“The tank is too large, Colt.”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s one gallon or one million. The only way your mind can hold it, is if you believe you can.”
Oh sheesh.
There was more of the manipulation is an extension of your belief crap everyone had been spouting since she came to live on Olympus.
Granted, the crap was totally legit. Firsthand experience was proof of that. Believing seemed to make things happen. And the stronger her belief was, the more rapidly they happened, the more defined they became.
I can do this, she said to herself.
An idea suddenly struck her. She could use the water itself to wrap the poison and stream it out, sort of the way she’d spiraled the water out of Eva’s glass. The poison was extremely toxic, but she could feel that there wasn’t a huge amount. It could work.
Tightening her hands into fists, Kennedy strained to pull the poison out. She envisioned what she wanted, instructing the water how to move. Searing tingles ignited down her spine as she felt the weight of it. She latched onto that weight, afraid to let it drift away.
“She’s got hold of it,” Alanna said to Colton. “I can feel it shifting.”
“I can too. Now all she has to do is bring it out.”
Oh how she wished it was that easy. Manipulating water was hard enough on its own, much less using it to carry the weight of something else.
Her legs began to tremble. Could she last much longer?
I can do this, she repeated to herself, trying to reinforce the belief.
This was her world. Her species. Her life. There was so much on the line. She had to show the Sae-yers they couldn’t swoop in and bully humans. The example had to be set here and now.
There were a few things she knew for certain. One was that Earth wasn’t the center of the universe. Beyond this solar system, were countless others. Beyond this planet were millions more. No one knew how many galaxies existed outside of the Milky Way or if this universe was the only universe.
But without a doubt she was certain that this place, right here, right now was the center of her universe. She existed as a singular soul, fortunate enough to live in a beautiful and wondrous world. She had her family, her friends, the other keepers, and a guy she had fallen madly in love with. Perhaps most importantly of all, she was connected to the one element that supported life. It was apart of who she was, and it gave her the ability to protect what was hers.
No other being, whether it be the Sae-yers or one of her own kind, like Maxwell Ryder, would get the chance to take it away. She refused to allow them.
Pushing harder, she dropped to the floor, gripping the edge of the tank for support.
“Are you okay?” Alanna asked.
She nodded, keeping her eyes tightly shut.
Someone sucked in their breath.
“You’re doing it, Kennedy,” Alanna said. “The water is streaming out.”
Kennedy opened her eyes, seeing the proof of it within her hazy vision. She clenched her jaw, propelling it out of the tank. “Freeze it, Lanna.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Alanna doing what she asked, but she didn’t focus on that. Concentration was the only thing that kept her from losing her hold.
Time ticked by, and it felt like an eternity spent waiting for the poison to sift out. Every second that passed felt like more and more weight pressing her body down. Her palms grew sweaty, her head pounded, and she was pretty sure if she didn’t get it all out soon she was going to explode.
From a distance, she heard Colton shouting to Alanna, “She’s swaying! I don’t think she can last much longer!”
The poison pushed from depths of the water, and Kennedy felt like she was swimming inside of it, pushing it herself. Shallow breaths tore from the back of her throat as she reached for every last drop of it.
“Don’t give up.” Colton kneeled next to her, staring at the water rise out of the tank. “Look at that—amazing. You’re doing awesome, Kennedy.”
All those days spent in training were nothing compared to this. Nothing could have ever prepared her for manipulating water in this way, but somehow she was doing it. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, giving her the strength to see this through to the end.
“It’s almost over, Kenn. I can feel it.”
She could too. But it was getting harder. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep this up. Every muscle in her body was weakening.
“She’s fading, Colton!”
Was she? She felt herself sway a little and knew that she was.
Just a little longer.
The last of the poison twisted out of the tank. As soon as it did, she knew there wasn’t an ounce of energy left in her body. She fell back.
Colton caught her in his arms. “It’s done, Kenn. You did it.”
She let out a small breath, feeling the weight of the world lift itself from her shoulders.
Thirty-Four
The fire had dwindled down to small innocuous flames, smoke billowing throughout the shipyard. Phoenix kicked at a pile of debris. Glowing embers disintegrated, turning into ash.
It was done.
Lights flickered up above. Phoenix felt his wrist vibrate, then flash several times. He’d been right about the ship. Now that it had been destroyed, their braces worked again.
“Phoenix?”
He spun around, hearing Kennedy call his name. She coughed, making her way towards him over the rubble. Seeing her was the best end to all of this. She flew into his arms, squeezing him tightly.
“We got the poison out.”
He pulled back and met her gaze. A sense of amazement filled her beautiful aqua eyes.
“I never doubted you wouldn’t,” he told her. “Not for one moment.”
“You have too much faith in me.”
“You don’t have enough.”
She smiled at him, looking exhausted. “Is it over?”
He nodded, thankful that it was. All the bots they hadn’t shot down had deactivated with the ship’s explosion. As long as there weren’t any other surprise attacks, they were good.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said, pulling her to his side. They walked through the smoke together, heading out of the shipyard. “After this we should—” He stopped in his tracks. Something jolted him hard in the stomach, causing him to double over.
“Phoenix?” Kennedy asked worriedly. “What’s the matter?”
Another jolt hit him, this one more intense than the last. He gasped for breath. It felt like someone had stabbed him in the gut, drawing the blade back and forth and slicing into his organs. The pain was so excruciating; it knocked him off his feet.
Kennedy held his head, frantic now. “Phoenix, what’s wrong?” She gripped his face. “Tell me what’s happening to you!”
Tears streaked down her ash-covered cheeks. She looked just as panicked as he felt.
“I don’t know…” He paused, grunting in pain. “It feels like I’m being torn in two.”
Her eyes grew wide and her lower lip trembled. “Davaris?”
No.
He hadn’t even thought of that. But now that she said it, he knew that’s what was happening. It literally felt like a limb was being severed from his body. “Call him,” he said. “Find out.”
She nodded and lifted his arm to use his brace.
Every second that passed was agonizing. Phoenix felt the blood rushing to his head. His heart beat frantically against his chest. Not Davaris. Don’t let this happen to my friend.
He wasn’t sure if he believed in a God, but he broke down and prayed anyway. He’d pray to every last God known to mankind if that’s what it took.
“What’s up, bro?” Davaris said, his voice coming through loud and clear. “Are you and Kennedy all right?”
“We’re fine,” Kennedy said, wiping tears as she smiled. “How are you?”
“I’m good, I’m good. Doc’s patching me up as we speak. I got this pain though. I can’t expla
in it, but it’s not my shoulder. It’s like…I don’t know. It feels like I’m being cut or something.”
Phoenix watched Kennedy as she stared at the brace and then looked up at him. The horror in her eyes told him what she was thinking.
“Oh God,” he cried. “No.”
Her voice trembling, Kennedy said, “Davaris have you heard from Fang?”
There was a long silence before they heard his voice again. “That’s what this is, isn’t it?” he asked. “I can feel the break. I can feel it just as sure as I can feel air go in and out of my lungs…Fang is dead.”
END OF BOOK TWO
Table of Contents
Prologue
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Three
Thirty-Four
Center of the Universe (Twelfth Keeper) Page 25
