by Carly Marino
Not her? Who? What is he talking about? Lyra? The photo. He’d found the photo of Lyra. Why hadn’t I spoken up sooner? Frozen, I had no way to explain everything to him.
“Whatever.” Logan crossed his arms. “I’ll make sure they write dumbass on your tombstone.”
Cole chuckled. “Thanks, Logan. Call Nora and tell her I’m okay, and don’t say anything to Drake.” Why was he keeping things from Drake? What did he have to do with all of this? Cole’s eyes lit, a fire burning behind them, fueling his determination. “I’ll call you the moment I find Lyra.”
I scrambled inside. Internally, I thrashed and screamed. The heaviness lifted from my body as I broke free. I gasped, pushed myself up and collapsed onto the carpet. Cole studied me crawling on the floor. I begged him with my eyes not to leave. I’m Lyra. We’re the same. I’m your Yuanfen.
His eyebrows pinched to the center and he clamped his eyes. When he opened them, the light I’d seen moments before had extinguished. He no longer saw me the way he had. “I’m sorry, Thea. I hope you know that,” he whispered in a shaky tone. “Take care of her, Logan. Keep her safe. No matter what. I … I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to her.”
“I will,” Logan mumbled and the door slammed.
I widened my eyes. No! I wanted to scream for Logan to chase after him. Bring him back to me. But my voice didn’t come. Grief-stricken moans came out instead.
Sobs belted from the depths of my heart. Breathing suddenly seemed impossible. I coughed, clutching my chest. The tearing inside hurt more than any draining ever could.
Logan tilted his head, and his shoulders hunched. “He can be a real asshole when it comes to that girl. I know he loves her, but if you ask me, she ruined his life the day he met her.”
My heart drooped to my stomach, and I wanted to throw it up to cure this ache inside.
Logan helped me stand, and I wobbled. He picked me up, laid me onto the bed, and tucked the blankets to my chin. “Get some sleep. We can figure this out in the morning.”
I sniffled and curled into a ball. Sleep. Yeah right. How could I sleep with this terrible sinking in my chest, suffocating me? Cole had left. I wanted to go back in time and erase all I’d learned. Nothing I knew was real. My friends, the family I thought I knew, even my relationship with Cole.
All lies.
My eyelids drifted closed. The answers I’d prayed for weighed on me. I hated Cole for exposing me to this world. For the first time in my life, I missed being a freak.
Chapter Twenty-One
Logan had bought us a commercial airline ticket from Whistler to a small airport near Seaside. I pressed my temple to the rental car window on the drive back to my house. He tried several times to talk to me, but I couldn’t form words.
Mnemosyne’s residual power still pounded inside me—a constant reminder that my world had crumbled hours ago. She must’ve done something to keep me from losing my mind. If she hadn’t, who knew what could’ve happened. My human body had worked hard to absorb that much power all at once. I’d never felt pain like that. Tearing, searing pain that throbbed through my body. I sighed. I’d go through it again if I could’ve stopped Cole from leaving.
Waking to find him and my bracelet gone broke my heart. He’d taken the memcap. I didn’t want to believe he would betray me, but he had. Now I had to get the courage to steal the charm back from the guy I deeply cared for.
Logan growled, startling my shoulders, and returned his phone to the holder. “He’s still not answering. He could be in Antarctica for all we know.” He slunk in his seat. “Asshole.”
We probably should’ve waited for him in the hotel, but I couldn’t bring myself to stay there. All I wanted was to go home.
“Are you ready to talk yet? The silence treatment is killing me.” Logan turned down the rap music blasting from the radio. “We don’t even have to talk about him. How about this? Let’s play a game, instead. If you had to pick between eating liver every day for the rest of your life or walking into your school wearing only your underwear, which would you choose?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Underwear for just one day or the rest of my life?”
“One day only.” He grinned.
“Then underwear. Now that I can control my ability, no use hiding. Plus, liver tastes like rubber. You?”
He laughed. “Underwear for sure. Covering this”—he motioned to his abs—“would be a curse to society.”
I groaned. “Are you usually this full of yourself?”
Logan poked me. “I got you to smile, so my vanity did some good.”
“True, and right now that’s not easy. Better be careful, they might try to bottle it up and sell it.” I gazed at the waves crashing on the sea cliffs. I didn’t know if Logan had read my thoughts, but I’d hoped we’d take this route back.
The ocean shimmered in the sunlight and reflected off the rocks. I loved the rushing sound of the waves against them. They eased my pain, and I needed anything to relax.
“You really are a nerd. Cole told me—” Logan frowned. “Sorry. I…”
“It’s fine. There isn’t much I can do and sulking won’t help. More than anything, I’m pissed he didn’t at least wait a day to talk to me. I had so much to tell him that would’ve changed a lot. He wouldn’t have left.”
Logan tapped on the steering wheel with his thumbs.
“Spit it out,” I said.
“Did you go to The Mirrors? Something prevented us from going through the entrance. We ended up on a different gondola. An Ancient spoke to us telepathically and said we needed to wait for you in the hotel room.” He removed his beanie to scratch the top of his head. His thick black hair stuck up in all directions. “I had to practically hold Cole back to keep him from jumping after you. If he had, he would’ve died.”
“What changed? Why did he just leave me?” My voice cracked.
“His father is a manipulative asshole.”
“His father? For some reason, I thought his parents were dead.” I shrugged. “I mean, he never talked about them, and he lived with Nora and Drake so I guess I assumed they died.” I probably should’ve asked him more about his past. Now I felt selfish.
Logan leaned back in his seat. He rubbed his chin. “His mom is. After she died, his dad turned into a psychopath. Now he leads the Resparés.”
Leads the— “Oh my God, Logan. Larc is Cole’s father? Cole is bringing my bracelet to Larc. This … this isn’t good.” I dropped my head back on the seat.
The child I had dreamed about was Cole. My grandmother had told me the truth. I must’ve touched Cole before my parents inserted me into Thea’s body. I slumped.
Thea’s body. The idea still didn’t hit home. I felt like I had amnesia all these years. How could I just look in the mirror and see someone else? I wasn’t Lyra. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to be. What type of person was she? Would my personality change if I woke up one day as Lyra, instead of Thea?
I was torn. As much as I wanted to know everything about my past, it terrified me. Today, I was Thea, and until I regained those memories again, I couldn’t think of myself as Lyra. We shared nothing … except our abilities and our feelings for Cole. I just wished he could love me as Thea, and not Lyra.
The connection between Cole and me wasn’t half as strong as the one between him and Lyra. For his memory to stay with me through the transformation was worrisome. Was their bond powerful enough that he’d actually give my bracelet to Larc to get Lyra back?
I promised Mnemosyne I’d keep the memcap and the Original Memory safe.
“We have to go back to Whistler. Or figure out how to find him. I need that bracelet. Why the hell would he do this?”
“Because he’s a moron.” Logan glanced at the GPS on his phone.
“Their house isn’t much further,” I mumbled.
He nodded. “Why are you so concerned with some bracelet?”
I rubbed my empty wrist. “It had something important on it.”
Cole had said
Logan was the one person he trusted most in the world. Although, Cole’s word didn’t amount for much right now. He’d betrayed me. How did I know Logan wouldn’t do the same? I didn’t know him well enough, but I also couldn’t do this alone. I needed someone experienced to help me. Maybe even teach me how to defend myself. “Can I trust you, Logan? Like really trust you? Because if I can, I could use your help.”
He turned down Nora and Drake’s street. “Yep, I’m in this now.”
“I’m worried. After everything I’ve learned, and now with Cole leaving, I don’t have many trustworthy people in my life.”
Logan winked. “Well, the fact that you have people in your life at all could be your problem.”
My gaze traveled to the open sunroof.
Logan cut the engine a few yards from Nora and Drake’s gate. “Cole might have bailed, but I could tell how much you meant to him. He didn’t want to go, Thea. He’s been searching for this girl since he was eight. Honestly, I was relieved when I saw you together. I thought he’d finally moved on. Then he checked his voicemail and Larc had called him. Said he wanted to trade Lyra for you. Lyra’s his—”
I groaned. “Yuanfen. I know.”
“Anyway, he went crazy. Was swearing and throwing things. He kept yelling that he couldn’t trade you for her. I guess that’s why he took your bracelet. Maybe to bluff Larc. Or fight him. Shit, Thea. If he fights him…” Logan rubbed his hand over his head. “His father isn’t just a dickhead. He’s a military-grade dickhead. Cole’s never won a fight against him. Not many could.”
What had I gotten us into? I inhaled and massaged my tired eyelids. “Logan, this could’ve been stopped if he’d just waited. I might be an idiot to tell you all of this, but I don’t have a choice. I’m untrained, and I have to get that bracelet back. If you’re willing to help me, I’ll share what happened to me in Whistler.”
“Listen, Cole’s backed me for every shitty thing since we met. If the situation were reversed, he’d go to the ends of this planet to help me.” He gave me a side-smile. “Plus, with an explanation like the one you just gave, sounds like some risky stuff. I’m all about risky. So, like I said, I’m all in. You have my word.” He crossed his heart.
I blew out a breath. “Well, for starters. My name isn’t Thea Lynn Scott. It’s Lyra Janica Pearl.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Logan trailed his fingers along the brick wall guarding Nora and Drake’s house. Embarrassed that I had cried so much in front of him, I hung back and wiped the moisture from my cheeks. He didn’t seem to care. He focused more on the fight than the actual story. I’d explained to him the bracelet had important data the Ancients had given to my parents.
He didn’t flinch when I told him an Ancient had passed Lyra off as Thea. He didn’t even ask questions. Like why he couldn’t sense me or why I looked nothing like Lyra? Although, that picture was taken years ago. I could’ve changed since then.
This would keep all of us safe. If Larc interrogated any of them about the Original Memory, they could honestly say they had no idea, and I could tell him Lyra didn’t know anything, and neither did I.
Larc couldn’t read my memories through my mask. Maybe I’d find a way to convince him that the formula died with my parents.
Even if Larc did want the Original Memory to put himself and every Inflexaen’s soul inside a human body, I didn’t know how to open the memcap, anyway. I didn’t even know if the stupid charm had the information inside. Mnemosyne disappeared before telling me.
My lie might not really be a lie. The memcap could hold all of Lyra’s memories and nothing more. Either way, it didn’t matter. My priority was Cole’s safety. The memcap would hopefully come as a packaged deal.
Logan stopped and laced his fingers together, forming a cradle. “Give me your foot.”
Great. Reluctantly, I stepped onto his hands, and he boosted me up onto the brick wall. I situated myself. “Why didn’t we just buzz the intercom?”
“What fun is that?”
I huffed. Whatever.
He used a nearby tree to climb next to me. “Shame we can’t wait until night. This would be a lot easier if we could switch to shadow form.”
“I can’t anyway,” I muttered, peering into the glow of the late afternoon sun.
“It’s cool. I can kick ass regardless.” He waggled his eyebrows, front tucked, and landed on his feet. I huffed, turned over onto my stomach, and shimmed until I hung by my hands.
“Let go, Lyra. I’ve got you,” Logan whispered.
I held my breath. Logan gripped my waist to help me down.
I brushed off my jacket. “Don’t call me that.”
“It’s your name, isn’t it?”
I shuffled on the grass as we strolled the half-mile. “Technically, I guess, but I don’t have any of her memories. She…” I sighed. “She’s like an entirely different person. I can’t identify with someone I know nothing about. This life, real or not, is the only one I’ve ever known.”
Logan shrugged. “Yeah, that makes sense. I can’t imagine someone telling me I’m someone else. I kinda like who I am. I’m pretty freaking awesome.”
I laughed. “And humble.”
He motioned to me. “Just keep up, baby tomato.”
I shook my head and followed him.
Nora’s front yard had way too many trees. I swore the last time I came they had a flat, groomed lawn with diagonal mower marks. Then again, their backyard was a maze of thorns and vines. Who knew where these trees came from or what dangers they hid inside? I avoided them the best I could.
Logan, on the other hand, slinked around the large pines, hugging tight to their shadows. I lagged behind, tripping over rocks and holes dug by some animal.
Logan shushed me. “You make more noise than a cat in heat.”
I crinkled my nose. “That’s gross.”
“Just be a little lighter on your toes. I don’t want Drake to know I’m coming. I’m not all that fond of the wuss.”
“I’ve heard he’s a powerful Fector so I highly doubt he’s a wuss.”
“Total panty. But that’s besides the point.”
I pushed a branch from my face. Why the hell Logan chose to walk this way was beyond me. We were far enough away that they couldn’t see us from the windows. Nora was probably drunk, anyway. And Drake… I bit my cheek. I didn’t know much about Drake. When we met, he came across as warm and gentle, but the more time I spent with him, the more I wasn’t so sure.
Leafy vines slithered from the earth and veiled the ground. They tangled around my ankle. I yelped and reached to remove one, but another snapped and grabbed my wrist.
Logan touched my free hand and my skin pricked as he stole some of my essence. He zapped his light, breaking the vicious plant’s grasp and the rest retreated into the dirt. “Sorry, I took some essence.”
“It’s fine.” I shivered. “What the hell is wrong with Nora and Drake’s parents? Do they seriously need this many plant booby traps?”
Logan snickered like an eighth-grade boy. “You said booby.”
“Oh my God, grow up.”
“Just keep close to the pines. They aren’t from Inflexus.”
I grumbled, zigzagging around trees to keep up with Logan’s speed. Obviously my essence had given him a boost. “Slow—”
He appeared in front of me, and yanked me behind a rectangular concrete box with a statue of a man and woman on top, forever embraced in a loving hug. I read the inscription on the side, carved in a regal script. Our eternal love will survive until the sun breathes light for the last time. Christian and Andrea Deleon. 1892-2001.
I stumbled and landed on my butt. “Ouch.”
“Good lord, woman, you’re loud.” Logan grabbed my hand and helped me stand.
“Sorry, I didn’t realize Nora and Drake buried their family in their front yard.” Drake’s car sped toward the gate, and I sucked in a breath as we crouched lower. I didn’t dare move a millimeter until the red tail lights disa
ppeared.
“That was close,” Logan said. “And by the way, they aren’t buried here.”
“They aren’t? Cuz that sure looks like a tomb?”
Logan pointed toward the driveway. Without Drake home, we had no reason to hide. Though, I wasn’t sure why I bought into Logan’s and Cole’s suspicions, anyway. Drake had been nothing but nice to be. At any rate, I was happy I didn’t have to trudge through the grass and fight through bushes anymore. Literally.
Logan’s mouth curved to the side. “Their bodies are in the statues on top.”
I stopped. “They turned them into statues? That’s disgusting.”
“Kind of is, huh?”
My footsteps crunched on the gravel. “They died the same year.”
“Same day, too.”
He hopped on the ledge of the circular fountain and walked halfway around.
I strolled on the ground next to him. “How do you know they died the same day? It wasn’t written on stone.”
“Yuanfens always die the same day. If they live until they’re old. Pretty nasty, right?”
The same day? “No, I think it’s beautiful.”
Logan groaned. “You girls, always suckers for the mushy stuff.”
I thought about what Nora had said of her friend’s Yuanfen dying. “If one is killed the other is meant to be alone.”
“Nah, not alone, but they’ll never find their perfect match. Just a bunch of hookups to pass the time until they die.” He hopped off the fountain and jogged up the front steps.
“That’s sad.”
“Not really.” He adjusted his shirt.
I pressed the doorbell and the chimes echoed in the house. Through the blurry decorative glass window, Nora sauntered toward the door.
Logan elbowed me when the bolt unlatched. “By the way, Nora and I had a thing. Didn’t end well. So…”
“Are you freaking—”
The door whipped open. Nora’s fake smile deadpanned and she narrowed her eyes, observing him. Her eyelids sprung open. “Logan?”
Logan didn’t wait for an invite. Instead, he nudged her to the side. “Nice to see you, Pigeon.”