Dawn (22 page)

I waited for them to come and end my life because there was no way Lucena and I could fight so many off at one time.

Lucena stood to her feet and turned to them.

“End program alpha two zero,” she said to them in a normal voice.

The Harvesters immediately stopped in their tracks. They looked confused for a moment like they didn't understand why they were on top of the mountain. Turning as one, they headed back to the elevator.

I watched them leave, unable to understand what was going on.

Lucena turned to me, a euphoric smile on her face.

“I knew I could get you back,” she said, triumph in her voice. “It was only a matter of time.”

“Get me back?” I asked, wiping the tears from my eyes as I looked at her. “What are you talking about?”

“The medication I gave you,” she said. “It wasn’t just to help control your seizures. It also slowly took away the memories you were using to block me out. You finally let yourself have feelings for me instead of simple hatred. And I knew I was right about your group trying to kill me. I just couldn’t figure out what their agenda was until now. Thank you for filling in that missing piece.”

“You set this all up?” I asked, my heart racing. “You planned this to happen?”

“I had to, Skye. I did it for us. And I promise I’ll find a way to repair your chip so we can be together forever. Come with me,” she said, holding her hand out for me to take, “let me show you something.”

I placed my hand into hers, and she led me to the edge of the mountain.

“This planet is ours,” she told me, looking out at what remained of the world. “I’ll bring down my shield so we can have sunlight again, Skye. We’ll build things the way we want them to be. And we'll never have to worry about death or decay again. We’ll live together forever in the world we create from this day forward.”

I looked over at the queen, fully seeing her for what she was, a mad woman. The world would be forever doomed under her control. She would destroy my family because they would distract me from the pure adoration she seemed to expect from me. I couldn’t let her hurt them. I couldn’t let her have them or what was left of the world because she would eventually destroy both.

I tightened my hold on her hand, yanking her with me as I jumped off the mountain.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

The queen didn't scream as she faced death. She was probably in too much shock or denial to react in such a human way. Only the whistling of the wind filled my ears as we plummeted toward the ground during our free fall. I closed my eyes against the quickly approaching ground. If I was going to die, I wanted my last thoughts to be of Jace and the kids. I concentrated on a memory of us sitting around the living room floor of the Roanoke house on our family day. I tried to find comfort in the knowledge that everything would be over soon. The world would finally have its second chance at life as I lost mine.

I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around my torso.

“I’ve got you, Skye,” Ash said in my ear.

I opened my eyes and watched the world around me fall away. When it reformed, I was blinded by the glare of sunlight against the smooth surface of a large body of blue-green water. When we hit the water, the force of the fall caused me to involuntarily expel the air in my lungs. I felt Ash grab the back of my shirt and yank me as he swam us up. As soon as my head broke the surface of the water, I inhaled a large breath to stop the burning in my lungs before I spun around to face a smiling Ash.

He was slightly older than the Ash of my time line, possibly close to thirty years old.

I started to laugh as relief at simply being alive flooded my body but the laughter soon turned to tears as the realization of what I had just done spread to my soul.

I just killed Lucena Day.

Ash came to me and wrapped an arm around my chest, holding me underneath my arms while he swam us both to shore.

I knew I shouldn’t grieve over the death of someone so vile, but the cold hard fact of the matter was that she had been my biological mother. During the past few days, I was able to glimpse a Lucena that not many people ever got to see, except for maybe my real mom. Even though she attempted to drug me and tried to make me into a Harvester again, I still felt like there had been a part of her who truly did love me. It was the love of a sick, demented woman, but maybe the love she showed me was all she was able to give.

I suddenly realized Ian had been right all along, a fact I would never admit to him though. For me, killing was always done as a last resort. I inevitably felt a sense of guilt afterward even though I knew there had been no other choice. But killing my own flesh and blood brought on an almost unbearable sense self-loathing and remorse.

When we made it to the white sandy shoreline, Ash picked me up in his arms and carried me as I laid my head against his shoulder, continuing to cry. Ash sat down on something, holding me in his lap. He began rocking me back and forth in an attempt to bring me comfort.

I felt someone drape a warm blanket over us. I looked up to see who it was.

With the bright sun behind her, the long, curly blonde locks adorning her head formed a glowing frame around her face bestowing her with the appearance of an angel of mercy.

“Zoe?” I cried, not sure if I was hallucinating.

Zoe smiled. “Hi, Skye.”

I scrambled off of Ash’s lap, letting the blanket fall to the ground and wrapped my arms around Zoe before she had a chance to disappear.

“Am I dead?” I asked, not seeing how such a miracle could happen otherwise.

Zoe giggled making my heart feel a little bit lighter.

“No,” she said, wrapping her own arms around me and holding me tightly to her. “I am very real and alive. And so are you.”

We held onto one another for a while longer before I heard a man clear his throat behind me as if trying to gain my attention.

Reluctantly, I let Zoe go and looked over my shoulder.

Standing there were the grown up versions of my children.

I started to cry all over again as Zoe let me go and my children wrapped me in their arms.

“You did it, Mom,” Rose said, full of pride as she kissed me on the cheek. “You gave the world a second chance.”

I shook my head. “No,
we
did it. I only played my part.”

I pulled away from them slightly, my heart filled with an almost overwhelming love for both of them.

It was only then I took notice of my surroundings. Directly in front of me was a grove of palm trees and beyond that stood a city of chrome and glass.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“Florida,” Simon told me.

“When are we?” I asked, looking at Ash.

“About 300 years into your future.”

I stared at Ash because I was pretty sure I misunderstood him.

“Did you say 300?” I asked.

Ash nodded. “It takes that long for the ozone to repair itself enough for Zoe and the kids to be released.”

“Then you're not needed here anymore,” I said, coming up with a plan. “If they don't need you, come back with me.”

Zoe shook her head. “We can't come back to your time line just yet. There are things that need to happen then that we can't be a part of. In time, we can come back but not just yet.”

“I should be getting you back to your time,” Ash said. “The longer you stay here the more chance there is of someone seeing you.”

“Seeing me?” I asked. “Why would that be a bad thing? Who would recognize me here?”

“If you saw George Washington walking down the street,” Ash said, “what would you think?”

“That I'd lost my mind. But he was like a legend.”

Ash looked at me waiting for me to come to my own conclusion.

“I'm a legend?” I asked.

“You brought the sun back, Skye. Of course you're a legend.”

I understood the logic behind what he was saying, but it was hard for me to think of myself as anyone special, in any time line.

I turned to Zoe, Rose, and Simon.

“Will this be the last time I see you?” I asked, feeling my earlier joy start to slip away.

Zoe shook her head. “No, we'll come back when the time is right. But that time isn't now for you. I'm sorry, Skye.”

I shook my head. “No, don't be sorry. As long as I know I'll be with you again one day, I won't let myself be sad.”

I looked at Rose and Simon.

“Do you have a happy childhood?” I asked.

They both smiled and I had my answer before they even said it.

“We were loved,” Rose said.

“And a little spoiled,” Simon added, “but blame that on Uncle Kirk and Aunt Teegan. They were horrible!”

Rose hit Simon in the ribs with a sideways elbow.

“Don't change a thing that they did,” Rose told me with a laugh. “We loved it all. You gave us the best childhood anyone could ask for.”

I felt a sense of relief knowing I didn't fail them miserably as a parent.

“We should go, Skye,” Ash gently reminded me.

I gave Zoe, Rose, and Simon one last hug and kiss before leaving their sides to stand by Ash.

“I'm cooking your favorite,” Zoe told Ash with a smile. “So don't be long.”

Ash winked at her before laying his hand on my shoulder and making the future fall away.

The next thing I knew we were standing inside a tent.

I heard someone take in a sharp, surprised breath and yell, “Skye!”

I felt Ash let go of me as Jace quickly wrapped his arms around me, practically crushing my body against his. I slid my arms around him and hugged him so tight I distantly wondered if he could breathe. I held onto him because my mind was having a hard time reconciling the fact that we were really holding one another again.

Only the cries of Rose and Simon made me loosen my hold on Jace. I lifted my head from his chest to look up at him only to have my mouth completely devoured by his. It was a kiss filled with love and an almost desperate need to prove that I was indeed real and not just a figment of his imagination.

“I thought I lost you,” he finally said against my lips, continuing to plant sweet, tender kisses on them.

“I thought I lost you too,” I told him, even though I knew he wouldn’t fully understand what I meant until after I was able to explain the loss of some of my memories because of what Lucena tried to do to me.

Rose and Simon’s cries became more insistent for my attention.

I pulled away from Jace and saw them both sitting up on a cot in the tent staring at us. Ash stood a few feet away from them. I could tell he wanted to go to his son and daughter but simply wasn’t able to, not yet at least.

I let go of Jace and turned to my crying children. Their wails for our attention were as sweet to my ears as music.

I knelt down by the cot and pulled them both into my arms.

“I will never leave you again,” I told them, hoping for all I was worth I would be able to keep my promise.

“I would like to say I’m sorry,” I heard Ash say behind me.

I rose slightly and sat down on the cot grabbing a nearby blanket to cover my wet lap before sitting Rose and Simon on each of my thighs.

Ash held his hand out to Jace.

Jace accepted the hand shake.

“Sorry for what exactly?” Jace asked Ash, slightly confused.

“Sorry for being such an ass to you,” Ash looked over at me, “and to you too, Skye. I let my jealousy get the better of me. But, now I know you and I were never meant to be. We were both meant for other people.” Ash looked at Jace. “When Skye was younger, I was her first crush. But you were always meant to be the love of her life, not me.”

“And who are you meant to be with?” I asked.

Ash smiled shyly looking somewhat embarrassed.

“I think you might already know the answer to that.”

“Zoe?” I asked, remembering the way Zoe looked at Ash when she told him she was making his favorite meal.

“That’s what the older version of me showed me when I left with him the other day,” Ash said. “When Zoe is finally released from keeping the shield up, she and I will be brought together again and fall in love.”

“But what about her accelerated aging?” I asked. “How do we stop that so the two of you can have a full life together?”

Ash looked at Jace. “You just found someone who will be able to develop the serum to stop Zoe's aging.”

Jace looked confused a second.

“Piper?” Jace asked, like he wasn't sure that was the right answer.

Ash nodded. “Her gift will help you fix this world a lot faster than you would normally be able toe. And eventually she’ll be able to develop the cure for Zoe.”

“Her gift?” I asked. “What is her gift?”

Ash looked at me and smiled. “Brilliance. Imagination. Whichever you want to call it. She’ll be able to learn more in a day than most people can learn in a lifetime. She’ll help you rebuild what we lost and become a leader people will rally behind.”

My father ran into the tent just then. His eyes immediately found me.

“Thank god,” he said, coming to sit beside me on the cot, wrapping a protective arm around my shoulders and kissing my cheek.

“I knew Lucena was dead,” he told me. “But I was so worried about you.”

“Ash saved me,” I said, looking over at my best friend. “He’s always been there to protect me when I needed it.”

My dad looked at Ash. “Thank you. I knew I chose well all those years ago when I asked you to protect my daughter.”

“Dad, how did you know Lucena was dead?” I asked.

My dad picked Rose up from my lap.

“Come outside,” he said, his eyes alight with excitement. “You should all come outside to see this.”

I lifted Simon in my arms and Jace took Rose from my dad before we stepped out of the tent.

The other people in the camp of tents were standing outside looking straight up at the sky. When I lifted my gaze, I felt my breath catch in my throat at a sight I hadn't seen since I was a little girl.

The moon and stars hung against the backdrop of the night's sky like a pearl surrounded by a multitude of twinkling diamonds. I heard a few people around us cry and a few whoop and holler with joy. I simply stared in awe, feeling happy and sad at the same time for the exact same reason.

Lucena Day was dead.

As insane as she was, I knew she had loved me in her way. I cried for that small piece of humanity which lingered within her even after all her efforts to kill it. But, I remembered my mother’s words to me about finally setting the little girl she once loved free. I didn’t get to see Lucena’s death. I didn’t get to see if she still had a soul to set free or not. But I hoped, by some miracle, the girl my mother once loved finally found peace.

“You know what this means, don’t you?” I heard Jace say beside me.

I looked over at him, the light cast by the moon illuminated his features as he smiled down at me.

“What?” I asked, not quite understanding what he was getting at.

“I get to marry you in the morning,” he said. “Our first dawn together.”

I smiled because only Jace would get more excited about us getting married than seeing the moon and stars for the first time in years.