CHANGELING: Book Two in the Weaver Series Page 11

  “You are or you are not. Are you the void or do you will yourself to life?”

  Frozen with wonderment I pondered the voice that was and was not my own. Where did it come from? Was I creating all of this out of a mortal need?

  I reached forward to touch just the barest layer of Mez’s essence and experienced the flush of his recognition and welcome. Still I hesitated. Did I embrace my right to love and be loved in return? If I did, I didn’t think I could just change my mind later. It was all or nothing—in or out. A one way ticket.

  Between one thought and the next whorls of yellow encompassed me. Clear and bell-like Mez thought, “As if you had a choice, Leoght Cor.” His laughter rolled like thunder.

  With a small spike of ire I said, “You’ve given me a title. What should I call you?”

  “Magnificent?”

  The lilt at the end let me know he was being playful. I felt surrounded not absorbed this time. He rubbed all along my brilliant twinkling lights. Mez literally purred at me with panther-ish languor.

  “You look like a million newborn stars sewn together by energy bolts.”

  I reveled in the moment, reeling with elation. “You look like pollen blowing in the wind, spreading the bloom of spring.”

  We lolled in happiness, or the closest I’d ever been, for a moment until reality intruded. Ugly little troll that it was. I asked, “Do we still need to pretend to hate each other at the Hub? I’m not the greatest at hiding Cass and I in the Web so I have no idea how I’d hide our attachment. What if we run across someone that can see other Weavers’ connections like I can? We asked Kal to show us how he disappears once and he said ‘think invisible thoughts, Grasshopper’ which wasn’t any help.”

  Mez got almost serious. “I do not believe your sister has to pretend to hate me right now.” He paused and the silence was drawn out like honey off a spoon. “Sil will know first because of his tests and then my mother will know. Tal has spies everywhere. She will not be pleased. I say we hide nothing, Leoght Cor.”

  Starbursts of light popped as if a tiny fireworks show were on display as my anxiety flared. “Aren’t you embarrassed of me? Isn’t it weird that I’m an alien on top of the fact that I share a body with my sister? Aren’t you even a tiny bit freaked out?”

  Startlement and a thread of anger flowed through Mez.

  “You are my adventure. We can spend our whole lives exploring our differences and learning new things—together. There is nothing lacking for me. All of my life my mother has trapped me in the prison of her expectations. I have wanted for nothing but freedom. You are my choice. I choose you—with or without the Bindao.”

  Heat cradled me as if I were suspended in a bank of melted butter vapor. I felt wordless and centered but scattered all at the same time. Softly I replied, “Together.”

  The next morning, after spending all night long talking to Mez I finally rejoined my sister in our body. She was still asleep and dreaming. I tried not to intrude on her privacy when possible but today she was broadcasting. Occasionally my twin had flashback nightmares of the day our parents had been killed. Those were always intense but today Cassandra was dreaming about James and it was definitely not a bad dream.

  I gave a mental yell, “Hey! Get a room, Sister!”

  Cass bolted upright, hair wild in our fingers as she scratched an itch. Our mouth tasted like sawdust with a hint of garbage can. I remembered now that I hadn’t cleaned our teeth before bed. Oops. My twin covered our bleary eyes with the base of our palms to rub the grit from them.

  “Do we have to get up, Silver?” Her voice was raw.

  “We do if you want me to show you our new trick!”

  Wariness poured off my sibling. Instantly she was more awake and trying to pick the information from my surface thoughts.

  “Uh-uh-uh. No cheating. Get dressed and let’s go have fun.”

  With a final grumble Cass made her way to relieve our bladder, brush out our foul mouth, and grab a kush before going back to our room to change. Kal was still sleeping and the atmosphere was hushed and filled with the expectation of wakefulness. Due to the fact that there were no windows to judge whether it was night or day, the Imini had come up with a system of environmental cues. The rock emitted less illumination when it was time to sleep and the temperature dropped. Through the night as dawn came closer the very walls began to warm ever so slightly and the luminescence within brightened. It was close to sunrise by our estimation.

  Today was still a school day so we had a finite amount of time. Once Cass got us dressed in our black school robes, I whispered, “Are you ready?”

  In the same low tone she replied, “As ready as I can be for something I know nothing about, Silver.”

  I thought, “Pay attention then to what I’m about to do.”

  The first time we’d seen Bleo had been from a tier only a few scant levels from the caldera shield. I pulled that memory out and dusted off the cobwebs. All of the details needed to shine. Cass helped sharpen the recollection with the tiny things she remembered. Like the exact feel of the granite under our feet and the scent in the air or the way the vines had swayed and snapped creating a wavering in the waxy leaves on the branches closest to us.

  When I felt our concentration was locked I raised the eyelids Cass had lowered and wrapped a light field around us. Then I willed us there. My sister didn’t panic she merely watched with interest as the edges of our room crumbled to be replaced by the very scene we had strengthened together.

  We stood in exactly the same place as our first day. I took the final steps that brought our toes to the lip of the gray tier and looked down into the dark depths of the jungle. Way at the bottom was Denu. Distant things stirred as if we looked into a kaleidoscope aimed at the shadows, giving us hints of strange disjointed movements but no clear cut indication of life. From up here I could see how the Aniy would forget the Imini existed—out of sight, out of mind after all.

  All of a sudden Cass got a fear of heights.

  “Can we back up?” Her words were breathless and plaintive.

  I took one step away and leaned back so far our neck muscles gave tiny pain signals of protest. “We don’t have to fear falling anymore, Sister, because we’ll never land if we choose not to.” Distantly an aerial predator coasted, just a speck in the sky, searching for a four-legged breakfast on the ground below.

  She thought back, “When?”

  I went through the whole accidental teleportation into the lab and shared my concern about who should know we could bypass the DNA protocols.

  She pondered it.

  “Kal needs to know. Just because he’s been keeping his own counsel I’d like to not tell him, but that’s childish and spiteful. We can’t afford to act our age. The Aniy and Imini use the DNA locks as security to guard against unwanted teleportation. It makes them feel safe. Their whole society is based on it. It’s no wonder Fid Tal freaked out about the rebel attack. What if we can only bypass it in the lab because we’ve had skin to skin contact with Jaz? If it leaks out The Elders could overreact and decide we’re too dangerous to stay—or live.”

  Our eyes wandered to an edge of growing violet fading into translucent blue in the dome of the sky over the caldera shield. A faint wavering was the only betrayal of the protective field’s existence. It fried anything that had the misfortune to come in contact with it.

  I directed our gaze to the left and right, assessing how soon the families on this residential level would wake. The brightly colored doors around us were still closed but if we listened there were faint sounds of stirring from within. Kal would be up soon. It was time to go back to Denu.

  “Are you at least excited about my surprise, Cass?”

  “What? Of course I am, Silver! Now we won’t be at such a disadvantage all the time. Plus it’s just one more thing we know how to do that Laser Eyes doesn’t. When we go back to Earth we can find him and crush him like the slug he is.”

  I was a little sad that those were her on
ly reasons. We didn’t always have to be practical, did we? “Okay, really, that’s all you can think about? It’s nice and all but aren’t you excited about being the first human being in known history to bend space, light, and time? Some things are just cool you know.”

  “Just because I’m not losing sight of the big picture doesn’t mean I don’t take joy in things, Sister. Stop worrying about me. I know how to have fun.”

  Her thoughts swirled into devilish delight at the tricks we could play on Mez now.

  “Not to rain all over your parade, Cass, but he’s had way more practice bending than we’ve ever had. Plus, we’ve decided not to pretend animosity at the Hub anymore so I’m putting a lock on your plans right now. I refuse to participate.”

  A wall of obstinacy sprang up and I could no longer read my twin.

  Angrily I changed the subject. The confines of our room materialized in the forefront of our mind and I willed us home. Pixelated pieces of our vision transformed into the comfortable dim recesses of our sleeping chamber.

  A blur of mint green and café latte skin hurtled at us from the tunnel. Kal’s face came into focus just before he slammed us to the floor and his expression was hell bent on our destruction. His fingers found our neck and began to squeeze.

  Cass croaked, “Kal, stop.”

  I dropped our light field and his expression went from anger to confusion and then back to anger. His fingers withdrew from our windpipe and he scooted backwards to sit on our thighs. He wasn’t being gentle with his weight either; the full brunt of it was on our legs.

  Lips drawn into a trembling frame for his jagged teeth he spat, “How long?”

  Our heart was beating so fast and our lungs inhaling so rapidly I thought Cass might hyperventilate. The ghostly sensation of his fingers still echoed faintly from around our neck. Rather than try to calm down Cass got angry.

  “It doesn’t feel too good when people you trust keep secrets does it, Kal?”

  He ducked his head into his shoulder to hide his face but not before a flash of furious temper was displayed. When Kal turned his black eyes to us again he wore the usual mask of impassivity he showed to strangers. It made me angry and sad at the same time.

  Our guardian stood gracefully and offered us a hand up.

  I grabbed his warm palm and felt his grip swallow our hand all the way to our wrist as he pulled us effortlessly into a standing position. Carefully I cloaked my thoughts from Cass before I forced the words across our lips in a torrent. “I teleported for the first time last night after you left our room. I wanted to show Cass before I showed you—as a surprise. We didn’t mean to scare you. I’m sure you thought the worst when you smelled the ozone on the way to our room. I’m sorry, Kal.”

  Sourly my twin added, “Well I’m not.”

  Kal fussed with our robes, straightening them at the shoulders then dropping his arms to his sides as if they weighed him down. “It is my responsibility to protect you. I find the prospect of your death more upsetting than mere duty requires.”

  With that proclamation he turned away. His broad back rippled muscularly under his robe as he walked the short distance to the tunnel. Once he was out of our view his voice echoed to us on the air.

  “Come break your fast and we will talk.”

  Cass struggled to even out breathing. Warring emotions kept her from calming down. We were both nonplussed at Kal’s admission.

  She thought at me, “Did you see how fast Kal moved? How did he know where we were if we were cloaked in our light field? He couldn’t see us.”

  “We frightened him, Cass. He thought someone was taking us or had hurt us. Kal would have killed them. He could have killed us accidently. This isn’t funny. He feared for us.” Censure licked out from me at my sister and she flinched.

  “I know that. I do.”

  “But?”

  “Trust and caring go both ways. We can’t be expected to share everything with Kal if he doesn’t do the same, Silver.”

  Our breathing had slowed to a more normal pace by now and I marched us with sluggish considering steps into the cylindrical passageway. I ran the tips of our fingers over the tunnel wall absently as I considered my twin’s statement. The living area opened before us with its third hand furniture and undecorated walls. It seemed barren and the only homey bit of it was Kal standing at the counter humming under his breath as he prepared breakfast.

  Cass took over and walked us to a chair at the table. We sat quietly without attitude. She leaned us back and stretched out our legs until the hem of our robes inched up mid-calf and settled our hands on our sash.

  Kal didn’t look at us until we were both done eating. The quiet was an unsettling tool he used to teach and we both hated it. It reminded us too much of our time with the Warp Faction. We knew better than to try and force conversation though, so we ate. Breakfast was a fruit I liked to call blue bananas. The only thing that made it similar to a banana was its shape. Inside the tough peel the pulp was more like a dense apple and twice as juicy with nutty edible protein packed seeds.

  Our guardian’s obsidian eyes reflected back the dim light like sparkles.

  “I suppose you should begin with last night, Silver, after I left your chamber.”

  His tone was so dry and matter of fact it made me anxious and Cass defensive. She beat me to the use of our mouth.

  “I have a question first. How come we aren’t drained from the teleportation this morning? It obviously takes energy, so where does it come from? We expended some of our resources but not enough to account for jumping from one place to another with the power of our mind alone.” Her tone was pugnacious as she slumped in the chair and crossed our arms over our sash again. Our gaze gored Kal. If it bothered him he didn’t show it. We needed to work on our scary face.

  He sighed and his black eyes lingered over our closed off posture. “I do not have an answer for you. How do the Imini mold the rock? We know a communication between the rock and their body occurs and the Aniy even know how to artificially trigger a similar response with technology but still no one really understands the Will of Annis. Bending is much the same. Sil and every other scientist before him have their theories but none can be proven to the satisfaction of the Aniy. Now please relate to me your first bend as I asked.”

  “It was an accident, Kal.” I went back through the trance state while brushing our hair and finding myself in the toilet at the lab.

  He interrupted, “No one other than me can know about the breach.”

  Cass fired back, “We already figured that out on our own.”

  “Not even Mez?” I asked. My voice sounded fragile and little girl hesitant. I hated myself a tiny bit.

  Kal’s lips sealed so snuggly over his teeth I wondered how the insides of the tender flesh didn’t get sliced. Pensively before he spoke, he rubbed one earlobe like a worry stone.

  “Eventually you may tell him, Silver, but not just this moment. Perhaps they will all be distracted by the Bindao enough that Sil will not pick anything out of your DNA to reflect this capability to bypass the security protocols.”

  Just to be argumentative Cass said, “We don’t know that we can bypass all DNA barriers. Maybe we can only do it at the lab because we touched Pez and Sil? Do we have to try and keep our ability to teleport a secret, too?” In a mental aside she whined, “That would suck.”

  Kal dropped his forearms to rest them on the table and leaned forward. “No, I would not ask you to hide your new status as a full Bender. In fact, I have much to show you.”

  Cass perked up, “Right now?”

  He smiled in a slow creeping curl to one side of his mouth. “You have school.” He laughed under his breath at our crestfallen expression. Eyes filled with some unnamed heavy emotion Kal said, “I am sorry that I lied to you about Mez. The charade was imperative to convince Tal her son was not associating with me and passing information. It matters little now with the Bindao. I cannot promise to share everything with you, Cass, but I can prom
ise to confide what I deem you can know.”

  Cass stretched our mouth in a grim smile. “Not good enough, Kal.”

  His teeth clicked in anger and our body jumped before Cass could stop it. We’d never seen him this angry. Infuriated was actually a better word.

  “Axsa is my home. You know nearly nothing of its ways. I will not apologize for doing what I can to ensure your safety while you are here, as my guest. If that requires false words and your disapproval then so be it! You are acting like a child with no thought to anyone but yourself!” Kal pushed his chair back as if to storm away.

  My twin leaned us forward and slapped the table with an open palm, adding an extra push of energy just to make it louder. Too late I saw the last kush, right before Cass did. The bowl was midway between us and Kal. And then it exploded. Whatever ugly words she might have said died in our throat as sticky sweet juice splashed us in the face.

  Our ears buzzed with the shock of the unexpected blast of liquid and the fading ire melted to humor. Kal laughed first. My sister turned our head in our guardian’s direction.

  To her credit she kept our face straight. “You find this amusing?”

  He doubled over in a fit of diaphragm-clutching hilarity as a response.

  Unobtrusively I slid a spike coated in the tacky yellow gold congealed mess and flicked it with precision at Kal’s head. It stuck like glue with a sucking sound and he stood straight in disbelief to feel the top of his head. His other unoccupied hand felt on the table for another chunk of kush shrapnel.

  “You will pay for that.” His upper lip stiffened before it curled upward.

  We wrapped a light field around our body in answer.

  I yelled at my sister, “Food fight!”

  Chapter Twelve: Secrets and Lies

  We made a mess. Kal smashed so much kush pulp in our hair it stood out from our head as if we’d been electrified. Trekking to the bathing coliseum was an adventure in wide-eyed stares and outright laughter from any Imini we had the misfortune to pass by. Somehow we missed running into Jaz, Vel, or Lil, which was a blessing. Jaz would have been horrified.