Shattered Secrets (Book of Red #1) (40 page)

“Three!”

“Here goes nothing.” I held my breath and took a step forward, bracing for impact: straightening as instructed, pointing my toes. Then I hit with a loud crash, my bones aching from the cold as I sunk toward the bottom. I kicked and swam my way to the surface, then counted the heads. We all made it.

“What now?” The beautiful blue pools reclaimed their rightful spot in Derick’s eyes; the drug washed away. “Please tell me you have a plan.”

“Back from your acid trip so soon? Now that we know you won’t go chasing dolphins, you should swim toward the cops,” Will said. “Then we’ll walk along the beach to get to my place.”

“Okay,” Mr. Crawford said, “Let’s move before we’re seen—and sorry about your car, son.”

“My car?”

An explosion rocked the bridge.

“Holy shit.” Will smiled, awed by the flames.

For a split second, the air warmed, then we paddled toward safety without saying another word.

An hour later, we collapsed on the lounge chairs behind Will’s house. The temperature hovered somewhere in the fifties, had to be. My teeth chattered. My clothes and hair burned my skin, cold as ice. My toes were stiff and slightly purple.

Derick hadn’t said anything since his car blew up, neither had anyone else for that matter. He worked double-shifts bagging groceries to pay for that Mustang, refusing his parents’ repeated offers to help. I lay beside him and stared up at the stars.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

He nodded. “Just a car.”

We fell back into a deep silence. This moment of peace in the middle of chaos, this simple moment where we could just
be
, didn’t feel as though it belonged to me or Derick. Our lives were foreign, full of murdered parents, running away from friends-turned-killers—Mark, running way from
Mark
—and crazy potions and weapons, things we didn’t have a clue how to use, really, things we’d have to endure training to use properly in the future.

“What are you thinking about?” I asked, shifting slightly so my eyes were level with his jaw, which was in desperate need of a shave.

He blinked, hard. “I kept thinking we could fight this. That somehow, when Boredas and Ruckus were under control, you and I could finish high school, go to college. You know, live. But we’ve lost Mark to something… I hated him because of you, because he knew you longer and for whatever reason when you were mad at me you’d go to him, but for this… he’s a killer?” Derick rolled to his side, a wild look in his eyes. “Doesn’t that sound stupid, Abigail? Mark, a
killer
!”

“I never loved—”

“It’s not even about your feelings for him. I’m not questioning you.” Taking my face in his palms, he rubbed his thumbs along my cheekbones. “It’s everything. Me. You. Him. My parents. Even Will and Megan. There is no going back to a simple life. What if you open the planes and we never see each other again? What if you can’t stand me when you see what I’m planning for Aedan?”

“Don’t say that.”

“I
have
to say that, Abby. I loved the way I felt when I went back for the book. I
loved
jumping from the bridge into the ocean. My insides came alive, like my dad’s potion revealed something deep and natural—and right—that’s been locked away too long.”

“That’s because it did.” Mr. Crawford loomed above us, his head tilted to the side. “You’re right to worry about your life changing. You’ve always lived a lie. But the truth won’t change
you
. You’ll still be Derick; you’ll still love running, books, cars, and most importantly Abigail. Living on our plane will enhance who you already are, make you more capable, teach you things you never imagined possible.”

If we ever get to live on our plane
. “If we survive Aedan.”

“Oh, we’ll survive him. I’ll make sure of it.” Derick sat up and crossed his legs. “Why do I want to end him so badly? I don’t understand this part of me, this burning desire to hunt down any threat to Abigail and kill it.”

Mr. Crawford squatted in front of Derick, placing his hand on his son’s knee. “The world isn’t harsh, but the people in it are. Aedan is dangerous, Boredas and Ruckus are as well, but not as much for you as for Abigail. Your natural instinct is to protect her because you love her and because that is your job; protection runs in your blood. Since discovering the truth, have you ever wondered why your skills are more action-intense while Abigail’s are not?”

“No, but come to think of it—”

“Is there something wrong with
me
?”

“No. No. Guardians are thinkers, planners of massive battles and rulers of a people. You pay attention to detail, listen to problems brought to you—or see through problems you experience—and set a course of action for others to follow. From the intricate details you gave the police after your kidnapping, I’d say you were quite all right. But the point I’m getting at is everyone else is here to serve you—
we
serve Guardians—”

“I don’t want to serve her.” Derick looked as if his father had smacked him. “Protect her, yes, but not carry her drinks on a silver platter and follow her around castles all day long.”

I snorted. “If it makes you feel better, that actually sounds quite nice.”

He glanced sideways, his mouth still set in a grim line. Breaking through this funk promised to be difficult. “That doesn’t help.”

“Why? It’s not like I’m asking you to do any of those things for me. You’re just assuming
I’m
going to change without any proof.”

“What if you do?” He pointed at the book. “You’ve changed just since reading that. The old Abigail never would have kept anything from me.”

I opened my mouth to yell at him, but Mr. Crawford shook his head then returned his attention to Derick.

“The massive dose of
alitherum
you breathed in has you in a sort of depression. Reality
can
be depressing.” Grimacing, Mr. Crawford went on, “But people don’t change unless they want to, Derick. You need to keep that in mind when fear overwhelms you, when reality appears bleak. But believe me when I say I understand why you’re upset.”

“You do?”

He nodded. “Although your mother and I have known for a long time that you and Abigail would fall in love, you’ve only come to understand that recently. You’re afraid. But you don’t have to be. Once we cross planes and take our home back from Aedan, you’ll learn there aren’t any castles, and you won’t carry drinks to her on a silver platter.”

“Damn. I was really looking forward to that.”

Derick cracked a small smile.

Finally!

Mr. Crawford glanced over his shoulder. Will and Megan were wrapped in each other’s arms, asleep on a lounger, and Derick’s mother sat in the sand beside their chair, her eyes glazed over. “Now, Abigail, can we discuss what it is you need for this to work before one of the three sleeping beauties over there starts snoring and alerts someone of our presence?”

“The book.” My heart leapt, not in a good way, and I chewed my lip. “I know it’s caused nothing but grief, but I need to read it.”

“How do you know what to do?” Derick picked the book up from the sand and dusted off the cover.

“Because it’s been trying to show me.”

“The secret?”

Nodding, I took
History of Kalós
from him and flipped through its pages. “The secret.”

“Do you need anything else?” Mr. Crawford asked, standing.

“Time.”

He nodded and helped Derick to his feet. “Then time is what you shall have.”

ome on, you stupid book. Just show me that drawing again
. We didn’t have hours to spare, but hours are exactly what I wasted trying to get a glimpse of the plane doors—at least I hoped they were the plane doors. Mrs. Crawford took her husband’s place, walking a perimeter around the beach to keep watch for Mark, Boredas and Ruckus, and even Mr. Banaan and the police. She’d occasionally stop and look at me, shake her head, then return to pacing. Derick fell asleep shortly after I’d yelled at him to get out of my face.

He wasn’t helping.

None of them were.

Hell,
I
wasn’t even helping.

You cannot be trusted, Abigail Doran. You’ve spoken of the secret. You want to open the world to evil when I’ve told you it’s the most dangerous thing you could ever do.

I stuck my tongue out at the book. Crazy? Yes. Definitely. But the stupid thing talked like a person and annoyed me like everything else. Didn’t trust me? Well, I didn’t trust it, not after it drove a wedge between me and Derick. My parents were dead, all of them. Mark killed his parents. The six of us remaining couldn’t run forever. We’d never make it to a sanctuary, and even if we did, we’d still have to leave to buy food. Hiding in an abandoned building for the rest of time didn’t sound like fun. Not at all.

“Just show me,” I whispered, “and I promise I’ll take responsibility for whatever happens. We need help.”

Very well. But you will regret this.

“What the hell is going on down here?” Mr. Banaan yelled, storming down the narrow path between dunes to the beach. “Will!
Will
!”

Fear pricked at my skin, and I slunk against the backrest of the lounger, trying to melt away into the darkness. Why now? Of all the bad timing!

Derick perked up and grabbed his father’s shirt collar, pulling him to the other side of my chair, well within the shadows.

Will stretched his arms over his head and yawned, displaying just the right amount of indifference to get his dad’s attention on only him. “Long time no see. What’s up?”

“What’s up? What’s
up
?” Mr. Banaan leaned in close to Will’s face. “I think you know.”

Turning his head to the side, Will squinted at his father. “You feeling okay? You’re repeating yourself.”

“You can play this game all you like, William Banaan, but I just got a call from the Coast Guard informing me that my yacht sunk to the bottom of Sarasota Bay. Where’s Harvey? What were you doing out there?”

“Abby, how close are you?” Mrs. Crawford asked.

I jumped and slowly looked to see if they’d overheard us.

“Don’t worry. We’re hidden.”

“Oh. Right.” Ignoring the argument between Will and his dad, I looked down at the image of the door drawn onto the page. “I can do it now.”