Midnight Dawn

by Jocelyn Adams

  The veils separating the realities were made of concentrated founder energy woven into a fabric of sorts. I could create them, too. And destroy them. I might have been able to simply open a rift and send Baku to the reality where his family was, but that would only expose us to yet another reality with unknown people and technology, which was how we ended up in this mess in the first place. I shoved that from my mind and focused on the positive possibilities of a gift like this.

  I pictured another cabin identical to ours, and those blue streaks formed an outline of the image in my head, like an architect’s blueprint.

  I pointed. “Oh my God, do you see that? I totally get it. I can build it with our energy. Right here, in this awesome place. I can build anything.”

  “That’s incredible.” Asher moved in behind me and pulled me back against him. Our storm swirled faster within us, bursting out in a mighty vortex that roared up into the sky on my command.

  Nearly giddy, I considered everything we’d need. A place where all of the guardians could sit down to a meal together. Cabins for all of the pairs to make into a place of their own. An infirmary, entertainment room, gym, and maybe a natural running trail around the lake.

  The ground creaked and moaned like an old house as our mingled energy raced outward. Asher’s grip on me tightened, and his breath quickened against my hair.

  A tremendous roar shattered the day as trees vanished and log buildings assembled, those tendrils of power sewing together from the foundation and working upward until they were finished. The action traveled around the lake like a natural version of the wave people did at stadiums. By the time everything went quiet again about ten minutes later, a small village of cabins, buildings, and pathways had come into being. Exactly as I’d imagined it in my head.

  What a rush.

  When my senses returned to my body, gasps and murmurs filled my ears. A glance over Asher’s shoulder brought me face-to-face with every guardian in the Machine standing on the front lawn, and not all of them appeared happy to be standing there in their jammies. A breeze against my breasts drew my focus down to what little I was wearing. Balls.

  I whirled around to face Asher and hide my mostly-nakedness, madly buttoning up the shirt that didn’t cover my bottom half. “How did they get here?” I whispered to him.

  “What?” He twisted his head for a look of his own, and when he turned back, his eyes had widened. “Oh. I guess I am the Shepherd. I thought they should be here to see the birth of our home, and I must have summoned them somehow.”

  I went to step around him, but his arms swept around me. “I need to get you some clothes. I can barely keep from murdering men who look at you with your clothes on.” Lifting his chin, he called, “Remy, you here?”

  I laughed, but the look in his eyes suggested he wasn’t kidding. Part of me wanted to strut around and bask in his protectiveness, but he also scared me, too, considering what the coming fight might bring. I wasn’t sure how to ease his fears or avoid throwing myself on the proverbial sword.

  Remy and Sophia left the crowd and bounded up to us, both bright with pride. “Oh. My. God. That was so cool!” she said as I peered at her over Asher’s shoulder, then she frowned. “Why is your face so red, and why are you hiding behind…” She leaned around Asher and stood back up abruptly, her own cheeks beginning to glow. “Oh, um…Remy, can you please give Addison your shirt?”

  Her eyes bulged as she looked back and forth at Asher and me, and then she grinned. “I totally knew it. No Machine zing, my butt.”

  Remy shed his black T-shirt and handed it to me, which I slid on. It dropped down to my knees. “Knew you’d find your way back to him,” he said. “Love look good on you, kolohe.”

  I frowned at him. “You knew about this?”

  “Not ’til after you talk about you memory echoes after Sam save you in the training room. Then I try to pound some sense into Asher’s thick skull.”

  So that was why he had a black eye. Remy hadn’t meant that Asher was wrong about me being part of the Machine, but that he was wrong to deny our bond. I grinned at King Kong and stretched up to kiss his cheek. “Thanks, big guy, and sorry for being a jerk earlier. I thought…oh hell, it doesn’t matter.”

  “I always on your side, Addy. Nothing ever change that.”

  I’d never seen him without his shirt. He was a mountain of muscles, his tribal tattoos covering one whole side of him. He was beautiful in a scary sort of way.

  I smiled at him, sliding my gaze over to Sophia and back to him, and he shook his head. I wasn’t sure how to fix them. Or any of the others, for that matter. Hell, I’d barely scraped out my own bond, and Asher and I had gravitational attraction to each other.

  Asher hesitated a moment, inspecting my giant Remy-dress, before his shoulders relaxed, and he turned to the big guy while keeping my fingers linked with his.

  Caine raised his hands in triumph where he stood with Iris and Raldad. “Behold the power of your Architect and her Shepherd,” Caine said. He held a fist to the base of his throat and bowed. “Protect them as you would your own beating heart, and in turn, they will take you to freedom from the evils of our founders.”

  Oh hell. After that eloquent speech, mine would probably sound like a third-grade book report. Why was he getting their hopes up? And why mention Izan’s evils but not Baku’s? Did he really think merging the realities was the way to go? I needed to have a chat with him before he made everything worse.

  The horde of guardians continued to stare at me as if I’d turned into a dragon that would soon fry them to a crispy brown. What would I tell them? How could I start the Machine, whatever that even meant? It wasn’t like we were a bunch of gears and valves that ran on gas; we were supposed to be a family. Would they come with me to fight Baku?

  With Asher and me, trust seemed to be key. The moment he’d broken that trust, we were closed to each other, metaphysically speaking. I couldn’t do anything to make them trust anyone else, but I could earn their trust. Maybe that would start a foundation, a sense of safety the rest could build on. If Asher and I could create a village, what could we all do together? Maybe find the sanctuary once I figured out where it was. How could I get them all on board in twenty-four hours? My stomach sank when I realized it probably couldn’t be done.

  Trying to ignore Sophia’s bulgy-eyed nonverbal request for details, I headed for the herd. Some of the guardians held hands over their mouths. Others spun in slow circles and pointed out landmarks to one another. The largest group in the center included Kat, Taka, Sampson, and the other senior sentinels. I stopped when they appeared ready to bolt or lay a beat-down on me. The Colonel wasn’t anywhere I could see, and instead of worrying that he might try to kill me again, I wondered if something bad had happened to him.

  Asher came in beside me, and one look let me know the thought had crossed his mind, too.

  “This is our home,” I said to them. “I know most of you might have forgotten what that means, or maybe you never had one before you came to the Machine. It’s safe here, protected, and no matter what happens tomorrow, I’ll make sure you all have a chance to start a real life here.”

  A young girl with long black hair stepped forward with a stern expression that seemed more like a mask to hide her utter terror. “Is it true you have to face the wraith king tomorrow?” Murmurs carried through the crowd as they all appeared eager for my answer.

  “Yeah, it’s true.”

  “How will you defeat him when all those who faced him before perished?” Raldad asked in his deep bass voice. Caine must have been blabbing about our bloody history.

  Asher put his arm around me. “We don’t know yet,” he said. “All we know is that you’re all part of this, too.”

  “Count me in,” Caine said.

  “Me too.” Remy grinned at me, but it fell flat when Sophia gasped and stared up at him with fear in her eyes. He reached for her, but the closer his hand came toward hers, the more blood drained out of her face. She shoo
k her head and came to stand behind me, whispering, “I’m sorry,” over and over again until I tucked her dainty form under my arm.

  A few more piped in, including Kyle and Sampson, Raldad who answered for Iris, too, and half of the soldiers, though most of them fidgeted as if resisting their flight instincts.

  “Then pick a cabin and make it your own,” Asher said. “Once everyone’s settled, I’m pretty sure there’s a meeting hall across the lake. Don’t go anywhere else other than the facility. We don’t want to give Baku any more hostages. Meet us at the hall in an hour, and we’ll figure out how this is going to go down.”

  Hostages? Crap, I hadn’t even considered that. He already had Mom; would he go after Dad? “Look at their faces,” I whispered to Asher, wondering how much of a cow he’d have when I asked him to go and get Dad. Most of them were staring inward or at another person around them, no doubt realizing they might lose the one they secretly adored before having a chance to confess it.

  “Think about how long it took us to come together, and our attraction was worse than gravity. How can we convince them all to let go of everything they’ve believed for the last sixty-five years?”

  “I don’t know,” Asher said. “Even the ones who are drawn to each other won’t necessarily accept it.”

  He motioned with his head, and I glanced over my shoulder where Kyle stood several feet away from Sampson. Our new Medic gazed at him with nothing short of worship on his face, but Kyle shook his head and snarled something low and sharp at the Aussie.

  “How do we show them the power of the bond they can have?” I asked. “And how do we help them find their matches in a hurry?”

  As I looked over their faces, something caught my eye. It was the same shimmering thread that wove through the sky, only it connected all of us.

  “What’s that?” Asher asked. Had they been there all along, and we could only now see them? Or had my village-raising trick brought us closer together? The connector between Asher and I pulsed thick and brighter than any of the others except the one joining Raldad and Iris. They’d bonded, then, and that’s what those threads meant. As I surveyed everyone, they did the same, so it wasn’t only us who could see them. I’d been wrong before. Each of us had one conduit, and I didn’t think it was Izan who did the choosing, but something in our own souls that reached out and found exactly what it needed to be happy, even if our conscious mind couldn’t understand it.

  The fear on their faces let me know they understood, too. “If you didn’t know who your match was before, you do now. Even if you’ve been denying it, your heart has always known. Every one of you is strong on your own. Needing someone to hold on to when things go to hell isn’t weakness. That’s what it means to be a family. It’s up to you whether or not you want to be part of ours. If you do, go back to the facility and get your things. Choose a home here and make it yours.”

  Even Taka had a connection, even if I couldn’t see through the group who the other end joined up to. He shook his head and muttered, “No,” and then blinked out. Marcus had made him believe he’d killed his girlfriend with touch. Had he bonded with her before she died? I didn’t think so, or he wouldn’t have had a match now, would he? Or did our hearts choose someone else if we lost our conduit? I added that to my list of questions for Izan, not that I was anxious to talk to him again.

  Others followed him into the Shift in small groups, and I wasn’t sure how many of them would come back and find the courage to follow those threads. Kyle took Sophia with him to pack their things at the facility, because she couldn’t call the Shift herself. She should have been with Remy. How could I help her overcome the fear her father put in her? Erasing her memory hadn’t helped. Giving it back to her would only make it worse at this point. I had no idea what to do for my best friend, and that sucked ass.

  Other than Caine, Asher, and me, only Kat stood alone near one of the paths with a spot of light on her forehead, which mirrored the one on Caine’s, but neither of theirs led anywhere. The utter grief on her face twisted my stomach. She whirled away and vanished before I could think of something to say.

  “What was that all about?” Asher asked.

  I wrapped my arms around him, tucking my fingers into the waist of his jeans. “There’s no match for her, and I’m not sure why. Maybe we just haven’t found him or her yet.”

  He twirled a lock of my hair around his finger. “Do you want me to talk to her?”

  I shook my head, even though I dreaded the thought of having to comfort Kat of all people, but it was my place, not his. “I’ll do it as soon as she comes back. There’s something I need you to do. If this could potentially be our last day, and who knows what Baku’s planning, I need my dad. Why do I remember everything after induction now, but still nothing before?”

  “I did two separate memory sweeps on you. The first was in the woods before Marcus took you. That one sent a cascade of commands to you and everyone who knew you, suppressing only memories of Addison Beckett. The second command I gave your mind while you were in the infirmary took away your memories of my affection for you. They have to be restored separately, and I didn’t think it was a good idea to drop that on your dad when we weren’t around to explain, because once I restore yours, he’ll remember you, too.”

  Beckett, yes, that was my name. Yep, Dad was probably going to be pretty ripe and confused when that happened. “Once Dad’s here, you are going to give my memories back, right? I mean, you don’t have any more major revelations boxed up in my gray matter, do you? Because I can’t take any more secrets.”

  “Just as I promised, nothing but truth from now on.” He kissed my temple. “I’ll send someone to get him.”

  “No, you’re the only one who can put up protection around his house so Baku doesn’t end up getting both of you. Please, can you hurry?”

  His arms tightened around me. “How can you ask me to leave you now?”

  “I’ll keep an eye on her, mate,” Caine said with a smile. Strange the connections had faded now that I wasn’t looking for them. Probably a good thing. Staring at people through a mesh of energy would get annoying.

  I reached up and kissed Asher before the hurricane of words could leave his mouth. When the tension eased out of him, I pulled back. “If anyone’s going to knock his block off for messing with us yesterday, it’ll be me. If he gets out of line, I’ll kick his ass myself. I’m going to put the pages in the bible, and maybe he can help me figure out what to do next.”

  Asher half smiled and scrubbed a hand over his shadow beard. “Those puppy-dog eyes are going to be the death of me, you know that, right?”

  “Is that why you’ve barely looked at me over the past three weeks?”

  He passed his thumb over my lips, and I shivered. “That, and I was afraid you’d see in me just how much I love you.”

  “Good God, you’re going to rot my teeth,” Caine complained.

  Asher glared at him. “Hands off,” he said, then to me, “I’ll be a few minutes, maybe a bit longer so I can secure his place before I go down to the true reality. Your dad will be out for a bit, and he’s probably going to be pretty pissed when he finds out the truth about what you do.”

  “I know,” I said. “Be careful. And be gentle with him. I don’t need any more reasons to be mad at you. Which I still am, by the way.”

  He nipped my ear. “I look forward to making it up to you. Over, and over, and over. Perhaps while I’m gone, you should consider adding some soundproofing to the walls so Sophia won’t hear the adorable little whimpers you make when you’re about to—”

  “I do not!” I had to swallow my fangirl giggling and the golly-gee-wow-he’s-really-mine brewing in my throat.

  Watching him disappear and not rushing after him was the hardest thing I’d done so far.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  I sat at the kitchen table in the cabin with the bible open in front of me. After I reattached the three pages we’d found, along with the ones the other team
s had recovered, another flash lit up my eyes, and a sense of urgency grew in me. I still couldn’t get any visuals, only frustration that seemed to be coming from the book itself. Weird.

  “There’s nothing here but what I already know,” I said to Caine, who leaned against the kitchen cupboards with a cup of tea in his hand. “Classes of wraiths, details about their world and Baku, a description of the Shepherd’s abilities, which might have been helpful a week ago. I don’t think I’ll be able to see whatever it wants to show me until we put the final page in.”

  Caine seemed agitated, and when he didn’t say anything, I asked the questions building on my tongue. “So you were manipulating both Asher and me all along, knowing he was my Shepherd. I should knock your head in. First you try to suffocate me, you flirt like a two-dollar hooker, and then you bold-faced lie about you and me being together.”

  He gave an elegant shrug. “Would you have believed me if I’d come right out and said Asher was your Shepherd?”

  I thought about it. I’d always known Asher and I shared a physical attraction, but given the way he’d been acting, and his mystery girl I’d wanted to pound until I found out it was me…I wouldn’t have asked him to be my Shepherd, because I ultimately wanted him to be happy. “No, probably not. I needed those quiet moments when Asher was telling me what I needed to hear, even though I didn’t know he was talking about me.”

  Gesturing to the book, Caine asked, “Do you feel any different with the new pages inserted?”

  “No, not that I can tell, but I can sense stronger emotions that seem to be coming from the book. I think whatever it will show me will be the key to everything, but I need the last page. Which means it’s going to be a last-minute thing.”

  “What do you mean? Don’t you know where it is?”

  “Izan said Mom has it, so I guess I need to take the bible with us to our dragon mantis date at dawn and wing it from there. Now that the other pages have stopped trying to tear me apart, I can barely feel it out there. It keeps moving, so I can’t pin it down, or I’d go right this second to get her.” Thinking of Asher near that shithead of a wraith stuck a blade through my chest. “How can I let Asher come with me? I’ve finally found him, and in one way or another, I’m going to lose him. They do say the brightest flames burn out the fastest, so I guess there’s some truth to that.”