Page 103 of Taking Jenny
A light shone ahead, so I kept going.That’s what they say to do, right? Go to the light?
The illumination ahead was blaring, but as my eyes adjusted, I realized what I was seeing. My heart began to race as I registered a purple length of ribbon on the ground between two gnarly trees. Just beyond them, an onworlder with its engine running.
The darkness made the lights at the finish line even brighter.Holy shit, this better not be a trap. I hurried my pace, and my legs shook under the weight of every person under Justice Bateen’s rule. My entire body threatened to collapse as I tried to make it up the mountain. I wished I could stop or slow down or pause to catch my breath, but if I stopped, I’d never get moving again, and so many people were counting on me, even if they didn’t know it.
I had thought fighting Arrow took the last of my energy. But seeing the finish line sparked something inside of me. Determination? Stubbornness? Purpose? Whatever it was, it drove me forward.
“You’ll never make it.”
The voice sliced through me like a blade, and I whirled around, swinging my staff defensively as a rush of adrenaline surged through me.
Justice Bateen emerged alone from the trees. Not a scratch on him. Regal and unbothered, dressed in his purple hunter’s garb, staff slung casually over his shoulder.
“You’ve been causing quite the bit of trouble with that bloody staff of yours,” he said, his tone amused.
“Oh, I’m terribly sorry,” I drawled sarcastically. “Has it been inconvenient to hunt me down?”
He laughed, and I didn’t miss the cold and cruel inflection in the sound.
I was so close to winning, and I bolted around him for the finish line.
A sharp pain tore through the back of my knee as his staff made contact. My leg crumpled, and I fell onto my back, coughing on the ground from the jarring impact. Before I could regain my bearings, Justice stood over me, picking up his staff lying beside me on the ground that he had thrown toward at me with unerring accuracy.
His foot came down, heavy on my ribs, pressing the last of the air out of my lungs. He raised the staff, aiming its sharpened end at my left eye.
He is going to thrust it through my eye and kill me. At least it will be fast.
Justice’s gaze bored into mine. “Tell me why you are on my planet and asking about my family, Jenny Hollinger.”
I was out of breath and out of options. Good as dead. But Tiger was out there somewhere, and so was Mal. After Justice killed me, he would go after them next. I had to make my last words count for something. Protecting them with my last breath seemed like a worthy way to go out.
I remembered Tiger’s response to him when asked the same question, and managed to gasp, “You’re the most famous Ladrian ever. Why wouldn’t I ask about you?”
His gaze narrowed as he studied my face. Then he removed his staff and lifted his foot from my chest. “Huh. You’re actually telling the truth about that.”
He offered me a hand up. I wasn’t sure if I should take it, but I didn’t want to insult him and make things bad for anyone else after I died. As much as it repulsed me to touch him, I took his hand and stood.
“You’ve surprised me, Jenny,” he said, conversing with me like we were old friends. “Do you think I am easily surprised?”
I jutted my chin out, refusing to bow down to him in any way at all. “I would think the only things that surprise you are kindness and decency.”
He chuckled, as if I’d cracked a joke. “I enjoy surprises. There’s a novelty to them, especially in my line of work. You don’t know how unique a thing that is, until every day of your life is an imitation of the day before. It’s dreadful.”
Oh, boo-ho.“You have threatened me. Had me tortured. Hunted me. I don’t have it in me to feel sorry for you, Justice.”
He shrugged. “I suppose I don’t blame you. But indulge me a moment longer. I made an error, in regard to you and your Orne boy. I am, of course, infallible…so this presents quite the dilemma. If I were to take back the charges against you, then I am publicly fallible, and that will cause havoc for my people. I will not take the charges back.”
At least I will die on my feet. But I wasn’t going down without a fight. I took a stance, facing him. Ready to swing my staff for all I was worth. “And since I’m the only person who heard you admit you’re fallible, I guess that means this is the end.”
“It is.” He stood tall, hands tightening on his staff. Then he slung it over his shoulders once more. “Cross the finish line, Jenny Hollinger.”
I stared at him for a long moment, certain I had to have misheard him. “Are you…what?”
But he nodded, his gaze shifting to the finish line. “Go on. Before I change my mind.”
I didn’t wait for clarification. I ran to the finish line as fast as I could, which was not particularly fast considering how battered my body was. Each step was agony, but the moment my foot crossed over the purple ribbon, I had the thought that Justice was just toying with me. I turned around fast, half-expecting him to be there, prepared to end my life just because he could.
Instead, he gradually walked toward me and clapped. “Congratulations, avatar.”
