by K. J. McPike
“Are you sure?” Dixon asked. His doubtful expression surely matched mine as he looked over at Kai.
Kai nodded, though I could already see the pain in his eyes. “If Kala has any questions, I can answer them while we’re…wherever we’re going.”
“Okay.” Dixon nudged me, and I took the hint to get up so Kai could sit on his other side. Kai moved to take my spot, and I glanced up at Oxanna, Ulyxses, and Salaxia. The older two both offered me shrugs, while Salaxia was too focused on Kala to notice. I hoped she was finding something useful in Kala’s mind.
“Close your eyes,” Dixon instructed our guests, doing so himself. Kai and Kala followed suit. Soon their breathing deepened to a slow rhythm, and I knew they were headed back in time.
“Anything, Sal?” I looked up at the top of the stairs again. Oxanna elbowed Salaxia to bump her out of projecting.
“Hey!” Salaxia threw out an elbow to get her back.
“What’d you get from her thoughts?” I asked before Oxanna could strike again.
Salaxia sighed. “She doesn’t know who Solstice is.”
Dang. So much for getting a leg up on whatever she was planning. “It was worth a shot,” I muttered.
“At least we know Kala isn’t evil,” Ulyxses said. “That’s progress.”
Salaxia’s head bobbed up and down in agreement. “She wasn’t thinking anything bad at all. She thinks this is a test to make sure she’s loyal because Arlo doesn’t have any leverage.” She blinked. “What’s leverage?”
I felt my mouth twitch. At least our unfortunate streak of being catapulted into life-or-death situations hadn’t hindered her innocence.
“It’s something they can use against her,” I explained, turning to analyze Kala’s peaceful face. Why would they want leverage over her? What were they trying to make her do?
“Well, that’s not nice,” Salaxia said. “But Kala was scared that maybe we were telling the truth and Arlo lied to her.”
I sighed. Though it was for the sake of keeping my family safe, I was starting to feel bad for having her come here. After everything had been ripped out from under her, maybe we should have given her a little more time to adjust before throwing the truth in her face.
Kala’s ear-piercing scream jarred me out of my thoughts. “It is not true!” she cried, ripping her hand out of Dixon’s and jumping to her feet. “You manipulated my thoughts!”
Dixon gaped at her. “I did not.”
“Whoa.” I stood up slowly to look Kala in the eye. “Calm down. Dixon can’t manipulate the past.”
“Creating illusions is not that difficult,” she hissed.
Kai got to his feet on her other side. “Kala, you’re being unreasonable. What else can I do to prove you’re my sister?”
“She knows it’s true,” Salaxia said, pulling everyone’s gaze to the top step.
“I beg your pardon?” Kala snapped.
Salaxia didn’t flinch. “I know that you know what you saw was real.”
“You do not know anything.” Kala glared at my baby sister, and something shifted inside me. Guilty feelings or not, if she tried anything on Salaxia, I would take her down.
“I know you were wondering why Arlo’s been acting weird around you lately,” Salaxia informed her.
Kala’s eyes flashed. I wasn’t sure what Salaxia was getting at with the Arlo comment, but seeing Kala’s fists ball at her sides told me I needed to end this conversation.
“Okay,” I said loudly. “You guys, let’s give Kala some time to process everything. I’ll head up with you in a sec.”
Salaxia made no move to stand, but Oxanna grabbed her arm and dragged her into the upstairs hall with Ulyxses close behind. Dixon seemed more than happy to jump up and head upstairs, too.
A tear finally escaped onto Kala’s cheek, and I shifted my weight. “I can make you guys some tea or something,” I offered. I knew it wasn’t much, but tea always seemed to be a crucial part of difficult conversations.
“Sure.” Kai glanced at his sister, but she only stared at the wood floor.
“You guys can talk in my room,” I added. “Just in case my parents get back in the middle of your conversation.”
“Thanks,” Kai said. He started toward the steps, and Kala followed without a word.
I took a deep breath and headed to the kitchen. Grabbing the tea kettle off the stove, I carried it over to the sink. A sigh forced its way out as I turned on the faucet. Kala would be okay after she had some time to adjust. I knew it was a lot, and I sympathized with her, but knowing the truth had to be better than living a lie.
Once the kettle was full, I tugged it from under the faucet and moved toward the stove. At that same moment, a flash of silver burst through the wall.
I screamed, dropping the kettle with a thump at my feet. Water sloshed over my socks as my eyes met a cruel, silver sneer that I would recognize anywhere.
“Lali,” Solstice cooed. “How nice to see you again.” Her see-through astral form floated just two feet from where I stood, a purple stone twinkling from the center of her chest.
My mouth hung open. “Y-you’re not real,” I choked out, doing all I could to will her away. There was no way she could have found us. This had to be one of Kala’s illusions. She was trying to get back at us for proving her wrong.
“Not real?” Solstice closed the distance between us before I could react, and her astral hand slammed into my cheek like a rock. The next second, my spine connected with the floor, ejecting all the breath from my body.
“How’s that for real?” Solstice spat.
I struggled to push up onto my elbows. “Kai,” I wheezed, the sound too weak to carry upstairs.
“Even he can’t save you.” Solstice let out a laugh that turned my blood to ice. Seconds later, the door burst open and the kitchen flooded with a dozen armed Astralii.
Chapter 6
Ambush
“Kai, get them out of here!” My scream came out raspy, and I prayed he could hear me from the second floor. “Kai!” I struggled to get to my feet, but Solstice flew at me like a wrecking ball, sending me crashing to the floor again.
Spikes of pain shot through my shoulder, and I watched in horror as the army of Astralii spread out across the kitchen. Each transparent silver form carried a crossbow and what looked like a shotgun that split into four openings. They all wore oblong crystals around their necks, allowing them to penetrate the block around our house like it was nothing.
“Search the place,” Solstice ordered. “Kill the disappearing boy first, and make sure no one gets out.”
No. Her minions pushed into action, and I flailed, fighting to get up despite my body’s protests. I couldn’t let them near my brothers and sisters. I shoved onto my feet and started for the living room. Before I could make it, Solstice wrapped a stone-like arm around me from behind. She yanked me into the air until my toes dangled above the kitchen tile.
I cried out, and she clamped an icy astral hand over my mouth. “You cannot stop us,” she hissed into my ear as the last of the intruders moved into the living room.
My shouts died against her palm as I searched for something I could use to fight her off. Nothing was within reach. The knives were too far to my right, and the tea kettle was too far below me. I thrashed with all my strength, but the force of my kicks hardly even managed to push her astral form backward.
She barked a cruel laugh. “Did you think I wouldn’t get my revenge? It’s your fault Cade is dead.” Her voice shook as she squeezed me so tightly I thought she might crush my ribs.
My pulse pounded in my ears. That’s what this was about? Cade?
“Kai turned on him because of you,” Solstice growled. “But I’m going to finish what Cade started. I knew as soon as I threatened Kai’s precious sister, he’d come after her, and I knew he’d find a way to drag you into it. But he failed to account for the trackers they put in all of the semmies at the lab.”
Her words hit me like a punch in the g
ut. Arlo’s voice rang out in my head: Have the tracker ready. That was what he said after the Astralii guards took me to him. He told them to meet us in Training Three and to have the tracker ready. My mind swam with the memory. How could I have forgotten about that? I should have known that Kala would have a tracker, too. I should have seen this coming.
Something heavy struck a wall upstairs, sending an echo all the way down to the kitchen. A shrill scream followed, and I knew it was Salaxia.
No! Kicking my feet again, I threw my head back in Solstice’s astral face. Pain shot through my skull and tiny sparkles danced in front of my eyes. But her grip loosened. As soon as I felt it, I wriggled out of her hold.
My feet hit the floor, and I took off toward the living room. I hadn’t even made it past the sofa when I felt a hand twist my hair and jerk me backward. My neck snapped with the pull, and I fell to the ground.
“Stupid girl!” Solstice snarled. With one quick movement, she kicked me so hard that my body launched into the wall. “I may not have clearance to kill you, but I have no problem making you hurt.”
Gasping for air, I registered the significance of what she’d said. She couldn’t kill me. This wasn’t about getting rid of us. It was about taking us to Alea. That was what she meant about finishing what Cade started. He had been planning to turn us over to the Eyes and Ears. To Arlo.
My blood froze. I didn’t care if it killed me, I would find a way to fight them. I wasn’t going to let Arlo touch my family.
More commotion came from the second floor, and I forced my aching body to stand. I staggered toward the railing at the bottom of the stairs, sensing Solstice behind me. We both stopped dead as Oxanna appeared at the top of the steps with two Astralii on her tail. Without warning, she leapt over the banister.
“Oxie!” My heart nearly burst out of my chest as I watched her fall, but she landed with ease, as if she jumped from the second story all the time.
Springing to her feet, she let out a yelp when she saw me. “Lali, get down!”
One of the Astralii who had been chasing her fired a shot from above us. A net launched across the room, its weighted ends extending until it grew to the size of a king bed. The center struck Oxanna with so much force, it should have knocked her into a heap on the floor.
But she didn’t fall.
She stood unaffected as the net flew back the way it came with twice as much speed. It collided with the Astralis who’d fired it, knocking him against the railing so hard that the wood snapped on impact. He tumbled into the second Astralis, and they hit the floor of the upstairs hallway, both entangled under the net.
“Duck!” Oxanna shoved me just as Solstice swung at my head. I fell over the side of the sofa, barely catching myself before my face hit the coffee table. I rolled to the side in time to see my sister vanish.
I gasped. That had been Oxanna’s astral form. She must have tricked them into chasing her body double to get them away from the others.
“Give me that net!” Solstice flew over to where the two Astralii fought to free themselves, and I heard shouts come from upstairs. I raced toward the steps, nearly tripping over the struggling Astralii. Somehow, I managed to stay upright and make it to the hallway outside our bedrooms.
A mess of nets and crossbows lay scattered along the floor. Doors had been ripped off their hinges and tossed aside like trash.
Hope swelled in my chest. The weapons must have prevented the Astralii from moving through the walls in astral form. That meant Kai would have had more time to get my brothers and sisters out of here. If none of the attackers made it out of the house with anyone trapped in their nets, he could come back for everyone.
If they haven’t killed him.
Banishing the thought, I started for the first doorway. At that moment, two Astralii emerged from my brothers’ room down the hall. They carried a net between them with Dixon thrashing inside.
“Dix!” I ran forward as a third Astralis came out of the room. Before I could stop him, he held a small silver tube up to my brother’s neck.
Dixon went limp instantly.
“No!” I screamed. “Let him go!” Knowing I couldn’t overpower the Astralii, I threw myself at the net, knocking it from their grip.
I landed on top of my brother, my hands clawing at the fabric to free him. He had to be okay. Whatever they did to him, he had to be okay.
A blow to my side sent me toppling over, and I hit the wood floor hard. Solstice appeared above me, her silver face spreading into a sick smile. “You can’t get away, foolish girl.” She raised her hand to hit me again, but someone grabbed my arms and pulled me away from her.
The next thing I knew, a blinding flash stole my vision. The floor disappeared from beneath me, and suddenly I was falling into nothingness.
Kai.
He was projecting me out of there. But what about Dixon? We couldn’t leave him. Kai should have gotten everyone else out before coming back for me.
I felt sand beneath my body and tried to sit up. “Dix…” I croaked, still unable to see past the red afterimage staining my vision. “Help…him.”
“Kai went back.” That voice was Kala’s. Every part of me tensed at the sound. We weren’t safe as long as she was near us. She was the reason they found us in the first place.
“Oxie?” I called out. “Lyx? Sa—”
“They are here,” Kala said.
My heart drummed against my ribs. If they were here, why weren’t they answering? I sucked in a deep lungful of air and blinked furiously, willing my vision to clear.
Slowly, the scene around me came into focus. We were in Lanai. The ocean crested against the shore no more than fifty yards away, the water’s edge laced with white foam. Kala sat beside me, and I looked past her, scanning the beach in search of my brothers and sisters.
There. My eyes landed on Oxanna and Ulyxses, both lying motionless in the sand. A scream tore out of me, and Kala put a hand on my arm.
“It is the tranquilizer,” she said.
I jerked away from her. I had to see for myself. Crawling over to them, I searched for signs of life.
They were both breathing. Thank God. I fell back onto my elbows, my breath coming in choppy gusts. Kai would get Dixon and Salaxia out, too. We were all going to be okay. I tried to convince myself it was true, but panic had sunk its claws into me, and it wasn’t letting go.
“Do you know what is happening?” Kala asked. “Have the Astralii come for me?”
I shook my head, unable to process her questions. I couldn’t focus on anything until I knew all my siblings were safe.
As if on cue, Kai showed up with Dixon.
“Dix!” I raced to his side. My brother’s body was still limp as Kai lowered him into the sand, but I saw the rise and fall of his chest. Relief rushed through me. Before I could tell Kai to go back for Salaxia, he disappeared again.
Kala stepped up beside me. “He is okay, right?”
I nodded, not taking my eyes off of my brother. “We’re all going to be okay.” I said it for my benefit more than hers, willing myself to believe it.
But minutes passed, and Kai didn’t appear with Salaxia. What was taking him so long? He should’ve been able to get her out in a matter of seconds.
Though I was sitting, the ground seemed to sway. I inhaled slowly, fighting the worry building inside me. There had to be a reasonable explanation for why Kai wasn’t back yet. The Astralii weren’t there to kill; they were there to capture. That was Solstice’s plan. Those were her orders. And Kai could vanish on a whim, so there was no way they could have tranquilized him.
He’s fine. Salaxia’s fine. I repeated the thoughts over and over, silently cursing the block around our house. I couldn’t handle not knowing what was happening, and I couldn’t project back home to see.
Kala sat down next to me, neither of us saying a word as we stared blankly out at the ocean.
They’re fine. They’re fine. They’re fine.
Finally, Kai appeared i
n front of us again, and I jumped to my feet. My heart stuttered when I saw that he was alone, his face ashen. I could hardly muster the words, “Where’s Salaxia?”
Kai’s eyes filled with tears and my mouth went dry. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “They must’ve been trying to shoot me, but…”
“But what?” I rasped.
He started to speak, but nothing came out.
“But what?” I repeated, grabbing his arms.
“I’m sorry, Lali,” he whispered. “They—they killed her.”
Chapter 7
Denial
I couldn’t remember how to breathe. How to think. How to move. The beach blurred in and out of focus as Kai’s words spiraled inside my skull like tornadoes, destroying everything in their path. They killed her.
They killed my baby sister.
My body jolted as Kai’s arms caught me around the waist. I hardly realized I was falling. My arms hung limply as he pulled me to him. I couldn’t make out the words he was saying over the screams in my head. Screams telling me that he was wrong, that he had to be wrong. They couldn’t have killed Salaxia. There had to be some mistake.
I still remembered when Mom and Dad brought her home from the hospital in a bundle of blankets. I remembered helping to make her bottles and feeding her Cheerios. I remembered holding her hand and showing her around school on her first day of kindergarten and helping her with her science homework just a couple days ago. She couldn’t be dead.
Kai’s words sounded like gibberish as he eased me to the ground next to where Oxanna, Dixon, and Ulyxses still lay unconscious. My head moved from side to side, willing him to stop speaking. Whatever he was saying, I knew it was wrong. Salaxia was fine. The Astralii must have tranquilized her like they’d done to the rest of my siblings. They had no reason to kill her. If I could just see her for myself, I could show Kai that she was okay.
