Phantom Universe (41 page)

“
S—t—op,” she barely whispers. Surprised tears roll down her cheeks as another second passes, time so incredibly slow it’s like she’s controlling it, giving herself the time needed to say the words. Perhaps she is.

“
Stop,” she whispers again, her shaky hand covering her mouth with such fright and excitement her eyes have grown wide enough to pop out of her head.

Then it’s like the elastic band around time snaps, and everything goes back to its normal speed. Two more steps and Gage is a goner unless she yells out. She must scream it. He has to hear it.

Her stomach is so sick, her blood so thick and hard in her veins at the fact that she’s about to do something unimaginable. Footsteps slam into the ground to her right as Landon rounds the corner, his eyes wide, yet relieved, that she’s okay. She barely gives him a glance as she turns back to the open door and screams at the top of her lungs.

“
STOOOOOOOOOOP!
” It’s loud, clear, and very . . . British. Like her mum, though how she can distinguish an accent through her battle cry is a mystery.

Everyone freezes around her—the man with the axe, Gage, and most especially Landon. It’s not that time has stopped; it’s that she’s surprised everyone into a frozen stupor.

Summer points at the man hidden behind the equipment in the room. “Axe!” It comes out on an exhale and is partially just her breath. It’s all she can say, so astonished she got out more than one word. Her eyes are still wide, blue oceans of strain. She’s shaking with sobs.
This is it
, she thinks.
Everything will go downhill from here
.

“
You spoke,” says Landon with such shock he’s practically speechless himself. He doesn’t even comment on the reason why, just the fact that she did.

At the same time, Gage ducks quickly and shoots his gun/device thingy at the guy with the axe who suddenly goes limp. The axe bonks him on the head, and the blade embeds itself into his calf. Justice. Or did she just condemn herself? Summer quickly covers her mouth in fear and looks between Gage and Landon as if they might punish her, though she’s more worried about Axe Guy, even with his mouth open in a silent scream—just the sight pierces the air. Gage’s hypnotic green eyes meet hers with astonishment and pride.

Pride? That’s not right. That’s the opposite of right. She shakes her head, blinks her eyes, and rubs them just to make sure she comprehended his facial expression correctly. Yup. It’s definitely pride.

Landon hastily wraps an arm around her shoulders and rushes her down the hallway where Mindy and Cameron meet them outside, the rumbling hovercraft causing a roaring wind. Summer’s hair flies into the air as she’s escorted onto the hovercraft in a daze. Rob and Avery sit on either side of Jaden who looks thoroughly pissed, much to Summer’s confusion. The boys, on the other hand, are quite happy to see her and jump up to hug her tightly. Lucy, seemingly out of nowhere, rushes Summer and practically tackles her like a linebacker before they can get to her.

“
You’re alive!” she cries joyously. “I thought you were dead. I thought—I thought—I—” Her words are cut off by sobs of joy.

“
She’s shaking,” says Rob accusingly over the roar of the hovercraft.

Landon’s still speechless, though he snaps out of it and holds Lucy to him in an embrace of contentment when she pulls free of Summer.

“
I meant that Summer’s shaking, not Lucy,” says Rob with a shake of his head as he cautiously approaches her. Ever so carefully, he hugs her and lets her cry—happy tears? Sad tears? She’s truly not sure which—on his grey T-shirt for a few seconds before he steps away awkwardly.

Mindy stands uneasily next to Summer, unsure of what to do, her hands held out uselessly. Summer’s still in a state of shock, unable to hug back or move unless someone leads her to do it. Gage and Cameron board, and the doors slide shut, turning the loud, hectic atmosphere into a silent vastness. Cameron rushes to the front of the hovercraft and leaves the doors of the cockpit open as she slides into the pilot’s seat and taps, commands, and pulls on levers as the hovercraft leaves the ground. Avery joins her and Cameron explains what she’s doing like it’s a class while Rob takes his seat next to Jaden who still looks pissed.

Gage approaches Summer as if she’s a caged zoo animal who’s been set free on her captors. “You . . . spoke.” His voice is soft and low.

“
What?” Several voices ring out in disbelief.

Summer shakes her head as if she can deny it, her body rigid and immobile as she stares forward like a soldier in a lineup.

“
You did. You shouted.” Gage’s voice isn’t accusing, it’s awestruck—reverent even. “For me.” He’s still wary and doesn’t come too close, afraid she’ll back away. The short distance feels like a million miles of open space to Summer.

What’ll he do? If I speak? What happens now? How do I respond?

“
Yes,” whispers Summer, her voice hoarse and weak. Her sapphire eyes snap to his, her body still frozen in place as her chest heaves in fright, tears coating her face and dampening her shirt.

“
Oh my God,” says Lucy in admiration.

Admiration? Awe?
What’s wrong with these people?
thinks Summer. Their reactions are the complete opposite of what she’s known her whole life. These are the kind of
Oooohs
and
Aaaahs
she receives from Captain Travis’s guests when he boasts about his silent slave. This isn’t how one reactions when she speaks.

Gage takes another step closer, and she flinches out of instinct. It feels as though all her advances, all his hard work with trying to make her trust him, has disappeared in her moment of weakness.
I’m so weak
. Gage hesitates for only a second before he takes one last step toward her and engulfs her in a hug. Her muscles tense for a second before she relaxes in his arms and lets the weight of everything fall onto him. All of it, even the scars that mar her body temporarily stop their psychological babble of reinforcement.

“
Thank you, so, so much,” he breathes into her ear. “You rescued me. I can’t imagine the strength it took to warn me.”

Strength?
She shakes her head, disbelieving. No, speaking is definitely her weakness.

“
Yes,” he disagrees. “What you did took a lot of courage and strength.”

She presses her head against his chest and hears his heart beating powerfully.
Weakness or strength, it was worth it just to hear this again
.

CHAPTER
52: SANCTUARY

16 years old

Gage steps away from Summer after a few minutes, his gaze focused on something behind her. She hastily peers over her shoulder before completely spinning on her heels. It’s her mum, still standing there with unease. She’s adorned in her white “SCS” lab coat, though underneath is a woman who’s grown in age since Summer’s last seen her, and is undoubtedly her mother—even if she was created. Regardless, the feelings are all there. This woman is her mum.

“
Hey,” murmurs Mindy as her eyes search Summer’s. “I’m . . . there are no words. I can’t believe I found you after all these years.” She closes her eyes and swallows thickly as tears stream down her porcelain cheeks. “I was afraid you were dead.” Her voice is choked.

Summer’s not quite sure what to think or say (if she’ll say anything at all). She knows her mother ran away with her when she was a child, but she was working with the Secret Clock Society in that building. Relief and suspicion roll off Summer in waves, but relief washes over everything else. She doesn’t even know why she’s hesitating. She literally jumps past the space to her mum and lands in her arms like she used to do when she was a child.

Mindy sobs loudly and holds Summer so tight it hurts, but neither of them care. It’s a reunion that should’ve happened years ago. They break apart after a long minute, and both sit, exhaling gratefully. Mindy and Summer stare at each other wordlessly, which is how Summer prefers it anyway. Mindy’s face is full of wonder—not like how Gage looked at her after she spoke—but in pure, raw love. It’s a look that takes Summer right back to her childhood, when everything was safe and warm and loving. All she can think about is curling onto her mother’s lap like old times. Memories rush her as she thinks about story time, being tucked into bed, or waking in the middle of a storm to curl up next to her mum under the covers, knowing her warmth and strength would keep her safe. Without conscious thought, Summer practically sits on her mum’s lap. Mindy embraces her and pulls her closer. It’s all so overwhelming. So necessary. As if Summer’s suppressed everything to protect herself, because thinking of her previous life hurts and burns deeper than any physical scar could. But now? She can let it all go, let her mother’s touch cleanse the filth in her life.

They’re both crying, and Mindy keeps murmuring, “my baby, my baby,” as Mindy positions Summer’s head in the crook of her neck. Mindy strokes her hair in a calming gesture she used to do whenever Summer was ill. They stay like that for twenty minutes as everyone remains quiet—besides murmurs from Cameron and Avery in the cockpit.

Gage perches next to Summer and holds his hand out to her which she takes appreciatively. Her eyes strain to see his expression, but she can tell immediately that it’s apologetic.
I’ve given you time, but now we’ve got to join reality
, his face expresses. She sits up and stares at him expectantly.

“
Listen—I’m sorry, but it’s important,” says Gage ruefully. “We know how they found us.” He glances at Jaden in a mixture of regret and disgust.

Summer’s eyes go wide as they jump between the two, her breath catching in her throat at his implication.

“
It’s not true!” screeches Jaden angrily. “Dammit! Why won’t you listen to me?” No wonder she looks so pissed—it all makes sense now.

Gage shakes his head. “She had a tracking device on her this whole time—in her Astropad.”

“
Mindy,” pleads Jaden, “tell them I would never do this. Please! We all have Astropads—how the hell was I supposed to know mine was bugged?”

Mindy bites her bottom lip and frown lines form on her forehead. “I don’t know what your role is with the Society,” she says truthfully. “They barely trusted me when I went back to them in desperation to find Summer. I can’t vouch for you, nor can I prosecute you.”

Jaden’s dark eyes seek out Summer’s. “You couldn’t possibly believe this. Don’t you think I would have brought you to them sooner if that were the case? I rescued you off that ship and everything!”

Summer wavers, unsure what to think. Jaden’s been a true friend to her, helping her when she was in need. Was it all a lie?

“
Unless they wanted Summer to trust you,” counters Gage. “You forget I’ve been trained. And one of my specialties is to uncover spies. I will find out the truth; you can count on that.”

“
Quit bragging,” jokes Cameron good-naturedly from the cockpit.

“
Anyway,” says Gage, “we were able to use Jaden’s GPS to find the Secret Clock Society’s headquarters, thanks to Ethan. He suggests we go straight to New York. Afterward we destroyed the Astropad.”

“
Can’t they just physically follow us?” asks Mindy, clearly frightened.

Cameron laughs jovially from the cockpit. “I’d like to see those splashy pieces of work try. Last night I snuck onto their property—thanks to Ethan’s suave hacking skills—and disabled all of their hovercrafts and cars. They’ll be searching for the solutions on how to fix them for a long time.”

“
We almost didn’t let Mindy come along,” admits Gage sheepishly.

“
I’m glad you did,” Summer writes on his palm, retreating back into silence. Then she writes, “Thank you.”

Gages sighs. She knows it’s because she’s writing on his palm instead of speaking, but he gives a small nod. “She’s your mom—she was sincere. Plus, when she realized what was happening she disabled two of the lab techs.” He grins at Mindy. “She’s like a ninja or something.”