"I learned some information about the Triplex from the Akons that might help you. I was gonna sell it to Marcus for a small fee but...."
"What is it?"
"According to the Akons, Lucy said that each member of the council has a say in where the Triplex is placed on Earth. Even though the council is not made up of humans, they each have traits that are specific to them."
"So they can be bad or good?"
"No, that"s not what I mean. Take the first member to the council, Death. It acts independently of Omnis, but it cannot oppose the other two members. That means if Death wants to take a man"s life, it can only do so with the permission of Time and Fate."
"So the Triplex has to be somewhere that can be affected by Time, Fate and Death?"
"Exactly. All three of them have to agree on the hiding place."
"So the Triplex is going to be somewhere all three can agree on. But that doesn"t really help, Tony. Fate, Time and Death exist in everything."
"No, Emmy. Think. Where can there be no death?"
"Where there was no life."
"Exactly. How can something die if it never lived?"
"So Death would want the Triplex in a place where death can occur, like a hospital or a nursing home?"
"Yes. Next comes Time."
"How can we narrow down where on Earth Time would hide the Triplex? Time is everywhere."
"Yes, but everything doesn"t require the same amount from it. Flowers need weeks to grow. Trees need hundreds of years. But still they all require some aspect of time in order to come about. The thing which you are looking for will require a portion of time."
"We"re looking for something that needed a set amount of time in order to exist, like a plant?"
"Yes. And lastly, we have Fate. The trick with Fate is to try not to argue with it. It has already seen which moves you will make and how to counteract. Its only purpose is balance. Fate will pet.i.tion to have the object put where both good and evil are likely to be found. Fate will want to give each side a fair chance of entering."
"So the Triplex wouldn"t be in a holy place like a church?"
"Nor will it be in a casino or a politician"s office. That"s it. That"s all the info I know."
"The Akons could kill you for helping me. This is very brave of you."
"If I were really brave, I"d run back there and help you."
"You can still come with me. I"ll protect you."
"I"m sure you would. When you were fighting with me earlier, I notice you have a great right hook."
"I"ll tell them what you told me as soon as I have a chance." I smile and rush off. Things are even more chaotic. Marcus picks up War and hurls him at Chaos. The two crash into an empty store front, flattening it completely. They flee the scene with Marcus furiously on their tail.
Marcus catches up to them. War screams and begs to die because of what he sees reflected in Marcus" eyes. Marcus holds him there longer. War begs again to have his life taken; before his wish can be granted, Chaos attacks Marcus from behind.
"Emmy, look out."
I didn"t even see it coming. I whip my head around in time to see the daggers make their way to me. The person who warned me was Jay. I wanted to thank him but there would be no time. Fear has me frozen in place. I close my eyes. Please, don"t let this hurt too much.
I open my eyes. I"m sitting on the floor, a block away from all the action. Nothing has happened. There is no blood. No sharp unrelenting pain. I"m in the arms of an angel. I smile gratefully when I see who it is.
"Are you sorry it"s not him who saved you?"
"No, I"m glad it"s you, Reese." I hold him tightly and wrap my arms around him.
"I"m into saving pretty girls," he says pulling me back to look into my face.
I thought I saw him wince, but I must have been mistaken because now he"s grinning like a kid. A tingle goes down my spine. I move in closer and kiss him with slow, building pa.s.sion. He kisses me back with intense longing. His hair starts to glow. It"s like a beam of light was shining on his head. I pull away suddenly. Why is his hair illuminated? Is it some kind of angel alarm? I had seen Ameana"s hair glow before but this was even brighter. What did it mean? I was about to ask him when I see Rage in the air, sending a fireball straight at us.
"Reese, Blink. Blink now."
I close my eyes and open them again. I am in the same spot. I can"t take my eyes off the fire coming for us. In that moment a soft wind blows past me and lifts me up off the ground.
I look up and Jay has s.n.a.t.c.hed me out of the way just in time. He puts me down on the ground and goes back to fight Rage. Ameana joins in and redirects the latest fireball back at Rage. He ducks and the ball hits Chaos.
Chaos doesn"t move in time and the flames catch his arms and spread. Frenzy helps him put them out and then launches a bolt of electricity at Ameana. Miku sings softly to Frenzy, causing him to misdirect the bolt and send it into the building behind me. Every single window shatters into millions of pieces, all of which are headed for me. Marcus swoops in and grabs me just as the rain of gla.s.s falls.
As Marcus takes off into the air with me, War attacks him. The acid War spews latches onto Marcus" wings, burning and eating away at them. He howls in pain and loosens his grip on me. I slip out of his hands and down to the ground below. I don"t even have time to scream as the wind whips around me. It"s a twenty-story drop, and I"m falling fast.
Marcus ignores the searing pain in his wings and dives down to catch me. Just as we make contact, War attacks him again causing him lose his balance. He drops me again. The fall is inevitable now. I"m going to hit the ground.
But just when I think I"m dead and it"s all over, someone catches me. I"m only a few feet from the ground. Relief washes over me. I look up into Marcus" face. It"s not him. He isn"t the one that stopped my fall, it"s War.
"Let"s go have a little talk," he says as he throws me to the ground. I cry out as my body hits the ground. I hadn"t been high enough for the fall to be life-threatening, but I feel something snap. I roll over and over until I hit a row of trash cans.
I try to get up but a sharp pain in my rib cage wouldn"t allow me to. I know what I broke-a rib. That is the only thing that makes sense. My side is in so much pain I can barely see straight. It hurts to breathe, but I need to get up before War comes back.
"Where are you going? We haven"t had our talk," he says a few feet away from me. I look up in the air and Marcus is trying to fly down to me. But Rage is keeping him busy by trying to torch him.
"Your boyfriend is busy. This is between us," War says venomously.
I use the side of the trash can to pull myself up. It hurts so bad I"m gasping just from standing upright. Digging around furiously in the trash can, I find a broken mirror. I pull out the longest piece I can find and hold it like a knife.
War sees my weapon and laughs.
"You"re the funniest human I"ve encountered. I"ll tell you what. I like you. I won"t spray you. I"ll just dismember you. How does that sound?"
"Don"t be a punk. You want me, come get me," I bark.
I"m holding the weapon so hard it cuts into the palm of my hand. Blood travels down to my wrist. It swirls around my arm and falls drop by drop onto the ground. I can"t feel the pain of the cut. I can"t even feel my side aching anymore. I"m just p.i.s.sed off now, and I"m tired of being tortured and pushed around.
"You come near me and I"ll kill you." My voice trembles with a mixture of fear and rage. But it"s mostly rage. I know he will tear me apart, but d.a.m.ned if I"ll let him do it without a fight.
He lunges at me and I attack him with the mirror. I slash and cut through the air. I make contact with his body several times. He tries to stop me by reaching for my hand, but I am too quick. The whole thing is more annoying to him than hurtful. The only injury I"ve caused is mostly to myself. The gla.s.s cuts deeper and deeper into my hand. The slashes that I have made on War are all but sc.r.a.pe on his steel-like body.
"I"m done playing." He lunges at me again. I don"t move out of the way in time. I go flying backwards and hit the ground. The weapon slips out of my hand. Pain spreads down my body. War is on top of me. He wraps his hands around my throat and squeezes.
"I"m trying to kill you quickly. Keep struggling and I will make it slow. And trust me-you don"t want that."
I kick and scream trying to get him off me. I am finally able to reach the piece of broken mirror that I dropped. I take it and plunge it into his shoulder blade.
"You b.i.t.c.h," he shouts.
I use this momentary distraction to crawl away from him. He pulls out the gla.s.s from his shoulder like it"s a toothpick. He looks at me with murder in his eyes. Everything about him is looming and sinister. He charges toward me like an enraged bull. I can"t get away fast enough. He picks me up and throws me into the trash cans.
My head hits the sidewalk. It feels like my brain is being shaken inside my skull. I land on the side with the broken rib. I am crying so hard from the pain that I can"t hear anything else going on. War comes towards me again. I close my eyes. I don"t want his face to be that last thing I see before I die.
He takes my hand and hovers over me. I totally lose it and yell so loud it comes out like a shrill.
"Get away from me. Get away from me!" I punch, kick and scream, all with my eyes closed.
He gathers my hands inside his to stop me from attacking him.
"Emmy, stop it. It"s me." I open my eyes and Marcus" face is looking back at me. I glance over his shoulder and see War flying away. There isn"t one Akon to be found anywhere. The street is eerily quiet. The Akons had wisely decided to flee.
I look back at Marcus and burst into tears. He takes me into his chest and wraps his arms around me.
"It"s over."
"They tortured me."
"I know."
"I tried to fight them but they"re so strong...."
"I know, Em. It"s over." Marcus kisses me on my forehead. He holds me patiently and lets me cry. It"s minutes before I stop shaking. Finally, I grow quiet. He looks into my face. He"s stricken by sadness and grief.
"What"s wrong?" I ask. He touches the bruises and cuts on my face. His touch is light and charged with longing and regret.
"Can I ask you to do something I have no right to ask for?"
"Yes."
"Can I hold you a little longer?"
"Yes."
He holds me tighter. We lie there on the ground. But that"s okay. All the places that are bruised and broken in my body don"t hurt anymore. Or maybe they do and I just don"t care. Because for the next few moments, I get to be with him. For the next few moments, no one is keeping us apart.
From the corner of my eye, I see Ameana looking in on us from a building nearby. Half of her body is hidden, but I can see her face clearly. I can"t imagine what she"s feeling but I think her heart is breaking. I"m sure she"ll be coming over to us. I should make him let me go. But I can"t.
Just a few more minutes with him, please.
She doesn"t come over. She stands there taking in the situation. Marcus can"t stop looking at me. I can"t stop looking at Ameana, who can"t stop looking at Marcus.
"We should go," I tell him softly. He nods reluctantly and helps me up. Just then I flash back to the last guy who saved my life a few moments ago.
"We have to go find Reese. I think something"s wrong with him."
"What is it?" Marcus says fully alert and ready to attack.
"He Blinked in time to save me from Mayhem"s daggers, but then his hair started glowing."
"His hair was glowing?"
"Yeah. Oh, no. What does that mean? Is he in danger?"
"That"s not what makes an angel"s hair glow." He"s upset or maybe even suspicious, but I don"t know why.
"Oh, what does it mean then, because he was almost illuminated."
"What were you and Reese doing when his hair was Shining?"
"Talking."
"Don"t lie to me."
"What are you talking about?"
"I can"t believe Reese would do this to me."
"You"re losing me here."
"Reese kissed you."
"How did you...?"
"It"s what makes our hair glow."
"So, he"s okay?"
"Not when I"m done with him. Why would he kiss you? He knows that you and I are...."
"What are we, Marcus? We have nothing between us."
"What?"
"You told me to find someone else. You said you weren"t going to leave Ameana. So don"t get mad at Reese for wanting to be with me."
"You can"t be with him."
"Why?"
"Because I-you and I-"