For years rose breeders have been trying to create the perfect cut rose. Unfortunately by doing that they have bred out the best part. The smell. But now they’ve found the enzyme responsible for smell so they can breed it back in. Pretty soon you’ll be able to buy those long stem roses at the florist with a natural smell instead of that disgusting spray they put on it.
“ANY CHANCE YOU COULD come back to the house?” asked Puck over the phone.
“Sure. Give me a few. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, there is just someone I want you meet.”
I was about to exit the hotel when Elizabeth caught me.
“Can I come with you?” she asked.
“Sure, I’m going over to Alejandro’s house.”
“I know. I’m supposed to come with you.”
I nodded. “Riiiight, that gift you have,” I said, pointing to my head.
She laughed. “Oh yes, dear, you are in for a lot of revelations today. By this evening we’ll all be heading toward Tombstone.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I just saw all of us getting on an airplane. When I say all, I mean everyone. Puck’s whole council, too.”
“That’s not good.”
“No, it’s not, and I wish I knew why. I’m supposed to go with you to Alejandro’s right now, so let’s go.”
We made it to Alejandro’s house a half-hour later. Puck greeted us by the door.
“Where’s Sunday?”
“Hanging out with Beth and Andrea.”
“Too bad, I was hoping she’d be here too. Come in.”
He led us down to the library. There was a young couple hanging out there, the girl was a strong Destroyer and the boy was a Guardian.
“Where is Sunday?” the girl asked.
“She stayed with some of her friends. Raven, this is Naomi. Naomi, this is Raven and Julian.”
“Ah, the reason that Sunday was kidnapped. Did you really hide them like Custos claimed?” I asked Puck.
“Yeah.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Elizabeth called and told me I had to. Because of her gift, I trusted her.”
Julian looked at Elizabeth with wide eyes. He seemed to want to say something but couldn’t form the words.
“L-l-l-li-z-z-z-zy.” His stutter was very strong.
She grinned at him. “I’m surprised you recognize me, as Evelyn and I left long before you were born.”
He took a couple of deep breaths. “D-d-da-d-d a-a-nd I sp-p-p-ied o-o-on you.”
She scowled. “Of course. He never let anyone go. Not really. I’m glad he never tried to contact me though. Did you hear what happened?”
“D-d-dead. M-m-my f-f-fault.”
“At least you accept that. I’m surprised you aren’t blaming Sunday.”
Raven spoke. “Sunday was the catalyst, but we knew when we ran away that they would die, we just didn’t know how. Funny, if they’d left us alone, they’d still be alive.”
“Some would say that I am to blame for their deaths,” said Elizabeth.
Raven snorted. “You didn’t do anything, you just had the vision.”
“That’s not how Custos saw it. He’d been alive for thousands of years and I predicted his death. It’s no wonder he kicked me out. He didn’t count on Evelyn following me.”
I sank onto a couch. “You mean, Custos was my great grandfather?”
Elizabeth smiled. “Exactly.”
“Well, that explains a lot.”
“I told you, you were in for revelations tonight. This is just the beginning.”
Raven caught my eye. “So, I hate to interrupt the family reunion, but I need some help.”
“Sure. What’s up?”
“Can you make it so that I’m not a Destroyer anymore? Sunday said you got rid of power before.”
I sighed. “I did. But your Destroyer power is all you have. If you get rid of it, you’ll have nothing left. I gave up power that belonged to others.”
She frowned. “I don’t want to be a Destroyer. Is there anything you can do for me?”
“Maybe. Would you be willing to come with me for a few hours? We can figure out what kind of power you have and see if there is anything we can do.”
“Sure.”
She stood and so did Julian.
“Julian, you aren’t invited. I’m sorry. Girls only.”
He nodded and sat back down. Raven followed me out and I drove us back to the hotel.
“What you are about to see is a huge secret. I have a girl who can modify memories, if you even think about revealing this to the boys.”
“Whoa, really? You have someone who can modify memories?”
“Yes. But that’s beside the point. I’ve created a new organization. One that is for women only and I want you on my team, even if we never figure out how to get rid of the Destroyer thing. But I expect that once you learn how to fully control your power that you’ll be able to do that on your own.”
“Back up a minute. I know exactly how to control my power. I’ve been training as Destroyer since I turned eight.”
“Maybe, but you only learned Destroyer things. I’m going to teach you everything else if you agree to join us. What do you say?”
“Hell yes, I’m in. When can I start?”
I grinned. “How about right now?”
Sunday
Nearly 75% of all cacti are native to Mexico. I think I’ll move there to get away from all the drama here.
JUST BEFORE FIVE, I waited nervously outside the hotel lobby. Wyatt got out of the car, then came around and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
“What is this place?”
“Home,” I replied. He creased his eyebrows.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It’s complicated. Do me a favor and don’t tell Puck about it. Naomi will kill me. We haven’t had much time to talk since you got back.” I grabbed his hand. “But that’s my fault. I’m sorry. How are you doing?”
He shrugged as we got into his car. “Not bad. I like it up here. Puck’s training Morgan and me. We’ll stay. Puck says he’ll probably put both of us on his council. He needs more people, especially considering the circumstances.”
“That’s good.”
“What about you?”
“I’ve been better. I can’t seem to make sense of what happened. Plus I have that other Guardian essence inside me now, and my power keeps surging. He was so strong. Old, too.”
Wyatt grinned. “I’d love to see you with all your shields dropped.”
“That makes me a little nervous, actually. I’m afraid it will just swallow me up.”
“Maybe you should try that with Puck and Naomi around, just in case.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.”
Wyatt pulled into the parking lot. He opened my car door and helped me out. Then he tried to turn that into holding my hand but I pulled away. I didn’t want Jordan to get the wrong idea. Wyatt still placed his hand on my back when he led me through the door. I caught Jordan’s eye immediately and his smile turned to a frown the second he caught sight of Wyatt.
“What’s he doing here?” asked Wyatt.
“I need to talk to you both,” I said, settling in.
“How are you feeling?” asked Jordan.
“I’m fine. A little tired still.” Then I buried myself in my menu. We all chatted for a few minutes about what we wanted to eat, but as soon as we placed our orders an awkward silence fell over the table and I knew I had to say something.
“We need to talk about ‘us,’” I said.
Jordan snorted. “That’s a nice way to put it. I’m guessing you have no idea what you want, or we wouldn’t be going out for dinner all together.”
“You’re right. This is so complicated. I like you both and I’ve never really had the opportunity to think about who I really want to be with. I need some time figure this all out.”
Wyatt fiddled with his fork. “Are you saying you want us both to leave you alone?”
A
feeling of panic entered my chest. That thought had never occurred to me.
“No, not at all. I was actually hoping to date you both for a while.”
Wyatt looked at Jordan, who gave him a nod.
“Sunday, that might be a little awkward. Jordan and I have become quite good friends. We actually already talked about letting you make your decision and just dealing with it. Pick one, and the other one will back off completely. But neither of us wants to drag this out.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. I had no idea. “Please, I just need some more time. But the thought of having neither one of your scares me to death.”
“What about when all three of us are in the same room?” asked Jordan.
At least he was entertaining the idea. “Then I won’t be with either one of you. I’ll sit between you, or with someone else. Nothing romantic when the other one is around.”
Jordan nodded and looked at Wyatt. “I’m okay with it if you are.”
“No sabotage. Neither one of us even mentions the other or tries to crash each other’s dates.”
“Fair enough. But Sunday, we need a deadline.”
“How about Puck and Naomi’s wedding? Whoever I choose for my date will be the one.”
Both Jordan and Wyatt busted up laughing and I couldn’t help grinning myself.
Wyatt waved his fork. “And if said wedding never happens?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. When I figure it out.”
They both nodded and I knew I’d won.
At seven, I had Jordan take me back to the hotel, since Wyatt brought me to dinner.
“What is this place?” he asked. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t a good idea to bring him, but I wasn’t really thinking about that.
“It’s home. I don’t know what else to tell you. It’s supposed to be a secret, but I know you don’t keep anything from Puck.”
“Can I come in?”
I shook my head. “Naomi’s going to pissed enough as it is when I tell her you know.”
“Well, I don’t exactly know anything.”
“You will soon enough, I’m sure.”
He leaned over and kissed me. I sighed. “Thanks. I missed that.”
He winked. “See you later.”
I walked into the lobby and watched him drive away. Except he didn’t. He pulled the car forward a little bit and waited. Probably texting Puck. It was time to warn Naomi.
I walked down a hallway and found Naomi in the conference room with Elizabeth. I flung myself in a chair.
“I goofed,” I said. She couldn’t get too mad at me. I had just been kidnapped.
Naomi put her hand on her forehead. “What’d you do?”
“I just had Jordan drop me off. He’s still waiting in the parking lot. I’m guessing Puck is going to show up any minute.”
“Damn. Really? What’d you tell him?”
“Nothing, except that it was a secret.”
“Well, I suppose now’s as good a time as any. I’ll go wait for him in the lobby. Why don’t you go find Andrea and Beth? I’ll need all of you. Put Faith in charge of Raven. We can’t have her interrupting things yet.”
“Raven is here?”
“Yeah, they showed up at Alejandro’s this afternoon. She’s going to train with us and then see where things go. I don’t trust her enough to bring her in on this.”
“Okay.”
I found the girls in one of the training rooms.
Raven gave me a half smile when she saw me. “Sorry I ditched you.”
I shrugged. “Yeah, I almost died. Thanks. Hey Faith, can you take Raven to the pool for a little while? I need Beth and Andrea to help me with a job.”
Faith nodded and they left. As soon as the door clicked shut, I turned to the girls.
“Puck just found out. Naomi needs our support.”
Beth grinned. “Finally. This is going to be epic.”
We only had to wait a few minutes before Puck and Naomi came into the conference room.
Puck sat tentatively in a chair on one side of the table. I sat next to him while Naomi and the rest of the girls sat on the other side.
Naomi was shaking a little bit. There was no telling how this was going to end.
“First of all, I want you to understand that what I’m doing is not done with the intention to hurt you. Please try to remember that,” she said.
“I still have no idea what it is, so I can’t make any judgments on that at all.”
She took a deep breath. “Puck, I have no intention of ever joining the Guardians. I don’t believe it is the place for me, or any other woman for that matter. We’ll never be accepted.”
“How do you know that? You never even gave us a chance. I can see this happening if you tried and realized that it would never happen, but you just assumed we were all going to judge you.”
“That’s not true. I’ve been to your council meetings. I’ve read my grandmother’s journals. I’ve seen what Julio is capable of and I know that the Guardians are not the right choice for us.
“I’ve decided to form my own group. This is our headquarters. Due to our unique gifts we are nicely equipped to be mediators between the Destroyers and Guardians. We will make sure you all play by the rules.”
“Like a police force?”
Naomi shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”
“We can take care of our own problems, we don’t need you doing it for us.”
Naomi let out a laugh. “You really think this is working? Look at how the last few years have gone. Between my mother, Julio, the group in Jena, and Sunday’s kidnapping, you have nothing under control. You need an outside group to manage your problems so you can focus on your real job.”
“Why are you doing this to me?” Puck asked quietly.
Naomi wrung her hands. “I have to. The Guardians were never going to accept me or any of the other women. Please understand I had no other options.”
Puck snorted. “You had a lot of options. You know, if you had trusted me, I guarantee we could’ve come up with a more reasonable solution.”
“No, all your solutions ended with me becoming a Guardian.”
“Of course. That’s what I want. I want us to be together.”
Naomi got right up in his face. “No, you wanted to be my boss. Our relationship would always have been tainted by the fact that we wouldn’t be equals.”
“And you think this is going to work out better? You’ve put yourself above everyone. I’m not doing this anymore. We’re done. And if you think for one second that we aren’t going to fight you on this, you’ve got another thing coming. Jason and I will make sure this little project of yours never happens.”
“This isn’t your choice, Puck. You can fight us, but you won’t win.”
“What makes you think that?”
Puck clapped his hands once.
“Why’d you just clap your hands?” Naomi asked, her hands perched on her hips.
Puck creased his eyebrows. “I don’t know.”
“Because I made you. Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way, but either way, you and Jason will accept us and we’ll make sure things like Tombstone and Jena or even my mother never happen again.”
“How’d you do that?”
“Do what?”
“The clapping thing?”
“It doesn’t matter. Now, is there any way we can separate our professional relationship and our personal one?”
“What personal relationship? You’ve totally and completely betrayed me. You really think we can recover from that?”
Tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes. “I was hoping—”
Puck turned to me. “Come on Sunday, let’s go.”
Naomi wiped at her eyes. “Why would Sunday go with you?”
“You mean you don’t know? Sunday’s a Guardian. She belongs to me.”
Naomi looked like someone had slapped her. “Is this true?”
I shrugged. She paused for a minute. “I can’t believe I di
dn’t see it before. How’d this happen?”
“When you gave me power back, it wasn’t my Shade power, it was Guardian. Now with Custos’ power it’s even stronger.”
Her eyes went wide as the realization sank in.
“You coming?” Puck asked.
I nodded. Ditching Naomi wasn’t in my plan, but I could do more for her by staying with Puck than staying with her. She’d all but destroyed her relationship with Puck, but maybe I could do some damage control. Naomi would forgive me. I just hoped Puck would forgive her.
He turned and headed for the door, and I followed him. A small ring flew past my ear and hit Puck in the back. He didn’t even bother to stop, but I picked it up and raced out after him.
He kicked the wheel of his car, then climbed in. I got into the passenger seat. He wiped at his eyes and sniffed.
“Why the hell would she do this to me?”
“I know you don’t want to hear this, but she didn’t do it to you, she did it for herself.”
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“Because you are the Master Guardian. She kept it from the Master Guardian, not you. I know that doesn’t make this any easier, but she was concerned about how the Guardians behave, not necessarily you.”
“But I can’t separate myself from my job, it’s my identity.”
“I know. For what it’s worth, I think she was more concerned about your council than you. Let me ask you something, let’s pretend she did tell you from the beginning. Would you have let her do it?”
“I don’t know. I would’ve discussed it with my council.”
“Exactly. It never would’ve happened. We need a safe place to openly use our power. This is actually a good place for us.”
“Maybe I’ll get used to the idea. But how’d she control me like that? That was scary.”
“Oh, yeah, that.” I turned away from him, hoping he wouldn’t push it.
“Did she tell you how she does it?”
“Not exactly. But after I spent time with Custos I learned a lot about how the Guardians and Destroyers work. They talked about the prophecy of the ultimate Master, someone who held both the Master Guardian and Master Destroyer powers. They thought that person could never exist because Master Destroyer power can only be passed through death and Master Guardian power must be given willingly. The ultimate Master would hypothetically have the ability to control all Guardians and Destroyers. But not Shades.”
The Thorn Chronicles-Books 1-4: Kissed, Destroyed, Secrets, and Lies Page 73