04 Last (3 page)

I gave in to the look. I didn’t feel like arguing with it. I told him the details of the dream. He listened in complete silence, keeping his hand on my face for comfort. When I was finished, he was thoughtful for a different reason. He stood and started pacing the small space between the wall and the door. I pulled my legs off the ground and crossed them on the bed, to give him room. He put his hands behind his back and lowered his head thoughtfully as he walked.

“You sure it was New York?” he asked.

“You lived there, too. Wouldn’t you know it if you saw it?” I asked.

Daniel nodded in agreement, trusting my ability to remember a city street.

“You didn’t see any kind of date or event going on that could tell us when?” he asked.

“No,” I said. “It could have been any day…tomorrow or ten years from now.”

He turned back to me. His eyes looked bothered by the truth.

“I suppose there’s not a lot we can do about it right now,” he admitted.

I nodded in agreement. A dream was the last of our worries.

“Yeah, your parents need rescuing,” I said. “We can worry about New York blowing up afterward.”

Daniel’s grin was sarcastic. “It didn’t sound so good when you put it that way.”

“I mean it, though,” I said. “We’re going to get your parents out. We’ll see where we are after that.”

Daniel sat on the bed again. His expression was thoughtful.

“Have you noticed how much we keep saying that? ‘We’ll see where we are…’ We say that more than we say ‘I know what to do.’”

There was no arguing with him. Our whole life had turned in to catching up to situations, instead of preventing them. We were always two steps behind. It was annoying, but it was the best we could do under the circumstances.

“Yeah,” I agreed.

“Everything is so…” he struggled for the proper words.

“Up in the air?” I asked.

“Yep,” he agreed.

“That’s what we get for trying to save the world,” I said. “Everything comes with a price.”

“Even truth,” Daniel said.

“Yes,” I agreed.

He eyed me carefully. He started tapping on the edge of the bed in a habitual way that meant he was either bored or thinking hard about something. I could tell it wasn’t boredom. Something was on his mind. It was something a little less earth shattering than the world blowing up.

“So…why did you lie about King?” he asked.

“We’re not having the King discussion again, are we?” I asked. “I told you. Nothing happened between us after I was rescued from Lorian’s prison.”

“But you did just lie,” Daniel pointed out. “You never lie. Even when you should.”

“I’ve lied before,” I said.

“Not to me,” he said.

“Why are you being so pushy today?” I asked. “Normally you wait and charm and act all cunning about getting information.”

“You don’t like it when I do that,” he said.

“That’s never stopped you before,” I said.

“Clare…” he said in a voice laced with doubt.

It was the beginning of an unnecessary conversation. Despite being a super-being, he still had an overwhelming capacity for self-doubt. It was easy for him to think I had found someone else to fulfill my desires. He didn’t realize there would never be anyone but him. The emotion made him more human – which would have been a good thing any other time.

“I am not, nor will I ever, cheat on you,” I said.

“That’s not an answer to my question,” he pointed out.

“Life’s not fair,” I said.

His lips moved to form a retort. His retort was stopped by a knock on the door. He closed his eyes in irritation at the interruption.

His eyes still closed, he said, “Come in, Alex.”

Alex opened the door and let it swing out until it bumped in to the opposite wall. Her golden hair reflected the florescent light above, giving her the appearance of a halo. She looked at us for a moment, sensing the tension hanging in the air. Her x-ray eyes assessed our moods and our body language. More than that, the gift she had developed with my blood – the ability to see to the heart of most things – went in to overdrive. It was an ability she had used to seal her place in the Saints. While Spider had forged his place by being the go-to guy for anything anybody could ever need, Alex had become the go-to girl for confessions and therapy sessions. People depended on her for it now. No one could imagine a time when she wasn’t in the Saints. It was a talent I would have preferred she didn’t use on me so much.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“We’re arguing,” I admitted.

“Oh, it’s about King, isn’t it?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I agreed.

“How do you know about that?” Daniel asked suspiciously.

“Daniel…some things are better as surprises,” Alex said pointedly. “You know that better than anyone. What did Jackson say?”

“The place is a fortress,” I said. “We’re going to go and check it out. I think Reaper is hoping some grand epiphany will happen in his brain once he looks at the place.”

Alex made a disbelieving noise in the back of her throat – doubt Reaper would ever have any kind of ‘grand epiphany’ – but she didn’t say her thoughts out loud.

“Do I get to come?” she asked.

“Of course,” I said. “Not only would I not leave you, you wouldn’t stay if I tried to make you.”

“That’s true,” she said with a smile.

She took a step in to the room, feeling more comfortable now that we had gotten past the tension of my argument with Daniel.

“I talked to Dad,” she added.

“Oh, yeah?” I asked.

“They finally found a house they like,” she said. “They’re going to buy it. Apparently, they sold both of their houses in King’s Cross. Dad was more comfortable selling our house than Ellen was with yours…she had trouble with it. But I guess she was determined to move on.”

I would have expected nothing less from Ellen. Selling her childhood home was a big step for her – I wasn’t sure it was one she was entirely ready for. However, it was a step she was willing to take to make a new life with Sam. It made me proud of her – she was finally growing up.

“Where did they buy their new house?” I asked.

“Santa Monica,” Alex said. “It’s three doors down from Naomi. Dad managed to talk the people down.”

“Of course he did,” I said. “He threaten them with death by law?” I asked.

“Probably. He also told me that he and Ellen needed to talk to us about something,” she said.

“That sounds serious,” I said.

“Nah,” she disagreed. “You know how parents are. They think the smallest thing is something that’s going to freak us out. They’re probably just going to get married or something.”

“You’re probably right,” I said. “We should probably work on our surprised faces, though. Make sure we look totally shocked. We wouldn’t want to disappoint their expectations.”

“How’s this?” Alex asked.

She made a face with just the right amount of happy surprise and excited shock. Daniel and I laughed at the look on her face.

“Perfect,” I said.

“What’s perfect? ...Oh.”

Reaper had turned the corner of our door to see Alex taking up the space. Both of them were immediately awkward at the meeting. Alex blushed and turned her face back to us, so she wasn’t looking at him. Reaper suddenly didn’t know where to put his hands. His expression was just as uncomfortable as Alex’s was. It would have been adorable had I not been so frustrated with the two of them.

“You two had one little fight,” I said. “Isn’t it about time to forgive each other? It’ll be much less awkward for you both, at the very least. You know, since we’re on a cramped ship in the middle of the sea…”

“Clare…they can be awkward if they want,” Daniel said. “It’s not our place to fix them.”

“But you do agree that it’s silly for them to be so…”

I gestured at them.

Daniel looked between Alex and Reaper, who were exchanging an awkward glance at our conversation. It was the sort of glance that was the beginning of awareness. A glance that suggested they had not known how transparent they were being.

“Of course it’s silly,” Daniel said with a sly look at the pair, “but it’s not our business if they want to be ridiculous. A person has a right to be ridiculous.”

“You know that I am the last person on this planet to be a busybody, but they are being more than ridiculous about this,” I said. “Alex gets to tell us when we’re doing something wrong.”

“That’s true,” Daniel agreed.

“Besides, it’s our duty as friends to tell them when they are being stupid,” I said.

“You know, you could be on to something,” Daniel said. “Maybe we should point it out to them.”

“I thought I just did,” I said.

“Are you guys done talking about us like we’re not here?” Alex asked.

“I don’t know…are we?” I asked Daniel.

“Yes,” Daniel agreed.

Reaper coughed awkwardly. He wasn’t as calm as Alex was over our teasing, though I sensed she was just as embarrassed as he was. Reaper wasn’t as used to being told something so bluntly – he was used to leading people, not having them tell him when he was being silly. But he respected me for my honesty – he liked that I never tried to suck up to him. Even he needed the voice of honesty occasionally.

“We’re ready to go,” Reaper said. “Everyone is waiting topside.”

“Alright,” Daniel said.

Daniel was tapping on the bed again. I knew it wasn’t for the same reason as before – it was fear for his parents’ fate. I put a hand on his and held it tight, silent assurance that everything was going to be okay. His strong fingers wrapped around mine, telling me he got the message. Our touch sparkled with electricity, binding us together. It was a promise. Whatever happened, we would face it together. He would not face the question of his parents’ fate alone.

We followed Reaper to the heavy door that led outside. Alex followed behind us. She had her hands jammed in to her heavy winter jacket and she had pulled a toboggan out of her pocket. She looked winter-ready, but I had never seen her look so uncertain. She stared at her feet as she walked, and her sadness for the situation she had created with Reaper was a song between us.

The icy cold wind of the outside was bitter after the warmth of the inside. Daniel’s electric touch was the only ward against the chill. Jackson was waiting with the others. King and River were next to Preacher, catching up with Preacher. King looked the same – his head was bald, there was tattoo of a king of spades on his neck, and his neon blue eyes cut through the white of the falling snow. River was different from one day to the next – today her hair was a combination of pink, blue, and purple stripes mixed in to her black hair, and she had a new piercing in her eyebrow. King nodded at me when he saw me and glanced at Daniel curiously. The nod told me he had been successful with the task I had sent him on. The glance was because King could feel Daniel’s suspicious stare; it was as obvious as the day. I squeezed Daniel’s hand to get him to stop staring. Spider was hanging on the rails and fighting throwing up. He was eager to get off the ship and get on with whatever adventure we would find.

Sara was in the middle of the group, her stance calm and patient. She wasn’t wearing her normal, colorful jewelry. She, like the others, was wearing white; winter camouflage. Her smile of greeting, more than the others, was respectful. She knew I was the one to take the whispering voices out of the darkness of the world she traveled from one place and the next. She felt the affect of Nemesis’ departure from the dark prison more than anyone did. For some reason, she respected me for what I had done. Perhaps, I had taken away one of her nightmares…I could understand her relief. A group of five others was preparing to jump to the bank – to keep lookout in Margaret and Preacher’s stead.

“Just keep the ship moving north,” Reaper told River.

“I know. You told me,” River said.

“I’ll call when we’re ready,” he added.

“You told me that, too. You better leave, before I think you’ve gone mother-hen on me,” River teased.

Reaper nodded in agreement, a small smile on his face. He trusted River to do what needed to be done; it was time to let her do it. He held out his hand to Sara. Sara took it and waited for the rest of us to do the same. Daniel and I shared a look of readiness, and then we both stretched out our hands.

We weren’t sure what was waiting for us, but we knew there was no turning back. We were committed to the path ahead. More than just Daniel’s happiness depended on it.

Lives hung in the balance.

Chapter 2

The cave Sara set us down in was not anything special.

At least, it wasn’t how I had imagined a secret hideout. Water dripped endlessly from somewhere; it was dark and cold. The only source of light was a small halogen lantern set near a wall opposite from me. Next to the light were three chairs. A breeze gusted around the enclosed space, seemingly out of nowhere. It brought it with a foul smell I couldn’t place. To the left, front and back of me were the walls of the cave. To the right was an endless stretch of tunnels that went back out of sight. The tunnels branched off and recessed in to darkness more complete than anything I had ever seen. The tunnels created a feeling of space, despite the low ceiling and thick walls. It was space I was happy to embrace. The walls were just too close. There was nothing separating me from the ceiling caving in and crushing me.