Authors: Christie Anderson
The councilman nodded. “They would also require you to either surrender all sources of communication, or allow them to monitor your electronic activities.”
“Wow,” I muttered, “they really like to be thorough.”
“The Council isn’t willing to take any chances when it comes to matters of maintaining Ambrosia’s anonymity. In fact, there is one more stipulation the Council has mandated in order to allow you to cross the border. You will be required to submit to the implantation of a voice tracker.”
My eyes shifted to the side then back again. “What’s a voice tracker?”
The councilman folded his hands and placed them forward on the table. “A voice tracker is a tiny listening device that is injected beneath the skin at the base of the neck in order to monitor for any suspicious activity, as well as track the bearer’s physical location.”
I cringed instantly. Thanks to Rayne’s old friend Ash, I had become all too acquainted with this type of device.
“Technically,” he went on, “they will not do this without your consent, but you should understand that they will not otherwise grant approval for you to pass through the Threshold border. And truthfully, without it, I doubt they will let you leave this building.”
Councilman Bennett began this conversation with saying I had a choice to make, but it was clear that there was only one option.
“Fine,” I answered, without hesitation. “When do we leave?”
His mouth turned up slightly as he acknowledged my response. “I’ll just need you to sign some paperwork, then we can move forward with making the arrangements.”
I signed each document as quickly as the councilman slid them across the fancy table.
He took the final paper slowly from my grasp and paused to look at me. “Sadie,” he said, “I want you to know that I’m on your side in all this, and Rayne’s. I have a lot of sway with the Council and I will do everything in my power to make sure they take all the needed evidence into consideration.”
“Thank you,” I said. “But, to be honest, I don’t fully understand why you care about helping me, or Rayne.”
Councilman Bennett looked at me thoughtfully. “You could say that Ambassador Fairbanks and I are close. In fact, we’ve been lifelong friends. He’s a good man and I respect him deeply. I suppose what I’m trying to say is that…I’m helping you both because something tells me that if the Ambassador were here, this is what he would want.”
I accepted his answer with a quiet nod. “Okay. Thank you for your help.”
He stood from the table, walked two steps away, and then turned around. “Actually,” he said, moving back toward me, “there’s one last thing I think you need to hear. I haven’t exactly been given clearance to tell you this, but I think it’s in your best interest to start thinking about it now.”
The councilman sat back in his chair, this time pulling it closer to mine. “If the Council determines that your claim to being born outside the Threshold is true, and that you do not appear to pose a threat to Ambrosia in any way…they have discussed the idea of allowing you to choose to return to your current life on Earth, permanently.”
My eyes widened. “They would do that?”
“The Council members aren’t tyrants, Sadie. If they felt it was justified, they would seek every worthy possibility. There would be a few stipulations of course,” he added. “Meaning, if you chose this option, the Council has ways of making you forget you ever stepped foot in this city, forget everyone you’ve ever met with a Watermark before.”
I swallowed. “Everyone?”
“Everyone,” he said carefully.
I knew he was talking about Rayne. My gaze fell. “What about my Watermark? It was dormant before, but it’s not anymore. I need Healing Water to survive now, right? Wouldn’t I need to remember that? If they made me forget everything, and something went wrong, I wouldn’t know how to save myself.”
“They would most likely appoint a team of rotating agents to monitor your needs, but you would not be aware of them. I suppose that’s the risk you would have to take if you wanted to return to your old life again.”
My elbow moved to the table, my forehead dropping to my hand for support.
“There is another option,” Councilman Bennett said. “And from what I’ve gathered, it’s the one preferred by most members of the Council. Sending you back permanently would require a large expenditure of resources on our part, for the entirety of your lifespan. At this point, they have discussed more readily the desire to invite you to stay here with us as a welcomed citizen when you return, with your memory intact, and with only one major stipulation.”
“What is it?” I said.
He glanced down. “You would never be allowed to return to Earth again. This visit would most likely be your last.”
My face wrinkled in pain. “Isn’t there any other way?”
“No,” he murmured. “I’m sorry.”
I could hardly move. I had to remind myself one more time…it was worth it for Rayne.
After a solemn pause, Councilman Bennett stood and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Tessa will drop by later to return your clothes from the cleaner’s. Be ready to leave first thing in the morning.”
A muffle of sound moved outside in the hallway. Rayne stood from the bed with anticipation.
“Why so excited?” Ash mocked from behind. “You just can’t wait to get in that courtroom and take your punishment?”
A set of keys jangled outside the door, followed by an official Court guard in formal uniform entering the room. Rayne’s shoulders slumped back again. It wasn’t the face he was hoping to see.
“Oh wait, that’s not it…” Ash mocked again. “You thought it would be Hamlin walking through that door, didn’t you. He was supposed to show up and save the day, just in the nick of time.”
Rayne ignored Ash’s comments and moved toward the door of his cell, expecting the guard to open it and usher him out to the courtroom. But the Court guard stopped at the edge of the bars.
“Stevens,” the guard said, “there’s been a change of plans. Your hearing has been delayed. You will not be testifying before the court today.” The guard immediately turned to leave.
“Wait,” Rayne called after him. “When will the hearing resume?”
The guard turned. “A new time has not yet been scheduled.” And then he continued on his way.
Rayne stood in place, thinking this could be a good sign. If his hearing had been delayed, that could mean Hamlin was working to intervene. Maybe Sadie had found her father, and they were both working together to get him released.
Ash’s snide voice cut in. “You really still believe he’s going to make all this go away? Seriously, Rayne, sometimes it amazes me how you can put all your faith so blindly in someone who has been
using
you to cover up his muddy tracks since the day you met. And yet you’re still loyal.”
Rayne didn’t respond, kept his back turned.
“What, no come back this time?” Ash pushed. “No choice words to share with the best friend that you stabbed in the back?”
Rayne clenched his teeth, “Why should I bother to waste my breath?”
“Oh, that’s right. I’m just a worthless sack of cow dung. How stupid of me to forget. But, thank you, Rayne, for always being there to remind me.”
“You lost the privilege to speak to me the moment you pulled that trigger, sending a bullet through Sadie’s chest.”
“First of all, it was her shoulder, not her chest. And second of all, I already told you the bullet was meant to go over her mother’s shoulder and miss everyone completely. It’s not my fault Sadie decided to jump in the way. If you really think about it, I probably did the girl a favor… I mean, at least now she doesn’t have to sit here and listen to your whining all day long. Exile to Cayno is starting to sound like a picnic compared to this torture.”
Rayne turned. “Well, I guess you would know, since your father built a summer home there.”
Ash narrowed his eyes. “You just love to shove that in my face, don’t you. You’re just so very proud of yourself for coming so close to ending my father for good.”
“Ash, seriously, I can’t take this anymore. Do you even hear yourself? I should be the one mad at you, not the other way around. And believe me, I am mad at you. But I just don’t get it. How can you possibly still blame me for what happened with your father? I mean, for one, he’s not even dead. I didn’t kill him.”
“He would have been dead if I hadn’t found him and stolen every ounce of Healing Water I could find to bring him back.”
Rayne shook his head. “But you’re defending a man who treats you like dirt. Why do you even care what he thinks? He’s the reason you’re in here. I wasn’t even there to see what happened in the end, but I bet I could tell you exactly what happened after I left.”
Ash rolled his eyes. “Please…enlighten me…”
“Okay,” Rayne began, “let’s see… You tried to do everything you could to beg your father to take you under his wing and tell you how proud he is of all you’ve accomplished, and he shoved you to the ground and made you feel worthless. Then, he abandoned you, just like he always does. Sound about right?”
“Shut up, Rayne. Just… Shut. Up.”
“No, I think you need to hear this, Ash. Someone needs to help you realize that you need to let your father
go
. He might not be gone like your mother, but he’s not with you. He’s not good for you. There are people here who care about you, people who want to give you the love you deserve, people who deserve to feel love from you in return. But your father has convinced you that you’re not even capable of being loved, that you’re not worthy, but I’m telling you, it’s not true. Somehow you need to find a way to believe that.”
“No, that’s where you’re wrong, Rayne. Nobody cares about me anymore. Not even you.”
Rayne laughed without humor. “Actually, that’s the most ironic part of all. Because I do care. You just won’t let me.”
At precisely nine o’clock the next morning, I was escorted out through a secure, underground back door area of the Court of Ambassadors to a car with windows so dark even x-ray vision probably couldn’t see through them. Apparently, the Council didn’t want anyone or anything getting the slightest glimpse of me—or having any chance at wondering who I was or why I was riding in a car to the Threshold border with Councilman Orion Bennett by my side.
I watched out the dark window as we pulled away from the building, thinking of Rayne somewhere locked inside those walls, wishing I could have just one more glance of him before I had to leave. The pulses of my heart lingered behind me like invisible tendrils, reaching back to find him, not wanting to let go. I was told I would eventually have to choose…go back to my old life and leave my knowledge of this world behind, leave my love for Rayne behind, or return for Rayne and lose my mother, my friends, and my home forever. Neither option felt right, or fair. How could I possibly choose? I decided right then that no matter what happened or what I had to choose in the end, this would not be goodbye. I would find a way to be with Rayne again.
We rode the first part of the drive in relative silence, passing quaint city shops surrounded by gorgeous trees and flowers, interesting tall buildings with beautiful carvings or unique architecture. I had been indoors for so long that I’d almost forgotten the way every surface here seemed to flicker and reflect the sunlight with a strange natural glow from the Healing Water living inside. I wondered how I could ever choose to let myself forget all this, forget my feelings at the Sacred Pool, the white fields covered in blossoms at Lizzy Grove, Rayne’s kisses in the moonlight, holding each other close amid the waves of the purple sea…
“Ms. James,” Councilman Bennett said, causing my memories to disperse. “When we arrive at Border Security you’ll have to undergo some physical testing before we have final clearance to take you through; an ocular scan, fingerprints, some basic blood tests, and of course your voice tracker will need to be implanted.”
“Okay,” I nodded. “I’m ready for whatever you need me to do.”
A few minutes later, we were driving up a winding uphill road lined with willowy trees and stretches of vivid green grass. Halfway up the hill we passed a gated, private road leading up to what looked like an enormous neighborhood full of mansions.
Academy Row
the sign said. If I remembered correctly, that meant one of those mansions belonged to Jax. It boggled my mind to think what kind of life he had lived. I wondered how much time he actually spent up there compared to his secret little apartment by the park.
At the top of the hill we came to another gate, this one with the metal doors wide open beneath a sign titled,
The Ambassadors Academy
.
This was where it all began, I thought. This was the place where Rayne trained to be a Water Keeper, to one day become the amazing person he was now, who would change my life in unimaginable ways. This was the place where Keepers trained to travel to Earth, to blend into the crowds or the shadows, unnoticed, using their Healing Water to help and to heal the lucky few.
This was also the place where Scouts were turned into trained killers and spies.
The campus was lovely, trimmed with hedges and vines, flowers and water ponds. Some of the buildings were modern, but most had an old, stately feel to them, like they couldn’t decide if they wanted to be academic institutions or elegant castles full of towers and spires. The closer we rolled toward the heart of the campus, the more active the grounds became. Groups of students congregated in open fields, dressed athletically as they ran drills or practiced fighting techniques. Many of them appeared much younger than I expected, their physical ages ranging anywhere from eleven to nineteen. There was one boy that I swore couldn’t be more than ten, at least in physical age, yet he circled around another boy twice his size as they took careful, calculated swings at each other amid a group of coed students and an instructor.
Other students sat in small groups under trees. Some were talking and laughing, but most were concentrating on open textbooks. I pictured Rayne and Jax, even Honeycutt and Ash, here under these same trees, learning to become trained agents, and hopefully men. I wondered if any of them truly understood what they were headed for.
I assumed even my father had once been a student walking the hallways of this school. If he had the chance to go back, would he do it all differently? I would give anything to turn my head and see his face right outside my car door. There were so many things I needed to say. And we needed him here. He should have come, if not for me, then at least for Rayne.
The driver finally pulled into a parking space just outside one of the plainest buildings I’d seen all morning, with gray concrete walls covered in black mirrored windows. Although, it did have two interesting half-circle shaped rooms on either side, and an iron statue depicting William Fairbanks, my very own ancestor, standing proudly at the front of the steps. I read the words
Academy Security Center
above the entrance as we entered the main doors.
Agent Duke and an entourage of eight men in suits filed in behind us. I wondered if they were all planning on coming with us across the Threshold. If so, I hoped that some of them were purely there for Councilman Bennett’s safety outside the border, because if they were here for me, they were highly over staffed.
“Wait here,” the councilman said, gesturing to a chair in the front room. “Someone from the medical detail will take you back shortly.”
All of the agents walked away with Councilman Bennett except for Agent Duke and his partner, who each moved to stand on one of my sides. I figured I better start getting used to their faces now. They were about to become a prevalent part of my everyday life. I still had no idea what the other guy’s name was; he was always quietly following orders without ever saying a word.
A woman in a white coat and black rimmed glasses appeared a moment later. She held out her hand to greet me. “Hello, I’m Dr. Griffin. Please come with me.” I stood to follow, my guards trailing closely behind me like clockwork.
Most of the tests the doctor performed were slightly awkward or uncomfortable; bright lights shining in my eyes, cold metal instruments against my skin, lasers pulsing waves of heat across my body. But none of it was anything I couldn’t handle, at least for a short period of time.
“You should feel a slight prick,” the doctor warned before she began the blood tests. She took a small digital instrument with a pointed tip and pressed it to my fingertip. It made a short noise, almost like it was gasping for air, then a pinch of pain shot through my skin. My arm jumped as I held back a yelp. It hurt more than I was expecting. There was a stream of blood that gushed instantly down to my knuckle, but when she wiped it away, there wasn’t even a mark left where the small incision was made.
“Just a few more times,” she said. She took the next finger and the pinch hit again. This time I was more prepared, so I didn’t jump, but it still hurt. Blood poured out again, like I had suffered a severe cut. The doctor wiped the blood away, and this time, I watched so intently that I could actually see my severed skin grow back together and mend itself completely. It was like a miracle. The entire time I was here in Banya I could sense the Healing Water around me in the air, could feel a new sensation of wellbeing and energy. But now I could actually see it.
Each time the doctor moved to another finger I kept shooting my eyes down to stare in amazement. It was the first time I had ever witnessed the Healing Water react so instantly. When I was on Earth I needed the Healing Water just to stay alive. Here on Ambrosia, my body was finally just as strong and capable as everyone else, healing itself without a pause.
I couldn’t believe how incredible it was to, literally, witness the Healing Water working right before my eyes, just from existing in the molecules of the air. I always knew the Healing Water was working inside me in the past, but it never felt so real before.
After the doctor finished the last finger, she glanced over at her computer screen. “Everything looks good so far,” she said. “And in case you’re curious, your current physical age is comparable to eighteen years, three months, and two days.”
She said it so fast I had to think about it a moment. Eighteen years, three months, and two days? But my eighteenth birthday was still over a month away. Was I aging prematurely? Were all the episodes of low Healing Water and near death experiences causing unneeded strain on my body? Or maybe I was just a little mature for my age, right?
“Are you sure?” I questioned from across the small room.
She looked at me funny. “Yes, quite sure. Were you expecting otherwise?”
“Oh, uh…” I looked down and bit my lip. “No, I was just checking.”
The doctor handed me a paper gown then lowered the back of the cushioned exam table until it was flat. “If you would just replace your shirt with the gown and lay face first on the table, I’ll get ready to insert your voice tracker.”
I did as I was instructed, bracing my hands down around the sides of the table, anticipating pain. I remembered back just a few days ago when, thanks to Ash, Rayne had to remove a similar tracker from my shoulder with nothing but a pocket knife. It wasn’t a pleasant experience.
“In this case we need to make a deeper incision,” the doctor explained. “To dull the pain I’m going to inject a powerful numbing agent first. The effects are only potent for a few moments, so I’ll have to work quickly. When you feel the needle, try to remain still, so I can make the incision directly afterward.”
I tried to lie as still as possible as the sting of the needle pierced through the base of my neck. There was a strange pressure in the tissue followed by a slight throbbing sensation that lasted only a few seconds. I took a deep breath as the doctor informed me it was over and I could put my shirt back on. That was definitely easier than the first time.
The whole process made me wonder how exactly Ash had managed to get his tracker into my shoulder without me noticing in the first place. Then again, he was a trained spy, so I couldn’t be too surprised.
When the doctor was finished, she sent me out of the room to meet back with Agent Duke, who luckily had agreed to wait outside the door of the exam room. A few minutes later Councilman Bennett met us at the back side of the building with his many agents still by his side.
He turned to me just before we went out the door. “Sadie, once we’re through to the other side of the border, I was hoping you would feel comfortable enough to call me by my first name, Orion.”
“Orion?” I repeated.
“Yes, well, as you’ve probably gathered by now, here in Banya it’s most appropriate to call me Councilman Bennett in public, but truthfully, this is mostly for the benefit of others around us who might take offense. Once we’re in California, it won’t be an issue anymore.”
“Okay, sure,” I shrugged.
As soon as I said the words, my feet paused in place. I looked up and found the most extraordinary building I had seen all day. It was like the entire front entrance was carved out of swirling marble rock, built right into the side of a mountain, or at least a very big hill. I hadn’t even realized we were so close to the hillside before.
I stared up at the towering columns of stone as we passed through them, reading the words
HALL OF CLOCKS
across the top of the entrance, carved out of stone in etched lettering painted with gold.
I thought the exterior was impressive, but as we entered inside, my mouth gaped open, marveling at the sight. It was like nothing I could ever imagine, even in dreams. The cavernous hallway was mystifying, almost hypnotic, like an underwater palace. Everything was beautifully designed with polished stone floors and well-crafted archways, but it was the walls that captured my wonder, surrounding us like shimmering waterfalls of light. Ominous waves of blue and silver undulated through the large dim room, casting a mysterious glow on our faces.
As we paced down the center of the massive, cave-like building I counted six separate, magnificent archways of light, each probably as tall as my house, and maybe as wide. They were Thresholds. I finally reminded myself that there were many of them around the world, not just one; Rayne had mentioned this to me before. But I never imagined them quite like this. I could see they each led to a different location on Earth. As I passed the two closest to the front of the hall, I noticed stone placards hung beside each Threshold entrance, stating the name of the city where it led. I took in each name carefully, trying to imagine them in my mind.
Cebu City, Philippines. Auckland, New Zealand.
Above each archway, towering above our heads, there were enormous, decorative clocks hanging along the vaults of the ceilings. They reached up toward the center of the ceiling, where a magnificent dome of colorful, iridescent glass reflected the light from the Thresholds below. I had to keep reminding myself to move forward, too distracted to focus my feet.
The guards standing at attention near the entrances watched with curious interest as the line of agents in dark suits strode forward, me and Councilman Bennett cradled between them. But I was too enthralled with this astounding place to take much notice of their stares. We passed by the next two glistening Thresholds. Naples, Italy, I read on one side, Valparaíso, Chile on the other.