Page 109 of Powerless

Jax.

ChapterThirty-Two

Kai

“No!”The word tears from my throat as disbelief and disgust claw at me, threatening to rip me to shreds.

Jax doesn’t make a sound, his eyes wide and locked with mine. Silent tears slip down his cheeks, clinging to the thick lashes that surround those big, brown eyes. He looks at me, horrified as he begins to tip backwards on his knees, unable to stop himself from falling in his final moments.

Not him. It wasn’t supposed to be him. Never him.

I grip his shoulder and the back of his head, carefully lowering him to the ground through my blurry vision. I swipe at my eyes, trying to compose myself as I inspect the wound. The throwing star is embedded deep into his chest, blood oozing out from around it. Dark, heavy blood that isn’t stopping, isn’t slowing. The type of blood that accompanies a goodbye.

I did this to him. He’s going to die because of me. Because I’m a monster.

I physically shake my head, trying to clear it of the horrific thought and instead focus on the horrific scene before me. “Hey, look at me Jax, okay, buddy?” My voice is soft, shaky, but his eyes find mine, nonetheless. I can see the wound already leeching the life from him, his eyes unfocused, his breathing shallow.

“You’re going to be fine, alright?”

His eyes flutter closed, and I pat his cheek, forcing him to look at me, to stay with me.

“Do you hear me? You’re going to be okay.”

My eyes well with tears, the feeling foreign as I blink furiously.

“I’m going to fix this.”

My voice breaks just like I am about to.

My little brother.

The sound of the Elites fighting around us suddenly comes into focus again, and I can hear the clink of weapons and the cries of pain. Everything floods back. I remember why I’m here, what is going on around me, and whoreallydid this to Jax.

A cold, chilling laugh echoes close by.Hislaugh. I whip my head around, scanning the field for any sign of the bastard that I will make bleed and brutally die for this. But he’s nowhere to be found. I hear his laugh again, coming from only a few paces away.

Nothing. No one is there.

And then it hits me.

He cast an illusion on himself.

The bastard molded himself to our surroundings, wrapping his body in an illusion that makes me see nothing at all while letting Jax play his role. If it weren’t for my dying brother beneath me, I would scour every inch of this field until I found Ace. And then I’d rip him to shreds. Slowly.

Jax grunts weakly, his eyes drifting shut. My gaze darts to his wound. If he doesn’t get to a Healer, hewilldie. And it will be all my fault. My heart hammers against my chest, my head spinning. There are no Healers among us for me to draw power from.

Jax’s head rolls to the side with a soft moan.

My little brother. My little brother. My little brother.

I look up at the sky and find the sun peeking back at me. It has almost fully risen above the horizon, and when it does, we’ll be free of this Trial. My eyes land on the crowd of people less than a mile from the chaos all around me.

There will be a Healer in that crowd.

I wipe away tears that I don’t remember shedding and pull Jax into my arms. And within the next heartbeat, I’m standing up and running towards the throng of people. Jax is barely breathing now. He might be unconscious, I’m not sure, but I sprint as fast as I can towards his salvation.

I push Braxton’s Brawny ability into my muscles, making Jax significantly lighter in my arms and allowing me to run faster. I don’t need to make it all the way to the crowd, only close enough so I can latch onto a Healer’s power and use it to save him.

“Jax!” I shout at him. He barely stirs. “Jax, just hold on a little longer!” I’m panting, petrified that I’m too late. But the crowd of people is getting closer, and I can see them pointing and shouting as they watch me sprinting straight for them.

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