Stolen Sight (AIR Book 3)

by Amanda Booloodian

  Panic tried to overrule my mind while I watched the thin cracks spread through the stiff plastic. This was trouble. Real, serious, this-guy-is-going-to-kill-me, kind of trouble.

  At least Gran was safe. My eyes started to sting at the thought. Logan and the others would look after her. They would all take care of each other.

  Crap, crap, crap, I thought as I sniffed. Going down that line of thought would get me nowhere. Vincent was probably already on his way and hopefully, dragging the others along.

  And if he weren't, I would give him hell for it later, once I had gotten away from the mad man sitting next to me.

  The rabbit squeaked and snuffled in the back seat. I adjusted the mirror to look back at it. Einar was already turned in his seat to watch the rabbit. It squeaked again.

  When Einar reached back to the cage, I couldn't keep quiet. "Don't hurt it!"

  This creature has done nothing to me. I will not harm it.

  "And I have?"

  You are an agent of the government and one of their botched creations. Killing you will be a release.

  "Not the kind of release I want," I said. "Besides, what about Gran? You scared and threatened her."

  It was a means to an end. A necessity.

  "Whatever," I mumbled.

  I do not know what you mean by those words.

  I licked my lips and looked back again at the little ball of fur in the back seat.

  Oh well, better to be pissed off and dead than weepy and dead. "It means I don't believe you. It means that I think you're telling yourself these things to justify them to yourself."

  A cold clay hand reached out with blurred speed. It clasped around my neck.

  Fear jolted through me as my air supply became restricted. I slammed on the brakes and took my hands off the steering wheel. My hands wrapped around Einar's straining to wrench his grip away. I might as well have been trying to push a tree over. There was no chance of having any effect.

  Chapter 28

  It does not matter if you believe me. I need no further justification of myself.

  The hand loosened enough for a response and I hesitated. I didn't know Einar, but I knew Henry. At least a little bit.

  Horns blared all around.

  I rolled the dice and took a chance. "You're justifying it to yourself. You have to, or you would have to admit that you're letting those that created you control your-"

  The pressure around my throat doubled. The edges of my vision began to dim. Then he removed his hand.

  I coughed and leaned my head on the steering wheel, trying to suck in as much air as I could. I watched my own tears fall on the steering wheel and slide down. How much of Henry was left in there? How much of the others?

  Another horn blared.

  Drive. I had expected his words to sound harsh in my mind, but they weren't.

  Still, I took my time. After sitting up, I wiped my face off with my hands, checked the backseat, and adjusted my mirrors.

  Traffic was light, which is probably what saved our lives. Well, my life anyway. With shaky hands, I continued to drive where Einar had indicated.

  It wasn't until we were moving again that I thought of running, but that wouldn't work. He knew Gran and my friends. Rubbing my throat, I thought through other options. Escape was out. If I crashed the car, I would be more likely to get hurt than he would. I wracked my brain trying to think of something I could do to get the upper hand.

  We are traveling in the wrong direction.

  "If you told me where we're going, I might be able to get us there."

  Einar's thoughts seemed to turn inward, and he was quiet for some time. You are driving us to the village.

  "The village?" Going with Einar to a place where he had already killed so many people was something I would like to avoid. "That was over a hundred years ago. I doubt it's still there."

  Turn west.

  Unfortunately, a road to take us west did not magically appear, and Einar's impatience grew.

  "I'll take the next exit." I took out my phone and typed in the password while watching the road. "We can use the GPS to...Hey!"

  Einar took the phone from my hand and casually tossed it out the window.

  "We could have found a map on that." The frustration helped to shove away the fear. Better to be angry than scared.

  People use that device to contact other people.

  "It does a hell of a lot more than that." Scowling, I blindly took the next exit and started heading in a northerly direction. "See if there's a map in the glove box."

  We are near. There is no need for a map.

  There was a gas station at the exit and little else. We passed through a town so small that if you blinked, you would miss it. Fields with short green plants grew along one side of the road and dense forest covered the other. My agitation grew when I realized that work couldn't track me using the phone GPS now. I glanced over at Einar. Maybe he knew more than I realized.

  Turn left.

  "There's no road. I can't drive into trees.”

  Turn left. Einar's voice was insistent.

  Up ahead, I saw a sign. I flipped on my blinker and we turned down a gravel road. A small sign read Lost Hills Conservation Area.

  The road was rutted and looked barely used. About a half mile back it dead-ended and I turned off the car.

  "Are you sure you want to see this?" I asked. Remembering the feeling of death from so many Lost, I knew I didn't want to go any farther.

  Get out of the car. Einar got out and waited for me.

  My stomach clenched and my mind scrambled to think of a way out of this. If I went into the woods with Einar, I wasn't sure I would ever come back out.

  Einar leveled the gun at me. My heart skipped a beat. Go into the woods and maybe I don’t survive. Stay here and I die.

  "What is it that you want to do out here?" I got out of the car, but wanted to keep hold of my anger rather than slip into fear.

  Take the cage.

  After taking the rabbit, Einar motioned at me with the gun and I walked into the woods. The undergrowth was thick at the forest edge. I struggled through thorn bushes and tripped over hidden tree roots. Glancing behind, I saw that Einar moved through the terrain with ease. That gave a little heat to the fire. The least he could do was walk in front of me.

  Although with him behind me, I wasn’t walking directly in his Path. Maybe I had a chance here.

  The Others were to be given the town.

  "There's not a town out here." I slapped my arm where some biting insect had tried to take hold.

  It was a part of our arrangement. What happened then happened for a reason.

  I had to force myself to listen to what Einar was saying. There had to be something here that I could use to my advantage.

  "The Others, I mean the Lost, they have a town with a bunch of land."

  We began walking up a steep hill. It didn't take long before I was breathing hard and sweating more than any one person should.

  They have a home?

  "For the ones that want to stay there, sure. They have a home."

  The government does not interfere?

  That was stretching it, but I wasn't going to let Einar know that. I sat the cage down and leaned against a tree, trying to catch my breath. "I'm not sure. I haven't looked into it that much."

  We are almost there. Continue.

  "I need a minute." What I needed was to stall for time. As much as I could get. Still, it would be nice to catch my breath at the same time.

  Einar watched me and I made a production of leaning over and breathing heavily. When he got tired of waiting, he shoved me to get me moving again.

  Wishing that it was Einar’s neck, I gripped the cage tightly and climbed the rest of the way up the hill. As we neared the top, the trees parted and a field stretched out in front of us before gently rolling down and back up again. Groups of trees were scattered around. With the sun shining, it was a beautiful sight.

  Not where I wanted
to die, though.

  Looking up at the sky, I wondered if there were any satellites in the area. Would Hank have me up on a monitor? Would they have even brought Hank in on the search?

  There was no way of knowing. If I were going to find a way out of this, it would have to be on my own. Einar was staring over the hills. Pretending to take in the landscape, I started edging away, holding the cage tight. For some reason, Einar was attached to the rabbit. I felt safer with it in my hands.

  The Path was shrouded and I couldn't reach it, but I knew it was possible. It worked last night, and it would have to work here.

  The witch lived down in that hollow. In that stand of trees. Over the next hill was the town proper. The elves lived there, along with most of the others.

  "The wolves lived this way," I said, using it as an excuse to move farther away.

  Did you see them all? Einar's voice sounded distant.

  I shook my head. "They were jumbled together. I remember a few. Others were flashes that came and went. Were they your friends?" The moment the words were out I wished them back in. I tensed, waiting for Einar's reaction.

  I have no friends in this life or the next.

  That was Henry. "Why did you come here?"

  This is where they all belong.

  The darkness was starting to thin and I tried to be casual while increasing the distance between us. "I'm curious. Why didn't you bring them back years ago?"

  I fell in battle.

  "Then why didn’t that release them?"

  The opposing regiment had Others in their rank. I fell. I did not die.

  "Why did you get back up?"

  An old man found me and decided he could make use of me. He thought we would help each other.

  "Who?" I turned to face Einar, unsure of what to make of this new information. When he didn't answer, I changed tactics. "What could you two do for each other?"

  When I was created, I made a promise to the souls inside me. Those responsible would pay.

  "Government workers?"

  The world was different. The United States government was different. Those that need to pay are long gone. I found that out through you.

  "What did you do for the man who woke you up?" I was almost there. My mind was stretching towards the Path.

  Einar turned back the way we came. Once they had perished, they had no use for the parts he requested.

  My stomach tried to revolt and I hugged the cage tighter to my chest. I started taking shallow breaths to avoid being sick. In its cage, the rabbit squeaked and wriggled its nose. The question 'why' was on my lips, but I couldn't make the words come out. The answer to ‘why’ was something I didn't want to hear.

  Einar took a few steps in my direction. I copied his actions and moved away.

  We were closing in on the only question that really mattered out here. "Why did you bring me here?"

  Those you have inside you should be released. This area is as appropriate as any. Einar looked across the hills again before turning to watch the forest. More appropriate than most.

  Gripping the cage, I took another step back. "If you know me, then you know those are not souls. They're fragments. Any whole soul I had, I returned." I tried hard to make my voice insistent, but the fear was creeping back in.

  Einar’s gaze was directed into the woods the way we had come. I was concerned that I would not be able to take the Walker with us. The worry was unfounded. Come out. The last two words rang louder in my head.

  Frowning, I turned to the trees, but saw nothing. Quick movements out of the corner of my eye made me turn my attention back to Einar. He had moved closer, but was concentrating hard on the woods.

  Tell him to come out.

  Tell him? Einar wanted to take the Walker with us. Vincent had to be in the trees.

  It wouldn’t be me that drags him out. "No."

  That seemed to surprise Einar. He aimed the gun at me.

  You will tell him to come out.

  "You're going to kill me one way or the other. Do you really want to kill him? Here of all places?"

  Einar faced the woods and I heard him mentally call out. Leave and you shall live. Stay, and you will die with her.

  Vincent stepped out of the woods and my heart sunk. Frantically, I grappled with my mind to charge through and reach the Path. Einar moved closer. His dark Path became thicker, effectively blocking my way.

  Maybe Vincent had a plan. Please tell me he followed us out here with a plan.

  You choose to die with her?

  "I die without her." Vincent's voice was calm, but as he moved closer, I could feel anger boiling off him.

  There was no way Einar was going to trade me for Vincent, and there was no way I would let him. Vincent had to know that.

  Or maybe that wasn't what he meant?

  The gun remained steadily aimed in my direction.

  I gripped the cage. "What exactly is your plan here, Einar?"

  As I said. The souls inside you will be released. It is a fitting resting place.

  "What about the souls you stole?"

  They will be laid to rest and I will die.

  "If that was so easy for you, why didn't you let them go when you fell in battle over a hundred years ago?"

  Einar stared at me. I didn't realize I had pushed him too far until the gun turned towards Vincent instead of myself.

  Still, he watched me as though he were daring me to continue. A dozen different courses of action flew through my mind in seconds. My mouth went dry. They all ended in death.

  At least for me.

  I shook my head. "That's not a smart move." Einar pulled back the hammer of the gun and I rushed on. "You need him. You know as well as I do that it's the only way you can be sure that the souls are released."

  My focus was solely on Einar. Even the flicker of activity in the trees didn't distract me.

  Be sure?

  "Cass, stop talking." Vincent moved in our direction.

  Einar didn’t look away from me, but the gun followed Vincent’s movements.

  I ignored Vincent. "How certain are you that when you die, they won’t stay trapped inside that body. Vincent is the only way you can be certain."

  Behind Einar, Rider ran out of the tree line and started up the hill. Logan followed close behind. To my ears, there was only silence. I didn't allow my gaze to leave Einar and I kept my face still.

  "You know I'm right," I added.

  You speak as though I would trust a Walker. Einar turned his head pointedly at Vincent. Stop moving, or she dies.

  Vincent stopped.

  If he had only taken a few more steps and I would have been able reach out to him. The contact of our shared souls would surely help me break through to the Path. In frustration, I mentally pounded on the black abyss swamping the edges of my mind.

  The gun swiveled its aim. Without looking, Einar pulled the trigger. The bullet roared from the weapon. Rider fell to the ground before the sound had finished reverberating through the hills.

  The cage fell from my hands and my mind went blank. Logan ran to Rider and fell down next to him. He pressed hard against the werewolf’s chest, but even at this distance I could see his shirt already turning red.

  I did not want to hurt an Other. You have forced my hand.

  "No." There was a high-pitched scream. I wasn't sure if it was in my head or my ears.

  Yes or no does not matter.

  Logan was talking to Rider. I'd never seen the elf look so pale and unsure.

  "No one made you do this, Henry." I wanted to yell the words, but they came out softer as I watched Logan helping Rider.

  Chapter 29

  My world became minuscule and focused. My best friend was on the ground, not moving. And I was standing in front of the thing that put him there.

  Not Henry. We are Einar.

  "You can tell yourself that," Vincent said, "but you know it is not true."

  Einar let out a pained scream that beat against my mind.

>   "No one is forcing your hand now," Vincent said, "and no one forced you back then. You made the decisions. No one else."

  I put the importance of the many above those of a few. The town of the Others exists now because of me.

  "Did you even look for another way?" My voice sounded dull in my own ears. "And what about now? What have we done to deserve this? The people that you killed, what did they do?"

  That was the necromancer.

  Logan lifted one hand away from Rider and fumbled to get his phone. His palm was red and Rider still wasn’t moving.

  "Necromancer? Another excuse." Vincent's hands were squeezed into fists. "This was you."

  Feeling numb, I stared at Rider's unmoving form. "It was always you, Henry. Each death, it was all down to you."

  "Cass!" Vincent yelled.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Vincent surge forward.

  Einar had gripped my arm before I looked away from Logan's frantic phone call. When I looked into the clay face, something broke inside me. He did this. He killed them all, and now Rider.

  It had to stop now.

  Anger welled up and ran through me. It wasn't only mine. The moment that Einar touched me, I could feel those inside him reach out. Their energy surged into my own and made it almost easy to tear through the black divide.

  The Path was murky. It was stifling and tried to weigh me down. Those little flashes of colors, the lines of life from the Lost that Einar had taken inside him, pulsed around me. They strove to throw back the pitch trappings that Henry had created for them.

  I tried to help. Moving the Path around me, I tried to eek out the individual strands of color, but they were tightly matted together.

  Henry's grip became a vice. I felt a gentle tug in my core. It was eerily familiar. Henry was going to take my soul.

  Panic started to well up. Trying to affect Henry's Path wasn't working. I couldn't separate him from the others, so I concentrated on the physical.

  Getting him to let go was priority one. I drew on the power flowing around us, latching onto the flows outside the stormy Path created by Einar. By my hand, those natural currents were building into a raging tempest. Inside, I worked to keep hold of myself.