The MORE Trilogy (70 page)

Ava looked deeper . . . inside.
 

Just like the bear.

She rooted under and around, through skin, muscle, and sinew, searching for Caleb’s most vulnerable places. The tender spots that would get him to
stop.
To
listen.
To
understand
.

“No
 . . .
” He was quieter. No longer shouting.
 

That’s good.

“Ava. End this! “

Ava faltered when she felt his power. It seemed so familiar, somehow.
 

Peaceful.

It sparked memories of soft touches and warm smiles. It reached out to her, curling tendrils tingling with warmth tracing over her skin. She could see
 . . .

“Kill him!”

His heart. Beating so slowly now.
His power pulled away from her . . . reluctant, almost pleading.

“No
 . . .
”

His
heart.

“No . . . I can’t.”

Her
heart.

“Kill him!”

“No!” Ava whirled on Emma, and the girl flew across the clearing and landed in the dirt with a grunt. Without waiting another second, Ava ran to Caleb and threw herself into his arms.

“Ava, no!” Emma shrieked as she staggered to her feet, shaking off her surprise and reaching out to Ava with her gift. “You can’t!”

“Caleb.” Ava sobbed, her head tucked into his neck as she clung to him. “Please
 . . .
”

Without wasting another second, Caleb wrapped her in his arms and shifted them away.

Chapter 15

Ava’s knees buckled when they hit solid ground, and Caleb was no better, both of them slumping to the damp grass in a pile of limbs. He drew a deep breath, and she felt him shudder before pulling her gift back enough to release him.
 

“I’m sorry
 . . .
” Ava’s mind swam with confusion—thoughts of Emma, her
sister
, Caleb . . . blurry images of what she’d done, and the world tilted on its axis as Emma’s compulsion weakened.

Hands turned her over, examining her for injuries, and Ava realized for the first time that they were back at the Colony, and they weren’t alone. Gideon hovered over her with Tiernan, the sky lightening slowly behind them and casting their faces in shadow.
 

“What happened?” Gideon asked. “Whatever you were doing set off warning bells with Simeon—our sensor,” he told Ava when she looked at him blankly. “Good lord, Ava, you’re covered in blood.”

“I’m fine,” she said, her voice wrecked and raspy as she wiped at her nose. The flow had lessened considerably.

“It’s Emma.” Caleb coughed, sitting up and holding his ribs. “She’s a Rogue. About a quarter mile due east.” He gasped out the words, gingerly lifting an arm to point in the direction of the trail.
 

“On it,” Tyra said, already gathering men and weapons and heading off through the woods.
 

Tiernan shot another worried glance Ava’s way before joining the group.

Gideon helped Caleb to his feet, wincing at his pained whimper. “Are you all right?”
 

“Fine. Few cracked ribs, I think, but they’re already healing.” He didn’t look in Ava’s direction.

She felt sick. Things were beginning to fall into place now that the cloud of Emma’s influence was lifting. She’d believed what Emma told her, felt it true to the very core of her being.

She’d hurt Caleb.
 

Gideon turned to help Ava, and Caleb snapped, “Be careful.”

“I’m not going to hurt her.”

Ava’s heart sank when Caleb flushed and looked away. “He’s not worried about you hurting me. It’s the other way around,” she said flatly, getting to her feet and swaying at a rush of dizziness. “Emma influenced me, but I’m all right now.”

Kind of.
 

Ava wondered if she’d ever truly be all right again. The thought of someone tampering with her so intimately, so powerfully—she felt violated and ashamed.
 

“Better get Adam, just in case.” Caleb still wouldn’t look at her.

“I said I’m fine!”

“How are we supposed to know that for sure?” Caleb asked, nodding at Gideon as he called Adam back over the radio. “I’ve been under Emma’s control. It’s not an easy thing to escape.”

“Well, I’m not trying to kill you, am I?” Ava shouted, and her face crumpled as she broke out in sobs and collapsed back down into the grass. She was so tired. Her head ached, throbbing pain with every heartbeat. Breathing was a chore.
 

It was only a moment before Caleb’s warm arms encircled her, his gift reaching for hers just as his body did.
 

She slumped into his chest, whimpering, “I’m sorry . . . I’m so sorry
 . . .
” over and over again.

He murmured reassuring things as he rubbed her back with big, warm strokes. She couldn’t decipher the words, but they soothed her nonetheless. Eventually, she calmed, sniffling quietly into Caleb’s strength as he told his father an abbreviated version of what had happened.

“Sisters,” Gideon muttered—again—as he helped Caleb get Ava to her feet, the two of them practically carrying her limp body inside.
 

She shivered, the warmth of the common building a welcome relief. “Half sisters,” she said coldly, and Caleb chuckled.
 

“Good to see you’re back,” he said.

Ava still couldn’t laugh about it, but she forced a small smile, leaning into him and inhaling his comforting scent. “Are you sure you’re all right?” she asked.

He leaned down to kiss the top of her head. “I’m fine. Barely feel it anymore.” He twisted a little as proof once they entered Gideon’s office.
 

Ava spotted a futon along one wall and claimed it for her own. Caleb sat next to her and drew her close as Gideon paced.

“So you’re a part of this grand plan of Borré’s.” He fumbled in a cabinet for a jar of R-cubes and tossed it to Caleb, who took a couple for himself and handed two to Ava. “And there are ten more of you,” Gideon said.
 

“I’m not part of any plan,” Ava said stubbornly and popped the cubes into her mouth as if that ended all conversation on that topic. “There’s no way I’ll help the Rogues.”

“Sorry, wrong choice of words,” Gideon said distractedly, obviously still lost in his own thoughts. “But somehow you broke free of her control.”

“I could feel her,” Ava said finally, the memories clarifying the more she thought about them. “I could feel her doing it, but somehow . . . I didn’t care. But when Caleb—” She brushed at her eyes, swallowing thickly. “I could tell something was wrong, but I couldn’t break free, not entirely.”

“Ava’s mind has always been exceptionally strong,” Caleb said, his low voice lulling her. “I couldn’t blur her memories for any length of time, and my compulsion never stuck. And that was before the block was lifted. Once I shifted her far enough away, it seemed like Emma couldn’t maintain the link.” His voice held a hint of pride.
 

Pride Ava felt was unwarranted. “Or maybe she gave up when she realized we’d go after her.”

Gideon’s radio beeped as if on cue, and he answered gruffly. Ava wasn’t surprised to hear the report that Emma had vanished.
 

She sighed, Caleb’s fingers stroking her arm and relaxing her. She yawned, and he pulled her down so her head rested in his lap. The cubes dulled the headache—barely—but she was still so tired.

She fell asleep with Gideon ordering a search of the forest and Caleb’s fingers in her hair.

Ava’s stomach rumbled, but she couldn’t bring herself to eat. She sat between Tiernan and Caleb in the common room, huddled over sandwiches and lukewarm coffee, and she toyed with the bread, breaking off pieces and crumbling them between her fingers. She’d slept for a couple of hours curled up with Caleb on the futon, and she almost felt back to normal.

Almost.

Her head still throbbed a little, a reminder of the huge output of power she’d displayed. Caleb assured her they’d figure it out, but Emma’s words haunted her.
 

“Once we get home, back to Father, It won’t hurt anymore.”

Her father. A Rogue bent on taking over the world.
 

Perfect.

Tiernan waved a hand in front of her face, and she looked up to see him watching her carefully. “You sure you’re all right?” he asked.

“I wish people would stop asking me that,” she grumbled but then sighed heavily. “I’m fine. Just a bit overwhelmed by it all, you know? Not every day you find out you were created for world domination.”

Tiernan snorted. “Think pretty highly of yourself for someone who couldn’t even move a training block until a few days ago.”

“Yeah, well, I can sure do it now.” She eyed him, the challenge clear in her gaze. “You want to try me?”
 

Tiernan laughed, but it was Caleb who spoke. “Probably best not to push yourself until we figure out the headaches and nosebleeds,” he said. She knew what he wasn’t saying. They had no idea if there was any lasting damage, or if there would be.

“Not to mention the little fact that I’m still wanted for murder,” she said with a grimace, shoving her plate away.

“I think it’s safe to assume the Rogues are behind that as well.”
 

“But why? What could they possibly hope to gain?”

He shrugged. “Pretty simple, actually. To limit your options. You can’t go home. You
won’t
go to the Council. Reveal the Colony to the Protector”—he eyed Tiernan— “or to the
Council,
and you have no place here as well. You have nowhere to go but to them.”

“But I’m not going to reveal the Colony’s location,” Tiernan said, leaning back in his chair. “I suppose they didn’t account for that.”
 

“Which means the plan isn’t foolproof,” Caleb said. “They are ahead of us, though. From what Emma said, I think they may already hold the key to what’s happening to Ava, physically.”

“Well, we better figure it out soon,” Tiernan said before swallowing the last of his sandwich and washing it down with coffee. “We’re going to need Ava to go up against the Rogues. Especially if there are more of her out there.”

“Not more
of
her,” Gideon said, taking the seat across from Ava. “Others
like
her.”

Caleb nodded and shared knowledge from his time with the Rogues. “Borré is the father of all of them, but they all have different mothers. Each woman was carefully screened and chosen for her unique gifts in an effort to pass those gifts on to the offspring.”

“So he created an army of superior Race, each with different abilities?” Tiernan asked.

Gideon nodded. “It makes sense. They’d work together, each having a role in his plan.”

Ava groaned, her head falling forward to clunk on the table and narrowly missing her plate. “It’s so ridiculous. Like a comic book. He made a Justice League, only with villains.”

“You’re not a villain,” Caleb said.

“So not the point.” She stood up, throwing her hands in the air. “Don’t you get it? This was all part of his insane plan. Every single bit of it—us finding the Rogue lair
 . . .
” She shot a glance at Tiernan. “Getting Emma . . . that’s why it was so easy, you know? The whole mess with Caleb and Borré’s escape—probably even Borré getting captured in the first place! He’s played us like pawns in his little game, and I’m sick of it!” She collapsed back into the chair at the thought of Officer Simmons. “People have died—
are
dying—and all because of some twisted plan to manipulate me.”

“It didn’t work.” Caleb reached for her hand.
 

“Regardless,” Gideon said, “it looks like the time has come for them to collect these . . . Twelve . . . and put their plan in motion. The good part is—”

“There’s a good part?” Ava knew she sounded like a child. She didn’t care.

Gideon shook his head slightly. “The good part is that Ava’s shown us The Twelve aren’t puppets. They have to either be lured to the cause or compelled—which would be difficult to do if they’re all as strong as Ava. Perhaps that’s something Borré hadn’t counted on.”