Perilous Light (The Afterglow Trilogy #2)(8)
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy

“Yeah. You, too. Nice game, by the way.”

“Thanks.”

“So enough small talk. Jason, you need to go back to Charleston,” James said hurriedly.

Jason frowned. “How? I don’t have a car.”

“Here, take mine.” James tossed his keys to Jason, who took a step back to catch them.

“Whoa, you’re letting me drive your Aston Martin?”

“Sure. I’ll come by and get it eventually,” James said offhandedly, as if talking about loaning out a bicycle and not a two-hundred-thousand-dollar car.

“Okay…” Jason agreed hesitantly.

“It’s cool, man. We’ve got a bit of a family emergency to deal with.”

“But you aren’t all family, and where are you going back to?” Jason asked.

“Uh, we’re practically family. So you’ll be okay getting back, right?” Liam spoke quickly, his impatience obvious.

“Sure… I guess I’ll see you back at school, Liam.”

James took Jason over to the parking lot and pointed out his car.

As soon as Jason left, I asked, “Okay, so now will you tell me?”

Liam didn’t miss a beat. “James and Henry showed up at halftime with a message from Theodore.”

“And the message was for us to get back to Energo?”

Monty’s stoic expression contrasted sharply to the faces of fans still spilling from the stadium. “Essentially, yes. Blake has discovered the Resistance at Cason caves and is set to attack. If there is any chance of the Resistance surviving, we have to act now.”

My first thought was about protecting Charlotte. “Do you think it’s safe to bring Charlotte with us if Blake is about to attack?”

“Kevin, I can’t stay behind. Energo needs me. Mom needs me,” Charlotte said emphatically.

Mom… Charlotte and I had barely discussed the revelation that Mom was alive. The silence was okay with me. I didn’t trust James, and I was afraid he was only getting her hopes up.

“She’s right, Kevin. Charlotte is vital to defeating Blake.” Monty spoke calmly, but I could tell he was as nervous about her safety as I was.

“I can’t let anything happen to her. I’m not losing her again.” Remembering the fear from last year, I felt nausea creeping up.

Henry put a hand on my shoulder. “Kevin, you’re not the only one who will protect her. We all will.”

I couldn’t help but smile at Henry’s show of support. It was hard not to like a kid who was willing to risk everything for my family. “So, if we’re going back to Energo, why did James send Jason back with his car?” There was no way we could all fit in Monty’s SUV.

James returned just in time to answer. “The gate in your yard isn’t the only entrance to Energo.”

I wasn’t surprised, considering Norman and his men had shown up on Franklin Street. I still hadn’t told anyone about that, I didn’t exactly want to admit how easily Marcus and I had been taken. I also didn’t want to upset Charlotte.

“There’s an entrance in Durham we can use.” Monty looked as though he was hiding something.

“Where in Durham?” I asked.

Charlotte snickered. “Duke Gardens.”

“I’m going to sneak onto Duke’s campus in my Carolina warm-ups?” At least it wasn’t the night of a Carolina- Duke game. That could have been seriously messy.

“Yes, that’s exactly what we’re doing. Liam picked up your car during halftime, so we can leave now.”

“Great, I can’t wait.” I didn’t bother to hide the sarcasm.

***

I asked Liam to ride with me so I’d have a chance to talk to him.

“I don’t like this. It’s like we’re using Charlotte as bait.” I tried to pay attention to the road, but I was frazzled.

“I hate it, too, but we don’t have a choice.” Liam was right, but I wanted there to be an alternative.

“Between the two of us, we can’t let her out of our sight.” James and Henry may have been her Guardians, but I didn’t know Henry very well and I certainly didn’t trust James. “I know Monty is around, but I have a feeling he’ll be preoccupied searching for my mom.” I glanced over at Liam, and he nodded. I knew he would agree. Sometimes I worried about his non-platonic feelings for my sister, but I could trust him with her more than I could anyone else.

“We’ll keep her safe. I promise,” he reassured me.

I pulled into an empty parking lot on the edge of Duke’s campus. I would have had no idea how to find it if we weren’t following Monty. It was already after ten o’clock, and the place closed at dusk.

Monty hopped out of his SUV and went around to the back. A minute later, he had pulled out an arsenal of weapons, including my Guardian sword. He passed them around to everyone. Henry and James had their own swords, and Monty handed Liam a crossbow. I remembered how good he had been with it. Monty offered a sword to Charlotte, but she adamantly refused. I was glad. I didn’t like the idea of a weapon in her hands. I wasn’t being sexist; Samantha had made me realize that some girls could fight, but I didn’t want Charlotte doing it.

We walked through the main entrance, and I made sure to keep Charlotte in my sight at all times. Norman likely entered through that gate, and I didn’t want that jerk touching her.

“I can’t believe there’s an entrance in here.” I shook my head, thinking how little I really knew about how our world connected with Energo.

“Yeah, I discovered it when I was at Carolina. It doesn’t open up to the best spot in Energo, but it will work.” Monty led us at a brisk pace, turning around occasionally to make sure we were all with him.

In the light of the lantern she held, Charlotte appeared apprehensive. “What do you mean, ‘not the best spot’?”

“You’ll see when we get through.” Monty didn’t seem to be in the mood for answering questions.

We walked down the steps, then veered left around a large fountain and came to the top of a multi-tiered terrace. Monty immediately headed over to a small building. He kicked at the door, reminding me of the night Charlotte had gone missing and we had broken into James’s house. We all followed Monty in as he moved some old furniture out of the way before taking a small crystal key from his pocket.

“Did you just happen to have that key with you?” I started to wonder if he had anticipated a need to use the gate on this trip.