Victory: Year Four

by Amabel Daniels

  Paige turned to face me directly. “No way. Nevis rode his eagle?” She dropped her jaw. “Did you see it? Is it huge? I remember my dad telling me about when Nevis rescued it…”

  “Yeah. He asked me to walk him out. And—”

  It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her about the stone he’d given me. My mother’s treasure. I hadn’t had a chance to examine it. Sleep was priority. Now, though, with Paige and Sabine watching me closely, I felt it might be better to keep it to myself until I knew more about it.

  “And, what?” Sabine asked.

  “And I saw him get on the harpy’s back. Huge.” I emphasized it by raising my hand to show a tall height.

  “Wow.” Paige nestled back to my side. “You’re right,” she said and nudged Sabine’s hip with her knee. “What a night.”

  Even though I didn’t mind my sister and my friend sitting with me after such a scare, I wished for solitude to rest. But noticing them here drove in the fact Flynn wasn’t. He’d been at my side all the way until Nevis took over. Where was he now?

  “I can’t wait to hear where Aura and Stu took off to.” Sabine finished her mutter by crossing her arms. From this short distance, I could make out angry red claw marks along her forearm. Sabine hadn’t gotten out of her scuffle scar-free.

  “You know, they can give you the medicine to get rid of that.” I pointed at her arm.

  She huffed. “Only if it doesn’t delay me from going after that b—”

  Knocks rapped on the door. Suthering entered the room and I tensed. Would Glorian be behind him, ready to scold me?

  I tucked my gemstone into my pocket.

  “Feeling better?” he asked, his brow lined with worry. He tucked his hands into his pockets as he walked in.

  A yawn broke free before I could say, “I will be.” After I sleep.

  He nodded. Then shook his head. “While I admire your bravery and determination to stop that experiment from harming humans—”

  “Oh, come on.” Sabine stood. “I thought you were supposed to be the cool guy here. A lecture? Pfft.”

  “You should’ve told us,” he said.

  “We tried to!” Paige leaned forward from being seated. “You guys were all gone with Nevis.”

  He nodded and held out a hand to calm her. “True. And I understand the circumstances weren’t ideal. Nevis was involved with another, equally dangerous situation. Our hands were tied.”

  “With what?” If he didn’t answer me…

  “A leak of biomedical warfare. In Tanzania.”

  Paige gasped.

  “Your mother came along to assist with language barriers. Marcy and Wolf, I needed their Pure powers to aide Nevis’s and mine.” He shrugged, like he was exhausted even describing the ordeal in this brief summary. “We only arrived in Seattle earlier this evening to discuss the incident with the corresponding WHO officials. As soon as we received the first call from you, we came.”

  “We came?” He rode on the harpy eagle’s back with Nevis. But where were the others?

  “Your mom’s with Glorian at her office. Aura, surprisingly, came back to campus.”

  Sabine clenched her jaw. “Well, I’d like to have a minute with her.”

  Suthering shook his head. “We’re recording her explanation. She’s not owning up to anything.”

  I sat up and hissed in a sharp breath at the ache in my back. “To anything?”

  Suthering sighed. “No. She’s playing dumb. So far, she’s insisted she knows nothing about what Griswold truly wanted to do. She was only following orders from the man who was supposed to be her guidance official.”

  “That’s insane!” Paige slipped off the bed to stand. “We heard her, saw her—”

  “I have no doubt you did. And the picture will be clearer once we’ve interviewed all of you and collect the evidence remaining from his experiment. However, Aura comes from an influential family. A traditional bloodline.”

  Aura was a traditional elf. She came from a tried and tested elven background. And she was a Pure…

  “Glorian’s going to side with her.” I spoke it aloud and everyone faced me. “She’s going to buy her innocent act.”

  Suthering’s delay in replying answered my hunch.

  Dammit.

  “She’ll be watched regardless. Over break and next year. I won’t allow her to do Dr. Griswold’s dirty work for him.”

  “And what about him?” Sabine demanded.

  “He’s…gone.”

  My jaw dropped and I immediately closed it as gingerly as I could. That part of my face had suffered enough tonight. Stu’s punches. Sabine and Paige slapping me… I rubbed my cheek. “Gone?”

  “I have a few employees going through his lab. His laptop is missing, and he’s nowhere to be found. After this foiled experiment, I suspect he’s on the run. I’ve assigned a couple of private investigators to search for him.”

  He had PIs on his bankroll? Were these guys trusted the same as the law enforcement person who’d promised Stu was still in jail in New York when he’d instead been here at the Academy, bunking in Aura’s dorm room right under our noses?

  I couldn’t help but snort.

  This was all too much to take in. We’d saved that softball team from the mold, I was going to live, and all the bad guys were getting away with it.

  “Wolf and a couple of assistants are preparing to seek out Stu,” he said.

  “What about Marcy?” Last break, he’d told Marcy to look for the redheaded menace.

  “She’s…” Suthering dropped his gaze to the floor for a moment and then brought a sad stare to me. “She’s taking time off this break.”

  “Did something happen to her?” Paige asked, alarm raising her voice.

  “No. Well, not physically. She and Wolf…” Suthering huffed. “They fought. Had a fight while we were in Africa.”

  Ah. More of the same old. Or maybe they’d dug a bigger canyon between them to make her want to leave.

  “She’s promised me she’ll be back for the next school year.” He rubbed at his chin. “At least, she hasn’t turned in her resignation that I know of.”

  That answered for everyone except us in the room. Break was about to start since we were just completing the week of finals. I assumed we’d do a repeat of last year—visit in Michigan and then Texas. As I thought ahead, mentally planning what we’d need to pack and do before driving out, I grew more and more tired. It was too much to manage in my current state of mind.

  “Can I help look for Stu?” Sabine asked Suthering.

  I jerked up from staring at my lap. Huh?

  “You want to go with Wolf?” Paige asked, her nose wrinkled.

  “Not with him, but I want to go after that punk. I don’t want to sit around all summer. Not when he’s out there and dangerous.”

  Suthering didn’t immediately deny her and I scoffed. “You’re going to let her?”

  He tilted his head. “I was going to ask both of you. Bernadette thinks this might be a good opportunity for Sabine to test her Impressor skills under the watch of Olde Earth staff—out in the real world, wherever Stu has run to. And you could assist with any situation calling for Pure power.”

  I shook my head. Jesus. I was a kid. I should be planning a laidback last summer off from school before adulthood. Not chasing an unhinged madman.

  But, I am one of few Pures…

  Would it be selfish of me not to lend my hand with my unique skills?

  Or were Glorian’s words getting to me?

  Just because I was a Pure didn’t mean I had to sacrifice all the other parts of me. The normalish-teenager parts. Couldn’t I get a break from my powers?

  “Then what will you do?” Paige asked.

  I shrugged. Heck, did I have to make a decision right now? I needed sleep before choosing anything. “Go home for the summer, I guess.”

  “Back to Dad? And Hazelnut?” Sabine huffed a mean laugh.

  Actually, yeah. That sounded a hell of a lot better
than traipsing God knew where after Stu until classes resumed.

  “Yeah,” I said, firmer.

  Suthering nodded, at least respecting my wishes. “That settles it then. Sabine, I suggest you find Wolf. He’ll tell you what to pack. Lorcan and Flynn are already preparing to go.”

  Flynn and Lor too? I dropped my head back to the pillow. Wolf was taking a trio of high school kids to seek out Stu? It was ridiculous! “Why can’t cops go after him?” It seemed Suthering had connections all over the world. It’d be wiser to let the pros do it than a group of kids.

  “Because they aren’t elves,” he said. “Because they don’t have an Impressor. Or Pures.”

  And I bet none of them will have the determination equal to Lorcan’s, a brother mad at the other…

  “I suspect he couldn’t have gone far,” Suthering says. “And at that rate, your friends and sister will be joining you for break in a short matter of time.”

  Paige cracked her back. “Guess that means I’m going back to boring old Michigan with Mom.”

  When I yawned again and rubbed at my eyes, she took the hint. “I’ll come by in the morning to say goodbye, okay?”

  Sabine went toward the door with her, “Yeah. I’ll stop in.”

  Suthering gestured for the girls to precede him. “Have a good night’s rest, Layla. We’ll all come back to check on you tomorrow, okay?”

  I nodded.

  “I know Flynn won’t leave without saying goodbye,” he added.

  With my eyes already closed, I waved a hand, dismissing his words. And after another couple of steady, calm breaths, I eased into a deep sleep.

  Chapter Four

  The next morning, I stubbornly told the medic technician that I did not want elven drugs to speed up my healing process. No, I didn’t care for the ease of recovery they had to offer. Before I felt the need to yell at them, Flynn showed up.

  “You’re sure?” he asked me after I’d explained I was heading home for the summer. He sat on the bed, leaning on an elbow and holding my hand. His thumb stroked back and forth over my bruised knuckles. Even though the touch elicited a bite of pain, I took comfort in his tenderness anyway.

  He hadn’t escaped injury, either. A solid red mark showed under his eye, his own evidence of violence. Only, he’d gotten his wound from the motel room, not another human.

  And if he had been fighting off Stu, I bet he would know how to hold his own. A huff escaped my lips. Was I envious Flynn would know how to fight someone because of the fact he was simply a boy?

  Well, I’ve never needed to know how to defend myself, until now…

  “Okay, okay,” Flynn said, backing up from asking me about coming with them to go after Stu. He must have taken my huffed breath as annoyance at him, when in fact, it’d been my irritation at myself, at my weakness.

  Or should I be more alarmed at the fact I’m enrolled at a school where violence and danger are so, uh, expected?

  “I think I need a break.”

  “From…school?”

  I smiled at the vulnerability in his voice. “Well, yeah. It is called summer break for a reason. It’s when we don’t have to be here.”

  The fact he was likely worrying I meant a break from him was…cute. We hadn’t had a chance to really define our relationship—nothing to take a break from to begin with. And I wasn’t even sure how to be a girlfriend for him. Yet, I knew without a doubt I wasn’t anywhere near being tired of him or done with his company.

  I turned my hand up to hold his. “Suthering seems to think you guys won’t be looking for Stu long. And then you and Sabine can come down to Texas and spend the rest of the summer there with me. If you want.”

  “Of course I want to. I want to…be with you.”

  I leaned forward to kiss his cheek and his answering sigh was all the comfort I needed. We mattered to each other. I knew this. He did too. My choice to go home for a little bit wasn’t a decision about him.

  “I just need to relax for a minute.”

  “And recover,” he added. With his brows dipped and his mouth frowning, I guessed he was still concerned I might be suffering from the mold attack. Thanks to my elusive uncle, I was as fine as I was going to be—naturally—without elven meds to erase the evidence I’d fought and lost in a scrimmage with Stu.

  “Just be careful out there,” I added. “Listen to Wolf and don’t do anything stupid. And keep an eye on Sabine. You know how she can be.”

  He stood, rolling his eyes but smiling. I didn’t typically do this scolding bit with him. If anything, he was usually the one telling me to use caution. His grin told me he appreciated my care, though.

  “Of course. And it’s not like we won’t stay in touch.” Even though he spoke the words casually, the start of another frown didn’t fool me. He was uneasy, perhaps, or unhappy I was choosing something different than going with him.

  “Exactly.”

  He leaned forward to kiss the top of my head and Wolf rapped on the doorframe. “You sure you don’t want to come?”

  I nodded. “I’m sure. I’ll see all of you guys soon.”

  Wolf waved, and then to Flynn, he said, “Ready?”

  Flynn checked one last glance at me, like he had something more to say. With Wolf as audience, I was sure he’d be too shy now. He smiled, tightly, and then backed up. “Text me when you’re heading home. So I know you’re getting there safely.”

  His worry didn’t constrain me. If anything, it warmed me. He had the same standing as me—a Pure elf with limited family. Flynn’s concern for me meant he cared for me, not because I was a relative or a source of power. That distinction mattered. I smiled back and waved.

  Once I was alone again, I settled back in the bed to nap—because I was still exhausted from battling an ancient species inside of me—before I had to get to the airport and fly home.

  ****

  Home.

  I couldn’t say it was sweet, but it was home—and hot. I’d forgotten how unforgiving the sun could be in Coltin. Temperatures were scorching last year when we’d visited for a week or so, but that time, we were staying in an air-conditioned hotel room. Back in the teeny trailer Dad lived in with Hazel now, it was nearly unbearable.

  Fans never stopped whirring. The puny window AC unit punked out more often than not. I drank gallons of water being here again.

  This wasn’t to say I regretted my choice to come home for break instead of going with my friends. It’d only been four days here, but I certainly missed them.

  Flynn texted nonstop, keeping me up-to-date with a search for Stu that was going nowhere, it seemed. All leads led to nothing and whatever Wolf thought to check out next proved the redhead was always one step ahead of them. So far, they’d checked out a few campsites where Arthur had detected Stu’s scent. There were many sites to visit, they thought, but no Stu yet.

  Even Sabine stayed in touch with me, but then most of her texts were complaints about Wolf being too pigheaded and Lorcan being too argumentative. Sounded like she was getting along with them as well as could be expected. Dad had seemed surprised when I’d told him she wanted to go on a camping trip with classmates. Nature wasn’t Sabine’s idea of fun. I’d wondered, too, why she’d wanted to go. Then again, if it got her out of Coltin, she’d be all for it.

  Paige reported in as well, texting and calling about how bored she was at her grandparents’ in Michigan. Ethel didn’t even seem to enjoy the trip so far, since she was often on her laptop doing research of some kind.

  I treasured my time away from Olde Earth. No more worrying about Glorian finding me and being mad. Bateson trying to trick me into helping her with her agenda. Being away from the Academy didn’t erase it from my mind though. I’d tried and failed to read—for fun again, not for assignments—and my attention span rivaled a toddler’s. There wasn’t a fictional plot that could hold my interest for more than three pages, but I was captivated in other writing.

  News reports. Articles online. Blog features.

&n
bsp; Since I’d come home, I’d read non-fiction. About the reality it was so easy to disengage from while being secluded at Olde Earth in Canada.

  I’d checked out reports and facts about the rainforest burning in Brazil, the loss of habitats that occurred all over the world. I researched some about new species being discovered, curious if Bateson was trying to out some ancients. I’d even Googled the names of some of my classmates, read up on what the Wright family did. Exactly how powerful Aura’s relatives were—very, it turned out, since her dad, uncle, grandfather, and great-grandfather were all congressmen at one point.

  When I paid twenty bucks to do a cheapo background check on Stuart Wright and saw a list of all his reported charges and misdemeanors, I shut my laptop. I’d come home to get away from all of this drama and trouble. Seemed my mind wasn’t letting it go.

  “Something wrong?”

  Seated in a recliner in the living room, I turned toward the kitchenette. Hazel stood there stirring a cup of hot tea. I hadn’t realized I wasn’t alone, she moved so quietly and daintily.

  Hot tea? In this heat? To each their own… “Nah.”

  Plenty was wrong, but nothing in my immediate concern. Sure, I would’ve loved to have Griswold, Stu, and Aura caught and held accountable for their nasty experimentation, but I knew that fell under wishful thinking. My general restlessness had to be a result of being back in Coltin, taking a breather from constant action at school.

  Hazel nodded and approached me. She took the other chair, the one with the tear in the corner of the cushion, and settled into the not-so-plushness.

  At first, I was a little nervous about spending time here over break, worried I’d be trespassing on their turf. Yeah, it was my home. I’d come from here. Sabine and I had spent so much time at Olde Earth that the trailer lost some sense of belonging to me. Despite my concerns, it wasn’t awkward being here with Hazel. I wasn’t a third wheel, and the sweet, older woman wasn’t intrusive when she was near me—which was often as she’d lost her temp job at the theater and Dad was always there. I was grateful she didn’t try to insert herself into my life as a mother figure, or to get possessive over Dad’s attention. Hazel was just as eccentric as before, but I had yet to agree with Sabine’s label of her being a “nut.” More than anything, I’d come to respect that she was patient, laidback, and quiet.