“I’m not sure how I found you.”
I glanced up at him, searching for an explanation.
He shook his head, looking bemused. He’d shaved; his face smooth. “I can sense you.” Lowering his gaze, he rubbed his palm, as he usually did when something confused him. “Your mom said it’s because you healed me. We’re connected somehow. It’s why she called me… to find you.”
“Connected forever?” I asked, startled.
He shrugged. “She said it can last a day, or years. Apparently we can sense each other’s emotions, or something. She wasn’t quite sure.”
Connected to Lewis? Maybe it should have creeped me out knowing I could be connected to anyone; knowing that he could find me, sense me. It didn’t. I leaned into him and rested my head on his shoulder, breathing in the scent of his aftershave. “She’s dead because of me.”
“Bull, Cameron,” he said gently. “This started long before you were born. She decided to marry your grandfather. She stayed with him, had a son, even knowing what she knew. Nora told me everything.”
I frowned; slightly annoyed he and Nora were sharing things I didn’t even know. How ridiculous to let something as pathetic as jealousy bother me at a time like this. But I couldn’t deny I was envious of the time he spent with my sister.
“Your grandma’s dead because she trusted her son when she shouldn’t have. You know she actually thought he had changed while you were living on that island? She gave up your location.”
I shook my head, wondering if he just said the words to ease my pain. Or had she really planned to hand me over? I sighed, staring out at the waves, watching the white crests topple toward the shore. More unanswered questions. But it didn’t matter now.
“She’s dead because she decided to get caught up into this craziness.”
“She didn’t really have a choice,” I said, still feeling the need to be loyal to the woman. She had raised me, after all. Yeah, my childhood hadn’t been great, but she’d kept me alive and well.
“You told me we always have a choice, and you were right.” He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer.
The air had grown cold and I gladly welcomed the warmth of his body. After Mom had admitted the truth, I’d turned around and walked away without a word. And walked. And walked. At one point I’d come to a small restaurant along the beach, stopped and eaten lunch alone. And then I’d walked some more, by the locals sunbathing, the men fishing, the children playing. I’d walked so much, up and down the beach, that my legs ached.
“I don’t feel like I have a choice now.”
“You do.” He rubbed my back in slow, easy movements. “You can stay here with your family, and learn about your abilities, or we can leave. You and I can stand up and walk away.”
How tempting to walk away with Lewis, but it wasn’t such an easy choice.
The first star of the evening winked from the sky, coming to life. Night would be here soon, no time to sit around waffling about what to do.
“Knowing you,” He glanced down at me and smiled. “You’ll pick the difficult choice.”
I returned his smile. “I can’t leave them. They’re counting on me.”
“I know.”
“But even more…” I frowned, not wanting to admit it. “They’re actually starting to feel like a family, the family I always wanted. I’ve been so alone for so long. And now…now I’m scared I’ll lose it all. I’ll lose you.”
“I’ll always be here, I promise.” He slid his finger under my chin and turned my face toward him. “We stay and fight. Fight for your family, for you, for us.” He pressed his lips to mine, sealing the promise. He hadn’t tried to force his opinion on me. He hadn’t even bothered giving me his thoughts on the subject. No, he had accepted my answer, and he had respected my choice. He would stand by my side, no matter what happened.
When he pulled back, I wasn’t quite ready for the day to end and the real work to start. I stayed pressed to his side and together we watched the sun hover on the horizon. Another day ending and another would soon begin. What would tomorrow bring?
“It will all work out, I know,” he said softly, as if reading my mind.
How different my life was now compared to last year. I’d wanted a change and I’d gotten it. But never, ever had I expected this. And it was worth it… everything… because I had a family. I had a life. I had Lewis. I pressed my face to his neck, kissing that sensitive spot. We would live in the moment, and in that moment I only wanted to be as close to him as possible.
“Will it?” I whispered. “You promise?” The sudden shift in his energy warned me something was coming. I stiffened, pulling back. It felt almost heavy, depressing. Apparently Mom was right; we could feel each other’s emotions. “What is it?”
“They’re planning to attack in seven days.”
His words surprised me and I jumped to my feet. So much for living in the moment. “My father’s coming in seven days?”
Lewis stood, unfolding his body more slowly. “Yeah. That’s what those on the inside are claiming.”
“And what does my mom think?”
He hesitated. “She agrees. Thinks it’s true.”
I felt ill. Seven days. We had seven days before it would end one way or another. I dug my toes into the cool sand, burying my feet. We had seven days together before one of us—either me or my father—would be destroyed.
“Seven days,” I whispered, watching a pelican swoop down low over the waves. And I knew the next week would be spent training, preparing. This could be the last moment I’d have alone with Lewis.
He smoothed his hands over his buzz cut. “Your mother wants to have the battle on the home base. She wants to be here, on your own turf. She thinks there will be an advantage in that.”
Maybe. Or maybe it wouldn’t matter. When it came down to it, the person who was the most powerful would be the one who would win. And my mother… she was the most powerful of all. Maybe if she and I worked together, we could defeat S.P.I. for good.
“You’ll be careful?” I whispered.
He lifted a brow. “Aren’t I always?”
“I’m serious.” I gripped his T-shirt in my hands, the material warm from his body. “No throwing yourself in front of any bullets. Promise me. If you’re injured again, I won’t be able to take it.”
“We will stay,” he said, covering my hands with his. “And we will fight together.”
I frowned. He hadn’t agreed to my promise but then I figured he wouldn’t. He brushed back my hair and pressed his lips to my forehead. A friendly kiss, too friendly. I didn’t want what could be our last alone time together to end on a friendly note.
“We should return. Your mother wants to start preparing.”
“Or…” I tightened my grip on his T-shirt and pulled him down with me to the sand. “We could just stay here and kiss.”
He grinned, that dimple flashing, and settled comfortably beside me. “Forever?”
“Or at least for this evening.”
He rolled atop me and pressed his mouth to mine. While the sun set, the world paused and for a brief moment there was no such thing as mind reading, there was no such thing as fighting. There was no one, nothing, but Lewis and me.
****
“Where the energy comes from, we don’t know,” my mom explained as the night wind sweeping off the ocean played with her hair. “The universe. God. Buddha. Believe whatever you want, but it’s there… around us.”
The moon was a crescent that hung suspended in the dark sky as my mother and I sat on the beach, a fire crackling between us. Lewis had left, back to the city over an hour ago and since then my mother and I had practiced controlling my energy. I’d broken through Sierra’s wall. I’d tried to break through my mom’s with no success. I’d moved a variety of objects, even the water that rolled toward the shore. I’d kept Sierra from breaking into my mind and had tried to keep my mom out.
I was spent. My head throbbed. The world had taken o
n a dreamy quality that only a person totally exhausted could understand. As my mom spoke, I barely paid attention, more interested in thinking over the moments I’d had with Lewis. I swore my lips still tingled from his kisses, and his scent clung to my T-shirt.
Mom shifted, drawing her knees to her chest, her gaze on the waves that lapped at the shore. “It’s in everything, everywhere. The trees. The water. The pull from the moon. It’s in every living thing, every human. But in most people, the energy is buried so deep it will never awaken.”
I didn’t say a word as she talked. I’d asked her to explain and now I almost wished I hadn’t. The night was too quiet, the world too still and my body too exhausted for deep concentration.
“It comes through in a few chosen ones and spreads from us like electricity, branching to the others, giving them their powers.” The left corner of her mouth lifted into a crooked grin. “Aaron says we’re like lightning rods.”
At the sound of Aaron’s name, my mood automatically soured. “Lucky us,” I muttered. It was obvious my mom thought highly of the guy, although why, I wasn’t sure. I mean seriously, what had he done that had been so great? As far as I could see, there was no benefit to having the guy around.
“We’re lucky. We’re chosen, as Aaron says.”
I rolled my eyes. Did she have to constantly drop his name? And what was with him being at her house all the time? Didn’t he have his own home? They might as well have been…
It hit me suddenly and the words stumbled from my lips before I could pull them back. “You’re dating!” The words came out like an accusation.
When she didn’t respond, didn’t even look at me, my stomach dropped. “Oh God, you’re in love with him.”
She slid me a glance. There was still no response, but it was there in her eyes. I took in a deep, trembling breath, trying to understand. How? How could she love someone who had hurt me? Who had broken into my mind and stolen my memories? I wasn’t sure if I should be stunned, sickened or angry.
“We’ve known each other for a very long time.”
That was her defense? I released the air I hadn’t even realized I held, and focused on the moon. Focused on the energy flowing around me, pulling at the tide, in the bats that swooped above looking for insects.
It would be pointless to be angry about Aaron now. Besides, I was too tired. Tired of the bombardment of emotions that were constantly hitting me. She was in love with him. He was in love with her. I supposed it was none of my business. It’s not like I was planning on staying in her house, living in the guest room for the rest of my life, was I?
I shook off the uneasy question of my future. “So, Nora and I get our powers from you? And your power was passed down from your mother?”
“Exactly.” She seemed relieved to change the subject. “But because the source has chosen you, you have special abilities. In fact, you’re able to tap into any other person’s energy and use their powers.”
“It’s why Maddox told me to use my father’s powers to break out.”
“Exactly.”
She picked up a stick and stoked the flames. Sparks of light burst into the air, whispering away on the ocean breeze. “At some point my powers will transfer to you completely.”
“When you die?” I said, my voice catching with emotion.
“No.” She dropped the stick and brushed her hands off on her shorts. “If I die before they transfer and imprint on you completely, they die with me. Not all your powers, just the powers from the source. It will be reabsorbed into the universe…somewhere.”
She said the words in an unconcerned manner, as if death held no power over her. “And after I absorb the source completely?”
“Then you will transfer them to one of your children.”
Kids? I had never really thought about having kids. The idea frightened me. What sort of life would my child have? “And if I don’t have any kids?”
“Then the source will either reabsorb into the universe or it will choose another.”
I picked up a pebble and tossed it to the waves. It disappeared into the darkness, the splash barely audible over the roar of the ocean. “So this is why everyone says I’m so special.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t feel special.”
She grinned. “You will.” She waved me around the fire. “Come here.”
I moved around the flames and settled on the cool sand in front of her, the fire warm beside us.
“When you are connected, you will feel amazing. The world will be a place of positive energy and flow. You could be fighting in the midst of a battle, and you’ll feel oddly calm because you’ll know that there is much, much more than this. There’s an entire universe beyond the physical realm. You will no longer fear life, and you’ll certainly no longer fear death.”
I’d felt it already…although just an inkling. Those moments at the compound when I’d felt unbelievably strong. Moments when I’d no longer felt on the earth, but more a part of the universe.
She took my hands in hers. Her fingers were long, delicate, like mine. “Some say our ancient ancestors were aliens, which is why we are so connected to the universe. Others say we’re from fallen angels. Some say we were blessed, some say cursed.”
I’d heard it all before from Father Myron. “What do you think?”
“When you are connected, you realize that there is nothing evil to this. Only men make it dark.” She took in a deep breath. “Close your eyes.”
I did.
“Relax. Feel the pulse of energy.”
Almost immediately my hands warmed as energy branched between us… electricity that spread up my arms, and through my chest. My entire body buzzed with heat. I was no longer there; I was no longer on earth. I floated in nothing but peace.
“Perfect, concentrate,” Mom whispered.
Through the darkness that surrounded me, white pinpoints of light burst to life. I felt nothing but life and energy. Although I no longer felt as if I had a body, I was somehow moving… moving through time…through space.
The darkness suddenly gave way and golden light burst around me; the most brilliant sunshine I’d ever experienced. Warm, comforting, like a warm summer day. I don’t remember having a thought, a worry, as I floated there, not wanting to return. It was pure and utter bliss.
But suddenly my mother’s hands pulled away. A coldness washed over me, the light faded and I was jerked back into my hard body. I opened my eyes with a start. Disappointment sucked away all the happiness.
My mother’s face was bathed in the light from the fire as she watched me intensely, as if judging my reaction. “That is just a small picture of the universe. That is the energy. That is the source. And that is the thing John wants more than anything else.”
Yeah, I had powers, but I knew I was not that power. That power came from the universe. A shiver of unease vibrated the very air around us. It didn’t matter what happened, it didn’t matter what side I picked. They claimed it was a matter of life or death, this fight for the source. But they had no idea that, in reality, their world was a pittance of what was out there. Life would go on no matter what we did. The energy would flow even if we all killed each other, leaving the world empty of humans.
“You did well.” She brushed the hair from my face, then took my hand and helped me to my feet. “Let’s go home.”
I glanced once more up at the sky, the flickering stars and the endless universe. I wasn’t sure what I looked for, perhaps answers, a sign. But receiving none, I turned and followed my mom toward Sierra’s cottage.
Chapter 18
Two days had gone by since I’d last seen Lewis, since I’d been at my mother’s home. But it felt like a lifetime. While he had been hiking the tunnels of Savannah with Nora, I’d been forced to train at the beach over and over. I’d been tossed about by Sierra and my mom, pushed to the limit, my head throbbing so I thought it might crack open, and all I could think about was getting back to Lewis.
“Why do
I need to be so prepared?” I asked, staring blankly out the dark windows as we drove into Savannah once more. After all she was the source, not me. At least not yet.
Mom flipped on her blinker and we turned down her street. Most of the homes were dark, the people fast asleep. “Because you always have to be prepared. You never know when you might have to fight on your own.”
True. It would be nice not to rely on others, but why did I feel like her answer had another, deeper, darker meaning?
Mom parked the car alongside the curb, and when I noticed the flickering television light coming from the living room windows, I prayed Lewis was awake. I was out of the car before my mom had even turned it off.
My exhaustion vanished at the thought of seeing Lewis. He was the one bright light in the last few days. I bounded up the steps and shoved open the door, only to pull up short, disappointed to see Nora in the living room. She was curled up in a chair, a bowl of chocolate ice cream in her lap.
“Welcome back,” she muttered around a spoonful.
I kicked off my tennis shoes near the couch, attempting to keep the disappointment from my face. “Hey.”
She smiled, but there was something about her expression that left me feeling uneasy. The smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. I could see the flicker of curiosity in her gaze, although she didn’t ask what we’d been up to. I wondered if she could actually be jealous. I’d never thought much about Nora and her feelings, to be honest, and I felt guilty for dwelling on my own issues. After all, she’d been abducted and tortured by our father. She’d saved me, and now she had to sit idly by while I took up Mom’s attention.
“How’s it going?” I asked, tossing my sweatshirt to the couch, leaving behind my t-shirt. I glanced at the stairs wondering how long ago Lewis had gone to bed, and wishing desperately he’d waited up for me.
“You’re still awake, Night Owl?” Mom said, coming in behind me.