Diary of the Unbroken (BOOK #4)

The Great Leap

Jane

I felt suffocated by the incessant worry that crept into my bones. The walls around me closed in. The world spun slowly amid the waiting game. I always hated forever. Now I came to despise it even more.

Down the hall, I could hear Hanson and Liv yelling at each other—nothing good, of course. The house seemed to be filled with either silence or fits of impenetrable rage. We fought each other like we were in warzone. We avoided each other's gazes and even presences. All because we couldn't fight the true enemy.

We sat here on our asses waiting for something to happen. Something that would never happen if we kept sitting on our asses. But I couldn't sit for much longer. I wouldn't.

"This was not the plan," a voice said from the kitchen.

"Well the original plan was only temporary, right?" Derek was saying. "We knew this wouldn't last. We just needed time. Time to gather our thoughts. To create a new plan."

"We can't just barge in there, guns blazing!" Bernard was saying.

"Why not?"

"Because it would be far worse than just sitting here!"

"Says who? You?" Derek sighed. "Look, I know. I know this idea sounds horribly stupid. I know just what Daniel can do. I know the power he has on his side. But what is he going to do once that child is born? You have heard the prophecy, Bernard. This child is said to bring about great glory or destruction. If raised by such a man, what will she become?"

"She?" another voice asked—William. "It's a she? The baby—it's a girl?"

"I...I don't know," Derek said. "It's just an instinct. But we have to do something, Bernard."

"I am not going to put my family at risk."

Now William stormed forward. "Well, mine already is."

"I know, William. I know it's hard, but we can't. I believe Daniel won't put a finger on his daughter or grandchild. But us...I can't make any promises. The Bloody Barons are just that—bloody. I won't allow you or anyone else in this household to try and fight against him. I simply won't allow it."

I crept closer to the room, so that now I was standing in the doorway.

Jacqueline, who hadn't uttered a word, slowly rose from her chair. "It's not your decision to make."

They all turned to her.

"What?" Bernard asked.

"You and I promised a long time ago that we would make decisions together. I feel as if along the way, you have forgotten that. But not right now. William and Derek—they are only doing what's best. They want to save Ava and this child. They want to save all of us. They're not being selfish, unlike others I know."

"Jacqueline—"

She turned to William and Derek. "Your plan—it can't work with just the two of you."

Derek nodded. "Yes, we would need as much help as we could get."

"I'll help," I said from where I stood in the doorway. "My reason may be gone. The cure may be destroyed, but I can't bear the thought of this child growing up like that."