The Returning Read online

  He moved to the side of the bed, took a long final glance at the man who had given him so much and taken so much from him. He had been a faithful follower of the dark essence now abiding in Jesse, but his usefulness had come to an end.

  With a steady hand, Jesse reached down, grasped Roth’s skull for support, and slid the blade cleanly across the man’s throat. In the stillness of night, Jesse could hear the way the skin sliced open and could feel the warm liquid that pumped forth from the wound.

  The beeping machines buzzed frantically for several long moments before fading out completely.

  And then it was just Jesse, his hand still bracing the head of a dead man, the darkness cooing words of affirmation and pride. Jesse stepped back and let the knife fall to the marble floor with a clink. The darkness possessed his focus and yanked it toward something else. Images of Elise floated behind his eyes, and all he had felt before evaporated. Only one thing remained. He would kill the girl. He would burn them all.

  Elise sat in the passenger seat as Willis drove them away from the Authority City. Two vans, carrying the eight of them to a destination no one was sure even existed anymore. Heading for Trylin had been the obvious choice, though they hadn’t received any communication from there since learning that the city was under siege. Their families and homes could be destroyed, but they had to hope, and they had nowhere else to go.

  After the two guards had escorted Elise from her prison cell, they had led her to a van where the other Seers were waiting. There had been such relief to be reunited, but the loss of Jesse lingered with her even through the joy. Troubling thoughts of leaving the only home she’d ever known, even if that home had been a prison, seemed to follow her. Willis had sensed it immediately and had held her hand but said nothing.

  She had been overjoyed to have him back by her side. She’d felt the calling of light and let the sadness fade. What she had known inside those walls was nothing compared to what she knew now. She was whole, and she was free. She was also in love. With a boy she’d met in a dream. What a story they’d have to tell someday.

  They had been given two vans on Jesse’s orders, and they had rested only an hour before leaving. Everyone was anxious to get home, and Elise couldn’t blame them. She found herself wondering about what life would be like now. Elise glanced at the side van mirror and watched as the Authority City began to fade behind them.

  As he had done several times since they’d been reunited, Willis reached out and grabbed her hand. “You okay?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she said, “I really am.”

  He glanced at her and winked, and all of her concerns melted away. Whatever came next wouldn’t stand a chance against who they were now.

  “I was thinking that maybe once we sorted out where we are all going to live, that you might be interested in joining me for dinner,” Willis said.

  “Dinner?” Elise asked, a slight tease in her voice.

  “Yeah—food, candlelight, you, me . . . you know, dinner.”

  His boyish grin could quite possibly heal the world, Elise thought. She giggled and opened her mouth to respond but never got the chance. Several earsplitting reports ricocheted across the sky, one right after the other, followed by the sound of crunching tin and squealing tires. Willis gasped and slammed on his brakes as the van in front of them swerved violently and disappeared into a dark cloud of smoke. More shots smacked the sky, connecting with more metal, and Elise flew forward in her seat.

  “Hold on!” Willis yelled as the front of their vehicle rammed into something ahead of them, shattering their windshield.

  Shards of broken glass rained down over Elise’s body, and her head was thrown back brutally against her headrest. It sent burning spasms into her skull. She screamed and raised her hands to protect her face and felt pain sting her bare arms. The van shifted against the force of the blow and then came to a stop.

  “Elise!” Willis yelled.

  Her ears were ringing and she could hear the screams of others. She uncovered her face and turned to nod at Willis. He kicked open his twisted door, and Elise shakily pulled at the buckle strapped low across her waist. Her door ripped open and Willis helped her from the van. Timmons, Kane, and Sage stumbled from the back, blood dotting Kane’s shirt, Sage gripping her arm.

  “Is everyone all right?” Willis asked, and they nodded.

  Elise walked around the front of the van and searched for the other vehicle. Dark smoke filled the air, and through it she heard screams of terror. Kennedy! Elise started running, ignoring the pain she felt in her knees from being nearly crushed.

  “Elise!” Willis yelled after her, but she didn’t stop. She dove into the smoke.

  Small pits of fire were scattered about, all of them sending black waves into the air. Elise’s eyes watered as the smoke assaulted her senses. She squinted through the darkness until she saw the van several yards away. It was turned on its side, more smoke escaping from its hood. Elise pushed herself to move faster just as she saw the first tongue of flame dance up from the van.

  “Kennedy,” she said, then cried louder. “Kennedy!” To her left, she heard the roar of heavy machinery and turned to see an armored CityWatch vehicle approaching rapidly. Fear threatened to eat away at her identity, and she tried to ignore the urge to panic. She had to get to Kennedy.

  Elise reached the van, rounded the back, and saw Davis trying to jerk Kennedy from inside the front cab. She rushed over. “Davis!”

  He glanced up at her and she saw the worry on his face. “Her ankle,” he said, and she understood. A burst of flames exploded from the van’s hood, and dread dropped inside Elise’s gut like lead. She jumped up beside Davis and looked down to see that Kennedy’s ankle was pinned between the passenger seat and the driving console. Her face was twisted with pain and wet with sweat, and she was yanking with all her might on her leg.

  She looked up to see Elise’s face and choked on emotion. “It’s wedged too deep.”

  “No, no, we are going to get you out,” Elise said. She could feel the heat from the fire building beside them and felt herself losing her battle with panic.

  “Davis, on three,” Elise said. He nodded and they tugged. Kennedy cried in pain, and Elise felt her heart break. “Again,” she said. Once more they pulled, tears streaming down Kennedy’s face, her bellows of agony ripping through Elise’s insides. She felt her own tears as the flames grew and Kennedy still wasn’t free.

  Oh, Father, please, Elise thought. I can’t lose her. I can’t. “Again,” she said, and with more power than she knew she had, Elise yanked at her sister. Screams cut the sky, but at last the weight shifted forward and up. Kennedy’s ankle sprang free, but the moment of joy was short-lived, as the heat flared in the engine and the entire front end of the van exploded into flames.

  30

  Jesse smiled as he stepped from the military-grade tank. His mind was clear and his sight focused. All previous questioning of right and wrong were gone; all that was needed was action. The Seers had departed with a half day’s head start, but with all the resources of the Authority City at his disposal, it hadn’t taken long to catch up, storming across the open valley toward the caravan of the enemy, and rain violence down upon them.

  He hadn’t expected that firing at the vans would be so successful, but to his surprise, his soldiers had nailed their shots with precision and sent the entire scene into chaos. The darkness now fully consuming his mind trembled with glee.

  Things always work best when you are aligned with greatness.

  Jesse smiled. Yes, they did, he thought. His army had been only a couple of yards away from capturing and destroying them all when the front van had exploded, sending flaming shards in all directions. The darkness danced with pleasure, and Jesse chuckled, catching a glimpse of himself in the rearview mirror. His eyes still black, his heart still true.

  How delightfully perfect.

  Yes, he thought, yes, it is.

  Elise’s eyes fluttered open. Her sight was ha
zy, her head ringing; a soft buzz filled her ears. The side of her face scratched against something rough as she tried to lift her head. She saw dirt and rock. Smoke filled her lungs, and she coughed it out as she managed to lever herself up so she was propped on her hip. Elise searched for clarity and remembered.

  Panic mushroomed in her chest as she saw bits of fiery car parts scattered around her. She surveyed the area for Davis or Kennedy and saw neither of them. She used her palms to push herself off the ground onto her feet and took a couple of steps. There was smoke everywhere, but through its fog she could see men with guns capturing the other Seers. Sage, Timmons, Lucy, Willis, all of them rounded up and cuffed.

  She had to find Kennedy. She walked a couple of steps, searching frantically in all directions, and then she spotted her. Crumpled on the ground, clothes blackened with ash and mixed with dark red from her own blood. Elise rushed over, nearly stumbling, desperate to get to her sister. She coughed as her lungs struggled for air and dropped to her knees, sending ripples of pain up her thighs that she couldn’t care less about.

  “Kennedy,” Elise said. The girl’s eyes were closed, her face sticky with blood and dirt. Elise didn’t know what to do, but didn’t think moving her was a good idea. Terror ravaged her mind. Her hands shook as she reached down to feel for a pulse. The world froze before a slight tick under Elise’s fingers released intense relief. Kennedy was alive, but barely.

  “How do I save you?” Elise whispered, tears filling her eyes.

  Remember who you are. The voice was so strong and calming that another rush of tears collected behind her eyes. You are the light of the world.

  Elise reached for her truth, the one she had lost sight of in her fear, and welcomed it with open arms. How easy it was to forget and how crucial it was to remember. She eased her mind, walked through the storm of emotions rising up inside her like waves, and let them all fall behind her into still waters. She placed her hand on Kennedy’s chest and sent her power racing down her arm and out her fingers.

  Her light connected with the light inside Kennedy, and they intertwined, creating a magnificent glow. It shot out from Kennedy into the air and dried the tears on Elise’s face. She could feel her sister’s energy returning, growing as the light shone between them. Healing their minds and recapturing their hearts. Kennedy’s body seemed almost to levitate off the ground as the power of their Father healed her body.

  Something clicked behind Elise and the light dissolved, though its presence still washed over her skin. She knew what she’d face when she turned around; she could taste the vile darkness on her tongue, but she felt no fear. She was resting in truth, so what should she fear? Still facing her sister, Elise opened her eyes and felt them blaze with power.

  She rose and turned. Jesse stood behind her, a yard separating them, his gun raised and engaged. His face was shadowed in darkness, his eyes black holes. Several feet behind him, guards had gathered the others together. Terror played on their faces as guns were pointed at them, forcing them to huddle closely. Willis pushed toward the front of the crowd and nearly stepped out of the circle before a guard pressed the end of his weapon to Willis’s chest. His eyes found Elise’s and she tried to send him some reassurance, but his face didn’t ease.

  Not that she could blame him. Jesse, the man leading this attack against them, had let the darkness devour him. That was why he was here. He was following a path he’d chosen, and it was leading him straight away from the light.

  Yet even now, she knew, the light pursued him. Even as he was filled with hate and vengeance, the light called him chosen, son of the Father. Elise wanted to see his light but struggled to see anything past the darkness using his face as a mask. She waited for her own anger and fury to come. Had he not just tried to blow them all to bits? Wouldn’t it be justified? Her mind told her yes, but she was learning that trusting her mind alone could be dangerous. Elise wanted to see him as a monster because it was true that he had done monstrous acts, but the light that called her chosen lifted her above her mind and showed her more. It spoke words of truth that she couldn’t escape.

  I call him chosen, perfect, blameless.

  As you are, so is he.

  The Father seeks to bring all to the light.

  Help him remember and see.

  If even for a moment Elise had considered taking the path of resistance, the words of truth now pulled her back. Jesse was lost and blind, but so had she been once. She knew that her true power came from showing perfect love, as she was called to do by her Father. Perfect love held no record of wrongs; it didn’t keep score and tally blame. A strong wind encircled the valley and swept through the ends of her hair. It filled her with assurance, and she smiled.

  “Jesse,” she said.

  His face twitched, and she saw the darkness seep from the pores on his face.

  “You should be afraid,” Jesse said.

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m going to kill you for all you’ve done.”

  “I know.”

  “Do you not fear death?”

  “I am standing with the Father. If the Father is with me, then what should I fear?”

  “And will the Father save you from my bullets?” Jesse sneered, his voice altered and hardly his own.

  “The Father has already saved me,” Elise said. As the words left her mouth, they became like water for the seeds of her soul. She was already the light of the world. With faith the size of a small seed, she could move mountains, heal the sick, raise the dead. Hadn’t their faith in the light already done those things? Another level of assurance filled her, and her confidence in her true identity grew.

  “You’re a stupid girl,” Jesse said.

  “I am the daughter of my Father, chosen and called,” Elise said.

  Jesse gritted his teeth. “I should have killed you when you were a child.”

  “I am filled with light.”

  “Stop it.”

  “I abide with it, and it lives in me.”

  “Shut up!”

  “I am a daughter of light, perfectly loved.”

  “Enough!”

  “Perfectly whole.”

  “I said stop!”

  “As are you,” Elise said, and there was a brief pause before a crack shattered through the air.

  Everything slowed. Time nearly froze. Even the breath in her lungs stilled. She saw the bullet spiraling toward her, but again she did not fear. With faith the size of a small seed . . . She let her mind completely succumb to her true nature, and the light wasn’t just within her but embodied her entirely.

  The scene snapped back into normal speed, and she raised her hand with confidence. “Stop,” she said, and the bullet froze in midair. Gasps from onlookers filled the space, as the bullet hung aimlessly for a moment and then fell to the ground. She moved her eyes to gaze at Jesse, the man now white as a sheet, his weapon shaking in his trembling hand, and she began to walk toward him.

  He seemed to be in such shock that he didn’t even step back. He just stood quivering as she approached, and when she was only a foot from him, she reached out her hand and touched his cheek.

  The scene around Jesse changed. The world he knew disappeared, and he found himself standing in a field of ash. Everything was gray and dead, stretching for miles; ashes were lifted softly by the breeze as it drifted by.

  “You burned the field of gold,” said a soft voice.

  Jesse spun around and saw Elise standing across the somber plain. His heart was still thundering in his chest, his lungs unable to get a steady breath. She had stopped a bullet. Flashes of Remko unloading a gun into Aaron’s skull bounced around inside his memory. Aaron had made bullets disappear, but she had stopped one in midair.

  “Why?” Elise asked.

  Jesse snapped back to the present and glanced around at the cinders beneath his feet. “I was killing off the light.”

  She nodded as if seeming to understand and then looked back at him. “Did it work?”

&nbs
p; Jesse couldn’t get his heart to return to a normal rate. “Who are you?”

  “I told you; I am the daughter of my Father.”

  The darkness hissed at her words and clawed at Jesse’s brain. The pain burned viciously through his bones, and he struggled to breathe through the ache.

  “You can be free from that,” Elise said.

  “Why does everyone assume I want to be free?” Jesse asked.

  “Don’t you?”

  “Not if it means surrendering.”

  “But have you not surrendered already?”

  Jesse shook his head. “No, I am in control.”

  “You and I both know that’s not true.”

  “You know nothing.”

  “I know about your father, how he abused you. I know about Damien Gold and the Scientist, how they used you for their own personal gain. I know you believe the darkness brewing inside you is all you’ve ever had, but you are wrong.”

  The darkness roared violently and twisted around Jesse’s lungs.

  “You have never been far from the light,” Elise said, taking a step toward him. “And you never will be.” Again she touched him, this time on his chest, her hand warming his skin the moment they connected. His mind swirled with pictures—moments and memories from his past. The same dreadful snapshots that had been dug up to torture him ever since she had tried to bring forth the light.

  He wanted to rip her hand away and hide from the pain of the memories that kept chasing him, but her hold on him was too strong. Her touch dove into him and secured itself to something solid. Something past the darkness rumbling like a hateful beast.

  “See who you are,” Elise said.

  “I see,” Jesse cried. “I see the pain all the time.”

  “No, see past the pain to the truth of who you are.”

  The darkness gnawed at his brain, sending spirals of agony down his back. He couldn’t go further, didn’t want to. The pain was too real, too volatile. But Elise pushed on, past all the darkest memories that Jesse caged away, past the darkest core where the evil beast lived, and reached a new plain.