The Forbidden Trilogy (84 page)

"He's our way out. He can fly us back up to the island
and to where the others are waiting. We've run out of time and we have to save
those kids."

Luke kept looking from Lucy to the beetle and back.
"How'd you do it? How'd you train it?"

"I didn't train it. I connected with it through
meditation and it agreed to help us."

Hunter raised a skeptical eyebrow. "It
agreed
to
help us? Did you get that in writing?"

She mock punched him. "Don't be a downer. Do you have
any better suggestions for escape?"

He didn't say anything—because they all knew he had no
better ideas. None of them did. This was the only way.

Mr. K's branches slumped, and Lucy could feel sadness pour
from him. "Guys, I have to go talk to Mr. K. Can you pack up our stuff and
get ready to go?"

Resigned, Hunter nodded.

Luke was already sneaking up to the beetle to get a closer
look.

Lucy grinned at him, then sobered when she thought about Mr.
K. His branches wrapped around her and caressed her in hugs as she approached
him. "You heard?"

"Yes. I felt the moment you connected with the beetle.
Seems I taught you too well, and now you're going to leave me."

For the first time, she felt the buried secret. He'd known
she could do this and hadn't told her. "How could you keep this from me?
You said there was no way out."

"I said that if I told you the way out, you wouldn't be
able to do it. And you wouldn't have. You had to learn these lessons before you
could have done what you did."

That made sense, but still.... "I knew how to do this
for a few days now."

"I'm sorry. I should have told you then, but I can't
stand to be alone again. Having you three here has made my life so full and
happy. The thought of this empty valley, void of any human interaction, is just
too much."

She couldn't imagine what it would be like to be left behind
like this, to have to live this way forever. "I understand, but you need
to know that there are more lives on the line than just ours—kids and babies
who need saving. We can't stay." She caressed his bark cheek and wondered
if tree people could cry.

"I know. I've been the worst kind of selfish. You must
go, and I'm so proud of you for figuring it out on your own."

"You know, Mr. K, you're the one who taught me that
none of us is ever really alone. We're all connected."

He closed his eyes. "And so the student has become the
teacher." When he opened them again, they seemed brighter than before.
"Will you tell Sam that I miss her, and that I'm sorry about what
Rent-A-Kid did to her? Tell her I would have done anything to protect and help
her."

Lucy didn't want to think about having to tell Sam what had
happened to Mr. K. Then an idea occurred to her. Sam could pick up on thoughts,
and Lucy had learned to focus her energy to connect with other beings. What
if...?

Drake sat beside me, and Darren sat in the next row up. Both
kept trying to engage me in conversation, and neither could take the hint that
their efforts to claim me—like a prize won at a fair—didn't interest me.

I rested my forehead against the window and regretted
picking the inside seat. The flight to Oahu, Hawaii, had so far been a
miserable experience, and I gave serious consideration to locking myself in the
bathroom.

"Guys, I'm—"

Before I finished my sentence, my mind filled with another
consciousness. It felt similar to the way the Seeker had hijacked me before,
but more familiar and gentler.

Darren reached over the seat to touch my hand. "Sam,
are you okay?"

Drake had my other hand. "What's wrong, Babe?"

I pulled my hands free and listened to the voice in my head.

'Sam, can you hear me?'

"Oh, my God, it's Lucy. Be quiet."

"Yes, I can hear you. Are you okay? How are you
doing this? Where are you?"

Lucy laughed inside my head.
'One question at a time.
"How" is a long story, so I'll tell you later, as I'm not sure how
long I can hold this." Where" is also a long story, but I'm okay, and
so is Luke. We're going to be back on track to saving the kids soon.'

"Lucy, listen. Steele—that's my father's name—he
took Ana. I think she's there with the other kids. We're on our way to you and
will be there to help. Luce, he has my baby!"

'Oh God, Sam, I'm so sorry. Don't worry, we'll save her.
She'll be okay. I've grown close to an IPI Agent who will do everything he can
to help us, and he has some serious skills. But listen, there's someone here
who wants to talk to you before we lose this connection.'

Another awareness filled me, this one more expansive and
wild, and tinged with familiarity, but I couldn't place it—until he spoke.

'Sam, it's me: Mr. K. I'm so sorry I couldn't protect
you. I heard about the pregnancy and your baby being taken. I'm sorry.'

Tears filled my eyes.
"What are you doing with Lucy?
What's happened to you?"

'No time for that now. She'll explain it all after this
mess is done. But Sam, I need you to know something. You're the best of the
best. I've never met anyone in all my life with your talent for art. You see
into the soul of the world and capture it on canvas. Don't ever stop. You have
much to give with your art. And don't become so hard inside that you lose that
view of the world, no matter what they did to you. Stay open to life. Stay
bendable, like a reed in the wind. Otherwise, they win. Don't let them mold you
into themselves. Stay true to you in all you do. I also wanted to say goodbye
and tell you I never left you there on purpose. I never would have done that to
you.'

Recent events had hardened me, but I
needed
to be
hard to rescue my daughter. Nothing else mattered until I had her back. But how
I longed to embrace his wisdom and find a normal life to settle into.

"Oh, Mr. K, what happened to you? I missed you. I
thought you were dead. And, I was focusing on my art, but now, all that matters
is my daughter. I have to save her. I don't know who I'll be when this is over,
but I promise not to give up."

Lucy and Mr. K pulled away, the connection weakening.
"Goodbye,
Mr. K,
" I said.
"Lucy, we'll be there soon."

Tears streamed from my eyes as the connection closed. I
ignored both Drake and Darren as Mr. K's words rolled through my mind. Could I
ever open myself to the world the way I had before, or had that part of me died
when Rent-A-Kid took my innocence?

Lucy swiped at the tears on her face and knew that Mr. K
would be crying too, if he could. "I'm sorry I couldn't hold onto the
connection longer. I'm surprised I was able to do it at all."

"There's much we can do when we stop believing things
are impossible."

She wrapped her arms around Mr. K's trunk and hugged him.
"I'm going to miss you. When this is over, maybe we can find a way to dig
you up and transport you to our property in Washington."

The idea seemed to cheer him, and he smiled. "I'd like
that. In the meantime, would you do me a favor? Would you take a seed of mine
and keep it with you?"

"Of course. I'd be honored." She plucked from his
branches a small purse of the tiny seeds, and secured it in one of the leg
pockets of her cargo pants. "I'll keep them safe and plant them back home.
Then, when you come, it'll be like having family there."

His branches swatted her gently, and he laughed a low, sad
laugh. "Yes, that sounds fine."

Luke called from their camp. "All packed up, Luce. Time
to go."

He and Hunter came through the branches to say their own
goodbyes to Mr. K.

After they did their manly tree version of hugging, Mr. K
smiled. "Luke, keep up the singing and take care of your sister. You're
turning into a fine man that I'm proud to have known. Hunter, it's been a
pleasure to meet you. Take care of our Lucy, and know that someday your quest
will end, and a new one shall begin."

His words puzzled Lucy, but Hunter nodded solemnly, so she
didn't pry. It probably had something to do with Hunter's quest to avenge his
father's death.

The three of them walked to the giant beetle. It had
finished all the fruit and lay contentedly in the sun. With backpacks strapped
on, they climbed aboard and held tight as the beetle walked, then ran, then
finally flew.

"Sam, what happened?"

Sam just sat there, eyes closed, saying nothing. Tears ran
down her cheeks.

Drake wanted to shove Darren out of the way, but that
wouldn't end well for anyone.

Sam's eyes opened, and she scowled at them both. "Back
up, guys. I'm fine. Lucy communicated with me." She looked at the group
that had formed around the three of them. "I don't know where they are,
but the mission's finally back on track. She knows we're coming. I also talked
to an old friend." A slight smile played across her lips. "Anyway,
once we get to Hawaii, we'll work with them to create a plan."

Drake tried to make eye contact, but she refused to look at
him. He fought down his anger. What did he have to do to win back her love and
trust? At least she had good news and wasn't under mental attack.

"I'm glad they're okay," he said, "and that
we'll have help when we get there. Even with all of our powers, pulling this
off without casualties is going to be tricky. The IPI team and the twins will
get us into the compound, but I'm still not sure how we're going to defeat
Steele. Sam, maybe we can link and fight him like we did Dr. Pana? That might
be enough, if we can get past his shields. I don't know."

She shrugged and looked away.

Gary and Greg went back to their seats and talked quietly.
Robyn and Norm held hands and stared out the window, lost in thought. Mary sat
alone reading a book. And Darren sat as close as he could get to Sam without
sitting on her lap.

Drake made another attempt to engage her in conversation.
"So, did Lucy have anything else to say?"

She shook her head and continued flipping through the
magazine in her hands. "Nope. It was a short talk. Hard to keep the
connection going."

"Ah." What else could he say? Should he apologize
more? Talk about his time in jail? Was any of that appropriate right now?
Probably
not.
Sam was clearly only focused on Ana, and rightly so, but Drake
couldn't help but wonder what would happen when this was all over.

He settled for the basics. "I'm going to get a
sandwich. Would you like something to eat?"

She started to shake her head, but then her stomach
grumbled. "Um, sure. Thanks."

That should have made her laugh, or at least smile. Drake
didn't recognize this new Sam, so hardened and focused.
Did I do this to
her?

He walked to the fridge. The sandwiches were stacked in two
rows of five each, and they all looked the same, so he grabbed two off the top,
and two sodas.

They ate their food in silence, and he wondered if she was
thinking of him at all, or if Darren had become more important to her than he
realized. He'd been gone for a few months, and a lot could happen in that time.

Sam finished, and he collected her trash and stood. "Do
want anything more to drink?"

"No, thank you." She leaned her head against the
window and closed her eyes, so he left to find a garbage bin and grab another
drink for himself.

He felt eyes on him as he walked down the aisle of the
plane. Sam's friends didn't trust him and didn't want him here. Their anger and
fear smothered him.

He shook it off, opened the refrigerator, and noticed only
seven sandwiches where there should have been eight.
Weird
. He hadn't
seen anyone but he and Sam eat one. He shrugged and went back to his seat,
wishing Brad had come. The two of them could have had fun.
Maybe I just have
to make friends with the people here.
Getting Sam's friends to like him
might help win her over.

What would he do after they saved Ana? Stay at the mansion
and help out at the school? He thought about his surfing and how much he missed
the ocean. It would be hard to give all that up. He could do a little surfing
in Washington, but nothing competitive—not unless he traveled a lot. But he
couldn't keep leaving. He had to be there to raise Ana. Whether Sam wanted him
back or not, he would not abandon his daughter. He might be a crappy dad now,
but he would learn.

He could take Ana to the beach and to parks. They would go
biking and surfing together as she got older. But in his mind, his presence
felt superimposed, like a Photoshopped version of his life. Not like the real
him, the screwed-up lost cause.

His eyes got heavy as he thought about it all, and he faded
into sleep.

***

He's in a burning building. Toby runs from him, and Drake
knows it's his fault. Something he did to the boy made him run. He almost
catches up when a wooden beam falls on Drake and pins him to the ground.

He reaches for his last vials, but purple stains his
pocket. He licks the liquid off his fingers, desperate for even a fraction of
his power, enough to push away the wooden beam and save Toby. He's useless
without his powers.

Nothing.

The beam crushes Drake's lungs. He pushes against them,
but the effort is futile.

Beyond Drake's reach, Toby runs, but flames rise up
around him. The boy's screams are terrible as the fire consumes him, while
Drake lies there—trapped, useless.

***

The plane's wheels hit the ground and jolted Drake awake. In
a panic, he looked around as if he'd lost something: Toby. Toby was fine; he
was back at the mansion, but something tickled the back of Drake's mind.