Redemption (10 page)

Mommy had talked about Oregon once, when she and Jake were on the run and figuring out where to go next, but she worried their old car wouldn’t make it that far.

Jake remembered tracing the path from Oklahoma to Oregon with his finger on the atlas Mommy had bought. It hadn’t seemed that far with his finger, but Mommy had insisted it was at least two days of driving. Jake had studied the states around Oregon and he remembered that California was right below Oregon.

Jake was in California now.

Aiden hadn’t told him where they were, but he’d found out from one of the staff members. They hadn’t told him, of course, Aiden would have killed them for telling him anything. Instead, Jake had found out himself, in a servant’s head. He’d begun searching their heads, getting whatever information he could about Aiden, about Raphael. About Marcus. He’d found little about the elements, but he did discover that Aiden’s house was in Napa Valley, California. At the time, he thought that information was worthless.

Now he wasn’t so sure.

Could he sneak away from Aiden and find Mommy? Would Mommy want him now that she had Will?

Yes. Mommy would always want him.

She’d kept him safe from the Bad Men until she’d fallen down the hill in Colorado. Will had been the one who kept her from saving him. The Bad Men might have killed her if she’d tried. Will had saved Mommy’s life. But lost Jake’s instead.

Jake knew that was wrong. He’d seen it all in his head before it happened. Jake knew that the Bad Men would finally get him. He’d known it for a long time although he kept it from Mommy. But what if Will had let her climb the hill? No, Will was supposed to keep Mommy from trying to save him. But what if this one time things could have changed? Jake shook his head, choking back his sobs. The bad things in his head never changed. But was he with Aiden because that’s where he was supposed to be or because Will didn’t help him?

Will would always pick Mommy over Jake. Jake needed to remember that.

He lay on the hill, his head resting on his right arm as he looked at the destruction he had caused. He knew he should feel bad about what he’d done and he did, but not as bad as he thought he should. This wasn’t his fault. He had no choice. Besides, the people had seen the storm. They would have gone to their basements. No one was hurt.

I didn’t hurt anyone
.

No, Jake was the one who was hurt. His left arm stretched out in front of him, the skin blistered and black from his wrist halfway to his elbow. His cuts and scrapes usually healed fast, but this burn didn’t seem to be healing. Aiden must have done something to make it stay. Who knew what Aiden would have done if Jake hadn’t obeyed him? Now Jake was the one suffering.

A shadow inched toward his left hand and Jake reached out a finger toward it, pain shooting up his arm.

Ever since Marcus had visited several nights before, Jake was more curious about the shadows. Marcus was right. They seemed to like him, following him wherever he went. The only time they stopped was when Aiden was around.

They had grown bolder since Marcus’s visit, as though they had gained permission to play with Jake. Or maybe it was because Jake was more open to them. Jake didn’t care which one was the cause; he loved the result.

He had friends.

Splaying his fingers into the mud, Jake watched as the shadow touched the tip of his middle finger. Icy coldness stabbed his fingertip and Jake sucked in a breath as he jerked his hand backward. Pain shot up his arm and he cried out as he sat up and grabbed his wrist. The burn throbbed and fresh tears blurred his eyes.

The shadow scurried backward, settling next to a bush.

“I’m sorry,” Jake whispered. “I’m not scared of you. You just surprised me. I didn’t expect you to be so cold. Come back.”

Jake extended both arms in front of him, pressing his palms into the earth. Spreading his left hand shot a fresh wave of burning pain up his arm, but he ignored it. “See, I want to be your friend. It’s okay.”

The shadow slid away from the bush.

“I’m nice. I won’t hurt you.”

The shadow moved closer while other shadows formed a circle around him, curling and uncurling in a coordinated rhythm as though they were dancing.

The air around Jake cooled. His wet clothes clung to his body, raising goose bumps on his skin. The throbbing in his arm increased, and he bit his lip to keep from crying out and scaring the shadows.

He was so close.

The shadow was less than an inch away from his left arm.

“It’s okay,” Jake whispered. “I’m your friend.”

Darting forward, the shadow touched Jake’s finger again. He was prepared for the cold, forcing his body to remain still. It reminded him of jumping into a cold swimming pool. Mommy always told him he would get used to the temperature after he jumped.

But the coldness remained as the shadow spread out around his other fingers. The iciness crept upward, making his fingers numb. Jake closed his eyes at the assault, refusing to break contact, determined to see this through.

Stabs of cold touched him everywhere and Jake’s eyes flew open. The shadows around him had moved closer and now touched his body on all sides.

The sun poked a hole in the clouds, sending a beam of light in front of Jake, brighter than the sun should have been. He squinted into the beam.

A new shadow crawled out of the light, darker than any shadow he’d ever seen before.

“Jacob.” A deep voice echoed softly around him.

Fear washed through Jake as he sat up straight, crossing his legs in front of him.

The shadow rose from the ground, shimmering, almost see-through, taking the shape of a person. Only it was just a blob and had no face, and was about as tall as Jake.

“We have found you worthy.” A voice came from the figure although it had no mouth. It was the voice from his dream.

Fighting to catch his breath, Jake wheezed. “Thank you.”

“You only have to call upon us and we will help you if we can. You shall be our champion.”

“Who are you?”

“We are the spirits of the shadow realm. Aiden and his kind have trapped us for eternity, but you have the power to release us and help stop his hold upon the earth. You are the key.”

Marcus had told him the same thing. Maybe it was true.

“What do I do?”

“For now, nothing. Know that we are always watching and we wait.”

How could the shadows help him? “Can you help me save my mom?”

“Perhaps.”

“And Will too?”

“Four shall fight. Two shall remain. There is no changing this.”

“So one of us will die? Will, me, or Mommy?”

“Yes, it is etched into the future. At least one of you will die before it’s all over. Possibly two. ”

“Who will die?”

“That part is unwritten.”

“I can change it?”

“No, not change, for it has not been determined. You have the power to create the future.”

“I can pick who dies?”

“Yes.”

Who would die was an easy choice.

“We wish to give you a gift.” The shadow’s form shifted, the vague shape of an arm rising from its side and extending toward Jake.

Jake knew he should be frightened, but he was fascinated instead.

“Do you accept our gift?”

Jake nodded.

The tip of a finger unfurled from what should have been a hand, reaching for the burn on Jake’s arm. A tidal wave of cold rushed into the wound, sweeping through his body, coursing though his blood. The brutal iciness burned but eased into a slight chill as it settled in his chest. The shadow moved its finger and the intense cold was gone. And so was the burn on Jake’s arm. In its place, the skin was swollen and darkened.

“My burn is gone.”

“It is only part of our gift. On your chest is a sign of our protection.”

“But if Aiden sees it…”

“Aiden is too arrogant to see what’s in front of him.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Wait.”

The shadow dissolved into the air and the beam of light faded, the clouds shifting to cover the sun.

“Jake?” a voice called behind him. Antonia.

Jake looked over his shoulder, wondering what she had seen, but her gaze seemed intent on the path, her chest heaving to catch her breath after her climb.

“
Señor
Aiden has sent me for you.”

Jake stood, looking up into the clouds where the light had come from. Finally, he had someone on his side. Someone who really wanted to help him. For now, Aiden might be able to boss him around and hurt him, but the time would come when Jake would kill him for everything he had done.

And he would kill Will too. The coldness surrounding his heart helped him accept it even more.

***

As Emma drove toward the Oregon mountains, fear and guilt rushed through her head, but it wasn’t her own. It came from Jake, although she didn’t know how. She’d tried multiple times to contact him the last few days without success. But she had no doubt she was sensing Jake’s emotions. He was doing something he didn’t want to do. Something bad.

Before Will had lost the mark of The Chosen One, he had the ability to sense her, but only when she was afraid. Maybe it was the same with Jake now. She wasn’t sure whether to be grateful or horrified. Aiden was making Jake do something he didn’t want to do, and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it, which only added to her fears. And her imagination.

But it also led her to consider the future. Suppose Jake lived through the coming trial, and Aiden did too. What kind of hell would her son be forced to endure?

Emma had to make sure that didn’t happen.

She glanced at Will. He sat in the passenger seat, reading the book again to see what had been added. Emma had no doubt that Will was stronger and more powerful than she was. There was no telling how much more he would grow over the next week. His power, added to his convictions and his love for her, made him the perfect choice.

Will and Jake had to be the two who remained.

The surety of it filled her, quelling any fear over what that meant for her own life. The moment she’d become a mother, Jake’s safety had superseded her own. It wasn’t conscious, more instinctual. Her job was to ensure that her son not only survived but had the best possible future. And of all the other elementals, Will was the only acceptable choice. Not only would he be a good father, but he actually had a shot at beating Aiden. Much better than she could hope for. The question was how to make sure that happened.

She could use their new connection to her advantage. Will had taken her power and added it to his own to free her from the car. What if she pushed all her power to him to help him win? The trick would be to do it without Will realizing she was sacrificing herself in the process. She needed to use their practice time focusing on her new goal.

Not telling him about her plan was the same as lying, and it crushed her. She didn’t want to lie to Will anymore. But Will was so protective that he’d never agree. In the end, she had to decide what held the most importance: providing the best possible outcome for Jake or having a clear conscience.

A heaviness settled in her chest. There was really no choice at all.

Reluctance crept in to her resolve when she thought about how she might be pregnant again. By throwing the battle and assuring her death, she may be ensuring the death of an innocent life. But it wasn’t as if she stood a chance anyway.

Chapter Eight

Will studied the book while Emma turned on the television in their cabin, flipping channels with a groan. “What kind of motel only has ten stations? I hope they at least have a news channel.”

Will looked up. “This place is cheap and remote. They figure people aren’t here to watch TV.”

Three days after the dream, they had found in the book the new rules that the mysterious voice had mentioned, and nothing else new. But the fact that the text changed meant that the book remained important. Just because there wasn’t something in it today didn’t mean they wouldn’t find something tomorrow. Which only reinforced that the others would come to claim it.

“I just need a news channel,” Emma muttered. The image on the television stopped on a man at a news desk and she sat on the bed, the remote still in her hand.

Although she hadn’t said what she was doing, Will knew she was searching for Alex’s whereabouts. He was the one element they could keep track of through the media, and although they could have tracked him on the laptop, they hadn’t had internet service for a couple of days.

After clips about earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and wars, Senator Phillip Warren’s face appeared on the screen.

“Senator Warren is on the campaign trial this week, making his way up the East Coast,” the newscaster announced. “Rumors run rampant as to the whereabouts of Alex Warren, Senator Warren’s son, especially after his disappearance earlier this month.” Film of Alex walking next to his father and shaking hands with the crowd filled the screen. “Several of the younger Warren’s recent campaign appearances have been cancelled, causing widespread speculation, including rumors that he’s doing a stint in rehab for substance abuse or that he was abducted during last week’s terrorist attack in Albuquerque. In any case, security detail around the Senator has been increased.”