Unleashed: The Deepest Fears Lie Within (Secrets of the Makai) (34 page)

“But—I have questions. The forest....”

“It’s a simulation.”

“Where’s Landon and Victor?”

“You’ll see them soon.”

“Dorian?”

“She went home. This is a safe training facility. No one you fight will be harmed, because each opponent is designed to match a certain skill level. We’ll start you at level one.”

“But I just—”

“No more excuses. You’re practically immortal. You don’t need food or more sleep. You need fighting skills.”

“Have you lost your mind? I barely made it over here.”

“But you did. Do you want them capturing you again? Do you know they are waiting? Do you want another event like Ireland?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Think of it, Tristan,” Donovan said. “Consider what the emerald allowed you to do, without deliberate thought. You’ve now handled seven additional stones. Each one has probably altered your natural abilities in some way. I need to know what you’re capable of, so we can all protect ourselves against it.”

Tristan stared, speechless. “Is that why you won’t let Landon or Victor see me? I might look at them funny and turn them into frogs?”

“Is that something you’re capable of?” Donovan asked, completely serious.

“No! Who would do that?”

“How do you know what you are capable of until you try? Not only do I want you trained to defend yourself, but I want to know how your instincts handle stressful situations.”

“You’re insane. I’m not ready for stressful—”

“It’s perfect, actually. You’re too tired to do anything but react. No thoughts, no guessing, no planning. Pure instincts.”

“I just want to go home.”

“I can’t let you out until you know how to control whatever powers you’ve gained.”

“Maybe I didn’t gain anything.” Tristan looked for a door in the trees. “You can’t keep me locked in here forever.”

“Tristan.” Donovan put a hand on either shoulder and tried an expression of patience. “This is an incredibly safe, underground facility. Anything can be simulated in this room and no one gets hurt. There are safeguards that protect you, me, and the room itself. It’s an ideal way to see what you can do. Don’t you want to know? Or would you rather find out the hard way—by accident?”

Tristan opened his mouth and shut it again. “I do want to know. But not right now.” His legs were already feeling shaky just for standing.

“This is a controlled environment where no one is in danger.”

“Analyzing complete,” said the woman’s voice. “New player does not meet health parameter requirements.”

Tristan breathed a sigh of relief. “There, see? I told you so.”

“Override parameter restrictions. If you are in full control of your powers, I’ll let you go home. And, Landon and Victor can see you whenever they wish.”

“Give me another day.”

“This is a mental battle, nothing physical. You don’t even have to stand. Think of your opponents as computer-generated holograms, testing your mental strength.”

Tristan shook his head. “I don’t have mental strength right now.” He’d already decided he’d never have anything to do with anything he couldn’t see. Like Victor’s tracker messing with brainwaves. “Is this all generated by a computer?”

“No, it’s not. But I can shut it down at any time.”

“Forget it. I’m not doing this.”

“It will be more difficult if you’re fully rested. Give him a place to sit.” A wooden barstool appeared in front of Donovan, he moved it to the center of the rock circle. “Sit. Keep your eyes closed if you wish.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I’ll guide you through the first few levels.”

“I don’t want to be attacked.”

“You sound like a coddled—” Donovan turned his back on Tristan. “I
can
keep you here forever and I will if you don’t at least try.”

“Just give me a day. I’m not ready—”

“Come with me.”

Tristan took a few shaky steps closer to the center of the circle.

“Level 1.”

A man appeared, dressed in a hunter-green jacket and faded jeans. His expression was utterly blank, but he lumbered toward Tristan like a befuddled drunk. “No—I can’t do this. I don’t even want to.”

“Listen to me!” Donovan held Tristan’s face in both hands, forcing eye contact. “I know you’re afraid, but we need to know what happens when you have no options. If I start training you as I would anyone else, these new instincts could be buried under skills that aren’t nearly as effective.”

“I don’t have new instincts!”

Donovan released Tristan as the opponent finally got within arm’s reach. “Defend yourself.”

Tristan tripped on the quilt as he took another backward step. The man’s arms rose like some sort of deranged zombie. “I can’t!”

“Immobilize him. Put him in a cage, change his mind, change the situation, shield yourself. There are hundreds of options.”

“I can’t!” Tristan rolled to his good side, too tangled in the quilt to get to his knees.

“Yes you can! This is nothing. He’s merely giving you dirty looks.”

“The band!”

The attacker froze mid-step. Donovan crouched beside Tristan. “Listen to me.”

Tristan flinched when Donovan attempted to move a lock of hair covering his eyes. “Get away from me.”

“Tristan!” Donovan knelt on the ground in front of him. “We destroyed that band. You are no longer being held in captivity. You’re completely safe now.”

“This is captivity. You promised!”

“Listen to me.” Donovan pulled Tristan to his knees and gave him a good shake. “There is no band. You must learn how to defend yourself or they’ll capture you again. Only this time, they won’t bother trying to hold you, they’ll just kill you. And you won’t die so easily, will you? Is that what you want?”

“It hurts too much.”

“What hurts? The poison is gone, you’re healing incredibly fast, and there is no band. Aside from a lack of body fat and muscle mass, there is absolutely no reason you can’t do this.”

“Everything hurts.”

“There are no restrictions on your mind. There is no band. You have to get past this.”

Tristan clutched his bad arm and shook uncontrollably.

“You may think I’m being cruel and unreasonable, but I will not let you be ignorant. You need to know what powers those stones gave you before you leave this room, so people you care about don’t get hurt by unpredictable accidents. Can you agree with that much?”

Tristan nodded, forcing his muscles to stop shaking.

“I’m sorry you were captured. I feel...responsible.”

Tristan frowned at the statement. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“If you had been properly trained in the first place...but we thought slow and gentle would be more comfortable. More effective.”

“But I’m not part of the Makai...”

“This isn’t about the Makai.” Donovan paced. “I want you safe, but I can’t always be with you.”

Tristan opened and shut his mouth, too stunned to speak.

“I never want to see you in chains again. Is that clear?”

Tristan nodded, frowning harder.

“The only way to make that possible is to make you strong. I want you to be able to protect Landon and Victor if they need it, or any of the young children in the valley if they are attacked. Can you understand that?”

Tristan nodded, then shook his head. “They’re way stronger than me. They all are.”

“No, Tristan. The emerald alone made you stronger than any of us. I might not have wanted to encourage your strengths before, but now...now I trust you’ll do the right thing with whatever powers you’ve been given.”

“You didn’t trust me before?”

“We saw the recordings.”

Tristan drew a blank. “Recordings?”

“It’s not that I want revenge for what they did, but I never want to see you held against your will. You were extremely loyal to all of us in dire circumstances.”

“I don’t remember anything like that.”

“You’re a good kid. I don’t want your hands tied, mentally or physically. I want you to have whatever skills you need to defend anything you feel is worth defending.”

“So...if you have so much faith in me, why can’t I do this later?”

“Because you’ve rested long enough. Much has happened since you were taken, and there is much to come. We’ll need your help with Lazaro, he has your map.”

“What?” That got his attention. Tristan got to his feet, using the walking stick to keep himself upright. “How can that be?”

“Charley was drugging your food supply on Lazaro’s behalf.”

“Little Charley? But I thought—”

“His father was one of the men in Ireland. We caught Charley with the drawing and he told us everything.”

“He talks?”

“He was also responsible for Stanley’s death, though he claims it was an accident.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Lazaro said he was with you, mentally, when you were taken.”

“He was.”

“He offered to tell us where you were in exchange for Charley and the drawing.”

Dread stiffened every muscle. “You didn’t.”

“We copied it first, then yes. We did.”

Tristan’s heart raced. “And did he tell you where I was?”

“A van. Streetlights through tinted windows. It wasn’t enough.”

“You know, it’s actually okay if he has it. It wasn’t complete and I don’t even know what decodes it. I can’t imagine he’d figure it out.”

“He’s discovered a location and four of his men have died trying to get at whatever it is. A gem, presumably.”

“That can’t be.” Tristan glanced around the fake clearing for signs of Molajah. Where was the man? He tried to recall the last conversation...obviously the ‘shift’ they were worried about didn’t happen. What else did he say?

“Pay attention, Tristan. This training is important. We can’t sit around any longer.”

Tristan nodded, still unsure.

“I have no issues about killing people when I have to, but not everyone deserves it. I can’t have you involved if you’re going to kill everyone by accident. Do you understand?”

Tristan nodded again. Molajah was probably furious about the map getting out into the public. He had to get it back. No matter how sick and tired he felt.

“You are not responsible for the actions of others, but you are responsible for your own.” Donovan turned away. “When things go wrong, or not as planned...forever is a very long time to carry guilt.”

“I know.”

“Damn it, Tristan. You don’t know. The guilt you feel over the people in Ireland.... If they weren’t trying to kill you, they didn’t die. If they were, they did. I can’t think of a better way to make such a decision.”

“Charley wouldn’t think so.”

“Charley’s parentage is not your fault. We have work to do.”

“Okay.” Tristan ignored the surrounding trees, their hollow leaves gently fluttering in a breeze. His attacker was still frozen like a wax statue. “You’ll explain what I’m supposed to do?”

“Attacks are very slow in beginning lessons. The better you do, the quicker they get. The room adjusts itself in accordance to your strength and weaknesses.”

“Will it hurt?”

“Nothing will ever compare to what you’ve already gone through.”

That didn’t help.

“We’ve been training in this room for centuries.”

“How is that possible? The technology alone….”

“I believe it is biological.” For the first time, Donovan seemed at a loss for words. “I’m quite fond of whatever it is, and I’d go so far as to call it one of my closest companions.”

Tristan studied the trees. “So you just told the room to do this, and it did?”

“The room will not push you beyond your abilities, but it will push you. I wouldn’t be asking you to do this if I didn’t think you could.”

Tristan nodded warily, ignoring the barstool.

“Proceed.”

The man finished his step and Tristan mentally swatted his swinging arm. He flickered out of existence and reappeared on the other side of the circle.

“Wait. What just happened?”

“You succeeded. You move on.”

“That’s it?”

“It’s progressive.”

Tristan nodded with a little more confidence. “Okay. I can do this.”

Within half an hour, the pale-green shield of the emerald surrounded him, redirecting every attack back on the attacker without a thought from himself. If anything, it was good to know that he didn’t need the emerald physically with him to construct the deflecting shield.

He could almost relax and glanced at Donovan, who had his own attackers to deal with.

“We’re in team mode,” Donovan answered, before Tristan could ask.

“I’ve had enough.”

“This is where we learn something.”