The Gathering
Authors: K. E. Ganshert
Tags: #Romance, #Paranormal, #Teen & Young Adult, #Science Fiction & Fantasy, #Science Fiction, #Dystopian, #Fiction
By K.E. Ganshert
Darkness is a tricky thing. Especially when it cloaks itself in light.
Luka isn’t dead. He’s not beyond saving. Tess knows because she saw him with her own eyes. After what she saw, she’s sure of one thing: If they don’t rescue him soon, Luka won’t be Luka anymore.
If only she could convince the other members of the hub. They’re not sure Tess saw what she claims she saw. And they’re preoccupied by the fact that their kind is being systematically eradicated. Answers lie in an ancient prophecy, one that revolves around a seventeen-year-old girl who never asked for any of this.
K.E. Ganshert’s final installment in
The Gifting Series
brings readers on an action-packed journey through loss, sacrifice, betrayal, and the impossible choice between what we want most and what we know is right.
Edited by: Lora Doncea
Cover Design by: Okay Creations
Interior Design and Formatting by: BB eBooks
Copyright © 2015 K.E. Ganshert
Kindle Edition
This novel is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to peoples either living or deceased is purely *crane coincidental. Names, places, and characters are figmments of the author’s imagination. The author holds all rights to this work. No part of this publlication may be reprodduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the author.
All right reserved.
For Amy.
Three years ago, we talked about this crazy book idea I had over chips and salsa in Colorado Springs. Wish we were having the same while celebrating the final installment! You are a genius brainstorming buddy and an amazing friend. Sinceriously.
Chapter One:
Nobody’s Listening
Chapter Four:
Gallons and Gallons
Chapter Six:
The Truth About Bait
Chapter Twelve:
A Familiar Sound
Chapter Thirteen:
Off, Off, and Away
Chapter Fourteen:
A Nasty Shock
Chapter Seventeen:
One Final, Fading Snippet
Chapter Twenty-One:
The Prophecy Revealed
Chapter Twenty-Two:
Confessions
Chapter Twenty-Five:
Disparities
Chapter Twenty-Seven:
Gagged and Bound
Chapter Twenty-Eight:
Aftermath
Chapter Thirty:
New Home, Familiar Faces
Chapter Thirty-One:
Surprise, Surprise
Chapter Thirty-Two:
Behind the Door
Chapter Thirty-Three:
A Big Difference
Chapter Thirty-Four:
Parties and Cougars and Snipers, Oh My
Chapter Thirty-Five:
Like Sheep
Chapter Thirty-Six:
House of Cards
Chapter Thirty-Nine:
Clouds and Bars
Chapter Forty-Five:
The Death Knell
Chapter Forty-Six:
An Unexpected Twist
Chapter Forty-Eight:
The Whole Thing
Chapter Forty-Nine:
He’s Not the Only One
Chapter Fifty-One:
The Prophecy Fulfilled
Chapter Fifty-Two:
To Die is to Live
Chapter Fifty-Four:
Beyond Explanation
Chapter Fifty-Seven:
Birthday Wishes
Nobody’s Listening
I
thought I knew what insanity felt like. When I saw things nobody else could see. When my nightmares started unfolding in real life. When a much-too-popular, achingly handsome boy started watching my every move. When I was locked up in a mental hospital against my will and told everything I knew to be true was a figment of my imagination.
I thought I knew.
But all of that was nothing compared to this.
The hub has erupted into pandemonium. All the lights are on, and since windows do not exist down here—deep in the bowels of a ruined warehouse—it might as well be day instead of the dead of night. Everyone is awake and focused on the defector. The one who betrayed me. The one who betrayed him. Everyone is panicked over what this means—Claire out there, knowing all she knows about our location, our names, who we really are.
How could she do it?
That is the question of the hour. But I don’t care about her. I don’t care about why she defected or the ramifications of her decision. All I care about is
him
—the boy across the hall, unable to wake up. And yet very, very much alive.
Despite what everyone thinks, Luka’s soul has not been destroyed.
I saw him. I heard him. He’s being held hostage, tortured by the white-eyed men. His screams echo inside my head. They won’t stop. Nor will the way he arched up in agony as black mist lacerated his body. Every second that ticks past is one more second closer to losing him forever. And that is something I cannot let happen. Because if Luka dies, then so will everything else.
I scratch the inside of my wrist and begin to rock like the patients in straitjackets at Shady Wood. Link sits beside me on the couch, mindlessly twisting his Rubik’s Cube. Nobody will listen—not Gabe, not Cap, not Sticks or Non. They think I’m in shock. They think I’m in denial. They keep talking about Clive DeVant—our new Cloak—who’s supposed to arrive with Dr. Carlyle in the afternoon, and Fray—one of our old Cloaks—who’s supposed to leave with Dr. Carlyle to a hospital in Northern Michigan, but if we stick around until tomorrow, we might all end up in jail.
“What are we going to do?” someone asks.
“What if Claire’s already gone to the authorities?”
“She has all of our names. She knows all of our faces.”
“Are we safe?”
Something feral claws up my throat. A wild beast of a thing, but before it can escape, Cap raises his hand. It’s a simple gesture, and yet, coming from him—our leader—the hub goes quiet.
“I’ll figure out what to do about Fray and Clive. In the meantime, everybody needs to return to their room and pack a bag.”
The wild beast of a thing claws free. “We can’t leave!”
“Claire has left us no choice,” Cap says.
“We’re not leaving Luka here.” The hot words bring me to my feet. “Y-you’d be murdering him!”
Everybody stares.
Nothing can be heard but the steady tick-tick of a clock on the far wall of the common room.
“If you are underage,” Cap’s silver eyes do not leave mine, “return to your room immediately and wait for my instruction.”
Slowly, the room begins to clear. Ellen and Declan obey first. A tearful Rosie, then Bass, Jose, Ashley, and Danielle. Jillian lingers, shooting several glances my way, before she, too, obeys orders. Link stays.
“It’s time to return to your room,” Cap says.
“He’s alive. We can still save him.”
He paws his face, the palm of his hand scratching against the stubble on his cheeks. I can tell he doesn’t know what to do with me anymore.
“Luka is gone.” The lifeless words belong to Gabe.
“Why?” I practically spit the question. “Because you couldn’t get your sister back?”
“Tess.” Cap says my name like a low warning.
I don’t care. I don’t care if I hurt Gabe. I don’t care that I’m disobeying orders once again. I don’t care about anything but the boy down the hall. Luka isn’t gone. At least he wasn’t an hour ago. I have no idea how much longer my declaration will hold true. And therein lies the crux of my insanity. I’m standing here trying to convince these people that he’s alive while every breath I take draws him closer to death.
Link gently takes my arm. “Come on. Let me take you to your room.”
I jerk my elbow away. “I’m not leaving him.”
Cap pushes out a terse breath. “We have more pressing matters at hand.”
“
More pressing matters
? He’s being tortured. Right now, at this very moment. And we’re standing here letting it happen.” What can be more pressing than that? Before the question can fully form, I know Cap’s answer. As captain of this ship, he has to make decisions for the collective whole. It’s what he’s always doing. He has to think strategically, and if that means sacrificing one for the sake of the rest, then that is what he will do.
I absolutely hate him for it.
Link pulls me away.
“He’s going to die!” I try wrenching my arm free, but his grip is surprisingly strong. “Do you hear me? If we don’t get to him right now, he will die!”
Link pulls me further away.
“Gabe!” I turn wild eyes on him—my last hope. If anybody knows this kind of agony, he does. “Please. Help me. Luka is alive. I swear to you, he’s alive. We can’t leave him here!”
Gabe does nothing but look away from my manic pleas.
And Link drags me out of the room. He circles his arm around my waist and pulls me away while I scream and flail, not strong enough to resist, tears running like scalding heat down my cheeks. Rosie stares out from the crack in her bedroom door, her eyes big and wide in her face. Link murmurs words of comfort I do not hear. He holds me until I’ve stopped thrashing. Until the wild thing has crawled back inside and curled into a whimpering ball.
“Listen.”
All I can do is shake my head. I should have listened a long time ago, but not to Link. I should have listened to Luka, who never wanted to go on our mission in the first place. And yet, I insisted. I ignored his reservations. I never considered that it might be
his
life in danger. “It’s my fault. He’s there because of me. He knew something would go wrong, but I wouldn’t listen. I went and because I went, he had to go, too. And now he’s being tortured.” The memory of his scream grows so loud and sharp in my mind that I wince. “You have to believe me. Please believe me.”
“Xena, look at me.” Link takes hold of my face and tips up my chin so that I have no choice. His caramel eyes are steady and familiar. “Listen to me. If Luka is still alive and the other side is holding him hostage, it’s because they want
you
.”
“I know that.” And I will gladly trade places.
“So you know what that means.”
Another hot tear tumbles down my cheek.
Link catches it on the pad of his thumb. “They aren’t going to kill him. If they kill him, they lose their leverage.”
“I know that, too. But I also know what I saw. If it continues for much longer, he won’t be Luka anymore.” My chin trembles. “Please, Link. We can’t leave him.”
Link’s steady resolve solidifies. “We won’t.”
Those two definitive words calm me more than anything else he could have said or done.
“I have an idea. Let me run it by Cap.”
Molten Lava
“T
wenty minutes,” Cap says.
I slide onto one of six chairs in the training center and fidget with the hemp bracelet around my wrist. It belonged to Luka. He insisted I wear it in case it offered even a hint of protection. “What if Claire’s not sleeping?”
“Then we will have no choice but to leave this place and disband.” The look Cap gives me is clear. This is as far as he’s willing to take this. If Link and I cannot locate Claire, if we cannot find out whether she truly defected or simply left out of shame, then he will have to make decisions I will not like. “Do you understand?”
