Madly & the Jackal (7 page)

I rolled slightly toward him, staring up into his deeply shadowed face.  “What were they like?”

“What were who like?”

“The other girls you’ve been with.”

I heard Jackson exhale through his nose, almost a sigh, but not.  “Madly, just pretend that there was no one before you.  That’s how I feel. You’re the only one who
ever has
or
ever will
matter to me.”

“So you didn’t really care about any of them?”

“Not really, not like I do you.”

“But you
did
care about them
some,
then?”

Jackson did sigh this time.  “Madly, I didn’t callously use and discard other girls, no.  I did care about them in some small way, probably like you cared about Aidan or any of your other friends.  But comparing the way that I felt about them to the way that I feel about you would be like comparing a light bulb to the sun.”  Jackson stroked my hair absently as he looked down into my face.  Even in the dim light, I could see the emotion and feel the heat in his eyes. “Please don’t think about the past.  My life started when you said you loved me.  Can’t we just go forward from there?”

He was right.  I was being ridiculous.  I smiled.  “Yeah, I think I can do that.”

Leaning forward, Jackson brushed his lips across my cheekbone.  “Go to sleep.  You need your rest.”

And that time, I did. 

********

A gentle shaking along with Jackson’s whisper woke me.  “Madly, it’s time to go.”

He helped me up and we walked to the exit of the cave.  The outlet.  It was much larger than the small hole we’d crawled through to get into the cave.  Jackson could stand comfortably at the edge of the opening.

As we’d made our way away from the cavern at the waterfall, we’d discovered the cave was actually a horizontal tube that ran through the rock formation.  It ended where we stood, at the outlet.

Poised at Jackson’s side, looking out I saw nothing but endless ocean in every direction, even straight down.  The ledge on which we stood overlooked a deep crevasse in the ocean floor. 

“Why have I never seen this?” I asked.  I’d played all over Atlas as a child.  I was pretty sure I’d explored every nook and cranny.  I didn’t see how I could’ve overlooked something as enormous as this canyon.

“I’m not sure.  Maybe it’s cloaked somehow.  I’ve never seen it either and I had to train and patrol every cubic foot of these waters for years.  But I knew it existed.  I’d heard…”

A niggle of unease worked its way down my spine.  There were very few things Jackson didn’t know about Atlas.  Why did this have to be one of those things?  Why he couldn’t know every detail about the outlet and where it went?

“So which way do we go?  And how do we get past the shield and the alarms?”

Jackson’s brow wrinkled in concentration as he scanned the waters with eyes that missed nothing.  He reached out and dipped his finger in the water, water which stood like a wall in front of the opening, kept at bay by the magical airlock.  He brought it back in and mumbled.  “East.  We need to go East.”

“Okay, but what about the alarms?” I asked again.

“Do you think you can make us invisible and still have enough power to call a whale into the shield?  I know they’re hard to lure, considering the strength of the electromagnetic field around the shield…”

I gave ample contemplation to his request.  If I told him I could, then I needed to be sure.  If Jackson wasn’t going to be with me, I would’ve had to say no, but I knew as long as he was near, my power would be considerably amplified.

“Yes, I’m pretty sure it won’t be a problem,” I equivocated, hating to sound too confident on the off chance I failed.  Only failure wasn’t an option.  Failure would result in disaster.  And probably the death of at least one of the people I loved most in the world.

“Wait to call the whale until we are at the first set of alarms.  That way we’ll have plenty of time to get through without detection.”

“Leviathan will be able to see us, even if we’re invisible, right?” It was one of the perks of being pure evil.  It had spiritual eyes that saw past flesh and bone and scales.

“Yes, but it’s only part of our problem.  We have to make sure we aren’t seen by Sentinels either. We have to make it as convincing as possible that the whale strayed into the shield by accident.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem.  Once he triggers the alarms, it’ll disorient him for a while.  They’ll probably think there’s something wrong with him.”  That brought to mind a horrible thought.  I swallowed hard.  “What will they do with him?”  I was almost afraid to ask, but I had to know what I was getting the poor whale into.  What if they killed him?

“They’ll swim him around inside until the med unit arrives then they’ll examine him.  Once they determine he isn’t a threat, they’ll tag him and release him.”

“Tag him? Why?”

“In case he disrupts the system again.”

“But they won’t try to hurt him or anything?”

“No, of course not.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. I wasn’t sure I could’ve done it if I’d thought the whale would die, even though it would’ve been a justified sacrifice.  I had my doubts it was a sacrifice I could make knowingly, though.

Taking my hand in his, Jackson asked, “You ready?”

I nodded and closed my eyes to concentrate on our visibility.  When I felt the power that surrounded me pouring through my blood and working through my bracelet, I looked up at Jackson.  “Okay.  We should be good to go.”

Jackson squeezed my fingers reassuringly.  “I’ll fix this, Madly.  Trust me.”

I tried to smile brightly, but felt it falter.  I reminded myself that if there was anyone who
could
fix it, it was Jackson.  I was fairly certain there was little he couldn’t do if he set his mind to it.

Clinging to that knowledge like a lifeline, Jackson and I stepped out of the cave and into the vastness of the ocean.  Within a fraction of a second, our tail fins had reformed and we were speeding through the water.  Jackson kept me close to his body as we moved, whether for my comfort or my safety I wasn’t sure.  Either way, I appreciated it.

We swam for quite a distance before I began to feel oriented, recognizing several landmarks as we passed.  I wondered about the magic used to keep the cave entrance and canyon cloaked.  I’d never encountered magic like that before, magic that could be concealed from my bracelet, from my senses.  I concluded that it had to be ancient magic, put in place by the older generations, possibly even someone from the High Council.

 When Jackson stopped suddenly, all thoughts of that curious magic left my mind, replaced in an instant by the task at hand and the inherent peril of it.

“What’s the matter?” I asked in a hushed voice.

Jackson didn’t respond right away.  His sharp blue eyes scanned the waters around us like an eagle scans the sky.  I looked out, trying to see what he saw, hear what he heard, feel what he felt.  Although nothing seemed out of the ordinary to me, I knew Jackson was sensing something.  His tension tickled my nerves from head to toe as if he were strumming them like guitar strings.

“Madly, don’t ask questions.  Swim that way,” he said, pointing off to our right.  “Don’t stop.  Don’t look back.  Don’t worry about me.  I’ll find you.  Just swim.  Now!”

Grabbing me around the waist, Jackson gave me a push for a head start before he turned and darted off like a bullet, cutting through the water in the other direction.

Confused and a little afraid, I did as he instructed.  I ignored the thought that there was only one portal in the shield and that it did not lie in this direction.  I ignored the thought that the further Jackson was from me, the harder it would be to maintain his invisibility.  I ignored the thought that I wouldn’t know when to summon the whale or if I still needed to.  I ignored all my screaming instincts and did only what Jackson asked. 

I swam.

Straining with all my power to keep Jackson’s appearance concealed, I reached out for any whale in the vicinity, thinking absently that I believed I could feel one.  Without taking away from Jackson, I let my own visibility shine through just enough that I could confuse the whale and draw it closer then I put my appearance back under wraps.  It was all I could do, the best I could hope for. 

When the alarms sounded, I wasn’t sure if I had triggered them or if the whale had stumbled into them.  I felt the disorienting, debilitating effects of them instantly.  I managed to keep enough of my wits about me to pray that Jackson was safe and that he would get away.  I wasn’t sure whether it was a good sign or not when the alarms were silenced less than a minute later.  I recovered quickly, but it was with great unease that I resumed my swim.  How could I get out when the portal lie in the other direction?  What if I got trapped?  What if…

My thoughts swam faster than I did as I focused on my trust of Jackson.  It wasn’t until I began passing the familiar landscape of the waters outside Slumber that I slowed.  How had I escaped the shield?  Was there another portal? 

I had so many questions, but at that moment, none of them mattered.  My worries were tightly focused on one thing, one person, as I scanned the shadows of the deep—looking, listening, feeling.  Jackson was nowhere.  I couldn’t sense him at all. 

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I started to swim back toward Atlas when the memory of Jackson’s voice stopped me.  It rang clearly in my head, as if I were hearing him say the words again, right at my side. 

Don’t look back…I’ll find you.

With an unbearable emptiness burning in my chest, I turned from Atlas and made my way toward shore.  Without Jackson.

CHAPTER SIX

The water was shallow enough for me to stand on the sandy ocean floor, but I didn’t.  I swam slowly toward shore, unwilling to exchange my scales for skin.  I still wasn’t entirely convinced I could get out of the water knowing Jackson was still out there, possibly in danger.

How could you leave him like that?  How could you swim away from the most important person in the world?

I asked myself those questions over and over again.  No concrete answer came to mind.  I wondered if it was the promise I’d made to my father, the promise of every royal to Atlas—to put it first and foremost, always, above all else.  I wondered if it was my absolute trust in Jackson, in his ability to keep his promises, no matter what the odds looked like.  I wondered if I was suffering some sort of breakdown that was altering my thinking and my reaction to stimuli.  I did a lot of wondering, but my heart continued to hurt as if impaled on an invisible spear of fear and doubt.

I swam in wide circles in the shallows until my lower body ached and the sun had set on yet another day.  The more minutes that passed with no sign of Jackson, the more panic clawed at my insides.  What was I to do?  How could I go about finding him, rescuing him without endangering the rest of my family?  Or getting myself caught in the process, rendering everyone without help?

Knowing I was fast approaching exhaustion, I willed my scales away and set my feet in the sand, walking slowly toward shore.  I inhaled the familiar sweetly-scented air of Slumber and let it soothe me as much as anything could, which wasn’t very much.  With the last of my waning power, I conjured shorts and a t-shirt so that I could cover my nakedness until I did what I had to do then made my way back to the water.

I had decided that the best course of immediate action was to relay what I knew to Transport, to Commander Jessup.  At least that way, someone other than me had enough information to try and formulate a plan of attack so to speak.  Once I shared all I’d learned, I would be free to focus on my own plans, on getting back to Jackson.  Somehow.  If I found my death in trying, so be it.  Life wasn’t worth living without him anyway, no matter the fate of the Mer.  They’d find a way.  They had for thousands of years and they would again.  But I could not exist in a world without Jackson.  It was as simple as that.

My legs were sluggish beneath me.  I knew it was in part due to fatigue.  The rest was due to the hands of hopelessness dragging at my feet.  I fought it, knowing I had just a bit further to go before I could make my move.

********

Transport must’ve had some inkling that something was going on, that I was back.  When the elevator doors opened into the control room, there was utter silence.  Every eye was turned toward me and within seconds of the doors opening, every head bowed. 

It only made me feel worse.

I swept the room with my cordial smile until I found Commander Jessup.  His face was stoic, but I’d seen it enough times to recognize the dread just beneath the surface.  He knew there would be bad news.

“May I have a word?” I asked.

He nodded once, sharply, and turned toward the conference room.  We’d only vacated it a couple days prior, but it felt as though months had passed.

I followed him.  Once inside, Jessup closed the door behind me, but neither of us moved to sit in one of the many empty chairs.

“You have news of Atlas?” he asked without preamble.

“Yes.  In some ways, it’s worse than I thought.”  I summarized all that I’d learned about the release of the Lore, the plight of my family and the involvement of Leviathan.

“Rumpel!” Jessup exclaimed, rubbing a hand over his face.  “It really is worse than we thought.”

If Rumpel weren’t bad enough on his own, his control of Leviathan made him a double threat.  “I’ve already run into Leviathan once.  Rumpel may know we’re on to him.”

Jessup questioned me about every detail of our encounter with Leviathan.  The muscle along his jawline ticked rhythmically, the only outward sign of his agitation.  I tried to gloss over how we escaped into the cave, but the Commander wouldn’t let it go so easily.

“Yes, I know of the cave.  I believe it lies behind the waterfall at the Pool of Neptune, correct?”  Commander Jessup had been on land for many, many years. I had hoped he might not remember so many details.

“It does.”

“Then how di—”

He stopped abruptly as understanding dawned.  I understood why it hadn’t come faster.  Never in Mer history had a royal in the ruling house tied with a non-royal, a common Mer.

I waited for him to continue, whether with a question or a statement.  Instead, I saw his face light with something that looked dangerously close to pride. 

He cleared his throat.  “And Sentinel Hamilton?  What was his plan?”

“I don’t know.  The plan that we began with got…interrupted somehow.  He sent me off so quickly I didn’t get to ask any questions and he didn’t seem to have time to explain.  He just told me to swim and not look back, that he would find me.”

My voice trembled on the last words, the lump in my throat nearly painful in its size and intensity.  I felt like my heart was lodged there, ready to burst at any moment and spray my life’s blood all over the walls around me. 

“Princess,” Jessup began, his voice a smidgeon less gruff.  “You know he is the very best to ever grace the Sentinel ranks of Atlas.  If he said he’d find you, then he will.  Trust in that.”

I had the sudden urge to fling myself into Jessup’s stiff arms and bawl my eyes out on his shoulder.  But behavior such as that was not befitting of a royal in my position, so, resolutely, I swallowed as much of my emotion as I could and straightened my spine. 

“I trust you’ll begin making arrangements to subvert the mechanisms put in place by the traitor and formulate some sort of rescue attempt.”

“Of course, Princess.  Immediately.  And you’ll begin the search for the next prison escapees I assume?”

I faltered.  For just a moment.  “Of course.  There are a couple of things I must attend to and then I’ll give them my full attention.”

“As you wish, Princess.  Take your time.  I’m merely pleased to know you would never consider something as foolish as making an attempt of your own.”

I snorted nervously.  “Never.”  Commander Jessup’s lips curved the tiniest bit, turning up at the corners into a knowing grin.  I wasn’t fooling anybody.  “Speaking of the Lore, which spirit has arrived?”

“There were two, Princess.”

“Two?  At the same time?”

“Yes, they were contained as one since they were captured as one.”

My mind raced through names until I came across the only two I knew of that were seen as one entity rather than two.  “The Jackal and Hyde.”

“The very ones.”

“Well, I’ll, uh, I’ll get right on that.  Very soon,” I said uncomfortably.  I hated to lie, but I couldn’t afford for anyone to try and stop me.  It was Jackson.  To me that meant no other explanation was needed.

“I know you are exhausted.  I’ll have someone escort you to your room.  You need rest first and foremost.”

“Thank you, Commander, but that’s really not necessary. I—”

“I insist, Princess.  More than ever, it is imperative that we ensure your safety.  Besides, it is a great honor for any Sentinel to be assigned protective duties to someone such as yourself. You must realize that.”

Put that way, it would make me sound ungrateful and snobbish to refuse.  So, smiling coolly, I nodded once in submission.  “Thank you.  That would be much appreciated.”

Jessup attempted some banalities to tie up our meeting and then he escorted me back out to the elevator.  Along the way, I saw him discreetly signal a Sentinel I’d never seen before, but one who looked all too eager to be called upon.  He was tallish with raven hair and smiling cornflower eyes.  He snapped to attention the instant he was chosen. 

“Sentinel Holmes, you will escort the Princess back to her rooms.  Once you have safely deposited her inside, you will be her primary guardian until morning when more permanent arrangements can be made.”

“Excuse me, but that’s not necessary.  I have a permanent guardian.  Sentinel Hamilton.  If you’d like to assign someone to me in his absence, that would be fine, but he
will be
returning to his post.”  As much as I could, I let the frosty edge to my words numb the aching hole in my chest.  I wanted desperately to believe them. 

Commander Jessup looked duly chastised, not to mention genuinely contrite for being so callous about the Mer to whom I was tied.  We both knew he was simply doing his job, but my heart didn’t get the memo.  I couldn’t dull the pain that radiated through my chest at the thought of Jackson being replaced.  It was an impossibility, one that I refused to consider even on such a small scale.

“My apologies, Princess.  I only meant until Sentinel Hamilton’s return.”

I shook my head, a little embarrassed by my very telling outburst.  “I know.  I’m sorry.  I’m just tired.  Please excuse me.  I suppose I really do need that rest.”

With a polite smile, I nodded to Jessup and Holmes and turned to punch the elevator button.  My world was falling apart and I felt at a loss as to how to fix it, how to stop it.      

“Oh, Commander, I’ll need a key to Sentinel Hamilton’s room so that I can make use of his books.”

“Of course,” Jessup said without hesitation.  “I’ll have a copy sent right over.”

“Thank you.”

The
ding
of the elevator signaled my means of escape, at least for the moment.  Hurriedly, I hopped into the car.  Impatiently, I waited for Holmes to join me before I selected the button for the ground floor.  I felt like I was suffocating.  I had to get out of there.

When the doors opened, I ran from the elevator and bolted out the front doors into the night.  I had planned to stop just outside, but running felt so good, I kept going.  And going.  And going.

I knew that a voice called my name.  Over and over again. 
Princess!  Princess!  Wait, Princess!
it called, but I ignored it.  Pushed it to the very back of my mind and kept running.

I knew neither what I was running from nor what I was running toward; I just knew I had to run.  It grew quickly into a compulsion, as though something deep inside me
drove
me to it.  And I let it have its way.  It was a relief to just let go, even for a few minutes.

By the time my feet slowed, my toes were buried in the cool sands of the shoreline.  I heard someone crying and I felt moisture all over my face, but I thought little of it.  I couldn’t think, only feel.  Then I felt something that eclipsed everything else. 

I felt Jackson. 

At first, it was barely perceptible.  I might’ve thought I’d imagined it but for the steady warmth that grew in the pit of my stomach.  A fire burned there, a fire that burned for no one else on earth, a fire that I welcomed like consuming flames.  I willingly gave myself up to them.

“Jackson!” I screamed from the top of my lungs.  “Jackson!”

I scanned the horizon, but saw nothing.  I turned my nose to the wind, but smelled nothing.  I reached out with my every sense, but could not identify his presence.

I called again.  And again.  But no Jackson.

When hands gently touched my arms, I whirled around, prepared to throw myself against the chest I dreamed about.  But it was Holmes.  He looked worried and a little uncertain of himself.

“Princess, there’s no one here.  There’s no one out there.  We’re alone.”

“No, he’s here.  Somewhere.  I know it.  I can feel him.”

Holmes looked around, but I could tell it was strictly for my benefit.  He didn’t believe he’d see anything.  And that’s what he reported.  “Princess, we are alone.  I assure you.”

My throat and my chest ached with the sob I withheld.  My eyes and nose stung with more tears.  And my soul—it cried out with an anguish I’d never before experienced.

Why did you leave him?  Why did you leave him? 
The sand ground against the skin of my knees when I landed on them, the question circling through my head over and over again. 

A voice not much louder than a whisper interrupted the loop.  Not fully trusting my senses by that point, I looked at Holmes.  His expression told me he’d heard it, too.  Only he didn’t recognize the voice.  But I did.  I could never forget it.

“Jackson?”

I sprang to my feet and ran to the water’s edge.  I let the power of the ocean, of my people hum through my veins.  Reaching out with my enhanced senses, I searched.

The sounds of weak splashing touched my ears first.  Turning my head to triangulate the sound, I let my eyes scan the moonlit waves.  And then I saw him.

A shape was moving sluggishly toward shore.  I could make out arms slicing rhythmically through the water as a dark head bobbed just above the surface.  Without hesitation, I struck out, running through the shallows and diving into the first big wave that reached me. 

Surrounded by the water that was my home, I felt like a tuning fork for the energies around me.  I had no trouble locating Jackson.  The tie we shared was stronger than ever since we’d been in the Pool of Neptune together. It sang in my heart, in my blood like a song I’d known all my life, like music I’d been created to make.  For Jackson.  With Jackson.  Only Jackson.