Chosen One

by Katie Holland

  “I knew you were going to be mad at me when I made the decision, but I couldn’t risk the safety of everyone, I just couldn’t. Come on let’s go to bed.”

  Just like before they made up the couch for Ben and Alix and Shay crawled into the bed. Alix could finally relax for the first time in days.

  Chapter 38

  In the morning they quickly ate breakfast and got on the road. It was about a six-hour drive, so they had lots of time to talk. Alix told them everything she could remember about the Grynn, François and her escape. By the time she was done telling them her mom was in tears and Ben had his fists clenched in anger. No one said anything for a while and Ben eventually calmed down.

  “Now,” Alix said, “tell me what happened when you got back to Doug?”

  It was Ben who started telling her what happened since her parents had been unconscious and Shay hadn’t been there for all of it.

  “Once we got out of that room everyone made it up the stairs. Mostly everyone was weak from the Sleep of Death and of course your parents were hit the hardest by it. It’s not meant to be used on humans I guess. So anyway, we got back up to the barrier where Doug was. He was extremely unhappy that you weren’t with us. Doug and I were able to take down the barrier with a couple of large energy balls.

  “Everything was quiet as we were leaving the building until we got to the outside door. As soon as we opened it we were attacked. The Warriors took charge and started attacking back. A couple of the Grynn managed to make it passed the Warriors into the building. That’s when I got hurt. I managed to take them out, but my shield was weakened from being hit with one of their energy balls. I blacked out after that. I’m told that Doug and the rest of the Warriors had captured or killed the remaining Grynn. They got all of us back to Fox Hollow and once Shelley and Mike were able to get their energy back they healed me and the few injuries that the Warriors had sustained.”

  “But what about mom and dad?” Alix asked. “Nykara can’t heal humans.”

  “It must have something to do with the rings because Shelley and Mike were able to bring them back. It took both of them, but they did it.”

  “And where were you during all of this Shay?” Alix asked.

  “Right behind Gordon. He never left my side once.”

  “I owe him a great big hug for that,” Alix said. “How did you guys know I was in France? Did you go to the Map Room?”

  “No, that was all Ben,” Shay said.

  “I don’t understand,” Alix said.

  “As soon as I recovered I felt a strange sensation in me and I had no idea what it was. It was bugging so me much that I talked to Ruth and James about it. We finally figured out that the Protector part of me was trying to tell me something. It was telling me how to find you. It was so different from the feeling that led us to Sunset Creek that I didn’t recognize it. Once I knew what it was I knew that I had to try and find you. Of course, everyone wanted to go but we finally decided that it would be best if just the four of us went. If the Grynn detected a large number of Nykara travelling together it would look suspicious, but a Nykara and three humans wouldn’t even be looked at twice.”

  “How come it took you so long to get here?” Alix asked.

  “It took me a couple of days to recover, even with the healing. And also, the sensation would come and go so sometimes we’d have to stop for a while until it came back. I think it had something to do with what they were doing to you to keep you unconscious,” Ben told her. “And now that I know that feeling I’ll never have trouble finding you again.”

  They continued to drive to Fox Hollow. The best part of the trip was watching her dad drive on the other side of the road. Alix was really happy when the castle finally came into sight. By the time they arrived at the front entrance everyone was there waiting for them.

  Natalie and Rick were the first ones to greet her, each giving her a huge hug. Then everyone else had their turn.

  When Gordon finally reached her, she hugged him the hardest. “Thank you for protecting Shay, you have no idea what that means to me.”

  “You are very welcome Miss Alix, and may I say how lovely it is to see you in person.”

  When the last person had welcomed her back she said. “I know all of you have a ton of questions so let’s all sit down, and I can tell you what happened.”

  Everyone went inside and straight to the large dining room as it had the most seating in the smallest space. Alix told them everything just as she’d told her parents, Ben and Shay in the car. There were a few questions after she finished but not many.

  “I’ve been thinking about what to do since we don’t know what Grynn lived and who didn’t. I’ve come up with a couple of things. First, I don’t think that we should fly directly back to Montana. We don’t know if the Grynn know more about me and if they can track me now that they’ve held me prisoner. I know we were already supposed to be back home, and this will take an extra few days, but we don’t want to lead them back to Sunset Creek.”

  They all agreed, and Alix found out that Karin, Mike, Natalie, Rick, and her parents had already made arrangements to extend their “vacation”.

  “Before I tell you about my second idea I need to know if it’s possible to erase or alter the memory of a Grynn?” Alix asked.

  “Yes,” Shelley answered. “I can alter the memory of a Grynn but I can’t erase it. It’s part of my ability to get the truth out of people.”

  “Okay good. Are you able to make the journey to Sunset Creek with us?”

  “Yes, I can make arrangements to stay away for a few extra days.”

  “So, here’s what I want to do. Since Victor is the son of François he seems to be well known among the Grynn and I don’t think that they’ll stop looking for him even if his father didn’t make it out of that building. I propose that when we get back to Sunset Creek we go get Victor out of the cave and take him somewhere far away, like Florida, and we alter his memory to make him think he never found me and has been in Florida the whole time still looking for the Nykara’s Chosen One.”

  “I think that’s a good idea Alix,” James told her. “Since I’m from Florida I can find a good place to dump him so that when he wakes up he’ll be miles from civilization and it’ll take him that much longer to contact anyone. Alix, you think like a Warrior.”

  “Thank you,” Alix said, and because James was a Warrior and a Council member Alix knew that was a huge compliment.

  It was decided that they’d leave the next day. Gordon and Ruth went to make the necessary travel arrangements while everyone else started packing.

  Alix went with Shay to help her pack then they were going to do the same thing in Alix’s room. As they were packing Alix thought about Logan.

  “Hey Shay, while I was gone did they figure out what’s going to happen to Logan and Jack?”

  “Yeah. Jack is going back home but Logan has decided to stay here. Since he can’t remember how they got to him he thought it was best to be entirely out of their reach. Gordon is going to help him finish his schooling.”

  “Oh wow. That’s going to be hard for him. What about his mom and girlfriend?” Alix asked.

  “He called his mom and she agreed. She just wants him to be safe. He also called his girlfriend. Apparently, they’d broken up almost a month ago because ‘he wasn’t acting like himself’ according to her. He was sad and disappointed, but he felt it was best in the long run as she was human and probably wouldn’t have lasted past their senior year.”

  “That sure sucks for him,” Alix said.

  They finished packing Shay’s stuff and moved onto Alix’s room. It took them half the time as Alix had fewer bags than Shay did. When everyone was done they all ate dinner together. Alix was a little sad to be leaving Fox Hollow, but she knew she’d be back someday.

  The morning came quickly. Goodbyes were said. She was going to miss Merideth and hoped that Logan was going to be alright. They got on the bus an
d before they knew it they were at the airport. Gordon led them to the gate for their plane. Alix still had no idea where their stops would take them or how many they had planned. Gordon took care of everyone’s luggage and they boarded the plane. Alix had almost forgotten how awesome the private plane was. Everyone took their seats and the plane took off.

  It’s a good thing the plane was comfortable because they were on it for almost two full days. When they left London they flew to Germany, then Spain, then Greece and finally back to the United States where they stopped in New York, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and finally back to Bozeman. Gordon told her they were making several more stops before heading back to London. She was really going to miss Gordon.

  Shelley and James rented a car and followed them back to Sunset Creek. They went straight to Ben’s. Alix and her parents would go back to their house to get the rest of the stuff they needed in the next few days. Alix picked the room next to Ben’s because she liked the view out onto the backyard. Her parents chose a room across the hall. Shelley and James wouldn’t be staying long but they each took a room for now.

  Alix was not looking forward to going back to school. They had been away from home for almost three weeks. She was glad to be home but making the transition from The Chosen One to high school senior was a little difficult. She knew she’d get back in a routine, but it would take a while.

  She had wanted to go to get Victor, but everyone agreed that it was best that she stay away from him. In the morning Shelley, James, Kris and a couple of Warriors were going to pick him up, alter his memory and drive him to Florida. Shelley would fly home from there and the Warriors would come back to Sunset Creek.

  The next morning came all too soon. Alix got up and got ready. It was weird seeing Ben in the kitchen while she was making her coffee, but she’d have to get used to it. They said goodbye to Shelley and James and went to go pick Shay up.

  While they’d been in England the Nykara had made a few alterations to Sunset Creek. The school now had a permanent barrier around it like the ones around the safe houses so that no Grynn could cross it. They’d also fortified the one around the house Alix was now calling home. Several new Warriors were also making Sunset Creek their home. They were there as back up if an emergency came up.

  Walking into school on Monday morning was hard for Alix. They were asked lots of questions about where they’d been. Ben and Shay answered everyone with tales about a vacation to London and they were late getting back because his parents had gotten really sick. The other kids seemed to believe it and soon stopped asking about where they’d been.

  Alix checked her phone at lunch time and saw a she had a few texts from the morning. Logan was checking to make sure they’d gotten back okay. Her mom told her she loved her and to have a great day. The last one was from Shelley. They’d located Victor. He was still unconscious. They had loaded him in the trunk and were on the way to Florida.

  She hoped that moving Victor would throw the Grynn off for a while, but she knew she’d be meeting him again. She also had a feeling that François was still alive. He was too cunning to not have survived her assault on the building in Paris. Her war with the Grynn had only just begun. She knew there would be more disappearances and disasters created by them. It was going to be up to her to stop them, but she was more than ready for the challenge. In fact, she was looking forward to it.

  Author’s Note

  Thank you for reading my book. If you enjoyed it, please consider

  leaving me a review at your favorite retailer.

  Thank you!

  Katie Holland

  Please look for more books in the Nykara series coming soon!

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