Fighting for Infinity (9 page)

STATING THE OBVIOUS

Nathaniel

Rina had left Maryah’s body so abruptly. She crumbled into a lifeless heap in my arms, so I carried her from the balcony to the bed. Krista scanned her for any health issues but didn’t detect anything.

Eightball kept barking, which I suspected was the reason Rina left without a goodbye.

“Eightball, enough,” I said.

Krista picked him up, and Carson hushed him while rubbing his ears.
“I’m sure he sensed the stranger. I’ll call Amber and have her come over to talk to him.”

I tended to Maryah as Carson pulled out his cell phone.

“I’ll be in the library,” Louise said, seeming distracted but rightfully so.

“Louise?” I called before she exited the bedroom.

She turned and lifted her chin.

“What is it?” I knew Louise too well. She’d be in the library because she had something to research or someone to contact, and I was certain it was related to our unexpected visitor.

“Nothing to get excited over or worry about. I’ll keep you posted if it turns into anything.”

“What did you—”

“Here.” Carson shoved his phone in my face. “Amber wants to talk to you.”

I pressed the phone to my ear. “Evening, Amber.”

“Never a dull moment over there, hmm?” Mikey was cooing in the background.

“So it seems.”

“Carson tells me Eightball is upset about a body snatcher encounter?”

“We all are, but Eightball isn’t suppressing his opinions as well as the rest of us.”

Eightball growled long and deep then barked in the direction of Maryah’s body again.

“I’m trying to put Mikey to sleep, and Dylan isn’t here, so I’d rather not come over to have a conversation with Eightball that you can easily manage yourself.”

“Me? I can’t talk to animals.”

“Anyone can talk to animals. You just can’t hear them reply, but they’re great at understanding tone and body language. You’ll do fine.”

Eightball’s eyes met mine, and his growling eased into a soft whimper.

“Assure him Maryah is all right,” Amber said. “Explain the stranger meant her no harm.”

“You want me to lie to him?”

“It’s not a lie.”

“I can’t be certain it’s the truth.”

Amber sighed. “Have you been spending any quality time with him?”

“Quality time with Eightball? I’ve been sort of occupied with the Maryah crisis.”

“You two should be comforting each other right now.”

I couldn’t believe I was having a conversation about our dog while Maryah’s body had so recently been invaded by a stranger. “Look, I love Eightball, truly, but I can’t communicate with him like you do, and I don’t have the same bond with him that Maryah does.”

“You could work on strengthening your bond with him. Take him for a walk. Play catch with him.”

“Catch?” I laughed. “Somehow I suspect Eightball wouldn’t have the slightest idea what to do if I threw a ball for him to fetch.”

“He would. Just try it. Some playtime will be good for you both.”

I agreed to it simply to end the absurd conversation. “Fine.”

I hung up and handed Carson his phone. Krista held out a stuffed alligator toy. It was so faded that the color could no longer be declared green, and it was missing an eye.

“It’s his favorite toy,” Krista explained.

Relenting, I
took it from her. “It’s damp.”

“He loves when you throw it in the pond.”

“The pond? We have koi in the pond.”

“He never bothers the fish.” Carson winked then nodded at the slobber-covered toy I was holding. “He prefers gator.”

It seemed everyone else had made time for living their lives except for me. “Maybe a break would do me some good.”

Krista set Eightball down at my feet. He sat up, ears at attention, eyes locked on his wet, cyclops gator. “My, how quickly you forgot about your mother’s soul being in peril.”

He pawed at my leg then laid down. I tossed the gator toward the door, and his short stubby legs scrambled to chase after it.

“He just needs to know she’s going to be okay,” Krista told me.

Eightball turned and stared at me, the gator sandwiched between his teeth.

“We both need that reassurance.”

∞

After a thirty-minute play session, Eightball passed out in the living room, snoring before his eyes even closed.

I made my way to the library and tapped on the door before pushing it open. Louise was so engrossed with whatever she was reading from a book that she didn’t notice me until I spoke.

“Care to fill me in?”

She stood then walked around the desk and sat on the edge of it. She motioned to the two chairs in front of her. “Sit. Let’s chat.”

I couldn’t take another conversation of her staring down her glasses at me with worry, so I sat beside her on the corner of the desk. I inhaled a preparatory breath. Insisting that I sit meant she was about to tell me bad news.

“Rina’s aura,” she began. She stared at the spinning ceiling fan, trying to find her words. “Her light is galactic.”

“Galactic,” I repeated. “As in from the stars? Every human is made from the stars.”

“That’s not what I mean. The colors, energy field, and light that humans give off are complex but defined. I thought I had seen it all in my many centuries of living, but Rina’s light is nothing I’ve seen while in human form or while in between lifetimes. She’s recondite. I can’t mentally process what her aura means. Whatever her energy is, it’s beyond my understanding.”

I stared at her at a loss for words. Auras were never beyond Louise’s understanding. “Could she be dangerous?”

“I honestly don’t know. I see nothing negative in her aura. Clearly she’s powerful, but judging from the unique spectrum of her light, her vitality may be more powerful than we can comprehend. I assume she is unaware of it, or she wouldn’t be controlled by Dedrick.”

“Or she does know how powerful she is, and so does Dedrick, and she’s his secret weapon.”

“Could you paint her aura?” Carson’s voice surprised me. He stood in the doorway, his hands hidden in the front pocket of his sweatshirt.

Louise drummed her fingers on the desk. “I could try. I’m not sure any of the paints I have could adequately portray what I see.”

Curious, I asked, “What colors do you see in her aura?”

“That’s just it, I see every color of the spectrum and colors I didn’t know existed.”

“All at once?” Carson asked.

“No, she constantly flickers as if her being isn’t sure of who and what it is.”

Carson sat in the chair in front of me. “Maybe it’s some sort of force field Dedrick created so you can’t see her real aura.”

“I don’t like this,” I grumbled. “We need to find a way to get Maryah away from her.”

“Or,” Carson mused. “Maybe she’s exactly what Maryah needs to help her remember who she is.”

I stood. “How could she help Maryah with that?”

“Louise said Rina’s energy flickers like she’s trying to decide who she is. I can’t help but notice the similarity. Maryah does the same thing with her memories. They come and go, and as much as she wants to remember who she was, something is preventing it. Maybe Rina struggles in the same way with her power. What if the universe crossed their paths so they could help each other?”

Louise tucked her fist under her chin as we both considered Carson’s suggestion.

I had to consider any suggestion of Carson’s because his intelligence, as young as he was, far outweighed mine, but this theory felt like a stretch. “I’m not sure I understand how you made such a huge leap to connect Rina’s flickering aura with Maryah’s struggle to retrieve her memories. What aren’t you telling us, exceptionally wise little brother of mine?”

He tugged at the strings hanging from his hood while his knee bounced. “I might have been influenced by one of Dakota’s comics.”

I rolled my eyes.

“His story made sense,” Carson argued. “And it was pretty badass too. This shooting star turned into a girl as she fell to Earth, and her energy was so powerful she gave Maryah back all of her memories.”

“Carson,” I chided.

“I like that story,” Louise said happily. “I hope our shooting star stranger visits again soon.”

“What?” I gawked at her. “Return in Maryah’s body again? Are you mad?” I stood, staring down at Carson. “And stop encouraging Dakota with his comic nonsense.”

“You should read more comics. Maybe some hero mojo would rub off on you.” Carson slid forward, bumping his foot against mine. “Look, I’ve been waiting for someone to suggest my next idea because I feel bad being the
only
one to state the obvious, but I’ll be nice and dismiss it to everyone being too distracted or worried to see it.” Carson raised his brows at me. “Want to take a stab at our next big move before I take the credit?”

I had no idea what he was talking about. “I give credit when it’s due. Go on.”

“Rina
visited
us. You
saw
the difference between her and Maryah.” He glanced expectantly at me and Louise. “Come on, really? Still no clue what I’m about to say?”

I shook my head.

Carson sighed. “You saw Rina’s soul. Rina is with Maryah. Stop sitting around here and traverse to them.”

Louise straightened.

“I saw Rina’s soul through Maryah’s eyes,” I argued.

“But you saw distinct differences, right?”

“Of course.” I stared at him, contemplating whether something so obvious and easy could work.

“You could traverse to where they are,” Carson continued. “You could see for yourself where they’re being kept. You could even traverse the girl back here, although I wouldn’t recommend it until we know for sure she isn’t working with Dedrick.”

“That might actually work,” Louise said. “But what if Nathan appears when Dedrick is there?”

“Then he traverses back home.”

“It’s worth a try,” Louise urged.

My heart was racing at the possibility. I most certainly wouldn’t traverse Rina back here and put everyone in danger, but knowing more about Maryah’s location and how her soul was being trapped would help us figure out a way to free her.

I closed my eyes, opened my energy field, and pictured the windows to Rina’s soul. I vanished from the library.

I materialized in black space. I wasn’t standing, but I wasn’t floating. There was no sound, nothing to see or touch. I waited, hoping it was a transition to somewhere, but nothing happened.

I visualized Carson’s eyes and traversed back.

“Well?” Carson asked. Louise was anticipating my report as well.

“That’s never happened before,” I said. “I ended up in darkness. Pure, empty darkness.”

“Try again,” Carson insisted.

“Why? There was nothing. No Maryah, no Rina, no sound, or anything else.”

“But there was darkness,” Carson said.

“So?”

Louise held my hand. “Without light, there can be no dark. You need to keep searching until you find a light.”

“Rina said darkness falls over the room before anyone comes or goes.” Carson grabbed my shoulders and stared directly into my eyes. “You were halfway there. Keep searching until you find a way in.”

FRIENDS IN LONELY PLACES

Maryah

Rina and I were mid-conversation when the candle went out. When the light returned, Evelyn and River stood behind Rina.

Rina glanced over her shoulder, and when she faced me her eyes were wide.

“Hi, Maryah,” River said quietly.

“What do you want?”

Rina sidestepped to the table and sat down. Evelyn set the tray of food in front of her, but Rina didn’t inhale her makeshift meal like usual. She reached for the slice of bread while watching River.

“He needed to speak to Maryah,” Evelyn explained. “Dedrick doesn’t know. He can’t know, do you understand?”

Rina nodded then tore her crust into small pieces.

River crept toward me, and I backed away. He put his hands up in front of him as if his empty hands would prove he was incapable of harm.

“I don’t expect you to trust me. Hell, I wouldn’t trust me, but I’m telling the truth when I say I don’t want to see you trapped here. I want to help you. Or at least try.” He stuck his hands in the pockets of his gray prisoner pants. “I’m still locked up most of the time, but my uncle has been sending in some quack to discuss my schizophrenia. I’m convincing him that I believe I’m crazy, and that I want to get better. I’m cheeking my meds but acting like a zombie around my uncle. The more I go along with the mental patient act, the more I get let out of my cell.”

Evelyn busied herself by tidying up the hopelessly dirty room. She didn’t seem the least bit interested in what River was saying, which seemed weird considering how worried she was about Dedrick in her prior conversation with Rina.

“I won’t betray you,” River told me. “I’m not like them. I don’t want to live like this, doing whatever he tells me, hurting people, killing people.” He glanced at Rina. “Watching people suffer. I want to get away from him too, but I’ll never be able to do it on my own, and you and your kindrily are the only people I know who might be powerful enough to help me.” His eyelids looked heavy and his mouth was weighed down with a permanent frown. “I know that might sound like I’m using you, and maybe I am in a way, but it’s not like I’m asking you to help make me popular or something shallow. I’m asking you to help me escape and have some sort of normal life. I’ll help you break free if you promise to come back for me.”

“Are you kidding me?” I gawked at him. “I don’t care if you have mental problems. You tried to kill me! And now you want my kindrily and me to help you? Why? So you can try to kill Nathan? Or me again? How stupid do you think I am?”

“He’s being genuine,” Rina said.

“Rina!” How could she blow her cover with River around?

River whirled around to look at her. “You can talk?”

Rina nodded. Evelyn didn’t even look up from wiping the table.

River glanced at me then back at Rina. “I guess I’m not the only one keeping secrets.”

Keeping secrets. He even admitted it. He was probably keeping diabolical secrets from everyone, especially me.

“I know you won’t tell anyone.” Rina stood, pinning him in place with her candlelit glare. “You’re not that stupid.”

Had Dedrick instructed River to do this? To try to get close to me again and gain my trust? Dedrick had me right where he needed me, trapped with a conductor who allowed him to use my ability for whatever spying he needed to do. I couldn’t see what Dedrick had to gain by tricking me into teaming up with River—he knew I hated him—but there was no way River was bei
ng genuine. I had to be missing something.

“I don’t know how often I’ll be able to sneak in here to see you,” River said, “but whenever I find out something that might help us, I’ll visit as soon as possible to tell you.”

“Where are we?” I asked urgently. “Rina, ask him where we are.”

“Maryah wants to know if you know where we are.”

“I don’t know yet,” River answered. “The room where I’m being kept looks a lot like this, but Dedrick let me out yesterday to help Evelyn with chores. We walked down long dirt hallways. One tiny room with no door had light pouring in from the ceiling. I could only see sky. I’m guessing we’re pretty secluded.”

I saved every detail to memory. “How did he get here? Ask him if he flew in a plane, or drove, or what?”

“How did you get here?” Rina asked.

“I wish I knew. Dedrick had a private plane waiting in Sedona after he took me from jail. There was a fight with some of your family at the airport.” River searched my face like he was wondering if I knew about it. Of course I knew about it. They had almost killed Harmony and Dakota that night. “The plane took off, and then Dedrick
knocked me out. I woke up here in my newest prison cell.”

“How did he get into this room?” I asked Rina. She repeated my question.

“Evelyn helped me.”

“And now we need to leave,” Evelyn said. “We’ve already stayed too long. We can’t risk being caught.”

“Wait!” I shouted. “A couple more questions.”

Rina shoved food in her face as Evelyn and River stood by the candle on the table.

“Rina,” I said, “Ask him if he saw other people.”

But Rina didn’t ask.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” River told me.

Evelyn blew out the candle before I could say another word.

“If Evelyn can get River in and out of this room,” I said to Rina, “Why doesn’t she let you out?”

“She can’t.” Rina licked the leftover spread from her fingers. “I’m locked in the same way you are.”

“Have you tried using her power to let yourself out?”

“Dedrick and Evelyn are shielded. Most of the people here are. I can’t access their powers.” She shrugged. “Besides, I need to be here.”

I ignored her brainwashed-victim comment and focused on the powers issue. My kindrily told me Dedrick’s Element status and privileges had been taken away long ago, so how was he accomplishing so much? “What kind of ability does Dedrick have?” 

“He doesn’t have any natural abilities. He uses spells and magic.”

Louise and Helen had informed me about witches, some they knew personally, but hearing about spells from a girl who had been locked in a dungeon all her life confirmed I was stuck in a real-life, twisted fairy tale.

“His most valued spell is controlling minds,” Rina said.

“Why doesn’t he control your mind?”

She grinned. “My mother protected me from it.”

“How?”

“I’m not sure.”

“What about Evelyn? She has snake eyes so I thought she was mind-controlled, but she seems to sneak around doing whatever she wants.”

“Evelyn is brilliant.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

She held up one finger and lackadaisically waved it. “You didn’t ask a specific question, but even if you did, I’m not permitted to discuss what Evelyn does.”

“Why not?”

“It’s a rule.”

“Her rule?’

Rina’s
brow furrowed as she wiped her hands on the thighs of her pants. “Wouldn’t you rather find out answers to more pertinent questions such as how is Dedrick protected from the abilities of the people he’s mind-controlling?”

“How is he protected?”

“A man named Thomas has a shielding ability.” She turned up her nose. “He’s ugly and smells bad. He shields the others too.”

“Thomas shields all the Nefariouns?”

“Nuh-what?”

“We call them Nefariouns. Dedrick and his evil gang.”

Rina sounded out each syllable. “Nuh-far-ee-uns. Like nefarious.”

“Exactly.”

“Fitting.”

I needed to find out more about this shielding thing. “Back to this Thomas person. How long has he been working for Dedrick?”

“Since before I was born.” She stared at the ceiling, pondering. “But it wasn’t that long ago that Dedrick made him shield the others.”

“He didn’t always do that?”

“Evelyn said it was recent.”

“Did you conduct his power so the others could be shielded?”

“No, Evelyn told me they used a spell.”

Shielding the others must have been a very recent addition to their defense, because Nathan told me about the encounter in London with several of the Nefariouns. Dedrick’s goons weren’t shielded from anything that night, or during the fight at the airport when one of his people was killed.  

Evelyn seemed to tell Rina a lot of valuable information. I could use that to work in my favor. “Has Evelyn explained how the candle thing works? How she can come and go from this room?”

“It’s one of the many tricks Evelyn can perform.”

“I wish I could come and go that easily.”

Rina sighed. “Maryah, you’re not even physically here like th
e rest of us. Stop being so inert. If you want to leave then do it.”

“It’s not that easy.”

“It is that easy. Or it’s that hard. It’s whatever you believe.”

“Okay, smarty-pants. If believing something into reality is so easy, then
believe
you can direct me on how to free myself.”

“Use your energy.”

“I tried. It doesn’t work!”

She threw her hands up. “You should discuss this with Louise. She could give you better instructions.”

“What do you mean? Why Louise?”

“She knows a lot about soul energy and the universe.”

“Well, I’d love to speak to Louise, or any of my kindrily for that matter, but that doesn’t seem likely anytime soon, does it?”

She
grunted. “Only because you choose to be stuck here.”

If I were in physical form, I would have had to restrain myself from smacking her.