by Skye Malone
But then, maybe they didn’t want the attention. Child and Family Services wouldn’t exactly take kindly to their agreement for Chloe to be given drugs and experimented on.
Ellie came back in. She handed the purple-cased cell phone to Baylie, who looked down briefly.
“Chloe’s parents win,” she muttered.
“Don’t answer it,” Ellie urged.
Baylie glanced to me. I shook my head.
She clicked the phone to silent and then set it beside the sink.
I returned my attention to Chloe. She seemed to be breathing deeper now. More like she was asleep than a heartbeat from death’s door. I rocked back on my heels and looked to Ellie again.
“Legends,” I prompted. “Landwalker stories, right?”
Ellie hesitated, something like regret flickering over her face, almost as if she wished she hadn’t said anything before. “Yeah.” She bit her lip. “Listen, I know you’re her friends, but–”
“Tell us,” Baylie demanded.
She paused. “Has she said anything to you about it?”
Baylie glanced to me.
“No,” I grudged.
Ellie’s mouth tightened, and I could see her reluctance becoming determined silence.
“But I’m not sure if she knows any of it either,” I persisted. “She’s only known she’s part dehaian for a few weeks and… and she may not have learned about it when she was away.”
“It would help if you told us, though,” Baylie pressed.
The girl glanced to Chloe again, considering.
“I know about secrets, Ellie,” I risked saying. “About needing to keep them.”
Her gaze flicked to me in alarm.
I kept my face as calm as possible, and worked to ignore the way the words made my heart pound. “You can trust us. We’re good at secrets.” I hesitated. “Please.”
Ellie stared at me for a moment, her brow twitching down in time to whatever thoughts were racing behind her eyes. Swallowing hard, she gave a tight nod. “We’ll talk when she’s awake.”
Discomfort still on her face, she pushed away from the door and retreated to the motel room without another word.
Baylie shook her head and made a frustrated noise.
I didn’t respond. I could sympathize with wanting to keep things hidden, though in this case, there wasn’t a chance in hell I’d let those things stay that way.
But I still got it.
I looked back at Chloe. The shimmering colors on her legs had faded, but her chest continued to rise and fall slowly beneath the water.
Shifting around, I sank onto the cold tile floor, still watching her and ready to wait forever if that was how long it took for her to wake up.
Chapter Sixteen
Chloe
The first thing I felt around me was water, and for a moment, I thought we were in the ocean.
Except that the water didn’t seem right, and there was a hard surface on my side and back.
Memories started to return.
My heart pounding, I opened my eyes and then winced against the bright light.
I was in a bathtub, in a bathroom I didn’t recognize. Water covered me up to my neck and below it, I was still in the blue hospital gown and shorts.
My gaze slid to the side and my brow furrowed at the sight of Baylie and Noah sitting on the floor beside me.
And at the relief in their eyes.
“Hey,” Baylie said, blinking and running a hand over her face like she’d just woken up.
I glanced between them warily. “What happened?”
Noah hesitated. “You passed out.”
I could hear there was more to it than that in his voice. My gaze flicked to the bathtub and the water covering me. “Passed out,” I repeated.
“How do you feel?” Baylie asked.
I wasn’t sure how to respond. My body was stiff, like I’d slept in the wrong position for about a year, and the world still seemed shaky, as though it might fly apart if I moved too fast. But the heat in my skin and muscles was gone, and everything didn’t hurt like it had.
“How long was I out?” I asked.
Noah paused again. “A while.”
My eyes didn’t leave him. That wasn’t really an answer.
Ellie skidded around the corner of the bathroom, catching herself on the door. “She’s awake?”
The girl stared at me, the same relieved look on her face that the others had when I’d opened my eyes. “Are you okay? How’re you feeling? Anything hurt or–”
“Ellie,” Noah interrupted.
She cut off, breathing hard. Chagrin spread across her face.
I looked between them, a really bad feeling about the time I was unconscious creeping over me.
“You want to try getting up?” Baylie offered before I could ask about it again.
I nodded and pushed away from the side of the tub. My muscles protested, barely able to hold my weight, and Noah reached over quickly, steadying me.
With a grateful, if embarrassed, glance to him, I managed to reach my feet. Water dripped from the soaked hospital gown and the blue fabric clung to my skin in a way that made a whole other kind of heat start rushing up my neck.
“Let me get you some clothes,” Baylie said.
She hurried from the room.
Noah’s hands didn’t leave my sides.
“Are you alright?” he asked quietly.
I swallowed, my gaze flicking to Ellie. Still holding onto the edge of the door, she watched us. At my glance, she blushed too and then retreated to the other room.
“What happened?” I asked again.
“It doesn’t matter.”
I looked up at him. His green eyes avoided mine.
“Noah.”
“It doesn’t,” he repeated. “What they tried didn’t work, so the rest isn’t important. I’m just glad you’re awake.”
He glanced up to me, and it was my turn to avoid his gaze.
I’d almost forgotten how it felt to have him look at me that way.
“Chloe, about what I–”
Baylie came back in, a bundle of clothes and my shoes in her arms.
Noah grimaced, letting drop whatever he’d planned to say.
“Clear out, eh?” Baylie suggested to him as she set the clothes on the white countertop by the sink.
“Yeah,” he agreed.
Not really looking at me, he helped me sit down on the edge of the tub and then let me go. Without another word, he left the room.
“Here,” Baylie said.
Pulling my gaze from him, I tried to focus on what she was offering. We’d been roughly the same size and trading clothes for years, and I paused at the green t-shirt in her hands.
“That’s mine,” I said.
“No, it’s not.”
I raised an eyebrow at her and she glanced to the shirt again.
“Oh. Well, consider this me giving it back to you then.”
My lip twitched. She grinned.
The lightness didn’t last long. As quickly as it’d come, her smile flickered and died. Leaving the shirt with me, she went to shut the door.
My hand trembled from the weakness my muscles couldn’t seem to overcome as I reached up to untie the string holding the hospital gown closed. With a sharp tug, Baylie yanked a towel from the rack nearby and then handed it to me. While I dried off, she turned away, studying the ground at her feet.
In silence, I changed into the clothes, and Baylie glanced back when I said I was finished. She put her arm around my side, helping me across the room and steadying me on the cold tile.
The others were waiting when we left the bathroom. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Noah watched us, while Ellie stood against the wall, shifting her weight awkwardly and seeming as though she could barely hold back her questions.
I paused, seeing the sunlight slipping past the curtains on the far side of the room. My gaze flicked t
o the clock on the nightstand, and my heart started to pound again as I spotted the early morning hour.
“Come on,” Baylie said.
Noah got up and crossed to the door, leaving the bed to me. As Baylie helped me down, I glanced at him askance.
He was back to not meeting my gaze again.
I hesitated. I wanted to talk to him, I knew we needed to, but there just wasn’t time. I’d been unconscious for hours. The whole night, actually.
And Zeke was still out there.
I turned to Ellie. “How do I find Zeke?”
Ellie hesitated, her gaze flicking nervously between the others and me. “Um, look, we really need to talk–”
“Is it about where he is?”
“Well, no…”
“Then we can talk later. I need to find him.”
“Don’t you think maybe we should call the cops?” Baylie asked. “Tell them what’s going on?”
“The cops are in on this,” I said. “One of them, anyway. And the others…” I grimaced, Earl’s words coming back to me. “Zeke doesn’t exist, as far as they’re concerned. He doesn’t have an ID, family to look for him, anything. These people can just make him disappear.”
“But–”
“I can’t let him get hurt by this. He’s only here because of me.”
“But what about you?” she pressed. “Chloe, these people could–”
“Where did they take him?” I interrupted, turning to Ellie. I didn’t want to hear it. What people could do to me. I’d had more of that than I could handle in the past few weeks and I was doing everything possible to keep from thinking about it now.
Baylie made an angry noise.
“I’m with Baylie,” Ellie tried. “I really don’t think you–”
“Tell me.”
Ellie hesitated, staring at me and looking a bit like she wanted to cry. I felt bad for snapping at her, but there was nothing for it.
I had to find Zeke.
“I-I don’t know,” Ellie stammered. “I think they probably brought him with you to the lab, since Grandpa got real interested when he heard that there was a full-blood dehaian with you, but he’s never told me where to find it. He claimed it wasn’t historically relevant yet, so it wasn’t important for the database.”
“What about those guys he works with? The ones you said took us?”
She shrugged, wincing. “They just come by the house sometimes. I don’t think they live around here.”
I started to scowl and then paused, a new idea occurring to me. I couldn’t force anyone to tell me where this laboratory was – not really, anyway – and asking little Harman was out since the old man would probably just try to hide Zeke the moment he knew someone was looking.
But there was another option.
“Dad went there, though, right?” I asked. “He took Zeke?”
“And picked you up,” Ellie agreed, “you know, after…”
I pushed the memory away, covering my discomfort with a quick nod. “Great. Fine.” I glanced to Baylie. “Can I borrow your phone?”
She stared at me.
My brow rose at her, anger bubbling up. I needed her help and this was the only option. Why couldn’t she see that?
Her head shook. “I’m not–”
“Noah?” I prompted.
His face tightened.
“You can’t do this, Chloe!” Baylie protested. “I’m not going to let you just–”
“I have to.”
“But you were almost dead last night! You can’t just go back so they can try it again!”
She turned away, seeming like she was going to cry. By the door, Noah grimaced, dropping his gaze to the ground as though he wished she hadn’t said that.
I stared at them. I shouldn’t have been shocked, really. I’d seen it on their faces – the fact that something bad had happened. I’d heard it in Noah’s voice.
But still… dead?
Trembling, I made myself take a breath. I wasn’t, though. I was alive, and the lovely dehaian metabolism that let me go for days without eating or sleeping also meant that right now I felt barely worse than if I’d been getting over a bad cold. So yesterday wasn’t important. Near death wasn’t important. Saving Zeke was what I needed to focus on.
“I still have to help him,” I said, my voice more choked than I would have liked.
Baylie scoffed furiously.
Noah glanced back up at me. “We have to keep you safe too.”
I faltered at the look in his eyes.
“Let us get you away from here,” he continued. “We can search for Zeke, but you–”
“No.”
I hesitated, the word having emerged before I’d really thought it through. But it didn’t matter. I couldn’t just leave. Just run and hide and hope that somehow, the entire world of monsters didn’t find the new place I’d chosen to stay.
It hadn’t worked so far.
And that was the point, really. It had never worked. There was always someone else, something else chasing me. No matter how hard I ran, or how far, another monster was always waiting. I’d run from the Sylphaen and I’d run from Niall. I’d run from Earl and Noah’s cousins as well.
At this rate, I’d be running for the rest of my life.
And it still wouldn’t help anything at all.
My gaze dropped to the floor, cold settling over me enough to make the hairs on my arms rise. And that was the point too. I’d been scared and I’d wanted safety. I’d wanted to come home, under the belief that here I could pretend none of the horrible past few weeks had happened. But the monsters had followed me home, and the others had just been where I’d left them.
Nothing changed.
So it was time to be done. Done with running and done with trying to hide. For Zeke, for the chance I’d lose him and the possibility this could save his life, it was time to be done.
Baylie made a desperate sound. “Chloe–”
“No!” I snapped.
She blinked.
“I can’t risk him dying,” I continued, my voice shaking as I tried to soften my tone. “I can’t. Even if they don’t kill him, the distance from the ocean still could. Full-blood dehaians don’t survive for long if they’re away from it, and the only reason he made it this far is something to do with…” I kept my gaze from going to Noah, “with being near me. He’s here because of me, Baylie, and because he wanted to make sure I was safe.” I paused. “I can’t let him die for that.”
Her brow twitched down, and I could still see protests struggling to emerge.
“Please just give me the phone,” I begged her.
She exhaled, a pained expression on her face. Shaking her head, she drew the cell from her pocket.
“Thank you.”
She didn’t respond.
I pressed the button to turn the screen on, and then paused at the sight of the dozens of missed calls.
“They’ve been trying to reach us all night,” Baylie explained quietly.
I hesitated, and then selected the most recent one. The line buzzed while the phone tried to put the call through.
Dad didn’t waste any time when he answered.
“Young lady, how dare you take my–”
“Dad.”
He went quiet for a moment. “Chloe?”
Anger shivered through me and I drew a breath, ordering myself to focus. I would get through this. I’d get the information I needed and then…
Then I’d never come near them again.
The anger grew stronger.
“Yeah,” I replied tightly.
“Are you o–”
“I’m alive,” I interrupted, biting back the urge to add anything more.
He paused. “Where are you?”
I clenched a hand to the bedspread, crushing it in my fist. “Where did you take Zeke, Dad?”
“That’s not–”
“Where is he?” I repeated,
my tone harder.
“They’re returning him to the ocean. He’s fine.”
I hesitated. My gaze flicked up to Ellie and quickly, I covered the bottom of the phone. “He says they’re taking him back to the ocean.”
Ellie’s brow furrowed, and after a heartbeat, her head shook as though she couldn’t quite believe the possibility.
I lowered my hand from the phone. “Where did you take him before that?”
“Chloe, please, where are you? Your mother and I are–”
I couldn’t restrain a furious noise and at it, he cut off.
“I understand if you’re confused, honey,” he allowed carefully. “Things have changed, but you have to know it’s for the best. You’re safer this way.”
“I’m still dehaian, Dad.”
“Chloe… I know this is hard, but you need to–”
“It didn’t work. What you and Mom tried to have that man do to me,” I shivered, “it didn’t work.”
He was silent.
I closed my eyes, making myself focus. “I need you to tell me where you took us.”
“Zeke won’t be there, honey. He–”
“Where?”
Another heartbeat passed. “Let us talk to you. Come meet you. I’ll tell you what you want to know, just let us see you first.”
By the door, Noah shifted his weight and I looked over to him.
He could hear Dad. I could tell from the expression on his face. It faltered a bit with embarrassment at my glance, but most of the barely restrained fury remained.
And he was probably right to be angry. I couldn’t imagine my parents would make it this easy. Not when yesterday they’d been willing to manipulate me, drug me, and have me experimented on just to get what they wanted.
So this was Dad lying again. Working some plan again.
A quiver ran through me. I wasn’t used to thinking about my parents like this. Not quite, anyway. In my head, they’d always sort of been the enemy.
But this was something else.
“Alright,” I said.
Noah’s brow furrowed in alarm.
“You meet me where you took us.”
Dad paused.
“I want to see what was done to me,” I pressed. “I want to know what happened.”
“Chloe–”
“Or I’m gone. You never see me again. I’m dehaian, Dad. You, your cop friends, and anyone else you send won’t stand a chance of staying near the ocean long enough to find me out there.”
