The MORE Trilogy (78 page)

“So you’re going to turn a kid over to them? You know w—”

“No, I’m not!” Tiernan shouted as he kicked his bike a little too hard and had to reach out to steady it. He took a deep breath to calm himself and spoke in a quiet, steady voice. “I’m not, but he’ll need a safe place.”

“I can get you one,” Gideon said quickly.

Tiernan scrubbed a hand over his shaved head. “The Council’s not going to be happy that I let him slip through my fingers.”

“You sure you know what you’re doing?”

Tiernan laughed. “No. You?”

He heard Gideon chuckle. “Not really, but one thing at a time. Get the kid, and I’ll get you the location of a safe house. You have to keep him out of the Council’s hands. At least until we get them on our side.”

“I’m still not convinced that’s going to happen.”

“Yeah, well. Hate to say it, but that’s on you, too. At least for now.”

No pressure
.

“Thanks.” Tiernan glanced up and down the quiet street—even the lawn mower and the yappy dog had gone silent. “I’ll call you when I have him,” he said, jogging toward the house as he hung up the phone and stuffed it in his pocket.

He would have preferred to wait for dark, but with this new development, he didn’t have the luxury.

He just hoped Isaiah Bennett wasn’t a screamer.

Ava wasn’t sure what exactly led her out to the playground so late that evening. The moon was full, lighting the path as her breath frosted before her. A cold blast forced her to huddle deeper into her winter coat, cramming her gloved hands in the pockets.

The Colony grounds were all but deserted, everyone escaping the chill either in their own quarters or in the common room, laughing over hot chocolate and board games. Some had already left the Colony altogether, headed for safe houses picked out by Gideon personally. The rest would be moved within a week or two. After that, it was on to New Elysia, if everything went as planned. If everything went as they hoped. Nobody talked about what would happen if the Council refused them. They knew there really wasn’t any other option.

Ava rounded a corner and was surprised by exactly how unsurprised she was to see a familiar figure on the swings, her feet dragging along the ground. Perhaps Ava had finally become accustomed to her Race intuition, or maybe she knew how Sophie was feeling. Ava had spent a lot of time on that same swing considering her life and her options. To find her half sister doing the same thing spoke to either the power of genetics or the simple draw of childhood comforts when dealing with adult problems.

Nothing beats a swing for clear thinking
.

Sophie looked up as Ava took the swing next to her, watching as she pushed with her feet to twist the chain over her head.

“How are you doing?” Ava asked.

Sophie sighed. “Well, that . . . that’s a question.”

Ava laughed as she picked up her feet and let the swing spin one way, then the other, before bouncing to a jerky stop. “It’s a lot to take in. I know.”

“How did you deal with it?”

Ava smiled and shrugged. “Not well, to be honest.”

“I just . . . I’ve gone through my whole life knowing who I am—who I
thought
I was. Even if that person wasn’t perfect. Even if that life wasn’t perfect. And now . . .”

Ava pushed off the ground and started to swing. “And now you feel like you don’t know who you are. You don’t even feel like you’re in control of your own life. Like you’re some pawn in this global chess game and somebody else is running the board.”

“Yes!” Sophie exclaimed, shoving with her feet and leaning back as she matched Ava’s rhythm. “It’s frustrating. Disconcerting.”

“Terrifying.”

Sophie didn’t respond, dropping her gaze to the ground.

They glided back and forth for a while with nothing but echoing squeaks from the swings’ chains and the sweep of their feet on the gravel breaking the silence.

“I’m not even sure what I’m supposed to do,” Sophie said finally, her voice almost a whisper.

“What do you want to do?”

Sophie’s gaze sharpened. “Like I have a choice?”

“Of course you have a choice.” Ava planted her feet and faced her sister, a kind of indignant rage simmering up her spine. “Nobody is going to make you do anything,” she said. “
You
are in charge here. This is
your
life. It doesn’t matter who your father is or where you came from. Borré may have mixed up some crap in a petri dish, but that is not
you.
”

Sophie straightened, her chin lifting. “And if I decide to go home? To pretend all this never happened?”

Ava sighed. “Well, you have that option.” She shrugged.

“But this Council will find me eventually. Or the Rogues.”

“Most likely.” Sophie’s despondency and confusion raced across their link, and Ava hastened to reassure her. “Right now, right here, you’re safe.”

“It’s not all about
me
.”

“They’ll find Isaiah. He’ll be okay.”

“And then what?” Sophie’s eyes sparkled with unshed tears in the moonlight. “What will we do?”

Ava yanked off a glove and reached out to take Sophie’s hand, feeling her power in the touch. “You’ll decide if you want to ask Gideon to protect you. He’ll keep you and Isaiah together in a safe house and then, hopefully, if we get this alliance with the Council, you’ll be able to stay in New Elysia until this is all over.”

Sophie clenched her jaw. “Or?”

“Or.” Ava squeezed her hand and released it. “Or you fight. You come with us when we try to take down Borré and the Rogues. We’ll need all the help we can get.”

Sophie nodded and swiped at her eyes. “I don’t like the idea of hiding, but I need to protect my brother.”

“He’ll be safe. No matter what you decide, he’ll be safe. You can trust these people.”

Sophie took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Well, first things first, right? What can you tell me about this block?”

Ava frowned, remembering the moment Emma lifted her block in this very same spot—the feeling of power. Of freedom.

Before it all went so wrong
.

“Gideon says we’ll need to find someone to lift it the rest of the way. Hopefully, there will be someone in New Elysia.”

“Does it hurt?”

Ava swallowed, unsure if she should tell her sister the whole story. “Not really. Not when it’s lifted.”

Sophie raised a brow. “But?”

Ava chewed on her lip, debating. “I need to tell you this. You need to know what you’re getting into. But I have to ask—this has to stay between us, at least for now, okay?”

Sophie half laughed. “Who am I going to tell?”

“Just . . . nobody can know. Not even Caleb. Not yet.”

Sophie’s eyes were dark in the dim light of the moon, and Ava couldn’t even see the hazel gold that matched her own. But they were earnest, honest, when Sophie said, “All right.”

Ava cleared her throat, unsure where to start. “Since the block’s been lifted, I’m able to do . . . a lot. A lot more than before. It freed up all my Race gifts, and they’re, well, not to toot my own horn, but they’re pretty incredible.” She grinned, and Sophie returned the gesture. “But there’s something wrong, too.”

Sophie sobered. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not sure why exactly, but I get these headaches . . . nosebleeds. It’s only when I push myself, use my gifts too much, for the most part. Although, lately, it seems to be getting worse.”

“And you think . . . you think the same thing will happen to me?”

“I don’t know. Not really,” Ava replied. “But Emma said—she told me that Borré could stop it. That it happened to the others, but he could help.”

“The others. You mean the others like us?”

Ava nodded. “I don’t know how, and I don’t know why. I haven’t told anybody what Emma said. Only Talia, the Guardian healer, knows how bad my symptoms have gotten. She’s been helping me manage them.”

“But you said Gideon is trustworthy. Shouldn’t you tell him? Maybe he could—”

“No. He can’t.” Ava yanked herself to her feet and kicked at the gravel. “He’s already said whatever’s happening to me is beyond what they can deal with here. My only hope for answers is in New Elysia. Their medical facilities are better. They have doctors there who might be able to figure things out.”

“And if they can’t?” Sophie watched her intently, obviously expecting the answer.

“Then the only one who can help me—help
us
, possibly—is Elias Borré,” she said. “So, in more ways than one, it looks like we’re in this together.”

Chapter 5

“Focus on the leaf. See each rib, each vein.” Audrey’s soothing familiar voice lulled Ava as she guided Sophie through the training exercise. It wasn’t long ago that Ava had done the same thing, although sometimes it seemed as though it had been another lifetime.

Everything in the Colony was sparse and efficient, and the living quarters were no exception. Ava sat at the kitchen table of the small eat-in off Audrey’s humble living room, quietly observing. Caleb had disappeared before dawn, so she’d agreed to go with Sophie, not only to distract herself from wondering where he was but also for moral support. Ava seemed to be failing at that, however, as Sophie threw her hands up after only a few minutes.

“It’s not working. I don’t see anything. Just a stupid leaf.” She tossed the offending flora onto the table to emphasize the point.

“It didn’t work for me either, at first,” Ava said. “You have to be patient.”

The room chilled, and Ava tucked her hands up into the sleeves of her sweater. “You need to get a handle on that, too, by the way,” she said with a wry twist of her lips.

Sophie took a deep breath, closed her eyes for a moment, and the cold dissipated. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Ava replied, reaching out to touch her arm briefly. “Your control’s getting better already.”

“She’s right,” Audrey said with an encouraging smile. “Pyros and cryos typically have more difficulty with their gifts since they are so closely tied to their emotional state. You’re really doing very well.”

“But that’s it.” Sophie sat back in her chair and picked up the leaf, twirling it in her fingers. “I have my freeze ray, or whatever, but nothing else that you say I should have. No super senses or speed or strength. I’m just a human air conditioner.”

“For
now
,” Ava said. “Once the block is lifted—”

“
If
the block is lifted,” Sophie interjected.

“If the block is lifted,” Ava relented. “You’ll probably get it all. Like me.”

They exchanged a significant look, both realizing exactly what that entailed.

“Perhaps we should set this aside for a bit,” Audrey said, tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear. “You’re making progress with your cryokinetic ability, so maybe we should focus on that.” She stood up and motioned toward the door. “Not in here, though. I’d prefer to keep any snowstorms out of doors, if you please.”

Sophie rolled her eyes but the tension in her shoulders eased, and the three of them grabbed their coats and made their way outside toward the training field.

The field had been cleared of blocks and cones—even the obstacle course had been dismantled in anticipation of the Colony move. The damage Ava had wrought when she’d first unveiled her power had been cleaned up for the most part, the fence repaired and grass starting to grow over the cracks in the ground, but she still felt a wave of guilt when she walked through the gate.

Audrey seemed to sense her discontent and reached out to squeeze her hand. “No point living in the past,” she said quietly as they reached the center of the field, and she turned her attention to Sophie. “All right, your gift seems to be threefold. You can affect the temperature around you. You can apparently condense the moisture in the air, creating miniature snowstorms, for lack of a better word.”

“Don’t forget the ice balls,” Ava said, grinning at Sophie. “Those are pretty awesome, you know, when they’re not flying at your head.”

Sophie laughed, deep and loud. “Well, that’s more of a reflex, actually.”

“And that’s what we need to work on,” Audrey said. “I’ve only worked with a couple of cryos, but like most Race gifts, it comes down to focus.”