Alec could hear that Darius was pleading for his life, and yet at the same time he couldn’t help but bristle at Darius’ description. The last thing he felt like was a child.
“You agree with Logan?” Riley shouted over Alec’s shoulder. “You bitch.”
Alec tightened his hold on her as she squirmed wildly. “Let me go, you dork,” she grunted, kicking at Alec’s shin with surprising accuracy.
Anna looked away from Darius and pierced Alec with a look he couldn’t quite understand. Then she transferred her gaze to Riley. “Orders and obedience. Two concepts that continue to be unfamiliar to you, Riley. You cannot proceed with your training until you understand both of these. Do as you’ve been instructed.”
Riley stiffened. Then, before Alec could react, she reached into his pocket, grabbed at the orb. Alec tried to stop her. His hand succeeded in grasping around hers as she pulled it out, the warm smoothness of the orb only touching a fingertip. But it was enough. Darius’ hand snaked out of the darkness and clasped over his.
“Now!” Riley shouted in the same instant Darius’ message slammed into his mind. Alec had no choice. The power awoke inside him, straining to join in. He added his response to theirs. The light from Riley’s orb flashed brilliantly in the confined space, for a moment searing an image of Dean, his hands upturned in defence, his own orb brilliant with power, and Anna, standing still, her hands by her side, into Alec’s brain.
In the same instant, someone else was there, hovering at the back of Alec’s mind, touching it tentatively, like a caress, but colder and impersonal. Alec shuddered. The sensation began to slip away.
The light faded to nothing, leaving the tunnel even darker than before.
For several seconds Alec could do nothing but blink furiously as tears streamed down his cheeks. On all fours now, he felt cold and disoriented. Wetness was seeping through the material on his knees. He was wrist-deep in a puddle. He couldn’t concentrate.
“Get her orb,” Darius was saying in the distance.
“What about Dean’s?” Riley called back to him. Both of them seemed awfully far away. Alec shook his head to clear it, but the cold, touching feeling was growing again. It was getting harder to think.
“Alec, get up.” Darius’ hand grabbed under his arm and a forceful yank pulled him upward. He swayed. “Here, hold onto this.” Someone dropped an orb into his hand. It was all he could do to concentrate on closing his fingers around it.
“Dare, I think they’re–” Riley wailed.
“Don’t think about it,” Darius responded. His voice, too, was muffled.
“We can’t just leave them.”
Darius said something indistinct. Riley gave a sob. Alec swayed again. His feet were miles away. He couldn’t see. What had happened? Why didn’t he care?
“Riley, we’ve got to leave. Now. Otherwise her sacrifice will be for nothing.” Darius was urging Riley and tugging at Alec’s arm at the same time.
What sacrifice? Alec reached up to rub his eyes and knocked the orb inadvertently against his forehead. Whose orb was this? Irritated and muddled, Alec slipped the orb into his pocket and stopped resisting Darius’ tugging. He took a tentative step into the darkness, didn’t fall, and took another.
He was pulled up the slope one laborious step after another. Lights came and went, creating faint pools of brightness, then fading to inky darkness once more. He felt as if he were somewhere else, then back again inside his own skin without any indication that he’d moved. He felt anger and triumph, then dizzy and confused. Pictures flashed through his mind. Battles, monsters, mayhem. What was real and what were fantasies? He couldn’t concentrate.
The slope became steeper and the air around him warmer. The tunnel outlines took on clarity as the sunlight from the world outside filtered downwards. Alec was mostly oblivious.
By the time they stepped out into the sunshine, he didn’t even notice.
31
Riley leaned against the tunnel entrance and held on for dear life. The stitch in her side was fading now, but she was still gasping. Not that the run up the long tunnel had been overly strenuous.
Killing two people had been.
She couldn’t believe it. Darius had ordered her to knock out anyone who opposed them and that he’d guide her. Those were his implicit instructions. He hadn’t said anything about murdering them.
Nothing had gone right since finding Alec. It had taken ages to find Darius and agree to a plan. She hadn’t been able to find the orb he’d hidden, despite his instructions, and she’d had to swipe two from distracted Potentials. Then getting out of the Base separately had nearly failed. It was only a complete lack of attention on the part of the two guards that allowed her to slip past unnoticed. She’d nearly missed the correct tunnel, too. Only after she’d travelled halfway down one and met a party of teenage Potentials, crying and frightened out of their minds, had she realized she was in the wrong place.
Now, despite her best intentions to merely incapacitate her Guardian and Anna, she had bumped off the both of them. It defied belief.
And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, Darius was mute with what could only be grief, and, any minute now, the entire Base of Tyon Operatives would realize that a) they’d escaped, b) they had Alec with them, and c) they’d assassinated two colleagues.
Could things get any worse?
Riley let go of the rocky outcrop and stepped into the welcome sunlight. The tall grass rippled in a sea of dark green as a brisk ocean breeze whipped across the hilly meadow. On all sides lay the brilliant navy of the ocean. Above, the wide sky was dotted with heavy clouds and wheeling seabirds.
Riley took in a deep, shaky breath of sea air. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed the sun on her skin and the tang of salty air on her tongue. She gave herself a mental shake. There were far more pressing issues at hand. They had to get off this island and hide somewhere. Fast.
But where?
Riley headed out onto the grassy knoll and lumbered up over a cluster of grey, sun-warmed stones. Perched on top, she had an excellent view of the entire island. She twisted around. Other than Darius, kneeling in the grass several metres to her right, and Alec, slumped against the entrance to the dark maw of the tunnel, they were completely alone.
If she squinted, the faintest outline of far-off, haze-shrouded cliffs came into view, across a wide expanse of water.
Riley kicked at the closest rock in frustration. He’d gotten them out of the Base, but so what? He’d warned her that teleporting after fending off an attack would be nearly impossible. Unless there was a ship hidden somewhere along the bottom of what appeared to be cliffs and he knew of a safe way down to it, they were stuck there, waiting until the Tyons realized what had happened and came marching up the tunnel to take them into custody. There wasn’t even something to block the tunnel entrance.
Some escape. She slammed her hands into her pockets.
Wait a minute. Could she move them? She pelted back to Darius and dropped to her knees beside him.
He was almost doubled up, his face pressed into the sweet-smelling grass, his knuckles white as he gripped clumps in a stranglehold. Riley hesitated. What on earth could she possibly say? Tentatively, she reached out, touching his shoulder with only the faintest of pressure. Waves of distress rolled off him like a storm surge.
“Darius,” she implored, as gently as possible. “We’ve got to get off this island.”
He jerked his shoulders from her touch and turned his face away.
“Please,” she tried again. “They’ll be after us any minute.”
“I …” Darius couldn’t seem to finish. His voice was bleak, as if the light had gone out of his world. Perhaps, considering Anna, it had.
Riley glanced up at the tunnel entrance. Alec was still slumped against the rocky opening, his face pale and drawn. His eyes were oddly blank. He didn’t seem to be aware of his surroundings. Heaven only knew what had happened to him, but he was obviously not going to be any
help to anyone in his present state. It was up to her.
“Logan will kill all three of us. Is that what you want?” Riley shoved Darius’ shoulder. “Get up and get yourself together. You’re the only one who can get us off this miserable rock. So do it. Now.”
Darius raised his head. His eyes glittered with anger, his skin was white and bloodless. His breath came in rapid, shallow pants. Riley took a step back. He’d never frightened her before, but this man was clearly on the edge.
She took a deep breath and held out her orb. “You have one now. So does Alec. I’ll move us. You just need to show me how.”
Darius glanced once at the orb in her outstretched palm. Without a word, he turned and looked at Alec, then back at her face. Almost snarling, he lunged. He grabbed Riley’s arm painfully and pulled her along beside him. Her feet barely touched the ground. He stopped at Alec’s inert form. With his free hand he reached down, grabbed hold of Alec’s upper arm and yanked him upright. Alec swayed.
“Get your orbs out,” he rasped.
Riley couldn’t suppress the shiver as she held her orb in her outstretched palm. Discretion stopped her voice. She had no idea what Darius might do in this state. Warily she watched him plunder Alec’s pocket for the orb that Alec seemed too disoriented to find.
“Here,” he said, thrusting the small globe into Alec’s slack hand. “Hold it. Pay attention.”
“What’s the matter with him?” Riley asked. Alec’s eyes looked like they were crossed. And was he drooling?
“Rhozan,” Darius barked. “Focus on me, Alec. Nothing else. Nothing but me is real.”
What was Rhozan doing to Alec? Would he turn into an Emissary and try to kill them?
“Rhozan can’t control us like normal people, that’s why he doesn’t like us very much,” Darius said, answering her unspoken question. “Hold your hand out so our orbs are touching. Like this.” He grabbed at Riley when she didn’t obey quickly enough.
“Hey,” she yelped. His grip was bruising. “I’m doing it.”
Darius ignored her. He positioned each hand and orb so that they were touching. The glass clinked together. He pulled Alec’s hand close so all three orbs touched each other. “I’m wiped from the fight with Dean, so you’ll have to boost this. I’ll direct you.”
“Where are we going?” Riley asked, but Darius ignored her.
“Alec, pay attention.”
Alec squinted and bit his lower lip. The war between what he wanted to do and what was preventing him from complying waged across his face. Riley reached out with her free hand and clasped his shoulder.
“Don’t distract him,” Darius ordered. “Focus on what you have to do, Riley. Now.”
Riley swallowed the angry retort and tried to comply. It wasn’t easy. Despite the lessons she’d taken, every time she tried to empty the thoughts from her mind, create the blank slate as she’d been taught, thoughts of Dean intruded. Dean’s patience with her endless questions, his exclusive focus on his job, his exasperation with Darius’ popularity. A huge lump formed in her throat. Stop it, she berated herself. Don’t think of anything.
She felt the first tentative touch of Darius’ thoughts the same instant she heard the pounding of feet in the tunnel.
Ohmygawdtheyrecoming.
“Focus,” Darius barked. His mental slap was painful, pulling her attention and fear from the approaching Operatives onto him. As required.
Desperately she tried. Purged the fear, purged the thoughts. Blank.
A picture formed inside her mind. A city landscape. Towering office blocks. Glass and steel and impersonal beauty.
Shouts, far away and getting closer. Darius’ anger surged.
Ignore it. Focus on the task.
Escape.
Alec’s thoughts touched her mind. He was scattered, flitting from one thought to another. A fairground, a tent, a pretty Asian girl, soccer cleats. Riley gasped in amazement at his strength.
Darius fought for control.
Riley squeezed her eyes shut. Leaned into it and followed Darius’ lead.
She could feel the power building like a huge electrical charge under her skin. She tried to breathe through it. Add her own strength to his.
“Finn!”
Their pursuer’s cry was the signal. The dam of energy broke its boundaries.
Then nothing.
32
A huge farmer’s field stretched as far as the eye could see. Row after row of waist-high, yellowed corn stalks rustled in the breeze. On either side, the dense darkness of the forest stood resolutely impenetrable until out of sight. Overhead, the broiling midday sun had the sky to itself. Even the birds were hiding.
Alec wiped the sweat from his brow and anticipated another hour of walking with intense dislike. Who the hell had teleported them into the middle of nowhere? This was some escape. “Keep going?” he asked Darius.
“’Fraid so,” Darius replied.
They stepped out into the wide path bordering the field. Tractor treads criss-crossed the earth like gigantic tic-tac-toe games. A tall wooden fence separated the three of them from the field beyond. Darius climbed over and dropped to the other side and carried on walking. Riley followed suit and Alec took up the rear, nearly tearing his hand on a protruding nail. Riley tugged on Darius’ sleeve to slow him down.
“Do you actually have a destination or are we just going to walk until we collapse?” she asked.
Darius pointed to his right. Off in the distance, the sun-bleached, red tiles of a barn roof were just visible behind a huge grove of trees. There was an old-fashioned windmill not far from it, creaking as it turned slowly in the humid air.
Alec perked up. With a farm came farmers and food and a method of transportation. Darius would have to use his Tyon power to convince the people who lived there to feed them, hand over the car keys, and maybe, Alec tugged at the collar of his jumpsuit, loan them some decent clothes. He sprinted to catch up with Darius and Riley.
“So, listen,” Riley said as she wiped her bangs off her wet forehead with an exasperated sigh, “I’ve been thinking about a few things and I’ve got some questions about this organization of yours.”
“It’s not my organization now.” Darius stared straight ahead.
Riley ignored that statement. “We walked right out of the Base. No one even gave us a second glance. What’s up with that?”
Good question, Alec thought. He could remember everything clearly until he touched the orb in the tunnel and woke up in the middle of a cornfield an hour ago. The lack of interest the Tyons displayed had been unnerving, if not downright weird.
“Orions and Tholans are the most logical and unimaginative group of beings you’ll ever meet.” Darius stopped abruptly and reached down. Grasping a handful of leafy shoots, he yanked. A bunch of carrots, thick with dirt, appeared. Darius smiled coldly. “And that’s the key to staying one step ahead of them. No imagination. They couldn’t begin to believe that we’d try to escape by walking out right in front of everyone. So, when we did, the assumption was that we were supposed to be there, had some purpose. As long as our thoughts didn’t betray us, we were fine.”
“But if Anna or Logan had seen us …” Riley yanked a few carrots out herself before Darius started walking again.
“Sure, they’d have known what we were up to.”
Riley paused, frowning. She glanced at Alec for a second as if wondering how to phrase the next question. It was probably the same one on his mind. Why had Dean sent a killing bolt of power at them?
“He didn’t want to kill you,” Darius sighed. “He was after me.”
“I wish you’d stop reading my thoughts,” Riley snapped.
“It’s faster. There’s no reason to pretend now. And besides, your thoughts are so interesting.”
“Get out of my head, you creep.” Riley smiled, smacking his backside with her carrots. Darius gave a brief laugh.
“So, if Dean were only after you, why’d Anna get blasted?” Alec wondered a
loud.
“She didn’t repel it. Didn’t try. I don’t know why.” Darius’ voice was hard and his jaw set. He started to walk faster towards the farm, as if trying to put some distance between the uncomfortable topic of conversation and his own feelings. For several minutes they walked in silence.
The farm slowly came into view, appearing fully as they climbed over the hedge and dropped down into an untidy yard of overgrown grass and haphazardly planted fruit trees. The clapboard house was a dilapidated affair with three small additions tacked onto the main one-storey building, all in different styles and all in need of repair. The two barns were in much better condition, freshly painted and the grass cut short around them. The larger of the two’s main doors were partly open where the raised gravel path met them.
The place was silent except for the buzzing of wasps around the cherry trees, whose bountiful branches were weighed down with bright red fruit. Alec plucked a handful as he passed and popped them into his mouth, savouring the sweetness with satisfaction. Riley caught him wiping cherry juice from his chin and grinned. He tossed her a couple of cherries before grabbing a few more for himself.
There wasn’t a car or pickup truck anywhere, nor were there any signs of people. No radio, no music, no voices, no laundry hanging on the clothesline.
“Alec, take a look in the house,” Darius instructed. “See if anyone’s around. Riley, you come with me. There’s probably a truck or something in that barn we can borrow.”
Alec grimaced but said nothing as he headed towards the back of the house. The back door was unlocked. Alec knocked, waited for a moment, then took a deep breath and swung it open, half expecting someone inside to shout. A cat streaked past his ankles and he nearly jumped out of his skin. When his heart had slowed, he stepped inside.
The flowered curtains had all been pulled closed and the main room was dim and suffused with a sickly greenish hue from the material. It was like submerging himself in a murky pond. The musty air was still. It took a moment before his eyes adjusted to the darkness.
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