3 Hit the Road Jack

by Christin Lovell

  “Figures.”

  “Yea.”

  Kai took back roads to my house.

  “What are we doing here?” I asked as he pulled into my driveway.

  “Checking on things and packing the rest of your stuff.”

  “Oh. I guess I will need more clothes just in case.”

  “Pack everything. Even if you don’t think you’ll need it, take it. I want this house nearly empty. You’re safer with us anyways.”

  “Kai, you can’t protect me from everything.”

  “I’ll try my damndest too as long as I can.” I looked at him, his face set, his tone final. I didn’t want to argue. I acquiesced with a nod.

  I pulled out my phone as I went upstairs and called Kellan.

  “Lex? What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice full of concern. I could tell he was on edge; apparently everyone was.

  “Nothing, sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you. I’m at my house with Kai to pack the rest of my stuff. We just got done talking to Auggy.”

  “I’m going with you.”

  “Kellan –“

  “You’re not winning this one babe. I don’t care what you say, I’m going with you. Auggy booked us both a flight.” He was firm. As much as I would enjoy having him with me, knowing he was safe, I would be worrying about his safety around every corner.

  I froze when I heard a car pull into the driveway. “Hold on,” I said, running to the window.

  “Relax. It’s just me, Craig and Mel.”

  “Oh, ok. I’ll see you in a bit.” I ended the call.

  “Hey dagger mate,” Craig greeted Kai downstairs.

  “Hey Kai,” Mel chimed behind him.

  “Hey,” Kai said, not sounding the least bit enthused. He’d been on the phone at the same time as me relaying the recent events to someone.

  A few seconds later Kellan came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist as he nuzzled my neck.

  “Do you know how sexy you look from behind?” he purred, nipping my neck. A chill ran down my spine.

  “Apparently good enough to excite you,” I replied, feeling him pressed against my lower back.

  “Always,” he chuckled lightly. I spun around and took him in. The look on his face quickly became tortured as we locked eyes. Something was bothering him. “They tried to bomb the car. Really babe? You couldn’t tell me this when you first called?” he growled.

  “Lose the block so it’s an even playing field,” I ordered. He quickly opened his mind to me.

  “Why does it feel like you’re always in danger?”

  “I don’t know,” I mentally replied, gazing into his emerald eyes.

  “Promise me you won’t do anything too risky in Spain.”

  “Is that where we’re going?”

  “That’s what we’re booked for.”

  I sighed. “Promise me that you won’t do anything risky in Spain.”

  He smiled, his dimple beginning to reveal itself on his left cheek. “That’s my line.”

  ”I can steal it if I mean it, and I do.” I looked down at the green diamond on my finger. “I don’t want to lose you.”

  He pulled me to him. “You’ll never lose me, regardless of what some crazy vamps wrote.”

  “I love you,” I said, locking my lips with his. His mouth gently caressed my own. I swept my tongue along the inside of his lips, tasting him, savoring him.

  “I love you forever,” he projected, pulling me tighter into him. His right arm wrapped around my waist, holding me firmly to his; his left hand cupped the back of my head, his fingers splayed amongst long dark brown locks.

  Our breath became labored as we explored each other. I raked my nails along his upper back. I could never get enough of him.

  “Get a room you scallywags!” Craig yelled. Kellan and I chuckled together, slowly breaking away with soft pecks.

  “We’re in a room Craig,” I called back.

  “Get one where I don’t have to hear you suckin lips and bumpin bits with my mate.”

  “You do realize you’re in my house, right?”

  “Oh, but you’re torturing this innocent dandy.”

  “You mean Mel?” I looked at Kellan, smirking over his crazy best friend. He was entertaining to say the least.

  “Oh, yea, her too.”

  “You’re full of it man,” Kellan chuckled.

  “Full of love for my love, right doll?”

  I heard Mel giggle. “Oh brother,” I rolled my eyes.

  “Let’s cut the crap. Pack your stuff Leka,” Kai sternly interrupted, clearly not amused in the slightest by the banter.

  “Somebody missed their hand grind today, ay?” Craig commented.

  “I’ll be in the car,” Kai announced. I heard the front door slam behind him.

  “You really want to stay with that?” Kellan asked as we moved into my closet.

  “Not really, but I don’t see where I have a choice right now. As much as I hate to admit it, I am safer with them. We don’t have any security aside from an alarm that a kid could disconnect with ease, let alone a vamp.”

  He nodded, gathering my shoes and stuffing them into one of my suitcases. Five minutes later my room was empty of everything important. All my clothes, shoes and accessories were stuffed into two huge suitcases; I carried my picture of Gran and me, my scrapbook from my birthday, my mother’s photo albums of me growing up, and a few pics of me and Mel. Kellan carried my luggage and had Craig come upstairs to grab my Paris picture off the wall behind my bed. I looked around at my room. It looked so stark now, despite the large furniture anchoring the space. It felt like I was leaving forever; a sense of permanence had settled in. So much had changed over the last couple months. I’d lost so much, yet gained so much at the same time. I was closing the chapter on my childhood, despite being sixteen, and starting a new one, forced to be an adult a couple years early.

  Chapter 5

  “Mind if I ride back with Kai?” I asked as we loaded my stuff into Kellan’s Beamer.

  He looked at Kai, sitting alone and annoyed in his car as he texted someone. “I’ll see you there,” he sighed.

  “Thanks,” I leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. “You going to get your stuff from your parent’s?”

  “Yea. I gotta talk to my dad too.”

  “Ok. See you later. Love you.”

  “Love you too.”

  “You know this so does not count for the whole seeing you before you leave bit, right?” Mel checked, standing beside the car with her hand resting on her hip.

  “Of course. Care to tell me why you’re not in bed sleeping though?”

  “Cause I’d be missing all the action. I swear so much more happens at night with you guys.” She turned to Craig who was standing behind her.

  “I guess. Promise me you won’t make a habit of this. You really do need your sleep.”

  “Yes mother,” she droned, rolling her eyes rebelliously.

  I laughed. “Later gator.”

  “After a while crocodile,” she smiled. We gazed at each other reliving the memory years ago. That was our daily goodbye throughout all of sixth grade. There was so much history between us. Her eyes suddenly began to well with tears. I held my arms out to her, welcoming her embrace. “Promise me you’ll be safe Lex. I seriously need my best friend. Sometimes I feel like you’re all I have left,” she cried, her voice muffled by my shoulder.

  “Of course. Take care of yourself Mel. It’d be too hard without you.”

  “Yea it would,” she smiled, pulling away with a few sniffles. “I really am your guiding light on so many things,” she chuckled.

  “Ok, yea you kinda are.” We laughed together.

  “Alright. Enough of this sappy pasty puff,” Craig interjected, pulling Mel into his arms from behind. “Lexi, doll, I’ll see you on the flip side of the rip tide.”

  Kellan and I both snickered as Mel rolled her eyes. “See you later guys,” I waved. I gave Kellan one last kiss before climbing into Kai’s car. />
  “About time,” he complained.

  “Yea, yea.” I buckled my seat belt ignoring his mood.

  Kai and I relayed the earlier events to Gabi, Rafi, Kalel and Art. Art agreed to scan everyone he came into contact with. Gabi and Rafi said they’d alert the troops and send a few to my house to house sit.

  Kalel stepped towards me; he picked up the charm on my necklace, an upside down cross, and studied it. “Don’t forget about this.”

  “I won’t, thanks.”

  “Don’t worry too much. You’ll be safe with us.”

  “Well, uh…” I didn’t know how to break it to him.

  “She’s going after him,” Kai bit out. He fisted his palms and ground his teeth in disgust and anger.

  “After who?” Gabi was immediately on alert. Her brows raised yet furrowed, she turned towards me expectantly.

  “Him,” Kai stated.

  “As in him, him?”

  “Yea.”

  I watched Gabi’s eyes widen as she ping-ponged between me and Kai. She ran her hand through her hair and tugged at it before she began to pace. She stared at the floor as she wrang her hands anxiously.

  “Gabi? You ok?” I asked, looking at her and the others for some sort of response. Clearly they, or at least she, had some knowledge or interaction with this vamp.

  “You can’t go Lex. Seriously. You… you,” she huffed. “You just can’t!”

  “Calm down Gabi. I’ll be fine, really. Kellan’s going with me. We’ll be fine.”

  “You don’t know that. You don’t know him,” she argued.

  “I’m sorry Gabi. As much as I would like to say I’ll heed your advice, I won’t. He’s after me Gabs. Everyone’s given me warnings and tried to offer me a reason to stay, but if he’s coming after me anyways, why does it matter if I go to him or if he comes here?”

  “I really hope you know what you’re getting yourself into Lex. He’s definitely not us. Don’t think for one second that if he catches you that he’ll show you any mercy.”

  “Thanks for sharing.” I offered her a weak smile.

  “Of course. You take care of yourself ok. Don’t let him get you,” she said, pulling me into a hug.

  “I’ll try.”

  Right as I pulled away Kellan walked in. “I’m just going to drop this stuff in the room and then we can go.”

  “Sure.”

  “Where are you two running off to?” Gabi asked.

  “To meet up with our Eislom,” I said, accenting William’s title.

  “Ooh. The name sounds old and boring so I won’t bother being nosy.”

  I laughed. “You got the old part right. Not sure about the boring yet.”

  “Let’s go,” Kellan called as he sprinted down the stairs.

  “Bye guys,” I said, waving. They all said a quick bye in return as Kellan grabbed my hand and led me to his car.

  We drove to the school in silence, merely our hands laced. We parked near the back door to the classroom. He walked up and opened the door, peering in cautiously despite everyone’s reassurances.

  “I was beginning to wonder –“ William began.

  Kellan cut him off. “We had official business to discuss and bombs to dodge.”

  “Oh. I see,” he said, coming around from behind his desk. “Did you complete your reading assignment?”

  I studied his attire: khakis, a blue oxford and brown loafers. While he appeared harmless, I got the feeling that Mr. Jameson had far more in his back pocket than he openly suggested.

  “Yes. Why didn’t you warn us?” I narrowed my eyes, awaiting his response. It’s not that I didn’t trust him, now that we’d verified him, it was just an uneasy feeling I had coming back into this. Perhaps it was just nerves related to my upcoming assignment though.

  “You will quickly find that it is not my place to warn you of what’s to come; it’s my place to prepare you for whatever may come,” he riddled.

  “That doesn’t even make sense. Wouldn’t warning us help prepare us?”

  “No. It would merely have you scrutinizing every aspect of nothing out of paranoia, especially when it comes to your mate. You don’t need to know the future; you just have to be prepared for it.”

  “Then why have us read the predictions?”

  “Because it’s a pertinent part of vampire and vampeen history,” he smirked, his brows raised as if to challenge me should I press on his answer.

  Kellan stiffened. “I think you’re full of crap.”

  "You ready to go?" Mr. Jameson asked, completely dismissing Kellan’s outburst.

  "Where?" Kellan shifted beside me.

  "To pack. I understand we're going to Europe."

  "We?" I furrowed my brows and unblocked my thoughts. Is he really coming with us?

  I felt the flow of energy, our vibrant connection the moment Kellan did the same. Not if I can help it. We don't need anyone weighing us down.

  "Yes, we. You're going to need me," he stated, putting on his blazer. He grabbed a few books and papers off the desk.

  Brow raised, Kellan and I exchanged a questioning glance. "Um, no offense, but how is it exactly that you're planning to help us?"

  He brushed past us, opening the back door with his backside. We stared at him expectantly. "Well, don't just stand there. Come along," he said nodding his head outwards.

  Kellan sighed in frustration. He's already working my nerves. I chuckled as I followed him out.

  William walked right up to Kellan's car and stood by the back door waiting for it to be opened. I paused, looking to Kellan for his reaction.

  "Where the hell do you think you're going?" Kellan demanded.

  "With you of course. Why else would I be standing here waiting?"

  "What about class? You can't just leave," I added.

  "I was just a sub."

  I narrowed my eyes at him. "You mean to tell me you forced us to sit and listen to your long, drawn out lecture of crap for the semester for no reason whatsoever? I don't know if I like you after that Will."

  He smirked, surprising me with a bit of charm. "You love me Lexi, or at least you will. I glamoured the real teacher to call in sick. And I actually delivered his boring monologue; so you would have had to suffer through it anyways."

  Kellan harrumphed. "So this whole thing -" he gestured generally in Willam's direction with the flick of his wrist - "was just to get to us?"

  "Well, yes; yes it was."

  "Why not just approach us like this?" I asked.

  "You would have been more inclined to attack me." He turned his wrist up to check his watch. "Listen, you can interrogate me later. We really ought to be off given your value."

  "Huh?"

  "You're unaware of your own bounty?"

  My heart began to flutter as much as a vamp's can. I swallowed the serum that rose. "What bounty?"

  "The one-hundred million dollar bounty. How could you not be aware?"

  "Shit!" Kellan ran his fingers through his hair, looking around anxiously at our surroundings. "Why didn't you say something sooner? Let's go." He immediately hit the remote to unlock the doors and we flew into action. I was thankful that Kai had the same security features installed in any car I had the potential to ride in, and, to think, I'd made fun of him for going overboard.

  Before my rear even hit the seat Kellan had the car started; the second I sat he sped off leaving me scrambling to close my door. I turned to him, brows furrowed and eyes narrowed in frustration. His eyes were focused on the road as his hands flew about initiating the security system. He ground his teeth, huffing like an angered dragon. Whatever it was, I knew it was bad because he'd blocked his thoughts again.

  Kellan. I grabbed his hand off the shift; he had a death grip on the steering wheel, and his whitening knuckles worried me. I breathed a sigh of relief when he entwined his fingers with mine. I caught him glance down at my ring, firmly in place on my left ring finger. What's wrong? Talk to me.

  That ring on your finger is my prom
ise to protect you at any cost. The fact that you have a bounty on your head and were nearly killed this morning means I'm failing miserably. You deserve better.

  Stop it right there! It's not your obligation to protect me; I'm not some damsel in distress, and this ring is your promise to love and cherish me forever. Nothing more; nothing less.

  Is that really all you think that is Lex? He scrunched his nose, snarling his lips. And just like that he locked me out again. He was angry and I'd just made things worse. I knew it was the stress getting to him, to us, but it still hurt.

  He released my hand, his fingers flying over his phone on the dashboard.

  “Hello?”

  “Dad, we’re swinging by. Lexi has a bounty on her head,” Kellan bit out.

  “Oh, ok,” Alejandro replied, clearly caught off guard.

  The moment we arrived at their house, we raced inside. Alejandro stormed forward and yanked William up by the collar off the floor. “Who the hell are you?!” Alejandro roared.

  “Claims to be our Eislom,” Kellan shrugged moving past them. He headed straight for his room.

  “Oh,” Alejandro said, dropping him. “Sorry.”

  “Where’s Beth?” I asked, glancing around.

  “She’s out of town visiting her parents,” he replied, still studying Mr. Jameson.

  “Oh. Sorry. I didn’t even stop to think that she could still have family alive.”

  “It’s quite alright. Understandably you have a lot on your mind.”

  “Uh, if I could just interrupt this little family tree bit with a dash of reality. There are men, many of them, out searching for Lexi right now. Her very life is in danger as we speak. Now what do you presume we do about it?” William pressed, returning Alejandro’s harsh gaze.

  Kellan returned with a black duffle bag stuffed to the brink. “You coming with dad?”

  Alejandro’s phone suddenly rang. He held up a finger as he answered. “Bancroft.”

  I smiled at the sound of Auggy’s voice booming through the speaker. “Bancroft, pack your shit. You’re following your kids to Basque Country tonight. You tail them, but don’t join them. They need people watching their backs against this Jack bastard. And don’t spill the beans or show yourself in front of them. I don’t want them thinking they’re weak.”