Fractured Truth (6 page)

“Come on, Liam. Where are you?” I whispered.

A second later, the wind responded. “Go. I’ll catch up.”

And that’s all I needed. I jumped into the driver’s side and pressed on the gas. The tires squealed, spraying gravel onto the lawn.

“Where are we going?” May asked.

“After Jackson. Someone—Vykens, I don’t know—let him out. They escaped out the underground tunnel. They’ve got to have a car on this road somewhere. If we can just catch up to them . . .” I turned hard on the corner past Waverly. If only there were more Guardians, this might not have happened. I glanced in the rearview mirror at Chase. He too was looking at Waverly, and I wondered if he was thinking the same thing.

“How come no one was watching Jackson?” May asked.

“We were,” Arik said. “But we got an urgent text message saying we were needed upstairs at the meeting. We thought maybe there was a problem, but when we went up there the meeting had just ended. That’s when we ran into Dr. Han.”

I glanced sideways at Arik. “Who sent you the message?”

“Not sure. I didn’t recognize the number.”

“Where could they be?” May asked. She was leaning forward between the two front seats, scanning the road.

“They can’t be far. Liam is tracking them.” I pressed on the gas harder and gripped the steering wheel tight. Jackson couldn’t get away. It had taken us months to find him.

“Up there!” May said, pointing.

“Think it could be them?” Alex asked from the backseat.

I squinted, barely able to see the back of a big truck. “Could be.”

All of a sudden the top of the van buckled like someone had landed on top of it. Liam must’ve returned to his physical form.

May looked up. “What was that?”

I rolled down the back passenger window while May slid over. A second later, Liam swung his legs into the van, followed by the rest of him.

“That’s them up there. Speed up,” he said.

“Are you sure?” Arik asked.

“Yes.”

“How many are there?” I asked.

“There were two with Jackson in the back and three in the front.”

“We can take them,” May said.

Aaron placed his hand on her shoulder. “We shouldn’t rush into this.”

I glanced in my rearview mirror in time to see May staring at him. “Of course we have to rush into this,” she said. “We can’t let him get away.”

“I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

May faced forward. “Don’t worry about me.”

“What are they doing?” I asked. The truck had stopped abruptly, parking sideways as if to block the road. “Speed up or slow down?”

“Speed up,” Arik said at the same time Aaron said, “Slow down.”

I maintained my speed as a man with dark hair stepped out from the truck, but when he shook his hands, igniting them with fire, Liam shouted, “Stop! Now!”

I pressed on the brakes hard, glancing in the rearview mirror at May, who I knew didn’t have a seat belt on. Thankfully, Aaron had reached over and was holding her tightly to the seat. I looked back to the road just in time to see a huge fireball coming right for our van. I swerved, placing me directly in its path.

The fire exploded into our vehicle, specifically the driver’s side door, which smashed into me while our van was being flipped onto its side. There was a sound like nothing I’d ever heard before, and I would’ve given anything to turn it off. Only when I felt my body being tugged on did I realize the horrific sound was me screaming.

I felt the pain now. Burning every part of me. My eyes opened briefly, giving me a glimpse of my surroundings. Flames. Everywhere. And the screams. I couldn’t stop. The more I was being moved, the more it hurt. Liam was dragging me away from the burning car.

I felt pressure on my head and heard a voice in my ear, quiet and gentle. “Shhh, it’s okay. You’re safe now. The fire is
gone.” Liam had to say the words several times before I was quiet.

I still burned, like I’d been immersed in a pool of fire, but I had survived. Now all I had to do was endure the pain.

A shout in front of me made me open my eyes. May was there, tossing one fireball after another toward the man who had exploded our van, another Fury. Fire was everywhere, burning the trees around us. The grass, the vehicles, even parts of the road were lit up.

“You’re going to be okay,” Liam said again.

I kept my eyes on the other vehicle. Three Vykens piled out of the truck and ran toward us. Both Chase and Alex rushed forward to meet them, while Arik circled around to get at them from behind. Aaron stayed back with May.

Chase reached the Vykens first. My vision blurred so I couldn’t see exactly who was hitting whom, but it looked like we had the upper hand, especially when Alex and Arik joined the fight. A puff of dust exploded into the air, followed by another. Two Vykens down.

I was beginning to think we would win the fight and recover Jackson when out of nowhere a black, shapeless form darted across the road and slammed into Chase, sending his body at least thirty feet into the air.

The Shadow. My vision cleared quickly, and I forgot all about my burned flesh.

Liam let go of me and rushed forward as if to catch him, but the Shadow dove from the sky and struck Chase’s body again, crushing him into the gravel. The asphalt buckled under the pressure and sent black chunks of road in all directions.

“No!” Alex cried. He ran over to Chase’s crumpled body, but before he could get there, a Vyken tackled him to the ground. Not far from him, Arik was in his own scuffle with a Vyken his same size.

I had to move. I had to do something. Breathing through
the pain, I rolled onto my side. Pebbles and stones scraped my open flesh, and I stifled a cry.

Liam stood about ten steps in front of me, looking up and around as if searching for the Shadow, who had disappeared into the gray sky. Drops of rain began to fall. I glanced over at May. She was leaning into Aaron as if she could barely stand, but she continued to trade blows with the other male Fury, at one point even exploding the truck behind him.

Another puff of dust filled the air. Arik walked through it and was in the process of going over to help Alex with his Vyken when the Shadow struck again. It happened so fast. No one saw it coming.

It hit Arik directly in the chest, sending him at least forty feet through the air and into a tree on the other side of the road. The tree snapped in half, and Arik crashed his way to the ground.

Aaron let out a deafening growl. In a swift motion, he swung May behind the burning van where she would be out of the way of any more incoming fireballs and ran over to his brother. I kept my eyes toward the sky, watching above both Aaron and Alex. Liam, meanwhile, had changed into wind and was circling above.

A movement to my left caught my eye. The Shadow darted from the forest and was heading straight toward Alex. I stretched out my hand and shot a steady stream of Light, stopping its progression. It retreated back into the forest but reappeared a second later. I shot at it again, but it separated in two, thwarting my efforts.

The Shadow was almost to Alex when Liam swooped down and knocked him out of the way. The Vyken that Alex was fighting was also thrown to the ground.

I glanced around in all directions, searching again for the Shadow. I didn’t think about the fact that Chase was lying motionless in a twisted heap on the road, and I didn’t look back at Aaron, who was pounding on Arik’s chest. My only thought was of the Shadow who could strike again at any moment.

“Llona! Watch out!” Liam yelled from somewhere up in the sky.

I was about to turn over when something slammed me from behind, making me bounce across the road like a skipped rock along a lake. I came to a stop faceup, gasping for air, but I stopped breathing altogether when the Shadow appeared above me; part of it extended out and made the shape of a head just a few inches from my face. Although there were no eyes, its stare froze the air around me and chilled me to the bone.

An approaching wind stirred nearby debris. Liam was coming.

Afraid of what might happen to him should he engage the Shadow, I turned my palm up and forced Light from my hand. The Shadow’s shapeless form lit up like lightning in thunderclouds, and I felt its force tremble. It was in that moment that I realized just how powerful Light was. The Shadow’s dark energy wouldn’t stand a chance if I could just maintain this position.

Easier said than done.

I concentrated hard, trying not to think about my burned, exposed flesh. Every drop of rain that fell from the sky and hit my skin sent a jolt of electricity up and down my body. I wasn’t strong enough. And I wasn’t ready to die.

For just a second, doubt set in and broke my concentration. My Light flickered, only for a second, but it was enough time for the Shadow to escape my grip and fly away.

“Are you okay?” Liam asked, just as he changed back to his physical form. He knelt beside me, while also keeping his eyes out for the Shadow.

I couldn’t answer. Instead I turned my head slightly to the side to search for Jackson. If we could just get him back, maybe a small part of what happened tonight would be worth it.

Near the burning truck was the Fury. He was standing erect, watching us, but not causing any more damage. And beyond him stood Jackson. He was holding someone back. Someone
who was screaming and trying to break free. What were they saying? I focused my hearing. That’s when I heard, “Llona!”

My heart stopped and my eyes opened wider.
It can’t be
. I moved to sit up but cried out from the pain.

“Llona!” the man shouted again.

And that’s when I knew. It was Christian. He
was
alive.

I tried to speak but was unable to. Jackson and another Vyken shoved Christian into a different truck that had just pulled up behind the one on fire.

“Hold still,” Liam said.

“Christian’s alive,” I whispered.

May tossed another fireball as she ran toward us. “How is she?” she asked Liam.

“She needs help.”

“Help’s coming from Lucent,” Alex said and lowered a cell phone. He was sitting next to Chase’s body.

May shakily rose to her feet and shot three more fireballs. Liam looked up at her. “That’s enough. Let them go.”

“No way! Not after what they did to us!” Another ball of fire shot from her hands. It didn’t come anywhere near hitting the Fury or the other truck. She was too tired to hit with any accuracy.

“Listen to your friends, May!” the other Fury shouted.

This made May pause. All was silent, except for the sky that let out a deafening crack, shaking the ground beneath us. Rain fell harder.

“How do you know my name?” she called back.

The man tilted his head and smiled. “Because you’re my daughter, and it’s about time we had a little chat.”

“Let’s go!” a Vyken shouted from the other vehicle.

“You’re lying,” she said, but her hands lowered.

“Am I?” he asked and turned around to jump into the car.

May sat on the ground, dropping to it as if she had nothing left.

“How’s Arik?” Liam called over to Aaron.

I couldn’t see them from my position, but I heard Aaron say, “Alive.”

My eyes closed. It was all too much. Chase dead. May’s father. Christian. And the pain. Oh, the pain!

“I’m going to sleep now,” I wanted to say, but no words came out.

I dreamt of fire all
around me, a hellish nightmare.. Flames leaping high, like demons come to life, their breath burning my skin. It seemed I was there for an eternity, bathed in a lake of pain. No one heard my cries. But wasn’t that how hell was supposed to be? This was the fate for the souls of the damned.

After some time, I calmed, and the fire died down too as if it had finally accepted my presence into hell. I was about to go to sleep atop a bed of lava rock when I saw movement within the flames. Someone was coming. I glanced around, searching for a way out, but there was nowhere to run. I didn’t want to see what kind of person could possibly be in this place with me. But then I saw a smile and a familiar dimple.

“Christian?”

I inhaled deeply and opened my eyes. No more flames but a soft light. The window beyond the lamp on my dresser was dark.

“Llona?”

Liam was by my side. I looked at him, waiting for my mind to gather itself. It was only a dream, but not really. I had seen Christian. He was alive.

“You look terrible,” I said.

“That’s because he’s never left your side.” May stepped out from the shadows.

“I wanted to make sure you were okay,” he said.

“I am now, thanks to my Auran and Vyken blood.” I glanced at the IV tube in my arm. I had come close. “Thanks for staying with me.”

He shook his head and took hold of my hand. “You were in so much pain. It was unbearable.”

I remembered the screaming, the burning. “I’ll live,” I said and tried to sit up, but this proved more difficult than I thought. My skin felt like I had a horrible sunburn.

“Seventy percent of your body was severely burned,” May said. “For a while there, you looked like a burned corpse.”

“Don’t say that,” Liam said.

“Mrs. Crawford and Abigail were able to heal some of the burns with their Light. It was pretty cool to watch,” May said.

I remembered how I had done the same to a butterfly’s broken wing while training with Liam. It was nice to know that with more practice, I could heal people. “So how long was I out for?”

“Almost three days.”

I dropped my head back. “And Chase?”

It took a few seconds for one of them to answer. “His funeral was this morning,” May said. “A lot of Guardians showed up. Some of them are even going to stay after what happened.”

I swallowed, tears running into the back of my throat. I hadn’t known him well, but he was just one more death Lucent had to mourn. It had to stop. “And Arik?”

“He’s doing much better. The force of the blow stopped his heart, but Aaron made it beat again. That, and the fact that he’s built like a redwood tree. He was up and walking around this morning.”

“Good. Any news on Jackson?”

“Not yet, but the Council members agreed to give more resources and time to finding him. I think they’re finally starting to believe that there’s truth to your story.”