Awakened (28 page)

Remy shrugged. “We thought we and the girls could just hang out and keep you company until your grandfather comes home.”

Kim and Izzy in my home? “I don’t need watch guards, Remy.”

“Whatever you say. I’ll take McKenzie to the car.” Remy turned and headed back to where McKenzie stood.

Now I felt like a jerk. What should I have said? It wasn’t that I didn’t like these guys. I did. And I was happy they were concerned about me. The problem was our trailer wasn’t big enough for five more people. I just wanted to go home, so I could try and locate Grampa. He would know what to do about Bran. Even my headache and fatigue weren’t as important as finding him.

I glanced at Sykes. He wore a frown on his handsome face. “I hurt his feelings.”

“Remy? Nah. That’s his way of saying you can protest all you want, but we’re coming home with you.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“No, that’s Remy.” Sykes pushed his hands in the front pockets of his pants and rocked on his heels. “Look. Gavyn was here despite the tightened security,
and
Bran’s missing. Either we inform the Council so they can send sentries to your place, or you get us.”

I threw up my arms. “Sheesh.”

“Get used to it. Security is everything, especially for the Cardinals.”

“That’s not it. I wish we didn’t live in that cramped trailer, that’s all. If we had a bigger place—”

“But you do,” Sykes interrupted me.

I blinked, shook my head. “What?”

“Your grandfather has a house on Sagebrush Drive. Maybe it’s time you guys moved in.”

A feeling I couldn’t identify wrapped around my chest, making it hard to breathe. “Are you saying
we
have a house here in the valley?”

“All Guardians do.”

I heard his words, but my mind had slowed down, filtering and absorbing information at a snail’s pace. I’d wanted to live in a house for so long. With our constant moving, I’d assumed it would never happen. “Does it have a yard?”

If Sykes thought my question was weird, he didn’t show it. “A big one. Someone mows it in the summers. The Council employs a housecleaning company to take care of the inside, too.”

I searched his face as though it held all the answers. “What does it look like? Have you been inside? Does it have furniture?”

“Whoa, slow down. I’ve never been inside, but the outside looks like, uh, all the other houses.”

Heart thumping with excitement, I reached a decision. “Can we go there tonight? You know, sneak inside.”

“Sure. Though there’s no need to sneak in. It’s your house.”

***

We found Kylie and confirmed that Cade would drop them home, then we took off. Izzy and Kim stayed behind with their boyfriends. Remy led the way in his black Camry and had McKenzie beside him. I followed in my truck, while Sykes took the rear in a red and black Mustang. We hit Center Street and headed east, retracing the route Bran and I took when we went to Hsia’s house. When Center Street became Mountain Road, Sykes left the rear and shot past us, engine roaring. He grinned as he passed me.

Show off.

We turned right on Eastridge, stopped for McKenzie to jump out of Remy’s Camry. She and I hugged, words were unnecessary. Then we waited until she was inside her home before continuing on to the T-junction on Gibbon’s Parkway. A short drive south and we reached the gate at Sagebrush Drive.

I studied the hulking mansions under the moonlight. The houses on Sagebrush drive were separated from the other homes by a low-lying ridge on one side and a rolling hill on the other. The road wound up toward the mountain and ended in a cul de sac. At the top of the hill was the biggest house of all.

Remy pulled into a driveway, and I parked beside his Camry. I didn’t see Sykes’ car. My heart pounded hard with anticipation. The house faced the valley floor, the driveway slanting toward the street. Shrubberies lined the footpath leading to the entrance. I visualized myriad colors replacing the green. I didn’t know anything about flowers, but I could learn.
I will learn.

I caught a few of Remy’s words as he explained about the houses. “Council bought the land…built the homes…pay for the furniture…house at the top is the HQ….”

I ran my fingers along the exterior wall. Brown concrete block finish. Security lights came on, bathing the wood panel front door—beveled glass on top, sides and in the center. Visible through the windows were white blinds. I knew no one was home, but I still reached out and pressed the tiny doorbell.

I grinned as the hollow ding-dong echoed inside.

Remy chuckled. I grinned at him.

I used telekinesis to unlock the door. Hand shaking, I reached for the brass knob and turned. The hinges didn’t even squeak. I crossed the threshold, flipped on the switch.

My senses soaked in everything—the chandeliers, the sloping ceiling, the egg-white walls, other rooms visible through arched doorways. I inhaled, deep and slow. It smelled of wood and paint, like a new house. Yet a sense of coming home enveloped me like a warm, woolen coat.

“No furniture,” I stated the obvious.

“You’re better off furnishing it yourself. The Council does a crappy job.”

“I’m going to explore.” I took off. From room to room, upstairs, downstairs, I visualized what each could be—my bedroom, Grampa’s, guest rooms, training room. The house had a total of three full bathrooms, four possible bedrooms, lots of cupboards in the kitchen, and a large area in the basement for a family room. Anticipation made me giddy. I had to convince Grampa to move here as soon as possible.

When I came upstairs, Sykes was waiting for me with Remy.

“What do you think?” Sykes asked.

“It’s beautiful.” My gaze lingered on the ceiling and the bare wall, imagining framed photographs.

Remy interrupted my musing. “I just spoke with Izzy and Kim. They’ll stop by your place in an hour. We’ll all stay with you until your grandfather comes home.” His tone left no room for argument. “Let’s leave our cars and hitch a ride with you. We can teleport home later.” Then he left the house without waiting for my response.

Stubborn man. I blew out frustration. Sykes grinned at my reaction. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to His Royal Highhandedness. I’ve learned to ignore him after six months of rooming with him.”

I locked the door, followed Sykes to our respective rides. Remy’s Camry was already pulling into a driveway two houses down the street. The sound of Sykes’ engine split the air as he took off. I followed and parked outside their house, rolled down my window and watched him park his mustang in their garage. He parked the way he drove.

Remy scrutinized the rear end of his car then used his sleeve to wipe the area.

“A scratch?” Sykes teased.

“You mess with my paint job, and your mustang is junk yard scraps,” Remy warned him.

“What paint job? Your car is all black, bro. Can you spell bo…ring?”

They elbowed each other as they left the garage. Remy pressed the remote control on his key chain to close the door. “And so you know, I’m sitting by the window,” Sykes said.

“In your dreams,” Remy retorted.

I rolled my eyes. They were so ridiculous, and I was too tired to put up with their senseless bickering. Plus, my head was killing me. I hadn’t had such a terrible headache since my powers first appeared.

I removed the keys from the ignition. “Hey. You drive.” I threw the keys to Remy, who caught them and grinned.

“Why him?” Sykes protested.

“I want to get home in one piece.” I moved to the middle, sharing the passenger seat with Sykes. Remy gunned the engine.

Sykes criticized his driving as soon as we took off. Shaking my head, I turned up the heat, leaned back and closed my eyes. Tuning out their banter, my mind wandered to my house.
My house.
I loved the sound of it. If Bran were here, my happiness would be complete. He’d understand how I felt.

I sighed, sadness creeping in to steal my moment.
Bran. Where are you? I hope you’re okay, wherever you are. I hope….

We hit Highway 89. Sirens filled the air as two fire engines, an ambulance, several cop cars and the fire chief’s car came barreling down the street from behind us. Remy pulled over to let them pass.

“I hope no one’s injured,” I murmured. The guys didn’t respond.

Remy pulled back onto the road. In the distance, I could see thick smoke curl up toward the star-speckled sky. My heart dropped, leaving a hollow feeling in my gut. “Oh no,” I whispered.

“What?” Remy asked.

“Go faster,” I yelled.

“What is it?” He stepped on the gas.

“What’s going on?” Sykes added.

I leaned forward, pointed. “Look where the smoke is coming from. It’s on the southeast side of Motel 6, where the RV Park is.”

Police cars blocked the exit into the park, so Remy pulled up into the parking lot of the motel. He and Sykes jumped down, yelled at me to stay put and raced toward the fire. I tried to follow, but couldn’t move. My legs felt heavy, my body pinned to my seat by fear. Cold air hit the wetness sliding down my face. Through the windshield, I stared with wide eyes at the place where the trailers had once stood. Nothing was left but skeleton frames of RVs, bright orange flames leaping from windows.

Gavyn. How many were hurt tonight because of that bastard? Because of me?

His laugh came from the shifting shadows around my truck. Like a brush of frosty air, the evil sound spread goose bumps over my skin. I stiffened, looked around. Nothing but darkness hugging beams from headlights of passing cars. And the laughter echoed into the night. So insane and haunting.

You can’t be everywhere all the time, Lil.

19. UNEXPECTED DISAPPEARANCE

“Wake up, Lil.”

Sykes’ voice penetrated the fog of terror engulfing my psyche, and I jerked awake. My gaze darted to the windshield, heart still pounding hard. We were parked outside my trailer, but there was no fire. No police cars. No fire engines. The RVs, silhouetted against the night sky, were intact, the glow of electric lights shining through windows. Relief coursed through me, slowing down my frantic heart beat.

“You zonked out then screamed,” Sykes said, his arm tight around me.

My body had curled against his, my hands gripping his shirt. Face burning, I let him go and wiped my palms on my pants. “Sorry, bad dream.”

“Want to talk about it?” Remy asked.

“No. It was nothing.” I looked at my trailer, detected Grampa’s psi. I needed to tell him about Bran. “Let’s go inside.” The trainees looked at each other but made no move to leave the truck. “What?”

“Did your dream have anything to do with your powers?” Remy asked.

“Why do you ask?”

“I had nightmares when my powers started to show,” he said. “Whenever I touched things, they’d take different forms and shapes so fast it scared me. In my dreams, I could turn people into monsters, even my family.”

“And I’d set things on fire, awake or asleep,” Sykes added. “I nearly burned down our house several times.”

Remy lifted his gloved hands. “That’s why we wear these all the time.”

“Even at night,” Sykes added, the streetlights bathing his solemn expression. “It’s been two years, but accidents still happen, which is harder to explain here than back at home in Xenith.”

Remy shot me a sympathetic look. “So if you’re getting nightmares, we want you to know that it comes with the territory.”

I couldn’t believe they shared something so personal with me. It made my confession much easier. “When I saw Gavyn this evening, he told me I can’t be everywhere all the time, can’t keep my friends safe. Just now, I dreamed he torched all the RVs in the park. I keep thinking if I hadn’t befriended Kylie and the others they wouldn’t be in danger now.”

Sykes squeezed my arm. “You can’t blame yourself. Gavyn’s an unscrupulous fiend who has no business using humans as bargaining chips.”

“Being friends with humans helps us assimilate when we first get here from Xenith,” Remy added. “And they help us blend in as we work, so don’t even think of ditching your friends.”

They said what I needed to hear, but their words didn’t erase my fear. “Thanks, guys.”

We got out of the truck, and together, walked to the door.

Grampa was in the middle of the room in his hunting clothes, minus the coat, fiddling with a heavy-duty, elbow-length leather glove. He looked up, nodded at the trainees then locked his gaze on me. “What’s wrong?”

At the familiar sound of his gruff voice, tears rushed to my eyes. “Bran….”

Grampa was beside me before I could utter another word. “What happened?”

I opened my mouth to speak, but the tears made that impossible.

“Bran’s in trouble, sir,” Remy jumped in.

Grampa waved the trainees to a sofa, led me to the opposite one and sat on the armchair. “What kind of trouble?”

His expression calmed me down, and the waterworks subsided. I started to talk. As soon as I finished explaining what happened at the dance, he patted my knee and got up as he telepathed Moira.

The energy Guardian appeared beside us. Like before, she was dressed in black leather pants and matching short-sleeved blouse under her duster. The lights bounced off the white strip of hair on her mane, reminding me of Bran’s wings. Her dark red lips made her face look even paler.

Sykes and Remy jumped to their feet, and she flashed them a feral smile, which turned into a frown when her gaze shifted to Grampa. “What’s going on, Ares?”

“We’ve a change of plans. We’re heading to L.A. to find Bran and bring him back to the valley before we head out to the meeting. Someone used his brother as bait to lure him away from here.” Grampa flexed his wrist, and a pair of blades jutted from the glove with a swish, right above his knuckles. He pressed something in his palm and the blades drew back. He tested his other glove and achieved same results.

“I’ll let the others know, then rendezvous with you in L.A.” Moira turned her attention to me and ran her finger down my cheek. “We’ll find Bran for you, munchkin.” Then she disappeared, leaving behind a burning trail on my skin.