| |
“What happened to you today?” Noah asked as the five of us headed home.
“He sometimes has flashbacks,” Julia said, answering for me. It was a damn good answer especially since it was completely off the cuff. She was becoming a pro at covering for my insanity and I squeezed her hand in a silent thank you.
“You mean, like post-traumatic stress disorder?” Noah asked and Ben and Danny traded a glance behind him.
“Yeah, something like that,” I said, taking the burden off Julia.
“My dad had that for a while after he came back from Iraq.”
I looked at Noah and offered a conciliatory smile. “Sorry. I don’t know what the hell triggers it, but when it happens, it sure is like I’m in the middle of battle.”
Noah nodded. “That’s what my dad says, but we know what triggers his. That’s why I can’t play my video games when he’s home.” He shifted his backpack on his shoulder. “Speaking of games, you guys want to hang out?”
I slowed my pace and sighed. “I think I’ll pass. That little episode killed whatever concentration I have and I need to crash for a while.”
He nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets.
“Maybe tomorrow,” I said, but he was already shaking his head.
“I’ve got soccer tomorrow, but I’m good on Friday,” he said.
“Friday works for me too,” I said, despite the warning glare from Ben.
Noah turned toward Ben and Danny, “What about you guys?”
“I can’t,” Ben said without explanation.
“We got in trouble for fighting yesterday, so we’re pretty much out of the water until next week,” Danny chimed in sending a cross expression in Ben’s direction.
“Grounded?”
“Yeah. No games or hanging out until the end of next week.”
“Dude, that sucks,” Noah said and turned his attention to Julia, but before he asked her to hang out, his gaze came back to me.
I shrugged and nodded, indicating it was okay for him to ask her.
“Do you want to hang out?” he asked Julia.
Now it was her turn to look at me, and I offered the same shrug. “I’m going to crash until dinner, so it’s fine if you want to hang with Noah,” I said and then looked directly at Noah. “But I’ll kick your ass if you try anything with my girl.”
“I would never...” Noah started and I put my hand up to stop him.
“I know. I was just giving you a hard time.” I turned and planted a kiss on Julia’s cheek. “Have fun. I’ll catch you later,” I added and took her bag, heading toward the house without another word.
I fiddled with the house key and no sooner stepped inside than someone cleared their throat. I closed the front door and looked up at the cloaked form of my mother.
“I don’t like this at all,” she said, her skeletal hands finding her hips in that familiar pissed off stance that I remembered.
I dropped the bags in the corner of the foyer and formulated my thoughts before speaking. “You heard Fate, if I don’t get my father, all hell will break loose and I’m not about to let you go on a suicide mission, Mom. You didn’t see what the Leviathan did to Isabel.”
“All the more reason to let me try,” she said, trying to reason with me, but she didn’t witness Isabel’s death. There was no way that I’d even let her near the Leviathan’s den.
“No, you will not go near there, understand?”
The tension in her jaw belied her irritation, but she had no choice but to obey a direct command. The dynamics between us since she died had done a three-sixty. When she was alive, I had no choice but to obey her or suffer being grounded, but now she held no real power over me, the only thing I feared was disappointing her.
“I’ll be fine,” I said, softening my voice and offering a smile. “Really.”
“He will be,” a voice announced from the living room.
We turned to Ben and Danny sitting on the couch watching our exchange.
“Is that so?” my mother asked Ben. “How okay is he really going to be if things like today keep happening?”
“You know about today?”
She nodded.
“What exactly happened?” I asked, looking between my mother and Ben.
“You had a glimpse.”
“A glimpse? I saw a goddamn tornado rip through the cafeteria.”
“You’re starting to tune into some of the more interesting powers that come with the job.” Ben traded a glance with Danny and then back to me. “Some of the extra-sensory powers like mind reading and predicting future catastrophes in order to send the troops out. You also seem to have the ability to create things out of thin air.”
“Like what?”
“Like an invisible wall.”
“Or the skill of a ninja,” Danny added to his brother’s commentary.
“I’ve got self-defense training,” I said in my defense, but I knew exactly what they were saying.
“And the protective bubble that keeps you and Julia safe from the tornado,” Ben added softly, putting my arguments to rest.
I blinked and reached for the wall. “When’s that going to happen?”
Neither one of them said a word, they just exchanged a glance. “You can’t interfere with the plan.”
“Bullshit! When does that happen?” My mother reached for me, and I brushed her hand away. “When?” I demanded.
Ben’s lips clenched together.
“Tell me,” I said, prying the answer from his clamped mouth.
“Just before we go to get your father.”
“The bubble you create does protect Julia,” Danny added, trying to calm the building tension between Ben and me.
“How many die?”
His gaze lowered to the floor.
“Okay, let me ask it a different way, how many survive?”
Ben held up two fingers and my chest tightened like I got sucker punched in the gut. I stumbled to the couch, falling into the cushions before my legs gave way beneath me like they did at school earlier.
The idea that Julia and I are the only ones that walk out of that catastrophe nearly left me undone.
“Julia survives,” Danny said. “Your fate isn’t clear yet.”
My head snapped in his direction and my skin chilled to the point it stung with the shock. If I wasn’t the second survivor, who was?
“Noah?” I asked after remembering he was seated between Ben and Danny.
“We don’t have time to discuss the tornado. Right now, we have to start focusing on your training.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but my mother’s hand landed on my arm.
“He’s right. If you’re going up against Leviathan, you need to be prepared.”
“Fine, but before I agree to go after my father, I want to know if there is any way to keep that wind funnel from hitting the school.”
They traded a glance before focusing on me with eyes that held profound sadness. My throat closed in response and I didn’t need the slow shakes of their heads to confirm what I thought their expressions meant.
“There isn’t,” Ben said confirming my fears.
“Damn,” I whispered and put my face in my palms, leaning over to stop the sudden buzz in my head. “And if I decide to stop it?” I asked once my chest loosened enough for words to escape.
“If you disrupt the plan, the death toll will be tenfold.” Danny said.
I raised my head and stared at him.
“And there will be no survivors,” he added and I caught the nuance in his voice.
The picture came through loud and clear. If I didn’t behave, I’d lose everything, Julia included. I took a deep breath, trying to shake the onslaught of survivor’s guilt, but it held on, creating a reckless drive to destroy anything in my path like the tornado had.
I stood, glaring at my two trainers and nodded. “Then let’s get moving.”
Ben stood, stepping to my side. He took hold of my right arm and Danny took my left. A rush of air filled my ears and the sensation of falling jarred me. I staggered on solid rock and before I could turn and take in the dark scenery surrounding me, I already knew where we were.
The plateau.
If I turned to my right, I’d be facing the endless ravine, to my left, an army of reapers stood stoic, waiting for Death’s command. Ben and Danny stood to the side, letting me get my bearings and I sighed, not understanding what they expected. I certainly wasn’t going to rally the troops for the pending tornado.
I needed to train and I shifted, facing the boy reapers.
“Are you going to teach me what I need to know, or not?”
Ben’s skeletal hand drifted from the black sleeves of his cloak and he rubbed his fingers together, creating a spark and then flame from his fingertips.
The evil gleam in his eyes set my adrenaline on rush, heating my skin as surely as the growing fireball would. The roar of my stepped-up heartbeat filled my ears along with the hitch of my breath. Fear left a metallic taste in my mouth and I took a step back as Ben launched the fireball, wishing I had one of those big-ass fire entry suits on.
I closed my eyes and crossed my arms in front of me. I heard the crackle but none of the searing heat I expected and opened my eyes. My silver encased arms blocked what limited view I had and I dropped to a knee, trying to control the sudden claustrophobia. It took a few breaths, but I was finally able to control the anxiety and I raised my gaze, looking through the thick fireproof glass in front of me.
Ben’s smile irked me and I stood, taking a step toward him. A cool breeze caressed my exposed skin and I froze in place, inspecting my suit-free form. The disappearance of the suit hadn’t been a conscious thought like making the invisible wall I constructed in the cafeteria disappear.
Possibilities formed in my mind and I returned my gaze to Ben’s, holding my hand out like he had. The formation of a fireball shocked me enough for my concentration to waver and it vanished out of existence like a balloon pop.
His jaw dropped and surprise was written in every nuance of his skeletal face. Within a blink, his form materialized under the cloak, human skin replacing skeletal remains and his hands dropped to his sides.
“What? You’ve never seen anyone else create a ball of fire?”
“No,” he whispered.
A sound behind me caught my attention and I spun. A wave bigger than anything I had ever seen was coming straight at me with the power to sweep me away like a tsunami. Not even a thick sea-wall would slow its progress. I needed to be at the top of a mountain like Everest for the water not to sweep me away.
A frigid breeze whipped through my light shirt and I shivered, turning to take in my vast surroundings. The Himalayan mountain range sprawled out beneath me and I stared in awe, wondering if any of the other reapers were seeing this.
“We are,” Danny said and I glanced back at him, turning toward the dark plateau again, the mountains were gone in the space of a blink.
Danny and Ben wore their human glamour and they exchanged a look before returning their awe filled gazes in my direction. I bit my lip and turned back in the direction that the wave had been coming from and the surprise of seeing a giant frozen wave caught me, making me swallow wrong. My chest constricted against the sudden presence of liquid in my lungs and I sputtered, coughing and leaning over with my hands on my knees to see if that would dislodge the spittle irritating my esophagus. After a few deep coughs, it seemed to alleviate the initial burn and I cleared my throat.
My gaze still lingered on the frozen water sculpture and I wondered if I could manipulate it from the form of a wave into that of giant eagle ice sculpture. When the form altered, morphing into what I had seen in my mind’s-eye, I took a step back. My legs decided they were jelly and I sat down hard on the cold rock.
In this plane, the ability to do things with my mind on a whim was as easy as breathing and I now understood the awe in Ben and Danny’s eyes. It was a heady feeling. Their hands descended on my shoulders and I felt the pull and shut my eyes on the stars of light it produced.
When I opened my eyes, I was back in our yard, the dry grass under me tickled the backs of my calves and I stared up at the blue September sky. Neither Ben nor Danny were around and I sat up, surveying the backyard.
A cool breeze swept over my skin and it took my brain a few seconds to understand exactly where I was. The salty tang of sea caressed me and I closed my eyes, breathing in the crisp Maine air.
Home.
The word clamored in my head along with all the emotions I had suppressed since May and I wrapped my arms around my legs, resting my forehead on my knees. This is where my world fell apart and I missed it with every fiber of my being.
The hot sticky Florida weather didn’t suit me at all; neither did being labeled the new kid.
With effort, I raised my gaze to the boarded up house just waiting for me to turn eighteen and claim it as home again. I stood and crossed the lawn to the back door, trying the knob, even though I knew it was locked. It didn’t turn and I dropped my hand from the cool metal.
Instead of trying my will, I turned and tromped out of the yard toward the lull of the waves in the distance. I hadn’t stood on the shore since the day of the fireworks and before they found me and brought me back to Florida, I wanted to see the deep blue of the fall ocean and feel its bite on my bare skin.