by Karen DuBose
Kiernan steps behind me taking me into his arms. “It’s time to go, love. We have a lot to go over.”
He steps back and holds out his hand, and I take it. He wraps our fingers together and places a light kiss on my forehead. We head to the other room. The door is open, so we let ourselves in. They’re talking about some guy we need to find. Who else do we need to find? I walk over to my mom’s bed and sit down next to her. She wraps her arm around me.
“How are you holding up?”
“As good as anyone else. I’m sick of all of this already, and we don’t even have answers, just more questions.”
“I know, baby girl. We will get answers. I don’t know if we’ll like them or not, but we will get them nonetheless.”
Bruno clears his throat. We all quiet down.
“We need to make a plan, but first there is one thing that needs to be done now before we continue. Eimear, I need you to do what needs to be done.”
Mom looks at me and gives me a nod. I stand up and walk over to Nessa. I grab her arm and pull her up.
“Get in the bathroom. Now,” I demand.
She looks like she’s going to protest, but then she sees Mom and Kira on either side of me and the fight dies in her head. I push her into the bathroom.
“Burn all of it.”
We push her all the way inside the small bathroom. With Mom and Kira, there really isn’t much room to move. I push Nessa into the tub.
“Take all of your clothes off now.”
“I’m not going to undress. You can’t tell me what to do.”
I get in her face.
“Either you take them off, or we will.”
The girls get closer. Nessa lets out a sigh.
“Why am I taking my clothes off? Can you at least tell me that?”
I look her dead in her eyes. “I will tell you when you don’t have them on anymore and not a second sooner.”
She turns away and starts taking her clothes off. I see her take something out of her jeans pocket. I whip her around so fast, the object falls to the floor. Mom picks it up and looks at it. She hands me the object before I can ask her what it is. It’s a transmitter. Without even thinking, I backhand Nessa so hard she falls backward and cracks her head on the wall, leaving a dent.
“You’re working for Niko, aren’t you?” I scream.
She’s not looking at me. She’s wiping the blood from her chin and rubbing the back of her head.
“I am working for Niko, and his men will be here soon,” she says with a laugh.
I grab her and haul her out the bathroom door. I’m so over this. She has put everyone I love in danger. I’m not going to be nice anymore. If something would have happened to any of them I would not have forgiven myself.
“Get rid of her. Burn these too. She does not get any clothes or anything else for that matter. She’s working for Niko, and his men will be here any minute. They can clothe her. Get her out of my sight before I kill her where she stands.”
She looks at me horrified. “You can’t make me go out there naked.”
“Want to bet? Get out before I end your traitorous ass,” I say walking away.
I hear her beg them not to make her leave without clothes. She even has enough nerve to threaten. I don’t even care anymore. She has done nothing but make my life cycle hell. She deserves everything that comes her way and more.
I go into the bathroom and start to burn her clothes. I open the window and turn the fan on so the smoke won’t set off the emergency alarms. I can’t believe she hates me so much that she would do this. If this is all about me not becoming her friend when we were little, then I don’t know what to tell her. I didn’t do it on purpose. I’m done with her and her revenge. I have other problems to deal with. She isn’t one of them.
Chapter Fifteen
While getting everything together, I notice that Bruno isn’t around. I wonder where he’s gone to? I couldn’t sleep that well last night even in Kiernan’s arms. I couldn’t stop thinking about Nessa and how she betrayed me the way she did.
“Hey, chic, how are you holding up?” Kira asks.
“I would say I’m peachy, but that would be a lie.”
“It’ll be ok. I’ll make sure of it.”
I lean on her. “Thanks, babe, I know you will try”
“I just wish I was able to beat the hell out of her before you made her leave. She deserves no less.”
I nod at her. “As much as I would have loved for you to do that or me for that fact, she doesn’t take priority over all this. We need to focus on the here and now. I can’t let her or anyone else get in the way. I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of her. I’ll let you beat her the next time we see her, deal?”
“Deal.” She takes my hand and we walk to the lobby.
Mom, Kiernan, Cicero, and Desean are waiting for us. Where are the other guys? I wonder. I hear a horn honk and I look outside and see four huge blasters. I guess he decided that we’re not staying under the radar. Those things will definitely sick out. I guess I don’t blame him. We’re running on no sleep, and we need all the help we can get right now.
“I take it we’re going in with guns blazing,” I say.
Bruno just gives me a wink. There’s the guy I know. This serious and broody thing was scaring me a little.
“We have a plan. I’ll explain on the way, hop in.”
When did they have time to come up with a plan? I’m not going to argue. If we get there in one piece, I’ll be happy.
We all pile up in the blasters. This time, we have more room. One of the blasters that Desean is driving is carrying only the supplies, leaving the other three just for passengers. Mom will be riding in a different blaster than me. She’ll probably just lie in the backseat to sleep.
Almus is driving the one I will be in, giving Bruno some much-needed rest. Kiernan and I take a seat near the back, so we can lie down together. Kira has the backseat to herself. It feels good to be able to stretch out. I’m almost asleep when I hear Bruno start to speak. He tells us the plan.
“I have four other teams taking different routes. We’ll meet up in the next city. We should be there sometime tomorrow. I’ll have a full plan by then. The other three blasters will stay with us.”
I think I say ‘ok,’ but I can’t tell. I can’t keep my eyes open. Kiernan wraps me into his arms, and that’s all I remember.
I wake up to hear Kiernan talking to Kira.
“Why does Kelso act the way he does? It doesn’t make any sense,” she inquires.
“I can’t answer that. If I knew, then I could. He’s been weird this last year. He turns nineteen in two weeks. I know things happen before you change, but I can’t even trust him at all. It’s like he’s on autopilot. Everything you say to him, he repeats.”
“I’m glad I don’t like him like that. I couldn’t be with a guy like that. There is something off with him. Even when I first met him, he gave me bad vibes. You need to figure out what’s going on with him before he gets hurt or worse.”
“I have tried talking to him. He just turns in on himself and changes the subject. I know he goes out late⸻where, I don’t know. I don’t know if I want to know the truth, but then again, I need to know. I need to make sure we’re safe.”
“I understand. I don’t know what I would do if I were you. You’re a great guy. I’m glad she has you. She has been pining over you for so long. I’m happy to see her happy for once. Even with all of this going on. I still can’t believe all this time she has been a seer. It’s weird for me to think of her as a seer.”
I roll over to let them know that I’m awake. If what Kiernan is saying is true, Kelso might be working for the Elders too. We really need to get to the bottom of this and figure out who we can really trust. I hate to think about who else might be working for them. It just makes getting to the Black Ruins Forest that much harder.
“Do you think he’s working for the Elders?” I ask.
Kiernan is lost in thought. I don
’t know if he heard me or not. I look at Kira, and she just looks horrified.
“Why do you look like that, Kira?”
“I almost dated him! What if that was his plan all along to get to you? I wouldn’t have forgiven myself if it turns out that he does work for the Elders.”
I reach over the seat and hug her.
“I wouldn’t have forgiven you if you knew, but I know you well enough. You wouldn’t let anything happen to me, guy or no guy. I love you, chic, don’t think stupid things like that.”
She gives me a small smile. It’s going to take a while for her to realize that she wouldn’t have stayed with him. She can be very stubborn, just like me, but at least I will admit it⸻I know how stubborn I can be.
I’m starting to have a feeling that it won’t be easy to find the people we need to, either. I just hope they’re not another group trying to take control over us. I will fight to the death if that’s what they plan. We don’t need anyone controlling us or my visions. I touched the screen on my new DC and start doing research. I want to know what we’re up against. I know that the people living in the Black Ruins Forest are half-breeds like me and my mom. I’m just wondering if they can be found anywhere on record.
“Bruno, do you have any files on these people we’re supposed to meet?”
Bruno turns around and looks at me “No, I don’t. It’s like they never existed. I even went as far as looking at the high-ranking files that only a select few have access to.”
How is it that they’ve gone off the radar for so long? I understand why they did it. I would have hidden too. “How do you know about these people?”
“I was given a file a year ago. In the file was a note that said that there was a man who wanted to meet me. There was no name⸻just a place. When I got there, the man I met said his name was Asher. He told me to keep everything he told me to myself until it was time to take you to safety and meet Oceana, the seer everyone thought had lost her mind. She’ll be there when we arrive⸻I hope.”
We drive another few hours before we stop again. I’m so ready to get there. I’m so sick of riding. If I never get in another Blaster, it will be too soon. We pull over into a filling station. I’m basically pushing Kiernan out at this point. Not only do I have to use the bathroom, I need fresh air and a long walk. I’m so stiff that I swear I hear creaking in my bones.
The rest of the blasters show up and pull up to the pumps. I wait for mom’s blaster to stop and for her to get out. Once she does, I grab Kira and Mom pulling them into the store and the bathroom.
I turn to look at mom. “How is it riding with the other dragons?”
She shrugs her shoulder “Oh, you know, they’re the silent type. I mean, really, I think they’ve said four words since we left. So, I just slept most of the way.”
I wash my hands after using the bathroom and head out to get something to drink. I thought about what Mom said about them being the silent types. If we are going to be in this together the rest of the way we need to get to know each other. I know they all know Kiernan and Bruno, but they need to get to know us as well.
Kira grabs a few drinks next to me. “Do you think we’ll make it there in one piece? I mean, look at what’s happened so far.”
I grab a drink as well, they’ll have to deal with the selections we grabbed. Closing the cooler door, I turn to her.
“I really don’t know, but I can tell you one thing. I will fight to stay out of the Elders hands.”
After paying for the drinks, we walk back out to the guys. Everyone takes what they like. I wouldn’t know if they were unsatisfied with what I’ve chosen because none of them complain⸻or even talk at all, for that matter.
I put my hands on my hips. “Ok, let’s get one thing straight right now. You guys do not have to be all quiet. If you have something to say, even if it’s small-talk, do it. I hate people who don’t speak their minds or at least give some insight about all of this. We are in this together, we might as well get to know each other.”
They just stare at me like I’ve lost my mind. Almus opens his mouth to say something.
Spill it.”
“I’ve never met anyone as sassy as you, and that’s saying something, especially working for him.” He points at Bruno.
“Well, there’s more where that came from.”
I shake my head and walk away from all of them.
Kiernan comes up to me with that smile that always makes me weak in the knees. Then he pulls me into his arms. He gives me the most amazing kiss. I lose all track of what I’m thinking about, what we need to do, or where I am. I could have stayed there forever, but as always, it ends too soon. I groan in protest and he laughs.
He has the nerve to laugh at me. I push him away and walk back to the Blaster. I get in the back, sit down, and cross my arms. He looks into the blaster, still laughing. How dare he laugh at me? I stick my tongue out at him.
“I know where you can use that.” He winks at me.
I think my jaw just hit the seat. He is such a jerk sometimes.
“I know where you wish I would use it. You keep laughing at me, you will never know how that feels.”
The humor in his eyes leaves completely. A look of horror replaces it. This time, I laugh at him. He comes at me so fast, I don’t even see him until he’s on top of me.
“You think that’s funny, do you?”
I’m laughing so hard now, I can’t answer him. He takes that and starts tickling me. I’m laughing even harder, I can’t breathe.
“I give, I give. I can’t breathe.”
He’s staring at me with so much love, it almost hurts to look at him. I’m mesmerized by his eyes. Everything about him is almost perfect.
Everyone gets back in the blasters, and we drive to the local diner up the road. I can’t even tell you what town we’re in. I stopped caring two days ago. I just want to be there already.
All twelve of us get out and walk into the diner where everyone stares at us. I don’t blame them for staring. These guys are just a bunch of muscles, and they are intimidating. The other five dragons pull up just as we are walking in.
The hostess⸻or waitress, I’m not sure⸻comes up to us to inquire about the size of our party. When my mom says, “fifteen,” the waitress looks a little pale. I spot her elf ears through her blue hair. She is a petite little thing, just like most of the elves are. There’s lots of other shifters and non-shifters sitting around. I even spot a fairy. She’s sitting in the corner table teaching her little one how to flap her wings. They are so adorable at that age.
“I’ll see what we can do to seat you all together.”
We give her nods and wait until she gets back.
“I know I’ve asked already, but do you think we’ll be there soon?” Kira asks me.
I shrug my shoulders because I really can’t tell her. “I hope so, because I’m getting cranky being on the go all the time. I want to at least stay in one place more than twelve hours!” I remark. Yep, I’m definitely cranky.
The waitress comes back to us. “It will be a little while. We have to wait for tables to open up.”
“Do you know how long it will be before we’re seated?” I ask.
“About twenty minutes or so. I’m sorry. We’re not set up for a large group.”
I walk away before I go off on her. It’s not her fault at all. My mood has been getting on my own nerves the last two days. I hate not having control, it makes me lash out and right now is not the best time.
I walk over to the bay window and look out. I’m not really seeing anything. I’m just trying to get myself under control.
Kiernan walks over to me and stands next to me. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
“I’m just sick of all this already. We don’t know what’s waiting for us. We don’t even know if we’ll survive to get there. I hate having everyone I love in danger. I hate not being able to control what’s going on. To top it all off, we don’t even know what we’re getting into,” I say sharpl
y. I don’t mean to snap, it just came out. “I’m sorry for snapping. I didn’t mean it,” I apologize.
“Baby, it’s ok. We’re all stressed out. I know it doesn’t seem like we’re ever going to get there, but we need to keep faith that everything will work out. From what Bruno has said to me, we’ll be there soon. I know it’s taken us a while to get there, but we needed to make sure the coast was clear and there wasn’t an ambush. I’m sure if we drove straight there, we would be there by now,” he says, while pulling me into his arms.
I know he’s right. I just get this feeling that something bad is going to happen. I don’t know why I’m having this feeling. I just want to know the unknown.
The elf waitress comes back. “Your table is ready. Please follow me.”
We take our seats and order our drinks.
“What’s the plan from here?” I ask the question to anyone who has the answers.
No one looks at me, and no one answers.
“Am I talking to myself, or is anyone going to answer me?” I ask, rolling my eyes.
“We’ll talk about it later when there isn’t anyone who might overhear us,” Errol says.
I stare at all the dragons siting around the table. I only know the five that showed up when the goons were after us. I’ll have to ask the new ones what their names are. I don’t like not knowing the shifters around me.
I look over the menu to see if anything grabs my attention. I’m not feeling that excited about anything for some reason. For someone who loves to eat, to say that I’m not hungry is an indication that something is wrong. I think stress has gotten its claws into me too deeply.
Without warning, I’m tossed into a vision.
Everything is dark. I can barely make out what’s going on. All I can see is fire, smoke, and people running around. The darkness starts lifting then, and I can see more clearly. I look to the skies and see ten huge dragons flying around and setting fire to the ground. I recognize the people who are running ⸻they’re from back home. Almost the entire town is burning. I look to see who’s up there causing all this chaos, but I already know. It’s the Elders⸻at least some of them.
