Etherworld (32 page)

“It wasn't personal,” she says, her voice sounding surprisingly sad. “Your father didn't give me any alternative.”

“He knew that Elusion was dangerous,” I say, my fists at my side. “He wanted you to pull Elusion—”

“I couldn't do that,” she says simply.

“Why not?” I ask. “Look what's happened. People are dying.” An image of Claire flashes through my mind. “Kids who had their whole lives ahead of them!”

“You're not a scientist, Regan. I don't expect you to understand.”

“What about me, Mom?” Patrick is standing in the doorway, glaring at his mother. “Do you think I'll understand? Because I don't.”

“Stay where you are,” Cathryn tells Patrick, her voice shaking as she slips the sling to the machine over her arm.

“Or what?” he asks. “You're going to vaporize me with one of our new military rifles? You don't even know how to shoot a gun!”

She raises the rifle in his direction as she primes what looks a lot like a trigger.

“You underestimate me, son,” she says quietly.

“I get it,” Patrick says, his voice choking with emotion. “You can shoot a gun. Is this how you took down the HyperSoar that David was supposedly killed in?”

The HyperSoar. My dad's plane. Josh and I both knew it could be autocontrolled.

“I'm not a monster!” Cathryn says, still pointing the rifle at Patrick. “I did what I had to do. I never wanted to hurt anyone. Especially David. He was my friend.” She sounds almost choked up, like all these deaths are beginning to bother her. “But what David created was bigger than both of us. He may not have realized it, but the world needed—needs—Elusion. And unfortunately, sometimes people give their lives for the advancement of technology. For science.”

“You're not doing it for the science,” Patrick says, walking toward his mom once again. “You're doing it for the power. It was always about the power.”

Cathryn swings the rifle back toward my dad and me. “Patrick, I swear—if you take another step, I'll kill them both.”

Patrick stops. From the way Cathryn's hand is shaking and the fact that she's already primed the rifle, there's a possibility of that happening anyway.

I back up, my hips hitting the gurney, my arms outstretched.

“If you're going to kill them, then you might as well kill me, too,” Patrick breathes. “Because I will make sure the truth comes out.”

“No one will believe you,” she says, keeping her finger on the trigger. “Everyone knows you're an E-fiend. You were forced to leave your job because of it. Didn't you see the press release?”

“You can't convince people I'm an E-fiend,” Patrick says.

“Oh, really?” his mom asks. “I bet Regan would beg to differ.”

She's right. Even my own mother was convinced I was sick.

“Killing them isn't going to solve anything,” Patrick says, trying a different tack. “Elusion is over and Orexis is ruined.”

“I'll rebuild,” she says. “Orexis is a strong company. We'll settle the lawsuits and come back stronger than before.”

Her cold blue eyes lock on mine. “Regan, get out of the way,” she says.
“Now.”

“No,” I say, sounding a lot braver than I actually feel.

“You can't save him,” she insists. “It's too late. The father you knew will never return, even if his body survives.” She closes her eyes for a second and then opens them, ready to shoot. “Your dad wouldn't want you to sacrifice yourself. And neither would your mom. She barely survived the loss of your father. How will she continue without you?”

The door squeaks open and Josh appears. Not seeing Cathryn, he steps into the room, his eyes focused on me before flicking toward my dad.

Cathryn points the rifle at Josh, her finger on the primed trigger.

She's going to kill him.

I race across the room and charge her, slamming us both against the wall.

Patrick lunges for the rifle as Josh grabs Cathryn, yanking her away. I push myself up as Josh restrains Cathryn's arms behind her back.

Avery and Zoe burst into the room. As we all catch our breath, they survey the scene, astounded. “Now can I call the police?” Zoe murmurs.

“Yeah,” I say. “Now would be good.”

“Patrick,” Cathryn pleads. “Please. Don't do this. You can still save me. You can still save us.”

“You getting this?” Patrick asks Avery.

“Oh, yeah,” she says, her tab pointing in Cathryn's direction. “
AveryTruStory
exclusive.”

“You're welcome,” Patrick says to Avery, knowing full well that she didn't thank him. His eyes shift in my father's direction, and his face fills with concern.

I turn back toward my dad. His eyes are still unresponsive, his gaze fixed on the ceiling. I grab his wrist, once again checking his pulse.

Nothing.

I move the placement of my thumb as my own breath seems to get caught in my throat.

There is no pulse.

My dad is no longer breathing.

Before I can say anything, Patrick is there, gently pushing me out of the way and pressing his hands on my dad's frail chest as he begins CPR. I'm aware of voices around me, people shouting out commands and calls for help. Zoe's hands on my shoulders, her voice telling me everything is going to be okay, as I stare at the man on the gurney.

Breathe.

Please just breathe.

I touch my father's watch, my fingers wrapping around the cool steel as if clinging to a lifeline.

Finally, a sputter, then a cough, as my dad starts gasping for air. Patrick yanks the O2 shield off his belt and places it over my dad's face.

“You're going to be okay,” I murmur, placing my hand on top of my dad's.

And then I feel it, his thumb lifting over mine.

He's coming back.

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins Publishers

..................................................................

Six months later

If Avery doesn't stop bossing me around, I think I'm going to scream. But then again, what did I expect? I knew this was a bad idea the moment Nora suggested it. The constant bickering between Avery and me over the summer had really begun to annoy her and Josh, so Nora decided a little alone time would help the two of us get along. But what I agreed to was clearly a huge mistake.

Avery. Me. A kitchen. A cake. And now a knife.

“Give it to me!” she says, wresting the knife out of my hands and nearly taking off my finger. She pulls the electrowhisk out of the bowl and smooths the frosting across the cake gently. “This,” she says, pausing for effect, “is how it's done.”

“You win,” I say, raising my hands in surrender. “You're much better at frosting a cake than me. Happy?”

“Delighted,” Avery gloats, smiling.

Nora enters the kitchen, rolling her eyes and smirking. “It's so nice to see you two getting along. I think Josh is going to be very pleased with this development.”

Avery and I both force a smile.

Nora walks around the kitchen island and over to Avery, doing her best to hide the limp in her left leg. In the last few months, she has made amazing progress. She woke up within hours of Elusion's destruction and regained her mental faculties almost immediately. Her physical ones, however, have proved more of a challenge; originally, her doctors were worried she might never walk again. Josh and Avery became Nora's own private physical therapists, determined she would get back on her feet before Josh left for college. About a month ago, she took her first step.

Avery wraps her arm around Nora's waist and smiles, pulling her in for a kiss. Their tenderness makes me blush a little. The truth of the matter is, I don't dislike Avery. In fact, I respect her and will be forever grateful to her for alerting everyone to the danger of Elusion. I'm glad that she and Nora got their happy ending.

A lot of us weren't as lucky. In the days after Elusion's demise and Cathryn's arrest, the terror we dealt with in the virtual world spilled over into the real world. Some of the missing kids who had helped us in our fight were finally found, but they never woke up; their bodies and minds were too damaged. There were funerals and memorial services, grieving and tears. And though today is cause for celebration, there's no denying the shadow of pain that surrounds us.

But right now, I'm going to focus on the beauty of life, not the darkness—which is why I dip my pinkie in the frosting bowl and give it a lick.

“So I got a text from Josh. He picked up Piper about a half an hour ago, and they should be here any minute.” Nora says this to me, although she can't seem to take her eyes off a smitten, grinning Avery. “Have you heard from your mom yet?”

“My dad just got discharged, so they're on their way,” I say.

After two months of hospital care and four months of WellCare, it's about time he came home to us. I'm hoping he isn't too overwhelmed by the small party my friends and I are throwing for him. My mom wasn't too thrilled with the idea at first, but she warmed up once I showed her all the concerned texts they'd sent me over the summer. After seeing those, she couldn't say no to having them here to welcome him.

“I guess I should change,” I say, wiping my flour-covered palms on my pants.

“For Josh?” Nora laughs. “He doesn't care how you look.”

“Yeah, but I do,” I say, brushing a stray, frizzy hair from my face.

Josh left Detroit to start his freshman year at the University of Michigan a month ago. Although we're texting and InstaComming as much as we can, it's still not the same as being together every day, like we were the whole summer. He's been home almost every weekend since he left, but I still miss him—and I'd really, really like to look decent when he arrives. Or at least not have flour all over my body.

Avery gives me a thorough once-over. “Yeah, well, I'd recommend a full-blast decontamination shower. Just to cover your bases.”

“Ave,” Nora says, giving her a stern but affectionate stare. “Apologize.”

“No, she's right; I'm a mess,” I say with a grin. “Can you guys keep an eye on things while I go upstairs?”

“Sure, no problem,” Nora replies.

I walk out of the kitchen, pausing to turn on the lemon-scented candles clustered together on the table in the hall. My dad used to love their smell, and my mom would always make sure they were lit every night when he came home from work. After his disappearance, she kept the ritual, almost as if it was a vigil—hoping he would return from the dead.

Now her wish is coming true.

As I walk toward the steps, I hear Avery calling out to me from the kitchen. “Your InstaComm just turned on! Zared's here!”

Before I can tell her to accept his visitor request, the door opens and Zared peeks his head in. He looks completely different than he did in Elusion, sporting a button-down shirt and a short new haircut.

“Zared, you can't disable someone's security system like that. It's kind of creepy,” I say, shaking my head.

“I tell him that all the time,” says a sweet, high-pitched voice.

I recognize it immediately and smile. Ayesha.

Zared walks inside and Ayesha trails behind him, holding his hand. The jet-black hair that was always braided in Etherworld is hanging loose around her shoulders. Her almond-shaped eyes are a deep blue, accented with a dash of purple eyeliner. She's wearing jeans and a sexy sweater that falls off her shoulder.

“Hey, lady,” I say, throwing my arms around her and bringing her into a warm hug. “Good to see you. How's group been?”

“Boring as hell, now that you've left,” she says, squeezing me back. “I was beginning to think you forgot about us.”

I pull away and lock eyes with her. “That's never going to happen.”

After we destroyed Elusion, Avery organized an official support group to help us Etherworld survivors get over the trauma. Since we were spread out all over the country, and a few were still in the hospital, we met mostly on InstaComm and supported one another however we could. But lately I've been really busy helping my mom prepare the house for my dad, so I've had to skip a bunch of sessions.

“I'm teasing. We've just missed you, that's all. Especially this guy,” she says, as Malik sneaks in through the front door, his brown eyes shining. He looks almost like I remember him in Etherworld and Elusion, all lanky arms and legs.

“I'm so glad you could come, Malik,” I say, grinning at him. “It's going to mean so much to my dad. And me.”

He grins back and follows Zared into the kitchen, where I hear Nora offering the frosting bowl to both of them. Ayesha gives me a helpless shrug.

“He's still a little self-conscious about talking,” she says. “The speech therapist said he's doing really well, though. He just needs some more time.”

In Etherworld, Ayesha had promised Malik that she would find him and take care of him after they returned to reality, and when they did, she kept her promise. Malik was a foster kid in California, so Ayesha's parents have paid for his care, and when he was well enough, they flew him back to Miami, where he's been living with them ever since. Ayesha's parents have begun formal adoption proceedings.

“He's starting school next week,” Ayesha says.

“Eighth grade?” I ask, even though I already know about it. Josh and I have been spending some time with Zared lately, and he talks about Ayesha and Malik nonstop.

“That's right,” Ayesha says. “I'm a little nervous for him. Kids can be cruel, you know.”

“He'll be fine. I've taught him all my self-defense tricks,” Zared says, popping back into the foyer and looping an arm around Ayesha's shoulders. “It's nice to have her here in Detroit, isn't it?” he says to me. “Help me try to convince her to go to college here next year.”