Invincible (The Aerling Series Book 3)

by DelSheree Gladden

  “We’ll keep Hayden’s parents updated. They told the school he has mono and might be out for a few weeks.”

  “What did you tell them about me?” Olivia asks.

  “That the stalker had shown up again and we sent you and Mason out of town for your protection,” her dad says.

  Looking relieved that there won’t be any more questions from the school, Olivia turns back to me. “We need to get going, but my Jeep is still up on the reservoir cliff.”

  “Do you need us to go get it?” her mom asks.

  Olivia and I both grimace. “Uh,” I say, “it’s not really drivable at this point. Bullets will do that to a car.”

  Both her parents’ faces pale at the word bullets. Olivia’s dad manages to keep it together a little better than his wife, who looks ready to burst into tears. “Why don’t you take my car then?” he says. “We’ll worry about the Jeep later.”

  “Thanks, Dad, but what do we do about the Caretakers?”

  My eagerness to get moving dulls at that thought. What do we do about them? They’re watching the house, keeping Molly and Olivia’s family safe. I trust them enough to do that, but do I trust them enough to let them protect us as we search for Hayden and the Mother? If Robin was turned by the Sentinels, who’s to say there aren’t others? Can we trust any of them to do more than stand guard?

  “I don’t want them following us,” Olivia says adamantly.

  “Can we protect ourselves well enough without them?” I ask.

  One hand on her hip, Sloane says, “You and I are more than enough to stop a few Sentinels.”

  I appreciate the confidence, but I fear it might be misplaced. “Uh, I obviously can’t speak for you, but I’ve only got a couple weeks of training under my belt, and combat wasn’t really part of that.”

  “You’re a Warden,” Sloane argues. “It’s who you are. Didn’t you already fight the Sentinels to get back to the Aerling world? You fought them more than once, right? I may not be a Warden, but I know how to use my power to defend myself. Even your little sister does.”

  “How could you possibly know that about Molly?” I demand. Granted, she’s right, but I never mentioned what Molly can do back in the Aerling world.

  Sloane cocks one eyebrow at me, looking rather smug. “Every Aerling has special skills. One of mine is seeing the potential of other Aerlings and guiding them to reach that potential. Molly is very strong, and her power has a destructive side that will do well when channeled for defense. That little girl is a fighter.”

  “I am!” Molly says desperately. “I knocked down two big Sentinels at the theater! I can help protect us, too. I promise I’ll be super helpful. Just don’t leave me here without Mason again, please!”

  Panic lights up the expressions of almost everyone in the group who is able to follow the conversation. Only Sloane looks more like she is considering than worrying. She carefully eyes Molly from head to toe. Sloane’s appraising gaze makes it pretty clear she’s about to tell Molly she agrees with her. I have no choice but to step in and put my foot down.

  “Sloane, we’re not taking her with us.” The finality in my voice makes her frown, but she doesn’t argue. Molly, however, has no problem voicing her complaints.

  “You can’t leave me here,” she wails. “You just came back! You can’t leave me again. Please, Mason, don’t leave me here. I want to go with you, please!”

  Hefting Molly back into my arms, I try to console her, but my hugs aren’t nearly enough. “Molly, please. I can’t take you with me. It won’t be safe, and I have no idea how long we’ll be gone. You need to stay here with Evie so the Caretakers can protect you.”

  “Wait, what?” Evie demands. “I’m not staying here either! You guys aren’t running off after Hayden and whoever this Mother lady is while I just sit here and babysit!” She glances over at Molly apologetically for the snub, but stands her ground. “I’m going with you guys.”

  Surprisingly, it’s Sloane who steps in and faces down Evie. Even though Evie can’t see her, she seems to respond to Sloane’s menacing presence. That only intensifies as Olivia relays her words to Evie. “You were trusted with the task of caring for the little Aerling girl, correct?” Sloane demands.

  I don’t know what Sloane does back in the Aerling world, but even I have to admit she can be pretty intimidating. Evie tries to hold her ground in the face of the question, but her hands twist together, betraying her nerves. “Yeah, but my parents are here. They can take care of her while we’re gone. I need to go with you guys! I can’t lose my sister again.”

  “What training do you have that will make you an asset and not a hindrance?” Sloane demands. When Olivia repeats the question, Evie bristles.

  “Training?” Evie glances over at her sister. “I’ve been helping Olivia and Mason figure all this stuff out since we found out about Sentinels and Aerlings. I can…”

  “You can do what? Fight Sentinels? Guide us to the Mother? Manage the traitorous captive?” Sloane asks, gesturing at Robin, who has largely been forgotten on the ground for the time being. Evie glances over at her as well when Olivia mentions her name, her eyes fiery with hatred, but before she can say anything, Sloane says, “You can do none of these things. What you can do is protect the little Aerling, Molly, as you have promised to do.”

  “But…”

  Sloane shakes her head and Olivia now looks just as determined as she plays messenger, clearly agreeing. “Evie, we must move quickly and we will be facing many dangers. If you cannot fight, you will be the one to end up hurt or killed. Think of what that would do to your sister and to Mason.”

  Finally, Evie’s shoulders drop. I know she’s still pissed that she won’t be coming with us, but her arguments seemed to have died for now. She’s been here the last three days, watching her parents and Hayden’s parents suffer over losing a child. It’s enough to make her back down, though she takes her sister’s hand again and holds on tightly.

  “But, I can fight,” Molly says again, this time more subdued. “I won’t let the Sentinels get me.”

  Olivia comes over next to me with Evie in tow. She wraps one arm around Molly’s little frightened body and presses her forehead to hers. “We know you can fight,” she says, “but that doesn’t mean you need to. Last time, you helped protect Mason when he was hurt and couldn’t protect himself. This time, it’s our turn to protect you, and all the other Aerlings. I know you want to come with us, but Mason will be able to fight better and beat all those stupid Sentinels if he knows you’re safe here with Evie and Mom and Dad. He’ll call you every day so you know he’s okay, too.”

  “But I don’t want to be away from my brother,” Molly says, sniffling as tears run down her cheeks. “I don’t even have Hayden to be my Escort when Mason isn’t here like he promised he would. They both left me here.” Fat crocodile tears begin rolling down her face and I know we’re on the verge of a full meltdown.

  Turning Molly to face me, I say. “Where’s my little lie detector when I need her?”

  Confused, Molly just looks at me for a minute. When I don’t back down, she wakens her power and brings it up like a net between us. I feel it fall into place and say, “I will come back to get you once the Sentinels are defeated.”

  Her little eyebrows scrunch together as she tries to judge the truth of my words. I’m talking about the future, so it’s not as cut and dry as a simple yes or no, but after a few seconds, Molly nods. “It’s as true as it can be,” she says.

  “Even if I have to go back to the Aerling world,” I tell her, “I won’t leave until I come see you first. If I can stay until it’s time for you to go back, I will. You’re more important to me than anything else.”

  “What about Olivia?” she asks with a sly smile.

  Chuckling, I say, “Okay, you and Olivia are the two most important things in my life and I won’t leave either of you behind.”

  Olivia, standing next to me still, blanches at my words. Not because of Molly, but because of
what my parents told me. Almost as if on instinct, she starts to pull away from me, but I refuse to let her go. I can guess what’s running through her mind right now, but she must know I won’t walk away from her that easily. I don’t have all the answers. Giving her up and losing Molly simply aren’t options I’m willing to accept.

  “Did you find them?” Molly asks quietly.

  Her anxious voice pulls me out of my own thoughts and back to her. Smiling, I say, “Yes, I did. I met our parents and they were so worried about you and missed you so much. They can’t wait to see you again.”

  Joy and fear mix on her face, too much of both to even process. I know how she feels. Looking over at Olivia’s parents, sorting out my feelings isn’t easy either. I loved my Caretakers, but I’ve lost the majority of my memories of my time with them. I never referred to Olivia’s parents as my mom and dad, but they’re really the only parents I know. I love them. Leaving them the first time was incredibly difficult. Leaving them again? It hurts to think about it.

  The feeling of home I felt when I met my real parents, it definitely forged a connection, but how can the other Aerlings really expect all of us to just forget the families that raised us, that cared for us and protected us for most of our lives. My real parents are foreign to me. Even though I desperately want to know them and understand where I came from, giving up what I already have seems impossible.

  “Not that I’m unsympathetic to what everyone is going through right now,” Sloane says, “but we really do need to get moving. We have very little time left. The Sentinels have had Hayden for three days already. Leaving him in their hands much longer is risking his life, if he’s not already…” She doesn’t finish her sentence, not with Molly staring at her with wide, frightened eyes, but we all know what she means.

  Olivia suddenly wraps her arms around her body. Fear creeps into her expression and she bites her bottom lip. “How do I find him?” she asks. “Tāwhiri said I could, but he didn’t explain how before he disappeared.”

  I have seen many sides of Sloane just in the short time I’ve known her. When she asked to come with us, she was tearful, desperate for a chance to save the last connection she has to her lost brother. In dealing with Evie and Molly, she has been tough and immovable. Now, as she turns toward Olivia, her expression is filled with compassion and understanding, though I have no clue what inspired the shift.

  “I can help you,” Sloane says softly.

  “Really? How?” Olivia asks.

  “Just as all Aerlings have different gifts, we all were born to different roles. Mason serves our people as a Warden, and I serve as a Guide.” She reaches out for Olivia’s hand and seems to take stock of her power as she holds it in hers. “My role is to help Aerlings and Escorts develop their powers once they come home.”

  “So, you’ll help me figure out how to find Hayden?” Olivia asks with hope.

  Sloane nods. The solemnity in her motion is slightly unnerving. “I will help you find Hayden,” she says. “I will not let you fail.”

  Olivia and I both look at each other, wondering if that was a promise or a threat.

  Chapter 6

  Make Them Pay

  (Hayden)

  I swear I recognize the Sentinel that just walked by my cell. From where, though? It’s been driving me crazy for the last three days. Maybe I’m only focusing on it because if I think about being a captive of the Sentinels, I might lose it. Trying to figure out where I’ve seen that Sentinel before is the only thing keeping me together.

  Shifting, I wince as my battered body complains. The cot groans under my weight. I contemplate for the millionth time how I’m going to get myself out of this mess. Escaping would require being able to stand, and that isn’t happening right now.

  All I can think about is Olivia. I was barely coherent when I saw her literally vanish with Mason. When I first came to and was faced with Olivia looking like a misty specter, it was enough to jolt me back to semi-consciousness. In my haze, I was convinced I was seeing her ghost. Olivia leaving with Mason, I can handle. Olivia dead? Not even in the realm of what I can face.

  Seeing Olivia and Mason vanish together in the middle of a rain of bullets convinced me they weren’t dead, but seeing Robin reach out at the last second and grab Olivia’s hair took all the fight out of me. I still have no idea why Robin wanted to go with them. If just knowing it was Robin behind the plan wasn’t enough to convince me it was bad, the general chaotic hum of excitement running through the Sentinel base makes it pretty apparent.

  That and their questions and their favorite way of trying to get answers out of me. They assume I’m just hiding things from them. I am, of course, but half the questions they’re asking, I have no clue what the answer is anyway. Yeah, I’m an Escort, but a failure. I didn’t protect Levi. I didn’t save him. I didn’t take him home. I have no freaking idea how Olivia was finally able to cross over to Mason’s world.

  She wouldn’t have kept it from me if she had figured it out. I can only assume that when the time was right, she understood what it took and did whatever she had to in order to get Mason home. Left behind, I can only hope that didn’t mean giving up her life. I keep telling myself she went with Mason when they both disappeared, but I don’t know if I’ll ever actually know that for certain.

  When I’m not worrying about my friend, thoughts of my family wrap around me, sometimes in comfort, sometimes like a noose. Thinking about them comforts me. What are they thinking, though? I left the house that morning to follow Robin, telling my parents I’d be home when Mason was on his way. That was the last they saw of me. Do they think I’m dead? Is anyone looking for me?

  “Time for a few more questions!” a Sentinel I’m all too familiar with yells through the slit in the cell door.

  I groan, but I don’t get up. If they want me, they can come get me. I’m not expending any energy I don’t have to for them. Everything hurts as the Sentinel I can’t quite remember yanks me up from the cot. He stops pulling once I’m on my feet, and starts to let go, but grabs me again when my knees buckle. Huffing, the other Sentinel grabs my upper arm and they both start dragging me out of the cell.

  Closing my eyes, I concentrate on not throwing up. I don’t need to try and remember the turns anymore, because I have those memorized. Not that it will do me any good, unless I plan to escape my cell and run straight for the interrogation room. That’s the only place they’ve taken me since being dumped here.

  When I’m thrown roughly into a hard plastic chair, I take a few shallow breaths and refuse to look at them. It doesn’t do a lot of good. The Sentinel who usually takes the lead yanks my head up and glares at me. Before he can say anything, though, I ask, “What are your names?”

  The man pauses, seeming uncertain of whether or not I’m trying to pull something.

  “I’d just like to be able to refer to you in my head as something other than the guy who seems to be in charge and the guy I can’t quite remember,” I say.

  The second guy smirks at me. “I knew you did not remember me.”

  He seems to find that fact extremely funny, which only irritates me even more. Grinding my teeth, I glare at him, trying furiously to figure out why he looks so familiar. “I didn’t say I don’t remember you,” I growl, “just that I can’t place you.”

  “I can place you.” He grins and steps closer to me, clearly enjoying this. “The exact moment I took notice of you was quite memorable for me, and really, it should be for you as well, since it was the very second you revealed your Aerling to me.”

  All the fight I had left in me suddenly evaporates. Not jumping up or running or just throwing up is almost impossible as what he just said sinks in. I kept trying to remember every moment with Olivia, find that split second where I must have seen this guy. My mouth goes dry as I realize my recognition had nothing to do with Olivia. Closing my eyes, I bring back the day at the skate park… the day I met Levi.

  “I had already begun to suspect there was an Aerling in
the area,” he says. His tone is mocking, relishing the pain he’s causing me. “There had been a few strange occurrences at the skate park, and I just happened to be watching that day. The second you bumped into what seemed like nothing, I knew.” He laughs. He laughs at me for unknowingly putting Levi in his sights. “Then, you made it even worse by talking to him, and all those little Caretaker kids ran over looking so excited, babbling over each other. I couldn’t believe my luck.”

  He laughs again, a sick, twisted sound. Even the other Sentinel is smiling as he enjoys watching me sink in on myself. How many times did people try to tell me it wasn’t my fault? The Sentinels just found Levi. There was nothing I could have done to stop it from happening. No one blamed me for what happened, but they should have.

  My stomach turns, and I have no doubt I’m about to lose everything I ate a few hours ago. I probably would have if not for the other Sentinel stepping up and saying, “If you want to stop any more Aerlings from dying, all you have to do is answer our questions.”

  I know I shouldn’t trust them, but Levi’s dead eyes stare up at me from my memories, haunting me, blaming me. Slowly, I lift my head and look at the Sentinel. “What do you mean?”

  He knows he has my attention now. Crossing his arms over his chest, he holds my gaze. “The Aerlings don’t belong here on Earth, and neither do we. All we want is to go back home.”

  “But,” I say slowly, “your creator, he…he wanted to come here, right? He wanted to get away from his parents and the, uh, darkness they had to live in.”

  “The darkness?” Levi’s killer asks.

  The other guy nods, but at me, not his companion. “Tū wanted to escape, not a literal darkness, but the confinement of being under absolute control by his parents. They watched over the Earth, protecting it from a distance, but denied their children any chance of interacting with humans or leaving the Aerling home. They were prisoners in their own world.”

  This guy obviously wants me to feel bad for Tū and all the Sentinels, but all I can say is, “Most people don’t get to go hopping between worlds. He chose to leave his world and come down here. Why is he trying to get back now?”