Carbon (The Watcher Series Book 2)

by AJ Eversley

  I jumped to my feet and stepped closer, pointing my gun at his head. My hand shook as I willed myself to pull the trigger. It was the only way. He wouldn’t stop, and I knew it. The Kenzie I once knew was gone.

  “Please,” he begged with broken eyes.

  I gazed at his weak, pleading face. One that had forgotten everything about me, and now in this moment, he was begging me, his enemy, for his life.

  “Please kill me,” he pleaded.

  I froze.

  His expression changed. The hardness in his fighting eyes softened to what they once were, the eyes I remembered. They flickered as if fighting against himself. I took a step back and shook my head. My gun still was trained at his head. He wanted to die?

  “Please, I can’t do it,” Kenzie said. “I can’t stop him from controlling me. If you don’t kill me, I will kill you.”

  I couldn’t catch my breath. I couldn’t breathe. My heart raced. Kenzie slowly climbed to his feet, his strength recovering quickly.

  “Please, Sawyer,” he begged.

  I looked into his eyes, the piercing blue eyes that used to be mine. My hands shook, and I couldn’t look away. Tears rimmed my eyes and blurred my vision. Slowly, the tears spilled over, and I let them roll down my cheeks.

  He was my enemy. He had caused me so much pain, yet my finger loosened around the trigger. My heart ached for him and what I once had. It’d never be the same. The choice felt so final. Him or me. Live or die. Only one of us could live, and one of us would die.

  I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t kill him, even though I knew it’d mean my own death sentence. After everything he’d done, like killing Chevy and hurting my friends, I still saw something; something in his eyes that I’d known so well before.

  No. I blinked away the tears, and my eyes narrowed on Kenzie. Two strides forward and I was right in front of him with my gun pressed against his forehead. He flinched, but he didn’t try to run. He didn’t fight it.

  I pushed the metal against him, my teeth clenched together. My entire body shook with rage and uncertainty. Hot tears threatened to spill again, but I swallowed them down.

  He was no longer the same man. He was my enemy.

  The wind pushed against me, and I caught his scent. Fresh, familiar…home. I faltered for a moment, searching his face for a sign, anything to make this decision clearer.

  Don’t make me do this, I begged with my eyes, but his reply never came. Kenzie knew what must be done.

  My hands squeezed against the gun. He was the reason I was in so much pain. He was the reason I’d lost so much that I’d loved, but still, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t pull the trigger.

  I stepped back, pulling the gun away from Kenzie’s forehead. The gun fell from my grip, and my hands dropped to my side.

  “No!” Kenzie screamed. His blue eyes went from warmth to ice. He followed the fallen gun to where it thudded softly on the ground between us.

  “I can’t.” My body sagged in defeat as I took another step away from the gun. My hands went limp at my side. “I can’t do it.”

  Kenzie reached for the gun. His hand flinched when he touched the cold metal. His brows knitted together, and his chest rose and fell in ragged breaths. There were two Kenzie’s standing before me. The one I once loved, and the one who was my enemy. In the end, I knew which Kenzie would win.

  Gripping the gun, he placed his finger on the trigger and aimed it at my chest. He quivered for only a moment before he steadied the gun.

  His eyes filled with rage, and the hardness in his brow made me want to help him, to take all his pain away. His jaw tightened as he stood tall, towering over my defeated body.

  “You should’ve killed me,” he said and then pulled the trigger.

  Chapter 54

  Kenzie

  Kenzie watched as Sawyer’s body slumped to the ground. Blood flowed all around her as soft ash rained from the sky like grim snow. Her eyes closed, and her hand dropped limp to her side. A staggering breath escaped her before her body went still. Kenzie dropped the gun and ran.

  His steps were labored as he entered the forest, trying to get far away from Sawyer. Far away from what he’d just done. Why the hell didn’t she kill me? he wondered. After everything he’d done, she still couldn’t do it. And the pain of that realization and the reality that he was strong enough to do it, it made his stomach churn and his pulse race.

  As he ran, he stumbled over a tree root. His body had lost its coordination, and his breath became difficult. His body was more than able to heal itself, but Kenzie was pushing it too hard and losing too much blood.

  Gripping onto a tree for support, Kenzie staggered on. He had to get away from Sawyer, away from her lifeless body. He had done that. He had killed her.

  He was finally forced into a walk. He was willing to crawl if he had to, anything to get away from her. The pain in his stomach was nothing compared to the heartbreak he had endured when he looked into her eyes. He felt the longing, the recognition that he knew was there. But he couldn’t hold onto it long enough as Coleman’s kill order took over.

  Coleman was gone, having left Kenzie and his men to fend for themselves. The stark reality that Kenzie was just another soldier to be sacrificed stirred up anger inside of him, but still he would return to him if he could. If he got far enough away from the burning town, maybe then he could contact Coleman and find a way back to their space station. But the chances of him surviving until then were slim.

  A quiet crunch of leaves rustled behind Kenzie. He’d spent all his energy. He was too weak to defend himself so he crouched down and leaned against a tree for support.

  “Come out,” a voice said behind him. It was cold with venom and dripping with anger.

  Kenzie raised his hands in defeat as he stood on shaky legs. He was too weak to even move any farther. He swayed where he stood, leaning against the tree so he didn’t fall.

  Turning around, Kenzie thought the man who stood before him looked familiar. His short brown hair and green eyes sparked a memory, but it was the name written across his jacket that told him who he was—Max Murray. He had seen his picture in Coleman’s office before.

  “Move.” Max directed Kenzie into a clearing. His expression glowed with rage as his jaw clenched tight. “On your knees,” Max hissed.

  Kenzie obeyed, too weak and tired to care any longer.

  Cold metal pressed against the back of Kenzie’s head, and he closed his eyes, readying himself for the end. Kenzie was glad for it. It was what he deserved. And as Kenzie closed his eyes, all he could see was Sawyer’s face and a lightning storm blazing behind her. She stared into him, her eyes locked on his, as she calmed his soul and welcomed him into the other side.

  The gun quivered as Max clicked off the safety.

  Kenzie was ready as he took one last breath, and the gun pushed harder against his skull.

  But then, the gun dropped. Max stepped in front to face Kenzie. His jaw locked as he spoke through clenched teeth, “I should kill you, right here and now.” Max’s body was rigid and taut, ready to pounce at the slightest movement. “The only reason you’re still breathing is because of her.”

  The way his voice cracked when he said “her” told Kenzie more than he wanted to know. But Max didn’t know what Kenzie had done. He didn’t know that Kenzie deserved to die. He would find out soon enough.

  “It’s her choice whether you live or die.” Max raised the gun and brought it down hard on Kenzie’s temple, causing him to slump to his side. Kenzie’s vision went black.

  Chapter 55

  I bolted up with a gasp as my lungs filled with air. Pain reverberated throughout my chest and side as I pressed my hand to my ribs where a sticky, bloody mess was already healing itself.

  Kenzie was gone by the time I awoke. In the distance, I heard Murray’s men returning.

  Tenason helped me to my feet, and Murray was right behind him.

  “What happened?” Tenason asked.

  “It was a setup. Col
eman has Lena,” I said, leaning on Tenason for support as I searched the crowd for Max. Tenason pointed in the distance to where Max was walking out of the forest with two men behind him. Between them, the men carried Kenzie.

  Max’s eyes met mine, and I felt a mix of anger and worry. “Take him to the cell,” Max ordered the two soldiers. I watched them as they dragged Kenzie’s limp body through the torn-up walls of headquarters and out of view.

  Max reached for me as he grabbed my side to examine the wound.

  “I’ll be fine. It’ll heal soon,” I said, placing a hand over his. I tilted his chin, forcing him to look at my face.

  And when he finally did, his shoulders slumped as he shook his head. “I tracked him into the forest. He was dripping so much blood he wasn’t hard to find. But it wasn’t my place to kill him. That’s your choice,” Max explained. I nodded.

  The soldiers put out the fires, and I was relieved to see so many people had survived, including Sam and Adam, the latter covered in burns. The ship had departed along with Coleman.

  “How did Coleman slip past us?” Murray mumbled.

  “He knew we’d send everyone we had to fight him, leaving the village exposed,” I said before looking away with guilt. “And he used me to lead him right to her.”

  Max squeezed my hand. “It isn’t your fault.”

  But Murray had already begun to walk away from me, and the guilt of knowing I was at least partially responsible for all of this was almost worse than everything else I had endured. Once again, I’d become a curse on the people who looked to me for salvation. And Murray’s fear that I could be used against them had been actualized.

  “What do we do now?” Max asked. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me in closer.

  “I don’t know.” I closed my eyes.

  ~

  I sat with my back against the cold cement, breathing in the dark, damp air around me. The control room was obliterated, but this prison cell had survived with minimal damage. The wall at the end of the room was destroyed, having been blasted away sometime during the fight. And it let in the cold air from outside where white snowflakes fell in thick, fluffy mounds.

  The moon was a glowing haze through the dark night. I sat alone watching as the wind swirled the snowflakes into a mini-tornado before settling them on the ground.

  I was careful not to wake Max when I snuck out earlier, though I was sure he’d realize soon I had disappeared. I was confident he’d let me be, allowing me to do this on my own.

  Two days had past, and it was my third time here, yet I hadn’t spoken one word. I sat on the ground against the cold cement, feeling the energy that pulsed behind the metal cage a few feet away. And I knew he felt me there too, but it wasn’t until tonight that the silence was too much for him.

  “Why didn’t you do it?” his voice whispered from behind the metal cage he was locked in; it was loud enough that only I heard it.

  I couldn’t see him, and I didn’t know if I wanted to. But I longed for something from him, though I wasn’t sure what at this point. An apology? An explanation? Anything.

  “I couldn’t let them win…the monsters inside of me. If they win, then Coleman wins,” I said, looking down to my hands as I spoke into the darkness. “And despite everything you’ve done, I can’t seem to let you go.” And it was true. Even if he no longer warmed my heart the way he once had, he was still there. The memory of him still clung tightly.

  “I thought I killed you,” Kenzie whispered.

  “I’m still here.”

  Kenzie was silent before he replied, “Your mom said I broke the hold once before. For your sake, I hope I can do it again.”

  I sighed. “Me too.”

  The quiet dark night hung between us until I addressed what I’d come here for. “What will he do with her?”

  “I’m not sure. He’s sick. He’s…dying. He wants her powers. All of them.” I recalled the smell of rotting flesh and death that wafted from Coleman. I understood what it was now. The stench was him, and he was dying. But now, he had the one thing that could save him.

  “Will he kill her?” I asked.

  “Not until he has whatever it is he needs. Your mom will look out for her though. You can trust her. She’ll do whatever she can to keep her safe.”

  I was already certain I could trust my mom. She had warned me on numerous occasions and saved me countless times more. Even though she was the reason I led Coleman straight to Lena, I knew she would’ve only done that if she absolutely had to. I didn’t blame her for it.

  “How can my mom disobey Coleman?” I asked, recalling the warnings she’d sent me before she left.

  “She broke the hold. She’s only acting controlled, just playing the part.”

  My pulse raced at the news. “How did she do that?”

  “She said that for Carbons, once their human host bodies die, the bond is broken. The Carbons Coleman has are all technically free, only they don’t know it. They continue to serve him until they have a reason not to.”

  My breathing became uneasy as Kenzie’s words sank in. I had a feeling things wouldn’t be that easy. I now understood how Lena broke the hold herself. She didn’t realize it was broken the moment she’d killed her human host body.

  I stood to leave, no longer sure I could keep away from Kenzie anymore. I still longed for his embrace. The smell of him was overwhelming. I wanted to ask him what I should do. I wished he could fix this, but he couldn’t.

  “Sawyer?” he said.

  I paused as I leaned against the wall where I felt his energy pulsing on the other side.

  “I don’t remember you,” he said, “but my heart does.”

  I caught my breath before I pushed off the wall and walked away before he said anything else.

  ~

  Max joined me in the back of Adam’s office the following day. We were alone. He held my hand as his thumb stroked the soft skin under my wrist.

  “You’re sure?” Max asked.

  “Yes,” I said.

  My hand shook as I gripped the cable supplying power to my human body. “This is it. I’ll never be human again,” I mumbled. I glanced sidelong at Max to see if that scared him, but his expression revealed none of that. His eyes softened into mine.

  “This is the only Sawyer I’ve ever known, so it won’t make a difference to me,” Max said, trying to make me smile. “You know, you can wait. Make sure you’re ready.”

  “No, I’m ready.” I nodded. If I didn’t do it now, I may have never had the courage to later. I took a deep breath and pulled the cable. The lights on the pod went black, and the heart rate monitor blinked a solid blue line.

  Looking into the pod, I saw my human host body’s chest rise one last time before it fell still. There was no life in my eyes, no color in my lips. I was gone.

  My energy sparked, and my Carbon lungs filled with air. Warmth ran through me as the current of energy ran across my skin and touched every piece of me. And I knew it had worked. It was done. My powers were my own, and nothing could stop me anymore.

  Max turned to me, searching to see if there was any change. I was still the same Sawyer he remembered, only the powers inside of me were my own.

  ~

  The village and its people regrouped and prepared for the inevitable attack we knew would come. Coleman would return. He wouldn’t leave us until every last one of us was gone.

  Adam had been badly burnt in the fire, but Doc was watching over him and promised to get Adam back to his old self.

  Murray and his men set up the control room in a new location, making due with what they had. I was glad to see the village hadn’t been completely destroyed and that the casualties were minimal. It could’ve been worse.

  Max and I walked hand in hand toward the edge of the forest as night fell upon us. Eerie howls sounded in the distance, but they didn’t set my heart on edge as they had before. A different kind of horror was still to come.

  Whatever Coleman had planned for us, wha
tever army he had left to demolish us, I knew they’d come. It was no longer a matter of if, but when. We couldn’t escape him any longer, and we all had to be ready. If Coleman wanted a fight, I’d be ready to bring him a war.

  This task wouldn’t be easy, and I’d never be the same afterward. But the promise of more lingered deep inside of me, and I let it simmer in my soul.

  Max spun around to face me, and I looked into his eyes. He pushed a strand of hair away from my face as he said, “The stars will keep us safe. And I will go with you, to the stars and back if we must.”

  And a sad smile spread across my face at the reality that the end eventually would come. There was no way of knowing who’d be left when it was over.

  “To the stars and back.”

  Epilogue

  A broken scream pierced the air deep within the space station. The ravaged thing fought against its restraints, threatening to pull the entire wall down if the cables didn’t snap first.

  Even with the room concealed, the smell of rotting flesh seeped through the walls. The human-like creature was covered head to toe in burnt black scales. It’d torn its eyes out of its own face, leaving deep sockets in its wake. The thing’s teeth were brown and jagged with decay. Every inch of it screamed death, and yet it was still alive and moving, still screaming even without a voice.

  “How many?” Doctor Irene asked.

  “This is the fifth…today…” the young male scientist’s voice shook with terror. He’d been in charge of these Carbons, working to get them ready, but he recently had discovered a virus that was spreading. A virus that turned these once-obedient Carbons into menacing creatures, causing even the stoic and calm doctor’s stomach to churn.

  “Who else have you told?” Doctor Irene asked the scientist.