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Invasion
ALEX
“What do you mean she has left the barrier?” Malcolm yelled, his face flushing a deep scarlet.
The woman shrank back. Her guard’s uniform was soaked with sweat from running around the sanctuary, searching for Zoe Dawn. “Randall and Anna Rain have followed after her. That is all I know at this point,” she whispered frantically, holding her hands out in front of her as if to block Malcolm’s fury.
I jumped up from my seat. “Please free Dax,” I interjected. There was a sense of doom washing over me, and I needed the one person I felt safe with to be with me.
“It is not the time, Alex,” Malcolm snapped. His focus turned toward me and his expression softened. “I apologize for my tone. Uniting you three women is like herding cats, and my patience is growing thin.”
I almost smiled at the comparison of us three being cats. It seemed fitting, but I was too anxious to have Dax with me again. Not because I thought he could fix anything. He had a way about him that calmed my mind, and I was craving some reassurance right now.
Malcolm dismissed the woman who had brought us the news of Zoe Dawn. “She is more like a serpent,” he muttered as he sank back into his chair.
We were in his office. Earlier that day, Zoe Dawn had left me with the butterflies. Connecting with them and the nature of this sanctuary had been the highlight of my day. I swear they had planted messages in my mind, and I was still trying to unravel their meanings.
When I had come to Malcolm after supper to tell him I could not find Zoe Dawn, he had sent the guards to look for her. The news they brought us indicated she had slipped away on one of their singles, a machine similar to a motorcycle from the twenty-first century, except it did not have wheels but hovered about a foot off the ground.
“She asked you to fetch Kia Lynn earlier today,” I said, reminding him it could have been avoided. “It is a wonder you really believed she would sit still and wait.”
Aly knocked on the wall next to the open door. “May I come in?”
Malcolm waved her in.
“I heard of Zoe Dawn’s elusive escape.” Aly stepped to my side, her eyes never leaving Malcolm. “What is the plan to retrieve her?”
“The ship is damaged from last night’s rescue,” Malcolm replied with a deep sigh. “We had hoped to have it functioning earlier today, but we are thin on extra parts. I have to trust my guards will be able to intercept and return Zoe Dawn and possibly Kia Lynn.”
“That’s it,” I said, bouncing on my toes. My gaze flashed from Aly, then back to Malcolm.
Malcolm’s brows lifted in question.
“My parents can help.”
“I thought you said their ship was stripped of parts,” Aly replied. Her shoulders sagged in defeat.
“You need to contact them anyway,” Malcolm said. His hands tightened into fists as his eyes closed. “You are dismissed, Alex.”
I stared at him for a moment, but his eyes remained closed. Aly shrugged when I turned her way. Rolling my eyes in annoyance, I stomped from the room and headed for their elevator—or, as they called it, the lift. A few minutes later, I was standing near their landing strip, watching several anamans and humans work on the damaged ship.
After activating my screen, I flipped on my locator beacon and opened the channel to my family. Immediately, Dad’s face appeared just above my arm.
“Alex.” His tone was frantic, filled with fear and relief. “Where are you? Are you okay?”
I knew I had worried them. It was selfish of me to have waited so long to open contact with them.
Swallowing back a rising sob in my throat, I nodded in response. “I am fine, Dad. Can you see my locator beacon?”
His head turned away, then it bobbed up and down. “Yes, there you are. We have repaired the ship and will pick you up.”
“Alex.” Mom’s face jumped into view, splitting the screen between the two. “I have been absolutely terrified! Where have you been?”
“It is a long story, Mom,” I replied, sagging against a tree stump and sliding to the ground. “I am safe, and I have discovered a new community that needs my help.”
“Help with what?” Dad snapped, his expression hardening.
I spilled my entire journey to them, starting with me leaving the ship to track down Dax and the parts he’d stolen. They listened quietly. When I reached the part where Jako attacked me the night in his village, Dad’s face turned a bright red.
“But I am fine,” I said to reassure him, but was unable to stop tears from streaming down my face. They knew I was lying. I wiped the tears away with the back of my free hand. “Regardless, I am safe now, and I have three friends who need help. They are with Beck and Jako.”
“We should pick you up first.” They spoke in unison.
I shook my head. “Please save them first. Their ship is being cloaked by your machine, and I don’t know how they will be found, but if anyone can piece together their whereabouts, it would be Uncle Henry.”
Mom interjected. “Henry doesn’t have time for this.”
“I know I do not deserve to ask for anything, but please, I need you to bring them here.” My free hand pressed into the side of my skull where a headache was pressing against it. “I will explain once we are all together.”
“No promises, Alex,” Dad said as he fidgeted with something outside my view. “We are finishing the final repairs of the ship and will notify you when we are on our way. For now, stay inside the shield.”
“Alex, I love you,” Mom whispered. I could see the worry in her eyes. “We will see you soon.”
The screen flickered, and they were both gone. My heart ached to have my Dad’s arms around me, protecting me from this world. Irritation clouded my mind as I pivoted on my heels and stormed back into the building, running straight into Tiordan and Malcolm.
“I want to speak to Dax,” I demanded, squaring my shoulders at the two men.
They glanced at one another, and both shivered. My muscles tensed with a deep rage that sparked from my core and washed through every cell in my body like an ice-cold waterfall. The men stepped back, and Tiordan waved one of his hands as if to block my unseen force.
My gaze dropped to my fingers. The tips of them were blue. Gasping from the realization, I folded my fingers into my palms and pressed away the ice forming inside me. I lifted my chin, and inwardly winced when I saw the frost spreading across the large, open space and the crackling against the strain of the windows.
“I don’t know how to control it,” I whispered, my gaze turning to Tiordan.
His sparse whiskers across his chin glistened with ice, but he smiled at me. “You are stronger than you realize. Where the power begins is where you control it.” He wiped away the condensation on his cheeks and chin. “Dig deeper, Alex.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and focused on what I felt inside. Power twisted like a funnel and as I focused, it led me to my chest. My heart center. A lightbulb flashed on in my mind. Dax had mentioned it when we first met. It glowed bright green, illuminating the center of my elemental abilities, along with my anaman enhancements. It had been there all along.
When my eyes fluttered open, I focused on Tiordan, whose expression had relaxed, and the frost was gone from his face and clothes.
“I knew you would find it,” he said as he approached and took my hands within his. “Meeting you and Zoe Dawn has been an absolute dream come true. I am beyond excited to witness the healing you will bring to our beautiful planet.”
Malcolm crept forward, obviously reluctant to engage with any more of my emotional outbursts. “I will have Dax brought here, but he will continue to be locked in a room near yours until we trust his motives.” He turned to look at Tiordan. “I do not want a repeat of Viktor.”
As Malcolm walked away, the ground quivered. He froze, and Tiordan’s fingers tightened around my hands. Then the ground shook violently. The walls rolled, and the ceiling cracked. Malcolm pushed Tiordan and me outside the building, then pressed on something in his ear, similar to what we used on the large ship to communicate with one another.
“They are breaking through,” Malcolm said, turning away from us. “Bring the prisoner to the landing pad and then gather all the guards together. We need to be ready for an invasion.”
“Is that Tatum’s machine?” I asked, suddenly realizing what was happening.
Tiordan shot me a sideways look. “Yes, it is. They want Kia Lynn, but she isn’t even here.”
“She will be here soon if my parents choose to pick her up on their way here,” I said, tucking my hands into my jean pockets.
Malcolm whirled around. “Your parents’ ship is fixed?”
“Yes. I asked them to stop for Kia Lynn and Zoe Dawn on their way here.” I held up my right arm and held on to Tiordan with my left when the ground shook again. “I activated my locator beacon. They won’t be long now.”
All our eyes shifted to the three approaching figures. One of them broke away from the other two and sprinted toward us. Dax’s smiling face came rushing through the trees. Warmth filled my chest as I lunged forward and threw myself into his arms.
He squeezed me tightly around my ribs, nearly choking out my breath. I laughed, then he leaned back and smoothed the strands of hair from around my face. “Is it my imagination, or did you actually miss me?”
I poked him in the ribs, and he jumped back a foot. “Just those dimples.”
He grinned, deepening his dimples. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders as the ground shook so violently, I nearly toppled to the ground. The building swayed, and pieces of it crumbled to the ground and struck the dirt only a few feet from where we stood. Dax dragged me toward the ship, with the two guards, Malcolm, and Tiordan following right behind us.
An explosion ricocheted through the air. I looked at the sky, and a dark film of dust flew high above us, coming from the direction of the butterfly swarm. I tumbled back and threw my hands above my head, directing the element of water to settle the spray of dirt.
“Alex, contact your parents,” I heard Malcolm shout, but I could not see him through the cloud of particles. “We need them here now.”
