Keystone (23 page)

“Of course it does,” I say.

“Ok, but now you’ve got to learn to hide it,” he says. “Watch.”

Zane swipes his hand over his gray spot and it swishes to the other side of his chest, like it’s blown in a draft. He swirls his arms around in small circles and smooth extensions, almost like he’s doing turbo Tai chi, and the little gray patch disappears.

“Do you see it?” he asks. I shake my head no. He turns around, so I am looking at his back. “How ‘bout now?”

It takes a few long moments of searching and I’m still not sure I’ve found it. A gray spot hovers over his spine like a dirty bingo chip. “It’s on your back?”

“Keep watching,” he says and slowly, the gray patch begins to drift toward the back of his arm, all on its own. Zane lifts his arm and rotates so I can watch as the spot floats across his armpit and then back across his chest. The color fades and deepens and finally, turns the shade of gray I originally saw, as the Cavis returns to its original position at the bottom of his heart.

“So that’s the kind of thing you’re looking for,” Zane says. “A Cavis is only an indicator, not the actual weakness, so if it’s moved, it can’t hurt you. The trick is that you have to continually move your own Cavises while also trying to trigger one of your opponent’s. So, rule number one: when your field is up, first thing you do? Move. Your. Cavises. You don’t want to be an easy target.”

“Why move it first?” I ask. “Why not…”

Zane lunges for me.

I think he will stop short of me, like he did before, but at the last second, it’s obvious he’s not planning on stopping. My body slides to the side and Zane slides too. He grabs for my neck and I barely get away. The panic pushes up inside my ribs.

“Move. Your. Cavis!” Zane’s eyes flash in front of me, the ice blue of them startling. My limbs seem more like chicken wings, flapping uselessly in all directions. I have no idea if my Cavis is moving or not.

“Last chance! Get it away from your heart!” Zane shouts. As Zane strikes, Garrett hollers, “Don’t!” at the same time, but it’s too late.

I can’t get out of the way. Zane’s finger sinks through my field, like a spike through my skin. Only his fingertip scrapes the outer edge of my Cavis, but my entire field shakes as if it’s caught in an earthquake and a wave of pain collapses me.

Everything I haven’t felt since feeling my mom’s presence in the Memory circle comes gushing back. I feel my mom’s existence being severed from me, again. I feel the deep wound that gouged into me when I held the shell of her in my arms, again. I feel the dark loneliness of being without her, again. The hurt inside me shuts off my breath. My field shatters, leaving nothing but a vapor around me.

Garrett’s voice is a crack of thunder that sends my breath rushing back.

“SHE DOESN’T HAVE A CONNECTION!” Garrett shouts at Zane.

“Well, it’s going to sting for a little bit longer then,” Zane says coolly.

“What are you thinking?” Garrett booms at him, from over my head. “You don’t go for the weaknesses right off!”

“Hell you don’t,” Zane says. From the floor, I watch Zane’s feet stroll off the rubber mat. One of his shoes crosses over the other, as he leans on the wall. Garrett crouches down beside me, asking if I’m okay, but I can’t answer yet.

Zane’s voice comes smooth and easy. “That’s the way we were taught and you can bet she’s never going to let me…or anyone else…get her like that again. You should be thanking me, brother.”

Garrett is on his feet.

He races to Zane and they stand toe-to-toe only a second before the lightening movement of the two of them, roaring around each begins. From the floor, I just see their feet, but it only takes a moment before Zane hits the floor, doubled up and coughing.

“What do you know, brother. You let me get to your weaknesses,” Garrett says, his feet striding back to me. “And you knew better.”

Zane clutches his stomach and coughs his answer, “Point…taken…brother.”

Garrett’s face drops into view, his eyes on mine, the concern rolling off him. He doesn’t blink. His hands flash around me, hovering over my skin and I feel his energy radiating around me like a soft lasso. The throbbing in my heart melts away. I take a deep breath and Garrett finally blinks. He reaches out to help me sit up, but winces before our skin touches and removes his hand, aware of our restrictions again. I push myself up, leaning on one arm.

“You okay?” Garrett asks. Zane is still crumpled up and coughing a few feet away.

“Yeah,” I say. “You healed it, didn’t you?”

Garrett nods. My heart blooms.

“How about some for me?” Zane groans. In place of an answer, the gym doors swing open and the three girls from the Totus walk in. Robin sighs and crosses the room to Zane while the other two girls stop at the elliptical machines that rim part of the open, padded space where we were training.

“Wow. I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see it myself,” Robin says as she hunches down and heaves Zane into a sitting position. “That was really stupid. You know you don’t screw with a Vieo. You’re lucky Garrett didn’t break you in half.”

“It was training!” Zane groans, clutching his stomach. He glances up at Garrett. “Dang, but you got me good, G.”

“I thought we were coming for a party,” Zaneen says with one foot on an Elliptical, pushing the pedal backward. “Not to watch Zane make a boob of himself,
yet again
.”

“Nali’s got to know how to play offense,” Zane says. I get to my feet easily now, but I almost feel bad for Zane as he wobbles up like a new born giraffe.

“Oh no,” Garrett says. “Nali’s going to sit this one out, and we’ll just show her how it works.”

“Of course,” Zaneen grunts, brushing her hair away from her face.

“Fine,” Zane grimaces. “Let me guess...I’m going to be the attackee, right?”

“Seems fair,” Garrett says. “Ok, Nali, focus. Go on and put up your field, Z.”

Zane’s field orbs into place.

“The
real
weaknesses are usually more concentrated, but they’re also as small as a pin prick.” Garrett says. He waves to Zane. “Ok, buddy, redemption time. Show her your weaknesses.”

“I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours.” Zane smirks, but he reaches out his hands to either side, stretching like an albino, 98 pound Jesus. Then he squeezes his eyes shut extra tight as he grunts to Garrett, “Ok, go for it.”

“Do you see it? Right here,” Garrett motions to the middle of Zane’s torso, but he’s looking at me.

“Just don’t kill him, Garrett,” Robin says, but she doesn’t bother looking up from studying her fingernails.

“No, it’s fine,” Zaneen adds. “Go ahead and kill him.”

Deeta giggles. I stand beside Garrett, but I don’t feel good about him hurting Zane, even if he did just level me.

“Can you see it? It’s tiny,” Garrett says, but I don’t see any gray spots at all. I squint, I focus and I still don’t see anything. Finally, Garrett says to Zane, “Sorry, buddy, we’re going to have to do it the hard way.”

“Go on,” Zane grumbles and clenches up his face tighter, which makes me feel even worse.

“Use one finger. You’ll have to poke around for it,” Garrett says. I frown, but Zane, through one squinting eye, says, “Just go on and do it.”

I reach out. The area Garrett pointed to is a brilliant blue and I don’t see even a spec of gray. I push a finger toward it, but my finger is held back, as if Zane’s field is made of impenetrable glass.

“Keep trying,” Zane grunts. I move my finger to the side and Zane winces, but nothing else. My eyes flit nervously over his torso. I’m worried that this is a test and I’m totally failing.

The first time I jab around, I don’t see anything. Not the second or third time either. Frustrated, I force myself to search more slowly. Zane remains statue-still as I move my pointer finger over his field, poking around his armpits and near the crooks of his elbows, prodding across his collar bones and down toward his navel. The lower I go, the more freaked I get that I’m going to end up inspecting his crotch, and I’m so preoccupied with that worry that I almost miss what I’m actually looking for.

I catch sight of an itty-bitty gray speck from my peripheral. It’s like a fleck of dark dust, floating beneath Zane’s lungs. It could easily be mistaken for the shadow of another color.

“There,” I say, pointing at the area. “Is that it?”

“Touch it,” Garrett says.

I reach out as gently as I can, grazing it with barely the tip of my finger, and Zane groans, “That’s it!” as he doubles up and drops to the floor in a coughing, gasping fit.

“You got it,” Garrett laughs. I swear I hear happiness, maybe even relief that I’m not an idiot, in his voice. “Zane’s diabetic. His pancreas is weak.”

This time, Garrett drops down beside his friend and removes the pain. It still takes a few minutes before Zane hobbles onto his feet again.

Once he’s up, Garrett says, “Ok, ready, buddy? Go on and hide it, Zane.”

“Yeah, hide it already, so we can get out of here.” Zaneen yawns.

Zane curls his fingers and scoops his Cavis around in a half circle, through the air, in front of him. As if the gray patch is part of the air, it swirls and drifts downward toward Zane’s thigh.

“Do you see it now?” Garrett asks. I can hardly stop nodding, it’s so exciting. I point to the speck.

“Right there, it moved.”

“Very good.” Zane says. “Punch it.”

Maybe it’s the confidence in Zane’s voice, but I don’t even hesitate. I drive my fist right into it, my second knuckle hitting it like a bulls eye. Zane doesn’t even exhale.

“See?” he says, resuming his spunky, teacher mode. “A Cavis is harmless, except when it is aligned over your weakness. If I was in a real fight, I’d move it so my opponent would target my thigh, where I’m strong. See how it works? It’s a cup game. You got to keep moving your weakness around so no one knows where it really is. That’s why you have to do it as soon as your field is activated, so your opponent is in the dark right from the start.”

The gray speck is already drifting back, like a cloud, over Zane’s pancreas. It’s like a painting of dots, and I have to blink a million times before I can actually see the picture.

“The problem,” Garrett says. “Is that a skilled warrior will move their Cavis the minute their field is up and keep moving it so you have a hard time finding its original location. But the more you practice, the easier it is to find them.”

“It’s all about patterns,” Zane says. “The real trick is moving around your own Cavis while trying to map out your opponent’s Cavis too. If you move your own in the same direction all the time, it becomes obvious where they are.”

“Does hitting a Cavis kill somebody?” I ask.

“It can,” Zane nods. “If it’s a hard, direct hit. But we usually don’t try to sink anybody’s battleship.”

“
We
don’t,” Garrett says, his voice grave. He stands beside me and I can feel him like a tractor beam, pulling my eyes to his. His gaze is solid too, as if he wants to implant his words in my head. “We might only want to knock them unconscious so they’ll get a second chance in the Rings.
But
that’s not what they’ll do to you.
The Fury means to kill you, Nalena. They don’t care about healing or second chances. They prefer us dead and out of the way. One of the Simple or one of the Alo that’s gone to the Fury might try to stab or shoot you, but a Contego warrior that’s turned will use anything they can,
especially
striking a Cavis.”

“So, we’ll take this in baby steps,” Zane says. “Field up equals Move. Your. Cavis. Let’s give it another go.”

“Nuh uh,” Zaneen says, stepping forward. After that speech, I’m pretty flipped out and ready to learn, but Zaneen plants her hands on her hips as she faces Garrett. “You can do this crap tomorrow. I didn’t show up to watch a noob train all night. We were promised a party.”

“You were, huh?” Garrett perks an eyebrow at Zane, but all Zane does is lift his palms like he’s clueless.

“It has been a pretty long night already.” Zane says. “I figured we’d do a little intro to training and then hang out, since you guys have the Courtyard suites all to yourself.”

I lean against the wall as they’re talking. Having ridden around all morning revisiting my mom’s memory, then watching some freaky father types cart away the dead Fury guy and getting my most painful Cavis jabbed…it’s all kind of totaled me out. But I also know that if I go off to bed now, I won’t be able to sleep anyway. Not knowing that everyone’s partying next door. Especially that Zaneen’s there, with Garrett.

“We can hang out in my room,” I suggest.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” Zane hoots and he claps me on the back. “Welcome to the Contego pack, Nali Girl.”