The geneva project comp.., p.126
The Geneva Project- Complete Series Boxset, page 126
I would stay and fight.
“Remi, I can’t. I can’t abandon everyone here. I can’t abandon my friends, my destiny. It’s too much. I can’t be selfish.”
“Love makes us do selfish things. And I want to be selfish if it will keep you alive. I don’t want to be in a world where you don’t exist.”
“Then stay and fight with me, Remi. Help me win this battle and we can exist in a better world.”
“As friends,” he added sensing my tone.
I nodded.
“I had to try,” he said smiling sadly.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m not. I tried. I have no regrets now. And I’m glad we talked. I’ve missed you. I want you to be in my life. Even if it’s just as friends.”
“Me too.”
“You know you don’t have to ask me to stay,” Remi said. “I’ll be here until the bitter end with you.”
“Remi,” I said taking his hands in mine. “I don’t deserve you.”
“Come on,” he said hoisting me to my feet. “Let’s go face our fate.”
“To the bitter end,” I replied squeezing his hand.
Chapter 53
Halfway back to the palace, I spotted Terran flirting with two servant girls in the rose garden. Their cheeks flushed as pink as the rosebuds they admired while giggling at something he said.
“Terran’s certainly enjoying himself,” I commented. “I guess I shouldn’t have worried so much about summoning him.”
Remi snorted. “They’re just a distraction. Terran cares for Eja. He just hasn’t admitted it yet.”
“You’re the second person to say that.”
Remi grabbed my hand, stopping me from catching Terran’s attention. “Listen, Geneva, I’ve been meaning to mention something to you about Terran.”
“Remi, I don’t care who Terran loves. I just want him to be happy. That goes for all of my friends,” I said staring into Remi’s chocolate eyes.
“That’s not what I’m talking about,” Remi muttered.
“Oh?”
Remi sighed deeply. “I guess now is as good a time as any.”
I waited for him to continue.
“So you know how Terran grew up in Lux with a terrible stepmother, who used to beat him, and he joined the Luxors as soon as he could to get away from her?”
“Yes?”
“There’s no easy way to say this, Geneva, but . . . Greeley was his stepmother.”
Ice raced through my veins, leaving a wreckage of gooseflesh covering my skin. I numbly stared at Remi. Greeley? Greeley who made our lives a living nightmare? Greeley who I killed? KILLED!
“Geneva, take a breath. You’re shaking,” Remi whispered.
“Remi, you can’t be serious.”
“I’m afraid so.”
“Then you must be mistaken.”
“I wish I was, but he told me himself.”
“Oh my gods, Remi. Does he know? Does he know that I . . .” I couldn’t even bring myself to say the word out loud, but it screamed through my mind nonetheless. KILLED! KILLED! KILLED!
“No. I didn’t think it was my place. I told him she was dead, but not who killed her.”
My heart sank and I realized I’d been hoping Remi had told Terran to save me from having to. How could Terran trust me if he knew I killed his stepmother. Even if he hated her, he would surely think differently of me once he knew. “I have to tell him, don’t I?” I whispered.
“It’s up to you, Geneva.”
“He deserves to know the truth.”
Remi smiled ruefully. “He doesn’t need to know this instant. You should get some rest and think on it.”
I nodded absently as I stared at Terran flirting away. He was positively glowing as he flashed the girls his mischievous smile.
“Come on,” Remi said, leading me away.
When we got back to the palace all was quiet. There were no signs of the rebellious Luxors. Remi and I made our way quickly back to our quarters to find the others and change out of our disheveled clothing. Just outside the door to my room we found Mali and Mala on guard detail. They shared a concerned look when we approached.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Malakai delivered the letter,” Mala replied.
My eyes grew wide and I hurried passed her into my room. Everyone looked exhausted, but Jovi popped up when I came in, causing Niv to jump from her lap. Kai rushed to my side. “You’re all right?” he asked with concern.
I hadn’t even noticed him when I first entered the room. “Yes, I’m fine.”
“What happened?” Kai asked. “The Luxors ran back here with their tails between their legs. Half of them headed straight to the infirmary.”
“Those Luxors won’t be bothering us anymore. Is the letter here?” I asked changing the subject.
“It’s right here,” Jovi said, shoving it into my hands.
I knew exactly what it would say, but I anxiously cracked the wax seal and unfolded it anyway. I wanted to see if Malakai would let it come through unchanged or if he would try to manipulate it and mislead me someway. I quickly scanned the letter. It was word-for-word what Sadie said Eja would write. Malakai was testing me. He wanted to see how much I would tell him.
I passed the letter to Kai and turned to my friends. “He let it come through unchanged.” They looked at me waiting for more. “Are you ready to go sell this story?”
I was met with a resounding, “Yes!”
I quickly doled out orders and we set our plan in motion.
Mala worked on writing a short coded note for me to transcribe back to Nova, letting them know we’d received the letter and we were about to go ask Malakai for a meeting. Everyone else rushed around getting cleaned up and changed for dinner.
“Are you sure you want to ask my father now?” Kai asked when he returned dressed in a dashing silver and black tunic vest. It brought out the hidden flecks of silver in his dark eyes—like the stars in the night sky.
“Yes. He knows we have the letter. If we wait it will only alert suspicion.” I studied Kai. He looked ruffled and he hadn’t even witnessed my show in the stables or learned about Terran’s connection to Greeley. “If you’re having second thoughts I need to know.”
“No, it’s not that. I’m just afraid he won’t be in the best mood once he finds out we yet again endangered you in Lux today.”
I put my hands on his shoulders and stared into his midnight eyes. “Kai, I’ve got it under control. Just play your part, darling,” I said facetiously as I took his hand.
He smiled brightly and shook his head.
“What?”
“I admire your bravado.”
I smiled. I was glad I was still able to somehow exude confidence after everything that happened today. If anything, I felt my fate was made of a thin sheet of ice and was about to walk into a den of fire. “Persistence pays off.” At least that’s what I was counting on.
• • •
“And when did you receive this letter?” Malakai asked from across the table.
“When we returned from Lux, just this afternoon,” I replied.
“Have you showed anyone else?” he asked.
“Yes, Kai and my ladies.”
Malakai steepled his fingers and rested his pointed chin on them. I held my breath while he contemplated. He was silent for so long I thought perhaps I’d unintentionally frozen him with a rogue power. He finally cleared his throat and conferred with Professor Kobel for a moment.
Malakai looked at me cunningly. “Something needs to be done about the Betos before there’s a rebellion. It seems everywhere you go, Geneva, insurrection follows. I wonder why that is?”
“I think I should speak to them. If I could perhaps meet with Eja—the one who wrote me, warning of the uprising. If I could talk to him and deliver a message in person, asking the Betos to stand down, I think it might help.”
“You want us to let you walk into a rainforest crawling with Beto savages so you can speak to them? Do you think we’re stupid?” Kobel hissed with disdain. “You know full well we’d never see you again.”
“Now, now, Kobel. If she wanted to deceive us she wouldn’t have brought us the letter, would you, Geneva?”
“No. But I’m trying to prevent a war. Marrying your son wasn’t my first choice, but I see now that it’s my only option if I want to keep the people I care about alive. I care about the Betos. Please, let me make them see that attacking Lux will not benefit them. I trust Eja. Let me talk to him and repair the bond between the Betos and Lux,” I argued.
“Just like you’re doing with the rebels in the city?” Malakai asked, catching me off guard. “How’s that going, by the way?”
Did the Luxors rat me out already? I swallowed hard before I replied. “Slowly, but well, I think.”
“No issues today?” he asked.
He knew. “Well I did have an issue with some of the Luxors. They were horsing around a bit, showing off and such. They took it too far and one of them was injured—fatally,” I said bowing my head.
Malakai’s thunderous laugh echoed through the massive marble dining room. There weren’t enough people in it to absorb the sound—only Kai, Kobel and myself. Terran and Remi were standing guard outside the door, while the rest of my friends ate in a less decorative room across the hall with the servants.
“Well, they do love to roughhouse, don’t they?” he sneered showing his pristinely white teeth.
I met his gaze and didn’t look away. “Fine,” he said. “Set up a meeting with this Eja person. But you’ll inform me of when the meeting is, and Kai and the Luxors will escort you.”
“And my guards?”
“Your friends stay here,” he said. “We must guarantee you have reason to return.”
“Fine. Then may I choose my own Luxors? As you know, I don’t have the best track record with them.”
Malakai nodded carelessly. He’d already turned his attention back to his meal. Now was my chance to push him.
“The ones who escorted me today will do,” I replied.
He sighed looking up at me with a pinning stare. After a moment he shrugged. “Very well. Now may we enjoy our meal?”
I smiled and bowed my head politely. “Of course.”
A loud screech of a chair interrupted us and I looked up to see Kobel striding toward the door. He flung it open and stormed out.
Chapter 54
Kobel’s face was beat red as he limped purposefully down the long hallway, his robes fluttering behind him. He’d had enough waiting around, watching Malakai and Geneva play cat and mouse. Malakai was a fool if he thought he was controlling that girl. She was much more cunning then he gave her credit for. Malakai’s outrageous ego would be his downfall. He was determined to break Geneva’s will and make her serve him willingly. He truly believed he was that powerful. He always had to have things his way, but Kobel was done doing things Malakai’s way. Kobel had been patient—more patient than even he thought he could be. But he was tired of waiting.
“I’m through suffering time,” Kobel muttered to himself as he descended a staircase deep into the pit of the castle. “I have suffered long enough.”
Kobel sighed, drinking in the frigid air in the bowels of the castle. He relished the spine-tingling chill that swept through him as he limped through the catacombs as the whispering pleas of the souls encapsulated there called to him.
He finally reached his lair and pushed the heavy iron door open with a groan. The stuffy room glowed orange with the flicker of candlelight. “If I can’t win a heart of power, then I will make my own,” Kobel crooned as he ran his hand lovingly over the dull luster of the misshapen gem on his parchment-strewn desk. He picked up the stone, caressing it with his gnarled fingers. Perhaps he had enough power now.
Kobel hobbled over to the steadily glowing fireplace in the corner. He placed the large red stone in the heart of the fire and fed it—gems, stones, shimmering trinkets, metal, rubble of all shapes and sizes. The fire growled and hissed. It glowed brighter until the flame began to flicker a deep red. Kobel sighed. “Still not enough.” His pile of rubble was dwindling. He’d burnt through nearly everything they’d procured from the Troian Center, including Greeley’s secret stash. The gems she’d stolen for herself had been extremely powerful. They’d allowed Kobel to create the serum they used to peer into Kai’s mind along with many others that he had plans for.
But now there was little Flood rubble left. He’d depleted his stores to create enough Soul Cells to restrain Geneva’s gifts. She was more powerful than he’d anticipated. Kobel shook his head as he stared at his meager stash of rubble. It wasn’t nearly enough to yield a Lapiz Saguine strong enough to do what he needed. And without a steady supply coming from the Troian Center, he knew he would have to find another way.
The Lapiz Saguine was his back up plan, should Geneva meet an untimely demise before she could be used to bring Ravin back. Kobel wouldn’t put it passed the insufferable girl to make herself a martyr and purposely end her dull life just to stop them from succeeding.
“Over my dead body,” he growled.
Chapter 55
“What did he say?” Jovi asked once we were back in the safety of my room. She was bouncing on her tiptoes barely able to contain her excitement.
“Malakai agreed to let me meet with Eja,” I replied.
“Hooray! We get to see Eja and Sadie and Nova and Mom again!” Jovi cried.
“Not so fast. He agreed to let me and Kai go. He’s keeping the rest of you here as insurance that I return.”
Jovi’s stopped bouncing and her shoulders slumped.
“I’m sorry,” I said sullenly looking at my friends. I hated that I’d put them in this position. They didn’t deserve to be used as hostages.
“It’s okay,” Jovi said giving me her best smile. “Besides, I like it here. Me and Niv will stay and look after your notebook.”
“Good idea,” I said hugging her.
“If you see my mom, will you tell her I love her?” she asked softly so the others couldn’t hear.
“Yes, I promise,” I whispered staring into her bright caramel-brown eyes.
“What else?” Sparrow asked.
“Malakai’s sending Luxors with us, but I bargained for the five from today so at least I know what I’m dealing with.”
Kai shot me a questioning glance. Shame had prevented me from telling him what I’d done in the stables. But I didn’t have time to worry about that at the moment.
“I need to draft a letter to Eja tonight so I can send it first thing tomorrow. Malakai wants to read it first, so we don’t have time to waste. I don’t want him to change his mind.”
My friends agreed to the plan with silent nods.
“Mala, can you help me send a quick note to Nova letting him know Malakai has agreed?”
“Of course,” she replied.
Kai spoke up. “You better add exactly when and where we are planning the meeting in the letter to Nova. We can’t trust my father not to have ulterior motives. I don’t want him changing things and setting Eja up.”
I looked at Kai with gratitude. He didn’t even know Eja, but here he was thinking of his safety. I hated how Kai kept clawing his way into my heart. I didn’t know what the future held for us. All the fondness I had toward him was only making things harder.
“Thanks,” I replied softly. “Good idea.”
Kai smiled warmly and pulled out my desk chair so I could get to work.
Chapter 56
Sadie was at the lagoon practicing again. Mala warned her not to wear herself out, but she wanted to make sure she could perform the spell flawlessly before she tried it out on Nova. They’d only get one shot, and things would have to work perfectly if they were going to succeed. Sadie wouldn’t even let herself think of failure as she gazed into the black water of the lagoon. She squealed with excitement when the reflection she longed to see stared back at her. The spell worked again!
“Three times in a row!” she exclaimed to herself. She didn’t even need Mala’s step-by-step guide anymore. “Maybe just one more time . . .” Sadie murmured. She was getting ready to try the spell again when she heard Nova shouting for her.
She leapt to her feet and sprinted toward his tent terrified of what she would find. Nova’s condition was unpredictable. Some days he was clear-eyed and optimistic. Others he spent in writhing pain, locked in some torturous dreamscape calling out for Geneva. When he was well enough, Eja and Sadie took him outside to get some sunlight. They’d even gotten him on the back of a particularly patient horse Eja and Jaka had been working with. The mare was extremely gentle and was trusted with even the smallest of the Beto children. Vida constructed a saddle that Nova could be strapped to. It had braces and supports to help him sit upright.
The day they’d tested it out had been a success. Nova was having one of his good days. He’d even managed to keep some food down. When Eja and Sadie carried his cot outside to meet the horse, he laughed until he had a coughing fit. The mare’s name was Nafasi. It meant chance in Beto. The irony wasn’t lost on Nova. He loved the idea that he’d be riding in on a horse named Chance to complete the lunacy of their plan.
Nova sputtered off smart remarks as they led him around on Nafasi’s back testing out the saddle. “This is my last chance guys. Don’t screw it up. That means you too, Nafasi.” As absurd as Nova’s jokes were, Sadie loved the days when he had the energy to make them. That’s when he was most himself and it gave her faith that her crazy plan would work. It had to. It really was their last chance.
When Sadie breathlessly darted into the tent, she saw Eja was already at Nova’s bedside examining the leather dream journal he never let out of his sight. Nova was smiling, despite his obvious pain.
Thank gods, Sadie thought to herself. She dreaded the day she would find Nova too deteriorated to go on. The Fae Queen assured her that Nova would have all the time he needed as long as Sadie was true to her word. She had every intention of keeping her promise to the Fae. What worried Sadie was the Fae’s reputation for breaking their own promises.
