Page 27 of Jackal's Pride

“Jack, itdidwork.”

I couldn’t take my eyes off her pleased smile and how when she didn’t flash her teeth in a snarl how much her entire face softened for the longest time. It was warm when she was usually hard. It wasn’t until she gripped my chin and forced me to stare down that I saw what she meant.

In the room next to the dead man’s, a little boy lay on a bed—skin festered and oily, yet he was cured. His body was still weak, and it would take days for him to get back to himself, but the plague was gone from his body. I caught the moment he opened his eyes. “Mom,” he said hoarsely. His mother jumped from her seat, fully dressed in some sort of suit. “I’m hungry.” She fell to her knees and cried. The hearts sang.

“Look.” Maureen grabbed my hand again and pushed me over to the next bed. A woman was asleep, her breath heavy, skin pale—yet she was healed.

“What’s happening?” someone murmured beside us.

“I don’t know but run some tests. Now!” another barked out.

“It’s a miracle.”

My head started to spin with all the commotion happening all at once. We ran from room to room. Each one with the same outcome. My entire body shook, and I wasn’t sure why. The hearts were basking in this because my chest was so light it felt ticklish.

But then I remembered the elderly man and frowned. All the warmth that entered me left when I did.

“He was too far gone,” she said it like she could read my thoughts. “You saved him and so many others. This means you can reverse disease.”

“I guess that’s true.” I didn’t know what else to say. I wasn’t sure how to process all the things I was discovering. It seemed like maybe I was experiencing every emotion all at once.

“How many more times can you do that today before you can’t anymore?” she asked.

“Don’t demean me,” I scoffed, and she grinned.

I wished she’d stop smiling. My hostility lessened every time she did it. It was weakening me. And I wanted to stay mad with her. How her soft, cheery eyes and reddened cheeks could do that, I wouldn’t know.She’s the enemy,I told myself. She just made me do something I’d never do on my own... But that was it. I couldn’t be mad at this. Right now, there was a lightness inside me I longed to hang onto.

The hearts liked this. It was what they wanted. And they were going to let me float with this goodness for a while. And Isavoredit.

So I let Maureen drag me around to places across the human world until my body gave out. My legs shook and fire chased my lungs. They wereonfire, or at least that’s what it felt like. I went well past my limit. I knew that. Maureen took my hand at some point and took me back to her place.

“Rest,” she said, I obeyed her command.

I fell against her tiny sofa. My legs hung off but it was good to get off my feet and rest my eyes.

“You did enough today.”

I didn’t have enough energy to reply, but I didn’t miss the other thing that tumbled off her lips.

“Thanks.”

I didn’t miss the soft stroke of her warm palm grazing over my forehead before she retreated from the room.

As I laid there in pain, I figured this was what someone with my plague must have gone through when dying. I was okay with that though. The weight off my chest was gone. The hearts let me keep the peace for now.

Chapter 8

Maureen

Jackal did it.

I was still bewildered but in a good way. I made him exert himself in five more cities before I brought him back to my place. He could barely walk at that point and I admittedly felt bad, but he never complained. He never asked to stop each time I led him somewhere else.

Jackal was more powerful than I thought. It astounded me how far he could cast pestilence. What truly amazed me was his humbleness. Jackal didn’t boast, but he knew his strength. If he got the chance to get to me, who knew what evil concoction he’d rain down on me.

While he slept, I returned to the human world and finished my quota for the day. Going home again, I found Jackal still passed out on the couch. I showered and dressed, then came out and plopped down on the recliner next to him. Cupping my chin, I gazed at him and said to myself, “You’ll probably be hungry. Since I worked you like a dog, it’s the least I can do.”

With that thought in mind, I stood and ventured into my kitchen. It wasn’t as big as Mom’s but I did take pride in the immaculate room with its stainless-steel appliances. It was the reason why I flipped out when Jackal barreled into all my hanging pots and pans, destroying the place. It didn’t matter that I could fix everything with the snap of my fingers. I just liked taking care of my belongings.