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The Twelfth Keeper Boxed Set: Books 1-3

Page 49

by Belle Malory


  “Go without me,” Davaris said, figuring it out for himself. “I’ll only slow you down. The two of you can bring help.”

  Lexie stubbornly shook her head. “I’m not leaving without you.” She frantically tried the button on her brace again, tapping it several times, and when that didn’t work, she tore it off and banged it against the floor. “Turn on, you worthless piece of scrap metal.”

  Davaris reached for her hands. “Lex, stop. That won’t work.”

  The zooming whirl of the bots came from behind. Kennedy held a finger to her mouth before she peeked around the boxes.

  Bots lined the walls, hovering next to the window, soaring around the boxes, and this time there were too many to count. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for any possible escape, but there was nowhere she could see that wasn’t occupied by a cluster of shiny discs.

  This time there wasn’t a way out.

  Kennedy held her breath as she twisted back around. Davaris and Lexie must have translated her expression because their faces instantly filled with terror.

  Staying quiet was extremely difficult. She wanted to scream and she wanted to cry, but she knew if she made any kind of noise, it would all be over.

  When the bots hovered overhead, Kennedy began to tremble. They were right there, above them. She met Lexie’s tear-filled gaze and shook her head.

  Don’t make a noise, she silently pleaded.

  Whirs and whizzing came from up above. Kennedy had to close her eyes to shut them out. Every little sound made her heart jerk with fear. Windows cracked louder in the distance, making her flinch. If they didn’t find a way out of this situation soon, they were either going to be destroyed by the bot’s yellow lasers or become space junk.

  Neither death sounded fun.

  Kennedy eye’s snapped open when she heard a sharp inhale of breath.

  Lexie pinched the bridge of her nose. Davaris saw she was losing it and frantically shook his head. She sucked in her breath again, her eyes wincing painfully.

  Grab her! Kennedy mouthed to Davaris.

  He did what she asked, using his good hand to cover her mouth. The contact must have made it worse because the next thing she knew, the sound of a muffled gasp came from beneath Davaris’s hand.

  All three of them froze, holding their breaths.

  Within seconds, a sharp whirring sped towards them.

  “Oh my God,” Lexie whimpered.

  Kennedy’s stomach hollowed, seeing what that oh my God was for. There were so many. Twenty—no—more like thirty of the orbiting spheres hovered above them.

  Pressing herself against the back of the box, she cowered to the floor. She closed her eyes, feeling each second tick by in slow motion, measured by the sound of her heartbeat ringing through her ears.

  These seconds, torturously slow and frightening, were the last few seconds of her life.

  Thirty-Two

  Seeing the bots hovering over Kennedy’s lifeless form knocked the breath from Phoenix’s chest. All ability to pull air into his lungs was lost on him. He couldn’t think clearly, couldn’t see clearly, couldn’t even speak clearly. “To the right,” he choked out, calling his team. “Fire!”

  Despite the break in his voice, the others heard him. A round of shots were fired off, most of them hitting their targets, the others scaring the bots away.

  He ran to her, reaching for her face, and praying to find her breathing. “Kennedy.” He could barely say her name, his voice sounded so shredded.

  Please God let her be alive.

  A small gasp escaped her lips. It had to be the most beautiful thing he’d ever heard in his life.

  Blinking several times, she focused in on him. “Phoenix!” She threw her arms around his neck, squeezing him fiercely.

  “Can’t breathe,” he said, wanting to cry with relief, feeling all that strength she still had in her. She hadn’t been harmed.

  “Phoenix—Davaris. He’s been shot.”

  Phoenix turned around, seeing his friend lying limp on the floor behind them. His face was alarmingly pale, but when he saw Phoenix he grinned. “How did you chase the buggers off?”

  “Metal bullets. I can’t explain it, but they work.” He glanced at Kennedy for a moment, squeezing her hand. “Got the idea from when Plaffle used the old fashioned guns on us.”

  “Who would’ve ever thought that something so simple could do the trick?” She shook her head, amazed. “Do you have any extra?”

  Phoenix signaled to one of the soldiers behind them, and he came back with two guns, giving one to Lexie and one to Kennedy.

  “Davaris, I’m leaving you here with a small army,” he said. “You’ll be completely safe, I promise.”

  “Go,” Davaris said, waving his hand. “Make me happy, destroy every last one of them.”

  Phoenix nodded. “We’ll come back for you once they’ve been cleared.” He stood up, motioning for both Kennedy and Lexie to follow him.

  “Where are we going?” Lexie said, trying to catch up. She looked hesitant to leave.

  “To the shipyard,” he said over his shoulder. We found their ship. You two wouldn’t believe how tiny it is.”

  “What are we going to do when we get there?” Kennedy asked him.

  “We’re going to blow it up.” He gauged her reaction, seeing her lift her brows in surprise. Blowing up the enemy’s ship inside of Olympus would be risky, but they had no choice. He was banking on the bots being linked to their ship somehow. If he was right, any remaining bots would deactivate with its destruction.

  Fang ran to his side as soon as they entered the shipyard. “We’ve planted the bombs,” she said. “We need you to manipulate the explosion once it’s detonated.”

  The burning chalet in Russia popped into his head. He wanted to try controlling that explosion, but had been too worried about the motorcyclist getting away. Now he regretted it. He wasn’t sure he had the skills equipped to handle something like this.

  The sound of someone shouting grew louder from up ahead. “Kennedy!” Alanna screeched, rushing towards them.

  She appeared frantic, her whole body trembling. Tears and blood stained her face, but Phoenix couldn’t see any signs that she’d been injured.

  “What’s wrong, Lanna?” Kennedy asked, taking hold of her shaking hands.

  “The water supply—they did something to it. It’s been poisoned.”

  Phoenix watched as Kennedy absorbed that news, knowing why Alanna sought her out.

  “It’s too big of a job for me,” Alanna said. “And it has to be done now. Communications are down.” She shook her head, her eyes filling up with tears. “If we don’t get it out…”

  Phoenix steeled his shoulders back. If that were true, they were in deeper shit than he imagined. Controlling the explosion wouldn’t matter in the end. Even destroyed, the Slayers would win. They would destroy Olympus.

  Kennedy glanced up at him, taking a deep breath. “Is it the ship that’s interfering with communications?”

  “That’s my theory.”

  She nodded, her brows scrunched together in thought. “As soon as communications are back, let Mason know what’s happened. I’m going to try my best, but this might be too big a job for me too. I’ve never manipulated this much water before.”

  “Hell, I’m faced with the same problem.” He tried smiling to put her at ease. It didn’t work. If anything, it made her look more doubtful. Right now, that was the last thing she needed. “You can do it, Kennedy. We both can. The adrenaline’s pumping. Our hearts are brave. No machine can defeat something like that.”

  Finally, hope ignited in her eyes. She grabbed his face, kissed him on the cheek, and rushed off. “Good luck,” she called over her shoulder.

  You too, he thought. They were both going to need it.

  He moved towards the alien ship. It was smaller than he’d imagined it would be, the size of a fighter jet in the shape of a disc. He wondered how so much power had been contained in such a small vessel.


  “We’re ready to detonate,” Fang said, staring at him hard. “You ready, Nix?”

  Not really. “Go for it.”

  Thunderous booms echoed throughout the shipyard and the floor rumbled. Flames soared to life around the ship, sending off waves of scorching heat.

  Feeling his heart slam against his chest, Phoenix tapped into the energy of the fire, hoping to God he could control it.

  Thirty-Three

  Colton was waiting for them at the top of one of the circular tanks back in the water supply room. “I tried boiling it out,” he shouted to them. “It didn’t work. Whatever chemical we’re dealing with, it’s powerful.”

  Kennedy followed Alanna up the tank’s ladder, looking back and forth between the members of her circle as she climbed. One of them could freeze water, one of them could boil it, and she could move it.

  Pressure was on, that was for sure.

  Colton grabbed her arm, helping her over the last leg of the ladder. Beads of sweat dripped down his face from struggling to boil the water. His eyes looked heavy. Exhausted.

  Kennedy peered down into the huge tank, feeling the enormity of the task creep up on her. “How far has it spread?”

  Colton shrugged a shoulder. “We don’t know.” He chewed at his bottom lip in contemplation. “This tank leads to every pipe in the city. If decontamination is possible, this is the place to do it.”

  Where was she supposed to begin?

  “If I can manage to separate it, I mean…where do I put it?” She shook her head, hearing the break in her voice. “I don’t know if I can. It’s too big.”

  Colton gave her a little slap on the back. “You got this. You’re in your element.”

  When he saw the look on her face, his humor quickly vanished. He coughed to clear his throat. “Sorry, bad joke,” he mumbled. “I’m really tired. Can’t think straight.”

  Alanna started walking along the edge of the tank. “Tap into the energy, Kennedy,” she said. “You may be able to feel what to do. Just remember Colton and I will be right here if you need us.”

  She gave them a quick nod and closed her eyes. Not quite sure where to begin, she was hoping all those months of training would kick in and lead the way.

  Energy radiated from her core. She felt the strength water gave her, felt the beautiful energy surrounding that strength.

  “You can do it, Kenn,” Colton cheered her on from the sideline. “Feel how opposite the water is in nature compared to the poison. Try to separate the two.”

  Tiny tremors worked their way down both her arms. The water was so vast, stretching on for miles. She could feel the toxins spreading inside of it, but how was she supposed to remove it?

  “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.

  “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 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.

 

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