Linked (38 page)

He
licked his lips and drummed the chair with his fingers, sure signs he was
nervous and didn’t really want to come clean about something. “Plan C is
already in motion.”

“Ash,”
I said sternly. “What’s Plan C?”

Swallowing
hard, he flashed me a look of uncertainty. “Okay, it’s like this,” he finally
said with a shrug. “I took your cell phone so Melanie or Kieran wouldn’t get
hold of it. I’ve had it in my pocket for the last few hours, and Jason’s been
calling and texting you all morning. Apparently, your friend Madison had a
premonition about you and the burning cabin in the woods—”

“What?”
I yelled. “You spoke with Jason?” I knew I’d heard my cell phone playing
Jason’s ring tone earlier.

“No.
I’ve been reading his texts.” He crossed his arms, raised a brow and added, “By
the way, I’m glad to see you two have worked it out.”

I
blushed. “We don’t have time for this. Get on with it.”

He
sighed. “I always knew he was in love with you. He’d have to be a complete fool
not to be.”

“Ash!”

“Okay,
okay. Evidently, he and your Guardian friends made some sort of excuse and
ditched the gathering out on the island, and they’ve been making their way
towards Mt. Baker.”

“How
would they know…” I started to interrupt him, but he didn’t allow it.

“They
didn’t know where you were. But they suspected you were in the mountains
because Madison’s visions clearly depicted you in a burning cabin surrounded by
snow. He’s been texting you to let you know you’re in danger, and he’s begging
you to call him and tell him where you are.”

“Well,
I can’t do that,” I clarified, banging my chair loudly.

Regarding
me with a steady gaze, he said in an even voice, “No, you don’t have to,
because I already did.”

I
freaked.

Flying
at him in a wild rage, I pummeled him on the chest. “What? What were you
thinking? I can’t believe you did that. You’re bringing him here? You’re
placing them all in danger. Have you lost your mind?” My voice was high-pitched
and terrified. I sobbed and pounded on his chest, but he wrapped his arms
around me, securely.

“Lexi,
quiet down,” he commanded.

Finally,
I relented and collapsed into his arms. “What a mess this is. I’ll never
forgive you if he gets hurt.”

“Lexi,”
he said and patted my back, “I’d never forgive myself, and Jason would never
forgive me, if I let the two of us foolishly take on the Ray-pacs all on our
own and you died in the process. Don’t you see?” He drew back. “Your friends
will be arriving already linked. You and I will hopefully be linked too. As a
team we should be able to defeat the Ray-pacs.”

“What
exactly did you tell him?” I was still seething but no longer experiencing
feelings of violence towards him.

“First
off, I only texted him. I gave him the address and warned him the Ray-pacs were
on their way here, and we’d need plenty of back-up.”

“That’s
it?”

“Yes.
I didn’t have time for anything else, and I certainly wasn’t going to tell him
you’re a Dentelle. When and how you tell him that is up to you.”

“Does
he think I sent the text since you used my phone?”

“No
way! I let him know I was with you and had your phone. Besides, I wanted to
make sure he told your friends about me, so they didn’t mistake me for the
enemy and annihilate me when they got here. Although,” he hesitated, “Jason
might throttle me anyways. He’s wondering why you lied your way out of the
Retreat and ended with me.”

“I
won’t let him hurt you. I promise,” I said but wondered how Jason was going to
feel about me and my bundles of lies. My head was pounding, and I felt drained
of energy. Not a good sign for an Amethyst. Slumping, I dropped my head and
stared at the floor.

Ash
shook me. “We can do this. Pull yourself together. Where is your desire to
live, to fight and win? Linking gives us a shot.”

I
simply nodded and looked at him desperately. So many things could go wrong. We
could all die. The thought of my friends dying was horrific, but the thought of
losing Jason was enough to spark my flames. He loved me, and I loved him, and
by God I was going to fight for the chance to love him every day.

“Don’t
you see?” Ash was saying. “If our link works, then there is a good possibility
you could link with Jason in the future and…”

I put
my finger to his lips. “Shhh. You’re right Ash. We’ve got to try. Let’s do this
linking thing before this whole snow-covered forest is swarming with Ray-pacs.
Do you really think it will work?” I asked.

Ash
smiled. “Your guess is as good as mine. I’m just glad the Lexi I know so well
is finally back.” I gave him a funny look, and he said, “The one who’s full of
fire and attitude.” He brought his arms up. “Clasp your hands with mine so our
fingers are interlaced. Then we’re just going to lean into each other until our
foreheads touch. Try to focus your mind on me, as well as opening it up to your
subconscious. When our thoughts connect we’ll link. Make sense?”

“Not
at all. But let’s give it a try.” As our hands connected, I could feel the heat
gathering around my fingers, eventually spreading through my wrists and up my
arms. After a moment it was burning hot – barely tolerable, but we didn’t let
go. Ash’s breathing snagged, but he nodded and we leaned together until our
heads touched.

Closing
my eyes, I concentrated, believing my mind was infinite and could access
different planes of awareness. I could almost sense the various levels of
consciousness rising and falling all around me, just like the elevators at the
Empire State Building traveling continuously up and down. Except where those
elevators stopped at different floors, my mind wouldn’t stop until it found the
same level Ash was on. My attention and emotions centered on Ash, and I was
wholly unprepared when we suddenly found the same plane, and his voice came
crashing into my mind.

“
Lexi?”

“Oh
my.”

“We’ve
done it! We’re linked. How do you feel?”

I
stumbled back a couple feet and looked at his smiling face.
“Ash? Are we
really linked?”
I asked.

“Yes.
How do you feel? How’s your head?”

Bringing
my hands to my head, I looked at him in surprise.
“My headache is gone. I
feel amazing.”
I glanced down at my body.
“I don’t look any different,
but I feel stronger and more energized than I ever have before. This is really
weird talking with you this way. It’s like you’re in my head.”

“I
am.”
Speaking out loud, he said, “Is this better?”

“Yes.
No. I don’t know,” I sputtered, holding my hands up in dismay. “I can’t believe
this worked. Let’s just hope it lasts.”

“Well,
so far so good. And, who knows,” he said and looked at me sideways, “maybe
you’re not even a Dentelle, maybe you’re something…something even more
exceptional.”

“Oh
please,” I muttered.

“Remember
– now that we’re linked you’ll feel physically different. You’ll have strength
and speed like you’ve never experienced before. Normally, you could probably
run a mile in about six minutes, but now you should be able to do it in a
little under a minute. And wait until you lift something heavy, something you
wouldn’t normally be able to budge. Now when you pick it up, you’ll feel like
Superman. It’s such a rush.” Walking a few feet, he stopped and lifted the
table with one hand. He sat it back down with a cocky grin.

“And…”
he said as he hurried over to the bunk beds, picked up a small nightstand, and
sent it hurtling through the air towards me, but my hands shot out and caught
it – easily, “your reflexes are amazingly quick too.”

I
stared at the table in my hands and smiled uneasily. Reaching out and catching
it had been second nature, and he was right, it felt no heavier than a small, paperback
book. Impulsively, I tossed it back to him, but he laughed as he caught it and
replaced it next to the bed.

“But
best of all,” he said rubbing his hands together, “is the ability we get from
our link – our Flair – the one that changes based on who we’re linked with.” He
came up to me and smiled. “And this time I’ve gained the ability to manipulate
energy. I can’t wait to use it,” he said greedily.

I
frowned. “Wait. You mean the energy spheres – like the ones I told you that
Andrew was hurling all over the forest?” A log in the stove popped, and I
jumped.

“That’s
it.”

“But
how do you know that’s your Flair? You haven’t even tried it yet?”

Ash’s
eyes swept over me, and he said thoughtfully, “You just know. It’s like an
extension of yourself; you just feel it, like you can feel your leg or
something.” He gazed over at the kitchenette, raised his arm, and sent a
miniature sphere flying towards the sink. It was super small, like the size of
a bottle cap. Narrowing my eyes, I followed the barely visible ball as it hit
the sink and sparked a small explosion. I jerked in surprise, and watched as
black smoke rose out of the sink.

Smiling
at his own handiwork, he said, “Wow! I can’t wait to let loose some monster
blasts.”

Impatiently,
I crossed my arms and said, “Well good for you. But
I’m
not sensing
anything special at all.”

He
shrugged. “I don’t know. When I link, I instantly sense my ability. Maybe it
will be different for you since you’re a Dentelle. Maybe it will come on
slowly.”

Cracking
my knuckles, I murmured, “I hope so. I don’t want to miss out on the best
part.”

“Oh
Lexi, try not to worry about that for now. Remember you’re a Dentelle. Things
are bound to be different for you, and besides, only you can heal yourself and
others.” He stopped short. A look of concern passed over his face, and he
muttered frantically, “You do still have that ability don’t you?”

I
smiled and walked up to him. Touching his face, I said with assurance, “Yes,
Ash. My Essence is stronger than ever.” My jaw dropped, and I gasped. “How do
you feel?” I asked excitedly.

“Great.
Why?”

“Because,”
I said with a huge smile, “your Essence…it feels whole again. I can’t feel the
taint that you’ve carried around with you since you came back from linking with
Melanie.”

“I think
you’re right!” he exclaimed. He lifted me up and spun me around in circles. “I
feel so good; I didn’t even stop to think about it.” He set me down, and
smiled. “This won’t make sense to you, but I feel clean, like that underlying
urge to hunt is gone. For the first time, I’m not fighting off that compulsion
to steal Essence or suck the energy out of another living thing.” He hugged me
again, “I have you to thank for that. You’re amazing.”

We
froze at the same time. Leaning away from each other, we gazed at his hands
which were resting on my shoulders. Slowly, we lifted our heads and made eye
contact. “Do you know what this means?” he said, his green eyes round with
excitement.

“I
think so.”

“I am
linked,” he continued, “but I can touch you and it doesn’t hurt. It must be
that the person
you
link with is immune to your normally hot Amethyst
touch.”

My
first and only thought was of Jason. If he and I could link and he’d be immune
to my burning touch – we could be together. Truly together.

Ash
shook his head. “Damn. Imagine what would have happened if you’d linked with
Kieran.” All of a sudden, we could hear voices, lots of voices outside, all
growing louder by the second. “Oh, crap. They’re here,” Ash said, his eyes
darting towards the door.

“Game
on,” I said, and we sprung into action.

“Sit
down,” Ash said, shoving me into the chair. “Act like you’re scared and you
hate the sight of me.” Taking a couple steps back, he crossed his arms and
leaned against the counter. A scowl appeared upon his face, and he glared at
me.

Kieran
burst through the door. His eyes lit up, and a sneer passed over his mouth when
he saw me sitting in the chair, trembling in fright. Or so he thought. I played
my part well. With a quick nod of approval in Ash’s direction, he stepped closer
to me and smiled arrogantly. Cowering, I watched him approach, and from the
corner of my eye, I could see Ash’s whole body tense.

“Ash,
I’m okay. Don’t make any move to protect me, no matter what.”
I spoke to
him telepathically.

“I’m
trying,”
he said.
“But just the look he’s giving you has my blood
boiling.”

“I’m
fine. I promise to let you know when I’m not.”

D-rings
and chains once again adorned Kieran’s black jeans. Silver rivets popped from
the collar of his black, leather jacket, and a skull t-shirt was barely visible
under his coat. His sense of fashion was seriously comical – a padlock attached
to a thick chain, hung around his neck. But, the way his cloudy, hazel eyes
wandered up and down my body was no laughing matter. Tentatively, he reached out
and touched me, as if I was a stick of dynamite that might ignite and then
explode right in his face. When he found that his initial fear was unfounded, a
wicked smile spread slowly across his face, exposing his yellow teeth. With his
buzz cut and black goatee, he was just as creepy as I remembered him. Worse
yet, when he laughed in my face, that same smoky stench infiltrated the air
around me.

“Alex,”
he crooned and brushed his hand down the side of me face. This time I wasn’t
acting when I flinched at his touch. His rough fingertips traced over my cheeks
and across my lips. Inhaling, he threw his head back and laughed hysterically,
like a raving lunatic. His wide smile and obnoxious laughter reminded me of the
Joker in the Batman movie, the time when Jack Nicolson played the part.

Kieran’s
head snapped back, and he focused his beady eyes on me. “It’s so good to see
you again,” he rasped. “Stand up, so I can get a better look at you.”