Lightning Kissed (17 page)

He shrugged one shoulder.

“I know that when your exterior is cool,
you’re worried as hell inside.”

Theo rolled his eyes. “Is it so wrong to be
worried about my female?”

When he called me his female, my insides
turned to pudding.

“There’s nothing to worry about. I promise
to be perfectly diplomatic, polite, disconnected and completely
vague.”

“You lie so sweetly. But, I know better.
Come back to me quickly,
Querida
.” He approached me then,
placing kisses along my face, across my forehead, and on my
temple.

“I will.”

***

Flashing into the Synod’s meeting room was
akin to going to the dentist. It wasn’t the most pleasant thing in
the world. The people there were all smiley, even when they popped
on the masks and cranked up the drill. But you knew that if you
could just get the whole thing over with, you’d be relieved. And
maybe, if you were lucky, it would be a full six months before your
postcard came in the mail.

The only punishment they’d ever really
handed down was restraining me from flashing for a month or so at a
time. Enduring the punishment was itchy, kind of like having
restless leg syndrome all the time, but I dealt with it. Why I
dealt with it, I’d never know. The only real power they had was
threatening to hand us over to the government. It wasn’t even clear
how they came into so much power. I assumed it was the same as any
other society. Somewhere along the line, after they decreed the
prophets null and void, the ones who spoke the loudest got together
and decided they were in charge.

The loudest voices weren’t necessarily
right. They were just louder.

We were all scared to be given over to those
who would take our gifts from us.

Fear was the biggest conduit of false
respect.

The place was intimidating, I’d give them
that. You could only flash directly into the ‘welcoming room’ which
wasn’t all that welcoming. The place was the opposite of welcoming.
It read more like Hannibal Lector’s lair than reigning leaders of
our people. It was all gold. Gold wallpaper lined the walls, golden
chairs were stuck into corners, and a platinum chandelier with
attitude gave you the first impression of the Synod.

It was all façade.

Regina opened the door seconds after I
flashed inside and further summoned me with a flick of her wrist.
She was cold and aloof as usual. There was no point in making small
talk with her. Her tight red suit and ruby choker kept her from
making any sudden noises or forming words without sneering. All
that platinum hair dye had probably infiltrated her brain as
well.

There was once a rumor that she was involved
with a male Resin.

I mimicked the curt pop of her hips as we
walked. No wonder these people were always in such a bad mood.
There were enormous sticks up their asses and their skin-tight
skirts stopped them from removing them. My hip popping turned into
a dance by the time we got all the way down the embellished
hallway. My nervous energy was on overdrive. I didn’t know what to
expect. Other than knowing that Theo was the Eidolon, I hadn’t done
anything wrong—really.

All conversation halted when I walked in.
The other two cleared their throats and faked straightening papers.
I covered a smile with my fist. Did they know they looked like
uptight news reporters when they did that?

Almighty help me, I just know I’m going to
say something ridiculous.

“Colby Evans, it is a pleasure to see you as
always.”

I curtsied, not out of respect, but rather a
lack of. Collin would’ve swatted me on the back of the head if he’d
seen that.

“A pleasure as always.”

“You know why you’ve been summoned?”

How was that for an open-ended question? Did
they really expect me to answer? Anything I said would be twisted
and turned into an implication. These people needed to up their
game.

“I couldn’t begin to imagine.” I pointed my
answer at Clarita. She seemed the most amused at my snippety
nature. On more than one occasion, she’d barely stifled a laugh at
my antics.

“Please have a seat, Colby.”

That was a punishment in itself. With all
their wealth and golden, glorious furniture, the chair that was
placed in front of their larger than life, Brazilian walnut table
was a six-dollar metal folding chair. I’d seen better looking
chairs at third world cock fights. I bet late at night they got
their jollies off making Lucent sit in the cheap monstrosity while
they lounged in luxury desk chairs.

Because their work was so daunting.

The chair protested with a squawk when I sat
down. My bracelets banged and clanged against the sides. The sound
made Regina squint her eyes.

Maybe I liked this chair after all.

“You haven’t been traveling much. We wanted
to make sure all is well.”

I cocked my head to the side and gave her a
snide grin. “How sweet of you to be concerned. I assure you,
everything is perfect.”

Regina leaned back in her chair and
attempted to cross her legs, but her skirt was yelling ‘no dice.’
“Excellent. Today’s meeting will be a little off course than our
previous ones. We wish to reveal some things to you.”

“Like why in the hell you even exist?”

Regina stood. “What was that, dear?”

“Nothing at all.”

A third member, Arlene, stood after Regina.
She was the most frigid. She reminded me of the bride of
Frankenstein with the gray stripe of hair that ran down the sides
of her head.

She’d also been my grandmother’s best
friend.

And the first one to suggest that the
prophets were no longer needed.

“There’s nothing more important to us than
the continuation of our species. We want our females to thrive and
grow stronger. It’s imperative for our race to follow the path
Xoana laid for us. Don’t you agree?”

I threw my head back in aggravation.

Everything I told Theo I was going to do and
the way I was going to behave just went out the window. There was
no way I could continue to be polite when they were acting like
deranged detectives.

“Can we just skip the bullshit here? What
the hell did I do and how long are you going to try and keep me
pinned down?”

They hated it when I cursed.

A flap in the ceiling opened above Regina
and Arlene after they’d flipped some switches. A screen turned and
emerged from the opening.

“Oooh!” I clapped in fake amusement. “We’re
gonna watch a movie? I hope it’s
Beaches
.”

“Come now, Colby. You haven’t done anything
wrong, correct? We just wanted to show you some pictures. We know
how you like history.”

“Aww, no popcorn? Bummer.”

Regina simpered at me, and suddenly, every
light in the room shut off. The last thing I saw was her brighter
than white teeth. The bright blue screen flickered to life. Soon,
black and white images flooded the screen. And they didn’t ease
into what they were doing either. The first two were pictures of
old Portugal. But the third—it was a picture of Eivan.

Frost replaced heat in my veins as the
pictures rolled along. My heart drummed against my sternum, begging
for me to flash out of there and away from the nightmarish images
on the screen. Someone crouched next to me. I expected Carlita.
She’d always tried to comfort me in one way or the other. But the
waft of regal perfume that permeated my nose let me know that it
was, in fact, Regina.

The photos bordered on grotesque. Some were
Eivan in a hospital bed, patches of his hair missing. In others,
his eyes, the glare he gave the camera, shone with madness. I
couldn’t believe my eyes and found myself looking for clues that
these pictures were fakes.

Pema told me he’d died of old age. But
pictures didn’t lie, right?

And just when the edges of numbness began to
creep in from the slide-after-slide, gruesome portrayal of the
equivalent of my childhood hero—the slideshow changed to images of
Sevella.

I didn’t know if those pictures hit me
harder because of my new position and of who Theo was—or if they
were just scarier in general, or because she was female. It was
Sevella, chained to a wall, crying out for Eivan—crying out for
mercy above all else. She was stripped down to her bra and
underwear, and the only other thing she wore was a key-shaped
pendant on a long necklace.

Regina clucked her tongue against the roof
of her mouth. “Poor thing. Bless her heart. If Eivan had just
fulfilled his destiny, the task he was born to complete—none of
this would’ve happened. We had to do what we did in order to
maintain his allegiance. You see—the things we do don’t just affect
us—they affect the Lucent species as a whole. It’s because of Eivan
that the path to
Paraíso
has been obstructed. And your Theo
is our key to regain access. Forget restoring the Resin. They were
weak. His purpose is to bring those caught in the fray to their
resting place. Eivan refused to do his job—simple as that. Good
thing Theo is such a rule follower. And while he’s at it, he may be
able to serve a bigger purpose for us. I bet Pema didn’t tell you
that, did she? I bet she told you the sentimentalized version of it
all. Makes sense, given your place in all this. Lights, please.”
She arose with a snap, commanding the lights to come on. I stayed
petrified in place. A million insinuations and conclusions
flittered through my head beginning and ending with ‘this will not
happen to Theo.’

“Answer the question!” Arlene slammed her
hand down on that overpriced rainforest wood.

There were very few times I’d been truly
scared in my life. The first was my initial experience traveling.
The second was when Theo asked me to marry him. The third and
fourth were about Theo and his gifts.

But those were fears of the heart. Those
were fears that I’d done something wrong—or that Theo would be
hurt.

This fear—this fear was palpable, quaking
and penetrating me down into the marrow of my bones. This fear
wasn’t just one event.

My insides quaking was more like a
culmination of the past week’s worth of fear, bubbling to the
surface—maybe more than that. I couldn’t even remember what
question I was supposed to be answering. Oh, right, Pema.

“Pema did not mention it.” I hated how my
voice changed and showed them just how shaken I was. I needed
strength, but I couldn’t muster a lick of it. My reaction seemed of
no consequence to them. Arlene and Carlita went about their
scribbling while Regina looked bored.

“I bet not. She will in Portugal. Mark my
words.”

Regina returned to the table, and just when
I expected to be reamed a second time, she snapped and the door
opened behind me.

“Wait! What is he supposed to do? What do
you want from me?”

“From you? Please. Other than the connection
to Theodore, we have no use for you in the slightest. We’ve watched
you all this time to see how much you were going to screw up our
plans—simple as that. And now we will continue to use you for
information only. Aww, sweetie, did you think you were important?
How disappointing. As for what Theo can do, maybe the three of you
need to study a little harder. What we want is to know what you
know. So next time we summon you, maybe you should be more prepared
to answer questions. Or maybe you just need a little further
coercing. Then again, to help you out, we could get the Resin off
your tail for a while.”

Before I could ask anything else, a woman,
more like an Amazonian Sumo wrestler, grappled me out of the door
and into the golden room—which now didn’t seem so golden at
all.

I couldn’t see Theo like that. He would
freak and ask me seventeen million questions. I got my phone and
dialed the first number I thought of.

“What up, babe?”

“I—I can’t…”

I’d never called Ari upset, but now I needed
her.

“Flash to me now. You know where I am. Seek
out my location and get to me.”

And I did.

ABOVE ALL—DO
NOT GET CAUGHT TRAVELING.

Collin and I were scouring the few books
Colby had managed to swipe from Pema when I felt her flash
again.

She’d flashed back to Louisiana, but not to
her home. My phone rang and I reached to answer it.

“Hello?” I expected the voice of Colby on
the other end, but instead I got Ari, her raspy voice was
undeniable.

“Colby’s here, but I expect you already know
that. She’s really, really quiet. And she’s eating cake. She will
be along soon. I’m not sure how soon, but she’s safe.”

“Good. She loves cake. Keep me updated,
okay?”

“Yeah.” And with that, Ari hung up. Those
were my clues. The most obvious thing she clued me into was simply
in her calling me. Ari didn’t call me and I didn’t call Ari. It
just didn’t happen.