Countercurrent: Book Four of the Atlas Link Series

by Jessica Gunn

  Charlie was next. “I’m with you at every step.”

  Trevor hesitated only a moment before putting his hand in. “For Abby, yes. Besides, we’ve come too far now not to end it.”

  I frowned. Abby’s disappearance ate at me almost every hour of every day. I knew she was still alive, felt it in my bones. But where she was and who’d taken her, I had no idea. My guess was General Allen. But then, wouldn’t Trevor have known about his plans?

  Only Sophia and Weyland remained, the latter looking beyond conflicted. His eyes held pain and the balancing of thoughts.

  “Weyland?” I asked.

  “Erin’s pregnant,” he said simply, worrying his jaw. Then he nodded quickly. “For her, for them, that this mess is cleaned up before the baby comes. So that no one has to live with this crap secretly going on in the background. I’ll do it.”

  All eyes fell on Sophia, who sat taking measured breaths. “Court martial, Weyland. Prison.”

  He shrugged. “There won’t be a prison if General Allen wins.”

  “Please, Sophia,” Chelsea said. “We started this all together. Let’s end this in the same way. We can’t do this without you. I can’t do this without you.” Sophia had trained Chelsea, had taught her everything she knew about her powers and how to fight. She’d been everything I should have been for Trevor with his magic, but no one had known he’d had any. Not even me.

  Finally, Sophia sighed. “You’ll all do it without me either way, right?”

  A chorus of, “Yeah, totally,” filled the room.

  “Fine,” Sophia said, placing her hand on top of ours. “Then let’s do this and hope to god General Holt and Admiral Dennett understand in the end.”

  “Then let’s do this,” I said.

  My next words were interrupted by a spray of flames lighting the air between Trevor and me. Impossible, since we were the only Lemurians here and any other one would need one super specific Link Piece to get here.

  And yet, a Lemurian emerged out of the teleport. One that especially shouldn’t have been here.

  Before I could ask why, I noticed the blood pouring out of her side.

  Abby fell to the ground beside me. My heart stopped as Trevor and I dropped to our knees.

  “What in the hell?” Trevor asked. “Abby?” His chest rose and fell with panic, the whites of his eyes growing wild.

  I cried out and we both pressed hands against the wound, an object jabbed into her middle. Trevor cradled her head, asking her what’d happened, what was wrong. Shuffling chairs and gasps sounded across the room as others joined our side.

  “Abby,” I called, moving a hand over her face. “Wake up. Hey!”

  She didn’t respond. Her face was pale, almost blue-ish, and her skin was too cool to be normal.

  “Weyland!” I cried. “Weyland, get over here now!”

  He was next to Trevor and me in seconds, his hands glowing blue above Abby’s abdomen.

  “What—?” My eyes zeroed in on the object Weyland had pulled out of her ribs just as he pulled back. More blood poured from the wound, but the glowing in Weyland’s hands died out as he reached for her neck.

  He pulled away with a hardened stare. “Valerie, Trevor…I’m sorry, I… There’s nothing…” He fell back onto his haunches, stumbling. He held a hand to his mouth, breathing hard.

  “I don’t understand,” Trevor said, running a hand through his hair and leaving a trail of blood in its wake. His voice was quiet but intense, like a thousand and one shocks had turned him into moving stone. “What—this isn’t possible—she… she can’t be dead.”

  His voice cracked on the last word and I looked up just in time to watch my best friend in the whole world shatter to pieces. His face broke, bunching up until tears streaked down his face.

  But I couldn’t move to comfort him. Couldn’t wade through my own swamp of grief, of shock, of sorrow. Of not accepting. It was like this sudden void had opened up and swallowed me whole. No warning, no pretenses. Just death, death, death.

  But this object that’d been used to kill her, that I could focus on.

  It was black, made out of a sleek stone. A statue. One that’d been carved at the end, sharpened to distort the idol into something that could be used as a weapon. It was a Venus fertility statue just like the one that’d poisoned Trevor with the plague and given him unrestricted access to the Waterstar map.

  I screamed as the General’s plan beamed across my mindscape with full horrific clarity. He’d created a new map in Abby’s head, thought she could hold it like Trevor had. And when he’d been wrong, when he realized Trevor was special because of his blood magic, the General must have killed her. Then he’d sent her here via Link Piece.

  The Link Piece that’d been struck through her chest to send us a message: I know what you’re planning, but I will complete my mission before you complete yours. Not even your families are safe.

  I tumbled away from Abby’s body, crawled on all fours to a corner and vomited. Charlie was next to me in seconds, but I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t focus.

  I’d kill him. With my bare hands if I had to. But General Allen’s last dying breath would be mine.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  CHELSEA

  The hours after Abby’s body appeared in our hideout were excruciating. Sophia and Weyland had moved her body, I had no idea to where, and Charlie and I had spent most of the night comforting Valerie and Trevor. He’d fallen asleep sometime before sunrise, but that blissful unconscious state had refused me all night long.

  I should have saved Abby. I should have taken her from TAO the moment we’d realized she’d had the Lifestone—that she’d had it all along. But a part of me knew that with Trevor wrapped around his finger, even though he might have tried to fight the mind control, General Allen would have found Abby either way. I didn’t know where I would have hidden her when Trevor knew all the time-places I would have tried.

  But I still should have saved her.

  I wandered the halls of the stone hideout, trying to keep my mind empty. Almost everyone was sleeping, save for Weyland, who’d taken overnight watch near the only entrance. I avoided him and went down to the room we’d sectioned off for training the super soldiers. Sounds of slashing and frustration emanated from inside.

  I peeked in through the doorway and found Lexi standing over a bucket of water.

  “Damn it all,” she muttered.

  “Need help?” I asked.

  She jumped and then, seeing only me, relaxed. “I got it going really well for a while and now…”

  My eyes narrowed. “Have you been here all night?”

  She nodded, staring down at her hands. “You and Valerie risked everything to save me from those soldiers. I just stood there. I can’t be helpless like that again. I don’t know how to do that.”

  I chuckled and stepped inside the training room. “That same sentiment sent me to SeaSat5 years ago, after you appeared at that show with Ray.”

  Lexi cringed. “Right. Sorry about that.”

  I waved the memory off. “Bygones, remember?”

  She nodded. “Can you help me with this?”

  “Sounds like you need a break more than anything else,” I said. “I couldn’t do big things at first, or keep up the power for long intervals. But it sounds like you might’ve had powers on Atlantis before being moved to the present.”

  She’d said her early childhood memories had started coming back to her. She remembered Atlantis and being able to play with rain droplets. Just a tiny speck of the power she’d one day wield, but it was enough to also proclaim her the youngest super soldier that we knew of to get their powers.

  Maybe Lexi was something special after all—no sarcasm intended.

  Lexi pulled over a chair and sat with the bucket in front of her. “So you say.”

  I tugged another chair over and held my hands over the water. “Let’s try this. Close your eyes and breathe deep.”

  She lifted an eyebrow. “This is
n’t yoga.”

  I smirked. “No yoga. Trust me.” She laughed but followed my instructions. “What do you feel?”

  “Energy,” Lexi said. “The connection between the water and me.”

  “See? Your powers aren’t gone. You just need to rest them.”

  “And do what, go gallivanting across medieval Europe waiting for them to be ready again?” she asked. “Not likely.”

  “It’d be fun, though,” I said.

  She nodded. “Oh, hell yes. Except we’d need corsets and dresses, and I know you well enough to know that’s never going to happen.”

  My gaze wandered out the large window, the sun still below the horizon. “Maybe one day. I’m fine just looking for now.”

  Lexi relaxed into the chair and scoffed. “Please. Everyone else might think you might be enjoying this view, but I know it’s not enough for you. I know you really want to go talk to the people in town. You know, do your anthropology thing. Just make sure you’re talking to real people this time and not wax impersonations at the National Museum of Natural History, okay?”

  “Ha ha. I’m surprised you remember that,” I said. That had been years ago, when we’d been eight years old. “Guess breaking that power seal unlocked a whole lot more than we thought.”

  “Yeah,” she said. “Guess so. So are you going to do it?”

  I thumbed over my shoulder. “Explore? Nah. I’ve seen enough history to last lifetimes. Besides, it’s not like we have the time.” And after Abby’s death, having any sort of fun felt disrespectful, at least until this war had ended.

  Lexi stood and placed her hands on her hips. “Okay, I’ve heard enough of that. We have time. It’s called twenty-four hours in a day. And Charlie’s been training half the people here for a few months now. I may not be able to contribute much, but you have plenty enough army going on up there.”

  I glanced up at the ceiling, the floor to the first story. “Yeah. I suppose we do. There is one thing I think you’ll be able to do well, though. I’m not sure Charlie knows how to do it or if she’s shown anyone here, but something tells me you’ll have an affinity for it. If we can get you rested, anyway.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “It’s easier to show you. Just… Don’t freak out.” I turned to face her and felt around the room for her water signature. It was like stretching for exercise after years of not moving at all. The water puppet power danced along the edges of my being, taunting me.

  Come to me. Now.

  It did, and Lexi’s presence lit up like a firework.

  I grabbed hold of the water in her body and used it to lift her hand into the universal “rock on” gesture.

  “Gross,” she said. “What the hell? Put me down. Are you doing that?”

  I smirked. She’d always hated rock music. Probably less because I liked it and more because I’d used it as a defense mechanism against her for so long. “Yes. As an extension of controlling water, some super soldiers can control the water in other people’s bodies. I personally hate doing it. I think it’s wrong and playing god, but given your astute ability to control people already, I feel like you’ll get the hang of this pretty fast.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Wow, thanks. You were always an ace at insulting via compliments. Want to put me down now?”

  I flicked my fingers and the connect between us snapped instantaneously. Free at last.

  “Thanks,” she said. “My turn.”

  “If you think you and your power are up for it,” I said.

  She nodded, determination flashing across her gaze. “I am. I promise.”

  “Fine, but after this, I want you to try getting some sleep,” I said. “Feel for my presence.”

  She closed her eyes in concentration and reached her arms out to me, fingers splayed.

  “Okay. Now search. When you find me, I want you to grab for the water you see in your mind’s eye—gently, though, please. I’ve got some issues regarding this particular parlor trick.”

  “What do you mean?” she said and I swore I felt her poking around my body. Gross indeed.

  “Hey! Focus,” I said. “You’re freaking me out.”

  “I’m freaking you out? You know you grabbed me from Boston and brought me to medieval Europe to hide out from a madman who wants to kill me, right?”

  “Lexi.”

  She huffed. “Okay. Fine. Yes, I sense you.”

  “Good. Hang on to that for a little while,” I said. “Then feel for my limbs and lift my hand.”

  She nodded and, lip caught between her teeth, she moved her pointer fingers up as though conducting an orchestra. The next thing I knew, my own fingers were flipping me the bird.

  “Okay, enough,” I said, scoffing at my own hand. “Let me go.”

  She dropped her hold on me and I stared at her. Holy shit. She’d learned in all of five minutes what’d taken me weeks to figure out on that level.

  If Lexi had been six or so years old when she’d been taken from Atlantis, was it possible that super soldiers inside the city had a better chance of their powers manifesting earlier in life? She had a knack for this, a control I couldn’t possibly fathom having at only two weeks in. Even Weyland, who’d suppressed and otherwise ignored his powers for three years, hadn’t been this good by the time we’d gone to Atlantis.

  “I’ll do better next time, okay? Jeez. Don’t give me that look, slave driver,” she said, though a hint of humor laced her words.

  “No. Lexi—that was incredible,” I said.

  “You’re just saying that.”

  I shook my head. “Absolutely not. I’ve never seen anyone get that on the first try. You’re a natural.”

  “Words I never thought I’d hear from your mouth, take two,” she said.

  We cleaned up our towels and water, and I said to her, “Good work. Seriously.”

  A knock on the basement door interrupted Lexi’s answer. Sophia toed open the door and stuck her head in. “Want me to come back later?”

  I gulped. I hadn’t really talked to Sophia since she and Weyland had arrived here, never mind alone. We hadn’t always been on the most solid of ground, either. My empty stomach roiled at the thought of what she’d have to say.

  “No, it’s okay,” I forced out anyway. “We’re done. Good work, Lexi.”

  Lexi took one look between Sophia and me and, on her way out the door, she turned around. Behind Sophia’s back she mouthed, “Good luck,” and made a face that said I’d absolutely need it.

  Lexi was probably right.

  Once the door was shut again—locking me in here with this tiger of a woman—my heart skittered to a fast beat I couldn’t hear. This would be about Trevor. This would be about disobeying orders. Again.

  Sophia made no move to sit in the chair Lexi had vacated, so I remained standing too. It’d be easier to run from this position anyway. You know. Just in case Sophia pounced. She was severely loyal, and while that was a super admirable trait, it’d also put us at mega odds. Not because I wasn’t loyal—I was. But sometimes my methods to prove that loyalty didn’t match hers. Like when it came down to Trevor.

  “We need to talk,” she said.

  I nodded slowly and tried to hold eye contact. “I suppose we do.”

  Silence filled the space between us until footsteps echoed upstairs. “I know you did what you thought was right.”

  “It was what Trevor had asked for, and I’d do it all over again if I had to. If that’s what you’re going to ask, save yourself the trouble.”

  Sophia shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. It didn’t actually happen, and I think that’s the hardest part to grasp.”

  “Definitely.” I looked out the window again. If she hadn’t attacked yet, I doubted she would. “That’s how I feel every day. I didn’t enjoy it, you know. And knowing it’s a fake memory doesn’t make it any easier.”

  Silence again.

  “You know that when all of this is over and the smoke clears, you may still not be allowed back
on Navy or TAO property, right?” Sophia asked. “Some of us jailed.”

  Nodding, I said, “Well, there won’t be a SeaSat5 or Atlas anymore, and there’s not really a TAO either at the moment. I’m not too worried about it. Besides, with the main sources of Link Piece exploration gone, I highly doubt they’ll need me anyway.”

  “Or any of us.” Sophia’s words came out sad, weak.

  I spun. She didn’t look upset, except for the hard setting of her jaw. “What do you mean?”

  “Like you said, there won’t be a TAO after this,” she said. “And that’s all I’m qualified for, military-wise. They only made me a soldier because of Dr. Gordon’s work. That’s it.”

  “Guess we have that in common.”

  “What we don’t share is the fact that you’ve found a home for yourself outside of this. You’ve found a family.”

  “I was forced to find a home, Sophia. You all exiled me.” My gaze flitted back out the window. “You might be able to sit there and say you forgive me, but no one else will. Especially Major Pike. He was the one who suggested my punishment in the first place. I’m not coming back. Valerie and Trevor, they might not either. But that doesn’t mean you have to stay with them or that you’re not part of our family. As far as I’m concerned, we’re all one big one.”

  Her eyes met mine. “And what happens if this plan fails?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. We’ll become one big family as the world dissolves into space-time madness. Who knows? Maybe it’ll be fun.”

  She chuckled and finally relaxed into the chair by her side. I sat on the edge of a nearby table. “I’ve always admired that about you.”

  “My tendency to take the highest, most awful scenario that could play out and speak it aloud?” I asked.

  “No, your ability to make jokes in the face of fear and certain death.”

  I shrugged. “What can I say? Practice makes perfect, and I’ve been practicing since before Dave’s attack dragged me into this insane asylum. I’ll be glad when it’s all over.”

  “Think you and Trevor will walk away for good?” she asked me.

  I dropped my gaze. Not much, but enough to speak the truth. “I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going to happen, only what has.” I lifted my left hand and the diamond in the center of my engagement ring caught the sunlight. “I’d like to believe this will still mean something in the end, but sometimes the fake memories are too much. How can I be with someone I let down so much? Someone I killed—and would again to save the world? I’m a monster. A monster who couldn’t save him or his cousin.”