Shattered Secrets (Book of Red #1) (12 page)

“You mean she was a psychic?”

Mr. Crawford laughed, and a light smile stretched across his face. “Something like that, but not just for the future. Kalóans and Fávlosi are from this world; we just exist on different planes. Your mother could see through
all
planes. So, if she stood in her home and something from another existence was strong enough, it could display itself in front of her.”

“I don’t understand.” A twig snapped under my foot, echoing throughout the empty forest. I glanced around. The feeling someone watched us was inescapable.

People were hunting me, after all.

“Take a human war for example. If we all live
on
the same world, and the humans were about to go to battle with their tanks and guns over a piece of it, she could see that war because Earth would be affected. Damage to the world hurts life on all planes. Explosions may not be what we faced, but crops wouldn’t grow where those blasts occurred, causing famine in our people—and God only knows what damage in our enemy’s plane.”

“So our wars hurt the world?”

He half-nodded, half-cocked his head to the side. “And vice versa.”

“That’s awful.”

“You have no idea.” His quiet voice carried a deep sadness, a regret, and his eyes were focused beyond me, probably back to his true home. “All life is tethered to the same living world.”

Life in the Kalóan plane must have been difficult, but I still didn’t know what any of this meant. “If we’re supposed to exist somewhere else, why are we here?”

“Because of you.”

I should’ve known. “How?”

“First, you need to know about your father. As a Guardian, he was graced with powers giving him an ability to cloak the planes from others of our kind and beings within the world of Fávlos.”

“Let me guess, there’s a group of fairy-like creatures who want to see me dead because my father pissed them off and my mother saw something she shouldn’t have.”

“Worse. You are the only living descendant of a Guardian, and there is a group of our enemies—partnered with our people—who would like to see you dead because you, Abby, are the only thing preventing them from entering this plane, and you have the ability to see them coming.”

I needed to sit, maybe spend some time with an oxygen tank. I couldn’t see anyone coming. I couldn’t even get the answers right on my exams at school. And blocking up the planes?

“You don’t know because you’ve never been to a Kalóan classroom, because you’ve never been taught.”

I don’t want anyone to teach me. Taking a deep breath, I asked, “But why here? Why not keep me safe at home? Why close the planes in the first place?”

Mr. Crawford sighed. “Your father had it upon good authority that there would be a battle within our own people. He didn’t feel our plane would be safe for any Guardian—especially you—so he sent everyone to live here.”

“Everyone? But I’m all there is left?”

“You are. And we are the only protectors of Guardians left alive. Boredas and Ruckus must have been trapped here with their families, and they won’t stop until you’re dead, just as they wouldn’t stop until the others were dead.”

His words spun around in my head, and the mug of tea nearly fell from my hands. How could I be any of those things when, according to them, I didn’t have
true
love in this plane and therefore had no powers? Never mind Mr. Crawford’s story didn’t match anything my kidnappers told me.

“You informed the police they played video games, correct?” He pushed a low-lying branch from our path.

We were so close to the spot where Derick and I spent hundreds of summer days.

“Yes. They were so intense.”

“What if I told you what you thought to be a video game was actually a way we communicate with those on our plane?”

“I’d say that sounds crazy.” The farther we walked, the more my head pounded. Too much information had a tendency to make me feel overwhelmed, frustrated, and headachy. “And they said my
father
wanted me back to kill me, but you said my parents are dead. And if Psycho Number One and Two kidnapped me, doesn’t that mean the scary people are already here? Why would more of them want to come here so badly? And why did my dad make the decision for everyone?”

Questions came to me faster than I had time to think about them, stressing my head even more. Everything crashed down all at once.

What did any of this have to do with Derick’s or Mark’s family? Or my adopted parents? Were they all my bodyguards? Why did my dad say he was promised more time?

“We’re here.” Mr. Crawford stopped and smiled.

I followed his gaze to the special place I shared with Derick, and the mug slipped from my fingers. In the middle of the forest—the cold, barren winter forest—the grass grew tall and green, flowers bloomed as though today was a warm spring day, and every tree was full with leaves. “I don’t understand. How…? We’ve come out here a million times in the winter.”

“This is a door between this plane and our home. If a Guardian lifted the veil, we’d be able to come and go here at will.” He sighed. “There are many of these all over the world, some leading to our home, others leading to the spirit world.”

“So if someone unlocked the
door
, I might look out my window and see an army of magical beings marching through my woods?”

Mr. Crawford laughed. “As the human population grew, we found other ways to travel, ways that do not bring attention, but they are quite dangerous.”

“But only if the planes are unlocked?”

“Yes.”

The bushes rustled. A man and woman in their mid to late twenties appeared, smiling and laughing. He spun her around then planted his lips on hers, their skin glowing warm and golden as if they’d spent weeks on a beach soaking in the rays of the sun.

“Who are they?”

Mr. Crawford laughed again. “I see no one, but the fact you do means there is more to your relationship—”

“With Derick?”

He nodded.

The stupid heart in my chest swelled like it did the day Derick kissed me, and the only thing I cared about was getting back to him—

A shrill scream pierced my ears, sending a jolt of fear right through my swollen heart. I looked at the lush green spot where the man and woman were and saw a flash of black fog pass over them. They fell to the ground, their skin pale and pasty, their mouths crooked and mangled.

My screams echoed through the forest.

turned and ran for the house, jumping over logs, splashing chilly mud and muck every other step and caking my jeans in it all. I couldn’t stay on my feet, but I had to get away. Something killed those people… just by passing over them. Whatever Mr. Crawford wanted me to know, I got one message loud and clear: I saw evil.

“
Abby
! What are you doing?” Derick materialized on the path in front of me. Breathing heavily, he grabbed my hand and pulled me into him. “Are you okay? Where’s my dad?”

“Derick.”

“What happened?”

I rested my head on his chest, tears streaming down my face. “Something killed… people. In our spot. Black fog or—I don’t even know, Derick. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I—”

I looked into his bright-blue eyes, wanting my lips to form the words my heart so desperately wanted to shout to the world, but I couldn’t. People died. The timing for me to profess my feelings was horrible.

His eyebrows rose as though he expected me to tell him I loved him, as though he desperately wanted to hear it as much as I wanted to say it; he drew in a deep breath, his chest heaving.

But I couldn’t speak. My voice was lost in that horrible memory.

“Abby has powers after all,” Mr. Crawford said, hunched over and panting.

A crooked smile grew up Derick’s face, melting my insides. He squeezed my hand. “And what would those powers be?”

“She can see through a veil to our home plane.”

My warmth disappeared. I shuddered, then tugged Derick toward the house. “We have to get away. I don’t want to be here.”

“What did you see?” Mr. Crawford asked, catching up to us.

“S-some kind of fog. It passed over two people, two people who were kissing and laughing and having a good time, and it killed them.”

He stopped and looked back as though he wanted to return, grasping for something at his hip but coming away with nothing. “I
do
want to go back.”

“Why?” Derick and I asked together, still moving forward.

“This isn’t our home. We came here to protect you and the other Guardians, Abby. However, at some point, we need to return and restore order to our people.” Mr. Crawford marched up the short hill, walking next to Derick and me. “I assume the man your kidnappers claimed to be your father is Aedan. He’s in power over Kalós and quite deranged. He wishes to
control
humans here—and inhabitants on the Fávlosi plane—in order to prevent war. But in doing so, he has created a war far larger than you can even imagine. Right now, our people are trapped and angry, and the humans are without guidance; their wars are killing the world. Look around you. Watch the news. Humans are tearing life apart.”

“I still don’t understand what any of this has to do with me.”

His face flushed an angry shade of red, and he towered over me with flared nostrils and narrowed eyes, the momentary loss of breath he exhibited a moment ago regained with his fury.

“
Dad
.” Derick gently placed his palm on Mr. Crawford’s shoulder. “She doesn’t know. Hell, I barely understand. Don’t take out your frustrations on Abby, especially when you still have so many doubts about how Aedan, Boredas and Ruckus are working together. You don’t even know how they would have met, game or no game.”

“None of this makes sense. Aedan lived in the out provinces of our home, an area that produced soldiers. He shouldn’t be in charge, let alone in an area with access to devices connected to where we are now. But he is, and apparently he wants Abby out of his way.” Mr. Crawford sighed and relaxed his shoulders. “I’m sorry, Abigail. We should have done more, ignored the warnings and trusted our instincts. As of last week, all but two Guardians had been murdered. That’s not the case anymore. You, Abby, are the only thing keeping the world, as you know it, safe, and at the same time, your lack of knowledge of what you do is dangerous for the world.”

“But you didn’t think I had any powers until—?”

“Your ability to
guard
the planes comes from you being alive. Nothing else. The power is something passed down through blood. I’m not sure how else to explain it; it’s just a part of who you are.”

“Why didn’t the kidnappers just kill me, then? Is Aedan here, too? They said he wanted to do it in public. “

“Why would they say Aedan’s her dad or that he wants to kill her in public?” Derick pulled me closer, securing his arm around my waist, his muscles tense and his fingers digging into my side.

“Why Aedan had them wait to finish his plan for ruthless eradication, or why they collaborated with Aedan in the first place, I cannot figure out. None of it makes much sense, but they will do anything they can to get to her. Lying included. Right now, no one can cross planes because she is alive and has no idea how to unlock the door, but if they kill her, they will be free to come and go as they please. We were lucky you and Mark got to her; otherwise, I fear she’d be dead and we’d be in the middle of an apocalypse.”