Sovereign by Ted Dekker Read Free Book Online Page A

ultimatum—seven days. A part of her felt relieved that they’d reached such a clear intersection. Waiting for death had never been in her blood, before or since it had become Jonathan’s.
    The worn curtain into her room moved. She tilted her head to see who was there, but the curtain was still closed. She’d only foreseen it, the gift most active these days in the residue of her dreams.
    Jordin pulled her shirt on and shoved herself up to greet whoever was coming.
    The curtain moved, pushed aside by Rom, who was framed by the eerie light of an outer chamber. Seeing her awake, he stepped in, his expression calm, determined. She knew the look well.
    “Come in,” she said wryly, leaning over for a match.
    He stopped at the end of her pallet. “You were expecting me.”
    She lit the match and applied the flame to the wick of her lamp. The amber light only seemed to further illuminate the shadows in the ancient crypt. Filled with cracks and sooty depressions, the wall moved with darkness, its uneven surface stained with secrets.
    “I saw the curtain open before it did. Not that foresight ever comes when I really need it.”
    “Then let’s hope that changes. I’ve made a decision.”
    She blew out the match and looked at him. He was dressed in black as if he intended to travel aboveground. Was it still night? She’d gone back for the rice with Gamil and found it untouched. As anticipated, there were no Dark Bloods near the warehouse—they’d found them lying on the street, cut to ribbons by the Immortals. If Roland had lost any men, they had taken their bodies. And someone had taken Triphon’s.
    For as much as she despised the Immortal Prince, she admittedher grudging respect. Their cunning and speed had proved the bane of Feyn’s new regime—Roland was as cruel and driven as she.
    She wished them both dead.
    “And?”
    “You’ll lead while I’m gone.”
    “Gone where?”
    “Gone where only I can go,” he said, walking toward the bed. “Mattius must not be allowed to release the virus. I won’t accept any victory that comes with the death of so many innocents.”
    “Innocents?” She narrowed her eyes.
    “You know as well as I do…. that is not Jonathan’s way.”
    She returned his stare for a moment, then flung off her wool blanket and stood on the opposite side of the bed, dressed only in her long white nightshirt.
    “You talk about Jonathan, but he’s in the grave and now we’ve found our own. If nothing changes, they’ll discover our bones in this crypt centuries from now. We might as well carve it here, on the wall: ‘Here lie unknown bones draped in dried-out flesh.’ ”
    “Then I go to the grave with him. But I won’t deny the blood he gave me by doing what I know he would not.”
    “No? Then what will you do? Wait here to die and take the rest with you?”
    Rom looked taken aback at the harshness of her tone. She told herself to stop, that venting her frustration wouldn’t help anything, but she found herself unable to.
    “If there were any other way, it would have presented itself to us by now. Mattius has a point. Sovereign blood must be saved at any cost. You know that Roland won’t rest until all Sovereigns and Dark Bloods are dead, leaving only hapless Corpses to block his way. Never mind the Dark Bloods—the Immortals will always be our enemies, and they won’t stop until we’re dead.”
    He gazed at her, silent, eyes glistening in the firelight.
    Jordin turned toward the chair and snatched her pants off theback. “I know that’s not what you want to hear, but it’s the truth. We have nowhere left to go. Even if we did, the others are too weak to even attempt to move. But we can’t just wait here and let them slaughter us.”
    “You mean like they slaughtered Jonathan,” he said quietly.
    The words cut. “Yes. Like they slaughtered Jonathan.”
    “And yet he made no move to save himself. He knew what he was doing. He had a reason. Honor it, even if you don’t