Isabella's footsteps stopped as she looked around the clearing. The cold wind blew through the woods and the dainty woman shook and wrapped her arms around herself. Her skirt fluttered as she waited for something to happen.
The shadowed figure slunk through the trees like a cat before drawing into the open. I was ready to run for Isabella and warn her, but, before I could, the moonlight revealed Jax's pale features and dark eyes. He walked toward the unassuming women and a delicate move of his mouth caused Isabella to whirl around to meet him.
Her dark hair moved as she talked, Jax listening carefully before he gestured to the trees surrounding the clearing. He looked at the woman in front of him and I could see Isabella's hair shift as she nodded.
I couldn't catch their words, but Isabella's body language began to change as Jax started talking. She took a step back and held her hands up in front of her. Whatever Jax was saying agitated her. His hands slowly raised to show he meant no harm.
Isabella still backed up and looked around quickly. Her head turned to the woods and she wouldn't look Jax in the eyes.
He stepped forward, head bent down and sorrow evident. Whatever he said had the same effect of Isabella and her hand flew to her mouth, body shaking. Jax looked up and waited for her to say something. Her body kept shaking, but her head bobbed a few times. Jax nodded and his face shifted from my sisters to mine. His eyes looked at the section of forest I was hiding in and he motioned for me to come over.
I stood and my legs shook from kneeling for so long. My boots disturbed the leaves and Isabella turned to look at me. I emerged into the clearing and began running to greet her. Her eyes were red and tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Isabella, are you alright?" I half yelled as I threw my arms around her, burying my head in her hair. I had a sudden burst of hot anger, thinking Jax had offended her, but the thought was instantly beaten away.
Her body was still shaking and it took a moment for her arms to snake around my back, but she held me close and for once I felt like I was supporting her.
"I'm going to walk the perimeter and let you talk." Jax said. I looked up at him and nodded. He gave me a small, guilty smile and disappeared.
Isabella's arms tightened as Jax spoke. When he was gone, she pulled back to look at me. Her puffy face held fear and pain despite the small smile she was using to hide.
"Jax said there was something different about you this morning, but he didn't tell me you were a Spirit." Isabella said as she held my left shoulder and wiped her tears with her free hand. Her voice sounded heartbroken and it was choked with her sobs.
I felt my eyes go wide and I involuntarily took a step back. "What did Jax say?" I asked, staring at my sister with a feeling of betrayal.
Isbella laughed as she continued whipping the fat tears from her face, but her laugh was flat and humorless. "He just told me who he is, what he is, and what you are."
"And you don't hate us?" I asked. I was shocked to see Isabella accepted us as Spirits immediately while it had taken me a week.
"I could never hate you. We just need time." Her lips thinned as she began to work her way through the problem. Her hands pulsed as she muttered to herself. "We can fix you. There has to be some way to make you human again. I promised, I will help you."
I pulled away slightly, worried. "Isabella, I don't need to be fixed. I am happy with who I am. The Spirits are like a family to me." I couldn't contain my excitement and the daydreams I had restrained suddenly broke free. "You would love Dayami, she is more skilled than even you with a needle. And Alexander could show you the world. He's a sailor and his wife is the sweetest person I have ever met. You would love her."
I stopped talking as I saw Isabella's face slowly clouding, the hope in her eyes dimming until they were cold and distant.
"You've met more than Jax. I thought perhaps you were using him to help you."
"Don't be silly, Jax came with me to ask you for help." I took her hands in my own, pulling her close. "We need your help. Our family is a part of a secret society that hunts Spirits. We live in hiding. With you, we could defend ourselves."
Isabella slid her hands through mine, pulling them to her chest. "You know?" She laughed, but it was dark and bitter. "Of course you know. I should have expected that they would have found the connection and used it. Maurea, Spirits cannot be trusted. You've heard the stories salaried bring the port, monsters that drag entail ships into death, killing men and women with no mercy. If we don't stop them, no one will."
"How can you say that? Yes, there are some Spirits that attack humans, but what makes them different from humans killing each other. Not only that, we control ourselves. There is a whole society of us, working together. They," I bit my lip, taking a few deep breaths, "we are good people who just want a chance to live peacefully. If you only met them, you would understand."
"Please," I moved forward and Isabella froze, mouth slightly open, "give us a chance. Give me a chance to show you."
I reached out a hand, willing her to take it and accept the truth. To accept me and Jax and the world I was growing to love.
Her brown eyes studied me, taking in my taller figure, dirty appearance. I might not look the same, but nothing had changed. I was more powerful, stronger and was no longer running. Deep down I was still the little sister who had clung to Isabella on sark nights when branches brushed against my window, the sister who made flower crowns as we pretended to be grown ups with fancy hats. Isabella would see it, I had no doubt. Nothing could stop her from protecting her sister, that I was confident of.
Isabella slowly peeled her hand from her chest, arm shaking as she stared at my outstretched limb. I could see her loosening, the tension marrying her form flipping away. I could feel the surge of pride, but my head snapped up before she would take my hand.
A tree branch had snapped just outside the clearing. It was different that's the usual sounds of the forest, humans. Jax would not make that mistake.
"What's wrong?" Isabella questioned as I took her hand, pulling her close.
"I don't know. Stay here and don't move. I'm sure it is nothing but a squirrel or large bird." I knew I was lying and so did Isabella, but the lie was comforting a white lie in the face of danger.
The forest went dead silent, as we held our breath. Out of the darkness, movement suddenly broke the tension. The tree branches were thrown away as Jax pounded into the clearing. His eyes were wide and his mouth was open, yelling.
"Run!" He waved his arm at us, his tone commanding, but I could hear the fear. "They're coming!"
I grabbed Isabella's hand and started running for the woods. She stumbled along after me. Jax had stopped yelling and he soon caught up to us.
"Are you coming with us or are you staying?"
"I will," she whispered, just loud enough for me to hear her. "Run and don't look back. If you can escape without me, do it. You're the one they want, Maurea."
The men appeared at that moment, three men sporting a rifle and sword, the mental gleaming in the moonlight.
"Get the girls," the deep voice of my father ordered. "Take the boy alive if you can, but do not harm the women."
Our group ran as the shock wore off. Jax and I raced ahead, out muscles stronger, faster, born for speed and strength. Isabella wasn't so lucky, her thick dress making it harder to run.
I tried to turn around, the thought of losing my sister to the men more painful than the pain of steel.
"Get her away," Isabella coughed. "Get her far away, you promised."
Isabella shuddered as she moved forward, staring at us, begging. I couldn't bring myself to go towards her or away. Behind Isabella, the small group of men was running, slowly closing our lead. My ex-fiancé was filling the barrel with gunpowder while Lord Bartne and my father advanced.
"Maurea, we need to go now," Jax said, pulling me along. His arms demanding, half carrying me away as Isabella's face faded into leaves and wood.
The last image I had was the barrel raising, the icy eyes aiming for us and the clearing disappeared completely.
I felt the grip of my arm increase as the sound of a gunshot rang through the trees.
I could hear boots pounding after us as we dodged through the dark terrain. The woods were a lighter than they should have been, the moon's light burning like a dull sun.
"We need to get to the water now." I nodded my head in a daze as Jax tripped over a root. For the first time, the urgency of the situation truly dawned on me. In the middle of the forest, Jax held his bleeding leg while still trying to get me to safety.
"Maurea, stop right there and we'll let the man go," my Father yelled. My steps slowed down as I ran, debating the man's words. I desperately wanted to protect them, but Jax took my hand, pulling me forward. He wouldn't leave me and I couldn't keep dragging him down.
"Don't even consider their offer, they're lying."
"But how do you know?" I slowed slightly. "I can stay with my sister and break us out. They don't know I'm a Spirit, I could spy on them."
"You don't want to and they're lying."
"How can you possibly know that? In the face of the situation, can we really-"
Jax cut me off with a hand over my mouth, our bodies still plowing through layers of green shrubs and leaves. "I know they are lying. It's like a sense, a bitter taste. Trust me."
I wanted to, but the offer was tempting. My heart wanted to stay, but my mind made the unconscious decision to keep running. It was easier to cling to Jax, let him guide me instead of facing the men behind me.
We burst through the remaining trees, catching sight of the river and our escape a few meters ahead. It was a heavenly sight, the energy and safety the water would provide. The water would pull me away in an instant, a rise to freedom.
Jax's body shook with each step, his arm now resting over my shoulder as I struggled to support his weight. Each footstep brought a dramatic shrink in his height.
The men were closing in as we hobbled toward the five foot drop into the cascading water. We only had a yard or so to go when Jax's leg started to give out. His steps became uneven and his speed reduced to a crawl. My labored breathing matched his as the chase came to a close. We had just reached the small drop when another shot found its mark in my arm and I dropped Jax's shoulder. We both crippled to the ground only feet from where we needed to be.
"I'm sorry," I stuttered as I gripped my shoulder. The bullet must have blown through because both sides of my shoulder were oozing blood. The warm, sticky liquid trailed down my body as the wound pulsed. The burn was like a thousand hot irons pressed together in one area. For a moment I forgot the danger we were in and just kneeled next to Jax, listening to his breathing as we shared the pain.
"I am too." Jax lifted his head to look at me. In my peripheral vision I could see legs approaching, but my immediate consciousness was focused on Jax. His head was bent down as he glanced through his dark eyelashes. Though pain was flickering in his pupil, they were dead set and serious, opposite of the carefree man who usually presented himself. "I'm sure you'll learn to forgive me."
I opened my mouth to ask him what he ment, but I felt his hands grip my stomach and he used his momentum to throw me over him and into the open air. Just like Atoya, he watched as I fell but it was different this time. I was no longer falling to my death while the man above was safe, instead, Jax sacrificed his safety for mine and there was nothing I could do about it.
I saw my Father's hands wrap around Jax's arms as Nicholas peered over the edge and watched as I fell, his head blocking my companions kneeling figure. The water closed around me and swept me downstream, the rapids carrying me away from the danger and away from the only people in Spain that I cared for.