Invincible (The Aerling Series Book 3) (15 page)

I know she’s right, but something about
this experience has me on edge. We’re nearing the shelter again by the time I
puzzle it out. “Leaving the wind spirits here saves our lives when we go back,
but it limits
us
, controls
us
. It keeps us from ever having the
amount of power it would take to do anything truly useful.”

“Or rebellious,” Sloane finishes in a
whisper.

Nodding, I realize she’s hit it exactly on
the head. “The barrier keeps Aerlings from being able to resist the will of the
Mother and Father. It’s a barrier of protection, yes, but it’s a prison as
well.”

 Is that what Tū wanted us to see?
Did he take Olivia to put us in a situation like this? It seems like something
he might do, but if that’s true, where’s Olivia?

Chapter 17

Tactics

(Hayden)

The look on Lindsay’s face when we burst
through the doors carrying the guy we rescued from the ruined building is only
trumped by her shaky voice saying, “Olivia?”

Mason hurriedly explains, rushing ahead of
me. Sloane stays off to the side since Lindsay has no idea she’s even here, but
has her arms crossed over her small frame in worry. The guy in my arms is small
and thin, but my arms are burning. I can’t remember where the triage center is
and I have to break into the explanation to ask. Lindsay must decide news on
Olivia has to wait, because she hurries away from Mason and starts leading me
in the right direction. My arms feel like jelly by the time I lay the man down
on a cot and he’s swarmed by two volunteer nurses.

I hear them discussing the need for an
ambulance and step away knowing the man is in good hands. As I step back over
to Mason and Sloane, it’s apparent the same thought is running through all of
our minds. Where is Olivia?

“Did you find her?” Lindsay asks when she
scurries over to us. Mason shakes his head and her frown deepens. “Where could
she have gone?”

None of us has an answer. Lindsay shakes
her head, but puts aside her questions to do what she does best. Thoughts on
organizing our search, suggestions on where to look, mention of contacting the
police if we don’t locate her within the next hour all start tumbling out of
her mouth. A strange mix of exhaustion and adrenaline makes me hyper alert.
Even so, when Lindsay yelps, I still bump into the back of her.

Mason is racing around the cots we were
passing before I realize what caused the commotion. Then I’m running as well.
Mason has Olivia’s limp body propped up in his lap by the time I reach them. Sloane
stumbles up behind us and peers down worriedly.

“She wasn’t there a minute ago,” Lindsay
says. The disbelief and confusion in her voice makes it quaver. “Where did she
come from?”

No one answers her. All our focus is on
Olivia. I don’t think any of us even dares to breathe as Mason gently pats her
cheek and begs her to wake up. It seems like an eternity before her eyes
finally flutter open. As soon as they do, her arms fly out from her body as she
gasps in a frantic breath. Mason has to tighten his hold on her to keep her
from falling.

“Ollie, Ollie, I’m here. You’re okay.
You’re safe,” Mason says.

The sound of his voice does wonders to
calm her down, but she’s still terrified. “Tū took me…he took me to this
place…they made it for the Mother, but she wouldn’t go. He tried to tell me the
truth, but the Mother…she did something to him. He can’t talk about it. They
were selfish and greedy…something about the power. He said Tāwhiri stayed
in the Aerling world to stop the Father and Tū came here, but it’s not
working. The Mother will sacrifice our world to save hers. We have to stop her.
Oh, Mason, we can’t let it happen. We just can’t.”

Olivia breaks down in tears after the last
word leaves her mouth and Mason immediately pulls her to his chest, cradling
her like he would a frightened child. He focuses on calming her down, but I
look back at Sloane to see her reaction to everything that just spilled out of
Olivia’s mouth. I’m not prepared for the brokenhearted expression on her face.
I reach out, linking my fingers with hers behind me where Lindsay won’t notice.
She flinches a moment before leaning her head against the back of my shoulder.

“I’ve spent the last year pouring myself
into becoming an Aerling,” she whispers tearfully. “I missed my family…my
Caretakers so much. I got to meet my real dad, but he was already fading when I
came back and he told me Levi would never be coming home. Leaving behind who I
was and really becoming an Aerling, becoming what my dad wanted me to be, what
my Caretakers had spent my whole life preparing me for…it was all I had left.”
Her expression crumbles to pieces. “It was all a lie. Everything I’ve been
taught and everything I’ve worked to become, it was all a lie.”

Turning away from Lindsay, I want nothing
more than to pull Sloane into my arms, but I have to settle for squeezing her
hand tightly. “Hey. No matter what the Aerlings lied about, it doesn’t change
who you are or all the work you’ve done to build your power and use it to help
people. Nothing can take that away. You helped Mason save that guy, everything
you’ve done for me and Olivia…that’s all that matters.”

Her expression is still tortured, but she
lowers her head to my shoulder and doesn’t say anything else. I almost reach up
to stroke her hair, but a voice cuts in and stops me.

“Would someone care to explain this to
me?” Lindsay demands.

Knowing she’s due an explanation, I look
back at her feeling repentant. “We’re not college students,” I say slowly. “We
didn’t come here for a class. We came here to find someone.”

“The guy with the scar?” Lindsay asks. I
can tell by the way she’s pressing her fingers to her temples that she is
beyond tired and frustrated.

“No, the guy with the scar is actually
following us,” I say slowly. Best not to bring up all the times he’s tried to
capture or kill one of us. “The person we’re looking for, she wasn’t here, but
the guy with the scar found us and took Olivia…somewhere. He wants us to find
the other person and stop her from doing something bad, but we can’t find her.”

Lindsay looks like she’s about ready to
check out of this conversation. “Why did you think this person you’re searching
for would be here?”

“She’s supposed to help and protect
people,” Olivia says, “but it was all a lie.” The edge to her voice is
unmistakable. Sloane tenses behind me, echoing Olivia’s bitterness.

Spearing her hands into her hair, Lindsay
shakes her head slowly. “Look, the people here, they’ve already been through so
much. If you’re bringing dangerous people here…”

“We’re not putting anyone in danger,”
Mason says with authority, “but we’ll be leaving tonight. The person we were
looking for isn’t here. As much as we’d like to stay and help out more, this
really can’t be put off.”

Her hands drop from her hair and hang at
her sides like dead weight. “I don’t understand any of this, but you all seem
like nice kids. I’m going to forget any of this happened. Thank you for your
help today, but I think it’s probably best if you head back to your hotel.
Whatever you’ve got going on, I can’t risk it bringing more trouble here.”

Mason stands and helps Olivia to her feet
slowly. His nod to me says he agrees and I take the lead. Stepping forward, I
offer Lindsay my hand. She hesitates, but takes it. “Thank you for allowing us
to help. Good luck with everything.”

“You too,” she says with a sigh. “It
sounds like you’re going to need it.”

Yes we will.

No one says anything as we gather our
things and head out of the shelter. It’s not until Mason manages to hail a cab
that Sloane seems to come out of her fog. She slips in front of me to scoot in
next to Olivia, taking her hand in support as soon as she’s seated. I expect
Olivia to pull away, but Sloane’s calming influence seems to affect her too
quickly for Olivia to balk. I slide in next to Sloane with my thoughts racing.

The car is quiet, though, as the cabbie
drives us back to our hotel. The whole way I’m trying to remember everything
that tumbled out of Olivia’s mouth when she woke up, but I know I only caught a
portion of it. The one thought that sticks in my mind the most is what she said
about the Father. There’s been all this talk about finding the Mother, learning
her secrets, stopping her, but she’s only half the puzzle. Where is the Father,
and what was his role in all of this?

By the time we make it back up to our
hotel room and make sure Robin hasn’t escaped somehow, my weariness has been
buried by the buzzing questions in my mind. I barely give Olivia a moment to
sit down before my first question bursts out of me. “What did you say about the
Father?”

Sighing deeply, Olivia tucks her feet
beneath her and gathers her waning strength. “Tū told me that Tāwhiri
stayed in the Aerling world to try and control the Father in order to end the
war, but being there made him too weak. He was limited by the barrier.”

“So, the Father is still in the Aerling
world,” Mason says, his tone considering.

“Yeah, but where, and what’s he doing?”
That’s what I really want to know. “Did you guys see him when you were there?”

Mason and Olivia glance at each other, and
it’s clear they’re both perplexed. Must be a no. If he didn’t show up to
welcome home the two people Tāwhiri chose to save their entire race, where
was he? Seems like something you’d want to take notice of and, well, show up for.

Turning to Sloane, I ask, “You were in the
Aerling world for a year. Did you ever see the Father?”

Sloane’s head shakes back and forth
slowly, her lips pressed together tightly. The anger I see slipping onto her
features tells me she knows something about this. She doesn’t make me drag it
out of her. “I asked about the Father, not long after I learned of his
existence,” she says with a bite to every word. “What I was told was that after
he and the Mother were separated, he was so overwrought with grief at losing
her that he secluded himself in a distance part of the Aerling world. He saw no
one, and never came out to greet newly returned Aerlings. Tāwhiri took
over all his duties out of respect for the Father’s grief.”

“Clearly, that isn’t true,” Olivia says
softly. “From what Tū said, it sounds more like he was imprisoned to stop
him from making things worse.”

“Is he still imprisoned?” I ask. My eyes
dart from Mason to Olivia. “Tāwhiri is gone…or dispersed between the two
of you or whatever actually happened with that. If his power put the Father
under house arrest, did it stick when he gave himself up to you two?”

Olivia’s nose crinkles while Mason’s face
scrunches in thought. Olivia is the first to speak. “I don’t think Tāwhiri
would have done what he did if it meant setting the Father free. He must have
been able to imprison him without the use of his power, or kept some of his power
there to hold him. I think he’s still locked up.”

Dropping onto the bed, I run one of my
hands through my hair. “Well, there’s really only one way to find out, isn’t
there?”

The fear and shock in Olivia’s features
pulls me up a bit. “Go back?” she squeaks. “But, that will be three days gone,
at least. We can’t lose that much time.”

“What choice do we have?” I argue. “We
have no way to track the Mother, no clue where she’s at or going to be, either.
Tū apparently can’t help us even if he wanted to, and we’re running out of
time. Going back and getting some answers from the Father is the only option.”

Everyone is quiet for a few minutes as our
brains soak up all the new information we’ve gathered today. Even once
everything seems to settle into place for Mason, he doesn’t speak right away.
His eyes meet mine and a silent conversation passes between us. I nod,
suspecting I know exactly what he’s about to say, promising I’ll take care of
Olivia.

“Time isn’t something we can waste,” Mason
says calmly, “but we need answers. Olivia and Hayden need to go to the Aerling
world while Sloane and I stay here to search for the Mother and track down a
few other answers.”

Olivia’s mouth drops open. The outrage on
her face is almost laughable. Nothing is really humorous in this situation.
Olivia isn’t sharing in my musings, however, because she’s too busy glaring
daggers at Mason. “I’m not leaving you. That was the deal. We’re not being
separated again, ever.”

“I can’t go back,” Mason says softly.
Olivia starts to argue, tears in her eyes, but Mason shakes his head. “I can’t
risk going back and getting trapped there. If the Mother somehow manages to fix
the barrier on her own, our chance to end this will die. I may not be able to
come back. You and Hayden can cross regardless, but Sloane and I…Olivia, it’s
just too big of a risk. We can’t go back.”

I half expect Sloane to make some kind of
argument as well, but she only sits down next to me on the bed and leans
against my shoulder. Feeling her weariness and fear, I put my arm around her.
I’m not looking forward to leaving her behind any more than I am Mason. They’ll
be at risk without Escorts here to hide them. Mason is right that it’s a risk
we can’t afford
not
to take. There have been so many lies, we have no
way of knowing what’s true and what is rhetoric at this point.

Cedrick told them they had to sacrifice
Robin to repair the barrier, but the Mother created the barrier. She wants it
in place to keep the Aerlings weak and under control. She wants it put back together.
I highly doubt she’s sitting around waiting for us to hand over Robin in order
to fix things. Maybe Cedrick truly believes the only way to repair the barrier
is with Robin’s life. Maybe he’s lying through his teeth to get us to do what
he wants and dispose of a traitor.

Trust no one. That’s pretty much become my
new motto. With the exception of the three people in the room with me who
aren’t hogtied with bonds of air, we’re on our own in this. The only answers
we’re going to get are the ones we drag out of people by force. It’s time to
change tactics. No more chasing hints and clues. No more trusting the answers
that come easily. Mason and I glance at each other again, coming to an
agreement. Tū wants us to find the truth, and that’s exactly what we’re
going to do, no matter what it takes.