by Jaymin Eve
Chase, Lexen, and Daniel all growled simultaneously. Not even kidding, it was like the car was filled with angry lions. “If you think for one second I’m leaving Callie with you, you’re insane,” Daniel said bluntly.
“If Laous touches Emma again, I will not be able to stop myself from shifting and alerting the humans to the very real aliens in their midst,” Lexen snarled.
Chase was equally as pissed. “Maya has no defense against a Daelighter. She cannot be the one.”
They continued to throw around insults and curses. All the while Fraizer remained quiet. As did Xander, because he had no personal stake in this decision.
“It has to be me,” Callie’s voice rang out over the rest. Heat flared from someone, and I couldn’t tell if it was Daniel or Callie losing control of their power. “I’m literally the only one who can defend herself.”
“No,” Daniel snapped. “Laous knows you have that ability. He will counter anything you throw at him. He almost stole your life from me last time. I won’t let it happen again.”
She lowered her voice, murmuring things to him I couldn’t hear.
“The sanctuary is just around the corner,” Xander said. “Decisions need to be made now.” He stopped the car, because if we went around the next corner we’d be right where Laous was. “We might as well get out,” he suggested. “Because not all of us will be going at him head-on. Even I know that’s a bad plan.”
He slid the car into neutral and we all climbed out. The arguing was circular; no one was willing to risk any of us. Callie was the only one volunteering, but Daniel flat-out refused to even consider that. I leaned myself back against the door of the car, letting them continue to argue back and forth. If it was decided I would be the bait, then I would accept the decision. But I didn’t really have an opinion on the best way to do this.
As I dropped my head against the window, I felt the tiniest twinge in my neck. Muscle spasm. I used to get them on occasion during gymnastics. I tried to stretch my head around to ease the cramp – too much time spent on a plane and running for my life. That shit was stressful. The pain continued for a few minutes, in which time I lost track completely of the conversation.
Lifting my hand, I rubbed the spot, kneading the muscles, pulling away. A splash of red caught my attention, and I stared at my fingers, wondering what the hell was on them. Using my other hand, I rubbed my neck again, pulling the hand away to find it was also slicked with red. Like … blood.
Had I been hit? The twinge hadn’t been that painful, but … I was bleeding. I didn’t want to interrupt the conversation, so I quietly opened the car door and crawled into the front seat to search for something to wipe my neck with. I also wanted to use the mirror behind the visor to see what hit me.
As soon as I climbed in, the door swung closed behind me. I hadn’t remembered pulling it, so the wind must have caught it. My head spun. Leaning forward, I scraped at the latch to open the glovebox, but I couldn’t seem to get any grip. Another door opened near me, and I figured it was Chase checking on me, so I didn’t even turn my head.
“Think I hurt my neck,” I mumbled, pretty much resting my head against the dash. “Can you … see … anythi—?”
What was wrong with me?
“You were just the first to break from the group,” said a voice that was not Chase’s. “I hit you with a little speck of starslight stone. It should wear off soon.”
Fraizer. Shit.
The car lurched forward, and since I wasn’t belted in, I got bounced around, smashing my face into windows and the front of the car. I clawed at my neck, trying to remove the stone that was incapacitating me, but I couldn’t keep myself steady enough to get it out.
Fraizer held his foot flat to the floor, and I let out a muffled scream when the car pitched strangely and almost flipped over onto its side. Somehow we didn’t crash, but Fraizer immediately started to curse.
“Of course you would be bonded to the Leights able to turn his arms into vines.”
The car lurched again; this time Fraizer swung it to the right. “Luckily…” he said, “he doesn’t want to hurt you …. and he also has a limit of how far his reach is. I think we’ve just managed to get outside of that limit.”
“Was … thwis … your pwan all awong?” I wasn’t exactly making much sense. My tongue couldn’t form the words, but Fraizer understood.
“Actually, no, it wasn’t. I didn’t lie. I do disagree with Laous and everything he represents. But … I just learned I have another brother. He deserves to be freed from the life he’s in, and to help him out, I’m going to need a ticket in. That happened to be you. I’m sorry.”
My head hit the glass again, and this time I lost a few minutes of time. When I finally opened my eyes, the car was slowing. I could see the fenced section of what I assumed was the sanctuary. There wasn’t anyone around who looked like they could save me from this situation, so I’d have to save myself. Which should be simple – I had so many survival skills, like … uh…
Yeah, I was so dead.
Fraizer dragged me out of the car, and I tried to fight him, but just lifting my limbs felt like a mammoth task. He moved fast, dragging me as he started to run. He jumped over the fence, clearing the four feet with me in his arms no problem. The landscape flashed in black and white, my vision not working properly. Fraizer dragged me toward a group standing near their white kidnapper-special vans. And I recognized the guy at the center.
Laous.
Fraizer did not stop until he was standing right before the very man I had grown to both fear and hate. “This is an unexpected surprise,” Laous said, grinning at us. “For some reason, nephew, I thought for sure you had betrayed me.”
Fraizer sounded robotic. “I would never do that. They’re after her. You need to get going immediately.”
Laous moved toward me, but when he was about a foot away, Fraizer yanked me back and pressed a blade to my throat. What in the…?
“What are you doing?” Laous asked him, tilting his head in a curious manner.
“I want Rao first,” Fraizer demanded. “I will swap her for him, otherwise I’m going to spill her precious blood right here. Maybe you don’t need it to find the starslight stone, but what if you do?”
A very tall man stepped forward. I hadn’t noticed him until then. He’d been hidden in the shadows. His face had some serious burns on it, the scars extending down under his shirt. “Why do you want me?” he asked slowly, sounding confused.
Fraizer snarled. “Because you’re my brother. They’ve been lying to us from the very beginning. They told me you died!”
Rao’s face took on a similar confused mask, before he twisted toward Laous. “What is he saying? You’re Fraizer’s father, too?”
“No,” Fraizer screamed, but before he could say another thing, one of the men nearby took advantage of his distraction and shot him in the chest.
Fraizer jerked, the knife he held at my throat breaking the skin, but I managed to slip free before he could do too much damage. I landed at a heap near Laous’ feet, and before I could fight or kick or scream – or turn to see if Fraizer was dead – dark material was pulled over my head, and I was tossed hard into what I guessed was the van.
The engine started and any sliver of hope I had of being rescued disappeared in an instant. Everything ached as I lay on the cold, hard floor, feeling the bond in my center stretch further and further as the distance between Chase and I extended.
If there was a worse feeling in the world, I hadn’t experienced it yet.
Laous was loud, barking orders from his seat, which was way too close to mine for comfort.
“Stop!” he shouted. “She’s close by. Get the girl up. Fresh blood will be the best.”
The van screeched to a halt. I was hauled up off the floor, the bag ripped off my head. Laous’ face was right before mine. “Didn’t want you to communicate with your mate. I know some of you can see through the other’s eyes.”
I had no idea how
he knew Chase was my mate, and it really didn’t matter.
“Lucky for you,” Laous added conversationally, “you’re already cut, so I won’t have to hurt you more. For now.”
He lifted a long chain up from under his shirt. “Collect some blood,” he ordered one of his followers.
They looked human to me, and I wondered if this was the military group. It would certainly explain their use of guns, which I’d never seen the Daelighters do. Rao was back to standing in the shadows, his features pinched. He was shooting some angry side-eyes at Laous. Fraizer’s declaration had stirred something in the scarred Daelighter.
Maybe seeing his brother killed would be enough for Rao to turn on Laous. That might be my shot. It wasn’t hard for me to bring tears to my eyes, mostly because I was freaking the hell out. I winced as someone wiped a rough hand across my throat, collecting blood for Laous. I tried to fight them off, but my arms were being held tightly, and I had barely any strength left. At least it did feel like whatever Fraizer hit me with was wearing off.
Laous lifted the chain over his head and I stared at the starslight stone. This was what he’d been using to find the secret keepers. My blood was wiped across it, and then one of Laous’ guys pulled out a map.
“You don’t have to stress,” Laous said, watching me closely, the stone held in his hands. “I’m not going to hurt you. I need you four. I know how humans and Daelighters work. There will be another obstacle that stands between me and the stone.”
I glared as hard as I could. “You’re going to destroy Earth and Overworld. You’re completely insane.”
Whatever calm he’d been possessing disappeared. He took a step closer to me, ignoring the map. “Let me tell you a little something about insanity. My father … now he was insane. He kept me locked up from my first metamorphosis aging until I was in my last. I got fed once a day, beaten five times a day, and molested three. I had not an ounce of power. I was at his mercy day and night.”
My stomach swirled at those mental images, and I just managed to stop myself from vomiting. Laous spoke matter-of-factly, but his demons were rising to the surface.
“The moment I found my strength, the moment I managed to break free of my cage, I killed my father. Turned out, I have a very special skill, forged under fire: when I kill a person, I can absorb their energy. It doesn’t last long, but it lasted long enough for me to murder my complicit mother first and use her boost of power to rip my father to pieces.” He got a satisfied look on his face. “I wasted no time then planning for my future. For a future which would mean I was never weak again. Ever. I’ve been biding my time for years, waiting until all the pieces fell into place. Now my time has come.”
It sucked when the bad guy had layers, because I really wanted to just hate him. Hate him so hard that I could kill him if I had to. But right then, I saw that little boy tortured by his family. I saw and could not purge the image from my mind. He turned away, striding the few steps to the map, which he leaned over. Sucking in deep breaths, my pulse was racing, but I couldn’t give up on my plan to escape.
While he was distracted, I looked around, hoping to find an escape route. We were reasonably close to the edge of a cliff. I didn’t recognize the spot, but other than jumping into the rough ocean below, it was all open fields and long plains. I’d be taken out by a gun in a second. No coverage at all.
“She’s right here somewhere,” Laous bellowed. “Spread out, start searching everywhere.” He waved a hand in my direction. “Throw her back in the van, cover her eyes, and tie her hands.”
“No!” I screamed. “I won’t go anywhere with you!”
I was short enough that I could easily punch tall guys in the balls. Which is exactly what I did to the first man who came at me. He let out a roar, swinging a fist in my direction. I’d been expecting it, though, and managed to duck in time.
My gait was still clumsy from Fraizer, but I didn’t let that stop me from trying. Laous didn’t move, preferring to let the others do his dirty work. Only problem was he’d sent most of his people off in search of the fourth secret keeper, which gave me a clear run.
The only one who could stop me was Rao. He reached out and snatched me up with far too much ease. I swung and kicked, my weak pathetic attempts glancing off him.
“Good save, son,” Laous said, grinning at me with his disgusting face. “Throw her in the van.”
Rao nodded, taking a step forward. Almost in slow motion, the huge man tripped and we both crashed into Laous. The three of us went down, and I felt a hand yank me back so I didn’t get squished. Laous, on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky. Rao slammed into him, knocking the stone out of his hand.
This was my chance; I knew it, and I was going to do the only thing I could. On my feet, I grabbed up the chain and started to run. It was about fifteen feet to the cliff. I heard shouts all around me. Just before I launched myself off the cliff, I slipped the chain over my head.
Then I screamed the entire way down.
Chapter 22
Considering I hadn’t looked before leaping, I was lucky not to smash into rocks. The coastline around these cliffs could be deadly, especially landing in some spots with strong tides.
I missed all the rocks, but as the cold water closed over my head, I knew I hadn’t been as lucky with the tides. I tried to kick my way to the surface, dislodging my shoes as I went because they were dragging me down. But I got slammed against an underwater shelf before I managed to make it up for air. I had a decent lung capacity, but if I didn’t get up in the next minute or so I was going to be in trouble.
I let the water carry me along, twisting my body to avoid more rocks. I couldn’t avoid them all though, my arms scraping against the rough edges. I was bleeding. The sharks would be around soon; I had to get out of here. Something skimmed through the water and bit into my arm. I jerked, and more blood filled the water. Bastards. They were shooting at me. Apparently this necklace trumped my possible usefulness to Laous.
Managing to struggle to the surface, just near the cliffs, I took one breath, ducking right back down again. Damn the crystal-clear water, I was a sitting duck. As I went under, more bullets rained around me and I hid beneath a rock formation, trying not to panic.
A shimmer caught my eye, and I freaked out thinking it was the sun’s reflection off a shark.
Only … it wasn’t a shark. It was a girl.
We stared at each other, me trying not to drown, her looking very comfortable. She had long white or gray hair that sparkled unnaturally. She wore only a bikini, her body very toned.
She seemed as surprised to see me as I was to see her. As more bullets rained around us, she shot a glare into the sky, and then zoomed through the water toward me.
I’d never seen anyone swim like that, so fast and agile, darting through the water like it was a pool and not an ocean of deadly currents. As she reached me, I found my hand in hers, and then she was speeding both of us along. She knew exactly where to go, moving with the tides. Just when I was about to pass out, she surfaced briefly and we both took in deep breaths. I opened my mouth to ask who she was, but we were back down under the water before I could.
This time we moved even faster and my head spun. Just when it seemed like the water started to calm, I passed out.
When I regained consciousness, sprawled across the beach, sand all over me, my head was pounding. Pushing both hands under my body, I managed to lift myself up enough to brush the sand off my face. Everything hurt, like … a lot. My back screamed at me, cut up by the underwater rocks. My hands were also bleeding quite freely, and the salt and sand only increased the pain.
When I finally got to my feet, I was surprised to see I was on the edge of the main tourist beach here, hidden behind some rocks. Thank you, God. I knew exactly how to get to Xander’s from here. Despite my injuries, I managed to stay on my feet as I stumbled around to the main beach.
Half a dozen families were playing and sunbaking, and when I came into sight I heard sho
uting. An older man rushed up to me. “Are you okay? Were you caught in a rip?”
He went with the most logical explanation, but still sounded confused. Mostly because I was wearing jeans and a shirt, not a swimsuit.
“You should sit down,” he advised, as I wobbled on my feet. “I’m an EMT, and I can tell you need to be seen by a medical professional. If you wait here, I’ll get the local one for you.”
I nodded, because I wanted him to leave me alone. I wasn’t that far from the private beach of Xander’s. I just needed to keep going. I pretended to sit, and the nice man ran up the beach, heading toward the lifeguard station. Meanwhile, I picked up the pace and started to stumble-run across the sand. Eyes followed me, but I ignored them, and eventually I moved beyond that main break.
I had no idea how I managed to stay upright until I made it back to Xander’s place, but I somehow found the strength. I collapsed near the pool area and Tommy found me quite fast.
“What happened?” he asked, when he dragged me up to the pool house. “Where are the others?”
“Laous,” I murmured. “Girl. Almost drowned.”
That was the last of my words before I leaned over and vomited everywhere on the pristine white tiled floors. Tommy, to his credit, didn’t freak out. He just lifted me from the mess, placed me on another long lounger, and ran a cool washcloth over my face.
He disappeared for a few minutes, reappearing with a phone in his hand.
“They’re on their way back, and I’ve called in backup in case Gonzo retaliates.”
“Are you human?” I asked, unsure if he was or not. He held himself like military, but there was also something other about him.
Tommy regarded me, wiping the cloth across my face and down over my neck. “I am human. I’ve known the Royales for a long time. Since I was a young boy. We lost touch when I joined the Air Force, but once I was done with my tours I retired, and Tristall, the overlord, offered me a position heading up his defense contracts here in Hawaii. I had nothing else to occupy my life, so over I came.”
