The Forbidden Trilogy (72 page)

With her cheek pressed against leaves, she saw Luke's feet
approach her. The gut-wrenching fear from her dream drained out of her when she
realized he was still alive—that it hadn't been real.

He crouched down so she could see him better. The dark
circles under his eyes hadn't been there before, and worry lines marred his
complexion. "You're awake. I'm so glad. I thought... well, never mind. I'm
just so glad you're okay. If anything had happened to you, I'd...."

Tears stung her cheek at the sight of her brother so upset.
Had she really been that injured? Images of the lizard flashed in her mind—the
pain as it tore through her back, Hunter slaying it and carrying her back to
camp, the pulsing of the sphere and the warmth.

"Where's my pack? I need it."

"Hey, Luce, this is no time to go marching into the
jungle again. You can barely move. You have to heal."

"I know. I'm not going anywhere. I just need it, okay?
Can you get it?"

"Sure, if it'll make you feel better." He stood
and walked a few feet, then came back and placed the pack by Lucy's hands.

The pack pulsed with life from the sphere, and Lucy craved
the feel of the cool metal against her skin, but she couldn't take it out with
her brother standing right there. Still, the pulsing warmth comforted her and
took the sting out of her wounds.

Luke sat cross-legged a few feet from her so she could see
his face even while on the ground. His skin looked pale, and dark circles
loomed under his eyes. "It's amazing how fast your wounds are healing.
When Hunter carried you here, your back looked like ground meat. Mr. K taught
me how to make an herbal remedy to help, but still, you healed quite a bit in
just the first few hours."

"Must be the magic of this place. Maybe the herbs you
used had superpowers."
Or maybe it's the sphere.
"Where's
Hunter? Is he okay?"

"Resting. He's been asleep almost as much as you."
Luke adjusted his long legs, trying to make them fit in the small tent. "I
managed to get most of the story out of him before he collapsed, though.
Sounded pretty terrifying." His eyes clouded with tears but he shook his
head and blinked. "I'm sorry I wasn't there."

Lucy reached for his hand, despite the pain pulling at her
skin. "Don't blame yourself. There was nothing you could have done.
Besides, I told you to stay here."

"Yeah, but I didn't have to listen."

"Of course you did. You have to respect your
elders."

He dropped her hand and laughed. "Don't even start.
Wouldn't want the elder to run out of breath."

"Wouldn't want to make the baby's head hurt from all
the big words."

"Whatever. Get some rest, old woman. If being born one
minute before me counts as old."

A new warmth filled her. Not the kind brought on by the
sphere, but the kind that only lighthearted banter with her brother could
bring. She'd missed this side of him and was so glad he was back.

"I am kind of tired." She closed her eyes.

The deep voice of Mr. K filled her mind. "Lucy, I'm
sorry about what happened. If I'd been listening more, maybe I could have
warned you. I'd—"

"It's okay," Lucy said. "It's not your fault.
Thank you for helping Luke figure out the herbal mixture. It's really
helped."

"You're welcome. I'm glad you're back."

"Me too."

The talking exhausted her, and she needed to sleep, but the
pain throbbed and poked at her relentlessly. An idea formed, and she wondered
if she could minimize the pain with the meditation she'd been practicing. With
a deep breath—as deep as she could get without tearing at her back—she relaxed
her body and focused inward. The pain throbbed in her like a living thing, so
she visualized it getting smaller and smaller. Soon it faded just enough that
she could sleep.

Dreams haunted her—memories of past assignments, visions of
abnormal creatures attacking her. She woke on and off, sleeping in small
increments, never really aware of how long she'd been unconscious or what time
of day it was. She missed Hunter and worried about him. He came to her in
dreams, but she needed to see him in person. When she woke next she asked Luke
about him.

"He's still sleeping. Would you like me to wake
him?"

"No. Thanks. He needs to rest, I guess. I hope he's
okay."
What's wrong with him?

She'd been the one torn up by the lizard, not him. But he
did exhibit some pretty impressive acrobatics. Unless she'd imagined it all.
And the change in his eyes.... She'd have to ask him about all of that once he
woke.

In the meantime.... "Luke, I'm bored. Entertain
me."

He bowed with over-the-top exaggeration. "As you wish,
m'lady. As it so happens, I've been practicing something that I think you will
find quite entertaining."

Lucy adjusted herself so she could see him without
stretching the skin on her back, as her brother sat crossed-legged in front of
her.

He raised his hands and his eyes glazed over with a far-away
look.

The change happened so subtly, Lucy didn't know what she was
looking at, but then she saw it. Little droplets of water formed in front of
them, from the air. They multiplied until the air shimmered with drops
everywhere.

"If I focus, I can shift the molecules just a bit, keep
the air liquid instead of solid. And I can...." He spread his hands apart
and the droplets divided, making hundreds of tiny tears in the air. When he
dropped his hands, the water burst like fireworks and turned back to air.

"That's amazing!" She smiled at her brother, so
happy he to see him actively engaged in his powers again. Maybe mopey Luke was
really gone for good.

"Thanks." He grinned like a kid at Christmas.
"It's what I did when I slowed us down as we dropped from the plane. I
made the air more viscous, closer to liquid. Maybe even a little liquid at the
end, so it's like we sank instead of fell."

"Cool." For an instant, jealousy clawed at Lucy.
She wasn't a jealous person by nature, but she did covet more active
para-powers. Since Luke had discovered his shadow powers, they'd been very
useful, whereas she felt like her powers weren't that helpful most of the time.

He'd discovered them on their Russian assignment, and that
had enabled them to teach the other students at Rent-A-Kid how to tap into
theirs. That was the assignment she and Luke had been talking about in her
dream.

Doubt nagged her. Sure, it had only been a dream, but
clearly her subconscious was trying to tell her something. "Do you think
we're the right people for this mission, Luke?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you regret that we agreed to help IPI?"

He took so long to reply that Lucy had almost fallen asleep
again when he finally answered. "No, but I do wonder if we could be doing
more good somewhere else. Maybe if we were back at the mansion, helping those
kids out, helping Sam and her baby. It's just... I feel like we're stuck here,
like we can't move forward."

It had felt that way to Lucy, like something had pulled them
to this magical valley and now wouldn't release them. Even her own mind
betrayed her in moments of complacency. Every second they weren't looking for a
way out was a second they didn't have.

"We will get out of here and find a way to complete our
mission. Saving those kids in that facility is too important."

"Yeah, I just wonder if we're needed. IPI has a bunch
of agents, and Hunter seems pretty capable. If there are any more like him, I'd
say their odds against Rent-A-Kid are pretty good."

"Maybe." She thought about Hunter and wondered if
there were others like him. Didn't matter. Lucy had to believe that what they
were doing was important. She had to believe that her role mattered in all of
this, otherwise it was all for naught. "All this talk has wiped me out.
I'm sorry, Bro, but I'm crashing again."

Sleep stole her away before her brother could even reply.

The next time she woke up, she felt remarkably stronger,
though still bruised and sore. Still, the improvement gave her the courage to
try and stand. She needed to see Hunter. Something felt off about his
recovery... and hers.

Every muscle protested as she pushed herself onto her hands
and knees. Tears ran down her cheeks and her back felt like it was ripping open
again, like a silk dress that was several sizes too small. No telltale trickle
of blood dripped down her back, so she rocked onto her heels and into a sitting
position. When the dizziness faded and her breathing returned to normal, she
took the last challenge and pushed herself to stand. After a few more deep
breaths, she was sure she wouldn't pass out. Well, mostly sure, as another wave
of dizziness threatened to topple her over.

A long-sleeved, button-up, black IPI shirt had slipped from
her body when she stood. She reached for it, wincing from the stretch, then
pulled it against her bare chest and inhaled Hunter's scent. Woodsy and wild,
the scent made her stomach flip-flop. She slipped the shirt carefully over her
shoulders and buttoned most of the middle buttons, grabbed the sphere out of
her backpack and slipped it into her pocket, then left her make-shift tent to
search for the man who had saved her from her own recklessness.

All the tents were made from large green leaves layered over
strong but flexible branches, which they'd braided together and secured to the
ground. Luke and Hunter had conspired to place Lucy's tent in the center,
presumably to keep her safer. She'd scoffed at their overprotective maleness,
but deep down appreciated the gesture—though she'd never tell them that.
Especially Luke.

She tiptoed into Hunter's tent and gasped when she saw
him—pale and hollow, as if something were sucking the life from him. While
she'd been healing at lightning speed, he'd clearly taken a turn for the worse.
On auto-pilot, determined to be closer to him and get a better look at the
damaged he'd sustained, she took another step, snapping a twig under her foot.

Hunter's bright green eyes peeked through thick lashes, and
he smirked. "Hey."

"Hunter! You okay? You look like—"

"Shit? Yeah, I know. Don't get too close. I'm starting
to smell like it too."

Lucy ignored that comment and knelt by his side. His body's
warmth and scent wrapped around her like a familiar quilt. "Thank you for
what you did."

"It was nothing. I'm just glad you're okay. You are,
right? Okay?" He locked eyes with hers, then pulled away to scan her body.

Heat rushed to her face under his attentive gaze, but she
knew he was just checking for injury. "I remember you carrying me back to
camp. That must have been tricky, with my back shredded. Is that why you're so
tired now? Because of carrying me?"

"Well, you were pretty heavy."

"Oh, thanks."
No girl wants to feel fat in
front of her man.
Lucy rolled her own mental eyeballs at that whole
sentence, but still couldn't deny it was true.

Hunter grabbed her hand and stroked it. "Not like that.
You were heavy from your wounds. Energetically, it was like I could feel them
myself, like I'd been the one injured. I got so tired, so fast. I'm surprised I
made it to camp with both of us. I must have been in shock, or more injured
than I realized."

A vague memory tickled at the back of Lucy's mind. There was
a missing piece to the puzzle, but what? He'd felt her wounds, and she'd healed
faster while he got worse. She remembered the pulsing, warm and strong as he
carried her. She'd thought it was the sphere, but then thought it was Hunter.
It
felt
like Hunter.

She clutched her pocket, and felt the comforting pulse of
the sphere calm her heart and steady her pulse.
Hunter.
The Sphere had
fed on him to heal her. It all made sense, in a horrible way.

While she healed, Hunter had paid for her mistakes. And Luke
was still paying too. His foot hadn't improved as much as it should have.
Everyone she loved was getting hurt because of her.

What the hell am I doing?
"I... I'm not feeling
good. I have to go."

She stumbled out of the tent as Hunter called out to her,
asking what was wrong.

The valley hummed to her in its subtly layered voice. All
around Lucy could feel the inhale and exhale of the earth, as it breathed out
their destinies. But none of it made sense anymore.

She slumped into a rock and fought her tears, so sick of the
sopping mess of emotions she was becoming. The sphere pulsed more strongly in
her pocket. She pulled it out and stroked it, embracing the calm it always
offered, trying not to think of the price it required.

Mr. K's deep voice filled her mind and shattered her calm.
'You
should not rely on the sphere, Lucy.'

Oh my God.
Lucy froze in shock.
No one knows about
the sphere. No one! Not even my brother.
But Mr. K had been in her mind, so
of course he'd find out. How could she have overlooked that small detail?

A ball of dread formed in her gut as she looked toward his
tree. The leaves opened like a curtain, creating a path for her.

Against her own instincts, she walked the short path to the
enclave of Mr. K's tree to talk to him in person. "I don't rely on it. It
just makes me feel better sometimes."

"There's nothing wrong with feeling good. Nothing wrong
with getting some help, either. But if you're right about what that sphere did
to Hunter, then you have to be careful."

Irritation flared in her. "The sphere saved my life. If
I didn't have it, I'd be dead."

An upper branch rustled and a bird flew out, chirping out a
much-too-happy tune given the current conversation. Mr. K ignored his long tree
limbs and stayed focused on her. "I understand. You just have to be
cautious. We all do. Perhaps if the others knew, they could help you understand
its powers."