
After all of this you cannot return it? I do not understand.”

“Then I
would
be a thief and a liar
, because i
t’s no longer mine to give away.
”

“Y
ou
are talking nonsense
.
” Lady Gost’s face crinkled in confusion. “Tullahn, I have never met a
more exasperating
creature
than you.”

The
star riders
vigorously
nodded in agreement
.

“I’m sorry
,
”
Glory
said
.
“
My intention isn’t to hurt your world—it’s to help my family.
”

“
And I am sorry too, b
efore the sun rises tomorrow, y
ou
will be turned over to the extractors
.”

Needle blew his nose on his sleeve and flicked away a tear.
“
Lady Gost, this Tullahn be stubborn, that cannot be denied, but she
shows promise
, I can feel it in my b
lood
.
I implore
ye
, lift
the
decree.”

“I cannot
lift the decree,
dear emissary
,” Lady
Gost
said.
“S
o
ask me not again
.
But
the Law states that before the sentence
be
carried out, the condemned must be offered a final request.”

G
lory
’s
head jerked up
.
A request—yes
!
This was what
s
he had been hoping for from the beginning
.
To think a moment ago she had almost given up
the
Elboni
, whew
, that was close!