It is silent except for our breathing. Zavy pulls herself to her feet and starts stumbling across the clearing. “I have to get him back,” she says and tears are running down her face.
“Zavy wait,” I say and meet her in the center of the clearing. “What’s wrong with your foot?” I ask, noticing her heavy limp.
“It got pulled when they ripped me from the tree,” she says and pushes around me.
“You can’t go after them on a twisted ankle,” I say and grab her wrist. “You’ll never catch them.”
“Are we just going to let them have him?” she asks and looks at me shocked.
“No,” I say and my brain searches for a plan. “We’re going to go get him together. Let’s just get your ankle wrapped before you make it worse.”
Alexander clears his throat across the clearing, and I turn to look at him for the first time since the battle ended. “So when did you plan on telling me you were a Force Lifter? Did you ever plan on telling me?” I turn away from him as the tears start to form again. The pain and betrayed look he has is too much for me.
“Of course I planned on telling you. Just not at the moment. I mean, I just found out the day we met. It’s not like I’ve known my whole life,” I say sheepishly, trying to come up with an excuse. I help Zavy to the ground and we carefully work on getting her shoe off her swollen ankle.
“But why Adaline? Why not at the moment?” Alexander pushes me. “I thought we were in this together.” The hurt tone in his voice makes my heart tighten.
I turn around and raise my voice to a deathly scream. I rise to my feet and make my way across the clearing, tears streaming down my face as anger and pain mix into one. “Because Alexander! Because I had just lost my mother and my brother. I ran to freedom for myself. I ran so I wouldn’t have to be taken in for my gift that I’ve only known about for a few days. I ran so my gift wasn’t wasted. My life is different from yours, Alexander.
And you might not understand where I’m coming from, because you never had to try for anything! It was all handed to you from the day you were born. You had the most perfect family. They gave you everything! While mine fell apart. My father left me to figure things out on my own. Unlike when your mother left you. She stood there the day she left and told you how much she loved you. Do you know what my dad said to me when he left? He said nothing! Nothing, Alexander!
So don’t stand here and question me about trusting people with my most treasured secret. You don’t even belong here with us, so you might as well just go back to the castle. And don’t act like you are any better than me. You have green eyes too! So what’s your gift? And Zavy has a gift too! Her eyes are just as green as the rest of us. I’m not the only one here who kept my gift a secret!” The world around us falls completely silent as the words I’ve just said settle and it physically feels as though the connection between Alexander and me that I have felt my whole life is broken.
I watch as Alexander looks at Zavy and understands that she is not in the least bit surprised to hear that I’m a Force Lifter. “You told Zavy?” he spits at me. “You trusted her?”
“She’s not the one I can’t trust, you are. You’re the one who worked for the castle. You’re the one who worked side by side with Paylon. Who knows, you could just be some spy. You could take the information about where we are and what gifts we have back to King Renon and get us killed.” I say back to him, but I can’t get my eyes to meet his.
“Adaline, I don’t know what hurts more. The fact that you all kept secrets from me, or the fact that you think I would turn you both into King Renon.” Alexander turns and runs toward the forest, but stops and looks at me one last time, “I’m a Sensor. I have an enhanced sense of touch,” he says, choking on his own tears as they pour down his face. Then, he spins back around and continues into the forest.
Frustration swells in my chest. I pick up my black bag and throw it across the clearing towards Zavy, letting out a huff of anger. When it hits the ground my mother’s diary launches out and lands by Zavy’s feet. I look at her and see her staring off into the distance where Paylon, Codian, and Chadian ran.
“We’re going to get him back,” I say. I rub my damp cheeks and make my way back to her. “I promise Zavy. They won’t hurt him, he’s not who they want.”
Zavy’s eyes meet mine and I can tell she blames Alexander and myself because if we hadn’t been together Paylon would never have found them. I can see the words sitting tight in her throat, but she doesn’t speak them. Instead, she picks up my mother’s journal, “What’s this?” she asks with a tight voice.
“It’s my mother’s old journal,” I explain, “She gave it to me right before she died. I haven’t been able to read it yet because I can’t get it unlocked. I don’t even know what could be in there.”
“Well from what I know, all Future Holders are given journals, and that’s where they keep all the information on what they
