“Matt heard something from the direction of your room,” Seb urges as we run. Rounding the corner, I find my door open but there’s no sign of Matt.
“Do we split up?” I ask Seb with a smile. The game is on and I’m not going to lose to her. Whatever game this is we’re playing.
Seb runs his eyes over me, and a look I can’t decipher passes across his face, which is then replaced by a mischievous smile. “Yeah, lets split up. You take the top floor and I’ll make my way back down again.” He skims his eyes about and then taunts, “whoever finds her gets dibs on holding her tonight.”
The shithead. "Deal."
Chapter Thirty-One
Sebastian
Rolland’s gone nuts. Truly nuts. But to see the life back in his eyes again like this, I couldn’t care less. He’s looked so rough the past twenty-four hours, that I started to doubt I would ever see the sparkle and humour back in his eyes. He’s like a big kid. Unable to grow up, full of life and practical jokes. My opposite most days. His passion for his farm shows in every single acre and animal he takes on. The farm is in Dartmoor in the southeast of England, just by the national park. It’s a small drive to the coastline, and the beaches and lakes are spectacular. Most of the produce I use in my restaurants comes from his farm, and it’s what sets my food apart from the other businesses around it.
Pulling myself from my thoughts, I step off the bottom step, keeping my feet light. This is crazy. A Gjinn is trying to pull the life out of Kia, the house hasn't been warded, and there’s an angry Gerry grumbling around, yet we’re playing hide and seek. But the hell with it. Rolland’s smiling again, and the look on Kia’s face as she flew like a bullet from the room was priceless. I can’t say I’ve ever seen such graceful movements in my life - her feet barely touched the floor.
A small creak comes from around the corner near my room. I pause in my steps, listening for the most minor of sounds. I hear the movement of clothing and I wonder if it’s her shorts. I move my foot an inch and listen for it again. Fuck, I hope I don’t frighten her too much. I move my feet and go to grab her body around the waist. But the body I catch is too large and fully clothed.
“Arrr, bugger!” Matt swears as he falls on his side, both of us landing in a heap.
“Shit, I thought I had her,” I grouch as I get to my feet. Matt is still trying to catch his breath as he straightens his glasses. “Have you seen her?” I ask him desperately. He shakes his head no, so I step over him and begin creeping toward my bedroom quietly.
I hear a loud thump followed by Rolland cursing from the front door. I run through with Matt at my heels and come to a stop when we reach the open foyer. We see Rolland rolling on his side on the floor, with Kia standing over him, looking very proud of herself.
“That was mean, Kia, my heart nearly stopped,” Rolland whines as Kia folds her arms over her chest, smiling from ear to ear. Rolland stays on the floor rubbing his ankle.
I make my way over to them and look down to Rolland. “That doesn’t count,” I tell him, folding my arms over my chest.
He turns and faces me. “Yeah it does, I saw her first,” he counters. I raise my eyebrows at him and then look to Kia. She kicks him in the leg lightly. “I did!” he declares, then goes to grab her, but she dodges easily before turning from him and walking past me. She tugs Matt by the hand, poking her tongue out at me as she passes.
My eyes widen. Did she hear us? Matt is fully confused but goes willingly. I turn back to Rolland as he gets to his feet.
“She fucking pounced on me!” he says in mock rage, pausing beside me; his face is full of playfulness. “I’ll get her back for that. Mark my word, Brother. I’ll get her sweet ass back for that.” He carries on heading toward my room and I very much doubt his words.
I laugh and decide to head up to check in with Brad. Tapping on the door, I wait this time. A few moments later he opens his bedroom door, spilling light into the now dim corridor. He opens it wider when he sees it’s me, then walks over to his dark, oak desk and begins tidying away some books he must have been reading. He’s got his dark sleepwear on, so he must be about ready to turn in for the night.
I run my eyes over the dark brown walls and soft leather furnishings, which give a richness to the room. Though his king-sized bed is still unmade from this morning.
“What was all that noise?” Brad asks humorously.
“Kia giving us the runaround. She pounced on Rolland, knocking him flat on his arse,” I tell him, closing the door behind me before heading over to his window which looks out over the trees that surround the house. The lake is just visible although the best view of it is from Rolland’s room.
I hear Brad give a short, scornful laugh behind me. Turning back around, I peer over at him with a smile, catching his amber eyes flash up to me briefly before he continues to put his books and papers away. Most of his books are hundreds of years old and mythological based. His fascinations for dragons and trolls knows no bounds.
“Her defensive behaviour won’t go away overnight and the only way you get through to someone who has walls as high as hers is through building trust,” Brad says sympathetically as he puts his phone on to charge. “If I had to guess, I’d say she has plenty of combat skills and muscle memory.” He heads into the bathroom and I turn my gaze back to the window to watch the evening rays of sun fall behind the horizon of the fern trees. A figure walks the perimeter of the driveway and I recognise Jack’s tall frame, his platinum blonde hair seeming to shine from the last of the light. I lean against the window frame, observing him as he places a few more stones down before continuing his circuit.
“Her footwork on the roof surpasses my own and that’s after she’s been immobile for months,” I say agreeably. I hear Brad brushing his teeth as he steps out from his bathroom to look at me. He’s smiling around the toothbrush and bobs his dark eyebrows. I squint back at him, wondering what he’s sussed out that we haven’t.
“Anyway, it looks like Jack’s back. Matt and I will take shifts staying awake to make sure Gerry doesn’t go poking his nose about until Kia’s healed. We also thought it best to leave any mind work with Jack until the morning when we’re fresh,” I say, looking back out the window. Jack places the final stones down, then stands with his head bowed for a few moments, activating them all at once.
Brad reappears and looks out the window with me. “Ye, sounds good to me. Now that he’s warded the house, we can at least sleep without the thought of any Gjinn knocking on our door.” His broad shoulders heave as he lets out a heavy breath with his words.
I decide to leave him to sleep. “I’m going to catch Jack before he vanishes again.” Brad nods as I make my way out the door.
“Night.” I hear Brad’s brass, timbre tone follow me out the door.
“Night,” I call back over my shoulder.
Heading down the stairs, I find Jack waiting by the front door looking like Legolas from one of Brad’s favourite movies. He’s even still got his cloak on. What happened to the white cotton stuff he had on earlier? Though Ireland is probably a bit cold for that, even at this time of year. Especially the coastline where I think he was. He’s just missing a sword and pointy ears, and he could definitely pass for an elf.
His pale complexion and piercing light blue eyes seem to shine like his hair did outside. He’s got it half pulled back with the rest falling over his shoulders that are covered in light mud. His face looks the perfect state of calm, as usual, not an ounce of emotion showing. If I didn’t see it earlier with my own eyes, I would think him incapable of feeling. That being said, after hearing his words spoken this morning about all the lives that have been lost, perhaps he’s buried them so deep down, he’s no longer connected to them.
Reaching the bottom step, I come to a halt and continue to run my eyes over him. His arms are crossed behind his back giving him a confidence in his stance and I notice his boots are wet, but the rest of him appears to be dry.
“I take it the house is warded?�
� I inquire, keeping my own emotions in check and matching his pose.
“Yes, it will hold off the Gjinn so you can sleep easier tonight,” he confirms as he glances to his left toward my room, then fixes his steely gaze back to me. “I did not intend to take so long. How are Kia and Rolland?” His tone holds nothing as usual, never giving anything more away than he intends to.
I keep my face straight and impassive. After many years of practice, it’s easy to put on for Jack. “Much better. Rolland has some colour back in his face, and Kia is-” I pause as an idea comes to mind. Jack narrows his icy blue eyes at me just a fraction. “Kia is fine. I’m sure she will be happy to see you.” My mask stays in place and I hope it remains there a while longer.
Jack studies me. Satisfied with his findings, he turns and strides to my room. I follow in his tracks, wondering how Kia will react to seeing him. When he turns into my room, he halts a few steps in. I come to stand beside him and find Rolland, Matt, and Kia sitting on the window seat with Kia on Matt’s lap facing Rolland, her body turned so she can look out the bay window. Rolland and Matt are facing one another, deep in conversation about something, and they don’t notice us standing there for a moment.
The sun is still setting, warming the room with its deep red and soft yellow rays.
Kia’s back is looking even worse from all the movement earlier, but the bandages should be fine until morning, though they won’t last much longer than that. An extensive line of blood is seeping through, with two other patches either side.
Kia turns in Matt’s lap with a soft smile on her face. As she does, Rolland pulls in a breath and frowns at her. “Kia-” he stops whatever he was about to say, following her line of sight to see Jack. She doesn’t get up straight away like she did when she saw Matt earlier. Instead, she turns fully to face him while Rolland looks back at Kia, narrowing his eyes at her.
“What are you-?” Rolland cuts himself off again, pulling his lips into his mouth, then sits back against the wall.
Matt frowns at Rolland with a confused look on his face, which I’m sure is mirrored on my own, as both of us wonder what’s going on. Kia stands very slowly and takes a couple of steps forward before she stops at the foot of the bed so she’s about a few metres away from where we stand.
I flick my eyes to watch Jack without turning my head and notice a small muscle work in his jaw, which he stops somehow. I look back to Kia as she moves her arms behind her back. I hear Rolland suck in a breath. Her posture shows as much confidence as Jack’s and tension starts to build in the room. Matt’s worried eyes flick from Rolland, to Kia, then to Jack, before they finally land on me.
“You are looking well, Kia.” Jack’s polished voice startles me slightly. A smile tugs at her lips as she gives a small nod but still doesn’t blink. “And were there any complications when Brad removed the cuffs?” Jack asks. Kia moves her head to the side as a ‘no’ but continues not to blink. How is she doing that? “I am glad to hear it,” Jack comments. What is going on between these two? Her eyes don’t blink, but they seem to waver a fraction. Jack turns and strides out of the room.
Stunned as to what the hell just happened, I wait for a beat before I turn and follow after him. I still have a plan as to how to get information from Jack and I want to test it out. Picking up my steps quietly, I find Jack waiting at the bottom of the stairs. As soon as I reach his side, he starts going up. I walk along with him, but I don’t speak, hoping we can have the privacy of his room to talk. We pass Gerry’s room and no noise comes from inside. Hopefully, he has turned in for the night and we won’t have him poking about.
We finally reach Jack’s room, where he opens the door and waits for me to step through first. Unlike last time, I’m prepared for the sight my eyes want to feast on, but I drag my eyes away and focus on Jack. It’s incredibly hard with so many colours sparkling around in my peripheral vision, but I want answers.
Jack takes his cloak off, hanging it on a hook on the back of the door and starts unbuttoning his undercoat. It fits snug to his body and looks incredibly warm with its long sleeves and low hem.
Deciding to just get on with it, I start talking. “Rolland took a shower with Kia to help remove the shirt that was sticking to her back, and he got pulled into her mind. He saw a flashback of Kia being whipped and felt her pain as though it was his own.” Jack pauses for a fraction of a second, then continues to undress.
He takes out a cream coloured waistcoat from the cupboard and starts pulling it on as he talks. “You are from South Grandor, and your people call themselves Marbellows. Your race is known to have incredible healing abilities of the mind and body with minimal effort.” My heart drops somewhere in my stomach. He’s known this all along and never said anything?
Pushing my emotions down, I take a quiet, calming breath. “He got pulled in again when I bandaged her back and he had to watch her go through all the torture that was triggered in her mind.” There’s another pause in Jack’s movements, but if I weren’t looking, I would have missed it. He wants to know more, but that isn’t part of the game we’re playing.
He sits on a solid oak chair across from me while I stand leaning against his marble table, watching as he starts to unlace his leather boots. “Rolland is from North Grandor, and they called themselves Karbellows. Before we all got stuck here, your homelands were free of The Swarm and were thriving. My people were in good relations with both races in the North and South. After my homeland fell, we were taken in by both the Karbellows and Marbellows. We were received with more compassion and grace than any race could possibly have shown.” He pulls his boot off and starts on the other.
My head starts to hurt, so I squeeze my eyes shut to rid myself of the pain. But as I do, a vision of trees sparkling white on the inside flashes within my mind, but it’s gone so fast that I don’t have time to study it. Shaking my head to clear it, I look up and find Jack observing me before he tugs off the other boot, then steps over to the wardrobe, taking a pair of shoes out. They look more formal, with the same details as those on the waistcoat he’s put on. He sits down again and begins slipping the shoes on.
Come on, Sebastian, get your head together. Dropping my gaze down to the dark marble table I’m leaning on, I focus on the white lines running through it to help clear my head.
“When I healed Kia’s knees, Rolland got stuck in her mind again. He took her place in getting tortured, and she had to stand and watch him go through it. I managed to wake her, but we couldn’t wake Rolland. I stopped her from pulling him out, but somehow she took hold of my energy and used it to pull him out of her head.” I don’t look up this time. I wait. Silence follows my words, and I so desperately want to look at his face, to see how well his mask is holding up.
“My people are in the middle of building a craft that can withstand the conditions of the ice circle that keeps us here. It is only weeks away from completion and there is room for all those we have found,” Jack reveals, his voice remaining steady. I look up without thinking and find he’s already making his way back to the closet again.
“Matt was followed today in town and Kia seemed to know when she checked in on him,” I divulge. Jack stops mid-step and turns to me. He wants to ask questions, but that isn’t how this works.
He continues to the wardrobe, taking out a cream coloured cloak with more fine details around the hem, it looks incredibly light and soft, and I begin to wonder what it’s made from. Silk perhaps? But it seems more durable.
“Ayrans do not have males in their species.” Jack’s crisp tone pings in my ears.
My mind seems to trip over on itself. I open my mouth to say something, but Jack raises his perfectly manicured blonde eyebrows at me. Fucking arsehole. That pretty face needs to be punched.
I take a deep breath and let it out. Finding a spot on the cream wall behind Jack, I stare at it. “Kia scaled the wall from my room and took a fair bit of interest in some of the paintings around the house.” In my peripheral vision I see Jack stop what h
e’s doing, so I flick my eyes over to him and find his jaw clenched, hard. Good. Stew on that, dickhead.
“I am heading out to meet with someone from Mid Gaia. Hopefully, they will be able to cleanse Kia enough to be able to take her deep within Mid Gaia, where she will be safe.”
My face begins to heat and every part of my body tenses up. My heart is pounding in my ears and something feels like it’s breaking inside of me. I’ve nothing left to give him.
“I will be back by sunrise,” he adds, stepping over to the door, but I can’t move.
“Sebastian, all I want is for Kia to be safe.” I hear him let out a breath.
I turn and find his focus on the wall behind me, his eyes seeming to shine. Fucking pompous prick. All I want to do is remove his pretty head from his stiff shoulders and throw it deep into the ocean.
Forcing my arms to move, I pull away from the table and stand to face him completely. He hasn’t opened the door yet, and there’s still plenty of space between us.
“Rolland is feeling every emotion that runs through her, even when he’s not trying with his gift,” I urge. “He’s hearing her talk in his mind, and when she was pulling my energy from me, I heard her too. I would advise you to reconsider, Jack, for the sake of them both.” Stepping over to the door, I go to turn the handle with my left hand. But Jack’s back is in the way, so I can’t open it.
Jack drops his gaze down to his feet, seeming to hold a breath. “Ayrans are vegans by nature and do not need food to sustain themselves within their homeland. They have no hierarchy or systems of order as most races and species do. They do not require sleep but slip into a meditative state, where they speak to The Source as we call it. They usually only ever bear one child in each lifespan. On a few rare occasions, they have been known to bear two, but never in the same gestation. In very rare instances, some were able to bear three, though only from those who seemed to have a more profound knowledge of life.
In Pursuit of Light Page 22