The Forbidden Trilogy (102 page)

I reached for his hand, but it slipped away before I could
grasp it.

My father fell into the bulging cauldron his own hate had
created.

The lava consumed him into its burning center, cooling and
hardening even as it did, as Steele's powers vanished along with his life. The
red heat blackened into obsidian swirls that looked like melted black crayon.
Throughout the crater, the volcanic activity shifted, hardening and going
dormant once again.

Steele had died, but my heart had no place for sorrow. He'd
never been my father, only the genetic blueprint for part of me.

I ran back to Drake, my true family.

He groaned in pain and bled all over me as I shushed him and
combed his hair out of his face. "It'll be okay." I pulled out the sphere
that he'd saved me with, the sphere that, according to his thoughts, could also
heal.

"I'm so sorry I hurt you, Drake. So sorry." I held
it to him, and an electric shock ran through me as energy poured into him. I
choked on my tears. "Drake, stay with me."

He smiled. "I'm here. I said I'd never leave you again.
Even if you stab me, you can't get rid of me that easily." He tried to
laugh at his own lame joke and coughed up blood.

I willed the sphere to work faster. "You didn't leave
me, you're right. You came for me." I couldn't believe it—the man he'd
become in such a short time.

Even after everything I'd said and done, he'd stayed. He'd
been willing to die for me in order to save me. His thoughts and memories
flowed into my mind as I held him, playing a movie of everything that happened
while I'd been under Steele's control—how he'd put aside his fight with Darren
to help me; how he'd just wanted the best for me, even if that meant letting me
go; how he'd still be the man he needed to be, even if I didn't choose to stay
with him.

Susie had been right: trust could be earned back.

I just wished he hadn't had to almost die so many times for
me to see it. "I trust you, Drake. I trust you with my life, and with
Ana's."

I pulled the chain I wore out of my shirt. "Look."

He opened his eyes, and I slid his engagement ring off the
chain and onto my finger. "Yes, I will marry you. So don't die."

Lucy sat on a rock next to Luke and threw pebbles into the
lava. Her mind couldn't quite settle on the fact that they'd won. For real. All
the bad guys were either dead, turned good, or in custody. Emotions bubbled in
her, like the lava below her had, and she couldn't decide whether to laugh or
cry, or both.

Everywhere she looked, IPI agents ran around doing something
useful, but Lucy couldn't move. Hunter had called in IPI support, and they'd
finally listened once they heard about Steele. Darren and his team had been
freed of the rock prison and were being treated for injuries. The businessmen
Steele had hung over lava were in custody, awaiting arrest and indictment of
some kind.

Panic filled the streets of Honolulu, according to reports
she'd overhead—ironic that they would freak out after the threat had been
neutralized. Diamond Head would never look the same. Its guts had been exposed
by the expulsion of power, and instead of dirt and shrubs littering the top, it
now showcased a sea of hardened ballast, the cooled black lava that remained
from the fiery hell it had been not so long ago.

Two agents pulled Simmons away. Her face contorted in a mix
of madness and rage and she screamed out obscenities, followed by denial.
"They disobeyed my orders. They were helping Steele. It's all a trick.
I've been framed!"

She kicked, punched, and even bit one of them, but they
finally got her into the helicopter and cuffed to the seat.

Lucy sighed in relief.

With Steele defeated, IPI believed Sam's story, especially
after she showed them images of what happened with her through some new mind
trick she'd learned. That, and the fact that everyone backed her story, and
Simmons had clearly gone mental, was enough to convince them.

Once Steele died, his powers over others perished with him.
Adam towered above an agent who looked scared out of his mind but dutifully
took his statement. Adam was clearly doing his best to appear non-threatening,
but nothing he did helped the agent any.

Lucy laughed at that, but wondered what would happen to him
and the other Grunts now.

Sam had rescued Ana as soon as she'd saved Drake's life, and
now the three of them huddled together away from everyone else. Drake still
looked beaten up and exhausted, but he'd be fine. It was nice seeing them
together as a family. Drake had really stepped up when it mattered, and Lucy admitted
a begrudging but growing respect for the guy.

The familiar comfort of the sphere in her hand pulled Lucy
back to her current dilemma. She stroked the cool metal and stared at its glow.

Sam had returned it to her, but Lucy hadn't wanted it.

She'd pushed it away. "It's dangerous."

Sam pushed it back. "It's a tool. People are the
danger."

So now Lucy sat and contemplated what to do with the sphere.

She turned to Luke. "What do you think
we'll
do
next?"

He tossed a pebble onto the hard lava. "I don't know,
Luce. I'm done saving the world for awhile, but I know this work is in our
blood. It's who we are."

She nodded. If they hadn't been there, all those kids would
have been sold instead of rescued by IPI when the Grunts stopped following
Steele. Sam and Drake would likely be dead. Hell, the whole world would
probably have gone into World War III, with Steele and Simmons leading the
charge.

She couldn't believe she'd ever doubted this mission.

She felt Beleth before she saw him, his wings fluttering in
the air. "Wait here, Bro. I'll be back." She stood with the sphere in
hand and walked away, past the jutting cliff.

An IPI Agent walked by with a cuffed man that she
recognized—the man who had brought Ana out.

Bill.
She stopped the agent. "I need a word with
this one, for just a sec."

The agent looked around, then looked back at Lucy and
nodded, shoving the guy toward her.

"You're Bill, yes?"

The man stuttered and nodded.

"Any other Bills work here?"

"N-no."

"Good." She raised her knee and slammed it into
his crotch, then pulled back and kneed him in the gut. She held his shoulders
as she did, pushing hard, then leaned in closer to whisper in his ear.
"That's for Mr. K. I'm going to make sure you are kept in a very special
place after this, as payment."

The agent stood wide-eyed as Lucy shoved Bill, who whimpered
and slobbered and couldn't stand up to walk properly, back to him. "He's
all yours. Make sure he gets extra special accommodations, will you?"

The agent nodded and pushed Bill ahead of him and toward the
others, and Lucy resumed her walk to the edge of the cliff.

Beleth stood there, smiling. "Thank you for setting me
free. You could have killed me." He still had the unearthly calm about
him, but now it soothed rather than aggravated.

She'd learned a lot from him, from Mr. K, from this whole
experience. "You had plenty of chances to kill me as well, but you held
back. I think that makes us even."

"Yes, it does. You're not the same girl you were when
we first met. The fire in you is still hot, but it is tempered by a new
stillness. Never let that go." He turned away from her, his wings
fluttering.

"Are you leaving?"

"Yes. IPI is no longer my place."

"Where will you go?"

He shrugged. "Somewhere far away. Away from the
memories."

She understood and wished she could do the same.
So many
memories.
"Have you told your son, Drake?"

He shook his head. "No. This isn't the place. I must
give him time to recover, then I shall come to him. In the meantime, I have
other things to attend to."

"Then I'll see you again?"

He hesitated. "Yes, you will."

She looked at the sphere in her hand and knew with certainty
what she had to do. She tossed it to Beleth, who caught it mid-air. "Use
it well."

He nodded and took to the sky. "Thank you."

She watched him go, until the sun hurt her eyes, and then
headed back to Luke, who sat with Hunter, Sam and Drake.

Hunter reached for her hand and pulled her to his side.
"They're already covering it up, trying to make it look like a terrorist
attack. As if people have never seen a terrorist attack. As if all terrorists
have powers."

She stroked his hand. "People have seen Steele use his
powers on the TV."

He shrugged. "Special effects."

"You think they'll buy it?" Were people really
that gullible?

"Some will: those who would rather not worry about it.
Others won't, but they'll forget in time. And a few will have more fodder for
their conspiracy theories."

Sam looked at the baby in her arms. "Doesn't sound too
bad."

"Yeah, except that they'll blame us for it, the ones
who remember. The first time they find out about paranormals, and they find
them trying to destroy the world, killing innocent people." Hunter shook
his head.

"Brad was telling people about Rent-A-Kid though,
showing them we could be good," said Sam.

Luke nodded. "And people will really want to listen to
him after this."

Hunter didn't look convinced. "Yeah, but he'll have the
government against him, and IPI. He won't get far."

Lucy looked at Ana. What kind of world did she want her
God-child raised in? They were finally free; she didn't want the world hating
them. She looked around and spotted the camera equipment that Steele had used.
It still blinked a red light. Might it still be on? Still linked to the TV
channels?

She stood and pulled Hunter up with her. "Perhaps we
just have to help Brad out."

"How?" Sam looked in the direction Lucy pointed
and smiled. "Should we tell them?"

Lucy touched Mr. K's seed in her pocket. He had taught her
not to hide secrets, not to hide in order to make things easier.

She nodded. "It's time. Let's give the world the right
story to believe."

Sam looked down at Ana again and whispered something that
Lucy could barely here. "Without faith, there is no trust." She stood
with Lucy. "Let's do it."

They reached the camera and Luke, Hunter, and Drake checked
the controls.

"Ready?" asked Lucy, offering her hand.

Sam shifted the still sleeping Ana to her other hand and
clutched Lucy's. "Ready."

Drake smiled. "Action."

Drake tugged his suit on over his shoulders and adjusted his
bow-tie for the tenth time. He wiped his sweaty palms on his pants and paced
the room. Outside his window, the sun shone on a perfect summer day.

"Dude, relax. You're going to sweat through your
tux." Brad held Ana and cooed her, then placed her back in her crib.
"She's changed and fed. She should last the service."

"Thanks. I owe you."

His best friend smiled. "Yeah, you do. She had a
seriously stinky diaper. What are you feeding that girl?"

Drake laughed, amazed that he had so many people around him
who cared for him and his little family.

Toby plopped on an overstuffed couch in the sitting room,
and started to pull his feet up, but before Drake could chastise him, he
corrected himself and dropped them to the ground. Drake smiled at him and Toby
gave a lopsided grin, then turned away.

Drake messed with his tie again, and Brad sighed and walked
over to help him. "You know, I'm no longer pissed at you."

Brad had been busy with interviews with paranormals,
exposing more secrets in the Rent-A-Kid organization. They'd had to keep quiet
about IPI's involvement, but they were able to tell everything else. Hunter's
promotion had helped grease the wheels on all of that. Now, Brad was back for
awhile, and Drake was happy to have his best friend again.

Drake smiled at him. "Really, why is that?"

"Because you made me your best man. Only a very
intelligent sort of fellow would do that." Brad finished with the tie and
patted his chest. "Now don't touch it, and if you need to wipe your sweaty
hands, use a towel. You're staining your pants."

Drake chuckled, and in a private guy moment, reached out and
hugged Brad. He felt like a beer commercial. "I love you, man."

Toby jumped up. "Yo, it's almost time."

Drake looked in the mirror again. "Right, just give me
a sec, guys, okay?"

Brad and Toby looked at each other, shrugged, and left the
room.

Drake sat down on the floor in the lotus position and took
deep breaths. Lucy had been teaching him some of her techniques, and he found
that he quite liked meditation. He also found that he and Lucy actually got
along well, and had developed a routine of meditating early in the morning
before anyone else got up. It helped him center himself, and gave him a peace
that nothing else could, especially in the absence of surfing.

When he'd first told Sam he didn't want his powers back, he
didn't know what that would feel like for him, long-term. He only knew he
wanted Ana to have everything he could give, and he didn't want to take any
chances in taking them away. Now he realized that the empty feeling he'd had
without them hadn't been because of his powers at all, but because he wasn't
dipping into the right source for his strength. With Lucy's help, he found that
there were many kinds of strength, and he could now feel the energy of everything
around him running through him when he focused.

A knock at the door interrupted him, but he'd settled enough
for now. He rose. "Come in."

Father Patrick entered. "How are you, Son? I just
wanted to see if you needed anything."

Drake hugged the old priest. "Thank you. I'm okay, I
think. Is she still here? Does she still want to marry me?"