Maritza dropped the tea bag into her cup. "You met Kaden?"
"Yes, he dropped by Graven's house to drop off a tee shirt. He was only there for a few minutes, most of which I was in the ladies room."
"He's pretty hot, right?" She nudged my arm.
"He is quite handsome, in a different way than Graven. If they had not told me they were brothers I wouldn't have known by looking at them. There was something so familiar about Kaden," I said.
"Yeah, he can have that effect on people, especially women. I think he has some kind of pheromone ability. He is a stud, but women throw themselves at him," she blew at the hot tea but put it back down instead of taking a sip.
"Oh, I could see that, but I think I have seen him around before. Maybe he just has that kind of face."
"More like two faced. Just be careful around him, he only cares about one thing, and that is himself," Maritza warned me.
"There was definitely a lot of tension between Graven and Kaden. It was thick enough I could have cut it with a knife." I remembered how bombarded I was with their emotions along with an overwhelming lust for Kaden. It made me very uncomfortable.
"In my opinion, that tension is a result of the fact that Kaden has always been jealous of Graven. Kaden was young when they lost their parents. Graven was forced to take a paternal role in Kaden's life at a time when he was angry and trying to discover who he was. It was a volatile mix of emotions for Kaden. I really shouldn't talk about them, it's kind of out of line. Just be careful with Kaden. He always has an agenda."
I went to take a sip of my water, but noticed that the bottle was already opened. It freaked me out. "Don't drink that tea. My water was already open, besides it's probably full of chemicals. If you like tea, when we get back to Santa Fe and things settle down I can make you some homemade tea. My grandmother taught me."
"That sounds great. Thanks. We should probably wrap up here if we are going to make it to the other two stores." She stood up and walked back to her fitting room. I did the same.
I started to lift my top when the little hairs on my arms began to tingle. I turned around to find an astral version of Graven standing behind me. I gasped at the unexpected sight.
"What are you doing?" I whispered.
"Just wanted to check on you guys. I'm sorry my calls are taking longer than I expected. I am actually going to give Ziona a buzz and see what the word on the street is about the story keepers."
"Really, thank you. We are good. Just chatting it up. I think we are almost done here. Maritza wants to go to two more stores." I made a sour face. "I could maybe make it through one more."
"I hear you. That is why I usually wear a t-shirt and jeans. Of course I am very picky about my denim."
"What's the difference? Half of the jeans I owned came from consignments shops. I liked how they were already worn in, the denim is softer," I told him.
"Well back in the day only the laborers and lower class people wore jeans. Successful people wore custom made slacks made of fine fabrics. I know that everyone wears jeans now, but there is that part of me that still thinks that your clothes tell people about who you are. I work hard at being successful and it is my way of making that statement."
I smiled at him.
"What? It's not like I ride around in sports cars and wear 'blinged' out jewelry." He used his fingers to represent quotes around the silly slang word. "I have to go. See you in a few."
He leaned in to kiss my lips. It felt like I got a static zap, and I liked it. I changed back into my clothes and pulled the amber boots back on my feet. They were starting to break in. I'm sure the long walk the night before helped them along.
Maritza and I came out of the fitting room at the same time. She walked into my room and grabbed a few more items than I had in my arms. "This stuff looked great on you. You said you needed all new clothes. This is a good start."
"About that, I don't think I can do two more stores." Trying on clothes was sucking the life out of me.
"We have been here a long time. How about we do one more store, it's a bit trendier and we need to pick you up some clothes to wear when you are working at the club. I have a meeting at four thirty so I don't think I will have time for much more." Maritza looked down at her tiny watch.
Maritza and I carried our stacks of clothing to the register. The sales lady was racing to beat us to the counter.
"Are you ladies all set? Did you want any jewelry to match these outfits? Some of it is hand made locally."
"No, thank you. We are all set," Maritza dropped a black credit card on the counter that looked fake. I never saw a credit card made out of metal. The sales lady's eyes widened slightly as she slid it across the machine.
"I'm going to head out front to get some fresh air." I turned and started to walk to the door before she could protest.
Chapter Sixteen
"YOU DON'T HAVE TO FOLD those. Just throw them in a bag." I heard Maritza telling the sales clerk. "I don't mean to be rude, we are just in a hurry. Time got away from us."
"Kasha. Wait for me. I'm almost done here," Maritza called out.
"Ok, I'll be right outside." I opened the door and it jingled behind me as it closed.
I expected to see Graven standing out there on the phone, but he was not in sight. I looked back inside the store and I saw the lady walking around the counter to hand the bags to Maritza. She followed her to the front door.
The lady's red lips thinned even more as she smiled making her eyes appear like little beads. I have never seen such hospitality in a store it was almost off putting.
"Hey. What's up? I told you to wait for me," Maritza said to me as she opened the door.
"I am waiting for you. I don't know where Graven is though." My goodness I didn't know what that lady's problem was, she was still watching us from behind the glass door.
"He has a tendency to pace when he talks on the phone. Maybe he walked down the street a ways," Maritza explained.
"Yeah, but he said he wouldn't leave me alone." I felt uneasy about him not being there to protect me. We weren't far from where I was abducted.
"You're with me, sweetie. I am a lot less dainty than I appear. Graven has more than taught me how to defended myself over the years. I will text him. We can grab a cup of coffee. There is a coffee shop less than a block away." Maritza took out her cell phone and speed texted something. It was impressive how fast she maneuvered her fingers while she lugged all of our shopping bags.
"How rude of me, let me help you with some of those." I grabbed two of the four shopping bags as we walked.
There was quite a bit of hustle and bustle. It was mid day on the biggest shopping day of the week. The streets were lined with locals and tourists alike. Santa Fe was the kind of place that people visit for vacation and found themselves not wanting to leave. I wondered how many people were actually originally from Santa Fe.
We walked to the end of the block. We waited for the light to change before crossing even though there were no cars coming. I had a weird feeling like there was a heaviness pushing against my back.
I turned around and looked up the street and saw the sales clerk standing on the sidewalk in front of the store watching us, at least it felt like she was watching us.
The side street we were about to cross over was darkened by the buildings. The sun was on its downward path toward the horizon, causing plenty of shadows. The temperature was noticeably cooler in the pockets without sun.
We looked both ways to make sure there were no cars coming. I think we were so focused on looking out for moving vehicles that we failed to take note of the big white van with blacked out windows parked on the corner.
We took a step off the curb and the rear doors of the van flung open. Four men all wearing dark sunglasses and black baseball caps exited the van. They moved so fast I barely saw them come at us. My heart rate sped up and I could feel my adrenaline fire off and course through my veins.
Maritza leapt in front of me to block th
e men from gaining access to my body. It was in vain. Two at a time they grabbed us forcing us into to the back of the van looking around making sure no one was watching. The van started to speed off down the narrow crossroad before they had a chance to close the rear doors.
"Close the doors. Dude, what are you stupid?" One of the two guys holding me barked at one of the men holding Maritza's arm.
My rage grew. My heart beat faster. Without thinking, I lifted my leg and kicked at the guy in front of me who was attempting to close the doors. He lost his balance and let go of Maritza to prevent himself from falling out of the van.
"What the hell? You stupid bitch !" He lunged at me lifting his right arm about to strike. I turned my head and bit the hand holding my left arm. When he let go I moved over slightly, causing the guy in front of me to miss hitting me. Instead I heard the crack of his fist hitting the man to my right.
I looked over and Maritza was fighting off her assailant. She had managed to get an upper hand and pin him to the metal floor. "Who sent you? And what are you after?"
The only response she got was a spit in the face. Her eyes went wide and I saw her start to shift into her gargoyle form.
The other three men were attempting to restrain me. I pulled my arms and elbows toward my body. Perhaps they thought I was curling up into a fetal position and giving up the fight. Boy were they wrong.
I clenched my teeth and forced a breath out of my nose. The hairs on my head began to tingle as the sparks started to fire off down my arms and legs until I didn't think I could take it anymore.
I forced my left arm out from my core and without thought I pushed my energy that was coiling up inside me at him. A blast of blue light flickered from my hands and I blasted him out of the back of the van.
My arm found its way back to my chest for a brief second before both of my hands went flying off to the sides. I don't know what happened, but the air pressure changed in the back of the van with such force that not only did the three remaining men go flying back against the walls, Maritza did as well.
I didn't take time to worry about if she was hurt. I needed to stop the van and get us out. I let my consciousness separate enough from my physical body to project myself to the front of the van. The man driving had the exact same get up on. I forced my will to show myself to him or to grab the wheel. It wasn't working. How did Graven manage to touch things while he was projecting?
Shit. Graven. His name echoed in my mind and I called out to him. I forced every cell and every bit of vibrational energy I had out to call him. I didn't have time to go looking for him in my astral body. I needed to get back to my physical body.
Everyone began to stir. I scooted over to Maritza and held her in my arms. I kicked the man that was closest to her away so we were on the opposite side of the van from out attackers. I looked out of the back and knew we were going to need to jump. Had I not knocked Maritza out that might not have been a problem since she had the ability to fly.
"What the hell is going on back there?" the driver demanded banging on the metal wall that divided us.
"Maritza, you have to get up." I was concerned about what damage my blast had caused to her. She was in the middle of shifting. Her features not so smooth and elegant any more, but her wings had not bloomed from behind her blouse.
She moaned in confusion as if waking up from a strange dream. Two of the men started to get to their knees. I would never allow myself or anyone I cared about to be taken again, at least not without a fight. I grabbed a hold of Maritza and prepared to attempt a stuntman roll out of the van. The pavement did not look forgiving, as it was just a grey blur.
With my arms fully wrapped around Maritza's chest, I attempted to get onto my feet, at least in a squatting position. I would need the momentum of a push off to get us both in motion. Suddenly, I heard the wheels start to screech as the driver slammed on the brakes. We were thrown against the wall and I watched the location of the street shift as we spun ninety degrees.
All of us thrust to the front of van as the vehicle made impact with something. We were now in a pile of bodies, we were outnumbered and tangled in with our attackers. I could feel hands grabbing and pulling at me.
A hand was now covering my face, jerking my head back against a body that did not smell like anything I wanted be a part of. "Get off of me," I tried to pull his hand off of my face to find someone else grabbing at my wrists.
"Hold her hands down!" a voice demanded. "What the hell is this bitch?"
"I don't know, but this was not mentioned in the job description. Don't let her use her arms!" The voices started to pile on top of each other as they shouted at one another. I squirmed and thrust my body in the air in an attempt to break their grip on me.
Then the sound came. A loud shattering sound shook the van. I knew we had stopped, but it felt like we just crashed again. I was sure that the van bounced off the ground. I felt the rush of fear imposing on my senses. I could almost taste it. I had known my fair share of fear and this was not the same flavor.
There was a hush amongst those in the rear of the van. They must have felt it too, or it was coming from them. I really wasn't sure, nor did I care. I took the opportunity of the moment and used it to my advantage. I flipped my body around to come face-to-face with the man that was holding me by the head. I jammed the palm of my hand into his nose. I had seen the move done enough times on television to know it was a good move. I scooted back and grabbed Maritza by the ankle and dragged her to the rear of the van.
I jumped backwards, landing on the pavement. I heard screams and guttural cries that sent chills up my spine. There were a few loud thuds accompanying the horrific noises. I was sure that someone was being beat to a bloody pulp.
I wasn't about to find out who it was or what they wanted. Given my history there was a good chance I was next. I pulled at Maritza's ankles until she was hanging over the metal rear bumper. "Come on girl, get it together we need to get out of here."
"Graven," she whispered as she tried to sit up.
"I don't know where he is, we have to get out of here now." I hurried her to her feet. "Can you shift back to your human form?"
"Huh?" she said as if she had no idea what I was talking about.
"Don't let them get away!" shouted the man holding his bloody nose. "The girl or our lives!"
I felt the air stir behind me. I saw as the faces of the men left in the van went white as they froze with fear. I didn't need to turn around to know that I was not in danger, they were.
My body shook from the intense vibrations that were radiating off of Graven. They were filled with a mix of valor, love, dedication and above all, rage.
"Girls, get out of here. Get to safety, I will find you," Graven's voice rumbled through his clenched teeth.
I didn't even turn to look at him. I put my arm around Maritza and helped to keep her on her feet. I looked around to assess our location. The van was nearly blocking the road in front of us. Surprisingly there was not an audience of suspicious nosey onlookers. We were close to another narrow cross road, so we went in that direction.
We shuffled past the van. I was afraid to look at the front of the van, but I couldn't help myself. There was an indentation at the center of the hood. It looked as if someone dropped a boulder out of the sky, bending the hood up like a taco from the impact. Except, there was no boulder or object in sight that could have made that kind of impression.
"Maritza, are you ok? I am so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." I looked over at her and a mix of guilt and worry swirled at the pit of my stomach. I could hear what sounded like thunder coming from behind me. I knew that Graven would want us to keep moving, but what was I supposed to do with Maritza? I couldn't leave her like this, and I sure couldn't bring her out into the open looking the way she did. Maybe if it was Halloween no one would have noticed.
"Here, sit here for a minute." I helped her down on to the curb and sat beside her. I rubbed her back gently. "What can I do for you?"
"Maritza, I don't know. Stuff keeps happening to me. I'm scared," I said. She sluggishly put her arm around me and pulled me in for a hug.
"We are here for you. Graven cares for you, I can see his devotion to you. In all the years I have known him, I have never seen him like this. He is my everything, and not in a romantic way, more in a paternal way, if you are that important to him, then you are that important to me. Besides, I kind of like you." She tried to laugh but she coughed and held her ribs.
"We can't stay here. I really need you to get yourself straightened out. You either need to shift all the way human so we can walk back into town or you need to shift into a gargoyle so you can fly us out of here." If Graven found us sitting here he would not be pleased with our escape plan.
"I don't know what is wrong with me. This has never happened before." Her head sprung up. "Our clothes. We have to get our shopping bags."
"Seriously?" How could she worry about our bags?
"My credit card receipt is in there too."
"Well we can't go back there now. Maybe Graven will notice them and grab them. Do you think he is ok?" I asked her.
"He is more than ok. I really need some water or something. I'm having a hard time catching my breath. Maybe I need some oxygen or something. What other special tricks do you have up your sleeve?" she asked me.
"I don't know, but I did have a strange incident with water earlier today. These things just started happening to me. I am not sure if I could do them at will. Each occurrence took place when I was in a heightened emotional state."
"How are you not heightened right now? You should be freaking out. We just about got kidnapped by men that were going to do God knows what to us and then you fired off some supersonic burst that knocked us on our butts. Your boyfriend is kicking some serious ass around the corner. You cannot be cool as a cucumber right now," she demanded.
Betrayed: Breaking the Darkness Series Book Two Page 16