I shifted my head away from him and noticed that Simone wasn’t in the room. He wouldn’t have done something to his boss’s daughter … would he?
“Where’s Simone?” I asked, my voice quivering.
Don’t give in to being afraid, I told myself. Be brave and figure something out.
“Don’t worry about your little friend.” The half-eared man walked away from me, chuckling to himself. “She’s safe in her own room. Her mother will deal with her when she gets here.”
Tobias sat on the bed. He had dumped all the contents of Asher’s backpack around him and was reading the Guardian’s Journal. The spear lay next to him.
“Hey! That’s not yours!” I shouted, trying to get up, but only managing to roll around since my ankles were also bound together.
Tobias ignored me and flipped through a few more pages. The receipts where we’d written the clues fell out of the book and onto Tobias’s lap.
“Stop!” I called out, but I knew it was pointless.
“Shhh!” The half-eared man scowled. “Be quiet or I’ll tape your mouth, too.” He then motioned over to Asher. “Plus, you might wake up your boyfriend over there.”
Tobias glanced up, and his gaze fell on Asher, who was still not moving.
“How did you find us so fast?” I asked, trying to stall while I came up with a plan.
The half-eared man chuckled. “Ms. Bimington knows many people around here.”
Asher began to stir, and then suddenly, his eyes were wide open, and he thrashed around on the ground fighting against the zip-ties that held his hands and feet together.
“Cargh! Carrrghhh!” he called out through the duct tape that covered his mouth.
“Settle down.” The half-eared man put his foot on top of Asher’s chest to stop him from moving. “Don’t make me knock you out again.”
“It’s okay.” I tried to sound reassuring, even though I knew how much trouble we were in. “Asher, I’m over here. I’m fine.”
Asher struggled to turn toward me, the half-eared man keeping his foot pressed against his chest.
I despised that man. He seemed to actually enjoy torturing people. My anger overwhelmed all my fears. It kept them buried deep in my gut.
I had the power to control the future … Why should I be afraid of anyone? I just needed the spear, and everything would be fine.
“Get your foot off him, Dante,” Tobias instructed.
The half-eared man gazed down at Asher and gave him a slight shove with his foot, but reluctantly obeyed.
“Listen,” I gazed over at Tobias. “I … I don’t know what you have planned, but—”
“Ha!” Dante laughed. “She still hasn’t figured it out. That’s funny.”
Tobias didn’t laugh.
“The only reason you’re still alive is because Ms. Bimington wants to be here to make sure the transition of the spear’s power goes as planned,” Dante taunted. “I’m sure there will be some unfortunate accident in your future.”
“That’s enough,” Tobias barked. “I want Sarah’s daughter. Bring her here.”
“Sir, I had strict orders to lock her in her room and keep a guard posted outside her door.”
“And now you have strict orders to bring her here.”
I glanced at Asher, unsure of what was happening. Asher shrugged as he continued to try to get out of his zip-ties.
“With all due respect, sir, I don’t follow your orders. I follow Mrs. Bimington’s.”
Tobias slammed the journal on the bed. “Then you can tell her how all her plans fell apart because you wouldn’t do as I requested.” His fists clenched. “This will be on you. You want that?”
“No …” I could see Dante hesitating. “But I shouldn’t leave you unprotected. Even if it’s only these kids. They’ve been resourceful.”
Tobias held out his hand. “That’s why you’re giving me your gun.”
“But …”
“Give it to me, and bring me that girl! Immediately.”
Dante pulled the gun out from the holster and handed it to Tobias. “I’ll be right back,” he said, leaving the room.
The moment the half-eared man stepped out, Tobias’s shoulders relaxed, and his expression softened. “We don’t have much time.” He spoke quickly and in a low voice. “I want to help you.” He held up the receipts with the clues. “What you’ve written here … about releasing destiny … this changes everything.”
Silence. We were not going to tell him anything. I wish we’d destroyed those papers.
“If I had only known,” he muttered to himself. “I could’ve ended this long ago. I was the one who had to lose his life … not all those people I killed.”
My hands hurt. It was like my knuckles wanted to be cracked and the only way to alleviate the discomfort would be to get the spear. I had to get it. It was right there on the bed. I could change things. Alter the future. Change the path we were currently on. This had always been about me, and it would have to end with me.
“Arrghhll!” Asher tried to say something.
“Cassie!” Simone ran into the room and hugged me, helping me to sit up at the same time. “I was so worried,” she whispered. “I didn’t know what else to do. So I—”
Click. The sound of a gun being cocked silenced her.
Simone and I froze, her arms still around me. Slowly, I peered over her shoulder to look at Tobias. He had the gun aimed at the half-eared man.
The half-eared man took a step forward. “What are you doing?”
“Another step and I’ll shoot,” Tobias responded, not taking his eyes off him. “You know I will.”
The half-eared man stayed still.
“You, Sarah’s daughter, go close the bedroom doors,” Tobias told Simone. “And activate the security feature like you did when you kept out the guard last time.”
I shrunk away from Simone. Had she betrayed us again, except this time she was siding with Tobias?
“Go now,” Tobias instructed, raising his voice.
Simone scrambled up and did as she was told … closing the doors and securing the room.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking,” the half-eared man said through clenched teeth. “But Ms. Bimington will not stand for a double cross. She will find you—”
“Shut up, and get in the closet,” Tobias ordered.
The half-eared man didn’t move.
“Dante, you know my history. I have no qualms killing someone to suit my purposes. You have five seconds. One … two …”
The half-eared man walked into the closet. At the very least, now we only had to deal with one bad guy instead of two.
“And throw out your cell phone before you shut the door,” Tobias added.
As the door closed, he pointed to a chair. “Slide that under the doorknob,” he told Simone. “And go stand by Cassie.”
He waited for a few seconds until Simone crouched down next to me. Then he continued to look through the Guardian’s Journal, flipping through the pages at a fast rate.
I was confused. What was he doing?
Simone leaned closer to me. “Your dad, Felipe,” she whispered, keeping her eyes on Tobias. “I was trying to tell you earlier. I called him. He’s on his way.”
“What?” I couldn’t believe she’d reached him. “Papi? You spoke to him? But how? When?”
She put a finger to her lips and got right next to my ear. “I had a cell phone hidden under my mattress. It took a while to charge it, but it’s what I’d use whenever my nanny tried to punish me by taking away my regular phone.” She rolled back her shoulders as if she’d won some sort of battle. “Those nannies were never a match for me.”
I stared at her. “But how did you know where to reach him?”
“What are you girls doing?” Tobias asked from the bed.
“Nothing,” I replied. “Nothing at all.”
Simone lifted her hands as if to prove she wasn’t doing anything.
Tobias paused, then went back to the journal.
“You said he was going back to the Knights’ compound, so I called him there. Pretty good, huh?”
There was a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. “Oh, Simone.” I shook my head. “Don’t you think the Hastati were listening in? They want me dead just as much as your mom does.” Things had just become even more complicated.
“I didn’t think we had many options,” Simone protested. “And your dad won’t let anyone hurt you. He even said that the Hastati had reached some type of accord with the Knights. They’re going to work together to do some type of rescue.”
“We can’t trust them to—”
“You. Sarah’s daughter.” Tobias pointed to Simone. “Come here.”
Simone slowly stood up, her back still against the wall.
“Hurry up. I have an idea.” He motioned for her to get closer while keeping the gun pointed at her. “Get this pocketknife and free Cassie.”
Simone looked down at me, then cautiously crossed the large room to get to the bed.
“Quickly,” Tobias urged as Simone picked up the knife and ran back toward me to saw off the zip-ties.
“Why are you cutting me loose?” I asked as Simone finished slicing through the zip-ties. “What are you up to?”
“Cassie’s your daughter,” Simone reminded him. “You can’t let anyone hurt her.”
“I know,” Tobias said. “We don’t have much time. Sarah will be here soon, and we have much to do.”
“Do what?” I questioned, not trusting any idea this madman might have.
“What I’ve always wanted. To release destiny,” he said.
I rubbed my wrists where the zip-ties had cut into them. “Why would we ever—”
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Someone pounded on the bedroom door.
“Tobias! Tobias!” a woman’s voice shouted. “You open this door right now!”
“My mother,” Simone whispered, her face filled with dread.
I nodded.
Tobias stared at me. “There is only one way this will all work.”
BAM! BAM!
“This door better open immediately,” Simone’s mother warned. “That girl is mine. You don’t transfer the power without me.”
“NO!” Simone yelled back. “She’s not, and we’re not opening it!”
“Simone?” I could hear the surprise in her voice. “Simone, what are you doing in there?”
Simone looked at all of us. “Ignore her.”
“Listen closely.” Tobias spoke with urgency while keeping the gun on us. “We have to do this quickly. We’ll only get one chance.”
There was more pounding on the door, then silence. Simone’s mother definitely didn’t seem to be the type to give up easily, so where had she gone?
Tobias sighed, his eyes locking with mine. “I truly wish I could’ve had more time to get to know you.” He touched his Hastati ring, the one just like the ones Asher and I wore. His expression changed. Any hint of kindness seemed to disappear and was replaced with a cold, steely resolve. “Take off your ring, Cassie.”
My breath got trapped in my chest. I couldn’t move. Did he think killing me was the way to release destiny? Or was he taking the power back for himself?
Asher thrashed from side to side, powerless to do anything.
“She can’t.” Simone stepped in front of me as if to stop any bullet that Tobias might fire. “It’ll kill her.”
“Exactly,” Tobias replied. “That’s why she has to do it. Cassie must die.”
My hands trembled. Tobias was in control and my fate—the world’s fate—rested with him. I had to do something to outsmart him, before it was too late. The spear was the key. It was my only chance.
“But didn’t you say that all you ever wanted was to release destiny? That’s what you wanted to tell my mother, right?” I hoped bringing up my mother would make him drop his guard a little. “If I die without having entered the Realm, it won’t work. You have to give me the spear and then I’ll take off the ring.”
“NNNNNN!” Asher protested.
“Cassie, NO!” Simone turned to face me. “You can’t be serious. We don’t know if that’ll even work. He just wants to get the power back. We can’t trust him.”
I couldn’t tell Simone that I had no intention of sacrificing myself, but that instead I was just going to use the spear to change the future for our benefit.
“No, none of you understand,” Tobias said. “I don’t want Cassie to die in the Realm in order to release destiny.”
“A-ha!” Simone exclaimed. “You see! He is after the power!”
My heart fell. I thought I could convince him to give me the spear, but now my only chance was to make a dash for it and hope he had bad aim.
Asher struggled against his zip-ties and his muffled cries could be heard through the duct tape covering his mouth.
“I do want the power, but not for the reason you think.” Tobias paused, the gun still pointed at us. “Cassie will die, but then I’ll use the spear to save her, just as she saved me, once I regain the power. Then I will be the one to give myself to the Realm. It will be my life that is sacrificed.” Tobias stared at me as if filling his memory banks with my image. “I’m very glad that fate brought us together. Even for a brief moment. You are strong like your mother. She would’ve been pleased.”
“Wait, you’re willing to die to release destiny?” I questioned, not wanting to be sidetracked with talk of my mother.
“It’s what I’ve always wanted. Once I save you, I will remove my ring. I have enough experience that I can still control my body while in the Realm. The sacrifice will be complete, and destiny will be unleashed.”
“Mrrrfffgh,” Asher kicked at the floor even though his legs were still tied. His eyes were wide and he was violently shaking his head no.
“So, you’re willing to kill Cassie on a theory?” Simone asked. “You are insane.”
“It’s not a theory,” Tobias answered. “It’s written in the codes left by the Guardians. You deciphered them yourself … you know what it says.”
“But they could have been wrong.” I said, sidestepping Simone and inching closer toward Tobias. My body tensed. I was going to have to make a run for the spear.
“Stay put,” Tobias commanded, picking up the spear with his left hand and cocking the gun. “The easiest way to change your destiny is to have you recover from the poison, but I’ll shoot you if I have to. In fact, I’ll shoot him first just to prove I mean business.” He took aim at Asher.
I stopped moving, but my eyes remained fixed on the spear.
Tobias sighed. “I’ve lost everything in my life to this spear, but I refuse to have you lose yourself to the spear’s power. I can already see that it has a hold on you. You feel it. I know you do. Even now, with your friend’s life at risk, it’s calling to you. Telling you that you should be the one to make the decisions. That you have been chosen.”
I didn’t respond, but what he was saying was true. I had been thinking about how to get the spear even if it meant that he fired off a shot or two. What did this reveal about me? About what I was becoming?
“Sarah’s daughter.” Tobias turned his attention to Simone. “You are her friend, correct?”
Simone quietly nodded.
“You must make sure Cassie never touches the spear again. This can’t all be in vain. She deserves a better life than one that is tied to the spear.”
Asher threw his body against the wall to grab my attention. “Rrgghhrrr!” he yelled through the duct tape.
I ignored him. Something made me believe that Tobias was telling the truth. He was the only one who knew what it was like to be bound to the spear and the way he described it was right: I had noticed myself changing over the last couple of days. Was releasing destiny the best thing to do? Could it be done? “If I take off the ring and die, what about Asher?” I asked. “His life is bound to me as my Guardian. Would you be able to save him?”
“Cassie!” Simone squeezed my
elbow and drew closer to me. “You aren’t seriously considering this? He’d have the power, and you’d be—”
The sound of helicopter blades slicing through the air came in through the open window.
My already fast-beating heart picked up the pace even more.
Was Simone’s mom coming in through the window? Or was this another missile attack?
“Listen, I know you don’t trust me, but once I have the power and am in the Realm, I’ll save both of you, just like you saved me. This will work, but we have to do it now.” Tobias pointed the gun at my chest. “One way or another.”
“I’ll do it! I’ll do it!” I shouted, not wanting him to fire the gun. “But the ring won’t come off.” I tugged on it to show him. “I’ve tried—before I knew what it did.”
The whirring of the helicopter blades filled the room, so loud the windows rattled. It had to be right over our heads.
“We’re out of time,” Tobias announced. “Push down on the center as hard as you can, then twist it to the right, and you’ll be able to pull it off. Do it. NOW!”
I looked at my friends. Asher was panic-stricken, and Simone looked like she was about to cry. There was no way to know if I was doing the right thing or not. Choices determine destiny, but it didn’t seem like I had much of a choice. I was either going to die by a bullet or by the poison in the ring.
I took a deep breath and twisted the ring off. As I did, I felt a small prick and a cold sensation ran through my finger. I glanced up at Simone and Asher, the ring dropping to the floor as my hand lost its grip, and I felt my legs go weak. “Cassie!” Simone shouted as my body slumped to the floor. Just as a wave of darkness engulfed me, I saw Asher’s eyes roll back into his head.
Then silence.
It felt like I was holding my breath underwater, slowly sinking deeper and deeper to the bottom of the sea.
Everything was so quiet. So peaceful.
I felt like I was being embraced by unseen arms.
Cradled as I drifted toward the ever-growing glow of a golden light.
Then there was a tug, as if someone had lassoed me and was preventing me from going any farther. I looked through the murky waters above me and saw Tobias. He smiled and gave me a nod.
Suddenly, a rush of noise surrounded me as I torpedoed up toward what seemed to be the surface. I broke away from that soothing underwater cavern and took a deep gasp of air.
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