Alight The Peril (12 page)

“The website?” I frowned. He’d been on the verge of confessing something, and I was pretty sure it had nothing to do with websites. Then a memory clicked into place, and I forgot about his hesitation. “Oh, you mean the color blob website.”

“Yeah, our own private portal. It’s where all the pyramidal unions can communicate with each other. It’s safer than meeting this way, and it’s about as secure as anything can be these days.”

“Wait,
all
the pyramidal unions?”

“There are four total. Called Tapestry Lake, Perth, Britain, and Rome.”

Despite my surprise, I couldn’t help laughing. “Hmm, one of these things is not like the others.”

Zane cracked a grin. “Tapestry Lake is by far the youngest. The others have existed for centuries. You’re the babies of the group.”

Babies? I scrunched my nose. Did Zane really see me that way?

I straightened and forced my fidgety hands to be still at my sides. “So how do I get into the website?”

“It’s going to sound odd, but you should be able to do it easily enough. You have to project the influences to get into it the first time.”

“You’re kidding me. You mean I
think
at the computer, and that’s how I log in?”

He chuckled. “That’s the way it works. I don’t understand it myself, but there’s some sort of protocol that recognizes that sort of input.”

My hand crept up to the nape of my neck to twirl a strand of hair. “Okay, so what influences do I use?” I realized I was fidgeting again, and stuffed both my hands in my pockets.

“It doesn’t matter. Any single one, or a combination. It’s set up to recognize your unique fingerprint as the Tapestry Lake Pyxis. Every time you use the influences, your unique mark accompanies the action.”

“I’ll have to see this to believe it.” I couldn’t wait to try it, and start talking with the other unions. And it would give me a more reliable way to contact Zane. “So what do you talk to each other about?”

“Anything related to the unions and convergences.” He paused and bent to pick up a flat stone. “Each time we have an encounter or breach, we tell the others. When you get on, you definitely need to get in the discussion about the false Pyxis. The others might have some advice for you.” He rubbed his thumb and fingers over the stone.

I sagged with gratitude. “That would be awesome.”

“Just get on there and make contact, and you’ll see what we do.”

“That’s such a relief. Thank you for letting me know about this.” I shifted, and my feet settled deeper into the sand. “Any idea why no one here ever used it?”

He pulled his arm back and then whipped it out, and the stone skittered across the lake and then splashed with a small
plink
and sank out of sight. “Well, it’s only existed for about twenty years. Had there been a pyramidal union in your parents’ generation, I’m sure Tapestry Lake would be plugged in. But the old union probably didn’t even know about it. And TLC has always been a bit . . . separatist, or so I hear.” He gave me a wry look, as if I knew the explanation for this. Then he grinned and shifted his weight, moving closer to me, and a waft of warm air brushed my face and bare arms.

“Huh, really.” Separatist? Had the other unions been in contact with each other all along? Maybe I could find a way to ask Aunt Dorothy why Tapestry was so isolated from the rest, without giving away too much of my conversation with Zane. “Is there anything else you can tell me? Like, I don’t know, any tips about working within a union, or training, or whatever.”

He might know something that could help me with Sophie, but I didn’t want to sound like I was completely flailing with my union.

His eyes softened. “You’ll catch on to all of it, Corinne. You have plenty of challenges, but you’ll work it out. Don’t forget to take care of yourself. Everyone needs to escape once in a while.” As he spoke, the heat radiating from his body intensified, and the air around us shimmered and then we stood in a gossamer cloud made of long, delicate strands. Each time a thread brushed my bare skin, it caused a tingle and a tiny vibration. With alarm, I realized my shoes no longer touched solid ground. Disoriented, I searched for some object to help me ground myself, understand which way was up and which was down.

“Don’t panic.” Zane’s voice was low and soft. He took my hands in his, and my vertigo faded. Warm energy raced up my arms and through my body, and I began to sweat a little. “Just drift.”

I closed my eyes, and focused on the sensation of the gossamer threads trailing over my skin.

“What are these things?” I whispered, afraid my words would disturb our surroundings.

“They’re threads of subconscious. They connect all of us to each other.”

I looked around me in wonder. Each of these threads represented a person? My mind faltered, trying to grasp that each of these threads represented a person. “We’re not going to hurt them, are we?”

“No, our presence doesn’t disturb them. As long as you’re not trying to influence or forcibly rearrange them, it’s perfectly okay to be among them.” I caught his ice-blue eyes on me, and he pressed his fingers against my palms.

The touch of the threads and the weightlessness of drifting through them lulled me. My worries blurred until I couldn’t recall any details. I wanted to float here forever.

Zane’s hands slipped from mine. As I drifted up and up, I heard his faint voice below me. “Use this wisely, Pyxis. Now that I’ve found you, I can’t have you losing yourself.”

I half woke some time later on my own bed, my shirt askew and one arm dangling over the side. I indulged in the sleepy, relaxed sensation for several minutes, caught between the realms of sleep and wakefulness.

Gradually, thoughts began to intrude. . . . The drill. . . . The funnel. . . . Sophie turning her back on me. . . .

My stomach knotted. I must bring Sophie into the union. And I must do it as soon as possible.

|| 13 ||

THE NEXT DAY I got to school early and staked out Sophie’s locker. I fiddled with the strap of my messenger bag while I scanned sophomore hall for her waves of auburn hair. Since I woke up, I’d been thinking about what to say to her, how to persuade her listen, searching for the words that would get through to her. For once I actually hoped Brad would be with her. Maybe I could influence him and then he might help me convince Sophie to talk to me.

“Oh gawd, would you get out of the way?” Sophie said close behind me, bored but purposely loud to make me jump. I spun around to face her. Not a boyfriend or minion in sight.

I stopped fiddling with my bag and grasped the straps tightly. This was it. With a level stare, I straightened and stepped forward, just close enough to her to invade her bubble a little. Her eyebrows arched.

“This isn’t about you, or me, or anything that’s happened in the past.” I kept my voice low and calm, but my hands were shaking. “It’s much, much bigger than any of us. We’ve been chosen for these roles, Sophie. You are a Guardian in my pyramidal union. You may not like it. I admit I’m not thrilled about it. But neither of us can hide from this reality. The longer you try to deny it, the more time we lose.” She shrank into herself a little, and my heart sparked with hope. Maybe I was getting through to her. “I know you can feel the danger, just like I can. And that danger is going to spill out into Tapestry very soon, and it’s going to be devastating unless we stop it. Do you want something horrible to happen to Tapestry?”

We stared each other down for what seemed like minutes, but probably was only a few seconds.

She pursed her lips for a second and peered down at her feet. “Don’t use the influences on me.”

I frowned. “What?”

“I never gave you permission to do that.” She glared up at me. “It’s wrong.”

Permission? I bristled, my heart pounding. “It’s my right—” I dropped my voice to a fierce whisper. “My
right
as Pyxis to use the influences when I need to.”

“Well, it’s
my
right to not have someone using her mind control magic on me.” Her eyes narrowed. “Just because she wants power over me.”

Did she really think this was about controlling other people? Some kind of juvenile jockeying for dominance? For a second I thought I would erupt. But that was probably what she wanted.

I raised my chin and peered down at her. “Give me your word that you’ll be there for our next drill, and the next, and anytime we’re called to protect the convergence. And you won’t block me from our link. That’s the only way.”

She gaped at me a moment, then her mouth clicked shut. “Fine.” She eyed me. “Deal.”

The warning bell for first hour rang.

I turned to go. As I walked away, I blew out a lungful of air that I felt like I’d been holding for years. I didn’t trust that she’d stick to our agreement, but at least now I had something to hold over her if she broke it. My hands were still shaking.

* * *

I invited Mason, Ang, and Sophie over after dinner so I could tell them about the website and try getting onto it. Mason sat on my purple chair, and Ang sprawled next to me on my bed. He was telling her a little about the website and how we’d found it. I twirled and untwirled a strand of hair while I tried not to stress about the fact that Sophie wasn’t there yet. I didn’t have the energy for another showdown with her.

I’m on my way,
Sophie said through our link.

Everything okay?

Yeah.

At least she seemed to be making an effort. I fired up my laptop and then passed it to Mason so he could do a web search that would bring us to the site we needed. I still didn’t totally understand it, but he said there was a piece of code he had to search for to get to the site because it had an address that changed all the time.

He handed the laptop back to me, and the now familiar color blobs drifted, undulated, merged, and separated across the screen. I wanted to log in, but I waited for Sophie.

“She’s not going to bail on us, is she?” Ang asked.

“Nah, she just told me she was on her way. Didn’t she say anything to you?”

“No. In fact, it’s almost like she’s blocked herself off from me—telepathically, I mean—since yesterday.”

“Still today?”

“Well, she’s back in my mind today,” Ang said. “But kind of muted or something.”

I chewed my lip. Sophie had cut herself off from Ang? I could understand why she’d have a problem with me, but I’d assumed the link between the two Guardians was stronger.

I talked to her this morning, and she promised not to cut us off anymore,
I said to Ang.
Let me know if it happens again, okay?

I will. Thanks for doing that. I’m sure it wasn’t easy.

No, but it was necessary.
I shook my head and blew out some air.
And she and I still have a lot more crap to work out.

The bedroom door swung open, and Sophie walked in. “Sorry I’m late. Took me a few minutes to figure out what to tell Bradley.”

It hadn’t even occurred to me. She would need to give my brother some explanation for why she and I were hanging out.

“Oh, right,” I said, and gestured to the bed, where she settled cross-legged next to Angeline. “How’d that go?”

“A little dicey.” She gave us a rueful half grin. “I couldn’t say we were working on something for school, because he’d probably know about any group projects going on. So I told him that since he and I were together, you and I decided we should try to be friends.”

“And he bought that?” After all the complaining I’d done about Sophie over the years?

“Well, not at first. I had to, um,
distract
him a little.” She bit her lip and glanced at me, as if just now realizing she was talking about
my brother
.

I arched an eyebrow at her. “Whatever works,” I said. “I can always use the influences on him.” I winced and wanted to smack myself for bringing up the influences.

Anger began to wash over Sophie’s face, and she opened her mouth.

“But I wouldn’t unless there was no other option,” I said quickly. I turned to Mason. “Want to tell her about the website?”

His eyes flicked between me and Sophie, as if he expected one of us to say something more. Then he nodded. While he repeated most of what he’d told Ang earlier, I watched Sophie. Her jaw muscle flexed a couple of times, but then she started to relax. Her scowl never completely vanished, though.

He turned to me. “Okay, let’s do it.” I tried not to tense up when Sophie sat beside Ang and peered over my shoulder.

I gathered a swirl of blue influence and aimed it at the laptop. The login screen dissolved and was replaced by a message board-type interface. The first board was called “All Unions.” Next was one called “Pyxis Chat,” then “Shields Only,” followed by “The Guardian Room.”

I laughed. “I don’t know what I was expecting, but it looks so ordinary.”

“Go to All Unions,” Mason said.

I clicked, and the four of us scanned the conversation topics on that board. I noticed one with Zane’s name next to “started by” that was called “Contact With Tapestry Lake! (P.S. TLC Pyxis is hawt).” My eyes widened when I realized he was referring to me, and I willed myself not to blush. I flicked a glance at Mason. His nose wrinkled and he pursed his lips.

“Cool. Say hi or something,” Ang said.

I started a new topic and titled it “Greetings from Tapestry Lake!” I typed:

Corinne (Pyxis), Mason (Shield), Angeline and Sophie (Guardians) here! Can’t wait to talk to all of you!
A mundane way to mark such a profound moment, but I wasn’t sure what else to say.

We all stared at the screen, holding a collective breath. A minute later, a reply from “Felicia” appeared below my message:

Greetings, TL union! Glad you’re finally here with us. We certainly need you. All of you should create your separate logins so you can get back here, and into the restricted message boards. Corinne, check the Pyxis board for the discussion about the false Pyxis we started. Love to stay and get to know you, but it’s the middle of the night here, and I must sign off. We will connect with you soon!