CHAPTER 42: VORTEX
16 years old
Summer struggles against the iron muscles of Gage as he whispers frantically in her ear, “He’s doing this to rescue you. You have to let him go!”
She knows this, but she doesn’t want to—she’d rather give herself to the Secret Clock Society than this. When the Leaguers find out Landon’s involved in their escape they’ll kill him. Their laws are so firm and final—he’ll have no chance against them. There’s nothing Gage can say that will make this all right. She continues to struggle, but he’s having none of that. He picks her up with an arm around her waist and hauls her over to his sleek vehicle with no edges, all just smooth curves and shiny, sparkling-silver paint.
Jaden and Rob are yelling at each other near the parking lot’s entrance, and from the small glimpse Summer receives, Cameron’s holding them apart while beckoning the Leaguers at the gate to come and help. It’s a ruse, just like Landon with the keys.
Lucy and Avery pull her into the back of Gage’s vehicle as he gently sets her down. She tries to break free, but Lucy only holds on to her tighter, her grip surprisingly strong. “I’m sure he’ll make it out of there in time,” soothes Lucy. It’s obvious she’s lying by the slight quiver in her voice. She’s not convincing anyone, not even herself, and the pain’s so obvious in Lucy’s green eyes that they turn into pools of darkness inside the car.
Gage’s eyes are heavy with sympathy as he disappears behind the sliding door as it closes. Now they’re all cast in shadows. Only a small amount of light from the front window trickles in from the fading sun so all she can see is the outline of Avery’s face across from her with his bright red hair. Lucy pulls Summer farther into the vehicle which has bench seats on all sides. Her grip soon becomes a comforting hug as she rocks them both back and forth, her chin resting on Summer’s shoulder. She’s not sure what it is about Lucy, but she relaxes into her embrace and lets the weight of it all just fall away. Just for a second. A fraction of a second. The door on the opposite side slides open, and light floods in as two shadows hop into the back, laughing hysterically. It’s Jaden and Rob, completely absorbed in each other. “I can’t believe you called that guard a ‘skanky, scrotum-chewing, anal discharge-licking prat’!”
That lifts eyebrows.
They both burst into laughter. “Yeah, but the face he was making, all blowfish-like as he fumed . . . I couldn’t help it! I’d make that same face if I had chewed on—”
“That’s enough,” says Gage, cutting off Rob and hopping behind the wheel. His door begins to slide shut while the passenger side opens, Cameron practically diving in.
“Drive!” shouts Cameron. “Emma and Zoe are at the gate. Hunter and Ethan have sent the other Leaguers to the corner where Summer’s supposed to be in a few minutes according to Kevin. I guess you planted that little lie?”
Gage nods and gives the car commands. It starts up and speeds toward the gate without him moving a muscle.
“Wait!” screams Jaden, causing the car to shutter in confusion. “Where’s Landon?”
“He was held up by Dr. Frankfurt,” answers Avery regretfully, his eyes casting downward. Gage is arguing with the car’s computer to get it to move again. Rob and Jaden finally soak in the atmosphere in the vehicle and can see the pain etched into every line, every single inch of skin on Summer’s face.
“We can’t leave without him!” insists Jaden, her dark eyes capturing Summer’s with a horror-struck expression.
“We don’t have time,” argues Cameron as the vehicle speeds forward again.
Summer looks at Jaden pleadingly, hoping she’ll push the issue for her, but she doesn’t. No one in the back will even make eye contact with her. She yanks free from Lucy’s loose hold and crawls toward the front, reaching her hand forward to write on Gage’s palm.
“Summer . . .” he trails off, his voice weak. He offers his hand with a tiny sigh that he tries to withhold.
“Please,” she writes over and over across his skin.
“If I have to pick between you or him, it’s going to be you,” admits Gage quietly, his eyes on the road. “Always you.” The last part is barely audible.
“I’d pick him,” she writes. “Not me.”
Cameron and Gage glance at each other, though neither of them speak. He slows at the gate, and all the doors slide open automatically. Before anyone can reach out for Summer, she’s flying out the door and running down the asphalt toward the Edward Complex. Shouts erupt behind her, but suddenly she sees Landon sprinting toward her, and she can’t help but pick up her pace and run to him. Several Leaguers are racing behind him, trying to use their high-tech devices to subdue him, but he avoids them.
“Ducky, go!” he cries. “I’m right behind you!”
She slows and pivots around, only to run into Gage’s hard chest. His arms automatically wrap around her, their hearts beating wilding against each other, right before he scoops her up and dashes toward the Outlander. Is she really that slow he needs to carry her? Honestly? She doesn’t mind because it means she can be just that much closer to him. What has this man done to her? They’re running from Leaguers with weapons, and she’s swooning over being close to Gage?
Zoe and Emma are talking quickly with Cameron and everyone else in the back, handing them something. Landon swiftly catches up just as Gage is practically tossing her into the back, not as gentle as before. There’s an urgency now that wasn’t there only minutes before. Jaden immediately hugs Summer over Rob’s lap and reaches for Landon’s hand as he squeezes in beside Lucy who practically breaks into tears when she sees him, hugging on to him desperately.
“Put this on, Summer. You too, Landon.” Zoe tosses a headband to Summer and an earpiece to Landon. Everyone else is already sporting headbands or earpieces except Cameron and Gage. The Leaguers are catching up with them, and Gage shouts a command at the vehicle, the doors sliding shut.
Summer runs a hand through her hair and tucks the headband behind her ears, holding the silky black strands at bay. She’s still not used to the dark color, and sometimes it causes her to jump when it falls in her face. Immediately after she lets go of the headband, a ringing starts in her ears, and she can’t focus on anything as her head begins to ache horribly. People are talking around her, but she doesn’t understand anyone. She can feel the movement of the car under her, the anxiety as thick as honey in the air, but she can’t pay attention.
“I think something’s wrong with Summer,” she finally hears someone say. This is followed by many people calling her name and gentle hands holding her face, checking her forehead for fever, and then catching her as she falls forward when her body goes limp. The world swirls around her like a kaleidoscope’s vortex of images, vomiting out measured patterns and colors. Spinning . . . spinning . . . spinning . . . There’s a screech of tires. She sees Landon’s dark eyes beneath his blonde eyebrows and then . . .
It all goes black.
Only those who will risk going too far can
possibly find out how far one can go.
T.S. Eliot
PART THREE
THE IMPOSSIBLE