Echo Into Darkness: Book 2 in The Echo Saga (Teen Paranormal Romance) (35 page)

"Babe, you look like you're about to drool," he said.

"Uh-huh." That was the second time he'd called me
babe
. I liked it.

He laughed. "Are you ready to get yours done?"

I nodded. Manny joined us and placed his hands over my wrist. After a burst of warmth, all the ugly physical reminders of the implanted chip were gone.

"What would you like to do about the tattoo?" he asked.

I'd forgotten all about the monarch butterfly on my shoulder blade. "Get rid of it. It's their symbol. I'd scrape it off myself if I had to."

"There is an alternative." Manny tapped the pads of his fingers together, the way he did when he had an intriguing idea up his sleeve.

Connor took my hand. "Echo, remember your first trip here when we went to the Reserve? And the butterfly we saw that had two sets of wings?"

"I'll never forget it," I smiled.

"Do you remember why it became our region's symbol?"

I thought back. "The first set of wings represented who you started out as."

"Yes. The persecution that the paranormal community suffered while we lived under oppressive rulers," he added.

"The second set of wings means freedom…and peace for the gifted people," I recalled.

"It's a symbol of everything we've worked for over the past hundred and sixty years. Manny can remove the tattoo, or he can change it. He can add that second set of wings. It's up to you."

They watched me with open anticipation, a kind of hopefulness, it seemed. I tried to see my situation from their point of view. Defying a Mutila leader and escaping was a sort of victory for the gifted people. At least that's how I thought Connor and Manny viewed it. How many gifteds before me had succeeded at this? Not many, I guessed.

"Add the wings," I said.

Manny did his homespun magic on my shoulder blade and handed me a mirror.

"What do you think?" His eyes lit up like a child's. He'd changed the orange on the monarch to royal blue and green. The new wings glistened fuchsia and red. I shifted to inspect them from different angles. They appeared to move when I did.

"Is it my imagination or…"

"You can tell everyone back home that it's an optical illusion, but yes, the wings do flutter," Manny said.

"Wow. Thank you."

"My father's been talking to your parents," Connor said. "Kimber and your dad are expecting you back tonight. My dad told them that I drove you to Seattle and you've been staying with a relative of ours—a trustworthy old aunt who kept you out of trouble and gave you a place to rest. Apparently you're behind on homework, but that's the worst of it."

"Your dad did that for me?"

"Of course." Connor saw the shock on my face and burst out laughing. "Don't look so surprised. You did save my life."

"I'm the reason you almost died."

"Uh, no. I'm in big trouble for following Jaxon and getting myself into that situation. My dad's taken away a lot of my privileges."

My eyes widened.

"But he hasn't taken away you," he said.

"We can keep seeing each other?"

He grinned. "As usual, my father has a few things to say about that."

I waited one beat, then two. "Well, are you going to tell me or make me suffer and wait?"

"There will be no more suffering." He pulled me to his lap and strapped his arms around me. With gentle restraint, he dropped his lips onto my neck. His tingling skin made my blood race.

Manny interrupted our attempt at a make-out session. "Okay, lovebirds, we've got someplace to be."

"Where are we going?" I asked.

Connor stood with me still in his arms and carried me to the door. "You'll see."

Chapter 42

The three of us left the hospital wing and walked into the main part of the McCabes' mansion. When we reached the first floor, Manny pulled open a pair of tall, ornately carved double doors. He motioned me inside.

A dozen people clustered in a ballroom filled with flowers. Connor placed his hand on my lower back and gave me a nudge. When I stepped in the room, everyone applauded.

I turned about four shades of pink. "What's this about?"

Before he could answer, Carina bounded into my arms and suffocated me in a hug. "I never thought I'd see you again. I would have died if you didn't make it back. Oh, that's probably a bad way to say it."

"Carina," I squeaked. "I can't breathe."

"Oh no. Oh God." She let me go and wiped moisture from her cheeks. "I was at your house long enough to hear that Jaxon had Connor. Then the portal homed in on me and I was gone. I told President McCabe what was happening. I'm sorry I couldn't help you."

"It's okay."

"Carina insisted on the party," Connor said.

"President McCabe told me not to do it, but I ignored him. Oh, I almost forgot!" She snapped her fingers and a cloud of double-winged butterflies appeared out of nowhere. They filled the room with luminescent color, landing on delighted guests.

"Thank you, this is…really sweet." They had no way of knowing the real significance of this gathering. The last time people celebrated me, it was because I had completed a mission and given in to darkness.

One by one, the guests thanked me for bringing Connor home. Through introductions, I found out they were the Council members who worked with Mr. McCabe to keep his region safe. I didn't know how much of our story they knew, and they didn't ask for details. I doubted Mr. McCabe wanted them to know that his son had been held hostage in a different time.

Manny handed Connor and me glasses of a bubbly drink just as Connor's dad levitated a few feet above the crowd at the head of the room.

"Can I please have everyone's attention?" Mr. McCabe's voice boomed over the chatter.

"The past week has been the hardest that most of us have ever had to live through." His voiced hitched. He took a deep breath and a sip of his drink. "I consider myself profoundly fortunate that my son has returned safely. I have—we have—one person to thank for this."

Everyone's eyes fell on me, but all I saw was the gratitude shining from Mr. McCabe's.

"Now, I know it's a small token, but I would like Echo to have this." Mr. McCabe opened a gold oblong box and held it for everyone to see. An amethyst quartz crystal, a few inches long and carved to a point, lay inside. Its contours reflected light in a dazzling display of color. "The portal was discovered while the early West Region pioneers were mining for crystal. The amethyst has always been important to our community. It is a symbol of our spirit, and our connection to the past and future."

Mr. McCabe pressed the stone into my palm and closed my fingers around it.

"The crystal amplifies your connection to the portal," he whispered in my ear. "It will make travel easier for you."

He turned to his son. "Connor will be—what was the word you used?"

"Grounded," Connor said.

"Yes,
grounded
, for the rest of the school year, but since I'm punishing him and not you, you may see each other on weekends."

"Thank you," I beamed.

The two of them stepped away to talk to guests, and Carina was back at my side. "How does it feel to be a heroine? I think the entire region should know what you did, but President McCabe is making us keep quiet. He's doesn't want the whole population to know where you came from. Region security and all."

"It's nice." I had a hard time relaxing, though. "I'm nervous about going back. The Mutila is still out there. Their leader, Keenan, knows where I live."

She shrugged. "He might have died in the explosion," she replied.

"The
what
?"

"Connor didn't tell you? The place you were held hostage exploded and collapsed. There's nothing left of Feller Industries but a pile of dust. The official word is that Keenan destroyed all the evidence that they ever existed, and relocated."

I took this in, shaking my head. "I don't get it. I thought the Mutila had control over the entire city, had nothing to be afraid of."

"The theory circulating is that they panicked when they watched you and Connor disappear through the portal. They didn't know what kind of power they were dealing with, but it scared them enough to destroy everything and leave," she said.

I wasn't buying it. I didn't think anything could scare Keenan into making such a bold move. As if reading my mind, Carina shook her head. "Here's the thing that doesn't make sense, though. There was a body count. If they caused the explosion, why did they let so many of their own people die?"

"Who died?"

"Connor has been trying to piece it together. A guy he said was Roth, and another guy with burn scars on his face."

"Ivan." Ivan's death saddened me. He had seemed like a decent guy.

"Connor couldn't place the others, but one of them could have been that Keenan guy."

"And Jaxon?" My fist tightened around the crystal.

"His body wasn't found after the explosion. We think he survived. Listen, I think there's something President McCabe isn't telling us. He came to my lab before the explosion and jumped to your time. This was after he found out everything that happened to you and Connor. He was gone an entire day and when he came back, he smelled like smoke. I think he destroyed Feller Tower."

"No way."

"Yeah." One of the Council members drifted close and she gave him a chance to move out of earshot. "Jaxon might be setting up the Mutila somewhere else, but he knows he'll have to deal with President McCabe now. I don't think he'll bother you, at least not for a while."

I felt safer knowing this. Then I remembered something that Connor and I had talked about when we first met.

"If Mr. McCabe caused that explosion, hasn't he altered the future somehow?" I asked.

"I don't know what to tell you. We've always worked with the understanding that the portal won't allow us to travel to a place or time we're not supposed to be. Whatever did happen," she spread her palms to the sky, "I guess it was meant to be."

Chapter 43

After the celebration, Carina, Connor, and I walked with Mr. McCabe to the Harden Center. I wheeled a new suitcase behind me, compliments of Manny. He'd manifested an identical match to the one I left behind in Feller Tower, as well as a few sets of clothes. My parents would have known something was up if I came home empty-handed.

Inside the lab at the Harden Center, Connor and I stepped next to the portal. He wrapped his arms around me and we stepped into the dark abyss. We landed outside my house, in the rain. A few seconds later, his dad fizzled into form. I let us in the front door.

"Hello, anybody home?"

Tito galloped down the stairs, barking like a maniac.

"Tito!" I scooped up the wriggling Chihuahua and hugged him while he showered me with spastic, wet-tongued homecoming kisses. The very best kind.

"Tito the Iron Chihuahua," Connor said, scratching the dog's ears. "He's a tough little dog."

Kimber and my dad hurried to meet us. After the usual exchange of hugs and handshakes, Kimber pulled Connor and Mr. McCabe into the kitchen for a "get to know you" chat.

My dad held me back. His mouth was taut. "Do you have any idea how worried we were? Don't you ever take off like that again, and when I ask you to call, I expect you to pick up the phone and do exactly that. No texts!"

I hugged my dad so hard, he grunted air.

"I'm sorry," I said. "If you want to ground me, I understand." I'd gladly limit my life to school and my house. With a few clandestine side trips to West Region, of course.

My dad shook is head, like, what good was it to ground me if I asked for it? "This boy. He's the one you broke up with last fall, isn't he?"

"He's the one."

"Are you sure it's a good idea for you two to get back together? I didn't like the person you became after he left." Genuine concern etched his face. Between my recent string of tumultuous relationships and bolting town without permission, I could only blame myself for the new sprigs of gray hair at his temples.

"It's different this time," I promised. "Connor and I are really good together."

We joined the others in the kitchen. Kimber filled me in on the bizarre goings-on while I was away: Mr. Crane's body was discovered in Forest Park. My principal, Mr. Lauer, had resigned as school principal without notice and left the city with his family. Something had happened at the high school during basketball practice that had terrified the team and coaches. Becca had been at the gym, Kimber told me, and she'd been trying to contact me ever since.

"I misplaced my phone a few days ago," I said. I didn't know how else to explain falling behind on the news.

When it was time for Mr. McCabe to leave, I placed my hand on his arm. "I'll walk you to your car."

He paused, taking in my cue. Connor distracted my parents while I escorted his dad outside.

It was drizzling and chilly, but I didn't care. I tipped my head back and let the rain dampen my face. Being outside never felt so good. Freedom from enslavement had that effect.