Page 75 of Choosing Jenny
Jac and Deacon ran for the infirmary, and the rest of us followed though we were barred from going inside. For what seemed like forever, we all waited out in the hallway, with Tiger and I trying to console a worried Jenny.
After far too long for anyone’s comfort, Jac finally came out of the infirmary, while Deacon and Ode stayed inside with Sarah.
His expression was grim as he gave us an update. “Mother and fetus are okay for now, but the placenta has torn significantly. There are some other anomalies that might be because she’s the contra…Ode’s not sure.”
Omen spoke up, her voice quiet and concerned. “There’s nothing in the holy texts about the Contra carrying a child. She’s said to be a bringer of death. Not life.”
Jenny clutched my hand, her eyes on Jac. “What does this mean for Sarah?”
“Bedrest for the remainder of the pregnancy, which is about a month. In fact, she’ll have to stay in the infirmary, since that’s where all of Ode’s equipment is. Ode is staying in there with her, as well, so if there are any other medical emergencies, Wave will have to handle them for the time being.”
“Is it because she used her powers?” Jenny asked, and I knew she was thinking of what her sister had done for Jenny.
Jac shook his head. “No. Ode has been worried for a while now. Previous scans have shown precursors to the anomalies—they just got worse, according to her.” He rubbed a hand along the back of his neck, looking weary. “And yes, it is a problem to have only one doctor available, especially since we’re splitting upsoon. Wave can’t cover four simultaneous missions, but it’s not like we have the time to hire another one right now. So, we will all do our best not to get so much as a papercut, right?”
“How are we splitting up?” I asked him.
“You all will go back home for a night, and act as though everything is normal,” Jac said, sharing the details of his plan with everyone. “Sam will send a useless message and update to Justice before anything else happens to her kin. The night after, Tiger will accompany me to the prisons and drive the decoy ship.”
Tiger nodded once.
Jac turned to Jenny and Discord. “You two will bring flowers to Aphonic. Big flowers. Surge and his egg will hide inside.”
“Got it,” Jenny said, taking her role seriously.
“And you,” Jac continued, looking at me. “You and Longshot are going to the palace magician to see if anything can be done about his…condition.”
“Each group will be distracting and diverting attention from the others,” I said, following along.
“Exactly,” Jac said, nodding. “If all goes well, Sam’s family will be freed and out of danger. Aphonic and Longshot will be fixed accordingly. And after that, we deal with the Illiapol ghosts before returning our attention back to Justice.”
Sam blinked at Jac and asked, “And if itdoesn’tgo right?”
“Then we’re fucked,” he said.
CHAPTER 24
Tiger
The trip home was rough and fraught with tension. So many things had to fall into place for all of us to survive what was to come, and we were all feeling the stress and pressure.
On the ride back to Mal’s estate Sam sent an update to Justice:Nothing new to report. Apologies, Ruler. This seemed to be nothing more than a social call for Jenny to see her sister, Sarah.
He responded shortly thereafter.Fine. Let me know if there are any changes.
So, when I closed the door to Mal’s bedroom with the three of us inside, relief washed through me. Mal cozied up against my rear, wrapping me in his arms. It felt good. And wrong when he began unzipping my fatigues.
“What are you doing?” I asked, tensing.
He kissed the side of my neck. “What does it feel like I’m doing?”
I caught his hands and turned around to face him. “It feels like you’re not taking any of this shit storm seriously.”
He smiled, a little soft, a whole lot wicked. “I am taking every bit of this shit storm seriously, Tiger love, and that is precisely why I want you naked. Because starting tomorrow, the three of us are going to be separated for our own missions. We will be apart and there could be a thousand ways for all of this to go wrong, a million ways for us to end up dead. I want to spend tonight with the loves of my life.”
As wonderful as that sounded, the thought of being separated from them while we were on individual missions was painful and frightening. I couldn’t watch their backs or protect them, if we were apart. But I knew it was the right thing to do. And I hated it.
I sighed. “Malice, I—”
