Truths Unspoken

by K. J. McPike

  Chapter 60

  Loss

  Burning spread through my torso as the room swam around me. I stared down at my shirt, watching blood soak through the thin fabric. She shot me. Solstice shot me. Pain clouded my mind, but that thought rang out loud and clear. Solstice wanted me dead.

  My throat convulsed. She’d shoot again if I didn’t drop to the floor. Closing my eyes, I let my knees give out, and the floor rushed up to meet me. The jolt of contact sent another knife of agony through me.

  “Solstice!” Cade roared.

  “Kai!” Lali screamed.

  Everyone’s shouts seemed far away. I heard feet shuffle, and someone fired another shot. My stomach rolled. I couldn’t see who had pulled the trigger, but no one else hit the floor.

  Yet.

  “Nobody moves,” Solstice ordered.

  Squeezing my eyes shut tighter, I tried to breathe through the pain. Every inhale only added to its intensity. But I had to overcome it. I had to stop Solstice before she hurt anyone else.

  Or worse.

  “What are you thinking?” Cade shouted. “He was useful.”

  Useful? A new fire rushed through me that had nothing to do with the bullet. Was that all I was to him? A means to an end? What about the fact that I was his only family in this world? He didn’t call my name or come over to check on me. Did he even care that I could be dead? Had he ever really cared about me?

  “He’s also a threat,” Solstice spat. “I don’t need him appearing next to me and grabbing my gun.”

  I swallowed hard. Grabbing a gun was the only way I could help. But there were two of them, and I wasn’t even sure I’d have the strength to project. Gritting my teeth against the pain, I arched my back slightly just to make sure I could still move.

  Cade told someone to get up without a trace of emotion in his voice.

  Over the throbbing in my head, I half-registered Xiomara saying her kids had nothing to do with this. But it was Cade’s icy voice that made me freeze.

  “They have everything to do with this,” he said coldly. “You ruined my life, Mara. Now I’m going to ruin yours, and the lives of the people you care about most. The Eyes and Ears will have big plans for them, I’m sure.”

  The pounding in my head grew stronger. So that had been his plan all along. All Cade ever cared about was revenge. He didn’t care about me, and he didn’t care about Kala. Xiomara had been right about him using me, brainwashing me so I’d be dumb enough to do his dirty work.

  I opened my eyes to slits, barely seeing the chandelier above me. I couldn’t let him get away with it. If I could distract him long enough, one of the others would have to catch on and go after Solstice. She would be much easier to overpower than my uncle. I would take him down myself.

  I barely heard the shouts around me anymore. I put all my energy into focusing my mind on Cade’s face—the face of betrayal.

  I managed to slip into a preview and targeted the floor a few paces away from where he stood in front of Xiomara. Both of them were so close to the broken window that sprinkles of broken glass surrounded their feet.

  Still on my back, I appeared at Cade’s side. Ignoring the searing heat in my chest, I rolled onto my hands and knees and sprang at my uncle before he could register my presence. One of the guns went off, but I kept going until my shoulder slammed into him. Spikes of agony shot through my upper body, ripping away my breath. The next thing I knew, broken glass rained around us. It took me a second too long to realize what was happening, and we moved through what was left of the picture window.

  Then we were falling past the cliff face, toward the rocks below.

  Darkness muted the view of the bluff as it sped past, and everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Air forced tears to my eyes, making it even harder to see. I clung to the cotton of Cade’s shirt with one hand and scrambled to find skin with the other. My fingers closed around his hand. Just as I shut my eyes and projected to Lanai, he slipped out of my grasp.

  I hit the beach with a thud. Alone.

  “No!” I screamed. The heave of my chest pushed fire through the rest of my body, but I couldn’t stop the wails coming out of me. I killed my uncle. The last three years of my life blew through my mind like a tornado. I’d never be able to get an explanation from him, to unleash my fury on him for deceiving me—for the nights I spent telling myself I owed him everything for taking me in and actually feeling grateful that he did.

  Every inhale was torture, and I felt my energy seeping out of me, but I pictured Cade’s face. I tried to preview him, hoping he’d survived the fall somehow or managed to project to the transposer in time to switch to his physical body before hitting the rock.

  But all I found was blackness. Nothingness.

  My heart stuttered. Coughs racked my body, sending new waves of pain through me. My uncle was dead, just like the boy in the picture at Solstice’s apartment.

  Solstice.

  Did she still have a gun, or had the others been able to subdue her? I had to make sure the rest of them were okay. Using every bit of strength I could muster, I projected myself to the transposer house. Part of me feared I’d find more death, but all I saw was Xiomara and Lali staring in the direction of the broken window. Where was everyone else?

  “Lali.” I started toward her, my steps uneven. Her face went blank as she took me in. “Are you okay?” I asked.

  Her eyes bulged, and then rolled back into her head. The next second, she was on the ground.

  “Lali!” My outburst caused another wave of torture to tear through me as I stumbled toward her.

  Xiomara crouched next to her daughter and cradled her head. She looked up at me when I knelt in front of them. “How are you—”

  “Forget it,” I said. “Where are the others?”

  “They ran. Solstice went crazy and—” Xiomara let out a loud cry, her eyes filling with tears as they landed on something behind me. I followed her gaze to an unmoving body on the floor a few yards away. Delta. Blood pooled around her head, and her eyes were wide open and unblinking.

  My stomach heaved. I fought to keep it from erupting as my brain flashed between the gruesome scene in front of me and the similar scene I’d witnessed with my parents.

  “Kai, we have to get out of here,” Xiomara whimpered. “Solstice could bring the Eyes and Ears back here any minute.”

  I shook my head, unable to look away from Delta. “We have to get her to a hospital.”

  “She’s gone, Kai.” Xiomara let her tears fall. “We’ll come back for her and give her a proper burial, I swear. But right now, we have to go.”

  I still hesitated.

  “Please,” she said. “Kids! Come out here. We have to go.”

  I took shallow breaths, praying I’d have the strength to project them all home. The burning in my chest was getting worse, and I was getting more and more lightheaded by the second.

  Lali’s four younger siblings peeked around the door jamb one by one, followed by Ori.

  “Hurry,” Xiomara urged, waving them over with her free hand. They followed her command, though Oxanna was practically dragging Salaxia. Ignoring the head rush, I took the girls home first, followed by the twins.

  When I returned to the transposer house a second time, Ori was covering her face, standing only a couple feet away from Delta’s body.

  Xiomara still sat with Lali’s head in her lap. “Can you hear me?” She brushed her daughter’s bangs out of her eyes.

  Lali groaned as Xiomara slid a hand under her head.

  “It’s going to be okay, sweetie,” Xiomara said. “We’ll get you home.” She looked at me. “Can you lift her?”

  I shook my head. “I have a better idea.” I sat beside them, took each of their wrists, and projected to Lali’s bed.

  Sliding off the side of her mattress, I staggered to my feet. Xiomara did the same on Lali’s other side and tugged the crumpled comforter from the foot of the bed to cover her.

  Promising myself I’d stay c
onscious long enough to take the other two home, I went back to the transposer house and found Ori helping Ursula step out of the tunnel below the house. She must’ve been hiding down there when everything went crazy. She’d been smart to run for it.

  It didn’t take long to get each of them home before I went to check on Lali. She still hadn’t opened her eyes.

  “Is she going to be okay?” I asked, grabbing onto her bedpost to keep myself from collapsing.

  “Yes,” Xiomara said, her gaze landing on my chest. “But I can’t say the same about you.” She pointed to the bloodstain on my shirt. “You need to get that looked at.”

  “It’s a low caliber gun.” Even as I said it, the room seemed to sway. I could feel the last of my energy draining.

  “I don’t care,” she argued. “I’m driving you to the hospital.”

  Xiomara insisted on going into the emergency room with me. She pretended to be my mother and told them I’d been hurt in a hunting accident. The staff seemed to buy it. They rushed me into a room and went to work.

  Turned out, the bullet had lodged into one of my ribs. I didn’t need surgery, but they had to remove it and sew me up. The local anesthesia burned like hell, but after that, I barely felt anything as they cleaned and stitched up the wound. More than anything, I just wanted to go to sleep. Xiomara sat next to me, holding my hand the whole time as I slipped in and out of consciousness. I couldn’t help but think of one of the few memories I had of my mother, of her holding my hand while Kala sat in her lap during story time.

  But that family was gone, and now so was everyone else. Grandma Naida. Cade. My chance to find my sister. I had nothing left. That was the last thought I had before slipping into darkness.

  …I woke up the next day, went home, and well, you know the rest. Sorry, this letter is turning into a novel. I wanted to explain everything in person, but when I tried, we got into a huge fight. You told me you wanted me out of your life forever, and I’ve tried to respect that. I haven’t contacted you for weeks. Honestly, I was hoping that once you cooled off, you’d start to think about what I said and understand my mindset, maybe even miss me, but it’s clear that you meant what you said.

  But Lali, you’re the only person I have left in this world, and I need your help. I’ve gone back to Alea countless times to search for the lab, and I can’t find it. I might be projecting myself in circles—it’s impossible to tell up there. Kala is still trapped, and I’m going at it alone trying to get her back. It’s too much.

  What I said to you that day in the cafeteria about not needing people—well, I was wrong. I know that now, because I need you. I understand that it’s my fault you don’t want to talk to me, but I hope this letter will help you find it in your heart to forgive me. I am truly sorry for hurting you, and I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. I just hope that one day, you’ll let me back into yours.

  Love,

  Kai

  I set down my pen and skim the letter one last time. I’ve said all I can say. I just hope it’s enough.

  Folding the paper in half, and then into quarters, I write Lali across the back and gaze at the shiny black ink until it loses its sheen. I’ve never felt so pathetic. Now that I’ve lost everyone in this world and I’m no closer to finding my sister in another, the loneliness is crippling.

  Lali has to see that. Despite everything, I know she has a good heart—even if that heart hates me at the moment. Maybe this letter will be the start of me changing that.

  Rubbing my fingers over the purple stone that hangs around my neck, I close my eyes and preview her. She’s sitting with Nelson. His arm is around her shoulders. I ignore the stabbing feeling the sight gives me and pull out of the preview with a sigh. I can’t show up when she’s with him. Maybe I’ll just leave the note on her nightstand and be done with it. Like you should have done with the note her mother wrote to her.

  The thought taunts me, but I force it away. I have enough regrets as it is. I get to my feet at the same moment a silvery form bursts into my room. I leap back, but the shape follows me and stops inches from where I stand. The face is transparent and sparkly, but I’d know that sneer anywhere.

  Solstice.

  “Kai, how nice to see you,” she jeers, her astral form hovering just above the floor. “How are things?”

  “Get out,” I snarl, but I know as well as she does that there is nothing I can do to make her leave. I should’ve paid more attention when Xiomara set up the block around the basement.

  “That’s no way to greet an old friend.” Solstice crosses her see-through arms. “Especially one that could easily kill your dear sister.”

  All the air goes out of the room. I want to believe she’s bluffing, but I can’t be sure. If she’s been back to Alea, she could have access to the lab.

  “Funny how the tables have turned, isn’t it?” she coos. “Now it’s my turn to threaten you, to use you as my pawn the way you used me. Some would call that karma.”

  I feel my stomach twist. If Solstice really can get to Kala, I know she won’t hesitate to hurt her. “What do you want?” I ask, dreading the answer.

  “That’s more like it.” She locks her silvery eyes on mine. “I’m here to offer you a trade. Your sister in exchange for Lali and the rest of her little semmie siblings. I don’t know if you intentionally kept me from learning where they live, but I’m sure you know how to find them.”

  I can’t form words. All I can do is stare.

  “It’s not wise to waste time. I helped them awaken Kala’s ability today, and they’ve decided it’s not as useful as they had hoped. They were ready to dispose of her until I explained that she could be traded for five more semmies.” Her smile is cruel.

  My teeth clench as I think of the plan she and my uncle came so close to completing—the plan I came so close to helping them complete without knowing it.

  “How long?” I demand. “How long were you and Cade using me like a puppet?”

  She cackles. “It all started the first time you left me at Delta’s house. Cade helped me realize that he and I had the same goals. And then when you and Delta tried to fool us with your little power-awakening ritual, it ended up working out even better. We had only planned to turn you over to the Eyes and Ears, but instead, we got five more semmies to use as bargaining chips.”

  I think I might be sick. It’s my fault. All of it is my fault.

  “Speaking of those little abominations,” she says, cocking her astral head to the side. “Have them here in forty-eight hours, or your sister dies.” She drifts up to me and pats me on the cheek with an icy hand. “Tick tock.”

  With that, she drifts over my bed and vanishes through my wall without a trace.

  I stagger back and fall onto my bed. Is she bluffing? Could she really have access to Kala?

  A gulp moves down my throat. I can’t risk it. But I can’t turn Lali and her siblings in to the Eyes and Ears either.

  I force my hand through my hair. There has to be another way. Between all of our abilities, there has to be something we can do. Even if Lali hates me, I need her now more than ever.

  Crap.

  END OF BOOK 1.5

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  Fates Unsparing

  Book 2

  Prologue

  Present Day

  Solstice’s silver face lifted in triumph. She flew through the
inky sky in astral form, the sprinkle of stars seeming to shine even brighter as she replayed that perfect encounter with Kai in her mind. A simple threat to kill his precious little sister and he crumpled like tissue paper. So predictable. It was only a matter of time until he played right into her hands.

  Just ahead, the dark blanket of night gave way to a glowing green circle that grew as Solstice neared. She surged toward it, trying to ignore the stretches of water peeking through the milky fog below. Tempting as it was to dive and skim the bay’s surface like she had done countless times in her youth, she needed to get home. Arlo would be expecting a report soon, and she could not disappoint him again. She would not disappoint him. This time, everything had gone according to plan.

  All they had to do now was wait.

  Chapter 1

  Emergency

  “They’re fighting again.” Salaxia threw her pencil down next to her half-finished math worksheet and slumped onto the kitchen table. Her large crystal-gray eyes filled with tears, and I didn’t have to follow her gaze to know she was watching our parents through the open window near the front door. I could hear their harsh whispers over the crunch of gravel as they walked across the driveway. They’d pasted on fake smiles to tell us they were “going for a drive,” as if my siblings and I hadn’t figured out what that meant.

  Letting out a sigh, I set down my own pencil and leaned in to wrap an arm around my baby sister. She was only nine, and my first instinct was to reassure her, but I knew she was right. It had been three weeks since Mom came home—three weeks since we finally told Dad the truth about our abilities. But instead of life getting better now that everything was out in the open, things were only getting worse. Dad had switched from crying every night to yelling. Though our parents tried to hide it from us, it was easy to see the effects of their constant fighting. Dad flinched whenever Mom spoke, he left for work before she was even awake, and when they came home from their “drives,” Dad’s posture was always stiff, Mom’s eyes always red-rimmed.