The Guardians (MORE Trilogy) (34 page)

And Emma, it appeared, had control of Ava.

He could feel her presence inside Ava, a foreign presence mingling with her gift. A thick black stain tainting what had once been pure. What had once been
his.

“Ava!” he shouted. She paid him no heed, though, absorbed in Emma’s words.

“I wasn’t hidden, not like you,” she told Ava. “I was the last to be born. The one who put the blocks in place was killed by Protectors, so Father needed me, you see? You all needed me. And Father kept me close so I’d be ready when it was time to bring you all home.”

“Home?” Ava swayed on her feet a bit, blood trickling from her nose. She wiped at it absently, and Emma caught her wrist, brandishing Ava’s red-stained palm.

“Once we get home, back to Father, it won’t hurt anymore,” she said, wiping Ava’s hand with the bloodied napkin. “He helped the others. He’ll help you too. You’ll see.”

Ava said something incomprehensible, and Caleb shouted, pounding against the invisible barrier impotently.

“He won’t stop,” Emma said with a warning glance his way. “He’ll take you to the Council, and they’ll keep you imprisoned, drug you, dampen your gifts—anything to keep you under their control. You know they’re afraid of you already. If they knew what you could really do, they’d never stop trying to get their hands on you.”

“He wouldn’t
 . . .
” Ava shook her head slowly, but her eyes, wide and almost glazed, remained focused on Emma. “Caleb wouldn’t do that. He loves me.”
 

The wall wavered, and Caleb took one cautious step forward and then another.

“No,” Emma said firmly. “He’ll never let you use your power. He’s afraid of it.”

Caleb took another step toward Ava silently, afraid to shift and startle her.

“I’ll never betray you, Ava,” Emma said, her palms on Ava’s cheeks. “We’re sisters. We’re family. I only want what’s best for you.”

Caleb reached out and took Ava’s wrist.
 

She turned on him, her eyes flashing as she ripped her hand from his grip, threw it up, and threw him away. He flew through the air, slamming into a half-uprooted tree.

“Ava, no,” he pleaded, panting as he tried to center himself. “Please. Come back to the Colony with me. Let me help you.” He started toward her once more, but she threw him again, and he landed in a heap on the ground.

“No!” she shouted. Then in a quieter, uncertain voice, she said, “No. You can’t
 . . .
”

“That’s right,” Emma said with an icy smile in Caleb’s direction. “No one can stop us.”

Caleb got to his feet, staggering a little as he held his hands up in what he hoped was a placating gesture. “Ava, you know me. I
love
you. I would never hurt you.”

She slammed him against another tree and held him there, the bark cutting into his back, his feet dangling above the ground.

“Stop, Ava. Please.” His voice cracked as Ava’s hold tightened. “Remember what Emma can do. She changes memories, twists your free will. She’s manipulating you. She’s using you like she used me.”

Ava took a step toward him, her head tilted as she watched him fight against her invisible bonds.
 

“She’s a Rogue, Ava. You can’t trust her.”

“No,” Ava whispered, tightening her grip even further.
 

Caleb couldn’t breathe; his ribs cracked under the pressure.
 

“It’s a lie,” Emma snapped. “Finish this. He can’t be trusted.”

“Ava, no.” He gasped for breath, his head swimming at the lack of oxygen. “I love you.” Darkness crowded in at the edges of his vision, shadows taunting him with images of his death.

“Please . . . Ava. I love you.” And Caleb couldn’t tell if the words actually made it out of his mouth or simply echoed in his head.

Ava looked deeper . . . inside.
 

Just like the bear.

She rooted under and around, through skin, muscle, and sinew, searching for Caleb’s most vulnerable places. The tender spots that would get him to
stop.
To
listen.
To
understand
.

“No
 . . .
” He was quieter. No longer shouting.
 

That’s good.

“Ava. End this! “

Ava faltered when she felt his power. It seemed so familiar, somehow.
 

Peaceful.

It sparked memories of soft touches and warm smiles. It reached out to her, curling tendrils tingling with warmth tracing over her skin. She could see
 . . .

“Kill him!”

His heart. Beating so slowly now.
His power pulled away from her . . . reluctant, almost pleading.

“No
 . . .
”

His
heart.

“No . . . I can’t.”

Her
heart.

“Kill him!”

“No!” Ava whirled on Emma, and the girl flew across the clearing and landed in the dirt with a grunt. Without waiting another second, Ava ran to Caleb and threw herself into his arms.

“Ava, no!” Emma shrieked as she staggered to her feet, shaking off her surprise and reaching out to Ava with her gift. “You can’t!”

“Caleb.” Ava sobbed, her head tucked into his neck as she clung to him. “Please
 . . .
”

Without wasting another second, Caleb wrapped her in his arms and shifted them away.

Chapter 15

Ava’s knees buckled when they hit solid ground, and Caleb was no better, both of them slumping to the damp grass in a pile of limbs. He drew a deep breath, and she felt him shudder before pulling her gift back enough to release him.
 

“I’m sorry
 . . .
” Ava’s mind swam with confusion—thoughts of Emma, her
sister
, Caleb . . . blurry images of what she’d done, and the world tilted on its axis as Emma’s compulsion weakened.

Hands turned her over, examining her for injuries, and Ava realized for the first time that they were back at the Colony, and they weren’t alone. Gideon hovered over her with Tiernan, the sky lightening slowly behind them and casting their faces in shadow.
 

“What happened?” Gideon asked. “Whatever you were doing set off warning bells with Simeon—our sensor,” he told Ava when she looked at him blankly. “Good lord, Ava, you’re covered in blood.”

“I’m fine,” she said, her voice wrecked and raspy as she wiped at her nose. The flow had lessened considerably.

“It’s Emma.” Caleb coughed, sitting up and holding his ribs. “She’s a Rogue. About a quarter mile due east.” He gasped out the words, gingerly lifting an arm to point in the direction of the trail.
 

“On it,” Tyra said, already gathering men and weapons and heading off through the woods.
 

Tiernan shot another worried glance Ava’s way before joining the group.

Gideon helped Caleb to his feet, wincing at his pained whimper. “Are you all right?”
 

“Fine. Few cracked ribs, I think, but they’re already healing.” He didn’t look in Ava’s direction.

She felt sick. Things were beginning to fall into place now that the cloud of Emma’s influence was lifting. She’d believed what Emma told her, felt it true to the very core of her being.

She’d hurt Caleb.
 

Gideon turned to help Ava, and Caleb snapped, “Be careful.”

“I’m not going to hurt her.”

Ava’s heart sank when Caleb flushed and looked away. “He’s not worried about you hurting me. It’s the other way around,” she said flatly, getting to her feet and swaying at a rush of dizziness. “Emma influenced me, but I’m all right now.”

Kind of.
 

Ava wondered if she’d ever truly be all right again. The thought of someone tampering with her so intimately, so powerfully—she felt violated and ashamed.
 

“Better get Adam, just in case.” Caleb still wouldn’t look at her.

“I said I’m fine!”

“How are we supposed to know that for sure?” Caleb asked, nodding at Gideon as he called Adam back over the radio. “I’ve been under Emma’s control. It’s not an easy thing to escape.”

“Well, I’m not trying to kill you, am I?” Ava shouted, and her face crumpled as she broke out in sobs and collapsed back down into the grass. She was so tired. Her head ached, throbbing pain with every heartbeat. Breathing was a chore.
 

It was only a moment before Caleb’s warm arms encircled her, his gift reaching for hers just as his body did.
 

She slumped into his chest, whimpering, “I’m sorry . . . I’m so sorry
 . . .
” over and over again.

He murmured reassuring things as he rubbed her back with big, warm strokes. She couldn’t decipher the words, but they soothed her nonetheless. Eventually, she calmed, sniffling quietly into Caleb’s strength as he told his father an abbreviated version of what had happened.

“Sisters,” Gideon muttered—again—as he helped Caleb get Ava to her feet, the two of them practically carrying her limp body inside.
 

She shivered, the warmth of the common building a welcome relief. “Half sisters,” she said coldly, and Caleb chuckled.
 

“Good to see you’re back,” he said.

Ava still couldn’t laugh about it, but she forced a small smile, leaning into him and inhaling his comforting scent. “Are you sure you’re all right?” she asked.

He leaned down to kiss the top of her head. “I’m fine. Barely feel it anymore.” He twisted a little as proof once they entered Gideon’s office.
 

Ava spotted a futon along one wall and claimed it for her own. Caleb sat next to her and drew her close as Gideon paced.

“So you’re a part of this grand plan of Borré’s.” He fumbled in a cabinet for a jar of R-cubes and tossed it to Caleb, who took a couple for himself and handed two to Ava. “And there are ten more of you,” Gideon said.
 

“I’m not part of any plan,” Ava said stubbornly and popped the cubes into her mouth as if that ended all conversation on that topic. “There’s no way I’ll help the Rogues.”

“Sorry, wrong choice of words,” Gideon said distractedly, obviously still lost in his own thoughts. “But somehow you broke free of her control.”

“I could feel her,” Ava said finally, the memories clarifying the more she thought about them. “I could feel her doing it, but somehow . . . I didn’t care. But when Caleb—” She brushed at her eyes, swallowing thickly. “I could tell something was wrong, but I couldn’t break free, not entirely.”

“Ava’s mind has always been exceptionally strong,” Caleb said, his low voice lulling her. “I couldn’t blur her memories for any length of time, and my compulsion never stuck. And that was before the block was lifted. Once I shifted her far enough away, it seemed like Emma couldn’t maintain the link.” His voice held a hint of pride.
 

Pride Ava felt was unwarranted. “Or maybe she gave up when she realized we’d go after her.”

Gideon’s radio beeped as if on cue, and he answered gruffly. Ava wasn’t surprised to hear the report that Emma had vanished.
 

She sighed, Caleb’s fingers stroking her arm and relaxing her. She yawned, and he pulled her down so her head rested in his lap. The cubes dulled the headache—barely—but she was still so tired.

She fell asleep with Gideon ordering a search of the forest and Caleb’s fingers in her hair.