The Taking 02: Hover (17 page)

Chapter 25

It’s as though color no longer exists. Energy. Happiness. Life. All of it a figment of the imagination, unable to surface. Everything about this place is lost, the ground nothing more than dirt so gray it’s closer to ash.

I peer around in search of the others, and that’s when I see it—the Unity tree, its size so much more impressive with nothing else there to compete for attention. I remember the first time Jackson brought me to it thinking it as twice the size of a normal tree, but now, seeing it again after so long, I realize I underestimated it. This tree can’t be compared to other trees at all. And it’s more than just its size. The Unity tree is enchanting…and haunting at the same time.

The tree itself radiates life, making it appear all that more beautiful in this dead land. The leaves are so shiny and green they remind me of the tiny leaves on the composite holly bushes back home. The bark, the limbs, even the tiny twigs that are of no use, all appear perfectly fake compared to the trees within the wall. It’s almost like staring at a miracle, but then my eyes drop to the triangular opening in the center, so dark it’s as though part of the tree has been burned…or cursed. “How is possible that Zeus doesn’t know this is here?” I ask, unwilling to take my eyes away from the dark center.

Mami places her palm against the bark and smiles. “Oh he suspects, he just can’t see it. Mother made sure of that.”

“And where does it take you? If we went inside the opening now, where would we end up?”

Mami turns to me. “Wherever you tell it to take you. It is not connected to a direct port on Earth like the other trees, though it utilizes the same principle. If you concentrate on Sydia, you will end up in Sydia.”

Frustration bubbles in my chest at her carefree demeanor. She acts as though we are on a casual outing, as though the survival of both species isn’t counting on us. “I need details, Mami. Will we end up in the center of the city or in the woods? Does it connect to a tree? A interplanetary port? I can’t leave this stuff to chance. I need to know exactly where it will take us, how it works. Everyone is counting on us and time is running out.”

Emmy reaches for my hand, but I pull away. “Calm, child. Mami know. We all know.”

I scrub my hands over my face, realizing my own worry and doubts are causing me to lash out. As much as I wish none of this were happening, I’m ready to get started. Sitting around aimlessly, while the clock ticks toward the war, has me on edge. We can plan. We can scheme. But at the end of the day I have a feeling none of that will matter. Our success hinges on two things—luck and whether or not I succeed in killing Zeus.

Mami drapes her arm around me, making me feel even guiltier for getting aggravated at her. “All ports are direct links, it’s not an unknown. You can’t enter a tree and end up in open space. It has to tie to a specific thing, even if that specific thing is your choice. The woods that border Sydia are the perfect place.”

“Okay. The woods, then. We will have three landing sites, that way if one group is caught the other two are still safe and can offer help.”

“Very smart thinking,” she says, squeezing me easily. “You will make an amazing commander some day.”

I clear my throat and look away. “I think that day is long past.”

Mami turns to me, her eyes gentle. “You are not going into the end, child. Trust that. This is the beginning, and what the beginning looks like is in your hands, no one else’s.”

I pray she’s right, that in a few years this is all a memory, but inside I’ve prepared myself that I may not make it through this—none of us may.

…

I left the others at Mami’s, telling them I needed to get home to meet with Cybil, and while I am meeting her in another hour, for now I just want to be alone. I’ve thought through every element of this plan. The two divisions—Operatives and RES assignees. What they will do and when. Everyone knows where to be, at what time, and what to do once they get there. Even with the original port guarded, we are still on track thanks to the Unity tree. Everything is set to begin at one a.m. in two days, all of it planned to the smallest detail.

All except how I’m going to kill Zeus.

I enter our house, glad that it’s quiet, and head immediately down to Jackson’s office, hopeful that somehow the connection is back. I want to talk to my dad. I want his advice. I want him, and no one else, to tell me that I can do this—that I will do this. Because if I hear the words from him, then I will know it’s true.

Dad was never one to coddle. He would never tell me that I would succeed unless it was true. And so now, days before I’m about to do the scariest thing imaginable—go up against Zeus—I want my dad’s reassurance, something so childish that I’m almost embarrassed to admit it to myself.

Still, I remind myself of Mom’s lecture to me years ago when Dad first told me that I would become an Operative. I was afraid, and even though I would never admit it out loud, she knew. So that night, long after Dad had gone to bed, she came into my room and sat down on my bed, her face the picture of ease. “Fear is what makes us human, Ari,” she had said. “It grounds us, helps us make smarter decisions. Never feel inadequate for feeling fear. It’s the most natural thing in the world, and knowing that it is natural is what will give you the strength to overcome it.”

Sitting down in front of the communicator screen, I draw a breath and close my eyes, the memory so clear in my mind I can almost smell my mom’s perfume. I press my palm to the screen. “Dad?” My eyes flicker open, hopeful, but the screen remains dark, so I shut my eyes and pretend he can hear me. “Dad, if you’re there, if you can hear me, I want you to know that I finally understand why you pushed me so hard. I thought you did it to try to make me as strong and capable as you, when really you pushed me because you knew this day was coming. You knew I would have to fight in a real war where there are no guarantees of survival. You prepared me well, Dad. I only wish you were here to fight alongside me. Then I would know that I could do it.”

My lip trembles, and I have to swallow several times to keep myself from breaking down. I picture my dad in front of me. His strength. His courage. “Because with you beside me, there is nothing I couldn’t do. Tell Mom I love her.” I swipe away a lone tear that escaped, and start to stand, when the door bursts open.

“They’re back!” Cybil screams. “They’re back and we’re not set up, we’re not ready. We’re not ready for this. We need another day. We—”

“What? Who—oh no.”

Cybil nods, her face full of panic. “Zeus is back a day early. The plan, it’s—”

I raise my hands, cutting her off, and glance back at the time. Eight o’clock. Dad used to say that you could plan an attack, but you could never plan for what would go wrong in your planning, so be ready. And we’re ready, I know it deep in my gut. We have only five hours until the RESs switch shifts, but that’s enough. It has to be enough. “Get the word out to the others. We attack tonight.”

“Ari…”

“We have no other option.”

“What about Zeus?”

“I’ll handle Zeus. Just get the others to Earth They’re counting on us, Cybil. We can’t let them down.”

Cybil surprises me with a hug, holding me tightly as though she may never see me again. “Are the healers rubbing off on you or something?” I laugh to try to lighten the mood, but I know without needing to read her thoughts that we’re thinking the same thing—a lot of lives are about to be lost and there is no way of knowing who will make it through. Including us.

“Just make it to the tree, okay?”

I smile. “The next time I see you we’ll be in Sydia.”

Chapter 26

When Jackson arrives home an hour later, I’m in the backyard, surrounded by dead grass. I devised my plan against Zeus the moment Cybil left, deciding that it’d be best to keep it to myself. I can’t risk someone accidentally revealing the plan to him. Even Cybil, who I trust completely. I have a hard enough time controlling my thoughts around Zeus. Plus, if no one else knows the plan, then no one else can be tortured for information. This is between Zeus and me. Besides…what I’m planning has never been done before, and the last thing I need right now is a look of doubt from Cybil. My own doubts are enough.

Lydian’s brew should have weakened Zeus’s reflexes by now. So my plan is to reverse heal him, pulling the life out of him like Vill and Emmy had said, just as the Ancient attackers were able to Take the life from their victims back on Earth. I can’t utilize the Taking. It can’t be used from Ancient to Ancient, a biological failsafe to protect the species from each other. But if our minds are strong enough to give life then I have to believe they are strong enough to take it. I close my eyes and focus on the next patch of grass in front of me. I feel its life, its energy, and then instead of strengthening that life, I imagine it moving from the grass into me. I focus all my senses, all thought, every single part of my body and soul into pulling the life from the grass. When I open my eyes, the patch of grass is shriveled and brown, and my skin is tingling.

“So…are you going to tell me what you’re doing? Are you all right? ” Jackson asks from behind me. I wonder how long he’s been there—how much he’s seen. I stand up and turn around slowly, preparing what I’ll say in my mind, when my eyes land on his, so full of concern for me that it takes my breath away. “I…” My words get jumbled in my mind. All I can think about is how this may be the last time we’re together, the last time I can…

I rush forward, wrap my arms around his neck, and, taking one last fleeting look at his face, allow my lips to find his, desperate to soak in every ounce of him. I let his scent, his touch, his everything, overcome me, all of it enough to make me wish I could lose myself in this moment and never wake up. I grip the bottom of his T-shirt, eager to pull him closer, but instead of the feel of soft cotton, his shirt feels cold, damp.

“Jackson, what…?” I bring my hands around so I can see them and gasp. They are covered in blood.

I race around to the back of him, preparing to lift his shirt, when he grabs my wrists, holding me at a distance. “What are you doing?”

My eyes flash with anger. “What happened to you?”

He looks away. “Nothing. It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. Look at my hands, Jackson. That isn’t nothing—that’s blood.
Your
blood. Show me your back.”

He laughs uncomfortably. “Minutes home and already you’re trying to take my clothes off.”

“This isn’t funny. Let me see it.”

He takes a step away from me, keeping his back away from view. “See what? You’re acting crazy.”

“The cipher. Let me see the cipher.”

As soon as the word leaves my lips, Jackson’s entire demeanor changes. “How do you know about ciphers?”

“Mami told me. And that doesn’t matter. Let me see yours.”

His face morphs from fear to anger. “When did you see Mami?”

Suddenly my words feel reckless. It should have been Mami to tell him, not me. “Jackson…”

“Why have you seen her?”

“It’s…she’s…”

“Just tell me!”

“She’s helping, okay? She came to see me. She wanted to help. I didn’t—”

Jackson advances toward me. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done involving her? He would hurt her just for talking to you. If he finds out she’s helping you, he’ll…” He rakes his fingers through his hair and turns away from me. “I should never have… This can’t be happening.”

Now that his back is to me, I can see the damage to his shirt in plain view. The blood starts with a large blob at the top left around his shoulder and trickles down in a red river to the bottom of his shirt, where it meets another large blob. I reach out for his back, touching the top blob easily. “What has he done to you?”

Jackson whips around quickly, taking another step away from me. “I don’t have time for this. I’m grabbing a shower and then you’re going to tell me everything. Understand?”

“Jackson—”

“No. There is nothing right about this. Nothing.” And he turns for the shower before I can say another word. The water starts up and for a moment I consider going in the house, but that was the old Ari. In less than five hours we’re starting a rebellion. I’ve lost communication with Earth. And on top of all that, I have to right my mind with the fact that I am going up against the most powerful Ancient in existence. I understand that Jackson is angry, he has a right to be angry, but we don’t have time for anger, not when we have no guarantees that we can say we’re sorry later.

And it’s with that in mind that I step into the shower, fully clothed, shutting the door and blocking it, so he can’t escape. I draw a shaky breath, forcing my eyes to stay on his face.

“Are you insane?” Jackson shouts, making sure to keep his back against the shower wall.

I inch closer, my hands out like I’m trying to calm a wild animal. “Look, I refuse to fight. Not now. Not ever. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Mami. She asked me not to, likely to keep you protected. She loves you so much.” I drop my gaze for just a second. “
I
love you so much. Which is why it hurts me to see you hurt. It hurts me to know that he’s hurting you and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. You won’t even let me see it. I just… Please…let me help you.”

“You can’t help me,” he whispers.

I am to him now, and if before I thought I knew pain, it was nothing compared to this. Jackson’s face shows all the horror that I know he’s endured. He looks like a lost child, the pain on his face so intense it makes my insides ache. I place my hands on his arms, and I can tell he’s trying hard to stay strong. “Actually…I can. I should have told you this sooner. I don’t know why I didn’t. I just…”

“What are you saying?”

My eyes meet his. “I can heal.”

“What do you mean?”

“Emmy taught me. I’m nowhere near as good as her or the other healers. But if you’ll let me, I can show you, I can try.” I start to turn him around, nodding reassurance when he hesitates. And then Jackson’s back is to me and I want to cry, I want to scream, I want to stab Zeus in the chest and watch with joy as he slowly bleeds to death. Because every visible bit of skin, every inch, is covered in markings, some put in so deeply they look more like scars than tattoos. There are too many to count, many crossing over each other so his back is more green than the tan of his skin. I swallow hard, my eyes lifting to his left shoulder where a fresh cipher bleeds down his back.

“Why isn’t xylem healing it?” I ask as I move my fingers easily around the wound.

Jackson flinches as I touch the edge of the cipher, which looks like a sun with a dagger through it. “Ciphering is an old form of medicine. For a cipher to work, it has to heal on its own, once the skill or virtue becomes a part of us. Originally, they were used to gauge when the sickness they were intended to medicate no longer ailed the patient. Now, I think Zeus just enjoys knowing that we’re suffering in the name of greatness. A healer can…”

I close my eyes and rest my palm over the cipher, feeling its energy, feeling the pain it inflicts. I concentrate on each of its lines, the smooth curve of the sun, the jagged edges of the dagger. I let it pierce my mind through and through until it feels as though the cipher is a tangible thing within me that I can control, move—erase. I open my eyes and lift my palm from his back, a triumphant smile on my face. “Heal?”

Jackson peeks over his left shoulder, to where the cipher used to be. “How did you do that?” He starts to turn back, but I stop him so I can heal the four other ciphers on his back, each either scabbed or still bleeding.

“How many do you have?” I ask as I trace my fingertip over a tiny one in the center of his back that looks like an eye.

Goose bumps rise on his skin as the eye begins to disappear. “I stopped counting when I received my fiftieth.”

“Fifty? How are there even fifty skills or virtues worth having?”

“Some are duplicates. I guess Zeus felt those skills were especially lacking.” He shrugs as though it doesn’t matter to him, but I hear the hurt in his voice. Regardless of what he says, he wants Zeus’s approval.

I trace a darkened heart under his right shoulder blade, breathing in and out easily, no longer needing to close my eyes to heal him. Just seeing the wound is enough. “I’m sorry he’s done this to you.” I make my way to the small of his back where a large compass bleeds down over his backside. My eyes drop to the tight contours, and I have to remind myself to keep breathing.

Jackson turns around so he’s facing me. “This, what you did, it’s amazing. You’re amazing.”

“No, I’m not. I’m reckless and prideful and selfish. And I’m scared, Jackson. I’m so scared.” I feel tears welling in my eyes and for the first time I don’t try to blink them away. “I should be focused and ready. I should be brave. But I’m not. I’m afraid of so many things right now that I can hardly breathe. I…” I swallow back a sob, knowing if I allow myself to break down now I’ll never get the strength back to do what I have to do.

“Shh…” Jackson brushes my soaked hair back and places his hands on either side of my face. “There’s a reason why everyone comes to you, Ari. Why Emmy came to you. Why Mami came to you. We know that you can succeed where others have failed. So you may be afraid, and that’s okay, but you should know that the rest of us aren’t and it’s because of you.”

My lip trembles. “But what if I can’t—”

“You will.”

“But it’s Zeus. He’s—”

“You will, Ari. You will.”

I raise my eyes. “What if I fail?”

“You won’t.”

And as though his words are a spark, igniting my body, my lips crash into his, each touch and caress and kiss slowly taking away my fear. I know I have things to do, plans to make, but for now I want this moment. After all, there are no guarantees that I will ever get it again.

Jackson slips his hands under my wet shirt, pulling me closer to him, deepening the kiss, before moving down my neck. He pushes the edge of my shirt off my shoulder and continues his trail over my collarbone, his lips warm, his touch soft. I release a small moan as his hand cups one of my breasts, and with it, all thought is gone, replaced by passion.

Jackson yanks my shirt over my head and lifts me up so my legs wrap tightly around him. He edges to the wall of the shower and takes turns kissing my lips, then my neck, then my breasts, and back until I’m sure I’m going to explode.

He sets me down gently and pulls away, as though to ask permission, but the words never leave his lips. Instead, he slides his hands down the curve of my waist and grips my hips. His eyes drop to my pants and then back to my face and then before doubt can seep into either of our minds, he unbuttons them and slides them down, pulling me to him again, now nothing between us, just skin against skin, and I know that this moment will remain etched into my mind for the rest of my life. I love him with such an intense need that for the first time in my life, I feel whole, I feel right, I feel as though every flaw I have is now erased, filled by him. He is my perfect opposite, and now I know I don’t have to do this on my own. I can lean on him, and he can lean on me, and together we can succeed. Not alone. But together.

Jackson turns the shower off and we towel each other dry, our eyes unable to leave each other’s. I rise onto my toes and kiss his lips, then his cheeks and eyes. I feel as though I could stay here forever, kissing every inch of his beautiful skin, but the time for me is gone, and now I have to give myself over to my mission.

It’s time for final planning. Time to kill Zeus.