“Evie,” Molly says with a grin.
Olivia and I both crack up at that. It’s all too true. I try to imagine what it will be like to leave Molly, to miss so much of her life, and then find her again in our own world. I won’t be there to guide her or protect her. I love Evie, and her parents, but it hurts to know that I have to leave her in someone else’s care for so long. What if it changes her so much we lose the connection we’ve built?
I stare at a bowl I don’t remember getting out and a prepackaged muffin mix. This will be the last time I make Molly breakfast, possibly for eleven years… possibly the last time period. I reach for the mix, but doing anything with it is suddenly beyond me. I stay frozen like that for who knows how long before Olivia’s arms wrap around me from behind.
“Hey,” she says, “why don’t you go sit with Molly? I’ll take care of the muffins.”
I don’t bother to hide my fear. Olivia can already see it. I turn in her arms and hold her for a moment. “I thought this would be harder for Molly,” I admit.
“It’s devastating,” Olivia says quietly. “She’s just trying not to show it.” She lays her head against my chest and closes her eyes for a moment. “I think talking to Hayden helped her yesterday, but she’s a lot more upset than she’s letting on.”
“What did Hayden say to her?” I ask.
Pulling back, Olivia looks up at me with a sad smile. “Why don’t you go ask her?”
Olivia pushes me toward Molly gently. I move slowly, for some reason afraid to ask Molly what she and Hayden talked about. When I sit down next to her, I see the pain she’s trying to hide. Her fingers wrap around mine tightly.
“Are you doing okay?” I ask.
She nods slowly.
“Olivia said you got to talk to Hayden yesterday.”
Molly nods again.
“What did he say?”
At first, Molly doesn’t answer. She drinks her milk slowly and stares at the little bubbles gathered along the edge of the glass. Her voice is quiet when she finally speaks. “He said you won’t forget about me, and he’ll take care of me while you’re gone.”
“Do you believe him?” I ask.
Molly bobs her head. “I was afraid …” She scrunches her face as if the words refuse to leave her lips. Her bottom lip quivers just slightly. “I was scared you’d find our mom and dad and forget about me, but Hayden says big brothers can’t forget, and I think he must know because he’s been a big brother a long time… longer than you. He said he would be my Escort until I find my real one and he’d make sure I make it home to you. And I believe him.”
She says those last few words firmly, but the way she says it makes it clear that she is still trying to convince herself. I reach over and pull her into my lap. She snuggles against me instantly. “Hayden was right,” I say. “I won’t forget you, ever.”
Molly presses her cheek against my chest and hugs me as tightly as she can. She is stronger than the average seven year old, but not strong enough to crush me. I feel confused when my chest suddenly begins to ache, like a terrible weight has been placed on top of it. Breathing becomes difficult and I have to close my eyes against a wave of dizziness.
“Why does your heart sound funny?” Molly asks.
When I don’t answer her, she lifts her head from my chest and stares at me. From across the kitchen, the clatter and splat of a spoon being dropped echoes in my ears, but I can’t respond.
“Mason,” Olivia cries breathlessly, “what’s happening?”
I try to shake my head, but I can’t move properly. Molly presses her hands to my cheeks and says something, but I don’t know what it was. Panic rises in my throat.
And then, suddenly, everything is back to normal.
Olivia and I both gasp. I manage to look over at her and see her shaking her hands like they are covered in something foul. A noise from Molly draws my attention back to her. I realize from her wincing that I am squeezing her arms way too tightly. My fingers spring away from her and she rubs them furiously. “What was wrong with you?” she asks.
I start to shake my head, but Olivia’s voice cuts through first. “It’s almost time.”
Molly’s eyes fly wide and everything she was keeping tucked away so carefully comes spilling out in a rush of tears. She flings herself against my chest and wails. A second later, Olivia abandons the half-made muffins and runs upstairs to wake everyone. I try to push Molly back enough to see her face, but she is locked around me. I have no choice but to hold onto her until everyone comes rushing down the stairs behind Olivia.
“Molly, I need to go get dressed, okay? Stay with Evie.”
She cries and tries to hold onto me, but I gently peel her off and hand her over to a tearful Evie. Olivia’s mom and dad look stunned as they stand in the kitchen, but they don’t stop us from bolting up the stairs after tight, strangling hugs filled with fear. Olivia and I part ways at the top of the stairs, for once going to our own rooms. As soon as I cross the threshold, I stumble to a stop.
I’ve held it off for so long, but it finally hits me. I’m leaving. I know I should hurry, but I can’t process everything right away. I stare at my room, the only home I really remember.
My movements are mechanical as I toss my pajamas on the bed and get dressed. I don’t put a lot of thought into my choices, just whatever I grab first. I don’t know if it will matter. I hope it will, I have faith that it will, but I don’t know.
I thought this would be the scariest moment of my life, but oddly, it isn’t. The times I thought I was going to lose Olivia were so much worse. I remember hiding the night the Sentinel attacked her at the house and how terrified I was. I remember walking in and seeing her bruised and bloody from the attack in the park. I remember her coming for me when Molly and I ran.
Deep down, there is still fear that we will both die today. I know Olivia’s fears are worse than mine, though, because she doubts herself and her ability to take me home. I don’t doubt her. She’ll find a way. She won’t die. She’ll come with me to my world and we’ll take the next step together, whatever that might be. I tell myself that as I pull a sweater over my head and look up to find Olivia in the doorway.
The agonizing fear that hovers around her is almost enough to wipe away all my confidence. Her hand trembles as she reaches for the doorframe to steady herself. She is seconds away from bursting into tears. “Mason,” she whispers, “I don’t know if I can do this.”
I cross the room in a few huge strides and crush her against my chest. “Don’t be afraid,” I beg. “I’m going home today, and you’re coming with me.”
“But …”
“No,” I say sharply. “That’s how it’s going to be. Now let’s go downstairs and say goodbye to everyone.”
Olivia doesn’t look anywhere near convinced, but she nods and I start pushing her toward the stairs. The confidence I had a few moments ago is shaken more than I care to admit. I try to banish the fear trying to well up inside of me, but it isn’t easy. Olivia was close last night. I know she was. She just has to do it again. It’s going to work. It has to.
Chapter 36
Ruin
(Mason)
It breaks my heart to leave Molly sobbing in Evie’s arms. I wipe away my own tears, angry at the fact that I have to be separated from her at all. Thoughts of Sentinels, of one scarred-faced Sentinel in particular, crowd into my mind and my anger increases. This is their fault. I’m not really sure how this all started, but they are responsible for the fact that I just had to abandon my seven-year-old little sister.
Olivia looks over at me with concern when I jam my seatbelt buckle into place. “You okay?”
“I’m just ready for this to be over,” I say.
“Me too,” she says.
I say over, but I know this is only the beginning.
Olivia pulls out of the driveway as if this were any other day. We know it’s not. The Caretaker Officers who fall in behind us know it’s not. The Sentinels I’m sure are f
ollowing us know it’s not. As soon as Olivia puts the Jeep in drive, it begins.
It is a race, but with different goals for each of the teams involved.
The Caretaker Officers are intent on seeing me sent off safely. I am their only concern.
I want to survive this, but I need Olivia to come with me. She is my main focus.
The Sentinels could be happy with several results. Me dead would be fine. Me falling in line as their pawn would be even better.
And Robin? I wish I knew exactly what her goal was. Her winning this race is the scariest option by far.
Silently, I reach over and take Olivia’s hand. She squeezes tightly, but doesn’t look over at me. My fingertips pale under her grip. I hate that she is so scared. I wonder, sometimes, if she ever thinks about what her life would be like if she hadn’t found me that day. Does she ever wish her world hadn’t been turned upside down by an invisible boy? There is so much she would have been spared from experiencing. So much pain.
“What are you thinking about?” Olivia asks.
I look up, startled by the sound of her voice. I contemplate shrugging off her question, but the words form before I can stop them. “Do you ever regret …”
Olivia shakes her head before I can finish. “Never,” she says softly.
“But you’ve been hurt and scared.”
“I’ve been loved, too, more than I ever thought I could be.” Olivia looks over at me with tears in her eyes. “No matter what happens today, I wouldn’t change a single thing.”
Her statement is so strong, so sure, I can’t bring myself to doubt her. It doesn’t resolve even half of my anxiety, but it settles me enough to be able to think about something else. “How much time do you think we have left?”
Olivia shrugs. “I don’t know. I haven’t felt anything else. Have you?”
I shake my head.
Silence falls again, and sticks for quite a while as we drive. I wonder if Robin believed our plan about going to the mall. I wonder if she is planning to show up there in a few hours when it opens. We were as convincing as we could possibly be, and Robin seemed to believe it, but we all know how skilled of a manipulator she is.
“My fingers are going numb again,” Olivia announces, frantic as steering the Jeep suddenly becomes difficult.
I reach over and grab the steering wheel, but a moment later, the crushing feeling returns and my hands pull back to clutch at my chest. My breath comes in gasps, painful gasps. One hand grips the edge of my seat. The other presses against the door as if I could possibly stop the feeling of being buried under a tremendous weight. My whole body jolts as Olivia slams on the breaks when her hands slip off the steering wheel, now completely useless.
Doubled over, I beg for this to end soon. The agony stretches on for what seems like eternity. It doesn’t vanish suddenly like it did earlier. The slow relent is worse than the height of the pain because I am desperate for it to just stop, and the end won’t come fast enough. By the time I can finally sit up straight, my forehead is covered in sweat.
Olivia looks pale and more frightened than ever. “We don’t have much time left,” she says as her shaking hands regain control of the steering wheel.
“Maybe we better just get there, then,” I say.
Olivia nods and pulls back into traffic. We made the plan days ago to spend the time leading up to going home driving aimlessly around town in order to confuse anyone following us and make it harder for the Sentinels to attack. We almost decided to continue that right up to the moment Olivia had to take me home, but she was worried it might happen somewhere we couldn’t control the situation or defend ourselves if we needed to.
She signals left and starts heading for our planned spot. I watch the familiar buildings pass by and try not to think about what the Aerling world will look like. If I had the choice, I wouldn’t be going home. Even though going home may mean finding the parents I have spent so long wondering about, I have too much here that I don’t want to leave behind.
I see the sign for the reservoir and Olivia turns again. We are both jostled a bit as we travel the rough dirt road. Our grip on each other tightens, and I’m sure Olivia is hoping just as much as I am that this is the right spot. We chose it because there is only one access road to the cliffs above the reservoir. The Caretaker Officers will guard our retreat as we make our way to the cliffs. It leaves us no way out if the Sentinels get through the Caretaker Officers, except to jump.
Luckily, Olivia and I have made the jump many times, so neither of us will have a problem if it comes to that, but it seems daunting to anyone who hasn’t done it before. Hopefully, though, we won’t need to run.
The Jeep slides a little on the gravel and dirt as Olivia brings it to a stop. We climb out with our eyes scouring the hillside for anything out of the ordinary. Scrub brush and trees fill the surrounding area. I don’t see anything, but there are a myriad of places to hide. Olivia and I back toward each other and clasp our hands together as soon as we’re within reach of each other.
We are high enough up that I can see the Caretaker Officers cars blocking the access road. I know more have fanned out to block anyone on foot. With our backs to the reservoir, the safety I was hoping to feel doesn’t come. Instead, a chill runs up my spine as the wind changes.
“Mason,” Olivia says in a trembling voice, “look!”
My eyes snap to where she is pointing. The rustle of bushes and branches puts me on edge. I will the painful crushing feeling to come back, to tell us it’s time and we didn’t jump the gun and put ourselves in danger. Olivia’s fingernails dig into my arm. She holds her breath, and so do I. The struggle escalates to the sound of raised voices. I grab Olivia, a second away from shoving her back into the Jeep when Hayden bursts through the brush.
A million thoughts jumble in my head at seeing him, but Hayden doesn’t give us any time to react. Wild-eyed, he rushes up to us in a full panic. “She knows!” he shouts. “You have to leave. Robin knows.”
“What?” Olivia demands as she stumbles under the force of me pushing her back toward the Jeep.”
Hayden shakes his head and stumbles along behind us. “I don’t know. I’ve been watching her all morning. She left her house at eight and went straight to the library. Then, fifteen minutes ago she got a text and took off. I was just going to follow her, but I realized almost immediately that she was heading straight here.”
“How could she possibly have known?” I demand.
“No idea,” Hayden says as he yanks the Jeep door open, “but she does, and they’re right behind me.”
The sound of gunfire drops everyone to the ground. I curl Olivia under my chest protectively. Her body heaves against mine as her panic begins to take over. After two seconds of silence, sounds of struggling filter through the air. Hayden and I look at each other and nod. It’s time to leave. I grab Olivia’s shoulders roughly and start to shove her into the Jeep, but just as I do, another round of gunfire freezes everyone.
The ping of bullets hitting the Jeep sends us rolling. My heart is racing as I yank Olivia to the side and shove her in front of the nearest tire. Another bullet ricochets off the ground right next to my foot, sending me over onto my backside. I scramble back up to my knees. One frantic look under the Jeep shows boots. Lots of boots.
Ready to make a second attempt at escaping, I grab Olivia. Another blast of gunfire kills any chance of driving away. The two far tires wheeze out air like a man’s dying breath. Something drips from the engine, quickly puddling and running toward my knees.
“I think we’re going to have to jump,” I say to both Hayden and Olivia.
Forcing away her shock, Olivia nods. Hayden is right there with us. He pulls his feet into position to make a mad dash for the cliff. By the time I look back to Olivia, she’s ready as well. My heart races as the gunfire stops and silence deadens the space around us. The three of us look at each other, wondering what the silence means. Are the Sentinels dead? Are the Caretakers?
&n
bsp; “If you’re considering jumping,” a familiar voice says, “you might want to reconsider. Divers are waiting below to collect you.”
Olivia bristles. Every muscle in her body is rock hard. I have never seen such a hate-filled expression on her face before. “You really are desperate, aren’t you, Robin?” Olivia shouts. “Or maybe you’re just as evil as Evie always believed.”
“Evil?” Robin scoffs. “Is this a Disney movie?” We hear shuffling, and know she and her Sentinel goons are closing in on us. “There is no good and evil, Olivia. You’re so stupid. So simple and idiotic. This is about power, not who’s right and wrong.”
“Is that why you killed your own Aerling? Power?” Olivia demands.
“I didn’t kill Eliana!” Robin shrieks.
“No, you just set her up. That’s way better,” Olivia says with disgust.
Harsh, angry words too low for us to understand, but not quiet enough to escape our notice, fly out of Robin’s mouth. I take advantage of Robin’s preoccupation and look over at Hayden for suggestions. Despite the chaos around us, he is surprisingly focused.
“They came in from the north on ATVs. Maybe we can head south and double back, steal one of their rides and escape,” he says.
I have nothing better, so I nod. Olivia’s hand slips into mine and we prepare to run.
“There’s no sense making this more difficult than you already have,” Robin shouts. “Come out and make this easy for everyone. You know we’re not going to hurt you. I just want you to keep your promise to me.” She pauses a moment, like her words will change our minds. When it doesn’t, her voice turns harsh and brittle. “Stop trying to ruin everything, Olivia!”
Ignoring Robin, Olivia and I sprint the short distance from the protection of the front wheel to the back wheel and crowd in next to Hayden. I don’t care what Robin claims, there’s no guarantee I won’t get a bullet to the head the second they have the shot. Hayden motions silently in the direction we should run. After we nod, he holds up three fingers and begins a silent countdown. My muscles tense, and I can feel Olivia’s do the same. The last finger disappears and all three of us spring forward in our only possible chance at escape.
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