Shattered Secrets

by Krystal Wade

  Well, that’s nice. A secret. As long as that secret was there and not here, Derick and I would be safe, like he said. We’d just have to get rid of Boredas and Ruckus.

  “Thank you, book. That was enlightening.” I cringed, realizing I was once again speaking to an inanimate object, further giving me reason to call Dr. Pavarti.

  Compliments of Mr. Crawford, I knew my dad—Brendan—sent servants to protect the Guardians here—or that he sent people to protect me. But he must not have known about my kidnappers, because they weren’t mentioned. I skimmed farther down the page, trying to skip over any details of my parents’ death. “After murdering the Elder and his wife—and the planes remained closed—Aedan’s desperation turned to cold-hearted insanity. He waged battle against not only good—”

  That’s it. I can’t read any more about this. “Tell me something else I need to know. What’s the secret, and how do I find it?”

  All the words faded from the page, and new ink appeared, new, sprawling, had-to-be-made-up-in-my-head ink. I yawned, my body finally tired again. But going to sleep wasn’t an option now; I still had to find answers about whatever Derick and I felt in our chests.

  The symbol of the Guardian took up the first half of the new page, and this time a deep-burgundy color filled the free space around the points of the star and within the circle.

  “Guardians are the most trusted of the Maker’s servants, blessed with the strongest power to protect humans, and are all descendants of the Original: the spirit of a human who was known for never losing a battle.”

  We’re the mysterious Maker’s best. I got enough of that from Mr. Crawford. Being all-powerful wasn’t exactly in my life plans though. Life plans weren’t even in my life plans, not anymore. Could I even return to normal after this?

  I shook my head, jolting my straying thoughts back to the book. “Guardians morphed into a group of purists clouded in their judgment of what humans need. They lost sight of when to stop wars, when to aid with health and repair natural…”

  My eyes were too heavy to keep open. I wanted information that would explain the Guardian’s secret—not Guardians—information that would explain what Derick and I felt on the beach earlier—not about my heritage. Well, I wanted that, but not at—I glanced at the clock—3:00 a.m.

  Wow.

  A chill ran up my legs. Suddenly being warm next to Derick didn’t sound so bad, but since the book was in a sharing mood tonight, I had to ask one more question. “What did I feel in my chest earlier?”

  Kalóan Relationships appeared on the page. “You better be in a sharing mood tomorrow, or Derick will never believe this.”

  “There are many forms of love: some are fleeting, some blossom and stay around for a time, and some are meant to last forever, sustaining the natural ups and downs of maturing minds. Strong emotions draw a youth’s secondary powers to the surface. These emotions will also remove the veil of secrecy if living on the human plane, making the youth’s essence traceable (See: Living Off-Plane). Parents should offer guidance and explain the differences between longevity and lust.”

  Yeah, tell that to every parent on the planet. If Mom and Dad read this, they’d laugh and say ‘love isn’t real until you’re finished with college, have traveled the world, and have a job’—or something along those lines.

  “Commitment will strengthen their bond and tether their essence. Each time the relationship is tested and they prove themselves worthy of each other’s love, they will share powers, and their light will increase. This is something the youth feel and should be proud of.”

  Wow. Tethering and increasing light and feelings. Is this book telling me I’m committed to Derick… for life?

  “Once the transformation from youth to adult is complete, a period of nine years from age twelve to twenty-one, the youth’s essence could potentially be tethered to many, weakening inherent powers and giving way to a host of varying abilities.”

  My chest tightened. The world seemed stacked against us. We had proof we were in the right place—the Safe Zone served as the best indicator for that—but the paragraph I read could explain why Derick’s family moved to Virginia around our pre-teen years, putting weight on Mr. Snellings’s disgusting comment about breeding. This paragraph could also explain why my dad didn’t want me around Derick: if we fell in love, anyone could find me because my essence would grow brighter—never mind the commitment thing.

  Why couldn’t we just be two teens who loved each other, teens who dated without worrying about otherworldly secrets and merging powers?

  This book sucked.

  I’d rather have discovered the truth about myself from my parents, at least what they knew of it, if I could even trust them—or anyone.

  Mr. Crawford might have created this Safe Zone just so I could be with his son. God, it’s possible that Derick knew about this.

  No. He couldn’t. Of all the people in this world I trusted, I trusted him the most. I had to tell him about the Guardians and the relationships and the secret.

  I set the book on the table, then headed down the hall.

  Thump.

  I froze mid-step. “I did not just hear the book fall.”

  The mattress squeaked, and Derick sat up and blinked a few times. “Abby? What are you doing?”

  Glancing back, I battled with an urge to flee the condo or run to Derick. Neither involved reading some stupid book that was surely communicating with my PTSD’d mind.

  “Abigail Nichols, why are you standing in the hall?” Derick asked, sliding his warm arms around my waist. “You’re trembling. What happened?”

  “The book… it… helped me figure out some things.”

  He held me at arm’s length, frowning. “What kind of things?”

  “No. The book, like the book showed me things when I asked it questions.” No psychiatrist would second-guess prescribing me drugs if he heard me speaking this way. A book cannot think, has no mouth, and cannot magically show people things. I knew this, but I couldn’t dispute what I saw. “I’m a Guardian, and in order to open the planes, I have to know some secret. And the tingly feelings, that’s because we’re in love and our essences are tethering to each other and our powers are mingling and—”

  “How long have you been awake?”

  “I’m not sure. Last time I looked at the clock was 3:00 a.m.”

  Derick took my hand and dragged me toward the sofa, but one glance at the table made me stop and nearly pull away from him.

  The book lay open, and words scrawled across the page: Don’t ever tell anyone about the secret again, Abigail Nichols.

  Tears fell from my eyes, and I wanted to go home, to have my mom hold me, to have my dad protect me. “Can we talk about this tomorrow?”

  Derick looked at the TV and then nodded. “Are you sure you weren’t dreaming? It’s been three hours since you last noticed the time.”

  I stared at him. Dreaming. Dreaming would be nice. I would prefer that over lying to the only person I could trust, but I didn’t believe it. That would be too easy. “Maybe you’re right.”

  Mr. Banaan

  waited years to make this phone call, hoping the day would never arrive. I couldn’t ignore this situation, though. They were here, just like he said they’d be—or just like she said they’d be.

  Mrs. Crawford was very specific about the arrival date of the runaways, though I never knew how she was so sure these kids would escape here, on a specific date… or that they’d escape at all.

  That’s why I put my son in charge of the property while he vacationed in Longboat. That, and the Crawfords gave me Silver Sands with the requisite that I’d check the building daily, but I’m a busy man. Time for inspections didn’t exist in my schedule, especially for such low profits.

  I punched in the code on the safe and then pulled out yet another, smaller safe. How I remembered the combination, I have no idea. The lock popped, and I took out a thick manila folder labeled Derick and Abby. Adam Crawford wrote his phone
number across the front so I wouldn’t have trouble finding it.

  With trembling hands, I dialed, then listened to the ringing.

  I’d never been this afraid in my life, and I had no explanation as to why my heart ran wild.

  “Hello?”

  “Mr. Crawford?”

  “Yes.”

  “This is Mr. Banaan. Derick and Abby—”

  “Don’t say another word. Don’t ever speak another word about them to anyone but me or my wife. Do you understand?”

  Some days I regretted my decision to take their property. Nothing in life is ever free. “I understand, sir.”

  “Where are they?”

  “My son found them on the beach yesterday.”

  “Your son?” He sighed. “No. No. This isn’t right. Lillian!”

  “Mr. Crawford?”

  “Eh-hem.” Debby stood at my office door, pointing at her shiny gold watch, a wide grin on her ass-kissing face. I had a six-o’clock, and she must have thought she earned the ‘good job’ sticker for being the one to remind me.

  “I have a meeting, Mr. Crawford,” I said.

  “You have to cancel it. This is a matter of life and death.”

  “Life and death?” I waved Debby on; she’d figure out a good excuse. If not, I’d fire her. “I know they’re in some trouble, but—”

  “Mr. Banaan’s son, not Mr. Banaan, discovered the children on the beach.”

  “No.” Mrs. Crawford’s gasp came through the phone loud and clear. “Did he recognize them?”

  I almost laughed. “I’m sure he did. Their faces are plastered all over the news. How could he not? My son lives in the same town. For all I know, they probably go to the same school.”

  Mr. Crawford conveyed what I said to his wife, his voice dull and lifeless.

  “Specifically. Did he specifically say he knows them?” she asked, her voice muffled as she wasn’t the one actually talking on the phone. Odd people.

  “No. Just that they looked familiar.” I flipped a pencil between my fingers. “What’s going on?”

  “Aedan will do anything to get to Abigail, spare no one who has feelings for her, Adam. Will has always carried a torch for her. If he sees through the Safe Zone, if somehow they spend time together and anything happens that upsets Derick… no, we must stop this. Mr. Banaan’s son poses a threat to Derick and Abby’s safety—and his. The less people involved, the better.”

  “What about my son’s safety?” Never mind how she knew Will’s particular interest in young women.

  “You’re a damned fool, Mr. Banaan. We gave you explicit instructions, gave you a building for free, told you how important it was for you to monitor that building’s tenants—”

  “Yes, but—”

  “But now you’ve interfered with matters you’ll never understand, put your son’s life at risk.”

  I slammed my fist against my desk. “I’m calling the police, Mr. Crawford.”

  “No, you’re not.”

  A strange calm washed over me, and a memory of Will running around our private beach flashed through my head, a carefree smile on his cheeks, tossing shells into the crystal clear surf.

  “When you bought that vacation property in Longboat, you promised it would be a retreat for the two of you, you promised to always be there for your son, and now you’ve let him down in the worst possible way. Not only could he come between one of the most important relationships of our time, he could get himself killed in the process.”

  How did he know what I promised my son? How did he know—“Did you say most important relationship in the world? What does all this mean? Who will kill him? Who is Aedan?”

  “So you do still care.”

  Mr. Crawford tested my patience. How dare he insinuate I didn’t love Will.

  “How dare I, you ask?”

  Did I say that aloud?

  “No. You did not. Do I have your full attention now?”

  I wiped my hand over my face and wished I never took that building from the Crawfords. A meeting with Debby—the do-gooder—would have been better than this. “You do.”

  “Derick and Abigail are in the middle of a transformation I cannot explain to you. If your son comes between them, between their bond, there is no doubt their happiness will falter—”

  I snapped the pencil in half and chucked the pieces into the trashcan across the room. “You’ve got to be kidding me?”

  “Should I read your mind again, or are you going to be intelligent enough to hear me out?”

  I liked his fire, but he sounded like a lunatic. “I’ll listen.”

  “If their happiness falters, the men who kidnapped Abigail will be able to find her again. Her life protects all life on Earth.”

  “Okay. I’ve heard enough.” I flung the files back into the safe, then twisted the dial. “You’ve played me a fool for too many years.”

  “26-19-37.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “That’s the combination to the safe you just tossed my file into.”

  My heart raced at a beat that would surely land me in the hospital. “Do me a favor, Mr. Crawford, and talk in bullets. I don’t want too many details. Just tell me what I need to know and what I need to do.”

  “Your son is a threat to my son and Abigail. Keep Will away from them and you’ll keep him safe, too.”

  “Done. I’ll take the first flight home.”

  “And Mr. Banaan?”

  “Yes?”

  “We gave you that building with more than one requisite. Do your part in guiding them. They are young and in love and need to trust one another to remain safe. Keep him away from Abigail.”

  Loosening my tie, I propped the phone on my ear and pulled up a travel site. “Anything else?”

  “A lot of work went into ensuring my wife and I would forget the location of the condo on Longboat, which is why we gave that building to you, Mr. Banaan. And shortly after this call ends, the spell will make us forget you exist, too. But if you fail and our children are harmed, you won’t be safe from our memory. Do I make myself clear?”

  Was he threatening me?

  “Yes. I am. Now, do I make myself clear?”

  I hit confirm on the travel site for a morning flight home, then closed my laptop. “Perfectly.”

  I dialed my assistant.

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Get Sgt. Aarons on the phone for me.”

  I hung up before Debby could say another word.

  No one threatened me.

  Derick

  knew Abigail better than she thought. I knew her so well that when she tried hiding something from me, she got this little glint in those chocolate brown eyes that gave her away. She hated herself when she lied.

  She hated other people when they lied.

  But I refused to ask her again.

  Whatever sat on Abby’s mind and tormented her wouldn’t reveal itself until she was ready to tell me.

  In the meantime, I’d try figuring out what sent her emotions spiraling out of control.

  We couldn’t afford unhappiness, and too much lying would knock her down fast.

  The faucets squeaked, and the metal hooks squealed as Abby pushed aside the shower curtain. I propped the stupid book on my knees, then flipped page after page, searching for whatever Guardian secret she mentioned or for the section talking about love and those numbing sensations we felt in our chests.

  But finding specific answers in this book required time and patience, neither of which I had at the moment.

  Powers, Elders, the beginning of time… these things I understood. But no matter how many pages I skipped, or chapters I searched for, I couldn’t find anything that Abby had. Like the book kept something from me that it didn’t keep from her.

  Like magic possessed the pages.

  “Are you magical?”

  Maybe island fever infected my brain. Or maybe I was a complete idiot.

  “Hey, Derick, can you grab me a fresh towel?”

 
Slamming the book closed, I jumped to my feet then dashed down the hall.

  The last thing I wanted to do was have her catch me talking to a book.

  I grabbed a towel from the linen closet and snuck into the bathroom.

  Abby turned off the water and peeked around the curtain. She screamed, nearly toppling over in the tub. “When did you get in here?” Her eyes widened. “You weren’t in the bathroom the whole time, were you?”

  So innocent… and so beautiful with beads of water sliding down her cheeks.

  Turning my head, I suppressed a laugh. “Oh, I was in here the whole time, staring at your outline through the curtain, stalking you. That’s what I do, you know. Stalk women—especially young pretty ones like you.”

  “Just give me a towel.” Abby stuck out her tongue and snatched the towel from me.

  We met eyes, and for an instant, I knew she wanted to tell me something. She wanted to offload her stress and open her mouth and blurt out everything clogging up her thoughts. But then, she wiped the blue fabric over her face and let the curtain fall back into place, the little magnets clicking as they attached to the side of the tub.

  “So, I was thinking we could stay in this afternoon and watch movies. Is that okay with you?” she asked.

  “Sure.” Her sudden lack of trust in me hurt, but I had to let it go. “Sounds great.”

  I only hoped I could.

  Abigail

  Lying to Derick felt… horrible. Worse than anything I’d ever experienced. Looking at him made my stomach ache, my head hurt, and my heart crack in two. If I believed I wasn’t insane—which I couldn’t rule out—then that meant the book that Derick’s parents entrusted to us to teach us everything about our new world didn’t trust Derick.

  And now, he couldn’t trust me.

  Where did that leave us?

  “You haven’t touched food all day.” Derick shoved a cheese quesadilla under my nose. Turns out he cooked quite well, if sprinkling cheese on tortillas and heating them up in a pan could be considered cooking, but I refused to eat.

  All I wanted to do was curl up in a corner and cry.

  He tossed dinner on my plate and wiped his hands. “Come on.”