Broken Skies

We’d been shoved into an intense situation, well, I dragged us into one anyway. It’s only natural that we’d develop a strong co

Flint breaks me out of my roaming thoughts. “There’s something we need to discuss before you head in there. Away from the alien.”

“Your buddies going to refrain from shooting him while we’re gone? I don’t trust Daniel.”

He presses his lips together and his eyes go back to Lir. “I’ll talk to them.”

I narrow my eyes and nod slowly. “Okay.”

Flint walks back to the rest of the soldiers. After a few minutes of intense discussion, Daniel and the other two walk away down the driveway.

Lir breaks away from Peter and opens the hood of the truck. Maybe that’s his job in the city, an alien mechanic. I can hope, right? He props it open with a block of wood the priest hands him and rests his hands on the raised hood, staring intently into the engine compartment. He turns his head to talk to Peter and I study his profile.

His hair looks ridiculous, but it doesn’t detract from his other features. He stands tall and confident even under the glares of the other humans. I’ve seen him scared and he doesn’t look like he’s worried, but I feel just the slightest edge of unease rolling off him and curling in my stomach. The familiar heat of anger is buzzing in my body too, but it’s not mine. It’s more of a slow burn than the sudden, intense flare that signals my own emotions. What is happening to me?

My breath stutters in my chest. This has happened before. Someone else’s emotions, someone else’s thoughts burrowing into my head. Unwelcome. Hurting. Knife. Blood. Hands. Hands on hair. Hands on neck. Hands on…Nonononono.

A screech. Palms pressed to temples, I fall to my knees. Get them out. Out. Out. Out. Banging hands on head. I forgot to breathe again. Breathe. In. Out. In. Out.

Slowly my breaths even out, oxygen bringing reality back into focus, bringing Flint’s gun back into focus, the gun that’s pointed at Lir.

“Get out of her head.” Flint’s words are a hiss beside my ear.

“I’m not… I didn’t…Blazes, do you really think I would do that to her?”

With one shaky hand, I push the barrel of Flint’s gun away. “Stop. Not his fault.” My tongue loosens with each word I manage to push out. “A flashback. A panic attack. Old news now, right?”

“Jesus, Jax.” Flint puts his arms around me and pulls me back into his chest. “Since when do you have them when you’re awake and no one else is anywhere near you?”

“Since today?” Breathing is still work right now. “At least one that bad. It’s been a rough couple weeks.” I clutch his arms folded in front of me and close my eyes as my heartbeat stops racing.

The gray sludge of sadness laps at me from across the driveway. Lir. I wasn’t imagining it then. I open my eyes and meet his. There are so many emotions there I almost drown. Sorrow. Anger. Regret. And even something else that I don’t want to face. I see a realization cross his face and the flow of emotions from him slams shut, leaving me strangely empty.

* * * * * * *

I spend about twenty minutes getting my bearings back before following Flint to the other side of the house and walking into the woods. He glances back behind us as he walks until the house ca

“Are you sure you’re okay?” He places a hand on my shoulder and comes to a stop.

Still a little shaky, I almost dodge his touch but I pull myself together before he notices. “Yeah. I’ll be fine.” Squinting at him, I tilt my head to the side. “Why did you assume Lir was doing something back there? What did you mean by get out of my head?”

Flint blows a loud breath out through his lips and paces a few steps with his hands clasped together behind his back. He pauses and looks up at me from under his brow before taking a few more steps. “They have some sort of mind co

“Yes,” I say. Up to this point, I’d been handling the whole half alien thing rather well. I don’t feel any different, but the idea that Jace had been in my head outside of whatever twin co

“Though, as much as I don’t want to admit it, I don’t think he was trying to hurt you,” Flint says, breaking me out of the escalating cycle of worry spi

“You’d be surprised about how much I do know. I know about Jace. What he’s done.”

He flinches and purses his lips together. “He didn’t want to do any of that. That’s not him.”

“I know that.” I fold my arms over my chest. “As much as he’s obviously hidden from me, Jace is not a bad person.”

His mouth turns up into a small, sad smile. “When did you find out?”

“A few days ago.”

A wrinkle forms on his brow. “But… you’ve been gone for weeks? How’d you find out about it?”

“Lir told me.”

Flint stops pacing altogether and gapes at me. “He knows. He knows who he’s helping and he’s still doing it?”

I shrug. “Yeah.”

His eyes roam back toward the house and he shakes his head softly. “That’s interesting.” Another noisy exhalation. “How much do you trust him?”

Good question. I trust Lir with my life, but with Jace’s? I’m still not so sure about that. “Why?” I ask

“Jace was assisting my father with an attack plan.”

“A plan to attack what?”

“The city. The aliens.”

I scoff. “Impossible. There’s no way he could get through the barrier.”

“The alien ships get in and out,” says Flint. “How do you think they do that?” When I don’t respond, he continues. “He hasn’t told you much then. There’s a small device installed on each ship that lets them pass. That’s what Jace stole off the last downed ship. That’s what got them all worried and trigger happy. They know we can get in now.”

“Why hasn’t Dane already attacked? What’s he waiting for?”

Flint laughs nervously and rubs his hand over his head. “That’s a fu

The little metal object I took from the locked desk drawer. Has to be. “So his plan was what? Send you out to drag me back?”

“Uh, not exactly. He doesn’t know I’m here.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Well, I was pla

“So you can take it back to Bridgelake and hand it over to your father?”

He shakes his head. “No. I’m a lot of things, but I’m not stupid. The second he’s got that thing back, he’ll attack and he won’t be selective about targets.” He pauses and swallows. When he looks at me again, his eyes are shiny with the start of tears. “Jace is in there and…for now…he’s at least alive. If there’s any chance… I can’t lose him.” He bites his lip. “I promised him I’d protect you, but instead I’m begging you to go in and get him. I’ll hold on to the device only as a backup plan, just in case…I need to come in after you, in case you can’t get out on your own.”