“Hey, Tommy.”
“Hi,” he said. “Aderes told me to come and talk to you for a few minutes until she could get here.”
“Good. What’s going on?”
“A lot.” His voice was serious, and just like his eyes, it made him seem so much older than the others. “Bart found a trail that some newly altered Rogues made last night.”
“Last night? You mean they weren’t here today?”
“Of course not.” He gave me a funny look. “Young Rogues can only change at the sight of the moon. Something about it creates a reaction in them, and the young ones can’t handle it.”
“And last night the moon was out…” I said, finishing what he was trying to say.
“Exactly. Elliot fears the worst. He believes that the break in the storm was used for them to find us. The Rogues were probably sent by Alexander to find you so that he wouldn’t have to risk more of his soldiers.” I gave him a look of confusion. “You don’t know who Alexander is?”
“Yes, I know of him. But I didn’t know he controls the Rogues.”
“Not exactly him,” Tommy said. “But when young Rogues are in animal form, they have no more human thoughts and are very receptive to a strong-minded Dahmshed. So if they are out, they can be made to do whatever the controller wants them to do. That includes a suicide mission, which last night would have been for them if we weren’t down in the tunnels.”
“You mean to tell me no one was on guard?”
“They were, but it was one at a time on very short shifts so that we all could enjoy the party. Apparently that was a bad idea. They snuck in, got your scent, and snuck out without notice. Until now.” Just then, Aderes popped in through the door. She had her hoodie on again, hiding her beautiful face.
“Thanks, Tommy, you can go now,” she said. Tommy gave me a quick salute and walked out.
“So, what’s going on? Tommy told me Rogues were here last night,” I said.
“Yeah, and now we have a very big dilemma. They know about you being here, but they haven’t found the tunnels yet. If Alexander launches an attack, they will be found and everything Elliot and the others have worked so hard to achieve will be lost.”
“What are you proposing? That you’re going to throw me to the Rogues and ask to be left alone?”
“Never!” she yelled. “You’re so rude to us, Jason! You think we have such little respect for you. Even if that would work, no one here would think of it.”
“Then, what? I do agree you shouldn’t be risking anything for me.”
“I will die for you, Jason Hook…if it comes to that,” she added. “Elliot and I agree that you, one or two of the High Members, and I, should run from here to draw Alexander off the location of our hideout. Peter has already volunteered, of course; he truly believes in you.”
“Believes in me for what?”
“No time to explain that now, Jason. Things will be getting hectic shortly and we need to prepare.”
“Okay, okay. Where are we going?”
“We have some other hideouts scattered across the world, although none can compare to this one. The closest one to here is in Vermont, but no one has been there in years. We have no way of knowing if it’s been compromised or not.”
“When do we leave?”
“You seem very confident about this, Jason.”
“It’s not like I have much choice,” I laughed. “And you didn’t answer my question.”
“About five days, I guess. We need to prepare here, make sure everything is well hidden. We also need to make it look like you’ve only been in this building.”
“Won’t they be here by then?”
“No, that’ll probably take over a week. Alexander needs to get the human part of the Rogue to remember what it saw, then he needs to get the location from them.”
“Torture?” I cringed at the thought.
“Most likely. Of course, that is only if they’re not already on his side.”
“On his side? You mean the human half?”
“Yes. Alexander has promised the Rogues that bow to his whim a very good life once his conquest is complete. Although, I bet he’s lying.” She paused and looked toward the door. “The search party is leaving. I’m going to go catch up with them.” She went for the door and a sudden fear swept over me.
“You’re leaving me?” I asked her, trying to sound sarcastic.
“It’s for your safety. I’m the fastest and I have a better chance of catching the Rogues if they haven’t made it back to Alexander yet.” She took a look at my face and saw that I was beginning to panic. “Elliot and most of the others will be here. I can send Peter up if that would make you feel better.” I felt like a small child parting with his mother for the first time, but I had to suck up my fear.
“Okay. That’d be great.”
“Good. I’ll send him up as soon as I get down there.” She waved and left in a flash. I was already feeling okay about her being gone when Peter arrived.
***
Aderes-
I sent Peter up to Jason and found James, Johnathan, Simone, and Philip waiting for me on the road outside of the marina.
“’Bout time, Aderes, they’ve had a whole night and half a day to get ahead of us,” Johnathan scoffed at me. He had never forgiven me for almost killing him when the Peacekeepers first found me.
“Just try to keep up, okay?” I retaliated.
“Quit it, you two,” Philip cut in. “We need to work fast here, and I don’t want your constant bickering to get in the way.”
“I’ll stop if he does,” I said, eyeing Johnathan closely.
“You always start it!” Johnathan yelled back.
“You two sound like children,” James spoke up. It was amazing how different he looked from Johnathan now that I had spent so much time with them both. After only the first few weeks, I could tell them apart, even when they weren’t together.
“Huddle up, everyone. We need to go over a game plan,” Philip said. We all gathered around. “Aderes will take the lead, of course. She will check back with us every once in a while to let us know what’s up ahead. The rest of us will form a triangle with Aderes being the tip. Simone and I will make up the left side, and James and Johnathan will make up the right. I don’t want to miss out on any other trails if they lead off the main one. If any of us find anything useful, we’ll report it to the other group. You all clear?” We agreed to his plan of attack and set off on the hunt.
I leapt into my wolf-like run, leaving the others far behind. Everything flashed by in slow motion to me. I could see every branch on every tree and every bug on every branch, even as I sped by at ninety miles per hour.
The scent of the Rogues was still fairly strong, even after the hours between us. I could estimate that there were about five or six of them; they would have been an easy fight. The trail always stayed far from human populated areas, but it was straight for the most part. I began to wonder if I was being led into a trap. The scent was so clear and so easy to stick to that even a newly-created Dahmshed would have been able to follow it.
I was soon miles away from the marina and almost two hours had passed. I decided to stop and wait for the High Members. I knew I would lose time on the Rogues, but we all needed an update.
A half hour later, James and Johnathan emerged from the trees, followed by Simone and Philip not long after. When they all finally reached me, I noticed that Simone had a small gash under her left eye.
“What happened?” I asked anxiously. I could see the cut healing even in the short amount of time she’d been here.
“Philip and I were attacked a few minutes ago by Dahmshed,” she said with a smile creeping up onto her face. “There were three of them, but all I got was a small scratch.” She pointed below her eye to the cut that was almost gone now. I looked at Philip, who began to answer the questions I was about to ask.
“Two females and a male,” he began. “They were young and not very well trained for battle. I wa
s hit only once, but the mark is gone already.” He turned to James and Johnathan. “Were you two okay?”
“Fine,” James answered intently. He was always a very serious person, unlike his brother.
“That’s good,” Philip said, turning to me. “Aderes, I want you to slow up a bit.” I nodded, and he continued. “They may know we’re on to them. All of us need to keep a better watch so that we can reach each other if a bigger group attacks.”
“Have you guys noticed how easy this trail is to follow?” James asked. “I’d bet we’re walking straight into an ambush.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” I agreed. “But we need to try to find these things. Just be wary.”
“Even if they do have a trap set, I don’t think they’ll attack us with Aderes here,” Philip said. “They’d have no chance.”
“Unless Falko’s there,” Johnathan said quietly. He knew I hated the name, and he said it just to piss me off, so I flew over to him and kicked him hard in the chest. His body was thrust into the air and slammed into a tree ten feet away from where he had been standing. I almost went after him again, but Philip, Simone, and James quickly restrained me. They stood no chance if I had really wanted to attack Johnathan, but I was able to calm myself as they pulled me back. “What’d I say?” Johnathan laughed as he stood up.
“You know damn well what you said, you ungrateful little…” I lunged toward him but the others held tight. I shook them off and turned in the other direction. “I’m going ahead. I’ll keep it slow, but you shouldn’t leave too long after me.” I walked quickly into the trees without running, yet; I wanted to hear what the others would say to Johnathan.
“What was that for?” James scolded him. “You can be a real ass sometimes, you know.”
“What? I didn’t do anything wrong. I was just pointing out the obvious.” Johnathan tried to sound innocent. I wanted so badly to go back and tear his head off.
“If it was so obvious, then you didn’t really have to say it, did you?”
Johnathan went silent, clearly defeated and void of a comeback. I took off at full speed to gain some ground before they left. I slowed down after a while just as Philip had instructed. If he knew how much I hated going slower than I could, he wouldn’t have asked it of me. Of course, since he was the oldest out of our group Elliot had put him in charge, and I had to listen to him.
As I ran for the next few hours, I began to think about Jason. I hoped he wouldn’t worry too much about me being gone for so long. His apparent attraction to me scared me a little bit. I knew it was just my Sterk abilities drawing him in, like they did to everyone else. No matter what, I had to try and keep my hood on whenever I was around him so that he wouldn’t become too dependent on me.
I was snapped from my thoughts when I heard a loud howl erupt from what sounded like a few miles behind me. When I stopped short, I realized it had gotten very dark, but the moon was out, lighting up the woods through the bare trees. The howl ended with a Rogue’s signature, screeching yelp. I waited just a few seconds before I heard four more yelps from the same direction. Then I bolted, finally able to go full speed, towards my friends and Johnathan. This time, I found Philip and Simone first, who were both standing and looking toward the sound of the Rogues.
“Hey!” I yelled as I reached them.
“Oh, Aderes, good,” Philip said calmly. “We were just about to try to find James and Johnathan.”
“I’m on it,” I said before he could ask. I flew into the trees again and searched for any sign of the others. Amazingly, I picked up the very faint smell of the two Dahmshed, which is a rarity, even for my superior senses, except in the best of conditions. They were only a short distance away, and I reached them within a few seconds.
“Aderes!” James yelled as he saw me approach. “Where are Philip and Simone?”
“They’re okay.” Johnathan looked away from me as I turned to him. “Nothing’s going on here?”
“Nope,” James replied. “All good. But I think Johnathan and I should meet up and stay with Philip and Simone. It’s getting a little peculiar, and I seriously doubt the Rogue trail will split anywhere. It’s been going perfectly straight since we found it.”
“I agree with you. They should be waiting for me over there.” I pointed in the direction of Philip and Simone. “Hurry up and reach them. I’m going to start off again from here.”
“Okay, sounds good. Make sure you check back every half hour or so.”
“All right.” I took off into the woods in hope that we would finally find what we were being lead into.
***
Jason-
“Where could they be?” I asked Peter for the millionth time. He had been very patient with me so far, but now I thought he was ready to kill me.
“Jason, they’re fine! I told you that the trail would lead them very far away. You need to calm down and get some sleep. It’s late, you know.”
“How can I sleep knowing that they could be getting attacked right now?” I knew I sounded like a little kid, but at the moment, I really didn’t care. I was way too worried about Aderes.
“Aderes can take on plenty of Dahmshed by herself. When you add in the four others with her, they are practically an unstoppable force. Only an army would do any damage.”
“They have an army, Peter!” He looked at me like I had three heads.
“Do you even realize how dumb you sound?”
“What if she does get hurt, though?” I asked, ignoring his question. He got up from the couch and turned off the movie we’d been watching.
“I’m going to go and find Andi, so she can tell you the same things I’ve been telling you. Hopefully you’ll listen to her since I’m not getting through to you.” Just as he finished speaking, Andi popped in from outside.
“Oh no, Peter, you’re not dumping him on me,” she said. “I had to listen to you blubber when you first saw her face. Thank God that wore off.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked them.
“Listen, Jason. Sterk Dahmshed are a very different breed than normal Dahmshed. The reason Aderes covers her face is not because of her eyes or her teeth. It’s because whoever looks at her, be it boy or girl, has a sudden and very drastic attraction to her. We all went through it when we first saw her, but it does wear off after a short time. Although, we were all Dahmshed when we went through it…”
“So you’re saying that I only think she’s pretty because I’m under some type of spell?”
“I’m not saying she isn’t beautiful, because she is. I’m just saying that if you have any feelings of extreme love and need for her, it’s probably not real.” I did have both of those feelings for her. I knew I had a strong attraction to her, but it wasn’t until then that I understood I had a very real need for her to be with me.
“I hope both of you know that if you had told me about this from the beginning I could have contained myself from asking you where she was all this time.”
“Even being conscious of the fact that she has a ‘spell’ over you won’t stop you from asking about her, no matter how hard you try,” Peter said. I wanted to prove him wrong, but he had obviously been through this before and knew better than I did.
“I’ll try my best not to, though. Why don’t you throw the movie back on, and we can all watch it?” They both rolled their eyes and sat on the couch. Only five minutes after the movie started again, I asked, “So, how long do you think it will take them to get back?”
***
Aderes-
It had been an hour since the others grouped up, and I had visited them twice already. Everything was going well until the cloud cover fell over the moon. It worried me now that the Jagers were talking to the human side of the Rogues that had been behind us. They could have seen us group up and know that we were being cautious. If they had planned on an attack and they canceled that plan, we would find nothing, and all of our running would be a waste.
As the minutes ticked by, I was a
bout to turn back and check up on the others, suddenly, the Rogue scent skyrocketed. I came to a dead stop instantly, then, began to walk forward very slowly. The smell grew with every step I took. My nostrils burned with the sour stench of exposed Rogue blood. As I drew nearer to the smell, I saw a large clearing up ahead. In the clearing were at least twenty Dahmshed and what had to be four Rogues in human form. Five other animal-formed Rogues lay dead in the center of the large circle they had created. When I got closer to the clearing, I leapt quietly up a nearby tree to get a better look.
I climbed as high as I could, moving very slowly so as not to be detected. From the top of the tree, I could see Alexander and Grath standing next to each other, looking over the bloody mess they had created in the center of the circle. Next to Grath was Rose, who had her arms wrapped around his neck and her head leaning on his shoulder. I noticed the three of them mumbling things to each other that not even I could hear. After a while, Alexander stepped into the middle of the circle near the slaughtered bodies of the tortured Rogues. The rest of the Dahmshed in the circle pounded their right hands to their chests, and then he began to speak.
“De Vredestichters will not know that we have found their location so soon. We will advance on them at once and attack with full force before they can flee. Thanks to Caleb,” Alexander pointed to one of the human-formed Rogues, “we have a very well-planned distraction for them. The path that leads here is easy to follow, but far from where they reside. Some of their best fighters will have left to find us, and that will give us an advantage when we attack their hideout. Caleb has also let us kill some of his men so that De Vredestichters would think we didn’t get what we wanted from them. He and the others will continue the trail so that they will believe we have additional captives and are still trying to get information from them.” He turned back to Caleb. “You must go now, for I fear that we have already been here too long. Some of De Vredestichters will be on your trail shortly. And Grath, I would like for you and Rose to please go round up the others and bring them to the camp. We will attack as soon as you arrive.”
Descendant: The Protector (The Descendant Series) Page 11