Black Ruins Forest (The Elder Series Book 1)

by Karen DuBose

  “So, you’re showing off in front of your boyfriend now? Is this what you wanted? To make me feel humiliated? Magnificent job, it worked!” She gets back in the blaster.

  I walk over to the passenger side and yank open the door. I’m not going to let her be here if she keeps acting like this. No one deserves to be treated like this, even if she is hurting.

  “Who the hell do you think you are? You come here and blame me for crap that I have no control of. You try to start a fight you know you can’t win no matter how hard you try. Yet all of this is my fault? I’m sorry they killed your mother. I had nothing to do with that. I don’t control the Elders! I don’t even know what they want with me. So, if you want to blame someone, blame them!”

  My mom puts her arms around me and pulls me away. We walk to the back of the blaster with Kira following.

  Mom sighs once we are alone. “How are you feeling?”

  I whip my head around to look at her. How am I feeling? I know deep down this is my fault somehow.

  “The Elders killed someone else because of me. This is all my fault. I should just go to them, so they’ll stop killing people.”

  I start to walk away from her, but before I can get one step, she whips me back around to face her. “Don’t walk away from me, please. How do you figure this is all your fault? There’s no way I’m going to let you go to the Elders. I would rather suffer a thousand deaths before I let you go to them.”

  I shake my head. She’ll never understand how this is my fault. I don’t even know what to say to her right now to make her understand. I don’t trust Nessa as far as I can throw her. She’s still hiding something big and I know it. We need to get it out of her before it’s too late.

  “I’m fine, Mom, really. I can’t explain how this is my fault, ok? I just have this gut feeling telling me to go to them and end this once and for all. I know none of you will let me. I have to figure out what Nessa knows. I know she isn’t going to give it up willingly. She has proven that already.”

  She gives me a nod to tell me that she understands.

  Kira joins the conversation. “There is something about her. I can’t pinpoint it. It’s like she’s lost all her attitude, and she is trying to make up for it. If you even think about going to the Elders I will get myself killed to get you back.” She has her hand on her hip. She points to me with her finger on the other hand.

  I look at her with my eyebrow raised. “What do you mean? I don’t see it gone, not after what she just pulled. Fine if you guys won’t let me go to them, then we need to figure out what is going on. If they kill someone else because of me, I won’t have a choice but to go to them. People don’t need to die for me.”

  Kira puts her hands on my arms. “You can’t stop them from killing, that is what they do. Back to Nessa, think about it. She would never had tried to take that shot with so many people around, especially your mother. She isn’t trying to hit on Bruno or flirt with Kiernan. Her normal attitude isn’t there.”

  I look back on everything that’s happened in the last thirty minutes. Damn, Kira is right. Nessa isn’t being herself. Now I know there is something going on.

  “You’re right. She is different. It doesn’t make her trustworthy, though. It makes her more untrustworthy. She’s willing to explode on me. What else might we have to worry about with her?”

  Mom and Kira both shrug their shoulders. I have a really bad feeling about this. The more time she’s here, the worse this feeling is getting. My dad told me to listen to my gut, and I am. It’s everyone else who isn’t listening.

  Bruno walks over to us. He crosses his arms over his chest. “Are we ready to go? We need to leave now before they figure out which way we are going?”

  I nod my head telling him we’re ready to go. We walk back to the blaster and get in. Kira gets her DC out and starts to text someone. My DC starts buzzing.

  I wish I had my Pdat. I need to know what we’re dealing with. I could hack into her Pdat and DC again. I think we have more to worry about.

  When we stop, you can get it out from the back. I want her gone. My gut is screaming at me to leave her here. I text back.

  I agree, we have to figure out a way to get rid of her.

  I’ll text Kiernan and see what he thinks.

  Ok, she replies back

  I pull up Kiernan’s number and write him a message:

  Hi, sexy

  We hear the song ‘That’s My Girl’ by a band named Braver Claws. I laugh along with everyone except Nessa. She’s sulking in the front seat. Kiernan just has a huge smile on his face. He’s not ashamed one bit, but I was trying to text him in private. I shake my head. I see him turning his ringtone off.

  Hi, beautiful. What’s up?

  Kira and I don’t trust Nessa. She’s acting really weird. We need to get rid of her before we get close to the Black Ruins Forest. She cannot go there. I just have this feeling that, if she goes, things will get bad before we even get answers.

  He types back with a frown:

  I will talk to Bruno, when we stop again. He doesn’t want her to go, either. We will figure something out.

  Sounds good. So, I’m your girl huh?

  I think I have shown you just that, did I not? If I didn’t, I am willing to show just how much you are my girl.

  I’m not sure that you did, you might have to show me again. I’m smirking while I’m writing this.

  I’m willing to show you again soon. My Dary.

  I can’t wait

  He sure does know how to make a girl feel special. I start to text Kira, but my DC buzzes before I can. I look at the message, thinking Kiernan is texting me again. When I open it, I see that it’s from an unknown number.

  Do you really think you can hide from me? I will find you wherever you go. That I promise you. You are not smart enough to get away.

  I look at the DC, then to Kiernan and Kira. They see the fear in my eyes and lean closer to see my DC. Mom rips my DC off my wrist. What is she doing?

  “Mom give me my DC back.” I hold my hand out. She starts to text the person back. When she’s done, she tosses it out the window. I try to grab it before she does, but I’m too late. “Why did you just throw my DC out the window? What did you say?”

  I’m so shocked that I’m sure my eyes are bugging out of my eye sockets. She would have lectured me for an hour if I had even lost it. Telling me it wasn’t cheap and that I need to learn to be more responsible. Yet here she is throwing it out the window like it’s trash.

  “I told that person that no one is hiding or running. They need to get a life cycle if all they want to do is scare a woman for no reason. Then I told them to leave you alone before you took the DC to the dragons and got their ass in trouble. I also said for them to go to hell in a handbasket.”

  We all stare at her. I was the first one to burst out laughing. I can’t believe my mom texted that. She has some spunk after all. Everyone but Nessa is laughing. I have to hold my side, I’m laughing so hard. Some of the weight is lifted, even if it’s only by a fraction. It feels good just the same.

  “That doesn’t answer my question, though. Why did you throw it out the window?” I ask, still laughing.

  “I think your DC was being traced. There’s no way they know we left, unless someone told them.”

  We all look at Nessa, who hasn’t said a word since getting back into the blaster.

  “Why would I tell them where you are? I would be telling on myself. Did you forget, I’m running away from them too?” she says, sulking.

  I shake my head. “What am I going to do for a DC now?”

  Bruno hands me a DC still in the box. Oh my god! It’s the new DC 8. I look at him through the rearview mirror and smile at him.

  “Thank you! How did you know I was going to need a new DC?”

  He smiles back at me in the rearview mirror. “I got new DCs for the five of us.”

  He passes a bag to me with the new DCs in it, and I pass them out to everyone. Mine is purple�
�almost matching my eye. I hand Kira the teal, Kiernan gets a dark blue one, and mom gets a pink one. We all start to program our contacts. Mine is easy to program. I only have five numbers.

  “Throw your old DCs out the window. I don’t want to take a chance that they’re being traced. These DCs are untraceable,” he says.

  Everyone throws their DCs out. The air feels good on my skin with the windows rolled down. Everyone else must be thinking the same thing. No one rolls their windows back up. This is going to be a long ride.

  “Where’s my DC?” Nessa says.

  We all look at her with an ‘are you serious?’ look.

  “Do you really think we’re going to give you a DC?” I ask her.

  “Why not? I do have friends that will worry about me.”

  She has lost her ever-loving mind. We all ignore her. She lets out a deep sigh, like she’s is still waiting for her new DC. I swear she doesn’t have a brain. I will never understand what goes through her mind. Sometimes I wonder if she even knows what she is thinking half the time.

  Chapter Eleven

  Six long hours later, Bruno pulls into a public house. I could kiss him right now. I’m so tired that I’m sure I’ll be sleepwalking to our rooms. He tells us to stay in the blaster until he gets back. I’m ok with that. I didn’t want to stand yet anyway. I’m sure my butt cheeks fell asleep about four hours ago. I try to stretch, but there isn’t much room.

  Kiernan lifts me up into his lap and holds me. He puts his nose in my neck and breathes in deeply, kissing my neck and ear. I’m enjoying every bit of it. I try to keep my moan in, but it slips out.

  Embarrassed, I pull away a little. I kiss those pouty lips he’s giving me because I start to move away from him. I’m sure I have the same look on my face. We aren’t going to be in the same room tonight if my mom has anything to do with it. I don’t want to leave him any more than he wants to leave me, I’m sure. I let out a sigh.

  I see Bruno coming back to us. I point, and Kiernan gets out, turning to help me exit the vehicle. My legs aren’t working right. I stumble out of the blaster. My legs are wobbly from sitting for so long. I’m so fatigued that I’m surprised I’m even standing.

  “I got us a suite. There are 2 bedrooms in it. The girls will have both rooms. Kira and Dariya will share one room, and Eimear and Nessa will share the other. Kiernan and I will stay in the living room. There’s a pullout bed and a cot. Is there any argument about the arrangement?”

  We all shake our heads ‘no.’ I think we’re all too tired to care. I’m just glad he didn’t put me with her. I would probably kill her while she slept or the other way around.

  We walk into the public house and head toward the elevator. We wait for it to come down to the lobby. I must have started to sway because Kiernan’s arms wrap around me to hold me up.

  “I won’t let you fall, my Dary.”

  I lean on his chest wishing that I could sleep right there⸻in front of the elevator, wrapped up in his arms. I nod and just let him hold me.

  The elevator dings, letting us know it has arrived. I groan and take a step away from Kiernan. The doors open and Nessa screams. There are three big brawny men in workout clothes standing there. I look at them and back to Nessa. They look at her with expressions that seem to say, ‘what is her problem?’

  “I’m sorry. She’s had a long day,” I say to the men.

  Nessa is shaking, her eyes wide open in fear. I look back to the men and see it: a knife behind one of their backs. The image is reflecting in the mirror of the elevator. I whip my own dagger out, fatigue was forgotten as I get a burst of adrenaline. Everyone follows suit except Nessa. She runs the other way.

  “I really don’t think you want any trouble right now. Do you?” Bruno asks, with his hand on his long sword. Where did that even come from? How was he even comfortable with that thing on?

  Before we even know what’s happening, the emergency alarms start going off. People start to come out of the bar wondering what’s going on. I look back to the men, but they’re gone. How did they disappear that fast?

  “Where did they go?” I ask, looking around trying to figure out where they went. The elevator doors were still open. I look at Kiernan to see if he knew.

  Kiernan points to the stairs to the left. How did I not see them? Ok now I know I’m exhausted. The doors were there in plain sight and I overlooked them. ‘if it was an insect it would have bit me.’

  Kira comes over to Kiernan and me. “Who pulled the emergency alarm?”

  Bruno hides his sword again. “I’ll give you two guesses, but you’ll only need one.”

  At least she’s smart enough to cause a distraction, but it’s also stupid. We need to deal with these men. They can’t go to the Elders and tell them where we are. Plus, now we’ll have to leave. Damn it, she always ruins things. I was ready for a nice hot bath and some real sleep. We walk to the front and go outside with everyone else from the public house. We don’t see Nessa anywhere. I’m not really looking, either. We head to the blaster and start to climb in. This is our chance to leave her. We all know that it might be the only chance, as well. We all hurry to get in.

  Nessa walks around the blaster. “What, did you plan on leaving me after I just saved your lives?”

  Damn. We were so close. Two more seconds and we would have been in the clear.

  I look straight at her. “Why would you think that?”

  “You didn’t even come looking for me. That’s why I think that.”

  “First off, we don’t have time to go look for a coward that runs every time there’s trouble. Second, we need to get out of here before the law comes, or did you think we could stay here after your little stunt? We had it under control. Now, thanks to you, we have to leave!” I yell at her.

  As I get into the blaster, I’m fuming. How stupid can she get? There were three men trying to take us out, and she wanted us to go find her. Really? Now we’re stuck in this thing for Source knows how long. I’m exhausted, and I’m irritated.

  We drive for another three hours before we can pull into a public house again.

  Before we get out I lean forward in my seat. “If you even say a peep, I will kill you myself.”

  She just glares at me. She must think I’m kidding. I’m way past tired and grumpy. I will do what I say and not think twice about it. We all go in this time. Kiernan and I look around for any trouble while Bruno checks us in.

  Bruno walks back to us with two keys in hand. “We got two rooms this time. Kiernan, Kira, and Dariya will take one while myself, Eimear and Nessa take the other one. Any concerns about the arrangement?”

  We weren’t lucky enough to find a public house with suites. I’m so happy that I get to share a room with Kiernan. Bruno was able to get rooms that adjoined. I’m kind of bummed about that. Nessa could come into our room and kill us all.

  Mom stares at Kiernan. “You better show my daughter the respect she deserves. You got me?”

  I go to her and give her a hug. I know she’s not comfortable with this, but it’s the best plan we have right now.

  “Mom, I am too tired to even get out of these clothes, let alone do anything funny.”

  We walk to our rooms. Once we are in our room, I head to the bathroom. I’m halfway there, when I hear a knock on the door to the adjoining room. Shaking my head, I go to open it. I knew who it was before I even open the door. I lean on the door jamb with a smile on my face and my arms crossed.

  Mom jumps a little when she sees me. “This door stays open.”

  After raising my eyebrow at her, I walk to the bathroom. I put my bag down on the counter. I sure hope Kira packed my toothbrush and paste. I feel like I haven’t brushed my teeth in a week.

  I’m digging through my bag when I hear talking. I creep up to the door to listen.

  I hear Kira’s voice. “I know you like her. What I don’t understand is why do you suddenly want to be with her?”

  “That’s a good question. I would like to know as we
ll,” Mom says.

  I hear ruffling of clothes. Kiernan clears his throat. I also want to know the answer to that. I hope it really is what he told me. I would hate to not be able to trust him.

  “I’ve liked her for many cycles. I just didn’t know if she liked me back, and I was too scared she would turn me down.”

  My heart flutters when I hear him say that. I think I will let him fend for himself for now.

  I go back to find my toothbrush. Once I find it, I brush my teeth and hair. My hair looks like a rat’s nest today. How can he say I’m beautiful when I’ve looked like this all day is beyond me. I wash my face and walk back out to them. There must have been more words said because they all got quiet and stare at me.

  “Why are you all staring at me? Do I have toothpaste on my shirt?” I look down to make sure I didn’t.

  Mom starts laughing, and everyone else joins in. I stare at them like they have lost their minds.

  “It wasn’t that funny. What were you talking about? I know it had to be about me, because otherwise, you wouldn’t have stopped talking when I came out of the bathroom.”

  Mom looks at the floor. “We’re just trying to figure out what the elders want with you.”

  ‘Yeah, right!’ “So, you stopped talking about that to stare at me. I’m not buying it.”

  I walk over to Kiernan. He opens his arms to me without even thinking about it. I’m happy to be in his arms. They make me feel safe. I look at him, waiting for him to answer me. I see out the corner of my eye, Mom shaking her head. “I saw that, Mom. Spill it,” I demand.

  Kiernan looks me right in the eyes. “They were grilling me about you. They wanted to know why I suddenly want to be in your life cycle. They also asked me what my intentions are with you.”

  I turn in his arms to face Mom, Kira, and Bruno. Mom and Kira both look down at their shoes, like they are the most interesting things to look at. I know they love me and all, but they were grilling a guy for answers that I don’t even know yet. There’s a reason why they were asking these questions. Inquiring minds what to know.