“When will she be back?” Denise could feel everything inside her weaken.
“In about a month.” Anna swallowed hard. Something inside her doubted she would Alexis back by then.
Denise sat on the floor. She couldn’t hold her tears back. They started dropping on the floor. She had helped Samil succeed in his plan. “I’ll call her then.” She hung up before Anna could say anything. Guilty consumed her. She was the only one to blame. She had failed not only Alexis but all Dorians. She cried loudly.
Ethan got on his knees so that he could look Denise in the eye. “What did she say?”
“She’s left town,” she sobbed.
“He… he… he took her. We lost her.” Ethan bent, and his head touched the floor. “I can’t even track her because he taught her to close her mind,” he said faintly. “We gave him the tools to masterfully play us all.”
“There are only two roads to leave Grasslin. They could either have gone up North or down South. We, Dorians, have good reasons to believe that the amulet is North. We don’t have time to waste, we must go after them.” Denise stood up and stretched her hand to Ethan.
He grabbed her hand and stood on his feet. She was right; they couldn’t waste a second. Denise went to her room and got a backpack in her closet. She always had a backpack ready with clothes, personal items, and snacks in case of an emergency. They got in Ethan’s car and hit the road. Ethan drove as fast as the car allowed him to. Hopefully, they would be able to reach them before the end of the day.
Alexis looked at Samil. He seemed relaxed driving. She caressed his hair, her fingers slowly running through it. He closed his eyes for a fraction of second before placing his hand on her thigh. He gave her an honest smile that she immediately retributed. She felt great. Being with him was divine. She felt safe, wanted, and even though he had not said the words she wanted to hear, she felt loved. She looked out the window. The sun was shining making the colors of nature even more striking than they were. A dry tree reminded Alexis of the challenges she would have to face if she wanted to be free from the amulet. There was no guarantee that she would succeed and at that moment making sure that her mom and Samil remained unharmed was only one thing that mattered to her. She would do anything and everything to keep them safe, but for that, she would have to continue breathing.
“Why do you think it wanted to hurt me?” she asked. She was still not sure whether it was the amulet or the girl that sought to harm her.
“I thought a lot about it,” he said calmly, “and I could not find a reasonable answer to that question until earlier this morning.” He gave a nerve-racking pause. “I think there are two possibilities, but only one real problem.”
“Samil?” asked Alexis impatiently.
“I apologize. I was trying to soften it a bit, but apparently I failed,” he said kindly. “Well, the problem is that, in my opinion, there is another Elkavian out there.”
“Why would that be a problem exactly?” asked Alexis, confused.
Samil pondered for a minute. He didn’t want to fill Alexis’s head with worries; not answering her question wouldn’t help though. “No one knows about the other Elkavian. Therefore, everyone is out after you which makes you a target. Because of that, one could think that if we let others know that you are not the only one, we would take the focus off you, right?” He didn’t wait for her to answer. It was a rhetorical question. “But the thing is we all believe that the prophecy is about you. Of course, there would be some digging to find out about the other Elkavian’s family to make sure he doesn’t have a similar family background because if he does, the prophecy could be about him and not you. And that would be the best thing for you because it would make you free from your responsibilities as an Elkavian for as long as the other Elkavian lives. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t have high hopes about that,” he said sadly. He quickly looked at her. She was lost in her thoughts. He thought it would be better to say everything instead of delivering different theories at different times. “Either way, you’ve already connected to the other Elkavian, at least that is what I believe. When you tried to track the amulet, you tracked the other Elkavian as well. So, he may have attacked you and not the amulet which for me is the option that makes more sense. The other possibility is that he has already bonded with the amulet in a way that it felt threatened when you tried to track it and it defended its master, but I kinda doubt that. I truly believe the prophecy is about you and if I am right, the amulet wants you to be its master. It is reaching out to you. And I reckon that is why Ethan and I were able to pull you out from the shield. While the other Elkavian attacked you, the amulet was trying to protect you without completely betraying its current master, so it allowed me to weaken the shield so that we could save you.”
Alexis was speechless. Everything that Samil said made perfect sense. It explained the girl holding the sword and the voice telling her to open the door and save herself. “I thought the amulet was trying to destroy me.”
“I don’t think it is. I believe it does not have a negative impact on its master’s life on purpose.”
“What does that mean?” she asked, intrigued.
Samil was unhappy that he had said more than he should. “Never mind,” he said hoping that she would let it go.
“Samil, please,” she insisted.
“Being the master is not an honor, Al. It’s more of a curse. Its power will consume and subjugate you. You will belong to it, not the other way around,” he said seriously.
“That’s the feeling I have whenever I read the diary you gave me,” she touched the diary’s cover inside her backpack. She looked at the window again. She wondered what would her father do if he were in her shoes. Now, for the first time, she truly understood why he never told her the truth. He didn’t want that for her. Neither did she. However, it was useless to spend any of her time feeling sorry for herself. That would only weaken her. She was grateful for having met Samil; she was grateful for knowing who she really was and what she was capable of.
Samil pulled over surprising her. Seeing that there was an ounce of pain on her face bothered Samil. He leaned in and kissed her, a gentle kiss, full of passion. “I’m with you,” he said firmly holding her face in his hands, his eyes fixed on hers. “We are doing this together and when this is over, I’ll be by your side ready to start with you the life you want,” he said warmly.
Alexis could not think of anything else to say except that she loved him, but she didn’t want to be the first one to say it. She feared not hearing it back even though she was sure he felt the same. Having decided not to say anything, she kissed him in response. After a long and warm kiss, she continued, “What will we do about the other Elkavian?” she asked curiously.
“We’ll go after him,” he affirmed.
“It’s a girl,” she revealed. “I saw her when I was inside the shield. I only remembered it yesterday.”
“What else did you see?” asked Samil, his eyebrows raised.
“She was holding a sword, threatening me. A voice told me to open a door with the Elkavian insignia on it.”
“The mansion,” he said, thrilled. Having the possible location of the amulet was the closest he had ever got to it.
“What will we do when we meet her?” she asked tensely.
“We will cross that bridge when we come it,” he said calmly. “Now, we should worry about getting to the mansion.” He kissed her again and got back to the road. Things were turning out better than he had planned.
Alexis admired the landscape for a minute before putting some music to play. Whatever was about to come, she felt ready for it. Her mom was safe, the man she loved was with her, fighting by her side, protecting her and she hoped the amulet was doing the same. It was better to have it on her side than against her. And above all, she felt more powerful than ever being fully capable of taking care of herself and the ones she loved. She looked at Samil; their eyes met; they held hands allowing their energies to connect and make them one. Her othe
r hand touched the diary; she hoped to meet a better fate than the Elkavian that had written it.
END OF BOOK 1
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The Defender (The Elkavians Book 1) Page 25