I WAS AWOKEN IN THE MIDDLE of the night to my phone ringing. I fumbled for it. The screen was so bright; my eyes couldn’t adjust to the light. Instead of focusing, I ran my finger along the screen to answer it.
“Hello,” I mumbled.
“Sunday! Are you okay?” Naomi’s voice was so loud. She sounded desperate, and scared.
“I’m fine,” I said, sleep still plaguing my brain.
She paused for a second. “Then what was the meaning of the text you just sent me? Was that supposed to be some kind of joke?”
“What are you talking about?” I sat up, trying to make sense of her words.
“Wait, your text said something about your memories being taken. Maybe you just don’t remember, but I got the text just a minute ago.”
My mind cleared. I must’ve sent her something that night Wyatt almost took my power. “Oh, that, yeah. I don’t remember sending you the text but it probably happened. Maybe three or four days ago.”
“But are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Do you still have all your power?”
“Yes.”
“I’m booking flights as we speak. I’ll be there in the morning. You’re coming home with me, but first we’re going to shut down those bastards. Stealing power from innocent girls. Wait, how is that you are okay?”
I sighed, and then told her everything I knew, including all about Andrea and Beth.
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?
“Because I was still trying to figure out what happened. Listen, you don’t have to come, I’ve got this under control.”
“That’s not what your text said. I’ll be there in the morning. Sit tight.”
Then she hung up. I wasn’t ready to go home. But maybe she and Puck would come down here, shut down that group, and I could stay. I wondered what my text said.
I scrolled through the texts.
Wyatt kidnapped me and he’s going to take my power and then erase my memories. I need help. NOW!
Hmmm. No wonder Naomi was panicking. Kidnapping sounds pretty dramatic. Had he really kidnapped me? I collapsed back into bed. It was 1:30 a.m. If Naomi really did show up in the morning, I’d need my sleep to put out all the fires.
I got a message from Wyatt just as I got out of the shower.
On my way
Change of plans, I texted back. But still bring breakfast.
Sounds mysterious. See you in a few.
He showed up fifteen minutes later and we ate our breakfast on the porch.
“Naomi is coming to get me. She’ll probably bring a few Major Guardians with her.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I thought it was only fair to tell you. I don’t want you to get caught in the crossfire. Once the Master Guardian finds out what you are doing, he’ll shut it down. Technically you guys are Guardians but, in some ways, what you do is worse than what the Destroyers do.”
He clenched his fists. “I can’t let that happen.”
“I was afraid you’d feel that way. Before you do anything stupid, hear me out. You are incredibly strong. Honestly, I’ve never known a Guardian with more power, and add to that your funky memory thing and you are a shoo-in for leadership with the Guardians. Your group hasn’t trained you guys on anything. If you stick with me, I’ll make sure you don’t get hurt.”
He grinned. “It seems so odd to me that you’d have to protect me. Shouldn’t this be going the other way around?”
“Well, if your group suddenly decided that they were going to take my power after all, I would expect you to protect me.”
His breath caught. “I’m touched that you trust me that much.”
“You could’ve taken my power and you didn’t.”
He caught me up in a kiss and we didn’t even hear the car pull up. I pulled away when I heard car doors slam.
I ran to Naomi. She laughed and caught me up in a hug. “I find it very amusing that even here, I catch you kissing a boy.”
I shrugged. “I missed you,” I said.
“Me too,” she said, squeezing my hand. The other door opened and Julio stepped out.
“Where’s Puck?” I asked.
“He was out of town last night when your message came through. I tried calling him and I sent him a few messages, but I think he’s off the grid. Julio was the closest thing I had and I wasn’t coming here alone.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t bring more people with you.”
“I didn’t want to look suspicious. Besides, this is more of a scouting mission. Once we know what’s going on, we’ll have Puck send his men down here to eradicate the group.”
Julio stood alongside her. “I’m going to go say hi to my mom and dad. You girls catch up, then come inside. I need to know what it is we are getting into.”
He stopped on the porch and shook Wyatt’s hand. They exchanged a few words, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying.
As soon as Julio was inside, Naomi started talking very quickly.
“Listen, I don’t know whom to trust or what’s going on. Right now, we can only trust each other. Puck too, I think, but I don’t know for sure. I brought Julio along for protection, but I’m not entirely sure I can trust him either.” She sighed and leaned against the car. She ran a hand through her hair. “This is so complicated. I wish I could just send you home, but I want to see this for myself.”
I leaned against the car and crossed my arms. “Fine, then no more secrets. We are in this together.”
She nodded; I continued.
“How come you never told me I could steal power from Guardians?”
“Because I didn’t want you making any mistakes. It’s one of the easiest things for me to do. You must never, ever use it unless you are in extreme danger. And even then, think twice.”
“Have you used it before?”
She nodded. “Several times. Mostly on purpose, but once on accident. That was three years ago, I haven’t used it since.”
I let out a breath. “Well, I can’t control it. Once, when I was kissing Wyatt, I nearly took his power without even realizing what was happening.”
She frowned.
“That is a problem, but I think I can teach you how to manage that. Right now we don’t have much time. I promise I’ll tell you everything, but we need to deal with the immediate problem. I’d rather wait until we get back to Vegas where we can talk in peace.”
“Okay.”
She paused for a second, like she was putting a puzzle together in her head. “Wait, isn’t Wyatt the one who kidnapped you?”
I blushed. “Yeah, he’s not that bad. He just works for some bad people.”
Naomi sighed and put her arm around my shoulder. “Sweetie, you and I have the same taste in boys.”
I threw up a little bit in my mouth because I had absolutely no interest in Puck whatsoever. I opened my mouth to tell her so when she continued.
“We’ll talk boys later. Right now, let’s fix this. Julio is going to lead the mission to scout out this group. I know you don’t know much but tell him whatever you can.”
“I can do better than that. Wyatt will tell him everything.”
She tugged me toward the house. “Come on, I want to meet this Wyatt.”
Wyatt was still standing on the porch. He looked like he’d seen a ghost.
“You okay?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Listen, Sunday, we need to get out of here.”
I creased my eyebrows. “But Naomi just got here. There’s still that rose we need to take care of, so that no other girls will have to lose their power.”
“No, we need to go. We can fix the problem later.”
Naomi stuck out her hand. “You’re Wyatt, right? It’s nice to meet you. I’m Naomi.”
He took her hand. “It’s nice to meet you too, but you are both—”
Before he could finish, the screen door opened and Julio stuck his head out.
“Oh good, you are both
here. Come on in, we need to form a plan.” I grabbed Wyatt’s hand and pulled him into the house. He followed, still wearing that concerned look on his face.
Esteban sat in a chair. Julio sat in one next to him. Naomi, Wyatt and I all sat on the couch.
Julio leaned forward, eagerness in his eyes.
“Now, Sunday, tell me what you found. Naomi said it was incredibly dangerous.”
“Yes, but I don’t know much about it. Wyatt can tell you though.”
Julio looked at Wyatt. Wyatt looked like he was about to vomit.
“What do you know, boy?”
He looked at all of us, then back to Julio. “Do you really want me to tell you?”
“I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t want to know.”
Wyatt rubbed his hand over his face. I didn’t think about the fact that this would be hard for him. He was basically betraying his entire group. If I ever had to do the same, I didn’t know that I’d be able to. Even if I thought they were doing the wrong thing. After a few seconds, Wyatt started speaking.
“I belong to a group of Guardians who protect the other Guardians from female Shades, because women have a power that is too easy to use for evil purposes.”
Julio leaned back and tapped his chin. “How do you manage that?”
Wyatt hesitated again. “There’s a rose that does it for us.”
“Then we should go see this rose. Come on ladies, let’s go check it out. I’d like some back up so I’m going to call a few Guardians in Tucson and have them come out with us, just in case. I’ll meet you outside. Wyatt, could you stay with me so you can give me an idea of where we need people to go?”
Naomi and I waited out by the truck. Esteban joined us.
“Are you a Guardian?” I asked. I’d never felt any power from him.
He shrugged. “No, but I know all about what my boys do.”
Julio came out of the house. “Dad, I need you to come with us.”
“What’s Esteban got to do with any of this?”
“He knows the area. Will you follow us? Wyatt, why don’t you ride with Esteban?”
Wyatt looked at me and Naomi, and nodded.
We climbed into Julio’s Lexus and followed Esteban and Wyatt.
When we got to the cave, I was surprised to see so many cars parked outside.
“I think they are having a meeting. We should probably wait. This could be dangerous,” said Naomi.
“Give me a second.” Julio got out of the car and spoke with Wyatt and Esteban. I wished I could hear what they were saying.
A few minutes later, Julio opened the passenger door and addressed Naomi.
“Come on, let’s go see what’s up.”
Wyatt shook his head behind Julio and I knew something was off, but before I could warn Naomi, she’d already stepped out of the car. Julio put a gun to her head and said, “Now walk.”
Wyatt gripped my arm and dragged me out of the car.
Julio looked at me. “If you try anything, I’ll shoot her. My life purpose is to keep the world safe from the likes of you, and while I don’t like killing, I’ll do it if it means safety for the rest of us.”
Fear ate at my insides. Julio was supposed to be a good guy. He brought ice cream to little Ale and was always nice to me. He was supposed to protect us and now and now he was threatening everything.
I looked up at Wyatt. His face didn’t falter. The unmistakable sound a gun being cocked shattered the silence and we all spun around. Esteban had a shotgun pointed right at Julio.
“Son, I don’t know where you learned to treat women like this but it certainly didn’t come from me. You let them go. Now.”
Julio didn’t lower his gun. He smirked. “Dad, you foolish old man. You really think I’m threatened by you? Alejandro and I learned how to get what we wanted from you and mom and a long, long time ago. Now put the gun down and go wait in the truck like a good little boy.”
The air was so thick with the smell of spearmint that I could taste it. Esteban blinked and did as he was told.
“Now walk,” Julio said to Naomi.
Wyatt and I followed, but we walked slowly and put a little bit of distance between us and Julio. I worried that it would put Naomi in more danger.
Wyatt whispered sharply into my ear. “You need to listen carefully if you want to get out of this with your power intact. When we get to the rose, you need to push Julio into it. Everyone’s focus will be on Naomi, not him. If you push him, I can grab Naomi.”
“Then what?” I asked quietly.
“Then we run. As fast as we can.”
The hollow that held the rose was filled with men. They moved aside and let us through. At the end of the processional, Morgan stood among the men. He blinked twice, very deliberately, at Wyatt. I turned and saw Wyatt return the gesture. I hoped that meant he was going to help us. We were led up onto a ledge that overlooked the rose. I looked down and thought it looked like thousands of poisonous snakes. It started moving.
“You see that?” Julio asked Naomi. “It senses you, it knows that you are an abomination that needs to be taken care of. Now hold your hands out over the chasm. It will do the rest.”
But Naomi twisted around and grabbed Julio’s free hand.
“Sunday, run!” she yelled.
“What the hell are you doing?” Julio looked down at her hand holding his.
She grinned at him. “Exactly what you feared.”
Julio’s face went pale. Then he brought his other arm up, the one that held the gun.
“No!” I screamed. Julio brought the butt of the gun down on the top of her head and she crumpled to the ground. I pulled against Wyatt, but he held me tight.
“Just for a few more seconds,” he whispered. “Remember what I told you.”
I stilled and watched. Julio adjusted his tie and then addressed the crowd. “It’s not like none of them have ever tried to fight back before.” He laughed and dragged Naomi toward the rose. When he was a foot from the edge of the cliff, Wyatt released me.
“Now!”
I ran for Julio.
I barreled right into the man. Taken off guard, he tumbled over the side, but not before grabbing my arm. I landed against the rock and scraped my chin. My arm felt like it was going to be ripped out of its socket.
I heard Wyatt shout.
Julio had pulled me far enough that I could see into the pit. The rose had already wrapped its deadly stalks around his legs and crept up his body. I reached around with my other hand and violently scratched at him, trying to get him to let go.
Hands grabbed my feet and then Wyatt dropped down next to me, beating at Julio’s hand as well. The rose stalks were whipping everywhere, wrapping around his midsection and tugging at him. One rose stalk got Wyatt on the side of the face and I could see blood blossoming where the thorn cut his cheek. Another stalk whipped up and wrapped around my arm, the one Julio was latched onto.
The sensation was bizarre. The plant was leeching my power.
Wyatt pulled out a pocketknife and sawed away at the stalk, but it made no difference. The power was being pulled from the very core of my being. I felt the life slowly drain from me, leaving me powerless and helpless. I couldn’t fight back; I’d be lucky if I maintained consciousness much longer. Before I knew it, the power was all gone.
I heard a meow in my ear and a furry head rubbed against mine. My stomach tightened. Stupid cat. This was no time for games. He meowed again and licked my forehead. I opened my eyes and he blinked twice, then he leapt over the side, all claws and teeth, and landed right on Julio’s face. He scratched and bit at the man and Julio let go.
And they fell.
Everything seemed to move so slowly. The rose drew her treasure into the mass of swirling limbs. Within seconds both Julio and Lincoln were gone.
“No!” I screamed. I very nearly threw myself over the side to rescue Lincoln but Wyatt caught me.
“You have to go.”
“I have to get Lincoln.”
Wyatt took my face in his hands, a little rougher than was necessary. “No, you need to get out of here, or both you and Naomi are going to end up dead.” I nodded. He was right.
But Lincoln…
Wyatt turned to Morgan. “Get them out of here.”
Morgan nodded and looked at me. “Follow me, we have to move quickly.”
I nodded and he knelt down to pick up Naomi. I hoped she was okay. I was so focused on my own problems that I forgot she’d been knocked out.
Tears were fogging my vision. I ran after Morgan to Esteban’s truck. We threw Naomi in the front seat and Esteban immediately tended to her. Morgan turned to me.
“You okay?” he asked.
I shook my head. I heard footsteps behind me. Wyatt ran up to us.
“Go, go, go!” Wyatt shoved me up into the cab of the truck. He looked at me, his eyes sad. Then he kissed me quickly on the lips. Esteban jumped into the driver’s seat and Wyatt waved us on. “I’ll come see you tonight.”
“Wait,” I called, but he’d already shut the door.
Esteban sped away while Wyatt and Morgan jogged back to the cave.
Naomi stirred. She sat up, holding her head. “What just happened?” she asked.
“We just about got our power stolen.” That was a lie, but I couldn’t force myself to speak the truth yet.
She grabbed my bloody arm. “What happened here?”
I blinked. “The rose got it.”
“How much did it get?”
It was all I could do to not burst into tears.
“All of it.”
Naomi tore a strip of fabric off her skirt. “Here, wrap this around the wound. We’ll have to doctor it the old-fashioned way once we get back to Esteban’s house.” She turned to look at him.
“Is it safe?”
He nodded. “For now. You should probably get on a plane tonight though.”
She pulled out her phone. “I need four tickets for tonight from Tucson to Las Vegas. Call me back with the time.” She hung up without waiting for an answer.
Another car was sitting outside Nan’s house when we arrived. I panicked, but Naomi sent me calming waves of Mozart and the smell of clove.
“Relax. It’s Puck.”
I took a couple of deep breaths and tried to quell the storm building up inside of me. Lincoln was dead and my power was gone. My whole world had spun out of control and I had no idea how to get it back.
The Thorn Chronicles-Books 1-4: Kissed, Destroyed, Secrets, and Lies Page 59