The Power of The Merge (Book 1 of the Daearies series)

(Chapter 12) EMMIE

Warning!! This chapter contains graphic violence.

The door to the roof swung open and Kit stepped out, the lines on his face had deepened and I didn't want to find out if it was because Milo was about to use his power on me or because of whatever General Sinclair had said in their meeting. I would ask him about the meeting later.

"I can't believe you guys are making me do this," Milo complained rolling his eyes.

"We have to try," I said.

"And what if I accidentally scramble your brain?" Milo asked and we all ignored him. I didn't want to think of what could go wrong, unlocking memories might be the only way to get the answers we need.

"Let's just get this over with" Milo stepped in front of me and sighed.

"Ready?" He asked flexing his fingers in front of me, wisps of emerald light already beginning to form around his fingertips. I took a deep breath

"Yes, do it," I said. Milo lifted his palms to either side of my temples; the emerald light grew and swirled around the perimeter of my head. My eyes grew heavy, I felt like I was being lulled to sleep, I didn't fight it, I let Milo's power consume me and within seconds my vision went dark.

When I opened my eyes, I saw a beautiful woman looking down at me but she was crying. I recognized her from my dreams, she was stroking my cheeks and hair softly and I had a strong, undeniable feeling that this woman was in fact, my birth mother. Then I felt hands around me dragging me away, the woman reached her hands out to me but she too was being held back.

"Emmeline! No, please! Emmeline!" The woman pleaded and then she fell to the ground, sobbing loudly as I left her field of vision. I was bundled into a carriage with a woman who I didn't recognize. Her face was full of worry but she smiled as though she was trying to comfort me, as though she knew me.

"I can only reach memories that are already there" I heard Milo say.

"Keep going," I instructed and my vision once again blurred and then I was transported back into the carriage. I gasped when I heard the woman traveling with me scream in terror. The door swung open and we were both dragged kicking and screaming from the carriage and pinned to the ground. The woman cursed the men who were laughing and spitting at her, treating her as though she was nothing but vermin. She turned her head to me urging me to close my eyes but I never did. I watched in horror as the woman's throat was cut and blood poured from her neck long after she was dead. A hand holding a cloth which was coated in a strong-smelling chemical covered my mouth and nose and my vision went black.When my vision cleared I was stood in a white room opposite a young Kit and then I felt it, the merge. I remember the moment a piece of my soul latched onto Kit's. I didn't know this boy in front of me at the time but I felt an overwhelming feeling of needing to protect him. Once again my vision blurred and my next memory was of me telling Kit my name is Emmie. I remembered my name; my name is Emmeline, Emmie for short. I focused and focused on trying to see more memories but it was like trying to assemble a puzzle made of thousands of pieces, not impossible but extremely difficult. I swayed on my feet, my knees buckled and Kit caught me before I fell to the ground.

"That's enough" Kit said steadying me on my feet.

"No, I have to see more" My head was hurting and I leaned against the wall to regain my balance.

"We can try again another time, you're too weak." Kit affirmed. I blinked trying to make sense of the memories I saw

"I think I Saw my mother" I said.

"Your mother?" Cora edged closer to me and I nodded.

"I was taken from her, I think I was fleeing from something but they found us, they killed the woman I was with" I recalled.

"Who did?" Cameron asked his voice was as calm and soothing as ever.

"I'm not sure, but they took me so I'm guessing they worked for the golden army," We all stilled at the thought that the people who practically raised us are our enemies.

"What do we do now?" Cora asked. Her question made me look at Kit. Out of all of us, he was probably the best person to make the decisions.

"I think we lay low, see if we can find out more, if we leave here we need a plan first." Kit suggested his expression was neutral. If I know Kit he was already working on a plan to get us out of here.

"You want to leave here?" Silver asked.

"This isn't our home, these people stole us from our families, they are using us to fight their wars," I replied

"We can't stay." I said shaking my head. I know leaving here would be dangerous, we would be on the run and hunted down. We needed a plan, a way to get to safety beyond these walls.

"But where would we go?" Cameron asked looking at each of us.

"We have no idea what is out there, we have never left the grounds of the training facility" He added.

"That's why we wait; see what we can find out first. Now that we've all passed the assessments, they'll want to send us out on missions. That will give us an idea of what to expect out there" Kit answered.

"This stays between us," I said and everyone nodded in agreement before we turned and headed back inside.

The others headed towards the food hall for dinner, I told them I wasn't hungry and just went back to our sleeping quarters. I was starving but I didn't want to face the glares and whispers of the other soldiers and daearies who had witnessed me almost kill them during the assessment. I sat on my bed repeating the memories Milo helped me recall. I felt the details slipping from my memory the more I tried to remember.

"Hungry?" Kit's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. He sat down on the end of my bed holding a tray of food.

"I'm starving," I smiled and he placed the food between us on the bed. I crossed my legs on the bed and we picked at the food on the tray. We sat in silence for a moment before I said

"My name is Emmeline, Emmie for short" Kit looked up from his food.

"You knew your name when you told me?" Kit asked.

"Yes, I think subconsciously I knew it."

"That explains why you refused the name I tried to give you when we were children then," He said and I chuckled.

"I was a stubborn child wasn't I" I crinkled my nose.

"You still are" He smiled, mostly with his eyes and I drew my head back and held a hand to my chest pretending to be offended.

"Sinclair wants to test you and put you through more training to explore your power" Kit blurted out as though he couldn't keep that piece of information to himself anymore. I wasn't surprised; I had a feeling that was what Sinclair had told him.

"I agreed to it" His brows pinched together, he regretted it but I knew he had no other choice.

"But I suggested I be with you while they monitor you and he agreed" Kit added.

"As long as you're with me, I'll be fine" I smiled softly. It must be difficult for him to have a daearies whose power is unpredictable, to have to sit back and accept orders he doesn't agree with. I often feel like a burden and I feel guilty whenever something happens beyond my control. I hate that he reaps the repercussions on my actions. I tried not to think of the tests they were going to put me through; Kit would be by my side, that's all that matters.