Edge of Time (16 page)

R
iley leaned against the tunnel entrance and held on for dear life. The stitch in her side was fading now, but she was still gasping. Not that the run up the long tunnel had been overly strenuous.

Killing two people had been.

She couldn't believe it. Darius had ordered her to knock out anyone who opposed them and that he'd guide her. Those were his implicit instructions. He hadn't said anything about
murdering
them.

Nothing had gone right since finding Alec. It had taken ages to find Darius and agree to a plan. She hadn't been able to find the orb he'd hidden, despite his instructions, and she'd had to swipe two from distracted Potentials. Then getting out of the Base separately had nearly failed. It was only a complete lack of attention on the part of the two guards that allowed her to slip past unnoticed. She'd nearly missed the correct tunnel, too. Only after she'd travelled halfway down one and met a party of teenage Potentials, crying and frightened out of their minds, had she realized she was in the wrong place.

Now, despite her best intentions to merely incapacitate her Guardian and Anna, she had bumped off the both of them. It defied belief.

And, as if that wasn't bad enough, Darius was mute with what could only be grief, and, any minute now, the entire Base of Tyon Operatives would realize that a) they'd escaped, b) they had Alec with them, and c) they'd assassinated two colleagues.

Could things get any worse?

Riley let go of the rocky outcrop and stepped into the welcome sunlight. The tall grass rippled in a sea of dark green as a brisk ocean breeze whipped across the hilly meadow. On all sides lay the brilliant navy of the ocean. Above, the wide sky was dotted with heavy clouds and wheeling seabirds.

Riley took in a deep, shaky breath of sea air. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed the sun on her skin and the tang of salty air on her tongue. She gave herself a mental shake. There were far more pressing issues at hand. They had to get off this island and hide somewhere. Fast.

But where?

Riley headed out onto the grassy knoll and lumbered up over a cluster of grey, sun-warmed stones. Perched on top, she had an excellent view of the entire island. She twisted around. Other than Darius, kneeling in the grass several metres to her right, and Alec, slumped against the entrance to the dark maw of the tunnel, they were completely alone.

If she squinted, the faintest outline of far-off, haze-shrouded cliffs came into view, across a wide expanse of water.

Riley kicked at the closest rock in frustration. He'd gotten them out of the Base, but so what? He'd warned her that teleporting after fending off an attack would be nearly impossible. Unless there was a ship hidden somewhere along the bottom of what appeared to be cliffs
and
he knew of a safe way down to it, they were stuck there, waiting until the Tyons realized what had happened and came marching up the tunnel to take them into custody. There wasn't even something to block the tunnel entrance.

Some escape. She slammed her hands into her pockets.

Wait a minute. Could
she
move them? She pelted back to Darius and dropped to her knees beside him.

He was almost doubled up, his face pressed into the sweet-smelling grass, his knuckles white as he gripped clumps in a stranglehold. Riley hesitated. What on earth could she possibly say? Tentatively, she reached out, touching his shoulder with only the faintest of pressure. Waves of distress rolled off him like a storm surge.

“Darius,” she implored, as gently as possible. “We've got to get off this island.”

He jerked his shoulders from her touch and turned his face away.

“Please,” she tried again. “They'll be after us any minute.”

“I …” Darius couldn't seem to finish. His voice was bleak, as if the light had gone out of his world. Perhaps, considering Anna, it had.

Riley glanced up at the tunnel entrance. Alec was still slumped against the rocky opening, his face pale and drawn. His eyes were oddly blank. He didn't seem to be aware of his surroundings. Heaven only knew what had happened to him, but he was obviously not going to be any help to anyone in his present state. It was up to her.

“Logan will kill all three of us. Is that what you want?” Riley shoved Darius' shoulder. “Get up and get yourself together. You're the only one who can get us off this miserable rock. So do it. Now.”

Darius raised his head. His eyes glittered with anger, his skin was white and bloodless. His breath came in rapid, shallow pants. Riley took a step back. He'd never frightened her before, but this man was clearly on the edge.

She took a deep breath and held out her orb. “You have one now. So does Alec. I'll move us. You just need to show me how.”

Darius glanced once at the orb in her outstretched palm. Without a word, he turned and looked at Alec, then back at her face. Almost snarling, he lunged. He grabbed Riley's arm painfully and pulled her along beside him. Her feet barely touched the ground. He stopped at Alec's inert form. With his free hand he reached down, grabbed hold of Alec's upper arm and yanked him upright. Alec swayed.

“Get your orbs out,” he rasped.

Riley couldn't suppress the shiver as she held her orb in her outstretched palm. Discretion stopped her voice. She had no idea what Darius might do in this state. Warily she watched him plunder Alec's pocket for the orb that Alec seemed too disoriented to find.

“Here,” he said, thrusting the small globe into Alec's slack hand. “Hold it. Pay attention.”

“What's the matter with him?” Riley asked. Alec's eyes looked like they were crossed. And was he
drooling
?

“Rhozan,” Darius barked. “Focus on me, Alec. Nothing else. Nothing but me is real.”

What was Rhozan doing to Alec? Would he turn into an Emissary and try to kill them?

“Rhozan can't control us like normal people, that's why he doesn't like us very much,” Darius said, answering her unspoken question. “Hold your hand out so our orbs are touching. Like this.” He grabbed at Riley when she didn't obey quickly enough.

“Hey,” she yelped. His grip was bruising. “I'm doing it.”

Darius ignored her. He positioned each hand and orb so that they were touching. The glass clinked together. He pulled Alec's hand close so all three orbs touched each other. “I'm wiped from the fight with Dean, so you'll have to boost this. I'll direct you.”

“Where are we going?” Riley asked, but Darius ignored her.

“Alec, pay attention.”

Alec squinted and bit his lower lip. The war between what he wanted to do and what was preventing him from complying waged across his face. Riley reached out with her free hand and clasped his shoulder.

“Don't distract him,” Darius ordered. “Focus on what you have to do, Riley. Now.”

Riley swallowed the angry retort and tried to comply. It wasn't easy. Despite the lessons she'd taken, every time she tried to empty the thoughts from her mind, create the blank slate as she'd been taught, thoughts of Dean intruded. Dean's patience with her endless questions, his exclusive focus on his job, his exasperation with Darius' popularity. A huge lump formed in her throat. Stop it, she berated herself. Don't think of anything.

She felt the first tentative touch of Darius' thoughts the same instant she heard the pounding of feet in the tunnel.

Ohmygawdtheyrecoming
.

“Focus,” Darius barked. His mental slap was painful, pulling her attention and fear from the approaching Operatives onto him. As required.

Desperately she tried. Purged the fear, purged the thoughts. Blank.

A picture formed inside her mind. A city landscape. Towering office blocks. Glass and steel and impersonal beauty.

Shouts, far away and getting closer. Darius' anger surged.

Ignore it. Focus on the task.

Escape.

Alec's thoughts touched her mind. He was scattered, flitting from one thought to another. A fairground, a tent, a pretty Asian girl, soccer cleats. Riley gasped in amazement at his strength.

Darius fought for control.

Riley squeezed her eyes shut. Leaned into it and followed Darius' lead.

She could feel the power building like a huge electrical charge under her skin. She tried to breathe through it. Add her own strength to his.

“
Finn!
”

Their pursuer's cry was the signal. The dam of energy broke its boundaries.

Then nothing.

A
huge farmer's field stretched as far as the eye could see. Row after row of waist-high, yellowed corn stalks rustled in the breeze. On either side, the dense darkness of the forest stood resolutely impenetrable until out of sight. Overhead, the broiling midday sun had the sky to itself. Even the birds were hiding.

Alec wiped the sweat from his brow and anticipated another hour of walking with intense dislike. Who the hell had teleported them into the middle of nowhere? This was some escape. “Keep going?” he asked Darius.

“'Fraid so,” Darius replied.

They stepped out into the wide path bordering the field. Tractor treads criss-crossed the earth like gigantic tic-tac-toe games. A tall wooden fence separated the three of them from the field beyond. Darius climbed over and dropped to the other side and carried on walking. Riley followed suit and Alec took up the rear, nearly tearing his hand on a protruding nail. Riley tugged on Darius' sleeve to slow him down.

“Do you actually have a destination or are we just going to walk until we collapse?” she asked.

Darius pointed to his right. Off in the distance, the sun-bleached, red tiles of a barn roof were just visible behind a huge grove of trees. There was an old-fashioned windmill not far from it, creaking as it turned slowly in the humid air.

Alec perked up. With a farm came farmers and food and a method of transportation. Darius would have to use his Tyon power to convince the people who lived there to feed them, hand over the car keys, and maybe, Alec tugged at the collar of his jumpsuit, loan them some decent clothes. He sprinted to catch up with Darius and Riley.

“So, listen,” Riley said as she wiped her bangs off her wet forehead with an exasperated sigh, “I've been thinking about a few things and I've got some questions about this organization of yours.”

“It's not my organization now.” Darius stared straight ahead.

Riley ignored that statement. “We walked right out of the Base. No one even gave us a second glance. What's up with that?”

Good question, Alec thought. He could remember everything clearly until he touched the orb in the tunnel and woke up in the middle of a cornfield an hour ago. The lack of interest the Tyons displayed had been unnerving, if not downright weird.

“Orions and Tholans are the most logical and unimaginative group of beings you'll ever meet.” Darius stopped abruptly and reached down. Grasping a handful of leafy shoots, he yanked. A bunch of carrots, thick with dirt, appeared. Darius smiled coldly. “And that's the key to staying one step ahead of them. No imagination. They couldn't begin to believe that we'd try to escape by walking out right in front of everyone. So, when we did, the assumption was that we were supposed to be there, had some purpose. As long as our thoughts didn't betray us, we were fine.”

“But if Anna or Logan had seen us …” Riley yanked a few carrots out herself before Darius started walking again.

“Sure, they'd have known what we were up to.”

Riley paused, frowning. She glanced at Alec for a second as if wondering how to phrase the next question. It was probably the same one on his mind. Why had Dean sent a killing bolt of power at them?

“He didn't want to kill you,” Darius sighed. “He was after me.”

“I wish you'd stop reading my thoughts,” Riley snapped.

“It's faster. There's no reason to pretend now. And besides, your thoughts are so interesting.”

“Get out of my head, you creep.” Riley smiled, smacking his backside with her carrots. Darius gave a brief laugh.

“So, if Dean were only after you, why'd Anna get blasted?” Alec wondered aloud.

“She didn't repel it. Didn't try. I don't know why.” Darius' voice was hard and his jaw set. He started to walk faster towards the farm, as if trying to put some distance between the uncomfortable topic of conversation and his own feelings. For several minutes they walked in silence.

The farm slowly came into view, appearing fully as they climbed over the hedge and dropped down into an untidy yard of overgrown grass and haphazardly planted fruit trees. The clapboard house was a dilapidated affair with three small additions tacked onto the main one-storey building, all in different styles and all in need of repair. The two barns were in much better condition, freshly painted and the grass cut short around them. The larger of the two's main doors were partly open where the raised gravel path met them.

The place was silent except for the buzzing of wasps around the cherry trees, whose bountiful branches were weighed down with bright red fruit. Alec plucked a handful as he passed and popped them into his mouth, savouring the sweetness with satisfaction. Riley caught him wiping cherry juice from his chin and grinned. He tossed her a couple of cherries before grabbing a few more for himself.

There wasn't a car or pickup truck anywhere, nor were there any signs of people. No radio, no music, no voices, no laundry hanging on the clothesline.

“Alec, take a look in the house,” Darius instructed. “See if anyone's around. Riley, you come with me. There's probably a truck or something in that barn we can borrow.”

Alec grimaced but said nothing as he headed towards the back of the house. The back door was unlocked. Alec knocked, waited for a moment, then took a deep breath and swung it open, half expecting someone inside to shout. A cat streaked past his ankles and he nearly jumped out of his skin. When his heart had slowed, he stepped inside.

The flowered curtains had all been pulled closed and the main room was dim and suffused with a sickly greenish hue from the material. It was like submerging himself in a murky pond. The musty air was still. It took a moment before his eyes adjusted to the darkness.

The room was as dilapidated inside as out. A grimy woodstove dominated the corner like a squat spider, and battered furniture, cracked linoleum, and cheap oil paintings indicated that the owners cared little for their surroundings.

They'd left in a hurry, whoever they were. The cupboard doors were still open, and several plastic shopping bags were half-full of canned goods and bags of flour. The small table in the corner still had the remains of their last meal, three places set and three cups of half-drunk tea, scraps of food on three plates.

Alec's foot hit a bowl on the floor and he jumped at the sound.
Muffin
's dish rattled along the tiles, coming to a stop under the table. Likely that was Muffin making his escape only moments before. Alec was pleased to see, when he opened the fridge, that the electricity was still on but was disappointed to find that the kitchen telephone didn't work.

Suddenly, a horrible sensation swamped him. He felt violently sick. Panic gripped his heart.
Riley
. She was badly hurt. Without pausing to consider how he knew it, he ran. The back door slammed on its hinges as he unerringly headed for the smaller barn, instinct guiding his feet.

An old tractor was lying on its side just inside the barn doors. Deathly pale, Riley was pinned underneath it.

“
Darius!
” Alec screamed. He grabbed at the metal frame of the machine and pushed with all his might. The tractor didn't budge.

There had to be a way of lifting the machine off her. His eyes raked the ceiling. No holder for a pulley, no external beam to throw a rope over. No ropes either, he realized with a pang of horror. There was nothing in this barn but the tractor, the raised boards it had been driven up onto and the pile of tools and oil cans the farmer had used to service it.

“Darius!” he yelled again.

He heard the rapid rush of footsteps the instant before he saw him.

“Rhozan attacked her,” Alec panted.

Darius dropped to his knees, pulled out his orb and touched Riley's forehead. For an interminable moment he didn't speak. Then he shook his head. “Not Rhozan. An accident. She was trying to reach a kitten under here. I think it wasn't braced properly.” He gave the tractor an ugly look.

“I can't lift it off her and there's nothing to make a pulley.” Alec shoved against the dirt-splashed machine but it didn't shift a millimetre.

“Forget it, I'll do it.” Darius shimmied closer. “The second I have it off her leg, pull her out. Don't waste time. I won't be able to hold it up for long.”

“Give me an orb,” Alec beseeched desperately. “I can help. You know I can.”

“Absolutely not,” Darius grunted, his eyes already closed and the power of the orb starting to build. “Don't interrupt me.”

“But what if you can't–“

“Shh.”

Impotent anger surged through Alec's veins, but he managed to hold his tongue. He got down on his knees next to Darius and grabbed at Riley's shoulders, trying to slip his hands under her armpits to get a firm enough grip. Beside him, Darius was straining. Sweat beaded his brow. He began to pant. His orb pulsed with brilliant light. The tractor didn't move.

Alec gulped. If he couldn't raise it …

The seconds inched past so slowly they almost seemed to go backwards. The only sounds were Darius' panting and soft grunts of exertion and Alec's rapid breathing. He wiped the sweat from his brow onto his shoulder, poised for the second the tractor lifted and he could–

“Now,” Darius grunted.

Pulling with all his might, Alec scrabbled against the gritty wooden floor and slid the unconscious Riley out. The second her feet were clear, the tractor crashed down the last few inches again with a resounding
crack
. Dust flew.

Darius collapsed on the dirt floor beside it, his face bloodless, his shoulders shivering with effort.

“Carry her into the house.”

Alec had to strain to hear Darius' whispered instructions. He awkwardly pulled Riley into his arms and straightened up. She was lighter than he expected. Terrified that any movement might cause her more pain, Alec trod carefully over the uneven ground towards the back door of the farmhouse, shoving it open with his hip. Riley didn't stir.

Darius' trudging footfalls followed him. Alec headed straight for the biggest bedroom. The bed looked the most comfortable and was closest to a bathroom. He laid her down on top of the flowered duvet as gently as he could, getting a clear look at the swollen and bloody left ankle as he turned to straighten out her leg. Bile rose to the back of his throat.

“She needs a hospital,” Alec said hoarsely as Darius entered the room and leaned for a moment against the doorjamb.

Darius mutely shook his head. His voice was barely audible. “Find some painkillers. Get her some water.”

“She needs an operation.” Alec pointed at Riley's foot. “Her ankle is probably in a million pieces. She's going to need it pinned.”

Darius crawled onto the bed, every movement proclaiming the serious toll mentally lifting the tractor had taken. He curled up next to Riley's ankle, dragged a pillow down from the head of the bed and shoved it under his ear. Pulling his orb out of his pocket, he placed it directly on Riley's bloody ankle and covered it with his own trembling hand. A sickly glow seeped between his fingers.

“This is going to take hours,” he panted, his eyes closed. “Make me something to eat, would you?”

Alec didn't bother to lower his voice as he swore. Was he Darius' new servant or what? He left the room, barely squeezing between the dresser and the bed, shoved the door out of his way and headed to the messy kitchen. He flung open the freezer and dumped the half-filled ice tray into a dishtowel, scattering ice all over the counter. More quietly, he eased back into the room and leaned over Riley. She was still not conscious. He took a deep and steadying breath before placing the pack gently around her rapidly swelling limb. Darius didn't open an eye.

A quick check of both medicine cupboards revealed nothing but antacids and bandages. It was only in a drawer in the living room desk, of all places, that he found a small bottle of prescription painkillers. Feeling slightly more accomplished, he filled a glass with water and returned to the sick room.

Riley hadn't moved an inch and Darius, pale and sweating, was still curled up at the foot of the bed working his healing magic.

“Give her one of these when she wakes up,” Alec advised. His mom had plied her nursing trade on the family as well as on strangers for as long as he could remember. “One every six hours. These are pretty strong, but they won't do more than dull the pain.”

Darius cracked open an eye. One golden brow arched upwards.

Alec shrugged. “Before I gave up kickboxing last year, I was always dislocating or breaking something. I've used these. They make you sick as a dog, but they work.” He rattled the little bottle before placing it on the dresser beside the glass of water.

Darius nodded.

“How long's this gonna take?” Alec couldn't tear his eyes from Riley's pale face.

“Couple of days, max,” Darius whispered. “Don't worry.”