by D. N. Hoxa
Aaron was waiting for me, leaning against the wall across, smiling. “That went well,” he simply said and turned the corner. I followed.
“You heard that, didn’t you?” I asked, though the look on his face already said it all.
“Of course. I didn’t really think you’d actually go through with it, though. You must love me very much.”
And at that, he started to laugh. I couldn’t believe my ears. Was he crazy?
“You’re an asshole prick,” I mumbled, though it was impossible not to smile at his laughter. He had me. He had me good.
“You had it coming. I had to get back at you somehow,” Aaron said, and he was right.
“But if you knew all along, why do you still insist on protecting her?” No matter what I said, I was still a bit jealous. I had seen them make out once…
“We were very close as children. Whenever we went out in the woods to hunt down rabbits, or just to play, her parents would make me swear to take care of her. I guess it turned into a habit. After they died, every time she’s with me I feel the need to take care of her.” When I raised my brow in question, he added: “Take care of her like you take care of Ella. I know she can get really crazy sometimes, but she has a good heart. After she gets over the thought of loving me, you’ll like her. You’ll see.”
At that point, I was expecting him to at least put an arm around my shoulder or give me a damn peck on the lips, but he didn’t. Instead, he buried his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
Did he expect me to make a move? Probably.
Another time to swallow my pride, but unfortunately, before I could take a single step closer to him, I heard my name being shouted from behind me.
I turned to see Kate running to us, tears streaming down her eyes, her face pale as a sheet.
“Star, it’s Karly…” She practically fell against me and only took a deep breath when she got a good grip around my arms to keep herself upright.
“Kate, calm down. What’s wrong?” She was so panicked, I had no idea what to think. I just knew that it was bad.
“It’s Karly. Th-th-they took her! You need to…” she whispered, shaking in my hands.
“Calm down, Kate. Just calm down. What do you mean? Who took Karly?”
“You have to help me. Please! She’s the only one I have left. Please, help me…” She was practically vibrating now.
“Of course I’m going to help you. Please calm down. Tell me what’s wrong with Karly.”
“They…they took her. The Council. They said that i-i-it’s because of her prophecies.” Kate could barely speak.
“Let’s get her a place to lie down,” Aaron said and opened the first door in front of us. We ushered Kate inside and sat her on the bed. Whoever was using the room, they were definitely tidy, thank God.
“Kate, you need to stop crying and tell us exactly what’s going on, okay? We need you to calm down first.” People in a panic had a way of giving false information. I’d witnessed it more than once. I needed her to stop crying before I took her word for it.
The door opened, and Jack and Arturo walked inside as if they already knew what had happened.
“What the hell is going on?” Jack asked, as freaked out as the rest of us.
“It’s my sister. Sh-she-she had some visions, short ones, just about random stuff around her. And then this morning…they just couldn’t find her! And they called me to ask if we’d spoken but-but-but…”
Kate began to sob again.
“Please, Star. I don’t have anyone else! Please, find her.”
She continued to cry, resting her head on my shoulder.
“If you’re right, why would the Council want Karly? What use are her visions to them or anybody else, for that matter?” Jack voiced our question.
Arturo sat down on the other side of Kate and grabbed her hand, caressing it. He was good at comforting.
“Kyahen said that-that maybe they hoped she’d have more visions. That maybe they wanted her power…I don’t know,” Kate whispered against my shoulder.
Suddenly, the whole world seemed to revolve around Kate’s words: “wanted her power.”
Of course…of course he did!
I jumped to my feet as all the pieces of the puzzle clicked together in my brain, and the view brightened in front of my eyes.
Samayan hadn’t given me his potion to make me see, like I’d been so foolish to believe. He had given me his potion so that he could make me as strong as I could get, and then bind me to him. He’d be able to control the Elemental and really have me read Illyon for him, whenever he wanted—just like he said. Fucking genius.
And that was exactly what he was going to do with Karly.
One taste and she was going to want the potion all by herself. Just like I had been so ready to go after Samayan, stupidly believing that he wouldn’t be there, waiting for me to fall into his trap.
“Kyahen!” I shouted at the top of my voice. “I need you, now.”
Everyone in the room fell silent, looking at me like I had completely lost my mind. To them, I had. You didn’t just call a fairy to appear where you were. Not unless they agreed to it, and let’s just say they very rarely did. But nobody knew about my last talk with Kyahen. When the tension in the air grew, announcing the arrival of his royal assness, they no longer seemed so shocked.
Slowly, I turned around because I knew his love for drama wouldn’t let him appear in front of us. Sure enough, he stood in the farthest corner of the room, his perfect smile plastered on his beautiful, pale face. He gave me a curt nod.
“What the fuck just happened?” Jack mumbled behind me. He was going to have to wait for the explanation, just like everyone else.
“Where was she taken?” I asked Kyahen.
“You seem different,” he said instead, his smile growing wider.
“Kyahen, do not provoke me. I’m still very much the same. Tell me where they took her from,” I said. I didn’t have time for his games right. I was too excited and terrified at the same time.
“Saint Barbara, Illinois. A house of half fey under my supervision. Not heavily guarded since we never thought any of them would be in danger. They are not much use to anyone.” Kyahen shrugged like he couldn’t care less about what had happened.
“And you can confirm it was the Council?”
“Yes, I can. It was the Council. Warlocks, to be precise. They froze the others completely before they went in and simply took the Oracle. They didn’t even make a mess. True gentlemen.” Kyahen waved his hand elegantly. I wished I could slap that grin off him.
“Arrange a search party. Trackers, hunters, anything you have. There must be a connection of some sort between fey . If there is, find it. Get back to me once you do.” It was the only way I was going to show to him that I meant what I said, though I didn’t particularly like speaking like that to anyone.
Kyahen wasn’t surprised. “Whatever you say, Raven,” he said, slightly bowing his head.
I almost rolled my eyes even before he disappeared just as quickly as he’d appeared. It was scary to think I owed him favors. Two of them, unfortunately for me. I was sure I’d never see the end of it when he came to collect.
But I’d worry about crossing that bridge when I got there. For now, I needed to talk to Kai. And hopefully, Arsenal would have some news for me by the end of the day.
When I turned around to tell Kate that everything was going to be okay, my legs gave up on me. It wasn’t a feeling I would ever get used to, but before I could hit the ground, Aaron grabbed me by the shoulders and took me to sit on the bed. The whole room spun in front of me.
“I just need a minute,” I mumbled, squeezing my eyes shut.
“What you need is to eat something. Now.” Aaron sounded pissed. It wasn’t like I had the strength to argue, so instead I turned and smiled at Kate, who seemed much quieter now with her hands in Arturo’s.
“It’ll be fine. We’ll find her,” I said but I couldn’t promise her. I would d
o my best to get to Karly before Samayan could bind himself to her.
“Thank you,” Kate said. She even managed to smile at me before Aaron took me out the door, Jack following.
Before we made it to the kitchen, I took advantage of the situation and wrapped my free arm around Jack’s. He was definitely surprised.
“Hey, I’m really sorry about what I did that day. Thank you for saving my sister. I owe you forever.” Since I couldn’t reach his cheek to give him a kiss, I kissed his shoulder instead.
For a second, he just looked down at me like he was expecting me to start laughing and kicking him again. I felt like shit for it. Jack had been nothing but a good friend to me. He hadn’t deserved to be treated the way I had treated him. And finally, he came to his senses and smiled.
“Now that’s unfair!” he complained. “You girls have it so easy. A kiss and then everything’s back to normal. It’s bullshit if you ask me.”
“Does that mean you forgive me?” My whole body was shaking and talking didn’t help, but I was making amends now. I couldn’t stop halfway.
“Whatever,” he mumbled with a shrug, earning another kiss on his shoulder from me.
“Enough with the kissing, you two,” Aaron said, but his heart wasn’t in it.
“Dude, I ain’t doing anything. It’s all her,” Jack said.
I turned and kissed Aaron’s shoulder next.
“That’s not going to earn you forgiveness from me so quickly. I’m not as weak as Jack.”
“Jack, I think your friend just called you a pussy.” It cost me to laugh so all I did was smile for now.
Jack flinched, shaking his head at Aaron. “I thought you were my bro,” he said, pouting.
“I didn’t call you a pussy. Not in so many words,” Aaron said with a goofy grin before he turned to me. “And you—don’t try to change the subject. You’re still on trial for my forgiveness.”
“Sorry. I got a little carried away. But, seriously, Jack. I’m very sorry.”
And Jack, just like my sister and like Aaron—even though he still wouldn’t admit to it—made life extremely easy for me, even though I didn’t deserve it.
“Don’t worry about me. All is fine,” Jack said. “The Elders are pissed, though. You need to talk to them.”
Oh, shit. I’d completely forgotten about them.
“She will. Just as soon as she eats,” Aaron said and there was no one in the kitchen who was willing to argue with him.
10
——————————
Aaron made me eat everything he could find in the kitchen: bread, steak, potatoes, even some lettuce—and it didn’t exactly taste good. Soon after, though, I could walk straight again.
The meeting with the Elders was postponed till the next morning, and for now, I was going to talk to Kai. She was still in the same cell I’d been right next to just a day ago. I owed her my life, it seemed.
She was lying on the cold floor, hands under her head, whistling a tune I’d never heard before as if she didn’t have a care in the world. With my legs crossed, I sat right in front of the bars.
“Hey, Kai.”
I’d missed seeing her face. Her hair was longer than what I remembered, and she looked a tiny bit older, too. She didn’t give any indication that she even heard me. Aaron, who was right behind me, cleared his throat, too, but her eyes were still on the ceiling.
“I take it you’re okay,” she said after a second, never moving from her place.
“I am, thanks to you.” I expected her to be at least a little surprised to hear me—or anyone else who ever worked for the Council—say thanks, but she wasn’t.
“You seem fine.” With a raised brow, she slowly turned her head towards me and looked me over.
“You do, too. Cells become you,” I said, not that it was time to joke around, but old habits do die hard. “How did you find me, Kai?”
I didn’t really expect her to tell me, but it seemed she was suddenly full of surprises.
“John Arsenal. I’m in charge of keeping tabs on all of your old contacts, ever since we couldn’t find that human kid you worked with.”
Kyle was going to be happy to hear about that.
“Arsenal never travels so when he came to New York from L.A., I knew something wasn’t right. Who knew I’d find you there?” She grinned widely.
“Thought so,” I mumbled.
“Did he find it?” Shit. Aaron was right behind me.
“Find what?” I asked though I knew exactly what she was talking about. I had no doubt she’d heard every word I said to Arsenal in that hotel room.
“Samayan,” Kai said.
Samayan, not Master. What the hell was going on with her?
“Not yet.”
A heartbeat later…
“Star?” Aaron turned my name to a question. I wanted to just tell him all about it later, but on second thought, I’d rather just get it over with right then.
“I met with Arsenal, the guy I told you about. I gave him a flask I’d taken in Alcatraz, one that belonged to Samayan, so he could track it and find out where Samayan lives. I haven’t heard anything from him yet, though.”
Looking at him was not an option and I was glad I was sitting on the floor with my back turned to him. Wide blue eyes filled with anger were probably waiting for me, and I’d rather deal with them later.
“How much longer does Arsenal need?” Kai asked.
I raised my brow in confusion. “What do you care?”
“How much longer, Raven?” She seemed awfully pissed off.
“Why do you want to know so badly?” This kept getting weirder.
“Just tell me,” she said through gritted teeth and dragged herself to the bars.
It wasn’t like I was scared of her, but I almost instinctively backed away.
“I know about your family, Kai,” I said after a second of thinking about it. This was the only thing that made sense to me right now, the only thing that explained her attitude. When her eyes widened and she tried desperately to hide her flinch, I knew I was on the right track. “I know Samayan killed them. What I don’t know is why you’re working for him.”
There was so much more to that story. Her eyes said it all. She leaned her head to the side as if she was contemplating.
“Come on, Kai. There’s no point in hiding anything from me now.”
I waved at the bars of the cell. Her freedom was in our hands. I wasn’t going to let her go. I would have been a fool to do it.
“You don’t know anything,” she said after a minute, laughing dryly and shaking her head. “I was five when I saw them burn. Five. Everyone I knew and loved. I was young, but I was old enough to remember. I remembered my dad’s friends, too.”
Her fingers were pulled up in fists, her knuckles white. It was obvious that she was mad, but that she was hurting, too. I felt terrible for her.
“So I knew exactly which door to knock on and pretend not to have any memory of who I was.”
Another dry laugh. Kai wouldn’t meet my eyes, but she continued to tell me her story. That was more than I even had the right to ask.
“Lucky for me, Samayan couldn’t resist such a dramatic turn of the tragedy. So he kept me, sure that I would never figure it out. So fucking arrogant, he never even suspected that I could be lying. Not once.” Her smile was filled with pain. “I’m going to avenge my family, no matter how long it takes me.”
It was truly amazing. I had never doubted Kai’s unwavering loyalty to Samayan, ever. The way she talked about him and reacted at the mentioning of him left no room for doubt for anyone. No wonder Samayan never doubted, either. Truly admirable.
“I need to know, Raven. Where is he?” Her green eyes swam in tears now, and she grabbed the bars of the cell and squeezed them, as if she were trying to break them.
“I don’t know, Kai. I swear. I’m waiting to find out myself.”
Kai pressed her lips and clenched her jaw in anger.
“Eve
n if you did know where he is, he’s strong, Kai. Much stronger than you think. There’s nothing you can do to him without getting killed first.”
“That doesn’t mean I can’t try.” She raised her chin proudly, and in all honesty, it broke my heart.
“Kai…” I breathed, but she didn’t let me finish.
“No!” she shouted. “I’ve dedicated my entire life to finding him. I found things no one has ever found before me. I will not quit now.”
“What things?”
Aaron’s voice made us both turn to him. Kai raised a brow in question. She didn’t trust Aaron.
“Kai, you do know there’s a war coming—” It didn’t look like she wanted to let me finish a sentence any time soon.
“There is no war. There never will be a war! No one can match Samayan’s army, Raven. No one. You of all people should know that. As long as he lives, there will be no war, and there will be no peace. There will only be fighting, without loss or gain for anyone other than him.”
“I’m going to do my best to end him,” I said, a little angry now, because deep down, I knew she was right.
“How? You don’t even know where he is!” she hissed.
“But what is it that you know?” Aaron interrupted us again.
Kai didn’t meet his eyes at first, but when she spoke next, she blew both our minds away.
“There’s a portal in Lyndor, and it connects directly to where Samayan is.”
My jaw almost touched my knees.
“What? Where?” I had been so sure I knew the castle like the palm of my hand. Something so big couldn’t have escaped me, could it?
“McGraw’s office, which is now Vlad’s,” Kai said. “But there’s a trick. If you don’t know exactly where you’re going and you step in it, you’ll end up stuck in Necterram for eternity.”
“Holy shit! That’s…that is just…” I couldn’t even find words to describe the shock.
“Useless,” Kai hissed. “It’s useless if Arsenal doesn’t come through with his promise.”
“He will. He will come through.” I had no doubt about Arsenal, but could I really take Kai’s word for it? I mean, that portal…it just seemed too good to be true.
