“I can. The store’s called Endless Wonder, and its coordinates are +39.929400°, -105.292003°.”
AR Reach recorded the information, then glanced at Jaden expectantly.
It amused Kayla when Jaden didn’t offer additional information. So he can play this game too. A smile tugged at her lips when AR Reach maintained his silence, as though this would entice Jaden into talking. But Jaden knew about this little tactic too because he said nothing, staring back at the LEAR.
Giving up, AR Reach asked the only question that really mattered. “What’s your C.I.R. for the record?”
Jaden obliged, and once AR Reach confirmed he had the correct Citizen’s Identification Record on the case report, he zipped his e-corder into its cover. “We’ll be going now. ma’am,” he said to Mrs. Melmique. “If we hear something or need anything further, we’ll be in touch.”
Mrs. Melmique showed them out, the trio heading upstairs to the roof.
They’d hardly left the room when Kayla giggled. “I thought that LEAR would bust a gasket!”
Jaden chuckled. “Right?”
Still giggling, Kayla asked, “Pizza?”
“What a question!”
Kayla outright laughed. “I gather you like pizza?”
“Only the best food ever. What can I do to help?”
“Rummage around in the fridge for toppings. But don’t mess up that fine work I did on your arm! Put what you find on the counter. I’ll defrost the tomato base and prep the dough.”
Removing a frozen base from the freezer, Kayla popped it into the defroster, then moved to the pantry, where she programmed two pizza bases into the dough prepper. When it signaled the bases were ready a few seconds later, she retrieved them and ambled back into the kitchen, placing the dough on a pastry sheet she tossed onto the counter. Kayla studied the toppings Jaden had selected: artichokes, spinach, red pepper, sweet onions, cubed chicken, sundried tomatoes, mushrooms, and assorted cheeses.
“What, no pepperoni?”
“Yeah, we all know it’s bad for us,” he said, pulling the bag from behind his back. “But who’s checking?”
“Not me.” Collecting the thawed tomato base from the defroster, Kayla spread it over the dough. “Okay, let’s dress these babies!”
They had fun adding the toppings, varying the ingredients so that each half of each pizza had a different combination. With the toppings completed to their satisfaction, they placed their masterpieces in the oven and sat at the counter while they waited.
“Want something to drink?” Kayla asked.
“Water would be great,” Jaden answered before she could list options.
Kayla poured water for each of them and was just handing Jaden his when her mother returned, looking flustered.
“Oh my,” she said, somewhat breathlessly, “what a day!”
“Have a seat, Mom, and take a break. Jaden and I made pizzas, and they’ll be ready soon. Can I get you a drink?” Catching Jaden’s analytical gaze, Kayla guessed he must wonder why she was acting like the mother. Kayla provided the explanation by pointedly studying her mother. “Have you had your meds today? I don’t want you getting sick again.”
Mrs. Melmique’s blank stare was answer enough. Kayla hurried to a cabinet above the counter and removed a bottle of antibiotics. Counting the remaining pills, she glared at her mother. “Mom, you must take them, all of them, until they’re finished.”
Kayla emptied two pills into her hand and crossed back to where her mother sat, dropping the medication into her mother’s hand. Her mother smiled wanly and swallowed the pills, downing them with the glass of water Kayla supplied.
“Sorry, honey, it’s just been a busy day. And one that’s not over yet, I’m afraid. I need to collect a special work delivery that missed the evening courier droid.”
“Jaden and I can do that.”
Sadie shook her head. “I appreciate the offer, but you know what sticklers they are about confidentiality. If it’s not my signature on the pickup receipt, there’ll be trouble. I’ll eat with you and then duck out and fetch it. After that, I promise I’ll come home and rest,” she added when she saw her daughter’s disapproving scowl.
“Okay, but I’ll hold you to that.”
The oven beeped that the pizza was ready. Kayla transferred the piping-hot creations from the oven to the counter and sliced them; then they tucked in. Thirty minutes later, they sat back, their hunger appeased and all better acquainted than when the meal started.
“Thanks for the dinner, love,” Sadie said, “but I must be off. I don’t want to collect that package too late. Also, I’d like to be home before your dad gets back from the game. Jaden, do you plan on staying a while?”
“I’d like to, if that’s all right with you? Kayla and I were planning on visiting some websites related to a book we found at the library.”
“That would be wonderful,” Mrs. Melmique said, looking relieved. “After the break-in, I’d prefer Kayla had someone here with her.”
“I understand.” Jaden inclined his head.
Sadie smiled and then shook her head as though reminding herself she had things to do. “Alright then, I’m off to the shipping company. I shouldn’t be more than half an hour.” She drifted up the stairs to the ’pod.
Kayla watched her mother leave with trepidation.
“What?” Jaden asked.
“My mom’s traveling in the ’pod we used to escape from that beast. What if it thinks we’re still inside and it attacks her?”
Jaden thought a moment. “I believe we agreed the monster has some way of discerning where the medallions are. If that’s true, it will fly here and not go after your mom.”
Kayla’s concern eased. But she was still a long way from comfortable with his explanation. “I really, really hope that’s true,” she murmured.
“As do I.” Jaden gave her shoulder a brief, reassuring squeeze.
Kayla wished his touch hadn’t been so fleeting. But it was probably better his hand hadn’t lingered on her shoulder. She might have been inclined to lean into him again.
Shoving the thoughts aside, Kayla smiled at him, thankful he was there. His presence alone made all the difference. And she didn’t want to alienate him by being presumptuous. Is that what I’m doing? I’ve never felt a connection like this to anyone. Does it have something to do with the medallions we both have? Or whatever this is that’s cast us together? Or is it something else?
Kayla was quiet as she turned her anxious energy to helping Jaden tidy the kitchen. That done, she made them tea, after which she felt notably calmer.
“Time to hit the internet?” Kayla asked when they had cleared their teacups.
Jaden nodded, and they returned to her room.
Kayla opened the door and faltered. There it was. Incongruously perched on her cream-colored carpet. Waiting for them.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jaden stepped in front of Kayla. He didn’t want this thing anywhere near her. Not until he knew what it was.
It studied them with obvious interest. Three feet tall, it resembled an enormous great horned owl, except the coloring was off. Toned grays replaced varied browns, and silvery blues shimmered in place of powdery whites. Bright, intelligent eyes sat on either side of a small, hooked but flawlessly sharp black beak. Above the overly large yellow eyes, petite triangular ears stuck straight up from the top of its head, boosting the cuteness factor.
Catching Kayla’s hand sneaking forward like she wanted to touch the alluring creature, Jaden stopped her. But can something this adorable really be dangerous? It hopped toward them. Jaden took a wary step backwards, pushing Kayla further behind him.
“Stand and gawk, do not. To me, come,” it ordered, its voice remarkably parrot-like. “Bite, I won’t. Although tasty you look.” Then it cackled, delighted with its own joke. “All day have I not. Come,” it coaxed when Jaden stubbornly maintained his position in front of Kayla.
Impatient, it let out a clucking sound, st
artling both teens. They tensed, ready for flight. Shaking its head, the cute thing lumbered toward them, extending a short, furry arm hidden until now. “Introductions?” it ventured. “Here to help you, I am. Zareh, my name is.”
Jaden cast a quick glance at Kayla, keeping one suspicious eye on the fuzzball. Despite its odd speech pattern, it—or perhaps it was male—seemed harmless enough. But how can we be sure? Jaden stepped forward, still shielding Kayla as he extended a hand and introduced himself, then Kayla.
“Nice, it is, you in person to meet. Under surveillance you have been. Impressed with what we have seen, we are.”
Jaden tensed again. “What do you mean ‘under surveillance?’”
Zareh squawked. “You think, unnoticed your antics have been?”
“You expect me to believe someone’s been watching when no one else can see that abomination that attacked us? Or that we received no aid when it did? But here you are, acting like we should be grateful you’re here. Since you’re another strange creature, am I right assuming only we can see you too?”
“Correct, you are not. The only ones, you are not.”
Kayla interjected, “Then tell us who else can see what we can!”
“Others there are, but relevant now, they are not. Information to you, I must impart. Hmm, start where, shall I?”
His agitation increasing, Jaden snapped, “Start with what prompted your appearance here.”
“Yes, an appropriate place that is. Your internet search, Kayla, the call for my assistance sparked.”
“What?” Kayla stared at him in disbelief.
“Find your medallion, you did, and then an internet search, you executed. An alarm triggered, it did. Humans researching the medallion, they were.”
Kayla snorted. “If that’s true, why has it taken you so long to help us? That monster attacked us today. It hurt Jaden. I did that search on Friday, and you’re only deigning to ‘assist’ us now?”
“Complicated it is—” Zareh began.
“Try and explain it,” Jaden growled.
Zareh snapped his beak at Jaden. “Unavoidable, the delay was. Whence I travel from, that be how long it takes.”
“And where exactly did you come from?” Jaden asked.
“Patient, you are not.”
Jaden blew out air. “Look, I’ve about had it with games. You said you came here to give us information. But so far, all you’ve done is make oblique statements. We need information, and we need it now.”
“Explain, I could, if be quiet and listen, you would,” Zareh hissed.
Jaden wrestled his temper. This little thing might be cute, but he was decidedly infuriating. “Fair enough. But could you speed it up? Waiting is burning my butt.”
Jaden caught Kayla’s smile, agreeing Zareh was delaying the point.
When the fuzzball still didn’t speak, Kayla crossed her arms and looked at him expectantly. “Well?”
Zareh ruffled his feathers. “From another time and another place, I am. Older than this world, it is.”
“What do you mean? That you’re an alien or something?” Jaden blurted.
Zareh glared. “Interrupt, do not, if me to complete your answer, your wish it is!”
“Sorry,” Jaden muttered, “but there you go again making another outrageous statement that we’re just supposed to accept without question. Ignorance is a dangerous place to live in.”
Zareh blinked his owl eyes. “A purely passive stance, can you attempt? Your ears, use, and your mouth not. Your questions hold until finished perhaps, I am?”
Jaden was dubious. The creature was hiding something, but what? Would he learn the secret if he just heard the little guy out? “Alright, we’ll do it your way.”
Zareh dipped his head and resumed his discourse. “From the place I come, originate also the Gaptor does.” He paused, expecting another interruption. When one wasn’t forthcoming, he continued. “As ways have we of information searches detecting, so too the Gaptor, ways has. A seeker’s imminent possession of their medallion, they sense.”
“Yes! I was right!” Kayla shouted, pumping a fist. Catching Jaden’s glower, she stopped the words about to tumble from her mouth. She closed her lips firmly and looked at Zareh, contrite.
To Jaden’s annoyance, the fuzzball smiled indulgently at her.
“Indeed, you were. When that you said, impressed I was. No other seeker the connection between themselves, the medallion, and the Gaptor as quickly as you, figured out they did.”
“You heard me?” Kayla slapped her hand over her mouth, making it obvious the question popped out before she thought to stop it.
Jaden expected Zareh to say something about Kayla’s (second) interruption, but he didn’t seem offended. How come some people always get away with stuff?
“As earlier I said, been observing you for some time, we have.”
“That’s impossible!” Jaden yelled, unable to check his indignation any longer. “Earlier you said we’d been ‘under surveillance for some time,’ and now you just repeated it. But not five seconds ago, you said you only arrived a short while ago. If that’s true, you couldn’t have heard Kayla say that or have been ‘observing’ us.”
“Hear and see you, we can, though physically here, we be not. But physically here we must be if communicate with you, we intend.” Guessing Jaden was about to ask another question, Zareh explained. “As a one-way mirror, think of it. See and hear you perfectly we do from our world, but neither see nor hear us, can you.”
“So that’s why you came to our world? To talk to us?” Kayla asked.
“True, that is. Information you need, if even a remote chance of success you are to have on this journey you must undertake.”
Kayla groaned. “That doesn’t sound encouraging.”
“To inform you that our last hope you are, permitted I am. Scarce, our time is. Your medallions your keys be, seekers you are. Chosen were you, eons ago. Selected, a catastrophic end to your world to stop. The elements find, you must.”
Jaden burst out laughing. “Yeah, right.”
Zareh looked offended. “No joke, this is,” he insisted.
“Admit, it sounds a little far-fetched,” Kayla wheezed between her own fits of laughter.
“A little far-fetched, the Gaptor is?” Zareh snapped.
Jaden sobered, noticing Kayla had too. “He would be if the pain in my arm didn’t attest to his existence. Otherwise, I might’ve convinced myself that I was imagining the brute and pretended he didn’t exist.”
“Only one end, that action has—death.”
Zareh’s blunt statement quelled the remnants of their laughter. Jaden stared at him skeptically. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“The gravity of the situation, enough I cannot stress. To finish, allow me, you will?”
They nodded mutely, but Jaden’s attention snagged on Kayla’s face. Her eyes were wide, and she was opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water. When her face lost color, and she swayed, Jaden leaped to her side, supporting her with his good arm. “Breathe, Kayla, breathe.”
Irritation flashed in her eyes as though he was stupid, and as if she was asking, Can’t you see I’m trying to? Relief washed through him. Kayla was still in there. She just didn’t know how to pull herself out of it. Before he could act, Zareh stepped forward and thumped Kayla on the back.
Kayla inhaled sharply. Then she was spluttering and pushing against him. Jaden reluctantly let her go. It reminded Jaden of how he felt when she’d just finished her work on his arm.
Irrational. Drawn to her in way he was powerless to resist. And something he didn’t care to dwell on. Attributing his emotional turmoil to their crazy day and the pain medication was simpler.
But she had affected him. He’d yearned to reach out and touch her, connect with her. Fortunately, his wits were still intact enough for him to realize his motives were compromised. Avoiding any impulsive actions he might’ve later lamented, Jaden instead dropped his gaze and i
nspected his arm. But he’d seen the disappointment on her face before she turned away.
Now it was his turn to feel the keen edge of disappointment as she pulled away. “Ow,” Kayla complained, once her breathing allowed speech to return.
“Welcome, you are,” Zareh said. “In such a rush for knowledge as you two are, drag this out you surely do. All night, have I not!”
Kayla smiled feebly. “I’ll try to keep the panic attacks down to one.”
Jaden could’ve sworn she was abashed about falling apart. She didn’t strike him as the jittery type. But there’s something unnatural about this—the reason for those shadows under her eyes, perhaps?
Jaden continued studying her, worry gnawing at his gut. She still wasn’t stable on her feet. Whether or not she wanted it, she needed help. He closed the distance between them, putting one arm around her waist and steadying her elbow with the other.
Instantly aware of the warmth of her body close to his, Jaden tensed. Torn between stepping back and comforting her, he held the position awkwardly. Then Kayla smiled, and he felt invincible. She really has the strangest effect on me.
“In the circumstances, understandable your reaction is,” Zareh said, “but a repetition avoid, appreciate I would. Now, stop where did I? Ah yes, confirm your theory that sense, they do, when seekers close to their medallions are, I did. Inform you, I did not, that attack the seekers the Gaptors cannot, until their medallion, the seeker has touched. Although, already that fact deduce, I think you have?”
Jaden processed the sentence, complicated by Zareh’s peculiar speech and his brain muddled with Kayla so near. “We suspected,” he replied when he had worked it out. “It’s good to have it confirmed. I, uh . . . maybe good isn’t the right word . . .” He trailed off.
Zareh spoke before Jaden could pick up where he had left off. “Another thing, know you do not. Only emerge about every five hundred years the Gaptor will, when an increased chance there is that against him in force, his enemies will arise. Neutralizing the threat, his sole mission is, when such an appearance, make he does. Disappear again he will, once clear the threat he has.”
Destiny Series Boxed Set Page 16
