UNBREATHABLE (31 page)

I wash up, wiping the dust from the scales of my tunic while he makes the announcement. In moments, the entire Jute population will gather at the foot of the hill, their eyes focused on me. I expect to be worried at the thought. But I feel nothing.

Rowan was right—I am not the same girl I once was.

The door to the room opens and Reed slips in. “If you are ready, your Highness.”

“I am,” I say. He hands me a crown, darker and smaller than my mother’s, more fitting for my dark outfit than my mother’s would have been. I don’t even know what happened to the crown I wore at the ceremony. Rowan must have it.

“There isn’t time for a true ceremony, but this will suffice. This way, your Highness,” Reed says. He carefully leads me through the rubble. Smoke lingers everywhere, blocking out the sun. He steps to the side when we reach the palace grounds again. My mutant is gone.

A group of soldiers stand in a half-ring behind me. Days ago, they held Chancellor Kole, Julian, and Dena as intruders. All they do is follow orders. They did what my mother commanded them to. And now that she is gone, they will do what I say.

I glance at Reed, who nods encouragingly, and take a deep breath.

I slowly move forward, to the edge, where a worn stone has been set into the ground. Where my mother once stood, and her sister before her, and however many Kings and Queens ruled before them. I don’t know anything about Jute history. I reach for the jewel around my neck.

I know what I’ll see when I look down. But when I look over the edge of the hill, the sight of hundreds of Jute staring up at me is still a surprise.

They’re my people now.

“My mother is dead.”

The wind is my friend. It carries my words down, down, down to the ears of the quiet Jute staring up at me.

“The rumor of Mia Leen was true. She was the true heir to the throne, and is now in a position near-death. Which leaves me as Queen.”

“Rowan, first in command, has destroyed the palace. He has taken one-tenth of you, loyal to him, out west. There is a ship waiting to take him and his men to Earth.”

Earth
, I hear them gasp. I was like them once, when Earth was a dream. Now it’s a painful reality. I take a deep, shuddering breath.

“The ship is large enough to hold us all. Every single one of us. I have seen it,” I say, scanning over their faces. They are young, old, all of them breathtaking. There is nothing that makes them inhuman besides their unmasked faces.

“The air within the ship is oxygen, as is the air of Earth. Each of you will be given an injection containing a substance that will enable you to breathe both oxygen and the air of Jutaire. Once everyone has been given the shot, you will head west. Take whatever you can. You will never return.”

“And if Rowan hurts us?” Someone shouts from below. I stare down where I think the voice came from.

“Rowan has one thousand men, we have nine thousand. If you would rather stay here for the rest of your life, so be it. If you want Earth, you will fight for it. This journey is yours alone.”

I step back in the silence of my words. One by one, I hear it. Shouts and cheers, soft at first, then echoing, rippling through the crowd. I close my eyes and breathe a sigh of relief.

The soldiers begin descending the hill, ready to organize everyone so they can easily distribute my blood. Of the three Jute who know how to mix the catalyst and prepare the injection, only one still lives. The other two died in the fire.

“Your Majesty,” Reed says behind me. His eyes are wet. I look away. “The lab.”

I follow him as he leads me back through the rubble again. Three soldiers accompany us through a different route. A jagged piece of rubble, the height of me and double my width blocks the lab entrance. Reed steps back as the soldiers heave and struggle to move it.

I force myself to breathe. In, out, in out. I look up at the sky, at the sun peeking through the remnants of the palace. I will never see it again. Never.

“My Queen.” I jerk my face to the soldier in front of the lab. Reed steps inside and I follow. Debris covers everything. One of the soldiers pulls a sheet protecting a table similar to the one Dena was strapped to and gestures for me to lie down.

I rest my head on the flat surface and squeeze my eyes shut. This is it. I will die.

And I feel nothing. My thoughts, memories, and desires that I thought would plague my mind at the time of death—they are all gone.

I see nothing. Feel nothing.

I am nothing.

I force myself to picture Slate’s face, his gray eyes. My father. I see Julian too, his blue eyes wavering with love.

Someone swipes a wet swab across my arm, wiping away their faces with the chilly reality. I can hear the Jute’s breathing, slow and hushed. I wonder if he feels sympathy for me. Pity even. Or if he can’t wait to get my blood in himself, to breathe the oxygen of Earth.

I force air through my lungs. In, out. In, out.

Hope
, I hear Gage’s voice. I push it away.

Gage was wrong. Hope isn’t what keeps us going. Hope will only ever be within us, hope can only help us breathe one extra breath.

Only will can save us. Only will can get us anywhere. Will and work. We must do, not just think.

I feel the sharp tip of the needle cool against my skin. The man releases one slow breath and pushes it inside. I exhale, feeling the pull as my blood fills a vial.

The needle slips out. Unscrew. Re-screw. The needle slips in. More blood.

And before it pierces my flesh a third time, I hear a crash, the rushing of feet, and three words.

“Drop the needle.”

”Eli?” I whisper, lifting my head.

He rushes to my side, pushing away the Jute with the needle. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

I’m silent a moment. I look down at the dot on the inside of my pale arm before meeting his eyes. His question is this: are you sure you want to die for the Jute?

“Yes,” I say. “I’ve learned there is no difference between man and Jute.”

“There isn’t,” he agrees. And by the way he says it, I can tell he is hiding something. He doesn’t meet my eyes.

“What is it?” I ask, narrowing my eyes. If I die, I want to know before then. I’m hungry for one more piece of information, even if it is my last.

“Do you know about the Lost Colony?” He asks me. My fingers tremble. I’ve wanted to know for so long. I shake my head. He takes a deep breath, steeling himself to tell me.

But someone calls for him from another room. And when he looks back at me again, the moment has passed. He won’t tell me. “I have been around for a long time, Lissa. A very long time. There isn’t a difference—”

“Eli!” Someone shouts again. I grit my teeth in frustration. Eli’s blue eyes are impatient. I’ll never know the answer.

“You would die for the Jute?” He asks again.

“Yes.” This time, I answer without pause. Because of me, nine thousand of them will live, thrive. One life to save many.

Where did Rowan get enough blood for all his men? Or does he plan on leaving those men who are risking their lives for him?

Eli turns his head to the door. “Ilen!”

Ilen and another soldier shuffle in, toting a container between them. I sit up quickly, shooting a questioning glance at Eli. A shadow of a smile flickers across his face in answer.

“Gage and I were close friends. He once said you can tell a lot from a person’s blood. From how their children will look, how their health will be throughout their life, and snippets of their future. Your blood is different. He said you would make a decision one day. For seventeen years, he drew your blood for testing, and stored it in this. It’s a pressurized container that kept your blood safe and fresh, for seventeen years,” he says, tapping his finger against the canister. “He knew.”

I stare at him, my eyes widening as the words slowly click into comprehension. “I-I won’t have to–you can use this?”

He nods. “Reed is already lining up the Jute.”

I sit up, unable to hold back a triumphant smile.

“But why didn’t you give it to my mother?” I ask.

“I know how important your blood is, Lissa. I vowed to use it only for good.”

“And this is good?”

He smiles and helps me stand. “This, my queen, is the best.”

I almost can’t remember the speech I gave the Jute. I thought I was calm and collected but my mind was numb with fear of death.

Dena was able to distribute the vials amongst everyone, Ilen tells me before he rushes out with Eli and a group of trusted soldiers, needles and supplies in tow.

The sun has passed its zenith by the time they are finished. I climb onto the same mutant from earlier—not that there’s a way to tell them apart—tightening my dagger sheaths around my arms and securing a set of smaller knives around my waist.

A low whinny breaks the silence behind me, followed by another, and another. A wave of the guttural sound.

I hold my breath and turn.

Hundreds of mutants stand behind me. Atop their backs are women and elders, children and some men. The rest of the men stand beside them, their faces hard and ready. Sacks are thrown over their backs, weapons tight in their hands.

They stare at me in silence, awaiting my orders. A hand touches mine and I turn to Eli atop another mutant.

“Whenever you’re ready,” he says. I breathe in the silence, the thickness of the air signifying so much life.

Because west from here lies the ship and death.

Some of the Jute run, others ride. We move fast, the wind desperately clawing at us, howling for us to slow down.

The steady rhythm of the mutant’s hooves helps me think, though thinking isn’t what I should do. I don’t know if Julian is safe, if he made it back to the Tower. Ilen said nothing about him and I am worried.

I don’t know if I’ll be able to defy Rowan’s madness when we meet or if my intoxication will pull me under again.

I don’t know many things—and that is what scares me the most.

I see the humans first.

Far behind them, I can make out the rows and rows of houses, and the rising spire of the Tower beyond them. Julian
did
make it back safely. Pride wells in my chest because he was able to rekindle the hope deep inside everyone.

But Eli points out something else—a dark cloud of red and black zooming towards them, approaching from far ahead where the ship lies.

Rowan and his men.

They’ll clash before we get there.

“Veer left!” I cry, my heart beating in my ears. The Jute behind me echo my words as I lean to the left, leading our group towards the back of the human cluster.

The mutant senses the urgent thrum in my pulse and it rides faster. And despite my hatred towards the sickly creatures, I am grateful. 

I force my racing heart to calm, and I push the mutant faster, faster.

We’re close enough to make out individuals when the first scream pierces the air. I bite my lip when someone falls. The woman’s body is lifeless before the ground touches her face. We’re heading toward them as fast as we can, and they don’t stop moving forward, which is to our right, to where the ship is.

But Rowan is in between.

“Shed blood as a last resort,” Reed shouts. I look to my right, where Rowan and his men are riding hard toward us. They are still far, but close enough to shoot. “Riders, protect the humans at all costs. Those of you without mutants, stick to the middle. Be ready.”

I slow my mutant to a stop and watch their silent synchrony as they obey Reed’s command. I’m the only one away from the group—at least one hundred feet away. I gauge the distance between Rowan’s fast-approaching men and the Jute riders, still circling the humans.

I hold my breath when a mutant breaks free from the center, heading towards me at a fast pace. I see his dark uniform, his chocolate brown hair, his lean frame.

I drop my hood and jump down from my mutant as he does the same.

“Lissa,” Slate shouts, running to me. He pulls me close and plants a soft kiss on my forehead. It’s not the brushing of his mask against my skin. He leans back and grasps my shoulders with warm hands.