The Forbidden Trilogy

by Kimberly Kinrade

  Luke shrugs and chases her rock with his own. "I just hope we're making the right choices, because sometimes it doesn't feel like it."

  The water fills with flowers and Lucy dips her hand in to play with a rainbow flower. This valley is so peaceful, so perfect. She lifts the flower from the water and admires the many colored petals all working together to create the rainbow effect. The simplicity and beauty impresses her.

  She looks up to show Luke the flower and sees something in the water coming near him. A pair of eyes peeks out, cutting a path through the flower-strewn lake. Again, a sense of deja vu clutches at her, filling her with dread. Is it an alligator in the water?

  Her heart races in panic, though she's not sure why. "Luke, there's something behind you. Run!"

  Luke smirks at her but doesn't move. "Why?"

  This is too familiar, but she doesn't understand. She moves toward her brother and is about to tackle him, to push him away, but eyes rise from the water and she sees it's not an alligator. It's a giant lizard. She's seen it before, but where?

  Green scales glisten in the sun, and its heart pulses under its skin like a living ruby. With unparalleled speed, the lizard dives forward and snatches Luke with its claws, pulling him back into the water.

  "No! Leave him alone!" Lucy's screams fall flat. She dodges the tail as it swings around to smack her.

  She draws her gun and fires, over and over again. Pow-Pow-Pow.

  Bullets imbed themselves in the flesh of the lizard, and it roars and groans, spinning viciously, looking for something to attack.

  Lucy doesn't stop firing. She empties her clip into the beast.

  The lizard roars again and flings Luke at her. His body soars through the air and hits a tree, falling limp onto the ground.

  "Luke. Luke!" Lucy rushes to him, eyes locked on her twin, his pale face now coated in blood, a small hole—a bullet hole—carved into his temple.

  "Oh, my God, what have I done? What have I done?" She can't take her eyes off her dead brother, though she can hear the lizard approaching her from behind.

  Her body refuses to move, refuses to pull away from Luke. Even when she feels the beast take up the space behind her. Even when she feels its hot breath on her neck. Still, she cannot move.

  Cannot turn, or fight, or flee.

  Goosebumps run down her arm and a cold sweat covers her skin.

  Sharp teeth impale themselves in her neck and shoulder. Pain. So much pain.

  Then nothing.

  ***

  Not nothing. More pain. Why did everything hurt so much? Lucy pushed herself up from her stomach and collapsed back to the ground, too weak to move and in too much agony to try again. A breeze stung her raw and exposed back and she yelped in shock.

  With her cheek pressed against leaves, she saw Luke's feet approach her. The gut-wrenching fear from her dream drained out of her when she realized he was still alive—that it hadn't been real.

  He crouched down so she could see him better. The dark circles under his eyes hadn't been there before, and worry lines marred his complexion. "You're awake. I'm so glad. I thought... well, never mind. I'm just so glad you're okay. If anything had happened to you, I'd...."

  Tears stung her cheek at the sight of her brother so upset. Had she really been that injured? Images of the lizard flashed in her mind—the pain as it tore through her back, Hunter slaying it and carrying her back to camp, the pulsing of the sphere and the warmth.

  "Where's my pack? I need it."

  "Hey, Luce, this is no time to go marching into the jungle again. You can barely move. You have to heal."

  "I know. I'm not going anywhere. I just need it, okay? Can you get it?"

  "Sure, if it'll make you feel better." He stood and walked a few feet, then came back and placed the pack by Lucy's hands.

  The pack pulsed with life from the sphere, and Lucy craved the feel of the cool metal against her skin, but she couldn't take it out with her brother standing right there. Still, the pulsing warmth comforted her and took the sting out of her wounds.

  Luke sat cross-legged a few feet from her so she could see his face even while on the ground. His skin looked pale, and dark circles loomed under his eyes. "It's amazing how fast your wounds are healing. When Hunter carried you here, your back looked like ground meat. Mr. K taught me how to make an herbal remedy to help, but still, you healed quite a bit in just the first few hours."

  "Must be the magic of this place. Maybe the herbs you used had superpowers." Or maybe it's the sphere. "Where's Hunter? Is he okay?"

  "Resting. He's been asleep almost as much as you." Luke adjusted his long legs, trying to make them fit in the small tent. "I managed to get most of the story out of him before he collapsed, though. Sounded pretty terrifying." His eyes clouded with tears but he shook his head and blinked. "I'm sorry I wasn't there."

  Lucy reached for his hand, despite the pain pulling at her skin. "Don't blame yourself. There was nothing you could have done. Besides, I told you to stay here."

  "Yeah, but I didn't have to listen."

  "Of course you did. You have to respect your elders."

  He dropped her hand and laughed. "Don't even start. Wouldn't want the elder to run out of breath."

  "Wouldn't want to make the baby's head hurt from all the big words."

  "Whatever. Get some rest, old woman. If being born one minute before me counts as old."

  A new warmth filled her. Not the kind brought on by the sphere, but the kind that only lighthearted banter with her brother could bring. She'd missed this side of him and was so glad he was back.

  "I am kind of tired." She closed her eyes.

  The deep voice of Mr. K filled her mind. "Lucy, I'm sorry about what happened. If I'd been listening more, maybe I could have warned you. I'd—"

  "It's okay," Lucy said. "It's not your fault. Thank you for helping Luke figure out the herbal mixture. It's really helped."

  "You're welcome. I'm glad you're back."

  "Me too."

  The talking exhausted her, and she needed to sleep, but the pain throbbed and poked at her relentlessly. An idea formed, and she wondered if she could minimize the pain with the meditation she'd been practicing. With a deep breath—as deep as she could get without tearing at her back—she relaxed her body and focused inward. The pain throbbed in her like a living thing, so she visualized it getting smaller and smaller. Soon it faded just enough that she could sleep.

  Dreams haunted her—memories of past assignments, visions of abnormal creatures attacking her. She woke on and off, sleeping in small increments, never really aware of how long she'd been unconscious or what time of day it was. She missed Hunter and worried about him. He came to her in dreams, but she needed to see him in person. When she woke next she asked Luke about him.

  "He's still sleeping. Would you like me to wake him?"

  "No. Thanks. He needs to rest, I guess. I hope he's okay." What's wrong with him?

  She'd been the one torn up by the lizard, not him. But he did exhibit some pretty impressive acrobatics. Unless she'd imagined it all. And the change in his eyes.... She'd have to ask him about all of that once he woke.

  In the meantime.... "Luke, I'm bored. Entertain me."

  He bowed with over-the-top exaggeration. "As you wish, m'lady. As it so happens, I've been practicing something that I think you will find quite entertaining."

  Lucy adjusted herself so she could see him without stretching the skin on her back, as her brother sat crossed-legged in front of her.

  He raised his hands and his eyes glazed over with a far-away look.

  The change happened so subtly, Lucy didn't know what she was looking at, but then she saw it. Little droplets of water formed in front of them, from the air. They multiplied until the air shimmered with drops everywhere.

  "If I focus, I can shift the molecules just a bit, keep the air liquid instead of solid. And I can...." He spread his hands apart and the droplets divided, making hundreds of tiny tears in the air.
When he dropped his hands, the water burst like fireworks and turned back to air.

  "That's amazing!" She smiled at her brother, so happy he to see him actively engaged in his powers again. Maybe mopey Luke was really gone for good.

  "Thanks." He grinned like a kid at Christmas. "It's what I did when I slowed us down as we dropped from the plane. I made the air more viscous, closer to liquid. Maybe even a little liquid at the end, so it's like we sank instead of fell."

  "Cool." For an instant, jealousy clawed at Lucy. She wasn't a jealous person by nature, but she did covet more active para-powers. Since Luke had discovered his shadow powers, they'd been very useful, whereas she felt like her powers weren't that helpful most of the time.

  He'd discovered them on their Russian assignment, and that had enabled them to teach the other students at Rent-A-Kid how to tap into theirs. That was the assignment she and Luke had been talking about in her dream.

  Doubt nagged her. Sure, it had only been a dream, but clearly her subconscious was trying to tell her something. "Do you think we're the right people for this mission, Luke?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "Do you regret that we agreed to help IPI?"

  He took so long to reply that Lucy had almost fallen asleep again when he finally answered. "No, but I do wonder if we could be doing more good somewhere else. Maybe if we were back at the mansion, helping those kids out, helping Sam and her baby. It's just... I feel like we're stuck here, like we can't move forward."

  It had felt that way to Lucy, like something had pulled them to this magical valley and now wouldn't release them. Even her own mind betrayed her in moments of complacency. Every second they weren't looking for a way out was a second they didn't have.

  "We will get out of here and find a way to complete our mission. Saving those kids in that facility is too important."

  "Yeah, I just wonder if we're needed. IPI has a bunch of agents, and Hunter seems pretty capable. If there are any more like him, I'd say their odds against Rent-A-Kid are pretty good."

  "Maybe." She thought about Hunter and wondered if there were others like him. Didn't matter. Lucy had to believe that what they were doing was important. She had to believe that her role mattered in all of this, otherwise it was all for naught. "All this talk has wiped me out. I'm sorry, Bro, but I'm crashing again."

  Sleep stole her away before her brother could even reply.

  The next time she woke up, she felt remarkably stronger, though still bruised and sore. Still, the improvement gave her the courage to try and stand. She needed to see Hunter. Something felt off about his recovery... and hers.

  Every muscle protested as she pushed herself onto her hands and knees. Tears ran down her cheeks and her back felt like it was ripping open again, like a silk dress that was several sizes too small. No telltale trickle of blood dripped down her back, so she rocked onto her heels and into a sitting position. When the dizziness faded and her breathing returned to normal, she took the last challenge and pushed herself to stand. After a few more deep breaths, she was sure she wouldn't pass out. Well, mostly sure, as another wave of dizziness threatened to topple her over.

  A long-sleeved, button-up, black IPI shirt had slipped from her body when she stood. She reached for it, wincing from the stretch, then pulled it against her bare chest and inhaled Hunter's scent. Woodsy and wild, the scent made her stomach flip-flop. She slipped the shirt carefully over her shoulders and buttoned most of the middle buttons, grabbed the sphere out of her backpack and slipped it into her pocket, then left her make-shift tent to search for the man who had saved her from her own recklessness.

  All the tents were made from large green leaves layered over strong but flexible branches, which they'd braided together and secured to the ground. Luke and Hunter had conspired to place Lucy's tent in the center, presumably to keep her safer. She'd scoffed at their overprotective maleness, but deep down appreciated the gesture—though she'd never tell them that. Especially Luke.

  She tiptoed into Hunter's tent and gasped when she saw him—pale and hollow, as if something were sucking the life from him. While she'd been healing at lightning speed, he'd clearly taken a turn for the worse. On auto-pilot, determined to be closer to him and get a better look at the damaged he'd sustained, she took another step, snapping a twig under her foot.

  Hunter's bright green eyes peeked through thick lashes, and he smirked. "Hey."

  "Hunter! You okay? You look like—"

  "Shit? Yeah, I know. Don't get too close. I'm starting to smell like it too."

  Lucy ignored that comment and knelt by his side. His body's warmth and scent wrapped around her like a familiar quilt. "Thank you for what you did."

  "It was nothing. I'm just glad you're okay. You are, right? Okay?" He locked eyes with hers, then pulled away to scan her body.

  Heat rushed to her face under his attentive gaze, but she knew he was just checking for injury. "I remember you carrying me back to camp. That must have been tricky, with my back shredded. Is that why you're so tired now? Because of carrying me?"

  "Well, you were pretty heavy."

  "Oh, thanks." No girl wants to feel fat in front of her man. Lucy rolled her own mental eyeballs at that whole sentence, but still couldn't deny it was true.

  Hunter grabbed her hand and stroked it. "Not like that. You were heavy from your wounds. Energetically, it was like I could feel them myself, like I'd been the one injured. I got so tired, so fast. I'm surprised I made it to camp with both of us. I must have been in shock, or more injured than I realized."

  A vague memory tickled at the back of Lucy's mind. There was a missing piece to the puzzle, but what? He'd felt her wounds, and she'd healed faster while he got worse. She remembered the pulsing, warm and strong as he carried her. She'd thought it was the sphere, but then thought it was Hunter. It felt like Hunter.

  She clutched her pocket, and felt the comforting pulse of the sphere calm her heart and steady her pulse. Hunter. The Sphere had fed on him to heal her. It all made sense, in a horrible way.

  While she healed, Hunter had paid for her mistakes. And Luke was still paying too. His foot hadn't improved as much as it should have. Everyone she loved was getting hurt because of her.

  What the hell am I doing? "I... I'm not feeling good. I have to go."

  She stumbled out of the tent as Hunter called out to her, asking what was wrong.

  The valley hummed to her in its subtly layered voice. All around Lucy could feel the inhale and exhale of the earth, as it breathed out their destinies. But none of it made sense anymore.

  She slumped into a rock and fought her tears, so sick of the sopping mess of emotions she was becoming. The sphere pulsed more strongly in her pocket. She pulled it out and stroked it, embracing the calm it always offered, trying not to think of the price it required.

  Mr. K's deep voice filled her mind and shattered her calm. 'You should not rely on the sphere, Lucy.'

  Oh my God. Lucy froze in shock. No one knows about the sphere. No one! Not even my brother. But Mr. K had been in her mind, so of course he'd find out. How could she have overlooked that small detail?

  A ball of dread formed in her gut as she looked toward his tree. The leaves opened like a curtain, creating a path for her.

  Against her own instincts, she walked the short path to the enclave of Mr. K's tree to talk to him in person. "I don't rely on it. It just makes me feel better sometimes."

  "There's nothing wrong with feeling good. Nothing wrong with getting some help, either. But if you're right about what that sphere did to Hunter, then you have to be careful."

  Irritation flared in her. "The sphere saved my life. If I didn't have it, I'd be dead."

  An upper branch rustled and a bird flew out, chirping out a much-too-happy tune given the current conversation. Mr. K ignored his long tree limbs and stayed focused on her. "I understand. You just have to be cautious. We all do. Perhaps if the others knew, they could help you understand its powers."

  Her
heart skipped a beat. "I can't tell them."

  "Why not?"

  "They wouldn't understand it, or me, or why I need it. They'd want to test it or get rid of it or— "

  "Relax. No one is going to take it from you. But you have to consider Hunter's safety, your brother's safety."

  Now, indignation. I'm just a veritable plethora of emotions, aren't I? "I do."

  "Then tell them."

  Stubbornness. "I can't."

  "You won't!" roared Mr. K, with much more power than he'd ever spoken before. His branches stood more erect, and shook as if angry. "Stop making excuses. You're like a child, playing games instead of doing your homework, justifying all of it."

  She crossed her arms and had to restrain herself from stomping her foot like a petulant child. "I don't have to justify anything. I don't have to explain anything to you."

  Mr. K's branches slumped forward and the whole tree seemed to sigh with sadness. "No, you don't."

  Lucy nodded and turned to leave.

  Mr. K didn't seem to mind talking to her back. "But I will not allow you to jeopardize Hunter and Luke. If you won't tell them, then I will."

  "No!" Lucy yelled and turned back around viciously. The sphere pulsed in her hand and began to glow, softly at first, then brighter and brighter, as if to match the rage that grew in Lucy herself. "You will not tell them. And if they ask about it, you will lie and say you know nothing of the sphere. Because you'll mind your own goddamn business."

  Mr. K's branches swayed as if disconnected from him, and his large eyes took on a glazed, trance-like look. "I will not... tell them," he repeated. "I will lie. I know nothing of the sphere."

  What? What's he doing? Lucy looked at the sphere in her hand. It glowed bright and strong. What the hell? In a rush, the euphoria disappeared and she dropped the sphere with a shriek. The glow faded from bright to nothing in seconds.

  Mr. K jerked his branches as if waking up from a dream. "What? Lucy, are you okay?"

  She plucked the sphere from the ground and hid it before he could focus on her. "Yes, yes, I'm okay." She had tried to sound confident and happy but feared it came out more emo-scared-girl.