Twell and the Rebellion (30 page)

The answer to my
predicament hit me like a stampede of desert beasts. I gasped, my
mind beginning to thrum in immediate response to my thoughts. I
could lift myself out with my powers. I had to be able to. It just
had to be possible. I was tired and my powers were weak, but the
urgency to get out before I passed out was stronger than anything.
Regathering my focus, I pushed my powers back out, feeling
carefully along my body as I tried to comprehend the task ahead. It
was the weirdest sensation, like touching my skin with numb hands,
or hands that weren’t my own. My skin shivered in response as I
took hold of my limbs and lifted.

My body rose off the damp
earth, and
I couldn’t believe how easy it
was. I wondered if my powers were evolving, or if I’d simply been
able to levitate myself all this time, just like Mekai could. If
I’d had the energy, I would have slapped myself. If I’d known only
moons earlier, things could have gone so differently between Raze
and myself in the caverns. Maybe I could have escaped him. Maybe I
wouldn’t have had to take his life. I shuddered the image angrily
away. It was too late now and I needed all my focus on the
present.

Lifting myself entirely off the
damp ground, I levitated slowly up towards the opening. My mind
strained. My body shook with the effort. I felt I might pass out
before I could escape. The fear of failure spurred me on, and I
squeezed out every ounce of my power as I propelled myself up, up,
and out of the hole. The wind rushed in my ears, and then I hit the
earth hard, my body collapsing along with my mind. The night air
caressed me, and my flesh shivered in grateful response. I was
free. But for how long? I wasn’t safe. Not even close. My brain
struggled to revive, but it felt like thinking through water, as my
mind swirled and spun. I felt myself slipping, tumbling backwards
despite the scratch of the sandy ground against my cheek.
Exhaustion slithered over me, invading my mind, and I had nothing
left within me to fight it. I tumbled back into the clutching dark
and for a time I knew no more.

An anxious blend of hushed
voices reached my ears. I felt my body leaving the ground,
travelling up and then several pairs of hands holding me before I
was transferred into a pair of strong warm arms. The arms tightened
around me, warm and gentle, holding me as though I was so fragile I
might break. Maybe I was already broken. I didn’t know. I couldn’t
seem to find full consciousness. I tried to open my eyes, but they
were so heavy and it seemed so exhausting I gave up the idea. I
became aware of being moved, and the soft murmuring continued
around me, the urgency in the tones slowly bringing me to full
consciousness.

“
Shanna. Surina, go now
and make sure she’s seen it’s clear,” a voice above me dictated
firmly and they obeyed, their voices fading away with their soft
steps. “Kaelin, the water.”

I felt my carrier stop. Then I
was being lowered to the ground, yet not released, my head cradled
carefully in the same person’s lap. Avin’s lap. I felt a cool vial
pressed to my lips and then sweet life giving water trickling down
my throat, soothing the burning dryness away, as my eyes fluttered
open.

“
She’s conscious.”
Kaelin’s voice was hushed and tense somewhere to my right, but it
was directly upwards that I fixed my gaze, straight into Avin’s
swirling silver eyes. My heart missed a beat as we stared at each
other.

“
Before you start, let me
point out that I was in the process of saving myself, as you could
clearly see,” I grumbled. “At no point did I need you to come
rescue me.”

“
You are in so much
trouble.” Avin ignored me. “But I couldn’t bear for you to suffer
another minute alone.”

I opened my mouth to make
another retort when a familiar voice broke softly through the night
from further away.

“
We can take her in. It’s
safe now.” Sazika’s voice startled my senses and I began to attempt
moving.

“Be still, Twell,” Avin
said firmly as Talon appeared over me. Talon stared hard at my
shackles, and my skin throbbed with blood rush as they fell
away.
Then Avin pulled me back into his embrace and
climbed to his feet.
He nodded at Talon and he darted away into the night before
I had a chance to thank him. Ignoring my feeble attempt to extract
myself from his arms he resumed walking, carrying me as easily as
though I were a child. I struggled uselessly for a moment more
before I gave up and sunk against him. The heat of his body slowly
warmed my chilled skin, and I could feel his heart beat against my
side.

“
I can walk, Avin,” I said
in a shaky unconvincing way.

“But I don’t want to put
you down.” Avin’s voice was so quiet it didn’t carry to the others,
and I saw he was clenching his jaw. I felt his fury at what had
happened to me and was struck dumb, my mouth dry despite the water
I’d received. Somehow, they’d managed to gain access to the aero
dome, and Avin carried me into the lift, his jaw set stubbornly as
the doors enclosed us. I shivered with reluctance to go underground
again, but Avin’s arms tightened around me reassuringly and we
descended in silence. Then we were inside and everyone was there.
Kaelin, nervous and trembling; Shanna, her eyes black and alive
with excitement. Talon and Surina stood watching me calmly, and
next to them was Sazika. I looked at her and was shocked by the
quiet fire in her eyes. She wasn’t afraid.

“
I took the liberty of
paying a visit to the surveillance room,” Sazika told me bluntly.
“I froze the cameras over this dome, so we have a little
time.”

“
Let me guess.” I grinned
weakly. “Your brothers taught you how to mess with
technology.”

“
What are genetic brothers
for?” Sazika winked.

“
I’ll wait here with her,”
Avin said, and once again, everyone obeyed him, turning without
question to disappear into the unlit blackness of the huge
hall.

“
What’s going on?” I
demanded rather ungratefully.

Avin didn’t answer at first.
Instead, he set me down with my back against the wall of the dome
and crouched protectively in front of me.

“
They’re checking to see
if the coast is clear and looking for a small craft.”

“
Why?”

“
We’re getting out of here
and going to find your guardian.” Avin looked me dead in the eye,
searching carefully for my response.

“
How?” I still felt too
disorientated to pay much attention to his words.

“
We’re gonna
fly.”

“
What?” I gasped. “You
can’t! That’s crazy… you…no..!”

“
Twell, hush!” Avin said
sharply. Leaning forward he gripped my shoulders, his face level
with mine. “Do you want to find your guardian alive if there’s a
chance, or do you want to wait and hope that the people who locked
you up will decide to reward your behaviour by looking for
her?”

I reeled back against the wall
with dreadful realization. My actions, if Shay wasn’t already dead,
had surely signed her death sentence. Avin was right. It was up to
me to do something and stop waiting for my leaders to decide over
her life or death. I looked at him and saw earnest tenderness in
his eyes. It undid me.

“
Oh Avin.” My voice
cracked. “Why? Why would you do this for me…after everything…?” His
hand pressed over my mouth and stopped the torrent of guilty words.
Instantly tears replaced them, burning my eyes until I could barely
see. The grim reality of my situation overwhelmed me, the anxiety
incapacitating.

“
I’m not just doing this
for you. It’s for all of us. You’re not the only one who wants a
different life from what we’ve been offered. You’ve just helped us
to see it clearly enough to want to fight for it.” Avin’s eyes
pierced mine with clarity and my heart thrummed with the
connection. I opened my mouth to speak, but raising a hand, he cut
me off. “I wanted to stay loyal to our leaders and trust them. At
the start, it didn’t seem such a hard task, when matched with a
girl like you. But you’re right. You can’t force some things and I
can’t force you to want me.” His features were so devoid of any
resentment or bitterness that the rush of emotion surprised
me.

“
I never meant to hurt
you, I’m so sorry.”

Avin moved in closer and took my
face in his hands. “Look at me.” The kindness in his tone allowed
me to raise my eyes to his. “Don’t be. I only ever asked for your
honesty, for it to be your own choice.” He smiled sadly. “The truth
will set you free, or so they used to say on earth.” His smile was
gentle as his thumbs caressed my cheeks, wiping back my tears. He
was wrong though. The truth had gotten me into more trouble than I
could ever imagine. I was anything but free.

“
I don’t know what I want
anymore,” I whispered before I could stop myself.

“
You need time.” His
features grew wistful.

“
We don’t have time,” I
said hollowly.

“Twell…” His voice
tightened, brimming over with want and frustration. I looked into
his eyes; they mirrored the feelings churning inside of me. They
drew me in, into the cool depths, promising blissful relief. I felt
like I was falling again, but this time I was too tired to resist.
Unable to stop myself from leaning forwards, our lips met. His
mouth against mine was gentle and sweet, and I forgot our immediate
danger as I gave in to him. His hands cupped my face and he
breathed my name against my lips. My mind momentarily stopped
tormenting me, and I felt comforted and fleetingly safe, like
everything would be okay. Then the moment was gone because as Avin
drew back to look at me, I realized with a sinking feeling I’d
kissed him with free will, not because of his powers. In the next
moment, I realized there was someone watching over us. My guilt
turned to dread as I froze, my heartbeat coming to a
stop.

“Get you
r hands off her,” a cold voice spoke with a deadly
calm.

The look on Jonaz’s face was
something I knew I would never ever recover from as long as I
lived. Remorse tore my heart into two pieces as betrayal ripped
over his features, his eyes dull with disbelief. Still frozen, I
watched in panic as his features twisted with fury, his eyes
growing black and dangerous as he stared wildly at Avin. He rushed
forward, his hands reaching for him with a look so full of hatred
it reached through my panic, jolting me to reaction.

“Jonaz.
No
!” I
screamed. Twisting up and around Avin, I put my hands out to stop
him. Colliding, he grabbed my shoulders for balance, his eyes
unfocused and furious, looking past me to his target. In the next
moment, a pain so intense and searing shot through my body. I
barely felt myself hit the ground I was so senseless with agony. My
vision clouded as I retreated to a horribly dark and painful place,
a place too unbearable to survive. Then it was over just as
suddenly, and I found myself curled on the ground, clutching my
arms around me and whimpering with shock.

“
Twell…I’m so sorry…I
didn’t mean to…” Jonaz’s voice was so full of remorse he was barely
coherent. His hands fluttered over me in panic, wanting to touch me
again, yet not daring. Avin’s hands, however, did not hesitate. His
breath brushed my cheek as he bent over me, his fingers pressing to
the pulse on my neck. I moaned as I tried to lift myself up and
failed.

“What did you
do
to
her?” Avin said, aghast. Both rising simultaneously to their feet,
they moved rapidly towards each other and I sat up slowly, trying
not to wince as the pain ebbed away.

“She’ll be okay… it was
only a moment…an accident…not meant for her…” Jonaz’s horrified
expression betrayed his own shock at what he’d done, and my heart
lurched anxiously as I surveyed them both with increasing fear.
They stood so close they were almost nose-to-nose, their fists
clenched and chests heaving with anger. I would have laughed at
their origin of earthman behaviour if it was in any way
funny.

“
She’s not yours.” The
frustration Avin had been feeling for so long spilled out in his
cry. He took a menacing step towards Jonaz, his face twisted with
unfamiliar anger.

“Well, she certainly
doesn’t want to be
yours
,”
Jonaz spat.

“
You don’t know anything.”
Avin took another step closer, which was practically impossible
without swapping DNA.

“You know nothing
about
her
. Back off.” Jonaz’s voice grew tight with warning, the
words straining through his clenched teeth as his body shook with
fury. Only once had I ever seen him this angry, and it was when
he’d been fighting for my life. Now it seemed he was fighting for
our love, and his eyes blazed with the same intensity as when he’d
thought he was losing me. Losing me. Was that what was happening
now? I winced as a dull ache unfurled in the pit of my
stomach.

“She’s meant to be with
me,” Avin argued, but somehow it came out as more of a desperate
plea.

“
Twell wants a life that
being with you will crush,” Jonaz spat. If Avin’s eyes were
lightening, then Jonaz’s were thunder in the night, flashing with
fury and conviction. I couldn’t bear it anymore. I couldn’t face
them. I deserved neither of them. I didn’t even deserve to be here.
No matter which way I turned someone got hurt and the only way I
could make it stop was if I removed myself from everyone’s lives
involved.