by A. P. Jensen
Chapter Nine
William placed his hand on the exit door and pushed it open. His other hand clamped over Jordan’s mouth. She struggled but fumbled when she realized she was outside. Her bare feet touched freezing sand and William put his other arm around her waist and hauled her off the ground. Her bruised body screamed.
Fight, Jordan! The voice in her mind yelled.
She found the fire always simmering beneath the surface. William cursed as his clothes began to smoke. He released her and she looked around, trying to get her bearings. She hadn’t been outside in years. It was night with a full moon. She looked around and saw no other buildings in sight, only endless desert. There was a jeep nearby, obviously what William was trying to drag her to. There had to be more cars, she thought and tried to dodge around the building.
William tackled her from behind. She screamed and hoped someone would hear. No one in Haven could be as evil as William. His tainted power seeped into her. It was as if he were forcing her to swallow gasoline. He flipped her onto her back and crouched over her. There was no sign of white in his eyes; they were black holes that wanted to consume her. His breath fanned over her face and tears seeped from the corners of her eyes.
“You have to come with me. You have to save me,” William whispered into her hair.
She screamed again and tried to buck him off but it was a useless gesture. His hand wrapped around her throat, cutting off her air. His touch made her feel as if spiders were skittering over her skin. She struggled like a demon and in her terror, found renewed strength. Jordan splayed her hand over the skin of his face and let emotion rule. Her power, that constant gnawing pain in her chest rushed through her arm like a bolt of lightning. William jerked off of her as if he’d been shot and rolled away. He tossed his face up to the moonlight, face contorted in agony as fire rushed beneath the surface of his skin. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air and bile rose in her throat. She scrambled backwards but was unable to take her eyes from him. William let out a howl as he touched his face and bits of steaming flesh fell into his open hands.
Jordan lurched to her feet and ran around the building. Sobs caught in her throat and her stomach pitched unsteadily. When she let go she was never sure what would happen. She didn’t see any cars or buildings in the distance as she circled the building, feet going numb from the cold sand. The air was crisp and thin and her breath hovered in a cloud around her. She was running towards another corner of the building when William came out of the shadows. Jordan dug her feet into the sand. William’s face was back to normal but his eyes still showed no signs of humanity.
“You’re really something,” he said in a musing tone. “I don’t know anyone your age that can do the things you do.”
“William, please,” she choked.
“I can’t let you go. Do you know how special you are? In all my years, I never thought I would be able to meet one as powerful as you,” William said with a smile.
“Where are you taking me?”
“To meet my princess. She’s a good girl.”
“You steal girls from Haven?” Jordan whispered.
William frowned. “Of course not. She’s mine. Just like you.”
“What have we here?” a malicious voice said from the shadows.
William whirled around as a young man stepped into the moonlight wearing a trench coat and jeans. He couldn’t be older than twenty and he was beautiful. He was tall and thin with the face of an angel but something about him wasn’t right. Something about him put Jordan on edge. That same instinct that had warned her about William shrieked at her to run.
“What are you doing, William?” the man asked, hands tucked casually in his pockets.
William didn’t answer and Jordan felt hope stir. If this guy could control William then maybe she had a chance. The moonlight made his eyes silver and Jordan felt her heart sink. He may have been young but his eyes were ancient and devoid of any emotion. They were cold and calculating.
“You’ve damaged this one quite severely. Why?”
“I need her, Master,” William said tersely.
“Is that so? You know no child leaves here without my permission.” Light tones with an undertone of cruelty.
“She can save me. I can feel it,” William said through clenched teeth.
“Really?”
The Master approached, sand crunching beneath his boots. Jordan tensed to run but knew it would be futile. He reached out a small hand and stoked Jordan’s cheek. His silver eyes flickered.
“Well, well. And when were you going to let me know, William?”
No answer.
The Master reached out one soft fingertip and placed it on her cheek. Acid burned through her veins. Jordan screamed as the worst pain she’d ever known made her flail like a fish on a hook and the whole time his unearthly silver eyes watched. The pain built and built until Jordan begged for death. Her eyes rolled back in her head and blood streamed from her nose and mouth and then he dropped his finger. Jordan twitched on the ground, body in shock.
“She’s sublime,” the Master said, looking down dispassionately at his victim.
Through streaming eyes Jordan saw Catherine walking towards them, hobbling through the sand in her high heels. Jordan closed her eyes and prayed she was dying. She’d been wrong. There was someone more evil in Haven than William and he looked like an angel.
Jordan paced the princess room and examined every inch of the dimly lit grounds. She locked the bedroom door, the deck doors and the princess room doors. She knew Heath told the truth when he said his glass was indestructible. She tried everything she could think of to shatter his glass. She’d tried to melt it, pelted it with stuff and dropped it onto concrete from an upper level. When Kelly found her trying to destroy her house she hadn’t been bothered in the slightest.
“I’ve tried everything too,” she said before walking off.
She was one weird woman, Jordan thought. She leaned against the glass panes and looked at Heath’s house which was dark. She wished he was awake so she had somewhere to go. Was she an idiot for trusting a guy that could make indestructible glass and turn her into a marshmallow with one flare of temper? And where was Mr. Parker? He’d been gone over a week and no one mentioned him coming back in the near future. Did he just dump her here?
In broad daylight the land was a haven but at night it became a nightmare to survey. She wasn’t afraid of the dark but she didn’t like it either. She fingered the pendant around her wrist. It was cold, smooth and oddly comforting as if she had some kind of safety bracelet on. The chain kept slipping off her wrist so she geared herself up and slipped it over her head. She waited for a panic attack but none came.
“I can do this,” she said and let the pendant rest on her abdomen.
The heat during the day made her drowsy and she catnapped a lot but at night she was tortured by memories. She found herself pacing most of the night, praying daylight would come quicker so she could see her surroundings and feel safe.
She found herself thinking about Levi, wondering if he got away, if he was better off than when they’d been in Haven. She should have waited for him, she thought as she paced. She should have waited for him to come back to the car but the pain had been so bad and Wal-Mart had been right across the street. She thought it was a smart move, using the crowd for cover but she should have remembered that nothing stopped William. Nothing. Jordan shuddered. On the other hand, maybe it was a good thing she left. What if William caught both of them? Levi was better off without her but she missed him. She reached for the connection she had with him and found nothing.
When the first hint of sunlight speared the darkness, Jordan was dressed and taking in the land. Nothing was out of place. She peeked through the glass panes in the door into the bedroom for several minutes. No movement. She slowly eased the door opened, thoroughly checked the room and then went to her bedroom door and repeated the process. Only the birds and squirrels made noise at this hour. She walked down
stairs and out the back door and stuffed her feet into boots.
The day was already hot. She could feel moisture on her face but she welcomed it. She forced herself to move faster and walk further. She made it across the bridge before she took a break. There still was no sign of lights on in Heath’s house as she approached but she didn’t care. As she sat on his porch, the sun began to rise and Jordan felt her anxiety settle. It was only her, Heath and Kelly around for miles.
She could see the lake sparkling invitingly and she answered its call. She brushed her way through the high grass, raising her boots high and stomping them down. Butterflies fluttered around her and Jordan kept to the shade as much as possible although it was scarce. When she reached the lake she smiled. It was worth the walk. The lake was a beautiful blue and she felt cooler just being near it. Water lapped gently against the shore.
Jordan noticed a moss covered statue nearby and went to stand in front of it. It was a larger than life… lion? She tilted her head to the side. It looked like a lion with a bushy mane but its body was a dark charcoal color and it had black stripes like a tiger. It sat on its haunches and there was something regal about it. It towered a foot and a half over her. The statue seemed so out of place in the middle of a pasture and it had been left here for years if the moss was any indication. The statue was cute and scary at the same time. It had round, gray ears barely visible on top of his head. Its sapphire gaze mesmerized her. She felt as if she were falling into an endless blue that promised death.
Jordan shook herself and walked around the lake and leaned back against a tree. The water rippled as fish swam beneath the surface. Insects glided over the water and Jordan dozed. When she woke she was dazed from the heat and the feeling that something was wrong. She blinked hastily and saw a man watching her from across the lake. He was crouched in the high grass in a tan colored shirt and jeans. When he saw she was awake he smiled and held his hands up in the national gesture for “I mean you no harm.” She didn’t buy it. If he was harmless, why hadn’t he called out, why was he hiding? She rose, heart pounding. There was nowhere to hide out here and she couldn’t run if her life depended on it, which it might.
“I just have some questions,” he called.
Jordan began to walk backwards. “Stop where you are.”
He didn’t and Jordan’s alarm switched to panic. Was he from Haven? He couldn’t be a social worker.
“Who do you belong to?” he asked, still coming too fast. “Usually all the families in this area are careful not to let their little ones stray.”
There was a note of malice in his voice. Jordan sprinted with all her might around the lake and heard him laugh. She cursed her weak body and for the first time wished she had power. She didn’t even have physical strength to defend herself. She was easy prey. Jordan ducked around the statue, hands digging into its back.
The guy came around the lion, still smiling. He shoved her and she fell in a bed of dandelions. He crouched over her and examined her as if she were an animal carcass he might be able to eat.
“Now tell me, which family do you belong to or are you just visiting?” he asked pleasantly.
“I’m no one,” Jordan said.
“You haven’t even Awakened? Come on, give me some challenge,” he taunted. “What I’m looking for is information about Donovan Parker. Everyone wants to know what he’s up to, especially since William Stan is gone. He missed the funeral. Everybody noticed. Is he going to take William’s place?”
“I don’t know,” Jordan murmured.
“Liar,” the man snapped.
A low growl vibrated the air around them. The man whipped around and screamed. The statue was moving. Its ears lay flat against its skull and a terrifying striped face was bared in a snarl. A long striped tail whipped through the air and claws extended, digging into the dirt. The cat’s hungry gaze fixed on the man and it bared its fangs, showing a mouth that could clamp around a human torso. Powerful muscles rippled and then bunched as the cat leapt.
The man ran and the beast gave him no chance. In two leaps it took the man down. Jordan got shakily to her feet as the man shrieked and then the tree behind her uprooted itself and swatted the beast. The lion turned, hissing and spitting. Roots whipped out, pinning it to the ground. It let out a howl of pain as vines wound around its neck. The guy rose, tan shirt now pink with streaks of blood.
“What the hell is it? Oh my God, it’s a Valor. But who-” He stopped when he saw the beast begin to tear through the vines and roots like string cheese.
Jordan didn’t listen to her heart. She didn’t care. She wasn’t going to let this ass get away with this. She had no idea if the beast would kill her but she refused to stand by and watch it choke to death. She reached within herself for the power that was hibernating. She felt a spark and her heart sputtered but she didn’t stop. She pulled on that one thread and felt her body go up in flames. Strength poured into her weak body and she leapt into action. She went for the guy whose eyes bugged out in fear but before she could get there the beast attacked him again and they tumbled into the high grass and out of sight.
Jordan’s heart stopped. She gasped, clutched her chest as it beat once more and then gave out.
“You little idiot.”
An angry, familiar voice snapped at her. She was being carried. Her chest felt as if a horse had trampled over her and she was struggling to breathe as if she were having an asthma attack. She squinted against the sun up at a livid Mr. Parker.
“One, you shouldn’t go past the stream unless there’s someone with you- it’s past the property line. Two, why the hell would you pull on your power when you’re still recovering from your severed soul tie? You almost killed yourself.” Mr. Parker’s hands were gentle despite his tone.
“Happened?” It was the only word she could say.
“Kelly said there was a nasty reporter by the lake. It’s been a while since they’ve dared come here but they’re desperate for information so they’re getting brave. He’s dead by the way.”
She remembered the statue and jerked in Mr. Parker’s arms as he walked up the back stairs of the porch. She looked around and there it was, a nine hundred pound cat over ten feet long. She didn’t know what to think. Its body was thick and muscled and its eyes glinted with satisfaction. Kelly gave it a wide berth but it didn’t even glance at her, its attention was riveted on Jordan.
“What is it?” Jordan said hoarsely.
Mr. Parker set her on the porch with her legs dangling over the side. New pain burst in her chest and Jordan let out a muffled groan. Kelly put her hands on Jordan and a second later, the pain eased slightly.
“I can’t heal your heart completely. It has to recover,” Kelly said and then her eyes narrowed. “Heath got to you in time. Your heart wasn’t beating. Don’t do that to us again.”
Kelly walked into the house, uncharacteristically solemn and quiet. Jordan felt stupid and uncomfortable. Mr. Parker tensed as the half lion/ half tiger prowled closer. The moss that covered it was gone leaving its gray fur thick and shiny and very real.
“How?” Jordan asked, unable to look away from it.
“You tell me.”
“I didn’t do anything!”
“That creature has been a statue over a thousand years. It’s been in my family for generations. It’s our Guardian.”
“Your what?”
He waved his hand as he searched for words. “Every family has a symbol that represents them. For some it’s a creed, an heirloom or in our case, an animal. Once we bond with a certain animal, they are always loyal to us. They watch over us and will be there when we have need of them. Valor’s,” he shot a sharp look at the beast easing ever closer to them, “fought beside our family members in wars only remembered in books.”
“I don’t get it,” Jordan said.
“What I know of Valor’s is what they look like and I only know that because that statue was in my grandfather’s house, then my father’s and I dumped it by the lake
fifteen years ago. Legend says Valors obey the one who calls to them.”
“I-I didn’t call anything,” Jordan stammered.
“Apparently, you did. You’re the only one that can control him now,” Mr. Parker murmured.
“Him?”
The Valor leaned forward. Sitting on the porch put her at eye level with the creature. She felt its hot breath on her legs and she twitched. When it leaned forward she held her breath. The Valor leaned forward and set his face on her lap. His head was so big she couldn’t wrap her arms around it. She looked to Mr. Parker who threw his hands up in exasperation and leaned against the house, tapping one shiny shoe.
“You woke him; he’s your responsibility now. Great.” Mr. Parker said ungraciously.
“I didn’t mean to,” Jordan said irritably and then glared at him. “What are you doing here?”
Mr. Parker blinked, nonplussed by her tone which had more emotion in it than she’d ever shown him. “I live here,” he pointed out.
Her eyes narrowed to tiny slits of blue. “Did you find Haven?”
He glared. “That’s not important.”
“Not important?” Jordan fired back.
The Valor raised his head and Jordan got to her feet. Was it just this morning that she’d been worried about him? Wanting to see him? She must have been dreaming.
“You’re gone for over a week and you just so happen to pop up the day I have an incident-”
“An incident?” he shouted and went face to face with her. “Your heart stopped for over two minutes. If the reporter survived, he could have watched you die.”
“Did you find Haven?” Jordan said, hands clenched at her sides.
Neither of them noticed Kelly watching them from the kitchen, a broad smile on her face. She sipped iced tea and listened to father and daughter bicker.
“Yes.”
Jordan felt equally horrified and relieved. Horrified because that place really existed, with the Master and kids being caged and tranquilized like animals. Relieved because someone from the outside now knew about it and although she didn’t know a lot about Mr. Parker, she had a feeling he wouldn’t let Haven continue their sadistic games.
