“Macklin, how much longer?” I ask my brother. He’s desperately reading through a book he found in the office, his hair mussed and his shirt half-untucked.
“This is in Latin, but I think I’ve finally got it.”
“Reggie said it’s about intent. Isn’t that enough?” Levi asks.
“Think of it like a genie’s wish. If we’re not specific enough, we could end up with unexpected results. We don’t have much time to waste, so it’s better to be a bit cautious now rather than go on a wild goose chase when time is more critical.”
There’s a sense of urgency riding me that I don’t understand. Of course, we want to find her before something happens to her or she does something stupid, but I’m pretty sure this feeling isn’t mine. Is it Fate’s? Maybe the increased range is yet another side effect of our power up?
Cole is busy pacing in front of the fireplace, grumbling to himself.
“Cole, bro, you’re going to wear out the carpet.”
He pauses long enough to shoot a glare at Thad before resuming. “Fucking woman and her stubbornness.”
He’s right, and he’s also wrong. She wouldn’t have gone off alone if we hadn’t had our heads stuck up our asses. “This is our fault,” I say quietly, swirling the amber liquid around in the glass I’m holding.
Cole stops, throwing his arms in the air. “How the fuck is this our fault?”
“We left her in the dark. Tried to play heroes. The woman is smart. Too damn smart, honestly. She knew we had no intention of changing our plans.” And that, I realize, is why I’m so angry. Not just at her for leaving without telling us, again, but because I’m partially to blame. “And she was right. We were going to continue to seek out leads. We were going to keep shoving her back onto that damn pedestal, all in the name of protecting her.” I shake my head. “We’re all sitting here in this room because she made it so. We’re her balance, not her keepers. We need to remember that and do better. Be better.”
The room is silent while they take in my words. They all know I’m right. Even Cole, but he’s going to have the hardest time admitting it.
A sudden sense of alarm hits me, the emotion skimming along my skin, followed by faint feelings of pain and despair, agony, and resignation, almost like an echo of a memory. It’s kind of similar to hearing someone talk while you’re underwater. You can tell they’re talking, but can’t make out what they’re saying. I jump to my feet, frantically trying to decipher what the hell is happening. Then it hits me. I know what this is.
“Knox?” Cole asks, stomping over to me and studying my face. His aura is taking on a grayish tinge, full of fear and worry, both slamming into me. It’s disconcerting to see my unshakeable brother coming undone.
“We need to go. Now! I think Fate’s having another flashback.”
“Fuck!” the twins swear in unison.
“Macklin!” Cole barks.
“I’m on it!” he says, rushing over to us. He brings up his left wrist, placing the fingertips of his right hand on Fate’s mark. “Show me Fate.”
Thad and Levi have joined us in the center of the room, everyone eagerly waiting.
“Shit! Think, Mack, think,” he mumbles to himself.
“It didn’t work?” I ask.
“All I could see was a crowd of people surrounded by darkness that was broken only by color-changing lights.”
“What the fuck? Is she at a rave?” Thad gripes.
“Gateway, I need you to show me the location where I can find Fate.”
“This better work, Mack.” My hand comes up to rub my temple. My head is pounding, and my breaths are becoming shallow. My entire system is going haywire, tiptoeing ever closer to the edge of my limits. But overshadowing all of that is a feeling of hopelessness. And overlying that is a sense of panic. Fuck! This isn’t good.
“She’s at a club on Elm.”
Cole shouts, “What the fuck is she doing at a club?”
“Maybe she just needed a night out?” Thad offers with a shrug.
“I don’t know what she’s doing, but we need to get there. Whatever memory just surfaced, it’s not a good one. There’s agony and terror and...shit….it’s gotta be from that night. There’s no way it could be anything else.”
Their eyes all look at me in stunned horror.
Mack looks at each of us. “Imagine Fate very clearly in your head. Hold the Gateway mark and say ‘Take me to the club on Elm.’ Theoretically, it should transport us there.”
“Should?” Levi asks, looking skeptically at his mark.
“Just do it, jackass,” I snap.
We all touch our marks, and I silently repeat Mack’s words in my mind, picturing my little ghost and praying she hasn’t gotten herself into a heap of trouble.
Right as my body begins to dematerialize, black wisps of smoke floating through the air, Mack shouts, “Wait!”
Fucking really? The next thing I know, I’m standing in a darkened alley flanked by my brothers as their own bodies rematerialize next to me. Mack is the last one to arrive, looking around frantically.
“Oh, thank God.”
“What the hell, Mack?” Levi fumes.
“The Gateway threw me a curve at the last second there.”
“The fuck? You speak to the Gateway now?” Thad grumbles.
“It’s not really actual speech, per se. More like images that get its point across. Pretty sure we all have the same ability, I’m probably just more open to it than you guys.”
“Well, what the fuck did it say?” Cole demands.
“The Gateway said it would not be wise to suddenly appear in the middle of a room full of the living. Then it rolled its eyes, or at least, it felt like it did. Apparently it altered our course somewhat.”
“So where the fuck are we then?” Thad hisses.
“We’re still at the club. Just in the alley beside the building.”
Levi scans from side to side, making sure no one saw us. “So, what are we supposed to do now?”
“All I know is that I’m not waiting in a goddamn line. We need to get inside. Whatever it was I was feeling before is stronger here.”
“We need a plan,” Cole says, eyeing the opening of the alleyway.
“Well…” Mack starts, looking at the rest of us nervously.
“Spit it the fuck out, Mack,” Cole barks, his patience gone.
“I have an idea.”
“For fuck’s sake, man, just tell us what we have to do,” Thad grumbles.
“We ghost ourselves.”
“Say what now?” the twins say in unison.
“Hear me out. We have Fate’s power, right? We can move through the ether, so it stands to reason that we can also...change forms.”
“How?” I ask, the urgency like a constant battering ram against my senses now that we’re near a crowd of people.
“I sound like a broken record, but it’s all about intent. We think about changing forms, and it should happen.” He closes his eyes, and before I can scoff at the idea, his form begins to flicker until he’s completely transparent.