Fury of the Six (The Preston Six Book 5) (22 page)

The words crushed against Poly like a train against her chest. She pushed back at it, her effort futile. She went back to the moment in Marcus’s fortress. The feeling she’d been suppressing deep in her gut since the moment she awoke, erupted to the precipice and she leapt up with it. The void filled her again, a world without Joey, without her soul mate.

“No, there has to be a way. We can still save him.”

“No, Mother. He’s gone.”

Something in her wouldn’t accept it, even though her mind screamed it true. “You lie. This isn’t happening, this isn’t real. Who are you?”

Evelyn stood. “Don’t do this. Fight it.”

She watched Evelyn’s mouth move, but the words came out in a mumble and her face distorted and swayed. The black void came to collect her and she welcomed it. Joey wasn’t dead, she couldn’t accept it.

EVELYN FELT THE GRASS BLADES with her fingertips and the morning dew seeped into her black pants. She watched her mother’s limp body be carried away after the men put her on the gurney. Evelyn had done a few different things this time and wondered if she would ever get her mother to accept his death.

“She relapsed again?”

Evelyn rose up and wiped a few bits of loose grass from her knees. “Yes.”

“It’s not your fault. Maybe I should give it a try again.”

Evelyn laughed at him. “Travis, you had the worst run of all of us. We’re getting to her, she’ll eventually find her way back to us.”

“It kills me seeing her like this.” He glanced at her and then away.

Evelyn looked up at Travis, such an interesting man. Like many of the people on Vanar, he had lived a long life filled with despair and triumph. Now, he ran the world. Such a fascinating arrangement he and Harris had. It gave Evelyn hope in humanity that a man like Travis could forgive a man like Harris. She wanted to ask him about Maya, another mystery, and one that had been erased from all the servers she searched. In time, she planned on discussing it with him, among countless other things.

“Have they arrived?” Evelyn asked.

“Yes.”

Her mom left her view and she turned to Travis, holding his hand. “We should go.”

They walked to the rock outcropping and Travis placed his hand on a smooth section of the rock. The rock slid open and they descended down the stairs and into the elevator.

“You know, your grandparents have been trying to visit again.”

“They want to see Poly, not me.”

“Evelyn, you know that isn’t true.”

She did, but she wasn’t prepared to let them back in to her life yet. So much had to be done and she already spent all of her available family time with her mother. Once she got Poly rehabilitated, she could bring in the rest of the family.

Travis looked thoughtful. “She asked about Julie again, didn’t she?”

“Yes.”

“We should make contact.”

“You know how I feel about that.” Evelyn adjusted her footing as the elevator moved.

Travis shifted his feet and looked at the wall.

Evelyn didn’t say anything else as the elevator traveled across the compound and back up into the building. The doors slid open and Travis’s opulent house appeared. She gazed out of the window across the room, taking in the expansive ocean view. She loved the ocean and could spend a great deal of time watching it, trying to figure out the endless intricacies of what made it work. Marcus had written a few papers about the oceans. They were what made the worlds livable. Without the oceans, life would not have made it past the microbial phases.

“You coming?” Travis asked, standing outside the elevator.

Evelyn didn’t answer and walked out, taking in the guests who’d convened in his house, all sitting on the couches and chairs in his family room. They stood as she approached.

“Harris,” Evelyn nodded to him. “Hank, Gladius, a pleasure. Jack.”

“Hello, Evelyn,” Harris greeted.

“I called this meeting because I didn’t want a digital copy of our conversation. I must ask we all turn off our Panavices and place them on the table.” Evelyn moved first and placed hers on the glass coffee table. Everyone else obliged and set there’s down. A quick scan from her and she verified they were turned off.

Hank made to get up, most likely to hug her. She didn’t want to procrastinate on this meeting any longer, so she put her hand up and motioned for him to stay seated.

“Good to see you, Evelyn,” Hank said. “You are truly growing like a weed.”

Evelyn let the pain in her bones register. It reminded her of her dedication to get rid of her child body and reach her full size. She didn’t like the bright looks from Hank and Gladius, like they were regarding a child.

“Thank you, and I see you are strengthening your connection with Gladius,” Evelyn said.

“What do you mean?” Hank asked.

“Your bond is growing, getting stronger by the day.”

“Well, I keep him busy,” Gladius said in a sly way, touching Hank’s leg.

Sex, she’d heard so many adults allude to it, all of whom probably thought she was too young to understand the concept. But the mechanics were simple enough, and Evelyn knew when she had her adult body, she’d explore this thing so many held in such high regard.

Evelyn sat in the only available seat, one of Travis’s oversized chairs. She hated how she had to climb up on it and her feet didn’t reach the floor as she sat.

“Thanks for inviting us here, Evelyn,” Harris said. “How is Poly doing?”

She liked Harris, always straightforward with his wants and questions, not wasting time. “Still relapsing.”

“I’ve seen a lot of wonderful things in my life, but one of the most astonishing is the times I’ve spent when the Preston Six are together. I think if we got the remaining ones together to be there for Poly, we could get her to snap out of it and start to heal.”

“Thank you.” Evelyn let her reply fall flat and Harris sat back in his seat. “I brought you here to discuss what I’ve found going through the information kept at Marcus’s fortress.”

They leaned forward and Harris shifted uncomfortably in his chair, shooting a look at Travis.

“While Marcus made many discoveries, I’ve kept my focus on this one threat, the whole reason he took me . . . the purge people.” She dangled her feet and regretted taking the seat to begin with. “The threat is real and Marcus’s plan was very detailed and well thought out. He found these purged planets early on, and was almost killed several times by these ‘greater beings,’ as he refers to them. He believes they are the ones who created these Alius stones. But let’s get to the present.

“Marcus knew that when Vanar was purged, it wouldn’t be able to put up much of a defense. With Earth, he had a chance to put in everything he had learned since the disasters at Ryjack. So he infected our population with a disease, for which he had the sole cure. With this cure, as you know, he implanted a nanobot, one that I can control under the right circumstances.”

“What do you mean, ‘you can control’? There are a few billion people with these nanobots. And to what purpose?” Harris asked.

“With the help of Alice, I can link up with every person on the planet.”

“Why?” Hank asked.

“When they come, they search for the conscious mind. We met a man, Hector, he knew the tricks to keeping his mind clear enough to avoid their detection. First, I want this man. I need to speak to him about the purge.”

“I’m sure we can find him,” Harris said.

“Let me know when you have him.”

Harris crossed his arms and leaned back.

“Evelyn,” Gladius said. “There is a good chance, even in his notes, Marcus could be manipulating you.”

“Thank you for the warning,” Evelyn said, feeling Gladius’s doting eyes on her. “The first step in my plan involves moving me and my family back to Earth, to prepare for the inevitable.”

“Whoa,” Travis said. “You want to take Poly back to Earth?”

“Yes.”

“But she is making progress and is in a safe environment here.”

“She hasn’t made progress and I am starting to question your true motivation with her,” Evelyn’s gaze leveled on Travis.

“What can we do to help?” Hank asked.

“Nothing at the moment, but I do enjoy seeing you two around.” She smiled and crunched up her shoulders. “Travis, and now Harris, have suggested that having friends around Poly could help, and I was thinking you could be there when we make the move.”

“Of course, whatever we can do to help Poly,” Hank asked.

“Speaking of friends, do any of you know where Julie and Lucas are? They seemed to have disappeared.”

They all shifted in their chairs.

“We don’t know their location.” Harris ended up being the mouth piece and Evelyn held back her contempt. She hated people lying to her.

“I have no intention of harming them.”

“And what about their boy?” Gladius asked.

“He’s going to end us all. I sensed his soul in the moment my father passed on; his fate was revealed to me. I will not falter in my opinion. Time reveals all.”

Harris sighed and glanced at the others. Evelyn didn’t like how much time they had all spent with each other. She loved Lucas and Julie like second parents, but their child was a problem she had wished she had taken care of sooner. But now, she knew hurting the child would cause too much pain on the ones she loved. It didn’t mean the threat couldn’t be compartmentalized, but she wasn’t lying about not harming them.

Harris put his hand in his jacket and Evelyn sent the chills down the back of her neck and the world in front of her froze in place. She hopped off the chair and inspected the contents of Harris’s jacket. It was a letter from Julie.

Dear Evelyn,

It felt prudent to inform you we will be taking a long sabbatical from it all, and plan to raise Will in a safe environment. Please stop trying to find me and my family.

Aunt Julie

Evelyn sat back on the chair and released time. The dull hum changed to the noisy environment of the room.

Harris pulled at his jacket and realized the letter was in her hands. “Sneaky.”

“I don’t like to waste time, Harris. I know you appreciate that. I’ve read the letter and I think they are going too far with this. I have changed my mind and don’t want to harm him.”

“You’ve made aggressive attempts to find them, Julie is careful and very smart. I’d be cautious if I was them as well,” Harris said.

She took a deep breath and set the letter down on the chair. “I was considerably younger when we first met, and my past actions don’t represent my current intentions toward Will.” They were never going to understand and trust her the way they trusted each other. Joey and Edith had been the two who truly took her for what she was and didn’t expect anything else from her but to just be herself.

“When is the move then?” Travis asked.

“Immediately. I’d like her to wake up in her own bed, the bed she grew up in, where her mom is making breakfast or whatever common routine they had.”

“I’m very happy to hear you are reconsidering including the family,” Harris said.

“It’s time,” Evelyn said.

“I agree,” Travis said and patted her on the shoulder.

“No, it’s time.” She hopped off the chair and stuffed the letter in her pocket. “The meeting is over.”

Travis nodded and stood. The others did the same, exchanging looks.

Travis walked next to her and she reached out, holding his hand. She liked the contact with him. He had become the one constant in her life, but she knew it wasn’t because he enjoyed her company, it was because of Poly. She watched the way Travis looked at her mom and felt the connection between the two when they were close. It was nothing like Joey and Poly, she’d never felt something like that, but it grew stronger each week from Travis. The move was as much because of him, as it was from keeping Poly away from them. Maybe a planet of separation would sever the tie.

“I want you to keep
him
here,” Evelyn said.

“Okay,” Travis said

“I think it will help my mom,” Evelyn said. “I want to visit him, alone.”

Travis nodded and let her enter the elevator on her own.

She used her thumb and pressed the unmarked button. The elevator shifted to the right and then dropped a few floors. The doors opened and she stepped into the blank square room with stainless steel walls and white lights reflecting off the glass floor. She touched the panel on the wall and a large drawer slid out, hissing and sending a cold gust of air over her.

“Hello, Dad,” she said, touching his cold hand. His face held a tinge of blue and frost formed around his eyebrows. “I may have found a way, but it will involve risking the entire world.” She reached for his mind but came up blank. “I wish you could hear me, talk with me. You always knew what to say. I hope I’m doing the right thing, but only time will reveal that answer.”