Oblivion (20 page)

FORTY-NINE

Jason

All the anger
drained out of me and I stared at the decimation around me in a fog. I dropped
to my knees next to my brother’s body and held my face in my hands.

A hand fell on my
shoulder, the heartbeat fast, but steady.

“Are you okay?” I
asked hoarsely.

“You didn’t hurt
me,” Mark assured me.

The seven guards
buried in the courtyard and the four others who were now trapped in the rubble
were a tribute to the fact that I had hurt others.

The men buried in
the yard I pulled to the surface. They were injured, but still alive.

“They’re
innocent,” I stated flatly when Mark eyed them warily. “I doubt the Puppet
Master is still worried about controlling them.”

The men stuck in
the demolished building I couldn’t help, and my shoulders hunched as I felt
their heart rates slowing. “There are men trapped in there. I can’t… I can’t
pull them out.”

“
It’s
okay, Jason,” Mark spoke confidently, his own fear and
pain pushed aside for now. “You can clear a path to them. I can help you pull
them out.”

Tears rolled
silently down my face as I looked helplessly at the agent. “I can’t. I don’t
have the energy anymore.”

I stared down at
my brother’s body in exhaustion. He was gone, and the voice crying out for
vengeance was silent. For now. I couldn’t be sure it wouldn’t return. After
all, the true cause of Sam’s death was still out there.

After a few
seconds of quiet, Mark took a deep breath and said, “Sam wouldn’t want you to
become a killer, Jason. You need to find a way to get those men out.”

A flash of anger
rose at his words, but I was too wrung out to hold onto the emotion. He was
trying to help. And he was right. I pushed my exhaustion aside and allowed my
hands to rest on the soft dirt.

I pushed the dirt to
form into a lever and forced collapsed walls and floors to move away from the
victims. Mark crawled into the newly opened spaces and dragged each victim out.
All were unconscious. One was nearly dead. The other three were severely
wounded.

The sirens had
finally reached us, and I managed to clear enough of a path for them to be able
to reach the courtyard. They would just have to accept the strange clearings as
lucky, because we weren’t about to share what had really happened.

My part of the
rescue complete, I crawled back to my brother’s side and stared at his
blood-covered face. My hand traced the contours of his face and I stared at
him, wanting to remember every detail of the life I had now lost.

Alice raced
through the newly made clearing, beating the first responders by only a couple
minutes. She dropped to the ground next to me, crying and gripping my arm
almost painfully.

“Avenge me
.” My brother’s voice called
through my mind again.

“I will, little
brother,” I muttered. “Soon.”

Several footsteps
approached, but I didn’t move from my spot next to Sam. A man checked Sam for a
pulse, and shook his head sadly before moving to the other injured people in
the courtyard.

“He took my
brother, Alice,” I said softly.

“I know, Jase. I’m
so sorry.” Her voice shook, and I reached up, intending to wipe the tears from
her face.

The blood on my
hands stopped me. Sam’s blood stained my hands, and I couldn’t handle it
anymore. My baby brother’s blood soaked the earth. Nothing was right anymore!

I shook and
whimpered, tears pouring down my cheeks unchecked. My stomach roiled in shock
and anger. I felt as if I was going to throw up, and I listed to one side.
Exhaustion and emotional trauma pushing me to the brink of control.

Hands pulled me to
my feet and led me away, and I didn’t fight it. Sam couldn’t be helped.

“Tracker… Earthshaker…
even in your anger and distress you managed to save those who should have
died,” Kindred’s voice was soft in my ear, and I managed to look at him.

His eyebrows were
drawn together and his eyes were narrowed.

“They were
innocent,” I told him softly.

“But the Puppet
Master isn’t,” Kindred answered angrily.

“What do you want,
Kindred?” he flinched, but I wasn’t sure what had caused the reaction.

“I want you to get
revenge. I want you to be able to destroy the man who killed your brother. Will
you allow me to help you take your vengeance?”

“Avenge me!”
Sam’s voice was in my head
again.

Kindred eyed me
expectantly, and I nodded.

Acknowledgments:

Once again there
are several people who have helped in the process of getting Oblivion ready for
publication. To start with, Brittany King, my awesome editor. Thanks for making
me laugh during the normally dull editing process. My amazing cover designer,
Christian, thank you for your quick work on the cover. Terri King, thank you
for formatting and proofreading.

Also thanks to my
initial reader, Amber Rose. You’ve definitely helped in making these books come
to life. And finally to my mom, Shirley, for once again reading through and
finding the mistakes I always miss. Thanks!

As always, thank
you reader for joining me in the adventure of Jason’s life. I hope you enjoyed
reading Oblivion as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please consider leaving a
review on Amazon or Goodreads.

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Happy Reading
everybody!