by M. R. Polish
Leaving a Friend Behind
Esmerelda
We let everyone else get off the plane before getting up. Camilla met us at the top of the stairs. She gave me a quick hug. “It was nice to meet you. I just wish it were under different circumstances.”
“It was nice to meet you too. I won’t ever be able to fly again without looking for you.” I looked back over my shoulder at the lavatory then back at her. “What will happen to Jarak?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of him. He might not even know he was part of something, but then again he might have changed sides. I’ll get him back to headquarters and we’ll find out. Once we know for sure that he had nothing to do with it, he’ll be released. Although, I can’t say the same for Julie.”
My stomach lurched. I couldn’t imagine Jarak working for Nicholas. Ian’s mouth twisted. “Well, I want to be the first to know what you find out.” He placed his hand at the small of my back and with a small nudge, urged me to leave.
“You don’t really think Jarak could do that, do you?”
His face was stern with his jaw clenched. “I don’t know what to believe right now, not after last night. This whole flight was set up. I can’t imagine my brother betraying us; it doesn’t make any sense.”
Well, we agreed on that. A sharp pain slashed through my head with each steady beat of my heart. Ian was right, last night was wrong and it should’ve never happened. Now my head ached from all the events, and I just wanted to sleep, but I couldn’t—especially not now.
Ian
I heard the shower and knew Es had gotten in. I laid back on the hotel bed and closed my eyes. We’d finally made it to Madrid and I was utterly exhausted. There was still no word on Jarak and my patience was running thin over the whole situation. Something wasn’t right; I knew something was off but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
I came too close to losing Es again and that was what killed me the most. Maybe coming to Spain was the wrong idea. Heck, I wasn’t sure what the right idea was anymore.
A small knock on our door startled me from my thoughts. I jumped up and darted to the door. I wasn’t going to take any chances, so I looked through the peephole first. I let my body relax when I saw Ailaina.
I opened the door and moved aside so she could come in. I looked out in the hall both ways, making sure no breeds were staking us out before shutting it.
“I’m sorry. I know you probably wanted some time alone with Es, but I couldn’t stay in my room alone. I was going to share it with Lauren and…”
I lifted my hand to cut her off. “Don’t worry about it. I understand. You guys became good friends; it must be hard for you. Es is in the shower. She should be out any minute, but you know that a minute can be an hour when she’s in there, so you may as well get settled in. You can take that bed over there.”
“Hey, I heard that,” Es called from behind the bathroom door.
Ailaina smiled and let her bag fall off her shoulders to the floor at the end of the bed. “Yeah, but he’s right.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle; things seemed almost normal for the moment. My stomach grumbled so I checked my watch. “I’ll order some pizza.”
“Mmm, sounds good. Hey, Es, hurry up or I’ll eat your half!” Ailaina flung herself on the bed, laying on her stomach, staring at the wallpaper.
I raised a brow. “Half? Maybe I should order two.”
“Ian,” Ailaina whispered. “Are they coming back? Will they find us?” She sat up and talked even quieter, “Is Es gonna die?”
“No. I won’t let her die. Besides, you’d probably see that before any of us.” I nodded her way.
She twitched her mouth in thought then sighed. “But they’re coming back huh.”
I let out a long breath and ran my hands through my hair. “Yeah.”
“How long do you think we have?” Es said behind me. I hadn’t even noticed that she was out of the bathroom. Her hair was wrapped up in a towel on her head.
“Not sure, and since we’re all that’s left until your parents get here, I’m not sure we should do anything to provoke Nicholas.”
Es placed a hand on my shoulder. “We’ll be okay, you know that, right?”
I took her hand and brought it to my lips, kissing her palm. “If something happens to you…” I couldn’t finish saying what I was thinking; it hurt too much.
“I’d say get a room, but I’m already intruding in it, so I think I’ll just come out and tell you that you might want to see this.”
I turned away from Es to Ailaina, who now stood by the window. I strode over there and lifted the curtain enough to peek outside. We were on the third floor, so I could still see the busy road below us clearly. I carefully let the drape fall back into place. “Well, we’re not alone.”
Es’s eyes widened. “Is it Nicholas?”
I shook my head. “No, and I don’t think he knows exactly where we are yet, but he’s scouring the city. There are about five breeds walking around outside.”
“Es, sweetie, why don’t you get some rest? You look miserably tired,” Ailaina coaxed. She was right. Es looked exhausted with dark circles under her eyes. Every time she blinked she fought to reopen them.
Es waved her arms out. “Oh, no, that’s exactly what he needs to find us. If I fall asleep he will know where we are.”
I ran my hands up and down her arms. “You haven’t slept in two days, you need your rest or you won’t be any good when we find Nicholas.”
“I can’t. You don’t understand. I’d give anything to sleep right now, but he’s there waiting for me. My dreams aren’t happy anymore, they’re sad and scary and real.”
“There’s got to be a way to block him from getting through to you that way. He’s wearing you down.”
She shivered. “I think that’s his plan. If I’m tired then I’m not as good because I can’t think as fast or as clearly, and my magic won’t be as strong.”
Ailaina plopped back down on her bed. “Have you been able to get through to your mom? Maybe she knows how to block him.”
Es folded her arms across her chest. “I’ve tried, but she’s still in the air, somewhere over the ocean. I just hope her flight goes better than ours did.”
I didn’t want to see her so upset; it killed me that I couldn’t fix it all for her. “I’m sure she’s just fine. Nicholas is after you, not her.”
“That didn’t stop him when she was pregnant with me.”
I wrapped my arms around her, wishing she believed that I would do everything to protect her and wouldn’t let anything happen to her. I kissed the top of her head. “I know, but this time it’s different. You changed things when you woke up the witches.”
“Yeah, how can I forget. I made it so he needs my blood. I can’t even do the stupid Reaping Spell. What kind of witch fails at a spell anyway?”
“Es.” Ailaina jumped up from the bed. “You saved so many innocent people from Nicholas killing them. You did good. You guys will figure out the Reaping soon. Don’t worry about it until then.”
Someone pounded on the door, making us all jump. “Esmerelda, it’s Dad, open up.”
Es ran from my arms to the door. I grabbed her hand before she opened it. “Wait, it could be a trick.” I pushed her back and looked through the peephole. I didn’t see either Torres or Adonia. “What the heck? Stay back, Es.”
“Why? What’s wrong? Where’s my mom?”
“Ailaina, keep her back.” I opened the door slowly, just enough to poke my head out and look around. The hall was empty, but I noticed a light flicker at the end. Dregan appeared out in the hall and I could feel his anxiety.
“What do you think it is?” I asked him in my head.
“It’s Hela, he said to show up and stay with you and Es.”
I closed the door but had no intention of actually staying in the room. Luna sat dutifully beside Es, who stood with her eyes wide on me. I ignored her gaze and looked at Luna. “Hela sent you too?”
&
nbsp; “Yes, he said Es was in danger.”
“Ian, what’s going on?”
I came up close to her and grabbed her hands. “I want you to stay right here. I’m gonna go out in the hall and make sure Torres and Adonia are okay. Under no circumstances are you to leave this room.”
She started to speak but I placed a finger to her lips. “No, Es, not this time. You will stay.” I glanced over at Ailaina, whose face was ashen. “Keep her here.”
She nodded at me. “Sometimes you ask the impossible. Have you ever tried to restrain her before?”
I couldn’t help but smirk. “Yes, and I know what you mean, but do your best.”
“You both know I’m right here, right?”
I gave Es a quick kiss on her forehead before heading out the door. I made sure to hear the click of the inside deadbolt before taking off down the hall. Dregan ran right beside me.
Before I made it to the end of the hallway, a body came around the corner and stopped inches from my feet. Dregan jumped on the man, and I squatted down as he ended him. It was a breed for sure. I’d have to come back later to finish him off, but this confirmed my suspicions that Torres probably needed my help.
I jumped up and darted around the corner, where I saw Torres and Adonia fighting off three other breeds. I stopped to watch for a moment. They intrigued me; they fought well together, each movement anticipated by the other. They clearly had things under control, but all of my aggression from the past couple days pushed to the surface and I snapped. All I could see was red. They were here to kill Es, but I would die before I let anything happen to her.
I grabbed the closest breed from behind and twisted his neck. He fell to the ground in a slump. I knew he wasn’t close to being dead, but he wouldn’t be moving for the moment while I helped the others.
“I thought you’d miss all the fun,” Torres called out as Hela jumped on the breed they were fighting, taking him to the floor. Torres grabbed a stake from a hiding place at his back, under his shirt, and plunged it into the guy’s chest.
Torres reached behind to his back and grabbed another stake, tossing it over to Adonia. She caught it without looking and pushed it into the breed, killing him without even blinking twice.
She stood up and flipped her red hair over her shoulder. Wiping her hands on her pants, she looked around. “Where’s Es?”
“I told her to stay put.” I pointed with my thumb over my shoulder.
Her brows rose. “And she listened to you?”
“Yeah, it’s hard to believe.” I squatted next to the man I took down, reaching behind my back and pulling out a stake from a hidden sheath under my shirt. I mused how Torres and I had the same preparedness. Never be without a stake, which was something I learned at an early age.
I finished killing the breed and helped Torres complete the jobs by removing their heads. Adonia cringed. “I have always hated this part,” she said as she picked up a head by the hair and held it out. “At least with a real vamp they just disintegrate. You know breeds are made by a fool playing with dark magic since you have to disassemble them to actually kill them.”
I chuckled. Es might not have grown up with her mom, but she had the same attitude. “Here.” I reached out for the head. I grabbed it by a fistful of dark brown hair and grimaced a little as it spun around. The eyes were still open, staring at me. “Really? You couldn’t shut the eyes first?”
Torres laughed. “After this many years, you’re lucky I clean up the mess.”
Adonia placed a hand on her hip. “Who cleans up the mess?”
I lifted the other three heads and hauled them down the hall to the room while they argued over the mess. We needed to get them out of the hall before someone saw us. We looked like mass murderers covered in blood, and the headless bodies wouldn’t help us any.
I used my foot to knock on the door. “Es, it’s me, open up.”
The door opened and she moved aside quickly. “Eww, I hate the smell of those things. It’s like sour meat and putrid acid mixed together. Close the bathroom door so it doesn’t fill the room up.”
I dropped the heads in the tub. We’d have to sneak them out and burn them somewhere else. “Well, I gotta go grab a couple bodies. We can talk about your perfume later. Watch the door.”
She smacked my shoulder. “Very funny.”
Adonia was dragging one of the bodies behind her and Torres had two, one slung over each shoulder. He motioned with his head back to the stairwell where we fought them. “There’s one left, but you better hurry, I thought I heard someone just a minute ago. Adonia already did a vanishing spell so the blood is gone.”
I jogged down to the corner and lifted the body over my shoulder. The downstairs stairwell door slammed shut and I heard clomping footsteps ascend the stairs. “Oh crap.” I ran to the room and kicked the door. “Come on, open up.”
The door opened just as I saw a couple round the corner at the end of the hall. I pushed past Es and dropped the breed on the floor. I bent over with my hands on my knees. “That was close.”
I stood up and took a long breath. “So, who has the plan now?”
Chapter Nine
A Corrupted Bureau
Esmerelda
I glanced around one more time before my dad lit the fire. My mom and I were supposed to keep the smoke contained and hidden from mortal eyes as much as possible. Driving all the way to the Peñalara Natural Park with dead, headless bodies in the trunk made me nervous and was terribly unsettling. I knew we had to get rid of them, but being out of our element—or at least mine—made the feat seem harder.
I pulled the power from the earth with my hands and stretched it up over my head. My mom did the same thing on the other side of the flames and I felt her energy as soon as it touched mine, creating an invisible dome to keep in the smoke.
Slowly, I brought my hands to my sides. At least with the shield, I didn’t have to smell the horrid scent of charred metallic puke. Ian placed his arm around my waist and stared at our bonfire. He didn’t have to say anything; it was hard for me to comprehend how fast things were happening and the unimaginable twists we’d had to witness. Neither of us wanted to talk about Jarak. I could only imagine how Ian must feel. My own heart was torn in shreds with each thought back to the plane and how we left him. I know it was his choice to switch sides, but it just didn’t make sense.
Ailaina walked over to us. “We’re gonna need a new place to stay. That hotel is probably crawling with breeds by now.”
I gave a short nod. “Probably.”
My mom came closer with my dad not too far behind her. “Ailaina, if you could find us another place to stay that would be great. I don’t think we’ll need it for too long. It seems like Nicholas is in a rush to hurry this along.”
A shiver coursed down my spine. “Well, I’m in no hurry, but I think I might know why he is.” All eyes were centered on me. “When Meadow came to me the last time I was asleep, she said Nicholas was sick and didn’t have the energy to come to me himself.”
My dad folded his arms and stared out over the flames that were beginning to die down. “What do you think it means?”
I shifted my weight. “The first time I saw him in my dreams back in Tennessee, he told me I changed everything, the elements shifted when I woke up Moriah and the others. He was really mad, obviously, but it was more than that. He said I would need to give him his blood; maybe he didn’t mean blood for his breeds, but he really meant for himself?”
Ian twisted me so I faced him. “I don’t understand. Why would he need your blood? I thought it was just for the breeds.”
“I don’t know if you noticed, but the breeds we’ve fought on this trip were stronger than they were a couple months ago. They each had vials of Belladonna, which is hard for any magical being to carry. So, maybe when I awakened Moriah, the weak ones died but the ones that survived became stronger.” I noticed Ailaina wince when I mentioned Belladonna. “So what if the shift in elements made a shift in his spell?
Does that mean he needs my blood to live?”
Ian’s face lit up. “But you made Nicholas weak.”
I smiled. “Exactly.”
My dad rubbed his chin and ran his fingers through the short stubble. “It makes sense. Why else would so many breeds be out at once? They’ve always reserved their energy, but if they know Nicholas is dying, then they’d want to find you to save him.”
“Gee, thanks, Dad, that made me feel so much better,” I joked.
He winked at me. “That’s what I’m here for.”
My mom let out a small huff. “While you two joke around, this is serious. We are gonna need someone on watch twenty-four hours. We can’t take any chances.”
I shrugged. “Well, it’s not like I’m sleeping a lot right now.” Just the thought of sleep both excited and scared me. I could feel myself weakening with each waking hour but my fear of what—or who— awaited me in my dreams was enough to keep me alert. I wasn’t sure how long I could stay awake, but maybe one or two energy drinks couldn’t hurt.
Jarak
My head pounded furiously as I pried my eyes open. I tried to move but realized my hands were tied behind my back. I wiggled my fingers and stiffened when I felt another set of hands tied to mine. My head shot up, and I cringed as the pain worsened with the movement. I blinked rapidly, but the light in the room was almost blinding to me because of a raging headache.
Where was I? Where was Maztic? Oh no, what happened to Es?
Thoughts raced through my mind. I opened my eyes wide, not caring about the pain anymore. Oh shit, I cursed inwardly as my throat constricted and my mouth went dry. The room we were in was a gray holding room of sorts. One door in and out with no windows. I tried to recall the last thing I remembered before passing out.
I remembered Es accusing me of having something to do with what happened on the plane. My heart ached at the memory of her face. When she mentioned Julie, all things started to make sense and I ran off to find her. What a fool I’d been. I knew Julie had been up to something, but I never guessed that she’d trade sides. Thinking about it, maybe she was never truly on our side to begin with.