Almost At The Top- Book Four in the United Series

Chapter Twenty Four

Max's POV:

One and I run to the end of the hall, where we almost crash into two familiar people.

Not Curtis and Octavian (thankfully), but Reyna and Clarisse.

"Guys! Don't worry, I found One," I tell them and point to One, standing proudly and confidently next to me. Reyna and Clarisse smile at her.

"Alright, let's go before Octavian gets here," I tell them.

"Octavian's here?" Reyna growls through gritted teeth. On our way to Mexico, I told everyone that Octavian was a traitor working with the Mogadorians and that he has Dreynen, so he can cancel our legacies.

"God I hate him," One mutters, glaring at the floor. Clarisse and Reyna look at her with respect in their eyes.

"I'm already starting to like you. Alright, let's go," Clarisse says and we all rush down the end of the hall. I realize Clarisse is still holding the tablet and I'm glad she didn't lose it. If the Mogadorians got their hands on it, we'd most likely lose the war.

After a few minutes of running, we come face-to-face with the last people we'd want to see right now.

"Oh gods," Reyna mutters as Octavian and Curtis stride over to us. One, Clarisse, Reyna, and I all glare at them and Octavian smirks at me.

"Back so soon, Jackson? I thought you hated me, why come all the way from Mexico to visit?" Octavian asks me tauntingly.

"You were right, Octavian. They did come for One. We knew it'd be you to come look for her, Jackson. You are the brave one, after all," Curtis explains. So One was just bait to get to me. No wonder they didn't kill her the moment they had the chance.

"And Reyna, it's so good to see you again. Maybe after I kill you, I can become the next praetor of New Rome," Octavian taunts.

"You wish," Reyna growls at Octavian and he just laughs.

"You were always such a downer, Reyna. Anyways, let's get this over with. Jackson, come with me and we'll let the rest of them go," Octavian tells me.

"Don't lie to me, Octavian. You lie to yourself too much, anyways, saying how you're so awesome," I spit at Octavian. His smirk turns into a scowl as he glares at me.

"Alright. Hard way it is, then," Octavian says calmly, venom dripping from his voice as he pulls out a small, silver whistle from his pocket. He puts it in his mouth and blows into it, and the moment he does, I hear an earsplitting siren so loud I fall to my knees and cover my ears. I can't hear anything, I can't even hear myself think. I open my eyes and Reyna, Clarisse, Octavian, and Curtis are completely unfazed by it. One, on the other hand, is in the same pain as me. It only hurts Lorics. I yell in pain as my head feels like it's being split open. I see Octavian thrusting his hand out towards Reyna and Clarisse, and they go flying across the hall, landing feet away from us.

Still blowing into the whistle, Octavian and Curtis saunter towards us. I can see that Octavian's face is turning slightly red. He can't blow into the whistle forever. He eventually has to let go to take a breath. As Octavian kneels down in front of me, I forget about the terrible pain all over my body and punch him in the face, knocking the whistle away from him. The horrible siren stops and the pain automatically subsides. I grab my dagger from the ground and stab Octavian's leg, causing him to fall on the ground. I look towards One and see her being restrained by Curtis. She pulls away from him with such force he nearly falls to the ground. Looking furious, Curtis unsheathes his Imperial gold sword and whips around towards One, then automatically stabs her stomach, the sword going right through her.

I feel as if I was the one being stabbed. I'm at a loss for words as Curtis yanks the sword out of One's stomach. One falls to the ground, blood quickly seeping through her dirty white t-shirt.

"NO!" I shout, my screams sounding muffled. I forget about Octavian, Curtis, Reyna, and Clarisse as I rush to One's side. She's barely breathing.

"No, no, no. One..." I trail off as One slowly starts to die right in front of me. I place my hands on her stomach, blood seeping onto my hands, but I don't care. I can still heal her. I can still heal her. I can still save her.

Tears pour down my face, more tears than when Nine found out about my burns.

I whip around to face Octavian, who's staring wide-eyed at One's limp, bloody body, and me failing at trying to save her.

"Give me my legacies back," I order him. "Give them back!" I yell at him when he doesn't answer me. Octavian shuts his eyes tightly, looking like he's concentrating on something. He shakes his head after a second.

"I-I turned my Dreynen off," Octavian tells me with a shaky voice. I turn back to One, whose pulse is slowing by every second. I place my hands on her sword wound and attempt to heal her again. Nothing happens.

"You didn't do anything!" I shout.

"It's not him," I hear Curtis call in a sly voice. I look up at him and he's towering above me, his bloody Imperial gold sword in his hand. One's blood on his sword.

"Give me my legacies back," I order him through gritted teeth. He laughs manically. There's no way he's giving me my legacies back, no way he's letting me heal One. There's only one thing to do if I want to save her. If I don't get my legacies back, not only will One die, but so will Reyna and Clarisse, who are knocked out on the floor. Curtis will capture me, kill Reyna and Clarisse, and then hand me over to Setrákus Ra to experiment on me. I can't let any of those things happen.

I'm not supposed to kill anyone. Killing isn't my thing and as a Garde, I'm supposed to save people, not kill them. But this is the only way to save my friends and to escape this base.

With lightning-fast speed, I grip my black Loric dagger tightly then spring to my feet and stab Curtis as hard as I can right through the heart. Curtis gasps and I yank my dagger out of his chest. Blood pours from his chest as he falls to his knees and quickly falls limp, his body lying on the ground. Dead.

I breathe heavily and shakily and I can feel my legacies rapidly coming back. Octavian really did turn off his Dreynen so I can heal One.

I fall to my knees beside One again. She's even more pale than she was before and her lips are turning blue. I can already feel the circular scar forming on my ankle.

I place my hands on One's wound again and this time, I automatically feel the cold sensation spreading from my fingers and into One's stomach wound. After a few seconds, One's wound closes up, leaving just a huge blood stain on her shirt. More color returns to her face and the blue in her lips quickly fade away, leaving a regular pink color. One's blue eyes flutter open, and she looks up at me, gratefulness and joy on her face.

"You...are amazing," One manages to breathe out. I chuckle, tears still trailing down my cheeks. One wipes them away with her hands and I hug her tightly. She gasps in surprise and hugs me back, sitting upright. I cup her face with my fingers and pull her towards me until our foreheads touch.

"You're okay. We're all going to be okay, I promise we are. We're going to make it out alive, and live to see where our lives take us. It's either that, or we die together. It's one or the other, no in between. If I live, you live. That's final," I tell her. I look deeply into her soft blue eyes, knowing that this isn't the end and that this war is far from over.

But I know we're going to make it. We're almost at the top.

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End of book four.

Author's Note: That's the end of book four! Sorry (not sorry) for that cliffhanger! I really hope you enjoyed and I'm sorry I haven't been posting a lot lately, but school sucks. I am on Thanksgiving break now, though, so I'll be posting the start of book five soon (unless you want me to write all of book five then publish it all at once, it's your choice).

Anyways! I really hope you enjoyed 'Almost At The Top'! Yours in all demigodness and all that. Peace out!