by Kunz, C. A.
“Mr. Personality, he’s not,” Sam says loudly and chuckles.
“Kenley and I’ll take this room,” Landon says, removing the key from the door and then faces the others.
Sam smiles broadly and grabs Mara while waving the key card around in her hands. “We’ll take the one next to the love birds. Come on, Mara, home sweet home,” Sam says as she ushers Mara into their room.
Landon gently guides me into ours and I miss seeing the others pairing up. He closes the door and lets out a heavy sigh.
“Sorry I didn’t ask you first about the room, Kenley. I saw Lakenheath on the sign and knew you’d probably be upset. So I wanted to make sure you’re okay. Besides, I can’t let you out of my sight. I almost lost you today. I’m sorry I didn’t ask if this was okay.” He looks at me, his eyes pleading with me.
“I can’t believe my dad sent us here. All those feelings from two years ago slammed into me the moment I saw that sign. I thought I had moved passed all of this, but now I’m not sure. And now I’ve lost Joey too. I feel so hopeless.”
Landon pulls me into his arms and rests my head on his chest. I instantly feel the warmth from his body seeping into mine. No words are said as we stand there holding each other and it seems like time is standing still.
A sharp knock at the door interrupts our peace. Landon reluctantly releases me and opens the door. Galileo is standing there with a duffel bag in hand and presents it to us.
“Here is your bag, Kenley” he says as Landon grabs a hold of it.
“My bag? I didn’t have one,” I reply.
“It was prepared for you before the incident at the Magnus Academy. Doctor Grayson, Wyatt thought of every contingency.”
“Sounds like my dad, always prepared. What’s in it?” I ask.
“Just some necessities. A care package of sorts,” he answers.
“Thanks,” I say, taking the bag as Landon passes it to me.
“Oh, and Young, Malcolm would like to see you in his office, Kenley. I can take you there. It will be like old times,” he states with a smile.
“Did he by any chance say what this is about?”
“Not at all, he just told me to come get you,” he answers.
I follow Galileo out of the room after saying bye to Landon and leaving my bag on the bed. Galileo takes my arm as we walk and pulls it around his, so that they’re linked. “You know, I miss our little walks together. With our arms like this it almost feels like I am there on your wrist again,” he laughs.
“I’ve so missed you Galileo. I’m really glad to see you. I can’t thank you enough for helping us escape, you were so brave.”
“I was only following orders, Kenley. Though I guess that’s not completely true. There was this feeling inside of me that made me want to do everything in my power to keep you safe. It was an odd sensation that I could not explain. That same feeling is present right now,” he states as he pats my hand resting in the crook of his elbow.
“Maybe you’re evolving. Becoming more aware of yourself and the world around you.”
“Maybe, but I am not quite sure yet,” he says hesitantly. “Kenley?”
“Yes, Galileo?”
“I wanted to tell you how sorry I was to see you lose Reilly, Joey. I had this feeling come over me when I saw him on the ground, not moving as we carried you away. He was a good friend to you, and I know he will be greatly missed,” he states, seeming to get a little choked up.
“Thank you for that, Galileo. Joey was a great friend…family to me really. And you’re right, I do miss him very much,” I reply, my eyes becoming misty. I wipe away the stray tear that creeps down my cheek as Galileo comes to a halt in front of a large green door.
“We have arrived at Young, Malcolm’s office. He is waiting for you inside,” Galileo says, motioning toward the door with his hand.
“Thanks,” I reply, giving him a hug.
“I am feeling that warm and fuzzy feeling, Kenley. This must mean we are friends,” Galileo says, returning my hug.
“Of course we are, silly,” I reply.
Opening the door to Malcolm’s office, I’m immediately surprised to find the room in complete disarray with stacks of papers, all various heights, scattered around the space.
“Excuse the mess, I’ve been doing some research and got a little carried away,” Malcolm laughs as he welcomes me in.
“What kind of research?” I ask confused, still scanning the amount of papers and folders littering the room.
“Well…I’m working on a plan of sorts for our group to strike a crippling blow to the Federation. And in the process, rescue your father,” he replies.
“Wait, you have a plan to help my dad? What is it? I want to help,” I state and feel my hands begin to glow.
“Easy, Kenley. We’ll get to that. You’ve got to be careful with how much you use those things. You don’t want the same result you had back on the Magnus,” Malcolm cautions.
My hands return to normal and I calm myself. “Can I help in any way?”
“Later, Kenley. Right now, I just want to see how you’re holding up. Being the daughter of Dr. Grayson means that your safety is just as important to me as his is.”
“How are you so close to my dad?”
“I was your dad’s head of security during his work on the Magnus project. Before I defected from the Allied Federation, I told your father that I’d be there if he ever needed anything. I owed him a lot, and now I’m repaying my debt. That’s why he sent you all here. So I could keep you, and as many of the cadets I can, safe,” Malcolm explains.
“What exactly did my dad do for you?”
“Sorry, but that’s between me and your father. I’ll have him tell you once we rescue him, how does that sound?” he replies.
“Sounds like I don’t really have a choice,” I state, crossing my arms in front of my chest.
“Pretty much,” he jokes followed by a laugh under his breath. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re doing all right. We’ll be heading to dinner in about an hour or so. If you want to go rest up or something, now would probably be the best time to.”
“Yeah, I think I’ll go rest a bit before eating,” I reply and go to exit the room.
Just as I turn the handle and begin to open the door, I hear Malcolm’s voice sound behind me. “Your dad’s a great man. But I bet you already knew that, huh?”
“Yeah, I did. But it’s nice to hear that other people think so too,” I reply and turn to see Malcolm smile at my comment.
As I walk back to my room, my mind begins to reel with thoughts about my dad, and what he must’ve done for Malcolm. I sigh as I push open the door leading into my room. Landon leaps to his feet from the bed when he sees me enter. His face is relieved, but there seems to be a hint of concern in his eyes.
“So, what did Malcolm have to say?” he asks, moving closer to me.
“Not much. But he’s working on a plan to rescue my father. So, I guess that’s something, right?”
“Yeah. Hey, you look exhausted. Maybe you should go lie down and rest?” Landon says as he places his hands about my hips.
“Yeah, I’m pretty freakin’ tired. Will you come lay down with me?” I ask, hoping he will.
Without a word, Landon takes my hand and leads me to the bed. He lies down, pulling me to rest beside him. His arms encompass me as he kisses me gently. His deep blue eyes meet mine and as he pulls me close, I can feel his heart beating rapidly. Closing my eyes, I rest my head on his chest and fall asleep to the sound.
A loud banging rips me from my deep sleep and I jerk my head up, bumping into something solid. “Ow.” Landon’s voice fills my ears, as I realize I hit his chin with my head.
“I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
“It takes more than a little bump like that to bring me down,” he jokes, massaging his jaw.
“Hey, you two get your butts in gear, it’s time for dinner,” Sam calls from outside the door.
“Our own wake-up call
…how special.” Landon grins as he wraps his arms around me.
We reluctantly roll out of bed and meet everyone outside, both of us ignoring Sam’s smirk. We all follow down a metal-walled corridor, and eventually after many winding passages, we end up in a large room with delicious smells emanating from it, making my stomach growl.
I’m surprised at the number of people sitting around the tables filling the room. They all stop eating and stare as Galileo leads us up to Malcolm’s table. There are a handful of people sitting at his table, but one really stands out. She’s beautiful. Her hair is a vibrant red, and her skin is porcelain white. Her radiant smile is directed at Malcolm, who seems to be hanging on every word as she talks. She raises her striking blue eyes and catches me staring at her. A frown line shows up on her forehead as she sweeps our group with a questioning glare. Malcolm turns to look at us after noticing her focus shift to our presence and then whispers something to her. The woman rises from her seat and attempts a smile as we approach the table.
“Ahh, here they are now, our refugees,” Malcolm announces. “Everyone, this lovely lady next to me is Elizabeth,” he continues, putting a name to the redhead.
“So nice to meet you. Please have a seat. I’m sure you’re all hungry after your long trip.” Elizabeth’s smile looks so genuine, but as I look at her eyes they seem wary and suspicious.
We take our seats at the large round table, and I find myself seated next to Elizabeth. Several women bearing trays of food stop at our table and place plates in front of us. My stomach decides to growl so loud that I turn red from embarrassment. Elizabeth lets out a slight giggle. I grab my napkin-wrapped silverware, unwrap it, and watch out of the corner of my eye as she does the same.
“Kenley…may I call you Kenley?” Even though she’s sitting next to me I jump a little at her sudden and abrupt question.
“Yes,” I get out, suddenly tongue-tied.
“Malcolm tells me that your father is a prisoner of the Federation. I know you must be worried, but we both agree that he’s still alive. He’s a vital part of their plan,” she says it so breezily like as if she were discussing the weather.
“I really hope you’re right. But for how long? Can we discuss the plan to rescue him now?” I ask, my hunger forgotten at the thought of my dad suffering at the hands of the Federation.
“We’ll be discussing that later. You need to eat and regain your strength first,” Malcolm interjects, pointing to my plate.
Landon reaches for my hand that’s lying on my lap and gently squeezes it. I turn to him and smile. Malcolm’s right. I need to take care of myself so I can help find my dad, I tell myself.
“Oh, and please do forgive the fact we haven’t removed any of your bangles,” Elizabeth states, looking around at all of the other cadets, since Landon and I already have ours off. “It’s not that we don’t trust you…it’s more because your implants can be affected by emotion, and since you’ve been under a lot of stress, we wanted to wait until you were more relaxed, and settled,” she continues explaining casually.
I glance around at our group, and none of them seem to be bothered by what Elizabeth just said. Not even Sam, who I thought would be the first to speak up. I also notice that no one has started eating yet. Malcolm and Elizabeth pick up their forks and everybody else follows their lead. Every once in a while I look over at Elizabeth and see her studying us as we all eat. There’s definitely something off about her.
“Come on,” Landon says, pulling me along a corridor with a metal door at the end.
“Where are we going? Better yet, are we supposed to be here?” I ask, anticipating someone catching us at any moment.
“Don’t worry, I got permission. And Galileo told me where we’d be safe to travel. I think we both need some fresh air. Besides, Malcolm says it’s safe since there’s been no Bringer attack for a couple of weeks now. He also gave me this little device just in case we run into any trouble. Malcolm said just press this button and we’ll be surrounded by soldiers.” Landon finally takes a breath as he punches in the code on the data pad to the left of the door.
The first thing I notice as the door opens is the rain has stopped. There are a few steps leading up to ground level in front of us. At the top of the stairs, we see a wide low-lying wall positioned in front of a dilapidated building. Landon pulls me over to the one of windows on the building and we peer inside. There are tables and chairs strewn about an area that resembles a cafeteria.
“Malcolm said this used to be a part of a boarding school, and this building was called the Dayroom. See those buildings over there?” He points to the right, “Those were dorms the students lived in. He said these buildings are all that’s left of this air base.”
“It’s crazy to think that this place was once full of people. Now look at it…doesn’t really give much hope for the future, huh?” I ask, looking around at the barren wasteland that surrounds us. “I wonder what it looked like when my brother was here?”
“Hey, I got an idea,” Landon says, changing the subject. He clearly knows that all of this is bothering me.
Landon jumps up onto the wide low-lying wall, and then pulls me up to join him. The full moon that hangs overhead casts everything in a soft glow. Landon shrugs out of the raincoat he was given and places it down on the wall. He gestures to the makeshift blanket and I slip out of my raincoat as well. Adding my coat to his, making the “blanket” bigger, I lie down and Landon comes to my side while taking hold of my hand. He leans over and kisses me gently at first, and then when I grab him and pull him closer, he deepens the kiss. We finally separate, both of us a little breathless. He returns to his position next to me, and I listen as his breathing returns to normal.
“Landon?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you think we’re safe here?”
“Yes. I don’t think your father would’ve sent us here otherwise,” Landon replies, stroking his fingertips through my hair.
“I just wish Malcolm would’ve given us more information. I get the feeling he’s keeping a lot from us.”
“He’s a military man, Kenley. He’s that kind of guy that only lets you know what he wants you to know. We’ll find out everything in time, don’t worry,” Landon explains.
“I hope so.”
“For now, let’s just live in this moment,” he says while giving me a light squeeze.
We both lay there looking up at the stars with the raincoats acting as a barrier between the wall’s damp, cold surface and us. The stars in the sky are so vibrant and plentiful since there aren’t any major city lights to keep them from our view. It reminds me of the view from Old Man Gary’s farm. I can almost hear the wind sweeping through the long grasses. I long for the smell of flowers instead of the rain soaked air I’m currently breathing in. The memory of Joey and me playing the star game seeps into my mind and I become overcome with emotion. The starry sky becomes blurred as tears fill my eyes.
“Hey…Landon?”
“Yeah?”
“Want to play a game?”
Landon releases a content sign as he takes a hold of my hand. “I’d love to.”
---- About the Authors ---
Carol and Adam Kunz make up the mom and son author duo, C.A. Kunz. They thoroughly enjoy writing about things that go bump in the night and action-packed dystopian romances while drinking massive amounts of English breakfast tea and Starbucks coffee. The author pair currently reside forty-five minutes away from each other in the sunny state of Florida. If you would like to find out more about this duo, The Modified, or THE CHILDE series, please visit the links below:
Author Website-
http://www.cakunz.blogspot.com
Facebook Author Page-
http://www.facebook.com/cakunz11
HERE
Ella James
Copyright © 2012 by Ella James
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distribu
ted, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the author.
This book is a work of fiction. Any names, places, characters, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination and are purely fictitious. Any resemblances to any persons, living or dead, are completely coincidental.
PLEASE DO NOT PIRATE THIS BOOK. PIRACY SUCKS.
CHAPTER ONE
The day it happened, things were regular enough.
Halah, Sara Kate, and Bree had spent the night—a chilly October Friday we’d talked through until the sun rose, pink and soft across the Rockies. I awoke to Sara Kate’s knee in my back, sharp enough to poke a hole through my favorite Cream t-shirt. Halah and Bree were curled up on the floor, Halah’s pink subzero “hotsack” tossed over the Miley Cyrus bag Bree’s grandmother had given her the previous Christmas—the year we’d turned 15. Halah called the bag Miss Miley, and at sleepovers at Sara Kate or Halah’s house, I usually fought Bree for her.
This morning, Halah’s curly head stuck up, and her hazel eyes met mine. We grinned, then pounced on Bree, chanting “Miss Miley, Miss Miley, Miss Miley!” till Bree lurched up, her curvy body raining fragments of the popcorn we’d all munched and, later, crunched into my rug.
“Shhhhhh!” That was Sara Kate, lumbering up and glaring at us. She was never a morning person, and she’d been even less one since she’d started hanging out with Ami McVea of the multi-colored dreadlocks and Turn Off Your Radio (KILL THE MACHINE) bumper sticker. S.K. hadn’t actually told me this—I was only her best friend, after all—but I’d overheard her talking to Ami after orchestra practice, saying something about midnight rides, and I happened to know from my college cousin West that Ami and S.K. had been sneaking out on weeknights, riding into Denver to go to (what else?) indie music shows.
“You’re riding with the big dawgs. This ain’t no rusty banged up Beetle,” Halah drawled. She had the most ridiculous faux Old West accent ever, and she was referencing Ami McVea’s VW bug. We—the quad—had called ourselves the big dogs in years past, although I couldn’t quite remember why.
