The Pearls

by Michelle Farrell

  “Wow so there is more of you?” Blake asked in amazement “I thought you were just a pretty friend”

  “Yes there are more of us.” Justine replied

  “So what, you were going to kidnap me and torture my father with me?” Zoe asked

  “Unfortunately yes, that was our mission if you happened to show up at the house. And when you did we had to notify him. So now he knows that you know who you are and if we don’t report back tonight that we have you, he is sending more of my brothers.” Blake said with dismay

  “How many of you are there?” Kaiden asked

  “Father’s King made him go out and create half-bloods, he made all Dragon males do it. Father has a little over 150 Sons and 75 daughters. But Vivi is the only one his soul mate could conceive. And she died when Vivi was a week old, twenty four years ago. When she died father went insane with rage and killed everyone in his Sect.” Blake explained

  “He didn’t kill all of them” Gabe said

  “Well if your parents were from the same Sect they are dead now. Father has hunted down the entire Sect and every half-blood but his own that he could find. The only safe ones were the Ireland Sect, unless they showed up in a town they were safe. Father put all of his children out there to kill every Dragon and half-blood they came across except the Pearls, they were to be caught. But the Pearls are smart they would make my brothers kill them or they would do it themselves.” Blake said with sorrow in his voice

  Kaiden and Zoe both shuddered at the words Blake was saying. They knew Zoe was alive now and they would not give up until she was dead or captured.

  “Look Vivi and I were raised together; my mother was one of father’s favorites. He gave Vivi to my mother to raise. I was only two at the time and she became my little buddy. I have twenty two siblings and once mother could not give birth anymore he killed her in front of us. Vivi was eighteen at the time and father treated her like any of us, there was no favoritism towards his only full-blood. Father blames her for her mother’s death. But Vivi is nothing like father and when he killed the only mother she knew, Vivi started to plan her escape.”

  “As you all probably know we cannot sense you until we turn, and Vivi knew this. She also heard our brothers and sisters’ talk of others with eyes like ours but different colors. Vivi knew then that father had not gotten them all. She would be so happy right now in this room with all of you. You are all full-bloods aren’t you?” Everyone nodded their heads. “Can I ask a question then? I have told you my side and I will tell you where you can find father, but can you please give me some hope for Vivi before I die?” Blake asked

  “Only if you make that call, you are to make and tell your father that Zoe here was killed by one of your brothers.” Gabe said

  Kaiden and Zoe both looked at Gabe with horror written all over their faces. Justine leaned in and whispered “If he thinks you are dead the hunting stops here. Then we can make a plan to kill his father and rescue yours.” Kaiden felt the relief and hope soar within Zoe and he smiled at her.

  “I can and I will.” Blake assured him

  “Alright my parents received letters over the years of parents successfully hiding their children. Most seem to have been sent out of their birth countries and from what I know there are seven sets of soul mates left. Zoe and I are the Pearl as you know, and Gabe and Justine are the Onyx.”

  Kaiden took a deep breath unsure if he should tell this Blake everything. He felt the confidence and worry in Zoe and decided to just put everything on the table. Zoe and the others needed this information as much as Blake.

  “Once we get safe we will begin to look for the others and take them to my home and hopefully rebuild our race. There is a half-blood barracks on my land, really it’s a bunch of apartments and they stay busy keeping the land and schooling. My father was nothing like your father, he let the males in our Sect decide if they wanted to make half-bloods. And the males only made them if their soul mates could not have children or if their children were already grown and gone. So the half-bloods we have are all young. My father would not turn a half-blood until they were done with schooling and chose the life he was providing. Sometimes they chose to turn and sometimes they did not. Most wanted families and you cannot have a family once you turn, half-bloods become sterile. So there are some half-blood families and there are ones that are waiting for me to turn them. The oldest half-blood waiting to be turned is 35 now. He was undecided about being turned when we left for America; he has since changed his mind and wants to be a Dragon.”

  “So there are two full-bloods of every race?” Blake asked

  “Yes” Kaiden responded

  “I wonder if Vivi found hers then. She is a good girl I promise you she is everything her mother was and nothing of our father.” Blake said, hope filling his demeanor.

  “Now it’s your turn to tell us where dear daddy is.” Gabe demanded

  “Can I come with you guys?”

  “Excuse me?” Gabe asked

  “Look what’s your name?” Blake asked looking at Kaiden

  “Kaiden”

  “Kaiden I never wanted this life. I never wanted to do his dirty work and I never wanted to hurt any of you. But what you just explained of your life of your land I want. I want freedom, I want to see my baby sister grow and be happy. I want to help you take my father down. And I would like the chance to tell you which of my siblings are the good ones and the bad. And Zoe’s father knows me. Like I said before this is my first year at the camp, but at home I was the one who fed her father. I talked to him for hours and he told me about this place, he told me of the sky and flying. You can say he made me a dreamer. And please believe me when I tell you that I would like to free him. Marcus doesn’t know his soul mate is dead. We keep him in a cell that prevents him from feeling any of us or you. But it only blocks the pull of other Dragons, he still has all his other abilities. Marcus thinks his wife and Zoe are still alive and safe. I want to be there when he sees Zoe and the happiness that he will feel when he looks at her.” Blake pleaded

  “Make the call and we will talk about it.” Kaiden said. Kaiden grabbed Zoe’s hand and they went outside to talk.

  “I need the phone, the one that was in Kyle’s pants pocket. He was the big guy outside with me.” Blake explained

  Gabe kept the things from each man separate and grabbed the cell phone Blake was asking for.”What’s the number?” Gabe asked

  “It’s in contacts as the check in.”

  “Listen you say what you need to make them stay away. If you don’t I will kill you. And then we will be on the hunt for Vivi. You now have her life in your hands too.” Gabe stated

  “My life is already in your hands. You don’t need to throw her in there too.” Blake said.

  Gabe cut loose one of his hands and handed him the phone. Blake put the phone to his ear and it started to ring.

  Chapter 21

  Zoe and Kaiden stepped outside out of Blake’s hearing range, but where Gabe and Justine could still hear them. Gabe had not given Blake the phone yet and they could hear him giving instructions. But Zoe wanted to talk to Kaiden about what Blake had asked and stayed in ear shot so Justine and Gabe could hear her side before the argument between all of them began.

  “Kaiden do you think we can trust him?”

  “We are about to find out with this phone call.”

  “He has told us so much and his love for his sister makes me want to take him. But there is a side of me that believes he will turn on us and once he finds out where you live and we locate Vivi that he will tell his father.”

  “I can tell you that I will not take him to our home until your father is free and his father vvis dead and everyone that stands on his father’s side is dead.” Kaiden said

  “Well then I think we should take him with us but not free, he must remain tied up or something till his father is dead.”

  Kaiden and Zoe nodded to each other and walked back inside the cabin. They saw the phone to Blake’
s ear as they walked in. They moved closer so that they could hear the whole conversation and not just Blake’s side.

  Blake was tense with all of them hovering over him. He was not going to fail though. He had a mission and he was going to follow through with it.

  “Hello” a deep voice answered

  “Hello father, this is Blake I have news for you.”

  “Well spit it out then.”

  “We placed a tracking device on the car of the man she showed up with. They left the house and went into Oregon to a small cabin which was very remote and an excellent spot to take her.” Blake explained as Kaiden’s eyes went wide with surprise.

  “So you have her then?” father asked

  “Well as we came to the cabin, I went around the cabin, Kyle went to the other side, and Kael went to the door. When I came back around to the door both of them were dead and so was she.”

  “So your piece of shit brothers got themselves killed, she is dead too, and you fucking failed like you fail at everything!” The deep voice boomed out of the phone

  “Sorry sir but what do you want me to do now?”

  “Go jump off a fucking cliff! I will have to try something else with this so called King we have here. You are dead to me! If you show your face around here you are a dead man and if any of your brothers or sisters see you they will have orders to kill you too!” his father boomed through the phone and then hung up.

  “Well now if you don’t take me with you I am dead.” Blake said handing the phone back to Gabe.

  Gabe nodded and told Blake they were going to step outside. All four of them headed to the picnic table and sat down.

  “Well Zoe we know how you feel and I somewhat agree.” Justine stated

  “Well I agree too, we need to keep him close because he has not told us where his father is and how fortified it is there. We need details and he is basically a dead man now.” Gabe said

  “Then we need a new plan too, I am not taking him with us to Ireland until I know I can trust him.” Kaiden said

  “Agreed, what we need to do first is acquire a new vehicle and head to my home. I wanted to make sure Justine was safe before I told you what I know.” Gabe said turning to Justine. “Our parents were best friends and in the same Sect in Europe, the same Sect his father comes from.” He pointed inside. “I was five when they gave me to Mary, but I always knew your name. I always knew you were in America and I was going to find you. Mary brought me here to make it easier for me. There are journals at my home that explain all of this and there are family pictures for you there. They also left your entire family heritage journal with a lawyer along with all your legal stuff and bank information. There is a journal or two at my home that explain his father.”

  “My parents wrote everything down they were somewhat of the historians of the Sect. They were the most elusive, because of me, and managed to keep me hidden until I was five, then I guess it just got to hard, and they gave up. I am not sure what happened to them, but I am sure they are dead. So we need to get to my home so Kaiden can read those journals and talk to his guy at home.” Gabe explained

  There was a certain seriousness about Gabe that Kaiden did not understand. It was as if Gabe did not trust anyone but Justine and Kaiden felt he needed to change this.

  “Gabe I need you to know you can trust me. You are now my family and I will do anything to keep us all safe. We need to all trust each other to find the others and get us all to safety. I will not be able to trust Blake in there and I will be a little weary of Vivi too, but you can trust me.” Kaiden tried to get through to Gabe.

  “I am sorry I know how I come off to people. I have been home schooled and never had anyone but Mary. Even the trainers that came out had a hard time getting me to trust them. Mary says I am just like my father, he had a hard time trusting her with my life. But Mary is one of a kind, she is great, it’s me that has the trust problem with people. I have a hard time letting anyone in.”Gabe explained to them

  “Ha! You sound like the male version of Justine there. I have been with her since I was nine and I am just now learning how her mind works.” Zoe laughed

  “Yes well the thought of him brought out the need to share.” Justine said with a shy smile.

  They all got a good laugh and had the first part of a plan in place. They would all sleep in the cabin tonight with Blake in the tub tied down to the steel pipes in there. In the morning they would trade the cars in for a large SUV, with tinted windows, and head back to the small mountain town and see if Mr. Steinman had the package yet. Then they will head to Wyoming, Gabe’s home.

  Once they were all settled for the night Gabe took Blake to the restroom and tied him up. He then stood in the hallway watching him. Justine grabbed her pillow and a blanket and slept in the hall next to Gabe. Kaiden and Zoe took the other bedroom and snuggled up and quickly passed out.

  The morning came quickly and they all proceeded to get ready. Gabe had to move Blake back to the chair so the girls could use the bathroom. Kaiden took over watching over Blake so that Gabe could go gather his things at his campsite. Once the girls were done getting ready they came to the living room and let Kaiden get himself together. Gabe came back shortly after the girls were in the living room. He had taken his things to his car and brought the car to the cabin.

  “So you going to leave me tied up or can I use the bathroom and get myself ready too?” Blake asked

  “Sorry man, I know you made the phone call and got them off our trail, but it is going to take some time before we fully trust you.” Gabe said

  “I understand that completely.” Blake said

  “Gabe let him use the bathroom he needs a shower and then I can bandage up his hands and we can be on our way.” Zoe told him.

  Justine felt his reluctance and looked him in the eyes and just nodded her head. Gabe felt Justine’s trust for Zoe and complied with the girls. Gabe untied everything on Blake but his left ankle. He led Blake to the bathroom and closed the door. Gabe stood outside the door waiting on Blake to finish.

  After Blake showered and dressed they came back out in the living room and Zoe had made the coffee table a first aid station. Gabe sat him in the chair and tied both his wrists and feet down.

  “I am only tying your legs and wrists up this time because what she is about to do is going to hurt and I don’t need you hitting her.” Gabe told him

  “Great” Blake said with dread

  Zoe grabbed a chair and placed it in front of Blake. She then grabbed two small towels and placed them under his hands as best she could. She sat down and faced him grabbing a warm wash cloth that she had in a basin, she rubbed some soap on the wash cloth.

  “This is going to burn almost as much as that poker did. The good thing is that the poker cauterized the wound so you should be safe from an infection, but because it was left untreated all night I need to do this.” Zoe explained what she was about to do.

  Blake grit his teeth down and nodded at her to go ahead. Justine was at his side in a second ready to cover his mouth if he was going to scream. Gabe noticed and threw her a pillow for him to bite down and scream into. Once the pillow was between his teeth Zoe washed his left and then his right as quick as she could. She rinsed his hands off and let them dry and then spread a good amount of Aloe Vera over the wounds. She finished it off with some gauze wrap and then was done. Zoe didn’t really know what she was doing but she saw the cook do this with grease burns and other wounds he got.

  Sweat was dripping off Blake and he was shaking as they led him to Gabe’s car. Justine hopped in the driver’s seat and Gabe sat in the back with Blake. Kaiden got in his car and Zoe hopped in next to him. She was all smiles that they were alone now. Justine took off and Kaiden followed. He had only paid for one night so they didn’t have to check out or anything. As they neared the highway Kaiden’s cell phone rang.

  “Hello?” Kaiden answered

  “Kaiden, its Mr. Steinman I just wanted to let you know that Justine’s pac
kage is here and ready. But I have a meeting in an hour and I should be done about two if you could come by now or after would be great.” he said

  “We will be there after two. We actually drove up the coast last night and we are about 4 hours away which puts us there around noon and I need to take care of some things myself. So we will see you after two.”

  “Sounds good I will see you then.” Mr. Steinman said

  They said their goodbyes and hung up, Kaiden looked over to Zoe, and said “Things are working out in our favor it seems.”

  “Good we definitely need to get out of here as quick as possible.” Zoe replied

  “How are you holding up?” Kaiden asked her

  “I am ok I guess, it’s just well, there is a lot that is about to happen. My father is still alive and that’s huge, but there are a whole lot of half-bloods we are going to have to kill to get to my dad. I am just a little scared.” She replied. Zoe was just trying to live moment to moment she did not want to get her hopes up about anything.

  Kaiden took her hand and placed a kiss on it. “We won’t be doing anything until you are all safe and everyone is turned. We will need all of us at our strongest to meet that many face to face. And Blake may not like it but I will not be turning him until his father is dead. He will be going into this human.”

  They drove in silence for a long while. The California border was coming into view and Kaiden knew they were going to stop in Redding first and take care of the car situation. Once in Redding they stopped at a small diner.

  “I am going to untie you and feed you if you act right. You decide to run just remember we are faster and we will catch you.” Gabe told him as he stood in the door on Blake’s side of the car. Blake nodded in agreement and was untied.