I sketched the downtown of Jena. Once I had the basic scene down, I put hidden monsters all over the town—in the window dressings, behind signs, and underneath cars. How could those guys really call themselves Guardians?
A few hours later I stood up and stretched. The boys slept longer than I expected and the coffee had gone cold. My stomach growled. Chances were Jordan hadn’t stocked up on food. I heard a shower running, which was good, that meant one of them could take me to go get something to eat.
I put a few finishing touches on my drawing, and soon Jordan came out with dripping wet hair. My breath caught. I was around him so often that I didn’t always appreciate how good-looking he was. He could tell he’d made an impression too.
He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward him. “Like what you see?”
I grinned. “Of course.”
He leaned down and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned into him. My stomach growled again and he started laughing.
“Are you hungry for me or breakfast?”
I swatted him. “Breakfast, of course.”
“Let’s go get you some food. There’s a McDonalds around the corner.”
“That works. We should get something for Puck too. Let him sleep for now.”
On the way I filled Jordan in on what had happened in Jena.
“That was supposed to be the easy one,” he said.
“I know. What’d you find here?”
“Nothing good. We’ll talk about it when Puck wakes up.”
“How is it possible for those guys in Jena to be Guardians? They are doing awful things.”
“Well for one thing, just because a guy takes on Guardian power doesn’t mean he’s a good person. The same thing goes for Destroyers. Not all Destroyers are bad.”
I frowned. “I thought that was the point. Guardians are good. Destroyers are bad.”
“Usually a person’s temperament will dictate what kind of power he chooses to take on, but not everyone naturally gravitates to the right one.”
“Why would a good person choose to be a Destroyer?”
“There’re many reasons. Maybe they don’t like the restrictions of the Guardians. Maybe they like power. Maybe it’s something else.”
“I still don’t understand how that’s possible.”
“As long as someone is a Shade, they will be able to easily access both Guardian and Destroyer energy. They never fully utilize either one, but they can get a good feel for each. If someone who was naturally manipulative discovered that his Guardian energy was more beneficial than his Destroyer energy, then he could choose to become a Guardian. But he would still be manipulative.”
“Can he change his mind?”
“After it’s over, no. There are some who can still use the other power occasionally, but those individuals are very rare.”
“You can do it.”
“Yes, I can. I don’t like it though. I much prefer to stay in my Guardian energy. Speaking of which, I noticed you are no longer a Shade.”
I grimaced. “Not by choice. The new power Naomi gave me came from a Guardian, so that’s what I am.”
“I thought you wanted to be one of the good guys.”
I laughed. “I do, but I wanted it to be my choice. Besides, I wanted to actually go through the process, not just, bam, guess what, you’re a Guardian.”
“That’s actually not that far off from how it happens.”
“How does it happen anyway?”
“One of the leaders, usually a Major Guardian, forces out the Destroyer energy, solidifying you as a Guardian.”
“Then how come you and a few others can still access it?”
“I don’t know. I suspect that it’s never really forced out, just made to go dormant and some of us are just really good accessing it.”
We arrived at the drive-through and Jordan ordered half the menu, with multiples of several items.
“Hungry, are you?” I asked.
“Yeah, but it’s not just for me. It’s for you and Puck, too. I figured if I order a bunch of different things, we’re bound to find something we like.”
On the short drive back to the hotel I thought about what Jordan said. I would never be able to be a Shade again, which meant that I would never truly be part of Naomi’s little group. Because any woman who was a Guardian or a Destroyer would be loyal to her own leader. Naomi would never be able to trust me. That made me sad. She’d probably still accept me, but was that what I wanted? Or did I want to embrace the Guardians? I wasn’t so sure anymore.
When we got back, Puck was reading the book Alejandro left him. Jordan dumped the food out on the counter and we all reached for the sausage Mcuffin.
I laughed. “Guess you should’ve ordered more of those.”
Jordan shrugged and handed it to me. “I’ll just eat a biscuit. Puck can have the pancakes.”
Puck rolled his eyes and grabbed the pancakes.
The kitchen was silent as we devoured the food. To my surprise, not a bit of it was wasted except for one hash brown. The boys kept daring each other to eat it, and finally I picked it up and snarfed it down myself.
After cleaning up, we sat at the table.
“Tell us what you found,” said Puck.
“The family home is located on an enormous fenced ranch. I never saw the house. I suspect it’s hidden deep within their property, probably somewhere in the woods. There are signs everywhere that say ‘trespassers shot on sight’ and I have no doubt they mean it. I parked on the side of the road and watched the gate for a few hours. A brand new Chevy 3500 quad cab went in and it had a gun rack mounted on the cab with four massive shotguns.”
Puck whistled. “I wonder what they’re so afraid of.”
“That’s what I thought, so I found the nearest restaurant and poked around. Turns out there’s a Montague-Capulet situation going on here.”
“A what?” I asked. I’d never heard that term before.
“You know, Romeo and Juliet.”
“I never read that book.”
Puck laughed. “First, it’s a play, not a book. Haven’t you seen the movie?”
“No.”
“Jordan, when we get back to Vegas, you need to catch Sunday up on her education. Show her all the movies we were forced to watch in school. What Jordan means is that there is a feud between this family and another one.”
“Who’s the other family?” I asked.
Puck and I both looked at Jordan.
“A family of Destroyers. Apparently they’ve been killing each other for years. Their properties are adjacent to one another.”
“Do you know what the feud is about?”
Jordan shook his head. “No one seems to know.”
“Well, then let’s go find out. What are the names of the families?”
“Custos and Perdere.”
This seemed way too dangerous. “This is a family feud. For all I care, they can take each other out. They aren’t hurting anyone else. We should be focusing on the situation in Jena,” I said.
“You’re probably right, but the point is to fix all the problems, not just the ones we want to,” said Puck. He stood up. “Let’s go scope it out. Jordan already said the ranch is inaccessible, but lets see what else is around there.”
The drive took longer than I expected. We drove past the ranch. There was nothing but forest out there. A few minutes later we pulled up in front of the restaurant that Jordan went to yesterday.
“Guys, I’m so stuffed, I don’t think I can eat another thing.”
“We might be here for a while. Get a coke or something. Jordan and I can eat.”
“It feels like most of our work is done sitting in cafés. Boring.”
Puck laughed. “Yeah, pretty much.”
Moments later we sat in a round booth that was far too big for just the three of us. I took out my sketchbook and ignored the boys as they dared each other to order the largest meals on the menu. Seriously, what was with them and food?
I tried to get a sense for the people around me. Unlike the last café I visited, this one felt cold and hostile. There was no Guardian energy here. No Destroyer, either. This was the only building around and it was surrounded by forest and farmland.
I zoned out and started to sketch the ocean. The boys flirted with the waitress. Suddenly, a voice brought me out of my daze.
“I don’t really care what my father thinks,” the voice said. I turned my head just enough to see a teen girl sitting behind me. Her energy was all out of sorts. She tasted of cough syrup and smelled of pine, but she crackled with electricity. In spite of her anger, she was determined.
“You may be the princess of the Perdere Empire, but if you don’t listen to your father, he’s going to kill you. Literally,” another female voice answered.
My pencil stilled. I dropped my shield a little bit. Destroyers. Right behind me. I turned my head just a little to get a glimpse of them. There were four girls sitting in the booth behind me and every single one of them was a Destroyer. Not Shade, but full-on Destroyer. And the stupid boys in front of me didn’t have a clue.
I kicked across the table and connected with Jordan’s shin.
He jerked and scowled at me.
“What…” he began and I shook my head to silence him.
“Destroyers,” I mouthed and pointed behind me.
Puck creased his eyebrows and I felt both boys drop a few of their shields.
I found an empty page in my sketchbook and scrawled a note.
Send Jordan over there to flirt with them. Drop your shield. Provoke them. We came here for a fight, not to just to sit on our asses.
Jordan snickered and nodded to me. Puck snatched my pencil and added to the note.
We did not come here for a fight. But it’s been a long time since we’ve messed with Destroyers. You sure you are up for this? This could get ugly.
I nodded and slammed the book shut. I was sick of talking.
To my surprise, both Puck and Jordan went over to the girls. I heard them slide into the booth and tried my best to resist the urge to turn around and watch. So I stared ahead and listened hard.
Neither boy had dropped their shields yet.
“You boys new to town?” asked the first girl.
“Yeah, just exploring Northern Cali,” said Puck.
“Where you from?”
“Vegas. Listen, we are looking for good hiking trails through the woods and were wondering if you knew of any.”
Really? They were going to waste time with stupid questions like that?
I dropped my shields. All of them. This was ridiculous.
“Guardians,” hissed the girl.
“What the hell?” another girl said.
“We just wanted to see what was up here,” said Puck. “We aren’t looking for trouble.”
“Sure, whatever.”
All of the girls dropped their shields.
Immediately, I spun around. Puck and Jordan gripped their heads and dropped to the ground, their faces contorted in pain.
“What the hell are you doing?” I leapt over the back of the booth and the girls all turned toward me.
“Oh look,” said the one who had been whining about her dad. “Ha. They have a little girl to protect them.”
My head exploded with pain and my eyeballs felt like they were going to pop right out of my head. My hands burned and my legs gave way beneath me. As fast at the pain came, it disappeared.
I stood up, ready to defend myself. The next thing I knew, the blond girl was on the ground, and a young man with dark slicked-back hair was on top of her. She pummeled him with her fists. He blocked her punches but otherwise didn’t seem to be fighting back.
“Come on Sunday, we need to get out of here.” Puck grabbed my hand and dragged me out the front door to our car.
“Where’s Jordan?” I asked.
“Still inside. I’m hoping we are far enough away. Put up the strongest shield you can.”
I threw up a few shields without arguing. All the feelings from the restaurant disappeared, leaving me with only my own fear. The relief was immediate.
“What are we waiting for?” I asked.
“You’ll see. Jordan said he was going to give us a minute to get out of the way.”
We crouched down behind the car and a few minutes later Jordan called out to us.
“You can come back now. It’s safe.”
I looked at Puck.
“It’s easier to show you than to explain. Come on.”
I followed him back into the restaurant and stopped in the doorway. Every single person, from the waitress who brought our food to the nasty Destroyer girls, was asleep. One man was face down in his French fries.
“Holy hell, Jordan, this is amazing.”
He shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. Come on, let’s get what we came for.”
I creased my eyebrows. “We came for answers, they are all asleep.”
“They won’t be that way for long.”
Puck stood next to the girl and boy who had been wrestling on the floor.
“These two,” he said. He reached down and slung the boy over his shoulder. Jordan picked up the girl.
“Sunday, can you get the door?”
I held it open while they carried the bodies through, then helped get them into the car.
“So are we kidnapping them?”
Puck threw the driver’s door open. “You started this. If you don’t like the consequences of your actions, next time think before you give us away completely.”
I felt like I’d been slapped. But he was right.
We sped away back towards the town. I sat in the back, sandwiched between the boy and the girl who were still deep asleep, oblivious to their fate.
“So where’re we going?” I asked.
“Back to the hotel,” said Puck. He was still radiating sour grapes. I put up a few extra shields because I didn’t want to feel his anger and anxiety.
“They could escape from our hotel room,” I said.
“They could, but now that they’re isolated from their friends I think we might actually get some answers.” He relaxed a little and leaned back in his seat. The car slowed down as well.
“Jordan, that was scary back there. I had no idea you could do that,” I said, eager to keep the conversation going.
“Uh, yeah, I don’t use that very often.” He rubbed the back of his neck.
“Have you ever put me to sleep?”
“No. I never use this unless I absolutely have to, and I don’t know if you guys noticed but we were getting our asses kicked.”
Puck laughed nervously. “Yeah. Sunday, that was pretty stupid.”
I shrugged. “Probably, but we succeeded.”
“Only because that boy sleeping next to you intervened when he did. Next time, let’s make sure we are all on the same page.”
“Okay, sorry.” I paused. “Jordan, can you teach me that trick?”
“Maybe.” Maybe was just nice-speak for no. But we’ll see about that.
When we got back to the hotel, Puck and Jordan carried the sleepyheads into the suite and put them on the couch.
“You ready?” asked Jordan.
Puck shook his head. “I need a minute. Sunday, can you get our guests some water? Food would be good too, if we have any.”
He pulled out a chair, set it in front of them, and sat down. I filled two glasses with cold water and found a package of Chips Ahoy on the counter. I set them down in front of the sleeping couple.
Puck looked at me. “Will you sit next to the girl?”
I did.
“I’m not worried about the boy. He’s a Guardian and probably fairly harmless. But the girl? We need to be very, very careful. She’s a Destroyer and a powerful one at that. You felt what she did to us. She could easily disarm us if we aren’t careful. Sunday, do you know how to take power if you have to?”
“Uh, I’ve never done it before, but from what Naomi said,
it should be fairly instinctual. I don’t think I’ll have any trouble, but this girl’s definitely had more practice.”
“Okay, Jordan be ready to put them back to sleep if necessary, even if that means Sunday and I get caught in the crossfire.”
He nodded.
Puck rubbed his hands together. “Alright everyone, ready or not, here we go.”
Sunday
The peach-faced lovebirds make their nests in the cacti. They mate for life and surround themselves with the protection of the thorns. Even though I love these plants, I always find it odd that animals will make their home in the place of so much potential for impalement.
THE GIRL STIRRED FIRST. She rubbed her eyes and sat up, then looked at the boy next to her and gently touched his face. She hadn’t even looked at us yet. He blinked his eyes open and smiled at her.
This was not the reaction I was expecting.
When they finally looked around the room, the girl’s eyes went wide. “Where are we? Did my father put you up to this? Because he should know better, I’ll destroy all of you before I let you hurt Julian.”
“Relax,” I said, putting my hand on her arm. I sent her the sound of waves crashing on the shore. “My name is Sunday, this is Puck and Jordan. We just want to talk. We’re sent by the Master Guardian and we just want to understand what’s going on in your town.”
She looked at all three of us and then back at Julian. They stared at each other for a few long seconds. Then he chuckled and brought her face to his and kissed her.
None of us knew quite what to do.
She finally pulled away, giggling. “Thank you,” she said to Puck, “we’ve been praying for an opportunity like this. The Gods must’ve been listening. Now, where are we? This is important. My father is powerful and he’ll find us if we are too close.”
“We’re in a hotel in Arcata.”
The girl jumped up. “Nope, we have to go now. I’m surprised we haven’t been found yet. We’ll tell you whatever it is you want to know, as long as you get us the hell out of here.”
Puck nodded. “Alright then. Guys, take two minutes to pack your stuff, we’re going home.”
My head swam with this new info. In less than forty-eight hours I’d learned more things about the Guardians and Destroyers than in the past three years I’d spent in Vegas.
The Thorn Chronicles-Books 1-4: Kissed, Destroyed, Secrets, and Lies Page 66