Perilous Light (5 page)

“
We’ll keep her safe. I promise,” he reassured me.

I pulled into an empty parking lot on the edge of Duke’s campus. I would have had no idea how to find it if we weren’t following Monty. It was already after ten o’clock, and the place closed at dusk.

Monty hopped out of his SUV and went around to the back. A minute later, he had pulled out an arsenal of weapons, including my Guardian sword. He passed them around to everyone. Henry and James had their own swords, and Monty handed Liam a crossbow. I remembered how good he had been with it. Monty offered a sword to Charlotte, but she adamantly refused. I was glad. I didn’t like the idea of a weapon in her hands. I wasn’t being sexist; Samantha had made me realize that some girls could fight, but I didn’t want Charlotte doing it.

We walked through the main entrance, and I made sure to keep Charlotte in my sight at all times. Norman likely entered through that gate, and I didn’t want that jerk touching her.

“
I can’t believe there’s an entrance in here.” I shook my head, thinking how little I really knew about how our world connected with Energo.

“
Yeah, I discovered it when I was at Carolina. It doesn’t open up to the best spot in Energo, but it will work.” Monty led us at a brisk pace, turning around occasionally to make sure we were all with him.

In the light of the lantern she held, Charlotte appeared apprehensive. “What do you mean, ‘not the best spot’?”

“
You’ll see when we get through.” Monty didn’t seem to be in the mood for answering questions.

We walked down the steps, then veered left around a large fountain and came to the top of a multi-tiered terrace. Monty immediately headed over to a small building. He kicked at the door, reminding me of the night Charlotte had gone missing and we had broken into James’s house. We all followed Monty in as he moved some old furniture out of the way before taking a small crystal key from his pocket.

“
Did you just happen to have that key with you?” I started to wonder if he had anticipated a need to use the gate on this trip.

“
I brought it just in case. Besides, even if I didn’t, Charlotte has hers.”

Charlotte pulled her necklace out from under her sweatshirt as Monty gestured to her.

“
Like how you brought the swords with you?” Liam laughed.

Monty ignored us and inserted the key into a lock that looked as though it was just part of the wall. He paused, turning to look at me. “You know, Kevin, you might not make it back for your next game.”

I let his words sink in, realizing that he was talking about more than just one game, but there was no way I was turning back. “I know. Let’s do this.”

Monty pushed against the door, and suddenly, we were no longer in the old building.

Chapter Five

Charlotte

The air was oppressively hot, but I still felt better than I had all year the moment we stepped into Energo. The heaviness in my chest lessened, and with every breath, I became more relaxed. As much as I might have wanted to deny it, at least in some way, Energo was home. My thoughts immediately turned to Calvin. I understood that I wasn’t going to Bellgard to see him, but I knew he was close, and that was enough to set my heart racing.

“
Oh, my god. It’s hot.” Kevin unzipped his sweatshirt dramatically.

“
Your observations are always so astute, Kevin.” James couldn’t give up an opportunity to razz my brother.

I didn’t voice the feeling out loud, but it was kind of fun to watch someone giving Kevin a taste of his own medicine. Still, I didn’t want it to go too far. Kevin tensed, and I jumped in before it could become a full-fledged argument. “So aside from the heat, do we know anything about where we are?”

“
We are in the Sutuni desert. It’s always hot. I told you the gate didn’t open to the best place.” Monty started to walk, and we all followed while pulling off our sweatshirts and jackets.

“
You know, Charlotte, you could get rid of this heat for us.” Henry’s suggestion made me freeze.

“
Umm, I haven’t tried my abilities since we left last year.” I had considered the idea, but being so out of practice, I was terrified to try. Even though returning to Energo had made me feel better, the fear of failure was still on my mind.

James nudged me. “You’re the Essence. It should come naturally.” I had somewhat forgiven him for kissing me, maybe part of being the Essence meant not holding grudges, but my annoyance started to resurface.

“
At least try. It’s as hot as Hades.” Kevin wasn’t one to complain, so I figured the least I could do was try.

I closed my eyes and attempted to focus on colder weather. I had lots of memories to work with, considering my three years living in Alaska, but my mind kept wandering to Calvin. No matter what I focused on, thoughts of him usually pervaded. Of course, thinking about Calvin started to make me hurt, so with a sigh, I gave up.

I opened my eyes to some very wet and upset boys. Instead of altering the temperature, I had created a torrential rainstorm. I hadn’t realized that my emotions could mess up my abilities so much. Closing my eyes, I pictured the rain stopping, and thankfully, it worked. The rain did help lower the temperature a little, but the ground had become a muddy mess. Lovely.

“
So maybe introducing rain into a barren desert won’t completely upset the ecosystem.” James’s sarcasm was probably his worst trait, and he had some bad ones. I glared at him.

“
Stop it, everyone. Let’s keep moving.” Monty said.

Trying to brush off my humiliation, I followed Monty. If I couldn’t master the simple act of changing the temperature, how could I possibly be of any use to the Resistance? I struggled to hold back tears as we walked, hoping the rain would be a good enough excuse for my wet face.

“
Don’t be so hard on yourself. Personally, I like the rain, so you did well in my book.” Liam caught my eye and smiled.

“
Ha! I’m out of practice.” I tried to sound calm and unbothered, but I was sure Liam could see through it.

“
It happens to all of us. I mean the being out of practice thing. You wouldn’t want to see me try to play basketball right now.”

I laughed. “I’m sure you’re still great.”

“
I appreciate your confidence. But maybe try to have some for yourself.”

“
I’ll try. Thanks.” I watched Liam as he squeezed water out of his T-shirt, and I couldn’t help but smile. Sometimes it seemed like he was the only one who really understood me.

We walked through the desert in near silence. No one gave me any more trouble about the rain, but I could tell they were tired of the mud. I hoped they were at least relieved that the temperature had dropped.

It felt like we had been walking for hours when Monty started handing out snacks and water bottles from his backpack. He thought of everything. I ate my energy bar and caught up to Kevin. I’d missed him more than I expected and looked forward to spending time with him, even if it wasn’t in the best setting.

“
How're you feeling?” Kevin asked after downing his entire bottle of water.

I shrugged. “I’m doing all right. It feels great to be back, but I’m also scared, you know?”

“
I feel the same way.”

I stopped in my tracks. “Wait, did you seriously just admit to being scared?”

“
Yeah, I’m only human, after all.” Kevin nudged me to get me to start walking again.

“
Only human? As compared to what? And you better not say me.”

Kevin laughed. “All right, I won’t say it.”

“
Whatever, you’re lucky I’ve missed you,” I said brazenly.

“
I’m so relieved; I can’t imagine what you would have done to me otherwise.”

“
Hey, as you pointed out, I’m more than human. Don’t test me.” I grinned as Kevin tensed, probably realizing that I might be more of a threat than I used to be.

***

The desert seemed to go on forever. The mud had eventually lessened, and I got tired of wading through the sand. Pretending that we were on a beach helped at first, but the lack of a breeze made it difficult to keep up the illusion. As soon as I considered asking Monty if we could take a break, trees came into view—lots of trees.

The jungle was still humid, but the shade of the canopy came as a welcome relief. We pushed our way through the thick foliage, occasionally becoming tangled in the vines. Before long, we reached the fern grotto that housed the Cason caves. Crackling branches made me jump. We were being followed.

“
Nice of you to stop by, brother,” said an unfamiliar voice.

Henry spun around searching for the source of the words. “Lawson?”

The guys took out their weapons and surrounded me. The trees were so dense that I couldn’t see a thing. Quickly, I closed my eyes and pictured the trees cleared, allowing me to see. A mild heat flowed through me as the image grew stronger.

“
I take it you are the new Essence?”

Opening my eyes, I watched a figure approach the circle surrounding me. The guys looked around in surprise. It took me a minute to realize that the trees had bent and moved out of the way, forming a circle of clearing. Relief flooded through me; I could still use my abilities.

“
Any particular reason you decided to scare us?” Henry asked, walking toward the speaker.

“
None really. But I was on watch and thought I would scare you a little, seeing as you took off without even telling the family.”

“
I was doing my job.” Henry took a step back and put his arm around my shoulders. “You know, as a Guardian, my job is to protect the Essence.”

“
Speaking of the Essence…” The man held out his hand to me. “I am Lawson Ashwell.”

I accepted his firm handshake. “Henry talks about his brothers a lot; it’s nice to meet one! I’m Charlotte.”

Kevin, Monty, and Liam stepped up and introduced themselves.

“
Nice to meet you all.” Lawson smiled, then turned his attention to James. “So I hear you turned your back on your father.”

“
I was not interested in watching him hurt the Essence.” James glowered at Lawson. It was rare to see James so serious.

Lawson frowned momentarily before turning his attention back to me. “Charlotte, tell me, has my brother done a good job on your Guard?”

“
Of course. Henry’s great!” I appreciated Lawson’s use of my name, and I warmed to him immediately.

“
Yeah, he does a great job when he is not hanging all over his girl.” James laughed.

“
You have a girl, Henry? You are pretty young to be uniting, but Mother will be thrilled.”

Henry turned bright red.

James smirked. “I never said he united; I said he had a girl.”

“
What?” Lawson frowned. “Please tell me you have not harmed a girl’s virtue!”

“
I wouldn’t worry too much about Rachel,” James jibed.

“
Shut up, James.” I wasn’t going to sit there and let James imply that there was anything wrong with Rachel. So she liked to make out with her boyfriend, that wasn’t a crime.

“
Besides, James, who are you to talk? You think everyone is going to be happy that you kissed the Essence?” Henry asked, dropping his arm from my shoulders.

“
What the hell is he talking about?” Kevin asked.
Liam and Monty each grabbed one of Kevin’s arms, holding him back from attacking James.

“
I protected her from unwanted attention.” James winked at me. My stomach churned. I should have taken care of that guy myself, but what good was being constantly followed around by Guardians if they couldn’t take care of things like that?

“
Lawson, I am sure you have plenty of questions for Henry, but do you think we could continue to the cave? I need to speak with my brother.” Still holding Kevin’s arm, Monty cut off the conversation. Even having met Theodore, I thought it sounded strange to hear Monty refer to his brother. I understood that Monty had withheld the truth about my family in order to protect me, but it definitely strained our relationship a little. I couldn’t help but wonder what else he was keeping from me, but at the moment, I was grateful for the new subject of conversation.

“
Sure, follow me.” Lawson started off at a brisk pace.

Walking sandwiched between Liam and Kevin, I continued through the fern grotto. After hearing about James, Kevin wasn’t about to let me out of his sight. The only other time I had been to the Cason caves was after leaving Bellgard, and I had barely registered anything that was happening. Everything seemed unfamiliar as we pushed through the heavy ferns and waited while Lawson moved some large rocks out of the way. I had expected the Resistance to grow, but I was in no way prepared for the crowd that appeared as we neared the cave entrance.

“
Wow. Theodore did some recruiting.” Kevin’s expression mirrored my surprise.

“
It’s a relief. I didn’t know what to expect.” Monty wiped his brow.

“
Hello, brother.” Theodore walked over and embraced Monty. Monty stiffened. I could practically feel the tension between the two brothers.

Monty pulled away and addressed his brother coolly. “Theodore, we heard you needed us urgently.”