“You know, Luka. You sound kind of jealous.”
“That’s because I am jealous! You light up every time he’s around. You’re not being honest about your feelings for him. And here I am, about as useful as Ralph. I can’t protect you. I can’t do anything. What makes it worse? You seem happy about it.”
“I’m not happy about it.” But even as I say the words, warmth spreads into my cheeks, giving me away. “And you have absolutely nothing to be jealous about. Sure, I have feelings for Link. Friendly feelings. Link and I are friends.”
He looks skeptical.
“Besides, he likes Ronie. But even if he didn’t, it wouldn’t matter. I don’t choose him. I choose you.” As soon as I say it, Lexi’s sentiment roars to the surface. There’s only so many times I can stuff it down before it refuses to be stuffed any longer. “Which makes me a fool, because you can’t choose me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’ve fallen in love with someone who doesn’t love me back.”
Luka narrows his eyes. “Care to tell me how you reached that conclusion?”
“For one, you’ve never said it.”
“I love you.”
I toss the flippant remark aside. “It’s not love if it’s not a choice.”
He takes a step closer. “Am I talking to Tess right now, or am I talking to Lexi?”
My cheeks turn hot.
“You don’t think Connal’s told me what Lexi has to say about the whole Keeper thing? You don’t think he thinks it’s as ridiculous as I do?” Luka takes another step, so close now I have to tip my chin up to look at him. “He used more colorful language than that, but you get the idea.”
“It’s true, though. You didn’t choose to have this crazy, overwhelming urge to protect me. You didn’t choose to have dreams about me before we met. None of that was a choice.” Take those two things away and I’m willing to bet a whole lot of money that Luka Williams never would have given me a second glance.
“You’re right. Those weren’t choices.” He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “And they definitely played a role in my attraction.”
“See?” The word escapes on a rasp. His admission rips my heart in two.
“Can I ask you a question?”
I cross my arms in front of my middle. A small barrier between us.
He traces his thumb along my jaw. “Are you attracted to me?”
I close my eyes. If his touch wasn’t so achingly good, I’d laugh. It’s a laughable question. I’ve yet to meet a girl who’s not attracted to him.
He runs his knuckle down the length of my arm and curls his hand around my hip. “Did you choose that attraction?”
I look up at him.
“We don’t choose who we’re attracted to. But we do get to choose who we love. That is always a choice. And I choose to love you, Tess, whether you believe it’s real or not.” He pulls me to him and covers my lips with his.
Both of his hands cup my face.
My arms remain crossed in front of me. Not because I want the space any more, but because I’m too caught up in Luka’s kiss to undo them.
*
If I’d known earlier that making up with Luka would be so euphorically good, I might have picked a fight sooner. I hit the ping-pong ball long. Luka snags it out of the air with one hand and grins. “You’re getting better.”
“Liar.”
His grin widens. “You almost hit the table this time.”
“You’re actually really, really bad at this,” Rosie says.
“Brutal honesty. I can appreciate that.”
Luka chuckles and holds up his paddle. “Ready?”
“I’m ready.”
He serves over the net—a lob ball that is way beneath him. I know because I watched him play a game with Declan. Of course Luka would be good at something as obscure as ping-pong. I watch the ball in—like Rosie’s loudly coaching me to do—and return it successfully. A volley ensues. Five whole back-and-forths before Rosie’s excitement gets in my head and I hit the ball into the net.
“That’s game!” Rosie says. “I’m playing the winner.”
I gladly hand over the paddle.
Luka shoots me a wink. “I can give you a personal lesson later, if you want.”
My lips turn into the shape of a happy crescent moon. Personal lessons with Luka sound quite fun.
Turns out, Rosie’s a lot better than me, but not as good as Declan. I watch, transfixed by the effortless way Luka moves, even when he’s purposefully losing, until Rosie hits one long and he chases after it.
The common room is packed. I spot Link at a poker table, a pen dangling from his lips like a cigar, a ridiculous visor on his head as he deals cards to Ronie, Jose, and Bass. There are drinks and snacks and a smattering of board games laid out on the floor. With the music and the chatter and the flirting and the playing, it’s hard to believe Link and I are on the cusp of an incredibly important mission. It’s hard to believe that tonight could be the beginning of the end.
Luka serves. Rosie misses. The ball bounces off the corner of the table, lands near my feet, and rolls to a stop in front of a woman playing chess with a boy. They share the same almond hair-color and the same large ears, which stick out from their heads. The boy picks up the ball and hands it to me, then plunks his elbows on his knees, props his chin on his fists, and furrows his brow at the board.
The game reminds me of Jillian.
The woman offers me a friendly smile. “I’m trying to teach my son how to play. Unfortunately, I’m not that great.”
I toss the ball to Rosie. “I’m sure I’m worse.”
The boy perks. “Maybe I can play you next, then.”
I laugh. “Smart kid.”
“He’s very much like his father, who happens to be the chess expert in the family. But it’s game night and I made a promise, so here we are.” The woman sticks out her hand. “My name’s Felicia. This is Henry. He just turned eight last week.”
I shake her hand. “My name’s Tess.”
“It’s an honor to officially meet you.”
An honor?
Henry moves his knight two spaces forward and one space left, right into the path of his mother’s queen.
She pretends not to see it. “It hasn’t been easy, being here. We had to separate from my husband and Henry’s little sister after he started showing signs of The Gifting. The two of us came here, underground. We haven’t seen them for two years.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Ever since we left them, I’ve dreamed about the day we can be together again. I didn’t start believing it until you arrived.”
I shift awkwardly, unsure what to say. This woman stares at me like I’m … hope. Like I have the power to put her family back together again. But what if I’m no better than all the king’s horses and all the king’s men?
Felicia wishes me a good evening. I wish her and her son one back and return to the ping-pong table, where Luka has one eye on the game and one eye on me. Rosie hits a zinger that grazes the corner. Luka stops the ball with his paddle so it doesn’t get away. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah. It’s fine. You two want anything to drink?”
“I’m good.”
“I’ll take a water,” Rosie says. “All these points are making me thirsty.”
With a laugh, I head toward the row of coolers and pull out two bottled waters. When I straighten up, I’m standing face-to-face with the last person on the earth I want to see.
“Can we talk?” Claire asks.
“I’d rather not.” I step around her.
But she steps, too. Blocking my path. “Please?”
“What could you possibly want to talk to me about?”
“I want to say that I’m sorry.”
I let out a laugh. There’s not a trace of humor in the sound. “For what? Trying to hand me over to the other side, or your inability to successfully manage it?”
Her pale cheeks turn pink.
“Haven’t you ever made a mistake?”
A mistake? Is she serious? “Is that what you told Felix? That you made a mistake?”
“It’s the truth.”
“What you did wasn’t a mistake; it was a deliberate choice.”
“Sometimes those are the worst kind of mistakes.”
I shake my head. “Your remorse is an act. You’re playing the part now because you have nowhere else to go. You might have Felix and Cap fooled, but not me. I saw what you did. And I saw what happened as a result.” In fact, if I let myself, I see it every time I close my eyes—Luka being bound and dragged away. Luka arching up in agony, his screams shredding my soul. It has the plastic water bottles crinkling in my grip.
“Link and Luka don’t think I’m acting.”
“Stay away from them both.” Just hearing her say their names sets my teeth on edge. Seriously, if I don’t walk away now, I might set a bad example for Henry. I take a deep breath and tell my feet to start moving.
“Why are you so threatened by me?”
The words hit their mark. I stop and turn around.
A few people close by stare, some more covertly than others.
“I’m not.”
“You sure act like you are.” She takes a step closer, shortening the distance I created. I guess she’s no more eager than I am for people to overhear this particular conversation. “You don’t have anything to worry about. Link and Luka are both yours.”
“What are you talking about? Link likes Ronie.” And why are we even discussing this? I’m not worried Claire’s going to take Luka or Link away from me. That’s not why I’m upset about her being here. I’m upset because she betrayed us. I’m upset because she tried to have me killed and Luka ended up suffering for it and how do we know she won’t do the same thing if the opportunity presents itself?
“Okay, but he’s totally in love with you.”
I huff. Claire is nuts. “Link is not in love with me.”
“Trust me. I see the way he looks at you. I’ve been on the receiving end of that look too many times not to recognize it. Link’s definitely in love with you.” Claire looks me up and down, like she doesn’t get why. “You’re blind if you don’t see it, too.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Clouds and Bars
I find Link waiting for me inside a familiar gladiatorial arena. He constructed it once before—the night I perfected the art of manipulating the physical while in the supernatural realm. The night we went around Cap’s orders and ran into Scarface on a street corner in Detroit. I have no idea why the sight of him sitting there in the stands, waiting for me, should unleash a hoard of butterflies in my stomach.
It’s Link.
I don’t get nervous with Link.
But Claire’s words are still fresh in my mind.
You’re blind if you don’t see it.
I’m not sure what makes the butterflies flap faster—the idea of Link being in love with me, or my reaction to the idea of Link being in love with me. It shouldn’t make me pleased, that’s for sure. I’m in love with Luka, which means if Link is in love with me—and that is a monumental if—I can’t love him back, and loving someone who doesn’t love you back is a miserable feeling. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, especially not one of my best friends.
I shake my head. This is dumb. I’m not going to let Claire get in my head, and that’s exactly what she’s trying to do. Like I told Luka, Link and I are friends. Period. I expel a breath and hold my hand up like a visor against the sun. Link made it extra bright. “You’ve used this one before, you know,” I call up to him. “You’re getting lazy.”
He looks down at me with a smile. “Are you kidding? Do you know how much work it took constructing this bad boy the first time around? I didn’t want it to go to waste, considering this is our final lesson.”
“Our final lesson, huh?”
“After tonight, I’ll have taught you everything I know. The student will surpass the teacher.”
“I surpassed you months ago.”
Link’s smile grows.
The butterflies zoom around a little faster. I tell them to chill out as I climb the stairs and sit beside him. “So, Teach, how am I supposed to tell if somebody’s being hijacked?”
“We hop into their dream and look for the signs.”
“Like?”
“Clouds.”
I quirk my eyebrow.
“When a person’s been hijacked, they are stuck in a perpetual dream. Happily oblivious while the hijacker takes over their mind and body. In this dream world they mistakenly assume is reality, the sun doesn’t come out.”
“Ever?”
“Never. There’s also bars on all of the windows.”
“Wouldn’t the dreamer notice something like that?”
“The enemy is smart, Xena. They make their captives so comfortable, they don’t want to notice.”
“Is that how we free them, then—we get them to notice?”
“That’s the first step.”
“Doesn’t sound too hard.”
Link shakes his head, like I’m being naive. “Right now, this is my dream. I constructed it. If I want Cap to join us …”
All of sudden, Cap appears. Only it’s not dream-Cap with strong, sturdy legs. It’s wheelchair-Cap, slightly different from the one I know because this is Link’s version.
“Here he is. A projection straight from my subconscious mind. When it comes to hijacking, however, the people you meet inside the dream aren’t projections of the dreamer. They’re projections of the hijacker, put in place to monitor activity. If any unwelcome guests appear—like us—the projections report immediately to the hijacker. And since the hijacker controls the dream …” Link gives his wrist a bored flick, and half of the gladiatorial arena crumbles away in a deafening rumble. “The dream quickly becomes unsafe,” he yells over the sound.
I wait for the debris to settle. “It’s a dream though. The worst that could happen is waking up.”
“Well, not exactly.”
“What do you mean?”
“The hijacker is literally inside the prisoner’s mind and body, which means he’s also inside the dream. When we enter that dream, we’re stepping inside enemy territory. We’re exposing ourselves in a way that could prove incredibly dangerous, especially since hijackers are, by nature, extremely powerful.” Link leans back and clasps his hands behind his head. “To free someone, we have to find the prisoner without being seen, get them alone, convince them that they’ve been shanghaied, and help them break free.”
“When you put it that way, it sounds impossible.”
“It’s not easy, but it’s not impossible.”
I set my elbows on my knees. “How do you know all of this?”
“Experience.” Link smiles. “One of my first missions at the hub was a hijacking rescue mission. I went with Gabe and Cap.”
“Were you successful?”
“We were close.”
Somehow I get the feeling that close doesn’t mean a whole lot when it comes to this.
“Relax, Xena.” Link reaches into my lap and takes my hand. “We’re not rescuing anyone tonight. We’re just scouting the situation to see if we can find any of the signs.”
“Right.” I release a deep breath and squeeze Link’s hand. “Clouds and bars.”
He squeezes back. “Clouds and bars.”
*
Felix puts a red star next to the king, the censor, and the idol on the whiteboard. “You’re sure all three have been hijacked?”
“Absolutely,” Link says.
“What about Secretary Young?” Cap asks.
“We couldn’t get to him,” I say. I tried several times, and each time, nothing happened. It was a giant déjà vu, only this time I wasn’t trying to dream-hop to my grandmother in Shady Wood or Luka in that dank chamber. My failed hopping abilities then had turned me frantic. I thought it meant we were too late and they were dead. But really, I’d been too distraught
to get to Luka, and my grandmother … she wasn’t sleeping.
I turn to Link, who’s looking back at me with a knowing twinkle in his eye, as though he’s waiting for me to realize something he already knows.
“Secretary Young hasn’t been hijacked.” I look at Felix. “I couldn’t get to him because he was awake. If he were being hijacked, he couldn’t be awake. He’d be stuck in a perpetual dream.”
Lexi, who’s been peering extra hard at the board while mindlessly flicking her thumbnail stands and joins Felix. She picks up a black marker and draws a confident line from each of Felix’s red stars to the same word written three different times—neck. The location of the mark.
As soon as she does, Connal grins—wide and proud. “That’s my girl.”
Lexi, of course, ignores him. “It can’t be a coincidence.”
She’s right. It can’t. Cormack, B-Trix, and Fredrick are all hijacked and all three of them have the mark on their neck. Young isn’t hijacked, and he’s the only one with the mark on his wrist. My grandmother also had the mark on her wrist, confirming Link’s theory—had she really been hijacked, she wouldn’t have acted out of self-preservation.
Felix caps his marker and taps it against his palm. “It certainly makes figuring out whether someone’s been hijacked or not much easier.”
Glenda wipes her nose with a crumpled ball of tissue. “What about the physician?”
The question bothers me. Mainly because we still have no idea who it is. I couldn’t find any mark on Shady Wood’s director or the director of Detroit’s Rehab Facility. And that’s having pored over every picture and video Ronie and Link could find. We’ve since moved on to smaller rehab facility directors, along with directors of the larger fetal modification clinics, but we’re not having any luck with those either.
“I’m sure he or she will surface eventually,” Felix says. “Until then, we have three people we need to set free. You said Cormack had the most guards?”
“Xena and I are lucky we weren’t spotted.”
“Then let’s begin with these two, shall we?” Felix points to the idol and the censor.
And the planning begins.
We split our special ops team in half, which means we need one more Cloak. Cap agrees to speak with Anna. I’d rather have her than Clive, but there’s no way I’m sending Clive with Link. Especially since he can’t defend himself. So it’s settled. Me, Cap, Glenda, and Clive will go after B-Trix. Link, Felix, Connal, Lexi, and Anna will go after Chief Fredrick. Tonight. Everyone agrees there’s no reason to wait.
The Gathering Page 22
