by Skye Genaro
"Add the wings," I said.
Manny did his homespun magic on my shoulder blade and handed me a mirror.
"What do you think?" His eyes lit up like a child's. He'd changed the orange on the monarch to royal blue and green. The new wings glistened fuchsia and red. I shifted to inspect them from different angles. They appeared to move when I did.
"Is it my imagination or…"
"You can tell everyone back home that it's an optical illusion, but yes, the wings do flutter," Manny said.
"Wow. Thank you."
"My father's been talking to your parents," Connor said. "Kimber and your dad are expecting you back tonight. My dad told them that I drove you to Seattle and you've been staying with a relative of ours—a trustworthy old aunt who kept you out of trouble and gave you a place to rest. Apparently you're behind on homework, but that's the worst of it."
"Your dad did that for me?"
"Of course." Connor saw the shock on my face and burst out laughing. "Don't look so surprised. You did save my life."
"I'm the reason you almost died."
"Uh, no. I'm in big trouble for following Jaxon and getting myself into that situation. My dad's taken away a lot of my privileges."
My eyes widened.
"But he hasn't taken away you," he said.
"We can keep seeing each other?"
He grinned. "As usual, my father has a few things to say about that."
I waited one beat, then two. "Well, are you going to tell me or make me suffer and wait?"
"There will be no more suffering." He pulled me to his lap and strapped his arms around me. With gentle restraint, he dropped his lips onto my neck. His tingling skin made my blood race.
Manny interrupted our attempt at a make-out session. "Okay, lovebirds, we've got someplace to be."
"Where are we going?" I asked.
Connor stood with me still in his arms and carried me to the door. "You'll see."
Chapter 42
The three of us left the hospital wing and walked into the main part of the McCabes' mansion. When we reached the first floor, Manny pulled open a pair of tall, ornately carved double doors. He motioned me inside.
A dozen people clustered in a ballroom filled with flowers. Connor placed his hand on my lower back and gave me a nudge. When I stepped in the room, everyone applauded.
I turned about four shades of pink. "What's this about?"
Before he could answer, Carina bounded into my arms and suffocated me in a hug. "I never thought I'd see you again. I would have died if you didn't make it back. Oh, that's probably a bad way to say it."
"Carina," I squeaked. "I can't breathe."
"Oh no. Oh God." She let me go and wiped moisture from her cheeks. "I was at your house long enough to hear that Jaxon had Connor. Then the portal homed in on me and I was gone. I told President McCabe what was happening. I'm sorry I couldn't help you."
"It's okay."
"Carina insisted on the party," Connor said.
"President McCabe told me not to do it, but I ignored him. Oh, I almost forgot!" She snapped her fingers and a cloud of double-winged butterflies appeared out of nowhere. They filled the room with luminescent color, landing on delighted guests.
"Thank you, this is…really sweet." They had no way of knowing the real significance of this gathering. The last time people celebrated me, it was because I had completed a mission and given in to darkness.
One by one, the guests thanked me for bringing Connor home. Through introductions, I found out they were the Council members who worked with Mr. McCabe to keep his region safe. I didn't know how much of our story they knew, and they didn't ask for details. I doubted Mr. McCabe wanted them to know that his son had been held hostage in a different time.
Manny handed Connor and me glasses of a bubbly drink just as Connor's dad levitated a few feet above the crowd at the head of the room.
"Can I please have everyone's attention?" Mr. McCabe's voice boomed over the chatter.
"The past week has been the hardest that most of us have ever had to live through." His voiced hitched. He took a deep breath and a sip of his drink. "I consider myself profoundly fortunate that my son has returned safely. I have—we have—one person to thank for this."
Everyone's eyes fell on me, but all I saw was the gratitude shining from Mr. McCabe's.
"Now, I know it's a small token, but I would like Echo to have this." Mr. McCabe opened a gold oblong box and held it for everyone to see. An amethyst quartz crystal, a few inches long and carved to a point, lay inside. Its contours reflected light in a dazzling display of color. "The portal was discovered while the early West Region pioneers were mining for crystal. The amethyst has always been important to our community. It is a symbol of our spirit, and our connection to the past and future."
Mr. McCabe pressed the stone into my palm and closed my fingers around it.
"The crystal amplifies your connection to the portal," he whispered in my ear. "It will make travel easier for you."
He turned to his son. "Connor will be—what was the word you used?"
"Grounded," Connor said.
"Yes, grounded, for the rest of the school year, but since I'm punishing him and not you, you may see each other on weekends."
"Thank you," I beamed.
The two of them stepped away to talk to guests, and Carina was back at my side. "How does it feel to be a heroine? I think the entire region should know what you did, but President McCabe is making us keep quiet. He's doesn't want the whole population to know where you came from. Region security and all."
"It's nice." I had a hard time relaxing, though. "I'm nervous about going back. The Mutila is still out there. Their leader, Keenan, knows where I live."
She shrugged. "He might have died in the explosion," she replied.
"The what?"
"Connor didn't tell you? The place you were held hostage exploded and collapsed. There's nothing left of Feller Industries but a pile of dust. The official word is that Keenan destroyed all the evidence that they ever existed, and relocated."
I took this in, shaking my head. "I don't get it. I thought the Mutila had control over the entire city, had nothing to be afraid of."
"The theory circulating is that they panicked when they watched you and Connor disappear through the portal. They didn't know what kind of power they were dealing with, but it scared them enough to destroy everything and leave," she said.
I wasn't buying it. I didn't think anything could scare Keenan into making such a bold move. As if reading my mind, Carina shook her head. "Here's the thing that doesn't make sense, though. There was a body count. If they caused the explosion, why did they let so many of their own people die?"
"Who died?"
"Connor has been trying to piece it together. A guy he said was Roth, and another guy with burn scars on his face."
"Ivan." Ivan's death saddened me. He had seemed like a decent guy.
"Connor couldn't place the others, but one of them could have been that Keenan guy."
"And Jaxon?" My fist tightened around the crystal.
"His body wasn't found after the explosion. We think he survived. Listen, I think there's something President McCabe isn't telling us. He came to my lab before the explosion and jumped to your time. This was after he found out everything that happened to you and Connor. He was gone an entire day and when he came back, he smelled like smoke. I think he destroyed Feller Tower."
"No way."
"Yeah." One of the Council members drifted close and she gave him a chance to move out of earshot. "Jaxon might be setting up the Mutila somewhere else, but he knows he'll have to deal with President McCabe now. I don't think he'll bother you, at least not for a while."
I felt safer knowing this. Then I remembered something that Connor and I had talked about when we first met.
"If Mr. McCabe caused that explosion, hasn't he altered the future somehow?" I asked.
"I don't know what to tell you. We've al
ways worked with the understanding that the portal won't allow us to travel to a place or time we're not supposed to be. Whatever did happen," she spread her palms to the sky, "I guess it was meant to be."
Chapter 43
After the celebration, Carina, Connor, and I walked with Mr. McCabe to the Harden Center. I wheeled a new suitcase behind me, compliments of Manny. He'd manifested an identical match to the one I left behind in Feller Tower, as well as a few sets of clothes. My parents would have known something was up if I came home empty-handed.
Inside the lab at the Harden Center, Connor and I stepped next to the portal. He wrapped his arms around me and we stepped into the dark abyss. We landed outside my house, in the rain. A few seconds later, his dad fizzled into form. I let us in the front door.
"Hello, anybody home?"
Tito galloped down the stairs, barking like a maniac.
"Tito!" I scooped up the wriggling Chihuahua and hugged him while he showered me with spastic, wet-tongued homecoming kisses. The very best kind.
"Tito the Iron Chihuahua," Connor said, scratching the dog's ears. "He's a tough little dog."
Kimber and my dad hurried to meet us. After the usual exchange of hugs and handshakes, Kimber pulled Connor and Mr. McCabe into the kitchen for a "get to know you" chat.
My dad held me back. His mouth was taut. "Do you have any idea how worried we were? Don't you ever take off like that again, and when I ask you to call, I expect you to pick up the phone and do exactly that. No texts!"
I hugged my dad so hard, he grunted air.
"I'm sorry," I said. "If you want to ground me, I understand." I'd gladly limit my life to school and my house. With a few clandestine side trips to West Region, of course.
My dad shook is head, like, what good was it to ground me if I asked for it? "This boy. He's the one you broke up with last fall, isn't he?"
"He's the one."
"Are you sure it's a good idea for you two to get back together? I didn't like the person you became after he left." Genuine concern etched his face. Between my recent string of tumultuous relationships and bolting town without permission, I could only blame myself for the new sprigs of gray hair at his temples.
"It's different this time," I promised. "Connor and I are really good together."
We joined the others in the kitchen. Kimber filled me in on the bizarre goings-on while I was away: Mr. Crane's body was discovered in Forest Park. My principal, Mr. Lauer, had resigned as school principal without notice and left the city with his family. Something had happened at the high school during basketball practice that had terrified the team and coaches. Becca had been at the gym, Kimber told me, and she'd been trying to contact me ever since.
"I misplaced my phone a few days ago," I said. I didn't know how else to explain falling behind on the news.
When it was time for Mr. McCabe to leave, I placed my hand on his arm. "I'll walk you to your car."
He paused, taking in my cue. Connor distracted my parents while I escorted his dad outside.
It was drizzling and chilly, but I didn't care. I tipped my head back and let the rain dampen my face. Being outside never felt so good. Freedom from enslavement had that effect.
Mr. McCabe placed his hand on my shoulder. "The Mutila is scattered to the winds, but I believe Keenan and Jaxon survived. They'll be setting up somewhere else, but this will take time. The other factions in your country don't know about you. You are safe for now." He kissed me on the forehead.
I breathed a sigh of relief. This small assurance was what I needed to move on. I found his kind eyes. "Keenan wasn't the one who destroyed Feller Industries, was he?"
Mr. McCabe's mouth curled ever so slightly, that same way Connor's did when he was holding something back. "I'll see you in West Region, my dear."
He glittered and disappeared.
Back inside, Connor and I climbed the stairs to the third floor. When we got to my bedroom, I went straight to the portrait. All the foreign marks that had resembled bruising and cuts were gone. Connor was fine, and now the portrait was returned to its normal state. It had been transmitting his physical condition after all.
"Hey, Connor?"
"Yeah?"
"Did you notice anything odd about that portrait you have of me in your room? I mean, since we've been separated?" I was curious to know if it had been transmitting any physical changes, the way Connor's had to me.
He gave me a guilty look. "I had to put it away for a while. I couldn't look at it after my dad cut us off. Why?"
"No reason," I said.
Connor sat on my bed with his back against the wall. I sat between his long legs and leaned into his chest.
"Are you going to be okay after I go home?" He brushed hair away from my temple, running his fingers through the strands.
"As well as expected."
The healers in West Region had fixed my body, but my psyche would have to heal itself, and that would take time. It would be a while before I slept through the night, before the nightmares faded. Before sudden noises didn't make my heart pound.
Connor shifted and something crinkled underneath him. He pulled an envelope out from under his hips. "Whoops, hope this wasn't fragile."
My name was written on the outside, four simple letters scrawled in red ink. I recognized the handwriting and tore into it. A USB flash drive fell onto the bed. I read the enclosed note:
These are the kids Keenan is looking for.
You have to warn them.
I knew you were the one who could help us.
Gianna
"Connor."
"I see it."
"We have to find these kids. We have to stop Keenan and Jaxon for good."
"I know. We will. But can we take the night off?" He gave a brave smile, meant to hide the strain in his voice. He would need time to heal, too. For every one of my emotional scars, I imagined he had ten.
I answered with a tender kiss. Wove my fingers into his jet-black hair. His tongue tickled mine, and he jerked back. His expression was a mix of pleasure and shock.
"Is something wrong?" I asked.
He slid his hand under my shirt and felt my bare back. "Oh, wow," he said.
"What?"
"You can't feel it? Your skin is tingling."
"It is?" I touched my arm but didn't pick up the sensation.
"It must be from using the portal. I thought I was the only one that happened to," he said.
"Is that good? Bad?"
"It is incredibly sexy." Connor closed his mouth over mine and for one glorious moment, I felt what it was like to be suspended in time, tangled in an infinite loop of happiness, merging with the missing part of my soul.
This was what forever felt like.
I was ready for it.
THE END
COMING IN 2015:
BOOK 3 OF THE ECHO SAGA
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*******
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Acknowledgements
Thank you, sweet Chuck, for your never-ending support.
A very special thank you to my core readers, Rachel Bennett, Stefan Feuerherdt
and Dirk Ohling. I could not have written this book without your help.
And thank you Val and Christy, for lighting the way.
One day, everyone will understand.
Echo Into Darkness
Bonus Materials
Skye Genaro's Echo Into Darkness Playlist
Sample Pages from Four First Kisses
About the Author
Skye Genaro's Echo Into Darkness Playlist
"Take Off" by Side FX. This instrumental only song sets the tone for this book.
"Cold Hearted" by Paula Abdul. There's only one contender for this song, and you can guess who this is.
"Toy Soldiers" by Marika. Even though this song is about addiction, the lyrics remind me of Gianna and her struggle to comply with her life in the Mutila.
"Come Undone" by Duran Duran. This song gets me in touch with Echo's fight to hold onto the person she believes she is.
"Dark Side" by Kelly Clarkson. This speaks to the struggle Echo goes through when she feels herself turning to the dark side, leaving love behind.
"Ultraviolet (Light My Way)" by U2. If Connor picked a song for Echo to help counter her darkness, I can see him choosing this one.
"Clarity" by Zedd ft Foxxes. This song embodies Echo and Connor's love.
***Sample Pages from Four First Kisses, an Echo Across Time short story***
Four First Kisses
An Echo Across Time Short Story
by Skye Genaro
Also by Skye Genaro:
Echo Across Time, Book 1 in the Echo Saga
Echo Into Darkness, Book 2 in The Echo Saga
After the Dance, an Echo Across Time short story
Anything She Wants
Supernatural Summer
Copyright © 2014 by Skye Genaro
Cover design by Carol's Cover Designs http://www.carolcoversdesign.com/
In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the author is unlawful piracy and theft of the author's intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the author at [email protected], or http://skyegenaro.com.