Perilous Light (23 page)

I searched for a sign of Blake in the mass of bodies, but I could hardly see. Blinded once again, I squinted and realized the glare from the sun reflecting off the Zales was causing the problem. I barely had time to unsheathe my sword before another group of our men filled in behind me and I was pushed through the mass of bodies toward the center of the field.

“
What the hell are those?” I yelled to Naomi. What appeared to be walking corpses straight out of a horror movie littered the field, many wielding maces, axes, and knives. Flesh hung off their bodies, and their eyes were empty holes.

“
They look like dead people,” Naomi replied. I knew Blake had some serious power, but I had no idea he could raise the dead.

A zombie came at me, and I slashed it with my sword. The flesh fell away easily. It was like slashing butter with my guardian sword, yet no matter how many times I cut him, he wouldn’t fall. I thrust my sword into his chest, aware that more zombies surrounded me. The zombie impaled on my sword appeared unfazed, and with his eyes glowing red, he pushed the sword further into his chest pulling it from me. Weaponless, I kicked the corpse to the ground, but found myself quickly surrounded. I punched another corpse in the head, and it felt like punching rotten wood. As ineffective as the punch was, I tried again, only to have my arms grabbed and pinned behind me. Flooded with panic, I watched with horror as the zombie prepared to attack me with my own sword. Just as I expected the blade to make contact, the zombie crumbled to the ground.

“
You have to cut off the head!” Ollis screamed while moving around me.

My arms were freed and two more zombie heads rolled on the ground. I followed his lead, and he was right. Without the head, the body fell. As soon as I had taken care of one, three more surrounded me. I got rid of them handily, but it was crazy, like something out of a video game. Maybe I should have spent more time playing
Resident Evil
.

The air reeked of salt, blood, and rotting flesh, but the adrenalin running through my body kept the nausea from emptying my stomach. Another corpse came at me, a sword clutched in its bony arm. I went to slash at his head, but a blur of white pulled the corpse down in front of me. As the blur slowed, I realized a giant white wolf was ripping apart the zombie. Fighting through the carnage, I wondered where Samantha was and hoped she was doing well.

Out of nowhere, the sky darkened further. I looked up to see a flock of giant white birds that resembled hawks. With wings extended, the birds soared before suddenly diving down to the field. I covered my head instinctively, trying to protect myself from getting clawed. When I felt no claws, I moved my hands and looked for the birds. The hawks were only attacking the Bravado. Screams filled the air as the hawks went after the soldiers. I tensed as Blake’s men passed by me as they tried to leave the field. It took me a minute to process it, but then I remembered Alexander telling Bry to get the Aves airborne—they were the hawks. As meek as the Aves seemed in person, they were a terrifying sight as a flock of birds amidst the battle. Of all the strange things I had witnessed since discovering Energo, the shifters were the hardest to accept. Between the Zatamanian cats and the Ave hawks, I started to think that anything was possible, even zombies, apparently.

The Bravado slowly began to retreat, and I searched for Samantha. Although I fully understood that she could take care of herself, I needed to find her.

She found me first. “Something about this does not feel right.”

I expected Samantha to be excited; her words took me by surprise. “What do you mean?”

“
The Bravado should not be retreating so easily. It is as though Blake planned it all along, and he went into the battle for reasons other than destroying the Resistance.”

Samantha was right, and I needed to find Charlotte. What if his goal was to kill her, and he succeeded? My heart sank as I ran frantically toward the caves.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Charlotte

I jumped at the touch of a hand on my shoulder, and it tore my attention away from James. Kevin and I locked eyes before I stood up and let him take me into a hug. He pulled away from me, a look of amazement on his face. Turning around, I found the object of his attention—Mom. Glancing back at Kevin, I could have sworn there were a few tears. He didn’t move, and Mom eventually closed the distance and hugged him. She pulled away from Kevin long enough to gesture for me to join them, and the three of us hugged as though our lives depended on it. Maybe they did. I knew instinctively that the future of Energo lay in our hands.

Without warning, Kevin let go of us. “What’s he doing here?”

I spun around to see who had Kevin so worked up and saw him staring at Calvin.

“
Calvin is with us, Kev. Calm down.” I was sure Kevin heard me, but he brushed past me as if I wasn’t even there.

“
So you think you can just walk back into my sister’s life, just like that?” Kevin’s voice was harsh and loud. Everyone was staring.

“
I am her Gerard. I have always been in her life. I never should have doubted her.”

“
Cut the crap. Seriously, is everyone just willing to accept this?” Kevin looked around, and for a moment, no one responded.

Liam moved toward us, clutching his sword. “What choice do we have? We need him.”

“
Liam? Wait. Is that a Guardian sword? What’s going on?”

Liam lifted up his sword as though it were weightless, something only a Guardian could do. “Yeah, it looks like I’m officially part of the team now.” He raised an eyebrow and grinned.

“
But how? You know what? I don’t want to know.” Kevin broke into a huge smile, seemingly forgetting his disagreement with Calvin. Liam caught my eye, and I could tell he was as relieved as I was that Kevin hadn’t pushed it further. I didn’t think any of us could have handled a discussion about the kiss at the moment.

After the relief at seeing Kevin faded, my thoughts returned to James. He wasn’t going to wake up on his own. I knew the second I touched him that there was nothing I could do to bring him out of the coma. What good was having the power to heal when it wouldn’t work on your friends? Even understanding how powerless I was, I refused to just sit there and wait. I tried to stop the tears from pouring down my face, but I was so physically and emotionally spent, I couldn’t. I knew that my Guardians were willing to sacrifice themselves for me, but I never imagined just how horrible it would feel if they actually did. Mom and Calvin tried to calm me down, but I shrugged off their arguments, pulling into myself. James may not have been perfect, but he was my friend, and he was only injured because he was trying to save me. Besides, I was the one who insisted on tapping into the Source again to find Kevin. If I had only listened to my mom and waited… the guilt was strong. I also felt horrible about doubting him.

“
Come on, Charlotte. We’ll find a way to bring him back,” Kevin said.

“
What if we can’t?”

“
Then we can’t. He was doing his job. He knew the risk. He made the decision to jump in front of you.”

“
He saved me!” Sometimes I wanted to slug my brother, even if he was the hero of the day.

“
And I’m glad he did, but what good does moping about it do? Besides, you know what this is really about.” Kevin moved within inches of me as he raised his voice, but then he was pulled back by Calvin. “Whoa, man! She’s my sister. Did you really think I would hurt her?”

“
You are clearly upsetting her. Stay back.” Calvin glared at Kevin angrily.

I didn’t wait for Kevin to respond. “What? What is this really about, Kevin?”

“
Your guilt. And that is plain dumb. If you question every move you make, you will get nowhere. James is one of your Guardians. Any one of us would have sacrificed ourselves for you; it comes naturally. If James could talk now, I know he would agree.” Kevin looked at me as though I were a child.

His expression just made me angrier, but I also knew he was right. I owed it to myself, James, the rest of Energo, and all of the Pact nations to snap out of it enough to do my job.

“
I think she gets the point, Kevin,” Mom said. Unlike when we were kids, Kevin didn’t argue with Mom. He was probably still in awe of having her back.

***

I barely ate dinner that night; I was just too overwhelmed. The joyfulness of the reunions had died down, and a silence hung, amplifying my awkwardness. It was wonderful to have everyone together, but it was also hard. I had accepted Calvin’s presence quickly, but it was ingrained in me to want, or really to
need
, him by my side. It wasn’t that way for Kevin and Liam. Not only did they have to listen to him as their leader, they had to stand by and watch him with me. As much as I enjoyed being close to Calvin, I didn’t enjoy hurting Liam. I could almost feel his eyes burning into me whenever Calvin put his arm around me or kissed my forehead. For once, I would have welcomed James’s annoying sarcasm because it would have at least relieved some tension.

“
I know everyone is exhausted, but there is a lot to talk about,” Mom said.

“
What is Blake?” If we were going to talk, I wanted answers.

“
I believe he is a Cipher.” Mom’s voice was quiet but deliberate.

Monty sat up in his chair. “Are you serious?”

“
Yes. I do not see any other explanation.”

“
But that is just stuff of legend,” Theodore said.

“
Most legends are based on truth.” Monty sounded slightly annoyed. I was surprised until I remembered that Theodore had doubted my mom before—and in a very important way.

“
What the hell is a Cipher?” Kevin asked, breaking the tension building between Mom and her brothers.

“
It is the polar opposite of the Essence,” Monty explained. “As the Essence has the power to control everything natural and living, it has been said that the Cipher can control that which is unnatural and dead.”

“
That sounds pretty crazy,” Liam said.

“
It is. And it is most dangerous for Charlotte.” Mom reached over and squeezed my hand.

“
Why? Why is it more dangerous for Charlotte?” Kevin asked.

“
Because if the legends are true, the Essence and the Cipher are connected. They can both use one another’s power and gain access to each other’s minds.”

“
What? Gain access to my mind?” I asked, terrified.

“
He may be able to manipulate your mind, Charlotte. He may already be planting thoughts.”

“
Do you mean he could make me feel something I don’t actually believe?”

“
Exactly. Have you experienced anything like that?”

Mom and Calvin exchanged a serious glance as I tried to remain calm.

“
I kept having all these doubts about James, questioning whether he was really with Blake.” As scary as it was that Blake could do it, it was somewhat of a relief to know that I hadn’t really doubted James.

Kevin got up and started pacing. “Can it get any worse? What else can he do to her?”

Samantha went over to calm him. It was really nice to see them together. I had never liked any of Kevin’s girlfriends, but Samantha was cool.

“
The implications are endless.” Calvin put his arm around me, pulling me toward him as if trying to shield me. “But we will protect you. I promise you are safe.”

“
If he has access to my mind, why did he have to come here to kill me?” I asked.

“
You figured it out, too?” Kevin asked.

“
Yeah. It’s the only explanation for why he retreated so easily. He wanted to get rid of me, and when he failed, he left.” I let out an involuntary laugh. It was all so crazy that it was almost funny.

“
Umm, Charlotte. Are you okay?” Liam asked.

I tried to regain my composure, but looking across the table at Liam made it all seem even funnier. On top of everything, the guy I had been crushing on forever finally liked me, but I was already in love with someone else. Calvin’s arms tightened around me as my laughing fit got worse. It was a relief when Kevin’s low laugh joined mine. Maybe we were more alike than I thought.

“
Okay, Emma, what is wrong with your children?” Theodore’s question just set us off more.

“
You think there’s only one thing wrong with the Calloways?” Liam grinned as he fell back into his familiar ribbing.

“
All right, that is enough, you two. Charlotte’s question is serious. Why did Blake have to be physically present to hurt her if your theory is correct?” Monty’s question brought us back down to reality, and we stopped laughing.

Mom held up a hand. “He seems to have the ability to enter her mind, but Charlotte is strong enough to prevent him from doing too much. He is still much stronger when he is present.”

“
Wait, Mom. Were you implying earlier that I can get into Blake’s head, too?”

“
Yes…” Mom hesitated before continuing, “But it would be very dangerous.”

“
Then it is not up for discussion.” Calvin’s arms tightened around me so much that I had to struggle to get him to loosen them because I couldn’t breathe. “Sorry, I just want you safe.”

“
We all want her safe,” Liam said softly.

“
It is going to be impossible to shield Charlotte from all risk. The sooner we accept that, the better,” Theodore stated.