Read Online The Gathering by K. E. Ganshert - Free Book Online Page B

holds up his hand, like he doesn’t want me to come any closer.
    Cap rolls into the room. “Back to bed, Tess.”
    “But—”
    “You heard me.”
    Luka sits with his feet on the floor, his head cradled between his hands. “I’m fine,” he says. “You can go back to sleep.”
    Cap nods reassuringly, like everything will be okay.
    I stare at Luka. His fingers, which so calmly played with my hair hours ago, are now threaded through his own. I should go to him, comfort him, but it’s obvious he doesn’t want my comfort. Heaviness drapes across my shoulders as I obey orders and walk away.
    Down the hallway, Link’s bedroom door is open. I peek inside. Trinkets are scattered about the room—a collection of computers and remotes in varying degrees of assembly. The clock on his bedside table reads 4:32. Going back to sleep isn’t going to happen, not when Luka’s screams echo inside my skull. So I head to the tech lab instead.
    Link is there, sitting in the dark, the computer screen casting his profile in a bluish glow. Did he hear Luka’s screaming? I’m not sure how he couldn’t have. I’d be surprised if Non or Sticks or whoever’s standing guard up above didn’t hear it, too.
    “Have you been working all night?” I ask.
    “I hit a second wind somewhere around two.” He stops typing, leans back in his chair, and clasps his hands behind his head.
    I scratch the inside of my wrist. “Did Cap tell you that I recruited you to come with me and Jillian and Luka to New Orleans?”
    “I’ve always wanted to see Bourbon Street.”
    I step inside, sit in the rolling chair beside him, and pick up a stack of identification cards near his elbow. “Did you make these?”
    He nods.
    “Impressive.”
    “Yeah, well. Your superpower is battling monsters in the night. Mine is forgery.” He picks up his Rubik’s Cube and begins twisting. “Just call me your friendly neighborhood identity thief.”
    Link’s always underestimating himself, just because he can’t fight. And yet if I had to nominate an MVP down in the hub, it’d probably be him. I swap the cards for a small, orange container. Familiar white pills rattle inside. I’ve taken them before, against Dr. Roth’s cryptic warning. When I was on them, I no longer saw unexplainable things. I no longer had disturbing dreams. Everything supernatural disappeared. “What’re these for?”
    “Our group of spring breakers.”
    He means Ellen, Declan, Jose, Ashley, and Danielle, who will be traveling together under the guise of college friends looking to have some fun in the Big Apple. “They’re going blind?”
    “Just Jose. Cap thinks it’s a necessity.”
    Cap is probably right. Jose is a Fighter and when it comes to Fighters, we draw the enemy’s attention all too easily. Guardians have a much easier time slipping under the radar.
    “Is Cap going to take them, too?”
    “It won’t be necessary. Anna can cloak him.”
    Right. The two are traveling together with Rosie and Bass, a happy family of four. I don’t need the pills either. Since Luka is my Keeper, he can cloak me himself.
    Link gives the Rubik’s Cube another twist, turning three faces to solid color.
    I set the bottle of pills beside the IDs. Two cards are missing from the pile—numbers one and two on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. I guess when you’re on the world news every night, a convincing ID doesn’t matter much. “How are Sticks and Non gonna get to Newport?”
    “There’s a system of believers around the country. I’ve managed to locate and contact a few so they’ll have safe places to hide while they make their way east.” Link tosses the cube on the desk. “Want to see my new invention?”
    “A new invention, huh? That’s good. I was beginning to wonder what you were doing with your time. You know, other than making fifteen fake IDs and organizing a modern day Underground Railroad.”
    He rolls himself over to a table and holds up three iPods.
    “Um, I think Steve Jobs