“We’re here,” Mac announced. “What should we expect, Marcus?”
I had never heard Dr. Nickel called by his first name, and it made me realize he wasn’t as untouchable as I had imagined. Just because he was here, didn’t mean we were safe.
“I don’t know,” he answered. “Maybe an army, maybe nothing. Depends on where they are.”
“Everyone best get down on the ground just in case,” Mac decided with a nod. “Weapons ready.”
As I lay belly down in the dirt, I noticed Dr. Nickel pull a gun from his belt, and my stomach gave a heave.
“When I remove the haven walls, there will be a van. Everyone get in back. If anything goes wrong . . .” Mac paused, uncomfortable at the thought. “It’s been nice knowin’ ya.”
After Mac’s last words, our surroundings began to change. Everything outside the protective walls of the haven came into view like a heavy fog was lifted by the wind. As the haze cleared, I could make out a few small-town houses and a single dirt road that ran along the edge of the forest. There were no streetlights or any sign of a highway nearby, but the van was there.
“Should be clear,” Kara announced after searching the area for subconscious thoughts. “I can’t hear anyone but us.”
“Move,” Mac commanded, and we all scrambled to our feet.
Within seconds somebody was there, but only briefly, disappearing so fast I couldn’t get a good look. For a moment, I thought I was seeing things, but I wasn’t the only one stopped dead in my tracks.
I looked at William, confused. “What was—”
“Go,” Kara yelled, her voice shattering the silence. “Run!”
We were too late. A circle of fire entrapped us. The flames leapt high above our heads encapsulating us in heat. Beyond its borders three figures came closer, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open long enough to see who. Dr. Nickel, capable of mimicking abilities, fought fire with fire. But even as he pushed the flames away from us, the heat stung my face and the smoke burnt my lungs. I reached for my dart gun, ready to fight my way out of the raging flames. As I lifted it to my mouth, an unnatural feeling of heavy sadness weighed me down, and I lowered the weapon. I tried to ignore the oncoming waves of grief, but they had me.
“Don’t let it get to you,” William said, reaching for my face. “The sadness. It’s just an ability. It’s not real.” But in my mind we’d already lost. I’d already lost William. Anna. Chloe. Everyone.
I buried my face into William’s chest, but he failed to hold me the way he should. I could see in his eyes that he was giving up, too, sinking deeper into the hopelessness with me as the fire hissed and cracked around us. I wanted it to take me, to end the crippling ache of sorrow that had pulled me to my knees.
We were already dead. Why fight it?
My eyes lifted at the sight of someone new amongst the flickering flames. He wrapped Kara’s limp arm around his neck and shuffled toward us. I didn’t care who he was, why he was here to die with us. I was hypnotized by the flames and didn’t bother to watch him, but when I felt a hand on my shoulder the world disappeared.
I was blinded by white, everything around me erased. Whatever had a hold of me knocked the air from my chest, and the pressure of the white space pushed in from all directions. Maybe this was finally it. Maybe this was death.
***
I wasn’t the only one who woke confused. William gasped, and my eyes opened to darkness.
“William?”
“Are you all right?” His warm fingers grazed my arms and shoulders, searching me for injuries. “What happened?”
“You got me,” Mac answered, sitting up. His heavy boots clanked against a metal floor.
There was hardly any light, so I had trouble making out our surroundings. Once my eyes adjusted, leaving behind the blinding white, I realized we must be in the back of the van. In the blackness of the cab, with no windows and a cave-like feel, I assumed we were prisoners.
“Where do you think they’ll take us?” I asked.
“There’s nobody out there,” I heard Kara say, though I could barely see her sitting in the corner.
“Dad?” William asked, realizing his father hadn’t spoken.
“He’s not here,” Kara answered. “He chose to stay back and fight.”
I heard William take a deep breath next to me.
“He’ll be all right. He knows what he’s doing,” I comforted. He stayed silent at first. “If it wasn’t my dad, how’d we get here? What was that, the white?”
“It was one of Christoph’s messengers. Apparently he helped us escape. I guess I’m not the only one rebelling against The Council,” Kara answered. She opened the rear hatch, letting sunlight spill into the cab.
“All right, well, we need to keep moving,” Mac said, sliding out the door and closing it behind him.
“Did you guys feel it too? The sadness?” I asked, remembering the ache in my chest. It still lingered.
Neither one of them answered, so I took that as a yes. I heard the engine start as the three of us sat in silence, and when the van started forward my body bounced and shook with each bump on the uneven road.
“I’m sorry, okay?” Kara said aloud. “There. Does that make you happy?”
William sighed. “Come on, Kara.”
“What are you sorry for?” I asked.
“William thinks they followed me to the haven. That it was my fault they found us.”
“Well, they showed up right after you,” he added.
He was probably right. It was an unlikely coincidence. I closed my eyes, immediately regretting the thought. I wished she couldn’t hear what I was thinking.
“Don’t worry. I’m used to it,” she said under her breath. If it was her fault they found us, I knew it wasn’t
intentional. I’d been inside her head, felt her guilt at the loss of Anna and Chloe. She was with us now. I was sure of it.
“Even if they did follow you, Kara, they were supposed to. Everything happens for a reason. I’ve learned that by now.”
I couldn’t see her through the dark, but I could feel her looking at me.
I really am sorry
, she said with genuine regret.
I never should have come
.
I’m glad you did
, I answered, surprised by the thought. Whenever I expected the van to roll to a stop, it kept on.
There wasn’t much else to do but sleep. I rested my head on William’s shoulder and tried to forget the flames as we huddled together in the deepest corner of the cab. Kara kept her distance, staying close to the back hatch. In time, we all drifted off, glad to be alive.
When I woke up, William was still asleep next to me, but we were alone. The back door of the van was left open letting the early morning light in. We’d driven through the night.
I nudged William, eager to get out. “Hey, we’re here.”
He sat up, his grown out hair sticking up in places, and I laughed as he squinted away from the light.
“What?” he asked. “Rough night?”
He smiled. “Get me out of this van.”
We shuffled out of the back, and my heart stopped when I realized where we were. William walked on unaffected, but I couldn’t move.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, turning back to me.
I couldn’t believe it. Of all the places, how could they choose this one? I didn’t like the feelings it stirred up in me, and I didn’t want everyone rifling around here either. This place was a part of me that I didn’t want to share.
“Why here?”
“Why not here?” William answered without understanding.
A buried ache I’d learned to keep hidden over the years suddenly throbbed in my chest. “This is my parents’ house.”
***
I let William go in on his own. I wasn’t ready to face the inside of the house just yet. Instead I kicked past the sagebrush down to the creek where I used to play as a kid, giving myself a moment to think. There was so much to process. Rescuing Anna and Chloe was always at the forefront of my mind, but now there was the news about Iosif, Christoph’s new plans, the attack, and knowing that The Council was actively hunting us down. They were close. Too close. Not to mention after all of that, being here forced me to relive moments with my parents before their death, each memory adding to the burden that already weighed so much.
They let me be for a while, but William was sent to drag me home before I was ready. Moments of peace were a luxury in war, one I’d have to live without.
“Are you okay?” he asked as he approached.
“No,” I answered truthfully, chucking a handful of pebbles into the water.
He took my arms without asking and wrapped them around his waist. “Me either.”
“Throwing rocks helps.” I laughed, trying to lighten the mood. At least we had each other. I pressed my cheek into his chest, letting the soft sound of his heart settle my own. “They got to us so easily.”
“I know.” He ran his fingers through my hair. “But my dad’s here. He says they’ve lost us. We should be safe.”
“That’s good,” I said, feeling relieved for William. “Did he say how he knew they were coming?”
“He had Descendants in place, watching the area.”
“Maybe one of them was followed. It might not have been Kara.”
He pulled away just enough to look me in the eyes. “You’re sure she’s on our side?”
I nodded. “Did you ask your dad about everyone? How are your mom and sister?”
“He said they’re all being watched. There have been some disappearances, but nobody you know.”
Being watched. I worried for them. If there were already disappearances, if The Council was tightening their grip, his family would be in more danger than anyone else. Why weren’t they being hidden?
“Can I ask you something?” I pulled my arms from around his waist and folded them across my chest. I felt guilty for even thinking it. “Why was your dad never punished after he started the last war? He never went into hiding, never had to run. How is it he was even allowed to teach at the Institute? And now . . . he shows up, and suddenly we’re attacked—”
“Wait,” William interrupted. His eyebrows pulled together. “You’re right. My dad’s probably here to kill us.”
I rolled my eyes. He wasn’t taking me seriously. “Okay, so what? I’m just crazy.”
“No,” he laughed. “Come on. I’m just teasing you. You’re being smart. It’s good to be cautious, but I know my dad’s one of the good guys.”
“Then explain why he wasn’t killed for starting a war, and why his family isn’t being protected or hidden when The Council is out hunting us.”
He reached forward and took both of my hands. “My family is different,” he answered, folding and unfolding his fingers in the grooves of mine. “My dad’s part of The Council and my . . .” He let his words trail off. “
My sister
is his heir.” Something about that fact made him sad, but he continued. “He’s protected in a way that most aren’t. If a Council member is killed, the rest of them lose their powers and the next generation inherits them.
He let go of my hands and walked to the edge of the creek without looking back. His palm settled on the back of his neck the way it always did when something was bothering him.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“My sister . . . she shouldn’t be the one to carry that burden.” He was quiet for a moment, watching the water, but when I put a hand to his arm he looked up, and I could tell he didn’t want to talk about it. “Christoph didn’t want to lose his power,” he continued, “so they ended it with a truce. I think he’s always been afraid my dad would take his own life just to spite him, so he’s left him alone. My dad would never kill himself, though. He wouldn’t want to leave Edith with Council responsibilities so young, but Christoph doesn’t know that. Besides, my dad has a lot of Descendants on his side. Descendants who listen to him. If he disappeared or was killed, it wouldn’t go over well. And I’m sure my mother and sister are protected. My dad wouldn’t leave them alone if they weren’t safe.”
“So, your sister doesn’t have your dad’s ability yet?”
“Well, she does, it’s in her bloodline, but it hasn’t manifested. She won’t be able to mimic powers until he or one of the other Council members dies.”
I picked a flat rock off the ground and skipped it across the pooling part of the creek.
“Do you think Christoph has children?”
“I’m sure they all do,” he answered, finding his own rock. “It’s sort of an unspoken law. If there are no heirs, then there is no Council. Nobody’s seen them, though.” He smiled as the water splashed four times. “Beat ya.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, looking back at him. “I didn’t mean to accuse . . .”
“It’s okay. I forget sometimes that you don’t know everything most Descendants know.” He put his arm around me and kissed my cheek. “It’s not your fault you were forced to live as a hermit.”
I laughed, grateful for his light-heartedness, and shoved him with my shoulder. “Well, who’s the hermit now?”
“Yeah, I guess it’s contagious.” I could feel him smile without seeing it as he leaned his head into mine. “They want to go over the plan,” he said, trying to coax me into going home. He knew it would work. Even with everything going on around us, there was one thing that kept me stable, focused. I was determined to get Anna and Chloe back.
Dr. Nickel, Mac, and Kara all looked up as William and I entered through the back door. I avoided Dr. Nickel’s eyes, hoping he wasn’t mimicking Kara’s ability to see inside my mind. The three of them were seated at my family’s kitchen table, and it was obvious they had been waiting.
I looked around, catching sight of the old iron stove that relied on a wood burning fire to heat its surface, the cutting board counter top that had large bin-sized drawers once filled to the brim with fluffy white flour and heaps of sugar. On my left, the hand carved sofa that my dad crafted in his shop still sat against the wall, the cushions rotted and disintegrating. Cobwebs clung to corners and layers of dirt and dust caked the old wood floor. My chest went hollow at the sight of it.
“Is someone going to tell me why we are here?” I asked, gripping the back of an empty table chair.
I expected Mac to answer, since my question was directed at him, but Kara spoke up instead.
“I told him to come here,” she admitted. “I know you don’t like it, but your parents knew Chilcoot was a good place to hide. The Council was never able to find you when you lived here.”