Everyone hugs me again, and there are a few more tears, but I’ll see them when the sun goes down, after I get some rest, and they can fawn over me then. But for right now, I have to talk to Tara. I have to tell her how sorry I am for having to leave, and I have to ask her probably the most important question of my life.
I just hope she says yes.
Tara shows me back up to the bedroom she’s been sharing with the others, and I sit down in a chair across from the bed. She tucks her bare feet up under her hello kitty nightgown, and I smile. “I’ve missed you.” She bursts into tears, and I move to the bed and put my arm around her. “Please don’t cry, Tara. It’ll be alright.”
“I thought I was never going to see you again, Kylie. Every morning when I would wake up, there would be a split second where I would think about you and what we were gonna do that day, and then it would all come crashing down, and the pain would be so terrible that I wouldn’t wanna move from bed.
“And everyone kept telling me it would get better with time, but I just couldn’t believe them. I couldn’t see how such a painful, empty feeling could ever change. And then I went to see your mom and tell her about you, and that just made things worse.”
“I know; I saw you there.”
She looks up at me. “What?”
“I was watching you and my mom. I also saw my funeral service, and I heard your prayer.”
She hugs me again, and I hate to push her away, but I have to. I can’t keep this question inside any longer, or I’ll burst. “Tara, when Selene sent me back, she made me a full-grown vampire. I’m faster, stronger, and my hearing is better. But she also gave me her permission to pledge myself to you. I didn’t do so well the first time, but I was hoping you would give me a second chance,” I say, sliding off the bed. I get down on one knee, take her hands, and look into her eyes. “Tara, will you accept me as your Protector?”
She nods once. “Yes.” Her voice breaks, and then she starts crying again. “I will.”
Chapter Seven
Later, everyone catches me up on what I’ve missed, and what I hear shocks me. Travis cornered Tara in the chapel and tried to kill her, but Kaven had been following him, and stopped Travis before he hurt Tara. But before Travis escaped, he set fire to Daray Hall, and made another attempt on Tara’s life with a bow and arrow.
Carlos knocked her out of the way, but Chloe healed the arrow wound to his chest. She doesn’t know how she did it, or if she can do it again, but she likes the idea of being able to save people. I know she’s thinking about the graveyard and if she’d been there she could have saved me. I squeeze her hand under the table, and she relaxes.
“So, where are the rest of the residents and Protectors?”
“I’ve sent them off to two neighboring Daray Halls. One in Maine and one in Georgia. They’re getting settled in, and some of the Protectors went with them. Only ten of them stayed here with us, including Kaven, eleven if you count Carlos. I would have liked more, since Travis still hasn’t been caught, but this will have to do,” Jillian says with a frown.
“Well, now you have twelve,” I say, sitting up straighter. “Selene has allowed me to pledge myself to Tara, and I did it just hours ago.”
Jillian nods. “I’m not surprised. You definitely proved yourself worthy of the honor of being one of Selene’s Protectors. She also made you a full-grown vampire?”
I nod. “Yes. I guess Selene’s pretty proud of me right now.”
“We’re all pretty proud of you Kylie,” Jillian says. “You’ve exceeded all of our expectations. I think it’s safe to say that we’re all glad to have you back.” I might be imagining it, but I think I see her gaze shift over to Kaven, before settling on me again. “But now we need a plan of action. With Daray gone, this place will have to serve as our base for now.”
“I’m sorry about Daray, Jillian,” I say. “I know it was your home, and I know how much it meant to you. We’ll stop this from happening elsewhere, I promise.”
“You shouldn’t make promises you don’t know you can keep,” one of the Protectors says.
“I’ll keep this promise if it kills me…again,” I say, staring right at him. He wavers under my gaze, and ducks his head. I turn back to Jillian. “Pandia is still missing, and Selene’s had no word from her. We have to do something to help her. If she’s distracted, she probably won’t be able to help us stop this war. Plus, Pandia could be of use in a fight.”
“Kylie, we can’t just travel back and forth between the Immortal Realms and here. Unless Selene takes us there, we can’t help her,” Chloe says, looking at me. “Besides, you’ve only been back for a few hours. Don’t you wanna rest and eat something? You don’t have to go charging off to fight right now. Give yourself some time to heal.”
“Chloe, there’ll be plenty of time to rest when this war is avoided. If it starts, it won’t stop, not until everything is destroyed. Do you want that? Do you want the rest of the world to end up like Daray? Because that’s what’ll happen if we don’t stop these goddesses.”
“Do we have help?” Kaven asks. “Or is it just us fighting against these powerful goddesses and whatever allies they’ve managed to scrape up? Honestly, I don’t feel like doing battle with anything immortal. You didn’t do so well the first time,” he says, looking at me. “I don’t want any of the rest of us to end up like you did.”
I sigh, and notice Austin twiddling his thumbs. “Austin, do you have something to add?”
He shrugs. “Maybe,” he mutters, not looking up from his hands. “I think I can get us to the Immortal Realms.” He looks up at me with a strange look in his eyes. “I think Selene’s gifted me with that ability. I’m not sure, but sometimes when I close my eyes, there’s this black…portal...behind my eyelids. Whenever I try to go to sleep, it sounds likes someone’s whispering to me, and I think its Selene.”
“How long has this been going on?”
He shrugs again. “Two, maybe three weeks. Since before you…died.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Morgan asks, frowning. “We would have understood, Austin.”
“I didn’t want anyone to think I was crazy,” he mumbles. “Plus, if I was wrong, I didn’t want people to think I was just looking for attention. I already wasn’t very popular, then the murders started happening, and then Kylie and my sister both died, and I just wanted to forget about it. But I can’t ignore it anymore. Especially since it might actually be able to help right now.”
“Can you make that portal actually appear?” I ask. “If you can, you could take me back to the Immortal Realms, and I could help Selene search for Pandia. Tara and Chloe could come with me.” I look at the two of them. “Chloe can heal, and Tara can read minds. You guys are perfect to take with me.”
“You’re not going without me,” Morgan says. “I have a gift too, you know. If Pandia is being held captive, I’ll be able to sneak past her captors without being seen. You could use me too.”
“Don’t even think about leaving me behind,” Kaven says, putting a hand on my shoulder. He’s not looking at me, probably because we haven’t really had a chance to sit down and talk about our feelings and stuff, but I can feel the warmth and support. “If you go, I go.”
One look at him tells me he won’t take no for an answer, not that I would ever refuse to let him come with us. Kaven will be incredibly useful if it comes down a fight, since Morgan, Tara, Austin, and Chloe only know basic self-defense.
“Guys, it doesn’t matter who’s going and who’s not,” Austin says. “I don’t think I can just make it appear. I don’t actually see it other than when it’s in my mind. I wouldn’t know how to open the portal and, even if I did, who’s to say I could open it a second time? I might end up stranding us in the Immortal Realms!”
Chloe puts her hand on his shoulder, and I try not to smile. “Don’t worry about it, alright? If you can get us there, you can get us back. We have faith in you.”
None of us actually said that, but I
don’t mention it. Austin’s looking at Chloe, and I notice everyone around the room has gone silent. The two of them finally seem to remember they’re not alone, and they look away from one another. Chloe has a tiny smile on her face, and Austin’s cheeks are both pink from embarrassment.
“Alright then,” Morgan says, breaking the silence. “Austin, you work on trying to get us to the Immortal Realms, and we’ll start preparing. We’ll need weapons and provisions. Plus,” she says, looking at me. “It’ll be beneficial to have a guide that’s been there before.”
“I only saw the inside of Selene’s Eternal Gardens and Hades’ Underworld. There’s much, much more than just those two places. Each god or goddesses has their own place sacred to them, and there are quite a few shared places as well. I doubt I’ll be much help.” I look at Austin. “If you can, try and get us to Selene’s Realm, so she can hopefully point us in a starting direction.”
Austin excuses himself from the table to head up to an empty room so he can practice. I hope he can do this, because he’s our only hope of making it into the Immortal Realms again. I doubt Selene could transport us unless we all die, and I don’t want that to happen.
Everyone trickles away to get prepared for our departure to the Immortal Realms, leaving just Kaven and I alone in the dining room. As soon as everyone else is gone, he takes a seat next to me, and grabs one of my hands. For a minute, he just lightly traces patterns over my skin, before his green eyes lift to mine. “Kylie, I really missed you.”
“I know.”
He nods slowly. “I thought you might be watching. I tried to be strong for that reason, but I just couldn’t. It was like moving through molasses. Everything just seemed slower, and less coordinated. Then I would see Travis, alive and walking around while you weren’t, and I almost lost it so many times. Did you know we all got into a fight with the other Protectors?”
My eyes widen. “What? Who?”
“Me, Tara, Chloe, Austin, and Morgan got into it at lunch with a group of Protectors, including Travis and Markus. They were saying that their earlier lesson was the best one in a while, because you weren’t there to distract them. I was just so angry my rage was nearly blinding.”
“Kaven–”
“Tara threw the first punch. It was a pretty decent one, too. I think that might be why Travis decided to target her so soon after your…death.” His eyes harden. “If I ever get my hands on that son of a bitch…”
“Kaven, I’m sorry for any pain I caused you before, but I’m here now. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere. We have hopefully all the time in the world to talk about things, and to figure everything out.”
He nods. “I know. Now’s not the right time to talk about our feelings. We’re supposed to be getting ready to rescue a captured goddess, and we can’t afford to be worrying about anything else.” He gets up and looks back down at me. “I’m really glad you’re back, Kylie.”
I grab his hand and get to my feet. “I’m really glad to be back. I thought about all of you so much, but one of the things I thought about the most was how things ended for us. With me telling you that I needed time to think about things and unfortunately that’s just what I got.”
A sexy grin spreads across his face, and he pulls me closer. “So, you did a lot of thinking about me?” he asks, sliding his hand down my back. “What did you think about?”
“Everything,” I say, inching closer to his face. His lips are scant inches from mine, and he closes the distance in a heartbeat, pressing his mouth firmly against mine.
He feels the same way as he did before: hard against my softer body, and I can’t help but feel sheltered and protected in his embrace. He angles his head to kiss me better, and I close my eyes and just enjoy this unbroken moment, knowing that very soon it may well be my last.
Slowly, the kiss begins to lose steam, and Kaven pulls his face away from mine. “Was that ok?” he asks, losing most of his calm, confident arrogance in a second. One look into his eyes tells me that what I’m about to say here is going to dictate the rest of our relationship.
“It was perfect.”
He cups my face in his hands, bends in, and kisses me a second time. Then he pulls away and jogs down the hall, going to get ready for our trip to the Immortal Realms. I chew my lip for a minute, feeling it throb in pleasure from his heated kiss, and I smile to myself.
“You know, the two of you really do make a cute couple,” Chloe says, leaning against the open dining room doorway. “If you two wanna be together, you shouldn’t have to hide it.”
I raise an eyebrow at her. “The same goes for you and Austin. If you wanna be with him, you two shouldn’t have to hide it,” I say, only slightly mocking her. “And don’t even try to deny it because I saw the way you two were looking at each other.”
She blushes but doesn’t look away. “I don’t know what I feel for Austin. He’s a nice guy, and he’s cute, but it’s not like we know each other all that well. The only reason we started talking was because we both felt so lonely. When you died, I felt like I’d lost another sister, and he did lose a sister, even if she was a homicidal bitch. We just sort of…connected.”
I nod. “Alright, I get it. He is a great guy though. To be honest, when we first me, I kind of thought he might be gay.”
She laughs. “I thought so too. I guess we were wrong.”
The two of us head upstairs to start helping everyone else get ready. Even though Chloe doesn’t say much, I now that she’s incredibly happy to have me back, just like the others, and I wonder when they’ll start acting like normal again.
Austin was much quieter and more subdued, Tara’s done nothing but cry since she first set eyes on me, and Kaven’s been kind of depressed and slightly romantic. Morgan and Carlos are really the only ones that have acted normal, and I’m grateful for that.
It takes almost three hours before Austin rushes back downstairs. We’re all eating dinner when he bursts into the dining room. His forehead is beaded with sweat, he’s breathing harshly, and his eyes are bright and excited. “I did it! I opened the portal thingy.” He laughs. “I can actually do it!”
The portal itself is about four feet wide and eight feet tall, and it’s a pitch black color. Inside the darkness are patches of glowing silver that throb and pulse. They’re constantly shifting from one position to the next, which makes the portal look like it’s rippling, waiting for us.
Kaven is on my left, holding my hand, and Tara is on my right. Morgan, Chloe, and Austin hang back a ways, and Jillian and Carlos watch from the doorway. I take a deep breath, and turn to face everyone. “Are you guys ready for this? There’s no telling what we’ll find once we step through this portal, but we should prepare for the worst. If any of you wanna stay, I wouldn’t hold it against you.”
I’m met with looks of reproach. “We’d never let you do this on your own!” Morgan says. “I can’t believe you would even think of it.”
“I was just making sure,” I say with a smile. “I know you guys wouldn’t desert me like that. Not that I would blame you if you did,” I add hurriedly, just in case anyone else plans to stay behind. “This is just your last chance.”
Nobody says anything, and I grab Kaven’s hand again. Tara takes the other, and Morgan takes her free hand. When the six of us have clasped hands, we all take a deep breath, and step through the portal, without knowing where it’ll take us.
I’m the first to step through the portal, and I come out in a wide, flat expanse of barren ground. The dirt is hard-packed and devoid of any trees or plants. Sparse patches of grass litter the ground every few yards, but other than that there isn’t much in the way of vegetation, and there is no place for shade.
Everyone joins me, and the portal closes behind Austin, who is the last person out. I look at him. “This is not Selene’s Eternal Gardens. I have no idea where we are, and no idea how to get to the Gardens.”
“Perhaps I can help,” Selene says, materializing beside me. Everyone else jumps
, and instantly drops to their knees. Kaven even crosses his arms over his chest and bows first. “My children, I’m glad you’ve finally come.”
“You were expecting us,” I say, looking at her.
She nods gracefully and looks at my group. “Yes, my children, I was. I had hoped you’d come sooner, but I understand the need for Kylie to rest and reconnect with everyone. Austin, you will get better at controlling your destinations with practice, but I’m afraid you won’t get it here and now. The other goddesses are barring me from teleporting to the place they’re keeping Pandia.”
“You know where they’re keeping her?” I ask, surprised. “Why haven’t you rescued her yet?”
“I cannot take on both Artemis and Bendis at the same time, but Morgan has the ability to sneak past anyone, including the gods. Once she gets to Pandia, she can turn her invisible because she’s a goddess herself, and you can return here. I have something else I must do in the meantime.”
“What could be more important than saving your daughter?” I ask.
“Kylie!” Tara snaps, looking at me. “You shouldn’t speak to her that way.”
Selene looks gravely at Tara. “Believe me, my daughter; Kylie has earned the right to speak to me or anyone however she wants to. But yes, I do have something important to do right now. While Artemis and Bendis guard my daughter, Achelois and Achlys are speaking with Hecate, trying to get her to join their cause. As much as I wish to free Pandia, I have to get to convince Hecate to help me, not them.”
I nod. “Alright. We’ll rescue Pandia for you. Where is she being held?”
“In a cave about two day’s journey from here. I’m afraid you’ll have to walk. If I transport there with you, the goddesses will sense my presence. However, once you’ve rescued Pandia, she will be able to transport you six back to my Gardens; you won’t have to walk back.” She turns to me. “Here. Take these.”
She hands me my silver bow and arrows, and the sword, and I take them eagerly. Without a word, I hand the sword over to Kaven, and he eyes it with great appreciation as I strap the quiver of arrows to my back.
Protector (Daray Hall #2) Page 6