THE PERFECT TEN (Boxed Set)

shouting, “ Let go! ”
    I couldn’t.
    But whatever had my wrist released me and whispered in my mind, Next time .
    I fell backwards, landing against something hard and warm. Callan.
    The energy still swarmed, alive with distorted faces and glowing yellow eyes, but didn’t touch me or Callan. A dozen or more black spirits howled through the clearing.
    Wind blasted branches and scoured leaves across my face and body, held wrapped in Callan’s arms. His shouts were nothing more than hoarse noises filled with raw pain. I looked up as the horde of black ghostly bands whipped around Mathias one at a time, round and round until the only part left in view was his agony-filled gaze, staring at nothing.
    All at once, the howling ended.
    And Mathias was gone.
    An unearthly silence reigned.
    I couldn’t stop shaking. So that’s what the TecKnati meant by the MystiKs leaving here at eighteen?
    Somehow, Callan managed to get to his feet with me still clutched against him. He turned me to face him and I wanted to cry over the misery in his eyes.
    Instead, I wrapped my arms around him and held on. He pulled me tight into his embrace, his breaths coming in ragged shudders. I wanted to comfort him, but his strength comforted me. My mind raced to understand what had happened. These deadly spirits had to be something created by the TecKnati for them to attack at moonset on the day a captive reached eighteen. That made MystiKs fair game when they were no longer technically children.
    Demonically brilliant.
    Mathias had spent all these months knowing he faced this end to his life.
    Only a truly cruel person could come up with that kind of torture.
    Mathias was right. Those children in the village couldn’t know what had happened to him, or that the same fate waited for anyone else they depended on. Or for them.
    I pressed my lips against Callan’s chest, tasting the salt of his skin. He tucked my head against his shoulder, unwilling to give me up and I didn’t try to push away.
    Mathias’s message was clearer now. He hoped that I wouldn’t abandon Callan once I knew that there was no way for Mathias to return.
    He was right.
    Callan finally drew a breath that had a sound of finality to it. He eased his hold on me.
    I placed a hand on his chest and took a step back. “I, uh,” I mumbled, at a loss for what to say. Saying I’m sorry he’d lost his friend didn’t begin to cover Callan’s loss.
    He touched my chin with his fingers, lifting my face to meet the eyes of a warrior, but he had to swallow before he could speak. His voice came out hoarse, but strong. “Mathias is right. You can’t tell anyone about this.”
    Nodding, I added, “My word.”
    I still had to get Gabby and Tony back to the safety of Albuquerque. An hour ago, I would’ve had no problem abandoning this place. Lifting my fingers to brush his cheek, I made him an offer. “I’ll stay to help you protect these kids and search for a way out of here, but I want you to free Tony and Gabby to leave if we can find a way to get them home.”
    He didn’t answer at first, lines forming at the bridge of his nose as if struggling with a decision. “You would stay?”
    Looking deep into that haunted brown-eyed gaze, I realized I’d do far more than that for him. “Yes.”
    “And you’re certain that Tony is not TecKnati?”
    “Yes. He’s from 2013, not your world.”
    He took my measure with his next look. “Then I’ll free him. He and Gabby will be allowed to return to their home.”

CHAPTER 32
     
    I hoped Gabby and Tony would understand about my staying, but Callan and his band of youngsters needed someone with my strange superpower to fight monsters. Someone more than Etoi, Zilya and matchstick V’ru.
    The upside of staying would be spending time with V’ru who might shed some light on where I’d come from if my blood wasn’t as old as Tony and Gabby’s. Maybe, if I survived all this, I’d get a chance to search out my family, wherever they might be.
    When I returned to the village and entered the common area, I was a step behind Callan who’d shed any grief during the walk, at least grief that someone could see in his face. I knew his insides were shredded from watching what had happened to Mathias.
    A commotion was erupting.
    Callan stopped short in front of me and called out in a voice that belonged to a leader, “What’s happening?”
    As usual, Etoi jumped in first. “V’ru has completed his analysis of the TecKnati’s