Fractured Truth

by Rachel McClellan

  “Thank you, Tessa.”

  “I’ll be back soon,” she said and left the room.

  Liam came in after her. “Did you get what you wanted?”

  “Maybe. We’ll see.” I propped myself up on my elbows in an attempt to sit up. My head began to swim and all sorts of colors, like a kaleidoscope, crowded my vision.

  “Let me help you.” Liam slipped his arm behind my back and slowly lifted me into a sitting position. “Are you okay?”

  I lowered my head. “The whole world is spinning. Just a sec.” I took a few deep breaths. “I have to get better,” I said.

  “It will take time.”

  “I don’t have time.” I raised my head and still the world spun. I began to fall backward. Liam caught me and lowered me into the bed.

  “You went through a lot. Don’t rush this.” He dotted my forehead with a cloth. I was so hot. “Whatever they did to you”—his breath caught in his chest, and he cleared his throat—“was bad. I’m surprised you survived.”

  My memory stirred, memories I had refused to think about before. “They could’ve killed me,” I whispered, “but someone stopped them.”

  “Who?”

  I closed my eyes, thinking hard. I was on the ground, gasping for air. A pool of blood was just below my face. It frightened me to think that it was mine. Then the voice. Telling them it was enough. They begged to kill me, to take my blood, but he wouldn’t let them. It’s not time, he’d said, and I wasn’t theirs to kill. I had looked up then, remembering how difficult it was to do such a simple motion, and saw him. Cyrus. Standing in the doorway, staring down at me with a thin smile.

  “Llona?”

  I opened my eyes. “Cyrus. He was there. He said it wasn’t my time, and I wasn’t theirs to kill.”

  Liam wiped at my face again. He didn’t say anything, but his expression was serious.

  “If he’s there,” I said, “that means the Shadow is too.” The door! I almost sat up, but the pain stopped me.

  “What is it?”

  “When I was trying to escape, I came to the door that led to the underwater tunnel, but it was locked. I tried everything to open it, but by then I could barely use Light. That’s when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye, like the darkness in the corner had shifted. I was afraid it was the Shadow, and I thought that was the end of me for sure, but then the door unlocked, like someone was on the other side. No one was on the other side, Liam.”

  “You think it was the Shadow?”

  “I do now. Cyrus wanted me to escape, but why?”

  “You said Sophie gave you the knife to break free.”

  I thought about this. “I bet Cyrus told Christian to take Sophie to me. They probably even planted the knife in her cell so she’d find it.”

  Liam was standing up. “Christian was there? He let them do this to you?”

  “Yes, but none of that matters right now.” I tried to reach for him, but he stepped back.

  “Cyrus wanted me out, which means he knew I’d come back for them. He’s expecting it. He wants a fight.”

  Liam looked back at me, his eyes bright green, like that of a predatory cat. “Then we’ll give him one.”

  “No. There’s a better way.” I wish I could be as fired up as he was, but I was so tired. Sleep was pressing on me, threatening to close my eyelids.

  “And it has something to do with Tessa, doesn’t it?”

  I nodded. “She’ll come back soon with an answer.” The words came out slowly, between deep breaths.

  “You’re tired.”

  I answered yes but didn’t feel my lips move. My eyes closed against my wishes.

  “Rest, Llona. I’ll be here when you wake.”

  Thank you, I thought.

  Words came back to my mind. Several of them. I’ll always be here for you. Forever. A warmth spread through me as my mind went black.

  This time when my eyes opened, the room was full of light. My arm, which was outside of the thin bedspread, was warm from the sun. I breathed in.

  “Good afternoon.”

  I rolled over. Liam was standing near my bed. He looked even worse than before. “You need to shower,” I said. His hair was messy and his shirt wrinkly.

  He smiled, but it looked forced. “Am I that bad?”

  “You look terrible. When’s the last time you slept?”

  “I haven’t.”

  “Liam, you’ve got to stop this!”

  He bowed his head and waited a short moment before he said, “I’m angry, Llona. So angry that I’m afraid if I leave this room I’m going to do something I can’t come back from. Sometimes I think it would be worth it. To just go to that stupid warehouse and kill anything that moves, and if my actions tip the scales to where I’m a full Vyken, then I’ll have Dr. Han kill me. It would be worth it, right?”

  “But then where will that leave me?” I asked, my heart heavy knowing he would leave so easily.

  “Avenged.”

  “I don’t want to be avenged. I want you.” Saying this out loud finally felt right.

  Liam relaxed his hands and came and knelt by the side of my bed. “You don’t have to say that.” His face looked pained yet hopeful.

  I lifted my hand and placed it on his arm. “I mean it.”

  He looked away from my eyes and down at my lips. “This isn’t the time,” he said and backed away. A knock at the door drew his attention.

  “Liam—”

  He opened the door before I could finish my sentence. Tessa walked in, looking tired. Addressing Liam, she asked, “Can you give us a minute?”

  “Of course.” His eyes met mine, and I almost called out to him, but then he disappeared.

  Tessa ran her hand along the wall, tapping her fingers as she went. Tippety-tap, tippety-tap. The sound was sharp and pointed. That can’t be good. “How did it go?” I asked.

  She lowered her arm. “Here’s the thing.” She pounded her fists on top of each other, switching them back and forth. “There was a lot of discussion. Half of the Elders couldn’t get over the fact that you already know about our underwater breathing ability—”

  “How many of them are there?”

  “—and the other half were divided even still. Some say absolutely not, but a few say it’s time to just tell everyone about who we really are. Including our past and where we come from.”

  “Where do you come from?”

  She wasn’t listening and continued on. “There was a lot of arguing. The Elders don’t like to argue, Llona. The whole thing was a mess.” Finally she stopped moving and looked at me.

  “So they said no?”

  “Not exactly. At first they didn’t want to give me an answer. They said they needed time, like weeks, to discuss what to do. But I insisted. I told them that if I didn’t have an answer, then I would expose the ruins.”

  “Ruins? Who are you people?”

  She smiled mischievously. “Another time. Right now we need to save May and the others.”

  I rose up on my elbows, feeling somewhat better. At least the room wasn’t spinning anymore. “Serious? They’re going to share their secret?”

  “They said I can choose four people to tell and only the ones I think will keep our secret.”

  I thought about this. “So whoever you tell has to be willing to go underwater, sneak into a Vyken-infested building, and rescue several girls who probably will be so weak they’ll have to be carried out.”

  “Exactly. So who do you think?” She dropped into the chair near my bed. “Liam for sure. Arik and Aaron?”

  I scrunched my nose and shook my head. “I don’t know. The tunnel wasn’t that big. I’m not sure if they’d fit.”

  “Aaron will want to be there.”

  Tessa was right. There was no stopping him when it came to May. “Maybe he can still help, but somewhere else.”

  “Kiera should go too.”

  “I thought of her, but I worry about leaving Lucent without an Aura who knows how to fi
ght.”

  Tessa grinned. “You still don’t get it, do you?”

  “Get what?”

  “How do you think you’d do in a wheelchair?”

  “I can manage. Why?”

  “There’s something you need to see.”

  THIRTY

  Twenty minutes later, fighting through several bouts of nausea, I was finally sitting up in a chair.

  “This is so dumb,” I said and shoved away the lap blanket Abigail was trying to put on me.

  “It’s just going to take time,” she said. Abigail had come in at Tessa’s request to help me dress. I could move but wasn’t up to standing on my own just yet.

  “But why? It’s not like I haven’t been hurt before.”

  “But you’ve never been so physically beaten and so exhausted of Light before,” she said as she adjusted my legs on the foot pedals. The whole thing felt silly.

  Liam was across the room staring out the window from the side to avoid the sunlight shining through the glass.

  “You ready?” Tessa said from behind me.

  “I guess.”

  She pushed me forward into the hallway outside my room. The place was quiet with no signs of life. Even my sensitive hearing couldn’t detect anyone. “Where is everyone?” I asked. It was lunchtime. There should be students everywhere.

  Tessa didn’t answer as she wheeled me into the elevator. Abigail came in with us. “You coming?” I asked Liam.

  He avoided my gaze. “I’ll meet up with you in a few minutes.” I wanted to ask him what was wrong, but the door closed.

  “You two seem closer than ever,” Tessa said. “I never thought you’d get over Christian.”

  “The part of Christian I loved died a long time ago.”

  Abigail touched me lightly on the back. “You don’t mean that, do you?”

  I looked up at her, surprised. “Christian’s a Vyken now. There’s nothing left in him to love.”

  “But how do you know? Liam’s half Vyken and you clearly accept him just fine. Christian was a good kid, a dedicated Guardian. I don’t think you’re giving him a chance. Think of all you two have been through together.”

  “You can’t be serious?” Tessa said, voicing my thoughts.

  “I’m just saying that maybe there’s still good in him. It seems hypocritical to rebound with a guy who’s in the same boat as your one true love.”

  “That’s not what I’m doing!” I said, anger swelling within me.

  She tsk-tsked me. “Now you’re getting defensive because you know I’m right. You haven’t given Christian a fair chance.”

  “You weren’t there, Abigail. Christian could’ve let me go, but he didn’t. Instead he kept me tied up, even after I was beaten within an inch of my life. Even knowing that my Light would accelerate the healing process. He didn’t care!” My voice lowered. “Not about me anyway.”

  “I didn’t mean to upset you. I just want you to consider the fact that maybe he did what he did for a reason, for a greater purpose. Isn’t that the sort of thing Christian would do?”

  I wasn’t sure what to say. Her words had me all sorts of confused.

  “But Christian, the old Christian, would never have hurt Llona, ever,” Tessa said.

  The doors opened, and she pushed me into the hall.

  Abigail knelt next to me. “I’ll be in my office if you need anything, all right? And think about what I said. Don’t give up on him just yet.” She stood up and walked away.

  “Don’t listen to her,” Tessa said and began pushing the chair.

  “Why would she say all that stuff? It’s almost like she knows something I don’t.”

  Tessa opened the door leading outside and awkwardly maneuvered my chair down two steps. I tried to help, but I was still too weak.

  “Don’t let her get to you,” Tessa said. “Trust your gut.”

  “Where are we going?” The sun was bright, but the air chilly. In the distance, I spotted a few girls hurrying over to Risen Auditorium.

  “Risen.”

  “Where the Furies train?”

  “Not anymore.” It sounded like Tessa was smiling, but I couldn’t turn around to confirm my suspicions.

  We were almost to the auditorium when I heard a series of pops, followed by what sounded like a small explosion. My heart beat faster. “What’s going on in there?”

  She didn’t say anything, but continued forward. Two younger looking girls, one in a bright pink shirt and the other in a green dress, opened the door for us.

  “Llona! You’re awake,” the girl in pink said and smiled sweetly. “We’ve all been so worried.”

  “You have?” I felt bad I didn’t even know her name.

  “You’re an inspiration,” the other said, “and I hope I become just like you.”

  Tessa continued by them.

  “What world am I in?”

  “Everyone knows what you did: willing to give yourself up to save the others.”

  “Who told them?” The hall light was on. I glanced into each of the music rooms as we passed, but they were empty. These rooms were usually full.

  “Dr. Han. He felt it was important.”

  Up ahead a series of lights burned brightly from behind glass windows. Tessa went to the large one at the end of the hall, the same one I saw May training in when we first came to Lucent.

  I looked inside. The room was packed with Auras, including many of the teachers. Mrs. Crawford was one of them. There were three lines. Every few seconds or so, the first in line would shoot a steady stream of Light into various targets that Guardians were putting out for them. Some of their Light shot out so fast it looked like lightning.

  “How is this possible?” I gasped. In my wildest imagination, I couldn’t have imagined such progress.

  Tessa laughed and wheeled me to the door. A girl opened it for us, and I was ushered in. The room quieted down as, one by one, they turned and looked at me. I didn’t expect what happened next.

  The room exploded into applause and cheers. Many of the girls came up to me and patted me on the back, asked how I was doing, and said many other things I no longer remember. Warmth spread over me, strengthening me both mentally and physically. Whether it was being in a room filled with powerful Auras or just the fact that I was so proud and happy, I didn’t care. I felt better.

  In the corner I spotted Rose, who was watching it all. I nodded at her in acknowledgement. Her words appeared in my head: It’s good to see you.

  “All right now, that’s enough!” a familiar voice said. Kiera, who was sporting a new and shorter haircut, pushed her way through the crowd. Ashlyn was right behind her.

  “My turn,” Kiera said. She grinned and gave me a big hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

  Over her shoulder, Ashlyn asked, “Did you see Valerie?”

  My lips tightened, and my mood darkened a bit. “I did. She’s alive.”

  “And are we going to go get her?”

  “I promise.”

  “Good.” She bent over and hugged me just as soon as Kiera let go.

  “I can’t believe what you guys have done here,” I said, when she released me.

  “It wasn’t us,” Kiera said.

  Ashlyn pointed at my face. “One look at your messed up mug and they were ready to do anything to avoid looking like you.”

  “And Dr. Han’s very motivational speech helped too,” Kiera added.

  I shook my head, still in disbelief. “It’s incredible.”

  Tessa leaned down and whispered in my ear. “Who would you take?”

  I looked around the room, surveying each girl. They’d grown so much, but could I really ask one of them to possibly go to their death? It wouldn’t be fair. “Before I do that, I need to be stronger myself.”

  I moved aside the foot rests and placed my hands along the metal arms of the wheelchair. After inhaling deeply, I pushed up. There was no pain, but I was extremely weak. The room grew quiet as they watched me try to stand. I made it upright
, but my legs couldn’t support my weight, and I almost collapsed. Kiera and Ashlyn caught me and held me up.

  “I guess it’s too soon,” I said. I laughed, but the sound turned into muffled gasps, followed by several tears. I was crying. I wasn’t even sure why.

  Part of me was happy beyond belief. I loved these girls. These Auran women who were so strong. The other part of me was disappointed in myself. I should’ve already rescued the others. I failed them.

  Ashlyn and Kiera hung onto me, whispering words of encouragement while I tried to pull it together.

  Then the most remarkable thing happened. A young girl—she barely looked twelve—stepped forward and placed her hand on my arm. Within a few seconds Light warmed her palm. My skin responded in kind. Mrs. Crawford came next and did the same thing. Tessa moved the chair away and soon I was surrounded by Auras. Those who could touch me transferred their Light. The warming energy rushed through my body, healing all my injuries and igniting me with such power and strength that it was almost difficult to breathe.

  But their Light gave me so much more. In it, I felt love and a strong sisterhood that was as old as the stars and as strong as the tides of the sea.

  One by one they eventually let go. I stood alone, but I knew I would never be alone again.

  “Thank you,” I said, trying to look each one of them in the eyes as I said it. Some of them wiped tears away. Over the head of one of the girls, I saw Liam, Dr. Han, and the twins watching from the window. Arik was crying too. I laughed. Liam laughed with me.

  “So what’s next?” Ashlyn asked.

  I looked back at her, my expression serious. “Tonight I’m going to get our friends back.”

  The room exploded in cheers.

  THIRTY-ONE

  It took longer than I expected to leave the auditorium as everyone kept asking questions about how many Vykens there were, what the Vykens were planning to do, and how their captive friends were doing. I answered what I could, but eventually Tessa snuck us out, leaving the wheelchair behind.

  I felt bad leaving the girls. They were so hungry for knowledge, anything to make them feel more in control of an uncontrollable situation.

  “Where to?” Tessa asked.

  “Dr. Han’s office. Liam texted me and said they’re waiting for us.”