Tether, p.18
Tether, page 18
“You’re a good cook,” Taren said when we’d settled onto the sofa, his arm draped around my shoulder.
“You and my mom agree on something,” I said, smiling.
“We agree on a lot of things,” he said.
“Oh really?” I said. They didn’t fight, and I knew my mom appreciated how protective Taren was of me, but there was an underlying tension between them that I suspected stemmed from my mom’s misguided belief that if I hadn’t met Taren, I wouldn’t need protecting.
“Sure,” he murmured, kissing my ear, then my neck. “We agree you’re amazing, and beautiful, and smart, and precious…”
His lips found mine, and instead of just hearing his words, I felt them. He loved me. It really was in his kiss. The way he held my face with both hands. The way he answered my sigh of happiness with a moan of his own.
In high school—the one in the Valley, not the one at the Institute—I’d kissed boys because I desperately needed to belong—to someone, anyone. I thought that if I was hooking up with a guy, then I wasn’t a completely messed-up outcast, because he saw something in me. But it never worked; the boys never really saw me, and I always ended up feeling more alone than I had before we’d ever made out.
Taren didn’t complete me or anything corny like that, but he was a part of me, and I was a part of him. And that was more than enough; it was everything.
The knowledge of how profoundly I’d changed settled deep into my bones and I gasped, my eyes flying open.
Taren’s eyes opened in surprise and I babbled, “This is really bad timing, because I really, really want to keep kissing you, but I think I just figured out how to save the world.”
49
“It’s just… Ember, we’re not you,” Crystle said. “We can’t save the world.”
I’d sent Taren to get Master Dogan, who’d taken to sleeping in his office while I’d rounded up Bridget, Madison, Crystle, and Callie. I’d mentally woken Cole—who’d been more than comfortable taking up residence in one of the tents that dotted the Institute grounds—and told him to meet me in the meditation yurt.
“Yes, you can,” I said, more convinced than ever. “Look at Callie. Her new kitten, Oscar. He was skinny as a rail and covered in fleas when you found him. You saved him, didn’t you?”
“Yeah…but he’s a cat,” Callie said, stroking the orange ball of fur in her lap. “Not the whole entire world.”
“Of course he is,” I said, my conviction growing with every word. “What else is the world but the creatures that live in it? We’re all trying to save the world all the time—even if it’s just our little piece of it.”
“That’s a powerful sentiment, Ember,” Master Dogan said, “and I don’t disagree. To a point. But history—”
“None of that matters anymore,” I said emphatically. “It doesn’t matter how it used to be. It matters how it is. And how it is—how it’s going to be—is changing. Right now. Look at Crystle’s Mark and tell me that things aren’t different. Why can’t it be for the better?”
They all wore blank expressions; even Taren didn’t meet my eyes. I began pacing, looking for a way to make them understand. “During the time that man and Daemon lived in harmony, it was Daemons who guided the evolution, right?”
I got some nods of agreement.
“So why shouldn’t it be that way now?” I asked. “Who says that telepathy, telekinesis, or any other power is strictly the domain of Daemons?”
Crystle said, “You want to teach us how to become Daemon?”
“Not quite,” I said. “You’ll still be human. But who’s to say you can’t be taught to do what I can do?”
“It doesn’t work that way,” Cole said, shaking his head. “Daemon power is innate; humans just don’t have it.”
“Maybe not,” I said. “But we know where there is power. A lot of it. And you yourself said, all it needs is a channel.”
Cole looked at me thoughtfully, and Callie blurted out, “You mean that you could teach us to access the Chasm!”
“I think it’s worth trying,” I said, and gave Master Dogan a meaningful look.
There were risks to what I was proposing. Daemons had become Dahraks using the Chasm, but that didn’t mean humans would. There was no way to tell how it would affect them unless we tried it. We’d just have to be very careful and be honest about the potential danger.
Michele had been so quiet that I had almost forgotten she was there. She’d been spending a lot of time in the meditation yurt, and had been there when we arrived.
“This is a wise plan,” she said. “Why shouldn’t man evolve? Become more of who he is? And Daemons helping? That was always the way. Why shouldn’t it be again?”
Whether it was her words, her tone, or a little Daemon mind trickery, her words held weight. Heads began nodding, a few smiles even crept onto faces that a moment ago had been doubtful.
I locked eyes with Taren, and I braced for the argument that was sure to come about me putting myself in danger.
Ember—
You know it's what has to happen. Please don't try to talk me out of it.
I wouldn't dream of doing something so obviously futile, he said, and I saw him smile. What I was going to say, was that I've got your back. If anything happens to you, I’ll bring you back to the Sanctuary. I'll make sure you heal. You won't go through this alone.
We began immediately.
Master Dogan handpicked a small group of Keepers that he believed would be open to learning and able to keep quiet about it. I’d wanted to include some of the Keepers-in-Training, but he’d insisted the risk was too great to expect students to bear. The irony of him using that reasoning on me, of all people, wasn’t lost on either of us. Still, he was resolute.
Taren did what he could with the Guardians. Cole had told him that meditation would enhance his gift of being able to predict his opponent’s movements, and, since then, Taren had renewed practicing. Soon his movements had become even more fluid, his grace more deadly. That was the best advertisement for what he was teaching, and his training sessions grew in attendance each day.
Michele continued working with her students to strengthen the Sanctuary, and they were definitely making progress. The boundary had expanded, much to the relief of the people practically living on top of each other in tents. They spread out as the Sanctuary did.
Cole got amazing news from Sadah. Every one of the Daemons who had crossed over from the demon world had now healed. It had been a torturous process, but worth it. Arrangements were being made to have them travel to Los Angeles. Even for the Institute, it took a while to get that many fake passports. I tried to tell them that they could simply influence the TSA workers to let them by, but Master Dogan wanted no mind trickery unless absolutely necessary. It would take only a week to secure the documents, so we waited.
50
Right when it all seemed to be coming together, things started falling apart.
Cara, who by now was so much better that she looked human—or, more accurately, like a really tall Daemon—had been in contact with some of the Dahraks on the other side of the Gateway. They were eager for the same chance that Cara had gotten, and they were coming. Thousands of them, and they weren’t coming alone. That many Dahraks mobilizing in one direction had earned the attention of other demons, and now it seemed that the entire demon world was marching toward Los Angeles.
There was evidence to back up that claim. Every Gateway but ours was doing better than it had in years. Incidents of Reds, of Retrievals, both down. There had been nothing close to a breach in weeks.
We weren’t faring quite as well. Reds had sprung up all over L.A. The news was reporting that they were just club kids under the influence of some new designer drug that gave them superhuman strength and made them act out violently. Except time passed and they didn’t detox. The Reds that got caught ended up in rubber rooms.
The passports were taking longer than Master Dogan had thought, leaving dozens of Daemons with power we needed stuck in Greece. I finally convinced the Elders to just let them do some mind mojo and get here already. They were set to leave the next day.
One bright spot was that my hunch had been right, and the Keepers were able to access the Chasm. Even Crystle and Callie—who I’d been training in secret—had been successful. The power they could wield was a tiny fraction of my abilities, but every little bit helped. The downside was that opening to the Chasm also opened them up to demonic influence. With all of the demons concentrated close to our Gateway, practicing was near impossible. There were simply too many voices to risk leaving the Sanctuary. I was teaching them to shield, and some were picking it up, but it was a lot to grasp in such a short amount of time, and after several people had needed Retrievals, we began teaching theory only. We just had to hope that when the time came, we’d be ready.
51
But when the time did come, we weren’t ready. Not even close.
It was evening, and I was walking with Taren and Kat, back from inspecting our new “holding area” for uncooperative Dahraks when the weight of what was amassing in the demon world broke through my shield and nearly crushed my brain.
Taren felt it. Even 100% non-Daemon Kat felt it.
“It’s happening,” she said, her hands pressed to her temples. “Right?”
“Yeah,” I said. “It’s happening.”
There was a moment of suspended animation when the world around us broke into Chaos that the three of us simply looked at each other. Even if the three of us survived—please let us all survive—nothing would ever be the same.
“Don’t do anything stupid, like die,” Kat said, squeezing my hand. She put a hand on Taren’s shoulder and said, “Good hunting.”
“Good hunting,” Taren said, then he turned and grabbed my face in his hands and kissed me. “Knock ‘em dead,” he said. “All of them.”
“Piece of cake,” I said. “And that’s what I want when this is over. A really big, the-world-didn’t-end cake.”
Another shared look, and we broke from our bubble and joined the fray.
52
The Gateway didn’t just open, it blew apart, along with the entire mansion that had once housed it. It wasn’t just debris that went flying, but people, and bits of people. I couldn’t hide behind my shield, but I still had the light behind my eyes, and I used it to block out what I couldn’t bear to see. People were going to die; I’d known that for a long time. I had to keep going.
Taren and Kat were at my side as we raced toward the heart of the battle. The expanded Sanctuary was doing its job—the second a demon entered it, it became so incapacitated that it could be easily killed. Even so, countless numbers were streaming through, and the Birds could fly out of reach, so it only did so much good.
I grabbed a piece of what had once been the Gateway building and swung hard at a Monkey as it leapt toward me.
Where are you? I said to Cole. I knew our conversation wasn’t protected, but I had to know he was safe.
With Cara and the others, he answered. She’s told the Dahraks on the other side to stay back or be killed.
Hundreds of demons poured through the hole in the earth, but still I waited, fighting only with the quarterstaff Taren had tossed me.
“It’s time,” I said finally when we’d reached critical mass. The Institute couldn’t hold even one more demon. If I waited any longer, the hills would be overrun.
I opened to the Chasm and instantly felt the rush of life as it coursed through me. I was aware of every atom of my being, every electron and proton dancing around their nuclei. I was my own solar system, yet still a part of everything around me. Everything sparkled, even the dust motes that swirled in the floodlights came alive. How could something that felt so wonderful be so dangerous?
“Holy crap,” Kat said, her eyes wide.
“Do you see it too?” I said, hoping she did. Hoping everyone felt what I was feeling.
“I see you,” she said. “You’re glowing.”
I looked down, and saw that she was right. My flesh glowed the color of gold mixed with silver.
“Do it,” Taren urged. “We need you.”
I drank deeper from the Chasm, marshaling as much power as I could, and then I let it go, to spider out in all directions, even reaching for the Bats and Birds high above. What looked like lightning fried demon after demon, hundreds of them falling.
I took a breath, filling with more power, and I saw that I wasn’t the only source of lightning. Scattered throughout the compound, mini versions of what I’d just done were springing up and killing demons. It had actually worked. Michele had trained humans to use the Chasm. Granted, not very much of it, but still it was amazing.
I let loose another storm, and when I’d finished, a hush fell. Taren’s heartbeat pounded in my ears, a coyote howling in the distance was near deafening. I felt the suffering of the world and its cessation in the same moment. The tides rose and fell with my breath.
I released my link to the Chasm before it engulfed me, and before I did something stupid. Doing so caused me to crash to the ground, both figuratively and literally. Apparently I’d been floating.
“So that was kind of a trip,” Kat said, looking dazed.
“It’s not over,” I said, trying to catch my breath.
“It never is,” Taren said, taking me by the hand. “Are you OK?”
I nodded. “Let’s go.”
The three of us dodged demon corpses as we raced toward the hole in the ground that had once been the Gateway. The plan had been to lure as many demons out as possible and then take the fight to them.
“On three?” I said as we peered over the edge into the blackness below.
Both Taren and Kat gave a nod and I was about to begin counting when Cole burst in urgently.
Ember, I need you. The Dahraks in the holding area have broken loose.
What?
They’ve broken loose and turned against us. Not all of them, but dozens—too many for me to handle. Cara is dead.
I felt a stab of pain at losing Cara but stuffed it down.
Hold on, I said. I’m on my way.
I told Taren and Kat the news, and we raced to the edge of the Institute grounds where we’d set up the holding area for the Dahraks we’d hoped to rehabilitate.
The area churned with violence. Dahrak fought Dahrak, making it impossible to know which ones were still on our side. No wonder Cole needed help—he couldn’t let fly with his powers unless he was willing to kill all of them, foe or friend.
Darys fought with a tight group of Dahraks—he’d found some friends, it seemed. We weren’t as lucky, so Taren, Kat, and I jumped into the fray, killing anything that made a move on us.
In the battle we got separated, but Taren and I kept our hotline open so that we each knew the other was OK. I missed my quarterstaff and the satisfying feel of a blow landing, but those tiny bolts of lightning were much more efficient.
I’d just finished taking care of a group of six Dahraks and a handful of Monkeys when I realized how quiet it was in this part of the compound. Off a little ways, Taren fought a single Dahrak, and Kat was helping a wounded Guardian to his feet, but the battle—this section of it anyway—seemed over. Taren struck the Dahrak’s jugular, and I was about to reach out to him and let him know we needed to get back to the Gateway when a gurgling sound caught my attention. I looked behind me, and to my horror saw Master Dogan slumped against a tree, his hands pressed to a bloodstain in the center his robe.
I raced toward him, tears streaming down my cheeks. My hold on the Chasm evaporated, but I didn’t care.
“No, no…” I said when I reached him and saw his usually serene eyes looking glassy. "Hang on, Master Dogan."
I pressed my hands to his wound and they sank in much deeper than they should have. I bit my lip to keep from screaming. I had to get him to the medics. I knew where they'd be setting up triage—
“Ember,” Master Dogan said. “You must leave me.”
“No,” I said, “I can get you to help. I can fix this.”
I opened to the Chasm, preparing to levitate Master Dogan right to the medics, when he laid his trembling hand on mine.
“You are very powerful,” he said, his voice as kind as it had ever been. “But even you cannot fix this.”
The blood that seeped from his belly had already made a large pool around him.
“I can, I—”
“Ember, listen to me,” he said, his speech stilted. “My time here is done. But yours is just beginning. Live, child. Li—"
In an instant the light left his eyes, and his shallow breathing stopped.
I screamed then, the sound erupting from deep inside me. The only father I’d ever known and they’d taken him from me.
I drank so deeply from the Chasm that I could have burned to ash. Its power pounded in my veins, but this time it didn’t fill me with life. It filled me with death.
53
The glow that surrounded me wasn’t silvery-gold anymore. It was as red as the blood that stained the ground.
I didn't know which demon had killed Master Dogan, so I was just going to have to kill them all.
I rose to my feet, and as I did, noticed loud cawing from high above. One look, and dozens of bolts hit the Birds, sending them crashing to the ground.
I picked my way over their corpses on my way to the Gate. I glanced back to see that Taren and Kat had found three more Dahraks to deal with. I didn’t bother helping; I needed my strength, and with those odds, the Dahraks were as good as dead anyway. Besides, I wasn’t waiting any longer.
I walked toward the Gateway, leaving demon bodies in my wake. I no longer needed to see a demon to strike it; just sensing it was enough. Bolt after bolt hit its target, and I realized I didn’t have to worry about running out of strength. The Chasm was all but inexhaustible.
