Allegiant (29 page)

My face twists as James picks up on
Garrett’s pause. “They’ll hurt you, Em.” He looks nauseous.
“They’ll put you in danger, so that I’ll have no choice but to come
to you. They’ll use our bond against us.”

His tortured expression puts a dent in my
defenses. I have to admit that being in pain is not something I
enjoy, nor do I want him gone from my life. My eyes lock on James.
“I would never want that.”

He approaches me slowly. “I know. We’ll work
things out, I promise. Your classes, your parents…” He stops in
front of me. “But I have to keep you safe. It’s my only
priority.”

Internally, I struggle trying to strategize.
I know the connection James has to me is a problem, but it’s not
his fault. None of this is our fault. Forget Garrett and his quest
to be human. “What if we stayed?” I ask.

He frowns. “What do you mean?”

“
Wait for The Allegiant
with me; we can explain that we’re pawns.” My eyes flit accusingly
at Garrett. “You didn’t ask to be my Guardian.”

James searches my face as he considers my
proposition. From what I know, our situation is unique. The
Allegiant may be open to an honest discussion; they may have mercy
on us. In my book, Garrett is the real offender.

“
Emma,” Garrett interrupts,
appearing by my side. “That won’t work.”

“
Why not?”

“
The Allegiant are not
forgiving,” he says and eyes James. “They won’t accept
explanations, especially now.”

I’m not letting this go. I want to stay in
familiar surroundings with James in my life; I want to follow
through on my plans for graduation. I know I just came up with them
today, but it hurts my heart to think otherwise. “How do you know?”
I point at Garrett’s chest. “How do you know they’ll refuse to
listen?”

He crosses his arms impatiently. “Because I
do.”

His arrogance bothers me, and I narrow my
eyes. “You need a better explanation.” I defiantly look at James.
“If he doesn’t have a better answer, I’m staying. I mean it.”

James assesses me for a moment then turns to
Garrett. “She’s not kidding. We’ll have to make her leave.”

I step away from them. “You wouldn’t
dare!”

Out of nowhere, an unfamiliar phone rings. I
look at the two of them in confusion as Garrett reaches into his
back pocket and reluctantly produces a cell phone. He walks away to
take the call, and James and I look at each other, puzzled. Since
when does Garrett have a phone?

It’s a short conversation. After his initial
greeting of “Yes?” the only other word James and I hear him utter
is “no” before hanging up. He stands with his back to us, head
down, revealing nothing. James and I give each other a wary look,
and I wrap my arms around my waist.

It seems like minutes before Garrett turns
around, but I’m sure only silent seconds have passed. He regards us
with a sober expression as his face registers our questions. He
slides the phone back into his pocket. “That was Lucas.”

“
Lucas who?” James
asks.

“
Lucas was my Guardian,” he
says and closes the distance between us. “And he’s now one of The
Allegiant.”

My jaw hits the floor. I look at James, and
he’s equally as shocked. As he regains his composure, I can see
tension take over his face and radiate down his neck to his
shoulders. “Start talking,” he seethes.

Garrett nods toward me. “I’ll start talking
when she starts packing.”

James abruptly grabs my wrist and pulls me
toward the bedroom. I willingly follow, not that I could resist
him. He’s gotten stronger, and I’m sure he would have picked me up
and carried me if he had to. As we enter the room, he flips the
light switch and tows me toward my closet. He throws open the door
and looks pointedly from my suitcase to me. I nod and he releases
my wrist, stepping around me to face Garrett. I grab my suitcase
and toss it on the bed.

“
Don’t you have anything
bigger?” Garrett asks.

I shoot him a sarcastic look and then head
to my dresser, yanking open the top drawer. Behind me I hear James
snap, “You’ve been working with The Allegiant all along?”

“
Just Lucas,” Garrett says.
“He was the only one who knew.”

“
Why?”

“
Becoming Reborn was his
idea; he knew I missed humanity.”

I grab a handful of socks and underwear and
turn back toward the bed to put them in my bag.

James frowns. “I thought being Reborn was a
secret The Allegiant didn’t allow.”

“
You’re right,” Garrett
says. “Lucas’ views vary from his brothers; they follow an ancient
doctrine. He’s trying to prove a point, and he needs me to be
successful.”

“
What’s he trying to
prove?” I ask, pausing over my suitcase.

Garrett shakes his head. “He hasn’t revealed
that to me, in case I’m caught by the others. All he said was that
it would benefit humanity.”

“
And you believe him?”
James asks skeptically.

“
Of course I do,” Garrett
looks offended. “He was my Guardian.”

James looks doubtful. “Do the other
Guardians know?”

Garrett opens his mouth to answer then
pauses. He eyes my nearly empty suitcase and then meets my gaze. I
get the hint. No more information if I don’t start moving. I turn
back toward my dresser.

“
Just Jack,” Garrett
continues. “Lucas was his Guardian too, since we’re twins. He
brought being Reborn to both of us.”

I pull out a few sweaters from my dresser
then move down a drawer to grab some jeans.

“
Why didn’t you tell us?”
James asks in frustration. “It would have been easier knowing we
had an ally.”

“
If you knew and you were
caught, Lucas would be exposed,” Garrett says. “The only reason he
was able to warn me about Meg and Jenna was because they were kept
in the dark.”

“
What will happen to them?”
I ask quietly, my arms full of clothes.

Garrett gives me a grim look. “Right now,
they’re being held for information while The Allegiant try to
locate the rest of us. Thankfully, Jack was visiting me when I got
the call and he’s disappeared.”

My stomach drops as I think of Jack running.
He came across so tough. I start to feel even more ill at the
thought of Thomas and Joss being captured; they’re so kind and
Thomas would do anything for Joss, including put himself at
risk.

Garrett continues. “Lucas called to ask
about our progress. He’s been pretending to be outraged while
stalling at the same time. That’s why we have to move; we have to
scatter.”

I drop my clothes into the suitcase as James
says, “So let’s go.”

“
None of us can know where
the others end up,” Garrett strategizes with James. “You need to
stay out of the Intermediate and away from Emma.”

The thought of being alone in some strange
place doesn’t sit well with my heart, and suddenly I have a hard
time catching my breath. My mental state already took a hit this
week; I don’t know how much more I can handle. Top that off with
trying to figure out how to finish school and avoid my parents, and
I’m about ready to hyperventilate.

James immediately senses my anxiety. “What’s
wrong?” He steps away from Garrett and walks toward me, taking my
hand and leading me to sit on the bed. He looks into my eyes with a
mixed expression of fear, concern, and utter helplessness.

It’s in that moment that I resolve to get
through this. I concentrate and work on steadying my breathing to a
natural rhythm. I can’t have him worrying about me and torturing
himself to stay away. “It’s okay,” I say and stand back up. “I just
panicked for a second. I’ll be all right.” I reach for my suitcase
and busy myself organizing things so they will fit.

James’ attention is pulled away from me by
Garrett. “I’ll go with Emma. We’ll take her car and head out; it’s
the fastest way to get me out of town. She’ll drop me somewhere,
but I won’t stay. Then she can head someplace else.”

My head snaps up. “Can I go home?” I ask
hopefully. Surely I can give my parents a good excuse as to why
I’ve moved back.

Sadly, Garrett shakes his head. “I’m sorry.
If James is found by The Allegiant, they would know to look for you
there.”

“
But if they have James,
why would they need me?” Not that I want James caught.

“
To use you against me,”
James says quietly.

“
And to try and locate me,”
Garrett adds. “They’ll assume you know more than you
do.”

Damn it. I go back to shoving my clothes
into my suitcase. The realization hits that I’m really going
through with this, and I’ll need more than clothes. I head out of
the room, to the bathroom, to start collecting my toiletries. The
boys follow me and resume their discussion in the living area, and
I’m glad. I need a few minutes to concentrate on what I need to
bring rather than all the what-if’s. If I allow myself to think
about this too much, I’ll probably freak out again.

I collect my things from the bathroom
cabinet and move to the bedroom, catching snippets of their
conversation.

“…
once things are safe I’ll
contact Emma. You’ll feel it through your bond.”

“
How long do you think that
will be?”

“
At least until I’m human,
I’m sure.”

I shudder when I hear that answer and try to
tune them out. I squish my bathroom bag into the front pocket of my
suitcase and realize I forgot my shower stuff. I head back to the
bathroom.

“…
wish we had more time to
plan.”

“
Don’t I know
it.”

“
I’m not comfortable with
her being alone.”

“
Neither am I.”

I peruse the bathroom to make sure I have
everything and head back to the bedroom again.

“…
are you sure?”

“…
Evelyn
said...”

I manage to fit my shower items into a side
pocket and zip it up tight. I stand and look around my room. I’ll
need my textbooks, my laptop, LB of course, her stuff… I walk to my
closet and fish out her carrier.

“
Do you need any
help?”

I peer around the closet door to find
Garrett standing in my room. “Yes,” I sigh and hold out the
carrier. “Can you get LB into this? She hates it.”

He nods and walks forward to take the
carrier from my hands. He sets it on the floor, opens the door, and
then leaves the room to round up LB. When he returns with her a
moment later, I watch in amazement as he gently places her in the
carrier without any trouble and shuts the door tight. She doesn’t
make a peep.

“
How did you do that?” I
ask wide-eyed.

“
Reiki, remember?” He gives
me a crooked smile.

I sigh and give him a defeated smirk in
return. Who knew I would miss the reiki days?

I move to pick my backpack off the floor and
start to stuff my textbooks and notes inside. Garrett collects a
book and hands it to me. “I’m really sorry about this,” he says
sincerely. “I wish we didn’t have to go.”

I take the book from him. “We don’t have a
choice, remember?”

He nods and picks up my Ethics folder,
turning it over in his hands as I continue to pack. When I finally
take the folder from him, he sets his hand tentatively on my
shoulder. “I hate that you’re mad at me.”

Well, I hate it too. I pretend to organize
my bag.

“
Will you look at me?” he
asks.

I try to remain impassive and turn my
head.

“
If there was any other way
to be Reborn, I would have chosen it,” he says. “I want you to know
that I didn’t do this to purposefully hurt you or
James.”

I stare at him in silence. I’m not ready to
forgive him just yet.

He looks sad and awkwardly removes his hand
from my shoulder. “I just…I hope one day we can be friends
again.”

I look away from him and nod in agreement.
“Maybe one day.” I pretend to look for more items to pack. I
realize my computer is in the living room and turn to go get it. “I
need my laptop.” I walk past him and out of the room without any
reconciliation between us. I don’t know when I’ll be able to move
past what he did.

I find my computer on the coffee table,
where I left it, and gather it with a few other papers. As I head
back to the bedroom I realize James is gone. I sidestep and glance
around the kitchen, although why he’d be in there I don’t know. I
return to the bedroom, frowning. “Where’s James?”

Garrett faces me. “He wanted to investigate
some options.”

“
Options?”

“
He doesn’t like the idea
of you being alone in an unknown place, especially since he can’t
check on you.”

I feel my face contort. “I thought time was
of the essence. Shouldn’t we get going? When will he be back?” I
would like to see him once more before I leave for
Nowheresville.

“
I gave him an hour,”
Garrett says. “If we don’t hear from him by then we’re out of
here.”

What’s with the hurry up and wait? I don’t
need time for second thoughts! I roughly push my laptop into my
backpack and walk over to yank the charger from the wall.

Garrett and I spend our time in relative
silence, working to gather as much as is necessary. He empties LB’s
litter box so I can take it with me, and I scour the kitchen
bagging her food, dry snacks for me, and bottles of water in a
grocery bag. Who knows how long I’ll be driving? Once that stuff is
collected, we carry everything to my car and fill the trunk. On the
way, we stop at Garrett’s apartment where he grabs a full duffle
bag.