The Returning Read online

  Nicolas gave the Scientist a questionable look.

  “Do you know what makes a martyr so dangerous? His belief that what he is called to outweighs basic survival. Believing in anything with enough force to die for it makes you erratic. Now imagine an entire group of people with that same delusion. A cult, committed to dying before letting that belief go. Crazed emotions based on irrational belief that can’t be proven with science. I don’t trust anything that can’t be proven.”

  “So why now?” Nicolas asked.

  An image of Aaron’s face danced behind the Scientist’s eyes. The man’s words drifted through his mind. It is freedom for all. . . . Elise will call them all home. . . . And it has already started.

  “As I said, there is a rising.” The Scientist studied the boy’s face as silence again filled the room. He knew something deeper connected them; Roth had always been drawn to him, to the essence he carried. “I know you sense the change,” Roth said. “I can see it in your eyes. You’ve felt the stirring.”

  Nicolas said nothing, but his face was clear. He felt it.

  “Your instincts are strong; listen to them now. The evidence may seem harmless, but you must know there is more below the surface.”

  Nicolas studied Roth’s face for a brief moment, and the Scientist saw resolve cross the boy’s gaze before he spoke. “Then we move forward.”

  “Are you prepared?”

  “Everything is in place; we can be mobile by morning. We can send enough CityWatch soldiers to surround the city. Say the word, and we can eliminate them all.”

  “No, I want them broken, not killed. If they die with their belief, then they win,” the Scientist said, standing from his seat. He could feel the familiar trembling in his fingers. “They must be brought into the new era with the rest of us. And their leader . . . I want to personally expose him for the fraud that he is.”

  Nicolas nodded. “And what of Jesse?”

  The Scientist inhaled and clenched his hands tightly together to diminish the shaking. “I will deal with Jesse. After Elise is executed, he will be brought back into the fold.”

  Nicolas dropped his eyes to slits at the mention of her name and the Scientist felt the corner of his mouth twitch. They shared a common distaste for that girl, and it helped unify them now.

  “What I am trusting you with is significant,” the Scientist said. “Do not fail.”

  “I won’t,” Nicolas said. “And once I have settled this for you, for this city, I want to discuss where I fit into the leadership of the future, because I am ready.”

  Roth had expected as much from the boy. “Do as you are told, and we will see.”

  The pain and sympathy in Jesse’s eyes when Roth had told him his plans for Elise’s execution flashed across the Scientist’s mind, and he hoped for the sake of this city Nicolas was indeed ready.

  “We are done here,” the Scientist said.

  Nicolas left Dr. Reynard’s office before the sun had risen above the city wall. The hallways were quiet, as most of the Capitol Building was still trapped in slumber. His boots clicked loudly in the stillness of the early morning as he walked across the marble floor. His mind was churning in circles, collecting and dissecting all the information swirling in his consciousness.

  The warm vibration of power stirred in his gut and he grinned in spite of himself. The Scientist was right; he had felt the shift in the air. The awakening of something strong and animalistic. A power with which he could crush all the empires of the word if he saw fit. He lay awake some nights dreaming of marching into the Council Room and destroying them all, of taking the head seat and ruling this city with purpose.

  If it wasn’t for the strong grip the Scientist had on President Cropper, Nicolas might have followed through on such inclinations. Jesse might have been strong once, but his affection for Elise had corrupted him, made him soft. But it seemed as though the tide was turning.

  Nicolas felt a shadow pulse under his skin, and the familiar twitch started in his cheek. It pulled the corner of his mouth slightly upward and tugged the corner of his eye down. He sucked a deep breath in through his teeth and licked his lips. This was no time to lose control of himself.

  He rounded the corner and descended a long staircase to an outer hallway with open arches for windows and stone blocks for flooring. Cold, dark air whisked past him softly and made him shiver. He was ready. Ready for more power, more respect, more responsibility. He had been raised inside these walls, torn away from a family he had long ago learned to stop missing, and sculpted to be a leader. Something he did not take lightly.

  He would be a liar to deny the last year had been taxing. Feeling ready to step into a place of power but being held at the sidelines while a less equipped man steered. President Cropper had the Council’s respect, yes; he had their ears, and the people in the Authority City favored him. The CityWatch trusted him. But he lacked grit. He’d swapped it for love, and now they were running scared from a group of religious nuts hidden in a far-off mountain.

  Nicolas’s cheek twitched again and he shook it off. He bit the inside of his cheek to transfer his emotions from anger to pain and drew blood. An ache pinched his brain from the fresh injury on the inside of his mouth, and he welcomed it.

  Ahead of him stood several patrol guards, behind them a large oak door that led to the Capitol Building’s main tactical room. The guards ceased their trivial conversation as Nicolas approached. They nodded in respect and waited for instructions.

  “Gather the officers and have them meet me here immediately,” Nicolas ordered.

  Two of the guards nodded and departed, leaving the others to step aside so Nicolas could enter the large room. The door shut behind him, leaving him alone inside the cold space. Another twitch in the side of his face poked at the pain stinging at his cheek. He ran his tongue along the fleshy inner wall of his face to taste the salty-sweet flavor of his own blood.

  Again he reminded himself that this wasn’t a time for mistakes. He was too smart to let this opportunity slip through his fingers. He would do as the Scientist had asked, collect the tiny Seer threat, and return a hero. Then he would ascend, whether by fortune or force.

  7

  Willis Lane watched as the beach stretched out and disappeared into the sea. The sand was white and clean, soft and cool between his toes. Behind him, at least two hundred yards back, there was a dense forest. He turned to gaze at the trees that covered the ground in thick shadows and made seeing between them nearly impossible.

  He knew he was dreaming. He always knew. It was his gift, to see things beyond normality. It was the translating that was a bit trickier. Often the dreams needed some thought and interpretation. Aaron had taught him to see his dreams clearly, to stretch out his mind to grasp their meaning, much like the sand reached out into the water.

  Though he knew he was dreaming, the question he had learned to ask himself was, Why? The thought had barely formed in his mind when the girl came stumbling out of the woods. He hadn’t even seen the trees rustle, and then suddenly she was there. Tripping over herself and falling into the sand.

  Willis started in her direction and watched as she turned toward the woods, backing away in fear, as if the trees themselves were demons. He glanced up, but all he saw were trees. He wondered what she saw.

  The girl had pushed herself to her feet by the time he reached her. Unsure of how else to announce himself, he simply spoke. “Are you all right?”

  The girl screeched in fright and started to stumble. Willis, aware that this was his fault, stepped forward and grabbed the girl’s arm before she face-planted in the sand. Straightening, the girl lashed out violently, ripping her arm from his grip and swirling away with fear and anger on her face.

  Willis took a step backward, a bit afraid that she might lunge at him, and raised his hands to signal he meant no harm. The moment their eyes met, he saw the fear drain and found himself thrown off guard. She was like no one he had ever seen before, yet strangely familiar. Bl
ack curls that spiraled perfectly down the sides of her face, pink cheeks flushed from running, dark-brown eyes that sparkled in the sun, red lips framed by olive skin. He realized he was staring. But then, she was staring back.

  “Sorry,” Willis said. “I didn’t mean to startle you.” He smiled and watched her relax. Man, she was pretty. He waited for her to speak, but she seemed lost for words, her eyes working over his face. He didn’t know whether to be flattered or worried.

  Finally she spoke. “I’m okay.” Her voice was soft and small but sounded kind.

  Willis released the tension he’d gathered in his shoulders and exhaled. “Good—you looked like you’d seen a ghost.” The second the words came out of his mouth he wished he could take them back. Of course she saw something terrifying, you idiot; she’s been running for her life.

  She didn’t seem to catch his complete lack of observation and pointed toward the forest. “I was running from the beast.”

  There was nothing where she pointed, but then Willis had never seen anything to begin with. He shook his head. “What beast?”

  She glanced toward the trees and he saw her face scrunch in confusion. “It must have gone into the woods.”

  Willis felt a twinge of guilt. He’d asked the question out of pure curiosity, but now he feared he’d made her feel stupid because there was nothing there. “I see,” he said. “Well, don’t worry; if it comes out, I’ll protect you.” Boy, do you sound stupid. It was as if he’d lost all control of his words.

  But she smiled in a way that made his chest pulse and he forgot his embarrassment completely. He didn’t know why he was dreaming of her, but the way the sun broke through the curls in her hair and the way her eyes danced with fire made him hope he would dream of her often.

  “I’m Elise,” she said.

  Willis couldn’t hide the shock on his face. It couldn’t be. But then, looking at her again, he could see Remko in her eyes. “Elise.” Willis spoke her name out loud more to himself than anything.

  Her eyes burned with interest. “Do you know me?”

  He shook his head. “No, just of you.”

  She glanced sideways, nearly rolling her eyes. “Of me?” Her nose scrunched up as she giggled, and Willis couldn’t take his eyes off of her. “No one knows of me.”

  How could she think that? “Many people know of you; you’re famous among the Seers.”

  She looked at him with a confused expression, and he worried he’d said the wrong thing. “What’s a Seer?” she asked.

  He tried to hide his own confusion. “So you don’t know, then.” He suddenly wanted to divulge everything he knew about her, like who she was and where she came from, but a thought stopped him cold. This was still a dream and she’d been sent to him for a reason. “Are you safe?” He should have started with that.

  Something in her eyes shifted and she turned away from him. He wished he could take the question back, but before he could make another move, dark clouds rolled in overhead, the sky opened up, and a furious rain spilled down over the beach. Wind whipped harshly across Willis’s frame and he staggered to stay upright. He closed his eyes against the vicious change of weather and called out to the girl.

  “Elise!” Nothing.

  He reached forward and searched for her with his arms but only grabbed at air. The rain fell harder and forced Willis to his knees, wet sand crunching beneath his palms. The need to hold on through the rain was strong; the urge to wait it out and find Elise was powerful, but he knew where this was headed. He bit back his frustration and let go.

  Willis awoke, soaked in sweat, the first signs of daylight creating beautiful colors in the sky. He took a deep breath and sat up from his sleeping mat, a mix of emotions playing Ping-Pong inside his chest. Frustration to peace, anger to joy, confusion to clarity, but one resounding emotion trumped all the rest: desperation. He needed to find Elise.

  He yanked himself free of his sleeping bag and stood. A faint breeze came with the rising sun, and it felt good across his sticky skin. The rest of the camp was still in deep slumber, his traveling companions laid out around the heap of ash that had been a fire the night before. Seven of them in total. Eight if you counted Aaron, but he rarely stayed in camp through the night.

  Willis moved carefully so as not to wake the others. He played the scene from his dream over and over in his mind as he grabbed an apple from the food supplies they’d brought for their journey to the Authority City and headed out to try to walk off his emotions.

  Willis remembered having vivid dreams for his entire life. Early on he’d been told that all children dream, but he’d been afraid when his dreams sometimes felt more realistic than the world he faced when he was awake. His older sister, Eleanor, had always encouraged him to dream. Especially when their lives had been turned upside down and their father had abandoned them. Willis hardly remembered the time before living with the Seers, but he knew their father had sent him and Eleanor to be used as Genesis Serum test subjects. They’d escaped, but Willis still wondered what had driven his father to treat his own children in such a way. Since he’d been so young then, it had been easier for him to forgive. Eleanor was older, though, and remembered more. That made her road to acceptance very different from his own.

  Remko, Carrington, Wire, Kate, and the other Seers had taken them in and let them freely walk the individual paths set before them. His earthly father might have been blind to the truth, a blindness that let him believe that sacrificing his children was his only option, but Willis had since learned to call another by the name Father.

  It was within that relationship that he’d learned to trust his dreams. Sometimes they were simply fantasies, but more often than not they were messages or reminders. A unique form of communication between Willis and the light that guided him. Which was why he couldn’t shake the need to find Elise. She was more than just a pretty girl he was seeing in his sleep. He felt connected to her, which sounded crazy but felt undeniable.

  He’d asked Remko about her once. Several years ago. Everyone in the city knew of Elise, of course. They knew the story of how Remko and the other Seers had come to the city of Trylin, where the original Trylin One Hundred already lived. Willis had been with Remko then, though he hardly remembered. So he, like most residing in their city, relied on the stories that were told. A child stolen in the night, a call to go west and leave her behind, a plan that was bigger than them all.

  Willis had been curious about the whole thing. Had Remko and Carrington really left their oldest daughter in the Authority City, and had they really never tried to go after her? He’d worked up the courage to ask, half-expecting Remko to shut him down. But Remko had surprised him.

  “I did try to go after her a couple of times, on my own, always while the rest of the city slept,” Remko had said. “I just couldn’t live with the pain anymore. You won’t understand this fully until you have children of your own, but the responsibility to keep them safe eats away at you like acid, especially when you know you can’t. All the practicing of faith, all the meditating on trust . . .”

  He’d dropped his eyes away from Willis, and Willis had nearly stopped him from having to continue. The pain was evident on the man’s face, but Remko had spoken again.

  “I just lost my faith sometimes. But I never made it very far before Aaron found me and did what Aaron does best. Helped me remember and walked me home. That never made the pain go away, though. I thought early on that having faith meant I should never suffer. But the pain still comes, every time I think about Elise, which is more often than not, and I was convinced that when I felt pain it meant I’d once again lost my faith.

  “It took me a long time to learn that faith’s purpose is not to release you from life’s trials. Faith gives you the strength to see the trial fully and know that this too shall pass. To hold nothing against the world or the trial before you. To practice true forgiveness.

  “As strange as it may sound, I have a feeling that my daughter Elise understands true for
giveness better than anyone, and I hope she gets the chance to teach the whole world.”

  Willis still didn’t really understand what Remko had meant, but the man’s words had stuck with him. He took a bite of the apple in his hand. His dream of Elise had him pulsing with new electricity. It was more than admiration and more than curiosity. When each of the Seven had been called, they understood the path—go to the Authority City, and there you will find the hope needed to change everything from the inside out. Willis couldn’t shake the feeling that Elise was somehow tied to that hope and to their path. As Remko had believed she would be.

  “Hey!” a voice shouted from behind him. Willis turned to see Davis Tollen standing a couple of yards away, the rest of the camp coming to life with the morning. Not as tall as his father, Wire, but just as gangly, Davis had a mind that worked like a machine and an aim that could nail a target dead center every time, and he was the truest friend Willis had.

  “You gonna make the rest of us do all the work?” Davis teased.

  “Yeah, that’s usually the plan,” Willis called.

  “Seriously,” a female voice interjected just to the left of Davis, “no one thinks you’re funny, so get over here and help.” With that, Kennedy Brant turned back to camp.

  Kennedy was the youngest of the group but had more attitude than all of them combined, something she’d picked up from spending too much time with Davis’s mom, Kate, and her own mom, Carrington. It was a wise policy never to cross any of those women.

  Willis started toward camp.

  “I think you’re funny,” Davis said and winked at Kennedy when she threw him a look that could kill.

  What is it with Tollen men? Willis wondered. Both Wire and Davis seemed to be gluttons for punishment.

  Sage Avery softly chuckled on the other side of Davis as she rolled up her sleeping mat. Sage was a kind girl, shy and of very few words, but when she spoke, everyone listened, and Willis wasn’t sure he could remember a single moment when she wasn’t smiling. She carried the light well.