Linked (44 page)

“Madison,
calm down,” Jason broke in. “You know he’s Alex’s friend. What’s this all
about?”

She
gazed around the room and then back at Jason. “I’d like to know why I saw him
racing around outside spewing energy blasts everywhere, but yet I can’t sense
his link?”

That
drew several gasps, and I gulped down my own anxiety. Admitting to all the lies
I’d told was gonna be painful.

“Shelby
and I have been wondering the same thing,” Trevon said suspiciously, holding
his hand over the bloody wound on his stomach.

“Yes, I
think it’s time for some explanations,” Max added, and Laci nodded in
agreement.

“I am
linked,” Ash said slowly.

“Lexi?
What do you want me to do here?”

“I’ll
tell them,”
I said.

“Well
why can’t we sense the link, and where is this person you’re linked with?” Laci
asked in confusion.

“She’s
here,” I said swiftly. “But we don’t know why you can’t sense the link.” I took
a moment and studied the condensation forming in the window. Suddenly, I was
very hot and wanted to open the window and let the cold air sweep over me.
Looking around the room, I saw that I’d drawn several baffled looks.

All
but one. Jason’s eyes narrowed but then slowly rounded, and the muscles in his
cheeks began twitching; I could even hear his teeth grinding. Standing up and
moving out of my grasp, he glanced rapidly back and forth between Ash and me.
He groaned and a quiet rage started burning in his eyes. They stopped on me,
and in a deliberately sharp voice he said, “You’re linked with Ash, aren’t you
Alex?” Contempt oozed from every word.

“That
doesn’t make any sense,” Jessica said with a nervous laugh.

As I
nodded my head, I sunk a little bit lower into the bed but didn’t break eye
contact with him. “Yes, I am,” I whispered, clasping my hands and holding them
up to my face in a silent plea.

“You’re
a Dentelle!” Laci cried out, and her chair scraped the floor as she stood up.

“What?”
Jessica stammered.

“Of
course,” Shelby muttered.

Suddenly,
all my friends were on their feet and staring at me.

“If
you’re linked with Ash and he’s still alive, and you appear to be just fine
too, do you know what this means?” Laci asked excitedly.

They
all started talking at once. Everyone except Madison and Jason. Jason just
stared at me ruthlessly – betrayal written in every creased line on his grim face.
“You lied to me.” His voice and body shook with anger. “He knew all about you,”
he pointed at Ash but didn’t look away from me, “but you didn’t trust me enough
to tell me,” he accused.

Scrambling
to my feet, Ash’s coat fell to the floor and my blanket started to slip, but I
managed to hold onto it. “I had to keep it a secret.” I secured the blanket
around my waist. “I didn’t want everyone feeling sorry for me or treating me
differently. According to you guys, Dentelle’s don’t live through linking, so I
thought maybe I could link with a few Ray-pacs when it was time for me to link.
Mostly though,” I paused and heaved a deep breath, “I didn’t want any of you to
get hurt or get killed tomorrow, and I thought I had a good chance of taking
some of the Ray-pacs down before they could hurt any more Guardians.”
Desperate, I tried to explain myself and make them understand. I talked for
several minutes, until my face turned blue and my voice was quivering. “I’m so
sorry!”

A few
moments of silence ensued.

“I
can’t believe you kept this from me. You could have at least told
me
.”
Jason shifted his feet and continued looking at me like I’d just ripped his
heart out.

“When?”
I snarled, now angry at his lack of understanding. “When would you have had me
tell you? Right after you told me we could never be together. Or right after
you told me you didn’t have feelings for me? I spent months loving you from
afar, knowing all along you didn’t reciprocate those feelings.”

That
shut him up, and he just stared at me while shaking his head.

“You,”
I said sadly, “you of all people were the last person I could talk to. Whenever
I felt like we were getting closer, then you’d shove me away again. But more
importantly, I did what I had to do to protect you. I love you! And I knew
Kieran had a vendetta against you.” Tears clouded my eyes, and I hastily
brushed them away as they escaped down my cheeks.

“You
should have trusted me. Especially after last night—”

“Jason,
you blew me away last night! I was shocked and overwhelmed when you confessed
your feelings for me, but I didn’t have time…”

“Alex,
you wrote me a note that you were going to help your family,” he said angrily.
“We had a whole Retreat full of Guardians. You should have told me.” Each word
became louder until he was yelling. “We could have wiped the Ray-pacs out, but
instead you placed yourself in danger and all of us as well.”

Ash
stood up. “Look man, give her a break. She thought she was gonna die anyways,
and everything she’s done has been to protect you. If you only knew what an
emotional wreck she’s been for months – all because you’ve been dragging her
along, sending mixed signals. You want to place blame; place some on yourself.”

Jason
stiffened and the fire in his eyes grew a little brighter. Then he turned his
glare on Ash, and his arm shot out and connected squarely with Ash’s jaw. Ash
fell, sprawling onto the floor. He reached up and rubbed his chin but made no
move to rise.

“What
are you doing?” I yelled and dropped down to Ash’s side.

“Are
you okay?”

“Lexi,
I’m fine. Stand up before his temper really blows. I think he just needed to
release some steam.

“But—”

“Lexi,
just do it.”

Trevon
and Max grabbed hold of Jason’s shoulders at the same time.

“Well,
I for one think you had that coming,” Madison said lightly as she directed her
gaze on Ash and wiped her hands together.

Jason
drew one shaky breath. “That was for allowing Alex to go through with this
crazy plan of meeting the Ray-pacs without us. But,” he said in a weary voice
and extended his hand towards Ash, “I want to thank you for changing your mind
and responding to my text on her cell phone. You kept her safe until we could
get here. And you were right about the other things you said. For those I offer
an apology.”

Not
one to hold a grudge, Ash grabbed hold of Jason’s hand and accepted his help as
well as his apology. Some sort of truce was drawn between them at that moment,
and I sensed the tension between them easing up a bit.

“Now
that that’s all resolved, why don’t we sit down and listen to Lexi and Ash tell
their story from the beginning. Jason, can you handle that?” Max asked.

“Yes.”
He nodded. As everyone moved back to their chairs, he said quietly, “Alex, I’m
sorry.”

“Me
too.” Shakily, I reached out and grabbed his arm.

Tilting
his head sideways, he said quietly, “No more lies between us. Not now, not
ever.”

“Agreed.”
I traced his lips and blinked back more tears.

“You
still look pale. Will you at least sit back down?”

“Sure.”
I sat on the bed, and he settled down next to me. I talked for quite awhile,
explaining how my premonitions had started when I was a kid and how the more
recent and recurring snapshots of the burning cabin and icy lake had left me
preparing for my own death.

“I
really wish you had told me about your premonitions,” Jessica admitted and
fiddled with her ponytail. “But I can also understand how scared you must have
been. I remember that conversation on the yacht when we all talked about
Dentelle’s and how they don’t live through linking.” Her emerald green eyes
looked at me sympathetically. “I don’t know how you managed to hold it together
when you realized you were a Dentelle.”

“It
wasn’t easy,” I said truthfully. “But that’s when the plan first started to
form in my head.” I explained how things developed from that point on, and then
I let Ash take over and share his story.

After
several minutes Madison burst out, “What? You were actually linked with a
Ray-pac? How do we know you’re not still a Ray-pac?”

His
shoulders stiffened, and his eyes roamed the room. “It’s hard to explain, but
as soon as I linked with Lexi the instinct to hunt for Essence disappeared.
Besides, Lexi said my Essence no longer felt tainted after that. Would you like
to touch me again, a little longer this time, and judge for yourself?” he
challenged.

“I
don’t think so,” she said defiantly and raised her nose several inches in the
air, but I thought I detected a twinkle in her eyes. Yes, she was intrigued. I
felt a twinge of jealousy when I realized what a fiery match the two of them
would make.

“This
raises the possibility that Lexi could link with another Ray-pac and possibly
turn them,” Max mused.

“I
don’t think so,” Ash said. “In my premonitions, she was linked with Kieran, and
it appeared he controlled her in some way.”

“Why
did it work with you then?” Laci asked.

“Well,
for one thing, I never once took or stole another person’s Essence. I made it
back to Bellingham before I ever let it go that far, and Lexi has been
supplying me with her Essence for several months now.”

Jason
frowned but didn’t say a word.

“His
Essence was never tainted in the same way as Melanie’s, Kieran’s, or Adrian’s,”
I said and shuddered at the thought of Adrian.

Jessica
walked over to the counter and started messing around with the coffee pot. “I’m
gonna make some hot chocolate,” she announced.

“What
about Kieran?” Shelby asked.

Jason
pounded his fist against his leg. “He’ll be long gone by now. But maybe we’ll
have a chance of finding him tomorrow when all the Guardians scour the area.”

“We do
know that we destroyed a good chunk of his pack today,” Max said. “But we’ll
know a lot more after tomorrow’s search and destroy party.”

“Ash,”
Laci said and gazed at him with her blue eyes and soft smile. “I believe we
need to welcome you to the Bellingham Circle of Guardians…that is, if you wish
to join us and participate tomorrow.”

“I
thought you’d never ask,” he smiled as she came over and hugged him.

Jessica
walked over. “You’ll have to accept a hug from me too, but be careful.” She
smiled and put her arms around him. “I’m happy you’re joining us. Any friend of
Lexi’s is a friend of mine.”

“Wow,”
he exclaimed. “Your Essence is powerful.”

“I
know,” she sighed and nodded her head. “That’s my one claim to fame.”

“Don’t
you want to hug me?” Ash looked directly at Madison, but she just harrumphed
and blew her hair out of her face.

“This
is so surreal,” Shelby broke in. “Lexi, I can’t believe you are a real, live
Dentelle. This is unheard of. You are going to make all the history books.”

“Yeah,
and you know what,” Max said, glancing down at his watch, “if we head back to
the Retreat right away, we’ll still be able to catch some of the Senior
Guardians. They’re gonna want to know all about you and about all of this.”

“No!”
Jason said so vehemently that everyone froze and stared at him. He jumped to
his feet. “We are not taking Alex back to the Retreat right now. She’s barely
survived drowning and hypothermia, and I will not have that opinionated and
self-righteous group of council members poking and prodding her.”

“I
agree with Jason,” Jessica broke in. “They’ll want to examine her and question
her. Then they’ll try to tell us that she should be transferred to a different
group of Guardians—”

“What?”
I broke in. “I’m not moving anywhere. Besides, my family is still in Tacoma.”

“Don’t
worry. I’m not letting you go anywhere you don’t want to go,” Jason said, and
he puffed out his cheeks. “No, we wait for a couple days. As soon as everyone
has left town, we sit down with my dad and your parents,” he motioned towards
Max, “and tell them everything. They’ll help decide what the next step is.”

“Sounds
good,” agreed Trevon, who usually kept his opinions to himself. “Once news
leaks that Lexi’s a Dentelle, things are gonna get crazy around here.”

“Okay.
You’re probably right. We keep Lexi a secret, but only for a couple days. We’ll
need to come up with a cover story for why exactly we came rushing out here
today, especially with everything big scheduled for tomorrow,” Max said. He
stood up and walked over to the window. Running his hand over the top of his
head, he sighed and shook his head. Leaning against the table for support, he
faced us. “I’ll work on that.”

“You
could use me as the scapegoat,” Ash suggested. “Come up with a story that
Madison had a premonition about me needing help. That way you guys could leave
Lexi out of it completely.”

“That
just might work,” Max said. “The more pressing matter right now then, is
getting Lexi out of here fast. We don’t want the other Guardians who came with
us today to see her. Besides that, we’ll need to head outside and help clean up
the mess. Let’s gather round and make a plan.” As we all came to the table,
Jessica brought a kettle of hot water and passed out hot chocolate packets and
Styrofoam cups. Smiling, she handed me an apple cider packet.

Fifteen
minutes later, after saying our good-byes, everyone vacated the cabin on a
mission to undo some of the damage outside as well as distract the other
Guardians so Jason and I could sneak away. As far as clean-up went, they hoped
the weather would cooperate and drop several inches of new snow during the next
few days and wipe away some traces of the battle.

My
clothes were still wet, but Ash had found some rather large and unappealing
clothes that I could make do with. After dressing quickly, I stood before the
crackling fire next to Jason and leaned against his body. Listening to his
heartbeat, I breathed in his sweet, woodsy scent and said, “I suppose we should
go.”