A low murmuring passed through each of the Elders, then to Evan. He nodded slowly, then his gaze drifted to me.
“Answer me this, Elders of Bloodbornes—our truce agreement was for me to come in to help find these demon-dragon hybrids that you have failed to locate for the past month. You, in fact, needed our help. Since I am here and have been made aware that Jessie is a Dragonborne, she is now officially added to that truce, for—how you say—just cause.”
“May I add,” Mia stood and turned to Evan, “I have not seen her show any threat to us. She risked her life to save my daughter from one of those creatures, and she’s barely a newborne to this life.” His gaze drifted around the room, then settled on me. “I would welcome her help, along with Kyle’s, to find out what these creatures are and put a stop to them.”
And there it was, a soft smile on Mia’s angelic face that warmed my heart. Perhaps it was her way of thanking me for protecting her daughter against those creatures. From that point, I knew she and I would see eye to eye a little more.
I took a deep breath and looked up at Kyle. His expression remained the same, firm and unmoving, as he never broke eye contact with Evan.
Evan’s eyes narrowed at me, then he exhaled loudly. “Then I hereby, under this cause, commit Jessie to the Truce Agreement between the Dragonbornes and Bloodbornes. For that matter, once the creatures are found and destroyed, Jessie is free to leave with you, unharmed by anyone here at this Sanctuary.” He turned back to Mia. “I am under the impression you wish to have a party leave this morning?”
“Yes, I have prepared a kit to collect a blood sample. It will help me determine the origin of the creatures.” Mia held up the kit for everyone to see.
Kyle sat down in the chair beside me and leaned closer to my ear. “I told you that I was here to protect you.”
I softly snorted as I cut my eyes toward him, then back to Evan.
“Do we know where we’re sending them?” Evan asked Mia.
She pursed her lips together and shook her head. “We’re hoping to catch them at the last place from where they came through the dimension.”
Evan frowned. “But these are time dimensions, and they aren’t meant for traveling distances.”
“They have done it before,” Jacob added. “The time we found Jessie, one jumped through what we believe is a portal.”
Evan shook his head. “This is not possible. I’ve said it before— those creatures can’t just jump dimensions like that.”
“But they did,” Gordon insisted. “We all saw it.”
“Then there has to be an initial place they came from. If we find that spot, we might find their origins.” Evan’s gaze traveled around the room.
I stood up. “Maybe—I have an idea. I found out this morning that this court knew of the existence of dragons.”
“What?!” Kyle exclaimed and grabbed at my arm.
I touched his hand with mine and gave him a pleading gaze. “Listen to me,” I spoke softly, then turned my attention back to Evan. “You knew there were at least two dragons still alive, at least nine years ago. Donna’s parents were killed by them, which fueled the fire between Bloodbornes and Dragonbornes. I suggest we check on this island for clues.”
“What are you talking about?” Kyle continued. “They killed all of the dragons.”
I turned to Kyle, “Not all. Two still remain.” I turned back to the Assembly. “That is, unless you have sent a team out to kill the last remaining two.”
A grave and dark expression clouded Evan’s face. “No. That island is deemed forbidden for us.”
“But not for us,” I added, and looked to Kyle for help. “If there are dragons there, they may be a link to these demon hybrids.” We could save them. I knew Kyle heard my thoughts, as he gave me a nod, and with that, I turned toward Evan.
“You do realize that Socotra is an island located near the Arabian Sea? We no longer have jurisdiction there. So I can’t agree with this little exploration.” Evan sat back in his chair, then folded his hands together on top of the table.
“I think I can assist with that. I just need to make one phone call, and we’ll have everything we need.” Kyle lifted a brow and turned to me with a broad smile. “I know someone who would love to know a dragon or two might still exist.”
I shook my head and chuckled. “I hope you’re right.”
“All right then, Kyle and Jessie will go to Socotra with whoever this person is. When do you expect to leave?”
“I’ll find out and let you guys know soon,” Kyle added.
“I’m going with them,” Jacob said loudly.
“Absolutely NOT!” Evan snapped. “You are not allowed there, nor any other Bloodborne. It is forbidden. I will not break or bend our laws at the risk of my son’s life.”
“They can’t do this alone!” he pleaded.
Evan shook his head, then stood. “This ruling has ended. You all are at this moment dismissed.” Then he turned and grouped up with the rest of the Elders as they disappeared one by one through a door in the back of the room.
Kyle and I stood to our feet and turned to Jacob and Gordon, who had already stepped back to allow distance between us. Gordon’s face looked a bit grim, sad even, but not as discouraged as Jacob’s.
“Jessie, I’m sorry this all had to happen to you. I do believe in you, it’s just—Evan is our leader.” Gordon’s eyes softened.
“You did what you had to. I understand that.” I nodded, then looked to Jacob, who turned his head and walked out through the doors.
Kyle went in one direction, and I decided to head back to my room and at least take some time to recuperate and let my jagged nerves settle. Sadness bit at my heart for some reason. I had half-expected Jacob to say something to me, maybe even to apologize. In reality, he wasn’t responsible for his father’s actions, so he had no reason to ask for any kind of forgiveness. I believed that every person was responsible for their own actions, whether justified or not. In so, my reaction to Leigh’s attack could have been justified, but I was the attacker at that point. Perhaps my behavior was not justified in a world that called for peace and understanding.
The world of Bloodbornes offered little in the way of equality and acceptance of Dragonbornes. Their immediate response was to murder the Dragonbornes like they did dragons so many thousands of years ago.
“To be the victor, one must become one’s enemy,” a voice spoke softly in my head.
“Perhaps to be doomed with voices in one’s head is a level of crazy I don’t want to be,” I said aloud, teeth gritted, then realized I had just talked to that voice in my head.
Yup—I had done gone and went cray-cray.
I hung my head in shame. Maybe one day soon, I’d have the answers to all this craziness in my new life. At least, on the bright side, it was like Grams said it would be—I’d be back with her after this adventure in the Sanctuary ended.
However, I’d never gone to another country before, and worse than that, I didn’t even own a passport. There was no way I would be able to go to another country today, or even within a few days. I decided to pull up my laptop and see if the answers to my questions could be found.
First off, I had discovered that it would take about three to four weeks for a foreign passport. Secondly, to my surprise, we would have to fly from Miami to New York, then from New York to Yemen, which ended up being somewhere around twenty hours’ flying time. I closed the laptop, then got up and sat down on my bed, where eventually I just lay back and folded my arms over my chest.
As I closed my eyes, I allowed my mind to drift and take me where it wanted to go. My heart warmed when Grams came to mind. It would be so much fun to be with her a whole year and learn about all these new changes. I wondered about Gram’s hair for a second, then it made sense to me. I’d always thought she bleached it blond, but now I realized Grams had been Awakened. A smile crept over my lips, and I shook my head. How did she manage to keep this a secret for so long?
Th
e happy thoughts ended when I thought of Mia’s little girl, and then those demon hybrids. I remembered Kyle saying they looked like demon-dragon hybrids. If the dragons were real, then it was definitely a good idea to find them. Maybe we could find this ginger-haired woman who controlled them. I had always thought dragons were cool, figments of fantasy. But now, I wasn’t so sure how I would react to seeing a real dragon up-close and personal. But I definitely wanted to know what would happen if I did. Perhaps my luck might change.
CHAPTER NINE
∆
Someone once said that time flies when you’re having fun—I wondered if time slowed down when you weren’t having fun. An hour had gone by already, and I remained steadfast in my room, anxiously awaiting any news. I released an irritated groan as I sat up, then decided I’d go crazy waiting here. The library wasn’t far; at least I’d be around other people and not feel like I was in solitary confinement. I paused as the thought of me being in jail here did seem familiar.
As I made my way to the door, I turned back to double-check and shut down the laptop. There was nothing I had to hide, but it was just the thought of someone browsing through my personal stuff that made me uneasy. I opened the door and stepped through the threshold when I suddenly ran into a solid object—a person. Kyle.
“Ugh—” I groaned and stepped backward. “You scared me!”
Kyle chuckled as if he was the scary type. “Really? That’s amusing.”
I pursed my lips together and folded my arms across my chest. “You wanted something?”
“Oh—pack your bags, we’re going to leave in three hours.”
I let my arms fall to my sides and shook my head. “I can’t go. I don’t have a passport.”
Kyle lifted his brows. “Who said anything about needing a passport?”
Tristan pushed Kyle aside and stepped inside my room. “I don’t like to be put into a corner.” He made his way to my bed, where he sat down. “I heard that you need my help?”
Kyle blushed, then looked from Tristan to me. “He overheard me talking on my cellphone.”
“You really didn’t think you two were going to leave without me, right? That’s, like, a No-Go.” Tristan pointed from me to Kyle. “Besides, who’s gonna travel on an airplane for fourteen or more hours when you can just jump planes?”
“Jump planes?” My voice squeaked.
Tristan rolled his eyes. “Kyle, shut the door and come into the room, please.” He turned to me. “Lower your voice, Missy. I’m about to tell you something no one here knows about me.”
Kyle and I both looked at one another, then back at Tristan, who sat very comfortably on the bed with one leg crossed over the other. Honestly, he really looked handsome and charming at the same time.
“I’m queer,” he stated in a non-cholent way, then looked from Kyle to me.
My eyebrows lifted, but I wasn’t surprised. Maybe the fact that I was surprised he even brought it up, would be more like it. I glanced at Kyle, whose mouth had dropped a bit. It took me a second or two to make the connection, but Kyle’s reaction told me he really hadn’t known about Tristan.
Tristan chuckled. “Okay, I had to see your reactions. Loved it!” He cleared his throat. “No, really, we can use those ripples, they are called warps between dimensions.”
I shook my head. “Okay, look, it doesn’t make sense that we can travel to another place through those things.”
“Really? Think about it, Jessie, isn’t that how Jacob found you? They have been using jumps like these to track demons for a long time.” Tristan laced his hands, then cupped them on his knees.
I turned to Kyle. “Do you guys do anything like that?”
Kyle shook his head. “Actually, no. We don’t dabble in that stuff, it’s too close to magic.”
Tristan rolled his eyes and released a long sigh. “It’s not magic. It’s simple, one must simply possess the ability to fold the dimensions of time and space. I mean, I’m surprised you guys don’t know how the angels and demons move from dimension to dimension.”
“Who knows how to do this?” Then I thought about it. “Mia. She was the one who took me from the campground to here.”
Tristan laughed. “Mia is not the only one who knows how to travel through dimensions.” He waved his hand. “I think you forget my spirit’s age, Jessie. It’s old enough to remember all those secrets.”
Kyle looked from me to Tristan, then shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “So, you can actually take us there? No plane trips?”
Tristan lifted his dark brows and nodded his head. “In an instant. Of course, I’d be going with you.” He placed one finger across his lips as his gaze drifted to the side and upward. “I must say—” His attention drew to me. “It would be interesting to see a dragon up-close. However, I must decide what to wear for this occasion.”
“Aside from your fashion choices, Tristan, how are we all going at one time?” Then I looked at Kyle. “And what about your contacts? How are they going to travel with us?”
Kyle shrugged and looked to Tristan, who threw both hands up in the air.
“How am I supposed to answer that question? I can’t just pop over to them like a Djinn or something. Do I look like I own a magic carpet?” He huffed and stood to his feet. “I mean, really, people. I’m not a Djinn Uber.”
‘Okay, Tristan, we get it. You can only take those around you.” I looked at Kyle again.
“I’ll call them and tell them to just meet us there. However, they probably won’t be there until tomorrow. We could leave today and scout out the area?” Kyle paced back and forth. “But there would be the problem of us not having a place to stay the night. Then the problem with actually getting in contact with them when we arrive.”
“Oh for the—Stop it! We don’t need these problems. Look, what is your mission?” Tristan aimed at me.
“We are to go to Socotra, find the dragons, and see if we can discover a link between the demon hybrids. Oh, and get a sample if we see any hybrids.” I thought the plan was simple enough. I failed to mention the ginger-haired woman.
Tristan’s expression seemed to change. The stank face he gave us indicated I might have missed something in my explanations.
“Well, you can try to get a sample if we run into a hybrid. We should be able to handle this. We go scout out the area and let them know what we find. At least this way, if we do see dragons, we have something solid for them to make the trip.” Tristan arched a brow and put his finger back across his lips again.
“Actually, that’s a great idea. I’m sure they will go for it.” Kyle gave Tristan a smile, followed by a nod. “Good call.”
Tristan smiled broadly, then batted his eyes. “At least I’m good for something.”
I chuckled, then looked back at Kyle, who looked totally confused. I patted Kyle on the shoulder. “You should call them and let them know what’s up. Tristan and I can prepare to leave.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll just step outside, make the call, and be back in a few minutes.” Kyle turned to walk out the door, then stopped, and turned back toward us. “When are we leaving?”
“As soon as you get back from your phone call.” Tristan waved him off. “Be gone already!”
Kyle shook his head in confusion, then slipped out the door, promptly closing it behind him. I headed to my closet and grabbed a backpack to put the sample kit inside. There wasn’t really anything else I could think we needed, maybe just bottled water or snacks. I whisked around to Tristan, who seemed a bit distracted in his thoughts.
“Since I have the backpack, should I get us some bottled water? I’m sorry, did I distract you?”
Tristan looked as though his concentration had broken, as his eyes moved toward me. “Not necessary, we should be fine for a while there. Just bring bug spray. I was just thinking about something, but it’s not important.”
I walked over to the bed and laid the backpack down, then turned to Tristan. “Do you think we can pull this off?”
“Don’t doubt your mad skills, Jessie. There’s a you that you haven’t met yet.” He bopped me with his finger. “Besides—we’re going to have company!” he sang out as he twirled around and pointed toward the door.
Immediately after the words left Tristan’s mouth, there was a knock on the door. I looked at Tristan, then threw my hands up in a questioning motion. “How—”
“Don’t doubt my mad skills.” Tristan chuckled as I walked to the door and opened it.
Perhaps it wasn’t a good time for Jacob to show up, but there he was, standing at the threshold of my door with a sorrowful and somber look on his face. It was as though a dense cloud of darkness had formed above his head.
“Jessie, I need to talk to you.” Jacob’s voice was tense, and it was evident he was anxious.
“Well, I—” I turned around and looked at Tristan, who was already on his way out the door.
“Never mind me— I need to find a snack or something.” Tristan squeezed sideways between Jacob and me, then darted off down the hallway.
I opened the door and allowed Jacob to enter. After I closed the door behind him and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear, I turned to face him.
“Jessie, I’ve been thinking about a lot of things.” Jacob lifted his hand as I opened my mouth to say something. “Please, let me finish. If I had known what my father’s intentions were when Gordon and I brought you to him, I wouldn’t have been willing to take you there. I want you to know that I don’t agree with their ways and their order. Some of those laws are so old and set by traditionalist assholes who can’t see they need to change.” He sighed, then sucked in a slow, ragged breath. “What I’m trying to say is this—if there was any girl I wanted to get to know and be with… it’s you.”
Bloodborne Awakened (Borne of Blood Book 1) Page 12