Who was she talking about? My uncle Jake? Sophie? May? She believed Christian to be dead, so she couldn’t have meant him.
Her words left me more confused than ever. There were several people who had impacted my life. Christian was at the top of that list. Not only had he taught me to fight, but he also taught me to believe in myself, giving me much needed confidence. Why had I forgotten how important he was to me?
On my way up to my room, I called him. He answered after a few rings.
“You okay?” he said right away.
“Yeah. I just wanted to tell you that I love you too. I didn’t say it earlier and I’m sorry.”
He was silent for a few seconds. “So you want to be with me?”
“Of course, but I want you here with me, not with them.”
“I’m not sure that can happen, Llona.”
This startled me, and I stopped moving. “Why?”
“I’m not like other Guardians anymore. I don’t belong.”
“What are you saying? That you belong with Vykens?”
“I’m saying that I’m like you, and you’re like me. We don’t belong anywhere but with each other.”
Down the hall, a couple of girls came out of a dorm room. I hurried by them before I said, “I want that too, but we can’t leave Auras defenseless. They’re still my people like the Guardians are yours.”
“And so are Vykens.”
My stomach started to churn as if something bitter had poisoned it. “You can’t mean that, Christian.”
On the other end of the line, it sounded like he had walked outside somewhere windy. “There are two sides to every story,” he said. “I’m just saying that you’re being naïve to only listen to one side, especially when all that one side has done to you is lie. Am I wrong?”
“They didn’t knowingly lie. Cyrus deceived them, remember? What is wrong with you?” My voice was growing louder. Thankfully, my room was just up ahead. I quickly ducked inside and closed the door. “I can’t believe you’re even saying this, Christian. It’s not like you. Don’t you see that? It’s the Vyken poison inside you.”
“The same stuff that’s inside you,” he said. “Did you ever stop to wonder if maybe it’s a good thing?”
I shook my head, totally confused. “I don’t even know what to say.”
“Then just listen. I love you, and I want to be with you—every part of you. I accept you for what you’ve become and will never make you hide what you consider poison. It’s power, Llona. Power that can make you stronger. Together we will be stronger than all of them and can bring both races to their knees.”
I didn’t even realize my breathing was coming in short gasps until I felt myself get light-headed. “I have to go.”
“No, don’t hang—”
I clicked disconnect and crumbled to the floor in front of my bed. He didn’t mean it. There’s no way he could believe everything he’d said. It was the poison talking, that’s all. I told myself this over and over, and then I made a plan.
I was going to accomplish two things tonight. First, I was going to explore that warehouse Dr. Han had mentioned. I knew the name and town. With that information I felt confident I could find an address online. Second, I was going to find Christian and, willingly or not, bring him back.
SIXTEEN
An hour later the dinner chimes sounded. I tore off the bottom half of a sheet of paper with the address on it and stuffed it into my pocket. It took a little longer than I expected, but I had found the location of the warehouse. Hopefully I’d discover something there that would lead me to Sophie and Christian.
Before I walked downstairs, I knocked on May’s door to see if she wanted to go to the dining room with me. Maybe she could give me some advice about Christian.
When May didn’t answer my repeated knocking, I tried the doorknob. It wasn’t locked. I opened it and peeked my head inside. “May?”
No answer. I moved farther into the room and gasped when I saw its condition. Clothes were strewn all over as if she’d had some kind of fit or . . . I checked her closet. A suitcase was missing. I raised my hand to steady myself against the doorjamb. First Christian and now May. What was happening?
Dr. Han. Maybe he knew something. Maybe this was all a misunderstanding, and May had simply decided to go home, back with her artist mother.
I was almost outside the door when a sheet of paper on the floor caught my eye. My name was scribbled on the top. I picked it up and turned it over. Two words read, “I’m sorry.”
I crumbled the note and tossed it across the room.
Instead of looking for Dr. Han, I went straight to the fourth floor and to Cyrus’s office. I hurried through the secret entrance to the basement. Liam must’ve heard my hurried footsteps because he was waiting for me in the hallway. I walked straight to him and threw my arms around him. He stumbled back and held on to me.
“Whoa. What’s this for?” he asked.
I breathed in everything about him. “Thank you for being someone I can count on.” I took a few more breaths before I let go of him and stepped away.
“Anytime. What’s going on?”
“May’s gone.” I leaned my head against the cold basement wall.
“Where?”
“My guess? I think she went with her father.”
“May’s a smart girl, Llona. Don’t worry about her quite yet.”
“How can you say that? She’s with a man who almost killed me!”
His lips tightened and he seemed to be thinking. “But he’s also her father. Give her some time.”
I groaned and pushed off the wall. “What if he convinces her to fight against us?”
“He won’t. She has a good heart.”
“Why do you say that about her, but not Christian?”
His jaw tightened, and it took him a moment to answer. When he did, he looked directly in my eyes. “Because he saw you get seriously hurt. You could’ve been dead for all he knew, and he still stayed away. If I were him, nothing would’ve stopped me from getting to you.”
I turned away from his intense stare. “It’s the poison inside him. We just have to get him away from Cyrus, and then we can help him.”
I expected some kind of argument, but he gave me none. All he said was, “If that’s what you want.”
I kicked at the floor, not really sure what to say to that. I did want Christian back. The old Christian. “Let’s get something to eat,” I finally said.
We headed upstairs, me slightly ahead of him. I pretended there wasn’t tension between us and said, “So I’m going on an adventure tonight. Want to come?”
“Only if it’s dangerous.”
“If you consider exploring an old, abandoned warehouse dangerous, then, yes, it will be.” When he looked at me questioningly, I added, “The one Dr. Han mentioned. Christian said he went there once and it was empty. I’m hoping he overlooked something. I can go on my own if you don’t want to.” I pressed the down button on the elevator.
“Christian told you this?”
“I spoke to him earlier today, after Rose’s house.” When the door opened, we walked in.
“I’m going with you. And we should probably take the twins.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary. I just want to scout it out.”
“Dr. Han told me the Council already has someone watching it.”
“And they’ll take forever. If I can prove the place is safe, then the Council won’t have any objections to us sending a bunch of people in there to search it. There’s got to be something in there about Cyrus’s whereabouts.” The elevator doors opened, and we walked out.
“I still would feel better knowing the twins were with us,” Liam said.
“Fine, but I don’t want to be around when you ask Aaron.”
He stopped walking. “Why’s that?”
“Because of May. He’ll wonder why she’s not there too, and then you’ll have to tell him that she split. I say we don’t tell him until morning
just in case she has a change of heart and comes back tonight.”
“But why would he care?”
I punched him in the shoulder. “Serious? He’s got it for her bad. How have you not noticed?”
He started walking again. “Clueless, I guess. Let’s not say anything then, but I want this to be a quick trip.”
“Me too.” I still had hopes that May would return tonight and didn’t want to miss her if she did.
It was almost eleven o’clock at night when we arrived at Earl and Jameson in Albion. With the way Liam drove, we made it in just under an hour. We found the warehouse in a dying part of town. It was hard to tell by the run-down condition of the buildings, many with boarded up windows, which stores were still in use. My guess was less than five percent. Running parallel to the road was a concrete walled canal, its water black as the night.
“Turn left here,” I said, pointing just up ahead. Other than a newish-looking, white minivan parked on the side, we were the only car on the street. I noticed the polished van was parked a mere block from our destination.
Liam looked at me. “The Council?”
“Probably. Drive by slowly.”
Liam slowed the car, and as we passed we both glanced inside. A man who looked like he was in his sixties was fast asleep, head back against the seat rest, mouth open wide. “Real nice,” I said.
Liam chuckled and, after driving a few blocks away, pulled into a nearby empty parking garage, hiding the car from view.
“How should we do this?” I asked.
“If I can get close enough, I should sense movement within the building. You might be able to as well.”
We left the car and kept to the shadows as we jogged down the darkened street to get closer to the warehouse. A few buildings away, Liam busted the handle of a nearby door and pulled me into a darkened room that smelled of oil and dust. I glanced around, taking in what I could from the faint moonlight spilling in through large, high-up windows. The place looked like it used to be an auto mechanic shop; all that remained were several metal shelves and scattered nuts and bolts.
“Over here,” Liam said.
I made my way to a grease-covered window and stood next to Liam. He had swiped his hand across the glass, giving us a clear view to the warehouse across the street.
“Sense anything?” he asked as he wiped his hand on his jeans.
I focused my hearing. A dog barked far away, the snoring of the old guy in the minivan and the hum of a generator or—“What is that sound?”
“I hear it too. It’s coming from the warehouse. A fan maybe?”
“Too loud, unless it’s some kind of air conditioning unit.” I leaned toward the window to get a closer look.
“But who would run an air conditioner this time of year?”
“What else could it be?” I asked.
We waited several more minutes, listening for any variations in sound but heard nothing.
“I’m going to get a closer look,” Liam said. “Wait here.” The second he moved into the open, he spun into a wind and rose into the air. It was too dark for me to follow his movement, but every now and again I would see a crumpled newspaper blowing in the moonlit wind and wondered if it was caused by Liam. Ten minutes later he returned.
“Well?” I asked.
“I heard voices inside. Two from what I can gather, but it’s really hard for even me to hear over that humming sound.”
I walked past him, keeping to the shadows as I crossed the street to the warehouse.
“Where are you going?”
Over my shoulder, I said, “We can take two Vykens.”
“There may be more of them. Wait up!” He jogged to catch up to me. “We can’t just go in there.”
“I can’t keep waiting for random clues to appear. We’ll never find Cyrus that way. Besides, the longer we wait, the more danger the witches will be in.” And Christian will never get the help he needs. And May might never come back. I couldn’t wait any longer.
Liam sighed. “Fine, but let me go first.”
I reached a side door, but Liam gently nudged me out of the way. “Like I said.” He turned the knob; I heard the lock break from his strength.
When he opened the door, the humming we heard from outside grew louder. “What is that?” I asked again.
“Wait here,” he said and disappeared into a sea of blackness.
I groaned and turned around to lean against the building. Not far away I spotted the sleeping man in the van and shook my head, frustrated by the lack of effort on the Council’s part. Clearly they still didn’t understand how serious the threat was toward Auras.
A dim light turned on behind me. I swiveled around and looked inside. It was some kind of office; a metal desk and file cabinets were pushed to the opposite end of the room. The gray carpet was worn and torn up in some places. Liam had his ear to another door near the corner.
“What do you think?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I can’t hear anything over that loud sound.”
“What about the voices you heard?”
“Nothing now.”
I walked over to him and placed my hand on the doorknob. “One quick peek, and then we’ll leave.”
He looked back and forth into my eyes and then nodded.
I opened the door slowly. A breeze blasted me in the face, and I reared back from the shock of it. Liam placed his hand at the small of my back as if to steady me. “Do you sense anything?” he asked.
I focused my Auran senses. They tingled with a familiar dizziness. “Vykens.”
“How many?”
I took a deep breath. The feeling was strong. “I can’t tell. It could be a lot or it could just be a few super close.”
“We need to go,” Liam said, taking hold of my arm.
“No! Vykens are here for a reason. We need to know why.”
He pulled me close. “I won’t risk your life for this.”
“I have to know,” I said and shrugged my arm away from his grip. I opened the door wide, spilling what little light there was into what appeared to be a massive room. A turbulent wind raced through the doorway, twisting my hair in every direction. Reaching up, I smoothed and twisted it into a loose bun, securing it with a rubber band that had been around my wrist.
“This is such a bad idea,” he said while he searched both sides of the door, probably looking for a light. I could barely hear him over the loud humming.
“That wind—it’s got to be some kind of industrial fan, right?”
“Probably.” Liam clicked something behind me. “No lights. Let’s get out of here.”
I stepped one foot into the room and closed my eyes, focusing both my hearing and the part of me that sensed Vykens. I couldn’t hear anything but the fans, but every other part of me sensed more Vykens than just a few. My skin wasn’t just tingling, it was burning.
“Llona?” Liam asked.
“You’re right. Let’s go. We’ll come back later with the others.”
I took one step backward to join Liam in the open doorway when all of a sudden he was shoved into me, and together we stumbled into the room.
The door slammed shut.
SEVENTEEN
Liam grabbed me and whirled me behind him, protecting me from who knew what. I quickly produced Light, as bright as I could, and swirled it into the air. I glanced in every direction.
As if they were the darkness, Vykens, too many to count, walked toward us and circled around. My breath quickened, making my Light flicker above us. I refocused my concentration so we wouldn’t be plunged into darkness again. This terrified me more than anything. At least there was Liam.
“I’m going to grab you, and we’re going to go up. Got it?” he whispered, barely audible.
Across from me, a Vyken with short blond hair—more white than blond—separated himself from the swarm of Vykens. “Somebody get a real light,” he said. “This Auran junk is hurting my eyes.”
There was a commotion of move
ment to my left, but I didn’t look over. My focus was on the blond Vyken who was moving closer.
Just then, Liam took hold of me in what felt like a full body hug and we began to spin. The wind became even more ferocious, and I inhaled deeply to catch my breath. My feet left the ground. In seconds we would be near the ceiling. From there I wasn’t sure where Liam would go.
But I didn’t worry. He would get us out of here.
This thought comforted me for all of two seconds, because just then a hand wrapped around my ankle and jerked me to the ground. I fell hard, my face smashing into the concrete floor. The pain was instant and nauseating.
“Stand up,” someone said.
Light appeared nearby. Three light bulbs hung off a metal walkway to my right. Not enough to uncover the whole warehouse, but enough that I could see that the room was much bigger than I expected. The ceiling had to be at least forty feet high.
I glanced up. Liam was up there somewhere, hiding within the shadows. I hoped he stayed there. I looked over at the blond-haired Vyken who had pulled me to the ground. “What do you want?” I asked.
“What do I want?” he said. “You’re the one who busted into our home. What do you want?”
It took a few seconds, but I managed to stand, despite a screaming headache. “I’m looking for someone you might know,” I said, trying to sound strong.
“Oh, yeah? Who’s that?”
“Cyrus.”
He looked up and to the left like he was thinking real hard. “Never heard of him.” He turned to the Vykens nearest him. “How about you guys? Ever hear of a Cyrus?”
“Not us.”
“Nope.
“She’s crazy, Ax.”
I didn’t buy any of it. “Ax? Your name is Ax?” I asked blond-head. His skin was pale but healthy looking. Come to think of it, as I looked around, all of the Vykens looked normal, which meant every single one of them had fed on Auras. A hot rage stirred inside me.
“You have a problem with my name?” Ax said.
“Not as much as I do with your face.”
He took a swing at me, but I ducked and blasted him with a stream of Light. He cried out and stumbled back.
Fractured Truth Page 12
