POSSESSION, Book 1 in the Possession Trilogy

Chapter 16

16.

I pace as I wait. The room is all polished wood and red velvet. Where is he, already?

My brother, only a few years older than me but with long silver hair, laughs. “Relax, Jag.”

“I am relaxed, Pace,” comes out of my mouth in a growl.

A door opens and there he is. Blaze. Older. Wiser.

Shock coats my brain. “Blaze.” My feet force me to move forward, and then suddenly I’m running.

“Little bro!” Blaze crushes me into a hug. My breath leaves my body, taking with it all my fear and pain. “Wow, you’re huge.”

I chuckle. “And you’re not as tall as I remember.”

“Well, you’ve grown over the past eight years. I haven’t.”

“Sure, whatever.” I take in his dyed black hair, his square jaw, his blue robes. “What’s with the costume?”

“I’m Assistant Counselor. Didn’t Pace tell you?”

I glance at Pace, who swipes his hand across his face real quick. “No, he didn’t mention it.”

Blaze places his arm around my shoulder, just like he used to when I was a kid. “Don’t worry. We’re still active in the Resistance. In fact, that’s why Pace brought you here.” He slides me a quick look. “How about you move here?”

The thought of living in Seaside—with Blaze—has me giddy. I try to straighten my smile and find I can’t. Pace has accepted his position in the tech rangers and feeds me regular reports. Blaze is safe in Seaside, almost a full-blown Thinker. His information will be invaluable. And my friends in the Badlands…

I sigh. “I can’t. With Pace gone, I’m leading the Resistance now.”

Blaze drops his hand and pivots to face Pace. “What? He’s twelve years old.”

“Thirteen,” I say.

“He can’t lead the Resistance.” Blaze folds his arms, his voice firm and parental.

I open my mouth to tell him to go to hell, that I can do whatever I want, when Pace says, “He’s been doing fine for the past eight months.”

“Yeah,” I say.

Blaze faces me and squints, like he’s trying to see through me. “You’ll die if you don’t get out of that place.”

“He’s already established a spy in the Goodgrounds,” Pace says. “The other members aren’t much older than him, Blaze. Let this go.”

Blaze’s fists clench. He’s about to go all older brother on me. “Like Pace said, I’ve got contacts in the Goodgrounds no one else would’ve been able to get. Because of my age.”

The fight leaves Blaze’s eyes. He puts one hand on my shoulder. “You’re thirteen.” He means more than that. He means he misses me and wants to protect me. He means he’s sorry for abandoning me after Mom and Dad died. He means he wishes it didn’t have to be this way.

I put my hand on his shoulder. “I know.”

Blaze studies the floor and then focuses on me. “Who’s the spy?”

I grin. “Cool cat by the name of Zenn Bower.”

“No!”

#

Blaze’s shout didn’t wake me. Mine did.

Meager light filtered into the tree house. My heart pounded in my chest, my ears, my mouth.