The Arcadia Falls Chronicles: Omnibus (Books 1-6)

by Jennifer Malone Wright

  I moaned softly. “I hate feeling this way.”

  Oscar considered that for a moment. “You have to trust. Think of it this way: Of all the people you know, who is the person you trust most in this world, above all the others?”

  It was my turn to consider, but it took like a millisecond for me to answer. “Drew.”

  “Well, there you go.”

  He was right, I had no reason whatsoever to be jealous. Drew was my constant. No matter what happened, he was there. Most of the time, it was him saving my butt.

  I continued to watch Drew guide Alice through some moves. He stepped back and motioned her to try it by herself. She must have executed it perfectly because Drew smiled and spread his hands as if to tell her, ‘See, you did it.’

  Oscar nudged me forward. “Come on.” We approached them.

  Drew caught sight of us coming toward them. “Oh, there you are. You still want to learn this, Chloe?”

  Actually, I didn’t any more. I had more than enough weapons to keep me occupied. “No, I’m good. I think I’m just going to go use the weights for a bit, and then we can practice kicks.”

  “I’ll spot you.” He nodded. He was probably happy I didn’t want to learn another new weapon any more.

  “I’ll stay with Alice,” Oscar offered, “but we are using the wooden ones.”

  Alice laughed and sheathed her blade. “What, are you afraid I might hurt you?”

  “Uh, yeah,” Oscar said. He took two of the practice swords off the rack. They had real practice swords, too. They were swords with edges that weren’t sharp, but a bad slip and someone could still get hurt with them. Alice liked to practice with the live blade as much as she could, so she could get a feel for the weight and balance of her own weapon.

  We spent a few hours at the gym, while I mostly tried to kick Drew in the chest, and he deflected by throwing me to the ground. It sucked. I knew I needed to get better at hand-to-hand combat, or I was certainly going to die at the hands of a vampire.

  “Tomorrow, we're going hiking,” Drew told me on the way home.

  “But tomorrow’s Saturday. I thought we were going to spend the day at the library.”

  He shook his head. “Nope. Hiking instead.”

  “Great,” I told him in a grumpy voice.

  I cuddled up into his side while he drove us home.

  At home, Luke was in the kitchen preparing dinner. It looked like he was making some kind of salad and a chicken dish. We strolled into the kitchen, and Alice and Oscar were right behind us.

  Luke looked up and wrinkled his nose and pointed his giant spoon at us. “You all need to go take showers. Every single one of you. You stink! No one sits at my table who isn’t clean. Now go!”

  With mock moaning and groaning, we filed out of the room and up the stairs to bathe. It wasn’t as easy as it sounded. We only had two bathrooms, so two of us had to wait for the other two to get out. We also had to be conscious of the length of the shower to save hot water for the next person.

  Apparently everyone was hungry, because showers didn’t take long. Alice wasn’t in the room when I came out of the bathroom, so I headed down the stairs and found everyone waiting for me at the table. All but Luke had wet hair and clean clothes on.

  I pulled out my chair, situated between Drew and Alice, and sat. “Sorry. You guys didn’t have to wait for me.”

  Luke waved it off. “Of course, we were going to wait for you. Now, let’s eat.”

  I dug into my chicken with fervor. I hadn’t realized I was so hungry. It must have been all the training I’d been doing lately and not eating much during the day.

  For a few minutes, there was nothing but the sound of scraping forks and chewing. Finally, Alice started the conversation. “Has there been any word from the board about a plan of action?”

  We all knew she was referring to the vampire war.

  Luke finished chewing, swallowed and said, “Not yet. They don’t appear to be very concerned about the warnings and insist on concentrating on the current missions.”

  I sat back in my chair. “That’s ridiculous! We can’t just sit around and wait to be attacked. We need to be ready.... to prepare!”

  “They don’t believe us, do they?” Oscar asked quietly.

  Luke lowered his head and then looked away from our penetrating eyes. “No, they don’t.”

  I was shocked and threw my fork down onto my plate. “But we all saw Sostrate. It isn’t possible that all of us could have hallucinated that. We would never make something like that up. What good would that do?”

  I could tell Luke felt bad, but I was mad. I didn’t understand how they could just blow us off like that.

  He shook his head. “I’m sorry. There is nothing I can do. We have brought it before the board, and they have dismissed it.”

  “But we had a warning! We need to prepare!” I felt Drew’s hand on my leg.

  “If the board says no, there's probably nothing we can do to convince them,” Drew told me softly.

  “That’s bull,” I muttered in response.

  Luke finally met my eyes. “The board’s decision does not mean that we should not prepare. We must keep doing what we are doing so far. You all are progressing wonderfully.”

  He nodded at Alice and Oscar, and I could see that he was, indeed, happy with their training progress.

  “I fully intend to hatch a plan,” I declared. “I am not going to wait to be attacked. We have to be ready, or even move first.”

  “If we move first, then we are starting the war,” Drew countered.

  “No.” I didn’t know what else to say. He was right, but I didn’t want him to be.

  “Yes.” He removed his hand from my knee, and I saw his green eyes sparkle while he stabbed a piece of lettuce. “It would be on us.”

  I thought about that for a minute. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if it was on us. Heck, my ancestor, the warrior angel, was sent to rid the world of vampires. That was our job, too. Our work as hunters would never be done as long as vampires plagued the earth, so we needed to get rid of all of them.

  I figured there was no better way to start than by taking out the Talon Building, where the vampires regularly met with each other, where large numbers of them congregated.

  Everyone had moved on to conversation about the new vampire practice targets we had down at the range while I had been thinking. That was good. I needed some time to get my plan in order, especially if I was going to get anyone on board with me. I didn’t want to do it alone, but I would if I had to.

  ~~~***~~~

  I opened my eyes the next morning and could tell I hadn’t gotten enough sleep. My eyes were dry and itchy, and my legs felt like they were filled with lead. I rolled over and looked at the clock. It was 6:35. I knew I needed to get moving or else Drew would pound on my door and holler for me to hurry. I threw back the covers and headed for the shower to wash away the cobwebs in my brain.

  Once the bathroom was sufficiently steamy and the hot water was running over me, I didn’t want to get out, but eventually our pathetic water heater forced me to shut it off or freeze. Knowing we were going hiking, I wore my boot-style tennis shoes with the heavy treads rather than my normal workout shoes and decided on jeans instead of yoga pants.

  Trying to hurry, I ran a brush through my dark hair without really caring what it looked like, and then I twisted it into two braids so my beanie would fit onto my head. No sooner had I slipped the pink beanie on than I heard a knock at my bedroom door. Quietly, so as not to wake Alice who still slept in my bed, I crept to the door and cracked it open.

  Drew had also chosen to wear jeans and a sweatshirt instead of workout clothes. A few strands of hair peeked out from under his beanie hat. It was amazing how that hat changed his whole look. Even the green in his eyes looked more intense.

  “I’m ready,” I whispered. “Just let me grab a jacket.”

  “I’ll wait for you downstairs,” he whispered, and he took off down the hallway
.

  I hastily strapped on my shoulder holster and secured my gun in its place. Knowing it was extremely cold out, I grabbed my hoodie with the furry lining inside and zipped it up over my holster.

  I met Drew downstairs in the living room where the early morning news flashed brightly against the darkness. I paused for a moment and watched him without him realizing it. He stood in front of the television, blocking most of my view of the newscasters and their reports.

  I hoped that whatever was between us lasted. It seemed I didn’t have much luck when it came to people I loved staying in my life. Before my mother died, I didn’t have many friends. The few friends I had made over the years, I'd had to leave when we would move... and we had moved a lot.

  Drew turned and saw me staring at him. I felt the heat rise up to my cheeks and, surprisingly, he actually blushed too. It was pretty strange for him not to know I had been standing there.

  “Hey,” he said, grabbing the remote and clicking the television off.

  “Hey,” I whispered.

  “Here.” He bent over, retrieved a to-go mug off the coffee table, and extended it to me.

  I accepted it and sniffed the opening. “Coffee?”

  “Yeah, I know how much you like that crap.”

  “It’s not crap! It helps give me my super powers.”

  “Sure, it does,” he swung his backpack over his shoulder, “at the same time it’s eating your stomach away. Let’s go.”

  I didn’t care if he liked coffee or not. I took a big swig of the warm liquid and grabbed my own backpack before I followed him out the door.

  The sun was rising, bathing the earth in warmth against the brisk, cold air. Drew reached into his jacket and took out his sunglasses. He put them on, covering his pretty green eyes, but protecting them against the brightness of the sun that reflected off the snow.

  We started off through town at a rather slow pace so I could drink my coffee. While we walked, I thought about the Talon Building. If the board was going to refuse to acknowledge our warnings to prepare for attack, we had to take it upon ourselves to protect the community and our families. We could not just sit back and let the vampires win when we had a proper warning.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  I glanced at Drew’s sudden question, and he raised his eyebrows above his sunglasses.

  “You’re looking very serious.”

  I laughed a little bit. “What? You’re the only one who is allowed to sport a look of intensity?”

  He shrugged. “Fine, don’t tell me.”

  I tipped my cup, finishing off the last drop of coffee. I really wasn’t sure I wanted to talk to him about the whole idea until I had an actual plan. On the other hand, it didn’t matter. Drew would have to be in on it to execute any plan we came up with.

  After making sure my cup was empty, I stopped and took my backpack off.

  “I don’t know. I just don’t think we should sit back and wait, just because the board doesn’t want to believe us.”

  I shoved the mug into my bag and swung the bag back onto my back. I looked over to see his expression. I had fully expected to see his face full of criticism or even disappointment. Drew was normally a guy who played by the rules, especially when it had anything to do with the board.

  Well, except for that time he ignored all the rules and came to save me from my psycho father.

  This time, instead of the criticism or disappointment I'd expected, I saw confirmation.

  “I agree,” he said. We picked up the pace again. “Actually, I’m a little shocked they didn’t believe Luke. Us, yeah. But, Luke? I just don’t get it.”

  “I know!” I threw my hands up. “He’s been with them forever. I wonder if they think he’s getting old, or maybe they think he's too close because of all that happened with Trevor before.”

  Drew shook his head. “We all vouched for what we saw.”

  “I know, but maybe they think he’s losing it, and that’s why he believes us.”

  Again, he shook his head. “I just don’t understand why they would ignore such a blatant warning.”

  I adjusted my beanie on my head. “So you think we need a plan?”

  “Yes, I do, but it’s not going to be easy without the other hunters backing us.”

  I sighed out of pure exhaustion at the thought of trying to convince the other hunters to help us.

  “I know, but we will find a way.”

  I tried to be optimistic—not for him—mostly for myself.

  We had crossed town on the streets and finally hit the edge of the woods where we found the trail we wanted and headed up. For a while, it was quiet. That’s how Drew worked. He wasn’t talkative most of the time and did that whole I’m-a-broody-man thing. It was perfectly fine with me, because I liked to do my own share of brooding.

  Carefully, we crunched over the icy trails. Not many used the trail up to the falls, so it had not worn down to the ground like the well-used trails would have. It was covered in a thick layer of snow, with ice underneath it. Drew led the way, letting me know where the more dangerous spots were located.

  Eventually, I heard the first evidence of the waterfall. The roaring slowly grew from a whisper to a loud churning. I was relieved we were almost there. I loved being near the falls, no matter what the weather happened to be. The trail ended, opening up to a small area of land that surrounded the waterfall. I stopped and took off my bag, because I thought we would stop.

  “What are you doing?” Drew stood next to me, looking amused.

  “Aren’t we stopping?”

  “Nope, we’re going up farther.”

  I could have slapped him for the stupid grin he had on his face. Apparently, my willingness to stop and hang out by the pretty waterfall was funny to him.

  “Fine, let’s go.” Reluctantly I slid my backpack on again. We had gone a little way past the falls before, but not too far due to the snow, so this would be new.

  The terrain was considerably rougher beyond the waterfall. The trail veered up steeper as we moved on. Rocks jutted out of the ice, and the snow was much deeper than it was on the other trail. Our feet sank all the way down, soaking our jeans to mid-calf and making me even colder.

  Eventually, the trail opened into a wide field, or what would have been a field if it hadn’t been covered in snow.

  “Here we are.” Drew shed his backpack and withdrew two bottles of water. He threw one of them to me, and I caught it easily.

  “Where’s here?”

  Drew tilted his head. “Check it out.”

  He stood back up and started toward the tree line. I followed, wondering what the heck he had in mind. I wasn’t dumb enough to think this hiking trip was for enjoyment. I knew something was up and, as it turned out, I could hear it before I could see it. It was water, not the roaring waterfall sound, but more like babbling brook.

  Drew pushed some of the tree branches aside, then took my hand and pulled me through. I expected to see more trees, a never ending forest of trees, but what I saw took my breath away.

  “Oh, my. It’s beautiful,” I managed to whisper softly.

  There was the water I’d heard, a beautiful creek, not a tiny little creek one could hop across, but not quite big enough to be called a river. Trees hung over the top of the water like their branches were trying to reach out and touch it. The current rushed quickly over the rocks that jutted up out of the water, creating a decent amount of rapids on its way to where I assumed it would meet the waterfall.

  Along the river, there were several large rocks that sat high out of the water. These huge boulders had relatively flat tops. They seemed almost out of place in the scene.

  “Why are we here?” I asked.

  Drew squeezed my hand.

  “We are going to work on your superpowers today.” He grinned.

  “Don’t you think it would make more sense to work on fighting? I’m getting really good with my fire power.”

  “It’s not your fire power we ar
e going to concentrate on.”

  I scrunched up my nose. “Huh?”

  He led me to a rock by the water that was big enough for us both to sit on. “You already know that you have other gifts aside from the fire— like your fast healing—so we need to tap into the other powers.”

  I shook my head. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin to do that.”

  “I do.” Drew told me and spread his hands. “Do you remember when we were training last week and you tried to do the jump kick?”

  I nodded.

  “Well, your jump was incredibly high, I mean... you made it look simple to jump that high without even trying. So imagine what you could do if you practiced jumping long distances?”

  “I thought I was just in excellent physical condition.” I stuck my lower lip out, pretending to pout. "Why are we doing it here? Why not just back at the gym? It seems like I should be able to practice jumping anywhere, but you picked way up in the snow and ice-covered mountains.”

  “Think about it, Chloe. Even though everyone knows about your fire power, we don’t want to flaunt your other gifts. They can be quite effective when the element of surprise is added. At the gym, everyone can see you. Who knows who that can get back to?”

  He was right, like he freaking always was. Ugh

  “Okay, so what do you want me to do?”

  “You see those rocks over there?”

  Oh, man. I didn’t have a good feeling about this at all.

  “Uh huh?”

  “You think you can jump them?”

  “Oh, no!” I waved my hands out in front of me. “There is no way I’m jumping those, no way!”

  He had to be crazy if he thought I was going to do that.

  “If we start on the snow, when you feel confident enough, we can move to the rocks.”

  “I don’t think I will ever be confident enough to do that.”

  “Chloe, I feel like you need to be pushed to accomplish things like this.”

  I raised my eyebrows, not really understanding.