Nobody was happy. And I mean nobody. When you cram eight teens into one house and have eight totally different and often clashing personalities, things get a little tense. Kendall was still livid with Flynn and he was being his typical sarcastic self. I had snapped at Cael this morning and had yelled at Flynn when he’d barged into my room to bug me about my training plans. A girl can only get dressed in her closet so many times before it gets annoying.
“Alright, team,” I began cheerfully. Cue seven death glares in my direction. “Today I am going to be the one training.”
“Oh, thank god,” Shayla said. “Sanity in charge.”
Flynn looked at her. Then his death glare went back to me. He’d told me multiple times that he thought my trust exercises were going to be pointless wastes of time. I’d actually been kept up until two in the morning as he and Cael tried to change my mind. There was no turning me back now.
“I have noticed over the past few days that we are not on the best of terms. In order to win, I think we need to be a team, one unit. So for today, and today only, Flynn’s orders…” I paused for the eye rolls from Kendall, Shay, and Monty, “we are going to build a solid foundation of trust.”
Maybe my gestures were a little too much. Cael bit back a laugh and Flynn looked like he was going to throw up. Everyone else just looked at me like I had to be kidding. “First off, is the traditional catching exercise.”
“That is so stupid,” Flynn said. “What is that going to do?”
I was in the middle of the circle and I knew Shayla was behind me. We practically read each other’s minds so I knew she was catching on to my plan. “It’s not stupid,” I said. “It’s going to do many things. Like prove I can trust Shay.”
I just fell backwards. I managed to time it perfectly so that Shay went to whisper something to Monty and totally missed what I was doing. So she totally didn’t catch me. Landing on my butt hurt a little, but mostly my pride was bruised. Everyone was outright laughing at me. I stood up and dusted off my butt. “After today, that will never happen again.” I sniffed righteously.
After about two hours of trust, even I had to admit it was making things worse. I finally gave up when Monty snapped at me and Campbell. I threw down what I’d been using as a blindfold and turned on my heel. “I am done. I’m just going to go turn myself over to the assassin. I could do a better job by myself anyway. Everyone is free to go.”
I was to the house before anyone even reacted. They were all probably stunned because, up until now, I’d been keeping my outlook pretty positive. I am always the cheerful one. “Cort,” Cael called after me. I stomped up the porch and slammed the door shut on my way in.
I retreated to my room. I slammed that door too for good measure. Of course it had no lock on it so I had to move my dresser in front of it to keep the idiots out. I knew that wouldn’t stop Flynn or Cael on a mission so I moved my night stand in front of it too. Then I flopped on my bed.
This was the first time in like a week that I’d allowed the tears to well up. Angry tears, hurt tears, tired tears. They just burned in my eyes, not daring to fall. I sniffled. This was so stupid. I wanted to be anywhere but here. I never had any alone time or time to relax and I really wanted my parents. Ugh. The first knocks sounded at my door. I ignored it, not making a sound.
I rolled over onto my stomach and stewed in my misery. That didn’t make me feel any better. Dang it. I rolled off of my bed. Monty and Shay just weren’t giving up on getting through that door. I sat on my floor and tilted my head back to look at my ceiling. It held no answers. I grimaced and rolled my head to look at my desk. The hideously long, smelly book resting on top of it held answers. I knew what I had to do.
I sat at my desk for a good amount of time, just reading and occasionally scribbling down something that could be important. It was a good thing I really wasn’t Queen because there was a lot to it.
I went to glance out my window, to daydream for a second and check that a rebel army wasn’t bearing down on us, and screamed. Cael was just looking at me, sitting on the roof outside of my window. “What the hell are you doing?” I asked, hand over my heart, trying to keep it from bursting.
“Could you just let me in?” he requested.
I stood and opened up my window, stepping out of the way as he swung in. He turned and shut the window after him. “Would you mind explaining why you were lurking outside of my window?” I demanded.
“I could not stand sitting down there for one more minute. And again, this room is my room, so I had nowhere else to go. Plus, I wanted to check on you, make sure you weren’t trying something stupid.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I’m not up to anything stupid, as you can see. Now, go back the way you came and deal with everyone else.”
Cael flopped back on my bed, hands crossed behind his head. “No thank you.”
“Cael…” I stopped because I realized I sounded like a whiny three year old. “Why won’t you people just leave me alone?”
Cael was in the middle of shrugging when my door flew open, knocking my dresser and night table to the side. I glared at Flynn. “Does anybody knock anymore?”
“We’ve been knocking for about an hour and that really hasn’t done anything. Once your little buddies were distracted by discussing ways to talk you out of your funk, I decided to take matters into my own hands.”
“The two of you just weren’t comfortable with all the talk of emotions and human interaction, were you?” I said sarcastically.
Cael made a face at me but said nothing. Flynn just told the truth. “I have never heard so much talk about anger and stress and blah blah, I don’t care, blah. You’ve got two options. You can sit in this room and they can sit down there and we can all wait for the rebels to come…”
“Or,” I prompted him.
“We can all go out on another field trip.”
I stared at him, one eye brow raised. The last field trip hadn’t gone well. I’d been locked in a barn and crushed and then I’d had to carry a very heavy person through some woods. On the other hand, some violence might improve my mood. I mentally cracked my knuckles. “Let’s get going then.”
Flynn smiled. Well it was more a tiny grin than a smile but for Flynn it was probably epic. “Tell everybody to take a nap because tonight…we’re going out.”
“Okay, honestly, how many cat burglar suits do you have?” Campbell asked me.
I looked down at my black jeans, my dark grey camisole, and my black jacket. Then there were my favorite black heels. “This isn’t a cat burglar suit.”
“What would you call it?”
“I’m going monster hunting and I need to blend in with the darkness…suit.”
We were all waiting in between some practically collapsing buildings while Flynn looked over my enchanted map. I rolled up my sleeves because it was a little warm out, even under the cover of darkness. “Okay,” Flynn folded up the map and stuck it in his pocket. “We’re going to be studying some of the team dynamics so we can figure out our strengths and weaknesses. This time I will not be the only one doing the studying. Down this alley, to our left, there is an Otherworldly. I want two people to go out there and show what they’ve got.”
Nobody wanted to be the first to volunteer in case this was a trick. I slapped Shay on the back. “Come on, twin. Let’s show them what we can do.”
The two of us walked down the alley, the rest of our group following a short distance behind. “Why would you volunteer us to go first?” Shay asked.
“Because we kick butt and this one is probably a small one.”
Boy was I wrong. Five minutes later Shay was on one side of this huge ostrich looking monster and I was on the other. This thing had huge trunk-like legs that had sharp talons. Its beak was equally sharp and it had rows of pointy teeth. It had knocked me with one of its wings and I’d almost had my shoulder pop out of place. It had
a long neck but its body topped out at twelve feet, another three or four added to that for its neck. I’d tried stabbing its legs but it really didn’t feel anything. And it was fast at jabbing at you with the razor sharp beak.
“Shayla, I have a plan,” I called, dodging the beak.
“What is this plan?”
“Remember that cheerleading move?”
“Yes?” She had no clue where I was going with this.
“Get ready for it.”
Then it hit her what I was going to do. She distracted the giant bird and I went to sneak around behind it. It sensed my movement and tried to kick at me. I hit the dirt and rolled the rest of the way.
Shayla had positioned herself at the necessary angle towards the bird and me and had her hands ready to give me a boost. I put my dagger back in the sheath because I really didn’t want to stab her if this went awry. I got a running start, jumped up, she caught the bottom of my feet, and gave the added boost to my momentum that I needed. I did a flip and ended up on its back.
Of course I was backwards but I turned in enough time, drawing my dagger as I went, to jab it in between the eyes with it as it was craning its neck to get me. I had so totally not meant to do that but it worked. Instantly it started flailing around and stumbling and spinning and I was hanging on. “Shayla!” I called.
She threw her dagger and got it right in the jugular. That just made the whole flailing thing messier. I knew I had to bail. The giant bird’s body just loosened and then started tipping. “Timber!” Shayla yelled, getting out of the way.
I meanwhile knelt on its back and did a perfect flip off, landing a split second after the body hit the ground. My cheer coach would have been proud that it was still engrained in me to throw my arms up in a V. I did manage to resist the urge to do a kick.
“That took about ten minutes longer than it should have,” Flynn said.
“I got to give them props on their creativity though,” Cael said. “And I give that flip a nine, nine point five.”
“A nine?” I protested. “Did you see that? It was perfect.”
A short time later it was my turn to go with Kendall. The group stared as I took a moment to stretch and pop my back and neck and get into the mindset. Fighting with Kendall was way different than fighting with Shay. Kendall was all business, there would be no laughing like I’d done with Shay at the big bird. Kendall also had the potential to make things more dangerous, because she’d just throw herself at the monster.
“Why do I always get the big ones?” I asked Kendall as we spotted our target.
Ash snickered. “That’s what she said.”
I absently slapped at him and hit someone. When I got hit back I realized I’d hit Flynn. My bad. “Get out there, ladies.”
“I have to assess the situation,” I turned to say to him. This thing was like a trailer sized bear. Only instead of being furry, it had spikes. That put a real damper on the close fighting. I’m sure it had some sharp claws and an unknown number of teeth.
“Well assess faster because your partner is already taking action.”
I turned. Kendall, a dark blur, was streaking across the open field. “Kendall,” I hissed, taking off into a sprint.
By the time I was in the danger zone Kendall already had it engaged and it had her backed up against a line of trees. She was slashing and being a great distraction. I’d used my sprint as my assessment time. The spikes were all over its sides and back, probably protecting it. We wouldn’t be able to do much damage. But its belly was probably the weak spot. If it wasn’t I was so going to get spiked.
Kendall did a really cool sideways flip away from the tree and the bear thing turned after her. Then it saw me and came running. I let out a quiet swear. I kept running full speed at it. Then I used the move that used to get me and Kendall in trouble during soccer because apparently slide tackling for the ball was illegal. I hit the ground with my hip and slid right under the Otherworldly, drawing my sword and pointing it up. Unfortunately stabbing the stomach put a real damper on my momentum and my slide suddenly turned into a somersault. But I was out from under the Otherworldly.
The Otherworldly collapsed and I looked around. “Kendall?”
She stepped out from the front of the Otherworldly. “Nice moves, Corty.”
“You know I hate when you call me that,” I said snappishly. “How did you get up there?”
“While it was running at you I grabbed onto a spike and pulled myself up. Then I might have gotten it in the back of the neck, which distracted it from grabbing you by your pretty hair as you slid underneath it.”
“Yeah, well, get my sword.”
“That was risky,” Monty was the first to speak as I approached the group.
“Cort.” I turned in time for Kendall to toss my sword at me. I flinched and hopped out of the way. That move had gotten me every single time in training and she knew it.
“And so was that,” I snapped at Kendall. “I don’t think Seekers can grow back appendages.”
“You two are by far the risk takers of the group,” Cael said. “I almost had a heart attack. When suddenly Cortland disappears and all you can see was that thing… and then Kendall.” He shot Kendall a disapproving look.
She shot him a look right back. “It worked didn’t it.”
“I think it’s scary that you all know each other so well that when someone has a stupid plan, you all know how to work with it,” Flynn said.
“Or are our plans so brilliant they’re stupid?” Shayla asked as Flynn pulled out the map.
Flynn stopped and thought it over. Then he shook his head and looked at her. “That doesn’t even make sense.”
“Maybe it’s you that doesn’t make sense.”
“Shayla, just stop while you think you’re ahead,” I said to her.
“Whose turn is it now?” Campbell asked. “It’s going to be light soon.”
Flynn had put us in the middle of Otherworldly Central. We’d really had no trouble finding new targets. I’d seen everybody in action and I was pretty impressed. Flynn was pretty much the wind and Campbell was nearly as good. Then there was Cael. Put him with anyone and he would do a great job. I know he would hate me for it but I would describe his movements as dancing, so graceful and smooth, each one leading to the next. I doubted I looked that good.
Flynn folded up the map. “All that’s left is the Seeker and her Guardian.”
“Point me towards my target,” I said.
Flynn turned around and pointed. “That field, over there.”
Cael and I split from the group and started walking, spaced out. “I can’t believe there has been this many Otherworldlies in one concentrated area,” I said.
“Well it is an area out in the middle of nowhere. Those buildings,” he pointed at the small clump of ramshackle buildings, “are the only things in sight. This is Otherworldly heaven because they have three towns within twenty miles that they can go get some munchies.”
“You are horrible,” I said. “Eating people is not getting munchies.”
“How would you know? Do you eat people?”
I sighed. Change of topic. “I don’t see anything.”
“If Flynn says it’s out here, the thing is out here.”
“Maybe he had the map upside down.”
But he didn’t. I learned that when I almost fell in a huge hole in the ground. I was literally in mid step when I looked down and saw that there was no next step. Luckily I have reflexes like a cat and I kicked my fairy senses into gear and I did a flip over this ten foot hole. “What the hell is that?” I asked, turning.
Cael was carefully circling around it. “I couldn’t tell you. But it is probably a good thing that you did not fall in that.”
Was he ever right. We continued walking, scouting for whatever was out here, but only made it about ten feet. I was maybe three feet in front of him and to the right whe
n suddenly the ground started rumbling at my feet. That was not good. I stopped in my tracks and this huge snake with like five heads explodes from the ground in front of me. One of the gaping mouths headed straight for me but Cael tackled me, arms wrapped around me as we rolled to the side.
The two of us jumped to our feet and turned. The thing was gone. “Holy shit,” I said. “What was that?”
“I have no idea. But next time the ground starts shaking maybe you should move out of the way.”
“I will keep that in mind the next time I think there’s a five headed snake after me,” I said, raising my voice. I shot a dirty look over my shoulder as I heard Campbell and Asher laugh at me. It’s good to know that it’s amusing when I get hysterical.
“I would be quiet,” Cael said. “It can probably hear us. And feel us walking.”
I lowered my voice to a whisper. “So are we just going to stand here all night and not talk?”
“Well I know that last part is fairly impossible for you so it looks like we need a plan.”
“I make a great distraction,” I advised.
“And how do you suggest I kill the thing?” Cael asked, raising his voice a little. It’s good to know I can push his buttons and make him lose his patience.
Our minor argument broke off when the ground under our feet started shaking and crumbling. Cael shoved me to the side and jumped the other way. The five headed snake popped out of the soil and stopped to survey us. Its black scales stuck out sharply, contrasting to the blood red eyes. “Devil snake,” I whispered, while I actually meant to just think it.
It heard me talk and all five heads whipped in my direction. I was in trouble. I quietly pulled my sword out of its sheath. One of the heads snapped at me and I slashed it across the nostril. It hissed and pulled back. Another one came at me and I slashed it too. All five of the heads hissed at me and sort of swayed, as if they were thinking something over. Then all five of them snapped to attention, turning their heads in another direction. Then in a flash they were back underground. I was wondering what they were up to when I heard Shayla laugh.
“Run,” I yelled at the group clustered at the end of the field. “Run!”
They all looked at me. I took off in a sprint across the field, bent on beating those things to my friends. Cael was after me like a shot. “Run!” I screamed at them. I had my fairy senses on and I could detect a slight tremor in the earth. I was guessing that was the Otherworldly. It had a lead on me and it was moving fast.
I saw Flynn kick on his senses and knew he saw the tremor too. “Scatter,” he yelled. As one my friends split, running in opposite directions. And not a second too soon. Where they had been clustered was suddenly a mass of snake heads.
Now we were all spread out in the field and the snakes disappeared again. We all froze. I had my gaze glued to the ground, trying to detect the Otherworldly moving. I heard a slight whisper. It was either dirt or… “Shayla!”
Shayla was jumping out of the way as the Otherworldly popped out of the soil right where she’d been standing. She lost her footing and fell. Before the Otherworldly could snap at her Flynn and I were standing in front of her. I had never put my sword away and Flynn’s was in his hand, like it was an extension of him. “Do you know how to kill this one?” I asked Flynn.
“Stab it a whole bunch of times.”
“Works for me.”
“Its heart is behind it eyes,” Shayla said as she pulled out her sword and stood next to me. “That’s the easiest way to kill it.”
“It’s eyes?” Flynn looked at her. “That’s a tiny target.”
“Its scales are too hard to pierce with a sword. Trust me, the best bet is to get one of them in the eye.”
“So I only have to kill one?” I said.
“Get one and they all die.”
“Everybody else hear that?” I yelled.
“Yeah.”
The Otherworldly hissed at me and one of the heads snapped at me. I took the opportunity to fall back and not get eaten and Flynn took the opportunity to try to stab it in the eye. He missed and the Otherworldly ripped its head out of reach, pulling the sword with it. “Nicely done, tonto,” I said.
The Otherworldly sank back into the ground and we all froze again. Flynn was looking around, golden eyes glowing. “Got a plan?” I whispered.
“I’m trying.”
“Well we can’t just stand here. It won’t come up if we’re not attracting it.”
Asher, fifteen feet away, snorted. “That’s what she said.” Even with golden eyes, his mind was still dirty.
I shook my head. I should have seen that one coming. “Would it be wrong just to make a run for it and let the Otherworldly live in peace?”
Flynn slapped the back of my head, Gibbs style. “Ouch,” I hissed at him. “No more NCIS for you.”
“Give me your sword,” he ordered.
“Why me?”
“You’re the distraction.”
“Why me?” I repeated.
Flynn grabbed my sword and motioned for me to start running. I took off in a dead sprint, trying to keep an eye out for the ground moving and to make sure I didn’t fall into a hole. I ran about thirty feet, heading for Kendall when the ground started crumbling in front of me. I turned on my heel and started running the other way. I heard the hissing behind me and then it disappeared.
This time I was heading for Cael or Monty. The ground started shaking right beneath my feet so I dodged left, heading for Campbell. The snake appeared out of a hole it had already made, scaring the crap out of me. I skidded to a stop and turned right, heading back for Cael. He was yelling at Flynn for using me as a distraction. We all had a brief heart attack when the snake abandoned its tunnel system and came completely above ground.
I let out a minor stream of cussing and ran faster. I was basically defenseless since I didn’t think a dagger would do much damage against the snake chasing after me. I made it to Cael and he reached out and grabbed me, pushing me behind him. “Flynn, I hope you’ve got a plan,” Cael yelled, sword out as the Otherworldly advanced on us.
“Everybody move in,” Flynn yelled. “Aim for the eye.”
“Do not die,” I said to Cael. “Unless you give me your sword first.”
“Thanks for your concern.”
The five-headed snake was right there, I could literally feel its breath on my face, and everyone else was still trying to get a good vantage point to kill the thing. One of the heads reared back and I knew it was going to strike at Cael. He wasn’t going to move because of me. He was going to be all noble and stupid.
The gaping snake jaw was heading right for me and Cael when suddenly it let out this hideous screeching noise and all five heads started swinging around crazily. One of them almost knocked into Cael and me but luckily it was more distracted by the sword sticking out of its eye. Another head swung by and that one had a sword sticking out too. I looked around and saw Flynn and Kendall a short distance away, both minus a sword. They had talent being able to throw those swords at the small eyes.
The Otherworldly crashed to the ground. I finally let my Fairy senses turn off, in time to glare at Flynn. “You made me bait!”
He ignored me. “Great work…team.”
After that field trip, things started going better. There was even some smiling and laughter. Training was no longer so regimented, it was more a ‘go out and work whenever and do whatever you want.’ Well, unless you were me. I got dragged out early every morning by Flynn so he could train me hardcore. I had to be ready for Blondie McHo Assassin. And after being embarrassed and outfought multiple times I started practicing on my own. Weights and running were involved. While Cael was always nearby, it was all my will power doing the work.
It was a sunny afternoon and we were all sitting outside, stretching and getting ready for some mock fighting. Our weapons, which were always close at hand, were la
id out on a table Flynn had pulled out of the barn. I was stretching my calves when I saw dust coming from the road. There was hardly any traffic on my road. And by hardly any I mean there is no traffic on my road.
We weren’t very worried because we were situated behind the house. I was laughing at something Asher had said to me when suddenly Kendall, who had been talking to Monty from a perch on the picnic table, suddenly struck a pose on the table. She stretched out on her side, head in her hand, smiling innocently. I looked at her questioningly as she nonchalantly slid a weapon farther behind her.
Flynn and Cael suddenly snapped to attention and I half turned. And immediately wanted a hole to appear beneath my feet. “Hey, baby.” Oh no, he didn’t.
I turned to give a death glare to my ex-boyfriend, who technically had never broken up with me. I’d just stopped answering his texts and calls and changed my Facebook status to single. I don’t think those signals were getting mixed. “What are you doing here, Burke?” I asked.
“I just needed to talk to you,” he said, looking pitifully at me. “I miss you, babe.”
“Don’t call me babe or baby,” I said coldly. “And leave.”
He stepped closer and I really wanted to take a step back but I didn’t want to seem weak. “I just want to talk about us.”
“Us?” I laughed. “There is no us. There’s a you…and your fiancée… and oh, yeah, your baby.”
“But I don’t love her. I love you.”
This time when he took a step forward I put my hand out to make him keep his distance. “Gee, I seem to remember you saying you loved me for about three years now and your sister tells me you’ve cheated on me for about… three years. I’m done being your naïve little home town sweetheart and I’m definitely not going to be a home wrecker.”
“Don’t be such a douche,” Shayla said. “Let it go and leave.” Ah, the best friend. Love her.
Burke shot her an evil look and then seemed to notice the four angry guys that were in their protective stances. Had I been a normal person I would have been frightened of Cael and Flynn who look totally tall, dark, and intimidating. Flynn stepped forward. “I believe she told you to leave.”
Burke looked coldly at me. “You’re going to regret this.”
I looked at him. “I already regret every moment I wasted with you.” BURN!
After Burke made his dramatic exit I turned back to face my friends. “Oh…my…god… that was horrible.”
“That was funny,” Shayla said. “He is such an idiot.”
“Speaking of idiot,” Monty looked at Kendall who was now sitting up. “What was up with your little ‘come hither’ pose?”
“That wasn’t a come hither pose,” Kendall said. “That was my ‘oh crap, I have weapons of mass destruction behind me,’ pose.”
“That was hilarious,” I said to her. “You almost gave it away with your flirty, innocent smile.”
“True that,” Campbell said. “And stretched out like that I’m surprised the idiot’s gaze wasn’t drawn to you.”
“Thank you,” Kendall said.
“Hey,” I pretended to be insulted.
“Not that you aren’t very pretty too,” Campbell was quick to correct his mistake.
“But you didn’t have the come hither smile,” Shayla said to me. “Your look was scary.”
“Was it?” I asked. “Because I think he was more intimidated by the guys than he was me.”
“Well, look at you,” Asher said. “You’re like a hundred pounds and short. No one is intimidated.”
“I was intimidated,” Shayla said comfortingly.
“Thank you,” I said to her. “And thank you,” I said to Flynn, giving him a one armed hug. “I don’t think he would have left without your threatening presence.”
“It’s no problem. That’s what I’m here for.” He smiled at me. Actually smiled. And I think he hugged me back. What? Was I growing on Flynn?
After our practice we all split to go about our individual days. First on my list was nap time. I stretched out on the couch since that was lass awkward than having Cael hang out in my room to protect me while I slept. At least this way he could watch TV. Or not.
“Why are we watching reruns of America’s Next Top Model?” I heard him ask.
“Because when I become a famous pop singer I’m going to need this knowledge,” Shayla answered.
“I bet you’ve seen this one at least three times.”
I kept my eyes closed but listened to the episode. I’d seen this one five times and it was hilarious. Shayla had probably watched it twice as many times. “No,” she lied.
It was silent for a few moments. Then Cael spoke up again. “Cort, I know you’re not asleep. Please do not make me sit through this torture.”
I sat up. “Don’t be such a baby.”
“I can feel my testosterone draining away.” He looked like he was in pain, watching the skinny wannabe models get their hair done.
“Trust me, you could stand to lose some of it,” Shayla said, stealing my blanket. I tried to snatch it back but she had an iron hold on it. This is why at sleep overs I needed a spare blanket hidden under my bed. It was that or wake up with all the blankets pulled to her side and frozen feet.
Cael ignored her. “Cort….”
I got to my feet. “Fine. What do you suggest we do?”
“I’ve got some suggestions,” Shayla muttered. I ignored what was sure to be a dirty comment from her.
“A run?”
I made a gagging noise. “No thank you.”
“Lifting?” I shook my head. “Can we just go out to the barn and I’ll practice and you sit there and look pretty?”
I beamed at him. “That’s what I do best.”
“Ha.” Before I followed Cael out of the living room I threw a pillow at Shay. Without even taking her gaze off the TV she knocked it out of the air.
Cael had gone out the front door and I followed. He was paused on the porch, and when I came out he protectively blocked me. “Do we know this person?”
I stood on my tiptoes to look over his shoulder. I groaned. “That would be Burke’s baby momma.”
“Whore.” That was how she greeted me.
Cael let out a breath and stepped out of the way. What a body guard. “You must be Belle,” I said. I’d heard enough about her before the store had nixed me. “Great to meet you too.”
“Stay away from Burke, you slut,” said the pregnant and unmarried chick. “He’s mine.”
“Burke came out here,” I informed her calmly. “I want nothing to do with him. Maybe you should talk to him about ceasing the calls and texts.”
“You’re the one that calls him,” she accused me. This girl was pretty. Blonde, slim, brown eyes. Shallow. She and Burke would make a great couple. I frankly didn’t see why she was intimidated by me. Self-esteem is a wonderful thing.
“Trust me, I don’t.”
Her gaze flickered to Cael, who was standing out of the hair pulling zone. “Who’s he?”
“That’s-“
“I’m Cael,” he stepped forward and put his arm around me. He pulled me in and nuzzled my hair. I was slightly uncomfortable. “We’ve been dating for a while but she didn’t want to make it official until she could tell Burke face to face that it was over.” He pulled me closer.
I smiled at her and her stunned expression. And there came the apologetic. “I’m sorry. Enjoy your life.” Then she was off of my porch and pulling her car out of my driveway.
I was frozen for a second. Cael slowly detached himself from me and moved to stand in front of me. “Are you okay?” he asked. He tilted my chin upwards with his hand. “Cort?”
“I’m just peachy,” I said dryly. “I want my normal life back.”
Cael bounded down the steps. “You were never normal.”
“Yes, I was. I had Barbie dolls and I liked pink things
and I could wear dresses and ribbons. I had a brother and self-defense wasn’t necessary. And the only monsters I knew about were the imaginary ones hiding under my bed.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a downer?” Cael held open the barn door.
“Says the one who wants car rides to be completely silent.”
Cael made a face at me and headed for the weight lifting section of the barn. I knew I wasn’t going to participate in that so I headed for the little area my dad had used to separate us when he was quizzing us over moves. It was about fifteen by ten and had a little cot that I was planning on finally getting to nap on. I made a face when the stereo in the lifting area started blasting out angry rock music. There was a stereo in here. The radio never got signal in here so I just turned it to CD.
I sat on the edge of the cot and laughed at the song that started playing. Apparently nobody had used this in a long time because it was a mixed CD that Monty had brought in that was all Britney Spears. We used to sit in here and dance along to it instead of being bored.
I smiled, thinking back to those days before we’d been totally aware that we were girls and we were pretty. Now we had much better dance moves. Especially after dance team and cheerleading. The smile faded away. I couldn’t remember the last time that I’d just danced like an idiot and had fun with it.
Toxic came on and I turned it up. I loved this song. We’d done a routine to this in dance team. I bet I remembered it. I bet if I didn’t I could make it up. I peeked around the corner of the wall. Cael was involved in weight lifting. I was safe to make a fool of myself. I started the song over and turned it up a little more.
I had so much fun spinning around and dancing and making goofy, over the top facials that when the next song came on I continued to dance. I even sang along to it. It felt so good to be a regular teen. I was rocking out to “Slave for U,” when suddenly I was being pressed into the wall. My mind immediately jumped to assassin so I started to struggle and then I was being kissed like nobody’s business. Not killer. My mind went a little numb and the rest of me melted.
The lips broke away and I was able to focus on Cael. “What the hell?” I asked.
“It should be illegal to dance like that.” He went back in for another kiss. So sue me, I didn’t try to stop him.
He broke off to breathe. “This is bad. We should not be doing this.” There. I did my part to put a stop to this madness.
“Then stop me.” Oh man.
An unknown amount of time later I woke up, Cael’s arms wrapped around me. His head was nestled in the crook of my shoulder. Oh my god. What did I just do?
I tried to loosen his grip so I could avoid the embarrassing situation ahead of me and make a run for the hills. I could change my name and dye my hair and nobody would ever find me. This was all a product of the stress. I was feeling lonely and… shit. He’d tightened his grip. The only way this could get worse… well, this couldn’t get worse.
I moved a little and Cael opened his eyes. Here comes the awkward. He kissed my collarbone and I almost forgot that this was BAD. All capital letters, that’s how bad this was. To remind myself and him I said, “That was bad.”
He sat up, releasing me. “I beg to differ.”
I grabbed my clothes off the floor. “You know what I mean, Cael. That was not smart.”
I was torn between being modest and getting dressed as fast as possible. Either way, I was dressed within seconds and heading for the door. Clean get away.
Or not. I was halfway across the yard when he caught up to me, still pulling on his shirt. “Cortland, talk to me.”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” I said, not slowing down. “We never speak of that. Ever.”
“Cortland,” Cael grabbed my forearm and pulled me around to face him. “Please.”
“Cael, you and I are two totally different people. That was such a huge mistake. I’m not the type of girl who does… that,” I gestured back at the barn. “I barely know you.”
“You know me pretty well now,” he grinned at me.
“Oh my god,” I hissed at him. “We just… and you’re cracking jokes.” I turned on my heel and headed for the house. Cael followed me. I looked at him from the corner of my eye. “Comb your hair,” I hissed, as I opened the door.
Now if I could just make it to my room and my shower and I could wash away all memories of this. And not get caught by any of my friends. I bumped into Campbell as he came out of the kitchen. “Whoa Cortland, where’s the fire?”
“Nowhere, no fire,” I said nervously. “Just need a shower after training.” Or something.
“Ok.” Campbell looked over my shoulder at Cael. “Dude, you need to shower too.”
“Thanks.” Cael was biting his lip. I’m glad someone found this situation funny. I shot him a venomous look over my shoulder and ran up the stairs.
I took the fastest shower of my life and then realized I’d been in such a hurry that I hadn’t grabbed clean clothes. Cue sigh. Well there was nothing else to do than step out in that hallway and hope that Cael was nowhere around.
I quietly opened the door and poked my head around. All appeared to be clear. I stepped out delicately and turned for my room. Four steps and we were home free. Or Cael could be sitting in my room, studying Whisper books. He heard me and turned. His lips twitched but he did not smile, probably knowing that I would kill him on the spot. He brushed past me, unnecessarily I might add, and headed for the shower. “Nice hair.”
I snarled at his back and shut my bedroom door. With a wave of my hand I moved my dresser in front of it. I opened my closet and reached for the baggiest pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt that I own. I got dressed and then caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My eyes looked so big and so, I don’t know, frightened. My eyes hadn’t looked that big since I’d been cornered by an Otherworldly when I was ten and Kendall had managed to save me. I hadn’t combed my hair after my shower so the curls were crazy and parted to the side. It actually looked cute but I knew it would never hold. My hair, like my life, was uncontrollable.
I moved my dresser and stepped in the hall. I tiptoed past the bathroom and ran down the stairs. Monty looked at me from the kitchen. She was fixing herself lunch, probably consisting of fresh fruit and veggies and yogurt. I could never live off of that. “Nice outfit,” she said.
My comeback was cut off when Kendall called out from the living room. “Guys.”
Apparently that was my summons. I stepped into the living room. She was sitting straight up in the recliner, all of her attention on the television. It was no longer America’s Next Top Model, which explained why Shayla was nowhere to be found. “What’s up, Kendall?”
“There’s been another attack at that mall. Something is attacking girls or women as they come out and beats the crap out of them for no apparent reason. The police are blaming some sort of vampire cult because the women all wake up with these punctures on their wrist.”
“That does sound suspicious,” I said. “I’ll go check on it.”
“You shouldn’t go alone,” Monty stepped into the hall to call after me.
“I won’t. I’ll get Shay and we’ll take care of it. I need to change. I do have an image to uphold.”
“Cael is going to be pissed.”
“Cael can get over it,” I mumbled. “Where’s Flynn?” He would probably sense that I was going to leave without my Guardian and be all over me like white on rice.
“He said he had something to do and took a car and left. I don’t know where Campbell is.”
“Then Shay and I will be gone before they can stop us. We’ll be fine. Just distract them for as long as possible.”
I got dressed in record time and met Shayla at her car. “Finally,” she said as we pulled out of the driveway. “It is about time we got some quality twin time.”
“A breather from t
he rest of the group,” I agreed. “One more day and I think I would go crazy.”
“Flynn doesn’t let us go Otherworldly hunting nearly enough to burn off excess rage. Sometimes I want to just pummel things.”
“Hence the off the record field trip,” I smiled.
Within an hour Shayla was pulling into the mall parking lot. I directed her where to go based off of the scenery behind the reporter informing the citizens of the area of the latest attack. She turned off the car and we both turned on our fairy senses. I scanned the area for dust. There were faint shimmers all over the place but nothing dark enough to advertise that it was nearby.
“Maybe it isn’t around because there’s no bait,” Shayla suggested.
“Could be.” I was thinking she was going somewhere with this.
“But it won’t fall for it unless we look like normal girls out on a shopping spree.”
I could totally see where this was going. “Probably not.”
“So we should just go in and get some necessities and come out and see what creature pops out at us.”
“I like the way you think, twin,” I beamed at her. Shopping was just the thing I needed to get my mind off the Cael situation.
We both got out of the car and headed for the mall entrance.
“You’re looking good,” Shayla said, looking at my outfit. I had on my favorite steel grey ruffled skirt, a wine colored off the shoulder top, and my dark grey tights that diamond patterns in it. Then came my black boots that came up to my knees and gave me three inches.
I smiled at her. “Thanks twin. You’re looking fabulous too.” She was wearing a green tank and a lavender lacey see-through tank over it, layered over her black skinny jeans. She was wearing her black boots too but her heel size was more sensible than mine.
We browsed through a few stores but my heart wasn’t in it. I was almost out of hair product and that would be a disaster so that was all I bought. Shayla loves to shop so I just followed her around and browsed, giving my opinion when Shayla asked for it. We stopped to get a smoothie before going Otherworldly hunting and she asked me outright, “What’s wrong?”
I slurped innocently on my strawberry smoothie. “What do you mean?”
“You’re acting differently. Like there’s something on your mind that you’re dying to talk about but you don’t want to talk about because then it’s out there and you can’t take it back.”
I sighed. Yeah, there was already no way that this whole Cael situation could be taken back. And Shayla was my best friend. If I couldn’t tell her, I couldn’t tell anyone. I really needed some input on how to handle this situation. “Um… I really don’t know how to tell you this,” I said, truly drawing a blank on how to tell my best friend I’d just made a huge mistake.
“Just start from the beginning,” she suggested.
“Ok.” The beginning. Ok. I could do that. “So when Cael and I went out to the barn, well first Burke’s fiancée like attacked me, and she didn’t believe that I’m over that d-bag so Cael stepped in and put his arm around me and said that we were dating…”
“Noble of him,” Shayla commented, sipping at her smoothie.
“It was slightly weird because Cael isn’t a touchy feely guy and then we went out to the barn and he turned on his horrible music and I went back to our little break room to try to nap but I turned on the CD player first.”
“What music was in it?” Shayla asked. “We haven’t used that in like forever.”
“It was that Britney Spears mixed CD,” I smiled. “But that one that we danced to for drill team came on and I just had to get up and dance because I haven’t done anything carefree like that in forever and so I was dancing…”
“Oh no, Cael saw you. Did he make fun of you?”
“Um, not exactly. You know, this is just too embarrassing. We are taking too much time here. We should go get our job done and get back before Flynn and Cael come hunting for us.”
We figured our odds would be better to attract the Otherworldly if we walked out separately. She walked out first and made it to the car, then called me. “Nothing.”
“Do you sense anything?” I asked, heading for the exit, my bag in hand. And I’d borrowed one from Shay so we’d be balanced.
“There’s something out there, and it got close but I didn’t spot it.”
“Well, maybe I’ll have better luck.” And I did.
Apparently the Otherworldly liked its odds better with me. Maybe I looked less likely to fight back or get away with my too high heels. Whatever its reasoning, I was halfway to the car, just out of sight of the mall doors, when I was tackled by something. I literally had not seen it coming. This Otherworldly was like a giant bat without wings. It reminded me of that creature from Jeepers Creepers. But it was only three feet tall so it was hard to take seriously. It squealed at me and tried to bite my wrist. I knocked it off of me and then it scuttled off between the cars.
I looked around and didn’t see it so I decided to get out of the cars and went in the middle of the drive. I kept turning in circles, trying to catch a glimpse of it. It might be a dwarf Otherworldly but it could still do some damage.
Then there was a gunning car engine, a squeal, a thump, and then Shay was looking was looking at me from her rolled down window. I spun around and saw Shay’s car idling behind me. “Problem solved.”
I smiled and went to go get in the passenger side. “Nicely done.”
She got onto the main street that would lead us to the interstate when her car made a funny noise. “What was that?”
“Maybe I broke something when I ran over that stupid thing,” Shayla said, slowing down a little.
I leaned over to look at her dash. “Your engine is overheating.” The little arrow was in the red, DANGER zone.
“How do I get it to un-overheat?” she asked.
I snorted. “I don’t know. Maybe turn off the air and the radio.” That was the extent of my car knowledge. And it was probably wrong.
“Nothing happened.”
“Maybe we should just pull over and let your car relax in the shade.”
“Fine. There’s a gas station over there.” She signaled and turned into the gas station’s parking lot. This was in the growing part of the town, surrounded by construction zones and houses and stores being built. Today was the hottest day of the summer so far and I was dying without the air conditioning. “How hot do you think it is?” I asked Shayla as sweat dripped down my neck.
“Ninety five. Probably more. We’d probably be better off if we weren’t wearing black.” She leaned her head against her window. “What do we do?”
“I don’t know. When I have car problems I call my dad. I don’t even know how to get ahold of them and I don’t want to endanger them,” I said. Tears welled up in my eyes. “I really miss my parents.”
“Me too.”
“Shay, I’m really sorry that I dragged you guys into this,” I said, leaning my head against the window to get some fresh air on my face. “I just panicked. I trust you guys and I knew I wouldn’t get a dagger in the back if you guys were on my side.”
“We don’t blame you. I would have done the same thing. And you’re handling these things very well. It’s only been like three weeks.”
“Yeah. Is the little arrow going down at all?”
Shayla glanced at her dash. “No.” Then she sat up straight in her car. “I just had an idea.” She started her car. It took a couple of tries but the engine caught and she backed out of her spot.
“What are you doing? We are not going to make it on the interstate.”
“I’m not going on the interstate. I’m going to the car wash. Think about it. Cool water, splashing all over my car. Genius.”
“Sounds like a plan to me.” Like I said, I know nothing about cars.
This car wash, which was attached to the gas station, was fancy enough that it h
ad its own attendant. “What can I get you ladies?” he asked.
“We just want the basic car wash,” Shayla said.
“Well, there’s the premium package that’s twelve dollars where it waxes your car at the end or the basic package where it just washes it.”
“How much is that one?” Shayla asked.
“Six dollars.”
“I want that one.” She handed him six dollars. He motioned for her to go forward.
Shayla steered the car into the little tunnel and we rolled our windows up. Then we sat there while the water splashed all over her car. “Is it cooling off?” I asked.
“A little. Yes. Ha. I am so smart.” The little green light was the signal that she needed to pull her car forward. Soap was squirted on her car and then the giant mop things swirled it around. The car continued to edge forward and the needle continued to go down, a centimeter at a time. It was excruciating.
There was more water to rinse the soap off and then we entered the car drying portion of the car wash. The one in our small town had what we call an air dryer, where you drive around and it dries naturally. This newfangled one had what looked like giant hair dryers blasting at her car. “No,” Shayla practically shrieked. “This is the opposite of what I wanted! How did they do this? This is horrible.”
I was laughing hysterically as she flipped out about the needle starting to go back up. “Why would you do this?” she demanded, hitting her steering wheel. “How long are you going to last, stupid car dryers? Make it stop!”
She wasn’t paying attention to me and my secret was just weighing on my soul. I just needed to say it out loud. Suddenly I was blurting out, “Shayla, I slept with Cael.”
“What?” Suddenly the car dryers weren’t that important anymore. “When? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It just happened today. I’m telling you now. I don’t know what to do or how to act or… I feel so stupid.” I settled against the car seat.
“Why do you feel stupid? This was bound to happen with eight teenagers in one vicinity. But you are so lucky that he is gorgeous or I would totally slap you right now.”
I had nothing to do but laugh. “Thanks, Shay.”
“It’s what I’m here for. That boy has been eyeing you since the day he got here. I’m surprised he hasn’t made a move long before this.”
I thought it over. There was that knee squeezing incident. And rushing to help me. He had healed me. He quizzed me over Fairy stuff. He teased me. He beat up on me in training but he was nice about it. “I think that since I barely qualify as female I might have missed the other, not so obvious, signs.”
“It’s not because you’re not girly, it’s because you don’t pay attention to the right things. You get in the zone and you don’t notice people looking at you because you’re gorgeous. That’s why I always go shopping with you to point out when guys check you out. And, trust me, Cael has been checking you out.”
“I guess it’s a bit of a relief that it wasn’t just some spur of the moment thing that got out of control,” I mused.
“Well, we know he wasn’t turned on by your dancing,” Shay said, finally pulling the car out of the hot zone. “And we are officially back to where we started. We need someone with knowledge.”
“I’m dialing the house right now,” I said, pulling out my phone. Maybe Asher or Cam would answer the phone. They would be nice. No such luck.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Cael,” I said, trying not to sound disappointed. “It’s Cortland.”
“Where are the two of you? Are you ok? What-?”
“We’re fine. The car isn’t. It’s overheating and Shayla and I have no idea what’s wrong. We’re at some gas station on the eastern part of downtown, the one next to the new neighborhoods.”
“There’s a bunch of gas stations down there. Can you be more specific?”
I looked around but didn’t see any street signs. “It’s got a car wash thing attached to it and there’s a big yellow guy in a raincoat spinning around.”
“All right. I know right where you are. Don’t move.”
“Our car is broken. We ain’t moving.”
“Let me rephrase, stay out of trouble.” He handed the phone off to someone.
I figured out it was Monty when she said, “You shouldn’t have gone without permission.”
“Bite me.”
“He has been freaking out all afternoon. Pacing has been involved. He almost called Flynn but he didn’t want to get the two of you into trouble.”
“I’m the queen. I do what I want,” I said, slouching defiantly in my seat.
“Yeah, you keep believing that. I don’t know why he handed the phone to me and I’ve said all I want to, so I’m going to hang up on you now.”
“Okay. Have fun.” In your air-conditioned, comfortable house. While I sit in the heat of the car.
“Maybe the guy running the counter will have some knowledge,” Shayla said. “And I could really use a drink.”
I could use a bathtub full of ice but I’d settle for a cold drink. “Well, odds are he knows more than we do.”
“Odds are it’s cool in there.”
“Sold.”
Shayla and I went inside and browsed through the small car care section. My game plan was just to look over everything and nod my head. All while looking thoughtful and serious, of course. “Do you have any idea what we need?” Shayla asked me.
“Nope,” I said, continuing the head nodding. “I think I’ve put that type of oil in my car.” I pointed at one.
“Good enough for me.” Shayla grabbed it off the shelf. “Does that make a car overheat?”
“Can I help you?” the guy at the register asked.
“Oh, thank god,” Shayla turned to him gratefully. “My car is broken.”
“Define broken.”
“The engine overheat arrow is all the way to the top and it’s hard to start,” Shayla said.
“Ok, it probably needs coolant,” he handed her another plastic container. “Can I get you anything else?”
“Point us to the cool drinks.”
Five minutes later Shayla and I were back out at the car. “My goal is to get the car fixed before Cael gets here so I don’t have to see him,” I said to Shayla as I read the back of the bottle.
“Do you want to move to like Canada and dye our hair and change our names? I think you’d look good with black hair. Could I pull off being a blonde?”
I laughed. “That was my first idea too. We really are twins.”
“Heck yes. But nobody could handle us as sisters so we had to be split.”
I handed the bottle to her and took a sip of my jumbo pop. “There is really nothing of use on that. It says to pour in the proper spot.”
“Where’s the proper spot?” We had her hood popped open so it was easy to look at.
“Well, it looks like it could be that little symbol… Or that one… Maybe that one.” I looked at Shay mournfully. “I really have no idea.”
“Are you girls having car troubles?”
Shayla and I looked at our wannabe helper with mild disdain. Was his first clue our clueless looks or the hood propped up? But I was nice because maybe he wasn’t a creeper trying to lure us to his kidnapper van, maybe he was honestly trying to help. “No, we’ve got it under control. My boyfriend… Killer is on his way to get us.”
“He just got out of jail today, so we really lucked out,” Shay said solemnly beside me.
The guy thankfully walked off. “Was I too obvious?” I asked, turning back to the engine.
“No, I thought Killer was a good touch.”
“So was his just getting released from jail,” I said, hip checking her lightly. “Nicely done.”
“Why thank you.” I straightened and took a step away from the car because I knew that voice and it was not Shay’s. “I just couldn’t believe my luck when yo
u two left your car defenseless in that parking lot while you shopped.”
I turned and tilted my head. “Hey, buddy. Fancy meeting you here.”
“I’m actually impressed that your car made it this far. Although I didn’t get the point of the car wash.” The blonde skank assassin looked mildly confused. She shook it off and focused on her deadly rage. “But now I’ve got you and we’re taking you back to Whisper.”
“We?” Shayla was inching away from me and the car. I knew she was going to head for cover and she was going to run away from the normal people who would get hurt.
Blondie shrugged. “I don’t know where they might be waiting. I do know that a couple of my little helpers are watching the farm so when whoever is on their way to help you leaves, we take them all out.”
She’s bluffing, I told myself. She’s bluffing and she wants you to worry about your friends so she gets you distracted and then she’s going to get you and everyone is screwed. “Well, that’s just unfortunate,” I said, playing with the bottle in my hands. What are the odds that I could get this stuff in her eyes?
“What is?” she asked.
I threw the lid to the side and squirted the liquid at her face. “Shay, run!” I threw the container at Blondie’s face for good measure and then took off running.
I followed Shay but at a distance so that I could split off if necessary to help her. We ran for the development and wound around through the houses and basements and whatnots, just trying to get our dust trail confused in other things.
I grabbed her arm and pulled her behind a pile of bricks. I was out of breath and sweat was streaming down my face. “Ok, so this is not good.”
“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Shay snapped at me quietly.
“I’m going to ignore that since I know you hate running. We need a plan… We need a cell phone. I need to warn everyone else.”
I eagerly reached for my pocket and then it turned frantic. I closed my eyes. “So my cell phone fell out of my pocket, most likely in your car.”
I looked at Shay expectantly. “Don’t look at me. Remember when I sat my phone on top of the car so I wouldn’t drop it?” I nodded. “It’s still there.”
“Dammit.” I looked around. “We need a better hiding spot.”
“Cort, she’s a freaking Seeker assassin. She can track us no matter where we hide. We need to keep moving, under cover, and hope she doesn’t have her dart gun. We just need to stall until Cael and whoever else he was bringing get here.”
I mused that over. It wasn’t a plan but it was like the framework of a plan. And it was all we had. “Let’s lead her away from the gas station. Which direction is Cael going to be coming from?” I was so directionally challenged it wasn’t even funny.
Shayla looked around. She pointed. “Okay,” I said. “We need to keep an eye on that direction. It shouldn’t be much longer before he gets here.” I kicked on my Fairy senses and saw Shayla do the same beside me. I was glad that it was her with me. We knew each other so well we could practically read one another’s mind. Plus her humor might come in handy if we got taken captive.
I nodded for her to move past the pile of bricks, heading for the basement foundation of a house. We weren’t crawling because that would be horribly embarrassing if the assassin saw so we were bent over, pretty much running. It was so not natural and I could feel my spine protesting. We continued to wind our way through the unfinished buildings and stacked up materials, always keeping an eye out for Blondie and any familiar car.
Shayla was leading the way and my senses were warning me that something was up. Shayla stopped suddenly to point at the red car that was racing in this direction-great, he stole my car-when a dagger was suddenly where Shayla’s leg would have been had we not stopped. I grabbed Shay and knocked her behind me, pushing her in the direction that would lead her to the car. I ran in the opposite direction.
I risked a glance behind me and saw that Blondie was going to pursue me but some big dude was going to go after Shay. Shayla would have the advantage if she got a head start, being tiny and swift, able to wind through the smaller spaces. I just needed to get her that advantage. I pulled myself up onto a pile of lumber and ran along the top, heading for the assassin’s assistant. He sort of sensed me before I threw myself at him, but I knocked him to the ground anyway.
I scrambled to my feet, trying to get away before he caught me, but he grabbed my ankle. I kicked him in the face and ran right into Blondie as I rose to my feet. I just threw a punch at her, catching her off guard.
I turned in time to get kicked in the ribs by the big guy. Holy hell that hurt. I bent over and then straightened, aiming for a kick of my own. He caught my by the ankle and tossed me. My already bruised ribs hit a support beam and I slid down. But hey, I was out of their reach.
I got to my feet and started to run. It was more of a limping run but I could make do with it. The big guy was moving in my direction but Blondie was yelling at him to go get Shayla. Shayla was already halfway to the car. She was good.
I continued to wind through the houses, Blondie in hot pursuit. I knew that I was hurt and badly. My ankle that he’d caught me by was dislocated if not sprained. And my ribs… They hurt. It hurt to breathe, it hurt to move. I knew I couldn’t fight her. I headed for an open spot and then circled so that I was between her and the car. I knew Cael and Shay would take care of the big guy so I didn’t have to worry about him.
Finally there was enough distance between me and Blondie, since I’d ducked out of sight and she’d lost track of me there for a minute, so I stopped and waved my hands at the ground in front of me. A huge gorge split the earth between us, enough so that she couldn’t jump across and get me. And if she tried, it was super deep so she wouldn’t make it out. I stopped to catch my breath and sort of smile triumphantly, a hand to my side.
“I guess this means that I can’t catch you,” she called across.
“What?” I called back. “I can’t hear you.”
She smiled, coldly. She so badly wanted to kill me. “Hear this. You and your little friends and your brother are going down. Every single one of you. I will kill all of them first and then I will kill you.”
“Well, once you find my brother, let me know where he is because the Whisper goons hid him quite nicely,” I called back.
“He’s right behind you.”
And I fell for it. But honestly, she couldn’t reach me. And there was a person running in my direction. But it was Flynn. Flynn? I turned around to look at her in my confused, ‘Seriously?’ manner and she smirked. “I may not be able to reach you, but I don’t have to touch you to get rid of you.” Then she dragged her hands towards her.
A gust of wind hit me and I toppled into the gorge of my own creation. I caught the edge and cried out at the pain in my ribs from stretching so far. The edges crumbled but thank goodness for tree branches in the soil. This one was lodged far enough back that it would hold my weight. I tried to pull myself up but the tree branch started to dislodge a little. Not good. I swung my legs up but I couldn’t hook them on the edge. I just needed to wait it out.
The tree branch then started to get even looser so I frantically grabbed at something else so my entire weight wouldn’t be on one thing. I dislodged a few rocks and a few more branches before my hand finally found a hold. By now Blondie was yelling taunts at Flynn. “You really should do a better job of protecting your sister.”
Flynn yelled back some profanity and physically impossible suggestions. I focused on hanging on. My ribs hurt so badly. I couldn’t hang on any longer. Literally. The branch was really dislodging itself and I could see it coming out of the soil. I was so going to fall.
And just when all hope was gone, hands were reaching for me. I let out a grateful sob and reached up with one hand. Being dragged up was torture but at least I wasn’t plummeting to my death. I was farther down than
my rescuer had thought so I had to help propel myself up. Then there were two pairs of hands pulling me up. I was pulled over the edge, back onto solid ground. I was out of breath, in pain, and I’d just been handed the answer to one of the biggest mysteries in my life. Now that she’d said it, I could see that Flynn was my brother. There were little snippets of Mom and Dad in his mannerisms and his eyes were the same color as mine. There were streaks of red in his hair, just not as defined as mine.
“Corty, are you okay?” Flynn asked.
He had me wrapped in his arms and he sounded so concerned and I was so pissed that I just shoved him away. “Get away from me.” Corty. I should have known. Ethan had been the only one to call me that. And he’d been the one to tell Cael about the headlights and taillights being diamonds and rubies. It all made sense.
Cael tried to help me to my feet and I made a snarling face at him. I was in a rage now. Blondie was gone and that reminded me. “Who’s at home?” I asked Cael, jog/limping for the car.
“Ash, Cam, Kendall, and Monty. I didn’t bring back up because I thought I was taking care of a car, not an assassin.”
“Who’s helping Shay with the Guardian on steroids?” I asked, a hand to my ribs to maybe keep it from splintering outward.
“I hadn’t even gotten out of my car before she was nailing the guy in the face with a board. He was out. She was getting all of your stuff out of her busted car and into your working one.”
“Why were you and Shay off by yourself?” Flynn demanded, right at my side. If I hadn’t been focused on holding myself together, literally and figuratively, I would have been hitting him in the face. “I thought I told you not to leave her alone, Cael.”
“Shay and I were doing our jobs,” I snapped at him before Cael could say anything. “We snuck out while he was showering. Where were you? You don’t see anybody delving into your secret missions so stick your nose elsewhere.”
My heart stopped beating so rapidly when I was close enough to the cars to see that Shayla was okay. She wasn’t even scuffed. “You,” I pointed at Flynn. “Get to the house, right now.” He opened his mouth, thought better of whatever he was going to say, and turned to head for a car across the parking lot. There were several people staring at us, a few on phones. I glanced at the unconscious Guardian next to Shay’s car. Good thing we put fake plates on before every mission.
Cael tossed the keys to Shayla. “You need to drive. I have to heal her.”
I knocked his hands away from me. “Don’t touch me.” I opened the back door and practically fell into the seat.
Cael got into the passenger seat and turned to look at me. “I need to heal you.”
I gritted my teeth and smiled at him. “I can heal on my own.”
Shayla looked at me in the rearview mirror. “Cort, you’re obviously in pain.”
“Maybe if everyone would get off of my back about it I would be able to heal,” I said, sarcasm practically dripping from my words.
“Be rational,” Shayla said to me.
“Be rational?” I repeated, trying not to sound hysterical. “I just found out that Flynn is my brother and Cael knew the entire time. They lied to me. They lied to you. I just spent an hour in the ninety degree heat and ran through a construction site and fell into a hole. Then I can’t even save myself, I have to get rescued by the liars. So excuse me if I want to do one thing for myself.”
Shayla looked at Cael, a venomous gleam in her eye. “You didn’t tell her that Flynn was her brother?”
“He made me swear not to. He’s protecting her.”
“And he’s doing a bang up job,” Shay said sarcastically. “Maybe next time you idiots should think of the eight year old girl who got her older brother taken away from her and how she would spend the next ten years of her life trying to figure out a way to find him. Maybe, the next time you sleep with a girl, you should tell her that you’re keeping secrets.”
Cael turned to glare at me. I would have laughed if my rib didn’t hurt so badly. While he’d been focused on Shay, who may or may not have wanted to rip his lungs out through his nose, I’d pulled up my shirt to check the damage. It was already bruised but that meant the healing process was about to begin. “She’s my best friend,” I said to him. “I can’t not tell her things.”
“Girls make no sense.” He turned to face the front.
Shayla glanced at me over her shoulder. “Listen, Cort, I know you are super angry at him right now but if we’re going to save the team we all need to be at a hundred and ten percent. Just let him heal you and then later we can beat them both with socks filled with oranges.”
I smiled at her. Then I punched Cael in the arm. “Heal me.”
“Oh, so now I’m good enough to heal you.” He turned around and grabbed my hand. I closed my eyes and just focused on the pain. I could feel it slipping away. I felt the car swerve and Cael let go of my hand for a second. “Hey, Shay, here’s an idea, maybe you could drive in a manner that will get us all there in one piece.”
“Hey, Cael, here’s an idea… Bite me.”
I smiled. “Shay, play nice until after we rescue everyone else.”
“Fine,” she grumbled.
Cael grabbed my hand again and with minutes the pain was just a dull ache. I pulled my hand away. “I can handle the rest of it.”
“Cortland, just let me explain…” Cael said to me.
“Save it,” I waved him off. “Nobody has touched anything in my trunk, have they?”
“Everyone is afraid to check in there in case of the bodies,” Shayla said. “Why?”
“No matter,” I said, focusing on the task ahead. I had a lot of rage that I needed to concentrate.
The driveway came into view. Flynn’s car was parked in the middle, door flung open but he was nowhere in sight. There was no movement in the house or around it. Shayla stopped the car at the end of the driveway. “What now?”
I was already getting out of the car, eyes glowing silver. “Pop the trunk,” I said to Shayla. She punched the button and got out after me. I opened the trunk and pulled out the carpet slip that was supposed to cover the spare tire. Instead it held my emergency Seeker weapons. The only thing there that was supposed to be was the tire jack and a crowbar. While using one of those would help with the rage, it wouldn’t be the most efficient way to get things done.
I grabbed a short sword and a sheathed dagger and stuck it in my boot. I started walking up the driveway. If I were a Seeker assassin, where would I hide? Some guy jumped out at me from behind a tree and I just jacked him in the face with my elbow. He was out like a light.
I decided to go make sure everyone was okay first. Odds were good that they’d stayed in the house and had not been split up because nobody wanted to go outside in this heat. My front door was splintered around the edges and it just swung open. I swung it open farther with my sword so I wouldn’t get things aimed at me when I stepped in. I stepped in and saw that this room was pretty much destroyed. The windows were broken and glass was strewn about. Furniture was knocked over, pictures were off the wall, and there was even a hole or two in the wall. It had been a good fight.
I walked down the hall and checked into the other rooms to make sure they were empty. I saw no sign of anyone. That meant they were upstairs.
I met Shay as she headed for the stairs. “Where’s Cael?” I whispered.
“He went all ghost on me and faded into the underbrush to go take them out silently.”
I nodded. Of course he did. That’s probably what happened with Flynn too. We crept up the stairs, listening alertly for anything that gave away someone’s presence. I faintly heard something from upstairs, the attic. I checked all the rooms on this floor but there was nobody down here either.
I stood to the side of the little trapdoor to the attic and tapped on it with my sword. And just to prove it was me I did it to the beat of the Barbersh
op quartet song. I stopped before the last two beats and waited. Someone from above finished it for me. Then the trapdoor opened and a ladder was lowered.
“Am I coming up there or are you all coming down?” I asked.
Kendall hopped down first, landing on her feet gracefully. “Way to show up when all the fun is over.”
“Trust me, I had some fun of my own,” I said as Monty climbed down the ladder. She had a cut across her forehead that was starting to heal. “Is everyone ok?”
“We’re all just wonderful,” Cam said from the top of the ladder. “So it turns out they have us under surveillance.”
“And the bastards thought that we were the weak links without you, Cael, Flynn, and Shay. We showed them,” Asher said arrogantly as he followed Kendall’s lead and just jumped down. “They just knocked on the door and Monty opened it and the guy just hit her in the face. Then a bunch of them rushed in and we fought them off then took cover in the attic since your dad reinforced it and hid extra weapons up there.”
“Do you have any idea where they went?” I asked.
“Where’s my brother?” Cam asked. “Because I can pretty much guarantee that wherever he is…” He broke off and looked over my shoulder. “He’s right behind us.”
Cael rushed up the stairs and asked, “Is everyone ok?” as he put a hand to the small of my back.
I took a step away. “The next person that asks that will get pushed down the closest flight of stairs,” Kendall said.
I turned to look at the stairs right behind us. And it turned out to be a good thing. At the top of the stairs there is a huge glass window that overlooks the trees that line our driveway. I turned in time to catch a glimpse of a stranger bearing a gun pointing it at the house. “Take cover!”
As the glass window shattered we split. I think Kendall hoisted herself back into the reinforced attic. I don’t know where everyone else went. It was all a blur. Cael grabbed me and shoved me through the closest doorway. Whatever was being shot at us was piercing the wall so the two of us flattened to the ground. The flying objects started getting pointed lower. I army crawled over to sit behind a bookshelf. Cael followed.
“What are we supposed to do?” I yelled over the wood splintering and glass shattering.
“I have no freaking clue.”
“If I can get out there I can get to the guy,” I said. “And I think the bullets are getting fewer and farther in between.”
“I think you’re imagining things.”
I ignored Cael and crawled to the doorway. The shooting stopped and everything was completely still. The silence practically rang in my ears. I wanted so badly to peek around that doorway and see if the sniper was still out there but this just screamed of a trap. He was just waiting for the first curious person to take a look and then he’d get us. “Without moving and making a target of themselves, can anyone see the shooter?” I asked.
“No,” was the general consensus.
I sighed and closed my eyes to picture my hallway. If I could get across the hall there was a huge end table that would offer a little cover. I took a gamble and rolled across the hall. I pressed my back against the table and breathed. Nothing. So far so good. “Cort, get back here,” Cael hissed from the doorway.
I ignored him. There was no cover from here on out until I got down the stairs. I looked up to ask how I’d gotten into this mess and saw Kendall peering down from the attic. She held a sword out over the hole and I shook my head. She pointed at herself and then the ground and I shook my head again. I was the only idiot around that needed to be making a target of her.
I turned to face the table and braced myself, Fairy senses on. I jumped on top of the table, scrambled over it and flipped myself over the banister, landing on my feet on the level below. Not a shot had gone off. Maybe the guy was moving to get a different vantage point. I kept low to the ground and circled around the windows, trying to catch a glimpse of someone.
I was peeking out a window in the kitchen when I heard a sound behind me. I spun around and almost kicked Cael in the stomach except he was ready for it and blocked. “Simmer down,” he hissed at me. “Have you seen anything?”
“No,” I whispered back. “I don’t know if the guy is moving around or if he’s given up or what.”
The two of us whipped around when we heard a whisper of a movement behind us. “What are you doing?” I hissed at Monty and Shay.
“If the two of you made it down we figured we were okay,” Shayla said. “What if you needed back up?”
I rolled my eyes as Cam, Kendall, and Asher joined us. “Does nobody listen?”
“You actually never said that we all had to stay up there,” Kendall said. “How am I supposed to know what shaking your head means?”
Any response I might have made was interrupted by the Team Assassin goon stepping into the doorway and cocking his weapon. Cael pretty much tackled me, knocking me behind the kitchen counters. He threw himself on top of me as shots were fired wildly.
Suddenly it stopped. I wriggled to get loose but Cael was bent on protecting me. “Get off,” I hissed, elbowing him in the stomach.
I carefully got to my feet in time to see Flynn dragging the guy out of the house. Everyone else was gingerly getting to their feet. “Did anybody get hit?” I asked.
“If by anybody, you mean you, and by hit, you mean again,” Shayla said. “No. Nobody got hit.”
“Corty, are you ok?” Flynn asked quietly. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to get further away from him or Cael.
“That is a stupid question,” Shayla narrowed her eyes at him.
“You told Shay?” Flynn looked at me.
“She tells Shay a lot of things,” Cael muttered. It was my turn to narrow my eyes as I resisted the urge to stomp on his toes.
“I would shut up if I were you,” Shayla threatened him.
The rest of my friends were staring with mildly confused expressions on their face. They were obviously out of the loop. “What is going on?” Monty was the first to ask.
“I don’t know, who wants to explain?” I asked. “Flynn, would you like to explain how you’re my long lost brother and you’ve known this entire time and not said a word. And Cael also knew this entire time that I was living with my brother and did not say anything about it, which means that Cam also knew. Did I leave anything out?”
Shayla looked at me and shrugged. Yeah, I left that part out on purpose. “Are you kidding me?” Kendall asked. “You have got to be kidding me.”
“Oh, I’m not kidding,” I said, crossing my arms. “And I found this out from our friendly neighborhood assassin, so don’t anyone get their hopes up that it was a touching brother-sister moment.”
“I did save your life right after,” Flynn pointed out. “So there’s your touching brother-sister moment.”
“You bastard,” I said. “I have dreamed of finding my brother for years and you ruin it and you don’t even care or admit that you were wrong.”
“If you cared so much how come you hadn’t bothered to find me?” Flynn asked coldly. We were slowly but surely getting into a confrontational standoff, getting into each other’s faces.
“I was eight!”
“Are you still eight? What’s your excuse now? I come into this house and all over there are happy pictures of the family without me and you, you, you and your buddies. You didn’t care that I was gone.”
“I cared,” I yelled back. “But do you realize how hard it is to find someone when the Queen of Whisper hides them away? I tried and tried and got hurt and tried again anyway. Mom and Dad whip out your baby book on your birthday and we laugh about all the good times. Sorry to say that life went on, but do not stand here and tell me that I did not try.”
“Well, excuse me if I don’t believe you.”
I shook my head. He was not going to believe me no matter what I said. “Believe what you want. I’m done.??
? I turned and headed up the destroyed stairs, carefully picking my way through the debris. I heard some glass crunch under my step and I looked down to see what moment I was crushing. In the now broken frame was a snapshot of me and Flynn, well Ethan, whoever, our arms around each other, grinning at the camera. I was missing my two front teeth and he had a huge cowlick problem. It had been on the wall, at the top of the stairs. “Hey, douche bag,” I called out. Flynn turned and looked at me. I tossed the picture down the stairs. “The rest of them will be tossed out of my room in a jiffy.”
I walked into my bedroom and almost started crying right there. My bed was destroyed, as was my dresser, my bookshelf, and the hope chest that my parents had gotten me for my sixteenth birthday. Inside that hope chest were some memories from school, the picture of my dream wedding dress, and old family photos. I knelt next to it. Tears were welling up in my eyes. I held open the top and sifted through the mementos I’d put in there to keep forever. My first stuffed animal, fluff spilling out everywhere. A hat from my first concert, a hole through the name of the artist. A binder filled to the brim with comics that Shay and I had drawn, based on our life, papers spilling out.
I pulled the binder out and leaned helplessly against the wall as tears started streaming down my face. I didn’t know if it was worse that I was crying up here alone or that I really wanted a certain someone to be up here holding me. My heart lifted hopefully when I heard his deep voice out in the hall and I could hear footsteps heading my way. I waited, tears pausing for a moment, for my door to open… But it never did.
-Chapter 7-