Copper starts whining, pulling my attention away from my thoughts. We are passing by the carriages as we head towards the wide-open entrance of the tunnel.
‘It’s okay boy,’ I say to him, softly running my hand through his coat. My words don’t relax him though and his whines become more persistent, until he suddenly launches forward, running away from me down the tunnel.
‘Copper!’ I whisper hotly, chasing after him. He bounds along beside the train before moving past it towards the tunnel opening that lies beyond. I struggle to keep up with him and can’t understand what’s got him so spooked. Was M wrong about the recruiters? Have they come for us already?
Copper finally slows as he nears the entrance, stopping in front of a man who stands just inside the tunnel.
‘Copper, get back here,’ I hiss at him, narrowing my eyes as I take the man in.
The dog refuses to listen to me though, and he pants happily as the man leans over to pat him. I cautiously approach the two of them. The man’s back is to me and in the darkness I can’t make out his features. He could be anyone, but I can’t believe he’s a recruiter if Copper is so content with him.
I stop in my tracks as the man turns around.
‘Ryan?’ My brow furrows as I try to fathom his presence. ‘What are you doing here?’
Why isn’t he back on the platform with the others? Why is he lurking here in the dark?
He sighs. His face is in shadow, but I can still make out the wild-eyed bewilderment that’s crossing his expression. He’s usually so put together, but tonight he seems far from it.
‘I’m trying to figure out if I should tell you the truth,’ he says.
‘What truth?’ I respond, frowning as I take a step closer to him.
‘This is when it all happens,’ he continues, as if he hasn’t heard my question. ‘This is the moment I’ve been trying to avoid for years.’
‘What are you talking about?’ I feel completely lost and have no idea what he could possibly mean.
He groans and pushes a hand through his hair. The gesture seems so familiar, yet I can’t fathom how. I can’t remember a time I’ve seen him do that.
I dismiss the thought and stand tall, crossing my arms over my chest. ‘What truth are you talking about?’ I repeat.
He steps away from me and moves further into the shadow of the tunnel. ‘Elle, this might come as a shock, but I’m not who I say I am.’
I let out a laugh. ‘Not who you say you are? You’ve never told me a thing about yourself. One day you’re an official, the next you’re a lone rebel. You’re a complete mystery to me, so you don’t need to worry about wrecking any preconceived image I may have of who you are.’
‘You really have no idea?’
I raise my hands up in confusion.
‘I thought you might have guessed,’ he says, more to himself than to me.
‘So, what’s the big secret?’
He hesitates, as though he knows the words he’s about to speak will change everything. As though he’s unsure he wants things to change.
‘Elle, my first name isn’t Ryan.’ He pauses again, before sucking in a breath and continuing. ‘My name is Sebastian Ryan Scott.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
I take a step away from him. My hands are shaking and my mind whirls with confusion. ‘So, you have the same name as Sebastian. Plenty of people have the same name.’
He frowns. ‘It’s not just my name that’s the same…’
‘What are you getting at?’ I take another step away. I can’t even begin to comprehend what he’s saying.
‘I’m Sebastian. Your Sebastian.’
I shake my head. ‘No. Sebastian is back inside on the platform, and I hate to break it to you, but you’re much older than him.’
He takes a step towards me and slowly lifts one hand to my face, touching my skin so gently. I instinctively rest in to his hand, unable to help myself.
‘I can’t think of another way to prove this to you and we don’t have time,’ he says.
He takes a nervous breath and then leans in and lightly touches his lips to mine with a kiss. The kiss is chaste and sweet, but it makes my heart hammer and electrifies the blood pulsing through my veins. With one kiss he has me weak at the knees, in a way that only one other person makes me feel.
When he pulls back I frown. Yes, he brings out the same feelings in me as Sebastian, but that doesn’t make believing him any easier.
‘That doesn’t prove anything,’ I say, my voice gravelly.
He sighs and slowly raises his hands to his face. With careful movements, he begins to remove a pair of contact lenses from his eyes. As he pulls his hands away, his warm brown irises are gone and dazzling blue ones are revealed. They’re the colour of a shimmering sapphire with a deep blue ring around them. They watch me intensely and are simmering with emotion, and there’s no denying the connection I feel now that I look into his eyes—Sebastian’s eyes.
Confusion colours my features. ‘But, how?’
‘I can teleport through time.’
I laugh out loud, the sound slightly crazed. ‘Of course you can.’
‘I’m serious Elle. I’ve spent years coming back, trying to change the future.’
I frown as I watch him. He seems so sincere about what he’s saying. The more I look at him, the more I recognise Sebastian’s features. He’s the same height and while his hair is longer, it’s exactly the same colour as Sebastian’s. Ryan’s skin is darker, but if what he says is true then he could have spent years on the surface. They have the same nose, the same mouth and the same eyes. There’s stubble over Ryan’s jaw and he’s more filled out, but again that can be explained by time. Even the old scar through his eyebrow, is in the exact same place as the cut Sebastian received when recruiters attacked us the other day, though Sebastian’s is still freshly visible on his forehead.
My eyes grow wide and I start visibly shaking. ‘I need to sit down.’
Ryan steps over to me, but I shake my head and move to sit against the tunnel wall. ‘This can’t be happening.’ It takes my mind a few minutes to try and work through all the times I’ve seen Ryan and to recall all of our past encounters and conversations.
I finally look up at him. ‘Why come back?’ He can’t be here simply on a sightseeing tour of the past.
He slowly approaches me, taking cautious steps as though afraid I will scare and run off. He sits on the ground near me, far enough away that I’m not intimidated, but close enough to talk. ‘Something happens tonight,’ he says. ‘Someone is hurt and you try to heal them with your talent, only you transfer their injury to yourself.’
‘That’s not too bad,’ I say, softly. ‘I can handle a little pain.’
His eyes are sad as he shakes his head. ‘Their injury is lethal and it kills you Elle.’
My blood runs cold as I hear his words. ‘I’m going to die?’
He nods. ‘I thought if I could come back I could change that future, but nothing I do seems to work. I tried to stop you from coming to the surface. I tried to stop you from getting caught and taken to the hospital. I desperately tried to get you out of there before you ever acquired the talent in the first place. I even helped you get back to the ARC in the hopes that you might still be there when all this happened. But it seems that everything you do just leads to this outcome. Telling you the truth is my last resort.’
I pull my knees into my chest. I know I should be crying and afraid of the fate that lies before me, but I feel nothing but cold. I feel completely detached from my body—a body that won’t see the sunrise again.
‘Elle?’ he whispers.
‘I’m fine.’ I shake my head. ‘Why have you gone to so much trouble just for me?’
‘I would have thought that was obvious,’ he replies. He reaches out and takes my hand in his, squeezing it tightly. ‘But, it’s not the only reason. Because of your death Joseph escapes unscathed.’ His eyes grow dark as he looks at me. ‘I can’t begin to tell
you the future that unfolds because of this.’
‘Bad, huh?’
He nods. ‘Worse than you can imagine. He succeeds in creating the serum that can give a talent to anyone he wishes and the divides you see in Hope now only become greater. He enslaves whole masses of untalents to serve the talented, and the talented he creates become monsters. People aren’t capable of handling such power without becoming unstable.’
‘So, that’s why you wanted me to stop acquiring talents?’ I ask.
‘No, I believe you’re different, and so does Joseph,’ he replies. ‘Your ability to absorb talents is a part of who you are and acquiring talents is a natural progression. I was hoping if I stopped you from gaining more, then maybe you wouldn’t obtain the talent to heal. Judging from your limp though, I was already too late.’
I glance down at my still swollen ankle and wonder how long I have had this talent for. Is it really as deadly as Ryan thinks? I look back up at him. ‘So how do we change the future?’
‘That’s the thing; I haven’t been able to. No matter what I change or what I do, events continue to eventuate just as they did before.’
‘So, that’s it, we’re doomed?’
‘No, I’ve been talking with April and we think that I’ve been going about things the wrong way. I can’t change the future that is already written because I’m from it. If I’m right, I think that you will be able to change the timeline because you’re in it.
‘You know you sound crazy right?’
‘Yes, I realise it’s hard to understand. But, we don’t have any other choice. You have to make certain you don’t heal anyone tonight and you don’t end up anywhere near Joseph.’
I hesitate. ‘Well, I’m not part of the team going to Headquarters tonight…’
He sighs and rubs his face tiredly. ‘Just promise me you won’t go and you won’t heal anyone.’
I nod. ‘I think I can do that.’
‘No matter what, Elle.’ His voice becomes stern.
‘No matter what,’ I agree. I shake my head, still feeling overwhelmed by everything he’s told me. ‘I think I’m going to need a therapist after all this is over.’
He smiles as I shake my head again. ‘Wait, does Sebastian know the truth about you?’ It’s weird talking to Ryan about himself and it kind of hurts my mind to think about it.
‘No, I can’t imagine he’d take it too well.’
‘Probably not.’ I look past him to the train tracks that run outside and into the dark of night. Sebastian will flip if I tell him about Ryan. I’m not certain if I even want to. It’s too weird.
‘I should leave; April will be here in a moment,’ he says. He goes to stand up, but I touch his hand to stop him.
‘If tonight doesn’t work out the way we hope, he knows I love him, right?’
He gives me a warm, but sad smile. ‘Yeah. He knows,’ he says before disappearing into the night air.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
The sound of footsteps echoes from down the tunnel, and I jump and turn as a group emerges from the shadows. I had expected it to be April and Luke, but there are too many people coming this way.
As they near, I can make out M leading the group. Hunter, Thatch and Soren walk alongside him, and behind them are the rest of the members of The Movement who are readying themselves to attack Headquarters. I hope our plan to trap the recruiters works, because their numbers are not much more than ten and I’m not sure they are quite ready for what they are about to face.
M gives me a brief nod as he walks past, and Hunter throws me a wink. They follow the train tracks out into the moonlit night and once they are beyond the protection of the tunnel entrance M pauses to check the coast is clear.
Sebastian trails at the rear of the group and my heartbeat stutters as I see him. He looks calm and collected, and I feel a stabbing pain in my chest. If things go wrong tonight this will be the last time I see him.
He pauses when he reaches me at the tunnel entrance.
‘You ready for tonight?’ I ask.
His lips are firm and his eyes seem heavy as he nods. ‘Yes, I’m ready. How are you feeling?’
‘Fine,’ I respond. My voice is small and I struggle to contain the information Ryan has just given me. I wouldn’t even know where to begin to explain it to Sebastian, and I would hate for him to worry about me tonight. He needs to stay focused if he’s heading into Headquarters and I can’t have him distracted by what my fate may hold.
He steps forward and pulls me into his arms to give me a hug. I rest my cheek against his chest and close my eyes as I breathe him in. I push down tears that attempt to well in my eyes. I feel so small in his arms, and also so alone in the knowledge I’m keeping from him. I don’t want to lose him. I don’t want him to lose me and I hate the idea that if I’m gone he will spend years trying to right that wrong.
I bury my face into his chest and for a moment I try to pretend that everything will be fine tonight, but it’s useless. All I keep thinking is that this is the last hug I will ever get from him.
He slowly pulls back and cups my face in his hand. ‘Hey, are you okay?’ he asks, when he looks into my eyes.
I give him a series of small nods, not trusting my voice.
‘We’re both going to be fine,’ he says. ‘M’s plan for tonight is brilliant and when the sun comes up in the morning everything will have changed for the better.’
I nod again, but struggle to continue looking into his deep blue eyes. Even though I haven’t said a word, I feel like I’m lying to him. Everything is about to change, and if things go down the way they’re destined to, it won’t be for the better. I don’t know how to part with him. I don’t know how to watch him walk away knowing that this could be our last goodbye.
‘I better go, or I’ll get left behind,’ he says sadly, without looking away from me for even a moment. He gives me one of his beautiful, heartbreaking smiles. ‘I’ll see you soon.’ He leans forward and lightly kisses my forehead, before taking a step back and turning away.
With each step he takes away from me, I feel my heart going with him. I feel like he’s taking a piece of me with him and it’s killing me to watch him go. He has almost disappeared into the darkness with the others when I call out to him. ‘Sebastian?’
He turns and I run to him. Ignoring the pain in my ankle I fly across the ground between us and throw myself into his arms. I kiss him passionately, desperately, like this one kiss is all the time I will get with him. An eternity that only lasts a breath.
When I pull back, he seems shocked. His eyes sparkle and there’s a crooked smile tugging at his lips. ‘We should go into battle more often,’ he whispers.
I try to smile in response, but I can feel tears bubbling up inside of me again.
‘Just look after yourself,’ I respond, before my tears can really start to well. I turn from him and walk back to the tunnel. Once I’m out of sight, I crumble to the ground and hug my knees to my chest as I struggle to maintain my composure.
I’m not sure if it’s moments or minutes before I can breathe again, but I slowly pull myself together and stand tall. Clearing my face of all emotion, I push down my feelings and ready myself for what’s about to come.
When April and Luke appear, Mia is also with them and so is a girl named Ethel who has also agreed to help. Luke has a large backpack slung over his shoulder, which Ethel keeps eyeing suspiciously. I scan the pack cautiously, knowing all too well that there are explosives tucked inside.
‘So, what now?’ I ask, as they approach.
Luke kneels down, pulling the pack from his back. ‘We need to set the devices up and blow them once the recruiters are in the tunnels.’
‘That easy, huh?’ I ask.
‘Hopefully,’ he nods. ‘Where did you find this stuff April?’
‘We found them back at the airbase and have been saving them for a rainy day,’ she responds.
‘Was there enough for all three entrances?’ I ask.
‘Enough for Lara and Henry,’ she answers. ‘Mia and Ethel have their own way of closing the main entrance.’
Copper starts sniffing at Luke’s backpack, so I quickly shoo him away. ‘Is it okay that he’s here?’ I ask April.
She glances at the dog and shrugs. ‘As long as he doesn’t make any noise and give us away, I have no problem with it.’ Her voice sounds tired, and something seems off. I want to ask her what’s wrong, but Mia starts to talk.
‘We better get in position as well,’ Mia says, nodding at Ethel. ‘You three be careful with those explosives. Look after yourselves.’
‘You too,’ I say. She steps forward and gives me a lingering hug. I don’t want to say another goodbye, and I know she feels the same because without a word she and Ethel leave the tunnel. They move to the opposite side of the tracks from where Sebastian and M left, and scramble under the wire fence, quickly disappearing into the shadows of the bushes.
I turn back to April and Luke. April is quiet and still hasn’t made eye contact with me since she arrived. She is focusing intently down on the backpack in front of Luke as he slowly pulls out one of the small black devices.
He hands it to April who proceeds to place it by the wall at the mouth of the entrance. Luke slowly lifts another device from the pack and carries it over to the large brick column in the middle of the entrance that supports the roof. The other side of tunnel opening has already partially caved in, so it hopefully won’t take too much more to cover the entrance completely.
Once Luke has finished the three of us walk outside, sticking close to the bushes by the side of the track, and crouch down on the ground facing the tunnel. We’re close enough that we have a good view of the entrance, but far enough back that we should be hidden by the shadows, and out of range of the blast.
‘We’ll stay here until we get the comm that the recruiters have entered the tunnels,’ April says.
‘How long will it be?’ I ask.
April shrugs. ‘It could be anytime from now. It depends how quickly the recruiters are able to assemble and make their way from Headquarters to here. Lara won’t start luring them in until they’re all here.’
Destined (The ARC Book 4) Page 24
