The Gathering (29 page)

But Clive doesn’t answer. He’s staring at me like I’m the one who just did something weird. So are Felix and Cap.

“What?” I snap.

“You just threw a shield. Fighters don’t throw shields. Neither do Linkers.” Felix tilts his head, studying me intently. “Have you ever done that before?”

I look down at my fingers, as if they might explain themselves. No. I’ve never had to do it before. Except … Did Gabe somehow leave some of his life behind? Was it lurking in some corner of my body, waiting to escape? “Yes.”

Cap shakes his head. “What happened with Gabe is not the same thing as throwing a shield. What you threw was a shield.”

“Let’s see if she can do it again.” Felix nods at Clive.

Before I can object, he does the thing I told him to never do. His cloak wraps around my leg. My panic builds. And I chase his cloak away. Felix has Clive do it again and again. Five times over. Each time ends the same way. A shield of light shooting from my fingers.

Felix chuckles. “Not only a Fighter and a Linker, but a Shield, too. Teresa Eckhart continues to amaze us.”

I stand there, dumbfounded and replete while Felix welcomes Clive to the team.

A Fighter. A Linker. And a Shield, which falls under the category of Guardian. I’m all three. Pieces of the prophecy keep coming true. My grandmother as the beacon, trading hope for freedom. Being led like sheep to the slaughter, the United States acting as a giant pen. Seeing the mark of evil. And now this.

A gifting complete
in its power.

She will be our victory … or she will be our downfall.

Victory will come through sacrifice.

My mouth goes dry. I remind myself that Luka can’t do transurgence. Luka can’t even throw a shield. A fact that I know is killing him, even though he didn’t say a word about it last night. I want to startle myself into consciousness, remove the probes from my temples, and go find him. Tell him about this latest development. Surely it will comfort him. I mean, I can shield myself. The thought makes me smile.

I can shield myself.

“Teresa?”

I blink rapidly.

Felix and Cap are staring again.

“Sorry—what was that?”

“It’s time to figure out if anyone is being hijacked,” Felix says.

“Oh.” I shrug dumbly. “I don’t know how to do that.”

“Link does,” Cap says. “I think it’s time for the two of you to do some dream searching.”

Blind

T
onight is game night. At first, I thought it was a little weird that Felix would continue something like game night when we’re in the middle of a war. But he’s all about morale and it does sound kind of fun. As soon as I’m done with Felix and Cap, I go searching for Luka to see if he wants to go.

The problem is, I can’t find him. He’s not in his room, Dr. Sheng’s office, the common room, the mess hall, or the general store. I head to the entrance of the gym. Inside, four guys play a game of two-on-two basketball. A girl runs on one of the treadmills. A few people lift weights. Luka is nowhere. But over the sound of the squeaking shoes and the bouncing ball and the clanking iron, I can hear the unmistakable
thud-thud
of punching. That has to be him. Since Cap, Felix, and I have been using the dream simulator all day, he’s probably sparring with Connal.

I round the corner and stop dead.

I’m right. Luka is inside the mat area, his T-shirt plastered against his body as he wallops the same punching bag I accosted last night. But he’s not with Connal. His partner holds the bag steady, her lithe muscular figure every bit as perfect as it’s always been.

“You’ve got to be kidding.”

Luka stops.

Claire turns around.

I absolutely can’t believe what I’m seeing.

He pulls off his gloves and wipes his forearm along his sweat-soaked brow, locks of dark hair sticking to his skin. “Hey.”

Hey
?
Hey!
The annoying ringing starts up in my ears again. There are no words. I’m speechless. Utterly, profoundly speechless. And I cannot—
will not
—look at Claire. Just imagining the smug expression on her face is enough to make me want to vomit. I mean, seriously. I might really vomit. I take a step back. Then I turn around and walk away as quickly as possible, as if distance will erase what I saw.

I’m halfway down the hallway in the barracks when Luka grabs my arm. “Tess.”

I jerk free. “What
was
that?”

“Nothing. She’s helping me train.”

“She’s helping you train?”

“She was there when I first learned everything.”

“So what?”

“So she saw how Gabe trained me. She knows what worked. And she wants to help.”

“Help?” I let loose a gargled laugh. “Luka, she’s the reason Gabe died. She’s the reason you lost your gifting to begin with!”

“Don’t you think I know that!”

A girl skirts around us, her attention fixed on the floor.

I shake my head. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. What happened to no secrets?”

“I wasn’t keeping it a secret. We’ve barely had time to talk.”

“We had time to talk last night.”

“You were struggling. That wasn’t the time to bring it up.”

“I thought we were going to stop trying to protect each other.”

“No, you were going to stop protecting me. I’m
your
Keeper, remember? Even if I can’t do anything about it.” Luka pushes his fingers through his hair, then runs his hands down his face. “Come on, Tess. I have to sit here, every day, doing nothing, while you and Link hop all around America playing army together.”

“We’re not playing.”

“Are you sure? Because Link sure treats it like a game.”

“No, he doesn’t.”

Luka takes a deep breath. “I haven’t complained about watching you two—joined at the hip. I’m trying to give you space. Let you do what you need to do. But you see me working with Claire and you flip out.”

“Because it’s Claire! Link’s never turned on us. He’s on our side. If not for him, we never would have gotten you away from Scarface.”

“Right. My bad. Link’s a saint.”

“You know, Luka. You sound kind of jealous.”

“That’s because I am jealous! You light up every time he’s around. You’re not being honest about your feelings for him. And here I am, about as useful as Ralph. I can’t protect you. I can’t do anything. What makes it worse? You seem happy about it.”

“I’m not happy about it.” But even as I say the words, warmth spreads into my cheeks, giving me away. “And you have absolutely nothing to be jealous about. Sure, I have feelings for Link.
Friendly
feelings. Link and I are friends.”

He looks skeptical.

“Besides, he likes Ronie. But even if he didn’t, it wouldn’t matter. I don’t choose him. I choose you.” As soon as I say it, Lexi’s sentiment roars to the surface. There’s only so many times I can stuff it down before it refuses to be stuffed any longer. “Which makes me a fool, because you can’t choose me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’ve fallen in love with someone who doesn’t love me back.”

Luka narrows his eyes. “Care to tell me how you reached that conclusion?”

“For one, you’ve never said it.”

“I love you.”

I toss the flippant remark aside. “It’s not love if it’s not a choice.”

He takes a step closer. “Am I talking to Tess right now, or am I talking to Lexi?”

My cheeks turn hot.

“You don’t think Connal’s told me what Lexi has to say about the whole Keeper thing? You don’t think he thinks it’s as ridiculous as I do?” Luka takes another step, so close now I have to tip my chin up to look at him. “He used more colorful language than that, but you get the idea.”

“It’s true, though. You didn’t choose to have this crazy, overwhelming urge to protect me. You didn’t choose to have dreams about me before we met. None of that was a choice.” Take those two things away and I’m willing to bet a whole lot of money that Luka Williams never would have given me a second glance.

“You’re right. Those weren’t choices.” He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “And they definitely played a role in my attraction.”

“See?” The word escapes on a rasp. His admission rips my heart in two.

“Can I ask you a question?”

I cross my arms in front of my middle. A small barrier between us.

He traces his thumb along my jaw. “Are you attracted to me?”

I close my eyes. If his touch wasn’t so achingly good, I’d laugh. It’s a laughable question. I’ve yet to meet a girl who’s not attracted to him.

He runs his knuckle down the length of my arm and curls his hand around my hip. “Did you choose that attraction?”

I look up at him.

“We don’t choose who we’re attracted to. But we do get to choose who we love. That is always a choice. And I choose to love you, Tess, whether you believe it’s real or not.” He pulls me to him and covers my lips with his.

Both of his hands cup my face.

My arms remain crossed in front of me. Not because I want the space any more, but because I’m too caught up in Luka’s kiss to undo them.

*

If I’d known earlier that making up with Luka would be so euphorically good, I might have picked a fight sooner. I hit the ping-pong ball long. Luka snags it out of the air with one hand and grins. “You’re getting better.”

“Liar.”

His grin widens. “You almost hit the table this time.”

“You’re actually really, really bad at this,” Rosie says.

“Brutal honesty. I can appreciate that.”

Luka chuckles and holds up his paddle. “Ready?”

“I’m ready.”

He serves over the net—a lob ball that is way beneath him. I know because I watched him play a game with Declan. Of course Luka would be good at something as obscure as ping-pong. I watch the ball in—like Rosie’s loudly coaching me to do—and return it successfully. A volley ensues. Five whole back-and-forths before Rosie’s excitement gets in my head and I hit the ball into the net.

“That’s game!” Rosie says. “I’m playing the winner.”

I gladly hand over the paddle.

Luka shoots me a wink. “I can give you a personal lesson later, if you want.”

My lips turn into the shape of a happy crescent moon. Personal lessons with Luka sound quite fun.

Turns out, Rosie’s a lot better than me, but not as good as Declan. I watch, transfixed by the effortless way Luka moves, even when he’s purposefully losing, until Rosie hits one long and he chases after it.

The common room is packed. I spot Link at a poker table, a pen dangling from his lips like a cigar, a ridiculous visor on his head as he deals cards to Ronie, Jose, and Bass. There are drinks and snacks and a smattering of board games laid out on the floor. With the music and the chatter and the flirting and the playing, it’s hard to believe Link and I are on the cusp of an incredibly important mission. It’s hard to believe that tonight could be the beginning of the end.

Luka serves. Rosie misses. The ball bounces off the corner of the table, lands near my feet, and rolls to a stop in front of a woman playing chess with a boy. They share the same almond hair-color and the same large ears, which stick out from their heads. The boy picks up the ball and hands it to me, then plunks his elbows on his knees, props his chin on his fists, and furrows his brow at the board.

The game reminds me of Jillian.

The woman offers me a friendly smile. “I’m trying to teach my son how to play. Unfortunately, I’m not that great.”

I toss the ball to Rosie. “I’m sure I’m worse.”

The boy perks. “Maybe I can play you next, then.”

I laugh. “Smart kid.”

“He’s very much like his father, who happens to be the chess expert in the family. But it’s game night and I made a promise, so here we are.” The woman sticks out her hand. “My name’s Felicia. This is Henry. He just turned eight last week.”

I shake her hand. “My name’s Tess.”

“It’s an honor to officially meet you.”

An honor?

Henry moves his knight two spaces forward and one space left, right into the path of his mother’s queen.

She pretends not to see it. “It hasn’t been easy, being here. We had to separate from my husband and Henry’s little sister after he started showing signs of The Gifting. The two of us came here, underground. We haven’t seen them for two years.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Ever since we left them, I’ve dreamed about the day we can be together again. I didn’t start believing it until you arrived.”

I shift awkwardly, unsure what to say. This woman stares at me like I’m … hope. Like I have the power to put her family back together again. But what if I’m no better than all the king’s horses and all the king’s men?

Felicia wishes me a good evening. I wish her and her son one back and return to the ping-pong table, where Luka has one eye on the game and one eye on me. Rosie hits a zinger that grazes the corner. Luka stops the ball with his paddle so it doesn’t get away. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah. It’s fine. You two want anything to drink?”

“I’m good.”

“I’ll take a water,” Rosie says. “All these points are making me thirsty.”