Avenge

by Sarah M. Ross

  Cassie grasped my arm, tugging me into a standing position and held me steady as I slipped the jeans on. As I tugged a wobbly leg into the tight just-out-of-the-dryer jeans, she explained, “Elizabeth is fine, thanks to you. She and James have taken Alastair directly to the Alpha and Omega for questioning and sentencing. After you,” she paused, her eyes rolling up and to the left as she thought about how to word whatever it is she was trying to say, “passed out, James went a little nuts. He flew at Alastair and wrapped that silver rope so tight around him I was sure he’d strangle him. That silver covered every inch of that monster. He wasn’t going anywhere ever again, trust me.” A swarm of emotion crossed her face, clouding her eyes. “I’m so sorry that I wasn’t there to help when you needed me.” She handed me the tee shirt and hugged me tight.

  I hugged her back for a moment, ignoring the pain in my ribs. I pushed her away and forced her to look at me. “I need you to hear me on this. You were exactly where I needed you. You are like a sister to me, and there was no one I trusted more to watch over Jessica when I couldn’t. Thank you for that.”

  Cassie wiped a tear, then turned back around to hand me socks and sneakers. She swallowed hard a few times, breathing in through her nose and was blinking rapidly. I changed the topic before we both ended up in a ball of mush on the floor.

  “What about Amelia? What happened with her?”

  “Ugh. Don’t even get me started on that bitch. I’ve never seen someone spew so many lies in that short a period of time. We all knew she was lying, and after we got your note, we searched her place, bracelet GPS and correspondence. Turns out, she was in New Orleans when our team was first sent there, when you were kidnapped. And she’d gone there several other times when she had a few hours free from her duties. She told everyone else she was going to her room to rest after working such long days. No one doubted her, because she was working so much.

  “She finally admitted that she hadn’t been sleeping at all, that the vampires were mixing their blood with hers and it was giving her some sort of energy boost. Between that and the Big Gulp iced lattes she was downing every few hours…” Cassie trailed off, bending to help me tie the sneakers, since my ribs were still so sore. I took a few long, slow breaths, making sure my lungs were no longer injured and popped two of the pills sitting on the side table for pain until my body healed itself.

  “Anyway,” Cassie continued. “We found evidence. The idiot deleted the hard drive, but forgot about the back up on the mainframe. When we showed her the evidence, she started squealing like a pig. Names, locations, you name it. She begged for mercy.”

  “Why would she do it? For revenge? Could she really hate me that much?”

  “I think it was a power thing. She kept getting passed up for positions of power here, and they offered her a ton wrapped up on a silver platter. Their blood gave her physical power, and spying gave her a sense of power over us.”

  “What happened to her?”

  “I don’t know what ultimately happened to her, but the last I saw her, she was sweating something fierce as she walked to the Council chambers.”

  “Don’t you mean glistening?” I asked her with a wink.

  Cassie laughed. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re okay. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

  “Me too. But right now, more than anything, I need Max.”

  “Is it safe to come in yet?” Adam called from outside the curtain. “I brought company.”

  “Yes! C’mon in. I’m ready to go.”

  “Without us?” a voice called, tossing the curtain back. Standing at the entrance way of the room was Adam, James, Elizabeth, Lola, Zander and Marco. All of their faces contained bright smiles, but Elizabeth had tears in her eyes. As soon as she fixed her gaze upon me, she pushed through the group, knocking a tray over to get to me before she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and held on tight.

  “I was so worried. I can’t believe you did that. If something had happened to you...” She loosened her grip and took a step back, only to take my shoulders and shake me. “Don’t you ever worry me like that again!”

  “I’m sorry?” Since when did Elizabeth become like a doting mother? I half wondered if she had been turned or was possessed.

  “What Elizabeth means to say is…” James prompted, clasping her by the elbow to get her to release me.

  Elizabeth took a step backwards and composed herself, tugging at her jacket and clearing her throat. “Um, yes, what I meant to say is thank you. Thank you for helping me during the battle.”

  James nudged her a little with his shoulder. She huffed, rolling her eyes before she continued. “And thank you for saving my life.” She turned, staring me in the eyes. Her expression changed slightly; she was more determined for a few moments. “Really. I would probably not be standing here today. What you did was brave, and selfless, and I’m very proud of you.”

  I kept my mouth clamped shut for fear of my jaw dropping to the ground. I blinked several times to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating. I wanted to say how much her words meant to me, but they caught in my throat. Before I could get anything out, she turned on her heal and began leaving the room. “You have two days to recover, Donovan. Then I expect you back at the training center. I can’t have you going soft on me.”

  She didn’t wait for a reply before she marched out the door and down the hall, disappearing out a side door.

  “Did anyone else see that? Or was that some sort of side effect from the meds?” I asked the group.

  James chuckled, “C’mon, let’s go get your boy back.”

  *****

  We were in the large meadow, walking toward the realm doors when Zander pulled to a sudden stop, causing the group to backtrack a few yards to catch up to him.

  “Before we go, I want to ask a question,” he started. His eyes wouldn’t meet mine, and it made me nervous.

  James nodded, folding his arms over his chest like he did when he lectured. “All right, go for it.”

  Zander was fiddling with the zipper on his jacket, not saying anything. My gut told me this was about me, but all I wanted to do was get on with finding Max. “This is a terrible time for a Patronus 101 lesson, Zander. Can’t this wait?”

  “No offense, Lucy, but I really think this should be addressed before we do anything else.”

  No one in the group argued the point, so I sighed, making a “go ahead” gesture with my arm.

  “We’re going on a mission to rescue Max. But how do we even know he’s still alive? Lucy, when he was a vampire, you were constantly going off and having tantrums—no offense. Your eyes were always clouded over, and it got so bad we practically locked you up.”

  “I know, and I’m sorry about that—” I started, but he continued.

  “We all knew it had something to do with your connection to Max. It had to be. But you haven’t gone off the deep end for a while. You fought hard for us in that battle. And your eyes are crystal clear again.”

  “What are you getting at, Zander?” I asked him, searching his face for some hint of a direction.

  “I want to know why the change. Your eyes are clear and you’re acting normal, but you told Cassie back at the hospital that you can’t feel him. So how do we know he’s even alive? Or worse, that the vampire didn’t do something to you before we got there and you’re setting us up.”

  “Zander!” Cassie admonished. “How could you even think she’d do that?”

  It was Lola who spoke up. “Who would have thought Amelia would have done what she did? I don’t think it’s a bad thing to be a little cautious right now.”

  I nodded, biting my lip to keep it from quivering. I sucked in a breath through my teeth and turned to the group. “He’s right. I don’t feel Max anymore. But I’d know if he was gone too.” I clutched my chest. “In here. I don’t know how. I can’t explain it, but if his soul weren’t here anymore, I’d know. I would feel…like half a person.

  “When I talked to Alastair, he said hi
s goons were taking Max somewhere and would keep him incapacitated so he couldn’t rush to be with me. I think Max is still that way. Whatever they did to him, they’re still doing it. But he’s down there. I know he is. And if I can get close enough maybe I’ll be able to feel him again.”

  Zander and Lola nodded in understanding, but I wanted to clear everything up before we continued. I looked them in the eyes as I spoke, praying they’d see my sincerity. “As far as if I’m a spy now too, I get why you’d be wary. And I don’t blame you for it. But you have two great reasons to trust me right now. Jessica and Max. There is nothing more anyone could leverage against me. So trust that I would do nothing to risk them. Ever.”

  “And for what it’s worth,” Marco chimed in. “I can vouch for her. She’s telling the truth.”

  They nodded, and Adam clasped them on the back. “So we can do this now? I got a fantasy draft coming up in the next few weeks, and I’d really like my best friend back for it.”

  Cassie rolled her eyes and I chuckled, glad the mood was lightened. “Yes, let’s do this.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  We arrived in St. Augustine with a few hours of daylight left. It helped knowing that as we searched, I wouldn’t have to worry about battling vampires too. The only problem was I had no clue where Max might be. I knew he wouldn’t be at the fort, but the city was huge and he could be anywhere. Splitting into teams of two, we hit the ground running. Marco and I took the east side of the city, closest to the river, Cassie and Adam took the north end of town and Lola and Zander went with James to the South and West.

  As Marco and I walked along the busy streets, he left me alone to my thoughts, allowing me to concentrate on Max.

  After almost two hours of walking up and down streets, alleys, and parking lots, frustration overtook me and I plopped down on a wooden bench overlooking the water.

  “I know how you feel,” Marco began. He wasn’t looking at me, but out at the water instead. The sun was setting, and the reflection of orange and yellow on the water was beautiful. But I couldn’t enjoy it.

  I rubbed my eyes, resting my head in my hands. “I should feel him. I should know where he is and be able to go right to him. I mean, I’m here. I’m closer to him than I’ve been for weeks. So why do I have no sense of him at all?”

  “You know, over the last few months I tried to question Amelia on three separate occasions. Each time, when I went to see her she had some excuse why she needed to head in the other direction. It all seemed so innocuous at the time. A cadet needed her, she was heading out on a jog, she was eating and couldn’t talk. So I put her on the back burner. I questioned those around her instead. I mean, I still read her mind. Every time she was thinking about Elizabeth. I assumed she was trying to use her mentor for inspiration, or was missing their close bond. I never imagined…” He turned to finally look at me with clouded eyes as he thought over everything before finally continuing.

  “Well, looking at it now I see my mistake. I see how when I was sure I was heading in the right direction and had all the facts straight, I was actually blinded by my own bias and assumptions. If I kept a clear head and shoved everything I thought I knew aside, I might have been able to stop all this.”

  I rested my hand on his knee. “Marco, no one blames you. You did the best you could. She lied to us all, deceived us all.”

  “My point, Lucy, is that you need to toss away all your assumptions now. You assumed they’d keep Max here in St. Augustine because that’s where Alastair was. But why did they come here to begin with? Why this city out of all the possible places he could have gone?”

  I sat silent for a minute and thought about what I knew from my field trips. “The Castillo de San Marcos is the oldest fort in the state, one of the oldest in the country. And St. Augustine is the oldest city.”

  “And Max—”

  “Is the oldest soul in existence.” I finished. “Maybe they were using him for something. Something that they needed the ancient location to work as a connection. A sort of sacred ground or something. A place that was teeming with the energies of the past.”

  “So if Max isn’t here, one of the oldest places in the country, where would they have taken him?”

  I sat straight up as the answer dawned on me and grabbed Marco. “They’d need something even older. Something where the original soul would have the strongest connection so they could exploit that.”

  “Tasnim!” We both said in unison. I jumped out of my seat, pulling Marco alongside me. “C’mon. We need to get the others and get to Tasnim immediately.”

  Marco and I both began furiously typing and texting messages to our team as we made our way back to the realm door.

  *****

  There were no realm doors that could take us directly from St. Augustine to Tasnim, and even if there were, we couldn’t use them. It was a secure place, and required special permission.

  “I don’t care who you have to talk to James, you need to get us access. Now!” I stood pacing the stone steps of a cathedral where Marco and I met up with the rest of the team. They were a little more hesitant to believe that Marco and I were on to something, and I wanted to scream out in frustration.

  “I don’t see how they could have gotten there. I can’t even go there without approval first, Lucy. You need to understand, there’s a special password that the office of the Alpha will embed into your bracelet, and then and only then are you granted access to open that realm door.” James was trying to be calm and rational about this, which usually I didn’t mind. Today, it was killing me.

  “We already know they hacked into my bracelet. It could have been just as easy for them to hack into Max’s and get the password put on there and take him there. He already had the password once from our trip. It makes sense. It’s where he has to be.”

  “Even if they did hack it, the only realm door that takes you there is on a Patronus realm. They’d have to hack the password and sneak onto our realm. It’s not possible. I really think we should keep looking here in St. Augustine. Maybe there is something we overlooked at the fort. We should go back and check again.”

  I struggled to keep the bite of anger and frustration out of my tone. “Please, do this for me. Get us the access. What could it hurt if I’m wrong? I really believe that is where we’ll find him. I’m sure of it.”

  James’ stare met mine. Doubt swirled in his eyes, and I hoped he could see the resolve in mine. Scrubbing his face with his hands, he looked over at the rest of the team who were silent observers of our conversation. I joined James’ gaze and saw the pleading in their faces. They were on my side! There was no way James could turn me down now; he was outnumbered.

  “All right. But here’s what we’re going to do. Marco, Zander, Lola, and Adam—you stay here and keep looking. I still think he couldn’t have left the state that quickly. Lucy, Cassie and I will go to the Alpha’s office and then to Tasnim. If you find anything—anything at all, I want to hear from you immediately and we’ll be back here ASAP.”

  Frowning at his obvious lack of trust in my gut instinct, I couldn’t help but reply, “And as soon as we find him, I’ll let you know so you can come back.”

  James shot me a look, but I was already turning around and started running toward the realm door.

  I was getting Max back! Nothing could bring me down from this high.

  *****

  I stood in the waiting room of the Alpha’s office pacing as obnoxious elevator music played from recessed speakers, grating on my every nerve. James was inside, working his magic while Cassie and I waited. I knew I was wearing a proverbial hole in the carpet, but I was too nervous that they’d say no for some reason.

  “You need to sit down, Lucy. You’re making me nauseated,” Cassie started, lounging on the couch where she picked up an ancient copy of Better Homes and Gardens that promised housewives hours back from their day with a brand new device called a Microwave Oven. “It’s going to be fine. They won’t turn him down. He’s bee
n doing this a really long time and has earned a lot of trust with the Alpha’s team. If he asks, they’ll believe him.”

  “But he barely believes me.”

  “And yet he’s still in there. So sit down already.”

  I plopped onto the worn leather sofa and a broken spring and jabbed me in the bottom. Great, sitting is as big of a pain in the ass as pacing, I thought ironically.

  A few very long minutes later, James came out of the inner office. He didn’t stop to talk to us. He kept walking and flicked his wrist for us to join him as he headed for the door. We scurried out of our seats and hustled to catch up with him.

  “We can’t waste any time. They granted us permission, but only for tonight. And since it’s already after dark, we need to hurry.”

  A wave of relief flowed through me at hurdling this obstacle. I practically ran through the Commons and past the meadow to get to the realm door.

  We reached Tasnim minutes later. It was so different from the last time I was there. Instead of being welcomed by the warm sun and white sand beaches, we were plopped in a dense jungle like area with only moonlight to guide us.

  “Are we in the right place?” I asked no one in particular.

  “Yes,” James replied. “But we’re in the center of the island farther away from where you all stayed.”

  I nodded in understanding and took in my surroundings. Thick brush and tall palm trees made it difficult to see much around me, but I could smell the salt in the air and hear the roar of the waves in the distance. I wasn’t sure how big the island was exactly, but I knew we couldn’t be that far from the shore.

  “So where do we look first?” Cassie asked, walking in a giant circle to try to get her bearings.

  “I’ve actually been thinking about that since James was meeting with the Alpha. They wouldn’t have stuck him on the beach or in a cabin. They were going to use him for something very important, and simply being here wasn’t enough. Remember what I told you Alastair said—chess not checkers. They’d want him to be somewhere special. So, James, you know this area more than me. Is there anywhere like that here on the island? Somewhere that has some sort of special significance or meaning?”