Fighting for Infinity (20 page)

ROCKY ROADS

Maryah

Helen brewed a special tea to calm me. No matter how powerful Helen’s tea was, it wouldn’t ever erase what I had witnessed.

I continued sipping my tea, trying to come up with a plan to stop Dedrick and his Nefariouns from killing more people. The roundtable meeting would begin soon, and I had no ideas or suggestions. I felt so useless.

Carson slid into the seat beside me. “I have something for you.” 

“For me?”

“Here.” He handed me a silky cloth. I opened it and found a beautiful white rock in the shape of a teardrop. “What is this?”

“It’s Howlite. It’s supposed to help with remembering past lives.”

“Where did it come from?”

“Nova Scotia.”

“How did you get it?”

Carson sighed. “Sparky, you ask a lot of questions.”

“You’re a S
cion who is multi-gifted. You should easily be able to answer simple questions.”

“Nathan and I went there. It’s not a big deal.”

Krista was grinning so big behind him I thought her lips would get stuck.

“When did you go there?” I asked.

“Earlier today.”

“Why did you go there?”

Carson rolled his eyes. “To get the stupid Howlite. Seriously, enough with the questions.”

He stood and turned to walk away, but I followed him. “You and Nathan went to Nova Scotia specifically to get me Howlite?”

“Yes, but stop acting like it’s a big deal.”

“I never said it was a big deal.” I quickened my pace to keep up with him. “But you’ve said it twice so maybe it’s a big deal to you.”

“I was just trying to help.”

“That was amazingly sweet of you.”

He halted to a stop in the hallway and faced me. “I was
not
being sweet. I’m just trying to help you remember your past so we can straighten out this mess and Nathan can stop being so miserable.”

“Deny it all you want,” I said. “You made a special trip across the world to find a beautiful stone for me. That is sweet.”

“Good grief, stop acting like such a noob.” He held out his hand. “Give it back. I changed my mind.”

I clutched the rock to my chest. “No way. It’s mine.”

“Then shut up about it.” He stormed into his room and slammed the door.

“Can you believe it?” I asked Krista as she walked up behind me.

“Of course I can. He’s super thoughtful, and he worries about you constantly.”

My eyes bugged.
“He does?”

“You know I’d never date a guy who didn’t like you.”

“You do realize how drastically different our conversations about dating have changed in the last few months, right?”

Krista shrugged. “I’m just glad you’re finally catching up. The supernatural life is much more interesting than regular life.”

I examined the Howlite. “He made it into a necklace.”

“He’s crafty.”

“I still can’t believe he did this. I’ll treasure it forever.”

“Good.” She shouldered me.
“He’ll pretend it annoys the crap out of him, but in reality he’ll be touched. Especially if it works.”

I drape
d the cord over my head, admiring the stone resting against my chest. “You mean
when
it works.”

∞

When Dylan and Amber arrived with Mikey, I knew the meeting wasn’t just about me seeing Dedrick kill the
possible keepers of the Earthstone. Dylan and Amber hadn’t attended the last couple of impromptu meetings. Louise said they’d be updated, but their attendance wasn’t necessary. All hands on deck meant we were meeting about something of utmost importance.

Amber set Mikey’s carrier on the table beside Carson, his proper place in the alignment. Dakota carried a stool in from the kitchen and squeezed in to the right of Mikey, left of Edgar, completing the circle. All members—official and unofficial—were in attendance.

I gulped down the rest of my tea. 

“What’s going on?” I asked Nathan as he sat beside me.

He rested his arm on the back of my chair. “Nothing you can’t handle.”

“Let’s begin, shall we?” Louise’s bracelets jingled as she rested her hands on the table. “We already know that Dedric
k is trying to acquire all the stones. When used together, the stones feed off each other and connect all energy on this planet. They could potentially control or destroy creation.”

Control or destroy creation? I glanced around, assessing reactions. I didn’t want to be the one to ask stupid questions, but what exactly did that mean?

“An Aetherstone,” Louise continued. “Or a starstone connects the other four. A starstone would enable the other four to be used together.”

“But the stars
tones aren’t located on Earth, right?” I asked, confirming what Nathan and I had discussed.

“Right. And based on what you told us from your travels to Meru, we know
there were many of them, but—” Louise shifted in her seat.

“Ahh, there it is,” Carson said, “the big
but
that can’t be ignored.”

Nathan
gripped my shoulder in a supportive way. “I’ll tell her.”

My head snapped left, wondering what exactly Nathan was about to tell me and why he waited until the meeting to spring it on me.

“There are many starstones, but whether there’s one or one billion,” he whispered, “we think you may have brought one back.”

I leaned tow
ard him. “Me? I brought back a starstone? From Meru?”

“That’s our best educated guess.”

“Maryah,” Edgar said my name gingerly. “I found it buried deep within the Akashic Records. Last life, you performed a ritual that vibrated you to such a high energy level that you were no longer a blip on our earthly radar. The Akashic Records couldn’t record you for the short time you were at Meru. Then you reappeared with a much stronger signal than before. At first and second glance, I couldn’t find anything unusual. Your energy had strengthened but with good reason. However, I searched again, more closely, and I glimpsed a patch on the screen, as if you tried to hide your thoughts and actions from being recorded.” He grinned at me. “I must say, the fact that you accomplished such a feat is impressive. It’s also somewhat disturbing that you manipulated our universal record-keeping system, but impressive nonetheless.”

“Why would I hide anything?”

“Perhaps you knew Dedrick had a reader like me. Josephine was being mind-controlled by him. She could have read the records and traced your actions.”

“But I don’t understand how a patch on
the screen would mean I had a starstone.”

“I tried removing the patch,” Edgar said. “To help you understand, it’s like trying to watch a scrambled television station. I could make out parts of what I was seeing, but without the whole picture, my interpretation becomes muddied.”

“I figured it out,” Nathan said. “Based on what Edgar told me he saw in the records combined with things you did and said during the weeks before we were killed, I’m almost certain you had a starstone and were protecting it.”

I shook my head. “That’s too vague. What did I do and say?”

“It’s all the stuff that didn’t make sense until now,” Nathan explained. “You insisted all our members live near each other, that we had to live in Sedona due to the powerful elemental energy here. Building the weapon room and bunker under the house, you were preparing for a war. Us versus them. You knew Dedrick would come for it. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t tell me you had it, but I think you were concealing the starstone and equipping us to protect it at any cost.”

“Concealing it where?”

His focus dropped to my hand. “Your ring.”

My fingers wrapped around my thumb ring. I pressed my fist in my lap and stared down
. Peeling back my fingers, I rubbed the small glass dome with my other hand. “My peacock ring?”

“That’s the thing. It didn’t always have that feather jewel inside of it. And you weren’t wearing it when we were attacked at the beach. You had given the ring to Sheila. You told me she had a friend who made jewelry and you were having a peacock feather embedded inside.”

Sheila told me we used to share secrets. That Krista used to get upset because I confided in her so much.

Nathan held my hand. “Your ring is the one possession that has stayed with you every lifetime. What if you found a way to put the stone inside of the ring and disguise it as that feather?”

I stared at him, then at my ring, then back at him. Was it possible?

“Sheila kept the ring with her for many years,” Louise said. “She refu
sed to give it to us until recently when you returned to Sedona. It has always been your wedding ring, so we assumed it was her way of holding onto you, believing that you and Nathan would be together again. Now we think she might have known the ring contained the starstone.”

“No, she would have told us.” Krista’s on-edge voice startled me. “She wouldn’t have taken such important information to the grave with her.” 

“Maybe it’s true,” I murmured, spinning the ring around my thumb. “There is something magical about it. The peacock feather inside, I’ve seen it move or glisten a few times. It’s been a trigger object to me astral traveling or remembering things.”

All eyes were on me. Even the tiny eye of the peacock feather, suspended in its glass globe, seemed to be watching me. “What do I do? How do I keep it safe?”

Louise hugged herself, rubbing her own arms as if she felt the same chill that had just given me goose bumps. “We were hoping you’d instinctively have an answer to that question.”

“It’s a big part of why I gave you that Howlite,” Carson said. “You
have to remember why you took a starstone from Meru and how to give it back—before Dedrick steals it and uses it to connect the other stones.”

“What would happen?” I licked my lips, dreading the answer to my qu
estion. “If he did connect the stones?”

“It’s not pretty.” Carson tugged his hoodie strings.

“Again, we can only speculate,” Edgar said.

“Tell her, Car,” Dakota insisted.

“Edgar fills me in on what he discovers while he’s trancing out doing his thing. I’ve been making mental notes, trying to figure out what all the bits add up to. My conclusion—” Carson rapped the table with his knuckles. “It’s sort of out there. Like, part of my brain insists I’m right, but the other part thinks I’ve read too many comic books, and I’m jumping to irrational conclusions.”

“Spit it out, Carson,” Harmony said.

He cleared his throat. “It would mean Dedrick could do what he threatened. He could control the energy portals to this world. Shut them down if he chose to.”

“How is that even possible?” Faith asked.

Carson tucked his hair behind his ears. “Given what I’ve learned about the stones, I think Dedrick could use them to disconnect the power that connects Earth’s ley lines.”

“Ley lines?” I asked.

“Think of them as veins that run through our planet,” Carson explained. “If they were shut off, it would be like a body with no blood running through it. You can imagine the results.”

“Good g
od.” I gasped. Nathan wrapped his arm around me again.

“We can stop him,” Dakota said. “The good guys always save the world. It’s like a universal law that evil never wins.”

Dylan sighed. “This isn’t a comic book, Dakota. This is real life. And real evil.”

Dakota crossed his arms over his chest. “And we’re real life superheroes, so what’s the problem?”

Everyone exchanged glances, communicating dozens of silent worrisome thoughts.

I stared at my ring resting in my lap.  I don’t know where my confidence came from. It was almost like having an out-of-body experience when I heard myself say, “Dakota is right. Dedrick can’t win, so let’s figure out how stop him. Permanently.”

LEAD TO BELIEVE

Maryah

“Did I miss anything?” I asked Rina.

She was reading pages near the end of her book. “Nothing worth mentioning.”

I hovered behind her and focused on the blank pages. “What do you see when you look at those pages?”

“Stories. A song. A letter.”

“All written with stardust like Dakota said?”

“Yes.”

“Can you read it out loud to me?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

She placed her fingertip on the page and dragged it left to right as if keeping track of each line as she silently read. “Because.”

“Because why?”

“The author forbade it to be read out loud.” Her finger stopped moving. “Those who are meant to know the story will read it on their own.”

“Can you at least tell me what the story is about?”

She spun in her chair and glared at me. “Don’t be lazy. Read the book if you want to know what it’s about.” 

“I’d love to read it.” At least it would give me a way to pass the painful time of being trapped in this place with nothing to do. “But I can’t.”

“You haven’t even tried.”

“I’m going to,” I conceded. “If you say it’s important, I believe you. I’ll start right now.”

“Really?”

“Yes, scoot out of the way so I can see it.”

She hopped out of her chair, staring at me as I studied the two blank pages.

“What are you doing? No one starts at the end of a story.”

“Oh, sorry. Could you flip to the beginning for me?”

She closed the book, rested her hand on the cover, and took a breath. “Remember, all you have to do is open your eyes.”

My eyes were open, at least my spiritual eyes were, but nothing was visible. She opened to the first page and stepped away slowly as if she had just presented me with a gift. I focused on the ivory page, imagining words glittering the way my ring did.

My ring. Eyes
. Duh. Why did it take me so long to make the connection? If what the kindrily suspected was true, if the starstone was in my ring, and my ring contained the eye of a peacock feather, I was certain the ring would help me read the story written in stardust. Out of habit, I reached for my thumb, but of course my ring wasn’t physically with me, so I doubted it would work.

“What’s wrong?” Rina asked.

“Nothing.” She couldn’t know about the starstone. If that information leaked out to Dedrick, the whole world could suffer.

If my soul could communicate with Rina, maybe my ring could help me sensperience enough to see something in the book. I
pictured the tiny feather in vivid detail, and then stared at the pages, squinting until my head ached.

I couldn’t have been more shocked when Nathan materialized in front of me.

Rina leapt up from her place on the floor. “What are you doing here?”

“I did it?” Nathan looked surprised too. He glanced down at the table he was sitting on. I moved back as he stood and pulled the book out from under him. “I found you.”

“How?” I asked, forgetting he couldn’t hear me.

“Leave,” Rina demanded. “Dedrick could come here any second and catch you.”

“Take her!” I was so excited I couldn’t stop myself from yelling. “Rina, tell him to traverse you to our house right now. He can get you out of here!”

Rina looked dumbfounded. Nathan was still examining my glowing form.

“Holy heavenly light,” he uttered. “It’s even more awe-inspiring than I imagined.” He leaned forward, trying to touch me. “How did Dedrick manage this?”

“Rina,” I urged. “Tell him! Tell him to traverse you out of here.”

Rina tentatively stepped closer. “Maryah wants you to traverse me to your house.”

Nathan turned to face her. He stared at her, his head craning sideways. He sucked in a breath and his lips parted, but he said nothing. His fingers flexed at his sides. He
swayed forward then back again and rubbed his hand over his face.

“Enough with the awkward meeting!” I shouted. “Tell him to traverse you out of here!”

“She’s yelling at you,” Rina said meekly, “to traverse with me.”

I realized this was Nathan’s first time actually seeing Rina in her own body instead of mine, but we couldn’t waste any more time.

“Yes, of course.” Nathan shook his head, snapping himself out of his rude staring, and then he scanned the room. “I lost my head for a minute.”

Rina reached toward me. “You’ll follow us, right? You’ll return to your body.”

“Yes, I’ll be right behind you.”

“We’re not coming back?” she asked.

“Never.”

Nathan watched us, understanding we were communicating even though he could hear only Rina’s side of the conversation.

“Then I’ll need to get my things.” She clutched the book to her chest. “Okay, I’m ready.”

Nathan looked as sad as I felt. One book was the only possession she had.

I placed my hands on the back of her shoulders and eased her toward Nathan. “Take her to her new home.”

“My new home,” Rina said longingly.

Nathan stepped closer to her. He spoke gentler than I’d ever heard him or any other man speak. “I’m going to put my arms around you.”

“Okay,” she whispered.

Looking over her shoulder, she smiled at me. Her smile was so bright the room seemed to acquire windows, allowing light and joy to shine through for the first time. Nathan hugged her to him and closed his eyes. Then he vanished.

Rina still stood there, hugging her book.

Nathan reappeared.

“What happened?” My light energy pulsed rapidly.

“It didn’t work,” Rina said.

“It felt like I had you,” Nathan told her, “but you didn’t go anywhere.”

“Again,” I insisted.

“Maryah says try again.”

He hugged her a second time, pressing her cheek against his chest, then he disappeared, leaving her behind.

“No!” I wanted to punch something.

“It won’t work,” Rina said. The room was dim again, her inner light gone. “I’m still trapped.”

Nathan returned. “I don’t understand why it’s not working.”

“It wasn’t meant to be this way,” Rina told him. “I should have known. You have to leave before someone sees you.”

He moved so close
to me our faces were touching. “At least we know I can traverse here. I’ll tell the others and we’ll figure out what to do next.”

“Rina, tell him not to traverse back here until I come home and discuss it.”

She repeated what I said and Nathan agreed.

He raised his hand, touching my soul. “You’re so beautiful.”

“Go. Now,” Rina commanded.

Nathan turned, bent forward and kissed the top of her messy-haired head. “We’ll find a way to get you out of here, I promise.”

She halfheartedly nodded, and then Nathan was gone. Now we both had the same promise to keep.

“Go,” Rina said.

“Go where?”

“To talk to him. I’m sure you want to discuss what happened.”

Her disappointment mirrored mine. We had glimpsed hope for a few brief moments, but it had been snuffed out. I couldn’t leave her so soon.

“I’ll go in a little while. Maybe by then the kindrily will have figured out a solution.” I struggled to find something else to say, something to comfort her. “I’m so sorry it didn’t work.”

“It’s okay.” She sat in the chair, her hands hanging limp at her sides. “It was one of the happiest moments of my life.”

“But you didn’t go anywhere.”

“Still, for a few seconds...” She folded her hands in her lap and stared at the flickering candle flame. “I was going home.”

My heart ached even more. I wanted nothing more than to set her free, to help her find her place in this world.

“That’s what you said.” Rina shifted in her chair. “You said my new home.”

“I figured you could stay with us.” The Luna house was always filled with people. One more wouldn’t make a difference.

She spoke softly. “Before you said you’d have to check with Louise and Anthony for permission.”

“You were a stranger when I said that. Now I’m sure everyone would welcome you.”

Even in the dim lighting, I saw her cheeks blush. It was the first trace of color I’d ever seen on her face besides food or dirt.

“I hope Nathaniel is okay,” she said.

“You know a lot about how things work around here. Do you have any guesses as to why Nathan couldn’t traverse with you?”

Rina shook her head. “Nothing for certain.”

“Maybe Dedrick shielded you?”

“From one power in particular but not the others? Not likely.”

“Hopefully Carson will think of something.” I reached for my Howlite necklace. The real version was still back in Sedona with my body—where I wished Rina and I could have safely escaped to. But even if we did, Dedrick would have come looking for us. We would have lived every moment looking over our shoulders, waiting for him to strike again.

“Escaping won’t be enough,” I told her. “We have to stop Dedrick for good.”

“Do you mean kill him?”

Did I mean that? Was I capable of ending a human life? “I haven’t figured out that part yet.”

Manny scurried out of a crack in the wall then crawled up Rina’s leg and sat in her lap.

She scratched his head. “Probably best it didn’t work. I wouldn’t have said good-bye to Manny, and he would have been upset.”

“True.” I grinned at the sight of them. “Maybe we could bring Manny home too. And hope Eightball doesn’t try to eat him.” I snapped to attention. “Oh my gosh! Manny!”

“What’s wrong?” Rina asked.

“He could help us.”

“Manny could help us?”

“Yes! Maybe. I’m not sure. How intelligent are mice?”

Rina scowled as if I’d offended him. “Manny is brilliant.”

“Let’s hope so.” A glimmer of optimism had returned. It was a long shot, but it was worth a try. “I need to see my kindrily. When I get back we might have a new plan.”

“What is it?” Rina asked, excitement simmering beneath her confusion.

“Don’t get your hopes up again. Just give me a few minutes, and then I can explain more.”

She agreed t
hen effortlessly allowed me to travel home. 

As soon as I reconnected to my body, I threw back my covers. Helen startled as objects flew off my bed. “Maryah?”

I eyed the array of rocks and plants I had just flung all over the floor. “What’s all that stuff?”

“Herbs and gemstones I used to increase the frequency of your energy so Nathan could locate your soul.”

“Awesome. It worked.” I sprang out of bed and grabbed Helen’s hand, dragging her behind me. “Come on, I have an idea.”

As Helen followed me down the hall, I heard Nathan discussing his failed traversing attempt.

I rounded the corner, sliding across the tile floor due to my fuzzy socks. “Come back and get Manny.”

Nathan, Louise, Carson
, and Krista all stared at me.

“Who?” Nathan asked.

“Rina’s mouse.”

“Ohh, I like it.” Carson rubbed his hands together. “Dr. Doolittle meets James Bond.”

Nathan’s face relaxed the moment it registered. “Yes. Dedrick wouldn’t have thought to put a spell on a mouse to keep him trapped there.” Nathan kissed my forehead. “You’re brilliant.”

Krista raised her hand. “I hate that I haven’t caught on yet, but please fill me in.”

Carson wrapped his arm around her. “I’ll explain it to her. Louise, you call Amber. Nathan, go catch yourself a mouse.”

Nathan wrapped his arms around me then jerked away like I burned him. “What am I doing?”

We both stared at each other, somewhat in shock that he almost traversed my body to Dedrick’s dungeon.

“Probably not a good idea,” I said.

“Awful idea. What if I couldn’t traverse you out of there?”

“I’ll astral travel back. Give me a few minutes lead time so I can explain why you need to take Manny.”

Nathan nodded. “I’ll be there soon.”

∞

“Rina.” She and Manny were still sitting in the chair. “Nathan is coming back, and he’s going to take Manny with him for a little while.”

She cupped her hand over him. “Why?”

“He might be able to help us figure out where we are.”

Rina squinted at me
then at Manny. “How?”

“One of our members can communicate with animals.”

Understanding swept over her eyes, but then she glanced at Manny with concern. Nathan materialized, looking much more optimistic than when he left a short while ago.