The Grower's Gift (Progeny of Time #1)

by Smythe, Vanna

  Ty glanced at Maya and Giles, but neither of them were looking his way. "Why did you let her come anyway?"

  "She accused me of keeping her locked up. I was afraid she'd do something dumb again."

  "Don't call her dumb," Ty said.

  Rober looked at him appraisingly. "I'll distract Giles for you."

  Ty watched him walk over to Giles, and start showing him something on his phone. He joined them soon after, and stopped right beside Maya.

  Rober announced he could show Giles a video of how fingers could be regrown in the other room. Maya moved to follow, but Ty held her back. "Can we talk?"

  She whipped her hand out of his grasp. "I don't know why you refuse to take me to the school and I don't care. I'm going there tomorrow. Your girlfriend is taking me."

  Ty ran his fingers through his hair and glanced over to the sofa to make sure Lana was still stuck in her hallucinations. "The school is not safe for you. Me and Rober are working on a plan to help the Badlands. You can help with that, and get to stay at home."

  Her mouth twisted in a snarl. "You lied to me and pretended like you don't even know me on more than one occasion. I don't trust you. I left home so I can learn my gift. I'm not going back until I do."

  "You should," Ty said, his anger rising. All he was doing was trying to protect her.

  She turned so fast Ty took a step backward reflexively. "Well I don't and I never will again! Now please leave me alone so I can enjoy this party."

  "The party is over," Rober said as he returned with Giles in tow. "Once they come to, they'll all want to go to sleep anyway. Apparently the come down from these new gifters is no fun thing. I'll take you to the guest room now."

  Maya protested but Rober wouldn't hear any argument. Ty accompanied them, still seething from Maya's harsh tone. He'd leave right then, only he wanted to find out which guest room they were staying in.

  "Right, now for the code," Rober said as soon as the door rippled shut on Maya.

  "Can't you give it to me tomorrow?"

  "No. Everyone else already got theirs," Rober said and led the way back to the elevator. "I swear, this gate I made is a piece of art. Undetectable to the point that it won't even register a disturbance if a whole fleet of crafts goes through it. Even if they seal the whole shield, this exit will still stay open."

  Ty had to smile at his friend's excitement. "So you finally found a way to make the perfect secret gate? Like we always talked about."

  Rober punched him in the arm playfully. "Yes! This one is even better than anything I ever imagined. It took me years to figure out how to make it."

  "You really never stopped planning this, did you?"

  Rober grinned widely. "No."

  Back in his apartments, Rober had him place his arm into the machine that would inject the necessary line under Ty's skin.

  As it congealed into just another stripe on his tiger tattoo, the dye containing the code to open Rober's secret exit left Ty's whole arm burning and throbbing painfully for the rest of the night. A fitting end to a terrible day.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  His mother wasn't in her office, nor was she in the control room at the facility. Ty had just sat down, preparing to coax more information about the pills from Martin when he and Ronia were summoned to the reception area. Ty followed, though he didn't want to see the poor person brought in today. However, his mother would be there and he wanted to make sure she saw him at work bright and early. Maya was still safe, there was no way Lana would've found where she was staying so quickly. Lana likely wasn't even awake yet.

  As he neared the wraparound windows that separated the reception area from the rest of the facility his heart stopped, then began racing furiously. His freezing cold power exploded in his forehead.

  Maya sat in one of the plush seats, Lana standing over her.

  Ty still had time to send her away. His mother wasn't there yet. He pushed past Ronia and Martin and broke into a run towards Maya.

  The door on the opposite side of the room slid open seconds before he reached her.

  "Who is this, Lana?" his mother's voice rang sweetly from across the room.

  Maya never looked back when he entered. Lana did, her eyes slits, then she turned back to Violetta. "Ty and I brought this one back ages ago for you. I'm surprised he waited so long to bring her to you."

  Maya turned and looked around at him, lighting flashing in her eyes.

  Ty hoped none of his terror showed on his face. He concentrated on the cold building in his mind, willed it to subside, fearing to touch anything, think anything. The emotions whirling in his mind were strong enough to wipe the whole room from existence. He had to regain control.

  Ty forced a wide smile and walked to his mother's side. "I'm sorry about that, Mom. I didn't want to take all the credit, what with Lana gone. I was sure she'd never forgive me, and we did find this one together."

  The words were shards of glass in his mouth. He had to lie to his mother. If she ever suspected he meant to hide Maya from her forever he'd get a cell right next to her.

  His mother stood on tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. "You did absolutely right. You don't want to mistreat your girlfriend, after all."

  She pointed at Martin and Ronia. "Prepare her, Ronia. I will call her shortly for the interview."

  Ty fought back the urge to scream at Ronia to let Maya go, to not lead her from the room. All he could do was keep smiling.

  He watched Maya retreating down the hallway, her dark curls swaying as she walked.

  Why hadn't he sent her away last night? He could have led her and Giles to the SF headquarters, even used Rober's secret passage out of the Ring. Instead, he had gone home to sleep, feeling sorry for himself. That wasn't even all of it. He didn't send Maya away because he wanted to spend more time with her, and now he'd never see her again.

  "Come to the control room after lunch, Ty, and I'll see about getting you a higher clearance," his mother said then left the room too.

  "See how easy that was?" Lana asked innocently.

  Yes, it was incredibly easy for Lana to hurt others. She had no empathy or compassion.

  "See you later," Ty managed to choke out then left the room, not really caring what she made of it.

  ~

  Giles started from the sofa as soon as Ty entered the guest room.

  "Get your things. You're leaving," Ty barked at him.

  Giles made no move to obey.

  "Now!"

  "Where's Maya? When is she coming back?"

  Ty struggled to control his panic before it turned to rage. They had no time for Giles to argue. The SFs sent to collect him could already be on their way. His mother didn't leave loose ends. "I know who you are. If she exiled you once, she'll execute you now for returning."

  The shocked gasp that escaped Giles' mouth told Ty he understood perfectly. He hurried to stuff his belongings into a backpack and was ready to leave in minutes.

  Ty led him down the hallway and to the servants' elevator. Luckily the Orsinis kept human servants too. Most had androids these days, and the robots could fly up and down chutes on their own. Ty paced in front of the elevator, expecting the SFs to appear at any moment.

  "You won't tell your mother I was here, will you?" Giles whispered.

  Ty tapped the elevator button furiously. "No, why else do you think I'm here? Though she probably already knows, thanks to Lana."

  The elevator finally arrived and Ty pushed Giles into it. He set it to take them to the visitor's plaza at top speed. "Where do your brothers live?"

  "Southside, building 13," Giles muttered once he regained his balance in the speeding elevator. "Thank you, but what about Maya?"

  "You should've stayed away. You should have kept Maya away."

  "I tried. She's not easy to convince once she's made up her mind."

  Force of nature. Not that she would be for much longer.

  "Will you tell Maya where I'm going?" Giles asked. "So she can find me once she
gets out of the school."

  "She's not coming back out," Ty said coldly. The words were a sharp jab through his stomach. It was the truth, unless he found a way to get her the pills in the next few hours.

  "What do you mean?" Giles asked breathlessly.

  The elevator stopped and Ty pressed his tattoo against the panel. The door rippled open and they stood in a vast plaza that stretched for miles in all directions. A handful of people milled around it, but otherwise it was deserted.

  "Nothing," Ty said. "Maya'll be at the school full time for a while. You go hide with your brothers and I'll tell her where you are."

  Ty led the way to an info booth at the far corner of the plaza and showed Giles how to ask the android manning the desk to find his family. Once Giles got the information and directions, Ty left him to find his own way. Giles looked like he still had a thousand questions to ask.

  "Don't try and find me," Ty warned him, then turned away and walked back to the elevator.

  ~

  Ty's father called while he was in the elevator heading back to the facility.

  "Talks with Dakota and New LA are starting in fifteen minutes. I want you there with me."

  "They've agreed to your demands?" Ty asked stupidly.

  "They're here to talk," his father snapped. "Haven't you been following the news?"

  Ty should have known. They wouldn't have lifted the flying ban if the executions hadn't stopped and the two offending cities were ready to talk.

  "I can't now. I have to go help Mom."

  The line went dead.

  Ty hoped she'd be able to smooth this over for him later. He never wanted to choose between them. His father held more power than his mother, that much was always clear to Ty. But his father did everything on his own, always in secret and his mother was able to manipulate him in ways Ty hadn't quite figured out yet. Still, his father loved Eve too. Perhaps one day Ty could tell him all about how he tried to protect her. One day when his mother lost some of her power.

  Rober called just as Ty entered the facility. Ty rejected the call and turned his phone off. The talks starting meant Rober wanted to execute his treasonous plan. Rober's plans never worked out. Not when they were children, dreaming of their own city in the north, not now when they had so much more to lose. For Ty, getting Maya out of the facility was the priority now. All else would wait.

  Martin was alone in the control room. The windows of the adjacent exam control room were dark, which meant they hadn't started Maya's exam yet.

  "Ty, why did you have to bring that girl here?" Martin asked in a shaky voice. "She's so young, she had her whole life in front of her."

  Ty leaned on the wall by the door. "I didn't want to. She insisted. I should've sent her back home right away."

  "Why didn't you?"

  Because I wanted to get to know her. The thought alone brought too much pain. Pain that could turn to uncontrollable anger and rage.

  "Where is she now?" Ty asked. "Has there been an interview yet?"

  Martin looked at him sharply. "No, she's been taken to a cell."

  "Tell me more about those anti-gift pills. Where do they make them?"

  "I shouldn't, Ty. Your mother will tell you when she's ready," Martin replied. "Why do you want to know so much about them?"

  "Please, Martin. I think she's mad at me for keeping that girl hidden. If I discover something new she won't punish me," Ty lied. He couldn't trust Martin with his plans to get Maya out of the facility. The lengths that man went to protect his life, experimenting on people exactly like him, meant he'd betray Ty too.

  The windows in the exam control room turned translucent.

  "I'm not angry at you, Ty. Still, you should have told me about the girl right away," Violetta said as she glided into the room. "You can't help with the pills. They're in the final trials stage. We have it covered."

  How much did she hear?

  "If you say so," Ty managed.

  "Go to your father's talks now, or neither of us will hear the end of it. He just called me, furious that I'm keeping you from him."

  ~

  Ty was sitting in his mother's chair beside his father in the private conference room in the Remarque building when the talks were interrupted by an urgent message.

  Sage Montague had been caught breaking into a top security vault at the Special Forces headquarters.

  Those idiots went ahead without me?

  Ty dreaded the moment when the news that Rober had been caught too came through.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Ty had never even looked at her. And the way he lied to his mother… maybe he was telling the truth. More likely he meant to bring her here all along and was only stalling with all his talk of other schools. Either way it didn't matter. Maya's wish had finally come true. She was at the school, finally able to begin learning to use her gift.

  The silent woman and the man with the steel hand led Maya down a silver-walled hallway lined with identical blue doors, finally stopping in front of one. It opened into a white walled cubicle. The door hissed shut on the man with the steel hand.

  Maya turned to the woman. "When will I have the interview?"

  The woman looked at her, her lips quivering. She typed something on a small panel in her hands and white words appeared in the air between them. It took a few moments for Maya to figure out they were the woman's. "Soon. Now you must undress and change into this."

  The woman held out a dark blue body suit made of shiny nylon.

  Maya unzipped her windbreaker and tossed it onto a hospital bed that was the only furniture in the room.

  "And how soon after I'm done with the interview can I begin my studies?"

  "Soon," the woman's words appeared in the air.

  "Where are all the others?" Maya asked.

  The woman shook her head, and didn't reply.

  Maya took off her shoes and unzipped her pants. She kind of wished the woman would turn around, but it didn't matter. She seemed to be staring right through Maya, not seeing her at all, tears welling in her eyes.

  The whole scene unnerved Maya so much that her hands shook. It was too late to worry now. She was at the school, she'd gotten what she wanted.

  She struggled to pull her shirt over her head. When she finally freed herself of it, the silent woman inhaled sharply and backed away, pointing at Maya's chest.

  Maya looked down, thinking she was bleeding at the very least from the woman's reaction, but only the tree pendant her parents had given her hung there.

  "This?" Maya asked, holding up the pendant.

  The woman held one had over her open mouth. With the other she fumbled to type something on her panel.

  "Where? Get…that?" the woman's words appeared in the air.

  Maya let go of the pendant. "It was a gift."

  "Who gave it?"

  "My mother and father," Maya replied, letting her confusion show plainly on her face.

  "Gabriella?" the woman asked, her eyes wet and glistening.

  "Who?"

  The woman typed more slowly. "Is that your mother's name?"

  Maya shook her head. She couldn't read this woman, because no tone, no inflection accompanied the woman's words. Yet those tears, that silent scream made Maya almost rigid with fear. "No, my mother's name is Daisy."

  The woman's eyes twinkled through her tears. "You look like her."

  Maya edged away from her. "No, my mother is short and blonde. Why are you asking me so many questions about her?"

  "I knew a woman who had a necklace exactly like this one," the woman's words appeared in the air.

  "I don't know, maybe she sold it to my parents," Maya said and continued undressing. The air in the room was thick with death and suffering, grief and hopelessness. Maya concentrated on changing to block it all out.

  Once she zipped up her body suit, and the woman visibly steeled her features and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "Give me the necklace, I will keep it safe for you." Her eyes flashed to Maya's wrist.
"And the bracelet, please."

  "Why?" Maya demanded, clutching her wrist. "This bracelet helps me use my gift. I will do better in my tests with it on."

  "Fine. You can keep the bracelet." the woman's words flashed in the air. "But you can't wear any metal jewelry to the interview. It interferes with the readings and will just get taken away. I will keep the necklace safe for you. Please trust me."

  "What do you mean, taken away? I'll leave it in here and collect it when I go home this evening."

  "Please give me the necklace for safekeeping," the woman urged.

  Maya decided to trust her. She unclasped the necklace and handed it to the woman. Tears spilled from the woman's eyes as she took it. She brought the tree pendant to her lips and kissed it.

  "Wait here. Someone will come and collect you soon," the woman's words read.

  Then she was gone, and Maya was left alone in the tiny room with only a hospital bed inside it.

  She sat down on the bed to wait, counting the seconds in her head, still trying to block out all the pain and sadness that hung in the air of this place.

  It wasn't only coming from the silent woman, Maya now realized. Hopeless suffering hung thick in the air, oozed in through the walls. At one point she was certain she heard a scream.

  She eased herself off the bed and walked to the door. After it had closed behind the woman, it became just another panel in the walls. Maya wasn't even sure she was looking for it in the right place.

  Her own panic rose in her mind.

  Ty, Giles, and Rober had all warned her against coming here. What if Ty wasn't lying to her?

  ~

  Ty followed a few steps behind his father as they rushed to the holding cells of the SF headquarters. Nothing tangible connected him to the revolutionary plans Rober and the others made. He'd only been to two meetings, and the only one who ever called him about it was Rober, who had called him daily since they were kids, so nothing to suspect there. If Sage managed not to implicate him, he'd be fine.

  Sage Montague was held in one of the smaller cells, one level down from the SF command room. Shackles on her wrists and ankles bound her to the chair, red lights blinking along them. Her black eyes bored into the two SFs in the room with her. Ty looked on through the one-way window as his father entered the room.