by Holly Hook
A kaleidoscope of colors and sounds later, Janelle blinked the last of the drug’s effects away and sucked in a huge breath. Warm tan walls boxed her in on all sides. A faint hum sounded through the air. Soft bedcovers gave way under her body. No crashing, no breeze, no screams. They were gone, left behind somewhere hours ago.
Janelle gazed up at the ceiling. A round light etched with dark veins shined down on her like a bloodshot eye. A hotel room, maybe? This didn’t look familiar.
Janelle sat up and grimaced as her joints protested. She'd been here at least a few hours, then.
She was on a wide bed with black covers. A few stairs led up through a doorway and up to a hallway. More lights cast a soft glow against walls and polished cabinets. Everything about her surroundings spoke luxury. But how had she gotten here?
A dam broke somewhere in her mind, and memories came flooding back. The dock. The tornado. Her father, unable to come to her aid.
The rest had been a blur, like a dream she couldn't quite remember. She’d ridden in a vehicle with Ivanna sitting next to her. Then someone had pushed her over a railing at one point, then told her to lie here and rest.
“Dad?” She sat up as dread grabbed at her insides. It was nothing but a grab at false hope, but she couldn't help it. “Where am I?”
“Oh, I'm glad you snapped out of it. Whatever Ivanna injected you with made you really loopy for a long time. You just let Andrina kidnap you.”
Gary sat on the floor, leaning up against the wall with his legs bent up. One eye had swollen shut and a purple ring had risen around it.
For a second she forgot all about herself and rushed over to examine the bruise, nearly falling off the bed. “Gary. What happened to you?”
He struggled to open the swollen eye but failed. He sat up, going all tough guy. “When I tried getting you away from Andrina, she did this. Then they put you in the truck. They took me too so I couldn’t help your dad get over that hole in the dock. Ivanna would have given me one of those shots too, but she used it up on your uncle. Remember that green truck that cut us off in traffic? That was Ivanna rushing to get to Deon’s boat before us.” He winced.
“You sure you’re okay?” That bruise had to hurt. She strangled the bedsheet in her hand just thinking about it. He didn't deserve to lie there in pain like that.
“Oh, yeah. I’m fine. It’s just a headache, Janelle. It’s the least of our problems.”
That was a relief—if he wasn’t lying. “Where are we? A hotel?” Please say yes, she thought. Anything but—
“No. They took us to another marina. We’re aboard Andrina’s yacht now.”
Janelle shot off the bed, sucking in a breath. “We’re out on the ocean?”
Gary rubbed his forehead, struggling to look up at her. “Yeah. But I don’t think she’s planning to throw you in yet. She would’ve done that while you were drugged. I think she wants to try some...manipulation stuff on you first.”
Janelle sat down next to him, close enough to feel his body heat. It felt safe, secure for a second, and dulled out the horrible thoughts racing through her head. But the floor swayed a little underfoot and a chill swept over her. They were out to sea, all right. “She’s taking us to that Alara place, isn’t she?”
Gary leaned closer and whispered in her ear. His breath tickled her skin and sent shivers down her neck. “I'm sure she is. If you changed now, you’d just take your natural course instead of doing what she wants. What we do when we change is planted in us since birth. She wants to mess with that programming and then throw you in. Otherwise she would’ve left you to your dad.”
“I should have stayed home, then.” Misery washed through her limbs, drowning her chest in it. She hated herself for running away. Not only had she'd blown her chance to stop other Tempests from transforming, she had blown her chance to escape Operation Reckoning as well.
“Janelle, it was partly my fault. Neither one of us knew it would turn out like this.”
“I'm the one who made the decision to run.” How would things have turned out if she'd stayed only a few minutes to listen to her father back at the house? Maybe he hadn’t had anything bad to say after all. Then she remembered. Her father. “My dad. Is he okay?”
Gary groaned as he stood. One of his joints popped. He'd been sitting next to her bed for a long time. “She left him there on that dock. He’s alive and so are the others. Andrina and Ivanna could only drag off two people.”
Janelle remembered her father, standing on the other side of the dock, eyes wide and terrified like she'd never seen them. And Andrina had said something to her right before she’d lost it…No. No! Bile rose in her throat. She shot off the floor and took Gary’s arm. “Andrina told me--” She couldn’t form the words. Had it been a hallucination? Gary would know. He always told her the truth.
Gary let out a breath and pulled her into a hug. “I heard her. I’m so sorry.”
I'm so sorry.
Janelle closed her eyes and listened to Gary breathe. No. He hadn’t heard her, too. He couldn’t have. The whole thing didn’t make any sense. Gary let go of her and she sat up. “She’s not my mother. She can’t be. I’ve got a picture of my mom. Here. I’ll show you.” She crammed her hand in her pocket.
Nothing.
“Are you looking for this?” a voice said from the doorway.
She whirled around and stood.
Andrina leaned against the doorway, holding up the missing photo. Her mother, smiling out from the dock. “Well, it looks like your father got himself a girlfriend after he left me.”
Janelle pressed up against the wall as the room seemed to close in. After he left me? What? Her dad…and Andrina? Her knees buckled and threatened to go out. “Don’t touch that! That’s my picture.”
“Leave her alone,” Gary growled.
Andrina stepped through the doorway, approaching like a lion stalking its prey. “That's awful, Janelle. Your father probably kept everything a secret from you, including me. Judging from the look on your face, he told you this human woman was your mother.” Her grip tightened on the photo.
"That is my mother! Give that back and get out of here!”
“Really?” Andrina looked at the photo, frowning. She held it back up over Gary’s shoulder. “Now who do you look like, Janelle? Tell me. You sure didn’t inherit your father’s looks, now did you?”
Janelle gulped. She had blonde hair and a thin frame. The mother in the picture had brown hair and a few extra pounds. Andrina had blonde hair and a thin frame--
The world closed in, suffocating. Crushing her to death. She hadn't even noticed until now, or hadn't wanted to notice.
“I said leave her alone!” Gary moved in front of her, fists balled.
Andrina ignored Gary as her fist closed on the picture. “I'll give you the truth that you deserve, Janelle," she said, lowering the photo. "Your father never told you anything about your nature, did he? He never had proper Tempest pride or sense of duty to his people. But after we married, I came to realize it was time for us to change our role in the world, and strike first. With the coastal population growing in recent years, it's only a matter of time before we're discovered. Your father didn't agree with my stance, and he grew distant from me even after we found out we were going to have a child.”
A roar of panic raced through her ears. “Please. Stop. You’re lying!”
The Tempest High Leader let out a breath. “I never thought his disagreement with me would result in him taking you away the day you were born. He took you and ran while I was lying in bed, recovering. Your father did a despicable, horrible thing. He ripped us apart, Janelle. He lied to you for sixteen years. But the Tempest High Leader can't look vulnerable, so I needed to tell the Elder Council that you had died instead. Thankfully, your name was still added to the naming list for this year, as an 'honorary' thing. I made sure
of that.”
Janelle’s ears rang as she forced herself to face Andrina. Shudders of revulsion raced through her body. This had to be the drugs. Yes, the drugs. It wasn’t real. “My dad wouldn't marry you.” Her father and Andrina…she just couldn’t imagine the two of them together.
“Our marriage was arranged by the Elder Council, as the High Leader's marriage often is to ensure that the family line stays powerful.” Andrina took a step back. “It was ideal. Myself, and the son of Camellia. You, Janelle, are probably the most powerful Tempest alive. That’s because you’ve inherited Camellia’s power as well as mine. And rest assured, you'll get your chance to show it.”
Gary crept closer to Janelle, his body a shield against the horror in front of her, but she barely noticed. A strangled cry crept out of her throat as she pressed into the wall. She wanted to disappear into it. “I don’t believe you.”
“I can't blame you. You’ve been lied to all your life. That’s all your father’s done to you. But soon, I’m sure you’ll come around. You just need some time.” She looked at the photo again. “I want you to think about something. If this woman you thought was your mother had known what you are, would she have still loved you?”
Andrina let the photo fall to the floor. Without another word, she turned and vanished into the yacht’s polished interior.
