The Bloom Series Box Set: Bloom & Fade (42 page)

“
Don’t make me lose my
lunch. Has Roku met his Source?”

Bastian’s smile dropped slowly. “We’ll
talk about that later, perhaps. Do you still not trust us after we
saved you at the airport?”

“
Trust is hard to come by
these days with so many people wanting to cut you open like a lab
rat. Can I go now?”

“
We were never forcing you
to stay.”

Haven kept her distance as she found
her keys and got into the black sedan. Bastian put his hands in his
pockets as she started the car and drove down the ramp to the
second floor. She followed the ramp to the exit and had just pulled
onto the street when Roku slammed onto the hood of the car from
above. He landed on all fours like a cat, glaring at her through
the windshield.

Bright blue flames burst from Haven’s
skin, sizzling the fabric of her seat. The steering wheel beneath
her grip softened from the excessive heat she funneled down her
arms and into her palms. Roku jumped off the hood and quickly
opened the driver’s door. Before Haven could release her energy, he
reached in and grabbed her wrist. Blue flames licked up his arm
from her body and he groaned in pain. She knew that a pairing of
Conduit and Source who were not counterparts always ended badly for
one of them, it just depended on who was stronger. Haven had untold
amounts of pure energy deep within her, and it would be too much
for Roku to effectively absorb and release—if he held on too long,
the energy would build up within him and soon the feedback would
melt his internal organs.

Still, he gripped her wrist. His eyes
flashed blue and he screamed. Haven screamed, too, but not from
pain. She screamed because Roku shared his memories.

She saw a small building on fire and
knew it was Roku’s home. Bright red flames burst from the windows.
A woman screamed for help from within. She spoke Japanese but Haven
understood her words perfectly. The woman called for Roku to come
and save her.

Haven saw her own hands, but they were
masculine hands, Roku’s hands, shaking from exhaustion, covered in
ash and blood. She ran past a broken window and saw Roku’s face in
the shattered reflection. She had no control over her/his
movements—she was simply reliving his old memories.

Roku ran into the house despite the
pounding red flames that reached out for him. Haven felt heat on
her own skin as Roku ran up the steps to the second floor of the
house. His mother lay on her side by the window, a fallen beam
across her burnt chest. The flames vanished from the beam when Roku
knelt and lifted it from her body. Haven felt the energy flow
through her skin as Roku tried to drain the room of flame. There
was too much raw energy for him to capture; too much to redirect
away from his mother.

He scooped her up and jumped out of
the window. Just before he hit the ground, he released most of his
stored energy downward with a quick burst that took the form of a
shockwave, pushing ash away in all directions and negating the
momentum of his fall. He landed easily on his feet and set his
mother down on the ground. Haven watched his hands as if they were
her own, reaching out to brush a strand of black hair away from his
mother’s still face. Red flames danced in the reflection of her
lifeless eyes.

More people were screaming.

Roku looked up and the entire
neighborhood was on fire. Lee cackled with mad laughter and darted
into the shadows. A moment later, his twin brother Dane appeared,
gleefully firing a wide stream of red flame from his hands into a
group of people running for safety. The flames consumed them and
pushed them to the ground.

Roku stood to face the twins. Lee and
Dane saw him instantly and turned away from their other helpless
victims. Dane put his hands on Lee’s shoulders and his red flames
engulfed them both. Roku ran at them but it was too late. A beam of
focused red energy shot out from Lee’s chest and hit Roku in the
stomach. The solid stream of plasma lifted him into the air and
flung him through the second floor wall of his own home.

The house crumbled around him and the
last thing Roku saw was a flaming beam of wood drop from the
ceiling and hit his face.

Haven gasped when Roku finally
released her. She was back in the parking garage in Bozeman,
sitting in the black sedan, far from Japan and from the flames of
the dead twins.

Roku crumpled to the ground next to
the car. His skin smoked and blue fire flickered over his body like
a dying candleflame. Haven looked down at him and noticed the burn
scar on his neck for the first time. It was a thick patch of rough
skin that covered the entire left side of his neck and disappeared
beneath his shirt collar.

She knew the pain of losing her
parents to insane men. She knew the desire for revenge and how it
drove her to master her abilities so she could stop other families
from suffering the same fate. Haven could tell from the emotions
raging through Roku’s memories that he was still in the grips of
his vengeance—it drove him forward, compelling him and guiding all
of his decisions.

Haven reached down and rested her hand
gently on his shoulder.

“
The twins are dead,” she
said. “Dane and Lee both.”

Roku’s face was slick with sweat and
he shook from exhaustion. He searched her face, hesitant to believe
her. Finally he nodded solemnly, then laid his head on the ground
and closed his eyes.

Bastian ran down the spiral ramp of
the parking garage and skidded to a stop next to Roku.

“
Ach,” he said. “What’s he
gone and done now?”

“
He’s gone and found you
two a ride. Get in.”

Bastian smiled. “Are you kidding
me?”

“
Hurry up before I change
my mind.”

Bastian laughed and helped Roku to his
feet. He shook him vigorously as they walked around to the other
side of the car.

“
You old dog, you,” said
Bastian happily. “You old, brilliant, wonderful, dog!” He slapped
Roku on the back as he climbed slowly into the back seat. Roku
groaned and slumped down behind Haven. Bastian got in the
passenger’s seat, still grinning.

Haven shook her head but couldn’t keep
the amusement out of her own voice. “You don’t do much else besides
smile, do you?” she asked.

“
Only save the world now
and again,” he said with a wink.

“
You know I can’t promise
that anyone will go with you.”

“
Never hurts to
ask.”

“
And Roku is going to pay
for that dent he left in the hood of the car.”

“
We’ll get you a new
car.”

“
Yeah?”

“
Sure. Just as soon as I
strike it rich.”

“
I won’t hold my
breath.”

“
Too bad. I was hoping for
some peace and quiet.”

She glared at him quickly, then
realized he was kidding. “You’re not funny,” she said.

“
I’ve heard
otherwise.”

Haven put the car into gear and drove
out onto the street. She headed to the edge of town to find the
hidden dirt road that wandered across the desert toward the Dome.
She thought of Noah and of Colton. The knowledge that she would
soon be with them filled her with a pleasant warmth, and she was
happier than she had been in a long time.

12

T
here were seven survivors of Bernam’s med-lab still residing
in the Dome. A total of twenty-eight had been pulled from the
depths of his torturous hospital a year ago, each in a different
state of mental and physical instability.

Most recovered quickly and left the
Dome, vowing never to reveal its location to another soul. The
seven who remained were too infirmed to leave. Two had slowly been
showing signs of recovery over the past few months. Adsen, Dormer’s
brother, was one of them. His body was weak but his mind was sharp
as ever, eager to uncover the mysteries of recent
events.

Colton saw the burning desire for
information in Adsen’s eyes; he could see the deep wheels of
thought turning as the man sat on the edge of his cot on the
second-tier platform, looking down at the dome room floor. He
plucked at a scraggy brown beard dotted with patches of grey. Adsen
was tall, like his brother, but much thinner due to his long
imprisonment. His clothes fit him like a poncho fits a
broomstick.

Dormer sat nearby, watching his
brother closely. Colton had first thought Adsen was older, mostly
because of the deep, worried lines etched on his gaunt face from
his time with Bernam and his machines. He was shocked to discover
they were fraternal twins. Given Adsen’s emaciated appearance, the
brothers seemed like two different generations of the same man, one
in his early forties and the other pushing sixty.

“
Did she say anything to
you?” asked Adsen, his eyes constantly searching the floor below.
“Anything at all about what they did to us?”

“
Just that she infected us
with a virus,” said Colton. “She wants us to figure out the rest on
our own.”

Adsen grunted and thoughtfully chewed
on the inside of his cheek while he looked at one of the other sick
men nearby. “Virus,” said Adsen. “Hmm.” He scratched at his neck
and laid on his cot. Tiny black veins appeared above the collar of
his shirt, slowly creeping up toward his head. All of the other
refugees were showing the same symptoms, just like most of the
original inhabitants of the Dome. Yet neither Dormer nor Adsen were
showing any signs of being infected with the virus. Colton thought
it might work more quickly in certain hosts.

“
Do you remember her from
before?” asked Dormer.

“
Never seen her,” said
Adsen. “Never heard of her. Alistair must have picked her up after
the medical facility was destroyed, or else she’s lying about
working for him.”

“
Why would she lie?” asked
Dormer.

“
Any number of reasons,”
said Adsen. “What troubles me the most is that a Phoenix would work
for a man like Alistair.”

“
She wants to know how to
find Haven,” said Colton, then paused. “Do you think she’s really
the new Phoenix?”

Adsen gestured to the hole in the
roof. “You saw the entrance she made. I don’t claim to know
everything our kind is capable of, but that’s not on the list of
‘normal’. I have no idea why she wants to meet Haven so badly, but
my guess would be that it’s not for anything good.” He looked at
the cots near his own. Each one held a sleeping refugee from the
med-lab. “How are the others doing?”

Dormer sighed. “Three won’t come out
of their comas. Whatever Bernam did to them, it’s not getting any
better. The two that were finally improving took a turn for the
worse after our new friends showed up. Only two out of the total
seven are showing any signs of improvement, including
you.”

Adsen shuddered. He scratched at the
spot on his arm where one of the spheres had pierced him with its
long needle. “It should be obvious by now that one of the departed
refugees told Alistair where to find the Dome.”

“
It’s possible,” said
Dormer. “If Alistair is really alive.”

“
And why couldn’t he be?”
asked Adsen. “You saw what he did firsthand. He killed Bernam and
turned himself into a Nova. Who knows what it will take to stop him
now?”

“
It could be something
else,” said Colton suddenly. “Remember Elena said that sometimes a
Phoenix can sense the presence of others like us. Sometimes they
can only sense other Nova, or their counterpart, or really strong
Sources and Conduits. Let’s say Kamiko
is
the new Phoenix—say that Elena
really did unwillingly pass her power to her instead of to Haven.
Elena had the ability to detect a Nova anywhere on the planet as
long as their signal wasn’t blocked. Kamiko might be able to find
others like her—other potential Phoenix.”

“
That’s not it,” said
Dormer, “or else she wouldn’t be asking you to help her find Haven.
Maybe she can sense all of us together in one spot, like a huge
beacon, and
that’s
how she found the Dome.”

Adsen shook his head sadly. “If that’s
the case, none of us will ever be safe until we eliminate
her.”

A loud voice broke through the
conversation. “Did someone say, ‘eliminate her’?” Marius walked
over to the cots near the balcony railing with a big smile on his
face. “You are speaking Marius’s language.”

“
Keep your voice down,”
said Dormer. “We’re conspiring.”

“
Sorry,” said Marius
quickly. The big Russian sat on the edge of the cot next to Colton
and rubbed a calloused hand over the stubble on his balding head.
Small black veins ran over his scalp and down over his temples. He
coughed loudly and cleared his throat. “What is the
plan?”

“
No plan,” said Colton.
“Not yet, anyway.”

“
Marius has one,” he said.
“Bullet in each of them.” He aimed an invisible gun down at the
dome room floor and pulled his thumb-trigger at the guards
stationed throughout the wide space. He searched for Kamiko with
one eye squinted closed, then sighed and holstered his imaginary
weapon when he couldn’t find her below. He scratched at his
unshaven neck where small black veins criss-crossed like
netting.