by J. D. Dexter
Quickly, I shift my vision back over to adira.
“He can only try his best, Finley. But I must leave now. Joshua doesn’t have much time left,” Lando explains.
My heart breaks. “Yes, take him. Do we need to get you to the Keeper of the Plains?” I ask. Brockten and Lando begin carrying Josh’s shaking body across the yard.
“No. Lando is able to world jump without a transmitter.” Keziry answers quickly. “All System Seven races can.”
“What about Josh? He’s not a System Seven race.” I ask.
We all make it to the deck. Brockten and Lando lay Josh’s body on the wooden floor.
“Hurry, we must link.” Lando says.
“What’s happening? Why did they lay him down? I thought we needed to move him to the Keeper?” Brent asks, anxiety rich in his voice.
“Lando says we need to link up. I don’t know what that means.”
“Everyone gather around, hold hands. Clear your minds, think only of sending energy to Lando. Do not, for the love Ankah, think of anything else.” Keziry instructs us.
We all link up our hands. I can feel the link get stronger as the last two hands connect. It’s almost like feeling a bolt of electricity zip through my body.
“Finley, you will be supplying most of the power for Josh’s transport. Brockten and I will lead your mind, drop your shield,” Keziry says.
I let my shields fall away, crumbling into dust around me. Immediately, Brockten and Keziry are in my head. It feels like they’re rummaging around, trying to find the light switch in the dark.
“Tell me what to do,” I plead with them.
“Link with Josh, but do not force anymore adira into his body,” Brockten says shortly.
I grasp the corroded thread between Josh’s energy and my own. “Done. Now what?”
“Create a mental bubble around him. Engineer it out of the same material as your shield. Once you have done that, give the link the Lando. He will carry it with him as he jumps,” Keziry says.
Building a world-jumping transport tube for Josh was not really anything I thought I would ever need to do. But I’m not going to let him die because of my ineptitude.
Starting with titanium, I put a box around the shivering form of Josh. He’s gone from body-shaking convulsions to barely shivering. I build the box, adding layers of nanites around the whole thing. Making sure nothing can get into the box while it’s jumping worlds, I pack Josh in like I’m shipping fine china FedEx.
Layers upon layers, cushion upon cushion. Nothing is happening to this package. I add another layer of nanites.
“I’ve built the box. How do I give Lando the link?” I ask quickly.
“Create an extension of the link you hold with Josh. From that same link, it merely needs another leg. Think of bisecting lines,” Brockten says.
I push a pulse of adira down the line to Josh. Before it makes it all the way to him, I send that pulse out towards Lando’s energy field. Almost before I’ve made the movement, Lando’s energy grasps the pulse and secures it to his own.
“Please, don’t let him die, Oshtulando,” I say. Bowing my head, I lift my right index finger to my forehead. Keziry’s hand lifts with mine to keep the circle unbroken.
“Everyone send your energy to Lando,” Keziry says quickly.
Immediately, I feel a sucking sensation on my adira. It feels like someone’s hooked a vacuum to my skin and is sucking everything out of me with one flick of a switch.
I push even more of my adira out towards Lando. Pushing everything I have at him.
At the edge of my awareness, I sense a ball of energy beneath my feet. It’s warm and roiling, like boiling water on a stove. The roiling vitality grazes my adira, and I light up like a professional football game stadium at a night game.
My mind expands, taking in every living thing in this universe. I feel limitless and powerful. The sparks and flares of awareness twinkle like the night sky on a clear evening. There’s nothing I can’t do and nothing I can’t achieve.
The deck drops away from under my feet. Only the tethers of Brockten and Keziry’s hands keep me from literally floating away. An invisible wind whips through my ponytail, slapping me in the face.
A final tug on my adira signal that Josh and Lando have landed in Ankarrah. The sucking sensation stops as suddenly as it began. Soon my body is full of power and energy, just begging and waiting to be used.
“Finley, you must release the Earth,” Keziry says. Her voice barely more than a whisper in my mind.
“This is amazing. I could have saved Josh with this power.”
“No, you would have disintegrated his body and left his adira free to disperse. Anyone could have taken it for themselves. Even Anixia.”
The name of my birth mother startles me into dropping the link I have with the Earth. The power drops away as if I’ve simply turned off the light switch.
“I really could have killed him?” I ask her quietly.
“Yes. That is not something I would wish on an enemy, let alone a friend,” she says.
“What the hell was that? What’s happening to him?”
Brockten and Kezi look at each other, their faces grim.
“Sharing adira is illegal on Ankarrah, for specifically this reason. Only Fragmenters are allowed to do it because they are trained in the art.”
“What are the chances he makes it?” I ask, a strangle-hold around my throat.
“We don’t know. We’ve never seen anyone do it before. The fact that you’ve healed two of your men is remarkable. Extraordinary that Hunter has flourished because of it,” Kezi says in a quiet voice. “We will need to monitor Hunter more closely now that we know Josh’s adira link with you has deteriorated.”
I nod. The grief backing up in my throat, squeezing my chest. I swallow a sob.
“Thank you for stopping me, Brockten.” I lift my right index finger to my forehead and bow to him. “I’m forever in your debt.”
“Do not say such things, Finley. You do not know what you are saying right now.” He lifts my head with a finger under my chin. “Life debts are serious things on Ankarrah.”
“He is right, Finley. They are not to be taken lightly or given during times of grief,” Keziry says. She rubs her hand up and down my arm. “If you still feel this strongly in a couple days, then you can make it again. But you must wait until your grief has passed. There is a ceremony we perform for such occasions.”
“Then thank you again, Brockten.” I reach up, steadying myself against his shoulders, and kiss his cheek.
His smile almost blinds me. “You’re most welcome, Baby-Fin.”
I burst out laughing.
***
17
“When will we hear from Lando? It’s been almost six months, Kezi. I can’t stand this not knowing crapola.” I whine to her again.
I block her right jab, throwing out a left upper cut to her unguarded side.
“Try again, Finagain,” she taunts me as she twists to the side.
“You know, when I said you could give me a nickname, I didn’t expect it to be that one.” I blow out a breath as she knees me in the stomach.
“Yes, well, I didn’t expect to have to keep saying, ‘Finley, again. Finley, again.’ Really, you have no one to blame but yourself.” She chuckles as my punch, meant for her face, sails right past, the movement blowing her bangs around her forehead.
“I think I’m going to kill Brian. He’s the one who shortened it.” I jump back, dancing on my toes trying to get my breath back.
“Yes, Brian does seem to enjoy taunting you. Perhaps because you are so easy to bait.” She steps into my space.
I step up onto her thigh, flinging my leg around to sit on her shoulders, hooking my feet behind her back. As soon as I’m seated, I squeeze her head between my thighs while pulling up on her chin.
“No I’m not.” I jab her throat gently with my free hand.
Her growl rumbles through my legs right before we’re tipp
ing backwards onto the mat in the gym.
Our bodies slamming into the mat muffles our grunts. She doesn’t rest, twisting to her side, holding me down on the mat.
“Are too,” she wheezes into my face. My lower body pinned by her sharp, pointy knees.
“Am not,” I snarl up at her.
“Are too.”
I get my legs free, flipping us both over my head with the momentum of my legs. Pinning her down with an elbow over her throat, I lean down into her face. “Am not!”
She taps her fingers to my arm signaling the end of the round. We both begin laughing.
“We should hear from Lando soon. Remember, time moves faster here.”
Catcalls and wolf whistles fly through the air. I fall off to Kezi’s side, my breath billowing in and out of my abused lungs. Sending healing to those bruised and achy parts is now second nature. I don’t even need to think about it before my body is healing itself these days.
A huge sigh of relief escapes my lips as I lift my upper body. Sitting cross-legged, I begin my cool down routine. Stretching out has become one of my favorite activities after sparring with Kezi and Brockten.
The stronger I get, the better chance none of my family gets hurt. I do some meditative breathing, brushing away the exhaustion of sleepless nights worrying about Josh. I’ve been training non-stop for almost six months. Spending almost ten hours a day learning how to fight, how to defend, how to protect. I will keep my family safe, or die trying.
Pulling the air into my lungs, I let it sit until my body starts crying for more. Pushing it forcefully out of my mouth, I tip my head back as I lift my arms out to the sides of my body. I feel the stretch from my pelvis all the way out through my pecs and up through the front of my neck.
Lowering my head, I splay my legs out to either side, and lean over as far as possible. Laying my head on the floor, I remember the first time Keziry forced my body down into this position.
Thank the good Lord for adira and instant healing. I would have walked funny for weeks. Now I find this stretch one of my favorites. The comments filter through my awareness.
“She can stretch out on me anytime she wants,” one intrepid male gym user says.
I smirk.
“Only if she wraps my head in her thighs like she did with the blonde,” another man joins in, this time louder.
“Guys, it’s time for you both to be moving on,” Hunter says from the door.
Pulling myself up from the floor in one fluid movement, I saunter over to the two slack-jawed idiots. “I don’t stretch on anyone but him.” I tip my head towards the imposing figure of my man just inside the door. “And the only way I’m wrapping my legs around your head is if I intend to kill you.” I blow them a kiss and walk away.
“I will just kill you,” Kezi says flatly. “Show some respect.” She turns her head, causing her ponytail to whip out and smack them both in the face.
“Let’s go shower, Kezi,” I say, a slow smile stretching my lips.
“You are bad. Stop torturing them.” She bumps my shoulder with her own. “Besides, now we go swim.” Her eyes light up with pleasure.
“Thanks, Hunter.” She accepts her bottle of water and her gym bag.
“I was watching them once the room started to fill with your typical admirers. Those two were new though. I haven’t seen them before.” Hunter points his chin at them. “I’m just glad they weren’t as bad as the ones who stalked you when we first started coming.”
“True, but Kezi and Brock did enjoy beating them up.” I wiggle my eyebrows at him.
He chuckles. “See you in the pool.” Hunter kisses my sweaty forehead.
“Yes, you will.”
His chuckle floats behind him as he walks into the men’s locker room.
***
“Again,” Kezi barks at me.
“Stop bossing me around, Kezi. I know I need to do another round.” I glare at her. Does she think I’m not focused on learning how to hone my skills and body? I know that if I fail, all my friends and family will die.
“You stop too long in between your rounds. You lose the momentum of building lung capacity.”
“I just swam five miles without stopping! What more do you want me to do?”
“Six. And then when you master that, seven. There is no end to pushing your body to better goals, Finley. There is always more to achieve.” With that she ducks her head back into the water and begins a brisk freestyle stroke that pulls her through the water like a shark.
“I should have let you drown the first time you got in the water,” I say under my breath.
A soft snort beside me makes me lift my head. “She would not have died alone. She would merely have pulled you down with her,” Brockten says.
“Yeah, but then she wouldn’t be nagging me about increasing my lung capacity,” I grump at him.
“True. But then you would not find out about Josh, either.”
I sigh. “You win.”
“I know. I always win.”
“Do I ever get to see you smile again?”
“No.”
“Why not? You have a beautiful smile.”
“I know. You will not because I am a warrior. Warriors do not smile.”
“Lie. Keziry is your boss, making her a warrior, and she smiles all the time.” I jab my finger at him.
“Yes, but she is a woman.”
“So women can smile, but men cannot?”
“Yes.”
“You’re weird.”
“So are you.” With that, he dives into the water. He attacks the water like it’s an opponent, his arms slashing through the soft ripples from Kezi’s passage.
“All done, Socks?” Hunter asks.
I heave a sigh. “No, I have another round to do.”
“Get cracking, then.” He claps his hands, splashing me with water. “I’ve got a surprise for tonight.” He stiff-arms his way out of the shallow end of the pool.
Dipping below the water’s surface, I start my last round of swimming.
***
“So, what’s this big surprise?” I ask Hunter after Brockten and Kezi have left for my house after dinner.
“You’ll have to wait and see.” He turns to put more dishes in the dishwasher.
“Can you give me a hint?” I ask as I rinse off another plate to hand him.
“Nope. Just wait.”
“I’ll give you kisses if you tell me now.” I bribe him.
He stalls out, his hand pausing before actually making contact with the plate I’m holding.
He shakes his head. “No. Just wait, Socks. It’ll be worth it, I promise. A kiss wouldn’t go amiss though.” He wiggles his eyebrows at me.
“Ha. No hints, no kisses, mister.”
He blows me a kiss, finally taking the plate from my hand.
“So, how has been being back at the hospital been? HR still giving you more money to keep working there?” I ask once it’s clear he’s not going to share about the surprise.
“Yeah. It was really hard to turn down this time. I’ve told them I’ll consult on some cases if they absolutely need it, but that I’m going to close that chapter of my life.” He closes the dishwasher and hits the start button.
“Do you want to keep working?” I ask. “I don’t want you doing anything you’re not comfortable with.”
“Socks, we’ve been over this. I almost lost that patient because the adira tried to help me. If I can’t be safe for my patients, I need to step aside so other doctors can help them.” He frowns down into his beer.
“Everything is still strong on your end though right?” I ask.
“Yes. Everything is fine with the connection.” He nods, still not looking at me.
“Then why won’t you look at me?” I whisper.
His head comes up, his gaze catching mine immediately. “It wasn’t your fault, Socks. I wish you would believe me.”
“You wouldn’t be having to give up your passion if it wasn’t for me healing you
.”
“No, I’d be dead,” he says flatly.
I swallow thickly, and I dip my head.
His sigh is weighty. “I’m tired of having the same conversation with you, Finley. I’m not giving up surgery because of you or the adira. I’m giving it up to keep future patients safe. I can do so much more to heal others now; I consider this a fair trade.” His hands encircle my shoulders.
I lift my head, searching his dark chocolate and caramel eyes. He kisses the furrow between my brows.
“I just feel so guilty.” I lean my head in the space between his collar bones.
“Well, stop. This is a good move for me, Socks. Don’t doubt that.” He wraps his arms around me.
“I’ll try,” I mumble into his chest. I wrap my arms around his waist, leaning into him.
“Good.”
We stand in the kitchen for a bit, entwined.
A chime rings through the house
“That should be your surprise.” He kisses my hair and sets me away from his body. Practically running through the house, he makes it to the front door in record time.
“Shh, she doesn’t know anything about this yet,” he says quickly.
I start moving towards the hallway leading to the front door. My heart starts pounding once again. Josh?
I slip and slide on socked feet over hardwood floors as I try to race to the entryway.
Lando is standing in the doorway, barely reaching Hunter’s thighs. His back is to me, but he’s impossible to miss. His fried chicken skin makes a distinct sound when he moves.
I stifle my disappointment. “Hi Lando. How’s it hanging?”
“A little to the left.” He shakes his butt at me. “Like you can’t tell.”
“Walked right into that one.” I heave a sigh. His cool-kid lingo and phrases are better than mine. “Are you going to turn around anytime soon?” I ask.
His chuckle sounds like a flock of birds talking to each other in the trees outside.
He turns around. In his hands is a wavy clear piece of what looks like Plexiglas. It almost looks like it was dipped in an oil slick as a faint rainbow slides across the front as it moves under the lights. About twelve inches in width, it’s just a little shorter in height.
