The MORE Trilogy (63 page)

Caleb knew it was of no use to struggle. He couldn’t shift, and he was surrounded by Guardians, including his own father, the worthless bastard. He grimaced as he spotted the group of Rogues, including Bartok, on their knees in the middle of a patch of grass, surrounded by armed Guardians, and the man he assumed was Adam, the dampener. He absently wondered about the man’s range—if he could continue to block Caleb when he got far enough away from the rest of the group. Such hopes were dashed, however, when Gideon simply stopped, watching as Emma Reiko walked into the midst of the Rogues, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.
 

After a while, she smiled with satisfaction, and wound her way back to Gideon. “I’ve removed the memories of how they got here—everything about the Colony,” she said. “Your men can take them back to Ontario. They’ll be kind of out of it for a while.”

“You’re not going to kill them?” Caleb asked in disbelief as he glared at his father and struggled to shake off the Guardian hands holding him captive.

“We’re not animals,” Gideon said calmly. “And we don’t have the facilities to hold them long-term. We only want to be left in peace.” The Guardian leader turned back to Emma. “What about Caleb?”

Caleb froze. “What about me?”

“I’ll need somewhere quiet,” Emma replied, ignoring Caleb’s outburst. “He’s a bit more complicated.” She glanced over to where Ava stood talking quietly to Tiernan. “Is Ava all right?”

“I think she’ll be fine once Caleb’s back to normal.”

Caleb glared at his father. “Stop talking about me like I’m not here.”

“You’re not,” Gideon said gently. “At least not entirely.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” A wave of fury swept through him, along with a niggling uneasiness he couldn’t quite put a finger on.

“Your mind has been tampered with.”
 

Caleb flashed a glance at Emma.

“Yes,” Gideon said, maintaining a calm and even tone. “The Rogues had Emma alter your thoughts.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Caleb knew he was fine. There was no way anyone had messed with his mind. “I’ve just seen through the lies of the Council.”

“Think about it, Caleb.” Emma stepped before him, looking deeply in his eyes. “You’ve never felt that way before.”
 

Caleb felt her reaching into him, invading his mind, and he stepped back abruptly to break the contact. “Stop that.”

“I think you’ll have to restrain him,” Emma told Gideon as they turned to go into a large metal building, one of the Guardians holding tightly to Caleb’s elbow. “It looks like he’s going to fight me on this.”

“Damn right,” Caleb said through gritted teeth.

Yet, something was off about all of it. He’d known his mission when they’d arrived at the Colony. Get Ava and the girl and fall back to regroup. Evade the Guardians. Wait for further orders to be relayed through Bartok.
 

Orders . . . from
who? Why?

Why did they need Emma and Ava? The question sent a stab of pain through his head, and Caleb fell to his knees, clutching at his scalp.

“What’s happening?” he heard Gideon ask. “What’s wrong with him?”

“I’m not sure. Get him in here and on the table.”

Strong arms lifted him, dragging him along down a dark hallway and into a brightly lit room. The pain in his skull ebbed to a dull throb, and he blinked in surprise to find himself looking up at the ceiling.
 

“Where’s Ava?” he rasped.
 

“Hold him down,” Emma said, her voice gruff and businesslike. “This might hurt, and he’s not going to like it.”

Something heavy bracketed Caleb’s chest and held his limbs immobile. He struggled, unable to move an inch, and squeezed his eyes shut. Slender fingers pried them open, Emma’s mismatched eyes appearing inches away from him. They almost matched, actually, the pupils blown so wide that only a thin circle of pale green differentiated one from the other.
 

“Try and relax,” Emma said, her cool palms framing his face.

He felt her prod at his mind, and in a flash of white-hot pain, Caleb screamed.

Chapter 12

Ava could hear Caleb’s agonized bellows from where she stood with Tiernan, wringing her hands and overcome with guilt.

Sure, she knew it was useless. She knew it was unwarranted. She’d done what she had to do to help Caleb. Still, she couldn’t help how she felt. The look of betrayal in his eyes had cut her deeply, and she knew it was something that would haunt her for a long time to come. She could feel Caleb fighting against whatever Emma was doing to him, and her gift longed to reach out and help—to fight off whatever was hurting him.

“He’ll be fine,” Tiernan told her, trying to assure her again.
 

Ava wasn’t convinced, but she nodded just the same. She wanted to believe it—
needed
to believe it.
 

Finally, the screams stopped, the last of them echoing through the treetops before fading away into silence. Ava could feel Caleb calm, and with a choked gasp, she ran toward the building, Tiernan on her heels.

She sped through the hallway and jerked to a stop when Emma and Gideon emerged from a room and closed the door behind them. Gideon looked up at her approach and held up a hand.

“He’s asleep,” he told her. “We gave him some R-cubes, but he really needs the rest, I think. It took a lot out of him.”

“But he’s . . . is he
 . . .
”
 

Is he fixed? Is he him? Is he Caleb?
 

“He’s fine.”
 

Emma was trying to assure her, but Ava turned to Gideon for confirmation. She still couldn’t shake the lingering tendrils of anger that Emma had done this to Caleb in the first place, no matter how undeserved that anger was.

“He’s back to normal,” Gideon said. “As far as I can tell, all the effects have been removed. He also remembers everything about his time with the Rogues, which should prove useful. He wanted to tell us everything, but he’s so exhausted.” He glanced back at the door, pride on his face. “Brave kid.”

It took a moment for his words to register with Ava, and when they did, the rush of adrenaline drained out of her, and she slumped against the wall in relief. “So he’s all right.”

“He’s all right.” Gideon reached out to lay a hand on her shoulder. “He kept asking for you.”

Ava blinked back tears.
 

Perhaps he’d forgive her. Perhaps he’d understand.

“Can I see him? Can I . . . I’d like to stay with him.” Now that he was back, she couldn’t bear the thought of being away from him. Even if he was sleeping.

Gideon seemed to understand. “I’ll check on you later,” he said before heading down the hall to the control room.

Tiernan eyed her carefully. “You okay?”
 

“Yeah. Yeah, sure.” She nodded briskly, brushing away her tears. “I’m fine now.”

He cleared his throat, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. “Then I guess I’ll . . . go . . . debrief or something.”

Ava fought a smile. “Yeah. Go and loom and grunt with Gideon.”

To his credit, Tiernan just rolled his eyes and walked away.
 

Emma, however, reached out to take her hand. “Come on,” she said gently, reaching for the doorknob. “See for yourself. He’s going to be fine.”

She let Emma lead her into the room, only letting out a breath when she saw Caleb lying peacefully on a small bed against the wall.
 

Caleb slept deeply, his chest rising and falling under a thin blanket. Unable to resist touching him any longer, Ava left Emma standing at the door and rushed to his side. She brushed the hair away from his forehead, and he shifted into the touch, a pleased sigh slipping from his lips. Her gift settled within her, finally calm and quiet.

“I can do the same for you,” Emma said, startling Ava slightly. She hadn’t realized the girl had moved to stand next to her.

“What do you mean?” Ava whispered.

Caleb let out a quiet sound, his head rolling on the pillow, and Emma pressed a finger to her lips and indicated the door with a tilt of her head.
 

Ava nodded, touching Caleb’s cheek lightly before following the girl to the other side of the room.
 

“I know you’re having trouble with your gifts,” Emma said. “And I’d like to help you.” She glanced at Caleb. “Now’s not the time, of course, but when you’re ready, let me know.”

“You really think you can lift the rest of the block?” Ava asked. “How would that even work?”

“I’ll explain it all later. But for now, Caleb needs you.” She smiled. “And I can see that you need him, too.” With that, she stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her.
 

Ava blinked in confusion, a little scared about Emma’s proposal but intrigued, nonetheless. Caleb let out a quiet whimper and she hurried to his side as his eyes fluttered open.
 

“Ava?”

“I’m here.”

“I’m . . . what happened?” he mumbled, his voice thick with sleep.

“Shhh
 . . .
” she whispered, her fingers smoothing lightly over his forehead. “Just rest for now.”

He settled, and she moved toward the padded chair next to the bed, but Caleb reached for her, his hand flailing until it rested on hers. “Don’t go.”
 

He tugged on her hand, and she smiled, kicking off her shoes. She slid into the bed next to him, fully clothed, and rested her head on his chest, his strong heartbeat reassuring her that he really was going to be all right.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she whispered as she curled up against him and joined him in sleep.

The sun had shifted low in the sky when Ava opened her eyes again. She had no idea how long they’d been asleep, but daylight had melted into dusk, so it had been at least a few hours. Caleb was a warm, firm presence half under her, one arm wrapped around her waist, the other thrown over his head on the pillow. She fought the urge to stretch luxuriantly and instead attempted to slip out of the bed without disturbing Caleb. His arm tightened around her, though, halting the movement.
 

“Where are you going?” he rasped, although his eyes remained shut.
 

She felt suddenly self-conscious, nervous after all that had happened. “You’re awake.”

“Sort of,” he said, his lips quirking. “My head feels like somebody took a jackhammer to it.”

Ava reached for the jar of R-cubes on a side table and touched one to his lips. “Well, that’ll happen when someone goes picking around in your brain.”

He opened his mouth for the cube and chewed and swallowed quickly before he took a deep breath and finally opened his eyes. “Remind me never to do that again.”

Silence thickened in the air as Ava searched for the right words. “About before—”

“Listen—” Caleb said at the same time.
 

“I didn’t mean—”

“No, it was my fault.” Caleb rolled to his side, leaning on his elbow over her. “I hate what I did. What I said to you—”

“That wasn’t you.” Ava reached out tentatively to touch his face. “I’m sorry for hurting you. Using my gift against you.”

“Hey.” He ran his fingers lightly over her lips and leaned in to kiss her softly. “You have nothing to apologize for. You did what you had to do.”

Despite it all, Ava couldn’t hold back a snicker. “So, essentially, we’re both sorry, but neither one of us should be.”

Caleb smirked. “Sounds about right.”

Ava sobered, laying her hand against his cheek.
 

He sighed, leaning into her touch, and her gift flared, mingling with his in quiet contentment.

“I’m so glad you’re back,” she said.

“Me, too.”
 

They lay there for a moment, indulging in the peace and quiet, and Caleb let out a heavy breath.
 

“As much as I’d like to hole up in this room with you for about a month, I think I should go talk to Gideon.” His jaw tensed under her hand at the mention of his father.