Ambrosia Shore (13 page)

I imagined what it would be like to step through the light and walk casually out to some distant land, to places that were foreign, even to me. It sounded liberating. But, there would certainly be no flitting around the world for me anytime soon, or possibly ever.

We finally reached the far end of the deep, glowing cavern. I shot a quick glance across the way, just able to catch a glimpse of the sign for Cape Town, South Africa, before I was ushered forward to face the entrance of our final destination, Los Angeles, United States of America.

Anticipation swept through me as I read the words. I had barely had a chance to let it sink in. I was going home.

Councilman Bennett moved to the front of the pack, presenting a handful of paperwork to one of the guards for verification. My muscles tensed as I looked on from a few feet away. Everything was so official and thorough around here; even the councilman had to provide documentation before passing through. I rubbed my hand discreetly over the front of my pocket, feeling for the hard bump from the Water Briolette still concealed there. It had passed through security at the Court of Ambassadors without detection, but would I be just as lucky today?

The stone was the only possession I had to bring back with me. Unfortunately, I never did get a chance to reclaim Rayne’s cell phone from the front entrance of the Court building. And my bag, with Violette’s borrowed clothes and Jane Carpenter’s journal, was left behind at Jax’s secret apartment in Banya. Not to mention that Jax had never returned my old diary to me in the first place, the one Rayne and I had used to secretly communicate with each other in the past.

When the guard handed the papers back to the councilman’s grasp, the agents behind me stepped forward, compelling me toward the glowing Threshold wall. Each man stopped at the entrance, held out their left arms to the guard, who used a handheld device to scan each of their wrists. Councilman Bennett moved back to my side just before I reached the front of the line.

He leaned over to explain. “Agents and Council members have microchips implanted in their wrists as a form of security and identification, but I’ve already cleared you to pass through without a scan.” He signaled his hand toward the Threshold. “Go ahead. I’ll be right behind you.”

The guard standing next to me gave an official nod, signaling for me to proceed. I suddenly realized that no one had actually explained to me what it would feel like to pass through. Would I feel anything? Would it take a moment to get to the other side, like walking down a hallway of light? Would I be sucked through a portal with a whoosh of air, feeling the powers of the universe thrust me across the galaxy? Would I simply cross over in the blink of an eye, like being twinkled in an instant to the other side?

At this point, there was only one way to find out. I held my breath and stepped forward.

As soon as my foot touched the fluid surface in front of me, the air gasped out from my lungs. The sensation of rippling energy coursed through me in every direction, from my core to my spine to my limbs, like the heaviness of gravity dispelling from my body all at once. I felt suspended, weightless, like the ground was made of clouds and I was floating above them from one puff to another.

My eyes wandered back and forth, unsure what was happening. Was this normal? Did everyone who passed through the Threshold experience the same sensation? My mind fell into a trancelike state, unable to fully comprehend if I was existing in reality, transported to some unused corner of my mind.

My eyes focused on the distance. Something glided toward me; a tiny light that grew larger and larger as it moved closer. It looked like a round of wispy corn silk illuminated by sunlight, until it finally came close enough that I could see it take shape. Two angelic faces centered on me thoughtfully, a woman and a young girl, cloaked in a warm glow, hovering before me like a feathery dream.

The woman’s eyes smiled through me with a strange understanding as she breathed, “I am your past…” Her voice whispered in the wind, floating on the air like a song.

The girl reached out with the faint outline of a hand, her presence innocent and pure. “I am your future,” she sang. I reached up in awe at the hand, as it swirled sinuously away.

The woman’s gaze moved down the length of my body and centered near my waist. I looked down at myself just as the Water Briolette floated from my pocket and hovered in the air, encircled by blue glowing ripples from the Threshold around us.

“The mark with no end holds the key to the source,” the girl said gently. “The Aurora will harmonize the spheres.”

The woman’s soothing voice joined her as the two of them blended in unison. “The path to the light is the mark with no end. Regeneration…will begin…”

As the last word floated away from their tongues a sudden stream of iridescent light pulsed out from the stone. My eyes grew reverent and wide as the rainbow of light coursed straight through my chest, surged through the fibers of my being, to reach the depths of my soul.

Energy and strength flooded my heart, a phenomenon my mind couldn’t fathom to describe, like every molecule of living matter from the stone and the Threshold, the light and the universe, sustaining me in harmony, converging together into one great element of life.

When the light from the stone finally ceased, I stood wordlessly in place. I looked down instinctively at my hands as if they might show some sign this moment was real. My Watermark glowed with iridescent white light, brighter than I’d ever seen it before.

“You have been given a great gift,” the girl whispered. “It is the path to your destiny. Yours, and yours alone.”

The woman smiled, her face beginning to pull back and fade. “You must find it, Sadie; find it from within.”

The light around us dwindled. The girl’s gentle smile grew faint, dispersed into the light, as the woman’s final words echoed through the air. “You are the one meant to save them. When the time comes, you will know…”

The light disappeared with a flash in my mind, like I was being released from a spell that only existed inside me. I looked quickly around to clear my head and figure out where I was again. The room was even more like a cave than the one we had come from, with rock walls and a lower ceiling, but it still had the undulating luminosity of the Threshold wall around us. Several of the agents from our group stood by a few feet away, looking just as focused as usual, unfazed by anything strange or suspicious nearby.

Councilman Bennett stepped forward next to me only a second later. He placed a hand casually on the edge of my shoulder. “Just a little further,” he said, as if he too had no idea whatsoever that something crazy…amazing…out-of-this-world mind-blowing… had just taken place a few inches away from him.

As he directed me toward one of the metal doors guarded by a woman in a navy blue uniform, I shot a glance down to my Watermark. It was still glowing bright and shiny like a lit up diamond, confirming to my mind that I didn’t imagine the extraordinary event that had taken place inside the Threshold. I hadn’t spent a whole lot of time in Banya, but while I was there, I never saw a single person with a Watermark of this kind. Everyone’s mark always matched the color of their eyes, blue, green, amber, or violet.

My shoulders suddenly hunched forward as I folded my arms to my chest, hoping nobody would notice the transformation of my mark. Luckily, the earlier glow from the stone appeared to be completely subdued inside my pocket. I wondered if there was a change in my eyes as well, but if there was, Councilman Bennett didn’t seem to notice.

He moved to the front of the group again, just like he had done with the previous set of guards, and spoke to the woman while showing her our paperwork. The woman motioned us through the door, and we came out to yet another screening area. It was becoming extremely clear that the people of Ambrosia were serious when they said they didn’t want anyone from Earth finding a way into their world. The place was like a fortress.

After they made me stand in some kind of laser chamber, where they scanned my body up and down, sideways and back, inside and out, we made it out to a room where a few people waited in lines across from a wall of elevators. It was beginning to feel like home was never going to come, but once we boarded and exited one of the elevators, we finally emerged from the windowless security center and made our way through a dark parking garage full of cars.

Councilman Bennett directed me to the back seat of a dark SUV while Agent Duke and his partner took the front. The other agents dispersed into three other vehicles, one pulling out in front of us and two behind us like a convoy.

When I finally saw the sunlight appear through my window, I felt a small sense of relief. I didn’t recognize the street where we emerged, but even through the dark tint of the glass, the surroundings started to feel more familiar. It didn’t look like we had come out in the exact neighborhood where Rayne had taken me when he showed me the gate to the Threshold before, but the area in general looked like it could be right, with familiar looking homes up in the hills, and even some palm trees. Something did feel different though; I wasn’t sure what it was.

I tried to press the button on my window to roll it down, but it appeared to be locked in place.
Figures
, I thought, rolling my eyes. I leaned over discreetly and tried to get a look through the front windshield, which wasn’t quite so dark. Then I realized what the difference was; the sky was still a hazy shade of violet.

I turned in my seat. “Councilman B—” I paused, remembering I wasn’t supposed to call him councilman anymore. “I mean, Orion,” I said. “Did we, uh, finish…going through the Threshold?”

His brow pinched. “Yes, we’re officially through. This is Los Angeles. Don’t you recognize it?”

“Um, yeah, of course,” I said, not wanting to give him the wrong idea. “But the sky,” I went on. “Is it still supposed to look so…purple?”

Orion looked amused. “Oh, that. Well, I suppose for someone who has lived here outside the Threshold their entire life, such as yourself, you’re accustomed to blue being the most predominant color of the sky, but undoubtedly it appeared purple to you while on Ambrosia, am I right?”

I nodded.

“This is actually an interesting subject,” he said. “In a science class, when they discuss why the sky is purple—or blue in the case of Earth—they traditionally teach on the subject of light frequencies and the way different color wavelengths are scattered when they come in contact with molecules in the atmosphere, but really that’s only half of the explanation. The sky appears blue to those on Earth and purple to those on Ambrosia because it is the perception of the human eye that differs, not the makeup of the sky itself.”

I looked at him blankly. “I’m not sure I understand.”

Orion smiled. “The difference is the Healing Water. When it’s at its strongest inside our bodies, it enhances the way our eyes see the color around us. If there was no Healing Water in Banya, the sky would most likely appear blue to everyone there as well. By the end of the day, the Healing Water will be weaker in our systems and the purple sky will fade to blue.”

By the time Orion finished his explanation, we pulled up to a house along the steep residential street. We waited in the car while the other agents moved in and out of the house, carrying various pieces of equipment out to load in their vehicles. I wondered how much of that equipment would be brought along for the sole purpose of spying on me.

“Are you going to let me go back to school while we’re here?” I asked Orion once we were finally driving away from the neighborhood.

“I don’t see why not. One of the purposes of this trip is to verify the validity of your life here. The more you prove to me that you belong here, the better.”

“Won’t it seem a little suspicious for an armed barricade of men to be following me around wherever I go?”

“Most of the time you won’t even know my men are there,” he replied simply.

Believe me, I’ll know
, I thought to myself.

“Sadie, if you’re okay with it, I thought while we’re driving you might be willing to look at a few pictures I brought with me.”

“What kind of pictures?” I asked warily.

Orion pulled his briefcase to his lap and retrieved a folder from inside. “Well, you mentioned in your testimony the other day that you might be able to identify the men who were working with your mother’s boyfriend. It could help our security team immensely if we had some information to help us track down these criminals.” He turned to send me a look of sympathy. “Only if you feel up to it of course; I wouldn’t want to trigger any traumatic memories.”

I stared down at my lap, trying to decide how to answer.

“No pressure,” he said. “It’s okay either way.”

I peered up at him. “You haven’t even proven that I’m not lying about who I am. Why would you trust my input on anything else?”

He shrugged his shoulders, shaking his head. “I suppose…I just feel in my gut that I can trust you.”

I gazed at him a moment, finally feeling a little more at ease.

“That’s all right,” he said, putting the folder back in his case. “We can do it some other time.”

“No, that’s okay,” I finally said. “I can do it. It’s fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Um, yeah, if I can be of any help, I guess I should try, right?”

Orion looked pleased as he handed me the folder. “Thank you, your help is greatly appreciated.”

I searched through the photos one by one until I came across a photo of Ash. It was a terrible photo, probably a mug shot, but I was sure it was him. A spread of negative emotions filled me just by looking at his face.

“This was the guy that shot me,” I accused.

Orion reached over and took the photo from my grasp. “Ash Hastings,” he said matter-of-factly. Then, he turned again to face me. “I’m sorry for what you’ve been through. You should be happy to know that we apprehended this man a few days ago.”

“Good,” I said quietly. “He deserves to be in prison.”

I continued to scour through the photos for Voss’s wretched black eyes, an image that had become ingrained into my nightmares. I glazed over a photo of a somewhat attractive middle-aged man with dark hair and crisp blue eyes, turned the page, then paused. I flipped back to the man’s image and stared at it closely. If I pictured him differently, with grey streaks through his hair, lines of tired wrinkles creased through his face, the light gone from his eyes, it could be him, my worst enemy.

It was almost eerie to imagine him this way, younger, more vibrant, with a hint of a smile on his face. It was hard to imagine he had ever worn a smile in his life at all.

I held out the photo to Orion. “The eyes were a lot darker,” I said. “They were black and sort of veiny, and his hair had more grey, but I’m pretty sure this is the other guy.”

Orion went rigid when he saw the picture in his hand and turned to me with concern in his eyes. “You’ve seen this man before, in person?”

I glanced to the side. “Um, I think so. Like I said, he looked kind of older and his hair was different, so I’m not sure.”

“This man’s name is Voss Hastings. He’s the father of the man who you said shot you. Does that sound right? Is the name familiar?”

“Yeah, that sounds right. That was him.”

“And you interacted with him? Did he speak to you?”

I nodded. Orion looked up, shaking his head like he couldn’t believe it.

“How long ago did you see him?” he finally asked.

“Um, less than a week ago. The same day I got shot and Rayne had to bring me to Ambrosia. He was with the other guy. They were working together.”

“Sadie, this man was reported dead over five months ago. He’s one of Ambrosia’s most wanted criminals. Our security team stopped looking for him because Rayne Stevens reported him dead. But if he’s not really dead…” Orion paused. “You don’t think there’s a chance Rayne was working
with
—”

“No!” I blurted in horror. “Definitely not. Rayne was trying to stop them. I’m sure of it.”

“No, of course not,” he agreed quickly. “I’m sure it’s just a coincidence. Voss is quite a resilient man.” Orion patted my hand casually. “Thank you for help. I’m sure it will be helpful in our investigation of the matter.”

I nodded with half a smile in response, then turned my head away to watch the streets of Santa Monica pass by my window. I wasn’t in the mood to talk anymore. I thought about Orion’s fleeting accusation of Rayne working with Ash and Voss. It was completely wrong of course, but it was starting to feel like no matter what I said, the Council could find a way to implicate Rayne if they really wanted to.

The entire thing just made me more upset with my father. I felt like Rayne and I were still in this mess because of him. I couldn’t think of anything he could possibly be doing that would justify him not coming back to help us. Would I ever see him again so I could tell him how I felt?

As the sites outside my window grew more and more familiar, I started to wonder what all had happened here after I was shot. When Rayne spoke to Jax that same night, he assured me that my mother was safe, but was she okay? I’d barely had time to think about it, but I realized she must be worried sick. She saw me get shot. I had been gone for days now. Did she even know where I was all this time? She had witnessed my father, her lost love, return from out of nowhere after over seventeen years of not so much as a letter from him. And then there was Dr. Jensen. He was gone now—murdered right before my mom’s eyes. I couldn’t imagine how upset she must be.

Suddenly, the wheels on our vehicle couldn’t spin fast enough. All I could think about was getting home to see her as soon as possible.

As if reading my mind, Orion turned to me and said, “Our next stop will be your house in Newport Beach. My men will need to do a full sweep of the property when we arrive. If you suspect your mother will be home, I suggest you come up with a way to convince her to leave with you while they get things set up; perhaps a trip out to breakfast.”

Breakfast? It felt like I had eaten breakfast at the Court of Ambassadors several hours earlier.

“What time is it here?” I asked.

Orion didn’t even stop to look at his watch. “Eight forty-five.”

“Okay, I’ll try,” I said. “My mom doesn’t go to work until the afternoon, so there’s a good chance she’ll be home, but I have a feeling she might be upset that I’ve been gone all this time. It might take some convincing.”

He nodded warmly. “I understand. There’s no rush. We’ll wait down the street while you two take a minute to catch up. Just remember, we will be monitoring your conversation through the voice tracker.”

I looked away. “I remember.”

When we finally pulled off the freeway to head down Newport Boulevard, the warmth of familiarity spread through my limbs. We passed Triangle Square, Eighteenth Street, the sub shop where Tracy Wang worked and would sneak us free sandwiches after school, the Starbucks Nicole and Lindsey insisted they had to stop at every Monday morning in order to wake up their brains for another week of school, the gas station where Heather had accidentally driven away with the pump still stuck inside her gas tank the first week she turned sixteen. They were all here; all the memories from my once normal life.