The Xoe Meyers Trilogy (Xoe Meyers Young Adult Fantasy/Horror Series)

by Sara C. Roethle

  “Their human friend is missing,” Chase began without even a hello. He met my eyes. “I don’t think your daughter will be content with sitting around and doing nothing for much longer.”

  I turned and looked out my large window while Chase listened to my dad. It took me a moment to realize that it was snowing outside. I huddled in my red sweater, even though it wasn’t cold in my room. Chase clicked the phone shut and I turned my attention back to him.

  “Your dad followed the woman from the coffee shop, but she just went to a bar afterward. He saw another man watching her that he thinks isn’t human, but the man simply followed her to the bar and is now waiting across the street. Your dad thinks they’re being careful since we got away. They know we’re on to them.”

  I scrunched my eyebrows together in concerned confusion. “Is this good or bad?”

  Chase grimaced. “It could be good in the sense that they’re possibly scared, which means that they are perhaps not as powerful as we think. But it’s bad in the sense that their fear of exposure might cause them to rush. If Allison and Lela are alive, they may not be for much longer.”

  I dropped down onto my bed, feeling dizzy. This could not be happening, not again. When Lucy had been taken by Dan, I felt like the world was going to end, but at least then we had hope. We had Lela to lead us right to Lucy. We knew the bad guy we were dealing with.

  “We have to go,” I said numbly.

  Chase shook his head. “We can’t. We have no idea where they are.”

  “We have to get the woman,” I countered. “She’s our only lead.”

  “Kidnap the kidnapper?” Chase asked skeptically.

  I glared at him. “You got a better idea?”

  He shook his head. “We’re not going to get by your dad. We’ll have to convince him to help.”

  I smiled. “If I go after the woman myself, he won’t really have a choice.”

  Chase stood and offered me a hand up from the bed. I took it gratefully, not caring if he knew how badly my knees were shaking. We were going into the den of the lion after all.

  Here’s hoping we didn’t get bit.

  Chapter Eleven

  I left my room and crept as silently as I could down the stairs. My mom was still in the living room talking to Lucy and Max, so all of us just sneaking out wasn’t an option. It was almost nine, and I knew my mom wouldn’t allow us to go out that late. My only option was to have Max, and Chase “go home,” then Lucy and I could sneak out. I’d have Lucy pretend to go home too, but it made more sense to have my mom think she was spending the night at our house, then if Lucy’s parents called, we’d have a cover.

  “You want to stay the night, Lucy?” I asked as I entered the room. Chase came into the room right behind me. I hadn’t even realized that he’d been standing behind me on the stairs.

  A look of confusion crossed Lucy’s face, then she caught on. “Sure Xoe.” She turned to my mom. “If that’s okay with you.”

  “Of course!” My mom beamed. “You’re always welcome. You know you don’t have to ask.”

  Lucy smile was a little sickly. “I’ll call my mom.”

  Chase brushed past me to face my mom. “Max and I better get going,” he began. “Thanks for the cookies.”

  My mom turned her beaming smile toward Chase. She seemed to have settled back into her comfort zone, pretending we were all just a bunch of normal humans. Chase went for the door, then waited while Max said bye to my mom before heading out. My mom rejected our offers to help her clean up, so Lucy and I went up to my room.

  “What’s going on?” Lucy asked as soon as I shut my door.

  “My dad followed the woman from the coffee shop to a bar. We’re going to confront her, and quite possibly kidnap her.”

  Lucy’s jaw dropped. “What?”

  “Chase thinks that we might have spooked the abductors into acting. Whatever they’re planning to do with Allison and Lela, they’re probably going to rush into it now.”

  “So they do have Allison then?”

  I nodded somberly. “I think so.”

  “But she’s human,” Lucy argued.

  “I know,” I replied. “I don’t know why they took her too. Maybe she just got in the way.”

  “So we’re sneaking out?”

  I nodded. “As soon as my mom goes to sleep.”

  We went through the motions of getting ready for bed. I let Lucy borrow some pajamas, and by the time my mom peeked her head in to say goodnight, we were all tucked in and ready to “sleep”.

  We waited another twenty minutes to ensure that my mom was in bed, then, leaving the light off, got up and quietly changed back into our clothes. I pulled my slouchy boots back on, then added an insulated, waterproof black jacket to protect me from the cold. I tossed Lucy another winter coat and we were ready to go. Now for the tricky part.

  Max and Jason usually just hopped out my second story window to sneak out of my room, but Lucy and I hadn’t quite mastered that trick, despite the fact that we were supposed to be physically capable.

  I peeked out my bedroom door to make sure we were all clear, then quickly pulled my head back in and shut the door as silently as possible. I turned to Lucy and whispered almost noiselessly, knowing she’d be able to hear, “She’s still awake. Her door is open and her light is on.”

  Lucy looked worried. “What do we do?” she whispered back louder than I had. My hearing was good, but it was nowhere near werewolf hearing. They had me beat in the smell department too.

  I glanced at my window and raised my eyebrows in question.

  “No way,” Lucy mouthed.

  I looked at the window again, pursed my lips and nodded. We were going to do it. Ignoring Lucy’s protests, I put some pillows under my comforter in case my mom glanced in my room, and slowly opened my window.

  Lucy came to stand beside me, sliding on the red winter coat I had given her. “No way, Xoe. We can’t make it.”

  I ignored her and lifted my feet out of the window, bracing myself to sit on the sill. I glanced back at Lucy’s expression and held up my crossed fingers for her to see. I took a deep breath and pushed off against the side of the house. I was airborne for a brief freezing moment, then my feet hit the ground. My momentum sent me tumbling a few feet through the fresh snow to land on my side in a heap. I took a moment to survey how my body felt, and a smile crossed my face as I realized I was unharmed.

  I stood and brushed the snow off my jeans, then turned to look up at my window. Lucy was still fully inside, a look of shock on her face. I did a little ‘ta-dah’ gesture, pointed at Lucy, then pointed at the ground beside me.

  She shook her head and stepped back from the window. She raised her hands in a pushing ‘no thanks’ gesture. There was no way I had jumped out that window for nothing. I stomped my foot in frustration, and once again pointed at Lucy, then at the ground beside me.

  After several more minutes of silent arguing, Lucy finally eased her feet out the window and sat on the sill like I had. She reached behind her to slide the window closed as much as she could while still leaving room for her butt on the sill.

  Finally, she closed her eyes and I watched her face, knowing she was counting to three. Then she threw herself away from the house. She dropped straight down with her long hair flowing above her head, and landed lightly on her feet, dipping into a crouch to lessen the impact on her legs. I swore out loud, that was so not fair.

  I pouted while I waited for Lucy to come stand beside me, then we started toward the road where we would meet Max and Chase. My mind raced with what we were about to do. I wished Jason was with us despite myself.

  Chase’s old, beat-up truck was already waiting for us by the time we reached the road. I opened the passenger door to a blast of heated air, then waited for Lucy to climb in ahead of me. She chose to sit in the middle of the front seat again, rather than in the back jump-seats with Max.

  We were all silent as Chase put the truck in drive and headed toward town. I fidget
ed around anxiously until I couldn’t keep my mouth shut any longer.

  “Okay,” I began, “so here’s what I’m thinking. I go in and talk to the redhead, and let her lure me wherever. You guys stay out of sight, then follow us.”

  “So you’d be like . . . bait?” Lucy squeaked.

  “No,” Max interjected. “I’ll do it.”

  I turned around so I could meet his scared eyes. “Why should you do it? I’m your pack leader after all. I’m supposed to protect you.”

  Max sighed. “You’re only our pack leader in name, Xoe. We don’t actually expect you to protect us. Plus, they’ve only taken witches, werewolves, and merpeople. They may not even want you.”

  “He’s right,” Chase added. “The plan has a better chance of working if Max goes in.”

  Pouting, I hunched down in my seat and glared out the front window as we exited onto the highway. Lucy cleared her throat and I turned to regard her.

  “Aren’t we forgetting something?” Lucy asked rhetorically.

  I cocked my head in confusion at the same time Max asked, “What?”

  “That woman is in a bar,” she reminded us. “None of us can get into a bar.”

  “I can,” Chase countered.

  I turned to him in confusion. “How old are you anyway?”

  “Twenty-two,” he answered simply.

  Lucy cleared her throat again. “That still brings us back to the problem of having a demon go in.”

  “I can get into a stupid bar,” Max mumbled petulantly.

  I turned back to Max. “You willing to try?”

  He met my eyes, showing me the raw fear shining through. “Yes,” he agreed.

  Chase shook his head in disbelief. “Okay,” he conceded. “We’ll try.”

  The rest of the drive was a short one. We didn’t know which bar the redhead was at, so we’d park in the same lot as before, and look for my dad.

  We reached the lot to find the bar traffic in full swing. We had to search for a while before we found a spot. Once we did, Chase backed into the spot, for a quick get-away I assumed, and shut off the engine. I opened the door and hopped out just before the cold air really hit me. Sporadic snowflakes had begun to fall once again, and I wished I was back in my house, having cookies and coffee with my mom.

  I snuggled the zipper on my winter coat all the way up to my throat and waited for Lucy to get out behind me. Chase and Max came around the truck to fetch us.

  “We stick together,” Chase ordered. “It may take us a little longer to find Alexondre, but we can’t risk another one of us being taken.”

  I shrugged. “Why don’t you just sense him?”

  Chase looked embarrassed. “He can block me.”

  A faint wash of hope ran through me, tainted by my current, more pressing fears. “So I could in theory block him?”

  Shrugging, Chase answered, “In theory maybe, but it takes a very powerful demon to be able to do so. I’ve only heard of pureblood demons having the ability.”

  “Can’t we just call him?” Max interrupted, impatient to get the show on the road. “It’s freezing out here.”

  I answered before Chase could. “He’s not going to tell us where he is. He didn’t want us to come.”

  Max nodded and we all began to walk toward the sidewalk. Without discussion, we strolled up the street toward Blue Moon, trying to act casual and inconspicuous. The streets were full of bar-goers and a few lingering coffee shop patrons with laptops or books in hand. People who would normally seem innocuous to me, all suddenly had hidden agendas of nefarious deeds. Was that woman in the black velvet coat looking at me funny? I stepped a little closer to Lucy, wanting to feel the comfort of being in a group.

  We were only a block away from the coffee shop when Chase took a sudden right, and gestured for us all to cluster into an alcove that housed an ATM. We all smushed in and looked at him curiously. He gestured with a nod down the street we had just turned onto.

  I peeked around the corner and saw my dad, leaning against a wall a few buildings down. As I watched, he pulled a cell phone out of his black linen trench coat and dialed a number. A second later, Chase’s phone began to ring.

  Chase cringed and reached into his back pocket, then held the cell phone out to me. I flipped it open and held it to my ear. “I told you to stay home Alexondra,” my dad’s voice lectured.

  I shut the phone and handed it back to Chase. He looked at me wide-eyed as I flipped my hood up over my head and left the alcove, marching straight for my dad. He pretended not to notice me as I walked down the street to meet him.

  I stopped and leaned against the wall a few feet away from him. “Max is going in,” I whispered. If there were any werewolves around, they’d probably hear me, but it was the best I could do.

  My dad nodded, the barest inclination of his head. “You are staying out here with me,” he whispered.

  It was my turn to nod. I looked back toward the alcove to see Max emerging. Good, they were putting the plan into action. I casually tugged my hood down my forehead a little further, trying to mask my blonde hair in case one of the abductors recognized me.

  There wasn’t anyone checking IDs at the door, and Max strode right in. I waited, expecting Max to be thrown out any minute, but nothing happened. Another five minutes went by. Still nothing.

  I glanced around to see if anyone else was watching the bar and caught site of Chase as he crossed the street. He had produced a black winter cap from somewhere, and pulled it down a little further over his ears as he went to sit on a park bench, then started pretending to text on his phone. Or who knew? Maybe he was texting.

  I got my answer when my dad’s phone buzzed from somewhere within his trench coat. He pulled out the phone and quickly read the message. He moved closer to me as he shoved the phone back in his pocket. I ignored him until he placed a hand on my shoulder to turn me to walk with him.

  “What’s going on?” I whispered.

  My dad pushed me forward to quicken our pace. “Max and the woman are behind the bar.”

  “Already?” I whispered harshly.

  “He must have followed her straight out there as soon as he entered,” my dad explained. “It was a trap.”

  I glanced to the park bench where Chase was sitting, but he had already disappeared. Standing in his place was the crew-cut man that had followed us before. He watched my dad and me as we crossed the street. Crap.

  I stopped suddenly on the median to tie my shoe and my dad came to a skidding halt. I looked up and met his eyes that so eerily matched mine. “He’s one of them, the one standing by the bench.”

  My dad glanced at the man, then pulled me to my feet to stroll a little more slowly the rest of the way across the road. We made our way to a little alley that ran alongside the bar. I glanced back in search of crew-cut man. He was walking right toward us. Double-crap.

  My dad shoved me into the alleyway ahead of him, then stayed where he was standing. I looked at him, confused.

  “Go,” he ordered. “Find Chase.” Then he turned to meet crew-cut man head on.

  I went. I could only hope that crew-cut man wouldn’t try anything too drastic in public.

  I ran full out down the alleyway until I reached the back parking lot of the bar. I felt a prickling at the back of my neck. I whipped around and looked back down the alleyway. My dad was nowhere to be seen. I turned back around and was shocked to find dark brown eyes, just inches from my face.

  I froze, heart thundering a million miles a minute. Then I realized that it was Nick standing in front of me. “You scared me!” I exclaimed.

  He just stood there as a slow smile crept across his face.

  Only then did it dawn on me that we hadn’t told Nick where we were going. I started to back up, but for every step I took back, he took one forward. “You’re one of them,” I accused.

  His smile grew as he continued to walk forward.

  I turned to run, and caught a glimpse of someone large behind me. Then ther
e was only darkness.

  Chapter Twelve

  I could hear an engine humming, trying to lull me back to sleep, but there was a dull ache in my head that told me I needed to wake up. I opened my eyes, but couldn’t lift my head off the floor. I groggily looked around at my metal surroundings and realized I was in the back of a van. Wait, what was I doing in the back of a van?

  Suddenly Nick’s face was once again in front of mine and it all came flooding back to me. The traitor! I tried to speak, but it felt like my mouth was full of cotton.

  Nick’s face disappeared. A moment later I heard him speak. “She’s coming to.”

  A woman’s voice responded, “What the hell is she? Her metabolism has eaten up enough tranqs to down three werewolves.”

  Tranquilizers? This was bad, very bad. I began to struggle, but my limbs felt like they were made of rubber, and there was some type of restraint holding my hands behind my back. I managed to swing my leg enough to kick someone, then there were hands holding down my legs. I took a breath to try and scream, then there was a small zing of pain in my arm. My vision began to go dark. I blinked against it. I had to stay awake. Then I was out.

  When I next awoke, I was in some sort of cell. The ground beneath me was cold, damp stone. I forced my eyes open only to find someone crouching over me. I swung my leg up as best I could in an attempt to kick whoever it was. My knee made contact, instead of my foot like I had intended, and the person fell away with a yelp.

  “What gives?” a female voice demanded.

  “Allison?” I questioned.

  “Duh,” came a sarcastic reply. “Don’t try to kick me this time.”

  She crouched back over me and put her hands under my arms to lift me into a seated position. She leaned me against the stone wall, then sat down in front of me. I felt a wash of heat and glanced to see a small propane heater in the corner of the room, near the door, which I couldn’t really think of as a door. It was made of shiny, new steel bars. There was some sort of lighting in the outer room, but the only extra lighting in the cell was the glow of the space heater.