Betrayals in Spring (The Last Year, #3)

by Trisha Leigh

  “I may not have superpowers, Lucas, but I can help. Our Cellmates know me way better than they know any of you, so that should go a long way.” She takes a deep breath. “Honestly, I never felt like I was going to lose it, when Althea undid mine. It was confusing, more than anything, the way I understood innately that this way was right.”

  I remember her saying something along those lines, wondering how she could know this was right when being controlled by the Others never felt inherently wrong. It must be how their veiling mechanism is designed, but it’s never made sense to me.

  “Okay. You’re pretty popular, as far as I remember, so could you steer the kids you choose to the park during free hour instead of somewhere else?”

  She nods. “How should I choose?”

  “People who seem strong to you. Not physically, necessarily, but mentally.” That is my first qualification.

  “Kids who excel in blocks, too.” Pax adds.

  “Okay. Free hour it is. Nine kids who are good in Cell and don’t seem to me like they’re holding on by a thread. No wobbly smiles.” When we don’t respond or give her more instructions, she tugs the sheet until I’m forced to get up, then lies down and repositions the covers the way they were before we interrupted. “Good. Now let me get some rest.”

  CHAPTER 21.

  The next day drags, and the three of us don’t have anything to do but wait. It almost worries me how accepting Brittany was of everything the night before, but Pax tells me to stop borrowing trouble, so that’s the end of that conversation. It shouldn’t placate me, but for some reason it does. It doesn’t do any good to worry about things outside of our control.

  Honestly, when I knew Brittany before she was unveiled, she seemed the unflappable type. It’s interesting that the humans’ personalities poke through the veils, at least a little. Like Leah’s intensity and acerbic wit.

  I decide to trust that Brittany’s okay, since there are plenty of things to worry about that we are supposed to be able to control. Like how we’re going to rescue Deshi, which is mostly what we’ve been discussing.

  We give up chatting by midday, the afternoon passing—at least for me—mired in worry over Wolf and the Sidhe twins. Trying to pull free from the muck of anxiety bunches my muscles into aching balls.

  Every time Lucas passes within touching distance, my palms itch. Letting him spend all these hours thinking Pax and I are, well, Pax and I twists my stomach like a wet dishcloth wrung out over the sink. When I can’t take the pain or the silence anymore, I drag him a little away into the underbrush. It’s not the time to confess my feelings, but knowing he’s hurting over me is too distracting.

  His guarded eyes find mine, and even though we’re facing each other, there’s distance between us. The sun has turned the day pleasant, at least for spring, and the top of my head warm enough that I can smell that it needs a wash. A breeze winds through the forest, dripping runoff onto the earth with heavy plops. Buds dot the ends of the oak and maple branches, a few already bursting into life in the warm afternoon.

  “What’s up, Althea?”

  I swallow my nerves. “I know what you think you saw on Mount Rushmore, when you came back from scouting. I just wanted to tell you it’s not what it looked like.”

  Instead of raising an eyebrow or scoffing, which I kind of expect after his immediate reaction yesterday, Lucas rubs a hand over his eyes. “It’s okay if it is, you know. You’ve been trying to tell me you’re not ready all these weeks, and I said what I wanted to say the other night.” He gives me a shy smile and the tiniest flash of a dimple that makes my knees go soggy. “You need more time to figure it out, that’s fine. We don’t have to talk about it again unless you’re ready.”

  I am ready! I love you! My heart tries to squeal out through my mouth. But the lack of real privacy and time bite the confession back. When I tell him what I want, and say the words aloud for the first time, it should be for only the two of us.

  “It wasn’t what it looked like,” I repeat instead, unsure of how to proceed when he’s being so accepting. Accepting, but wrong.

  Either way, Lucas closes the discussion for now when he nods and takes the few strides through the brush back to Pax. I shake my head and take a deep breath before following, not sure exactly what happened but feeling a little better, somehow, about waiting. I just hope the resignation I glimpsed in his face doesn’t erase his feelings, or that my hesitance won’t convince him he made the wrong choice to love me.

  If it’s even a choice. For me, it doesn’t seem to be.

  The sun crests and begins to fall, the wet smell of grass and dirt reminding me again that the season is spring despite the chill in the air. It also conjures a picture of Deshi, the way he smelled when Zakej was pretending to be him last autumn. It winds a shiver down my spine, even know when I know it wasn’t Deshi at all.

  I think of the cabin and wonder if spring has arrived there, even though none of our friends will be coherent enough to see it happen. A thought staggers into my brain on spindly legs, and as I allow it room, it grows sturdy. “Pax, do you still have the map of Nebraska? The one we found in the old Cell?”

  “Sure. We took all the maps. Why?”

  “Let me see it, please.”

  He wrestles it free of the items in his backpack, handing it over. Lucas’s eyes burn holes into my shoulders, wondering what I’m up to. At least, I think that’s what he’s wondering. The idea that he would be wondering anything else is too much for me to hope right now.

  I smooth it out on a sun-warmed boulder, searching with my fingers and eyes until I see what I’m looking for. The map does stretch into South Dakota, where Deadwood is, and the town is marked. I don’t know how exactly to find the cabin, but it’s not that big, as places go.

  “Here.” I poke at Deadwood. “This is where the cabin is. I think we should give one person in each of the groups two maps. One of the United States that shows the way from where they are to South Dakota, and one that shows where Deadwood is once they get there. It will give them somewhere to meet and brainstorm, or take whatever action they come up with if we don’t return.”

  Their faces go still, and Pax, as always, is the one who decides it’s a good idea first. Lucas’s eyes remain unreadable, masked by his need to fully process everything.

  “It shouldn’t look like what it is, though,” Lucas suggests. “Leah already got taken. What if she’d had that list of elements on her when she did, and what if one of the kids we unveil Breaks and the Others find a map to the cabin?”

  “Okay.” My brain stretches, working hard to come up with a solution. “We’ll make it look like a star map. Even though the Others would think it’s weird kids are carrying it around, they won’t think the stars and planets correspond to cities or the cabin.”

  With that decided, the three of us work out a system and make four copies of a map that could be any nondescript solar system, but that actually shows the way from each Sanctioned City to the cabin in Deadwood.

  When we’re done, the excitement bleeds out of me, leaving exhaustion. “Do you guys really think this is going to work?”

  “It’s a long way from all of the Sanctioned Cities, but not impossible to walk there if they really want to go.” Pax winks at me. “We would know, right?”

  “Right.” I look at Lucas, who looks back at me. Butterflies flap in my belly as warmth and approval slide off of him and around my shoulders. I nod in response, and he gives me a hint of his dimple. “One more thing. I want to try to travel there and take Brittany before we leave for good. The Sidhe and Wolf need someone to care for them until we can figure out what to do, and Nat, too, if he’s alive. And she’d be there to guide the rest if they decide to come.”

  “We don’t even know if we can take a regular human with us when we travel,” Lucas protests. “What if it hurts her, or kills her?”

  “What if she doesn’t want to?” Pax adds.

  “Well, we brought Wolf with us once, so we know we c
an bring other beings along. And with the three of us together using our power, traveling was so simple. I bet we can manage.” I pause, considering the last objection. “And I think she will. But it’s her decision, of course.”

  “A dog is different than a person, but I guess we can try. If she agrees to it.” Lucas looks up toward the sun. “Let’s head back into the park. Free hour’s going to start any minute.”

  He turns to go, and Pax and I hustle to catch up. My heart in my throat, I slip my hand into Lucas’s as I would have last autumn, and it feels as natural as it did the first time. A relieved sweat breaks over me, pumping out the sweet smell of jasmine, when he doesn’t pull away but instead tightens his fingers around mine.

  Brittany’s loitering near the edge of the park when we slip back through the boundary, impatience evident in her willowy frame. She’s gathered her long hair into a braid and looks herself, even after our midnight discussion. I guess the boys were right not to worry.

  A tight smile contorts her face when she sees the three of us coming, and she leads us to the group of nine kids she brought with her. They immediately look confused, frightened, panicked, or some combination of the three; they’re not accepting us the way they would have if the enchantment were still in place.

  “Let’s do this fast,” I say through clenched teeth, reaching my free hand out to Pax.

  He takes it, and the power flows easily between the three of us, increasing in strength every time it leaves one arm and gushes back in the other. We’d decided to each take the kids nearest us and push our thoughts at them, but now that we’re connected, our thoughts jumble together. We all stop pushing thoughts, and when the boys squeeze my hands at the same time, I take it as a signal that I’m speaking to the group.

  It’s okay. We’re here to help you. The Others are not what they seem and have not been honest about their intentions for Earth. They’ve been keeping you content, but you shouldn’t be. There’s a fight coming. A fight for this planet, and we need your help. They’re here for a resource, and once it’s gone, they’ll go. No planet has ever survived their occupation, but we intend to and you can help. It’s okay. We’ll explain everything.

  My eyes fly open when Brittany speaks in a low voice to the girl nearest her, whose eyes glaze over in a confused acceptance. The second and third kids are both boys whose names I can’t recall. One of them plops on his rear right in the soggy mud, not appearing to care whether he soaked his pants. The second stares at me, a look of wonderment rolling across his features and leaving him looking comically shocked.

  We repeat the process quickly, twice more, until all nine of them have been unveiled.

  Brittany finishes talking with the first girl, who nods and takes a deep breath, then moves on to the boys. Pax and Lucas grab a group of four and starting talking. I step over to our first convert, a short, pretty girl with sharp eyes, and hold out my hand like a grown-up. “Hi. I’m Althea.”

  She nods, swallowing hard and darting a glance at Brittany as though she wishes the girl she knows would come back. “Jordan.”

  “Are you okay, Jordan?”

  She lets loose a shaky laugh, running her hands through her waist-length brown hair, pulling it into a ponytail then holding it in her fist when she realizes she doesn’t have a tie. It springs back around her face as she shakes her head. “No. Definitely not okay, but maybe I will be soon.”

  I nod, appreciating her honest response. That, combined with the sturdy intelligence in her gaze, makes a snap decision for me. I tell her everything we know so far about the Others and what they’re doing on Earth, along with what Leah and Brittany have found out. “Brittany’s going to stay here for a few days, to make sure she answers all of your questions, but after that we’re going to ask her to come to the cabin where you guys might have to meet. If you think you can be in charge, I’ll leave the maps and the list of elements with you.”

  It’s a hunch, that Jordan’s the type of girl kids will follow, but one that I feel confident in. She listens as I continue with instructions and what we know so far, interrupting a few times with peppered questions, but seems satisfied at the end.

  “So, are you in?”

  After a moment, she looks up at me and smiles a little bit, stronger this time. “Do we have a choice?”

  It crosses my mind to try to buoy her spirits, or offer a joke, but in the end she deserves better. “Yes. Do nothing and accept that your lives are over when the Others leave. Or try to figure out how to survive. We always have a choice.”

  She nods as Lucas brushes past me to help Brittany with a tall towheaded boy who’s growing agitated, gesturing wildly as she talks to him. Trying to trust the two of them, I leave Pax to introduce himself to Jordan and move to a skinny boy with glasses still sitting cross-legged in the mud and squat down beside him.

  The tears gathered in his eyes make me afraid, and instinct says to handle him as Lucas and I did the deer we met in the woods—carefully, with no sudden movements.

  “Hi. I’m Althea.”

  “You talked in our heads.”

  “Yeah. Yeah, I did do that.”

  “That’s a weird thing to do.” He frowns, wiping at an escaped tear with the back of his hand. “You shouldn’t do that.”

  I swallow, unsure how to handle him. “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again. What’s your name?”

  “Ryan.”

  “Ryan, did you understand what I told you? About the Others?”

  “That they’re bad. We’re going to die when they leave.”

  I nod, trying to decide the best way to approach him. Even though his eyes are huge and frightened behind his glasses, Ryan hasn’t run away. That has to count for something. “Maybe not. Are you good at science?”

  It’s a guess as to the reason Brittany chose him, but it hits home and a grin lights up his face. “Yes, the best at Cell. But I’m even better at math.”

  I grin back. “That’s great. It’s perfect. You’ll be able to help Brittany figure out what you guys can do to stop the Others from ruining everything, you think?”

  Before he answers, the third boy storms off without a backward glance. Lucas and Brittany watch him go as Pax and I go to their side.

  “Should we go after him?” Pax wonders.

  Brittany and Lucas shake their blond heads in unison, but she’s the one who speaks. She’ll be a strong leader. “No. He’s not going to tell anyone. Phil never goes along with anything until he finds a way to make it his idea.”

  When she goes back to making her way down the line, I smile at Lucas. He smiles back, and for the briefest of moments, we’re alone in the park. I think that he’s okay with letting Phil run off because he’s the same way, needing time to process.

  We help Brittany talk quietly to the eight remaining kids, getting to know them as well as we can and explaining as much as we dare. They’ve all been briefed on the primordial elements and the fact that the Others are using one of them to survive. We’ve told them that there isn’t much time, and that if no one hears from the three of us in the next two months, they should convene at the cabin in Deadwood—if they still want to help—and try to pool their brainpower to come up with another way to win.

  There are four girls and five boys; including Brittany, we now have an army of ten, providing Phil’s still in. Pax wouldn’t like the war reference, even though none of us can deny that’s what we’re preparing for, no matter how short-lived it may turn out to be. The army, which I resist thinking of as ours since it doesn’t really belong to us but to the planet, includes Brittany, Jordan, Aaron, Emily, Caroline, Alex, Kerstin, Ryan, Phil, and Christian.

  Their faces are a full array of emotions, dominated by a mixture of fear and determination. Some display a healthy skepticism still, even though the simple fact that an hour ago they were mind controlled and now they aren’t has to count for something. At least Brittany will be here to answer whatever questions they have.

  Lucas, Pax, and I prepare to leave for
Atlanta, our next stop. I’m excited to see it, hoping the weather will be warmer there already since it’s a summery type of place.

  Lucas shoots me a look, his eyebrows raised and head cocked toward Brittany. I think he’s wondering why I’m not asking Brittany how she feels about playing Healer to the Sidhe, but I shake my head. She needs to stay here for at least a few days to get everyone on an even keel and moving in the right direction. We’ll have to come back for her, if it works out.

  We thank everyone, say good-bye, take hands, and head for Atlanta.

  ***

  In Atlanta Pax takes the lead since this is where he stayed for those three years in Intermediate Cell, and brings us to a pretty, skinny girl named Sophia. She takes everything well, except with far more crying than we’ve encountered in the past. Thinking about it, I’m surprised we don’t see more of that kind of thing when the veils holding the emotions back disappear. It makes sense that everything would come tumbling out.

  She cries harder while we tell her everything we know, offering as much proof as we’re able, and when we tell her about the Broken being enslaved her whimpers turn into sobs. When they finally settle into hiccups, Lucas offers her a wad of tissues he grabbed from the cleansing room and she dries her face, huge brown eyes glinting and wet.

  “Huh. These work pretty well for…what are these called?” she asks, holding out her soaking tissue.

  “Tears,” I tell her with a smile. “You’re crying.”

  We tell her about the maps and how to read them, watching her eyes widen with curiosity at every word. She tucks the copies of those, along with her list of possible substances that sustain the Others, under her mattress. We spend the whole night answering her questions, and we don’t leave until we’re sure she believes us.