Second Chances (The Extinct Race Series)

by Michelle Farrell

  Everyone knew this was a possibility and you could see it on their faces. Some more than others looked grim with the news

  “Now that we all know this fact, which isn’t a surprise really, we will get to the good stuff now. The fail safes the first one is basically Zoe and Zach. They are direct descendants of Marsali and carry the last of her magic in them. We are unsure of how to use it yet, but we will work on that.” Kaiden assured them.

  “The second fail safe is a second chance rule. The best example of this is Marcus and Iraina. They are second chance soul mates. But there is a clause in this also. Since they have both had children with their first soul mate, they cannot have any more children. But if say Paulo here finds his second chance soul mate and she did not have children, as he did not with his first, then they could have children together.” Zoe says

  Looks of shock and joy pass through the crowd.

  “The third rule, well, when we were created they picked four couple of every race. None of them were related, so they knew that their children would always pair up and the blood lines would not mix. Well, there are only four of us left that can have children. Zoe and Zach are twins, so our children would be cousins. So they would never pair. So to continue the race, she made the third fail safe. All of us full-bloods left will give birth to random races. Zoe and I could have a Fury and Gabe and Justine could have a Pearl. This fail safe was made to ensure soul mates and no mixing of the blood lines.” Kaiden explains

  Understanding passes through the crowd as they listen.

  “Fail safe four is kind of a cool one. Vivi, Christian, and Zach are perfect examples of this one. You see Vivi can hear lies, but the lies cause her extreme pain. Christian can feel the intent of another. His is different than that of a mate, because he feels everyone. The rest of us feel only the intent of our mate. If it is good he is fine, if they intend to harm anyone, it causes him great pain. Zach can feel your emotions. It speaks to him, so if you are just standing here one day worried about something and he comes to you and tells you the answer to your worry. That is his special ability and just to warn you he is blunt about it. So this fail safe was created to give the last of us special abilities that are not common with our race. The rest of us are sort of figuring out ours still.” Kaiden says

  “Now the best fail safe. Lucy please come up here.” Zoe giggles

  Kaiden looks to Zoe with a smile on his face. They had agreed Zoe would tell this one, but obviously she had other plans.

  “Lucy here and the girls working in the house were serving us all dinner as we were talking about these. Lucy and the other girls decided to be turned, because of this fail safe.” Gasps were heard all around. Everyone in the community knew why these girls did not want to turn. “So since Lucy was brave enough to make that decision, I thought I would let her tell you why she and the other girls made this decision.” Zoe says smiling at Lucy as she walks up to them and turns to the crowd.

  Lucy looks for her mother’s face and locks onto it. She takes a deep breath and begins. “Fail safe four is the best one because it was meant for us half-bloods. We always knew we would not have a soul mate, also if we turned we would not be able to have children. Fail safe four changes that.” Lucy’s eyes swell up in tears and they begin to stream down her face. “In the face of extinction, which we are now in, any half-blood that is turned will be able to have children. Those children will never be able to be turned, but they will have all of the traits of a full-blood. The only thing they won’t have is the ability to fly. But they will be as strong as a full-blood. They will have the pull of a full-blood, they will have the sight of a full-blood, and they will also have the hearing.” She is fully weeping at this point and so is most of the crowd. “We will also have a soul mate once we are turned.” Lucy sobs this last one as loud as she could.

  There is a loud cry in the back of the crowd, then another. The crowd all turn and parts to reveal two couples locked together on the ground. Zoe turns to Kaiden and smiles. “I knew it wouldn’t take long and they were probably just confused.”

  “Yep.” Kaiden grabs Zoe’s hand and pulls her towards the two couples. Once he gets within a good few feet, he hugs Zoe to him. “Were you four confused about the pull?”

  “Oh, yes, so much. We were constantly at each other’s sides. I mean, we know people fall in love with each other after being turned that it’s normal. But this, this is strong. Is this what you all feel? I mean, we didn’t really like each other growing up and now I can’t get enough of him.” The girl says. After looking into her eyes Zoe notices she is one of the few Fire’s that was turned.

  “What is your name?” Zoe asked

  “Marina and this is Liam.” She says

  “I am so glad you found each other and yes, this is what it is like for us too. It is the best feeling in the world, you feel complete once you have them.” Zoe tells her

  Marina nods and falls back into tears hugging Liam to her. The other couple never even looked up from one another.

  In the distance a truck was pulling up. Mary and Mateo walked over to the truck with Ben right behind them. The man in the truck took four crates down and had Mary sign some forms. He then climbed back in his truck and drove off. Mary and Mateo were talking while Ben stood off to the side. The crowd had started to go back to their homes and to the training room. Most were still outside stretching and getting warmed up. Mary opened the door to the first crate and the dog bounded out, running straight to Ben and sat down right at Ben’s feet. Mary looked confused, but she opened the next, the puppy inside also ran right to Ben’s feet. The puppies just sat there looking up at him.

  Mary opened the kennels to the youngest puppies and they also ran to Ben’s feet. Kaiden and Zoe exchanged a glance and made their way over to Ben. They wanted to test something. Ben was so happy with the puppies he didn’t notice what they did. Kaiden had never seen puppies act so obedient.

  “Ben, tell the puppies to stay and come over here.” Kaiden said. Mary watched with curiosity.

  “Stay.” Ben told the puppies and walked over to Kaiden. Ben looked at Kaiden confused. Kaiden had a smile on his face and Zoe giggled. Mary clapped her hands over her mouth and Mateo stood there in silence, but with eyes wide in shock.

  “Call them over and ask them their names.” Kaiden told Ben

  “You don’t ask them their names, you give them names silly.” Ben said “Come here puppies.” He called. The puppies ran right over to him and sat like perfect statues. Ben bent down to the bigger male, “What is your name?” Ben asked the puppy “Ruff!” The dog barked. He then moved over to the larger female. “And what is your name pretty girl?” he cooed “Ruff Ruff.” She barked. Ben continued and each dog had barked or whined to him in return.

  “Well the big boy here is Dodge, this is Queenie, this is Max, and this is Sage.” Ben responded

  “Ok now did you hear those names or barks?” Kaiden asked

  “They didn’t bark they talk. Didn’t you hear them?” Ben asked confused

  “Well I think we all know Ben’s ability now.” Monica said smiling at her son.

  “Huh?” Ben asked. Mary giggled and clapped still standing at the crates. She knew now she would have it so easy training these pups.

  “Benny, those dogs barked to the rest of us, only you heard them talk.” Justine says

  “Really? That is so cool!” Ben yells, excitement dripping from him.

  “Now Ben we need to tell them the rules and I think you are the best one to give it to them. You remember what they are?” Mary asked

  “Yep.” Ben looks at the dogs with a serious face. “No pooping or peeing in the house. No chewing on anything, but your toys. If you do something bad you will be locked outside in a kennel. If you are good you can run around the house and yard. Easy rules huh?” Ben smiles and all the dogs bark at him and wag their tails.

  Training went on that day and after dinner the puppies followed Ben to his room to sleep. There wasn’t one accident
in the house all day. Mary was not unhappy at all that she didn’t have to worry about the dogs. She was happy to make that little boy happy.

  Chapter 16

  Mr. Steinman

  Mr. Steinman spent the last week pouring over all the missing kids’ photos and fliers he could get his hands on. He was working on the open adoption photos now along with the foster kid photos. He felt that this was a dead end however. Something in his gut told him this little girl was not going to be found so easily. He knew, from what he had learned from Zoe’s past, this little girl was going to be harder to find. She was not going to be in this stack.

  He never faltered from the task though. He spent that evening looking at all the photos. When he was done he went home and cooked dinner for his two kids. They were leaving for summer camp in the morning and would be gone for two weeks. This was good for Mr. Steinman right now, because he knew he was going to have some long nights ahead of him. He cherished his children and the life he could provide for them. He knew that this world had some ugly corners and he was going to have to go around those corners soon.

  The next morning, he drove his kids to the buses, handing them over to the camp official. He stayed until the buses drove off, and then headed into his office. When he got there he made a phone call to a friend in the F.B.I. Mr. Steinman asked for the names of websites that are known for pedophiles. He told his friend that he needed to gather information for a case he was working. An hour later thirty pages were faxed over. The most active and watched sites were at the top. The smaller ones were mixed through the rest.

  Mr. Steinman started with the first page. The site was targeted towards little girls. It had pictures of princesses and Fairies, all the stuff little girls would love. He spent the day going through five sites. By the time he went home, he was disgusted. But he knew he had to investigate this route. If anyone was trying to hide this little girl, he would find her here. The next step was the factories that hired little kids. Those seemed to be even harder to find. But his logic was to get the worst out of the way, then work the easier stuff to stomach. It also gave him time to go through this stuff and bring it home if he had to. His children were away at camp, he would never bring this kind of stuff home with them here.

  It had only been five days since Kaiden had called, asking him to do this search. Mr. Steinman felt these kids needed help and he wanted to be the one to help them. He knew there was something different about Kaiden and Zoe, even Justine for that matter. But those kids had been through so much in their short lives, with all that they were still so friendly and welcoming. The love he could feel between the three of them was overwhelming. He knew Kaiden and Zoe had never met before, but when they came into the office, it was like they always knew each other. The bond that Justine and Zoe shared was unbreakable. The feeling he felt toward them was protective and trusting, like a father should feel.

  Mr. Steinman spent the next four days pouring over all the sites. On the fifth day he had only two pages of sites to go through. It was on the last site he looked at that he found a link to another site. It was not listed on the pages his friend sent to him. This link took him to a site that was like an auction page. There were only pictures and to him it looked like a mail order bride page. The women and men in the front were all adults. There was no search option on the page, just a button at the bottom to the next page or previous pages.

  As Mr. Steinman scrolled through the pages the pictures of the people got younger and younger, his stomach turned. There was a picture of a little girl on the second to last page. She had long dark brown hair and was just a tiny little thing. Her hair was all in her face and only one eye was visible through the wall of hair. Mr. Steinman clicked the link and his jaw dropped. He ran to the restroom to vomit.

  The listing was for a girl, age five, her name was Abby. She was listed as a virgin and completely untouched. Her starting price was two million dollars and her bidding started at midnight EST. It was seven p.m. in California right now making it ten p.m. EST. Mr. Steinman pulled out his phone to call Kaiden. As he was about to dial there was a knock at the door.

  The office had been closed for two hours and fear ran down Mr. Steinman’s back. Goosebumps marred his flesh as he quickly saved the site and closed his laptop. He then walked to the edge of the wall and peeked out the window towards the main door. Three men stood there. He could see from here that they were big men, wearing all black. The light was on over their heads and when one looked in his direction he caught a glimpse of the red flecks in his eyes. He knew then that these were the bad guys Kaiden had warned him about.

  The only light that was on was the one above Mr. Steinman’s desk. The rest of the lights in the office were all off and he was alone. He decided to see what the men would do. Mr. Steinman stayed where he was and watched them. So far they didn’t act like they were here to harm him. He heard them whispering, but couldn’t make out what they were saying. He then watched one shove the other and then they all left.

  Mr. Steinman quickly pulled out his cell once he was sure the men were gone and he dialed Kaiden.

  “Kaiden its Mr. Steinman I have some news for you.” He listened. “Yes I am well, there were just three men here, but they left. They had the eyes you warned me about. But I didn’t answer the door and they left.” He listens some more. “Yes well I want to tell you that I think I found the girl. But it is not a good thing Kaiden. She is for sale to the highest bidder on a site that sells people for sex. Kaiden she is going up for sale tonight at midnight. If I or you don’t buy her she will be lost forever.” Mr. Steinman listens and hangs up the phone.

  Since the puppies have arrived life took on a routine. The house was coming together and Paulo was helping move things for the builders from time to time, which made the frame of the addition happen in just a few days. The workers all had trailers and campers down in the valley; they have lived there for the past week. Training was going well and everyone was happy. Soul mates were happening through the half-bloods who turned, they were all very happy. The apartment was one of the first things done for the ladies that worked in the house. When Zoe and Justine were done training they worked on decorating the rooms. Halina and Tia, sometimes Vivi would also help. The girls were slowly moving in and life was good.

  Everyone trained after breakfast and then had the afternoons to do whatever they wanted. The house was a constant buzz of researching and looking for the lost ones. They were doing all that they could, without going out of the border. Dinner was a time they all gathered to talk about their days and what they had found on the internet. Some of the computer savvy half-bloods came in to help Jaco. Rosa and Michael poured over newspapers and tabloid magazines. They were looking for the oddities that might be a Dragon.

  Patrols had not seen anything new in the last couple of days and that was good and bad. Good because there was no threats, bad because no more survivors showed up. They all agreed and planned that as soon as the older Dragons were trained in combat enough, that they would be sent out to search for others. That these groups would give word that Ireland was a safe haven, to make their way there or the group would escort them. This should be taking effect in a week or two.

  As they were sitting down to dinner four days after the puppies arrived, Kaiden’s cell phone rang, stopping everyone in conversation.

  “Hello?” Kaiden answered “Good, how are you first of all?” He listens “Are you alright?” He listens “Good hopefully they didn’t want any trouble and I am glad you are safe.” Kaiden listens more and his face pales. “I will send you the details to my account I don’t care of the cost. Do what you need to do and I will have the jet ready to meet you anywhere that you have to go. I will await your call.” Kaiden hangs up the phone and stands. He looks at everyone, his eyes landing on Ben a little longer than anyone else. Monica notices Kaiden’s eyes landing on Ben and looks at him more questions bouncing off her eyes.

  “Kaiden?” Monica asks

  “That was Mr. Steinman,
he found one of ours. She is for sale on a site that is mostly for pedophiles. She goes up for auction tonight at midnight. If he doesn’t win they may be lost to us, forever.” Kaiden tells the room

  “OH NO!” Monica gasps. She now understands who the person is and why Kaiden’s eyes stayed on Ben for longer than normal.

  “We are going to win them right? We can’t let anyone get them!” Jaco yells

  “He is going to have access to my account, like you heard I don’t care of the cost.” Kaiden says. “Gosha and Alexi, I would like you to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice tonight. Monica and Brad, I would also like you there with Gabe, John and Tia for protection. Justine I need you to stay here and not worry about Gabe. We will be in and out and we will be fine.” Kaiden tells her

  “Sure just tell me why first. Why are you taking my parents and my mate, but not me?” Justine asks

  “Monica and Justine, please come with me for a minute.” Zoe asks. She gets up and walks into the office on the other side of the room. Justine and Monica follow and they close the door behind them.

  “Kaiden has taken the possibility of Ben’s soul mate very serious, as we know she could be as young as five. This is who Mr. Steinman is talking about. Justine we need you here so Ben will let them go willingly, thinking nothing is wrong. We want Monica to go to calm the girl. She will feel close to her, because she is the mother of his mate. And I only guess this, because I felt instantly loving towards Iraina, I am sure you automatically loved Rosa and Michael.” Zoe says

  “Yes, I understand why now, I do love them a lot.” Justine says

  “Oh thank you Zoe. You don’t know what this will do to my boy. Since he has been here he has been happier than I have ever seen him, but there is still something missing and I know it is that little girl.” Monica says

  They all hug and walk back to the table. They all sit back down and resume their meal. The news of tonight is already weighing heavily in the air. They all eat in silence and then Zach begins to question Ben about the dogs, trying to take his mind off guessing why everyone is so quiet.