Arkadia (Halfway House Series Book 1) (12 page)

Bohdan changed gears as fast as he could, swerving and dodging in the traffic to get Arkadia home. He could feel her fear and it was palpable in the car.

“You look as white as bed sheets. What happened, Arkadia?” he asked, concern in his voice. Arkadia spun around so fast to look at him that he jumped with the speed of her movement.

“You didn’t feel anything, did you?” She was speaking so rapidly he could hardly understand her. “When the wolves attacked me, you said you felt my fear, right?” Bohdan nodded as she continued speed talking and stared at him with an intensity that unnerved him. “And as I was standing at Violet’s door knocking, you felt nothing? Correct?” Bohdan nodded again, but this time it was a slow nod as it was dawning on him that something major had indeed happened and from the direction of Arkadia’s story, it happened right in front of him and he knew nothing. Dragon was waking up very quickly with the thought of Arkadia being in danger and them being unable to detect it.

“What the hell happened? I watched you knock at the door, you smiled at me and knocked again, then next thing I knew, you were running like a bat out of hell to the truck and demanding I become the next Schumacher and peel rubber.” Arkadia slumped back in the seat, a fleeting look of desperation bordering on panic crossing her face.

“Nothing, just take me home.” Bohdan went to ask again, but got silenced with a look that would have frozen a lava pit. He changed gears again and headed for Arkadia’s house.

The truck barely stopped before Arkadia was leaping out. Her sanity was hanging by a thread as she turned and looked in the window at Bohdan. “Do you trust me, Bohdan?”

“With my life,” Bohdan replied.

“Then go home. This is personal.” She ran up to the house and disappeared inside. Bohdan was left with the choice to do what she told him and leave, or to not accept the brush off. He loved her and would defend her; after all, her personal was now his personal.

Arkadia looked up as Bohdan walked in the front door. “I am not going anywhere till I know you’re safe,” he said. He walked over to her, grabbed her around the waist, and held her tight against him. Nothing felt as right as having her in his arms. His hand lifted to cup her cheek, rubbing his thumb just under her amazing green eye, and he sought her soul through her eyes. “You’re my queen and I will lay my life down for you. Don’t ever dismiss me again. I don’t like that, and dragon REALLY doesn’t like that.” A single tear ran down Arkadia’s cheek as she tried to smile.

“Oh Bohdan, I am so scared,” she sobbed as she collapsed against his chest.

Eloise came running in from the backyard, panting. “I was outside, and I felt you, Arkadia. My dear girl, what’s happened now?” Arkadia looked up from Bohdan’s embrace.

“Eloise, you’re never going to believe me.” Eloise frowned.

“I will always believe you, my child, never doubt me. Now again I ask, what’s going on? ‘Cause your energy level is off the scale.”

Arkadia let go of Bohdan, turned to look at Eloise, took a deep lungful of air, and slowly exhaled, failing at the feeble attempt to slow her heartbeat. Arkadia whispered, “Violet is a paranormal, and she wants me dead.”

Eloise gasped. “Arkadia, when did you meet Violet? I know I am new here, but I get the impression you have been friends for many years.” Nodding Arkadia replied, “I met her in first grade, so what’s that about six or seven years old? I have known her about ten years.”

Eloise spoke softly, “Don’t jump down my throat, but sweetheart, she can’t be a para, you would have known, you must be mistaken.” Arkadia shook with a mix of fear and anger; fear from her encounter with Violet, and anger at not being believed by Eloise.
She said she was on my side. She is just like the others, makes you think they care then they slap you in the face and call you a liar. I am so angry with myself for believing she might be different.
Arkadia’s mind was running like a wild, rapid river crushing anything in its path.

“Arkadia Castner,” Eloise’s voice was strong and loud, “I’ve never lied to you, I have never betrayed you, and I do believe you. I believe you believe what you saw. Just because I don’t understand, doesn’t mean I won’t. I just need you to explain it with more detail to me. I am only here for your benefit, Arkadia. Don’t accuse me of things I haven’t done. You of all people should know how that feels right now. Yes?” Arkadia lowered her eyes making a mental note for the hundredth time.
Eloise can read your mind, idiot!!!

“I’m sorry, Eloise, I trust you.” Bohdan walked into the kitchen.

“I’ll start the coffee. Arkadia, you start telling us what happened so we can help, yeah?” Arkadia met his eyes, hers misty with unshed tears, and nodded.

“Yeah, okay, but you better make the coffee strong ‘cause you’re going to need it.”

Eloise and Bohdan stayed silent as Arkadia described in great detail what had happened in those few minutes at Violet’s door. Arkadia couldn’t emphasize enough how the look in Violet’s eyes scared her to her very marrow. She sincerely believed her life was in imminent danger, and it was Violet who was the hunter.

“Bohdan.” Eloise turned to look at the handsome young dragon. “You didn’t feel anything? Not a twinge?”

Shaking his head, he replied, “Nothing, it was all perfectly normal to me. When the wolves attacked her, I felt it miles away, but this, was … well … normal.” He shrugged.

“Interesting,” Eloise said as she sat back in her chair sipping a now lukewarm coffee. “If in fact—” She didn’t get a chance to finish when Arkadia jumped up and yelled.

“IF … IF … there is no IF about it! She is a freaking para! She is a freaking psycho, and she freaking wants me DEAD! What aren’t you understanding?” Eloise held up her palm to quiet Arkadia down.

“I will tell you what I don’t understand, Arkadia. I don’t understand how after ten years of friendship, and a close friendship at that, you wouldn’t know she was a para. How is that possible? I don’t understand what you have done recently to this troubled young lady to have her wanting you dead. And I don’t understand how it is that a dragon who is completely and utterly your soul mate can sit not even fifteen feet away from you while you are being violated and attacked and him not know a damn thing! That’s what I don’t understand, Arkadia.” Eloise panted with frustration and fear for Arkadia. “Now if you would just stop accusing me of being against you, accept I am on your side, and help me work this crazy shit out, we might have a chance of you surviving this.” Arkadia winced. She had never heard Eloise swear ever, and she didn’t like having pushed her to that point.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she chanted as she buried her head into her hands, tears running freely from her eyes.

Bohdan came over, picked her up in his arms, and sat back down with her on his lap, wrapping his strong arms around her and whispered, “I got you, baby, I got you.”

Arkadia never left her bedroom all day Sunday. All the stress and worry had turned her head into an over-inflated balloon, and at any time, she thought it might pop and she would drop dead. So she had pulled the curtains, slipped under the covers, and hidden herself away from a world that felt like it hated her. Arkadia refused to answer the phone or talk to people who came over. She just wanted to hide and wished that it all would go away. Arkadia knew it was a fruitless wish, but for the split second it took her to make it, she felt a glimmer of hope. Then reality came back and reminded her that life may not be a long-lived event for her, which made Arkadia just pull the covers back over her head and cry herself back to sleep.

Eloise decided to let Arkadia wallow in herself-pity for the moment; at least she knew where she was, while Eloise did some investigation. Google could only go so far; she needed to find out what kind of para would have the ability to control another para and mask her abilities. Eloise shook her head as her thoughts jumped around. It wasn’t just masking, masking your presence was common for short periods of time, but to be able to uphold it for nearly a decade? That is something special, not to mention dangerous.

Eloise wondered if the council knew about this. She could just see them having a fit to learn that there were paras they didn’t know about. The council, though normally happy to remain in the background of all their lives, if need be, they were a force that could deal out death to any para without notice. The council was like the government for the humans, but far more deadly. The same three men and two women had ruled as long as history had been recorded. They stemmed from the original family that fell from heaven and started the paranormal invasion on earth. All paranormals answered to them, no matter their breed or powers. The rules were easy to follow and punishment was swift and often deadly. The most important rule, the golden rule if you like, was “never let the humans know of our existence.” Eloise shook her head, a black pool of dread forming in her belly, the council couldn’t be far off from being notified of this mess, if in fact they hadn’t already.
This was going to get far worse before it got better.

“Is there anything we can do?” Eloise turned as she heard Emerson speak to her. Zahmali was standing back a little, and she was clearly uncomfortable with what was going on. The look of worry on Emerson’s face broke her heart; she knew he was especially close to Arkadia, and his inner wolf would be feeling very protective. Eloise smiled, walked over to him, and gave him a soft hug.

“Oh honey, I wish you could. The best thing you and your sister can do is stay out of trouble, and let me sort this out.” Eloise placed a kiss on the top of his head. “I am always here for you both, you know that, right?” Both Emerson and Zahmali nodded as Eloise continued. “However, in saying that, Arkadia needs me right now, and if I am to keep her safe, I need to concentrate.”

Zahmali interrupted. “It’s okay, Eloise. We understand. Raven has been explaining and making sure we have what we need.” Eloise let a proud smile dance across her face, her eyes misting a little.

“Raven is a godsend. I promise this will all get sorted out. We just have to stick together and stay strong, yes?” Both Emerson and Zahmali agreed with a group hug before going outside to find something to chase, most likely. Eloise laughed a little.
Please don’t let it be the neighbor’s cat again.

Eloise grabbed her bag and headed out. She needed to pick up Raven from her friend’s house, and then wanted to head to the library for some research. This was not the public library for humans; Eloise needed to go to the Paranormal Hall of Records, which was situated under the oldest church in Huntsville. There was a small and obscure entrance that was only known to a small group in town, but this might be where she would find the information she required.

Fingers crossed.
Eloise put the car in gear and drove out of the driveway.

“What are we looking for?” Raven asked as she opened yet another book, blowing off the dust and sneezing for what seemed like the thousandth time. “Haven’t they ever heard of housekeeping?”

Eloise laughed as she replied, “It’s protected by magic, not a feather duster.” Reaching for another large and dusty book, she said, “We are looking for a paranormal creature, and I have a feeling it may be one that has been overlooked for quite some time. Because of its ability to mask itself, it will have appeared to become extinct in my opinion, of course.” Eloise had explained the situation to Raven on the drive over to the church. Raven had been both horrified for Arkadia and yet amazed at finding out Violet was an unidentified para.

The hours seemed to slowly tick by as Eloise and Raven looked through book after book. Raven blew the dust off yet another book.
It would have been funny to watch this as a time lapse video, the clock hands quickly spinning round and round, and the large towers of books starting on the right and quickly being transferred to the left as each one was looked through and dismissed.

Raven had gone on a coffee run twice, and they both had had a bathroom run three times. The way the magic protecting the library worked, the entrance changed slightly every time, and trying to remember the way in caused a few minutes of panic for Raven on the first coffee run.

Eloise took off her glasses and sat back in the chair, rubbing her tired eyes. “This is useless. We are looking for a needle in a hay stack, and we should just call it a night.” Looking at her watch, she continued, “Oh yes, yes, yes. We can grab some takeout on the way home.” She looked at Raven who just smiled. “Well, not for you, the blood bank is yet to create a drive-through system, but I think the rest might be happy with some burgers and fries.”

“Can we take some of this home so we can continue looking?” Raven asked.

“Unfortunately, as soon as you go past the entrance, all the pages will become blank. Part of the protection spell I am afraid.” Eloise sighed as she started putting the books back onto the shelves. Raven passed her the last of the books needing to be stacked away when a book dropped from the end of the shelf, falling open onto the floor at her feet.

Raven bent down to pick it up and a few words caught her eye: “physical control of fae.” As she picked it up and continued reading, she asked, “Eloise, have you ever heard of a … Mes … Mesmer?” Eloise squinted as she thought.

“Mmmm. I remember my grandmother talking about them, why?” Raven sat down at the table and placed the book so she could show Eloise.

“It says here the Mesmer can control human or fae with a simple gesture, that a highly experienced Mesmer can minimize those gestures to be almost invisible.” Eloise listened to Raven read.

“That could fit; let me take a look.” Raven pushed the book over to Eloise who took a seat, her long delicate fingers running over the text as she tried to find when they had last been seen. “Species status: whereabouts unknown, possibly extinct,” Eloise read out loud.

Eloise stopped and looked at Raven, thinking a few heartbeats before she said, “It doesn’t say anything about masking abilities, not that it means anything. All it would have taken was a deal with a witch a few generations back, and they as a species could have vanished, or at least appeared to have.”

Raven creased her forehead as she asked, “It’s that easy? Would that have been permanent?” Eloise rubbed her eyes at the strain of so many possibilities, all of which were not necessarily good.

“Depends on the witch and the spell. If they made a deal that was a permanent additive, then it would have continued down the family lines, like a forced evolutionary twist. It could have been a marriage that included a witch who may have wanted to disappear into the human world permanently,” Eloise said and shrugged. “The Mesmer are a dark fae, and were one of the more dangerous breeds of dark fae. I remember stories my grandmother used to tell me about Mesmers kidnapping young men and keeping them frozen like statues until they died of thirst. The entire time the Mesmer would sit-in front of them, eating and drinking, making them watch every morsel they consumed.”

Raven screwed up her face. “Eeww, gross! Why would they do that?” Raven asked, to which Eloise simply replied, “Because they could.”

“That may have been the lead we needed, Raven.” Eloise rubbed her arm in thanks. “We can’t take the book with us, but we can take the knowledge. And hopefully, Google might take us the rest of the way.” Eloise popped the last book back and grabbed her bag. “Ready, Raven? Let’s get some food for the animals and go home.” Eloise winked and Raven laughed at the reference to Emerson and his yet-to-be-freed inner wolf.