The Preston Six Collection: (Book 1, 2 and 3)
Page 45
A hand squeezed her shoulder and she looked at her mom in the mirror.
Opal kissed her temple. “I can help you,” she said, taking the cloth out of Poly’s hand.
She didn’t argue, didn’t have the will.
“I’m so sorry we brought this upon you kids,” her mom started.
Poly turned to face her. “You didn’t do this.”
Opal held her hand. “We did, but I wouldn’t have you, if I didn’t do what I did eighteen years ago.”
“I wish dad was here with us.”
Opal burst into tears. She had never seen her mom openly cry. “He was an amazing young man.”
She never talked about him beyond a few simple recycled stories that danced conveniently around the big questions. There was nothing to hide anymore.
“How did it happen that day, mom? I need to hear it from you, the truth.” She struggled to get the question out. Everything in her told her not to ask, but if she didn’t, she probably never would.
“We set up a trap, but Isaac, with a group of Arracks, got around it and. . . .” Opal touched her lips with her fingertips. “Well, we suffered for the mistake. He killed Doug.” Anger filled her face. “So, I put a sword through Isaac’s chest.”
“You killed him?”
“It was a group effort, but my blade ended it.”
“We all killed Simon.”
Her mom grimaced and then closed her eyes. “I never wanted you to see this kind of stuff. We tried so hard to keep you away from it. I’m so sorry.”
“Mom?”
“Yeah?”
“They killed Compry, Almadon, and Nathen. They died trying to get us away from it all.”
After a long silence, her mom collected herself. “They were good people. Compry taught me. . . .” She patted Poly’s shirt. Dust clouded around each pat. “Let’s get this shirt off so I can wash your neck.”
Poly lifted her shirt off and adjusted her bra.
Opal gasped. “What happened to your arm?”
Poly felt her bicep and the bandage on it. She almost forgot about getting stabbed by Travis. “Nothing, just got into a blade fight.”
“If you didn’t kill them, I will.”
Poly laughed.
Karen opened the door to the bathroom. “Harris is awake. He’s asking to talk to everyone.”
“Give us a moment,” Opal said.
Karen backed away from the door and closed it.
Opal continued to clean some of the dirt from the back of Poly’s neck. “What you really need is a shower.”
“Mom, I saw things . . . did thing. . . .” She thought of Paul, Compry getting shot, the grinners, and much more. She wanted to express to her mom what had happened, wanted to tell her she’d killed people.
“As much as I hate to see the change in your eyes, there is good that has come from this.”
Poly turned to face her mother. “What good?”
“We don’t have a lie standing between us anymore and I promise to never lie to you again.”
“You should have warned us, or done something. I mean, how could you keep this from us?”
“There were so many debates about how to raise you. Minter was actually the one who wanted to train each of you like a military squad, but cooler heads prevailed and from the moment you were born we vowed to give you kids a normal life. We hoped it had ended when we killed Isaac.”
“Hope got Joey and Samantha taken from us.” Poly didn’t want to be snippy with her mom, but the idea of what they kept from them for all those years brought a wave of anger over her.
“I’m sure there is another version of me, on some other world that did the perfect things, made the perfect choices for you, but I’m not her, Poly. The decisions I made are something I’ll have to live with, all the parents will.”
“Why didn’t you just run to Alaska or something?”
“Don’t think we didn’t have endless discussions. But in the end, we decided to stay close to the circle. We saw what was happening in another planet called Ryjack.”
“I know it well,” Poly said.
“Then you know how they destroyed it, just for research. They wouldn’t have had any problem tearing our Earth apart to find you. No, we wanted to stay close and deal with them the day they came, if they came.”
Poly pulled her shirt back on. “It isn’t over, Mom. They are still hunting us. We barely got here.”
“I know.”
“Then you know what I’m going to say next.”
Opal covered her mouth and tears filled her eyes. “You can’t stay here.”
“Hopefully, Harris has a plan.”
They walked to the kitchen and found Harris sitting on the edge of the kitchen island, looking pale. Hank stood at his side as if to catch him at any moment.
“Let’s get some rest here tonight.” He winced and touched his sides. “Tomorrow, we have to leave.”
HARRIS HAD FALLEN INTO A deep sleep after he proclaimed their imminent exit.
The rest took to the living room and told stories for most of the night until everyone’s throat was hoarse. Poly left much of the details out. She didn’t want her mom knowing what she had done, besides, Lucas did most of the talking. He embellished his roles but also left out many of the details, he even left out Joey’s unique ability, for which Poly was grateful. Late in the night, Minter stood and told everyone they needed to rest.
Karen set Poly up in Joey’s room. Sleeping in Joey’s bed wasn’t easy. Poly fidgeted the night away, trying to slow her mind.
In the morning, Julie woke her to come down to a breakfast being prepared by Gretchen and Karen.
Poly took a seat in between Harris and Julie while Karen set a plate in front of her, containing sausage and scrambled eggs with a small pile of ketchup next to it. Poly forked at her eggs, while staring at two empty chairs on the other side of the table. She thought of saying something about leaving them empty, but Minter and Lucas came and filled them, so she stopped and took a mouthful of eggs.
The parents stood around the table with their eyes on Harris.
“Come on. Let’s hear it,” Minter said.
“This running isn’t working, we need to bring the fight to MM,” Harris said.
“Attack them?” Minter leaned back in his chair, running his hands through his hair. “Can you even move?”
“I heal quickly, I’ll be fine. But I don’t know how long Samantha and Joey can take what Marcus is doing to them. The quicker we can get moving, the better chance we have of saving them.”
“How can we attack MM?” Julie asked.
Harris looked at Poly and then to Julie. He wiped his mouth with a paper towel and set it on his plate of partially eaten eggs and bacon. “I know some of you aren’t going to like this, but I think it’s our best shot at getting to MM. Poly, Travis took quite a liking to you. I think you could convince him to help us.”
“What do you mean?” Poly asked.
Harris breathed in deep and let out a long breath. “He’s already halfway there, he just needs to be pushed the rest of the way. He has a meeting set up with Marcus in a few weeks. I want to be in that meeting. Plus he has ships, influence, and he’s got a seat on the senate. Through him, we can get to Max and Marcus.”
“What? I won’t let Poly be put in any danger,” Hank said.
“Travis won’t hurt her,” Harris said. “I would do it if I could, but Travis and I have bad history. Poly, he’ll listen to you. It might take a few days or so, but you have the best chance.”
Minter leaned forward, but Poly spoke first. “I’ll go. If it gives us a chance of getting Joey and Samantha back. If there’s any chance, we have to take it.” She didn’t need to think it over, even if she wanted to stick Travis for sending them to Ryjack, she could play the game for Joey.
“At what cost?” Minter broke in. “We send you and lose you, we send Hank and lose him.”
“We parents should go,” Rick offered.
Opal
and Trip were guarding the Alius stone, but Poly was sure her mom wouldn’t protest. She knew they couldn’t stay here. Last night, they learned how the Arracks had been arriving nearly every day, Rick had torched portions of Watchers Woods to get rid of any cover the Arracks might use.
"You guys need to stay here and keep protecting the stone from the Arracks and who knows what else they might send through,” Poly said. “That is why you stayed here for all these years, isn’t it? To protect our planet.”
“She’s right, the Arrack’s are coming here for us, what do you think will happen when they find us here?” Julie asked.
Rick slapped the table, shaking the plates, but didn’t argue the point.
“I will take Lucas and Hank with me—” Harris said.
“No,” Lucas said. “I’m not leaving Julie alone in that weirdo city.”
“Ditto,” Hank said.
“You two will only slow their progress.” Harris sighed. “Travis is very sympathetic to women. He’ll take in Poly and Julie on their own, put you two in the mix, and it messes everything up.”
“I won’t let anything happen to us.”
“What are we trying to get out of Travis?” Julie asked.
“At first, just befriend him, get his trust. As my plan unfolds I can send you messages.” Harris held up his Panavice.
Could she even get close enough for him to trust her? Compry was their connection, she could play on that, play on their mutual love of blades. She remembered overlooking the city from the glass elevator. She had wanted to be in that city, explore its streets and find out what made it so special. If she had to spend some time with the Devil to get back her friends, so be it.
“Let’s get started,” Poly said.
The arguments ran out, but Hank and Lucas grumbled their protests the whole walk to the Alius stone. Poly tried to ease their worries, but gave up and looked forward to getting to the stone. She tried to hide the feel of terror building up inside her. She wasn’t a diplomat, she wasn’t even good at convincing her mom to let her drive the car. She smiled at Julie and Julie glared ahead, not looking her direction. In fact, she hadn’t said a word since breakfast.
They reached the burnt forest and the circle. Opal ran up to Poly.
“Is everything okay?” Opal asked.
How can she say goodbye so soon? They had spent so long getting back home, only to find they couldn’t stay. “Mom, we’re going. We need to get Joey and Samantha back. Maybe we can even end this.”
Opal nodded her head. “You be careful and get them back,” she said.
Poly hugged her mom, she felt the sweat on her back and rapid breath next to her ear. She saw two dead Arracks on the ground, near the stone. Trip dragged them out of the circle.
“Let me show you a few stone locations, Julie,” Harris said.
“Thank goodness, if I have to rely on one more location from Lucas, I think I’ll go crazy.” Julie walked to the stone with Harris and they huddled together next to it.
Lucas huffed and crossed his arms as he hovered near the lesson.
“You promise to be safe?” Hank asked.
“I promise,” Poly lied. She couldn’t think of a safe thing any of them had done in weeks.
“If anything happens to you, I’ll hunt Travis down and make him pay.”
Poly nodded, understanding why Harris didn’t want them going as well. All they would do is put Travis on edge with their protective machismo. How many times had she saved them?
Trip walked back into the circle and grabbed Hank in a bear hug. Poly watched as the two large men moved in a circle, wrestling and hugging each other. Hank grinned, she hadn’t seen his smile in a long time. She felt lighter watching their father-son love.
“We’re ready,” Harris said. “Poly, can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Sure,” Poly said. She moved with cautious feet and a questioning expression to the edge of the circle with Harris.
He leaned close to her face and whispered. “Don’t start with the Marcus meeting, he’ll say no. Just focus on getting his support and when you feel you have him, get him to let me in on that meeting.” Harris took a deep breath. “There’s no guarantee of success. If you need to kill him to cover your tracks, here’s a pill.” Harris handed her a white pill. “It dissolves in liquid and Travis loves to drink.”
Poly stared at the white pill. Could she be so cold-blooded to slip a pill into someone’s drink and kill them? It terrified her that Harris thought her capable of such an act. She stuffed the pill in her jacket pocket.
“You think he’ll help us get Joey and Samantha back?”
“Overall, I think he will . . . for you.”
Harris took a few big steps backward, out of the circle. He nodded to Julie and she reluctantly let go of Lucas and walked to the stone. She wiped her face with her sleeve as she knelt next to the stone.
“Everyone out of the circle, except Julie and Poly,” Harris instructed.
Opal hugged Poly and left the circle and the goodbyes spread around. In a few minutes, it was just the two of them.
“Ready?” Julie asked.
Poly nodded her head and took in a deep breath, holding it. She heard a hum and the forest went dark.
POLY CROSSED HER ARMS IN the darkness and for the first time, didn’t feel the need to frantically search around for an exit. The glow from Julie’s Panavice filled the domed Alius stone room. She saw the door and was familiar with it as the stone below Travis’s office.
Julie moved her fingers around her Panavice and the door clicked. Poly walked to the door and opened it. The white room looked similar to the one they just left, even with a mock stone.
“He’ll come to us,” Julie said and stared at the elevator door.
“Is something wrong?”
“No.” Julie wouldn’t look at her. “Just don’t want to talk right now.”
“Yeah, and there’re probably mic’s in here,” Poly said, eyeing Julie, trying to figure out what was bothering her.
Julie looked at her Panavice. “Yep.”
Poly heard the mechanical elevator drone behind a white door. The elevator clicked and the white door opened. Travis stepped through the opening.
“You’re alive!” He beamed. “What are you doing here?”
His hand lay against his right hip, probably over a blade of some sort. She couldn’t blame him for being cautious. He had just sent them to their deaths. That’s the stuff people would seek revenge over. Alas, the revenge would have to wait.
Poly glanced at Julie, who seemed to be still sulking, and then back to Travis and said, “We need your help.”
“My help? I sent you to . . . why would you come to me for help?”
“You sent us to die, let’s not mince words.” Poly let the words thump around the confined space.
“I didn’t want anything to happen to you, believe me, they wanted me to send you right to their bunker. I only know a few locations.” He pleaded his case as he walked closer to Poly. “It was very difficult to convince them of my accident. They set up traps at every master stone near you. I thought it gave you a fighting chance. I see you still have my gift.” He gazed at the sword on Poly’s back.
“You could have sent us anywhere else. You sent us to Ryjack?” Poly said.
“My hand was forced. This city is one of the last places on Vanar that doesn’t have MM written all over it.” He shook as he spoke. “I can’t let the city fall to them.”
“Good, I think we have the same goal of ending MM. Getting rid of Marcus and Max and others like them.”
“Max Boone, Harris’s brother.” He rubbed the five o’clock shadow on his chin. “What makes you think you can even get close to those guys?”
“Maybe we can discuss this over dinner?” Poly asked. Julie raised an eyebrow and stared at the side of Poly’s head. Poly ignored the glare.
“Dinner? Sure, let’s get to my office.” Travis stepped into the elevator. Poly and Julie followed.
“We got split up,” Poly said.
Travis turned to face the elevator door as it stopped. His office hadn’t changed. Weapons of all sorts lined the walls in display cases. Travis pulled out a chair next to his desk and motioned for Poly to sit, and again for Julie. He sat on the other side of his desk. A small wooden case grabbed her attention. She peered through the glass lid and saw a throwing knife with a green dragon etched in it. Compry’s knife.
Travis pushed a button on top of his desk. “Gladius, can you please bring in three turkey sandwiches?”
“Three?”
“Yes, we have guests.”
In a minute, Gladius opened the door and stumbled as she met eyes with Poly, nearly losing the two plates she carried. Poly smiled and waved at her. Gladius’s doll walked behind her holding a third plate with a sandwich on it. They had on matching red dresses with white trim. Poly stood as Gladius got closer and handed her a plate.
“Thank you,” Poly said. “And I love that dress.”
“Is everything okay, Dad?” Gladius asked, ignoring Poly as she placed another plate on Travis’s desk.
“Yes, fine.”
Gladius took a step back and stepped on the foot of her doll. The doll stumbled back and dropped its plate.
“I’m so sorry, Gem.” She knelt down and picked it up. She inspected her foot and adjusted its clothes as she left the office.
Travis pushed the button on his desk. “Thank you.” He walked around and picked up the plate and sandwich. He stepped back to his desk and took his clean plate and handed it to Julie.
“Thanks,” Julie said.