by Jade Frances
I pondered on it for a few minutes. There was no harm in what she was asking. If anyone could get me in to the bunkers to see Cole, then it would be Sandra. And once I had seen him, my second part of the plan was to get him out and we couldn’t stay here either.
“Sure, not like I want to stick around anyway,” I smiled and patted her hand. It was the most contact I’d given her since Taylor’s death.
“Right, well… I’ll be needing your guardian to help me. Egan’s good but we all know Pearce is better with planning,” she smiled back and raised her brows at me.
“That’s alright, he isn’t coming to meet Dakota, so he should be free,” I replied.
Adam sauntered through the door then, halting our conversation. He paused and looked at us groggily, still half asleep.
“What you girls planning? An escape route?” he said, his voice laced with fatigue.
“Nothing to concern you wolf, anyway I’m going to my room, busy day ahead…” Sandra scraped her chair back and didn’t even look at Adam as she passed him. His eyes followed her out of the room, shock splayed across his face. Then he turned back to me.
“Busy day… girl hasn’t been out of her room in months. What are you two up to?” He poured himself a coffee and took the seat opposite me.
“Fill you in later, bacon and eggs?” I held up the pan that was still in my hand. That seemed to wake him up.
“Yes please, all this sitting around in doom and gloom makes me even more hungry,” he replied. I laughed and began cooking.
What should have taken five minutes, ended up taking me half an hour as everyone else started trickling in, the smell of food too enticing for them to miss. Once we had all eaten, and were fully awake, the discussion of what everyone would be doing today started. I hadn’t had a chance to tell Pearce that Sandra needed him, but I was sure she would hunt him down at some point.
Adam was the first to start making a move.
“You ready Evvy? Dakota should be arriving any minute,” he held out his hand to me. Whether it was to annoy Pearce, or he genuinely thought I needed help getting off my chair, I didn’t know. I gave him a playful shove as I stood and gave Pearce a kiss on the cheek as I passed him.
“Ready as ever,” I told Adam, although I wasn’t really, I was nervous.
We made our way out to the forest, heading for the path that would lead us to the main gate. Dakota wouldn’t be able to enter without us there, Avetta certainly wouldn’t welcome her in. Once we had reached the tall iron gates, I held back slightly, allowing Adam to greet her. I watched as he opened the gates and embraced the woman that stood on the other side. When he stepped away and began walking back to me, I got a good look at her. She was beautiful. Her long auburn hair flowed around her face and down her back, piercing green eyes much like Adam's met mine. It wasn’t until she was mere feet away that I noticed the three massive scars that ran down the side of her face. I gasped, then averted my eyes to anywhere but at her.
“It’s ok, everyone gets a shock when they see them at first, but you get used to them. Damn skin walker caught me by surprise,” she giggled, pulled me to her and wrapped her arms around me. Wolves were touchy feely people, I was used to it with Darryl and Adam, but I didn’t feel comfortable with a stranger embracing me. She sensed my hesitance and let go. “I’m Dakota, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Evangeline.”
“You too,” I mumbled, still unable to look at her face.
“Right, let’s get moving, you two can get to know each other on the walk back,” Adam said and moved off into the trees. Dakota followed closely behind. I watched her from the side of my eye as we walked back to the academy. She’s young, what possible experience could she have with Sirens. As if she heard my thoughts, Dakota began to explain her history.
“My grandmother, was your mother’s keeper, you know,” she blurted out. I stopped in my tracks, shocked with the ease of how she delivered that specific bit of information. “All knowledge was passed down to mother and then onto me, in case you’re wondering how I might know so much about Sirens.” She hadn’t noticed my lack of movement, I had to double step to catch up to her.
“From what I know, me and my mother wield different powers. How could you possibly help me?” I was intrigued as to what she did know, but still hesitant to be training with a stranger. Especially one who now, claims to have family connections to my own.
“You didn’t inherit darkness from your father alone, Evangeline.” She gave me a knowing look. “Adam this will do, I want to see what I’m working with,” she shouted out to Adam who was quite a bit ahead now. I stopped and looked around at the dense forest. “Evangeline stand in front of me please, and call to your energy but not your fire.” I looked at her, unsure of what she was asking of me. She sighed and moved to stand directly in front of me. For someone young, her air of authority and preciseness in the way she spoke was unreal. She took my hands in hers, looked deep into my eyes and spoke again.
“Call forward the darkness, feel it, let it take over you.”
I shook my head and backed away from her. This was too dangerous. I had only just met her; it was obvious she didn’t know enough about me if she was asking that.
“No, I haven’t been able to control it,” I said bluntly.
“And how do you suppose you will learn control if you do not do as I say?” Her eyes flashed a deeper shade of green. “If I am wasting my time here, let me know and I will leave. I do have a home with people that need me.”
I glanced at the ground and shuffled my feet. You have to try; it’s why she is here. But no matter how hard I tried to convince myself, I struggled to trust that I was doing the right thing, even if it had been my idea.
“I don’t feel comfortable diving straight into this,” I told her. She flashed me a look of anger and stomped her foot.
“What do you want? To sit and have a cup of tea, get to know each other? We don’t have time for that,” she spat at me. I blanched at the venom in her voice. Was this cow for real? Darkness clouded my mind, growing thicker with each second that went by. I glared at Dakota standing in front of me. The nerve of this woman. I noticed her lips twitch, and a sly smile formed on her face.
“There, now I can sense it. Not as dark as what I heard your mother held, but still…” the tone of her voice changed, and she walked past me. She drummed her fingers on her chin and walked around me in a full circle. I stood still and calmed the darkness. “Ok, I can work with this… Adam, show me to my room?” She called out. Her eyes lit up when she looked at him and a streak of jealousy ran through me. I stood, motionless. I knew I was still glaring at her as she walked to him, but I couldn’t seem to get a hold of myself. She was an irritating arse, one that I would not be looking forward to spending any more time with. After Dakota and Adam had disappeared beyond the trees, I trudged silently behind them. What have I gotten myself into?
A little while later, I was lying on my bed when there was a knock on my door. I waved my hand to open it and stayed where I was.
“Rough day?” Sandra’s voice was gaining back its usual chime.
“You could say that,” I mumbled back and sat up to look at her.
“Well, tell me later. So, me and Pearce went snooping today, and guess who will be guarding your Cole tonight?” She paused, and I could have sworn a slight twinkle entered her eyes. “LJ, and he has allowed you a two-minute window to get past him. He said, and I quote, ‘if she can that is’ and then winked.” I let out a small chuckle as a picture of LJ saying just that entered my mind.
“Ok, that will be fine, what time does his shift start?”
“Ten pm, so any time after that, but before two am. Quite a looker isn’t he, you hadn’t mentioned him before,” Sandra looked at me inquisitively as if I had hidden some big secret from her.
“I had only ever properly met him once, Sandra. Why are you suddenly so interested in him?” She shuffled around and picked at a loose thread from my bed linen. Her cheeks were flus
hed, and I could see her eyes glistening with tears. “Hey, what’s going on?” I moved to the end of my bed but still couldn’t bring myself to embrace her.
“Just need a distraction, I suppose. I want to get back to being me, it’s just so hard…” her voice wavered as she spoke.
“And you think LJ would be a good distraction?”
“Maybe, I don’t know. It’s stupid anyway. Thanks for involving me with this today, I needed it. If you need any more help, just shout,” she mumbled and sauntered out of my room before I could reply. I threw myself back on my pillows and wondered what in the hell we were going to do with her. I could only hope that she would pull herself together. My mind wandered to Cole, and what he had to tell me. It didn’t take long for my mind to shut down, exhaustion took over. My last thought was, how am I going to get past LJ.
Chapter 3
I pulled the blanket tighter around my shoulders as I watched the courtyard below. In ten minutes, LJ would be starting his shift and I would have to put my plan into action. Not that I had much of a plan. My biggest concern was stepping foot into the academy again, and who I would run into. I had seen Theodore many times within the last few months, Avetta had never been mentioned and I much preferred it that way. I hadn’t seen many of the others who had sought refuge here. I still held on to a resentment of the way they had hidden when the skin walkers had come for us. Shaking off my festering doubts, I stood and pulled a hoody over my head. Just as I was about to leave, my bond to the girls sprung to life.
A shrill and piercing scream rang through. Chills ran through me.
Sandra, Rose, what’s going on? I asked, panicked.
Again, the screaming ripped through my mind. I couldn’t feel Rose’s energy, so it must be Sandra. I swung my door open and ran for her room.
Sandra, answer me, are you ok? I tried again and again to break through to her, but still the screaming continued. I reached her door and pounded on it over and over. She wasn’t answering. My commotion had drawn the attention of everyone else and slowly they began leaving the comfort of their rooms to see what was going on. Egan was the first to reach me.
“What’s going on here?” He grabbed my arm and pulled me around to look at him.
“She opened the bond, but she’s just screaming. I can’t get in without her energy signature to open the door,” I said breathlessly. He nodded and held up his palm. Shock coursed through me when the door swung open. I gave him a questioning look and muttered, “You’re going to explain that later.”
I ran into the room and found Sandra writhing and screaming on her bed. Her eyes were closed and sweat was dripping down her forehead. She’s asleep. Cautiously, I made my way to her side. I avoided her flailing arms and pulled her into me.
“Sandra, you need to wake up,” I murmured into her hair. “Sandra, please, it’s just a nightmare… open your eyes, I’m here.”
All of a sudden, her flailing stopped, and she laid limp in my arms. I looked at Egan, concern etched across his face. Her eyes began to flutter open.
“Evvy…” she whispered.
“I’m here Sandra, I’m here,” I murmured again and stroked her head.
“You’re holding me.” Through my panic, I hadn’t even thought about it.
“You needed me,” I replied. She drew a breath and raised to sit up beside me. That was when she noticed Egan in the room and the other’s hovering at the door.
“Aw God,” she groaned and hid her face. “I’ve been having them for months, but none as bad as this one. Can you get everyone to leave?”
I shooed Egan away with my hands and mouthed ‘tell the others to go’. Once they had all retreated, I turned back to Sandra.
“Are you ok?”
“I’m fine. Like I said, I’ve been having them for months. Just this one, was different. Like Taylor was trying to give me a message. But that’s not possible…” she tailed off and wiped her sleeve under her eyes. “Where’s Rose?”
Crap, the only reason Rose wouldn’t have been present in the bond, was if she was with Barak. And Sandra still didn’t know.
“She will be here soon, I’m sure,” I replied, not knowing what to say. But as if on cue, Rose shouted from the other side of the door. Sandra opened it. I stood up and gave Rose a pointed look. She can’t hide this forever. She did look rather sheepish, though.
“I have to go, or I’m going to miss my window of opportunity to see Cole. If you’re still up when I get back, I’ll swing in and give you an update,” I said to Sandra.
“You’re going to see Cole… Why?” Rose intercepted me at the door.
“He has something to say, and I want to hear it,” I replied bluntly, unable to control my disappointment in her. “Look after Sandra, I’ll be back soon.”
I strolled past her, bumping her shoulder slightly.
Once I was out into the cool night air, I slowed down to a stop. The cold breeze stung my face while I stood there staring at the academy door. Just go, it’s late and quiet, no one should be around. It took me a full five minutes to convince myself to move my feet toward the building. Once I had, there was no stopping. I shoved the doors open and scattered inside. The entrance hall was empty, thankfully. I darted to the underground door that led to the bunkers. With any luck, my energy signature is still assigned to it. I held my palm up and relief coursed through me when I heard the bolts unlocking on the other side. With one more glance behind me, I opened it and snuck into the dark stairwell. There was a flickering candle situated at the bottom, it was the only source of light. I heard movement from below and assumed that it would be LJ. But the person who stepped out of the shadows wasn’t LJ, it was Avetta.
“Pray tell, what are you doing in here?” her voice was hoarse. I backed up, heading back toward the door. “You are here now Evangeline, so what is it that you desire to do?”
I sighed heavily and looked directly to where she was standing.
“I’m going to see Cole,” I replied. My voice was steadier than my nerves.
“I see. I also note that you didn’t ask, you told me. So, as you wish, I shall step aside. You have ten minutes,” she replied and began to ascend the stairs toward me. My mouth opened in shock. She wasn’t even going to argue with me or order me back to my quarters. Just go, before she changes her mind. The why isn’t important. I muttered a quick “thanks,” and darted past her. I didn’t meet her eyes as I did, but I felt hers on me, following me all the way to the bottom of the stairwell. LJ stepped out in front of me, hands held up to halt me.
“Hey, hey little one, where do you think you are going?” There was a teasing twinkle in his eyes, which disappeared as soon as he saw that Avetta was still standing ten stairs up, watching. “Queen Avetta,” he bowed his head as he spoke.
“She is free to pass, she has ten minutes,” I heard her say. Her descending footsteps seemed loud and intrusive in the dark bunker as she walked away. I shrugged at LJ and patted him on the shoulder.
“Maybe next time we can have a little duel,” I winked and sauntered past him to the room, that I had been told by Pearce, held Cole. I stopped outside it and took a deep breath. Once I felt calm, I pushed it open.
The room was bright, too bright. I squinted my eyes and waited for them to adjust. I looked around the small room and saw that it held a wooden chair, a sink, and a bed. The latter was where Cole was sitting. Arms in his lap and head down.
“Cole,” I whispered and took another step into the room. He lifted his head to look at me and I gasped. He looked even worse than he had in our dream. His eyes were bloodshot and puffy underneath. His hair looked stuck with grease and he looked as though he had lost half of his body weight. “Are you ok?” I asked as I edged closer still.
“Fine,” he croaked. Although we both knew that wasn’t true. When I reached the bed, I sat on the floor in front of him and crossed my legs. “Thank you for coming.”
I nodded and looked around again. It was a prisoner’s room. I knew the moment that Av
etta had ordered him down here that he wouldn’t receive any form of home comforts. But she hadn’t turned him away or worse, ordered him killed.
“What are they doing to you?” I whispered, mortified at the state he was in.
“Testing… Listen, we probably don’t have much time,” he paused and repositioned himself. “They’ve been putting me under while they’ve done their testing, but I can enter a realm between this and the dream world. So, I have been able to hear everything they say…” He looked down at me, looking every part a lost soul. My heart ached for him. “Sometimes I come around from the drugs, and I can’t remember it clearly, but this time I did. I know why your Queen disappears all the time.”
At first, him referring to Avetta as my Queen angered me somewhat. Then, I realised the weight his words held. We had all wondered why Avetta would up and disappear, usually at the most crucial of times. Now here I was, with a long-lost brother, who was on the side of evil, waiting for him to tell me. I raised my eyebrows and waited for him to continue.
“It seems your Queen,”
“Stop calling her my Queen, she is not and never will be,” I cut him off abruptly. For a moment he looked shocked, but then simply nodded and carried on.
“Well, it seems, that she had always foreseen the rising of Ares. She knew she would not stop it, so instead, she has been looking to acquire an object.” Again, he stopped talking. It was as though it drained him of energy to do so. I reached out to touch his hand, but he flinched away from me. Usually, a rebuff like that would hurt me. But Cole had been through a lot, and his ordeal hadn’t ended when he was dumped here.
“Ok… what kind of object?” I was eager to hear more, but also aware that we didn’t have much time.
“A Scythe, it is said to have magical properties. Properties that were last used to defeat Ares the first time.” I contemplated on what he was telling me, but without any real information or background history, there wasn’t much for me to be able to understand. “If she is aware of this object or close to its whereabouts, Aresollo might be too. You need to get it first Evangeline, do you understand?”