Awakened (20 page)

No.
I
was the reason they were gone.

Alex

After Mia and I learned to use the alarm system the next day, Jace and Kale called
me to tell me of the plans to find Ella. An Immortal friend of Kale’s was flying in.
With the help of some tech guy, Kale and Jace had identified the island where Laurent
was hiding, and we were all heading out as soon as the Deacon guy arrived, which was
supposed to be later that evening.

I wasn’t afraid. I was terrified. Mia was to stay in Kale’s house until we contacted
her. I couldn’t believe that her parents were still out of town at a time like this.
I didn’t want her alone, and I was glad that she was staying at Kale’s until we returned,
because I didn’t want to have to also worry about her while we were on our “mission,”
as Mia called it.

We were headed into a situation where I was sure that we were outnumbered, and I wasn’t
sure what to expect from it. Was I supposed to go home and kiss my family goodbye,
just in case? Leave a note for my father to find later, explaining all the lies that
I had told him? Sheriff Making never had called in the FBI for help, and there was
still an open investigation into Ella’s disappearance.

The whole town was upset. Shops and mills were closing early to make sure that everyone
was home and safe before dark, and the deputies were out at sunset, patrolling the
edge of the woods as best they could. Little did they know that there was no reason
to be there.

Laurent had gotten what he wanted and was long gone, and Kale and Jace had conducted
a plan that could result in bringing that darkness back to Cedar. If Laurent was left
alive after we got Ella back, he would return, and there would be hell to pay.

“What are you thinking about?” Mia asked me just before she took a sip of her hot
chocolate. The fire blazed, and though I had taken everything off but the few items
of clothing that kept me decent, I was still sweating bullets.

“I’m thinking about Ella and how this will all work out if—when we bring her home.”

Mia digested my words carefully before she spoke. “Are you scared?”

“No.” The last thing I needed was Mia thinking that I couldn’t handle the “mission”
or that she needed to worry about me. I was a grown man, and I didn’t need her to
stress.

“Hey,” Mia placed her hand on my arm, hot from the cup of hot chocolate, and it sent
a sizzle up my spine. Her blue gaze probed mine, warm and understanding, though fear
lay behind it—fear I knew she saw in me, too.

If things had been different, where would she and I have been right now?

“It’s fine if you are. This goes past the realm of what we ever expected was out there.
People always say that there are things that go bump in the night, and teenagers ignore
that. We think that nothing can harm us. If it does, then oh, well—at least we have
a cool story to tell about how we broke this bone or got those stitches. Fear isn’t
something we are used to feeling, unless it’s the fear of getting chewed out or grounded
by our parents.”

I laughed at Mia. She was dead on. How many times had I done something that could
have gotten me hurt or killed? All the times I did crazy eights in the iced-over parking
lot minus a seatbelt, rode on top of the hood of a friend’s car going sixty miles
per hour down an icy road—or even the time me and my friends hiked through the forest
in the middle of the winter, looking for Bigfoot because Tim Routy said he’d seen
him. We made it back that night with a mild case of hypothermia; it could have been
a lot worse.

“But this is different, right?” Mia persisted. “You’re thinking that this time, you
know the danger, and your fear is—”

“I said I’m not scared. Jeez, Mia.” I pulled my arm away from her as the lie spilled
from my lips. Maybe it was my pride, or my concern that it would cause Jace and Kale
to exclude me, but the urge to not admit my fear weighed heavily on my chest.

“Okay, well, how about this? My dad’s brother has been on tour to Iraq, like, four
times now. He told me that he read a quote somewhere about fear and bravery. Something
about fear and courage and mastery. Err…”

While Mia fumbled with her thoughts, I fumbled with a thought of my own. What were
we to do if Ella didn’t make it home?

“‘Bravery is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of it,’ John Berridge.” Jace
entered the room and sat directly across from Mia and me. I looked at him, confused,
and he elaborated. “I believe that is the quote Mia was looking for.”

I looked to Mia and quirked a brow.

“I guess. I really can’t remember the exact quote, but that one works just fine.”
She shared a warm smile with Jace who inclined his head and returned the smile.

“‘Fear is met and destroyed with courage,’ James F. Bell,” Kale said, adding his two
cents to the mix. I wracked my brain for something to contribute, but I couldn’t come
up with anything.

“Yup, another good one.” Mia rubbed my arm.

I bristled. I didn’t need coddling.

Mia rolled her eyes and moved her hand.

“Why are we talking about fear?” Kale looked directly at me for an answer, expression
impassive. I could see something more than his concern for Ella brimming below the
surface, something dark and angry. Kale often kept his distance from the group, but
it was in his eyes when he looked at Mia or me. Whatever it was, it had me on edge,
Jace obviously noticed it, too.

Jace and Kale both eyed me suspiciously.

“‘Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear,’ Mark Twain,”
I whispered.

I was afraid. I was the only human going to face a bunch of immortals, but nothing
would stop me. I loved Ella, and I had known her all of my life. I had to fight for
her. I didn’t want to admit aloud that my heart was beating a mile a minute, that
my hands were clammy, and that I was doing the best I could to regulate my breathing.

From their gazes, Kale and Jace knew anyway.

“Like I said, ‘Fear is met and destroyed with courage,’ James F. Bell.” Kale held
his chin up and stared at me, his eyes black, and I got his message loud and clear.
Of course he expected me to be afraid, but the fact that I was holding to my guns
about being a part of this rescue mission meant my fear didn’t own me, and I was ready
for whatever was to come.

“So, explain to me what we are doing after Deacon arrives?” I asked Kale.

“He isn’t far from here, so I expect him to arrive in the next hour or so. Jace has
informed me that we will have help from the Council.” Kale grimaced.

“I must add that this is unsanctioned help. I will not be commanding the Council members
in any way, other than the fact that I have made them agree not to harm Kale. Since
he is the Council’s sworn enemy, I had to bargain with them in order to make this
happen.”

“Bargain?” Mia sat up as she spoke. “What do you mean, bargain?”

“Yes, tell her what you promised, Jace,” Kale interjected.

“I promised that I would convince Ella to leave with them,” Jace said coolly, as if
that had been his plan all along.

“What did you just say?” I asked through clenched teeth. Mia looked worried, and Kale
looked pissed, but there had to be more. If Jace’s true plan was to send Ella off
with the Council, then Kale would have decapitated Jace the first time he told him
his ridiculous plan.

“There are things that I know about the Council—things that Laurent knows about the
Council—and he has no doubt told or showed Ella these things,” Jace explained.

“What things?” I asked.

“I am on a sabbatical of sorts from the Council at the moment. That does not in any
way mean will I divulge their secrets to any of you, are we clear on that?” Jace asked,
his tone hard.

“How are we supposed to trust you, Jace, if you don’t tell us the truth and all of
it?” Mia asked.

“You will trust me because you have no other choice. If I was going to betray you
I would have already done it,” Jace explained.

“Whatever,” Mia mumbled.

“This information that Ella has been given will guarantee that she will not leave
with the Council. I have told Kale this, and he agrees with me that she will stay.”

I looked at Kale, and he nodded.

“So Kale knows the reason why she will stay?” Mia asked.

“No, but he agrees that Ella will stay because he believes the Council is evil and
have done more than their fair share of bad deeds. Some being the reason Ella won’t
go.”

“Fine. What’s the plan, then?” I didn’t care the reason. I just wanted to know what
they planned to do.

“I know you didn’t start this party without me,” boomed a deep voice from behind us.
Before I could react, Kale was out of his chair and in the arms of a large black man
who was patting him on the back.

“For a second there, it looked like I was interrupting a wake.” Deacon gave a thunderous
laugh. Maybe he didn’t know how serious things had gotten, though that didn’t seem
to make sense; Kale had to have told him.

“Deek, this is Jace, Mia, and Alex,” Kale introduced us all.

“Nice to meet you all, and I wish it was under better circumstances, but life is life.
Now, first things first. I’ve got some gear in the car. Kale, you want to help me
with that?” Deacon looked from everyone in the room to Kale. A silent conversation
played out between the two of them before Kale finally left the living room with Deacon.

“What was that about?” Mia asked.

“He is probably going to chastise Kale for involving humans.” Jace leaned back into
the chair and closed his eyes. “If I had entered this situation the same way our dear
friend Deacon has, then I would as well voice my opinion of the two of you and your
involvement.”

Kale

We headed outside to the side driveway, where Deacon had parked his Navigator. Before
working the keyless entry, he stopped and turned to me, obviously concerned about
something. I’d worked with Deacon on a few undercover missions in the past, and he
never held his tongue when concerned about a plan. That was one of the things I admired
about him—that and his courage under fire.

I was asking a lot from him tonight, time away from a life he had created with the
one person that pulled him out of the personal hell he’d created from himself long
ago, some people took being Chorý different than others. Deacon had been a cop before
the change, and though he’d done a lot of good in his life, becoming Chorý and living
off blood was more than he could handle. We’d both been in the depths of Chorý hell.
My release had been the search for Ella, and at the time, his was the undercover work
we’d been doing with the police in Ohoula, California.

It hadn’t been enough, though. We were small fish in a big pond of corruption. We
only continued because the small differences we’d made were more than most could accomplish,
and our Chorý status was the only reason working against Tony and his crew was possible.

“My man, you already know what I am about to ask, so just give me a straight answer
without all the mumbo jumbo,” Deek said.

I shook my head. There was nothing I could do to keep Mia and Alex out of this.

“Mia and Alex—”

Deek’s sharp hiss cut me off. “Man, I am talking about the Ice Man in there—the killer
of Chorý, High Council member Jace. I know you told me that he was involved, but honestly
man, I am starting to wonder if Eloise has your panties in a bunch to the point where
you can’t even think straight!” Deek whispered fiercely. “I’m out here, away from
the love of my life, to not only help you get yours back, but to stop you from making
the worst mistake of your wretched eternal life.”

“I know how it looks, but honestly he is part of the reason we found her. I knew of
an island that Laurent spoke about years ago, and then he came here—”

“With a way to save Ella,” Deek finished. “Look, man. I’m not saying he didn’t help;
I’m saying he has ulterior motives. Plus, what is this info he has that guarantees
that Ella won’t leave with the Council? You and that Alex kid in there know her better
than any of us. What would it take for her to turn her back on the people she was
leaving to be with when she thought that it would protect you all?”

I had no clue what they could have done that would change Ella’s mind, when Alex and
I couldn’t, but a few events were starting to make sense. “I don’t know, but it would
have to be something that Jace has known all along.”

“How do you figure?” Deek crossed his arms over his chest.

“It explains why he didn’t just take Ella when he found her.”

“I’m still not getting it.”

“Jace told me a while ago that he wanted to gain Ella’s trust. We were at the cemetery,
the second day that Ella and I met, and he found us in the woods. He told me that
snatching her up would ruin his plans to gain her trust, and he left and didn’t try
anything. I thought it was a trap—I even walked her home and stayed outside her home
the entire night—but Jace never showed. Why would he care if he didn’t have her trust?
It’s not often that a Retriever gives you a choice in the matter of leaving with him
when he finds you.”

Deek shook his head. “Hmm… I don’t know, but I don’t trust him.” He worked the keyless
entry, opening the trunk. He started to grab one of the two large wooden crates from
the trunk but stopped mid-way.

“Is there something else?” I asked, wanting him to spit out his next concern.

“You okay?”

“What?”

“Are you okay?” Deek turned around and sat on the one the end of his SUV.

“I’m good. Luckily I’m Chorý, and I don’t have to worry about freezing my ’nads off.
Maybe we could hurry this up? I’d like to get this show on the road sometime tonight.”
I wasn’t cold; the snow didn’t bother me. I just wanted all those warm-blooded bodies
out of my house and far away from me.

“You know I’m talking about your hunger—la Luxure.” Deek looked at me with a sincerity
I hadn’t seen from him in years. “You look okay, if you don’t count the permanent
scowl and the dark circles under your eyes. To someone who doesn’t know, you just
look like you need a few years of sleep, but… You need your master’s blood.”