“Poor bastard,” Luke whispered, nearly echoing my thoughts. “If it were me, I’d want someone to put a bullet in my brain to end the misery.”
“No one’s touching him,” I yelled. My hands shook as I clutched Nathan’s arms, and leaned my body over his. The hinges on the wall monitors groaned and the huge lamp which hung over the bed swung precariously in Luke’s direction.
He ducked, raising his hands. “Easy now, nobody is going to shoot him.”
I glared at him through the tears which had sprung to my eyes the moment he’d said the word “bullet”, and tried to calm my harsh breathing. After a few tense moments, the room returned to normal.
Luke’s face had softened into an expression I hadn’t seen on him before. “I promise, we’ll do our best to fix him, Phoebe. But we might still need your help. Maybe your magic, if you’re willing?”
I slowly peeled my fingers away from Nathan’s arms and straightened. Nodding, I smoothed my clothes rather than meet Luke’s eyes.
I looked up when his voice sounded a bit hesitant. “How do you think Allie is holding up?” he asked.
After noticing the cautious expression on his face, I gave him the conclusion I had come to while asking myself that same question. “She’ll be fine for now. Azkuran has what he wants and he was happy to have her there.”
As I spoke, I realized I had been absently stroking Nathan’s arm. Taking a step back from the gurney, I crossed my arms and pinned Luke with a determined stare.
“We’re all getting stronger, and we’ll fix this mess soon. We’re going to bring Allie and the others home safely.”
I had bet my life on it.
Chapter Ten
PHOEBE
December 15
Chicago
After my display with Luke, Nia’s words came back to haunt me. I needed to get my emotions under control if I was going to be of any use. For the past two weeks I’d been practicing breath control and meditation, along with magical defense with Nia. In the evenings, I blew off any leftover steam with Luke. So I was pretty Zen when Caleb and Sara showed up to help some of the Mutts and me pick out a Christmas tree.
Or Yule tree. Or Hanukkah bush, depending on which Mutt was talking.
“All-purpose winter celebration tree,” Julie suggested and the harpies concurred, though they still didn’t like the idea of taking it inside.
“Super-fly cat-scratching post,” Alex said, grinning at Weston. “You’re not going to knock all the ornaments off, are you?”
“No, but I’m going to knock that stupid hat off your head.” Weston laughed and gathered a handful of snow to lob at Alex’s reindeer toboggan.
And so it began.
Snowballs and insults were hurled with equal measure, from fastballs accompanied by, “Don’t pee on it, pup!” to light dustings with “No nests allowed!”
I took one to the face from Sara, and Caleb melted my retaliatory missile before it got to her. She laughed and blew him a kiss, and just like that, my good mood dissolved. I turned as if ready to attack Sunjoo who was defending Marti by melting everything that came near her—up to and nearly including her boyfriend, Toshio.
Caleb and Sara weren’t expecting the magical barrage I sent their way. I pelted them with a storm of snow and ice until Cassandra shifted and knocked me over. She was still snarling in my face when Sara walked up.
“What the heck, Phoebe?” She managed to move Cassandra away. Caleb appeared by her side, his face tight with anger, and silence fell over the field. I looked past them to see everyone watching us.
“Sorry, guys,” I called out to them. “Got a little carried away there.”
Sara, Caleb, and Cass backed up to let me stand. Guilt soured my stomach when Cassandra huffed and ran toward the barn. She’d have to find clothes if she wanted to shift back and rejoin the gang.
We stood awkwardly while Julie and Marti vainly attempted to revive the mood. “The perfect tree isn’t going to pick itself!” Julie clapped her pink mittens. “Let’s focus, people!”
“Sorry,” I mumbled again and turned toward the compound. Caleb’s hand on my arm stopped me.
“Not so fast. You need to explain what’s going on.”
My lips tightened and a fiery wave a magic leapt in my veins. I felt the corresponding heat in Caleb and Sara’s eyes widened. “Guys, whatever you’re doing, stop it now,” she said.
I took a deep breath, as did he. “Fine.” I closed my eyes, knowing I couldn’t avoid the confrontation any longer. Nia was right. I was no use to anyone with my emotions flying all over the place, disrupting my magic and the peace of the Mutts.
At least, some of the Mutts. I opened my eyes again to the two principals involved and held up a hand. “We’ll talk, but not right now.”
“When?” Caleb insisted and my annoyance flared again. Who was he to try to dictate things between Sara and me?
“Whenever I’m good and ready.”
“You’d better make it fast. Nobody has time to deal with your tantrums. We need to get Allie and Laurent home.”
Sara gasped. “Caleb!”
I flexed my fingers to disperse the fireball building there. “Just stay in your lane, wolf boy.”
I walked away before they responded. Sure, we needed to clear the air, but I’d be damned if I’d let him dictate the terms. He was the one who’d held back critical information from us for years. He was the one who was going to take Sara and me out of Arizona and leave Nathan to rot. I stopped in my tracks. Nathan was the one who was willing to let Sara take the fall for me.
Grief, anger, jealousy, confusion, and guilt washed over me in giant waves. I’d been slowly drowning from it all over the past few months and the weight of it coming in at once was too much to bear. I wanted to scream. To cry and to rant. I wanted to lay waste to the fields and forest surrounding us. I wished I were a dragon like Sunjoo so I could fly away from there, burning everything in my wake. Anything to relieve the tension inside.
A white-hot well of power swelled and overflowed within me, raising the hair over my body. Through a shimmering, distant shield, I heard people calling my name. My arms raised and the artificial hand glowed with silver light. A scream clawed out of my throat, primal and raging.
It was the last sound I heard before darkness fell.
Chapter Eleven
NATHAN
December 15
Chicago
She’s gone. I can feel her absence. Sense the danger she is in.
Confusion. Am I happy or sad?
Maker says rejoice.
Her face flits through my fractured memory. Beautiful before. Beautiful after.
Must find a way. Must protect.
A growl tries to escape but a pinch of pain in my arm calms it.
As does the music. Where am I trying to go? A street. Somewhere life is bright and free.
A picture of a building. I know it. Many … books. They are called books. And SHE is there. Perfect as always.
Something tugs at my eye, tries to remove it, pulling me out of the memory. I scream but no one hears.
Flashes of light, popping sounds. Lightning running over my face, charred flesh in my nostrils.
A name. There is a word, a name. It pulls me back and forth through the pain as I silently scream on and on.
Phoebe!
Chapter Twelve
ALLIE
December 15
Arizona
The well would be my undoing. For the past two weeks, I’d been working toward that conclusion. No wonder the phrase, “You can’t handle the truth” had become popular. It was a truth of its own. I was scared, wounded, and unsure who was friend or foe. I longed for family and stability to the point my morals felt compromised. I feared for my daughter’s future. And I missed my friends.
All things that should have been obvious, but they hit with a clarity that was hard to take. I felt isolated and alone, desperate for connection beyond Mia at this point. And felt guilty for that. S
o yeah, the truth sucked.
So did looking into the well and seeing my parents’ past played before my eyes. And discovering the greatest secret of all—the one that made my coming here a danger to all of us, and shook me to the core: Laurent might be my true father. A secret I believed he, Liang, and Phoebe had all conspired to keep from Azkuran and me.
I was terrified Az would show up at the well when I was there, but I couldn’t resist learning about the past. I had resolved to not come back, but another question had raised in my brain and I needed to know if the well could tell me.
What, truly, was Liang’s part in all of this? The week before I’d looked closer at the woman who had awakened me and carried me out of stasis into the arms of someone I barely remembered. But it hadn’t been a woman at all. Only an illusion brought about by the long white robe and long dark hair. I couldn’t believe no one had noticed it before from those shared memories.
The profile and hair I’d seen in my blood memories belonged to someone I’d met recently: Ammon the Watcher.
Who had given him the order? Who had they chosen to be my foster mother, and why? And what did Azkuran believe about it all? I needed to know. And needed to know how to keep him from finding out how I really felt being there, and the things I saw in the water.
Liang had assured me he didn’t know she had shown me the well, or that she was teaching me to control my thoughts, which I needed because the powerful magic that had guarded me since birth was fading. In order to survive, and to keep Laurent alive, too, we had to prevent his brother from discovering the truth.
Because he really couldn’t handle the truth.
But he was still family, wasn’t he? And in his own, bat-shit crazy way, he’d been good to Mia and me over the past few months. I couldn’t say I loved the guy, but he had been growing on me a little more each time he made an effort with Mia. And Mia had definitely grown fond of “Gandpa Ash.” It had been both heart-warming and heart-breaking to see them getting so close.
I kicked the crystal around the well and stubbed my toe. Served me right. Releasing a long breath, I peered into the well and thought of my questions. Before the mist cleared, Liang appeared beside me so suddenly I nearly fell into the water.
“You need to come with me, immediately.” She grabbed my hand and pressed the transporter before I could protest. A sickening lurch later, and I stood in a room similar to the one where Laurent was kept.
Except the unconscious person whom Azkuran and Ammon hovered over wasn’t Laurent. It was Phoebe.
“Oh, my God,“ I cried. “What’s going on? You promised to let her go!” I knocked Azkuran out of the way to get to Phoebe’s side.
He clamped my shoulder in an iron grip, his eyes narrowed. “You don’t know how she came here?”
“Of course not. I thought she went home. Have you been keeping her this whole time? Are they all here?” My voice rose with each accusation.
His face hardened and went white around the mouth. “Unlike many, I keep my word. I have no idea why she is here or how she came to be here. Ammon found her in the outer caves.”
I glanced at Ammon who nodded, and my breath whooshed out in a rush as I looked down at Phoebe. What the hell was going on? Hands shaking, I touched Az in a placating gesture. “I’m sorry. I was just so shocked. I didn’t think.”
“An all too common occurrence,” he said stiffly. He turned to Liang and nodded at Phoebe. “Watch her.”
He took my arm. “You and Ammon, come with me.”
Ammon sent a swift, longing glance toward Phoebe before he acquiesced.
“Please, can’t I stay with her until she wakes up,” I begged.
“No. Your daughter will be expecting her evening meal soon, or had you forgotten?”
I could have kicked him and myself. As much as I resented the implication I was a bad mother—and the nagging guilt that he might be right—I did need to check on Mia and Nadia. Lips tightened, I followed him out of the room. Talking to Phoebe would have to wait.
Az amped up the magic repressor and the electric buzz overflowed from her room as we walked away.
Chapter Thirteen
PHOEBE
December 16
Undetermined
I could hear him calling me but I couldn’t find him. Nathan’s panic fed my panic and I struggled through the darkness of the cave, trying to reach him. But the angry bees wouldn’t let me. They stung my face and head, and their buzzing filled my ears. Another sound made its way past the bees and I bolted forward. At least, I attempted to. Something held me down. A horrible premonition slithered through my mind and I rejected it, unable to face the possible truth.
When the buzzing grew louder and I couldn’t move my limbs, I gathered the courage to open my eyes. Bile splashed into my throat as the room came into focus and I saw Liang. And … Ammon?
Oh, blessed relief. I was still dreaming.
“Her vitals are returning to normal,” he said.
He sounded happy, but I didn’t know why he was in my dream. Or Liang, who told him I was coming out of it.
Out of what? I opened my eyes again. It was just a dream but my heart rate spiked at the sight of them, a fact on which they commented.
“Why are you here?” Liang asked.
I tugged at the restraints. Okay, any day now, Phoebe. Either wake up or take control of this dream. I pulled harder, fear clawing at my insides. The metal was too cold. The bed too hard. The overlaying odors of acetone and ammonia too sharp and real.
No, no, no. This couldn’t be happening. Where was I before? Fragmented memories splintered my brain. What was real and what wasn’t? The last I remembered was searching for Nathan … no, that was a dream. Before that … a field! I was angry … and then?
Ammon leaned over my face. Groaning, I squeezed my eyes shut. He was supposed to be dead. Dead, dead, dead.
Was I dead too? Did I go to Hell?
Maybe I should have been nicer to Sara and Caleb.
Should have forgiven them sooner. Though there wasn’t that much to forgive, was there?
Wave after wave of self-recrimination washed over me. How stupid was I? Things were so clear. Sure, Caleb should have come clean with us sooner, but what had Sara really ever done except love me when no one else had?
“Phoebe, calm down and tell us why you are here,” Liang said.
Taking a deep breath, I looked up. Nothing had changed. My nightmare hadn’t shifted. “I don’t know.” My voice croaked and Ammon swiftly brought a cup with a straw to my mouth. I turned my head away. I might have been dreaming, or I might have been in Hell, but no way was I trusting anything from these people. Or giants. Or revived cyborgs.
“It’s only water, Phoebe. Rehydrate.”
“What are you doing here?” I demanded.
He blinked and looked at Liang, as if for direction.
One corner of her lips lifted. “I suppose it’s as surprising for you to see him as it is for us to see you. But you are the one who came here.”
“Not voluntarily.”
Twin frowns greeted that pronouncement. “How is that possible?” Liang asked.
“I wish I knew. One minute I was in the field throwing a tantrum and the next I was waking up to you two.”
“Tantrum?” Liang’s frown held a glimmer of humor and disbelief.
“Yeah. If you untie me, I’ll show you another.”
She laughed though Ammon looked nervous. “Don’t worry,” she told him. “The repressor is on.”
A dunking in ice water. That’s how it felt as I could no longer deny the possibility that I was not dreaming, and likely not literally in Hell. I shivered so hard the cuffs on my arms and legs rattled against the bed.
“Why am I here?”
“If you didn’t come and no one sent you, I have no explanation other than this was where you wanted to be,” Liang surmised.
“This is the last place I would want to be,” I protested. But was it? I pictured Allie. Was she here so
mewhere? Laurent too?
I chewed my dry lip and considered. Looking toward Ammon—good grief, was that guy indestructible?—and nodded at the water cup. He hurried and brought it to me and I cautiously sipped. Just water it seemed.
“Is Allie here?”
Liang narrowed her eyes. “Is that why you’re here?”
I shrugged as best I could under the circumstances.
“She was here earlier. She’s worried about you,” Ammon said. “You shouldn’t worry your friends.”
It was a second before I could speak, but when I did, acid dripped from my tongue. It went well with the fire building in my eyes. “Well, if people didn’t kidnap my friends and threaten our lives, I might not have meltdowns and end up in situations like this.”
He pulled back, looking offended. “Alison volunteered. She’s with family here. No one is threatening her.”
“He’s right,” Liang chimed in.
“Yeah, she volunteered because she had no choice. She was threatened and coerced. That’s not genuine willingness.”
“Volunteered, volun-told. Doesn’t matter. She’s fine here,” Liang said flatly. “And if you want to see her stay that way, I would suggest you watch your tongue when Azkuran gets back.”
“Gets back?” I whispered, my voice failing me. “He was here?”
Nodding. “And will return. I suggest you be on your best behavior. He might allow you to leave for Alison’s sake.”
My head sank further into the pillow. All that righteous energy deflated into exhaustion and fear. For Allie and for me. I took a moment to study Ammon from the corner of my eye. Was it really him? Ammon 3.0, or was it just a new robot that looked like him? I shivered, thinking about the last time I had seen him … or someone – something – that looked like him. In a stasis pod next to Nathan.
I could barely breathe. Liang had been there, as well as—
Reset: Part 1 (The Awakening Book 4) Page 5
