by Jaymin Eve
I was surprised when Lexen didn’t let her go, even as the fire licked across his hands. Apparently he always rocked the dragon thing, even when he no longer looked like one.
Even though Callie calmed herself quickly, she didn’t stop shooting death glares at the chick, who appeared completely unconcerned, turning her back on us and striding ahead. Two black SUVs screeched to a halt on the main road, just outside the huge gates of Daelight Crescent. Laous got into the second SUV with his people, and Lexen strode across to the front vehicle, yanking the driver right out of the seat and tossing him about ten feet away.
The man didn’t get up, and none of us bothered to care as we piled into the car. Eight people did not fit that easily, but we made it work.
Xander, who was next to me in the very back of the car, turned around as we started to move. “Laous is ready,” he said, “let’s get out of here.”
Lexen took off then in a squeal of tires. He leaned over and whispered to Emma in the passenger seat, and she nodded. I noticed the other two guys do the same thing to their mates.
“Don’t say anything important, the car could be bugged,” Xander said, close to my ear.
I nodded, sinking back against the chair. Exhaustion was starting to press on me. I’d barely slept last night, and then when we’d supposed to be resting today, I’d been … really busy with Xander. I had no regrets about that—I’d never forget my afternoon with him. But it did mean I was edging toward needing some sleep.
“The airfield is about forty minutes away,” Xander told me. “Why don’t you try and get some sleep.”
How the hell he knew I was tired was beyond me. I was doing everything in my power to appear like I had my shit together. “It’s fine,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m perfectly fine right now.”
He wrapped an arm around me, pulling me against his chest. “You need sleep. You also need food. I can’t remember the last time we all ate.”
On the plane, if I recalled correctly. Which was hours ago. It was nearing nightfall now. The storm clouds still hanging low over Astoria had washed the world in darkness. Shifting around in my seat, I gave up fighting my heavy eyes and allowed myself to relax against Xander. I might have been naked with him a few hours ago, but sleeping was a completely new sort of vulnerability. My body apparently trusted him though, because I almost immediately fell asleep, waking only when the car pulled to a stop.
Xander brushed a hand across my cheek. I lifted my head, groggy and disoriented, and it took me a few moments to remember what had happened, to remember that we were on our way to find a stone, and we had a small entourage of evil psychopaths with us.
I didn’t even want to know what that chick had meant about wearing Callie’s mother. Just no.
Xander lifted me up. I shook my head, trying to wake properly. “You can sleep again on the flight,” he told me. “Even with special tech, it’s still going to take quite a few hours to get there.”
Special tech indeed. When we exited the vehicle, it was to stand before a gleaming black beast. Nighthawk was etched into the side of it in large letters, and I noted that it appeared to have twin engines on either wing, plus rotors on the top. I blinked as I stumbled closer, still half asleep.
“What the hell sort of material is that made of?” I asked, trying to see it clearly.
The black metal, constantly shifting color, shimmered silver one second, black the next, even going almost sky blue.
“Looks like it has chameleon technology,” Maya noted. “My dad told me that the government has been working on this for our defense systems. The aircraft will mimic its surroundings, blending right in so they can stealthily fly over enemy territories.”
That was exactly what this helicopter-plane was doing. If you changed the angle of your head, it looked different. Two pilots were waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs. Laous crowded right up to them, a creepy smile on his face.
“Welcome aboard,” the first pilot said in a serious tone of voice. He looked between all of us. “I’m Major Kenneth Cole, and I’ll be guiding this aircraft for you this evening. We will be departing at eighteen-hundred hours. Please make your way on board and secure yourselves into one of the chairs. We move extremely fast, so it’s best to remain seated and buckled in at all times.”
Major Kenneth Cole was certainly confident. I wondered if he knew that almost all of his passengers tonight were aliens … of some description.
Laous tilted his head to the side. “How long will our journey be?”
The human met his eyes dead on. No fear at all. “No way for me to estimate that until we’re in the air. It will be at least three hours.”
Laous just nodded, pushing his way on board, his people right behind him. I almost chuckled out loud. It was like being forced to go on vacation with your most hated family members, knowing you were going to be stuck doing activities with them for days on end.
Chase was the first of our group to step onto the silver stairs, Maya right behind him, followed by Daniel and Callie, then Lexen and Emma. Xander ushered me in front of him, and then he brought up the back of our group. We stayed close together, and I hated it when Chase entered the black beast, disappearing from sight.
Thankfully we weren’t far behind. When I stepped in through the front section, it was to find a huge round open area, seats backed onto either wall. Nothing fancy like Xander’s private plane; this was bare basics. I quickly crossed to the seat beside Emma and dropped into it. The straps were harness style, but easy enough to buckle up, with a single clip over my chest. I tightened each side of the shoulder straps, pressing myself back into the chair.
It wasn’t the most comfortable way to travel, but it was probably safest. Xander took the seat directly across from me, which was good and bad. I couldn’t accidentally touch him, but I got to stare at his too-perfect face for three hours.
I noted that Laous already had his head back, eyes closed. He was so damn relaxed. The Daelighter didn’t strike me as the stupid kind—he’d already stated that this was probably a trap for him—so he knew we had no plans to just hand the stone over to him without a fight. So why all the confidence?
It made me uneasy.
My worries were cut off when the engines roared loudly around us and the wall behind my chair started to vibrate. Unlike a normal airplane, there was no long takeoff. We pretty much started to roll, and then boom, we were in the air. There were no windows for us to see the progress, but judging on how quickly my ears blocked up, we were rising quickly. Opening my mouth a few times, I shook my head to clear it.
“Are you doing okay?” Emma asked, shooting me a worried look.
I blinked at her for a moment, wondering what the hell she was talking about. Then I remembered. The last flying incident, which hadn’t gone over so well.
“Uh, actually, I’m fine.” I really was. I’d barely even thought about the fear that had rocked me on our flight from Hawaii. “Maybe … my body is not as shocked because we flew just recently.”
Emma nodded. “Yeah, I would guess that it would be a daunting experience the first time you fly … when you’re more used to swimming.”
Yeah, I mean … it had to be that. Right? What else had changed in the last few days? My eyes locked on Xander and I felt that pull inside of me, urging me forward. There was a bond between us. It had been there from the start, only cementing when we had sex. I wondered if that was helping me stay grounded, the same way his scent did because it was like my ocean.
If that was the case, what would happen to me when we had to part ways? I couldn’t live without the water. I knew that without a doubt. But I was starting to fear I might not be able to live without Xander either.
Chapter 20
The flight was fast. Still, by the time the captain announced that we were starting to descend and that they would be searching for a secure location to hide the aircraft, my butt was numb.
Jiggling on the spot, I bit my lip. Xander chuckled and my head shot u
p. “We’ll be on the ground in about two minutes,” he told me, his smile tearing at my insides. I managed to smile back, even though I was about as far from happy as it was possible to be.
Xander had barely taken his eyes off me the entire flight and I’d sucked up every moment of his attention, craving it, because he filled an empty part inside of me. I’d always thought it was because of my colder nature, being more fish-like. But I could see now it was a space in my soul for Xander.
A space he’d never get a chance to truly fill.
Before I could grow even more pathetic, we hit some turbulence and the entire plane shook and rattled. My insides squeezed together, like my stomach was going to burst out of my body, and I gripped my armrests tightly. I had to close my eyes. I felt the panic rising; this was no time to freak out. Why the hell did people fly when it was so damn dangerous? We were hurtling toward the ground at like forty billion miles an hour, and if for some reason the pilot didn’t land it properly, we were all going to die.
It was a huge risk, seriously!
Warm hands gripped my face, and my eyes flew open instantly. “Xander!” I gasped, instinctively reaching for his forearms so I could hold on to him. “Get back to your seat, this is way too dangerous.”
Xander looked relaxed, even though his eyes were blazing at me. “You underestimate me, Avalon. Nothing can take me down.”
I had to snort out some laughter, even though I was still terrified he was about to be torn in half by the force of us landing. “Your arrogance knows no bounds. How did you even fit your head inside the door to this plane?”
He winked at me. “Arrogance is a human trait. I’m confident.”
I hated to disagree with him; arrogance was definitely a trait Daelighters had in spades. Although, I supposed there was a fine line between arrogance and confidence.
“Hold on,” the pilot announced, before the speaker cut off.
I tightened my grip on Xander, and he pressed in closer to me, like he was shielding me with his own body. “If you get hurt trying to protect me, I am going to kill you,” I warned him, pulling him even closer to me.
He buried his face into my neck, and my head went light and fuzzy. “Thank you,” I heard him whisper. “Thank you for showing me that there is more to Royale than what we are told to be.”
Don’t cry. For fuck’s sake, this guy was destroying me. How could this feeling be so painful and yet also so addictive?
I’d never loved anyone before, I knew that for a fact. Attraction and love were not the same thing. Usually one night was enough to get the attraction part out of my system. But Xander … no time would be long enough. No amount of sex would be enough to lessen my want for him.
The plane’s rattling cut off then, and for a second I wondered if we had landed and I’d missed it in all my Xander musing. No … it still felt like we were descending.
“They descended fast, but they’ll land silently,” Lexen said, from the other side of Emma. “Because we’re now in stealth mode.”
It was all so black ops. For a moment I wondered how the hell this was my life.
Xander leaned back a little; his gaze turned toward the front of the aircraft. “We’re almost down,” he whispered.
I understood why he was whispering; the lights were dimming and there was an air of secrecy washing over the cabin. Laous had his eyes open, and he looked focused. The bitch at his side was whispering something, but he just stared forward, determination in his gaze. Rao’s head was down, and his eyes appeared to be closed. I wasn’t sure if he was sleeping, or if he was just trying to escape reality.
When I couldn’t bear to witness any more of his grief, I turned away, only to find Daniel wearing the same expression, his eyes locked on his brother. Callie was stroking his arm over and over in an attempt to keep him calm. I wondered if Daniel had been like that for the entire flight. I hadn’t noticed, but I’d dozed on and off for parts and missed a lot.
The lights flickered out completely then, and Xander quickly unbuckled the front clasp on my harness, pulling me to my feet. “Stay close,” he whispered.
I did as I was told because there were only a few little lights up high, visibility was almost zero, and I wasn’t keen on being stuck in a dark cabin with Laous. He was all mild and calm right now, but I’d heard the stories. That man was dead on the inside. He’d killed people. He’d kidnapped my friends. He wanted to steal a powerful stone that was keeping my world alive so he could use it for his own personal power and gain.
I fought against the urge to turn around and take my chances at getting in one good throat punch. Seriously. I’d feel so much better. Xander captured my hand before I could put that plan into action, drawing me closer as if he sensed my sudden violent intentions. When we reached the exit, the pilot slid the door open, his face appearing in the half light from the moonlit land outside. He held a finger to his lips, urging us to be quiet, before he leaned in close. “I’ve dropped you a few hundred yards from your coordinates. We have word that there are locals living close by, but if you stay under the radar, you should be fine.”
He stepped back and let us leave. I glanced to the sky quickly, wondering if the other aircraft was closing in on us. Knowing backup was on the way, even if we had to do this next bit on our own, did help stem some of the icy nerves in my gut.
Lexen and Emma were first down the stairs. Laous brought up the rear … well, Rao was the actual last, his head still lowered as he followed silently.
My friends and I formed a tight circle at the bottom of the stairs. “The pilot said he will wait for us unless their cover is blown,” Chase said quietly. “If that’s the case, they’ll take off and disappear above until we need them.”
“Where exactly is the stone?” Laous interrupted our whispers, not even attempting to keep his voice down. He clearly didn’t care if we drew the attention of the locals.
There was an extended pause, and I wondered if maybe everyone was thinking about throat punching him now. “I’ll have to use my phone to track the coordinates,” Lexen said, swiping across the screen. He keyed something into it, and then stared for a moment.
“This way,” he said shortly.
The guys made sure the four of us girls were in the center, keeping Laous as far away as possible. Laous, with his people, strolled along behind us like he didn’t have a care in the world.
Despite the previous warning about the area we were in, there wasn’t anything in the vicinity that was a cause for alarm. The only details clear in the moonlit night were bushes and trees, and what looked like a huge jungle off in the distance. No signs of human life.
The Draygo who had hidden the stone went to a lot of trouble to put it somewhere that was isolated and would hopefully remain isolated for many hundreds of years, considering he had no idea how long the stone would be hidden with us as secret keepers for it.
“How much further?” Laous asked gruffly, a darker emotion bleeding into his words for the first time. He finally sounded frustrated.
Lexen looked at his phone again, moving the screen with his thumb. I wondered if he was deliberately drawing out the moment. Annoying Laous was one of life’s little pleasures.
“We’re getting close,” he eventually said.
Emma leaned toward me, and I lowered my head. “He’s checking in with Astoria,” she breathed into my ear. “We have to stall Laous until we know everyone is safe back there.”
“How much longer?” I asked, trying to be quiet, but failing because I was getting spooked.
Emma shrugged, pulling me down again. “They took out that front group who were without hostages. Our people have taken their place in the hope they’ll trick the other members of Gonzo scattered around. Roland managed to fry their comms, so it’s working so far. Some of the other houses have gotten Daelighters situated around Astoria. So far, we’re looking good.”
My eyes flicked to the side. Laous was about twenty feet away and a little back from us. “Didn’t he say he was
keeping in touch?”
“Not sure how he could be,” Emma said. “All of the overlords are blocking the network, and 90 percent of the town is out of cell service. Roland left one small part so he could communicate with Lexen.”
And we hadn’t seen Laous, or any of his people, with a phone. So why was he so unconcerned? It was like he didn’t even care what was happening back in Astoria.
A thought occurred to me. What if he wanted the Daelighters to take out Gonzo and whoever else was helping him? The little I knew of him, I’d never have guessed he was a guy who liked to share power. Getting rid of them would be in his best interest. Especially if he didn’t need their help any longer. Which had to mean that he was supremely confident he could get the stone from us now, even though he was vastly outnumbered.
But how?
“He’s up to something,” I whispered, keeping my voice down.
Emma nodded rapidly. “I think so as well,” she returned. “We just have to remain on guard, and make sure the stone does not come out of the ground until the town is secure. Then Laous will have nothing to use against us, and we are stronger than him.”
My worry didn’t abate even a fraction. It just didn’t make sense that he would bring only three of his people with him, one being Rao, who was clearly too beaten down to do anything.
We walked on in silence, all of us on high alert. The land grew steadily darker as the night wore on and the moon shifted across the sky. There were still no signs of human inhabitants, but the rustling in the bushes when we had to push through them made it clear animal life was still active in this area.
Lexen’s phone lit up and my attention went immediately to him. Emma gave my arm a squeeze and hurried to his side. I wondered if this was about Astoria and whatever was going on back there. “Stone is twenty yards away now,” Lexen said, loud enough for Laous to hear.
“About damned time,” Laous muttered. “I was afraid you were about to try and screw me out of this deal. And let me tell you, you definitely don’t want to do that.”