Emerge: The Captive: (Book 3)(83)

“How do we know that, Santi? How do we know I wouldn’t just become the weapon she wants?”

“You failed once before, Quinn. When you came out of that tunnel, you failed. You won’t fail again.”

“I told you I had no idea when I turned back.” It wasn’t fair for her to throw that in his face now. It wasn’t like her to be so cruel. “It wasn’t a conscious choice to turn back.”

“That’s not when you failed.” Her eyes blazed with fury. “When you realized you were back where you started, why didn’t you turn around again? They couldn’t get to you through that concrete wall. When I opened the door and went back to her, I was no longer in control of myself. I fought until the last second. But why did you walk out of that tunnel on your own?”

“I was at the end of my rope, Santi. I couldn’t turn back and do it all over again. I opened the door and went back with my tail tucked between my legs because she controls me.”

“Because you refused to fight, Quinn. You failed to escape because you refused to cross that line you set for yourself when you were sixteen years old. I know you. I know you sat in that tunnel and thought about pushing yourself. To keep going. But your fear of losing control is what stopped you. Len’s life is on the line. If you won’t risk this for yourself, will you risk it for her?”

“Santi … I can try, but you don’t know what you’re asking me to do.”

“No. There is no trying. You will do this and you will believe in yourself. You have to step across that line. Give in to the addiction and the madness of your gift. Let Livia think she has won. And then trust in yourself to come back from it. And you will, Quinnton Loukas, because I need you to come back to me.”

“Santi, I know if anyone could bring me back it would be you. But I don’t see how the rest of your plan is going to work.”

“What does Livia want more than anything in this world?” Santi asked.

“Her demented father’s approval,” Quinn said.

“No. She breaks her back to give him what he wants, not for his approval, but to maintain some sort of peace with him and to keep her mother safe. I think she got this way because at one point all she wanted was to make Marcus proud, but that ship sailed a long time ago and he never noticed. So what does she want?”

“She wants out,” James said. “Even more than we do.”

“Exactly.” Santi’s eyes gleamed in triumph. “But she’s trapped. He’ll never let her go. He’d chase her to the ends of the earth.”

“And if my family takes her captive, he’ll come after them,” Quinn said, still not liking her plan.

“That is a fight for another day. You can’t tell me you would walk out of Soma and go back to your old life and forget the suffering that man brings? No, our families will bring an end to Marcus and all of Soma.”

“Do you really think she’ll fall for it?”

“What’s the one thing Livia wants from you? The thing she is dying to get her hands on?”

“Allie. And she thinks I’m the key to getting her.” Quinn sighed. “But I don’t want to use my friend as bait to save my own ass.”

“You don’t have to. We’re not going to give her what she wants. We’re just going to tempt her with it. Then we walk out the front door with her and none of us ever come back.”

Quinn started to see the merit of Santi’s plan. “You’re right. If I let her break me, she’ll immediately go after Allie. But I can’t take her to my home. Santi, I can’t do it.”

“You don’t have to,” James said quietly as he sketched furiously with a stick in the dirt at their feet. His eyes narrowed to slits, glowing like cat’s eyes, and his voice sounded deceptively calm. “The heir will gather the Anchors under the blood moon. Her rage will bring death to her enemies the moment she comes into her inheritance.”

“What is he babbling about?” Santi asked.

“Shhh. Let him draw.” Quinn rose to stand behind James.

“It begins here,” James whispered, pointing with his stick.

“What does?” Quinn watched James’s robotic movements.

“The future. A new age begins this night.” He thumped his drawing with a fist of triumph.

“Is he having a fit?” Santi whispered.

“He is speaking prophecy,” Quinn said softly.

“Oh shit.”

“She already sees. This will happen. The two will meet in a confluence. Then it will be up to the children of prophecy to lead us into this new era.” James shook his head, his eyes widening as he came out of his prophetic haze.

“What does it mean?” Quinn asked.

“It means this will happen whether it’s you pulling the strings or someone else,” James said. “The events were set in motion a long time ago, but they solidified the moment you made the choice to open that tunnel door and come back to Livia. It will happen. So you might as well be the one driving this bus.”

“But what does it mean? The blood moon? The heir? Anchors? What’s a confluence? Who are the children of prophecy?” Quinn felt hopelessly inadequate, but Santi and James were looking to him for answers.

James shrugged. “I just draw it, man. I’m acting completely on instinct without a mentor to guide me. But I do know this is a reference to another prophecy … I just don’t know which one.”