The Thorn Chronicles-Books 1-4: Kissed, Destroyed, Secrets, and Lies

by Kimberly Loth

  “Sure, I’ll find a few and give them to you tomorrow.”

  “I’m going to bed. See you in the morning.”

  I stayed out on the porch for another couple of hours. Lincoln brought me two small lizards and a bird.

  I gave the gun wings and drew a flower bloom coming out of the barrel. Certainly not my best work. But I loved those eyes. I tore the sketch out of the sketchbook and took my stuff back to my room. I looked for a good place to hang up the picture and tacked it up next to my mirror.

  The next morning I dug through several of my sketches and pulled out some of the larger ones. A few sunrises, one of the desert I did last week, and one of the sketches of Alejandro’s hands that I did when I was practicing for Ginny’s pictures.

  Esteban met me in the kitchen and he held out the picture of the hands. “Who is this?”

  “Alejandro.”

  His eyes glistened with tears.

  “That’s what I thought. You never met him.” His hands gripped the picture and he wouldn’t look at me.

  “I used photos. I did a big one for Ginny.”

  He set the picture down, rubbed his eyes, and looked at his watch. “You are going to be late if you don’t leave now.”

  “Don’t you have to go to work?” I asked.

  “Not until noon. I won’t be home till late though.”

  The ice cream shop was downtown. The door was locked and I had to knock to get the owner’s attention.

  She looked like she was in her thirties, with strawberry blond hair and light freckles across her nose. I was immediately jealous. I always wanted freckles.

  “You must be Sunday. Love your hair. Come in, come in.”

  I put my stuff down on a table and looked up to catch her staring at me.

  “Seriously, how’d you do that to your hair?”

  “My aunt has connections in Vegas. They do a great job. I’m actually a little nervous about keeping it up here. I don’t trust anyone else with my hair.”

  She shook her head. “Wow. Okay, well let’s get started. I’m Nora.”

  She took me through the menu and I learned how to make all the different shakes and sundaes. She said the fancier concoctions would have to wait, that I could learn them when someone ordered them. Today would be slow and I would be working with a guy named Wyatt.

  After she finished showing me around and felt confident that I could take simple orders and not mess them up, Nora left me at the front while she did the paperwork in the back. The door jingled and a guy walked in. I looked up and let out a laugh.

  He looked a little different without a gun in his hands. How ironic.

  “How can I help you?” I asked, smirking at him.

  He scowled. “I work here. Who are you?”

  “I’m Sunday.”

  “Seriously?”

  I crossed my arms. “Seriously.”

  He rolled his eyes and walked to the back room. When he returned, he wore a blue checked apron just like mine.

  “Nora’s kid got sick so she had to go get him from his sitter. She said you know how to do all the easy stuff.”

  “Yep, and I’m already sick of eating ice cream.”

  He smiled. Not only were his eyes to die for, but he also had a decent smile. He could pass for any of Puck’s Minor Guardians.

  “So, Wednesday, tell me, how’d you end up in Tombstone?”

  I rolled my eyes. Little Ale calling me Sunny was one thing. No way was I going to put up with this prick intentionally making fun of my name.

  “It’s Sunday.”

  He grinned.

  “No, actually it’s Thursday.”

  “My name is Sunday.”

  “I know, Tuesday. I’m Wyatt.”

  I glared at him and kept my mouth shut. If he refused to get it right, then I wouldn’t talk to him.

  For the rest of the day, Wyatt called me every day of the week but Sunday, so I refused to respond to him. We only had a handful of customers; the day was incredibly slow. Five o’clock couldn’t come around fast enough. Nora said they only stayed open late on Fridays and Saturdays.

  At four-thirty, the door jingled open and I groaned. Wyatt and I had just finished cleaning up.

  “Wyatt, man, we came to spring you.” This came from a tall girl with a supermodel bod. But she wore a baggy t-shirt, basketball shorts, and no makeup. The things Ginny could do with her. Following her was a friendly-looking guy. He had a nice build. He met my eyes and grinned.

  “Hello, hotstuff, where’d you come from?”

  “Las Vegas.”

  “Morgan, this is Monday.”

  I glared at Wyatt. “My name is Sunday.”

  “No, Sundays are relaxing and fun. You’re grumpy. Just like Mondays.”

  I huffed.

  “Ooh, tension,” said the girl. She sat down at a table and stretched her long legs out in front of her. “I’m Andrea. It’s nice to meet you, Sunday.”

  I looked at Wyatt. “See, she can get it right. Why can’t you?”

  “I didn’t know it was going to bug you so bad.”

  “Well, it does.”

  He grinned. “Good. Guys, we are here until five.”

  Morgan sat down next to Andrea. “No prob. I wanted a shake anyway. Sunday, what are you doing here in Tombstone? Vegas seems much more exciting. Plus, I imagine their jobs pay better.”

  “My aunt sent me here to stay with Nan and Esteban.”

  Andrea nodded. “They are good people. Haven’t seen Nan around much lately. Have you met anyone here yet?”

  I shook my head. That reminded me that I was here on a mission. I let my shield down just a little bit and felt for power in the room. Nothing. So far there wasn’t a drop of power anywhere in this town. Yeah, Tombstone was small, but it was still unusual.

  “We’re going scorpion hunting tonight, you wanna come?”

  Wyatt growled. “That’s supposed to be just us.”

  “She’s new and lonely. Besides, just because you hate girls right now, doesn’t mean the rest of us do,” Morgan said with a grin.

  I leaned against the counter. “Why do you hate girls?”

  “Now you’ll talk to me.”

  I made a face at him. “Just answer the question.”

  When he didn’t answer, Andrea did. “He just got dumped.”

  “Did you refuse to call her by her name too?”

  Andrea and Morgan laughed, but Wyatt glowered at me.

  The girl turned to me. “Seriously, we’d like you to come with us. If you’ve never done it before, it’s a lot of fun.”

  Another excuse to get out of Nan’s house. Yes, please.

  “Sure, when are you going?”

  “As soon as it gets dark. You’ll need to wear boots.”

  Damn my crappy packing.

  “I don’t have any boots, but I can pick up a pair. Where’s the best place?”

  Both Andrea and Morgan avoided looking at Wyatt. “Beth’s Boots. It’s just down the street.”

  “Great. I’ll pop over there after work. Where should I meet you guys?”

  “We know where Nan and Esteban live. We’ll pick you up around nine.”

  Wyatt and I cleaned up after making shakes for his friends, and before I knew it was time to leave.

  I found the boot shop easily. The door jingled and a girl my age looked up from her phone. She smiled. I immediately tried to sense her power but got nothing once again. Though there was something strange in the room. If this girl wasn’t a Shade, someone who’d been here recently was. Raw power hung in the room. Judging from the taste of sour grapes, someone was very nervous. Finally.

  “Can I help you find something?”

  “I need a pair of boots.”

  She grinned. “That’s all we’ve got here. I’m Beth.” She held out her hand and waited for me take it. It was an odd move for someone our age, but she was probably taught to do this as part of her job.

  I shook it. Her handshake was firm and warm. Power buz
zed around her for a second, then disappeared again. Weird.

  “I’m Sunday.”

  “I like that name. Now, what do you need boots for?”

  “I’m going scorpion hunting. I didn’t bring anything but tennies and sandals.”

  She took a few boxes off the shelf. “Are you just visiting then?”

  “For the summer.”

  “That’s nice. Are you going with someone who has experience? If you don’t, it can be pretty dangerous.”

  “Thanks. Yeah, I met a few locals who are going to take me out tonight.”

  “Here, try these on.”

  She handed me a pair of plain brown cowboy boots. They looked sort of girly, but Ginny probably wouldn’t approve. They pinched my toes anyway.

  She pulled a few more boxes down.

  “You look a little young to own your own shop,” I said. I wanted to get to know her and see if she really was what I thought she was.

  She laughed. “That’s because my grandma is the one who owns the shop.” She pulled out a pair of blue boots that matched my hair. They had round toes and fit perfectly.

  “I’ll take them.”

  “You sure you don’t want to try on a few more?”

  “I’m not much of a shopper. These fit and they are blue. What more could I ask for?”

  She shrugged and rang them up.

  “Who are you going with?”

  “Andrea, Morgan, and Wyatt. Do you know them? Maybe you can come with us.”

  She smiled a tight smile. “I don’t think they’ll appreciate me crashing their party. Wyatt and I have a history, and Andrea hates me.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry.” I didn’t know what else to say. Hate seemed kind of harsh. Andrea didn’t strike me as the hating type.

  She shrugged. “It’s part of living in a small town. You are either best friends or enemies. Don’t worry about me though, I’ve got my own friends. You’ll have fun with them.”

  Boot shopping didn’t take nearly as long as I’d hoped it would. Beth definitely had some power and I wanted to find out more, but if I had hung out any longer it would’ve been awkward.

  I got home just after six. Esteban brought McDonalds for dinner. Nan didn’t show up to eat.

  “I’m going out with a few kids tonight. Is that okay?”

  He nodded. “Just be careful. The desert can be dangerous at night.”

  I put on a pair of jeans and brought a sweatshirt with me, just in case.

  They pulled up in an ancient pickup truck with no backseat. Andrea was in the driver’s seat; Morgan got out and helped me climb up.

  “You’re gonna have to squish. In spite of his attitude, Wyatt won’t bite.”

  I shoved up against Wyatt, and Morgan climbed in after me. I couldn’t breathe. I moved forward to give myself some breathing room and slid right off the seat. Wyatt caught me and pulled me up into his lap. I blushed.

  “Whew. That’s better,” said Morgan. “I was trying to figure out how we used to do it with Beth. I forgot she was always in your lap.”

  “Don’t get used to it, Thursday. On the way home, Morgan is sitting in the middle.”

  “My. Name. Is. Sunday.”

  Morgan interrupted. “What do you do for fun, Sunday?”

  “Recently, I’ve been busy being fascinated by all the cacti. But mostly I draw. Sometimes I paint, too. “

  “So you like our desert, huh?”

  “Very much.”

  We drove for another half hour or so, then Andrea finally pulled off the road. It was a very uncomfortable ride. Wyatt did everything he could to not touch me. That meant I had to concentrate on staying upright.

  Morgan helped me out of the vehicle. I hopped out and heard a cat meow from the bed of the truck.

  Oh, he did not.

  I looked over the side and Lincoln looked up at me.

  “Whatcha looking at?” Andrea asked and peered over the side of the truck.

  “Meet Lincoln, my crazy cat. He thinks he has to go everywhere with me.” I picked him up and showed him to the boys. Wyatt scratched him behind the ears and Lincoln purred. Traitor. I set him down and he took off.

  “We probably should’ve put him in the cab,” said Morgan.

  “Nah, he’ll be fine. He goes out hunting every night. He’s good at not getting hurt.”

  Morgan shrugged and they all turned on their flashlights that glowed purple instead of white. Wyatt handed me one.

  “Anything you can see with the black light can poison you, so watch what you touch.”

  “Okaaaay,” I said and accepted the flashlight.

  Andrea bounded ahead of us.

  “What’s the hurry?” I asked.

  “She’s looking for a Gila Monster. We don’t see those very often. They only come out of their holes a few times a year.”

  Wyatt shone his light under a bush. The whole area underneath it lit up.

  He grinned. “Scorpions.”

  Not gonna lie, I thought they looked like demons. They glowed green and had scary-looking pinchers. Not to mention their freaky tails. “Why do you come out here looking for them?”

  He shrugged. “Why not? Not much else to do.”

  The land was crawling with scorpions. I was glad I hadn’t tried hunting for them on my own. Most of them were small, but a few were almost the size of my hand. For the first time since coming here, I was actually concerned for Lincoln’s safety. Then again, he’d never brought a scorpion home so maybe he knew to stay away from them.

  Ahead of us, Andrea hollered. “I found one!”

  I rushed forward but Morgan caught my arm. “Don’t run. You need to watch where you step. Gila Monsters are the slowest creatures on earth, he’s not going anywhere.”

  I shone my light in front of me and scanned the ground for scorpions. I took a step forward right as Morgan shouted, “Don’t move!”

  Something wiggled underneath my boot. I almost lifted my foot up but Morgan yelled at me again.

  “Don’t move your foot! Look, you are on top of his head. If you move, he’ll get free and then he might strike.”

  What had I stepped on? A scorpion? I knew those devilish things would kill me. My hands started to shake and I took a couple of deep breaths. Everything went deathly quiet and my vision blurred just a little bit. I shouldn’t have come out here. This was a stupid, stupid idea.

  I noticed a high-pitch vibration first. Then I finally dared to look down. The blacklight gave an eerie purple light but whatever I’d stepped on didn’t glow. It wasn’t a scorpion, it was far too big. Its body stretched out a few feet. Its tail whipped around and snapped against my boot.

  I’d stepped right on a rattlesnake.

  Sunday

  The Snake Cactus looks an awful like a real snake. Its limbs twist and turn, and I imagine it has a painful bite. But I would’ve much rather stepped on the Snake Cactus than a real snake.

  WYATT TOOK OFF, but Morgan stayed beside me.

  “Where’s he going?” I asked, my heart racing. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I was going to get bit and die in this awful place because I wasn’t watching where I was stepping.

  “To get the snake stick. We’ll hold him down long enough for you to move.”

  The snake wiggled and his body bumped up against my boot. I squealed a little and it took every ounce of my self-control to resist moving, to resist doing the only thing I wanted to do—bolting toward the truck.

  Suddenly I tasted vanilla ice cream and could hear the sound of ocean waves. What the…?

  Wyatt came running back and he used the stick to hold the snake down right by the head. I tasted spearmint.

  “Listen, I want you to take your foot off the head and move at least fifteen feet away. When I let him go, he’ll move fast to get out of the way.”

  I was so surprised by my discovery I didn’t cooperate, at least not right away. “You’re a Guardian.”

  Wyatt’s mouth dropped open. The snake wiggled under my foot, reminding me that I
was standing on a poisonous reptile. I slowly removed my foot. Morgan grabbed my hand and dragged me away.

  As soon as Wyatt let the snake go, he stormed over to us.

  “What the hell do you know?”

  “Chill. I knew a group in Vegas.”

  “But only Guardians can sense each other.”

  “True. Except I lived with Puck, the Ma—” I almost said Master Guardian, but caught myself. “Major Guardian over Las Vegas. I hung out with his Minor Guardians quite a bit.”

  His eyebrows creased together. “What the hell is a Major or Minor Guardian?”

  I paused for a second. He was very clearly a Guardian, but he knew nothing of the hierarchy.

  “Um, a Major Guardian controls an area and Minor Guardians work for him.”

  “How’d you know I was one?”

  “I could feel your influence on me.”

  “How can you feel that?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Because I was around them all the time. I got pretty good at sensing when I was being influenced.”

  Morgan shrugged. “She’s probably a lot like Andrea. It’s not a big deal.”

  Wyatt rounded on him. “The only reason Andrea knows is because she snooped one time. That doesn’t change the fact that we’re supposed to remain unknown.”

  “Puck told me there were no Guardians out here,” I said.

  “Oh, we’re here alright. But we don’t mingle with the rest of them.” Wyatt crossed his arms and pressed his lips together. He looked over my shoulder at the truck in the distance and adjusted his stance.

  “Why not?”

  “What makes you think I’m going to just tell you that? You’ll go snitching to that Major Guardian, then whoever is in charge of Tucson will come here and try to take over.”

  “I already know that you are here. What difference is it going to make if I know why you don’t hang with the rest of them?”

  “A big one. Come on, let’s go back to the truck. I think we’ve had enough excitement for one night.”

  “You guys coming?” Andrea yelled from several yards away. I’d forgotten she was out there.

  “Yeah,” Morgan called back. “Come on, we never see Gila Monsters. Let’s go check it out, and then we’ll go back.”

  Andrea had the blacklight trained on a creature that was crawling very slowly across the desert floor. It looked like a giant salamander.