by Imogen Rose
“What’s the plan?” David persisted.
Kellan grabbed my hand, squeezing it gently. “I don’t know. We’ll know when Harry gets back. He’s looking into how we can get back home. How did you get here?”
“I flew in from New York, and then cabbed it to the strip. I tracked Arizona to the Wynn then, when I couldn’t find her, I tried again and found myself outside this motel. We should get to the airport and fly back home.”
“I’m pretty sure the airport is being watched. It’s the obvious place we’d go.” Kellan put his arm around my shoulder drawing me closer. “It’s way too dangerous. Besides, we don’t have any money for airfare.”
“Money’s not an issue,” David interjected. “I have plenty. However, you’re right about the airport not being secure. We don’t really know how many people are involved in this. It may just be Simla and Raj on their own, in which case, they’d be no match for us.”
“True. But, on the other hand, it may be that we have Potomal’s whole group after us, so we need to be careful.”
The door eased open, and Harry cautiously peered in. “David! I thought I heard more than one male voice in here. Kellan, why didn’t you tell me? What’s up?” Harry walked over and thumped David on his back. “How did you get here?” He handed Kellan the first-aid kit. “What do you need this for?”
“Simla scratched up Arizona’s shoulders when she grabbed her. I’m going to wipe them down with alcohol and put some Neosporin on the cuts while David updates you.”
“Geez, Arizona! Why didn’t you say something? That looks pretty bad,” Harry complained. “We need to get you to a doctor.”
“It’ll be dangerous trying to do that with the Sigma-W-Pi looking for her.” David sat down on a chair. “But I can wander her to a different dimension, back to my dad, and take care of her–”
“No way, not without me,” Kellan interrupted.
“Hey!” I protested. “What am I? A piece of furniture? Don’t I get a say?”
“No!” they all yelled in unison.
Geez!
“David, tell me what’s going on, and then we’ll figure out what to do next. How did you get here?” Harry asked.
Once David had finished explaining it all again, Harry shared what he’d found out.
“I was looking for the cheapest way for us to get back home. That would be by bus. However, like the airport, the bus terminal may be dangerous, but it was the best we could hope for with the money we have. Now that David’s here and money’s not an issue anymore, I suggest we rent a car–much safer all around.”
We all agreed. That was the obvious thing to do. It was getting late, though. We were all exhausted and needed a good night’s sleep. I was ready to slump onto the pillow. “In the morning? I need to sleep.”
“There’s no way we can all stay here,” David observed. “Let’s take a cab to the Cosmopolitan. Mom booked me a room there. It’ll at least have two beds. They’ll also have a doctor on call.”
Honestly, I couldn’t care less where we stayed. I was too tired to be bothered, but I could see his point. One bed was far from ideal. “Can’t you just get another room at the motel?” I yawned.
“I think we should stay together,” David insisted. “Go to sleep if you want. I’ll carry you to the cab when it gets here.”
“Ugh, don’t be silly. I’ll force myself to stay awake for a bit longer.”
The cab arrived in no time, and we were at the Cosmopolitan half an hour later. I had never been inside it before. It was new and sat right beside the Bellagio. It was very modern and spectacular, though I was too tired to take it all in. Kellan had held my hand all the way there and was still holding on to it as we walked into the room. I walked over to one of the two queen-sized beds with crisp blue-trimmed white sheets and sat down. Harry came over and sat beside me.
David picked up the hotel phone. “I’m going to call down for a doctor.”
“No!” I said emphatically. I was tired of being babied. “I’m fine. Do. Not. Call. A. Doctor. Got it?”
The three of them gaped at me.
“Look, you really need–”
“Don’t you think I know what I need? I need to sleep. I promise to see a doctor tomorrow, if you just stop whining!” I glared at David.
He threw his hands in the air. “Let me at least give it another cleaning.”
“In a minute. I’m going to go to the bathroom and get ready for bed. Okay?” I got up and marched off. The bathroom was sheer heaven after that dump in the motel. I played with the scented soaps and moisturized my face with the cream. Then I went back into the room and threw myself down on the bed. David dabbed my back with whatever while I closed my eyes.
I had no idea what had happened while I had been in the bathroom, but the boys seemed to have come to a sleeping arrangement. Harry lay down next to me, his head by my feet and one hand around my ankle. David and Kellan shared the other bed. It was the best sleep I had had in a while. The bed was super-comfortable, and the temperature perfect. And I was sure I could detect the sweet smell of lavender calming us all into a nice lull.
We slept in. Well, Harry, Kellan, and I did. David was nowhere to be seen when we got up. He’d left a note by the bedside table saying that he’d be back shortly, and he was–with breakfast!
“Mom rented a car for me, so we can be on our way as soon as you guys are ready. It’s about an eight-hour drive.” He looked unhappy, his lips drawn into a line. And he was fidgeting.
“David? What’s going on?” I asked.
“I’m not sure. I had an odd feeling when I was down in the lobby. Something doesn’t feel right.”
All eyes were on David. We waited for him to explain, but he went quiet. He reached over, entwining his fingers through mine. I could feel Kellan tensing up next to me. He slipped his arm around my waist, pulling me back gently. I couldn’t understand his reaction. What did he think David was going to do? Did he think David was working for Raj? That was beyond ridiculous. I looked up, raising my eyebrows at him. He ignored me; his eyes fixed on David.
Harry thankfully broke the uncomfortable silence. “David? What’s going on?”
David shook his head. “Probably nothing. It was just a feeling. I don’t know how to explain it. I had a good look around. I didn’t spot anyone–not Simla or anyone else. Maybe I should take Arizona back to Dad’s though, just to be safe.” Harry nodded.
I shook my head and pulled my hands away from David, squirming out of Kellan’s grip at the same time. I was angry. My fists were clenched and I was one breath away from throwing a tantrum Ella would be proud of. I closed my eyes, breathing in deeply. And then opened them. “I’m not going anywhere except home. David has a car; let’s get in it and go home!”
“I don’t blame you,” Kellan agreed. “We should all stick together. I’m staying with Arizona no matter what.”
“You know I can’t wander the two of you–”
“I know! Which is why we should all stick together. I think among the three of us, we’ll be able to keep Arizona safe from Simla.”
“If it’s just Simla we’re dealing with,” Harry muttered. “David might be right….”
“How do we know going back there isn’t as dangerous? David, any news about your dad?” In all our drama, I had totally forgotten about David’s dad.
“He’s back, Arizona. That dimension is secure now.”
“That’s really good to hear, David. Is he okay?” Kellan asked.
“I haven’t seen him, but yes, he seems to be okay. Look, right now we’ve got a car waiting for us. Let’s just walk straight to it, get in, and drive off.”
“They could probably get us from the car,” Harry pointed out. “Remember how Justin got taken right from the car when it was in motion?”
I shook my head, but got ignored. They were talking above me again, like I didn’t quite exist. Then they all looked down at me.
“Right, let’s go.” Harry grabbed my left hand while Dav
id took the other one. Kellan got behind me, and we stepped out into the hallway and walked to the elevator.
The elevator arrived empty and, thankfully, didn’t stop on the way down. We walked into the casino, looking to David for directions.
“The car’s parked outside the exit at the other end of the casino. Follow me.”
It was hard walking in a row of three; I got fed up and slipped away from David’s grip. He got slightly ahead of us so we could follow him easier. The casino was buzzing with people, at the machines, around the tables, and just walking about. It was hard not to crash into the little kids running around in front of their parents trying to get somewhere, goodness knew where. I kept my eyes to the ground, making sure not to bump into anything or anyone.
I suddenly walked right into David, who’d come to an abrupt halt. I leaned over to look beyond him.
I froze. For a few heartbeats, nobody moved. Simla stood a few feet away with a sinister smirk on her face.
“It’s okay,” I whispered, biting my lip. “We can outrun her.”
“It’s not just her. You don’t recognize them, but I can see two Sigma-W-Pi members. From your previous descriptions, I am guessing they’re Madison and Olivier. They’re to our left; there could be more,” Kellan said tightly.
I panicked. Left? I turned to my right, yanking my hand out of Harry’s grip, and made a run for it. No way was I letting any of those morons anywhere near my shoulders; they hurt like crazy. I zigzagged around the poker tables, knocking chairs down as I ran. I fled down the aisles, dashing between slot machines. I knew–I felt–I was being chased. I sprinted up the escalator. People were yelling at me. I could hear David and Kellan calling my name, but I kept running.
Then I saw Justin! He waved at me, so I ran toward him as fast as I could. I tripped, but got up and kept going. “Justin!” I sighed in relief, stopping right in front of him.
He smiled. “It’s okay, Arizona. Come with me.”
“Stop, stop!” David and Kellan yelled as they ran up. Justin’s demeanor changed as soon as he saw them. His eyes narrowed, and he growled under his breath. He lifted his arms and came toward me. I backed away–right into David’s arms. The last thing I saw was Kellan’s panicked face, and his hands trying to grab me.
I hung on to David, knowing I was safe. What was Justin doing there? We landed back in the same spot, at the casino in the Cosmopolitan. But Kellan was gone, as was Harry.
“Where did they go?” I looked around. Everything else looked the same. People transfixed by their betting surrounded the tables; the slot machines were busy with people mindlessly emptying their cash into them. We stood in the middle, worn out.
“They didn’t go anywhere; we did.”
I felt my stomach tighten. Kellan’s look of sheer desperation flooded my mind, and I struggled to breathe. “David, we have to go back! You shouldn’t have wandered me!”
David’s eyes narrowed, his brows almost touching each other as he frowned. “I had no choice!” he said, sounding aggravated. “What would you have me do? Just stand there while they took you?” He glared at me.
“I don’t know. We have to go back, though. Hurry!”
“We can’t!” David was positively fuming. His fists clenched by his side. “I’m worn out from that transport. I can’t possibly do it again so soon. Surely you get that? I was only trying to help you.”
I could see that he was totally frustrated. He’d only done what he thought was best to protect me. “I’m sorry, David. What do you think will happen to them? Will they get taken, like I did? Will they get hurt?” My eyes welled up, and my stomach tightened so much I thought I would be sick.
“Poppet, I don’t know. I slipped Harry my credit card. I’m hoping they made it to the car and got away. But I don’t know. I will get them help as soon as we get to Mountain View, I promise.”
“We have to go back and help them.” I sobbed into his shirt. People stared at me, and no wonder, I must have looked a mess. They probably thought I had lost my life savings or something. It was much worse.
I buried my face into David’s chest, feeling his hands slide up my back, rubbing it with gentle circular motions.
“Let’s walk to a less crowded place,” he whispered. He led me, still attached to him, and I followed, not having any idea where we were going. “Here, sit down.” David guided me into a padded seat. It was still busy around us, but he’d found a place where we could at least catch our breath for a moment and think. We sat next to each other, in silence.
I looked up at David. He wore a blank expression. “What are you thinking?”
His lips twitched. “You used to always ask me that when we were in elementary school, remember?”
I nodded.
His eyes turned very soft, and he lowered his head to brush his lips against my forehead. I turned my face upward and brushed my nose against his neck, breathing him in.
His muscles tightened, and he brought his hand up behind my neck, gently guiding my head down onto his chest. I lay against it listening to his racing heartbeats.
“Mm, Poppet,” he moaned. “We can’t do this.”
“No?”
“No. You need to regain your memory. A lot of things have happened in the past year….”
“Things that make us impossible?”
He didn’t say anything, but I could feel his chin nodding against my head. I felt hollow. We felt so right. How could it not be the natural thing to happen? We were meant to be together, weren’t we? I looked around. The middle of a busy casino was probably not the right place to try and figure out our feelings. David was probably just tired. I decided to put it out of my mind for now. I was with him; that was really all that mattered. We were together, but we couldn’t sit here forever. We needed to find Harry and Kellan.
I lifted my head and looked into his eyes. They looked slightly sad. I smiled and pinched the corner of his lips up into a smile until he laughed. “Come on, David. Let’s get out of here.” I had so many questions buzzing around in my head, and I was sick with worry for Harry and Kellan, but decided to wait with more questions until we were on the plane. We needed to get back home as quickly as possible to be able to help them. David seemed agitated as we left the Cosmopolitan. I’d have to make sure not to push him too much; he was only trying to help.
We walked through the main entrance and hailed a cab. We rode straight to McCarran Airport.
“Do you think any other airport in the world has slot machines in the terminal?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood as we walked to our gate. I had to get him to ease up a bit before we got on the plane so I could get some answers from him. He seemed so morose at the moment.
“Good question. I have no idea. Here’s our gate. Looks like they’re boarding. Ready?”
David had splurged on first class tickets. I sat down beside him and was handed a drink right away. I gulped it down, my stomach growling like a sleepy lion just waking up and realizing it hadn’t been fed in ages. I needed food. That wasn’t likely to arrive for a while, I guessed.
“Here, have some peanuts.” David pulled a pack from his pocket.
“Thanks! Doing the mind-reading thing again?” I moved slightly away from him.
He just smiled.
I wasn’t able to hold back any longer. “How are we going to help Harry and Kellan? How are we going to find them again?” I was frantic with worry. “And what was Justin doing at the casino?”
“I wish I knew. I’ve been racking my brain trying to come up with something. Much as I hate thinking it, it’s most likely that Harry and Kellan got taken. There were quite a few of Potomal’s group there. And whatever Potomal wants, Harry would be just as effective for leverage as you. Soon as we get back, we’ll contact Mom and let her deal with it. My job is to keep you safe.”
“That seems to be everyone’s job.” I was irritated that I had been reduced to being a chore. “Why?”
“Uh?”
“Kellan said the sa
me thing, that it was his job to keep me safe.”
“He doesn’t mean it in the same way I do.” David ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m assigned to you, like I explained before. It really is my job.”
“Is that the only reason you’re here? Because you’ve been told to protect me?” I felt stabs of disappointment sear through me.
He curled his fingers through mine, squeezing them gently. “Of course not. I’d be here regardless. You mean a lot to me.”
I nodded; deep down, I knew that. No point acting like a drama queen. “David, what was Justin doing at the casino? How did he even get there?”
“Justin’s dad is a Wanderer.”
“Wow, really?” I was stunned. It seemed everyone around me was a Wanderer.
“Yeah, but as far as I know, Justin can’t wander. Potomal tried to recruit him, along with Simla, but again, as far as I know, that didn’t work out. You and Kellan rescued both of them from Potomal. I guess you don’t remember any of that?”
I shook my head.
“Well, you did, and at the time it seemed fairly clear that Potomal had decided to dump them. Now, I’m not so sure.”
“David, I’m not following.”
He raked his blond strands back with his hand. His sparkling blue eyes seemed lost in thought as they gazed into mine. Then he abruptly threw his head back, turned, and sat back in his seat.
“What?”
“It had to be a ploy, to catch us off guard.”
“Take who off guard for what?”
“That’s what I can’t figure out. I mean, it’s clear that Potomal’s plan is to gain control of the Sigma-W. Or we assumed that was the case. Maybe he has bigger plans. Whatever they are, the first step seems to be to get rid of Spencer, your Granddad. So he kidnapped you to blackmail Spencer into handing over power.”
“He kidnapped me? When?” How could I not remember something like that? Was it so traumatic that I had buried the memory somehow?
“Yes, last week.”
