Catalyst (44 page)

             
"Gah,
I love it when you call me that,
"
I said and moved my hand against his chest.

             
"I know,
"
he rumbled.

             
"I know that you know," I replied and giggled.

             
"So
, are you going to tell me what Lily did? Or are you going to
try to
bargain?" he asked and sat up to look at me.

             
"No. I don't think I want to know what happened to you out there. Not anymore." I shook my head. "It's too hard to let you go when I know exactly what can happen." I sighed and once again felt torn about the whole thing. Lily had this amazing gift, but it could also be a curse. I told him everything.

             
H
e listened and nodded, his fist
ramming through his hair a few times when I told him about what she did for Daniel.

             
"Wow. I've never heard of anything like that before. She's…"

             
"I know," I agreed, knowing he'd say that. "It's all unprecedented."

             
"I'm sorry I wasn't here." He pulled my back closer to his chest. "I'm sorry you had to deal with that by yourself."

             
"It's ok," I answered and
turned to kiss
his jaw. "It'll all be ok."

             
"So…a
re you tired?" he asked me low and nipped my earlobe.

             
"Merrick!" I scoffed. "We've been up for hours already."

             
"So. What's another hour? Come on, wife."

             
I groaned and laughed. "So I go from being cut-off to non-stop?"

             
"Husband's
prerogative."

             
I laughed
and just
as I gave in and let him brace himself over me, his kisses replacing all humor with want, we heard a noise outside our room. We stilled.

             
"It's probably one of the kids walking around or something," Merrick whispered against my lips.

             
Then we heard it again, a
nd it was grunting like fighting. Then yelling.

             
Merrick scrambled up and threw on his discarded jeans. He peeked out the door
, told me to stay,
and then blurred away. I pulled o
n
his shirt quickly and peeked out too. They were a couple other
s
peeking as well and we all shrugged at each other.

             
I made my way to the end of the hall and saw Daniel l
ocked in a fight with a Lighter, right there in the middle of the commons room.
How the heck had he gotten in here?
Merrick searched and I knew what he was looking for. I saw a stake on the TV stand
, yelled for him
and tossed
it to him. It was dark, but he could see it
.

             
As there was a pile of people on both sides of the commons room watching I wondered how th
e Lighter had gotten in. Daniel
and Jeff dragged him outside, so as not to destroy our house with its lightning
,
and
expelled
him quickly. They blurred back in
and
locked the trap door back.

             
"Who opened this door for him?"
Merrick barked.

             
"I did!" Polly said and appeared from the kitchen. "Had to. Made me."

             
What was she babbling about? But Merrick's face
twisted and he went to her. We'd never found Polly
before when we looked for her. We assumed she'd
ran away to escape punishment or went on a preemptive banishment. But there she was and something was clearly wrong with her.

             
"Piper gave me to them. Had to, made me."

             
Merrick lifted her shirt and there was a patch on her ribs. I covered my mouth. It was the first time I was sorry for Polly. Wait a minute….

             
"Did you say Piper gave you to them?"
I asked, my voice shrill.

             
"Piper…gave me to them. I had to…made me…"

             
"She must have done it when they were down here earlier.
" Merrick
shook his head. 'Why would she do this?
" he groaned.
"
To her own charge? She knows she'll die now."

             
"Cause she a heartless b-"

             
"Celeste," Danny cut her off and looked at us. "She's in the commons room and she's seen us all. She was walking around outside and led one of them to us. It's over. We have to leave here."

             
"You're right," Merrick grunted unhappily. "You are right."
He let out a slew of curse words along with Piper's name and I winced because he never talked that like
,
but I didn't blame him.

             
"What are we going to do now?" Kay asked and put an arm around Celeste. "Where will we go?"

             
"Wait," Max said and shook his head, always the skeptic. "Piper couldn’t have done this. To her own charge? No. No way. Maybe Polly is mistaken."

             
"Not a chance
,
Max," Jeff said. "She did this and you know it as well as I
do
. She won't be a prisoner anymore either. I'll take care of her myself," he ground out. He glanced around at us all, he reached back for Marissa
,
but his gaze landed on Merrick. "
We've had a good run, brother, b
ut we better get a move on."

             
"Polly…" Merrick said and sighed
,
fisting his hair into an unruly spike.

             
"I'll do it,
Merrick. I'll get it over with,
" Miguel said and Celeste whimpered behind him. Her eyes watered and Danny pulled her into his side. "Sorry, Celeste. I didn't mean to sound so callous about it…with your mom only been gone for...."

             
"It's ok. It has to be done." She sniffed and then gasped and looked out into the hall passed the stairwell. "Josh?"

             
"No," Josh's voice said. Then he appeared
and I felt an urge to hug the crap out of him like he always did me
. Josh. He was no longer mangled and in the training room on the floor, waiting a burial. He was walking
,
talking, rig
ht there in fro
nt of us, alive and t
he cause of our gasps.
But then he said, "I'm not
Josh."

             
Merrick and Jeff went to him, b
ut before
anything was done or said, another guest made an appearance. Ellie emerged from the hall in a stumbling run
,
yelling
. Ryan chased after her. Just as h
e made it to her
,
she
collapsed on him. "Th
ey're coming
.
I
sense them
, but if you kill them all, you'll be safe.
"

             
"What are you-"

             
"It'll be Lighters," Marissa said and squinted as if looking at something, "and Markers and something we've never seen before. No one else will know we're here, so Ellie is right. If we destroy them all we'll be safe. But they are coming
and there are many of them
. Soon." She looked at Ellie and said softly, "What are you?
"

             
"I'm
some kind of
wall for their
senses."

             
"That's what the Lighter was going o
n about?" Danny asked. "My gift
wouldn’t work on him when he was holding you
in the yard
."

             
She nodded, breathing hard and fast. She must
've
still be
en
in pain from the wound. "He knew what I was then. I suspected something was wrong with me for a while. But when the Lighters took me, they never sensed or said anything so I just thought I was imagining it. But I wasn't. I feel it…"

             
"You're a Shield," Merrick said and cocked his head.
"
Funny. I can't sense a gift on you either. I guess it works against all of us." He clucked his tongue. "But you're right. If we can get the ones that are coming, then none of the others will
find us. They won't sense or be able to be directed here by Lighter senses because you'll shield all that.
But you also make it where we can't sense them either, so we need to stay on our toes.
"

             
"They'll be here within the hour," Marissa announced, causing everyone to take a breath.

             
"Ok," Merrick replied, looking at me then at Ellie. "Thank you, Ellie. It's ok. We'll take care of it."

             
She
nodded and exhaled, like she was glad that they believed her. She let Ryan wrap his arms around her to help hold her up and she sagged against him.
He kissed her forehead and whispered things to her, but I focused on Merrick.

             
"So," Merrick started, "w
e need to get together a plan for when they come.
Get some more grenade
s
and things ready.
"

             
"Ah,
" I groaned. "Really, how much more can happen to us in one day?"

             
Then my
whole world shifted. My whole life changed in a heartbeat. A painful and gut wrenching heartbeat.

             
A Lighter had planted and hid himself at the back of the stairwell and emerged from the
darkness…ramming a switchblade
right into the back of the love of my life.
             

             
I screamed.

             
My feet moved faster than I thought possible and
though Danny and even Cain
tried to pull me back
as Jeff and Max wrestled the Lighter
,
nothing could do the job. I knelt and a sob that hurt my stomach and throat let loose.

             
"No, no, no," I murmured and leaned down into Merrick's fa
ce. "Baby, we talked about this.
"

             
But my Keeper
didn't answer me. My fingers shaking, I reached for his neck, for his pulse. There was none and I collapsed on him. I couldn't think or hear or feel except to scream. The tears were extra hot, like they knew the burn in my chest was worse at this loss.

             
It couldn't be…it wasn't true…please no…

             
Then I felt a rub on my shoulder. I glanced up to see Cain. He was grimacing and biting on his lip ring. He n
odded his head
towards the hall
and I saw Lily
coming down the hall. I hated what
popped into my head:
Ask her to save him. Was she going to be forced to save every person who got hurt for now on? But Merrick wasn't hurt. He was dead.
And he was her daddy.

             
I tried to speak, bu
t could find no words. Cain brac
ed me from behind so I wouldn’t fall over. I must have swayed.
             

             
I wanted to tell Lily to come to me, to let me hold her, but instead,
I watched as she
walked with purpose.

             
"Don't h
urt him, Uncle Jeff. I need him,
"
she said of the Lighter.

             
"Lily, I don’t-"
Jeff tried.

             
"I need him.
"

             
She knelt down next to Merrick and looked at him sweetly and touched his cheek. Then she looked up at Jeff, who was still wrestling the Lighter, and held her hand out.