Fast and furious, the impressions slammed into Meda on a tidal wave of love and familiarity that nearly knocked her on her ass.
A heartbeat. Nausea. Joy. Panic.
Undone by the woman’s kindness, Meda drew away, searching Libby’s eyes. For so long, she’d made it a point not to touch people. Or to hug them. In this moment, however, it felt right.
Libby frowned. “Meda, are you okay?”
“Yes,” she answered slowly. Better than she’d been in a long time, amazingly. “Thank you.” Libby, the wildcard Keeper, belonged here, fit in here, though a part of her was human.
Maybe, even for a short time, so could she.
The past, the future, and the right here and now swirled around her. All were up for grabs. She straightened, faced Dev, then the clan, her decision made. “I want to help,” she said, enunciating each word.
“Meda.” Dev maintained a low voice. “I’m trying to give you an out. Take the out.”
“No,” she said stubbornly. Hadn’t she done that for the last three years? By hiding at MJ’s, by distancing herself from everyone? It was time to take a stand. For herself. For what she’d lost, yet discovered. For what she could give.
And because I’m falling for him.
Zane interjected, Dev shook his head, and they continued arguing. But Meda didn’t even hear them.
Her heartbeat soared, then plummeted as the realization struck her. It wasn’t a good idea, she’d said, to get involved with him. What a grievous, foolish understatement. She was undeniably involved with him, and had been since the minute he’d crossed realms.
Dev raised his voice to make a point, oblivious to her plight. Zane and Saxon chimed in.
A parade of red flags marched through her brain. Everything about Dev Geary was dangerous, from his line of work to his reckless M.O., to his smile. And he could very well be a danger to himself. The vengeance she’d seen in his eyes, when he’d tried to go after the Betrayer at the motel, despite being too weak to stand, haunted her. Was he doing his job as a Keeper or exacting revenge? She understood all too well what it meant, felt like. To be consumed. And to be saved.
The question remained, would he let that need overtake him? She thought briefly of the conditions given to him by the Watchers. She doubted even those mysterious edicts would govern him. He was a risk taker, and he wanted revenge—a bad combination by anyone’s standards.
Her ability helped her to know who she could trust, who she couldn’t. Since she got no impressions from Dev, he’d forced her to rely on her gut. Something she hadn’t done for far too long. Placing her trust in Dev was dangerous.
And if she didn’t, they didn’t have a prayer. To her way of thinking, that started with having the courage to trust herself.
She clasped the stone around her neck. He’d given her as many reasons to trust him, as reasons not to. He would only be in this realm for another five days. Days, hours, minutes. It made no difference, really. She’d been running for three years, and damn near a lifetime, and gotten nowhere.
In some ways, whether or not he felt the same way about her was irrelevant. If she was going to forget him in a matter of days, then she’d give all in the time they had left. And accept the consequences. She wanted to laugh, to cry. Nothing about her, or her life, had ever been regular.
Just like Dev.
He’d upended her world. And offered her the tough love she hadn’t even known she’d needed. By forcing her to face her greatest fear: her ability. Now, she saw possibilities. She was still afraid. For him. For all of them.
She was tired of being afraid.
The heat, the passion, the feelings Dev had unearthed in her fanned to life and burst into flames of fury. She wholeheartedly embraced them.
“Can I talk, please?” she shouted over the group.
It took her shouting one more time before everyone quieted down. Dev scowled as though he’d like to shake her. And she thanked God he couldn’t read her Vista.
“I think I’ve proven myself.” Meda addressed Dev with more conviction than she felt. “You demanded I come with you after you broke into my apartment. I did as you asked. I helped you at the motel.”
The others murmured in agreement. “You’re not giving her enough credit Dev,” Nick said.
“I don’t want to give her credit,” he retorted. “I want to keep her alive.”
“I am alive,” she snapped. “Because of you. I’ve handled everything you’ve thrown at me. Even this.” She clutched the stone around her neck, fury two days in the making boiling over. “Sometimes it’s like having a live wire strapped around my neck. My body doesn’t know whether to shit or go blind. And I’m handling it. How could you know how it would affect me? You couldn’t.”
She strode around the room. “You’re Keepers, and Watchers, but you’re so very vulnerable, same as humans. And you.” She stopped in front of Dev, planted her feet in a warrior stance. Red haze clouded her vision. “You’ve made all the choices since I met you. I’m tired of being told what I’m going to do. You’ve forced your way into every part of my life since the beginning.”
“Meda.”
She stabbed a finger in front of his face. “I’m not finished.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a smug smile fixed on Libby’s face. Drawing on that female camaraderie, she barreled on. “You told me my ability was a gift, not a curse. This morning, I discovered something that might be able to help you, and now you want to send me away? You haven’t asked me how I feel about one thing since I met you!”
She stepped forward, planted a hand on his chest, and shoved him. “I’m telling you I want to do this. I’m afraid.” She swallowed. “I know what’s at stake. The human race as we know it. The clan as you know it. I may not be a Keeper, but your Watchers sent you to find me. For a reason. I can get impressions from the stones, as you’ve said. That, along with my father’s research and your Vitality, is the answer.”
The thoughts that’d been brewing since they’d been at the motel now formed, fully. A different way. If her father had been standing here, she thought he’d be proud. “What you don’t know, what you won’t find in any of my father’s journals, is that some of his research was based on my ability. Inspired by it. I even used it during some of the experiments.” Bouncing on her toes, she played her trump card. “Specifically, experiments based on harnessing the energy from human emotions.” She leveled Dev with a stare. “You can’t do this without me.”
He clenched his hands in fists. “When you held the Similitude this morning, it made you weak.”
“Yes. And you told me you would teach me to control the energy.”
“I will. But know that Keepers aren’t in the habit of having humans protect them. It’s the other way around.”
“I know that. And I’m standing here. You’ve been protecting me all along. It might not be as neat as you’d like, but you have. And I believe you and everyone here will do everything they can to keep me safe. I wouldn’t do it otherwise.”
“You could die.”
She processed that ugly truth. He hadn’t sugar coated anything up to this point. Why start now? “Yes. And if I don’t try, your clan could die. More innocent people could die. Humans. Like the man who got shot. Me.”
He moved toward her, and they might have been the only two in the room. “Once we start down this path, there’ll be no turning back. Right now, you still have a choice.”
“Yeah.” She offered him a half grin. “But not doing this isn’t one of them.”
His eyes, hot and bright as the stone around his neck, latched onto hers. They encompassed a universe of secrets she’d give anything to discover over a lifetime. Secrets, for once, she was sure wouldn’t haunt her. Thoughts of Walt and Phyllis, holding one another, growing old together, flashed in her m
ind.
She and Dev had only five days. No time to mourn.
Instead, in a single heartbeat, she accepted.
Dev nodded, ever so slightly, and turned to Nick, who did the same.
Meda took a deep breath. “All right then. Let’s talk science.”
CHAPTER 18
Meda paced, thoughts and connections buzzing in her brain, the way they had so many times when she and her father puzzled over a problem, a technique, a method. The knowledge she’d gained over a lifetime, and that she hadn’t drawn on for years, came flooding back.
“We need a way to fight the Similitude, and we need a way to create it. Nick and Dev, you’ve both said you thought if we found one, maybe we could find the other. I agree. You’re thinking they’re two different things. What if they’re not? What if we could use the same method for both?”
She gathered herself, sensing she was on the verge of something. “Do you know what Piezoelectricity is?” she asked of the group.
“I do,” Curtis said. “Some materials are able to generate an electric field as a response to applied mechanical stress. How would that help us?”
Dev frowned. “Translation, please? And what he said. How would that help us?”
“When my father and I worked on a method to harvest the energy from human emotion, we used the methodology of the Piezo electric effect. We used me, and my ability, as a conduit. Piezo elements convert the kinetic energy from vibrations or shocks into electrical energy. It’s how kids’ shoes light up when they walk or run. The energy for that comes from their movements and is transferred to light emitting diodes. LEDs. They use piezoelectric materials.” Meda spread her hands, palms up. “Same concept applies to my father’s belief that emotions contain kinetic energy.”
Dev gave a low whistle. “I think your father was a very smart man. And ahead of his time.”
Encouraged, Meda smiled. “What if we could tap into that energy? Harvest it, and store it, in a readily available source, already possessing qualities receptive to the storage and containment of energy, such as—”
“Vitality stone,” Dev finished. “Your father was right. We already know the Betrayers feed off the dark energy of negative human emotion. It’s something like that.”
Nick nodded thoughtfully. “Kind of like an ‘anti-Vitality’ stone.”
“Exactly.” Despite the circumstances, her excitement grew. “In particular, the Piezo effect is very desirable for creating a self-contained, self sufficient supply system. In that ‘anti-Vitality’ stone we would have a weapon against the Similitude. The energy it stored could be channeled and used against the Betrayers’ dark energy, in much the same way Libby used her anxiety.”
“It could work,” Curtis replied slowly.
“My father and I conducted dozens of experiments like this. I’m very familiar with the process. We tried a lot of different materials and other variants. Nothing ever worked. However, we never had Vitality stone. What we need is a substitute for Libby’s panic. And I don’t want to try to harvest that, for obvious reasons.” She glanced at Libby, encouraged by her smile. “Even if we did, or we could, we’d still have to find a more reliable source.”
Dev cleared his throat. “I’m no scientist, but what about using a memory?”
Meda cocked her head in interest. “Keep talking.”
He walked around the table slowly. “By looking into your Vista, normally, I should be able to let you relive a memory. I can’t do that with you, because of your ability.” He gripped the back of one of the chairs. “Instead, what if you could relive one of mine?”
Her palms slicked with sweat, in anticipation. And fear. “What kind of memory?”
He held her eyes, unblinking. “My death.”
“Oh.” She gulped. Over the years, she’d had her share of impressions dealing with death. They were powerful on their own, without a Vitality stone thrown into the mix. Or a man she had begun to feel vitally connected to.
Who knew what the consequences could be?
“Yeah,” he said, and it was almost like he could read her mind. “It could get ugly. But if you need something powerful and terrifying, I think I’ve got it.”
She blew out a breath. “I think you’re right. It could work.”
“The way I see it, before we do anything else, I have to teach you how to manage and channel the energy from the Vitality stone. It’s the only way it’ll work.”
“Agreed.”
“Even if I do, we still don’t know if—”
Meda took the plunge. “It’ll kill me. Right?”
“Right,” he echoed, barely audible.
The room erupted in shouts about humans not protecting Keepers, consequences and no options. Nick pounded the table with a fist. “Silence!”
All eyes fixed on her. Heart pounding, Meda met Nick’s stare across the table. Moments passed. “I already told you I want to do this,” she said softly. “And I don’t think you have much of a choice.”
Libby squeezed Nick’s hand. “It was the same for me,” she said simply, her expression resolute.
“I know, and I hate that,” Nick muttered. He pressed his fingers against his eyes and rubbed them, before focusing on Meda. “You have our full support.”
Heaving a breath, Meda turned to Dev. “If you’re going all in, then so am I.” How many double meanings did those words hold?
“Then you’re going to need to be a quick study. I won’t have anything happen to you. Not on my watch. Not because of my Compulsion,” he said hoarsely. Squeezing her hand, he released her gently. “Say this works, and we’re able to harvest the energy. Create this weapon. Then what? It’s going to need to be tested, firsthand. I figure I have the most experience in that area.”
Nick folded his arms across his chest. “When that time comes, we work as a team.”
“Right,” Meda echoed. “We work as a team.” She caught Dev’s eye, recalling how he’d tried to go after the Betrayer at the motel. “Agreed?”
Dev forked a hand through his hair. “Agreed,” he said shortly. “Next. What about the Similitude?” He pointed to a bookshelf where several ancient, leather bound volumes were stacked. “Meda, those are the clan Scrolls I told you about.”
Her eyes widened as she studied the intricately adorned and aged leather on the volumes, with their meticulously stitched bindings. “They look like something out of a Harry Potter movie.”
Dev grinned. “I suppose they do. They tell us Similitude is created using alchemy, the black arts. Select clan members have knowledge of both, as unbelievable as it sounds.”
“We’ve tapped them for a way to figure out how to fight the Betrayers with Libby’s anxiety,” Nick offered. “No go. I’m sure it’s because we lack the dark energy.”
“As far as the Similitude goes, I don’t know. Yet. There’s always more than one way to do something,” Meda reasoned. “The Watchers want you to find out how to create the Similitude for the purpose of reverse engineering. So we can figure out how to return Similitude to Vitality.” She turned to Dev. “Right?”
“Right. And in essence, beat them at their own game.”
“I was able to read the energy impressions from the stone,” she mused. “Therein might lie the answer. If we could find a way to harness the energy from those impressions, or harvest it, it might be enough to create the Similitude. To reverse the process? It’s not always as easy as simply back tracking through the steps required to create it.”
“Understood,” Nick said. “We have limited time. We work on one thing at a time. Creating this weapon. And then we move forward.”
“I hate that we need it.” Zane’s expression had shuttered. “That they’ve forced our hand.”
Saxon linked arms with her brother. “So do I. But we do what we have
to.”
“There are no guarantees if this is going to work,” Meda cautioned.
“It sounds like it’s our best shot.” The others nodded in agreement.
“I’m also hoping that one process will help us learn about the other.” Meda spread her hands. “That harvesting the energy from Dev’s memory will help us learn how to better harvest the dark energy from my Similitude impressions.”
“And, like Nick advised, we move forward from there.” Dev fell silent briefly. Then looked up. “I wonder.” He addressed everyone. “What are the consequences of creating an ‘anti-Vitality’ stone? And if we’re successful, the Similitude? Of using the Vitality, that by all my reckoning is in a way that’s not intended? To the network, to the realm? And us? Have we been lowered to the Betrayers’ level?”
The rest of the Keepers exchanged looks. “We’ve thought of that too.” Nick’s misery was clear. “The Watchers sent you here for a reason. Like Saxon said, we do what we have to do. Give it our all. And have faith in the Watchers’ intentions.”
Dev folded his arms across his chest. “Giving it our all, I can handle. The faith? I seem to be running short on it these days,” he said drily. He glanced at Curtis. “You took care of the warehouse?”
“Here are the keys.” Rattling off an address on the North side, he handed them to Dev. “Everybody helped.” Curtis waved a hand to encompass the group. “It should have everything you need. I installed security cameras, inside and out. I set up two monitors, each with multiple views. You’ll be able to see what’s happening at any given moment. We’ll also have eyes on you, 24/7.” He turned to Meda. “If you make a list of supplies, I’ll get them ASAP.”
The Watcher (Crossing Realms Book 2) Page 13