The Bloom Series Box Set: Bloom & Fade (67 page)

Nathaniel looked out at the horizon
for a long time. “When I was a boy,” he said, “I knew all of those
things you mentioned. Love most of all. And then my family was
taken and sent far away. I never saw them again. I worked for a man
and his wife in South Carolina, plowing fields, sowing crops. If I
misbehaved, I was punished.”

He turned away and lifted his coat and
shirt. His back was covered with dozens of long, thin scars.
Several chunks of skin had been ripped away and lumpy scar tissue
covered the old wounds. Nathaniel lowered his shirt and jacket and
turned back to Haven.

“
I didn’t know what I was
at the time, so I had to take the beatings. But there were others
like me, too. Boys and girls, each with their own special ability.
You know what happened to them when they were
discovered?”

Haven shook her head, afraid to hear
the answer.

“
They were dragged away
and shot in the fields like dogs, before they could learn how to
fight back. Every great tragedy throughout humanity’s bloody
history—every war, every genocide, every century of slavery—leaves
a scar on the soul of this world. And so out we come,” said
Nathaniel, pointing at Haven and himself. “Soldiers to turn the
tide in humanity’s favor—to staunch the flow of innocent blood.
Kind of hard when the people in charge kill you before you realize
what true power lies within.” He tapped his chest.

“
So you were too afraid to
save your own people,” said Haven, “and now you’re going to let
everyone else die? Did you bring me here for comfort? So you could
hear someone tell you it’s a good idea to roll over and welcome
extinction?!”

Nathaniel sighed. “No. I tried to stop
what was coming. I met Alistair in battle, and we both failed. I
did not bring you here for comfort. I brought you here to say
goodbye. Soon I will be moving on.”

“
To where?”

“
To wherever it is my kind
goes when this world is finished with us. One day you will
understand. You’ll feel it in your bones, as I do. I was led to you
to tell you that it’s no longer up to me to keep those like
Alistair from spreading their evil. It’s up to you, and anyone
lucky enough to call you their friend.”

Haven shook her head. “I
don’t believe it. You can go back and fix everything. You can take
me to my parents, the night before everything went wrong.” She was
crying, unable to stop her tears. “Noah could have a normal life,
not the one I’m scrounging out of the dirt. You have the ability to
change anything you want, and you choose to fade into the
background. Why do
you
get that luxury but I have to stay and watch my friends and
family die all around me? Who made that decision?!”

She sat at the edge of the building,
dangling her legs over the side. A gentle breeze pushed her hair
back and she wiped away her tears. Nathaniel quietly sat next to
her and looked out at the horizon.

“
It is not our place to
change things in such a manner,” he said. “It is our place to go
on—to accept our fates and to live accordingly. What you’re feeling
now is what I’ve been feeling for decades,” he said. “It never gets
better. I wanted you to hear it from me before it hit you later in
life, when you don’t have the ability to adapt and survive. Maybe
if I would have figured it out sooner, things would have been
different. But it’s too late for me to change. Is it too late for
you, Haven?”

She sniffed and kicked her heels
against the building. Small chunks of concrete broke free and
tumbled down the wall to the ground below. “I worry about what all
this death is doing to me,” she said. “As a person.”

“
At first it hardens you,”
said Nathaniel. “And then it destroys you. I can see all of you,
Haven. Little lights glowing bright across the world. Every Source,
every Conduit—you’re all there, in my mind, burning with life.
Every time one of those lights goes out, a part of me goes with
it.”

“
Wow,” said Haven, without
sympathy. “That must be quite a burden.” She slapped her thighs and
stood up. “I better get back before anyone else dies. You go ahead
and vaporize yourself or whatever you plan on doing that doesn’t
involve helping anyone.”

Nathaniel stood next to her. “I’m
helping you right now.”

“
Could have fooled me. Do
you have any idea how infuriating it is to know that you exist but
I can’t ask you for help?”

“
You need to find your own
path, Haven. You need to win your own victories.”

She shook her head and turned away. “I
can’t believe this. Alright, then, take me back.”

He moved toward her, then hesitated.
“I could take you somewhere else. Somewhere safe. You don’t owe
those people anything.”

She looked out at the
ruined city. “Yes I do. Of
course
I do.”

Nathaniel studied her carefully. “So
you’re not giving up, then?”

“
Never.”

He smiled. “Fascinating. In that case,
I hope you’re feeling recharged. You’re going to need
it.”

Haven burned with rage at the thought
of Kamiko standing over Colton’s body. Heat blossomed at the top of
her spine and swept over her body like wildfire. “There’s enough in
me to handle Kamiko, and then some.”

Nathaniel nodded and stepped toward
her. “Then hold on.” He grabbed her shoulders and paused. “You
know, I said you needed to find your own path, but I never said I
couldn’t nudge you in the right direction.” He pulled her close and
the world disappeared.

44

C
olton lay on the floor, writhing in pain. Kamiko’s hand
burned like acid on his forehead. The image of her standing over
him brightened to the point of blindness. He heard Dormer
struggling next to him, fighting against Kamiko’s grasp.

There was a sudden
CRACK
as the air in the
room was split in two. Kamiko’s hand yanked away from Colton’s
forehead and the piercing brightness that blinded him slowly faded
as his vision returned.

“
It’s impossible,”
whispered Kamiko. She backed away, toward the exit. “You’re
supposed to be dead!”

Colton thought he saw Haven standing
on the other side of the room with someone else—a tall black man
with broad shoulders and a long coat—but his vision was still too
blurry to make it out clearly.

The first Haven—the one that had been
there with him the whole time—lay groaning on the floor a few feet
away. The fire snake disappeared and she lay twisting in pain with
her eyes closed, unaware of the new arrivals.

Two Havens.

Colton’s mind struggled to grasp the
concept. He pushed himself up onto his elbows and shook his head to
clear his vision. Dormer lay unconscious next to him. Rapid
footsteps faded away as Kamiko ran down the hallway, toward the
exit.

“
Is this your idea of a
nudge?” said the new Haven across the room.

The tall man smile at her.
Then he reached out for the Haven lying on the ground and grabbed
her wrist. There was another loud
CRACK
as both of them vanished and
the air in the room slammed back together.

Then it was just the new Haven,
standing there alone. She ran across the room and practically fell
on top of Colton. He groaned in pain as she hugged him as hard as
she could.

“
Easy!” he said. “I’m
still here.” He leaned back and looked at her. She was exactly the
same Haven he knew from before. “So I guess you’re trapped in some
kind of time loop now?”

“
You don’t sound that
surprised.”

“
Not with everything else
that’s been going on.”

“
To be honest, I don’t
really know what happened.”

“
Tell me about it later,
okay?”

She looked him over, patting his arms,
his chest, his cheeks. She pulled his face to hers and kissed him
deeply. When she released him, he looked at her with only a hint of
confusion.

“
What was that for?” he
asked.

“
Nothing,” she said. Happy
tears rolled down her cheeks and she wiped them away. “Nothing at
all. We have to go after her, Colton. She’ll go back to the Dome
and—”

Dormer moaned and his eyelids
fluttered open. He saw Haven and smiled, then beckoned her closer
with a weak twitch of his finger. Haven went to him and knelt at
his side. She gently took his hands in hers and rested them on his
chest. His breathing was shallow and raspy. The whites of his eyes
were solid red.

“
Almost finished,” he
whispered.

“
Maybe Colton could help
you,” she said. She looked at Colton hopefully. He nodded and stood
up. Blood rushed to his head and he stumbled back to his
knees.

“
No,” said Dormer. He held
onto Haven’s hands and shook them fervently. “Listen to me. She’s
not a Phoenix.”

Haven looked at him in confusion. “But
how could you know that? You saw how powerful she is.”

“
It’s true,” said Colton.
“She told me herself.”

“
Listen,” said Dormer.
“The Phoenix energy would never go to someone like her. It does not
choose randomly. It is not
chance
. A person like Kamiko could
never receive such a gift because her only focus is death. Do you
understand me?”

Haven nodded. “It means she’s not as
strong as we thought.”

“
Only if you work
together,” said Dormer. He cried out in pain, then relaxed. His
eyes found Haven’s and he smiled. His lips parted as if he meant to
say another word, but only a deep sigh came out. His body went limp
and his eyelids slowly closed.

“
Is he…gone?” asked
Colton.

Barely noticeable breaths moved his
chest up and down. Colton walked over and stood next to Haven. He
rested his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently.

“
We can’t do anything else
for him now,” he said. “Let’s get Kamiko.”

They ran down the long hallway
together. A control panel they had passed near the door was open
and a key was pressed into a keyhole, turned to the side—the
machine guns in the ceiling were switched off. Colton and Haven ran
outside into the sunset light of the desert.

Kamiko sat in the driver’s seat of the
Jeep, frantically looking for the keys.

“
Dormer has them,” said
Haven loudly.

Kamiko’s head jerked up and she
snarled when she saw them standing there. She hopped out of the
Jeep and approached them slowly. Her eyes lit on fire and dark blue
flame crept over her entire body. Lightning stretched out from her
back and extended twenty feet in all directions, crackling and
snapping as it reached for Colton and Haven.

“
I will not hesitate this
time,” said Kamiko.

“
You just did,” said
Haven. She jumped onto Colton’s back, wrapping her legs around his
waist and her arms around his neck. She held him close and said,
“Let her have it.”

Colton felt the surge of energy from
Haven’s body. He was unprepared for the absolute raw power she
produced—it hit him like a freight train and nearly knocked him to
the ground. He focused on widening the gate for absorption—the
mental doorway through which he let in all outside energy. It swung
wide in his mind as the blue fire flooded his system.

He closed his fists and held them out
toward Kamiko. She stopped walking forward, temporarily halted by
this new development. Then she growled and ran forward.

Colton let go. He let everything out
of him as fast as it was coming in—he was a direct funnel for all
that Haven was giving him, amplifying her energy as it passed
through his body on the way down to his fists. A pillar of blue
plasma rocketed toward Kamiko and hit her in the chest. She lifted
up into the air and slammed against the Jeep.

Colton stopped the flow of energy and
waited. Kamiko fell off the side of the Jeep and hit the ground
face-first. She clawed at the sand and crawled forward. Fresh bolts
of lightning sprouted from her back as she looked up at him with
hatred.

“
Don’t stop,” whispered
Haven. She buried her face into the side of his neck and closed her
eyes. “Because she never will.”

The surge of energy that hit Colton
was more powerful than the first. Kamiko got to her feet and
stumbled forward, eyes blazing like spheres of blue
lava.

Colton let the enormous amount of
energy pool inside him. He focused on amplifying it on its way down
to his fists. Soon his hands were glowing like two brilliant stars.
The stars grew so large and so bright that his arms disappeared,
lost in their brilliant glow. Haven’s energy wings unfolded behind
him. They extended twenty feet into the air on either side, shining
brighter than the sun. The sand at Colton’s feet pushed away in all
directions.

Kamiko took another step forward and
reached out for him. Colton screamed as he let loose a single burst
of energy. The spheres of plasma on his fists shot out and collided
in the air just in front of Kamiko. Her eyes widened as the spheres
merged and swallowed her whole. The giant ball of blue plasma
rotated in place like a spinning globe, its energy swirling over
the surface like the clouds of a miniature planet.