Page 29

29

ARELLA

I jolt awake, gasping for air. Everything is dark except for the little night-light in the corner. It takes me a second to remember where I am. I’ve been waking up in a lot of strange places lately.

Trey places a gentle hand over my waist and gives me a tender squeeze. “You’re okay, babe. I’m right here.”

I relax my shoulders and flop my head back over the pillow. “I had another nightmare.”

“About what?”

“Lightning balls and spiky spheres of ice.”

He leans in closer to caress my face. “I’m sorry, angel. I hope these nightmares don’t stick around like the spider ones have.”

“Me too.” I let out a little sigh. “What time is it?”

“Earlier, the clock on the microwave said it was just past noon, but I have no clue if that’s accurate or not.”

“How long have you been awake?”

“Not long. Maybe a half hour.”

I sit up and rub my eyes. “Could you turn the light on?”

Trey sits up too, and points at the light switch. It clicks, then the room brightens to life.

I squint and blink a few times before my eyes adjust to find my man in a gray polo and a pair of light wash jeans. He doesn’t normally wear polos or light wash jeans. It was probably the closest thing to what he prefers to wear that he could find in here. “Telekinesis is a really cool power to have. I wish I had that.”

“You have a power that’s waaay cooler than mine.”

“My immunity isn’t a power , and it’s not as useful as being able to move things with your mind.”

“First off, your immunity is a power. It’s not a Zordi power, but it’s still a power—a powerful one at that. Second, telekinesis is my body power. So, it’s mostly my hands doing the work. My mind plays a huge part, but without my hands, it couldn’t happen.”

I take a moment to let that information settle in. “There’s still a lot for me to learn about the Zordi world, isn’t there?”

“You know, my plan once I got you to Paris was to tell you everything about my world. I didn’t wanna tell you in advance because I didn’t want you to freak out and leave me before I could get you somewhere safe. You seem to be taking all this pretty well. Maybe I should have just told you. We might have avoided all this.”

“No, you did the right thing by not telling me. If you had, I definitely would have left you. When I first saw people using their powers, I was terrified.”

“I’m so sorry.” He takes my hands into his and gives me a light peck on the knuckles. “What’s the first power you saw?”

“Whatever power Victor has that makes his eyes go black.”

Trey thinks, then his face scrunches together. “He doesn’t have a power that makes his eyes go black.”

“Yes, he does.”

“Victor is an Aero, an Animal Empath, and he has enhanced taste. None of those can make his eyes go black.”

“I know what I saw, Trey. He held me down, stared at my face, then this creepy black cloud took over the whites of his eyes. I saw it multiple times.”

“Hmm.” His eyes gloss over in deep thought.

“While you think about that, I’m gonna go brush my teeth.” I slide off the bed and head toward the bathroom.

After I’ve got fresh breath, I join Trey back in the bedroom. He stands in front of the nightstand with the drawer open, holding his fake passport, staring at it with a far-off look in his eyes.

I rub a palm over his shoulder. “What’re you thinking about?”

He continues staring at the name Daniel Johnson before he sighs and sets the passport down. Then he shuts the drawer, takes my hands into his, and leads me to sit on the edge of the bed with him.

“Babe,” he says through a long sigh, “I’m gonna say something to you, and it’s gonna sound crazy.”

“Is it crazier than telling me that our parents were killed on the same night, and that the media said I died with them, and that my name was probably Hannah Calder at one point?”

“This is equally as crazy.”

I’m not sure if I can handle any more bad news, but... “Okay, let’s hear it.”

“I’m gonna go back.”

I freeze as I try to comprehend what he means. “Go back?”

“I thought about it all last night and some more when I woke up this morning. Katie told me that Victor’s been running tests on Immunes for the last nineteen years. Do you wanna take a wild guess as to what happened to the others?”

“I don’t have to guess. I already know.”

“I have to stop him. Otherwise, he’ll continue killing more innocent people. So, I have to go back.”

I swallow thickly. “What are you going to do?”

He stares at me without blinking. “You already know, so please don’t make me say it out loud. The idea of having to do it is already making me nauseous.”

I’m not going to make him say it, because he’s right: I do know. I’d like to think I’m the type of person who’ll talk him out of this, but seeing how the Royals at the gas station didn’t hesitate to kill an innocent man, I have no compassion for them.

“Judge me if you want, but I’ve made my decision.”

I give his hands a loving squeeze. “I’m not judging you, honey. Actually, I think this is very heroic of you.”

He scoffs lightly. “I’m not doing this to be a hero. Honestly, the root of this decision is pretty selfish. We can’t hole up down here for the rest of our lives. You deserve better than that, and as long as Victor is alive, you won’t be safe. So, selfishly, I’m doing this for me. For you. For us. For our future family together. I won’t be able to sleep knowing someone is searching for us with the intent to hurt you. And if we have kids, then what? Our babies could never live a normal life if we’re always on the run. I don’t want that.”

I had these same thoughts yesterday when we were in Tao’s Lincoln. While Trey drove, I asked myself, When can we stop running? After some deep thought, the answer was clear: As long as Victor is breathing, I won’t be safe. I’ll always have to run. The only way to stop running is to stop Victor.

I give Trey a firm nod as I make my decision too. “Okay. Let’s go.”

He gapes at me. “What?”

“I said, let’s go.”

He lets out a humorless chuckle. “No, no, no. You’re not going. I am.”

“I’m coming with you.”

He jumps to his feet and slashes a hand through the air. “Hell no! Not in a million years. It could be dangerous.”

“And that’s exactly why I need to go. You won’t stand a chance against Victor and his Royal minions without my immunity protecting you.”

“No. Fuck no.” He shakes his head with a look in his eyes that says he won’t back down. “Abso-fucking-lutely not.”

I’m not going to back down either. “I said I’m coming.”

“Arella, this is not the time to be difficult.”

“You promised we’d be a team, remember? You protect me, and I’ll protect you.”

“This is me protecting you. You need to stay here until I come back.”

I get to my feet as I cross my arms over my chest. “And what if you don’t come back?”

“Then at least you’ll be alive.”

“But that means you aren’t, which means I’m still in danger. If I go with you, at least we’ll have a chance at winning.”

He points a hand toward the ceiling. “We don’t know what the situation looks like up there. When we left, the Royals had just gotten through the cavern entrance and people were dying. Then once we got through the tunnel, we were attacked by a swarm of Royals. Pixie, Ruby, and Katie held them back to give me a chance to get you to safety. They risked their lives to save you. The last thing I’m gonna do is bring you straight back to the place we fought to get you out of. Also, I have no idea which side won. If it was Victor’s side, that probably means the Ridge is crawling with hundreds of Royals by now.”

I put a hand over my hip. “All the more reason why I need to come. If it’s you against hundreds, we might as well say our goodbyes now because you’re definitely not coming back.”

Trey’s body stiffens. I know goodbye is a trigger word for him. I didn’t mean to use it against him like that. Still, if given the choice, I wouldn’t take it back. I’m right, and he knows it. If he leaves without me, it’ll be the last time we ever see each other.

“Arella,” he says, choking up, “I can’t lose you again.”

“I can’t lose you either.”

Roughly, he yanks me to him and smashes me against his chest. We stand there for a while, just holding each other. He doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t move either. This reminds me of the night he held me for the first time. It was right after he fought Nathan in my apartment, and it was the first time I had felt safe in a man’s arms in years.

I tilt my head back to look at him. “Last night, you promised you’d always fight for me, right?”

“Yeah.”

“How about we fight together?”

He captures my face between his hands, then plants his mouth over mine. His kiss is full of agony. As he slips his tongue between my lips, it feels like he’s using me to heal himself, like he needs my kiss to quell his anxieties and kill off his demons all at once. I’ll gladly be his emotional Healing Goo if it means he’ll always kiss me like this.

He’s about to pull away when I grab him by the collar of his polo and drag him back toward me. We embrace again until we’re panting and my lips are numb.

Trey presses his forehead against mine. “All right, babe. Let’s go find something to eat while we make a plan.”