by Jaymin Eve
Chrissie continued to stare at me. She was still barely even acknowledging that Lucy was there.
“Do you have a problem with me, Chrissie?” Lucy looked tiny as she moved into the other female’s personal space.
Everyone here towered over the pixie and I knew she’d be missing her wings.
Brown curls bounced as Chrissie shook her head. “No, Lucy, I don’t have a problem with you or Abby anymore. I just find it hard to remember that time when we were held by … that bitch-face … Olden. You were hurt worse than the rest of us, and seeing you reminds me of that and … Chandra.”
She’d finally said her name and there was so much pain laced through that one word. No one here could ever doubt that it still killed her every day, and probably always would. Eva looked a little surprised. Something told me that none of the vigiladies knew very much about each other. They were secretive. But the half-Walker’s expression was softer when she stared at her former leader, and I sensed a kindred empathy there. Eva had lost people too.
I tried not to think about Chrissie’s words. Lucy’s torture by Olden was something which made me pissed off and cry-baby all in the same breath. Especially since the evil-bitch had been hurting her to try to pry information about me from her. Olden had known that torturing Lucy was the worst thing she could have done to crush me. The unlocking of Lucy’s pixie side had banished the physical scars, but we all knew the mental and emotional ones were much harder to remove.
Words continued to flow from Chrissie, like she’d broken the dam and now that it was out she couldn’t stop it. “They say time heals or at least helps, but to me, Chandra was more than my friend.” She hesitated for a split second. “I loved her.”
I sensed that she wasn’t just talking about the love between best friends. Her entire face softened, right before sorrow stole every bit of color and joy from her features. She had loved Chandra, in a romantic way, and I could tell that the loss ate away at her every day.
I understood why she had hit me now. I’d have probably killed the person who was in any way responsible for hurting Brace. And if he died – well, I wouldn’t even consider the possibility for a second. It would never happen.
Lucy hugged Chrissie. “I’m so sorry … so, so sorry.”
She continued to murmur nonsensical words of comfort, and I could see that our old friend was moments from losing her shit altogether. I had no doubt that she needed to cry and grieve and scream at the Gods for a few days or weeks. But right then we didn’t have time for that.
Thankfully she kept it together and, as Lucy pulled away, Chrissie’s features were back to calm. Pain still laced her dark eyes, though, and I knew it probably always would. But for now we were all good to deal with the current problems.
“I’m really glad that you two have found your soul mates,” Chrissie said as she wiped away a stray tear. “You were always true and good friends, and once I got past my own anger I knew that.”
Aw, that was such a feels moment. It hit me in my chest, the emotions tightening my heart-organ until I found it hard to breathe for a few seconds. This was why I saved the worlds: because there was still so much good. Despite the evil, good still prevailed.
I gave Chrissie a quick hug of my own, my arm brushing against Eva. A spark flared between us, the tethering connection wanting to bond with her. The last time on the docks, I hadn’t heard her voice in my mind, but I knew the next time we connected the tether would be solid.
I had been trying not to pay too much attention to Eva, letting the poor confused female digest the fact that she was a half-Walker. It was a huge thing to wrap your head around: re-examining every single thing which you thought was true about yourself.
I wondered if she had had any idea she was different to the average human. Her gift was spirit. Had that manifested anything on Earth or was the energy dead zone too encompassing?
As I pulled away from Chrissie I noticed the way Eva continued sneaking peaks at her arm, watching the play of light across the marks she wore. I let her have as long as possible, but it was time to close up the necklace; we had to focus on the task at hand. Though I really needed to know her thoughts about this. Was she going to fight me about leaving Earth?
As the yellow light faded away, Eva’s golden eyes lifted and locked in on me. I could sense the disappointment that her marks were gone. She had enjoyed focusing on them. Probably so she didn’t have to focus on the bigger things which were doing her head in. Like the fact that she wasn’t fully human. That the family she most probably thought of as her own were not. Unless, of course, she’d been orphaned at a young age like myself. Then she was probably just confused as heck.
“I’m sure you have a crap-ton of questions, and I’m more than willing to answer anything. But I need to know if you’re going to help me … help us. We need to save the worlds, and we have to act as a team.”
She still didn’t speak, and I wondered for a second if my revelation had struck her mute. Chrissie reached out and placed a hand on her right shoulder, slender fingers squeezing for a moment, offering comfort.
“You can trust them, Eva. I’ve known them for a long time, and they honor their words.”
Eva straightened, shaking off Chrissie’s hand. “I’ll never believe that my father was not my real father. Never.” Her voice shook, as if each word was being torn from the very depth of her soul. “I’m having a very hard time trying to figure out if you’re all freaking crazy, or if I somehow hit my head and lost my mind … because, the marks were real … and I kind of believe what you’re saying. But I can’t accept it.”
Okay, so the chick loved her pretend Earth father, which was going to make it a little difficult, because she did not want to believe in this story. If she believed, that meant her mother had had an affair. It meant the father she loved was not hers by blood.
Brace’s warm hand gently slid onto my lower back. He pulled me closer, toward his heat. “Just because the father you knew is not blood-related, it doesn’t mean he’s not your father.” Brace was wise as always. “Sometimes the bonds of love exceed anything that blood brings. Plenty of biological fathers are assholes. Be grateful that you had an amazing and caring patron. Not everyone is so lucky.”
Brace knew better than most. His father was the very definition of asshole.
Eva sucked in deeply, the air rattling as it passed through her teeth. Her hand rose and pressed against her chest, and I could guess that the pain she felt was so great that it was as if her heart was being squeezed in a vise.
“I’m still not sure how I feel about this. I’m going to need a few minutes to pull myself together; don’t you all have a barrier to destroy?” Golden eyes shifted across us. “Maybe seeing you in action … well, I might be able to understand better. Accept that which you’re telling me.”
She was making excuses. I could tell that she didn’t want to help. She wanted no part in this chaos we were bringing to her world, but I was pretty sure she also knew that she didn’t really have a choice here. If I had to kidnap her like we had been forced to with Sapha, then I would. Still if she wanted to see us in action, well action was what she was going to get.
I focused my energy, opening my senses to try to see the barrier which surrounded us. There was just the faintest shimmer in the air, and the more I focused, the more I could see the crisscrossing of electrical pulses.
We were still drifting in the currents, the sun was rising, and in the light it was more obvious the way we continued to cross the same path over and over. The ocean told many tales, it revealed much if you just took the time to truly watch the beauty beneath. We were stuck and the only way to find out what was on the other side was to destroy this barrier.
Okay, Brace, time to break this bitch down.
He attempted a grin. It wasn’t very successful. The girls around us recoiled, and Colton gave a bark of laughter.
“Brace, man, might be time to tone down the scary. I think half the chicks on here are about to j
ump overboard.”
Colton and Brace had an epic bromance. They were dudes, but they totally loved each other and had each other’s back. No matter what. They had lost touch for a few years, but like true friends, the time and distance made no difference to the feelings behind their bond. I loved Colton like a brother also. He was a good one, and I had to thank the fates that they had chosen him for Lucy. Now it was time for the four of us to work together. We had a city to free and worlds to save.
And our time was running out.
Chapter 8
Brace was back touching the sparks that ran through the barrier. This time, though, I could see the pulses bouncing off his energy, each streak trying to find a way around his hand. Even his small interference was enough to disrupt some of the electricity that intertwined. I understood what he meant about the shield being easy to disrupt. We just needed enough energy. And I had an idea.
“I can do it,” I said out loud, startling some, but not my mate.
He just turned those velvety, chocolate-colored eyes on me.
“If you, Colt and Luce let me tether to you, and borrow some of your energy – to make up for what Earth has stolen from me – then I’ll blast out at the shield. I can disrupt the pulses and hopefully it will be enough to fracture the barrier.”
I was the only one who could store energy, and I still had a small amount in my filing cabinet. I’d only have to borrow a little from my friends.
“I’m not happy about this, Red.” Brace rubbed a hand across his face; he looked tired. Which was not normal for my powerful Walker. “I have a bad feeling about you interfering in this barrier when I can sense your energy in it.”
“I get your protectiveness. I feel the same way about you, but there’s no other option. On Earth all of us are limited. I’m the only one that can still store and harness energy in the usual Walker manner. It has to be me.”
He knew it was the truth, but that didn’t make it any easier for him to let me do this.
Colton and Lucy ushered all of the females toward the back of the boat, as far from us as they could get, before coming back to stand at my side.
“You two okay with sharing some energy?” I checked in before just taking. I had to at least pretend I wasn’t a rude douche.
Colton leaned down and kissed me on top of my head. “You don’t even have to ask, little sister.”
His words sent beams of warmth through me. I could feel his sincerity. He truly thought of me as family. Lucy followed suit by hugging me tightly around the middle.
“Take as much as you need,” she whispered against my shirt.
Brace closed in to seal off our little square of love. His features were calm, but I knew that a storm brewed beneath the surface. He was pretty worried, and for a split second I wondered if I should be also. I just had to hope that he was simply being over-protective, although his instincts were usually pretty good on these things. Oh, well, too late to worry about what the consequences of my actions might be.
Pushing down the doubts, I reached for the golden tether in my head. It was frail on Earth but still functional. The cord wanted to go toward Eva – who was watching my every move with the focus of a laser. That was the natural reason for my tether’s existence, but I forced it closer to me. Sending it into my family.
As I connected to Lucy, Colton and Brace a flood of thoughts, emotions and energies started to flow in and around me. I almost staggered from the initial influx, but when comparing this to the sun from Crais – well, my body was a lot stronger now and this amount of energy was manageable. Especially with Earth muting our power.
It was easy enough for me to identify their individual energies. Colton’s was Walker – Abernath, just like Brace’s, but there was also something animalistic in his energy. The wolf had permeated everything, and was so much a part of him that there was no way to know where the Walker left off and the wolf began. The canine energy brushed against me, but it wasn’t aggressive. I was a member of his pack and he had no problem with my presence.
Then there was Lucy. She was the most foreign to me, her pixie energy strong. It was like nature, flowers and living plants, with just a touch of how brutal Mother Nature could be. Interwoven with this were tendrils of another energy: ancient and metallic. Elemental. I could only guess that was from her faerie side, which was yet to be unlocked, but was still there in her DNA. You might be able to suppress parts of yourself, but deep down it was impossible to change your fundamental makeup.
Finally Brace, the most familiar, an extension of my own energy. Melding had combined our very essences. His Walker and princeps power was strong, almost too strong to handle. The heat and force brushed against me like the flaming winds of the hottest forest fire in history. It was almost unbearable standing in the full force of his power, but at the same time I didn’t want to leave. I needed more. The warmth was intoxicating. Why are the very things we crave the ones which would most probably lead to our demise? Fire burned and yet I wanted to be closer.
The well inside me began to hum. That greedy little sucker loved energy and I was surrounded now by an overabundance of goodness. I started to draw from my friends; it took real effort not to just take, take, take and fill my well. Instead I focused on filling the filing cabinet inside – this was how to keep the energy safe.
The compartment was still around a quarter full, and I was careful only to take as much energy as I felt that the three could share. I took the most from Brace. Firstly, he was pretty much shoving it at me. Secondly, he was the most powerful. Although, I was definitely never going to underestimate Colton and Lucy. Together, those two packed a punch.
The other girls remained huddled at the back of the boat. None of them spoke, each just staring at us. I knew they’d have learned from a young age not to trust strangers. Especially powerful or crazy ones. And as far as they knew, we were both.
The entire energy transference took no more than five minutes. I didn’t take enough to completely fill myself. That would require more than my friends could safely give. I just had to hope I had enough. I wouldn’t risk depleting them completely, no matter how much Brace tried to shove his power at me.
Take it, Red! I won’t have you unprotected, weak or vulnerable. You won’t drain me … I promise.
Stubborn Walker. I have enough and, if I need more, well, I know where to find it.
I could share from his energy pretty easily. Our bond allowed for that.
“So I just blast a wave of power into the field? Or should I connect to it?”
I spoke out loud again, hoping that the others wouldn’t be as protective as Brace. I knew he was going to limit the information he gave me, especially if it was dangerous. Colton wasn’t quite as reticent with the sharing of risky knowledge.
Brace’s lips quirked into a half-smile. He’d read my thoughts. “You don’t have to connect to it, and I would actually recommend not even attempting that. It could lead the creator straight to you, plus it’s especially important that you stay in control of the energy you send into the shield. Sometimes there’s a failsafe set up. If this was my barrier, I’d have it rigged to capture any who attempted to connect or manipulate the programmed electromagnetic field.”
Colton crossed his arms across his chest, biceps standing out starkly from the edge of his soft cotton shirt. “Just blast into it. Send all that beautiful power into the barrier, and allow it to filter through. It’ll work.”
I sucked in deeply. The bad feeling that had tightened my gut earlier was back. In full force. I was sure it was just nerves. Seriously, what was with all of these Seventine energy-gathering zones scattered around the planets? They had plan upon plan in place. Two steps ahead – they were always two steps ahead of us.
I locked eyes with Brace. He had his hands clenched on the side of the boat. Probably holding on to that so he didn’t reach out and snatch me out of what he considered a dangerous situation.
For the record, I think this is a terrible idea. There was a
tinge of worry and humor in his tone.
Record noted, I said.
I focused and reached for my free energy, before flinging open the drawer which had sealed in all that delicious power. My body started to hum, the well inside me springing to life again.
Once the power flowed through me, filling every facet of my being, I could clearly see the barrier. It was still faint, but I knew exactly where to direct the blast of energy. I’d done this a few times before. It took a little concentration, and I wasn’t as good at it as Brace and Josian. Still, I almost had the hang of it now.
It was like a wave, a large curtain of energy which I lifted above my head, and then smashed across the barrier. In this situation, I left the bond open so there was a continual flow of power leaving me. I hoped I’d have enough stored power to crash the barrier before I grew too weak and had to cut it off.
As the first rush left me, I closed my eyes. It was harder to do this on Earth. Like gravity pulling me to the ground, the energy didn’t want to leave me. Earth was an enigma and the power was happier inside my well. Still, I was the boss today, and it would go where I sent it.
The flow started to build up; the energy rose and heated the surrounding area. Everyone would be feeling the effect of what I was doing. I wondered briefly what I looked like standing in the midst of so much energy. My marks would be glowing, my skin bathed in a golden glow. Eva would have plenty more evidence of Walkers now. She was going to have to believe me eventually. Right?
With the moderate level of control I still possessed over the living entity which was this energy wave, I directed it further into the barrier. It was at this moment that the electrical impulses embedded in the shield reacted; they connected to the wave of Walker power and the resulting backlash almost knocked me off my feet.
Others hit the deck. Colton and Lucy went down, and Brace even stumbled.
As the wave continued to crash against the electronic barrier, more energy left my filing cabinet and a gap started to appear in the shield. It reminded me of the way a waterfall would part when something broke the stream of falling water. I had broken the interconnecting energy.