Jar of Souls (20 page)

H
enry was moving
toward me at a quick pace. Today his limp was more pronounced than usual. I had to wonder if he was in pain; maybe it got worse when it rained. Not sure where I heard that, but I was pretty sure it was a thing. It had to be tough for him to be surrounded by all of these younger in-shape kids knowing that he couldn’t go out into the field anymore. As far as people went, Henry was one of the good ones. He always was upbeat and pleasant. That was why the look on his face now had me worried.

As he limped up, I have to say I was hoping that he would pass me by and that look was meant for someone else. He stopped right next to me, and I just knew whatever it was, it was going to be bad. “What’s up, Henry?” He paused for a second, and that was when I realized the look wasn’t grim. It was worried with maybe a dollop of pity mixed in.

“Jackson, there is someone in Adam’s office here to see you.”

Ok, that was weird. I really didn’t have any friends or family outside of this building, so unless this was a gag or some other student, I didn’t know what to think about it. “Who is it?”

“I think it would be better if Adam told you himself.” Then he gave me that same look, concern mixed with a little bit of sorrow.

“And he is waiting for me now.”

“Yes, Adam is just outside of the office.”

“All right, thanks, Henry.” He gave me one more of those worried looks, and I set off to find Adam.

Just what in the hell was going on? It wasn’t my birthday; I had just finished celebrating that. I had grown pretty bad with watching the dates since I had started training, but I was pretty sure I hadn’t been here an entire year yet, or maybe I had? If it wasn’t my anniversary or birthday, maybe it was Marcus’s or April’s. If it was, though, I’m pretty sure someone would have told me. What about Britta? She kept things pretty close to the vest. Could it be her birthday?

That only made sense, though, if Henry was setting me up, and he didn’t seem like the person to do that. And what was with that look on his face? No, something else was going on here, and it couldn’t be the best news. Maybe Adam had found out more about my adoptive parents. That would probably be enough to make Henry uncomfortable. Either way, I was about to find out.

I rounded the last corner to Adam’s office and found him just where Henry had said he would be. He was waiting for me just outside, and the door to his office was closed. “Henry said you wanted to see me.”

“Jackson, I have something to tell you.” His face kind of crunched up like he just wasn’t sure how to deliver the news.

“All of my friends are ok, right? Nothing’s happened? No one died?” An edge of panic had found its way into my voice. All of this was just a little too weird.

“Quite the opposite, actually. Someone we thought was dead actually isn’t.”

“What are you talking about? Just tell me already.”

He watched me for a moment and then came to some kind of decision. “Jackson, just promise me that you will give her the benefit of the doubt before you assume anything.”

I nodded, still wondering what in the hell he could be talking about.

He moved toward the door and then opened it without stepping in. “Jackson, let me introduce you to your mother. This is Sarah Blackthorn.” Adam stepped out of the way and closed the door behind me as I entered his office.

Was he kidding? He had been the one to tell me that my biological parents were just as dead as my adoptive parents. It wasn’t like Adam to lie; in fact, I wasn’t sure if I had ever heard him utter a single lie in all of our time together. So this woman who was standing up in front of me had to be my mother. How could she be here now? Where had she been while I was growing up?

She finished standing and turned to face me. I felt my breath hitch for a moment. This had to be some kind of joke they were playing. If it was, it was the most horribly cruel thing that had ever been done to me. There was no way the woman in front of me could have been my mother. She didn’t look a day over twenty-five.

Then it clicked into place. She was a Lycan. So it was possible that she was my mother. Could they really age that slowly? It was like looking at someone who was slightly older but not too old to date, and she was my mom. She gave birth to me over eighteen years ago. Man, the supernatural world was a total mindfuck. People could be hundreds of years old and appear to be in their twenties.

I watched her as she took a few tentative steps toward me; she was just as unsure of what to do as I was. Her black hair came down to her waist, and her eyes looked a little moist as she crept forward. Like the entire supernatural world, she was exceedingly beautiful. Her Native American features made her stand out, and I wondered if I had inherited any of her looks.

It seemed things were moving too slow for her. She threw caution to the wind and raced forward the last few steps, wrapping me up in a gigantic hug. It was tight, so tight I almost couldn’t breathe, but I didn’t want to let go. This was my mom, the first time I had ever had the chance to meet her. A bone-crushing hug wasn’t going to end because I couldn’t breathe.

She seemed to realize what she was doing, and the hug moved back to a less life-threatening pressure. I felt the first of her sobs start, and a few of her tears decorated my shirt. I couldn’t do anything except hold her, and then I felt a few of my own tears come to the surface. Wow, the first time I got to meet my mom and I was crying like a baby.

After what seemed like forever but was probably closer to five minutes, her chest stopped heaving and both of our tears had dried. She stepped back, holding me at arm’s length, looking into my face. “I’m sorry, it’s just that you look so much like him. It’s hard for me not to think about your father when I see you.”

“Do you really think I look like him?”

“More than you do me.” She smiled then. “It’s a good thing; it helps me to remember him. Plus he would have said he had all the looks in the family anyway. Plus you’re wearing his necklace.”

“He left it for me. I haven’t taken it off since I found it.”

“John wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.” She hugged me again and then pulled back, looking into my eyes.

“I thought you were dead?” I didn’t mean to blurt it out like that, but it was all I could think of.

She winced for a second, as if she had been hoping to avoid the question. “Everyone did. It was the only way I could keep you safe. Your father and I were being hunted. Neither of us wanted anything to happen to you.”

“So you had to leave to keep me safe?” I hope it didn’t come out sounding like an accusation, but I just had to know.

“I did. Your father stayed behind to hold them off while I ran. Everyone thought I died in the blast. I left you with some close friends and disappeared. If they thought we were dead, you were safe. If I was alive, then you might be too and they would have never stopped hunting us.”

“Why were they hunting you in the first place?”

“Because of the damn prophecy. Because we dared to have a child together. They were hunting us because of what you represented; the thought of an offspring between a Lycan and one of the gifted was something that couldn’t be tolerated.”

“So you’re saying that Dad died because I was born.”

She stepped forward and hugged me again. “No, never think that, never believe that,” she whispered fiercely into my ear before stepping away. “We were hunted because they thought we were too powerful, that we had become a threat to the council. They wanted to kill us to make an example, and they succeeded.”

“I’m not sure what to say. This is a lot to take in.”

“You don’t have to say anything. I know that you don’t know me, but if it’s ok with you, I would like to get to know more about you.”

“Thank you for trying to make this easier on me. Why don’t we get together tomorrow and talk again. You can come over to my room; I have some people I’d like you to meet.”

“That sounds perfect.”

“See you then.” I turned to leave.

“Jackson, I’m here with other Lycans to help Adam defeat Gaston. I think he has something planned for tonight, so you might see me again sooner than tomorrow.”

“I think I’m ok with that.” I turned and gave her a smile before walking out the door.

So many emotions swirled through me as I left Adam’s office. I had family, real genuine family. That was something that I had thought I lost forever. Now I just needed to figure out how I felt about it. What was going to happen between us? Would she move here? Would I just see her on holidays or for missions? It was too hard to worry about the details. They would sort themselves out. One thought just kept playing over and over in my mind. She’s alive, and I have a family again. I wondered why Henry and Adam had looked so worried. This was a good thing, right?

I couldn’t wait to tell April. She had always thought that it was so sad that I never had the chance to meet my parents. Now I had gotten to meet one of them, and it felt pretty darn good. I walked back to my room, not sure if my feet even hit the ground. I had a family.

* * *

W
hen I got back
into my room, I was shocked to see my three friends there waiting for me. It was like they just knew that I needed them right now. Britta and April were on opposite sides of the couch, and Marcus occupied my big leather chair. All of them wore identical concerned expressions on their faces. April patted the couch next to her. “What are you guys doing here?” I asked, making my way over.

As I sat down, Britta leaned into me and April gave the smallest of scowls before patting my leg. Marcus just looked interested to find out what was going on. I looked at each of their faces and could tell none of them knew yet.

Marcus just kind of gave me a wink. It was one of those innuendo-filled kinds. I didn’t think either of the girls saw it, at least I hoped not, for his sake. It seemed to say
man, what I wouldn’t give to be where you are now
. Then he finally broke the silence. “Henry came and found us. Seemed to think that you would need a couple friends around when you got back.”

April gave Marcus a look. “We ran into Britta on our way here, and Marcus thought that she should come with us.”

“Hey, it sounded serious,” he said in mock outrage.

“I’m happy you told me. If Jackson needs anything, I should be the one to get it for him,” Britta said while staying glued to my side.

April let out a little huff, and we all pretended not to hear it. Marcus just smiled his goofy grin, and I could see why he was such a lady killer. In his own way, he had a ton of charm. April was watching me expectantly, and Marcus seemed to finally pull his head out of whatever fantasy he was imagining for me. Britta just held me, and that kind of made me forget to talk as I played out a little fantasy of my own.

Marcus broke the silence. “So don’t leave us all hanging, man. What happened?”

I looked around the room once more. Every eye was turned toward me. “You’re not going to believe this, but I just met my mom.”

“Your dead mom?” Marcus asked. “Was it a ghost or something?”

April tossed a pillow at him to shut him up. “I think what he is saying is that his dead mom isn’t so dead. Dumbass.”

Britta finally pulled away from my shoulder and looked at me. “You mean she is alive?”

“Yep, I guess she is. I mean, I didn’t really do a background check or anything, but Adam introduced me to her and she was very much alive.”

For the next few minutes, I was assaulted with questions from all sides. Most of them I had to say
I don’t know
to, or
maybe I’ll find out later
. I explained that we were going to be taking it slow, getting to know each other over time. Somehow it just felt right. I could feel a connection to her already, but neither of us knew anything about each other, and both of us didn’t want to push the other for something they weren’t ready for. I really hoped both of us stayed alive long enough to get to know each other better.

After all of that, Marcus broke the tension in his normal joking way. “All of that sounds awesome, dude. It’s good that you have some family left. There is just one thing you haven’t told us yet.”

“Oh, and what’s that?” I asked, knowing something horrible was coming.

“Is she hot?”

Before I could reply, April had hit him in the shoulder, hard.

Britta said, “Gross, Marcus.”

The only thing I got out was, “Keep your paws off my mother.”

Marcus just grinned at all of us and said, “That means she’s hot.”

This time I just laughed, and just like that, the tension I had been carrying around was gone. I mean, I was happy, so happy, but I had also been worried that everything was going to crumble down around me if she disappeared or was killed. Now I knew that wouldn’t be the case. I had friends who cared about me, and by extension, they had grown to be family. Fighting and dying for one another forged a bond that could never be broken.

Just as things had seemed to get back to normal, there was a knock at the door. “Come in!” I shouted.

Henry popped his head in the door and smiled at us. He was clearly happy to see all of us together. His eyes lingered for a second on Britta and her arm on me before he met my gaze again. “Adam requested that all of you dress and grab your gear for combat and meet him in assembly hall one.”