Fractured Truth (7 page)

I gritted my teeth. “About time. Are any of them still here?”

“They left yesterday.” May turned to Liam. “Um, do you think I can talk to Llona alone for a little while?”

He stood up. “Of course. I’ll be right outside.”

May waited until Liam had closed the door behind him before she took his place next to me. “What do you remember about what happened?”

“All of it.”

“So you saw Christian.”

I nodded, small and slow.

“Where has he been this whole time?” May asked. “I mean, seriously. He’s been supposedly dead for
how
long and he shows up with Vykens?”

“They’ve got to be holding him captive or something, but at least he’s alive.” My heart beat faster.
Christian was alive.

“Then why bring him?” Her voice was rising.

I looked into her eyes, surprised by her sudden anger, especially because it was Christian we were talking about. Something else must be going on. “Is this about your father?”

She leaned back into the chair. “My father. I don’t understand. Where’s he been this whole time? Why didn’t he find me sooner? And why is he with Vykens?”

I reached over and placed my hand on hers.

She quickly took it away. “Don’t you dare transfer any of your Light to me.”

I smiled. “I wasn’t going to.”

“Good, because I’m pissed and want to stay that way.”

“You sure that’s a good idea?”

May reached into her backpack and removed a folded piece of paper. “I got this earlier today.”

“What is it?”

She handed it to me. I read over it quickly. It was a letter from her father. He wanted to meet her and left his number. “What do you think he means by ‘You only know one side’?”

May took the letter back and stared at the words scribbled
on the page. “I don’t know. I don’t know much of anything anymore. My father. Christian. Sophie and the girls still missing.” She looked up at me, her eyes burning with intensity. “I’m going to meet him.”

I sat up farther, despite the pain. “No, May, you can’t. He was with Vykens. He attacked us.”

Her voice lowered. “He could’ve killed us if he wanted to.”

“Why do you want to see him?”

“Wouldn’t you want to see your father?” When I didn’t answer, she continued. “I have to know where he’s been all this time. Why he gave me up.”

“But he’s with them.”

“And that’s the most important reason why I need to see him. Don’t you understand? Maybe I can find out where Sophie is or even get to Christian. This is our in, Llona.”

I inhaled deeply. The weight of recent developments made it difficult to breathe. “I always wanted a sister, but then I met you. You have become as dear to me as any sister could. Stay. We’ll find another way.”

May opened her mouth to speak, but a knock at the door cut her off.

“Just promise me you won’t do anything without talking to me,” I said.

She pursed her lips and stood up. “We’ll talk about this later.” She looked over her shoulder toward the door. “Come in.”

Dr. Han opened the door. “I know it’s late, but Liam said you were awake.”

I glanced at a clock on the wall. Almost ten. “It’s okay. I want to talk to you anyway. Come in. Liam too.”

Liam appeared a moment later.

Before anyone could say anything, I said, “What did the Council think of Jackson escaping?”

“They were extremely upset. They want to know how it happened.”

“I do too. Who sent the text message to the twins?”

Dr. Han walked to the window and peered out. “It came from Abigail’s phone.”

“But she said she didn’t do it,” Liam said. “She said her phone was in her office, but when she left the meeting and returned, her phone was missing. We found it yesterday in the kitchen where the Lizens work.”

“Do you believe her?” I asked Dr. Han.

“I have no reason to doubt.”

I leaned into the pillow behind me. Abigail was one of the few people at Lucent who seemed to understand me. She’d been working as the nurse for almost twenty years and she and Sophie were close friends. I couldn’t see her helping Jackson. “What about the Lizens? Do you think one of them could be working with Cyrus?”

“No,” a voice said from the doorway.

All heads turned. Tessa stood in the doorway. She came into the room and to the foot of my bed. “I know you don’t know all of us, but please believe me when I say we are fiercely loyal. None of my people would ever do anything to harm Auras.”

I smiled. “It’s good to see you, Tessa.” Even though she was a couple of years younger than me, she reminded me of myself. I adored her passion.

She patted my foot. “How are you feeling?”

“Getting stronger every minute.”

“Good.” She turned to the others in the room. “The Lycans have arrived.”

My eyes went to Liam. His whole demeanor changed; every part of him was tense and rigid. “I thought they weren’t supposed to be here for another week?” I asked, looking at Dr. Han.

“Because of what happened with Jackson, the Council requested their services sooner.”

“This is a mistake,” Liam said.

“What we need to do is get the Auras to where they can protect themselves.” I tugged at the IV tube in my arm. “When can I get this thing out?”

“I’ll go get Abigail,” Tessa said and left the room.

“I better go too,” Dr. Han said. “Our guests will need a proper welcoming, even this late at night.”

May stood up. “I’ll go with you. You know, to check these guys out.” She looked back at me and winked.

“We’re not done talking, May,” I called after her. With her back to me, she raised her hand and waved.

When everyone had left, Liam closed the door and sat down next to me. “Are you really feeling better?”

“I am, really. My skin stings a little, but it’s not bad.”

He exhaled. “Good.”

We sat in silence for a few moments. My mind went over that night again. Poor Chase. I felt sick remembering the way he had died. “The Shadow,” I said. “How are we going to fight it?”

“I know. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Only your Light seemed to affect the Shadow, but there’s got to be another way to hurt it. Some way we can kill it.”

“Let’s hope.” I didn’t want to die or have anyone else die destroying it. I stared down at my hands. Something else weighed heavily on my mind.

“Did you see him?” I asked, knowing he’d know exactly who I was referring to.

It took him a few seconds to answer. “Yes.”

I looked up, afraid of what I might see on his face, but he revealed nothing. “And what do you think? Where has he been all this time?”

“I don’t know, but it concerns me.”

“How so?”

He looked toward the window. “Because I think you’ve seen him before. The night we captured Jackson.”

I startled. “How do you know about that?”

“I heard you call his name. Am I wrong?”

“I wasn’t sure what I saw that night. Besides, that was private. You can’t do stuff like that.”

“I was worried about you.”

“Maybe you’re worrying too much.” I looked him square in the eyes.

He glanced away. “If you really saw Christian in the forest, why didn’t he come to you? Why is he still with the Vykens?”

“First, I don’t know that I did see him that night. And second, if I did, then there’s a good reason why he hasn’t returned.”

It was his turn to look me in the eyes. “Or maybe he’s one of them now.”

I shook my head. “Impossible.”

“Why?”

“Because even if Cyrus bit him, he would fight it like us. I know it.”

“What do you mean ‘if’? Of course Cyrus bit him. It’s the only way he could’ve survived. And if he was fighting the poison like you say, then why isn’t he here, sitting next to you instead of me?”

“There’s a reason, I know it.”

He glanced at Christian’s necklace around my neck. “Just consider it.”

My heart ached just thinking about the possibility. I would rather Christian be dead then turned into a Vyken, fighting the constant darkness. I scooted back into bed. “I’m tired.”

“Do you want me to stay?”

“No. Abigail will be here soon, and then I’m going to sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Liam stood and went to the door. “Whatever happens, Llona, know that I’m with you, however you need me.”

“I know. Thank you.”

Liam left the room, leaving me alone. My mind turned over all the recent events. Despite the fact that I’d seen Christian and the appearance of May’s father, I had to keep focused on my number one goal: to get Sophie and the others back. Before I closed my eyes, I added one more goal to the list: teach Auras to fight whether they were willing or not.

Abigail came into my room
at seven in the morning. “Did you sleep well?”

“I did, thank you,” I answered, although I hadn’t slept at all after she had removed the IV last night. It had taken most of the night, but I had managed to formulate a plan and was anxious to get started. “Can I go down to breakfast?”

Abigail pushed a thermometer into my mouth. “I guess if you feel up to it. I still can’t believe you healed this quickly. You can’t even tell you were burned, except for maybe a little redness on this arm.”

I glanced down at my left arm just as the thermometer beeped. Abigail removed it and then proceeded to take my blood pressure.

“Part of it was thanks to you and Mrs. Crawford. Thanks for healing me.”

“We only helped with the minor burns. I’ve never met an Aura who can heal this fast.”

I shrugged like it was no big deal, but inwardly told myself to relax, to keep my heartbeat from racing while she listened to my chest. Very few people knew I was half Vyken, and I wanted to keep it that way.

“So have you seen them yet?” I asked when she was finished.

“Seen who?”

“The Lycans.”

Abigail removed the blood pressure cuff. “All normal.” She rolled it up. “I saw one of them this morning. Intimidating creatures, they are.”

“Do you trust them?”

“They haven’t done anything to me that shows they can’t be trusted. You look good, Llona. You are free to go. However, I would like to see you in a few days.”

I sat up and swung my legs over the bed. “Sure thing.”

“Go ahead and get dressed and come to breakfast.”

She went to the door, but I stopped her. “Hey, did anyone find out who took your phone?”

She turned around, shaking her head. “I’m afraid not. Lesson learned, I guess. I thought I was in a school where I could trust people.”

“Me too,” I whispered, but she was already out the door.

I waited a few seconds before I stood up. My head swayed slightly from lying down for so long, but as soon as the dizziness passed, I took a firm step forward. The pain I’d experienced the last few days was something I never wanted to think about again.

Showering quickly, I went over again all the things I needed to do today. Each task wasn’t going to be easy, but when was that ever my life? I hurried downstairs, thinking of what I had to do first.

I stopped just outside the dining room, listening to the sounds from within. The girls were quieter than usual, and I wondered why. Maybe they had heard what happened. Maybe they were nervous. Good. It would only make my job easier.

“Hold up!” a voice said behind me.

I turned around.

May and Tessa were walking toward me, smiling.

“We came to see you in your room this morning, but you were already gone,” Tessa said and gave me a hug.

“How are you feeling?” May asked.

“Much better. Is Liam around?” I was kind of surprised he hadn’t been there when I woke up.

“I haven’t seen him,” May said.

I followed her and Tessa into the dining room. All eyes turned on us, but it didn’t bother me at all. I wasn’t alone.

The room felt warmer than usual, probably on account of the morning sun shining through a single row of large windows near the ceiling. The smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls wafted up from the kitchen. Of all the restaurants I’ve ever eaten at, none compared to the cooking of Lizen women.

Before I could sit down, Ashlyn approached me, her arms folded to her chest. It wasn’t that long ago when Ashlyn was very vocal about her feelings. She absolutely hated me for trying to change things at Lucent, but ever since the school was attacked and her friend Valerie was taken, we’d grown closer. She was one of the few to join the Auran Sparring class, or, as Kiera liked to call it, the “Kick A. S. Class.”

“Is it true?” Ashlyn asked. “Jackson’s really gone?”

I pulled her to the side, away from listening ears. “Someone here helped him escape with Vykens. We tried to get him back, I swear.”

“But that was the only chance we had to find Valerie!”

“I know it seems like that, but I’m working on another plan.”

She wiped her eyes, at tears that hadn’t quite fallen yet. “What?”

“Something Jackson said. I’ll tell you about it later. Have you seen any Lycans this morning?” They were essential to my plan, one I wasn’t ready to share with anyone quite yet.

“I saw a couple outside, very scary. They look like they want to eat our faces off. I can’t believe the Council is using them.”

“That’s why we need to get more Auras fighting.”

She nodded. “I’m working on it, but it’s hard, you know? They still believe the Council can keep them safe.”

“Don’t worry. I might have some new recruits by the end of the day.”

“How?”

“Just be ready. I’ll need your help when the time comes.”

“You got it.” She left me and went to sit at the table with her friends. Because Ashlyn was one of the most popular girls at Lucent Academy, I really thought having her in the sparring class would make others join, but it didn’t. It seemed only the ones who had suffered somehow were willing to take control of their lives and not rely on others to solve their problems. The whole rock bottom thing, I guessed. By tonight, however, I hoped to make them all see how close that bottom was.

I didn’t seek out the Lycans immediately, because I was starving. I ate everything brought out to me, even asking for more. All the while, I listened to Kiera telling me about how Dr. Han had moved our sparring class into a bigger room and had given us all sorts of equipment to help us with our training. I couldn’t wait to see it. And I hoped tomorrow the room would be packed.