The Forbidden Trilogy (82 page)

He released Hunter and threw him to the ground. In the next
instant, his hand extended down into a blade, and with one little push, a drop
of blood formed on Hunter's neck.

She watched helplessly as her boyfriend choked and coughed,
struggling to breathe.

"No!" Fury wrapped itself around that one word and
Beleth stopped.

Slowly, Lucy walked forward, as if stalking a wild animal.
If she could just get her gun, maybe she had a chance. She looked around for
her pack, but Beleth noticed.

"What are you hoping to find?" He lifted up his
other hand from behind his back, revealing her pack. "This?" He
tossed it away and the sphere rolled out of it.

Both Hunter and Beleth registered surprise.

Hunter scrambled back a little, holding his throat.
"NA-1?"

NA-what? Oh crap.
This is so not good.

Beleth turned to Hunter. "You know this object?"

Hunter nodded. "A Russian experiment intent on
amplifying the nervous system, increasing a person's control over their
body."

Beleth smiled, slow and cold. "Correct. As I recall,
IPI had been the first to work on the concept... with limited success. The
Russians brought the project to completion. Your girlfriend stole it."

How could Beleth have known that? Only Mr. K knew she had
the sphere, and Lucy was sure he hadn't told anyone.

Beleth continued, walking closer to Hunter, eyeing the
sphere on the ground as if he wanted to pick it up but couldn't. "It's
unfortunate that she did not tell you of it. Perhaps it would have saved you
now." His hand turned into a black spike aimed at Hunter.

Lightning reflexes gave him an edge in this game, and Hunter
rolled away, dodging the attack. The spike hit the ground and cracked.

Beleth attacked again, while Hunter hopped up to his feet
and dodged each new assault. He shot the spike out again, but Hunter dodged it
and the spike hit the rock, shattering it.

Lucy eyed the sphere. If only she could get to it, perhaps
it could give her more power. How else could she defeat Beleth? He'd kill her
in a heartbeat. She couldn't stop him, except... he wanted her alive.

"If you harm him, I'll never complete our deal!"

"I don't think so. You still have a brother nearby. If
you want him to live, you'll follow through." Beleth turned to Hunter,
formed his hand into a giant sword and charged. "This one's death will
remind you to hurry."

Instead of dodging, Hunter jumped toward his own pack and
grabbed his sword. In a flash it extended to full length and he blocked Beleth,
locking their blades.

Beleth pushed against Hunter's sword. "I know you,
Simmons' dog. You fear to leave your master's leash."

Hunter leaped back, breaking the lock.

Black spidery legs grew from Beleth's back, and he attacked
Hunter and Lucy at the same time.

Lucy fought as best she could, trying to tackle Beleth and
give Hunter a better target, but Beleth lashed out to cut Lucy with his blade
hand.

Hunter threw himself between Beleth and Lucy, blocking the
blow and using his sword to cut into Beleth's chest.

Blood trickled out of his skin. He growled and attacked
Hunter, slashing at his leg and leaving his own trail of blood. "You seem
to care quite a bit for this girl. I must say I'm surprised, and I'm not easily
surprised." Beleth stepped back, assessing the two of them. "I think
I'll let you live, but on one condition: you must help Lucy fulfill her task.
This will require you to choose your loyalties. How much do you love your new
girlfriend?"

Beleth kicked the sphere over to Lucy, and again she had the
distinct impression that Beleth wanted to hold it, but couldn't.

"This sphere may prove useful to you, Lucy, but you
should know that its construction is flawed. It pulls out the darkness in
people, and leeches onto them for life. Keep it for now, but I'll be collecting
it from you before this is over." He gritted his teeth, as if the words
were hard to say.

The spidery legs in his back reshaped themselves into wings.
"Don't trust Simmons. Do what I've said within the next five days. If you
don't, the devastation and death will be blood on your hands." With that,
he took flight.

Lucy held the sphere to her chest, unwilling to meet
Hunter's eyes, wondering if she'd just ruined everything good in her life.

The beautiful morning turned grey as Beleth vanished into
the sky. Heavy clouds threatened to break open and shower rain on them.

Lucy turned to Hunter, whose leg bled into the earth, and
crawled over to him. "I'm so sorry. Are you okay? No, of course you're
not." She held up the sphere. "I could heal you with this. It's how I
healed so fast after the lizard attack."

He grabbed her wrist and pushed the sphere away without
touching it. "Get that thing away from me. Don't you get it? It's
dangerous."

"No, you don't understand. I know how to use it."
She pushed the sphere onto his leg and focused. The pulsing energy flowed
through her, but... it felt off—tainted, somehow.

Hunter moaned and gasped for breath. Wasn't it healing him?
No, it was draining him of energy and giving it to Lucy, just like last time.

She pulled it off of him and examined his wound. It had
gotten worse, the blood flowing faster.

"What the hell did you do to me?" He glared at her
in anger.

She shrunk back and looked down. "I'm sorry. I didn't
mean to hurt you. I was just trying to help."

"You have to get rid of that thing. I can't believe
you've been keeping it in your backpack like some toy. That's a classified and
deadly piece of technology that IPI has been looking for. How did you even get
it?"

Through her shock and fear, she told him about her
assignment in Russia, and about Adam and how he'd given it to her. Her heart
broke as she realized he'd never be okay with her keeping it, because she could
never get rid of it.

Mr. K's voice floated on the wind again. "You've got
company."

Luke ran up to them, out of breath and looking scared.
"Where'd he go? Where's Beleth? Mr. K said you guys were in trouble."

Lucy looked up toward the sky. "He got away, again. I'm
okay, but Hunter is hurt."

"Damn it, I should have been here to help you both...
just like I should have been there last time with the lizard. What are you guys
doing this far out, anyway?" He looked around, noticed their packs and the
raft, and his expression changed as it all clicked into place for him. He
glared at Hunter. "You slept with my sister? What the hell?"

Before Hunter could say anything, and honestly she didn't
know what he would say given how angry he was at her, she spoke up. "I'm
an adult, Luke. Who I sleep with is my business, not yours."

"Fine. Whatever. You two need to get back to camp, now.
Lucy, help your boyfriend walk." Luke stalked off.

Neither of them spoke as Lucy carried their packs and helped
Hunter walk back. She stuffed the sphere in her pack, and Hunter noticed but
didn't say anything where Luke could hear, though his frown spoke volumes.

Once Luke was out of earshot, Hunter started in on her.
"You going to tell Luke, or should I? Maybe together we can convince you
to drop this thing and leave it alone."

"Why do you think you have the right to tell me what to
do? Neither you nor my brother is my boss. It's my life and I can do what I
want. The sphere has helped me more than you could possibly know. It's how we
discovered our shadow powers and how we escaped from Rent-A-Kid. Without this
thing, I'd probably be knocked-up as a breeder in some clinic right now. Is
that what you want?" She turned her shadow power on and pushed into
Hunter's mind. "You will deny any knowledge of this to my brother."

As soon as she said it, her gut tightened into a knot and
she knew she'd messed up big time.

Hunter's face fell. "I thought we had something
special, Lucy, that we were building a trust between us. I shared so much with
you, but now, I'm just not sure where we stand."

He limped away on his own, leaving Lucy crestfallen and
miserable.

As if to add to her mood, large drops of rain fell from the
sky, drenching her. She pulled the sphere out of her pack and clutched it close
to her. The pulse that once comforted and soothed her now felt hollow and fake,
like a drug that promised escape but only landed her in a bigger pile of shit.

In the tree beside her, a spider web swayed in the wind and
hung heavy with water drops. She stared, transfixed by the elegant pattern
woven by the spider. Another gust of wind tore through the masterpiece and, in
a heartbeat, ripped a hole into it, shredding what must have taken hours of
hard work to create.

Just as she had torn a hole in the fabric of her life, with
choices made in the heat of the moment—forcing Mr. K and Hunter to lie for her,
carrying around something that was clearly causing harm to those she loved. Her
choices had hurt others.

Lucy swore to fix her mistakes and make right what she had
ruined.

First thing, she needed to get rid of the sphere. Even the
thought of that sent a spike of pain through her heart, but she didn't care.
She couldn't keep ignoring her problems and using the sphere to make everything
feel better.

As the rain poured down on her, she walked next to a tree
and lifted a large rock from the earth. Bugs and worms crawled out from under
it, and she nearly lost her nerve, but she refused to make another excuse. She
squinched-up her face in disgust and kicked as many of the bugs away as she
could, then used her bare hands to dig a hole. The sphere pulsed in her pocket,
and she brought it out, relief and euphoria rushing into her at the contact.
She pushed the sphere into the ground and covered it with dirt. Heaviness
weighed down her body with each movement, but she endured, committed to
carrying out this task.

Once she'd buried the sphere, she lifted the rock and
prepared to drop it back into its spot, but a wave of agony racked her body.
The rock fell from her hands, and she landed on her knees and cried out. The
pulsing of the sphere no longer sent her energy; it now sucked the life out of
her. Rain poured over her face and clouded her vision. She swiped at her eyes
and stood again, refusing to give in.

Again, with rock heavy in hand, she leaned over the new
grave, and again her body convulsed in pain. But she wouldn't cry out for
Hunter, nor for Luke; this was her mess, and she had to clean it up alone.

Once again she picked up the rock, and fought through the
pain as she dropped it over the sphere. As soon as the rock landed, the pain
stopped. She collapsed in relief, but it was a brief respite. She wasn't done
mending fences.

Back at the camp, Hunter sat alone in the rain.

She fought the compulsion not to speak to him, and sat down
next to him. "I'm sorry. I never should have used that on you without your
permission, and I should have told you about it a long time ago. I'm going to
tell my brother the truth, after we get done talking."

Hunter looked at her, his face still hard and angry.
"I'm glad to hear it."

"Also, I got rid of it. After you left, I buried it
under a big rock. It nearly killed me, but I did it. It's gone now. Can you
forgive me?" Tears stung her eyes.

He reached for her hand and held it in his. "I'm glad
you did the right thing. I'm sorry I got so upset, but you scared the hell out
of me. I don't want to lose you, Lucy, and I can't stand the thought of
something like that hurting you."

They sat like that for several minutes, before Hunter stood.
"I need to get some rest. I'll see you later, okay? We'll talk more."

Before he could walk away, Lucy grabbed him and kissed him
with everything in her. He didn't respond at first, but then his body spoke for
him. He pulled her closer to him and deepened the kiss, until they were both
left panting.

Lucy traced his lips with her fingers. "We aren't done
yet, but there's one more person I have to apologize to."

Hunter kissed her nose and let her go. "We were never
done, Lucy. I still love you. That never changed."

Soaking wet and feeling hungry and tired, Lucy went in
search of Luke and found him sitting on a log. She sat next to him and noticed
that the rain wasn't coming down quite so hard anymore. The sky cleared enough
to show them a dazzling image of the sun reflected in the water, creating a
magnificent rainbow—a symbol of new beginnings and second chances.

Luke scooted over on his log so Lucy could get more
comfortable. "How you feeling, Luce?"

"I'm fine. Hunter's still hurt, but I think he'll be
okay too. Listen, Luke, I'm sorry I blew you off earlier. You're right, you
have
been the one and only person who's always had my back, ever since we were
kids. Even Sam hasn't been there for me the way you have. What Hunter and I
have, it's special. I don't regret being with him last night, and I need you to
accept that. He's saved me and protected me multiple times, putting his own
life in danger in the process. What more proof do you need that he cares for
me?"

Luke nodded. "Do you love him?"

"Yes."

"Does he feel the same?"

"Yes."

Luke turned to face her. "I just don't want to see you
getting hurt. But you're right: he's been good to you. I'm not sure why it's so
hard for me to trust him. Maybe it's just hard to trust anyone right now,
considering all the things we've gone through, you know? There's a whole world
out there we haven't even seen, not as free citizens. Just don't rush into
anything."

"I'm not. I mean, I know my own heart, and I
am
an adult now. You don't need to keep protecting me."

He threw his arm around her shoulder. "That 'aint never
going to change, Sis. You'll have to live with it."