Invincible (The Aerling Series Book 3) (4 page)

Then, everyone looks to Olivia. She pales
under their attention, but I have faith in her. My hand slips into hers, and
then calmly takes Sloane’s as well, knowing it helps Olivia to have physical
contact. Robin is connected to me through the leash, so she should be dragged
along behind us as well. She should be used to it since that’s how she got here
in the first place.

Olivia breathes in slowly, but doesn’t
immediately take Sloane’s free hand. Instead, she closes her eyes. Her power
feels much different than an Aerling’s power, but I can feel it rise in her all
the same. I don’t know if anyone else can, since they all seem to be waiting
for something to happen, but it swells around her like an aura of sunshine. I’m
not sure what she’s doing when she brings her palm up in front of her face, but
she concentrates and blows on her hand.

I’m not the only one who’s startled when
the imprint of my Aerling sign that was burned into her hand, begins to glow
silver. She opens her eyes and stares at it for a moment before smiling at what
she’s accomplished. “Hang on,” she says before reaching down and taking Sloane’s
hand.

Chapter 5

A Promise or A Threat

(Mason)

Everyone gasps for breath as soon as we
reach Earth again. Hands on my knees, I suck in as much air as I can get.
Traveling between worlds is not comfortable in the least. Once I feel like my
lungs aren’t going to burst, I look up to make sure everyone else is okay.

Olivia is bent over, but grinning at her
accomplishment. Poor Sloane looks a bit freaked out, but otherwise okay. Fittingly,
Robin seems to have had the worst time. I don’t do anything to help her as she
rolls around on the ground struggling to breathe. Neither does anyone else. I
stare at her wondering how in the world we’re going to manage tracking down
Hayden and the Mother with her trailing behind us everywhere we go.

“Where are we?” Sloane asks.

Olivia straightens and takes in our
surroundings with a smile. “My backyard. We’re home.”

“Not for long, though,” I remind everyone.
I was a little worried we’d end up coming back to Earth up on the cliff above
the reservoir where we fought the Sentinels, but somehow Olivia managed to
bring us straight home. I’m about to suggest we get out of the open, but a
crash from the porch yanks all our attention toward the noise.

The screen door bangs back against the
frame behind an utterly shocked Evie. “What… where… Mason? Olivia?” She glances
at an awkward looking Robin, looking even more confused. A second later she
tosses it all away and bolts down the steps to throw herself into her sister’s
arms. “Olivia!” she cries with abandon. “I thought I’d never see you again!”

Nobody says anything while Olivia holds
her sobbing sister. It’s only when I hear little feet pounding down the hall
that I turn away and open my arms to Molly flying out of the house and straight
into my arms. She’s too hysterical to say anything, so I pick her up and wiggle
her legs back and forth as I squeeze her in a massive hug. Olivia’s parents
appear somewhere in between all that, and the next thing I know, we’re all
being scooped up by them.

“Who are all these people?” Sloane finally
asks, a panicked look on her face.

Laughing, Olivia struggles away from her
family and begins the introductions. “Sloane, these are my parents and my
little sister Evie. Molly, over there with Mason, is his little sister.”
Gesturing to Sloane, now, she tells her family, “I know you guys can’t actually
see her, but we brought back someone to help us. This is Sloane, Levi’s sister.
She volunteered to help us save Hayden and find the Mother.”

That simple sentence inspires a whole host
of questions. They all start shooting out of people’s mouths at once. Chief on
the list is what happened to Hayden. “His parents have been inconsolable,”
Olivia’s mom says. “We’ve tried to help them as much as we can, but not knowing
what happened to him has been tearing them apart.”

“Wait,” I say. Something doesn’t seem
quite right about what they’re saying. We’ve only been gone a few hours at the
most, right? Suddenly the worn out, run down way everyone is carrying
themselves clicks. “How long have we been gone?”

Olivia’s dad sounds nearing breaking as he
says, “Three days.”

Looking over at Olivia, I don’t know why I
expect her to have an answer, but I can’t help hoping. When she only shrugs, I
feel lost. Traveling there and back was excruciating, but it only seemed to
last a few seconds. Could it really have taken so long? Or does time flow
differently in the Aerling world than it does here?

I realize there might be someone more
knowledgeable to answer this question and turn to Sloane. “Do you understand
what happened? Why we’ve been gone so long when it only felt like a few hours?”

“I’m not sure,” she says, “I remember when
my Escort took me home, to the Aerlings, it was the day after my birthday when
I got there, even though I was transported early in the morning.”

Olivia looks concerned. “I don’t know if
this will affect what we’re doing, but we might want to keep it in mind just in
case.” She shakes her head, putting aside that problem for the time being. “Mom
and Dad, I’m sorry, but we can’t stay. We have to figure out where the
Sentinels are holding Hayden and rescue him. I don’t know how long it will
take. Can you…”

“We’ll keep Hayden’s parents updated. They
told the school he has mono and might be out for a few weeks.”

“What did you tell them about me?” Olivia
asks.

“That the stalker had shown up again and
we sent you and Mason out of town for your protection,” her dad says.

Looking relieved that there won’t be any
more questions from the school, Olivia turns back to me. “We need to get going,
but my Jeep is still up on the reservoir cliff.”

“Do you need us to go get it?” her mom
asks.

Olivia and I both grimace. “Uh,” I say,
“it’s not really drivable at this point. Bullets will do that to a car.”

Both her parents’ faces pale at the word
bullets
.
Olivia’s dad manages to keep it together a little better than his wife, who
looks ready to burst into tears. “Why don’t you take my car then?” he says.
“We’ll worry about the Jeep later.”

“Thanks, Dad, but what do we do about the
Caretakers?”

My eagerness to get moving dulls at that
thought. What do we do about them? They’re watching the house, keeping Molly
and Olivia’s family safe. I trust them enough to do that, but do I trust them
enough to let them protect us as we search for Hayden and the Mother? If Robin
was turned by the Sentinels, who’s to say there aren’t others? Can we trust any
of them to do more than stand guard?

“I don’t want them following us,” Olivia
says adamantly.

“Can we protect ourselves well enough
without them?” I ask.

One hand on her hip, Sloane says, “You and
I are more than enough to stop a few Sentinels.”

I appreciate the confidence, but I fear it
might be misplaced. “Uh, I obviously can’t speak for you, but I’ve only got a
couple weeks of training under my belt, and combat wasn’t really part of that.”

“You’re a Warden,” Sloane argues. “It’s
who you are. Didn’t you already fight the Sentinels to get back to the Aerling
world? You fought them more than once, right? I may not be a Warden, but I know
how to use my power to defend myself. Even your little sister does.”

“How could you possibly know that about
Molly?” I demand. Granted, she’s right, but I never mentioned what Molly can do
back in the Aerling world.

Sloane cocks one eyebrow at me, looking
rather smug. “Every Aerling has special skills. One of mine is seeing the
potential of other Aerlings and guiding them to reach that potential. Molly is
very strong, and her power has a destructive side that will do well when
channeled for defense. That little girl is a fighter.”

“I am!” Molly says desperately. “I knocked
down two big Sentinels at the theater! I can help protect us, too. I promise
I’ll be super helpful. Just don’t leave me here without Mason again, please!”

Panic lights up the expressions of almost
everyone in the group who is able to follow the conversation. Only Sloane looks
more like she is considering than worrying. She carefully eyes Molly from head
to toe. Sloane’s appraising gaze makes it pretty clear she’s about to tell
Molly she agrees with her. I have no choice but to step in and put my foot down.

“Sloane, we’re not taking her with us.”
The finality in my voice makes her frown, but she doesn’t argue. Molly,
however, has no problem voicing her complaints.

“You can’t leave me here,” she wails. “You
just came back! You can’t leave me again. Please, Mason, don’t leave me here. I
want to go with you, please!”

Hefting Molly back into my arms, I try to
console her, but my hugs aren’t nearly enough. “Molly, please. I can’t take you
with me. It won’t be safe, and I have no idea how long we’ll be gone. You need
to stay here with Evie so the Caretakers can protect you.”

“Wait, what?” Evie demands. “I’m not
staying here either! You guys aren’t running off after Hayden and whoever this
Mother lady is while I just sit here and babysit!” She glances over at Molly
apologetically for the snub, but stands her ground. “I’m going with you guys.”

Surprisingly, it’s Sloane who steps in and
faces down Evie. Even though Evie can’t see her, she seems to respond to Sloane’s
menacing presence. That only intensifies as Olivia relays her words to Evie. “You
were trusted with the task of caring for the little Aerling girl, correct?” Sloane
demands.

I don’t know what Sloane does back in the
Aerling world, but even I have to admit she can be pretty intimidating. Evie
tries to hold her ground in the face of the question, but her hands twist
together, betraying her nerves. “Yeah, but my parents are here. They can take
care of her while we’re gone. I need to go with you guys! I can’t lose my
sister again.”

“What training do you have that will make
you an asset and not a hindrance?” Sloane demands. When Olivia repeats the
question, Evie bristles.

“Training?” Evie glances over at her
sister. “I’ve been helping Olivia and Mason figure all this stuff out since we
found out about Sentinels and Aerlings. I can…”

“You can do what? Fight Sentinels? Guide
us to the Mother? Manage the traitorous captive?” Sloane asks, gesturing at
Robin, who has largely been forgotten on the ground for the time being. Evie
glances over at her as well when Olivia mentions her name, her eyes fiery with
hatred, but before she can say anything, Sloane says, “You can do none of these
things. What you can do is protect the little Aerling, Molly, as you have
promised to do.”

“But…”

Sloane shakes her head and Olivia now
looks just as determined as she plays messenger, clearly agreeing. “Evie, we
must move quickly and we will be facing many dangers. If you cannot fight, you
will be the one to end up hurt or killed. Think of what that would do to your
sister and to Mason.”

Finally, Evie’s shoulders drop. I know
she’s still pissed that she won’t be coming with us, but her arguments seemed
to have died for now. She’s been here the last three days, watching her parents
and Hayden’s parents suffer over losing a child. It’s enough to make her back
down, though she takes her sister’s hand again and holds on tightly.

“But,
I
can fight,” Molly says
again, this time more subdued. “I won’t let the Sentinels get me.”

Olivia comes over next to me with Evie in
tow. She wraps one arm around Molly’s little frightened body and presses her
forehead to hers. “We know you can fight,” she says, “but that doesn’t mean you
need to. Last time, you helped protect Mason when he was hurt and couldn’t
protect himself. This time, it’s our turn to protect you, and all the other
Aerlings. I know you want to come with us, but Mason will be able to fight
better and beat all those stupid Sentinels if he knows you’re safe here with
Evie and Mom and Dad. He’ll call you every day so you know he’s okay, too.”

“But I don’t want to be away from my
brother,” Molly says, sniffling as tears run down her cheeks. “I don’t even
have Hayden to be my Escort when Mason isn’t here like he promised he would.
They both left me here.” Fat crocodile tears begin rolling down her face and I
know we’re on the verge of a full meltdown.

Turning Molly to face me, I say. “Where’s
my little lie detector when I need her?”

Confused, Molly just looks at me for a
minute. When I don’t back down, she wakens her power and brings it up like a
net between us. I feel it fall into place and say, “I will come back to get you
once the Sentinels are defeated.”

Her little eyebrows scrunch together as
she tries to judge the truth of my words. I’m talking about the future, so it’s
not as cut and dry as a simple yes or no, but after a few seconds, Molly nods.
“It’s as true as it can be,” she says.

“Even if I have to go back to the Aerling
world,” I tell her, “I won’t leave until I come see you first. If I can stay
until it’s time for you to go back, I will. You’re more important to me than
anything else.”

“What about Olivia?” she asks with a sly
smile.

Chuckling, I say, “Okay, you
and
Olivia are the two most important things in my life and I won’t leave either of
you behind.”

Olivia, standing next to me still,
blanches at my words. Not because of Molly, but because of what my parents told
me. Almost as if on instinct, she starts to pull away from me, but I refuse to
let her go. I can guess what’s running through her mind right now, but she must
know I won’t walk away from her that easily. I don’t have all the answers.
Giving her up and losing Molly simply aren’t options I’m willing to accept.

“Did you find them?” Molly asks quietly.

Her anxious voice pulls me out of my own
thoughts and back to her. Smiling, I say, “Yes, I did. I met our parents and
they were so worried about you and missed you so much. They can’t wait to see
you again.”

Joy and fear mix on her face, too much of
both to even process. I know how she feels. Looking over at Olivia’s parents,
sorting out my feelings isn’t easy either. I loved my Caretakers, but I’ve lost
the majority of my memories of my time with them. I never referred to Olivia’s
parents as my mom and dad, but they’re really the only parents I know. I love
them. Leaving them the first time was incredibly difficult. Leaving them again?
It hurts to think about it.