by Kayla Krantz
“No, because I offered to do it,” Cody said.
Luna casted her eyes at him. “Not out of the kindness of your heart though, surely.”
Cody smiled, wide and haunting, and that confirmed Luna’s thoughts.
She understood. “You don’t want him to track me,” she said.
She slapped her hand to her chest, the other one cradling her fingers in an attempt to hide the ring from sight. There was only one reason she could think of for Cody offering such a thing—whatever he had planned, he wouldn’t want Chance to barge in on it.
“Honestly, I thought you wouldn’t want him to track you. Haven’t you been looking for an escape?”
“Yes, but I don’t trust you.”
“Very much appropriate. It was just an offer.”
Luna bit her lip so hard she drew blood. “How long will it be on the table?”
“The next two seconds. I don’t offer things twice. You either accept or I’ll never give you the opportunity again.”
“Fine,” Luna said and held her hand out to him. “Just make it quick.”
This would be the first step of her freedom. If Chance couldn’t find her, finding herself would become that much easier. Even if Cody had something planned, it wasn’t as if she was helpless. Luna had learned a lot about the darkness of human nature. She would fight if she had to—she knew that much about herself.
Cody smiled, as if he guessed she would give in, and touched the ring, whispering under his breath. Luna watched him, all her senses on high alert, as he bowed his head. His frame hunched, and for the slightest of moments, Luna thought he was going to fall over, but he didn’t. His green eyes opened to their extent, and he lifted his finger off her ring. In a fluid motion, he used the same finger and his thumb to pluck the ring right off her hand.
Luna’s jaw fell open as she stared at the blank skin where the ring had sat. The amount of relief she felt in the center of her chest was not something that could be expressed in words so she didn’t try.
Instead, she looked at Cody and said, “Thank you.”
He dipped his head but said nothing as he dropped the ring into his pocket and turned away to lead them inside the Compound. From there, the routine followed much the same as it had during her last visit. Cody was silent as soon as they entered the doorway, and he navigated through the halls, making a pit stop at his room to get Luna the proper attire, before the halls dumped them out into the room with the high ceiling.
This scene was much the same too with the semicircle of mysterious figures half surrounding the Elderly man on the chaise lounge. He licked his lips and at the sound of footsteps turned his horrifyingly bright eyes on Luna.
The faintest hint of a smile crossed his face as he said, “You came alone?”
She nodded because she didn’t want to go too much into the answer, just as she didn’t want to think too much about why this man wanted to know that.
“Ready for her to try again?” Cody asked, taking his place at his Elder’s side.
The old man nodded, piercing eyes studying Luna with an intensity that once again made her shiver. She took the required four steps to close the gap between them, suddenly wishing Chance was at her side. If anything, he was a reassurance that she would be okay, that she would get out of this room.
What would happen to her if she healed this man and no longer had any use to the Cultists? She glanced at Cody from the corner of her eye, wondering if he had a weapon on him at all times. If he did, would he try to kill her the moment her work was done?
Her thoughts became more paranoid, and by the time she lifted her hands to set on the Elder’s fine robes, she was shaking with the certainty that she was making another mistake with her life. Closing her eyes, she breathed out, pushing all her fears away into a box. It wouldn’t hold them forever, but it would be enough for her to get through the moment. Slowly, she let out the breath she had held and took in another one, feeling the stream of her energy coursing through her.
Like Reese had suggested, she pictured it—a flowing river of white electricity. As far as she could tell, the block was still gone and the energy moved easily from her fingertips and into the old man’s chest. He took in a sharp breath, the sound a mix between a gasp and a groan, and a member of the semicircle stepped closer as if they thought Luna was hurting him instead of fixing him.
Cody held a hand out, eyes not leaving Luna, and the guard stepped back, anxiously watching the scene before them. From the moment the energy touched down into the man, Luna started to feel it leaving her body. The white energy combated the dark sickness, light spreading from his chest, up his neck, through his arms, and down his legs. Before it could reach his extremities, she started to feel dizzy, and when the light had finally touched down in every place that it could, she collapsed to the floor, the world around her black.
Chapter Fifty
“I THINK I owe you an apology,” Reese said after he and Chance were sure that Luna and Cody were long gone. It was the first thing either of them had said after the silence.
Chance tilted his head to the side, eyebrows pinching together. “For what?”
“For doubting you,” Reese said, finger tracing the covers. “I didn’t understand your plan, what you were doing, or why you needed someone else that wasn’t me, but now that I know who the other person is, I get it. She’s strong and beautiful…you can’t ask for more than that.”
Loyalty, Chance thought with an irritated twitch of his nose. It was the one thing that always seemed to be lacking from his partners. It was the main reason why he preferred working alone. No one could betray him that way.
“Was it really a good idea to let her go alone?” Reese asked, and Chance tensed.
“Not the best, no, but she seemed so ready to go and help, I couldn’t understand it,” Chance said and sighed.
Just then, the device on his wrist started to beep, in a way that he didn’t think was possible. Reese frowned, holding his hands to his ears to block out the sound, and Chance would’ve done the same if he wasn’t so desperate to turn off the device, to see why it was making that noise. He flicked it open, expecting to see Luna’s ping on the radar, but instead, the screen was blank.
That could only mean one thing—Luna had taken off the ring.
Chance shot off the bed instantly, searching out his shoes before he stood to stare at the blank screen again, second guessing himself because any alternatives were not something he wanted to consider.
“What is it?” Reese demanded, trying to see over Chance’s shoulder.
“I had a tracker on Luna,” Chance said, closing the device. “Somehow, someway, she got it off.” That was the most he had time to say before he hurried toward the door, Reese on his heels. If Cody had taken it off, he didn’t want to know what that could mean for her…or for him.
“Where are you going?”
“To make sure she’s okay.”
“Don’t you need Cody’s help to get to the Compound?” Reese asked.
Chance didn’t answer that, just laughed loud and long, and made his way down the hallway. Reese, not wanting to be left behind, hurried off the bed to follow behind him. Though the journey wasn’t as easy for Chance as it was for Cody, Chance could also teleport them to the Compound. For him, however, it came in steps.
By the time the enormous building came into view, Chance was on the edge of exhaustion. He glanced to Reese out of the corner of his eye, but the boy was smiling, head held up, and Chance frowned. If there was one thing he could say, it was that he had energy, and Chance was once again reminded of the fact that Reese was a human version of a dog.
He said nothing though as he took the first step forward. The door of the Compound was closed, but Chance didn’t bother to knock. He pushed it open with a clang and stepped inside, Reese staying on the step outside.
Chance turned to look at him over his shoulder, not having the patience to wait a second longer than he had to. “Well? Are you coming or what?”
“You’re just…just gonna go in there?”
Chance shrugged. There was a time, albeit a small one, in which he had lived here. He wouldn’t say that though. It didn’t seem to be information that Reese needed to hear. “Cody walked right into my place, right?”
That seemed to be what Reese needed to hear because he crossed the threshold at last, taking his place at Chance’s side as they navigated the halls. They emerged into the room with the high ceiling just in time to see Luna drop to the floor. Before Chance could rush to her side, she vanished.
“No, no, no, no,” Chance said, rushing to the spot where she had lain. He dropped to his knees, hands patting at the ground as if that was enough to make her reappear.
No one spoke or helped him search. They were silent, watching the raw display of emotion that was very unlike Chance. Sensing this, Chance’s body sharpened with a flood of anger, and he stood to his feet, stalking toward Cody.
“Where is she? Huh? What did you do to her?” he demanded, shoving Cody so that the green-eyed man had to take just one step back to avoid being knocked over completely.
“I did nothing to your precious girl,” Cody said.
“You’re a liar. You planned to get rid of her the moment her debt was repaid. You took off the tracker. You took it off because you knew I would come. I know you. Now tell me what you did!” Chance growled, lifting a fist. The threat of punching Cody was very real, and both of them knew that.
Cody wasn’t scared though. He smiled, small at first, but the grin growing to show all his teeth. “You know me very well,” he said and pulled the silver ring from his pocket, flicking it at Chance. It fell to the floor, clattering on the linoleum tiles. “But really, I had nothing to do with what’s just happened. Though I have to say that it makes the work easier for me, doesn’t it? Gone without a trace. It’s my dream come true.”
Chance let his fist fly forward then, satisfied for the crunch it made when it came into contact with Cody’s nose. The man gasped, lifting a hand to poke at the fresh red blood that was beginning to leak free. The eerie grin made its way back to his face again, even more haunting than before with the blood streaming down his face.
“That’s enough,” the Elder said, sitting up from his bed for the first time in weeks.
The smile fell off Cody’s face then, and he fell to his knees, the semicircle of Cultists following suit. Chance and the Elder were the only ones left standing, and he stared into the old man’s eyes, ice blue to sapphire, waiting for him to challenge him. With the mood he was in, he was willing to take on anyone.
“Where is she?” Chance said through gritted teeth, not changing his tone for the man before him.
“She has been summoned.”
Chapter Fifty-One
AS MUCH AS Max knew he should go back to see Amy, to tell her what he knew, he found it hard to do so, putting it off for an entire day before he forced his feet to take him where he didn’t want to go. When he walked up the neat flower-lined path to the picture-perfect house, the door opened before he could open it.
Amy stood there, bags under her eyes and baby propped on her shoulder. Her shirt was stained, and Max wrinkled his nose. Even from across the threshold he could smell her.
“Never heard of changing your clothes?” Max asked, keeping his nose wrinkled as he pushed his way inside.
“What happened? Where have you been?” Amy demanded, ignoring his question as she slammed the door behind him.
The noise was loud, so loud that Asher woke up and started to cry. Max let out a grateful sigh that at least he would have a chance to compose himself as Amy went to work cradling the infant, trying to quiet him.
“I had to know.”
“Know what?” Amy asked.
“That you weren’t lying. I…I found Amanda myself to confirm.”
Amy sucked in a breath through her teeth as if some small part of her had hoped she was wrong, that Amanda could still come back, and maybe she had. Max certainly hadn’t wanted this outcome to be the truth. “She’s really gone?”
“She’s really gone,” Max echoed, tone solemn as he stared down at his shoes.
Amy sighed and bounced Asher, eliciting a small coo from him.
“Where else did you go?” Amy asked, so softly that Max had to take a minute to guess what she had said.
“I talked to Morpheus,” Max said. Amy’s eyes were wide, the brown irises all he could see as she waited for his next words. “It told me to not give up on Luna. This? All of this is to build her up and shape her for the final war.”
Amy’s lips pulled sideways. “Amanda died for that? We’re at risk of dying for that?”
Max narrowed his eyes. “Is there something you aren’t telling me, Amy?”
As if to answer his question, a frustrated scream came down the hall, and Max’s accusing eyes turned to her.
“I can explain!” Amy said, trying to step in Max’s path.
Max, easily being twice her size, moved her out of the way and continued down the hall, Amy like a persistent mosquito the entire way. Every time she scurried back into his path again, he just as easily moved her to the side.
“Max, please don’t open the door,” Amy said as Max came to a stop.
“Help me!” a voice called from inside.
Max’s eyes were wide as he looked at Amy. “Who is that?”
“Cassandra,” Amy admitted, dipping her head.
“Why is she locked up?” Max asked, anger brewing in the back of his mind. After all they had gone through to find her, what in the world did Amy think locking her away would accomplish? If they had learned anything from studying Chance, it was that forcing people into doing things your way was the worst way of going about a task like this.
“Max, wait!” Amy cried, taking a step forward.
It was too late. Max had already opened the door, and Cassandra came flying out.
“Stay away! All of you!” she cried, and a blast of purple energy flew from her fingers, slamming Max against the wall.
Amy tried to lunge forward to grab Cassandra’s long black hair, but the woman dodged, and with Asher in her arms, Amy didn’t chase after her like she would’ve. Instead, she watched helplessly as the girl ran down the hall and disappeared from sight.
Chapter Fifty-Two
LUNA’S FACE CRINKLED with the sensation that something was amiss even before she opened her eyes. There was a pain throbbing right between her eyes—the third eye as it’s known in some circles. Groaning, she lifted a hand to press against her face and felt a fresh gust of air. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open.
She expected to see the room with the high ceiling, Cody, the semicircle, the Elder who she had been working so hard to heal. Instead, there was the indigo blue of night around her. She was lying in a field of grass, the blades coming up so high they sawed at the moonlight, leaving it in jagged angles as it reached her.
Staring up at the sky, she realized she lie at the base of a towering oak tree, the branches twining up into the sky until the blackness swallowed them. Very slowly, she sat up. This was a place she had never been before in her waking life or this one.
“Chance?” she whimpered, hoping that he was close enough to hear her.
He was the one person who could explain this to her. If no one else knew what was going on, she could always depend on him to give her the answers.
“Chance?” she cried again and stood to her feet, peering into the shadows for the slightest sign of blond hair.
She didn’t see him, and with a horrible twinge in the pit of her stomach, she accepted the fact that she was alone.
Did they kill me? she wondered, thinking of Cody. She had had her back turned to him, there was no telling what he could’ve planned.
Swallowing, she lifted her arm, pinching the bronze skin between her fingers. A shoot of pain flared through her senses, and she let the chunk of skin go. While she knew she wasn’t alive, she concluded she was no less dead than she had been
before the trip to Cody’s Compound.
“Where am I?” she asked out loud.
A flash of light buzzed through the darkness, and Luna recoiled, so caught off guard, that her mind instantly flew to panic. When another light rang out a few seconds later, she stilled and watched, realizing that they were fireflies. A third one lit up and a fourth. As she watched, she realized they were forming a trail.
They wanted her to follow them.
Swallowing, Luna took a step forward, the grass soft underfoot. Eyes mesmerized by the lights, Luna walked onward, the fireflies always just a handful of steps ahead of her. A mix of anxiety and curiosity had her running. The shadows and darkness blurred together as she moved until all she could see were the lights of the fireflies. When the lights stopped appearing, she literally fell to her knees, unsure of where to go next.
She had been so positive that they were leading her somewhere, either to an exit or to answers she didn’t know, but without them, she was back to feeling lost—the feeling much stronger after the hope the fireflies had inspired. The dam broke, and she started to cry, fat ugly tears that coursed down her face and neck, before she collapsed to her knees.
Coldness crept across her skin, and she lie on the ground, holding herself and crying, until a great Voice boomed from the sky, “There’s no need for such sadness.”
The tears froze on Luna’s face instantly. She sniffled and tried to wipe away the water as she sat up, throwing her tangled, dirty, wet hair over her shoulder, and uttered, “M-Morpheus?”
“Yes, my child,” it replied. “You have been through a great many trials.”
“You’ve seen it all.”
“Yes,” he replied.
Luna bowed her head, squeezing her eyes shut. Part of her expected a bolt of lightning to fall from the sky and fry her at any moment. “I’m sorry,” she said, not knowing what else she could say while at the same time knowing there was nothing else she could say.