Seers (22 page)

But I am in. They don’t have a chance.

Of course, now they have my truck.
Awesome.

“Are you okay? What happened in there?” Luke blusters.

“I’m okay,” I say, trying to catch my breath. “He knows. Tobias knows,” I quickly add as I turn in my seat to watch the men behind us. They are rushing into headquarters. No one seems to be jumping into a vehicle to follow us, though.

“He sent someone into my apartment. He sent someone to get my journal.”

“It was gone?”

“Yes,” I say, letting a twinge of defeat creep into my voice. I hated to hear it, but I knew I felt it. I was supposed to be a step ahead, not Tobias. He’s been ahead this whole time, toying with me and using me. I feel so dumb, so duped. And now he has duped me again.

“He was sending you a message.”

“Yes.”

Luke takes his eyes from the road for a second to look me over. Checking me for injuries, at first, but then he looks into my eyes. I bet he wishes he could Read me like Eri right now. Although he always seems to read me in his own way.

We’re on the bridge in no time. I call Eri and tell her to scrap the original timeline and be ready in fifteen minutes. We are no longer waiting at her house for Dr. Kuono to come home. We are picking her up, and we are going to his lab. Now.

The rest of the ride to Eri’s is a blur of talking and fast driving. I fill Luke in on my narrow escape. We are barely in the driveway when Eri catapults down her front steps. I swear she’s in the backseat before the car comes to a stop. And we’re off again.

Thankfully Luke fills her in. I’m sick of the story already. I’m ready for this to be done. To be done with Tobias.

“My father is expecting us,” she adds once she’s caught up.

“You told him?” I ask.

“Yes. He knows the plan. He has known. It was his idea to wait for you to be ready to join us. I wanted to tell you right away. As soon as you got here. Luke had already told my father and me that you were coming and what your intentions were.”

“Right.”

I keep forgetting that Luke has had months with her. He came here and laid the groundwork for their friendship, gained her trust. Then he told her about his mission and the Preceptors’ plans for her father. And he told Arashi Kuono and got him on board. Then they waited for me. That thought ignites me. Why? Why did they need me?

“Luke, why did you wait for me?” I demand.

“What? What do you mean?” he asks quickly.

“You waited for me to get here. For me to get here to Navigate Dr. Kuono. Why? Why didn’t you just do it? Why didn’t you go in and get the information yourself? If you can Extract, why didn’t
you
do it?”

He shifts in his seat. He speeds up a little. He moves out of the right lane to pass the car in front of us.

“You haven’t told her?” Eri’s words aren’t accusatory. They’re surprised, disappointed.

“No. I haven’t.”

And then silence.

“Do I have to ask the obvious, Luke, or are you going to start talking?” I demand.

He sighs, readjusts his grip on the wheel, and starts: “I already tried. An Extraction. I wasn’t able to retrieve the memory. I couldn’t do it. It’s big, Leesie. Two memories in one, and he’s so smart. The obstacles are bigger. The layers are thicker—”

Already tried?

“So what makes you think I can do it?” I snarl. “I’ve been underground in my investigations. I have been under the radar and gathering as much intelligence as I can. And from what I have researched and from what I have heard, you are the strongest Seer, the most advanced Extractor, anyone has ever seen. That’s why Tobias came to you. He doesn’t need
an
Extractor, because remember, I told you before that there are others. He needs
you.
”

“I’m so great, huh? Why was he able to get my memories, then? How did he do that?” I spit the words at them both. Such a backhanded compliment. You’re the best, Leesie. Fabulous at taking things
out.
Oh, but you can’t keep anything
in
to save your life.

Luke winces a little. Maybe at the fury in my voice or maybe because I am getting closer to the reason he hasn’t told me the whole story until now.

He feels sorry for me. Ugh. The thought of his pity makes me sick.

“We don’t know,” he admits.

Or maybe because he doesn’t know.

No one knows how Tobias was able to erase my memories. That must mean no one knows if I have any chance of ever getting all of them back. I think of the few memories I have creeping around in my brain. Is this spell, this curse, whatever it is Tobias has done, wearing off? Or did he just miss those?

Eri attempts to soothe me: “Leesie, I know your memories are an important part of your fight against Tobias, but we need to focus on Extraction right now. For my father’s sake. For the sake of everyone involved.”

Of course she’s right. And I haven’t thought of her enough. Her
father
is in danger, and I am worrying about myself.

I refocus and readjust my tone when I address Luke again: “You said I should go in and get the memory and then you’ll Navigate me to throw Tobias off the trail. But if you can’t get the information from Dr. Kuono, what makes you think you can Extract it from me?”

“It’s a gamble. I’m not sure. But the research Dr. Kuono has done since seems to suggest that his memory of Eri being an Aurae and his memory of the secret of Extraction will separate once they’re in your brain. If that’s true, I should be able to Extract just the memory of the discovery.”

For the rest of the drive, we wear silence like a blanket we’re using to shield us from one another.

“No pressure, right?” I say as we pull into a space in the parking lot of the research facility where Dr. Kuono works.

They say nothing. I’m glad. I am not in the mood for anyone to cop an attitude with me. I am the only one allowed to do that right now. They seem to know better. In fact, we don’t speak. Not a word. At the front desk. In the elevator. Down the creepy corridor to the last door on the left. Nothing.

Good. They’re smart enough to shut up.

Eri grips the doorknob and begins to turn it. Luke is poised and ready to step in right after her. I am behind them, smirking and secretly pleased with myself at having been able to scare them into silence.

But then …

We’re all scared.

In the lab, behind the table, sits Dr. Kuono. Next to him, behind the brain, sits Tobias.

I am behind my two allies, realizing that makes them my shields. I can’t let them shield me. I don’t know what Tobias intends to do to us, but I know he views only Dr. Kuono and me as necessary to this equation. I leap forward, squeezing between Luke and Eri, and thrust my arm across Eri’s chest, sending her stumbling back.

“Leesie, no! Dad! Are you okay? Dad!”

“Honey! I’m okay. I’m sorry. I didn’t know he was here! I shouldn’t have told you to come—”

“I beg to differ, Doctor. Our guests have arrived on time.”

Tobias hisses his words, and they float heavily in the air like smoke rings.

“Elise, I’m afraid I’ve changed the locale of our meeting. Will this suit you? We have so much to discuss. You’ve been keeping so much from me.”

Luke huffs next to me and lurches forward.

“As you were, son. My fight is not with you. Not yet.” Tobias mocks Luke and then refocuses on me. “Do tell me. How much do you remember?”

I’m not sure whether it is fear or fury that has my tongue held captive. I don’t know if I am able to string words together to form an answer.

But I have to. I have to answer him. And I have to face him—for Dr. Kuono, who was misled; for Eri, who is blameless in all this; for Luke, who’s fighting to protect us all; and for myself. If I want my life, I have to face him. I don’t deserve my own life if I can’t.

“I remember you.”

“Oh? And what of me, Elise?”

“I know.” I stammer at first, but I swallow and inhale and continue. “I know, Tobias. You were there. In my old life. Why? Why did you do this to me?”

I feel like a ventriloquist dummy. But instead of one person lending me his voice, I’ve got two. And the tone is a blend of quipped and quivery and vicious and venomous. One of them has got to go.

I step toward Tobias. I glance at Luke, who is watching me. I say again loudly and more deeply, “Why did you do this to me?”

“How could I?” he mocks. “I am no
Extractor.
”

“You son of a—!” Luke lunges for Tobias again.

I go with him this time because my left hand is around his upper arm as I attempt to keep him from launching himself across the table into the brain and onto Tobias. When Luke feels me charge with him, he stops. His heavy breathing is almost a snarl, but he holds back his bite.

“Elise,” Tobias responds coolly. “You must housebreak your henchman.”

“What do you want?
What do you want?”
I bellow.

“You know what I want by now. I want the Extraction formula. And I am going to get it.”

“Never.”

“No?” he sings. “Are you sure? How can you be sure when you don’t know what your decision will cost you?”

“What do you mean
cost
me?” I spit.

“I’m no Extractor. Not yet. But I have several under my charge. You know that Eri, even with her exceptional skill set, has no defense against Extraction. And the dear doctor here. And even Luke. He may have offenses, but he possesses no defense. And the others. Daisy, Patrick, Frances. They are so young, so full of promise. To lose them would be such a shame. To see their identities stripped from them, their memories erased. Well, how would you forgive yourself?”

“Don’t listen to him, Leesie!” Luke thunders. “You can’t just think about us! Think about how many more people are in danger if he can Extract!”

“Don’t let him win, Leesie!” Eri calls.

Tobias raises his hand to quiet them. “It’s not just them, Elise. You want your life, too, don’t you? Don’t you want your precious memories back? If something happens to me, well, you will never know the life you had.”

Tobias is covering all his bases. His words drive me down. Like a nail under a hammer, I sink. How can I win? If I don’t Extract for him, everyone I have met on this mission will lose their memories, their lives as they know it. If I take him out, I will never get my life back.

In a flash I think of Patrick’s perfect smile, Daisy poised on her horse, and the way Frances looked at the lunch table when she helped us understand the math test. Her brain has so much to offer. The thought of her or any of them losing even the smallest part of themselves is too excruciating to bear. Eri. I see her across from me in art, smiling easily. I see her swaying behind her cello. And Luke. I see part of my future when I see Luke. I can’t let anything happen to them. I know what I have to do.

“No! You will not hurt them. You’ve already hurt me. But not now. Not anymore. I’m stronger than you, Tobias.”

I cannot tell Luke or Eri what to do next. I have to hope that they know their job is to take care of Tobias and secure this room so that I can Navigate Dr. Kuono.
Now.

Eri moves forward. She doesn’t say a word. Luke fixes his eyes on her and shifts to the side as she approaches the table. They move like synchronized swimmers. Fluid but furious. Eri watches her father. She seems to be telling him something, or maybe he is telling her something. And then I know. She is Reading him. She nods ever so slightly to no one in particular. To herself. She has an idea. She turns her head away from her father and fixes a determined gaze on a new being. The brain. Directly in front of Tobias, she stands erect, strong, brave. She refuses to look at him. She refuses to acknowledge him. She must feel what I feel—that we must be swift. Our actions must be exact and must be first. Tobias is not to be given the opportunity to act.

Even before she reaches her hands out, the brain begins to glow. But when her hands touch the glass box, the glow becomes a gleaming beam of moving light. There’s a razor edge to the beams that makes it impossible to see. It’s as if we are standing at a swimming pool’s edge and the glaring sun that dances on the moving water both stings and confuses. We are spinning in a glowing kaleidoscope. I squint and stumble a little to the left. Instinctively my hands go to my face.