by AJ Eversley
Murray’s shoulders dropped, and his men had gone silent behind him. “I am sorry,” he said, and he meant it. I knew he did, but even he wouldn’t risk trusting a Carbon, even if that Carbon was me. I couldn’t wipe away the fact that I was now the enemy, even if everything inside of me tried to fight what I was. If the time came and I was face-to-face with Coleman, I had no way of stopping the control he had over me. And if anyone was hurt because of that…
My feet were heavy as I pulled Max with me. As soon as we were outside in the crisp winter air, Max stopped me.
“He isn’t right, and you know that,” he said through ragged breaths.
“I know. But we can’t try to convince him to believe something he can’t see. All we can do is prepare ourselves and save as many people as we can.”
Max’s shoulders slumped, and reluctantly he nodded his agreement.
“I believe you,” Tenason said as he snuck up behind us. He had a smirk on his face.
“Of course you do, but only because you have to,” I said, giving him a nudge.
“Have to? Pfft, you can’t make me do nothing!” Tenason joked before his eyes widened. “Can you?”
“Shut up.” I punched him in the arm but was glad for the lightened mood. “I need to see Adam.”
Max didn’t look ready to end the conversation, but I brushed past him and marched into Adam’s office. I’d been serious when I said my only goal was to do what I could to protect as many people as possible.
Max clung by my side, and Tenason followed behind. I trusted Tenason and Adam, and it was time to get another opinion on what we’d found in the forest.
Adam was alone when we entered his room. A row of freshly built Megastun bombs were lined up along the back of his room. He looked exhausted.
“I heard you’d returned from your trip into the forest. Did everything go okay?” he asked.
I glanced to Max, who winced. “Things went as good as can be expected considering,” I said, avoiding any details. “I have something I need you to check out.”
I pulled the wooden box from my pocket and placed it on his desk. He opened the lid and pulled out the cuffs.
Adam’s glasses were on the tip of his nose as he examined the smooth ripples of the small one and the sharp zigzagging lines of the large one. The cuffs were still and quiet in his hands, not like they’d been a few hours before. He took a small cylinder device out of his desk drawer and placed it over the cuff. The device let out a quiet beep as it hovered over the cuff, “Hum…” Adam mumbled. “Alatonion.”
I’d suspected that was what it was since it glowed like Captain Lankey’s ship.
“This is what you went into the forest for?” he asked.
I nodded.
He turned them over in his hand. “I will have to test them out, look more thoroughly, if that is okay?” he asked.
I nodded. I didn’t need to tell Adam this was a secret or to keep what he found to himself. He knew.
“Have you tried it on?” he asked.
I scrunched up my nose, and it occurred to me that I hadn’t. I held it in my hands but never tried it on. I shook my head. Adam reached for my wrist where he placed the small cuff. The fit was perfect. Warmth spread through my body, starting at my wrist where the cuff sat and spread to coat my entire body. The currents etched across the cuff moved again, flowing with a warmth that covered me. The currents nudged at my energy. With a sharp sting, the cuff tightened around my wrist, releasing tiny needle like hooks that pierced my skin. I flinched and pulled my hand away from Adam’s grip.
“What?” Max grabbed my hand. He looked to the cuff embedded into my skin as if it were part of me. I tried to pull it off, but it wouldn’t budge. The small hooks on the inside had latched to me, and the cuff was like a metal tattoo engraved right into my skin.
I looked to Max. Panic rolled off me. “It won’t come off.”
Max tried to help pull it off, but it was stuck.
“I don’t think it’s meant to come off. It seems to have been made specifically for you, my girl.” Adam smiled. He peered down to the other cuff with a furrow in his brow. “This one, however, is much too big for you.” He took the larger cuff and placed it on my wrist. The cuff engulfed my wrist but didn’t latch on like the other had.
Adam peered toward Max before placing the cuff on Max’s wrist, but it didn’t lock on and slid off. Adam shrugged his shoulders. Tenason put his hands up as if to say “not me” so Adam placed it back in the box.
“I’ll have a look at this one and see if it’ll reveal anything,” Adam promised as he tucked it into the top drawer of his desk.
I gazed down at the cuff on my arm. The stinging from the hooks had subsided, and there was an almost calm energy that radiated through me. The currents moved with my heartbeat in smooth ripples across the silver surface. It felt almost as if it were gently stoking a fire, keeping the embers burning but not letting the flames get out of control.
This cuff was meant for me. I could feel it.
Chapter 49
Lena had kept quiet and mostly to herself since the first week she had arrived. She knew as well as I did that Murray’s idea was a stupid one, but unlike me she knew how to keep her mouth shut. When I’d told her about the incident the day before, she wasn’t surprised.
“People are naturally scared of anything that is different. It took me a long time to earn the trust of my people, and it wasn’t done without some pushback.”
I paced in her room while she sat on her bed. Her golden blond hair hung loose over her shoulder, and she had changed from her usual flowing dress attire to something more practical for the climate. She looked even younger in her sweater two sizes too big and her rolled-up jeans.
“If I could just figure out how to break the hold,” I said. That was the reason I was talking to Lena. She needed time and space to mourn the loss of Anthony and her people – her life – so I had given both. But now, I needed answers.
She sighed before meeting my eyes. She didn’t have to tell me; she didn’t have an answer for me. My throat closed up, and I couldn’t speak.
“I had hoped we would have figured it out by now,” Lena said. “I had thought that if you could control your powers and know how to wield them, that would open the door to breaking Coleman’s hold. I thought they somehow would be tied together.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. After all this time, she still couldn’t help me.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
I rubbed at my eyes. There was nothing she could do, nothing either of us could.
I stood to leave when something sparked in Lena’s eyes.
“What is that?” she asked, grabbing my wrist where the edge of my sleeve had revealed the Alatonion cuff. “Is this what you went into the forest for?”
I nodded. She pulled it closer, grazing her hand across the top. Her touch sent a chill running through me. The energy inside of me rose to the surface of my skin in response.
“There is another one,” she said.
It wasn’t a question.
“I can feel it calling to another energy,” Lena said.
I scrunched my brow, and I watched her tiny hands hover over the cuff.
She watched the currents swayed.
“How can you tell?” I asked.
She met my stare, and the light danced off them as her smile grew. “I can feel it. I can feel you.”
I pulled my hand away, looking down at my wrist where my pale skin met seamlessly with the silver currents. “We don’t know who the other one is meant for. It has lightning covering it, and I can feel a spark of electricity flowing through it when I’m near.”
The corner of her mouth twitched into a smile. “He will come—the owner of that cuff. It will call him, and he will come.” Her promise sounded ominous, and I wasn’t sure how she knew or how she could tell, but the small leap from my energy answered her with a resounding “yes” as if it felt him too.
~
That night,
Max and I lay in my bed. I traced my fingers over the scar on his side. It’d healed but left a jagged line down his side. Two new marks were still healing on his shoulder from the Alpha’s claws. His bare skin was warm to the touch as my body was pressed against his. He lazily played with a strand of my hair, and I closed my eyes and counted his breaths. I listened to his heartbeat as it pounded softly against his chest.
After so much confusion and so many questions, I had longed to find some way to forget about it all, to wipe my mind clean and start over again. Max had been happy to oblige. He didn’t question me when I’d pulled him into my room, locked the door, and kissed him until I forgot about all the terrors waiting just beyond.
Now, as the silence filled the air, I felt a question on the tip of Max’s tongue.
“Do you think it answers to you or to the other one?” he whispered into my hair. His hand ran down my arm and stroked the cuff on my wrist. His touch caused the hairs on my arms to stand.
I took a deep breath and tried to feel for the energy within me. A calm whisper answered back. “Both,” I replied. “I think it answers to me. I can feel it moving through my energy like the currents etched across it. But I can also sense it searching, for something…” I wanted to say “someone,” but I didn’t.
Max nodded and took my hand. He brought it to his lips, placing a gentle kiss in the palm of my hand. His lips moved up my arm until he reached my shoulder and nuzzled into the nape of my neck. His nose tickled the soft skin around my collarbone as he breathed me in.
“Whatever it is meant to be, and whoever it is meant to answer to, it will in time,” he said. “Aelish has taught me to trust the stars, and in turn trust her. So I do.” Max placed another kiss on my neck, and I melted into him.
“And I trust you.” I smiled as I moved my body onto of his, skin meeting skin in warm heat. His eyes devoured mine as he pushed away a strand of hair.
“You can always trust me. No matter what, I will always be here for you until the end.” His words were ominous, but I couldn’t look away from him, from the promise and the vow he held close to his heart.
His hand was at the small of my back, and he held me tightly against him. My lips pressed softly against his lips, sealing the vow with one of my own kisses. I didn’t want to leave his warmth; I didn’t want to miss one moment with him.
I stayed wrapped in his arms, kissing every inch of his body until the sun crept through the tiny window of my room.
~
The next morning came sooner than I had hoped. I sat on the end of my bed, wishing this dream and the peace of last night could last forever. Max had left early, just before the sun peaked over the edge of the forest. And I knew that the moment I stepped outside and into the cold morning air, the dream would be gone forever.
There was a sense of urgency in the air, and the people of the village were hurrying throughout, more than usual at this time of day. Their pressing movement set me on edge.
“What’s happening?” I asked Tenason as I jogged to catch up to him.
“Not sure,” he said, glancing at me in a way that said he too felt the change in the air. Always Watchers, that’s what we were.
Max met us at the entrance to the control room. Wrapping his hand around mine tightly, he squeezed it as we walked in. The majority of the commotion seemed to be coming from there.
“What’s going on?” I asked, walking up to where Murray stood.
Murray opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a frazzled Sam, who came bustling over, nearly knocking us both off our feet.
“You need to come see this.” Sam motioned to us as he inclined his head toward his station around the corner. “I think Coleman is on the move.”
Chapter 50
Sprawled across the screen was a bright red dot. It flashed wildly as it moved across the screen. “Our scanners picked up something large and moving fast. It has to be Coleman,” Sam explained.
“Where is it going?” Murray asked.
“The automated systems project it will be landing just on the outskirts of Kuros.” Sam tapped his tablet and pulled up a dotted line aimed for the abandoned city that was only a few miles from us.
Murray took only a second to make his decision. “Mobilize everyone.”
The soldiers jumped at his command and swept into action. They brushed past me as I moved forward and grabbed Murray’s arm.
“Do we have a plan?” I asked. My heart was pounding. This couldn’t end well.
Max gave my hand one last squeeze before he left to gather our gear.
“We do.” Murray handed me an earpiece as he moved through the room, gathering his supplies with haste. “I don’t want you anywhere near the bombs when they blow. I can’t stop you from coming, but keep your distance. I’ll give you the warning.”
The bombs wouldn’t work, but I kept my mouth shut. I nodded and placed the earpiece in snug. I’d do whatever I could to keep as many people safe, and right now that meant risking everything.
“What about Lena?”
“She’ll be safer here. I’ll leave a few men.”
I knew that wasn’t all together true. It didn’t matter where we were; no one was safe. But for once, I agreed Lena shouldn’t come, not yet.
“Let’s move,” Murray bellowed. Soldiers fell into place around me, and they marched out onto the frozen tundra.
I pushed my way past them until I found Max. He had my gear with him and was strapping his own gear across his back. Tenason was with him, ready to march into battle, despite the consequences of what could happen.
As I was strapping on my gun belt, Lena came running out of her room. A guard chased after her.
“I need to come with you guys, I need to speak to him. Maybe I could – ” she urged, pleading.
“No,” I interrupted, “you need to stay here.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but I put my hand up and she fell silent.
“You need to trust me,” I said. “Please, just trust me. Stay here and don’t move from this spot until I get back.”
Her back stiffened as she took another step closer, ready to fight. I wasn’t going to let her go, and I’d do whatever I had to do to keep her here.
“Don’t make me do something I don’t want to,” I warned.
She hesitated, weighing my words before her shoulders slumped. She faltered before allowing the guard to guide her back to her quarters. “I will place a shield over Kuros…it won’t last for long but it may buy you guys some time. Don’t let them be fooled into thinking they’ve won,” she said over her shoulders. I gave her a sharp nod before she disappeared and I felt the current of her shield moving into place.
If the ship that was headed our way carried anything like what we faced on the United Isles, I wouldn’t have to do much convincing. The minute those bombs failed, Coleman’s men would decimate us all. Which was why I had to get to Coleman first.
To my right, Max handed me a vest, which I threw over my head.
“Think it’s an ambush?” he asked, checking his guns once more.
“I doubt Coleman plans to come down for a little chat, but we have no choice,” I replied. “We have to try to help. He’s going to destroy every last one of them.” We had seen what only a few advanced Carbons had done, and Coleman had even more on his side. We wouldn’t beat him.
“What do you need us to do?” Tenason asked as we joined the crowd marching into the forest.
I glanced between him and Max. “Don’t die. We need to kill as many Carbons as we can, and we have to get our people to safety.”
With a somber smile, Tenason gave a sharp nod.
Max clicked his last gun into place, met my eyes, and gave my hand a squeeze. We’d been through so much and seen so much. But the unwavering faith and trust he had in me brought a flutter to my heart. The crowd of soldiers grew as we caught up and settled into a steady jog. Murray was near the front, and I made sure to keep my eye on him.
My energy pulsed wit
hin me, but the current that flowed through felt like it was endless. The hairs on my arms spiked, and every cell in my body felt alive and awake. Looking down to my arm, I saw the cuff glow with the energy on the tip of my fingers. With one whisper from me, my powers would do as I commanded; I knew it.
I was mid-stride when blinding pain hit me. I fell to my knees and grabbed the side of my head. I nearly passed out from the agony.
“Are you okay?” Max asked from my side, but his voice was so distant.
I couldn’t see anything; it was all black. I heard another voice, “Go back,” it told me. I tried to stand. “Go back,” said the voice again—it was my mother’s voice. And as quickly as the pain arrived, it suddenly disappeared.
“Sawyer?” Max’s worried face comes into view.
“I’m fine.” I gripped his hand, and he pulled me to my feet. “I have to go back.”
“What?”
“I have to go back. I’m not sure why, but she told me to.” I moved to turn around, but he grabbed my wrist.
“Who?” he asked.
“My mom.”
His brows furrowed before he said, “I’ll come with you.”
“No, I need you two here. I need you to make sure they don’t try to use those bombs.” I looked over his shoulder to where Tenason stood waiting.
“I don’t think we should separate,” Max argued, still gripping my wrist. His face was a mix of emotions.
I wanted to reassure him, but I had to do this; I had to listen. “I’ll be fine. I can run fast, remember? I’ll go check that everything is okay and then meet up with you.” He didn’t look convinced, “You have an earpiece right? I’ll let you know its all ok as soon as I see for myself.”
Max wasn’t happy, but he didn’t argue.
“Okay, be safe,” he said.
“I will, promise.” I winked.
He shook his head, and the corner of his mouth tugged into a smile before pulling me in for one hard kiss. With a little shove, he and Tenason ran to rejoin the group.