by Trisha Leigh
I’m staring at it now, thinking about going to it for comfort, when a door opens in its trunk and a figure that looks very much like Greer steps out into the afternoon.
CHAPTER 7.
She runs a hand through her golden hair, making it glint like she swallowed the sun, and surveys her surroundings. When she sees me, a bright smile lights her face and she makes her way to the porch, plopping down beside me.
Honestly, it’s going to take some time to get used to the way the Sidhe come and go; there don’t appear to be any rules. But my black mood dampens both my surprise and my pleasure at her appearance, and I don’t move except to offer a weak smile of welcome.
“Wow. As greetings go, that one pretty much sucked.” She shakes out her hair, blowing in her hands and rubbing them together. “Why are you sitting out here in the freezing cold? Isn’t that, like, the opposite of what you do?”
I shrug. “I needed to be alone.”
Greer laughs, moving closer to me until our sides press together. The warmth of the gesture threads comfort through my blood, even though she can’t help us. “I’ve been wondering how you’re getting along, cooped up in a tiny cabin with two boys who’re both gaga over you.”
“What’s gaga?”
“Nuts. Panting. In looooooove.” She swoons obnoxiously, but despite my best efforts, her over-the-top eye batting lifts the corners of my mouth.
The strange, easy feeling of friendship I felt in the dungeons of that Observatory Pod outside Portland returns, and relief at having someone to talk to who isn’t Lucas or Pax makes me want to chain her to the porch and never let her go. “I don’t know if that’s the case, but yeah. It’s been interesting.”
Greer’s violet eyes catch mine and a conspiratorial smile slips from her ruby lips. “I assume Lucas is going to help them? The Others, I mean.”
It should shock me that she knows about Apa and that she’s guessed what Lucas plans to do, but it doesn’t. Maybe I’m more used to her than I thought.
I nod, not trusting my voice at first. After a moment, I decide it doesn’t matter if she knows I’m upset. “Yes. We don’t have a choice, but…I know they’re not going to let him leave.”
The last part of the sentence slides out in a whisper, barely there as though if no one hears somehow it won’t be true. Greer merely nods, and we sit together as the sun sinks below the horizon and night pushes a darkening blanket across the world.
“The Others have been in an uproar the last couple of days. They’re preparing to depart. Lucas should go to them soon.”
“How can he tell them he wants to help?” We haven’t discussed that yet, and if I’m being honest, I haven’t been pushing to.
“Tell him to use the hive. All he has to do is let a Warden see him in there, and they’ll figure out the rest.” She pauses, leaning forward and rubbing a bit of mud off her foot. Her toenails are bright purple. “When Nat told me that he’d helped you, and that you all knew about Apa, I figured you guys would come to this conclusion.”
“How did you know?”
Greer meets my gaze, her violet eyes certain. “Because you’re smart enough to realize you’re not capable of saving Earth if they leave. Not yet.”
That’s why Lucas made this decision, or at least one reason, but to hear her say it makes me feel a little bit better somehow. We aren’t ready. Cadi and Ko saved our lives because they believed we can save Earth. That means we have to do whatever it takes to keep the planet safe until we’re ready to do just that.
“So, why are you here?”
“I want to help.”
“Why?” It’s not that I’m not grateful, but helping us could be the end of Griffin and Greer. The thought makes me sad, and not only because their particular brand of assistance is invaluable.
A wry smile twists her lips. “Would you believe me if I said because of love?”
A flitting memory of the regret that twisted Natej’s face scoots through my mind.
“I would, actually.” She’s staying imprisoned because she loves a Warden. I guess there’s not much Greer wouldn’t do for love. “What can you do, though?”
“No matter what they tell Lucas when they accept his help, they won’t ever let him go, you’re right about that. If Apa doesn’t recover, they’ll need him permanently, and if he does recover, having a backup plan suddenly doesn’t seem like a terrible idea. I’m going to give you a way to bring him back.” Her eyes probe mine. “If he wants to come back, that is.”
“How’s that?” Lucas steps out on the porch, moving protectively to my side in the presence of this intruder.
It bothers me that he doesn’t say that of course he’ll want to come back.
Pax follows him onto the porch, limping down the steps and landing on the grass with a grimace. I’m sorry to have lost my alone time with Greer, but after today, it’s best for the three of us not to keep secrets.
If it can be helped.
“Um, Greer, this is Pax and Lucas. Guys, this is Griffin’s sister,” I introduce them reluctantly.
Greer nods, her eyes merry as she takes them both in. I see them the way she must, how handsome they both are in different ways, and wonder what she’s thinking.
“I think I’ll just call you two Rock and Hard Place.”
Greer laughs at her own joke as heat flames my face, even though both Lucas and Pax look more perplexed by her statement than anything else.
I clear my throat in an attempt to divert their attention before the joke sinks in. “So, how Lucas can return.”
She holds out her hand; it’s cupped around what looks suspiciously like a piece of tree bark. It’s about two inches long and jagged on one end. When none of us move, she pushes it toward Lucas. “Take it.”
He reaches out and the shard from her hand, turning it over between his fingers. “A piece of tree bark is the answer?”
“I can see why Althea likes you. The two of you share that smart mouth.”
“Just answer him, Greer.” My curiosity piques at her gift.
“The piece of bark is from the tree by the lake, the one I used to come here tonight. Griffin and I turned it into a portal years ago, as children. When your assistance is no longer required, all you have to do is press it against another tree’s bark and it will create a portal that opens on this end, here.”
“Who says they’re going to let me wander around alone in the woods?” Lucas, ever suspicious, crosses his arms and pins Greer with a skeptical look.
“I can’t control that, Rock. This is what I can do. The rest is up to you.”
He nods, more unsure than I’m used to seeing him, and rubs a hand over his face.
Greer watches him closely, her shoulders tense. “He’s not going to die.”
“What?” Lucas looks up, his hands dropping to his sides, where they curl into fists.
“Apa. If that’s what you’re so worried about. He’s going to be fine. Just not in time to set the planet back on an even keel.”
“How long will that be?” Pax asks. He stares at Greer with a kind of reverent expression, as though he would do whatever she asked in the blink of an eye if she promised to talk to him once a week for the rest of his life.
She’s beautiful in an inhuman, ethereal way. But her heart belongs to another. An Other. Strange, but true.
“Not long, I don’t think. They’ll probably have him back on his feet and working within the week. As long as he cooperates.”
Lucas slides the piece of bark into his pocket, and through the material of his pants I see his fingers still wrapped around it. The gesture fills me with hope, lightens my leaden heart.
Over the next several minutes, Greer explains how Lucas can use the tunnels to offer his help to the Others, and I hold my breath while he leaves his body on the porch and slips into his mind, into the hive. When his eyes open again five minutes later, a mixture of relief and desolation over what’s coming next fills my lungs like tepid water and I can’t breathe. Not caring w
hat anyone thinks, my arms go around Lucas’s neck so tight he might not be able to breathe, either.
When I pull away, the distracted distance in his blue gaze chills me more than the touch of his skin. It’s as though he’s already gone.
“The Prime said they’ll send someone to get me soon. Do you know where they’re taking me?” Lucas asks Greer. He’s a stone carving now, expressionless, hard, devoid of emotion. Ready to face whatever waits on the opposite end of this necessary but foolish mission.
I jump in, a thought occurring to me. “If someone will come get Lucas, won’t they know where we are?”
Greer shakes her head, her hair sliding onto my shoulder. “No. They’ll send a hologram. They’re kind of projecting through your hive connection, but they can’t get a read on your physical position. Only beings like Cadi, who can get through your barriers, can manage that. Those things are pretty cool, by the way. The walls you’ve been building.”
The wistfulness flowing under her words tugs at my heart. “Do you and Griffin have alcoves, too?”
“Of course. But we can’t hide the way you can.” She clears her throat, blinking rapidly as her eyes darken to the color of grapes. “At any rate, whoever they send will be able to help Lucas travel, I’m sure.”
He’s really going to leave. Pax and I are going to be alone.
I know it’s selfish to want to keep him here. Our lives aren’t more important than anyone else’s, no matter what Cadi and Ko believe. No one’s life should be more important than anyone else’s. If we believe that, what makes us different from the Others?
Even though my brain says Lucas’s life doesn’t matter more than a stranger’s, my heart insists that it means more to me.
When Greer looks up, her eyes have returned to normal, the shade of spring lilacs. They study Lucas, who doesn’t look away. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re their guest, Rock. You’re a prisoner. Like your father.” She doesn’t soften her words, dumping them out in a blunt heap on the porch. “I don’t know where you’re going. Whatever their sustaining resource it, they have a main Harvest Site and Apa spends a good amount of time there. I assume that’s where they’ll take you.”
Lucas looks down, nodding slowly. “Thanks. I’m going to go pack a bag, I guess.”
He goes inside, leaving Pax, Greer, and I starting at each other in silence.
“Is your brother okay?” Pax asks, toeing the mud and grass almost shyly.
“Griffin?” She shrugs. “He’s fine. Not happy the Others are watching us all more closely, but he’s fine. They’re suspicious of all the half-breeds now, after you guys and what Cadi and Ko did under their noses. Captivity is harder on him.”
“Oh.” Pax looks a little bit like a little kid who can’t go outside to play because it’s raining.
Greer laughs, a sound I wish we could hear more often. “Why does that make you sad?”
“I don’t know. I kind of thought it would be fun to hang out with him.”
The comment narrows my eyes, suspicion rising inside me like a tide. After everything that happened last winter, Pax still wants to spend time with Griffin? He must have some kind of ulterior motive, but even so, it makes me uncomfortable.
Greer laughs again, shrugging her slim shoulders. “I’ll pass along the message, but don’t hold your breath, pretty boy. Griffin’s not much for bonding with lesser species.”
Wolf barks behind the door, asking to be let outside, and Pax obliges, apparently not willing to argue the “lesser species” point. With a look back at Greer, he trades places with the dog, crossing the threshold into the cabin while Wolf trots out and rubs against my side.
A delighted grin lights up Greer’s peaches-and-cream complexion as she reaches over and gives him a good scratch behind the ears. “I’ve always wanted a dog.”
She and Griffin, in spite of the time they’ve spent with us, remain as mysterious now as the first day I laid eyes on them. The knowledge they seem to consider commonplace—like not being afraid of Wolf at all, and aware that dogs make good companions—makes me wonder how they came to possess it. There’s not enough time to discuss it, clearly, since she gets to her feet with a regretful look and stretches her long limbs.
“Do you have to go already?” The suggestion of her exit makes the dusk feel colder.
Greer looks sorry to be leaving, too, and I wonder for the first time if perhaps she enjoys my company as much as I’m beginning to enjoy hers. “Yes. Now that they’re watching Griffin and me, it’s not safe for me to be away for long.”
“How did your brother know about this place?”
“He found it while he was out hunting one day when we were children. We used to sneak away and spend summer afternoons swimming in the lake and fishing when our mother was still alive. We haven’t been back in a while, but the cabin was furnished and our mother made sure the Others couldn’t know about it. You’ll be safe, for a while.” She takes a few steps backward, then forces a smile and jerks her chin toward the cabin. “I see your dilemma with Rock and Hard Place, there.”
I glower at her. “Stop calling them that. It’s embarrassing.”
She tips her head, studying me so intently I feel like I’m naked. “And you’re not really stuck between them, are you. Not in the way you thought you would be the last time we talked.”
Last winter, while imprisoned together, I told Greer about my confusion regarding the boys. Now I shrug, unwilling to give voice to the things that I want since they’re not within reach.
To my great surprise, she bounces up and down on her toes and claps her hands. “You’re like Scarlet when Ashley comes home from war—the minute she sees him she knows it’s Ashley she loves!”
“Shhh! I haven’t the slightest idea what you’re talking about, but please stop yelling,” I hiss, getting up and dragging her away from the cabin.
“Gone With the Wind? Rhett Butler?” Greer reaches out and knocks on my temple. “Nothing?”
“No.”
She lowers her voice, even though we’re almost to the pond now. “I’m right, right? You love Lucas?”
“It doesn’t matter. We have bigger problems.”
“You want my advice?” She continues while I’m still considering my answer. “Try to relax. Two gorgeous, loyal boys who understand what it’s like to be you—who would choose you over everything else—want to love you, Althea.”
Her advice makes my head shake instinctively. It’s not that I don’t know I’m lucky to have them, and here’s Greer, who loves a boy she can never have. But the three of us should be focused on finding Deshi and saving the planet.
Greer’s violet eyes soften in the deepening twilight. “Seriously? You can’t choose, Althea. You need them both, and once you choose, someone is going to feel like an intruder.”
With that she takes long strides to the tree, moving with the same flowing grace as her brother, and disappears.
CHAPTER 8.
The hologram arrives less than an hour later. I’ve been searching for a way to steal a moment alone with Lucas so I can look into his eyes and find a shred of reassurance. That he’s still on board with the idea that the Others are the bad guys, that he’ll fight to return. It all happens too fast, though, and Pax hangs around like a nervous mother on Gathering night.
The hologram isn’t an Other, and it’s not Cadi or Ko or Griffin. This creature is more obviously alien. It has the solid black eyes of the Others, but stands barely as high as Lucas’s stomach. It wears no clothing from the waist up and its skin is stretched so thin that the bright red blood running through its veins is visible from across the lawn. He or she has no hair, and its ears are as big as its head.
It doesn’t identify itself or speak; it simply crooks a long finger at Lucas. We’ve all said our goodbyes, so he obeys, striding to the creature’s side. The thing beckons again, until Lucas bends to stare into its face. It unfurls a hand, one spindly, bony finger at a time, then blows a palm full of sparkling
black dust into Lucas’s face.
He stands up, sneezing violently. As our eyes meet, he begins to disappear. I don’t look away until he’s totally gone, as though he never walked back into my life at all.
It takes everything inside me not to run after him, not to scream and cry and go completely insane with letting him go again. I don’t, though. I have to believe that we’ll get through this, too.
I walk into the kitchen, figuring out what we’re going to eat in an effort to keep busy, my limbs heavy as though balls of lead run through my veins. A pang of panic hits when I think about how we sent Lucas away without dinner—who knows when the Others will feed him, or if they even eat food the way we do. Pax pads into the kitchen behind me after a few minutes with leftover containers of pasta and sauce that we’d left outside to keep cold.
“Let’s just set these by the fire until they warm up. I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel much like cooking.”
“Wolf brought a rabbit. We should skin it for him.” Despite my massive effort at keeping control, tears choke off the words.
Pax stands near me, but he doesn’t pull me into his chest the way Lucas would. Instead, he puts the containers of pasta on the counter and then takes one of my hands between both of his. The familiar sparks that accompany his touch are dull, and the almost painful clench of his fingers around mine reminds me I don’t need him to hold me up. I can stand on my own.
Pax smiles his slow smile, but worry crinkles the corners of his eyes. The fact that he’s feeling uncertain about Lucas’s departure gives me hope that the three of us can find a way to work together.