by Garr, Amber
Sighing, he threw up his hand and waved it in front of the crowd. “Fine.”
A solid stone wall rose up and out of the floor, surrounding the front of the room where we all stood. The ground trembled beneath our feet and Jason wrapped his arms around me to hold us in place.
“What’s going on?” he whispered in my ear, fascination coating his tone.
“I don’t know,” I said.
“Huh. Well, look at that.” Charles stepped away from us and brushed his hand along the new wall. It had completely enclosed us in a room of our own. Dirt and remnants of plant life trickled off the stone and onto the floor. Charles gazed at his dirty palm, then wiped it on his pants and walked toward Rollin. “Nice trick.”
Rollin smiled and nodded his head. The eight of us now stood in our little cavern, cut off from the rest of the Wardens who were present just a moment ago. I knew Elders had an enhanced ability to conform our surroundings, but I’d never seen someone reconfigure a large room like this before.
With another wave of his hand, three more chairs appeared at the table on the opposite side of our Elders. “Sit,” Rollin commanded.
I shuffled forward, still admiring the rock wall and holding Jason’s hand in mine. I didn’t care what the Elders thought about that. Right now, I needed his comforting touch because I had a really bad feeling about what would happen next.
“Why don’t you tell us the whole story now,” Elder Mazie said once we sat down.
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, Charles tensed, and Jason smiled. “Ma’am?” he asked.
Judith eyed Jason, not with malice, but in a way that hinted she liked the way he challenged Mazie. Her gray lips turned up at the corner as she sat back in her chair. The remaining two Elders, a male and a female both in their mid-fifties, if I were to guess their death age, looked oddly like siblings. With closely cropped black hair, almost lavender eyes and matching thin lips, they looked like they were stuck in perpetual concentration.
“Let’s start with the register,” Mazie continued, controlling this private meeting now. “You said it appeared at your home?”
Jason nodded. “Yes. Right next to Nora’s.” He glanced my way and smiled before focusing on Mazie again. “I liked the stallion, by the way. Good choice.”
The five Elders shared a look between them. Rollin raised his eyebrows. “And what was in the register?”
“One name. Alberto Gonzalez.”
“And how did you find this…Alberto?” Rollin continued.
“Well,” Jason paused for a second, glancing up at the cavern’s ceiling. “I…” He stumbled over his words and then huffed. “You know what? I don’t know.” Scratching his head, Jason tried to remember something that I should have known the answer to. Why hadn’t I asked him this question? “Well, I guess I just listened for him,” he turned to face me, “like we did with Betty.”
“But how did you get there?” Rollin kept pushing.
“I must have found my way through the realms.” Jason sat back in his seat and cocked his head to the side. “Weird, right? You’d think I should remember that.”
“It is very strange,” the dark haired man said.
“Do you have another question, Mikhail?” Rollin asked his fellow Elder in a sharp tone.
Mikhail shook his head, but I jumped in. “Why does he have a register already?” My question brought silence, followed by several odd looks. Ultimately, the Elders ignored me. I thought about all the things I wanted to shout at them, but kept my mouth shut.
Judith turned to Charles. “How badly were you injured?” Her eyes twinkled in anticipation of his answer. It was clear that she knew he’d been healed.
Charles’ jaw shifted and his lips pressed together. We’d agreed not to discuss the healing, and I knew him well enough to tell that he was contemplating that agreement.
“Charles?” I said to get his attention. When he looked at me with confused eyes, I shook my head.
He blinked slowly before facing Judith. “It was fatal.”
All of the Elders gasped, except for Judith, who smiled her approval. Jason squeezed my hand as the panic made goosebumps rise on the surface of my skin.
“How is that possible?” Rollin asked no one in particular.
“They had some sort of…special knife,” Charles continued. I reached over and pinched his thigh, wishing he’d shut up. There would be no hiding Jason’s abilities if he continued down this path of revelation.
Charles swatted my hand away and continued, “I was in solid form, but couldn’t switch back after the knife sliced my skin.”
Judith turned to me. “Is this the same knife they attacked Jason with?”
I nodded, tears in my eyes from the memory of seeing the two of them suffering. “Yes,” I said in a shaky voice. “But it had a different effect on him.”
“How do you mean?” Rollin asked.
I swallowed hard and looked at Jason, then at Charles. “He didn’t bleed like Charles. It wasn’t fatal for him.”
“Just paralyzing,” Mazie stated.
“Yes, Ma’am.” Jason let go of my hand and rested his elbows on the table in front of him. “Like I said, I had no control.”
“Do you know what’s going on?” I blurted out. “I mean, since when can Hunters harm us? Even in our solid form they were never that bold.” It must have something to do with that knife, I thought to myself, but apprehension stopped me from voicing it aloud.
After a few seconds of silence, the female counterpart to Mikhail spoke, “There are stories—”
“Galina!” Rollin barked, cutting her off. “Not now.”
“But they should know. Everyone should know.” Galina’s wide, lavender eyes met mine in a panic. “I never thought it would happen again.”
“Enough!” This time Mazie’s harsh voice stopped her cold. “We will not be spreading rumors based on fairytales.”
I looked at Jason, his muscles tensed and I wondered what he was thinking. My feelings jumped between ultimate fear and ultimate anger, pissed off that we’d been deemed unfit to hear these so-called ‘fairytales. No wonder people had a hard time trusting our Elders.
“Can we fight them?” Charles asked. He focused on Judith, ignoring the others.
I shot Charles a surprised glance as did the rest of the room. Well, everyone except for Jason.
“Yes,” he said. “There has to be a way we can subdue them—”
“No,” Rollin blurted. “That is not happening.”
“But, Sir. If they’ve figured out a way to kill us . . . permanently . . . don’t you think it would be in our best interest to be able to defend ourselves?”
“I don’t agree with you.” Rollin shook his head, hair falling in his face once again.
“Well, I’d bet everyone out there would.” Jason tilted his head to the wall behind us where hundreds of Wardens waited to find out what would happen next. Judith snorted but didn’t speak, even when Rollin sent a glare her way.
“It’s too risky,” Mazie said. “There are too many lives at stake.” Her calm, dark eyes looked at Jason, Judith, and then finally settled on me. The way she pinched her brow made me feel as if I was supposed to interpret some secret signal, but nothing came to mind.
“We never did find out how you recovered, Charles.”
Rollin interrupted my staring match with this million dollar question. Fear gripped my chest with iron claws. I shot a quick glance at Judith, and at the same time I rested my hand on Jason’s leg. Again, I needed to feel his touch, and the moment I did my nerves calmed and the pounding in my head faded away.
Charles, ever stoic and capable of squeezing out of tough situations, cleared his throat. “I was able to heal myself once they brought me back here.” If I hadn’t known the truth, I never would have suspected the lie. I just hoped my flushed cheeks wouldn’t give us away.
“From a fatal injury like that?” Mazie questioned this time.
“Yes.” Charles nodded. “I’m a
fast healer.”
Judith laughed out loud, as Jason snickered by my side. I wasn’t as amused with his choice of words. After all, it was my ward that would be grilled if they suspected anything out of the ordinary.
Turning to Jason, Rollin ignored Judith’s outburst. “And you healed as well?”
“Yes, Sir. But I wasn’t cut as deep.”
I thought about the blue scar on Jason’s chest and wondered how long it would last. Could he heal it away?
“Interesting,” Mikhail whispered. He grabbed Galina’s arm and she visibly relaxed at his touch. It reminded me of the way I felt when I brushed against Jason’s skin.
The Elders exchanged looks and stayed silent for several moments. I bounced my leg under the table, while Charles once again marveled at the wall behind us. Jason focused his stoic gaze on the Elders, his muscles tense and his jaw grinding back and forth. I squeezed his leg, but he didn’t seem to notice.
Finally, Rollin stood. “You are dismissed.”
With a wave of his hand, the rock wall dropped back into the stone floor. The noise from the Wardens still waiting in the grand room consumed the deadly silence that we’d just experienced seconds earlier.
Ignoring the three of us like we didn’t exist, Rollin stepped forward to address the crowd. “We will reconvene at a later time. In the meanwhile, we suggest collecting in pairs until we are able to investigate this situation more thoroughly. Let no one be alone.”
A hushed protest filled the room, moving slowly from the back to the front in a wave of disapproval. Fear skittered through the Wardens who had never been asked to travel with another, at least not since I’d become one of them. Several brought hands over their mouths, trying to keep the dread at bay. Others argued, arms flailing and voices shouting, stating their extreme belief in the ability they had to survive any attack.
We stood and gathered in a huddle behind Rollin. He lifted his arms, gesturing for people to move…but no one budged.
I felt Jason suck in a breath next to me just before he stepped forward and faced Rollin. “Sir, I think we need to be prepared to fight back.”
Rollin’s head snapped around so fast I thought it would fly off. “Excuse me?” His fierce glare warned Jason to stop.
“Just in case…in case they figure out how to do this again. We must at least know some basic ways to defend ourselves.”
A few people shook their heads in disapproval, but most cheered. My mouth hung open in shock, while Charles’ lips turned up in a smirk.
“This will not happen again,” Rollin bellowed. “It shouldn’t have happened in the first place.” He glared at me and I was stunned. Why would he blame me for this? It wasn’t my fault that all of the stories they told us about Wardens and Hunters not being able to harm each other was all a lie. I bit down on my lip and swallowed my scream of anger.
“Yes,” Judith said from Rollin’s other side. “They must learn.”
Despite Rollin being the leader of the group behind closed doors, Judith appeared to have most of the power in front of an audience. After a several-second standoff, Rollin blew out a breath and turned his attention back to Jason. I thought his teeth would break with how hard he clenched them together. “Work with Barend. He can put you in touch with the other soldiers.”
The man with the muscles and defiant attitude from earlier stepped forward. “There are several of us, Sir. We can plan the training.”
“Marines?” Jason asked.
“Yes, and Army Rangers,” Barend replied with a smirk.
Jason nodded and turned back to Rollin. “Thank you, Sir.”
Rollin didn’t return a smile. “I will find you both later, after we’ve discussed this some more.” He sent a look at Judith who glared right back.
Never had it been more evident that our leaders were withholding information from us. And the crowd sensed it, too. They shifted nervously, calling out for answers, but the Elders blatantly ignored their requests.
“Please tend to your charges and remember to work in pairs. We will reconvene again soon,” Rollin dictated. The doors opened swiftly, thrown wide as they slammed into the outer walls, letting out a ‘bang’ that was a clear dismissal of us all. With shocked or angry glares, most filtered out the door, speaking to each other in small groups and expressing their fears of trying to collect souls while having the threat of their own safety on the line.
Barend jumped up onto the podium just as the crowd started to thin. “Those of you interested in learning how to defend yourself may meet us in the courtyard.”
And just like that, our peaceful society disappeared. Whatever Theron had warned me about, I now saw with my own eyes. The balance of light and dark was beginning to shift, and I feared where the change may lead us.
Once Rollin kicked everyone out of the Great Room, Jason dropped my hand and walked in front of us with Barend. The two of them talked strategy like they were preparing for battle. I realized that Barend must have been a relatively new Warden because they used the same vocabulary and had obviously served in similar military time periods. But I also wondered if he, like Jason, felt this was a chance to do more than just be a trainee.
Charles stayed by my side, but excitement danced in his eyes. Something itched beneath his skin, like a secret begging to escape.
“You want to fight, don’t you?” I asked.
Grinning, Charles shrugged. “Well, I certainly don’t want to be stabbed again.”
“No,” I said, studying his face. “There’s more to it than that.”
He threw his arm over my shoulder and leaned his head against mine. “If I’m being honest? I’d like to refresh my skills.”
“You have skills?” I teased.
“Oh, yeah, lots of them. Did I ever tell you about the first war I fought in?”
Stunned, I stopped walking. Charles took a couple of steps before realizing I wasn’t by his side anymore. “You were in a war?”
Laughing, he turned around to face me. “Several.”
Something in me snapped and my emotions exploded. I shivered on the outside while my inner turmoil burned like a raging fire blazing in my blood. With too much drama and too many secrets flying around this place, I needed to clear my head. I thought about escaping to my rock in Arizona, but didn’t want to risk being pulled into another death memory by one of my ancestors. Sani wouldn’t give me any answers, especially if he’d been trapped in that room for ages, like I suspected—which was another issue I’d have to tackle someday soon. No, I needed a place far away from here where no one else would be.
“I’ll meet up with you guys later,” I suddenly said.
Jason and Barend stopped and all three men stared at me with raised brows. It was kind of comical. “Are you okay?” Jason asked, grabbing my hands in his. Barend and Charles shared a friendly, knowing look behind his back.
I ignored them. “Yes, I’m fine.” Staring up into Jason’s brown eyes, my palms began to tingle against his skin. Whether it was him or his healing abilities, a part of me wanted more of his touch while a voice in my head told me I wasn’t allowed to feel that way. I stepped back and broke contact. “I just need a little alone time.”
Barend huffed and Charles snickered. Jason didn’t respond to them, and instead tilted his head. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Go get everything ready. I’ll be back soon.”
Then, in a move that shocked us all, Jason bent down and kissed me. Just a quick brush of the lips, but it was enough to catch us all off guard. Well, everyone except Jason. He gave me a wink and turned back to the guys. As they walked away, Charles and Barend made sure to pat him on the back, adding a few elbow jabs in between.
I stood still, wondering why I was so surprised. No, not surprised. Elated? Ecstatic? Scared out of my wits? I didn’t know what I was feeling, but the remnants of his touch tickled my lips and a part of my broken heart began to heal. Warden’s drifted by me as if I was nothing more than a rock in a river, clearing a path for me to
drown in my thoughts. I didn’t move while I tried to convince myself that I couldn’t let Jason’s handsome face and magnetic charm get to me. He was my ward, my responsibility. That was it.
Besides, I’d been down that road before.
Thinking of Theron instantly yanked my heart back down to my feet. The place I planned to go had been a favorite of his. But I was sure he wouldn’t use it anymore. Now that he had the whole dark realm to explore, it should be essentially meaningless.
Before I could change my mind, I hurried down a lone hallway and pressed myself against the wall. If this failed, I didn’t want anyone to see my embarrassment. Closing my eyes, I pictured the castle ruins nestled in the mountains of Croatia. With mounds of gray stone peeking out from a forest that tried to hide the past, it was one of the most magical and beautiful places in the living world. I wanted to be there now. And since I didn’t know how to force myself to transport, I just tried to imagine each cell of my body moving and reforming on my command.
A tingling led to a shiver, which then led to a sensation of flying. When I opened my eyes, I found myself standing on the dirt path that led to the old castle entrance. Stepping forward, I noticed my boots. Somewhere in my subconscious mind I had dressed myself in the black leather knee-high boots, dark skinny jeans, and black sweater turtleneck that was perfect for the crisp fall weather. With a smile, I tugged on my shirt and started hiking through the ruins.
On the far side of the grounds there was a guard tower. Once several floors high, it now only stood thirty feet. But the stairs inside had been preserved well enough for me to reach the open balcony at the top, so I headed toward it. My long dark hair whipped in the wind, forcing me to twist it up into a loose bun. The late afternoon air hinted at impending rain or snow, with waves of dark clouds passing overhead. I didn’t plan on staying too long and hoped the weather would cooperate, at least for a little while.