walker saga 07 - earth (19 page)

New York wasn’t on it. There wasn’t a state replacing the area. It was simply blank. The curve of America now traced over New Jersey and around Pennsylvania. All of Canada seemed to be intact, but most of Vermont and Maine were also gone. The shield had extended across multiple states and thousands of miles in area. Unbelievable.

“Well …?” He leaned forward. “Show me where this New York is.”

Chrissie and Eva spent more time than I had examining the map in minute detail. Lucy leaned back in her seat and we exchanged a look. One which said that this was insane. Everything we had known about history and growing up in America was completely different to what the humans on this side of the shield knew. The lalunas or Seventine had actually rewritten history. How the heck had they done that?

To distract the glaring coastguard I leaned into him and fired off a question. “Do you have any wars going on at the moment?”

He looked taken aback. His eyebrows flew up and both hands went to the thinning hair on top of his head. The color was somewhere in the region of light brown or dirty blond.

“Of course not. We haven’t had any recent wars on American soil.”

“What about gang problems?”

The insipid color of his eyes was momentarily distracting as they bored into me. “We have some localized issue with the usual motorcycle and drug-running cartels. But they remain on the fringes of our society. If you’re all tattooed up because you belong to some sort of gang then I’ll let you know that you’re not welcome in my town.” The glare was more pronounced. “We protect our own here, and our children grow up safe.”

He thought our Walker marks were tattoos, but he hadn’t assumed I was in a gang. I had wondered why he hadn’t mentioned them earlier. Must be common here to have face ink. I knew humans had gone through an obsessive inking-their-skin stage in the twenty-first century.

Lucy tilted her head to the side, looking way too pixie-like to ever be thought of as human. Even with her wings hidden away. “So you’re saying that society runs completely normally here. You have schools, malls – like with shoe stores and everything?”

Shoe stores. Of course that would be her first thought. Even though she flew most places now and rarely wore shoes. There was no changing the fundamentals of Lucy. And Lucy was a shoe whore.

We were confusing the man. His poor brain was getting taxed from all the strange facts we were forcing on him.

“Yes, of course we have shoe stores. Where else would we buy our … shoes?”

I wanted to laugh, he was so blustery. At least all evidence still pointed to the safety of this side of the barrier. Leaving the girls here would be okay.

“It’s not on here!” Chrissie’s exclamation drew our attention. “New York isn’t on your map. It should be right there.” She jabbed her finger into the blank spot which was depicted on this map as ocean.

The male sighed, before leaning back into the large-backed chair and lacing both hands together, resting them over his pronounced gut. “I’ve heard many stories in this room, but manufacturing an entire American state. Well … that’s a bit stupid. Why go with something that’s so easily confirmed?”

I was about to slap the asshole grin off his face when the door behind us smashed open. I expected it to be one of the other men off the coastguard boat, but instead it was a lady.

Older. Late forties at least. She had her hair pulled up into a severe ponytail. Just the slightest hint of gray peeking through the blond highlights. Her expression was a mixture of freaked out and over-excited. Hints of red graced the tips of her high cheekbones.

“Geoff!” Her exclamation had our interrogator jumping to his feet. And the way he smoothed his wisps of hair down, he was more than a little interested in what she had to say. “You’ve got to see this.”

Just like that we were forgotten as he lumbered out of the room after the older woman.

Brace and I exchanged a single glance.

He nodded.

Yep, we were so totally finding out what had happened.

Something told me that whatever was coming was going to rock Geoff’s comfortable little town to its core.

Chapter 10

By the time we made it out of the interrogation room the building was empty. It seemed that everyone, including our smuggled girls, had taken off to see this sight. We pretty much sprinted back out onto the wooden docks. In the distance, toward our right side, a large group of people had gathered.

Brace’s long legs carved through the distance in less than a minute. I hauled butt to keep pace with him, the others bringing up the rear. Lucy had to be half-carried by Colton. Her tiny legs just couldn’t keep up. Eva and Chrissie were last and they lagged further back. Still, all of us had a pretty decent view of what had expelled all the humans from the building and out onto this long dock which jutted into the ocean.

Holy crapola.

The barrier had been down for about an hour, and already things were happening. Out on the horizon, coming straight for Atlantic City, were about twenty boats. Voices were loud as we closed in on the mass of confused people. Coastguard uniforms were dotted throughout and I could see many of them were on their two-way-style communication devices which were attached to their shoulders. Alerting various government departments, most probably.

The vessels were a mixture of old and new. Mostly white and varying in size, a lot of them did not look sea-worthy. I hoped that just regular humans were on board, people who had finally been able to escape from New York. They’d probably be from the rebels’ quadrant, or teenagers from the compounds.

But if they were gangers.

Well, the ones standing here would be in a world of trouble. Luckily, though, I wasn’t about to bail on them just yet. We could surely spare another few minutes to make sure war wasn’t arriving via a bunch of leaky boats. A part of me had to know that we hadn’t just destroyed the barrier and let the evil out to infect the rest of the world. The power grid would still be there in an hour – I hoped.

Heavy breathing started right beside my ear. Eva. She sounded like she was about to hyperventilate or something.

“We can’t leave until we know that the females are okay,” she said.

It wasn’t exactly an order, but I knew she’d be difficult if I decided it was time to go before she was ready.

I tilted my head to the left so I could meet her eyes. “I’m not a complete ass. I want to make sure that everyone is safe and that this fallout from New York doesn’t erupt into a war. But I only have so much time. When I say it’s time to go, we have no other choice.”

Pupils flicked right and left as she examined me closely. “I only ask that we try,” she finally said.

I was happy that she didn’t argue any further. I could see fire in her. The same fire that was in all the half-Walkers, but there was also flexibility and compromise, and that was important.

“You know that your element is spirit,” I murmured, turning back to face out to the ocean. “You make the seventh of our elemental tie.”

I felt her body stiffen beside me. Her muscles were rigid and the next few breaths were still heavy and sort of jagged.

“Spirit.” The word sounded strangled, although not surprised. She clearly knew something. “I guess that explains it then.”

“Explains what?” Brace said from where he stood nearby. He didn’t have to be at the front to see; he was a head above everyone here.

Her lips parted into an awkward, strained grin. “It explains why I see dead people.”

Okay then.
That was unexpected. I hadn’t exactly been sure what ‘spirit’ was going to entail, but seeing dead people had not been on that list.

“So you like, literally, see the spirits of the dead?” I asked.

Brace cleared his throat before she could answer, and I knew he would have some theory regarding her gift. He knew the stories of the originals and he understood Walker powers a lot better than me. He let her speak first.

“Yes, I see the resonance left behind when a human dies. Sometimes it’s clearer than others. Their spirit seems … almost aware. Other times they’re nothing more than a transparent reflection, just wisps which eventually fade away. They help me on the streets. I avoid the places with lots of dead.”

I flicked my eyes up to my mate. “Is this going to be the full extent of her abilities?”

Brace’s chocolate eyes were soft. “I very much doubt it. The same way the shield kept the majority of your powers from emerging, Eva’s will be the same. Not to mention that Earth mutes or … distorts everything to do with energy. Like you, until Eva is on First World for an extended time, we won’t know the true nature of her gift.”

Her golden skin tones paled considerably at his words. And then we lost her. Whatever animation had been in her face was now gone, eyes glassy, as if she was in another place. She’d retreated somewhere that no one could touch.

Strange.

Before I could say anything more to her, she turned tail and ran. Back down the docks. I was stunned for a second, watching her retreating form, blond ponytail bouncing.

Shaking my head, I grabbed Brace’s arm. “I’m going after her. Keep an eye on everyone for me.”

He pushed a strand of hair behind my ear, and grazed my cheek with his fingertips. “You got it, Red. Be careful.”

I took off. Eva was fast. She was already back at the docks and heading toward the building. I was fast too, and enough of my energy had returned that I could really sprint after her. The warmth of the morning sun disappeared as I entered the weathered office again. I was worried I’d have to search her out, but she had not moved past the first room that contained all the pictures. She was just standing there, staring at one which was titled ‘Jet Ski Challenge 2037’.

“We used to have a jet ski.” She was talking before I even reached her side. “One Christmas, when I was ten, Dad hinted that he had this amazing gift me for me and Matty … my little brother.”

My heart hurt at the sheer agony in her voice. Just saying the name of her brother was too painful for her. But she managed to continue.

“We were bouncing off the walls all morning even after opening our presents. Dad held out until about 10am. Then, finally, he drove us to the local lake. It was a massive water zone, and everyone from all the surrounding areas would spend hours there in the summer months.

“I jumped out of the car, wondering if he’d organized a party, but there was no one around. Just this lump covered in a sheet. He told me to rip it off –”

A sob shook her, cutting off part of the next word.

“There it was all white and shiny … best present ever. We played on it all day and I’d never had so much fun. Mom came along later and the four of us took turns zooming around the lake.”

By the time she turned to face me tears filled those tiger eyes. “I loved my family more than my own life. How could Mom do this to me? To Dad? She lied to me my entire life. I don’t even know who I am anymore.”

I had no idea what to say to her. There were no words, and the two people who might have shed some light on the situation were dead.

“Dad gave me this sword,” she continued, reaching up to rub the red blade. “He said it was strong, and it was connected to me, but he’d never tell me anything else about her. Mortem is no ordinary blade, she hums with energy. I believe it’s Walker.”

Well, that was interesting. “Maybe your father wasn’t unaware. Maybe your mother was already pregnant when he met her and he didn’t care. There are plenty of scenarios, Eva. But really the most important part you already know. Your Dad raised you as his own; loved you as his own. He’s your father. No matter who actually donated the sperm.”

She snorted through her wash of tears. “I like you. You’re a pretty cool chick and I don’t trust many … but I think we could be friends.”

I reached forward and captured her hand in mine. “I’m really sorry about your family. If you ever want to talk to me about what happened, I’m always here to listen.”

She sighed, but didn’t pull away from my grip. “I don’t think I’m ready for that. I might never be ready. But I’m okay with being part of the half-Walker family. I understand that the mission might be dangerous. I know you said we could all die. But I’m the sort of person who would rather fight to the end than stand around and let the assholes win. I know now the only reason I survived … that night … was because I’m not human. I couldn’t save my family, but I can try my best to save the rest of the world.”

The silence between us was sort of comfortable now.

“We should get back to the docks,” I said, letting go of her hand.

She nodded and wiped away the last of the moisture beneath her eyes.

We moved back together, our pace just short of a run. As soon as I was back with the main group, I headed toward Chrissie. She was near the front of the jetty, with some of the other females.

All of them still had their gazes firmly locked on the approaching boats. The coastguards were still yelling and issuing stern commands into their little comms, preparing for whatever drama this rush of unauthorized boats was bringing. Our group of misplaced females had been long forgotten and now was the time for us to get them out of sight and secured away. First though, I was going to do a little digging.

Chrissie noticed me then, and she reached across and linked her arm though mine. “I’m really sorry I hit you, Abby. It was a bitchface move and I totally owe you a freebie.”

I squeezed her arm. “No, you don’t. I understand your anger and pain. It’s all forgiven.”

No one seemed to be paying attention to us. Still I lowered my voice and shifted my face even closer. “We have to leave soon, and Eva is coming with us. But I do want to make sure you and the girls are safe. Any news on the boats?”

Chrissie’s sharp eyes flickered once behind us before coming back to me. “They’re raising the white flag, and I glimpsed a few people on one. No tatts, so I think we have rebels here. Not gangers.”

That was great.

“Be careful with Eva,” she said out of nowhere.

I raised my brows and she took the hint to continue.