Remember Me

by Stacey Nash

  His eyes meet mine.

  The sword drops from his grasp as he lets out a sharp gasp.

  Cynnie jumps down between him and me, landing on her feet and hands. She snatches up the sword and stands, facing him even though she’s only half his size. His dark eyes are still locked on mine over her head. I see something in them, almost as if he’s asking me a question. Then he’s gone, flickered out of sight.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Mae

  Joshua jumps to the ground, blocking my view of the place where our attacker disappeared. “What happened?”

  Nik groans, drags himself to his feet, and hobbles over. “It was one of them.”

  “He just disappeared into … nothing.” My voice sounds thin even to my own ears.

  Joshua’s eyes rake over me and although I feel like I want to fade into the darkness, I like that he seems to care. “How’d you end up on the ground?” he asks.

  “He pushed me.”

  “He landed right on top of her,” Cynnie says. “Looks like they’ve been stealing our Iretum.”

  Iretum? Must be whatever transport device the dude used to drop in on top of us.

  Joshua looks at me with his brows furrowed. “You okay?”

  I nod.

  “Thief’s lucky I didn’t wipe him out,” Nik says.

  Cynnie chuckles. “You wiped him right off the platform.”

  Nik scowls and rubs his back. Then he shuffles to the fence, rattles a stone, and a gap appears in the wall like magic. He drops to his stomach and shimmies through the hole.

  Blinking at the gap, I don’t move. Nik seriously just opened a secret passage inside, crawled through it, and expected us to follow. What the heck? He used to be so nice, but this afternoon he’s been completely thoughtless. I can’t go through that. It could grab me again and this time I might not get out.

  Cynnie touches my arm. “It’s okay. I’ll fix it.”

  She lowers herself onto her stomach and wriggles through the hole, leaving Joshua and I alone. The air suddenly feels thick and heavy. I want to look at him, but instead I focus on the place Cynnie disappeared.

  “It’s a bit strange,” he says and I can’t resist a quick peek. He’s over by the tree, his back against its thick trunk.

  “What?”

  “The barrier, it must be malfunctioning or something.”

  “Hmm.” Cynnie’s earlier words play on mind. Maybe it’s not the barrier, but me who’s not working properly.

  We fall into silence while we wait in the fading daylight until Cynnie’s bright curls finally appear in the gap near the ground. “Okay, it’s right to go.”

  I shake my hands out and look at the hole framing her head. “It’s all right,” she says. “I’ve disabled this section.”

  “Go. I’ll pull you out if I need to.” Joshua nods towards the fence.

  “Okay.”

  It’s just a hole, just a barrier. If I get stuck, he’ll get me out. No big deal. I can do this.

  Taking a deep breath, I lower myself to the ground. Although my stomach’s fluttering, the earlier feeling of unease and nausea are now gone. Maybe they’re right, it will be okay. I inch closer, and the feeling I’ve done this before is strong. I shake it off and push through, forearms and elbows first. Cynnie’s hands close over my arms but don’t pull, just rest there. Her touch is reassuring and I continue to shuffle forward holding my breath. Nothing stops me. With the smell of dirt creeping into my nose, my head’s out, and Cynnie smiles as I pull myself through and climb to my feet.

  Joshua scrambles through after me and Cynnie rushes off, yelling back at us, “I’m turning the barrier back on then we need to get to our post. Socrai’s going to kill us.”

  She’s gone and I’m alone with Joshua for the second time tonight. As we stroll along in silence, the only thing I can think of is how close we’re walking. So close I can feel our arms just barely touching. The further we walk, the greater the friction between us, like the air is about to ignite.

  When we get back to school and head toward our position, Nik and Cynnie are already there. Thankfully no one else is with them. We keep a steady pace, the tops of our arms brushing every few steps. Nik scowls at each of us in turn. “Told you it wasn’t a real mission, no one even noticed we were gone and those fools never came back.”

  Joshua squats and rocks back on his haunches, his wrist hanging over a raised knee.

  Cynnie drops to the ground beside him. “Thank the Founders.”

  It seems like we’ve only just settled in when a darkly-dressed man, just like the ones here earlier, appears. “Any action?”

  Cynnie opens her mouth but Nik cuts her off. “No, it’s been dead.”

  “You’re dismissed,” the man says.

  Prickles spread across the back of my neck at Nik’s lie. He turns and starts leaving, seemingly without a care. He’s had a bad day is all, doesn’t want to get caught … that has to be it. He looks back at us. “Home time, kids.”

  “Ass,” Josh mutters before following his brother.

  As we walk across the oval, Cynnie grabs my arm. “You need to see a hocrei about the memory loss. Soon.”

  I nod, she’s right and I will. Manvyke’s probably arranged it already. “Bye, Cynnie.”

  Waving, I go in the same direction as Nik and Joshua, toward the transport docking station. When I reach them, Nik’s already on the hexagonal platform and Joshua’s leaning against the tree that shades the transports, arms crossed over his chest and eyes closed.

  “Get on already,” Nik orders.

  Mean Nik makes me uncomfortable, so I glance at Josh for backup. He opens his eyes and gestures me to go first. I step onto the disc and he climbs on beside me, his arm pushed up against mine. I hate it when the three of us have to travel together, but today being squished between Josh and the glass side that’s just risen isn’t all that bad.

  Seconds later we reach the sprawling mansion with its pompous front entry. The twin staircases arching from the ground to the first floor front door with its whitewashed fluted columns make the whole building look pretentious. The glass barriers drop. Joshua steps off the transport and so do I. As soon as the three of us are through the modest ground level front door, we part ways without a word. I head straight for the glass elevator and ride it three floors up to my room.

  A long shower makes me feel a little better, but tired. I walk out dressed in my jeans and tee, towel drying my hair. That barrier, it grabbed me, just me and no one else. It doesn’t really make any sense. Why would that happen? And Josh … Mae. Warmth floods me from the inside out. The sound of that name on his lips brings a smile as I remember. Where did it come from, though? He could have just made it up. Maybe … I liked it. I shake my head as the cloud of confusion returns.

  My thoughts turn again, this time to the man who jumped us. Who was he? I walk around the room, unable to still it. I decide to read, something mindless to stop my head spinning. Head still hung upside down and rubbing my wet hair with the towel, I walk into my sitting room check out the bookcase, but jump fair out of my skin, and squeal.

  The shadow of someone laying on the chaise lounge startles me.

  He chuckles.

  I drop the towel and fling my hair back, looking toward the chair. My eyes meet Joshua’s and a smirk teases his lips. Smiling, I pick the towel up and flick it at him.

  “What are you doing?” he asks. “I’m bored.”

  “Right now? Trying to calm down after you scared the crap out of me.”

  His brow arches, just one, and I wish I could do that too. I don’t feel like talking about my spinning mind, especially because way more than half of it revolves around him. “Are you hungry?” I ask.

  “Famished.” He pulls himself off the chaise and onto to his feet. “Let’s raid the kitchen.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  We walk out into the corridor, he slows and I fall into step beside him. He asks, “Do you ever feel like you don’t belong?�
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  I almost stop in my tracks, but with a quick foot shuffle correct myself just in time, keeping pace. This is big. He feels the same way I do, I knew it. I don’t want to scare him with the wrong answer, though.

  “Often.” We traipse the rest of the way to the elevator until I can’t take the silence anymore and curiosity wins out. “Do you?”

  We step into the elevator. When I look up, his eyes are on me and their jade depth meets mine, filling me with a strange fluttering. “Yes.”

  I can’t help it, I have to touch him. Make a psychical connection, just like the connection I feel to him inside. We’re the same. My hand brushes his jaw, and his breath hitches. Mine does too. A desire to throw myself at him and slam my lips against his electrifies the space between us.

  His gaze flicks behind me and he steps back. The elevator must have stopped. I turn around and come eye to eye with the stern-faced servant woman who looks me up then down before giving a slight shake of her head. Embarrassment and anger war within me. I’m not sure what just happened between Josh and me, but I wish she wasn’t there. He steps out of the elevator.

  We’ve only gone one floor down. I find myself gawking at a floor I’ve never been on. A wide indoor balcony, lavish with fancy maroon Persian carpet, tapestries and hand painted art lining the walls, overlooks a grand entrance. I’d be impressed if I could stop thinking about what almost just happened. I could have … nearly did … kiss him. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t still want to. To keep myself in check, I walk over to the balcony and peer down at the tile mosaic floor below. Three colors make up the pattern in the center, a red tear shape facing the door, with a silver-gray cross through it and a blue blob-like shape at the top.

  Joshua walks off to the right. Our moment well and truly over, I pull myself away from the balcony, and follow him down the wide staircase curling around and down like a conch shell. Running my hand along the cool stone banister I can see the other staircase on the other side, this one’s twin. Just like the ones outside. This pair ends in the foyer. We reach the bottom to angry voices echoing through the vast tiled entry.

  “All you care about are the damn keys.” The voice is loud and slightly distorted, but I can tell it’s Nik.

  “And you should care about them more,” his father shouts.

  Joshua stops stone-still and spins, his eyes meeting mine.

  “She doesn’t have it,” Nik says.

  “Of course she doesn’t, but they’ll come for her. With this new breach, we need to use her, and him, while we can,” the Councilor says. “I’m only keeping both of them alive because I need that that key.”

  Joshua grabs my arm, puts a finger to his lips and pulls me into a nook under the stair case. We’re crammed in so close together his measured breaths brush against my cheek.

  “She’s having moments. Not quite flashbacks …”

  Joshua’s hand tightens on my wrist.

  “What?”

  “She told him today that she swears she’s known him before.”

  “I told you not to leave them alone,” the Councilor says. “Which reminds me, you running at that fence and not pulling her away from it …” There’s a brief pause. Then councilor Manvyke speaks again. “You need to tell me these things immediately, Nikias. Any tiny sign of normalcy and I need to know.”

  “It’s no big deal. I smoothed it over by treating her like a stupid girl with a crush. It was nothing.”

  “What about him?”

  “He’s got no idea.”

  My eyes shoot to Joshua’s face. His green eyes are flecked but their usual depth is gone, replaced with an icy layer.

  “Don’t leave them alone again,” the Councilor says.

  “Fine, I’ll go back right now,” Nik snaps. “Do you have any idea how infuriating it is to be around either one of them?”

  “I don’t care, Nikias.”

  “I can’t believe you’re making me do this.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Will

  Slumped on the couch, I stare at the television even though the sound is too low to hear. My arm aches from resting my hand against my ear, holding the phone in place. She’s been talking for ages. “Sounds like everything is going well.” I respond just to let her know I’m still on the line. “Look Mom, I rang to let you know I won’t be home for awhile.”

  Lilly strides into the family room. Hands on hips, she stops right between me and the television, interrupting my movie. Not that it’s a good one anyway, some mushy chick flick. The guy’s acting like a total fool, swooning all over the curvy brunette lead like he can’t think outside of his pants. I dunno why they always make us guys look so flakey.

  “Yeah, I know I said that last week, but it will be a while longer. Can you tell Dad, I’ll be back at the garage as soon as I can? Hey, I’ve gotta go …” I glance up at Lilly and her brow wrinkles, her mouth is tight. I’d better hurry this along. “Really, Mom, I need to leave now….” Lilly’s eyebrows scrunch even righter. “I’ll call you soon.”

  “I love you, sweetheart,” Mom says.

  “Love you too.” I tap to end the call and turn my attention to Lilly. She stands right in front of me and I twist to the side, just to see the end of my show. “We’re leaving,” she says.

  The ancient TV flickers, the tube on its way out. “Huh?”

  Lilly turns her back on me, takes a long step and jabs the set’s power button. The picture fades and zips off. She spins around, leveling me with a serious stare. “The shield’s been compromised. Dad says it’s not safe to stay.”

  “Damn. Is it Collective?”

  “It has to be them. Why else would all of our protective tech fail at once?” She looks away for a quick a beat then her eyes flit back to mine. “You don’t have to come … if you ah … you may as well go home to your family.”

  I raise a brow. Does this chick not know me at all? After three months, you’d think she’d at least pick up I’m not one to run away. “As if I can go home when Mae’s still the Collective’s captive.” My hand instinctively goes to her pendant tucked under my tee.

  “I didn’t think so.” She smiles. So she did know. She was just giving me an out, which is kind of nice. “There’s another safe house a few hundred miles away, further inland.” She lowers herself onto the shabby sofa beside me.

  “When?”

  “Tonight.”

  “Tonight? Why so soon?”

  “They could come at any time.”

  My heart sinks a little further. If Mae gets out, this is the first place she’ll come and if we’re not here … well, where will she go? Her old home is empty. Since her dad’s been too sick to go home, they’ve lived here.

  This is where I need to wait. There’s no way I can leave.

  Lilly must see it in my expression. I’ve never had a good poker face. My thoughts are always painted right across it. She shakes her head, her long hair whipping about her chin. “You can’t stay here, Will.”

  “But …” Even I know it’s not logical or safe for me or anyone else if I get caught. I blow out a long breath, frustration eating a hole right through me. “I’ll stay out of sight, hole up in The Ring or something. I need to stay.”

  “She won’t need to find us. We’ll find her.” Lilly twirls a hand through her dark hair, twisting her slender fingers and untangling the long ends. “Come on, you know how risky it is to stay here now that we’ve been breached. Will, if they found you …”

  She doesn’t say it ’cause we both know exactly what would happen. Frick. I’ve got no choice. As much as I need to, I really can’t stay.

  Lilly smiles and maybe it’s supposed to be understanding, but it just looks forced. “Jax knows where our other locations are. If they somehow get out and find their way back here, he’ll know where to look,” she says with conviction. “Nearly everyone will port, but Marcus will want to take his bike. Would you like to ride too?”

  No fricking way do I want to leave, but there’s hardly
a choice. “Yeah, whatever.”

  She studies her hands, her fingers twisting around each other and drops her voice. “I could come with you.”

  I guess a ride might be okay. Riding with the wind rushing past and my body one with the bike always empties my mind. “Sure.”

  “Think you can be ready in an hour?”

  “Yeah.” I climb off the couch. It’s not like I have a lot to pack, most of my stuff’s at home, it’s just the overnight bag I bring when I come out here. Lilly jumps up and follows me out of the family room, pausing just by the wooden door. A fleck of paint peels right near her head and the urge to peel it off makes me realize this whole place is in desperate need of some TLC. Maybe I should grab some paint and we could—

  “Will,” she says, drawing my attention away from door. “They’re already loading stuff into the back of Al’s and Dad’s trucks, so don’t worry about weapons or anything like that.”

  “Sure,” I say, “I’ll grab Mae’s stuff too.”

  “Mine’s done, so I’ll pack hers while you’re getting ready and put it in the truck. Jax’s too.”

  As we leave the family room, Garrett and Beau’s voices drift out of his open office door, and I stop, tilting my head to listen because I sweat I heard …

  “… ported straight in on top of Mae …” Garrett says.

  Before I know how I moved, I find myself standing in Beau’s office, facing a surprised-looking Garrett. “You saw her?”

  He glances at Beau.

  “Don’t ask his permission. Just tell me where she was, how she was. Anything.”

  Garrett’s shoulders slump and his face drops as his eyes close, sucking in a long breath through his teeth. Come on, man, just tell me already.