The Protectors (Hybrid Book 2)

by TJ Hines

  “Your father and I are so proud of you and wish that we could be there with you to help you through this time in your life but unfortunately the Council caught up to us a long time ago and now have me imprisoned. I fear the worst for your father because I haven’t been able to dreamwalk his subconscious since we have been taken captive. Don’t trust them. They are not who you think they are.”

  There was a crashing sound coming from the forest behind the tiny cabin. Mom looked at it and said one word, Resurgemus. There was a deep rumbling sound that came from the field next to the cabin. Hundreds of bodies lifted from their internments and started walking in the direction of my mother’s outstretched hands. Then she said another word, Impetus, before she grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the tiny little cabin in the woods.

  It was a rather cute cabin from what I noticed of it during the running for our lives bit. Green metal roof with log siding. It looked perfect for a couple to spend their retirement period of life in. My mom pushed me through the door of the cabin as a thick fog rolled into the area crashing into the walking dead outside.

  The inside of the cabin was not what I was expecting. It was an office with a reception area at the front. And a bank of elevators behind it. It made no sense why it was there, but it had to be important for her to bring me to it. She tugged me after her, pass the secretary who was asleep, and to the last elevator on the left-hand side. She pushed the down arrow and waited.

  “Listen to me. I love you so much and I am so sorry I wasn’t there while you were growing up. Don’t come looking for me because I don’t want the Council to get their hands on you. Try to hide your dark powers so that they will have no reason to come after you. Stay away from your uncles and keep your family close to you. Get in!” She pushed me through the doors as soon as they opened. Then she stepped in punched in a code, 1117, on a keypad where the elevator floor buttons should have been and then got back out.

  “Where are you going? Get in with me.” I said reaching out for her hand.

  “Sweetheart I can’t this is a dream. I love you so much. You are the best thing that ever happened to me. Take care of yourself.” She blew me a kiss before the elevator doors shut.

  When the elevator doors opened, I saw Caleb staring down at me. “Hey,” I whispered.

  “Hey back at you. You got to stop scaring me like that. I thought they had you this time,” he said.

  “Who had her? What’s going on?” Will demanded.

  “Sorry,” Caleb said climbing off of my bed.

  “I didn’t want to worry you which is why I didn’t tell you.”

  “Tell me what Kinsey?”

  “Apparently one of my uncles can dreamwalk. He managed to get inside my nightmare and now he knows what I look like,” I answered.

  “What? And you are just now telling us this? And you went along with her plan? Are you both nuts?” Will shouted.

  “Calm down Will. Everything is fine. That’s why Caleb has been sleeping in her room so that way if one of her uncles tries to enter her subconscious Caleb can get her out safely,” Jack said.

  “This is unbelievable,” Will stated before walking out of my room and slamming the door.

  “I’ll go after him Kinsey,” Ensley said before walking out my door leaving just Natalie, Emily, Jack, and Caleb with me.

  “What happened in your ritual dream. Who did you talk to?” Jack asked.

  “My mom. She’s not dead. The Council has her.”

  “What do you mean the Council has her?” Jack asked.

  “I mean she was who I met in my dream and she said the Council took her and my dad a long time ago. They’ve had her imprisoned all this time,” I said jumping out of bed, “I have to go after her.”

  “No!” Caleb and Jack said at the same time.

  “You can’t go after her. Not without a plan at least. And that takes time plus we don’t know if this was real or not yet. Why don’t you tell us everything that happened and maybe we can all make sense of it.”

  So, for the next hour, I relayed everything that happened to me in the dream ritual. They all agreed that it sounded like a definite dreamwalk and that my mother was alive. However, not all them believed that the Council would imprison my mother. Natalie didn’t say much but I got a distinct impression that she thought my mother was lying. Em thought my mom may have been mistaken because she couldn’t believe the Council would do something so horrible. Jack and Caleb were a hundred percent on my mom’s side. Jack said he hadn’t trusted the Council since they said they wanted to imprison me if my dark powers reached maturity. Caleb was always on my side, through good and bad decisions, he never wavered his support. Which sometimes got us into heaps of trouble.

  “So, what’s the plan?” I asked Jack.

  “There is nothing we can do at the moment. We might as well continue the party. I will make some calls and see what I can find out. If we get definite proof that she is being imprisoned, we will come up with a plan to get her out. Did she say anything about your powers?”

  “Yeah. She is hoping I get most from my dad’s side, but she told me what to look for in case I get some of her powers too. She’s hoping that since she is still alive not all her powers will transfer to me so therefore the council won’t want me.” I responded sitting back on my bed. “She also said to not trust the Council or my uncles because they both have ulterior motives.”

  “That’s a definite,” Caleb said reaching out to hold my hand again. Her intertwined my fingers with his. Just that small amount of contact settled my anxiety down to a manageable amount. He was my rock, always had been and always will be.

  “Okay well since we can’t do anything else right now and it’s the middle of the night. Let’s all get some rest before something else happens.” Emily said walking towards the door.

  Everyone but Caleb followed her out. I knew better than to ask if he was leaving too because he didn’t leave my side these days. He stretched out on my bed and kicked off his shoes.

  “So whatcha wanna do their hot stuff?” He said between yawns. He was so tired. He had barely been sleeping since the dream with my uncle Alec.

  “Sleep. At least you are, I’m too wired to sleep right now. I’ll practice dreamwalking so that way you know where I am. Deal?”

  “Normally I would argue with you but as long as you are with me somewhere, I’m gonna take it.” He yawned again.

  “Get some rest,” I said as I stretched out on the bed next to him. It didn’t take him long to fall asleep. Once he was dreaming, I followed the steps to enter his dreamworld. It didn’t take me as long this time especially since I knew the key to successfully building that bridge between me and him was to be super detailed which was easier because of the make-out session with him the other night.

  The party was in a few hours and I still had to find something for me and Addison to wear. The Protectors sent to find Abby and gather our belongings were due back in a few days ago but Jack hadn’t heard from them yet. He wasn’t too worried about them since they were both veterans, but he did say if they don’t contact him within the next few days, he would have to report their absence to the council. Jack had given up any chance of finding Abby alive and I guess a part of me felt the same way. I still was holding out a little hope but with every week that passed without finding her, it was looking less and less likely that she was alive. I may not like her, but I never wanted her to die.

  I wanted Addison to look perfect tonight because I was hoping that she and Ensley would finally declare their feelings for one another. I mean it was obvious to the rest of us that they were totally into each other. When you asked one of them what they thought of the other, they blushed and changed the subject. But tonight, it was going to change if I had to stick my nose into it to get it to happen.

  I picked out a beautiful deep red strapless dress with black embroidered flowers running down the hip for Addison. It would go so well with her skin tone and beautiful brown hair. She would make Ensley speechl
ess in that dress. I know because I made Caleb speechless when I wore it to my high school prom. Of course, at the time I thought it was because I was wearing a dress. Turns out it was probably because he was in love with me.

  That left me wearing the dress I wore to my parent’s funeral or something else. I opted for something else.

  I was still searching my closet when Ella came in to check on me.

  “What’s up girl?”

  “Hey, Ella. Nothing much just trying to find something to wear tonight.”

  “What's wrong with this dress? It's gorgeous!” She said referring to the dress I picked out for Addison.

  “Nothing but I picked it out for Addison. Do you think she will like it?”

  “I don’t know about her, but my brother is going to be blown away.”

  “Good. That's what I was going for.” I told her before returning to my ever-apparent pointless closet search.

  “Emily, Natalie, and I are going to town to pick up some stuff for the party, do you want me to pick you up something to wear?”

  “I’m guessing I’m not allowed to leave the premises today, am I?”

  “Unfortunately, not today. There are too many variables at play now for you to leave before you reach maturity. I’m sorry. But I can pick you out something. I have very good taste.”

  Ella did have good taste. She always looked beautiful from the time she woke up in the mornings to the time she went to sleep. Hell, she probably looked good sleeping too. Maybe it was a fairy thing. “Okay, no dresses though. I feel so self-conscious in those.”

  “Deal. So, what’s upl with you and Will?”

  “What do you mean?” I, of course, knew exactly what she meant but I wanted her to say it because I didn’t want to talk about it. Mainly because I wasn’t sure what was up with us. Things were going well for us until Caleb kissed me right before Thanksgiving. We haven’t been alone to talk about anything since then. Due to me not wanting to be alone with either him or Caleb because I was trying to stay Switzerland.

  “I mean are you and Will together? Because Natalie thinks he’s really hot and she was going to make a move, but I stopped her. But if everything is just friend territory between you two then I am going to give her the go-ahead.”

  Something in me snapped at hearing that hussy Natalie wanting my Will. “How dare her? He is mine and always will be,” I said before realizing the implications of my statement.

  “Okay. I’ll make sure she stays away from him. I honestly didn’t know you two were together. Especially because how close you are with Caleb,” she said starting for the door.

  “Ella wait. I’m not with Will. Or Caleb. We are friends. Just friends. At least I think we are. I’m trying my hardest to be Switzerland. I don’t want to choose between them. I love them both. They are my best friends. This is getting so difficult and I don’t know what to do anymore” I groaned. “What would you do?”

  “Have best friends that are girls.”

  “Haha! Seriously though what would you do?”

  “You need to make your mind up because staying Switzerland is not going to work with those two. Not for long at least. I would spend some time with both of them alone and see which one you have the most feelings for. Maybe that will work. I really don’t know for sure if it will because I’ve never fallen in love with two guys at the same time. The only thing I do know is that you are going to look fabulous for tonight.”

  “Thanks, girl. I really appreciate the advice and fashion help.”

  Ella made it back right before the party began. She handed me a bag and said to yell at her if I needed help with anything. Well, that was a scary thought. Why would I need help?

  After pulling the outfit out of the bag I realized why I might need help. And it was definitely scary. She got me black leather pants to wear. Leather Pants! And a blue midriff sweater. I hoped I didn’t have to go outside without a coat tonight. I hunted through my closet for shoes to wear that was equally comfortable and sexy. I finally decided to wear the ones from Halloween. If I can fight in a pair of shoes, they have got to be pretty awesome. I left my hair down because I was hoping it would give me a little warmth since I felt half-naked. Okay, a little exaggeration but in my defense, it was cold outside.

  I met Addison in the adjoining bathroom to do our makeup. She looked gorgeous. Ensley was going to flip out and if he didn’t, I was going to throat punch him.

  “How do I look?” she asked.

  “Fantastic. How about me?”

  “You look hot. Those two guys won’t know what hit them.”

  About the time Addison said that the guys wouldn’t knew what hit them there was a loud crashing sound from below. It sounded and felt like something large hit the house. I looked at Addison, she looked at me, and we started running.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  When Addison and I reached the first-floor landing, we could tell something big had crashed through the living room wall. There was a massive hole where the door had been and all the windows facing the front of the house in the foyer and living room were gone. I was about thirty seconds from freaking out when I saw a fireball come streaming through the open space in the room and hit something that was obviously what had barreled through the house. I couldn’t make out what it was from where I was standing but I knew it was big because of the size of the hole it put in the wall.

  I grabbed Addison’s hand and told her to get back to her room moments before whatever the fireball hit exploded with enough force to knock Addison and me off our feet. I knew the sprinkler system would put the fire out, so I decided it was safer for Addison upstairs rather than outside with whoever threw the fireball at the house. Addison didn’t hesitate. She bounded up the stairs and shut the door. It sounded like she was barricading it too, but I couldn’t be sure.

  I had to find my family and friends. I heard Will yell for everyone to get downstairs immediately. He said we had a breach in security. I started for the kitchen which is when I noticed that it was a car that had barreled through the house. It was now burning in our once beautiful kitchen. I found Emily knocked unconscious next to the island, which was what helped stop the car. I pulled her into the pantry area until I could find some help for her. I checked out the car next. In it was two guys, very much dead, and all my stuff from college burning to a crisp. So, I gathered this was the veteran Protectors sent to find Abby and gather our belongings. Poor dudes. There was nothing I could do for them at that point, so I continued on back towards the dining room.

  I found Jack in there battling someone that I didn’t recognize.

  “Go Kinsey. Find Will and Caleb. They will keep you safe,” he said dodging a ball made of what appeared to be ice. I wanted to stay and help but I knew without my full powers I would be more of a hindrance than a help in a fight.

  I started running back up the stairs to find them when Caleb caught me around the waist.

  “Not that way. We got to get Jack and Emily first,” he said.

  I followed him back towards the dining room with everyone else on our heels. Jack was sitting against the wall holding his hand to the crown of his head when we made it to him.

  “Are you okay?” I asked sitting down next to him so I could check out his injuries.

  “Yeah, I’m good. How’s Emily?”

  “I haven’t found her yet,” Caleb responded a touch of worry in his voice.

  “I have. I moved her to the pantry. She’s alive but unconscious,” I said squeezing Jack’s hand. “What happened? I thought we had warding all around this place.”

  “When the two Protectors I sent to find Abby crashed through the wards it took them down at least long enough for some of your uncles' forces to get in. But everyone needs to understand that when Kinsey turns 21 the wardings will fall for good so we need to be prepared for whatever they have out there. Natalie put a call into the Council and tell them we are under attack. I don’t know if they can get anyone here in time, but they might be able too.”

>   “So, what’s the plan besides kicking major ass out there?” Caleb asked.

  Jack split everyone into groups of two and sent them out to take care of the threat. He was going to heal Emily and then they would join the fray outside. He sent me back to my room to stay with Addison. I would have argued with him under any other circumstance but honestly, I was afraid, and I knew I would not be able to hold my own in a fight, hand to hand or magical.

  I prayed that everyone returned safely and that they stopped whatever was happening outside. Just in case, I ran to the kitchen and grabbed two knives. At this point, I wasn’t going to take any more chances with mine and Addison’s safety. Especially not after being caught off guard and nearly killed Halloween night by that possessed group of guys with makeshift weapons.

  I headed back to Addison’s room while trying to catch glimpses of what was going on outside. All I saw was thick smoke like I saw in my nightmare. Well, that can’t be good. Focus Kinsey! Addison was the priority. All I had to do was keep us safe until the Protectors eliminated the threat. I could do that. I had to.

  I was almost to Addison’s room when I heard a scream come from inside and then a loud crash. I took off running. I made it to her door but there was something blocking it from opening. She had barred the door. I kept banging and screaming for her to let me in.

  “Oh, Kinsey you better figure out a way in or your little bitch friend is going to feel some major pain.”

  I knew that voice. I heard it almost every day for the last two years. “Abby? What are you doing here?”

  “Come in and find out,” Abby said.

  “Addison!!” I yelled. I heard muffled screams coming from inside her room.

  “She can't talk right now.”

  “Dammit, Abby! If you hurt her, I am going to kill you!”

  “Too late you stupid little bitch,” Abby yelled back through the door.