United

by Melissa Landers

  Aelyx gasped. “Then the planet’s location would be stored inside his ship’s navigational system. We could tell the Voyagers where to go.”

  “Down to the exact coordinates.”

  Cara had never considered that. It could also explain Jaxen’s odd behavior. Maybe the Aribol had altered his mind. “Jaxen and Aisly went totally off the grid. They could’ve been with the Aribol the whole time.”

  Larish crunched away, deep in thought. “But how did they find the planet to begin with?”

  “Too bad we didn’t think to ask,” muttered Troy, who was sporting a wicked goose egg of his own, not to mention a black eye and two scraped elbows. His injuries reminded Cara that they had an expert medic at their disposal, but when she glanced around the room, she realized Elle wasn’t there, and neither was Syrine.

  “Where’s Elle?”

  At the mention of her name, Troy perked up and sucked in his stomach.

  Mom pointed at the ceiling. “Checking on her friend.” She added with a sympathetic shake of her head, “Whatever was in that box really upset the girl.”

  Aelyx furrowed his brow and glanced at the stairs. Cara told him, “Go ahead and check on Syrine. I have to contact Alona anyway.” Standing on tiptoe, she whispered, “And while you’re up there, call dibs on a room for us—one far away from wherever my parents are sleeping.”

  Aelyx’s cheeks colored, and he glanced at her dad. When he returned his gaze to hers, he shared a stream of consciousness that made her smile. Memories flitted through his mind of the day her father had caught them making out in her bedroom. The trauma had obviously left a mark, because Aelyx was terrified to touch her with Dad under the same roof.

  Not for that, she told him. If we want to be alone, we’ll have to sneak into the woods like normal teenagers.

  And with that settled, they went their separate ways.

  She slipped out the back door and found a quiet spot at the rear of the yard, where the grass thinned and gave way to fallen pine needles. The sun had nearly disappeared from the summer sky, bathing the landscape in its gentle glow. But the illumination was more than enough to reveal the strain in Alona’s clasped hands when her hologram appeared.

  “You have news,” Alona said. It wasn’t a question. “Disturbing news, according to the lines above your eyebrows.”

  Cara rubbed a finger over her forehead and described everything that had happened, down to the last detail. “I haven’t seen Aisly, so I don’t know if she’s involved.” Or if the Aribol had given her a weapon, too. She hoped not.

  Alona considered in silence for a while. “Did Jaxen seem to have a larger goal when he confronted you? Aside from killing Aelyx?”

  “Not that I could tell, but he must have a purpose here.” The Aribol hadn’t armed him so he could return to Earth to settle an old grudge. “The other ten hybrids,” she asked, recalling that The Way had rounded them up, “are they alive?”

  “Yes,” Alona said. “We found no reason to believe they colluded with Jaxen, so we’re allowing them to live in a controlled environment.”

  “Have they been acting weird lately?”

  “Weird?” Alona repeated. The word sounded funny in her accent.

  “Different than usual.”

  “I don’t interact with them, but I’ll make an inquiry.” Alona unclasped her hands and used one to massage the other. It was a rare tell, a show of anxiety that knocked Cara’s confidence down a notch. “On the topic of unusual behavior, the Earth Council has refused to accept my last three transmissions. I need you to find out what the problem is. We can’t discuss strategy without communication, and our time is growing short.”

  “I’ll go first thing tomorrow,” Cara said. The Earth Council office was in Manhattan, a short flight away in the shuttle. “Any word from the Voyagers?”

  “There’s been no progress.”

  “Well, if Jaxen visited the Aribol and if we can find his ship, we might be able to access his flight log and—”

  “Miss Sweeney,” Alona interrupted. “I heard two ifs and one might in that statement. I understand your concern, but please remember that finding the Aribol will only provide us with more information. In all likelihood, we’ll never be able to defeat them. Now that Jaxen is involved, there’s reason to believe the Aribol are gathering their own allies.” The wrinkles around her mouth deepened. “The colony was my dream, long before you were born. Nothing would pain me more than to divide our people, but that’s what I have to prepare for.”

  Cara shook her head. It was too soon to quit.

  “Two days,” Alona said. “That’s all I can spare before I call my people home. Even that much is a risk, considering the length of the journey.”

  Their conversation ended, and the sun slipped over the horizon, leaving behind a purple bruise of twilight and the reminder of another day gone. Numbly, Cara shifted to her feet and stared into the wooded shadows.

  Two days. Two sunsets.

  What could she possibly hope to accomplish in that time?

  She was so deep in thought she didn’t hear the light crunch of boots until they were right behind her. But she knew who they belonged to. The cadence of those steps was more familiar to her than her own heartbeat. She whirled around and threw her arms around Aelyx’s neck. She didn’t have to tell him what she needed. He gathered her tightly in his arms, and the night seemed a little less dark.

  “How did you know?” she whispered.

  “Know what?”

  “That I needed you.”

  “I didn’t,” he confessed. “I came out here because I needed you.”

  His words melted her heart, because they reaffirmed what she already believed: They belonged together. Their love was an actual force of nature, a spiritual gravity that bound them like planets in orbit.

  God help anyone who tried to take him away from her.

  Tomorrow she was going into the city, and she wouldn’t leave until the Earth Council pulled their heads out of the sand. She dared Jaxen to try and stop her. Let him wield his staff. No weapon on earth was stronger than the will of a girl in love.

  When dawn broke, Aelyx was dressed and ready. He tiptoed down the hall to wake the others while Cara finished grooming herself in the washroom. He didn’t share her opinion that cloying hairspray and chalky cosmetics would increase the Council’s respect for her, but she’d dismissed him, claiming he didn’t understand how human minds worked.

  That much was true.

  He shook Troy’s shoulder and then nudged Elle, who dozed in the adjacent bed. He knew the two of them had briefly shared a room in the Aegis many months ago, but he wondered if there was another reason his sister had agreed to sleep here. He made a mental note to tease her about it later. Unnerving her gave him an odd sort of satisfaction.

  When he reached the door to Syrine’s room, he paused, unsure of what condition he would find her in. Yesterday she’d opened more than just a box. In lifting that cardboard lid, she’d reopened a wound on her heart. Among an assortment of dog tags, photographs, and paper currency, she’d found David’s trick cards with the queen of spades resting on top—the last card he’d ever pulled from the deck. Then she’d begun crying and hadn’t stopped. Aelyx had done his best to comfort her. She’d let him hold her hand and coach her through K’imsha, an ancient meditative art, but she’d refused to share her thoughts with him.

  He pushed open the door and found her lying in bed with both hands positioned on her stomach and her eyes closed in a meditative trance. She blinked as if sensing him and sat up with a peaceful grin.

  “Feeling better?” he whispered so as not to wake Larish, who slept nearby on an inflatable mattress. He wasn’t coming with them. “It looks like the K’imsha helped.”

  “It always does.” She shifted her glance to the cardboard box on the floor. “But I think I’ll leave the lid on that for a while.”

  “Probably a good idea.” He offered his hand. “Help me with breakfast?”

 
Twelve eggs, ten slices of toast, and two pots of coffee later, they were on their way to the United Nations building in Manhattan, where the Earth Council was located in an office near the top floor.

  The flight took only minutes. Aelyx spent more of his time hovering above the building while Colonel Rutter assembled a squadron of soldiers on the ground. From the shuttle’s vantage point, it seemed there were more security personnel on the sidewalk than citizens. Clearly the government was taking no chances today.

  Good.

  After landing and cloaking the shuttle, they made their way inside the building through the security entrance. Syrine and Elle walked in front with Troy while Aelyx held back to keep pace with Cara, who was slowed down by her ridiculous shoes. Her heels echoed in a noisy click-click-click through the corridors, but strangest of all was the sight of her in a fitted black skirt and suit jacket—“professional” clothing retrieved for her last night. She’d even twisted her hair into a matronly bun at the base of her head. Every time she glanced at him, his fingers twitched to shake loose her curls.

  Without incident, they rode the elevator to the Earth Council offices, but a pair of guards stopped them at the lobby doors. Unlike Troy, in his camouflage uniform, these men wore black suits and ties. They didn’t seem to appreciate the company, sweeping the hallway with their gazes instead of making eye contact.

  Cara made a guttural noise of frustration. “Secret Service.”

  It took Aelyx a moment, but he recalled from his attendance at the student exchange gala that Secret Service agents were assigned to protect the American president. Aelyx glanced through the glass lobby doors for the woman, a tall, middle-aged politician with a short cap of graying hair, but he didn’t see anyone except the receptionist.

  Troy showed his credentials to the men. “I’m here to escort Cara Sweeney and her team to the Council meeting.”

  One guard inspected Troy’s identification while the other touched his earpiece and murmured to someone out of sight. A minute later, the second man tensed visibly and whispered to his partner while watching Cara. Then that same man pulled out a pair of restraints and told her, “Put your hands behind your back.”

  Cara retreated a pace. “No. I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m the Chief Human Consultant, which makes me part of this Council, and I’m not going anywhere except to the conference room.”

  “We need backup,” said the first man while the other advanced on Cara and snatched her wrist. He twisted it hard, causing her to cry out in pain.

  Before Aelyx could advance a single step, Troy punched the offending agent in the throat. The man doubled over for breath, allowing Cara to squirm free. Aelyx knew the other guard would retaliate, so he knocked him against the doors and stole the firearm from his holster, then handed the weapon to Troy, who’d already drawn his own pistol.

  “I probably shouldn’t have done that,” Troy said, a gun in each hand. “But since I already dug myself a hole, you might as well go inside. I’ll hold them here.”

  As Cara hurried through the doors, Aelyx pointed at the elevator bank and told his sister, “Push the emergency button. It’ll stop the motor for a few minutes.” Then he glanced at Syrine. “See if you can find a way to jam the stairwell door. I’m going inside with Cara.”

  In the lobby, Cara was locked in a wrestling match with the receptionist, their high heels wobbling and slipping on the glossy floor. Then Cara kicked off her shoes and shoved the woman aside while Aelyx ran ahead of her and looked around for the conference room. With no signs to direct him, he began haphazardly throwing open office doors while the receptionist screeched for someone to call security.

  When Cara caught up, her feet were bare and her once-tidy bun was in tatters. “So much for making a good impression,” she said, and pointed to a mahogany door at the end of the hall. “That’s the one. I signed the alliance pact in there.”

  They rushed into the meeting room, and he slammed the door behind them, instantly bracing against it so no one could follow them inside. Around the long conference table, heads swiveled toward the sound, their eyes vacant as if entranced. At the far end of the table sat the president, facing a young L’eihr girl, locked in what appeared to be Silent Speech. But then the girl broke contact and faced Aelyx with vivid blue eyes, and he recognized her at once.

  Aisly.

  Now he knew why the Council had cut off communication with L’eihr. Aisly had tampered with their minds. “Stop her,” he told Cara as the door bucked from the outside.

  Cara was already circling the room.

  Aisly whipped her gaze back to the president. “Cara Sweeney is a threat to national security,” she said in a rush. “She and anyone who helps her should be killed on sight. She’s right behind you. Defend yourself!”

  Cara had almost reached Aisly when the president stood abruptly, tipping her chair into Cara’s path. The woman launched herself at Cara and tackled her to the floor. Panicked, Aelyx ran to help. He grabbed the president and heaved her aside, but in doing so, he left the door unprotected.

  He glanced up and Aisly was gone.

  “Go!” Cara said, still lying on her back. “We have to make her undo—”

  Aelyx didn’t need to hear any more. He pulled Cara to her feet and then ran out the door in pursuit of Aisly. She was faster than he expected, already beyond the reception desk. Aelyx shouted for someone to stop her, but Troy was too busy handcuffing the Secret Service agents. By the time Aelyx reached the hall, she was tearing toward the stairwell.

  “Syrine!” Aelyx yelled.

  Syrine wedged an axe through the door handle, then snagged Aisly around the waist. Aisly swung an elbow, catching Syrine in the face. Once free, she dislodged the axe handle and opened the door. A shoving match ensued, and both girls disappeared into the stairwell.

  When Aelyx reached the door, he threw it open and found Syrine on the ground, cradling her head. Aisly was nowhere to be seen, but an echo of stampeding boots told him the Secret Service’s reinforcements had arrived. He dragged Syrine into the hallway and shut the door, then slid the axe handle back into place.

  Cara and Elle jogged into view, while Troy finished shackling the guards. All of them exchanged empty glances that signaled they’d reached the same conclusion.

  They were trapped.

  Aelyx glanced at the only exit points—two floor-to-ceiling windows at each end of the hall, thirty stories above the ground. From beside him, bodies slammed against the stairwell door, and a faint hum from the elevator indicated it was now in motion.

  “Any brilliant ideas?” Troy asked. “That don’t involve me spending twenty years in Leavenworth?”

  Aelyx remembered the key fob in his pocket. He ran to the nearest window and held the fob toward it, then pushed the shuttle’s retrieval button. “Is that glass bulletproof?” he asked Troy while jogging backward.

  Troy drew his pistol. “Let’s find out.”

  He fired a series of blasts, sending shards of glass raining to the floor. Aelyx dragged a decorative plant from the corner and used its brass pot to knock aside the remaining glass. He heard the shuttle approaching and pressed a button to disable its cloaking device. The craft came into view by gradual degrees, first its nose, followed by its wings, bay, and tail. When he couldn’t maneuver the port wing any closer, he used his fob to open the pilot’s door.

  Aelyx pointed at the wing. “We’ll have to walk across it to get inside.”

  Troy’s face paled a shade as he stared at the ground. “Will it hold us?”

  “It’s stabilized. Watch.” Aelyx leaned through the window frame and planted both palms on the warm metal wing. He shoved down with all his weight, but the shuttle remained fixed in place. “Want me to go first?”

  Troy nodded vigorously.

  Heights had never bothered Aelyx, so he gauged the wind speed and climbed onto the wing, keeping his knees bent when he stood. In a few short steps, he reached the pilot’s seat and gripped the roof to maneuver himself insid
e. After loosely fastening his safety harness, he extended an arm to help Syrine, who’d already followed in his footsteps. He pulled her inside, and she climbed over his lap into the backseat. Cara went next, moving steadily on her hands and knees, and then Elle crossed the wing in two swift bounds. That left only Troy … who seemed to have stopped breathing.

  Three hundred feet below, sirens wailed as police cruisers converged at the base of the building. From somewhere in the distance, Aelyx heard the choppy whir of helicopter blades.

  “Hurry,” he said, motioning to Troy with one hand.

  Troy didn’t move.

  The stairwell door burst open, and a flurry of soldiers and gunmen swarmed into the hall behind Troy, shouting for him to drop his weapon and lie down on the floor. Troy froze. Moving only one arm, he extended a pistol and let it fall. Cara called to him from the backseat, but he didn’t seem to hear her.

  “Listen to me,” Aelyx yelled. “Jump and grab on to the wing. I promise I won’t let you fall.”

  Troy laced his fingers together at the back of his head.

  “Jump!” Aelyx shouted over the chaos unfolding in the hallway. Someone fired a warning shot. That seemed to get Troy’s attention. “Do it now!”

  Troy’s chest expanded as he drew a fortifying breath. His face crumpled in a grimace, and then he ran for the window and leaped onto the wing. Aelyx lifted the shuttle sharply, using the force of velocity to keep Troy in place. Gunfire popped from below. With bullets pinging off the hull, Aelyx soared until they cleared the roof, and then veered directly above it, out of the range of fire. He hovered there, a few inches from the rooftop, and reached out to shake Troy’s arm.

  “You can look down now.”

  Troy pried open one eye and then the other. He peered over the wing, and when he saw the roof’s flat surface within reach, he dropped onto it and proceeded to lose his breakfast. The noise of helicopters grew nearer. Troy spat once more onto the roof and climbed inside the shuttle. Aelyx cloaked the craft, and for the second time in less than a day, they fled for their lives from the city.