There was no telling when or if the Mortuorum would be stupid enough to raid the academy, but he wanted everyone and everything out of the way before they even had a chance to try. The new location he had chosen would be perfect for them and it was a little more out of the way, so security wouldn’t be as much of an issue as it was in the centre of a city.
“Look, I need you all to listen.” Kelton raised his voice, but the rest of the warriors in the room were too busy bitching out Merion to listen to him. “Shut up!” he roared and the room fell silent. “Thank you. I need to get you all moving on this. We’ve all got a hell of a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it in.”
“Name it, Kelton. You know we’re all on board.” Master Warrior Verynai nodded, the scowl plastered on his face, unable to hide his anger over the information Kelton had just dumped on them.
Kelton nodded. “I need you to be on weapons detail. Round up everything we have, pack it up securely and get it shipped over to the new location.” He had already filled the warriors in on the address of their new place. “Kai, I need you to fill up all the cars and vans. We’ll be making a lot of runs tonight and we need it to go smoothly.”
Kai, another one of the Master Warriors, nodded. He was a quiet guy, always getting on with the job without a single complaint and generally kept to himself. It was probably the first time Kelton had ever heard him raise his voice when he had delivered the news about Merion. That proved how bad this situation was if a mild mannered guy like Kai could get his blood boiling over it.
“Right.” Kelton ran a hand over his head, going through his mental list of everything that needed to get done. “I need someone to take a team out to check on the security that the civilians have in place.”
“I’m on it.” One of the other warriors volunteered.
“Excellent. Take whoever you need and take whatever spare gear you need. You can bet your bottom dollar that there will be several homes that will need repairs or upgrades.” He really could have done without sending any of the warriors out as he needed them for the move, but he had a duty to protect the civilians. It had to be done.
“I’m going to send Kayleigh over to the new location with a group of trainee’s to try and get at least a couple of the rooms liveable for tonight.” He already planned to have the trainee’s sleeping in the ballroom or the grand hall until they managed to sort out the dorm rooms. The new location was positively huge, so they were going to have a lot of work to do. It would be worth it when it was all done. The mansion that they were moving to would be spectacular when they got it back up to scratch.
“Of course.” Kayleigh smiled from where she was standing over near the doorway. She was trying to stay on the edge of the discussion. It wasn’t like she didn’t know what was going on anyway, but she thought this moment should have been kept strictly for the warriors. She felt like she was intruding. But, Kelton had insisted that she attend the meeting with him. He needed her to keep his head straight. How could she refuse him?
“The ballroom or the grand hall. You can pick where you want to start. It’s all going to be a bit of a mess, seeing as it has been abandoned for more years than I can remember.”
“We’ll get it sorted in time.”
“I know.” Kelton smiled at her softly before turning to look at the rest of the warriors, who were once again fuming and raging about what had happened as a result of Merion’s actions.
“Quieten down! All of you! We need to act fast and efficiently. We all have a part to play in this to make sure that this move runs smoothly.”
The warriors stopped talking and all nodded solemnly.
“Right, well, you all have your assignments and your teams. Go and rope in as many trainees as you need to help you. Let’s get this done!”
There was a murmur of agreement and chairs scrapped along the floor as the warriors made their way out of the room to get on with the jobs they’d been given. There was a hell of a lot to do and they knew that they all had to pull their weight to get it done.
Kayleigh stood at the back of the room and waited for the warriors to file out before approaching Kelton. It took quite a while because, even though they wanted to get on with it, most of them wanted to share a private word with Kelton.
“This is a goddam nightmare.” He groaned when they were finally alone. Kayleigh put her arms around his waist and rested her cheek on his solid chest.
“We’ll get through it.” She said with confidence. If anyone could get them through this shit storm, it would be him. She had tremendous faith in him.
After standing still like that for a moment, Kelton sighed regretfully, “I guess we’d better go and get started.”
Kayleigh squeezed him a little tighter before stepping back to look up at him. “Who do you want me to take over to the new place?”
“Denver. Put him on shit cleaning duty.” Kelton laughed. “Seriously, though. Take whoever you want, but I do want you to take Denver, and I want you to work him hard. This situation with Aisline may not have totally been down to his irresponsible actions, but his actions out there were still bang out of order. I just haven’t got the time to deal with him at the moment. Consider this the first part of his punishment.”
“The first of many?” Kayleigh cocked an eyebrow.
“Damn straight. The boy will hate the whole cleaning thing. Can you imagine a boy like Denver getting all dusty and dirty? It’ll be torture for him.”
Kayleigh chuckled. “I can do that. I imagine the place will need a lot of work.”
“You won’t believe how much work. That’s why I need to send you up there straight away. In all honesty, I would rather have you here with me, but I don’t have much of a choice.”
She ran a hand over his chest, “I guess you’ll have to make it up to me later.”
Kelton grinned, picking her up and hooking her legs around his waist. “You can guarantee that”
Kayleigh swatted him on the head and struggled to get her legs back on the ground, “As much as I would love to continue this now, if we do, I’ll never get out of here and then everyone will be moving into a dirty mess, just because you can’t keep your hands to yourself.”
“You shouldn’t be so irresistible, then.”
Kayleigh laughed. “I’ll go and round up some help.”
“I’ll make sure a car is ready.” He was determined to have them all relocated by sunrise. It seemed like an impossible task, but he knew that if they all knuckled down, they’d get it done. He was just thankful that it was winter, giving them more time to work with. The sun wouldn’t harm them, but none of them would work as efficiently with a killer headache that felt like your skull was going to explode.
“Will you miss it here?”
Kelton looked around for a moment, as if he could see the rest of the academy through the thick, stone walls. “I guess I will. We’ve all had some good times here.” he reached over to squeeze her hand affectionately, “But, we’ll make a home out of the new place. We’ll make new memories.”
“You know, Kelton. I know that this is coming from a really bad situation, but I think that this change could be a really good thing for us. For us all.”
“I agree.” Kelton bent down to kiss the top of her head. “Go and rally up your troops. I’ll make sure there is a boat-load of cleaning supplies loaded in the car for you.” He laughed as she playfully smacked him on the arm before leaving the room.
After speaking to the warriors, Kelton spread the word that there was an emergency meeting that all trainee’s and staff had to attend. It didn’t take long to gather everyone in the main hall. After what had happened lately, they were on the alert and for that, Kelton was grateful. He knew that this bunch would be a great help in getting everything sorted.
Kelton explained it all to them in the simple terms. He didn’t think that it would be a good idea to tell them about Merion and what he had done, but simply explained that their location had been compromised and that they had to ship
out. Obviously, there had been questions and concerns, but on the whole, they accepted what Kelton had told them and were, on the whole, ready and willing to get things going.
As Kelton strode back out of the hall, he didn’t stop to speak to any of the trainees. There wasn’t time for that. He had other things to do, and the rest of the warriors were busy calling names out and gathering their groups up, ready to get to work.
This wasn’t going to be easy for any of them, but one good thing about keeping busy was that they would be occupied. The questions were going to come later, when everything had calmed down a little. He was going to have to seriously think whether telling them the full extent of what Merion had done was for the best or not.
Moving down towards the medical suite, Kelton wanted to make sure that the staff down there had all the help they needed and he wanted to check on Marshall. The old guy had been through so much, it was no wonder that his health was failing him. He just hoped that with the care and attention of the medical staff, and the love of the people around him, that Marshall would pull through.
What a nightmare, he thought to himself.
Jackson was sorry to be leaving this place. He had felt at home here straight away and had quickly become attached to its winding corridors and dark corners. He wondered now how the others felt about leaving here, the ones who had been living and training here for years, and the warriors that had made this location their home.
It was actually quite surprising how quickly things were starting to get packed up, leaving the space around them empty and lonely. It didn’t look right. It was like the life was leaving it.
Jackson had been drafted in to helping pack up the extensive library. Luckily for him, it was definitely one of the easier jobs. Stacking books into boxes wasn’t exactly brain taxing. They’d put him on one of the lighter duties, seeing as he was still recovering from the minor injuries he sustained on the rescue mission. He’d tried to tell them that he was feeling fine, but they weren’t having any of it. Heavy lifting and anything too strenuous was out, so here he was, stuck lugging around books.
At one point, he wasn’t entirely sure that they were going to let him out of the medical suite. Luckily, most of his wounds had been superficial, so he saw no reason to be cooped up down there. All that it did was make him worry more about Ash. When she was over the corridor from him, he could think of nothing else.
Thankfully, she was seeming much better already. They were treating her for various cuts and burns, but luckily there were no more serious injuries. They’d feared broken bones would be the least of her problems when they’d brought her in, but her x-rays had all come back clear, save for the several broken ribs. There wasn’t much that they could do for them except strap them up and wait for them to heal. She’d been beaten black and blue and had some really severe bruising, but on the whole, she had come out of it quite lucky. Sure, she was still a state, but it could have been so much worse.
It was hard not to think about her. Aisline was constantly on his mind. This was exactly why he had tried to keep things cool between them. He didn’t want to have to worry about her out in the field, to worry about if she would survive. That was why he was determined now to take a step back. He would be her friend, but that would be it. He couldn’t afford to be anything more. It hurt too much.
Sneezing at the dust that was being kicked up, Jackson moved another pile into a box. It was strange to see the rapidly emptying shelves that had once held endless knowledge. Even though they had full access to computers, the professors at the academy still wanted to show them the merit of finding out information for themselves and not just relying on a quick search engine. Apparently, hunting through the dusty pages was character building. No wonder it was taking so many of them to pack it all up. Jackson couldn’t even begin to count how many books were here. There were already several piles of boxes stacked up near the main doors, ready for the warriors to take them away to the new location.
The trainees hadn’t yet been told exactly where they were heading to. Kelton had gathered them all together and told them that their location here in Brandestowen had been compromised and that they had to pack up and ship out. It sure was a mystery and the trainees were buzzing with chatter as they packed up, speculating where they could be going, but Jackson didn’t dwell on it. He knew that the safety of the warriors was always forefront of Kelton’s mind, so wherever they were going, he knew that it was going to be for their own good.
Jackson didn’t really have too much time to think about what was happening and why. It wouldn’t do any good to think about it too much anyway. It was clear that something big was going on, and equally clear that the trainees weren’t going to find out the finer details. It was clearly on a need to know basis, and they didn’t need to know. He did guess that it was something to do with Aisline’s abduction, as the timing was so coincidental, but who knew? If they needed to know what was going on, Kelton was sure to tell them.
If he was honest, packing up books wasn’t exactly mentally challenging, but it was still quite hard work. His back was already aching from stooping over and his ribs were twinging. Plus, these weren’t any little romance paperbacks. These were immense volumes that held the history of the Lamia race as a whole and it was like hefting cement blocks. He knew that his muscles were going to ache like a bitch tomorrow after this different kind of work out.
It was also solitary work. There were plenty of murmured conversations going on around him, but he didn’t have the energy to join in. The other trainees had tried quizzing him about everything that had happened on the field trip and the rescue mission but he wasn’t willing to talk about it. After a while, they left him alone to his own thoughts. He was still physically and mentally drained after all that had happened but no matter how much he tried to shut his brain off from it, images of Aisline came flitting back to him time and time again.
It really was a miracle that they had got her out of there in time. It was an even bigger miracle that she was healing as well as she was. Jackson had never seen anything like it before. The injuries she had come in with were way beyond anything he had seen before. Luckily, the doctors and nurses had managed to tend to the wounds, but he knew that he emotional damage would take a lot longer to heal.
He hated to think of what she had to endure at their hands. The warriors had got to her as fast as they could, but it still wasn’t quick enough. More had happened to her than she would have ever admitted to or would ever talk about. He could see in her eyes the evils she had been through. They’d tried to break her.
Luckily, Ash was made of stronger stuff than that. That was one of the things that had drawn him to her in the first place. Her strength. She was the first female ever to receive the mark of the Sons of Satrina warrior and she hadn’t shied away from it. Hell, Aisline had embraced it. Everything that was thrown her way, she battled through it with a grin on her face, which was better than how some of the male warriors handled things.
He liked her. Yes. Of course he did. And, it went way beyond that. His true emotions had come out when he had said those things to her when they’d brought her back to the academy. But, it was just too damn complicated. She was too good for him. There was no holding her back or telling her to reign it in for her own safety. She didn’t give a damn about herself. She was a team player, through and through. Ash would always put the others before herself.
And, Jackson would always put her before the others. That was the problem.
Not that he thought that was particularly a bad thing, because it wasn’t. Jackson was the same. He would sacrifice himself in the line of duty to save a civilian or a team mate. But, he didn’t want that for her. He didn’t want to worry about her going out on the job and not coming back. He wanted to keep her safe. And failing that, he wanted to back away so it didn’t hurt so much.
Emptying the last shelf in front of him, Jackson knew that he would never be able to back away from her and his feelings. Aisline meant way too m
uch to him just to ignore it. But, he still wouldn’t be able to take that step forward and make something more between them. It was just too dangerous. It was the only way to preserve his sanity. He’d just have to be satisfied with watching her from afar and being her friend.
It wasn’t going to be easy.
It was going to be nearly impossible.
How was he supposed to do that?
Aisline had never spent so much time asleep. She was starting to feel lazy. It was amazing how much better she was feeling already and she knew that a lot of that had to do with being back in the safety of the academy. She wasn’t under any threat here. There was also the bonus of vampire physiology; they may be killed, but they healed a hell of a lot quicker than the average human.
A knock came on her door and Trey walked in.
“Hey, I thought you’d been chased away from here.” she grinned.
“I was. I thought I’d come back down here and see you anyway.” Trey laughed, looking nervously over his shoulder. He’d already been in enough trouble today, but he couldn’t stay away. She was his best friend and he was worried about her.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Feeling better, I guess. I’m just bored now.”
Another knock came on the door and Master Warrior Verynai stepped into the room. Ash couldn’t help smoothing down her hair and wondering quite how bad she looked. Verynai was deadly gorgeous. His body was inked and pierced and his expression was usually fierce. He was beyond stunning. If her best friend, Lana, came face to face with him, she’d faint, that’s for sure. He had that bad boy sex appeal going for him.
“How are you feeling, Aisline?” he asked.
“Better, thanks.”
“Well, you still look like shit.” Verynai was never one for mincing his words, but his grin softened the blow. “Can you move alright? Have you tried walking yet?”
“I can help her.” Trey said.
“Nope. Sorry. You need to be back with the others, packing up.” Verynai gave him one of his very best glares and Trey knew better than to hang around any longer. With a sheepish grin at Aisline, he back out of the room before the wrath of Verynai fell on him in full force.
Dawn of a New Age: A Sons of Satrina Novel Page 6
