Authors: H. D. Gordon
Tags: #Romance, #Mixed characters, #Young Adult, #Vampires, #Fantasy, #next
Blood Warrior (35 page)
“You want this?” I asked, holding up the rock.
“Yessss,” she hissed, with her eyes locked on the rock in my hand.
“Then tell me where my Mother is.”
This made her laugh again. The monster raged inside me. “Clever little Warrior,” she said. “Give me the rock and I’ll tell you.”
I rolled my eyes and pretended like I was going to toss the rock in the river. She hissed again and spoke quickly. “She’ssss in Dangeon.”
My breath caught in my throat. Why would she be there? She hadn’t committed any crime. And if she was in the prison, that meant that the Lamia were not behind what had happened to her. The anger that I always kept so close to me threatened to take over at that moment. But I took a deep breath and tried to regain control over myself.
“Thanks,” I said. Then, I tossed the rock into the river.
Across the river, the Lamia screeched that ear-splitting noise, but I just climbed up the wall and swung my legs over the other side.
Right before I hopped down on the other side of the wall, I heard the Lamia call out to me. “Good luck with reaching your mother, Warrior. As ssssoon as you sssstep over thissss river, I’ll kill you, and I’ll drink every last drop of your ssssweet blood.” I jumped down and rolled my eyes again at her threat, even though she could no longer see me. Making my way back to my dorm room, I mumbled to myself, “Yeah, well, you’ll have to get in line.”
Chapter 68
I put everything I owned in my backpack, which wasn’t very much, and headed out. It was still early, with the sun just barely peeking over the horizon. I had a few stops to make before I left and I wanted to be out of here before the rest of the city woke up.
I made my way to the wolves’ dorms and checked the directory to find out which room was Jackson’s. When I got there, I took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.
I had to knock a few times, but finally, the door swung open and Jackson stood there. His reddish-brown hair was messy from sleep, and he was only wearing a pair of boxers, which had cowboy hats and lassos printed all over them.
“Alexa?” he said. “God, what happened to your face?”
I shrugged off his question. “Can I come in for a second?” He stepped to the side and gestured for me to enter. “What’s going on?” he asked, once he’d closed the door behind me.
“I’m sorry I woke you up, but I need to ask you for a favor.” He looked confused, but he nodded. “Anything.”
Taking another deep breath, I said, “I need you to keep Nelly safe while I’m gone.”
“Okay, but, where are you going?”
I sighed, wishing I could tell him, but I had to do this on my own. I wasn’t going to put anyone at risk while I went on a mission that I wasn’t even sure was real. “I just have some things I need to take care of, Jack. I need you to trust me. Will you keep Nelly safe for me?” He nodded and pulled me into a hug. “Of course I will. But, you will be coming back right?”
I pulled back and kissed him on the cheek. “Of course.” At least, I
hoped
I would.
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. When he spoke, his green eyes were full of affection. “I’ll wait for you then.”
I smiled, and fought tears that were threatening to surface. “You might be waiting a while.”
He smiled back, but there was hurt behind his eyes. “I’d wait an eternity for you, Alexa.”
I pulled him to me and gave him a long, sweet kiss. When we broke apart, his eyes were glowing wolf gold, and I was pretty sure mine were too. “Thank you so much, Jackson, for everything. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had, and that means more to me than I could ever tell you.”
He smiled again, and this time, it reached his beautiful eyes. I turned to go, but then remembered I had one more favor to ask. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the note I’d scribbled down in my room before I’d left. “Will you give this to Nelly for me?” He pulled me into one last hug and kissed my forehead. “Alexa,” he whispered.
“I’d kill a bear for you.”
I laughed at that. This was the reason I loved Jackson. He could always manage to make me laugh, no matter what horrible situation I found myself in. I decided then that if I was ever going to tell him, now would be the time to do it, especially since I didn’t know if I would make it back from my trip.
“I love you, Jackson.”
He brushed some hair out of my face and ran his fingers down my cheek. “Alexa,” he sighed. “I’ve always loved you.”
I left then, but I knew, with absolute certainty, that he really did.
Chapter 69
My next stop was a little further away, so I ran to get there. I was still feeling pretty strong after drinking Kayden’s blood, but I knew that I would need to eat after I made it outside the walls.
When I reached Tommy’s house, I knocked on the front door, and to my surprise, he answered pretty quickly. When he opened the door, I saw that he was fully dressed in his usual expensive attire, with black dress pants and a blue button-down shirt that matched his eyes. He looked surprised to see me too, but he immediately stepped to the side and gestured for me to enter.
“To what do I owe the pleasure, Alexa?”
I was thankful that he didn’t mention my swollen face, but then, Tommy was a Brocken vampire, a fighter, so he was probably used to seeing injuries among his friends.
“I need to ask for a favor,” I said, deciding to cut to the chase.
He smiled that easy smile of his. “Ah, and here I thought you just wanted to see me.” He paused, and then asked, “What do you need?”
I swallowed hard. “Your car.”
To my astonishment, he just raised both eyebrows and said, “Okay, for how long?”
“I don’t know. A couple of days… or maybe a couple of months.” He laughed at that. “Okay, do I get to know where you will be taking it for a couple of months?’
I shook my head. “No.”
He shook his head in return and got up, disappearing into the other room. When he returned, he held out a set of keys to me. Then, he asked, “Do you have money?” I had about four hundred dollars saved up from my school allowance. “Some,” I said.
He sighed and reached into the pocket of his slacks. Pulling out his wallet, he handed me a stack of hundred dollar bills. “Here,” he said, pushing the bills into my hands.
I stood there in shock. I hadn’t even really expected him to say yes about the car.
“Um, thank you…. Why are you so willing to help me, Tommy? You don’t even know what I’m going to do.”
He shrugged. “You’re my friend, Alexa. And you usually only do things that are meant to help other people, so why
wouldn’t
I help you?” He paused and that sly grin appeared on his lips. “Besides, you know how I feel about you.”
I smiled and placed a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you so much, Tommy. I owe you big time, and I won’t forget that.”
He smiled again and pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around me. “Just try to bring the Mercedes back in one piece and we’ll call it even.” I laughed. “I’ll do my best.”
I turned to go, but he called out to me. “Don’t you want to know where the exit is that will lead you to a road through the forest?”
I turned back and smiled. “Why, yes. Yes, I do.”
Chapter 70
I drove through the streets of Two Rivers and headed to the exit in the wall that Tommy had told me about. The city was so quiet this time in the morning, and I glanced around me, taking time to acknowledge how beautiful the place really was. Each structure was unique, and every bit of lawn was manicured to perfection. The flowers and cherry blossom trees seemed to be bidding me farewell with their bright faces turned up to the sun.
Then I had to slam on the brakes because there was someone standing right out in the middle of the street.
Well, not
someone
. It was Kayden.
He was staring right through the windshield at me, like he’d been waiting for me to come. When he walked around the side of the car and waited for me to unlock the door, I considered what to do. I could hit the gas and take off, denying him the chance to say whatever he was waiting to tell me. Or, I could unlock the door and hear what he had to say.
In the end, I unlocked the door. As much as I was still hurt by what he’d done to me, if I was being honest, I didn’t really want to leave without giving him a chance to explain himself.
When he opened the door, though, he just folded himself into the passenger seat and sat staring straight ahead. I waited for several moments before saying, “What?” He didn’t look at me, he just said, “Let’s go.”
I shook my head in confusion. “
We’re
not going anywhere.” Kayden looked at me then, and the apology that was in his eyes last night was still present this morning. To my astonishment, he said, “You don’t want to go find your mother?” I gaped. “What are you talking about?”
He gave me a look that said that was a stupid question. With a sigh, he said,
“We’ve shared blood, Alexa, and whether you want to accept it or not, you’re
my
Warrior. I felt the summons to the gate last night, just as you did.”
I hated that his words made my heart flutter; his Warrior. I rubbed my face with my hands. This could not be happening. “Then, you saw everything?” He nodded. “And I am not going to let you do this on your own, so you can either let me come with you, or you can make things difficult and make me follow you the whole way.” I stared straight out the windshield. “Get out, Kayden.”
He sat there for so long I almost thought I would have to tell him again, but finally, he opened the door, and stepped back out into the street. As I started forward again, I snuck a glance at him in the rearview mirror. He was still standing there, just staring at the back of Tommy’s car as I increased the distance between us. As I rounded a corner, out of sight at last, I shoved thoughts of Kayden to the back of my head, right along with everyone else.
Chapter 71
When I made it to the gate, I found that it was guarded. I’m not sure why I hadn’t expected this, but I suddenly hoped that there wasn’t some rule that prevented citizens from leaving Two Rivers whenever they felt like it. If so, I might not be going anywhere. I could always try and knock the guard unconscious, but then I would have a short time period in which I would have to figure out how to get the gate to lower across the river so I could exit.
I pulled up to the gate and stopped at the small guard station that was positioned to the side of it. When I rolled down my window, I saw that it was Gavin who was on post. I wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or not.
“Giving up already, Warrior?”
I shook my head. “I don’t give up on anything that’s important… but I need you to lower the gate for me, I have some things I have to go take care of.” I hoped that sounded convincing.
To my surprise, Gavin winked. “Will you be coming back?”
“If I’m lucky.”
“Then, good luck, Warrior. I look forward to your return.” Then, he lowered the gate.
Before I could pull forward, he said, “Don’t forget what you saw here, Alexa.” At hearing my name, I smiled, though I’m sure there was more sadness in it than anything else. “I won’t forget what I
left
here.”
Gavin gave me a genuine smile then, and though it was a little lopsided due to the scar that ran down the side of his face, it was the first real smile I’d seen from anyone in what seemed like weeks.
So, I left. I left behind everyone. Everyone I loved and cared about to go on what might be a suicide mission. It had occurred to me though, that if my Mother really was alive and at Dangeon, then the Queen had deliberately lied to me about her death. This made me wonder what else was a lie at Two Rivers. I could only hope that
I
was the one who would be in danger by leaving, not the people I’d left behind.
The End…. For now.
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