Redemption (The Chosen #4)

by Swank, Denise Grover

  The shadow slid away from the bush.

  “I’m nice. I won’t hurt you.”

  The shadow moved closer while other shadows formed a circle around him, curling and uncurling in a coordinated rhythm as though they were dancing.

  The air around Jake cooled. His wet clothes clung to his body, raising goose bumps on his skin. The throbbing in his arm increased, and he bit his lip to keep from crying out and scaring the shadows.

  He was so close.

  The shadow was less than an inch away from his left arm.

  “It’s okay,” Jake whispered. “I’m your friend.”

  Darting forward, the shadow touched Jake’s finger again. He was prepared for the cold, forcing his body to remain still. It reminded him of jumping into a cold swimming pool. Mommy always told him he would get used to the temperature after he jumped.

  But the coldness remained as the shadow spread out around his other fingers. The iciness crept upward, making his fingers numb. Jake closed his eyes at the assault, refusing to break contact, determined to see this through.

  Stabs of cold touched him everywhere and Jake’s eyes flew open. The shadows around him had moved closer and now touched his body on all sides.

  The sun poked a hole in the clouds, sending a beam of light in front of Jake, brighter than the sun should have been. He squinted into the beam.

  A new shadow crawled out of the light, darker than any shadow he’d ever seen before.

  “Jacob.” A deep voice echoed softly around him.

  Fear washed through Jake as he sat up straight, crossing his legs in front of him.

  The shadow rose from the ground, shimmering, almost see-through, taking the shape of a person. Only it was just a blob and had no face, and was about as tall as Jake.

  “We have found you worthy.” A voice came from the figure although it had no mouth. It was the voice from his dream.

  Fighting to catch his breath, Jake wheezed. “Thank you.”

  “You only have to call upon us and we will help you if we can. You shall be our champion.”

  “Who are you?”

  “We are the spirits of the shadow realm. Aiden and his kind have trapped us for eternity, but you have the power to release us and help stop his hold upon the earth. You are the key.”

  Marcus had told him the same thing. Maybe it was true.

  “What do I do?”

  “For now, nothing. Know that we are always watching and we wait.”

  How could the shadows help him? “Can you help me save my mom?”

  “Perhaps.”

  “And Will too?”

  “Four shall fight. Two shall remain. There is no changing this.”

  “So one of us will die? Will, me, or Mommy?”

  “Yes, it is etched into the future. At least one of you will die before it’s all over. Possibly two. ”

  “Who will die?”

  “That part is unwritten.”

  “I can change it?”

  “No, not change, for it has not been determined. You have the power to create the future.”

  “I can pick who dies?”

  “Yes.”

  Who would die was an easy choice.

  “We wish to give you a gift.” The shadow’s form shifted, the vague shape of an arm rising from its side and extending toward Jake.

  Jake knew he should be frightened, but he was fascinated instead.

  “Do you accept our gift?”

  Jake nodded.

  The tip of a finger unfurled from what should have been a hand, reaching for the burn on Jake’s arm. A tidal wave of cold rushed into the wound, sweeping through his body, coursing though his blood. The brutal iciness burned but eased into a slight chill as it settled in his chest. The shadow moved its finger and the intense cold was gone. And so was the burn on Jake’s arm. In its place, the skin was swollen and darkened.

  “My burn is gone.”

  “It is only part of our gift. On your chest is a sign of our protection.”

  “But if Aiden sees it…”

  “Aiden is too arrogant to see what’s in front of him.”

  “What am I supposed to do?”

  “Wait.”

  The shadow dissolved into the air and the beam of light faded, the clouds shifting to cover the sun.

  “Jake?” a voice called behind him. Antonia.

  Jake looked over his shoulder, wondering what she had seen, but her gaze seemed intent on the path, her chest heaving to catch her breath after her climb.

  “Señor Aiden has sent me for you.”

  Jake stood, looking up into the clouds where the light had come from. Finally, he had someone on his side. Someone who really wanted to help him. For now, Aiden might be able to boss him around and hurt him, but the time would come when Jake would kill him for everything he had done.

  And he would kill Will too. The coldness surrounding his heart helped him accept it even more.

  ***

  As Emma drove toward the Oregon mountains, fear and guilt rushed through her head, but it wasn’t her own. It came from Jake, although she didn’t know how. She’d tried multiple times to contact him the last few days without success. But she had no doubt she was sensing Jake’s emotions. He was doing something he didn’t want to do. Something bad.

  Before Will had lost the mark of The Chosen One, he had the ability to sense her, but only when she was afraid. Maybe it was the same with Jake now. She wasn’t sure whether to be grateful or horrified. Aiden was making Jake do something he didn’t want to do, and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it, which only added to her fears. And her imagination.

  But it also led her to consider the future. Suppose Jake lived through the coming trial, and Aiden did too. What kind of hell would her son be forced to endure?

  Emma had to make sure that didn’t happen.

  She glanced at Will. He sat in the passenger seat, reading the book again to see what had been added. Emma had no doubt that Will was stronger and more powerful than she was. There was no telling how much more he would grow over the next week. His power, added to his convictions and his love for her, made him the perfect choice.

  Will and Jake had to be the two who remained.

  The surety of it filled her, quelling any fear over what that meant for her own life. The moment she’d become a mother, Jake’s safety had superseded her own. It wasn’t conscious, more instinctual. Her job was to ensure that her son not only survived but had the best possible future. And of all the other elementals, Will was the only acceptable choice. Not only would he be a good father, but he actually had a shot at beating Aiden. Much better than she could hope for. The question was how to make sure that happened.

  She could use their new connection to her advantage. Will had taken her power and added it to his own to free her from the car. What if she pushed all her power to him to help him win? The trick would be to do it without Will realizing she was sacrificing herself in the process. She needed to use their practice time focusing on her new goal.

  Not telling him about her plan was the same as lying, and it crushed her. She didn’t want to lie to Will anymore. But Will was so protective that he’d never agree. In the end, she had to decide what held the most importance: providing the best possible outcome for Jake or having a clear conscience.

  A heaviness settled in her chest. There was really no choice at all.

  Reluctance crept in to her resolve when she thought about how she might be pregnant again. By throwing the battle and assuring her death, she may be ensuring the death of an innocent life. But it wasn’t as if she stood a chance anyway.

  Chapter Eight

  Will studied the book while Emma turned on the television in their cabin, flipping channels with a groan. “What kind of motel only has ten stations? I hope they at least have a news channel.”

  Will looked up. “This place is cheap and remote. They figure people aren’t here to watch TV.”

  Three days after the dream, they had fou
nd in the book the new rules that the mysterious voice had mentioned, and nothing else new. But the fact that the text changed meant that the book remained important. Just because there wasn’t something in it today didn’t mean they wouldn’t find something tomorrow. Which only reinforced that the others would come to claim it.

  “I just need a news channel,” Emma muttered. The image on the television stopped on a man at a news desk and she sat on the bed, the remote still in her hand.

  Although she hadn’t said what she was doing, Will knew she was searching for Alex’s whereabouts. He was the one element they could keep track of through the media, and although they could have tracked him on the laptop, they hadn’t had internet service for a couple of days.

  After clips about earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and wars, Senator Phillip Warren’s face appeared on the screen.

  “Senator Warren is on the campaign trial this week, making his way up the East Coast,” the newscaster announced. “Rumors run rampant as to the whereabouts of Alex Warren, Senator Warren’s son, especially after his disappearance earlier this month.” Film of Alex walking next to his father and shaking hands with the crowd filled the screen. “Several of the younger Warren’s recent campaign appearances have been cancelled, causing widespread speculation, including rumors that he’s doing a stint in rehab for substance abuse or that he was abducted during last week’s terrorist attack in Albuquerque. In any case, security detail around the Senator has been increased.”

  Scenes of Albuquerque flashed across the screen, the burning and collapsed buildings. The bloody faces and limbs of people in the street.

  “So that’s how they’re explaining it,” she mumbled.

  “Turn it off, Emma.” Will’s voice was harsher than he meant, but she’d finally begun to let the incident go and this would only reopen the wound.

  She ignored him.

  “No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the White House has suggested it was carried out by an extremist militia group that supports a one-world government, the Cavallo.”

  Emma’s head whipped around to Will, her eyes wide. He moved next to her on the bed.

  “Information has leaked that the secret group has specifically targeted Senator Warren by attacking while Alex Warren was in Albuquerque for a fundraiser. The younger Warren hasn’t been seen since the attack, raising speculations that he was either killed by the terrorists or he was one of them. A spokesman from the Warren camp called the speculation ridiculous.”

  A man appeared on the screen. “Alex Warren is not part of a radical terrorist group and to suggest otherwise is ludicrous. These rumors are being spread by Senator Warren’s political enemies.”

  The news anchor’s face returned. “The missing Warren is only fueling outrage in both camps. No further information is known about the Cavallo at this time.”

  Phillip Warren’s beaming face lit up the screen and he stood on a stage, waving to a crowd. “Since the attack, Warren’s numbers continue to soar, giving Warren a previously unheard of twenty-point lead.”

  The newscast broke for commercials.

  “Who would have linked the Cavallo to Albuquerque?” Emma asked. “Isn’t that a little too close to Warren? Won’t it eventually be tied back to him?”

  “Maybe, but it probably wasn’t Warren’s camp who leaked their name. It could have been Raphael or Aiden. Hell, it could have even been Marcus.”

  “How can they call what happened in Albuquerque a terrorist attack?”

  “How else would they explain it? Things like that just don’t happen, Emma. People will reach for the easiest explanation.”

  “But what about the earthquakes? Terrorists can’t do that. How do they explain those?”

  If he told her much more, he’d give away that he’d known about the media’s explanation of the incident. And that he’d withheld the information with her. But she deserved to know. “They called it a new high-tech weapon. The national security level has been raised to imminent.”

  Emma’s eyes widened with understanding. “You knew this and you didn’t tell me?”

  Will reached for her arm, but she shrugged him off. “Emma, what good would it have done?”

  She stood, taking a step away from him. “That wasn’t for you to decide, Will!”

  “I knew what you would do. Just what you’re doing now.”

  She glared. “I’m not a child, Will! You can’t protect me from the truth.”

  “I know. I’m sorry.” Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair, leaning his elbows on his thighs. “Look, I suspected they would pin what happened in Albuquerque on a terrorist group, but I worried it would get pinned on some fringe group who had never caused any real trouble. At least with the Cavallo, we know that not only do they deserve the incrimination, but the members probably aren’t even alive to care after Aiden and Alex finished with them.”

  Emma shook her head, looking away from him. “That’s not the point, Will!”

  “What is the point, Emma? That you don’t think you’ve beaten yourself up enough over what happened? Does it ease your pain to smother yourself in guilt?”

  “That’s not fair! You didn’t destroy half that city!”

  Will sat up and said with an icy calm, “No, Emma I didn’t. I just murdered forty kids and listened to them scream as they burned to death.”

  She sighed, her shoulders relaxing as she closed her eyes. “You didn’t murder them.”

  “And you didn’t murder those people in Albuquerque.”

  He could argue with her about this all day long and it wouldn’t change a thing. Nothing could take away her guilt but the passage of time. Unfortunately, time was a luxury they didn’t have. Will stood and eased toward her, grabbing her hands. “Do you remember that night in the cornfield when you asked me if you would ever stop seeing the face of the man you shot?”

  “Yes.” She choked on the word, looking down.

  He dropped her hands, and tilted her chin up, staring into her eyes. “I told you it would always be there, but it would ease with time. Remember?”

  She nodded, tears filling her eyes.

  “This is the same thing. What I did in Iraq is always with me. Every day. But something makes the pain more bearable. Do you know what it is?”

  “No.”

  “You. Your love for me. Your belief that I’m worth saving. You make the pain bearable. Let me do the same for you.”

  She buried her face in his chest.

  “All of this is going to get worse, Princess,” he whispered into her hair. “You have to find a way to accept the pain and the guilt and move forward, otherwise it’s going to eat you alive. If you can’t do it for yourself, do it for Jake. You’ll never save him if you don’t.”

  The newscaster’s voice broke into their moment. “Meteorologists are still trying to explain yesterday’s freak storm in Napa Valley.”

  Emma pulled away from Will and turned her attention to the screen.

  “A tornado touched down yesterday afternoon in the Napa Valley, killing twenty-five people. While the tornado itself is an odd occurrence, the path it took is particularly unusual.” Footage of rubble strewn across the landscape appeared. “The tornado appears to have jumped from an F2 to an F5 within a matter of moments right before destroying a house. Then it returned to an F2 status until it struck another home as an F5. And as though that wasn’t strange enough,” —the footage switched to an aerial view— “after the tornado destroyed the first house, it’s almost as if the funnel cloud’s path purposely sought out the homes it destroyed. Then just as abruptly as the storm appeared, it disappeared.” A meteorologist’s face filled the screen. “We’ve never seen anything like this. There were no colliding fronts, no indication that anything like this would happen and consequently no warnings were issued.”

  Will tensed. “Alex.”

  Emma’s face paled. “No, it was Jake.”

  He paused for several seconds. “Why do you think Jake did this?” />
  “Because this afternoon, right about the time that tornado touched down, I felt Jake. He was afraid and he felt guilty.”

  “You know Jake would never purposely hurt people.”

  “No, he’d never do something like this on his own, but he’s with Aiden. Aiden might have forced him to do this.”

  “Why?”

  “Maybe as practice, like you and I have been doing? Testing his abilities?” She grabbed Will’s arm. “But we know where he is now! And we know that the two of us together are more powerful than Aiden. We can go get Jake.”

  “Emma, think this through. I know that sounds like a good idea and you know I want nothing more than to go get Jake, but what if that’s Aiden’s plan? What if he’s trying to lure us out and separate us before the end and steal the book? This could be a trap. ”

  “I don’t care, Will! He has my son!”

  He gripped her arms. “I know and I want to get Jake too, but we have to be smart about this. We think we’re stronger together, but we don’t know for sure. We need more practice before we try to attack. Otherwise we might get both us killed, and that won’t do Jake any good.”

  She nodded but refused to look at him.

  “Let’s get some rest, wake up in the middle of the night, practice and then move on. We’ll move closer to Napa Valley so if we think we’re ready, we’ll be close enough to strike.”

  “All right.”

  “Don’t get your hopes up, okay? You know I’ll try, Emma, but I can’t promise anything.”

  “I know.”

  ***

  The sounds of bird calls and the trickling stream were amplified in the dark forest. The sun wouldn’t rise for another hour, but Will stood next to the creek, manipulating the water. It was safer this way. They were less likely to have someone stumble across them, and they could practice then leave in the daylight, driving to the next location. They’d done this two nights in a row without problem, but Will had a feeling they were pushing their luck.

  Emma had practiced some, but Will still wasn’t satisfied with the amount of practice they’d done combining their power. While Emma wasn’t either, she knew their choices were limited given her desire to stay in Northern California now. Also, she insisted he needed more practice since his power was so new to him. But his practicing had been at the expense of hers, and Will planned to change that tonight. He wasn’t sure how happy she’d be driving out of California into Nevada in a few hours. He needed to test his ability to find water when none seemed available, and she needed to use her power without fear of creating a forest fire. Not to mention, they need to practice together without limitations. Of course, using their powers in the real world would come with a higher price, but they’d worry about that when they got there.