Surviving ELE (ELE Series #4) (2 page)

Lee gives me a calm look.
I’m surprised at how well he keeps his cool. Did he not just have to aim his gun at Tony, his friend? “Slow down, Willow. First, why is Zack coming after you? Or do you mean all of us?” Lee asks me.

I shake my head. “No, he wants
me
. He thinks I’m the key to making him more powerful. He’s found a way...” I think better of telling them the exact way Zack thinks I can give him powers...through my blood. The last thing I need is for any of these people to go along with the same harebrained scheme and get the stupid idea to start draining me dry.

Zack injected some of my blood into him and it somehow gave him the same gifts I have, which is way too much power for someone so evil to have. The problem for him though is that it wore off. Now he wants to keep me around to basically drip me dry so he can hav
e an unlimited source of power.

I still don’t know the full extent as to why I have so many abilities and not just one power like everyone else. All I know is that for some reason, when I’m around a person with a different power, I absorb the ability to use the same power shortly after coming in contact with them. I am the only one we know about that can do this, other than Reapers. It’s sick that they have the ability to be so cold and heartless. I guess they aren’t really human in the true sense. We believe the shot they gave themselves that was supposed to kill them, actually killed off the portion of their brain that causes them to have emotions and to care about others.

I think that the small amount of the Reaper shot I accidentally took at the beginning of this whole ordeal is what has given me these gifts. After all, in a way, I
am
part Reaper. But, it is a speculation that I can’t prove. Unlike those monsters though,
I
am in touch with my humanity, so I don’t take everything when I acquire a new gift. In fact, I don’t even realize I am taking anything until one day I find myself able to do the same things they can do.

In his search for power, Zack went so far as to cause me to run into more people with different gifts because when he injects himself with my blood, he only gets the powers I had at the time the blood was taken. To top everything off, now this sicko has found a way to turn my boyfriend against me. He injected him with something that I thought was a Reaper shot. Instead, it was a new shot that I don’t know much about yet. All I know is that it makes Tony a puppet that Zack can control. I don’t know the extent of the control or how to reverse the effects. All I know is that my healing abilities couldn’t stop the onset of the change within Tony. It only delayed it.

A thought pops into my mind. I wonder how many other people were injected with that shot Tony was given. Could some of the people we recently saved be in jeopardy of turning? If I can even get these people to safety, will they ever truly be safe?

Lee clears his throat and I realize I’ve gone silent in thought for a while. I decide to give him a condensed version of what’s going on. “I’m sorry,” I tell him. “Well, obviously as you can tell from what I’ve already shared, Zack is still alive.”

Lee nods his head. “Yeah, I got that much already but what does Zack have to do with Tony?”

“He injected Tony with something that has turned him into someone different...someone that Zack controls. He is making Tony come after me so he can take me to wherever Zack is hiding. You all are not safe with me around, but you aren’t safe here either. To put it bluntly, you need to leave. Also, I don’t know how many others have been injected. Some of the people we saved could very well turn. So you have to be careful. If you see their eyes turning red, you need to get away from them...or lock them up.” I didn’t want to say, ‘take them out.’ How can that be fair? To kill someone that had no choice of becoming what they will become. “I’ll need to take some supplies and food with me, but then I’ll get out of here so you all can stay safe.”

Lee holds out his hand. “Whoa. Slow down there, partner.” I raise my eyebrow at him. He continues. “We’ll move on to the next safe house. But you aren’t separating from us. I don’t give a crap if Zack or Tony is after you. You aren’t going off on your own.”

I shake my head.

“She won’t be on her own. We’ll go with her.” Alec stands by my side. Connor and Claire step forward and nod their heads.

I look at them like they’re crazy. “Absolutely not; you aren’t going anywhere with me. It’s too dangerous.”

“You don’t have a choice.” Alec’s expression turns angry. Alec can be pretty stubborn. When he has his mind made up about something, there’s no changing it. “You will not just go off into the night again all alone. If you think you can do that, then we’ll go after Zack on our own.”

My mouth drops open as I stare at him. Alec isn’t usually one to be forceful, or is it more so that he hasn’t had to be forceful in the past? Would he dare do what he’s threatening? My face turns red as my cheeks heat with frustration. He must not understand just how completely dangerous his plan is. I am being hunted and if something was to happen to one of them during my watch, I could never forgive myself.

Lee clears his throat again and Alec and I both turn towards him. “You’ll stay with us. We together...” he gestures his hand towards the large group of able-bodied fighters ready to defend us, “...we will protect you.”

I shake my head. “No, my dad and my brother are here. I want them to be safe.” I don’t see them anywhere in the crowd.

“This isn’t up for discussion, Willow,” Lee says.

My mind starts working to process everything. The most important thing for me right now is that the remaining members of my family are safe. I want my friends to be safe too, but if they will not allow me to protect them, then I can’t control that. I
can
control what happens to my dad and brother though.

I match Lee’s stern stare, not willing to give in. “If you will not let me go alone then I will take a group with me. You take the original people with you. I will
take some of the people we saved with me. If any other fighters want to join us, they may.” I can tell that Lee doesn’t like my plan but I can also tell that he understands my reasoning behind the request.

When it boils down to it, Lee is a loyalist. If he can keep the kids and his original group safe, that’s all that matters. He knows that I want to keep an eye on the people we recently saved because those are the only ones at risk of turning. It didn’t take long for Tony to be completely taken over by Zack, so if any of these people were injected with the same shot, they could turn within a few days. I want them to be as far from my family as possible if that happens. Lee turns and looks at his people behind him, then looks back to me. “Okay. We better start preparing so we can clear out of here by dawn.” He looks tired but determined.

I nod my head. “Thank you, Lee.”

It’s funny because the expression he gives me next is different from his usual ornery look. Instead, there is a mix of fatherly care and worry. “We’ll look into a way to help stop Zack too. In the meantime, you stay safe.”

I can’t help but smile. Somehow, I’ve made a chink in his grumpy old man armor. “I will.”

With that, we turn and head into the hotel. Once we’ve all gathered inside, I turn and face Alec, who has been on my heels this whole time. With one hand on my hip and the other one pointing angrily at him, I address him. “How dare you try to threaten to go after Zack alone? That wasn’t fair!”

He looks at me like what I said was the most ridiculous statement in the universe. Instead of saying anything, he grabs the crook of my elbow and pulls me into a dark, seemingly empty conference room. He slams the door and flips on the switch of a battery-operated lantern. It casts an intimate glow throughout the small room. Alec slams the lantern down on a table and then directs his attention to me.

I’m taken aback by his actions. I’ve seen Alec angry before, but it still seems like such a flip from his usual relaxed persona. It’s unnerving to have his
anger directed at me. I find myself moving away from him until my back is up against a wall.

With nowhere left for me to go, he steps forward, closing the gap between us. “How dare
you
say you are going to go after him alone? What is your problem, Willow?”

My breath catches in my throat. Looking into his eyes, I see a mixture of emotions. Without trying, my gift of empathy takes over and suddenly all of his feelings are rolling off him in waves that I can feel, touch, and taste. I know my eyes must be pitch black as I feel everything he feels. Anger, pain, hurt, jealousy, insecurity, longing, desire... The hardest one for me to swallow is the love that he still feels for me. His emotional tornado hits me hard in the chest.

I force myself to look away.
Turn it off, Willow!
It’s not right to invade his privacy with my gifts. When the emotions finally stop coming at me in overwhelming waves, I look back up at him. His expression has slightly softened.

Finding my voice, I try to reason with him. “This isn’t your problem, Alec. I didn’t want to drag you or anyone else into this mess with me. Zack doesn’t want you. You all would be safe right now if it wasn’t for me.”

He puts his hand on my shoulder. The small amount of space between us has me catching my breath again. “No. This isn’t only your problem, Willow. You did nothing to deserve this. You are a victim, just like everyone else who has been hurt by those monsters! None of us will be safe until Zack is stopped.” His eyes wander down to my lips for a slight second before he looks back up into my eyes. His eyes have a fire in them that was missing a second before. He lets his hand drop. I watch him press it into a fist. “What I still don’t understand is how you can so easily close us out of your life. You know how I feel about you. How your friends feel about you. Yet, you run away with Tony in the middle of the night. Without even telling us where you went or if you were safe. Now you want to run away again on your own. Do you honestly think we are too weak to be included in your plans? Just because you have all of these powers doesn’t mean you can take on the world alone.”

I throw my hands up in frustration. “I didn’t know what to do, Alec! I still don’t know what to do. How am I supposed to make these decisions? I don’t think you are weak at all. Can’t you see that I care too much about you all to throw you in the line of danger?” My chest is tight as I let the feelings and insecurities that I’ve been holding onto loose. Tears start blurring my vision. “Did you know that sometimes I don’t think I will make it through this? I may have all of these powers but they haven’t been able to help me when I really needed it. They didn’t help me save my mom. I couldn’t save Tony, even though I tried.” The tears start falling as I think of how hard I tried to heal Tony. How badly I wanted to, as if my will alone could have saved him. How can I have all of this power but still feel so helpless? My voice is shaky. “I tried...” Alec pulls me into his arms. I allow myself to let out all of the emotions I’ve been bottling up inside.

“I know you tried. But you can’t do this all alone, Willow.” He brushes his hand over my curls and rubs my back soothingly.

I nod my head against his chest. “I know.” I pull away and wipe at my eyes with the palms of my hands. “I don’t want anything to happen to you guys though. I can’t take it if I lose one more person that I love.” It’s not until I see his expression that I realize what I just admitted to him.

“You love him?” He says it as more of a statement than a question. His wounded look breaks something inside of me.

What do I say? “I think I may...” I can’t look at Alec any longer. How can this be so hard? When I look at him, I feel like I’ve betrayed him in a way. I haven’t tried to lead him on, to make him believe that we still have a shot. I honestly care for Alec but these feelings that I’ve been developing for Tony are more than I can contain. I can’t stifle what my heart feels. “I’m so sorry, Alec,” I say, looking back up.

He’s looking away. His face is masked with pain.

“I don’t know what to say to make any of this better, Alec. Please, tell me what to say. I just want to make things right between us.”

He looks at me again with those deep, navy eyes. “Tell me that you’re just kidding, that you aren’t really falling in love with someone else...someone who is not me.” He barely whispers the last part.

I want to tell him what he wants to hear, but it wouldn’t be right.
Unable to speak, I stare into his eyes. I don’t want to hurt him. He means too much to me. I swallow hard and tell him, “Maybe you should go with Lee.”

He takes a deep breath and shakes his head. “No. I’m not leaving you.” He places his hands on either side of my face.
Our proximity is close enough that I can feel his breath on my skin. That angry heat returns to his expression. “Do you think that I would just leave you because you don’t love me anymore?”

“Urgh!” I have to stifle the desire to stomp my feet on the ground.
Alec removes his hands and takes a step back, obviously surprised by my outburst. “No, Alec! I don’t think you are petty enough to leave me because I’m falling for someone else. I was just offering you a lifeline. An out! Why do you keep insisting on putting words in my mouth?”

He runs his hands through his dark hair. “Because I’m hurt.” His honesty shocks me and silence fills the room as the truth floats heavily in the air.

I figured as much. I’m just amazed that he’s in touch with his feelings enough to admit it. “I really won’t think any less of you if you go with Lee.”