“Love will make people do strange things.” Kyle winks.
Neiamiah adds, “Fate does the same.” The word fate stops me in my tracks. I have heard it many times over the past several weeks, and only now am I truly understanding what it means for me.
Dang shapeshifters, always having tabs on what’s going on in each other’s minds. I know they know what I’m thinking only because Tyler has shared it. Wait.
“Is he alive?” I ask.
Neiamiah looks to Kyle, “I’m going to let you take this one.”
The others continue on with organizing the weapons. Kyle leads me to the edge of the creek bank. “He’s alive, but Angela is slowly working to change that.”
I feel sick to my stomach, “Can he make it? Until we get there?”
“He knows you’re safe and that we have a plan.”
“Kyle.”
“He’s trying to hold on for you, Kris. I don’t honestly know.”
I panic. It’s hard to breathe, and my vision is darkening. I reach for Kyle.
He pulls me close. “Kris, don’t let it consume you. It won’t help him or you.”
I force the air in and out of my lungs. He’s right, it won’t help anyone, but it doesn’t make it any easier to fight it off. My vision begins to return to normal. Kyle’s embrace helps. I don’t feel alone.
“Stay strong, Izzy.”
Chapter 25
Kyle joins the others to finish organizing the weapons. I take a bow from the pile and run my fingers over the polished wood. Smooth. Turning it over, my thumb feels something rough. I look closer. A heart has been engraved into the wood. I inspect the five other bows, all have the same symbol on them. “What’s this?”
“It’s our symbol.” Vi picks up a bow, “We are your army now.”
“My army?” I hold my bow by my side, “I’m far from being a warrior, let alone a commander-in-chief.”
“This army, your army, isn’t just an army. We are the only hope for humanity. You were chosen, Kris. We know what this mission entails and we will gladly stand by your side,” Kyle says.
“Are you able to shoot that now?” Beau asks, concern in his voice. After my many failed attempts at headquarters, I can understand his doubts.
“Don’t have a choice,” I say.
I don’t know if I can or not, but I will not let them see the doubt I feel. A warrior doesn’t show doubt or fear, only confidence and bravery. In the line of danger, I hope I can keep myself together and remember my training. I know if I don’t I will die. Our mission must succeed. I’m hoping I can use my bow, but if I can’t, Tyler trained me to use other fighting techniques. I won’t let everyone down.
Looking at my reflection in the creek, I see a strong, toned woman. She carries scars and pain in her eyes, but, looking closer, behind all of that, there is still that glimmer of hope. My new reflection still surprises me. I’m not used to seeing myself strong. I press my thumb to the heart symbol engraved in my bow. I lift my shirt up enough to see my heart-shaped birthmark on my hip. I remember what it felt like when Tyler ran his fingers over it for the first time. Warm. Safe. Protected. He has seen all my imperfections, yet only sees me as beautiful and perfect. I don’t know what I’m going to do if he dies. Dies for me.
Alex puts his arm around my shoulders, “Are you okay, sis?”
“After we get everyone out and safe, I will be.”
“Sam would be proud of you.”
“I hope so.”
Alex leads me to the group. They look lethal. I wouldn’t want to mess with them. Vi hands me a tomahawk and I slip a knife into its case, placing the belt around my waist. I put the tomahawk in its place on my belt, followed by a gun. Last, I pick up the quiver full of arrows and place it on my back. I hope I can be as lethal as my friends when the time comes.
“Kris, when we arrive back at headquarters, your job is to cause a distraction. I don’t care what you do, just draw them away from the office and use your head. If we have to come to your rescue, it will defeat the mission’s purpose.” Neiamiah explains.
“Understood,” I reply.
A half-smile curves up the side of his face, “Vi, watch her.”
Vi nods and winks at me.
I don’t feel I need a babysitter to distract the robot deputies and the awful inhuman leader Angela, but at least it’s Vi. She won’t interfere unless need be.
“The rest of you are with me. After we shut down the robots, we have to move fast to get to Kris’s parents, Janet, Tyler, Sarah, and the rest of the members out.”
“I’ll get Tyler out,” I say.
Neiamiah lets out a sigh, “Okay.”
I know the gist of the plan. My mind starts to wander off. I know what my job is. The others have their own duties. What if I can’t get him out? What if he’s already gone? No. I won’t think like that. I will get him out. I will.
Neiamiah waves us forward, “Let’s go.”
We form a single file line. Neiamiah, Beau, Kyle, Alex, Vi, and me. He takes us to the wood line.
I can see my family’s house. I wish I could see it one more time and pretend this wasn’t happening. That my family and Tyler’s lives didn’t lay in my hands.
Neiamiah presses his palm to the trunk of a gigantic oak tree. The silver keypad slides out. “Remember your goals.” He looks to me, “Don’t let your feelings consume you.”
I nod.
The four-digit code is entered and accepted. A part of me is surprised Angela hasn’t changed the code, but the other isn’t. Allowing us back in would make it easier to create a trap to get us all at once. The bark of the tree slides to the side. Instead of bright lights, the room we enter is full of darkness. My heart beats fast and my palms are sweaty. Kyle’s voice fills my head. You have to learn to use your senses, even if they are altered. The first night, Tyler and Kyle began training me. I would’ve liked more practice with this.
Vi takes my arm and leads me through the darkness. “Hope you have a plan,” she whispers.
Once inside a room, she releases her grip on my arm. I recognize the room; it’s where Tyler confronted Jack. “I’ll stay here until you get them to come to you. Then, I’ll follow behind to keep an eye on you.”
I nod. Now’s the time. The time to be brave. Peering down the hall from behind the door, I look for Angela’s robots. Nothing. The hall is empty. My fighting and hunting instincts take over. I tiptoe down the hall, my back pressed against the wall. I go to the gym where we would all be usually. The room is quiet. No one is around. It could be the trap I was worried about. Still, I press on. If it is a trap, at least it will cause a diversion.
The lights aren’t on in the gym. Perfect, more darkness. I pull an arrow from my quiver and aim. I’m not afraid. If someone comes after me, I’ll shoot them.
A familiar, sarcastic sounding voice comes from above, “What do you plan to do with that?”
“Jack?”
“You can’t kill them with that. They are robots.”
“I can kill you,” I say, pointing my arrow at him.
I let my fingers slip from the bowstring, letting the arrow fly. Jack jumps out of the way just in time to avoid it. A bright orange and red flash follow shoving me back against the back wall of the gym. My ears ring. I have created the diversion.
I try to focus on the debris lying in front of me. Smoke builds in the room. I cough and cover my mouth and nose with my shirt. A hand helps me up. I turn to see Jack pulling me from the room.
“Don’t fight me.” He pushes me to the side, “He’s in the library. Run!”
A gunshot fires and Jack falls to his knees. I can’t save him. I run as fast as I can down the hall and almost miss my turn to head up the ten flights of stairs to the library. It used to be my getaway, now it holds Tyler. My body shakes and my legs and lungs burn. Still, I push on.
I reach the top of the stairs, and the door to the library stands wide open. The room is no longer filled with books, instead, a single-pole stands in
the middle of the room. Tyler’s bruised and bloodied body makes my heart stop. He sits on the floor. His hands are bound behind him around the pole. Blood has pooled around him. His head hangs down and I worry he’s unconscious. I enter cautiously, afraid this is another trap.
Kneeling by his side, I press my finger to his neck to check for a pulse. He has one, but it’s weak. “Tyler. Tyler looks at me. I’m here.” My heart sinks even more, “Tyler, wake up, look at me!” I yell.
He flinches at my words.
I lift his head up gently with my hand to meet his eye. “Tyler.”
He smiles. “Kris.”
The light in his eyes has almost drained away. His face is swollen and bruised; it matches the rest of his body. Behind the pole, I see his hands have blood streaming down them. Angela’s infamous cuffs positioned on his wrists. “How do I get these off?”
“Tomahawk,” he says.
I take the tomahawk from my belt and stand a few feet away from the pole. I know that Tyler’s life is in my hands. I put all my strength behind the throw. The tomahawk connects and snaps the chain in two. My body’s shaking, more from determination than fear, “Come on, we have to get you out of here.”
“Kris, I can’t stand.”
“I’m not leaving you here again. We’re going together.” I place my lips to his. “That’s what I promised, and I don’t break my promises.”
He puts an arm around my shoulders and I help him to his feet. Most of his weight rests on me. My adrenaline kicks in and I hardly notice I’m carrying his weight. The stairs come into the picture and I know they will be another obstacle.
Explosions fill the halls and I know my fellow warriors are taking care of their part of the operation. I hope they are all right. I hear footsteps pounding up the stairs. I lean Tyler against the wall and position an arrow in my bow.
“Kris, where are you?”
“Vi, up here! Can you help me get him out of here?”
“He doesn’t look well.”
“I’m not dead yet. I can hear you,” Tyler says.
“Come on, country boy,” I say.
He wraps an arm around Vi and the other around me. We are off again. With his weight evenly distributed between the two of us, we cover twice the ground. We descend from the last five flights of stairs in no time.
“My room,” Tyler says.
Vi and I take him to his room. She kicks open the door, the painted stars on the ceiling still gleam.
“Kris!” Vi yells. “Cabinet! Key! Handcuffs!”
Tyler leans on Vi and I run to the cabinet.
I pull open a small, hidden drawer underneath all of his healing ingredients. Inside is a skeleton key. “This?”
Tyler nods.
I slip it into each cuff, unlocking them. They fall to the ground. I wrap gauze tightly around his wrists to stop the bleeding. He scrunches his face but doesn’t yell. Smoke fills the room and I know we have to go.
We move Tyler to the bed. He holds his palm to the bedpost. A keypad appears from it. He enters a four-digit code. This time there isn’t a portal, just time passing like a blur. We stop suddenly. We’re in the woods. Somewhere.
Chapter 26
My head is spinning and I feel sick to my stomach. “Uh, where are we?”
Tyler is propped up against a tree, “The woods.” he pats me on the back, “You alright?”
“Yeah.”
Vi doesn’t seem to be bothered by our portal traveling. She busies herself making a small fire. I guess they’re probably used to traveling all these different ways.
Not me. I hold my hand over my stomach, waiting for the feeling to pass. I don’t know where the others are or how long it’s been since we left the headquarters. A part of me worries something bad has happened to them. I push my thoughts aside and kneel in front of Tyler to look at his wounds. So much for getting past the scars I’ve caused him.
“Here. You will need this,” Vi says, handing over an army green duffle bag.
“What’s this? I ask, opening it.
“Medical supplies,” Tyler says, holding his side. I don’t have to ask any more questions. Of course, he had supplies stocked here. I have to give him credit. He is good at thinking ahead.
I leave his wrists alone for now and turn my attention to his bloodied back. I clean the blood as best I can. He stiffens up and pulls away from me, but we both know it has to be done. After I get most of the dried blood off, I can see slashes in his back. They aren’t terribly deep, but they bleed.
“What are these?” I ask. I’m almost too afraid of the answer to ask, but I want to know what they did to him.
“Whip.” Tyler whispers. I’m happy he can’t see my expression. I try not to react. I don’t want him to think I can’t handle it.
“Put the brown paste on it,” Tyler says. I find the paste and pull it out of the green duffle bag.
“This will hurt.” I warn.
“I can take it.”
I smear the brown paste over the slashes. Tyler growls and tightens his fists. I try to hurry and be easy all at the same time. I wonder why he didn’t want to use the green paste he has used before, but he is the shaman here and I’m happy to just do as he says if it means he will heal faster.
When I’m finished, I put the brown paste back into the duffle bag. I find a clean shirt inside the bag and pull it out for him as he wasn’t wearing one when we left headquarters. I help him put it on, careful not to bother his wounds. I walk around in front of him and squat down.
He gently brushes aside the loose hair that has fallen from my braid onto my cheek. “I love you.”
I smile, “I love you, more.”
“That’s not possible.”
“Why don’t you lay down and get some rest,” I say. I know he is exhausted and needs the rest.
Vi helps me move Tyler closer to the fire.
I sit cross-legged on the ground and he lies on his side with his head on my lap. I don’t want him to be alone. I want to be with him, where I know he’s okay. I run my fingers through his hair, comforting him enough to sleep. It seems to be the only place that he isn’t injured. He’s weak from Angela’s torturing tactics. I know he won’t tell me in detail what he went through. It’s for good reason. A part of me wants to know so when the time comes for me to take care of Angela I would have more fuel for the fire. The other part of me doesn’t want to know because I’m afraid I’d distance myself from him again.
Vi sits beside me, “Is he okay?”
“I think so.” I wipe a tear away from my eye. “It’s just hard to take all of this in, you know. My life has changed so drastically in such a short time.”
“Nothing in life ever stays the same. It’s always changing.” She nudges me with her elbow, “He believes in you, you know.”
“I’m not as strong as he thinks I am. He thinks I can change everything, make the world a better place.” I shake my head, “I wish I could see why he thinks that.”
“He thinks it because it’s true. We’ve all seen it: Tyler, Kyle, Sarah, Neiamiah, Alex, Beau, and me. We’ve seen it. All of us are here for a purpose. No matter what the purpose is or even how small, it’s very important we do it.” Vi squeezes my shoulder. “I’m going to go find some food for us,” Vi says, picking up her bow. “I won’t be long.” She nods to me before heading deeper into the woods, leaving Tyler and me alone.
Fighting Secrets: Unbreakable Series, Book 2 Page 15