Page 20 of Avelina

“Earth is under a Protection matrix, and all fragments are blunted there. Most people never know they have access. That’s probably why you didn’t know about yours. My mother is from Earth, so she knew her abilities would be limited there and, presumably, so would the side effects.”

I only understood about half of what he’d said. He noticed my confusion and clarified, “Each known world emanates a different fragment. The planet itself may be its source, but they don’t know for sure. The fragment radiating from each world has a dominant presence on that planet, a matrix, and the people who live there tend to be reservoirs for that fragment. Monash emanates the Transformation fragment, so there are many transformers here. Our economy revolves around the use of it. Earth emanates the Protection fragment, which acts as a sort of shield for the whole planet, blocking reservoirs from filling. In the case of my mother, it keeps her sane.”

“If she’s from Earth, I could understand wanting to go back there, but why didn’t they take you with them?” I immediately regretted asking the question. I hadn’t meant to mention that particular subject, but sometimes things just slip out without permission. Like pee when you laugh too hard.

Aaron kept his eyes downcast, his expression haunted.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I just met you today. I shouldn’t be asking personal questions.” I shook my head at my own idiocy. “I’ll just . . .” I rose from my chair to walk toward the cot.

“It’s okay,” he said in a voice so soft that I had to strain to hear him. “She warned me you would.” I turned back to face him, but he didn’t meet my eyes.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“My mother knew someone would come,” he said. “That’s why they left me here. She said that I needed to help you and that you would be the key to helping me find my way back to my family.”

“Oh,” I said, taken aback. I didn’t know what to say to that. His mother had predicted my arrival in their world, hadn’t known who I would be, and left her only son behind to help me? That was insane. And wrong.

“How long have you been waiting for me?” I asked. I didn’t want to hurt him further, but I felt like I needed to know what I was getting into. And also, selfishly, I wanted to know how old he was.

He took a measured breath and said, “Sixteen years.”

He’s thirty-one. Jesus. Sixteen years—no wonder he was so pissed.

“You must absolutely hate me,” I whispered. I shook my head, bewildered. “I’m so sorry, Aaron.”

He still didn’t look at me. His eyes were red, and his face looked like anger and sorrow warred for dominance. I wanted to hug him. I had been away from my family for less than a day and it already hurt. I couldn’t imagine being separated for so long, alone and trying to survive, never knowing if you would ever see them again. And it was all because of me.

And yet, he still cooked for you and helped you draw a bath.

“I’ll do what I can,” I said. I didn’t know how I would do it, but I would figure out how to help this man.

He nodded, recovering himself a little. “What is it like over there?”

I smiled, grateful for a change of subject. “There’s good and bad. We have a lot of inventions, like this watch. See?” I pressed the side button and the screen lit up, casting a glow in the dim lamplight.

His eyes widened and he drew closer to look.

“What is it?” he asked.

“It’s a smartwatch. It connects to your phone but . . .” How do you explain a smartwatch? Or a phone? Especially when you’re not even sure how they actually work? “Uh, it lights up,” I said.

“Useful,” he said, stepping back again to lean against the counter.

“I guess,” I said, turning away from him. I stepped over to where my pack lay on the table. “There are too many people there,” I continued as I unzipped my pack. The sound of the zipper startled him, and I laughed, then quickly zipped up and down to make the sound. This whole thing with showing him modern technology would be fun. I dug through the bag to look for the first aid kit. I still needed the ointment for Rogue, and there might be something in there I could use for my teeth.

“There are very few places where you won’t find people roaming around. The cities are huge, with millions of people, and they make a lot of garbage and use a lot of water. In fact, we’re sort of in the middle of a slow-motion apocalypse. The air is so polluted that the entire planet is heating up.”

Aaron stared at me blankly.

“Let’s go there anyway,” I said cheerfully. “It’s not that bad yet, and I can’t live without electricity and indoor plumbing. Or french fries.”

“Do you live in one of these enormous cities?” he asked.

“No, I live with my parents in a forest like this one. I love it there. We have horses. Do you have those here?”

He frowned, shaking his head.

I found the kit, but when I pulled it out, a replacement head for my electric toothbrush fell onto the table. “Yes!” I squealed. “I forgot this was in here.” I clutched the tiny thing to my chest like it was made of solid gold.

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