Chapter Forty-Seven
Sage
He paces the waterfront, muttering words I can’t understand. He’s tall and ugly. He’s dark, with blazing eyes and hair curling just above his collar. His face is hard, like it was carved with stone. I recognize him from the memories. It’s his face that brings Adam pain. It’s his face that is cruel and unrelenting. It’s his face that shares the best features of Adam’s face without the softness. He’s Laris Knight.
“What—why are we here?” I ask as I finally take in the surroundings. The sun glitters off the lake, white caps dancing in the distance, but that’s all that is familiar. We’re on a cliff, high above the shore water, the steep sides a straight drop to the ragged stones below.
“I wouldn’t chance it.” Laris raises a lip as if he knows my thoughts. “I think it would hurt a little—well more like a lot. Not that you’d feel it for too long. Nobody could survive that drop.”
“Where are we?” I ask again.
“Nowhere you need to worry about.” He starts pacing again and I shiver. The guy is crazy. That much is for sure. He’s muttering again and I pull myself to my elbows as I assess the situation. What could Adam’s father want with me? He’s got the ring.
“I need you to draw Adam, here,” he says.
“Well, if you think I’m going to draw Adam here, you’ve got the wrong girl. Adam doesn’t care about me. He never came for me. Did you know that? He’s known where I’ve been the whole time and he never came for me. He doesn’t care about me. He never did.”
Laris rolls his eyes. “You’re cute,” he says. “Of course Adam cares about you. It’s the number one thing he cares about.” His voice drops. “I get it, though. I get it—I really do. That’s why I need him. He needs to save the one person I really care about.”
He pulls the ring from his finger and studies it, lost in another world. I inch closer. Maybe if I get close enough I can—
“Sage, Sage, Sage…” He crouches down. “There is no way out. Well, there is a way out, but that’s not up to you. Just relax. Adam’s going to do the right thing and you will be okay. I promise you.”
There’s something inhuman in his eyes. Funny, because he isn’t human. Maybe that’s what makes Adam different. Maybe it’s why he cares so much. Maybe I should’ve gone easier on him.
Or maybe not.
Who am I kidding? Adam will probably show up to save me and walk right into this trap.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Adam
“What do you mean she’s missing?” I nearly throttle Lucas. “What the hell?”
“I was talking to Brianna. We were supposed to leave, and then suddenly she was gone. She was standing in my driveway and she was gone. She left her bag behind. I was hoping you would know where she is since she seems so shaken up about you.”
“No, I don’t know where she is.” My mind reels. Maybe she is out there. Maybe she is looking for me. Maybe she realizes why I didn’t look for her. “I’ve got to find her.”
“If you do…” I don’t wait for Lucas to say whatever he’s going to say. I’m jogging for my truck, ready to get out of here. Ready to find her.
My driveway is empty when I pull in and I’m glad I don’t have to answer a bunch of questions from my mom. I tear through the house, nearly sliding down a patch of ice on the steps. When I reach the ground, I run to the rocks, to our beach.
But it’s empty.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Sage
“What do you want with Adam anyway?” I ask him. “You have your ring. It’s not like they can destroy the Nexus without it.”
“It’s not the Nexus I need Adam for.” Laris paces again, his eyes darting back and forth as if Adam’s going to show up any second. He still thinks he’s coming, apparently.
“Then what is it?”
“I need Adam, himself. Not the Nexus or any of those damn rings. Adam’s the key to saving Katie.”
“Who the hell is Katie?” I ask. Something’s familiar about the name. As if I heard it before. As if someone told me who she is. “Wait, she’s Zane’s mom.”
Laris stops pacing and sits down on a rock. He looks in the distance as if I’m not even there. “She’s everything that was good in this world. My Katie. Her smile, her laugh. She brought the sunshine and held the storms back. She was everything. The day I put a ring on her finger, I knew there was nothing left for me in this world. Not the Nexus, not saving Perseida. None of it. Everything that mattered was here, on this planet with Katie.”
“I’m sorry,” I say in a low voice, partly out of fear and partly because I did feel sorry for him. I’ve lost Adam enough times to be able to relate to his pain.
“You know I met her on that beach—that one you and Adam like to hang out at so much. She was there for the summer with her father, and I was there looking for a break. She stumbled over the rocks one morning, practically into my arms.” He smiles. “She had a book and I had a book and well we were both just looking for a place to read. And that’s how it all started. My Katie.”
“But she’s gone,” I say quietly, hoping to help him move forward. Maybe if I can help him accept things...
Laris stands up and begins pacing again. “Vin killed her. Oh, he didn’t know I knew, but I knew. He killed her because he thought she was in the way. He begged me not to marry her. He told me she’d be my downfall. But she was everything. Her and Aaron and Drew. We were a family. A normal family, free from all the garbage that came with it. Until Vin decided to end it.”
I press my hands into the ground as he continues. His eyes are wild, like the past is creeping in and making him crazy. “Vin tried to make it look like the Nexians killed her, but it was him. He just walked in one day when I wasn’t there and shot her. Shot Drew. Would’ve shot Aaron, but…” he gulps. He presses his hands to his face. “Oh, Katie, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“I’m sure she—”
“Shut up.” He turns to me, with a glare. “You don’t know Katie. You can’t even compare to who she is. She was everything to me. Everything. And—” He stands up and presses a fist to his chin. “I let her down. I should’ve known that Vin would pull something like that. I should’ve known, I couldn’t trust him.”
“But she’s gone,” I say softly. “She’s gone. And Aaron’s still here. And Adam too. I bet Katie would—”
“No,” he says. “She may be gone, but she doesn’t have to be.” He shakes his head and runs his fingers through his hair. “Adam’s going to save Katie. He’s going to go back in time and save her. And then we can all be a family again.”
“And how is he going to do that?”
“The same way Aaron saved you.” He meets my eyes. “He’s going to go back and stop Katie from dying. Just like your father was stopped from getting on that plane. Only Adam has to do this one, Aaron can’t, unfortunately.” He’s pacing again. “For years, I tried to send Aaron back, but going back to that moment was impossible. We tried going back a little further, to warn Katie, but it nearly killed him. Katie would never forgive me if I sacrificed her son for him. So, I created another son. One who could be sacrificed.” He says the words as if he’s talking about a business transaction.
“You’re going to kill your son?”
“Yes, that’s always been the plan. Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure he was strong enough to handle it, so things got a little delayed. He needed a little pushing.” He lifts his lip again. “So, I had him kidnapped—just a few months of pushing him to his limits to get you out of his system and make him stronger.”
The dots connect in my head. Kidnapping? Pushing him? “The Block? Where you kept him. Where you tried to destroy him.”
“I didn’t destroy him. I strengthened him.” He tilts his head and smirks. “Emotional attachments make us weak, and he was a little too attached to you. I needed him to be strong.”
“For what? So he can die?”
“So he can save my wife,” he says. “I’m no
t sure you understand what it feels like to love somebody so much.”
“I love Adam,” I say softly. The memories are scattered in my brain. Some feel like dreams while others feel so real, I can reach out and touch them.
“You loved Adam.” Laris stops again, tilting his head as his eyes scan my face. “In another lifetime, you loved Adam. But those things, they didn’t happen here. They never happened to you. How can you love somebody you didn’t even know existed until a few days ago?”
“I do love him. I may have not known his name. I may have not known every little detail from that last lifetime. But I’ve known him. I’ve always known him. My heart beats for his, like nothing ever has. I would gladly give up my life for his and I imagine he would do the same. Emotional attachments or love, call it what you want? It doesn’t make us weak—it makes us strong.”
He stops as if my words are sinking in. He taps his finger on his chin and then glanced at me. “Well, you’re right about one thing, loving Katie has made me stronger. As for what you and Adam had…all this sacrificial bullshit—that’s not love.”
“Yes, it is. Don’t you see? That’s what Katie was doing, Laris. She gave up her life for you. Don’t you think it would destroy her to know what you’re doing to save her. I imagine if she’s as great as you think she is, she’d hardly want the guy you’ve become.”
“Shut up.” He twirls around. “You don’t know her. She’s worth saving. Her life is worth way more than a hundred Adams.”
“You’re a monster,” I say. “An absolute monster.” I lunge for him, but he grabs my arms, holding me back.
“If you want to run off that cliff, be my guest. But not until Adam gets here. He’s going to need a little incentive to follow through with my plan.”
“You really think he’s going to come.”
“You just said, he’d die for you.”
Chapter Fifty
Adam
I’m barely back over the rocks, before Zane stops me.
“She’s not there,” he says matter-of-factly. I slide back to face him. God, he’s annoying.
“Yeah, I figured that one out. But thanks.” I rub my hand behind my neck. Think, I need to think. Figure this out. Where is she? She wouldn’t have gone back to Duluth—would she?
“Aren’t you going to ask me how I know?”
I roll my eyes. “I’m not in the mood for twenty questions. I think she’s looking for me, and I need to find her.”
“Oh, I doubt she’s looking. But you do need to find her. And soon.” There’s a flash of desperation in his eyes, something that tells me I am not going to like what he’s going to say.
Fear drops inside my stomach and brings my pulse rate up. “What are you talking about?”
“I think our wonderful father has made off with your little girlfriend.” He frowns. “He mentioned to Stella that he was going to take you up for a hike in the Porkies and was hoping your new little friend would come along.”
My heart bottoms out. My lungs freeze. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. “No,” I whisper. “No. What do you think—where do you think? Zane, we need to find them. I need—” I don’t wait to finish before I’m moving toward the house and the driveway and the truck. I need to get her and save her. I need to—
Where the hell is she?
“Right behind you,” he says. His arm clasps my shoulder, pulling me to a stop. I swing around to face him. “Relax. If Laris took her, he’s not going to do anything to her. He’s using her to get your attention. He needs you.”
“He better not hurt her.” The rage grows through my blood. “He better not hurt her.” I say the words slower this time, the syllables sinking into my blood. “Do you have the Nexus?” I ask Zane.
He presses it into my palm.
“And the rest of the rings?”
“Yep,” he says.
“Let’s go find my father and destroy him and this Nexus once and for all.”
Chapter Fifty-One
Sage
The bright light explodes on the cliff and my heart explodes with it. Adam is barely a shadow as the light fades and I open my lungs, screaming. “It’s a trap. It’s a trap.” I repeat until my voice grows hoarse. “He wants to kill you, Adam.”
Adam ignores me, his eyes locked on Laris. Zane appears behind them and tosses me a smile as if this was just an ordinary day. I cringe. I think Zane pretty much annoys me in every lifetime.
“Let her go,” Adam says. “She’s not part of this.”
“No.” I cross my hands. “I am not going anywhere.” Adam still ignores me. Instead he turns to Zane and whispers something and Zane nods.
“Well, it’s about time, my son.” Laris says.
“I’m not your son,” he says, and there’s a break in his voice. My heart shrinks. Adam wasn’t his dad’s biggest fan, but he’d always seen him as his dad. Knowing your dad wanted you dead…
“Okay, I guess the word’s gotten out.” Laris twists his lips into a smirk. I guess I know where Zane gets it from. But while Zane is clearly teasing, Laris’ voice sends chills through my body.
“Let her go.”
“No,” I say. “I’m part of this.”
“You were never part of this.” Adam glances at me. “This isn’t your fight. You’ve risked your life—I’ve risked your life.” Anger swells through me. How dare he say that? How dare he shrug me off like I don’t matter?
“Enough,” Laris says. “She can go once you save Katie. Save Katie, she can live. If you refuse, well she dies. It’s easy as that.”
“You promise?” Adam asks, crossing his arms.
“Adam, no.” I cry. “You’ll die.”
Adam ignores me yet again. “I’d gladly die if it meant she’d be okay. But here’s the problem. Saving Katie will send ripple effects through time that could very well affect whether Sage is okay or not. Can you guarantee her safety then?”
“Maybe, maybe not.” Laris juts out his chin. “I guess I’d never thought that part out.”
“I’m not doing it if I can’t guarantee her safety.” Adam says gruffly. He’s dropped his arms, now squeezing his right hand into a fist. He’s holding the Nexus—I’m confident of that. Even though I can’t see it, I know he’s holding it.
“Well, then you can just watch me toss her off of a cliff.” Laris points to me. He’s focused on Adam, their eyes locked in a tug of war. I dart my gaze between them—Adam steps closer and closer in my direction, Laris steps to the side like he’s a wall separating Adam from me. Someone grips me from behind and I yelp as arms encircle my waist. Light explodes around me from every direction and the ground gives way, falling beneath my feet.
When the spinning stops, I’m on the beach, our beach. Zane’s behind me, heaving as he struggles to catch his bearings. I swirl around looking for Adam. He’ll be here. In just a second…in two. He’ll be here. But it’s silent, just the gentle water bobbing against the ice on the shoreline.
I drop to my knees and wrap my arms around them. “He’s not coming.” It’s more of a statement than a question. I already know what was happening. The ground crushing beneath us, the waterfall of stones into the lake. The cliff sliding into the water below. Zane crouches down beside me and puts his arm around me, pulling me closer until I’m leaning on him. “He destroyed the cliff to destroy his dad, didn’t he?”
Zane doesn’t answer, so I sink deeper into Zane’s shoulder, feeling the tears drip down my face. “I hate him,” I say. “I hate him for always making the decisions. For taking my choices away. For leaving me over and over and over. I hate him because I’m always the one left to cry.”
“He did it because he loves you,” Zane says.
I pull away from Zane, stand up and brush off my jeans. I take a long deep breath and wipe the tears from cheeks. “I know,” I whisper. “I know.”
Chapter Fifty-Two
Adam
It takes me several hours to track down all the rings along the shoreline. Hours spent dodging
my father’s or rather Laris’ body. I want to hate it—hate him, but I pass it so many times, I start to feel nothing. Just a relentless numbness. I finally push it out as far as I can into the water, hoping the waves take it out and the fish nibble it into nothingness. It’s sad—the way it all ended. For someone so in love with somebody, he had so little love to give.
When I locate the fifth ring, I sat down along the rocks turning the items over in my fingers. I always knew this was the only way to destroy the Nexus, but how. The rings…
Five rings…
Five fingers. It came to me like I’ve always known how to destroy it. I slipped a ring on each finger and pressed the Nexus into my palm. When I opened my hand, there was nothing but dust. Such a disappointment for an object that has controlled so much of my life. No explosion or fire or noise so loud, the earth shakes. Shouldn’t there be more than these tiny grains in my hand. The heaviness of knowing I will never save a planet I’ve never been to hangs over me for a few minutes. But when I stand up and brush the dust off, I am relieved that I managed to save this one.
The rings fill my fingers and I pull them off one by one. They all look the same, save one slight difference. There are lines etched on the inside, each ring containing a different number of lines.
Arch’s had five, and as I pulled my arm back, ready to throw it into the depths of Lake Superior, I thought of a guy I had never met before. A guy I would never meet. I want to feel sad for him—I want to feel something, but there’s nothing to feel. He just existed. His ring existed. And it didn’t take much to throw his ring as far into the water as I could.
Zarek’s had four lines. Zarek, the man who had pulled the gun forever ending the life of Zane’s mom and sister. I wonder if he knew Zane—no Aaron—was hiding beneath the bed. I wonder if he had found Aaron, unlike Vin, if he would have killed him? I’m glad I don’t have to wonder though. As annoying and obnoxious as he can be, outside of my mother he’s family—real family.
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