Curses, Fates & Soul Mates

by et al Kristie Cook

“So you’re just going to walk away?”

  “It’s not like I have anything else to stick around for.” Jet’s blue gaze found mine and the anger there was just too much. I couldn’t let him run off thinking what he’d seen between me and Kale meant anything.

  “Jet,” I pleaded, moving to stand by Kale’s side, “what you saw … it’s not what you think. You know what I want—”

  “Do I? Because I’m pretty sure you made what you want perfectly clear just now, Skylla. And in case you forgot, we’re standing in Central Control, on enemy grounds, and any second, Invaders will swarm this place and none of it will matter anyway, because we’ll all be dead. You honestly expect me to follow you two to this Capsule dock? We’re already in enough danger without adding explosives to the mix. Screw revenge. I’m done. It’s not worth getting killed over. Not when I just got Hera back. This place, this battle is too big for me. I’m done fighting.”

  “We need your help, Jet. Listen, I know you don’t want to believe a word I say right now … but I’m telling you, we need you.” I reached for his hand. He flinched as if I’d slapped him across the face. “Please don’t leave.”

  “Then come with us. Leave him here, and we’ll never come back.”

  Light from the control panel flared, illuminating the room behind my shoulder. The light flickered and danced over my skin, and I could hear Kale scrambling with the controls, mumbling frantically. “The Shepherd dock is preparing for launch,” he said. “We have to go.”

  I turned my attention back to Jet. “If you trust me with this one thing, I swear I won’t let you down. I’ll explain everything. Please.” As I squeezed Jet’s hand, small fingers suddenly squeezed mine, drawing my attention downward.

  “Skylla?” Hera stared up at me with those mesmerizing brown pools. Her voice was just as beautiful. Her thin fingers hooked around mine, and the sight melted me. “Thank you for the bear.”

  I smiled. “Your brother gave you the bear?”

  She nodded, her sleek hair bouncing against her shoulders. “Said it was a present from you.”

  “He did, did he?”

  She nodded again, this time more enthusiastically.

  Jet fidgeted, looking anywhere but at me.

  “I know you’re a little old for it now, but…”

  “No. I like it.”

  “You’re a brave girl to have gone through what you did in that children’s camp, Hera. I know it’s a lot to ask of you and your brother to come with me and my friend. But we need your help. Do you think you can do that?”

  “Can we help your friends, Jet?” she asked, pulling on his finger. “Please?”

  Jet dropped to his knees, taking Hera’s face in his hands. “Listen, Sunshine. I know you want to help my friend. It was nice she found you the bear, but if we don’t get out of here right now, we might never make it out, do you understand? Mom and Dad would’ve wanted us to escape. I can’t put you in any more danger.”

  “But I’m not afraid,” she pouted, her docile face twisting my heart. “Not anymore. Please. They’re scared now. I was scared, and you came to help me.”

  Kale reappeared at my side. “I hate to break up this tea party, guys, but we’re outta time.”

  Jet pushed a frustrated breath from his lips, eyes darting between Hera, me, and Kale. He adjusted his weapons and closed Hera’s hand in his own. “Fine.” His gaze landed on me. “We’ll help stop Rico and his men from blowing this underwater city to pieces, but after that, this is over, you got it?”

  Kale rubbed his hands together, shooting me a look that said it wasn’t the right time to break the news to Jet that we were the two remaining Shepherds. I agreed.

  “I mean it,” Jet seethed, taking Kale and shaking him by the shirt collar. “You’re not just dragging me into this now, you’re dragging my little sister into it. If something happens to her, her blood is on your hands, we clear?”

  “Yes.”

  “Let’s get on with it, then.” Jet roughly released him, then turned for the door.

  CHAPTER 13

  Kale geared up, and we exited Central Control, finding the hallways barren leading to the lower Capsule dock. The echoes of our feet filled the long corridors; our breathing mixed and mingled with the shuffles and taps.

  “Looks like we don’t even need the invincibility drugs,” I said, shifting my automatic from left to right as we passed by another intersection. “I think mine’s wearing off already, anyway.”

  “Doesn’t that strike you as odd?” Jet asked, pulling Hera alongside. There was no confusion in his gaze now, only suspicion. I well knew of Jet’s perceptiveness. Something was definitely not right, and he sensed it. The thought taunted me, wondering what he would do when he found out the remaining piece of the puzzle. The longer Kale and I held off telling him who we really were, the more angry and betrayed Jet would feel. I couldn’t let this carry on, couldn’t trick Jet into helping us, only to tell him when it was all over. He’d never forgive me for that.

  Kale led us down a steep stairwell. We were burying ourselves deeper and deeper into the ship. I grabbed Jet’s arm. “There’s something you should know. Before we get down there.”

  “What is it?” His tone was cold. “You want to tell me you’ve changed your mind about us? You interested in Kale now?”

  “Will you stop making this about him or you? It’s not about that.”

  “Then tell me fast, Skylla. I can’t get the image of you two out of my mind—”

  “Guys!” Kale’s voice plowed into us, and we jolted to a stop. Hera kept her hand in Jet’s, but other than being out of breath from our sprint, she didn’t seem frightened. Seeing her so unafraid filled me with bravery to tell Jet the truth and face whatever consequences came of it.

  Kale said, “The security screen’s frozen. We need to do this manually.”

  “Is that even possible?” Jet shook the door’s round, silver handles.

  “Only one way to find out.” Kale stopped messing with the screen and shoved us aside, aiming his weapon at the door. He unloaded on the handles and screen, blowing the latches to pieces. A musical alarm sounded through the hall as we stepped inside, its distorted melody surrounding us from every direction. It sounded as if it were drowning, being held down under water.

  “You know where on the dock the explosives were planted?” I asked while we herded into the room. It was round, just like Central Control, only instead of a glass wall filled with pristine water and colorful fish, there were six oval Capsules stationed next to one another, lined up around a breathtaking stone table. A majestic statue was placed in the middle, an ancient-looking fountain of some sort.

  Kale bypassed the table and dashed to the Capsules, peeking through the transparent lids to search for the Shepherds. He stopped in front of the sixth. It was wide open and waiting. “Yeah, they’re underneath the table there, taped beneath the fountain statue.”

  “Stay with me,” Jet said to Hera, ushering her closer to his side. “Don’t let go of me whatever you do, you understand, Sunshine?”

  “Yes.”

  Jet ducked beneath the table and plucked his knife from his belt. Hera squeezed under the table with him, keeping one hand on his thigh while he spread out on his back to go to work on the bombs. “How long until the other Shepherds get here? By the sound of that alarm, we don’t have long.”

  “Any second now,” Kale answered, waving me over to meet him near the Shepherd Capsules. I eyed Jet as he continued to tinker with the wires beneath the table, then moved to join Kale, bringing my attention to the Capsule vehicles. The glass tops showcased five human beings, three women and two men of various ages, resting peacefully inside. Their eyes were closed and arms crossed gently over their chests, as if lying in coffins.

  “This one’s for me.” Kale pointed to the open Capsule. “I was thinking … we should wait until we get to Lucenta to tell him.”

  “We can’t do that.”

  “Why not? We tell him now, we risk
hurting everyone—including Hera.”

  “There’s no way we’ll get him into one of these things. He’ll never go to Lucenta with us. And I don’t want him to. He and Hera need to get out of here. I won’t deceive him.”

  “You already have. You could’ve told him back there, but you let him come down here with us because you knew we needed him to destroy the explosives.”

  “I didn’t see you volunteering the information. It wasn’t the right time. He just found his sister, he saw you kissing me, and then we had to run. He’s depending on my honesty, Kale. So is Hera.”

  “So tell him.”

  “You make it sound so easy.”

  “We’re running out of time.”

  “I know. Wait, where is the seventh Capsule? Where is mine?”

  “There.” He nodded back toward the table, his gaze climbing the fountain statue that towered over the center.

  “The fountain? I don’t get it.”

  “Once you’re activated, it rises up from the ground, from beneath the fountain. It’s hidden, to protect the Seventh Shepherd.” A wry grin tipped the corner of his mouth. “Told you you were important.”

  “How are we supposed to activate if our chips have been removed?”

  “Errr … you won’t like the answer to that.”

  “Kale …”

  “Come on.” He took my hand and guided me back to the table, then broke our link to begin sliding his fingers over the dark stone tabletop. I squinted as it lit up, transforming into an intricate screen panel like the ship’s other security screens.

  “What’s going on up there?” Jet asked from below. “I’m just about done here.”

  “Uh, just putting together a plan of escape,” Kale called back.

  “You really remember this much of the Invaders’ language?” I asked, stunned at his proficiency. “You seem so at home. Flying the Capsules, navigating this place … all of it.”

  Kale leaned in closer to me as he worked, lowering his voice. “Rico was basically blackmailing me. He discovered I was one of the Shepherds when I first joined his rebel group. He threatened to have them rip me apart, then threatened to destroy Lucenta when his first fear tactic didn’t convince me.”

  “He already knew about Lucenta?”

  “Yeah, he’d heard of the legends. But he didn’t know its exact location. He was bluffing, but I didn’t know that at the time. Once he knew he had me, he used me on all of his recon missions, knowing I could read their language. I was the one who stole those three Capsules. I gave us access to C1 in New Orleans, gave him the security codes for this ship’s Central Control … I was with his men when they planted the explosives. I…I lied earlier, I’m sorry. That’s how I know this place so well. That was when I decided I didn’t want to be a part of this anymore—when we planted them.” Extending his index finger to enter one last command, he took a deep breath and turned to face me. “To activate, we have to reimplant.”

  I stopped breathing.

  “Skylla, I know you’re scared—I am, too—but this is the only way. The launch trip to Lucenta won’t happen until all Seven Shepherds are loaded into those Capsules.” Kale’s face fell as a shadow loomed from behind me, and he stepped back, raising his hands.

  “Skylla,” Jet said, his voice flat and filled with venom. “Something you want to say to me?”

  I slowly turned, my gaze flying up to meet his before glancing at Hera, who was still joined at his hip. “I—I didn’t know, Jet. I never wanted this. I swear I just found out, I was so scared—”

  “And you?” Jet jutted his head to the side to glare at Kale. His finger was already on the trigger, his aim lined up to Kale’s sweaty forehead. “You knew this whole time?”

  “None of this is what you think it is, Jet. I never wanted to hurt you, Skylla, or your sister. My chip was removed, just like Skylla’s—there’s a scar on the back of my neck to prove it. I’m only trying to stop Rico from obliterating any chance the human race might have at survival. We need to attempt to make peace, find out what they want from us. Blowing this place up and aggravating them further will get us nowhere.”

  “You’re worse than a traitor. You’re a traitor pretending to be a rebel. You wanted allies?” Jet’s thumb skimmed the side of his gun, his hand trembling. “You don’t get them by lying to them and pretending to be something you’re not!”

  I attempted to speak, my voice coming out small and feeble. My strength was waning, and the sounds of the screams I recognized so well now emanated from the corridor, alerting me that we had only seconds to act, if we were lucky. The Invaders might not be able to harm me, but my friends were a different story. “Jet, I meant what I said. I need you to trust me. Please come with us to Lucenta. Help us. Don’t run. We’ve come too far, and we have a chance to make this right.”

  Kale stepped close to Jet, allowing the barrel of Jet’s gun to stand inches from his skin. “I don’t just want to know my fate as a Shepherd. I want to know everything—why they made us, why we’re here. What’s the point of it all? Don’t you want to know? Look where we are, man!” His arms flew up around him. “We’re smack in the center of it all, right this second. We’re minutes away from answering those questions. I need you and Skylla. The Invaders need to see the lengths our kind and yours will go to find the truth. We need to show them we’re willing to fight for our right to exist, that we need to fight for our planet.”

  “Jet?” Hera tugged on Jet’s hand as she glanced over her shoulder. “They’re coming.”

  “My goal’s the same as it was the moment I met you,” I said to Jet. “The only thing that’s changed is I’m not who I thought I was. I wish I could apologize for that, or change the way you found out, but I can’t and I won’t.”

  I stepped forward, searching his face for warmth or understanding. Something. The Invaders’ screams grew louder, their shadows filling the doorway. “Because as scared as I am right now and as much as I never asked for this, I’ve never been more positive about where I’m supposed to be than I am right this moment. You found Hera for a reason. We’re here, in this room, for a reason. Please don’t run, because I … because I love you.”

  The ice in his eyes seemed to melt, the lines around his mouth softening as his gaze fell to the floor. He swung his arm away from Kale’s forehead and directed his gun to the entrance. “Well then, do what you gotta do to get us out of here. Time’s up.”

  Kale shouted, his face lighting up. He popped open a glass supply console and removed two chrome syringes. “You do me, I do you,” he said, handing me one and turning around to give me access to the back of his neck.

  “Cover us,” I shouted to Jet, plunging the device into Kale’s skin. I spun and let Kale implant me, wincing at the strange feel of the injection.

  “Take Hera!” Jet pushed her in my direction and he began to fire, the Invaders swarming the room while Kale, Hera and I dashed for the sixth Capsule. I helped Hera inside and Kale jumped in after her, lying flat and strapping the belts over their waists. He crossed his arms, instructing Hera to do the same.

  “Make sure the lid clicks,” Kale said, “and slam the white button on the table. You and Jet take the seventh Capsule. Go!”

  “It’s going to be okay, Hera. You can trust me.” I brushed her forehead and squeezed her hand. “Your brother and I will see you soon, okay?”

  She reached up and wrapped a finger around mine, the action rendering me into a puddle of mush. I pushed down the lump in my throat and closed the Capsule lid, making sure it locked tight into place before placing my hand on the glass. Kale held my gaze, and Hera lined her palm up with mine through the window. Promises filled that window, more than I could count, and I wanted nothing more than to keep them.

  Spinning fast, I took up my guns and charged forward, right into the line of fire, slapping the white button on the table as I joined Jet’s side. The explosions were different this time. Filled with more gusto, packed with ten times the fight than we’d entered with
. The Invaders took notice. They fired back at Jet, careful to avoid me, with just as much vigor, closing in and surrounding him with perfect precision.

  “I’m not gonna make it!” Jet yelled.

  “Behind you!”

  The table’s stone cracking and breaking all around us, the seventh Capsule rose. Its lid opened and the controls flickered on. I fired another round into the sea of Invaders to give Jet a chance to bolt, then lurched forward to wrap my fingers around one of their bony, slick arms. Its frame shook beneath me as I released it, and an invisible force rolled backward and slammed into the rest of the creatures, causing them to halt and cease firing. Their wails pierced the air and they began to back away, weapons lowering to their sides.

  “Get in! This is what they want,” I said, taking Jet’s hand. “They have the Seven. We’re safe for now, come on.” Climbing over the mounds of stone, I lifted myself into the Capsule. Jet pulled himself in behind me. I reached up and yanked on the glass cover, encouraging it to slide shut. I strapped in as the clicking sound commenced, lying flat and turning to face Jet. “You ready?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Thank you for trusting me.”

  “Never said I trusted you.” His head rolled on the seat as he looked up and out the window. “But I do love you, so I guess I’ll have to figure that part out, huh?”

  The Capsule buzzed around us and weightlessness kicked in as it lifted from the ground and then tilted, parking us next to the other six Capsules on standby for launch. The track beneath us started to move and then one by one, the Capsules were positioned until they formed a single line. We were launched together into a tunnel of blinding light, our speed as fast as the pounding of my heart in my chest. Beautiful blue text appeared and slid across the glass into my line of vision, and that’s when it hit me—though it was in the Invaders’ language, I could read each and every letter.

  Final Destination: Lucenta.

  CHAPTER 14

  Cool water caressed every part of my skin, the feeling so divine I didn’t want to wake up.