Countercurrent: Book Four of the Atlas Link Series

by Jessica Gunn

  A rush of brilliant cobalt washed through the space, followed by a veritable tidal wave of water and ice-lances. The shock of the sudden attack weakened the General’s hold on me enough that I escaped. I turned to find my parents—my real ones—and Charlie moving through the room, dispatching the White City soldiers even as the air filled with a dense fog. Within seconds it was too thick to see through. Fear gripped me and I scooted backwards until I hit a wall. Valerie appeared beside me.

  “Is Charlie doing that?” I asked of Valerie.

  She smirked, pride shining brilliantly in her eyes. “Damn straight. We need to get that Lifestone. What we need is our powers back.”

  “Or a weapons closet.”

  Valerie crept in the direction of the door. Or what I assumed was that direction. “Which way?”

  “To the left, all the way down,” I answered.

  We sifted through the fog and made it out of the door without being seen. It was as if the fog cleared for us and only us, and I made a note to thank Charlie for her incredible control if we made it out of this alive.

  One pistol and one MP5 each later, Valerie and I charged back into the room. As the fog cleared around us, we took aim and fired at the White City soldiers. General Allen and Trevor were nowhere to be seen.

  One by one, with the help of my parents and Charlie, all the soldiers were dispatched, leaving only heaving and battered TAO staff members behind. I didn’t wait for Pike to give some stupid order. I grabbed Valerie’s hand and marched for the hallway once more.

  “Hey!” Major Pike shouted. “Where are you going?”

  “There’s only one place they could be going with the Lifestone,” I said. “And I’m going to stop them.”

  “Not without backup, you’re not,” he spat back. “Sit tight. That’s an order.”

  “Sit tight? You do realize what’s happening, right?”

  “Stand down, Chelsea. Hand me your weapon. You’re forgetting how—”

  I seethed, turning on him with the front end of my MP5 aimed his way for show. Mostly. “If the next words out of your mouth are ‘how defenseless you are,’ I swear I—”

  “Chelsea,” Josh pleaded. “Just stop for a second.”

  “No,” I cried. “I am not letting this happen and I’m not letting Trevor get away again. No way in hell.” Valerie’s hand clamped down on my arm and pulled me toward the door. She had my back. So, then, would Charlie—and she still had her powers. My parents, too.

  It was a small reassurance.

  “Go get him,” JoAnne said, and for the smallest of moments, however brief, I saw the look of a terrified, scared mother pass over her features.

  I nodded. “I will.”

  “Danning!” Pike shouted, making his way toward me.

  Charlie jumped in front of him and put up a barrier of ice. “Sorry, Major.”

  Valerie and I ran across the TAO building, now torn in two like some physical example of Trevor’s and my relationship, and we jumped across the divide in the ground. To maximize the time-travel power of whatever they would do first, Trevor and General Allen could only be heading for the Link Piece room. To TAO’s giant collection.

  We got there just as General Allen held the Lifestone above his head. The sphere glowed in the light, the fire inside of it churning and mixing with something ethereal.

  “No!” Valerie shrieked and rushed the pair. I couldn’t catch her in time despite reaching out for her arm and ended up running with her. Then her body stood straighter for a moment, as if life had been returned to her, and her face grew feral with glee. A fireball grew in her hands.

  Trevor’s stare caught it and he collected water from the pack on his back. I backed out of the way of their showdown. Fire and water danced a hissing, steaming, violent waltz around the room. Valerie matched him blow for blow, block for block, and after three minutes it was clear that even with the power behind his attacks, Trevor was slowing down. He had no endurance, no real practice with his abilities. Valerie kept on top of him. Every inch he relented, she added three more, until I wondered how far she might actually go to disarm and incapacitate him.

  Meanwhile, the Lifestone continued to glow an increasingly vivid shade of amber. The air in the room crackled with energy and streams of golden amber light flew out of the Link Pieces around us. I had to stop him. I could stop him. He was too concentrated on the stone and not enough on what was going on around him.

  General Allen’s body flashed under the light of the Lifestone, fading in and out like a bad camera trick. His form switched between an old man and a young one, strong and weak, back and forth, a little less old each time.

  He was using the stone to make himself immortal, not to save his people.

  I should have figured.

  I glanced around for anything that could be used as a weapon, then remembered the gun I’d tucked into my waistband. I pulled it out and aimed for the General’s head. I’d waited for this moment for so long, craved it. Here it was. And it angered me that he was so focused on the Lifestone, he didn’t even flinch when I pulled the trigger and the shot rang out in all of the din of Valerie and Trevor’s fight.

  He didn’t even lift an eye in my direction at the crack of the bullet.

  But the bullet didn’t find a home in his heart. Instead, the shot was ripped out of the air inches from his face and swung back around. Back at me. I ducked, but it followed my path and for a moment, another moment today, I thought it’d be the end for me.

  Then, out of nowhere, right as the bullet was about to lodge itself in my head—I stared it down with wide, fearful eyes—a flash of red scooted out in front of me. The bullet hit Valerie in the chest and she fell, her crumpled, bleeding form landing in my lap.

  “No!” I cried, cradling her. Checking her over. It’d hit closer to her right shoulder. Not her heart, probably not her lung. But the blood—there was so much blood. It seeped out of the corner of her mouth as she stared up at me with disbelieving eyes.

  “Ironic, ain’t it?” she spat out. Chuckled. “That I’d die for you, girlie.”

  “You are not allowed to die,” I told her.

  I glared up at the pair of General Allen and Trevor. The former hadn’t even broken his chanting. As Valerie’s body shook beneath mine—shock and blood loss, no doubt—I watched General Allen’s form be swallowed in amber light. The glowing seeped into his skin, creating a bio luminosity so magnificent, I couldn’t believe it was healthy. The wrinkles around his eyes lessened and his back straightened some. Gradually, he looked more alive, healthier.

  Immortal.

  In a last show of power, the stone spun up into the air and disappeared in a pinprick of light. The deed was done. General Allen had somehow taken the entire power of the Lifestone into his own body. And we were so screwed.

  “Come,” General Allen said to Trevor. “It’s time to fulfill your purpose. You will be rewarded.”

  Trevor stepped toward General Allen. The Waterstar map. That was all General Allen needed; maybe this had been his plan all along. Trevor had once said they never knew who’d planted that idol in the ruins of the White City. I’d been at TruGates at the time, but it was supposed to be for me or Sophia. Trevor had picked it up instead. I’d taken the map from his head months ago, to save his life. And when he’d taken my powers, he must have gotten the map back. But if he could now have Atlantean powers in his system, the map must also feel at home there.

  Valerie shuddered beneath me, growing paler by the second. Her breathing shallowed out. Maybe it had nicked a lung in addition to an artery. I had to get her to a doctor or to Weyland as soon as possible, but without powers, I had to first get through our enemies.

  General Allen reached out for Trevor as I moved Valerie to the floor.

  “Stop. Don’t you dare use him as a pawn!” I shouted.

  “My dear Chelsea, I’ve used you both for so long,” he said. “Stand back and watch real power work. Maybe I’ll keep you alive after all—you amuse me.”r />
  “Fuck you!” I screamed. “Run, Trevor!”

  Why was I still trying to save him? This man was not Trevor, and General Allen was probably going to kill him regardless of whatever ‘reward’ he’d promised. I lifted the pistol in my hands, aimed, and fired off half the round into General Allen’s chest. He staggered, blood seeping from his wounds, but didn’t waver.

  “Dammit! Just die already!”

  But I knew: without my abilities, without something more powerful than a silly gun, I’d never be able to kill an immortal man.

  Gunfire erupted in the hallway outside the door, then followed both Major Pike and Josh into the room. They took aim on General Allen, but Trevor threw up his hand, an invisible, telekinetic shield bouncing the bullets away from them.

  “Go,” Trevor told General Allen, holding his hand in the air. “This Atlantean and the humans aren’t worth your time. They’ll sound the red alert soon, and their Lemurian allies will swarm the place. My mother has an extensive army at her disposal. Go.” He looked me directly in the eyes, his blue irises nearly swimming—from his power or… tears?—when he said, “I’m sorry we couldn’t finish this here. Just get out while you can, sir. It’s the only way.”

  Major Pike and Josh halted their assault.

  “Get out of here!” I screamed to them. Josh’s gaze met mine, then fell to Valerie’s. “Go!”

  General Allen rested a hand on Trevor’s shoulder. “Good call. Mr. Boncore, you’ve turned into quite the ally. Your immortal reward awaits you when we get to the city.”

  Trevor lifted his gaze to the General. “Thank you, sir. Go. I’ll take care of them.”

  The General left and my heart froze at Trevor’s words. He’d take care of them. Of me. He’d almost killed me twice before but never seemed able to off me completely. Or will himself to do it. Could it be Trevor was still in there somewhere?

  He rushed me, stepping over a writhing Valerie. She gripped on to my ankle, trying to help me hold my ground, as he threw us onto the floor. His hands came around my neck and I kicked and hit with everything I had. Pinning me to the floor with his knees, Trevor looked into my eyes as his fingers tightened around my throat.

  Josh shouted, but Trevor lifted his hand again, and both he and Major Pike froze mid-step. Trevor was controlling them as though they were puppets. He’d gotten so good at using my powers in such a short amount of time.

  Trevor’s stare bore into mine, and that was when the nagging feeling came back again, the part of my brain that so often focused on the wrong things during near-death experiences. Trevor’s words to the General came swinging back to the front of my mind: Go. This Atlantean… isn’t worth your time. They’ll sound the red alert soon, and their Lemurian allies will swarm the place. I’m sorry. Finish this later. It’s the only way.

  Go. Atlantean. Lemurian. Red. I’m sorry. Only way.

  Tears stung my eyes and I shook my head, not from trying to break free of his grasp, but from disbelief. His speech had been too long to be efficient for the General and absolutely longer than anything he’d spoken since showing up again. The words had been purposeful.

  The tears streamed down my face and my body shook as I translated Trevor’s message to me, based on the old code we’d developed after SeaSat5 had disappeared. The one we’d made so that we’d always be able to talk to each other no matter the situation. No matter who was caught where.

  No matter how awful the situation had turned.

  Danger, Chelsea. I’m sorry about the war, but this is the only way. End it. Please.

  Because he was the key. The General had made himself immortal, but to find a way back to his home, to rip open time and gain unimaginable energy from the tear in the fabric of reality, he’d need the Waterstar map, which was, by its very existence, a time anomaly.

  And the map, the entire map, was currently in Trevor’s head. This was exactly what Ezra and Kara had been terrified of when they’d gone to the White City against JoAnne’s orders.

  And now it had happened.

  Sound the alert.

  End it now.

  Trevor was begging me to kill him, to end this because there was no other way out.

  As the weight of his words, of this entire situation, rushed over me, Trevor’s hold on me let up. He must have seen the realization in my eyes.

  I wanted to ask him how much of this had been real and what had been a lie. Had this been his plan all along? Had he lied to Valerie? Had he done all those horrible things for General Allen all while trying to escape his clutches? I wanted to know what—besides Abby and me—General Allen had held over Trevor’s head that made it so he couldn’t just back out of the situation.

  But I didn’t have time to ask those valuable questions because as soon as he was off of me, Trevor threw me across the room with his telekinesis. My telekinesis. Ice daggers formed around Trevor’s head and he let them loose on me and on Josh and Major Pike, who could do nothing to dodge Trevor’s attack. Trevor threw ice daggers again, hitting Pike in the shoulder. Another skidded to a stop next to Valerie’s pale body as Josh rolled by her to avoid the assault.

  Rage flashed across my vision, burning brighter with every life lost because of this. Because of Trevor and General Allen. Fury swarmed a fire within me…until I realized where he’d thrown me.

  Feet from the gun I’d lost when he’d tackled me. On purpose.

  I tumbled, summersaulting to the pistol, and stood all in one swift motion. Aimed at Trevor’s head, right between his beautiful ocean eyes.

  “Stand down!” Major Pike yelled, his voice pained. “They’re grabbing a power-blocker device. Stand down, Chelsea.”

  But that wasn’t what Trevor wanted. It wouldn’t save him from this.

  And saving him had been the only thing I’d ever wanted in this mess.

  I let two bullets loose, and Trevor’s dead body fell to the floor.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  CHELSEA

  Two hours later found me in the briefing room on SeaSatellite5. I was one hundred percent sure that, given all the politicking involved, General Holt would have rather had this conversation at TAO headquarters or on some army base somewhere. Unfortunately for him, the Admiral had deemed this the only safe place for me. And not just because of the White City.

  It was mostly because of Major Pike.

  I sat in the least comfortable chair in the room directly across from General Holt. I said nothing and neither did he. General Holt kind of just looked at me, waiting for me to say something. Anything. It wasn’t like I could plead innocence. I’d taken the shot. Both Major Pike and Josh had witnessed the kill. Valerie too, but no one would tell me how she was doing. All I knew was she was in surgery. That was it. She’d jumped in front of that bullet to save me. I ought to have at least been able to thank her or donate blood or something.

  “Chelsea,” said General Holt finally.

  I looked up at him.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  “I killed Trevor.” The words were automatic. Factual. Toneless. They didn’t waver or beat around the bush. I’d killed him. Because he’d asked me to. Because he couldn’t find a way out that would keep more people from dying, especially himself, and so he’d begged me to do it. And I had. Nothing would change that now and nothing, not even the General’s stare, stirred any emotion within me. My emotions simply didn’t exist anymore. Not even guilt.

  “Yes,” he rephrased slowly, as if talking to a frustrated toddler. “But what exactly happened?”

  A loud crash sounded from the other side of the wall. Two men shouted at each other, the door buckling with the weight of one of them. They were both so loud, I was able to identify them through the hatch as Captain Marks and Major Pike.

  Pike. Fantastic.

  He hadn’t been allowed near me since he’d cuffed me on the spot for disregarding his order. Which he’d given, by the way, without taking in the full situation in the Link Piece room. He’d rushed in with Josh, dis
tracted Trevor, and just ordered me to stop, like turning on the anti-powers machine would have made Trevor stop. It wouldn’t have. The only person who could have matched him—Valerie—had been bleeding out on the floor. There was nothing—nothing—he could have done.

  I knew that was what upset Pike the most. I knew that was what he was truly mad at, and I was just the perfect scapegoat.

  Another loud bang came upon the door, causing me to jump. Before General Holt could let them in, Pike slid open the door and came right up to me for the first time since everything had happened. “What were you thinking?” Spittle flew from his pale lips, standing out starkly against his beet-red face.

  I didn’t so much as blink. “I was thinking I needed to end this. And that I was doing what he wanted.”

  He swiveled my chair so I faced him and wrapped his fingers firmly around both armrests.

  “Major,” General Holt reprimanded.

  Captain Marks stayed silent in the doorway—we’d already spoken and while he was obviously upset, he understood what’d happened—but his expression told me to hang on tight. Whatever was about to happen, he had my back, but I still had to go through it.

  I just didn’t know if I wanted his support. Or even deserved it in the first place.

  “So you end it by killing him?” Pike continued, undeterred by General Holt’s orders.

  My gaze slid to where Pike’s hands grasped the armrests, like he couldn’t trust me to not pull a gun on him next. Did the others think the same? I hadn’t been allowed to talk to or see anyone besides Captain Marks and General Holt until now. Not even Josh. Not even Sophia.