Fists balling up in anger, Mason’s eyes snap up. “How could a mother do that to her own children?”
“They aren’t her children,” Hayden says. “They’re Tāwhiri’s. She never would have shared her power like that. He was the one who tried to keep their purpose alive by creating more Aerlings to help protect this world, but it was his power he put into them…until he nearly ran out. To the Mother, the Aerlings are just vessels. Their lives mean as little to her as they do to Tū.”
I wish that wasn’t true, but we all know it is. Suddenly, the fanatical loyalty to purpose in most Caretakers makes sense. She instilled it in them to ensure her own survival on an alien world. Faced with losing her power to her children, she ran to the world she was supposed to protect and slowly began to kill it. Sloane mentioned how much harder it’s been to keep control of the human world with their dwindling numbers and power. The Mother has been here all along, soaking it up, biding her time until she could take back her place as queen bee.
“She’s only half the problem,” I say. Suddenly, I’m not afraid of going back to the Aerling world or leaving Mason. I’m too angry to be scared. “If the Mother has spent millennia scheming here on Earth, what has the Father been up to?”
Nothing good, I’m sure.
Chapter 19
Bloodline
(Mason)
We said our goodbyes a few minutes ago, but I still want to grab hold of Olivia and stop her from leaving. The Aerling world seemed like a safe place a few days ago. Now, I’m not so sure. What will be waiting for her there with Tāwhiri not around to protect her? Whatever he did to protect the other Aerlings from the Father, did that disappear when he did? Are Olivia and Hayden walking into danger? There’s just no way for me to know.
A few minutes ago, Olivia’s body was trembling, but now she sits with Hayden in a state of complete peace. Hayden looks considerably less peaceful. His faith in Olivia outweighs his fear of being dragged along to an alien world. The irony isn’t lost on me that I used to be insanely jealous of him, yet now I have no problem trusting him to protect the most precious person in my life.
I don’t know exactly what’s happening between them as Olivia whispers, quietly directing Hayden to access his power. Hayden is concentrating very hard while Olivia smiles patiently. As scared as she is, I recognize the expression on her face. She’s going home. Tāwhiri told her that once he claimed her, the human world was no longer meant for her, and I can see that he was right. It’s comforting to know that if we end up back there for good, she’ll be happy, but I still fear being locked behind a barrier where I’ll lose contact with the people I’ve grown to love and care about.
Sloane gasps next to me as Hayden and Olivia begin to fade. We both stand watching as they are pulled out of this world and into the Aerling prison. Just before they disappear, Olivia turns to me and smiles. It’s only then that I feel like I can breathe again. My breath flows out of me long and slow, filled with nervous energy.
“What do we do now?” Sloane asks. “Just wait around for them to come back?”
I start to say something, but my phone buzzes at me from the nightstand and I put my comment on hold. The jumble of nonsense numbers and symbols that pops up on the screen causes me to snatch it up quickly and press it to my ear. “Hello?”
“Mason,” Mr. Parker says in relief, “I’m so glad to hear your voice. We’ve all been so worried. How are you doing?”
“I’m fine, I guess. There’s so much that doesn’t make sense anymore. Too many unanswered questions. I need help.” My shoulders drop as the last word crosses my lips. Three days until Olivia comes back, hopefully with answers. I can’t just sit around waiting that whole time. “Mr. Parker, do you think we could meet?”
There’s hesitation—the kind I understand, given that he has a family to protect—but eventually he says, “Yes, I think that would be best. It’ll just be me and the boys since it’s too risky to bring everyone, but we already spoke about meeting you and we agree it’s worth bringing Conner and Shane out of seclusion. This is bigger than any one Aerling.”
“Much bigger,” I agree quietly.
“Conner has something to show you, too,” Mr. Parker says. The excited, eager quality to his voice makes me smile.
Shuffling crackles over the line and the next voice I hear isn’t Mr. Parker’s. “I did it, Mason!” Conner exclaims. “The wind spirit, I made one a few days ago. I’m going home when the time comes. I’ll be able to cross the barrier…if there still is a barrier, I guess.” Subdued, his voice trails off.
I hate that his good news is clouded with uncertainty and fear. “Hey,” I say, “that’s great, Conner. Barrier or no, you’ll be safe now. Congrats, man. I’m really proud of you.”
“Thanks, Mason,” he says, some of his excitement returning. “Let me give you back to Dad. He had some other stuff he wanted to talk to you about.”
Mr. Parker gets back on the line and we spend the next ten minutes working out a meeting place and all the details of getting there safely. It’s actually the safest time to bring the two boys out of seclusion since Tū seems to have declared something of a cease-fire on Aerlings until this business with the Mother and the barrier can be resolved. Still, that’s not terribly reassuring. When we hang up, I’m still consumed with anxiety thinking about Conner and Shane being so exposed, but I bury it under a frenzy of activity.
It’s not long before Sloane and I are in a car and driving, Robin bound and strapped in behind us in the backseat. The hours pass quietly. Our thoughts are on our friends. It’s still difficult for me to understand how it only feels like seconds when we cross the barrier, but in reality takes a full day. Where are they right now? Are they stuck somewhere in the ether between the worlds, or does time just work differently? It’s a puzzle I’ll likely never solve, but it occupies my mind as we drive.
By the time we pull into an abandoned park filled with dead weeds and cluttered with bits of trash, all thoughts of Olivia and Hayden are carefully stowed away. I recognize the Parker’s SUV, but I still hesitate getting out of the car until I see Mr. Parker step out. Only then do I sigh in relief and go out to meet him. Sloane follows my lead, but Robin stays securely bound in the car.
Crushing me with his embrace, Mr. Parker says, “It’s such a relief to see you again. You have no idea how much pain Caretakers go through sending their children off to an unknown fate, only having hope and faith that they’re fine and happy left to comfort us.” He hugs me even more tightly, one hand resting on the back of my head as he pulls me in closer. “You’ve done the impossible, Mason. Not just coming back, but letting us know, once and for all that we aren’t letting go of these souls we raised and loved just to send them off into oblivion. Thank you.”
I’m too overwhelmed with emotion to respond, so I just stay in his arms until he finally releases me. When he pulls back, there are tears in his eyes. I have to choke back my own emotions to finally say something. “They’re all okay. When they cross over, they’re safe and happy. You don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
Mr. Parker doesn’t say anything in response. He just claps me on the back and squeezes my shoulder in thanks. Once he’s gotten his emotions under control a little better, he turns to the two boys he loves as much as any of his biological children. Suddenly, he’s struggling to control a grin. Curious, I turn to face the boys and have to stifle a laugh when I see Shane standing next to Sloane staring up at her in adoration. Sloane only shrugs when I look at her holding his ten-year-old, gloved hand.
“Found a new friend, huh?” I ask Shane.
He practically has to force his gaze away from Sloane. “Where did she come from?”
“She came back with us from the Aerling world.” It’s almost impossible not to laugh when Shane’s eyes widen even more and his gaze is pulled back to Sloane. Conner, who’s standing behind the pair, is dying. One hand over his mouth, he’s laughing as silently as he can manage. Luckily, Shane seems oblivious t
o the noise.
“Boys, how about we sit down and see what news Mason has for us?” Mr. Parker says as he tries to contain his own amusement. He gestures to an old wooden picnic table off to the side. Conner starts moving immediately, whacking Shane on the shoulder as he passes. Shane barely notices.
Sloane starts toward the picnic table with Shane in tow, looking a bit uncertain about this boy clinging to her. When she passes by I give her a reassuring grin and shake my head. To Shane, I grip his shoulder playfully, lean down, and whisper, “Dude, you’re gonna make Molly jealous when she hears about this.”
Instantly, red floods Shane’s entire face. “Molly doesn’t even like me,” he mumbles. The red spreads to his ears, making it tough not to chuckle at him.
“Come on, you know she adores you,” I say with a smile, “and we both know the feeling’s mutual.”
Shane’s eyes flick up to mine, maybe to make sure I’m telling him the truth, then drop back down to his toes. I shake my head and pat him on the back one more time before taking a seat across from Mr. Parker. The focus turns away from Shane’s sudden infatuation and lands securely on why we’re here.
It’s takes a long time to explain everything we’ve learned since landing in the Aerling world. I don’t leave anything out. It kills me to follow up Conner’s excitement about being able to return to the Aerling world safely with news that it’s no longer a protected place to be. I’m not sure Shane understands everything I’m telling them, but he sits patiently and tries to take it all in. The whole time I’m talking, I watch the boys’ reactions carefully, knowing this affects them more than anyone else. It’s not until I’ve run out of world shattering news to dump on everyone that I glance over at Mr. Parker and am caught off guard by his distraught expression.
“The barrier…you’re not going to fix it?”
Not entirely sure why this has him so messed up, I consider my answer carefully. “We’re not completely sure yet. As far as we can tell, the barrier is weakening the Aerlings, preventing them from protecting their own world and Earth like they’re supposed to. The barrier benefits the Mother and Father somehow, but we’re not sure about the details yet.”
“If we can stop Tū from killing Aerlings and prevent the Mother and Father from hurting the Aerlings,” Sloane says, “we won’t need the barrier anymore.”
“But,” Mr. Parker says, his voice thick with emotion, “that will mean, there won’t be any need to send Aerlings to Earth. The Caretakers, we’ll be obsolete. We’ll never raise another Aerling child again.”
The weight of what he’s saying sinks in. Caretakers look like average humans, but they’re not. The Mother created them to serve a purpose. I’ve just taken all of that away. Reaching across the table, I squeeze Mr. Parker’s fisted up hand. “Getting rid of the barrier also means the Aerlings will be able to come and go freely.”
He looks up at me, white-faced and frightened. “What does that mean for Conner and Shane? Will their parents come here? Will they take our boys away from us?”
Clearly, neither of the boys had considered that. Both their faces drain of color. The Parkers may not be their biological family, but they’re the only family they know. They love them. They’ve spent their whole lives with them. Being ripped away by strangers? The memory of meeting my own parents crowds in and the same conflicting feelings stir in my chest.
Yes, I knew they were my parents as soon as I was in their presence. There was a connection there, a sense of having found something, but when I think of my real family, it’s not them that comes to mind. It’s Olivia’s parents, her and Evie. They’re the ones who raised me and accepted me when they didn’t have to. That’s stronger than blood.
“I won’t let that happen,” I say firmly. I know I may not have the right to make such a declaration. I’m just one kid among thousands of Aerlings. Do I really have the power to decide such a thing? I don’t know, but being Tāwhiri’s heir and having his power has to count for something, right? Meeting the eyes of the three people looking at me right now, I say, “We’ll work it out after everything is settled. We don’t know for sure whether the barrier will come down or not, but I refuse to let hundreds of children be ripped out of the only homes they’ve ever known. That’s not right.”
“Can you really stop them?” Shane asks with tears in his eyes.
Pulling him to my side, I ruffle his hair playfully. “I’ve got the power of an Aerling god rolling around in my head. You think I’m gonna let anyone take you away? Not happening, dude. You’re stuck with Conner and Parkers for a while yet.”
He doesn’t look completely convinced, but he smiles up at me and goes back to leaning against Sloane’s shoulder. Conner is the next to speak, though I’m not expecting his offer. “What can we do to help?” he says.
Glancing over at Sloane, I wait for her nod. One of the few things we discussed on the way here was our need to figure out more about what happened when we rescued that guy from the earthquake rubble. There didn’t seem to be a way to do that until hearing that Conner has made his own wind spirit. Now, we can try a few things.
“Conner, I need you to call your wind spirit. We need a few answers, and we think you can help us.”
Conner perks up from his melancholy immediately while Mr. Parker sits up straighter. Both are curious, but Mr. Parker is certainly the more cautious of the two. “What are you planning to do?” he asks.
“We needed to help someone,” I explain, “but our individual powers working together wasn’t enough. Even both wind spirits coming to help couldn’t do it. We had to combine them.”
“Combine them?” Mr. Parker’s expression turns thoughtful. “I’ve never heard of that before.”
Conner leans forward eagerly. “What happened when you did?”
Shifting so she can see everyone around Shane’s head—which is still leaning against her shoulder—Sloane says, “The power increased, more than just adding two wind spirits together.”
Mr. Parker frowns. “Seems like that goes against some laws of physics or whatever governs your power.”
“But it worked,” I say, excitement creeping into my voice. “I think there’s something to this. Something we don’t understand.”
“Tū’s comments about the Aerlings just being power made us realize that our power in finite, and it can be transferred. When we combine the wind spirits, it’s almost like it’s absorbing more power, but we don’t know where it’s coming from,” Sloane says. “If an Aerling dies, whoever killed them gets their power. There are other ways an Aerling can lose their power, but I have no idea where it goes. From what I was told in the Aerling world, if Mason were to give up his power and stay here on Earth, that power would simply be lost. That would be a lot of power, and neither world can afford to lose that much power.”
“Wait,” Conner interjects, “why would Mason give up his power? I can see wanting to stay here, but you could do that without giving up your power, right? Especially if the barrier comes down and you stop the Mother and Tū.” The confusion begs for an answer, but I hesitate to give one.
I had purposely skimmed over this topic in my earlier explanation. Conner is fifteen, and even though he didn’t have loud mouthed friends in public school to fill him in on all the details like most boys his age, I’m sure he knows enough. Shane, though, is still pretty young. Still, they need to know, especially if they choose to stay here when and if the barrier falls.
“Aerlings and humans aren’t allowed to…uh, have families together. I’ll lose all my power if I do.” I spit it out quickly, glancing up at Mr. Parker, hoping he’ll handle any of the more technical questions.
His deflated expression tears at me. “Mason, I’m so sorry.”
I shrug, because that’s all I can do at this point. Olivia and I, we’ll figure it out later. Something will work out. It has to. Conner seems as dejected as his adoptive father, but Shane is still trying to put it together. “So, if you and Olivia have a baby, you’ll stop being a
n Aerling?”
“They can’t have sex, stupid,” Conner snaps. Mr. Parker gives him a warning glance, but he just shakes it off. Conner’s jaw clenches and a look of anger I wasn’t expecting flashes across his face. “I get it, I guess, but it’s still not right. Why do they get to decide who we end up with?”
I’m not the only one who seems shocked by Conner’s outburst. Everyone but Shane is eyeing him curiously. Leaning over to the youngest person at the table, I ask, “What’s going on?”
Shane’s never been very good at whispering, so everyone hears him when he says, “Our new neighbor, Serena, he’s totally in love with her.”
The corner of my mouth turns up at the idea. Unless Serena is more than just a human, she has no idea Conner even exists. He’s invisible to her, but apparently that hasn’t done anything to dampen his interest in her. Reaching across the table, I clap Conner on the shoulder. “Don’t get discouraged yet. We have no idea how things will be when this is all over.”
Mr. Parker seems to have mixed feelings about my advice, but he puts it aside for now and moves on. “Where does the power go if an Aerling loses it without being killed and having it absorbed? I think that’s important. If it’s just out here waiting to be used, tapping into that could make all the difference in a fight.”
“You’re exactly right,” Sloane says. “That’s why we want to run a few tests with Conner’s wind spirit.”
Looking over at Conner, I ask, “What do you think? Want to give it a try?”
He nods, his jaw still set in frustration. He stands and the rest of us follow. “So, how do I call my wind spirit back? It just shot off after I made it.”
“Just focus, breathe in, form your request, and when you breathe back out, call to it,” I explain.
Sloane disentangles herself from Shane—much to his disappointment—and goes over to Conner to walk him through the process. It only takes a few minutes before Conner’s wind spirit comes zipping up to him, ready and waiting for a command. Sloane and I call ours as well, but we quickly realize we don’t really have a task for them.
Invincible (The Aerling Series Book 3) Page 16
