He shook his head. “Yes, I mean, no, I mean he shouldn’t have kissed you when he found out you belonged to someone else.”
His answer confused me. “Do you know him or not?”
Kai took a couple of deep breaths. “No, you just confused me is all. You are back now and that is all that matters. You won’t need to see Jason again.”
I gathered the bedspread in my hands. “But what if I want to? What if I decided I like Jason better?”
He smirked, leaned forward and kissed me quickly on the lips. “You don’t. I can tell.”
Time to change the subject or I might just get caught in my lie. “Alejandro told me a lot about you. How come you’re a Council Guardian? You’re so young.”
“Leadership among the Guardians has nothing to do with age. It has to do with strength of power. I probably have more power than practically any Guardian I know. With the exception of the Master. Well, and you, but you are an anomaly. I think.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. It took me a little while to figure out what you were because I was flipping back and forth between Guardian and Destroyer. But one kiss from you and I had enough energy to last a month. With what I was doing, I had a large harem. Nearly sixty women. I had to replenish my energy daily. With a normal Guardian’s duties a single kiss should last a week. But then I found you.”
He took my hand in his and kissed my palm. I shivered.
“But you did visit me every night.”
“Not because I needed to. Because I love you.”
Then he leaned forward and kissed me and all memory and thought disappeared.
I’m not sure how long we kissed for, but it seemed short. Too short, when the first ray of the sun came into my window.
“We need to go,” I mumbled.
He stood. “No, I need to go. I can’t take you with me right now.”
I stood up next to him. “Then why did we stay here kissing all night? I can’t stay here. They’ll murder me.”
“No, they won’t. I know their plans and killing you isn’t on the list. Give me one week. You’ll survive, then we’ll run away together. We can go wherever you want.”
My eyes widened. “So I was right. The Master Destroyer is my—”
“Yes. Listen, I don’t know how to make you understand how important all this is. When I was little I watched my dad get murdered. Did you know that in order for a Master Destroyer to be removed from power the one who wants to take over needs to murder them?
“I hid in a corner and watched as a bullet went right in his skull. He never stood a chance. I vowed that day that I would avenge my father. I bet Alejandro didn’t tell you that. Yeah, my father was the Master Destroyer. But he was a good man. I loved him. Plus, he knew how to keep the Destroyers under control. This one doesn’t. I need to make sure that the job is finished before we can go anywhere. I need one more week. Then we can go. You can wait for me.”
He pushed away from me, but I grabbed his arm.
“You need to take me now, drop me off at the bus station and send me back to Vegas. Then you can come to me when you’re done.”
“So you can go back to your precious Jason,” he spat.
If he only knew. He’s gonna kill Puck. “I can’t believe you would leave me here.”
He held up a finger. “One week.”
Then he disappeared out the window.
I fell back on my pillow, frustrated. The things he said hadn’t made much sense. Did that mean that my father killed his? Plus Puck said that his father was cruel. Kai spoke of him in almost a reverence. Would he kill my father? Could I still love him after that?
I shook my head. Those thoughts needed to wait. Because I couldn’t wait a week. Kai had found me before, he could find me again. Tonight I would run.
Mother Freedom. Mother’s Day. Mother of Pearl. Mother Marie. Mother’s Love. Queen Mother.
I SANG SOFTLY TO MYSELF AS I GOT READY that morning. I brushed my hair without looking in the mirror. In spite of Kai’s insistence that it didn’t look that bad, I knew it looked horrid. As soon as I got back to Vegas, Ginny would have someone fix it for me. I planned on staying in my room for most of the day with the last of my roses and catching up on the sleep that I’d missed the night before, but I had to make an appearance at some point and make sure that Mother didn’t have any chores for me. Which of course, she would, but they would keep me busy while I waited for the evening.
Mother sent me out to the vegetable garden to weed. I worked slowly, methodically, picking large tomatoes and cucumbers. I looked around for the lettuce, hoping that it would be ready and found that it had wilted.
The garden took up most of the morning and by the time I made my way back into the house it was past noon. Father was nowhere to be found, a fact I found reassuring. Mother sat at the table flipping through a folder of pictures.
She hastily put them away when I walked into the room. I put the basket down on the counter.
“What are those?”
“Nothing,” she said and moved to put the folder away. She looked almost normal sitting there. I wondered how much of her life had changed because she had married my father. He had to have influenced who she had become. I wondered who she’d have been if she had married a normal person. At least Alejandro influenced Ginny in a good way. I couldn’t imagine being married to that monster. I hoped when all this was over she’d become a better person. Someone I could be proud to call Mother. It would take time, sure, but maybe someday.
“Where’s Father?” I asked.
“He had to go to a few meetings. We’ll see him again tonight.”
“So he won’t be home for awhile?”
She shook her head. I reached my hand out to take hers. She moved quickly, grabbed the folder and stood up. Physical contact would’ve been best, but I could do it without it. I debated what I wanted her to feel. Love, love would be best. I focused my energy on love, the kind of love that Ginny had for me and sent it to her. It tasted of cinnamon like Kai and smelled of wisteria. It felt like a warm blanket and sounded like a kitten purring. I let all the sensations build within me and then released them toward her with a force I didn’t know I was capable of.
She visibly stiffened when she felt it. I’m not sure what I expected, but I didn’t expect to feel the sting of hate return to me. It tasted of burnt toast and smelled of melting plastic. It felt like a thousand bee stings and sounded of nails on the chalkboard.
“Naomi, I have nothing else I need you to do. Go hide in your room. I’ll call you for dinner. Your father should be home by then.”
Later, I sat in my room smelling the brilliant aroma of my last few roses and staring at the brilliant pink and orange sky. Sunset. Only a few more hours till Kai came back, and then I would convince him to take me to the bus station. My stomach growled. I needed dinner. I turned my door handle. It didn’t budge. I tried turning it again thinking it was stuck.
Panic set in. I went to my window and found that it was locked shut from the outside as well. I sat on my bed and debated. Kai would find a way in.
A few hours later the door handle jiggled. Hopefully it was Kai, but it could just as easily be Mother or Father. I wondered why they locked me in my room.
But when I went to the door and opened it, it was not Kai or even Father.
“Dwayne, what are you doing here?” This could not be happening. Dwayne yanked me out of my room because my roses sat on my dresser. If only I’d retreated into my room, he wouldn’t have been able to get at me.
“Came to get my wife,” he sneered. “But I think we’ll have some fun first. Yer not getting away this time without things being done properly.” He threw me down on the couch and loomed over me. I rolled out from underneath him and sprang toward my bedroom door. He grabbed my arm and pulled me toward him, his breath still reeking of rotting pork chops. That annoying fly buzzing sounded in my ears and I could taste bile in my mouth. He laughed.
“You can’t get away fro
m me now.” He slid his grimy hand down my back and grabbed my butt. “Nice ass. I bet it’s even prettier naked.”
I shoved against him and listened to the sound of gunshots in my head, the taste of blood on my tongue, and the feeling of a knife slicing through the flesh. I sent it to him with all my might. He squealed and relaxed his grip. I twisted and ran.
“Come back here you little bitch.” He followed me into the kitchen and grabbed me by my waist. He used his other hand to encircle both of my wrists so I couldn’t get to him. Then he pushed me up against the kitchen sink, breathing heavily.
“Why do you always hurt me when I touch you? Guess I’ll have to return the favor.” He put his lips to my cheek and I recoiled, not wanting his lips anywhere near me. Then he licked me.
I gagged and bile rose in my throat. I willed it to come out to spray him with the foul vomit, but my stomach did not listen. He bit my check, hard. Tears leaked out.
“I betcha like that.” Then he bit me again. This time I felt the warm blood ooze down my cheek. He licked it. I wanted nothing more than to be away from him. Perhaps his touch would be enough to enforce pain upon him. I threw every ounce of energy I had toward the thought destroy. I wanted him left in agony of the worst kind. I didn’t want him dead, I wanted him to live in his misery, but I would destroy him. I decided to try something different. Instead of sending him pain and misery I tried to suck it out of him. I wanted to pull every happy memory from him body, every smile, every laugh, every joyful emotion he could possibly have so he would become forever lost in his misery. Something strange happened then. Instead of Dwayne yelping in pain or loosening his grip, he stiffened.
A strange sort of electric pull happened. It was as if part of Dwayne was coming into me. The sheer power was exhilarating. I shook my head to clear it, but I didn’t want Dwayne inside of me. I wanted no part of him. I forced myself to sever the connection.
He fell to the ground in a thud. I wasted no time. I flew to the door and ran outside, not even thinking about shoes or socks. I needed to get away from this horrible place forever. I ran around my garage thinking Dwayne had a car I could take, never mind that I’d never driven before.
There was a car sitting in the driveway and someone got out of the driver’s side. His face was so unexpected that I froze. Then I ran for him.
“Jason!” I squealed and flung my arms around him. I couldn’t believe it.
“What happened to your cheek?” he asked.
“I got bit. Can you heal it?”
“Vampire?” he asked with a grin.
“This isn’t funny. I don’t want it there anymore. Heal me please.”
He nodded and placed his hand on my cheek. I waited for the pain to disappear, but nothing happened. Sweat appeared across Jason’s forehead.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, just out of practice I guess. Give me a second.”
After a couple of minutes the pain began to recede. Finally he removed his hand.
“It’s not perfect, still a little puffy. But come on, let’s get you out of here.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I came to get you.”
“Where’s everyone else?”
“They’ll meet up with us later. Puck was pissed when he found out that I got to come get you instead of him, but Ale insisted. Said that Puck would be too distracted.”
He drove in silence, the sky ever darkening. The roads twisted and turned as we drove deeper and deeper into the woods. The car shook and every once in awhile I jumped when we hit a pothole. I hadn’t been paying much attention to where we were going. Eventually, the car slowed and we pulled up in front of church.
“Why are we here?” I asked.
“Everyone’s here. They decided it would be a good place to meet.”
As I sat in the car, now unmoving, fear snaked through my veins. Something wasn’t right.
Jason opened the door and tugged on my arm.
“Wait,” I said and pulled out of his grip. “I don’t want to go in there.”
“I promised to bring you. Come on, it’s just Ale and Puck. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
He was right, I was being silly. I followed him quietly to the church.
He creaked the door open and I hesitated once again. This was a place where some of my worst nightmares came from. Why would Puck and Alejandro be here? Unless they were busy taking care of the Master Destroyer. They could’ve done that at my house. Something didn’t make sense.
Jason opened the door and beckoned to me. I followed, but was cautious.
The inside was fairly empty. A strange blue light lit the sanctuary. Jason took my hand and pulled me down the middle of the aisle like a reluctant bride and pushed me toward the pulpit. He bowed low next to me, muttering.
“I’ve brought her to you, at your request.”
I looked up. Seated next to the pulpit on a throne-like chair was a beautiful woman. I almost didn’t recognize her with her hair curled and her face neatly made up. She wore a tight black dress that glittered in the blue light. The dress revealed generous cleavage and had a slit that came up to her hip.
“Naomi, how nice of you to join us.”
I looked down at Jason still low to the ground, groveling. I’m sure she expected the same out of me, but I did not follow. I stood there with my head held high.
“The pleasure is all mine, Mother.”
Master Destroyer, Master Guardian. What about Master roses? Grand Master, Old Master, Master Burke, Red Masterpiece. The next rose I breed will be called Master Tuscany.
SHE SMILED A WICKED HALF SMILE. “I enjoyed that stunt you tried to pull this afternoon. You pitied me, your poor helpless mother. The person you should’ve pitied was your father. For years he’s wanted to become stronger. He was such a weak Destroyer. Tonight he will get his chance to become the Destroyer he was meant to be.”
“You mean Father is not the Master Destroyer?”
She laughed. “No, he’s far too weak for that.”
This news disturbed me. For years I’ve feared the wrong parent. She was the one. I gasped as realization dawned on me. She was the one who killed Puck and Kai’s dad. She killed Ruth.
Jason stood up next to me and moved to stand by her.
“Where’s Dwayne?” Mother asked him.
“Still at your house. Naomi attacked him. I had to leave him behind. She wouldn’t come with me if she thought I was with him. I’ll go back and get him later.”
Jason brought Dwayne to me. His betrayal was almost more disturbing than Mother’s.
The door to the church opened again and two men walked in. Father came first, his face twisted in a grimace. The person following him caused my heart to hurt.
Kai.
What was he doing here? Both Father and Kai bowed in front of mother. Father sat in a pew behind me and Kai went to stand on Mother’s right side.
His face showed no sign of recognition. In fact the entire time I stood there staring at him, he kept his eyes on my mother. Mother, however, did notice.
“You like my pets, do you? So sorry, you can’t have this one.” She pressed her ruby red lips to Kai’s forehead and he smiled. “He’s my favorite.”
I gagged. He’d been part of her evil web the whole time. First Jason and now Kai. Who could I trust?
She stood abruptly.
“For years, I have trained you to follow in my footsteps. For years, I pressed against you to force out your rebellious side, but you were always obedient and good. Wanted to do the right thing. You’re my biggest failure. Did you ever stop to think why bad things kept happening to you? Course, I had to wait for that fool of my mother to die. She was too powerful or I’d have killed her first.”
I shook my head, still shocked by the recent turn of events. Not only was she responsible for the murders, but she knew I had a power.
“You were a strong Shade, but I needed you to come out as a Destroyer. And so I pushed. I th
ought maybe you’d rebel once you found out I was going to force you to marry Dwayne, but of course you didn’t. You just kept being good little Naomi. Then your father tried to get me to stop the wedding.”
I jerked my head up at this and she grinned.
“Surprises you, does it? Of course your father loved you. His baby Naomi. He always loved you more than he did me, and I couldn’t stand it. Every time he had to hurt you, it hurt him even more. I loved it.
“So, I had him beat you after the wedding announcement didn’t work. Once again in the hopes that you would snap and your power would come bursting forth. It does sometimes, when people are pushed to their breaking point. Power that comes out like that has devastating consequences. I never wanted to be around because I would’ve risked my own death, but your father was expendable. It would’ve served him right, loving you more than me. But you somehow managed to heal yourself. The roses your Grandmother left behind held more power than I anticipated.”
So she didn’t know about Kai helping me? She thought I did that all on my own.
“I knew at that point I needed to take drastic measures. I was already planning on having your father murder a girl, to punish him for not being hard enough on you. But I knew then that he had to murder someone that meant something to you. “
My mind reeled with this new information. Everything she did was out of revenge and thirst for power. How disgusting.
She paused and glowered at my father who didn’t seem to hear anything she said. Then she continued her rant. I didn’t want to interrupt because as long as she spoke, I bought myself more time.
“We plotted and I had your father kill that red headed girl you liked so much and I was going to have him tell you at your wedding. I thought for sure right then you’d snap. I think that would’ve worked, but I was over confident and underestimated the police and FBI. I suppose it was a bit stupid of me to use a radical church as a cover up. I won’t make that mistake again.
You went to live with my wretched sister and you met my young friend here, Jason. He’s been spying on the Guardians for the last couple of years.” She beckoned him to her. He went and stood on the other side of Kai.
The Thorn Chronicles-Books 1-4: Kissed, Destroyed, Secrets, and Lies Page 22