“Hey,” I whispered.
He glanced up through those thick, black lashes. “Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
He took my hands in his. “For what?”
“For always believing in me.For standing by me.”
He slipped his arm around my waist and pulled me onto his lap. “I understand.” He brushed aside my hair. “I understand what it’s like to be alone. But we aren’t alone anymore.”
There he went with his poetry, once more drawing me into his web of pretty words. And I fell for it like I always did. I pressed my lips to his, savoring the feel of his touch. I knew we didn’t have long before the war would rain down upon us; I planned on selfishly hoarding every moment I could.
I pulled back, rubbing my hand over his short hair. “Is Aaron mad?”
He grinned. “A little.”
I shook my head. “I can’t believe you attacked him. Okay, yeah, it was kind of awesome but you could’ve been hurt.”
He laughed, and pressed his hand to his chest as if wounded. “Wow, what a blow to my ego. So much for saving the damsel in distress.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my mouth to his. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay, but I’m not that invalid anymore.”
I slid my finger around the collar of his T-shirt. “I know. It was just so damn scary seeing you near death.”
“It won’t happen again.” He sounded so positive, I only hoped it was true. “Besides, I’m sure if Aaron would have retaliated, you would have protected me.”
I grinned, he was obviously joking but we also both knew he was right. “You think I can take him?”
“Absolutely, although it’s a bit humiliating. I mean,” he sighed dramatically, “what will the guys in the locker room say when they realize my girlfriend could probably kick my ass?”
“Not at all!” I reached out, gripping his muscled biceps. “You’re very manly.”
“As long as you think so.” He leaned close to me, resting his forehead to mine, his breath warm on my lips. “We’ll be okay, Cameron. I promise we’ll get through this.”
He’d grown all serious on me. I pulled back, our gazes locking. “And then what?”
His dark brows drew together, and he tilted his head to the side in a thoughtful manner, as if he’d never really contemplated the future. “What do you want to do? Not like I’ve got plans, or places to go.”
I shrugged, sliding my hand down the back of his neck. “At one time I’d wanted to go to college.”
“Be a typical teen, huh?” He grinned. “Then we go to college.”
But he hadn’t wanted to go when I’d known him in Maine, before his memory had been erased. That Lewis had seen no reason to go; not when he had powers. “Really? You never wanted to go before.”
He stared unblinkingly at the wall as if lost in the past, trying to see something he couldn’t. “I guess I’ve changed. Why not experience all that life has to offer.”
The relief I felt was overwhelming. I liked this new Lewis. I liked him a lot.
He pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “Now eat so we can take care of this war and move on.”
“Food can wait.” I started to push the book away, intending to kiss him when he latched onto my hand, stopping me.
“Hold on.” He lifted me off his lap and pulled the book closer.
I was about to protest, but one look at his pale face and my stomach dropped to my toes. “What’s wrong?”
“This.” His finger trembled as he pointed to a name in the book, a name underlined, a name I knew only too well.
The room around me spun, my heart denying the possibility. “No. He can’t be chosen. He can’t carry the source.”
“Looks like he does.” Lewis didn’t look anymore happy about it than I did.
I fell back into my chair, my legs suddenly weak. Lewis snapped the book shut as if he couldn’t stand to stare at the name any longer; I didn’t blame him. I felt like I was caught in a freaking nightmare, with no end to the shocking surprises that kept throwing me on my butt every time I seemed to get back to my feet.
The door clicked open and there stood my mom as if she’d sensed the anger pulsing from the room. “How’s everything going?”
I grabbed the book, needing two hands to lift the heavy volume. “Is this a joke?”
Her eyes narrowed in confusion. “What?”
“Aaron.”
Her confusion cleared and she reached out, taking the journal from me. “So you noticed.”
“Did you think I wouldn’t?”
She held the book close to her, as if it was a child that needed protection. “I wasn’t sure. It wasn’t as if I was hiding it from you.”
“Why didn’t you tell me he carried the source as well?”
“Because it’s not my secret to tell. Besides, it would be dangerous if others found out.” She started across the room and set the book carefully back on the pedestal. “I explained that there are many from which the source flows.”
So she had a point. I assumed Dad didn’t know about Aaron and if I’d read it before going to the compound, he might have uncovered the truth. It really wasn’t my business what or who Aaron was, but damn it all if I wasn’t royally pissed. “Yeah, but not him!” He couldn’t be a chosen one,
he couldn’t
.
“Why not? Did you think erasing someone’s memory was an ability anyone could do? It takes a person of incredible power to do something like that.”
“No, I didn’t think he could possibly be a carrier of the source because he’s an ass.”
Mom frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s your opinion. Besides, the source does not discriminate. He is a carrier. There’s nothing you can do but accept it.”
She swept past us and pulled open the door, thinking to put an end to the subject. As if I’d just let it drop.
“It’s alright,” Lewis said, resting his hand on my shoulder. “It doesn’t matter.”
“No, it’s not all right.” I moved around him and followed my mom into the corridor. “Do you understand the pain I felt when he erased my memory?”
She didn’t pause, but kept walking. “I do.”
I had to run to keep up with her. “Have you had it happen to you?”
She turned right, not even pausing. “No, I haven’t.”
“Then you don’t understand! It was torture!” I followed her, resisting the urge to grab her arm, shake her, scream… do something. “Yet you continually take his side!”
She paused, obviously angry, but something else lurked within her eyes. Guilt?
“When are you going to understand that this isn’t about sides? That this petty thing you have going with Aaron doesn’t matter in the grand scheme? You felt the energy on that beach. You know it’s so much more than this silliness.” The harshness of her tone hurt. “Aaron did what he had to do in order to protect you.”
I laughed. “Protect me? Yeah, that worked well considering dad found me anyway!”
She schooled her features, the guilt gone, or maybe I’d imagined it. “That was unfortunate.”
“Unfortunate?” Was she joking? I shook my head, feeling almost frantic. “Aaron can’t carry the source.”
Mom raked her hand through her dark hair, obviously flustered with me. “Why?”
“Because…because…” I couldn’t say the words, knowing how annoyed she’d be, but I thought them.
Because that would mean maybe the source hadn’t picked me because it thought I deserved it; it had picked me because it was the luck of the draw. It would mean that we didn’t have the universe on our side, and that good wouldn’t necessarily win against evil.
My mom sighed long and loud. I had a feeling she knew exactly what I was thinking. “Get some rest. You’re exhausted.”
She was right. I’d had so little sleep in the last couple weeks. My mind was muddled, my body humming with an energy I couldn’t quite control. Feeling vulnerable, I crossed my arms over my chest, suddenly so very tired of it all.
“There are things we need to discuss, but tomorrow. Okay?” She rested her hand on my check, then she turned and left me standing there alone with more answers and more questions to keep me company.
“Cameron.”
Someone called my name, pulling me from slumber. But I didn’t want to wake; my mind was too exhausted, my body spent. I groaned and attempted to sink back into the beautiful unconscious world of sleep.
“Cameron.”
They wouldn’t stop, the whispered word, echoing against my skull, thumping in time to my heartbeat. Yet, when I cracked my eyes, I wasn’t in my bedroom, or the living room. I wasn’t even in my mom’s house. The dimly lit hallway blurred in and out of focus. For one long moment I just stood there, too confused to move.
“Cameron.”
I stumbled forward, trying to follow the voice, only to fall against the cold wall. My body didn’t seem attached to my brain. Unable to continue, I stood there, too dizzy, too confused to continue on. Where was I? The fluorescent lights buzzed from above, barely lighting the sterile, white hall… a familiar hall. I’d been here before, but couldn’t quite place it in my muddled mind. I pressed my palms to my head, attempting to put order to my swirling thoughts.
I still wore my pajamas— a pink T-shirt and gray sweats, my feet bare. How the hell had I gotten here? The sudden sound of murmured voices from down the hall spurred me into action. There… at the end of the corridor a door stood open, light pouring over the threshold, calling to me. I pushed away from the wall and shuffled over the linoleum floor. The fluorescent lights above wavered in and out of focus. I followed those lights like a sailor following stars. The murmured voices grew louder.
Two?Three? No, four people talking.
“Hello?” I called out, my voice echoing down the hall, bouncing back and forth against the walls.
The conversation continued, and no one came to investigate. Frustrated, I tried to quicken my steps and forced myself onward, so close to that open door…so close.
“You knew what was happening,” a familiar voice snapped out. “You knew what Cameron was capable of but you let her get away!”
The realization hit me hard. I froze right outside the door as I recognized that voice, my location…
I’d returned to the compound. I should have panicked; I should have bolted. Instead I remained firmly in place, as if my feet had been glued to the floor. My body stopped working, my muscles stiffened. I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming, having a vision or if by some sick turn of fate I’d been recaptured.
“You can no longer be trusted, Maddox.”
“Maddox.” My damn loyalty sent me toward that open door. “Maddox!”
I froze on the threshold. Not one person looked my way. They were seated around a table; three men and my father staring intimidatingly at Maddox. My father sat closest to me, but he wasn’t the one who caught my attention. Maddox wore a gray jumpsuit. His bound wrists rested on the table. His face was pale, making the dark bruise under his left eye stand out even more. He looked exhausted, beaten down, but not yet destroyed. Maddox would never give up, and his arrogance would get him killed.
“No,” I whispered, sinking against the door jamb. The guilt I’d been trying so hard to ignore came rushing forward. I was stuck in this dream-like hell, with no way to stop them. No way to help.
My father leaned back against his chair in a nonchalant manner that made me want to punch him. He had no empathy for the guy who had been his right-hand man. “What have you to say for yourself?”
Maddox lifted his gaze. “That I’d do it all over again.”
There was a moment of stunned silence. The other men exchanged anxious glances, but my dad didn’t react. He rarely did.
“You know, Maddox.” My father drummed his fingers against the tabletop. “I, too, at one point let my emotions get the better of me. Fortunately, I was able to pull myself out of it before I was completely consumed. I was lucky enough to have a father who showed me the light. No woman is worth selling your soul.”
Was he actually saying he loved my mom at one time?
“I think we both know you sold your soul long ago,” Maddox stated.
Dad sighed. “Although I certainly considered you my son, I realize you never really had that father figure to lead you. Because of that, you will not be sentenced to death.”
My stomach tightened.
Death?
They had actually been thinking about sentencing him to death? I gripped either side of the door frame for support.
“How kind of you,” Maddox seethed.
I wanted to tell Maddox to shut up, to take whatever they had to offer, but I knew he couldn’t hear me, couldn’t see me. It didn’t stop the panic from sinking into my gut.
Dad stood. “Take him. He’ll stay at the compound for now, until he’s escorted to a regular prison.”
I jumped to the side of the door. Two of the men stood and grabbed Maddox’s upper arms. He was jerked forward, the handcuffs rattling. He didn’t fight them, but lifted his chin high and walked out that door like the soldier he was.
“Maddox?” I reached out but my hand went through him. I was a freaking ghost.
He didn’t hear me, didn’t feel my touch, but disappeared into the shadows, gone before I could figure out a way to help him.
My dad sighed and sank back into his chair. “Another one lost. Is no one loyal anymore?”
His comment disgusted me. He really had no clue that he was the monster here.
“Sir, what should we do with him?” the one remaining man asked.
“Imprisonment, for now.” He slapped his hands onto the tabletop, as if wiping away the memory. “How long before we’re ready to leave?”
“Tomorrow.”
“And you know for sure where they’re located?”
“We have a map of the tunnels.”
Thoughts of Maddox sank into the background. My heart hammered wildly in my chest, blood roaring to my ears, threatening to drown out their conversation.
My father nodded. “Good. I’m ready to be done with this once and for all.”
They were coming; the attack was coming and I was here, unable to warn my mom.
“No!”
As the cry left my throat, the world around me vanished, light giving way to darkness. Air rushed around me, those pinpoint stars that had left me feeling exhilarated at the beach now left me breathless, frightened. I hit my body full force. The impact woke me immediately. My eyes burst open, the early morning light coming from Nora’s room was too bright.