Demon Retribution (Shadow Quest Book 3) (22 page)

She quirked a brow and snatched the page.
“You used my computer? How are you already so keen on human
technology?”

“
My kind are notoriously
fast learners,” he explained. She caught a hint of pride in his
tone. It had taken her years to adapt herself to this world, and
he’s done it in less than a few months. Why did that irritate
her?

Gulping back more coffee, she glanced at the
map. “This is only a few hours from here.” Her heart constricted in
her chest. She took a seat at the table as a wave of dizziness
crashed around her. Was she afraid? A calming breath filled her
lungs. Cale didn’t notice her sudden stress.

“
Be ready to leave late
afternoon.”

She only nodded in reply, staring absently
at the steam rising from her cup. He left the table and headed up
the stairs. A few moments later, she heard the faint sound of the
shower running.

Beyond the window, a flurry of birds chirped
happily, in direct contradiction of her mood. Needing fresh air,
she headed outside. The chill was severe. Her breath billowed in a
white mist, quickly dissipating as she walked without a
purpose.

She stopped at the edge of the lake, staring
out at the dark water. The surface was deceiving: calm, tranquil,
untroubled by its own stillness. Underneath, she imagined it
churned like the treacherous waters of the Amazon. She sat, not
caring if she dirtied her clothes, and let the illusion of serenity
wash over her—forcing it into a cast and welding it to the floor of
her mind.

Time slipped by, and she heard a soft
approach. She didn’t need to look to know it was Zo who crouched
beside her.

“
We’re leaving today,” Kyra
blurted.

“
When?” Zoey
asked.

“
A few hours after lunch, I
guess.”

Zoey’s reply reeked of sadness. “It’s lunch
time now.”

What? How long had she been sitting out
here? The conversation faltered as a flock of geese squawked
overhead, drawing her eyes to the position of the sun.

“
Are you taking the car?”
Zoey inquired.

“
We’ll have to, yes.” She
realized then that Zoey would be left without transportation. “It
would be a good idea for you to come with us so you can drive the
car back. Better yet, you should head straight to Canada from
there. I don’t like the thought of you here alone.” A tear seared
her cheek, and her lip trembled. “Promise me you’ll—”

“
Stop worrying,” Zoey
interrupted. “I’ll be fine. I know it sounds impossible, but I have
lived most of my life without a big sister to look after
me.”

Kyra smiled. She had to believe Zoey would
be okay. Yet the shadow of the coming separation loomed. After a
few more moments of silence, they headed back inside.

Kyra’s lunch consisted of little more than a
few bites of salad. Her stomach wouldn’t permit anything more.

With her constant checking, the clock seemed
to tick by like a snail on Xanax, yet somehow, and to her dismay,
it became time to start packing up the car. Kyra didn’t have much
to take: some clothes, toiletries. It felt more like she was
getting ready for a stay at the Plaza.

Zoey had a few large bags of her own,
stuffed in the trunk. She’d decided to take Kyra’s advice and get
out of Dodge.

Cale had even less to pack.

Making his way toward them, he slipped on
the cowboy hat she’d purchased for him. She ground her teeth at how
sexy he looked in it.

He hadn’t said much to her since this
morning. Maybe he was giving her time with Zoey, which she did
appreciate. Or maybe he was distancing himself now that his mission
to keep her safe was almost over. Either way, she felt neglected.
Which was stupid, she mentally scolded herself.

It wasn’t as though they were an actual
couple. In fact, he’d made it perfectly clear that was exactly what
he didn’t want. Neither did she, of course. Not at all.

Not. At. All.

Well, maybe a little.

But she was perfectly aware that her
attraction to him was based on a mild case of hero worship. He’d
come to save her, was helping her master her gift, reuniting her
with her family, and was nothing less than a god in bed. Who
wouldn’t want to stake a claim in that?

When Zoey offered to drive, nobody
protested. Kyra’s emotions threatened to break her to pieces. She
took the passenger seat, and Cale stretched out in the back. How
could he look so damn casual?

After Zoey pulled onto the road, a heavy
silence fell over them that seemed to take on weight as the sun
dipped lower in the sky. Kyra cracked the window and stared
aimlessly at the scenery whizzing by, noting that this could very
well be the last look she’d get of the place she’d called home for
so long. Part of her fought to deny it.

Why did she feel so lost? Her thoughts
shifted back to Cale. She’d been immersed in a cocoon of chaos
since she’d met him, and something told her it was only going to
get worse.

She did then what she had done her entire
life. She mentally pulled up her big girl panties and hardened her
resolve. Outwardly, she sat up a little straighter. This was just
another in a never-ending line of transitions.

They stopped once for a bathroom break and
snacks, then resumed their trek. By the time they reached their
destination, the sun was out of sight, yet night had not quite
taken over. Cale had assumed they’d need to hike to get to his
ship, but Kyra’s smart phone map app revealed a narrow, concealed
road that brought them within forty feet of it.

“
You’re lucky no one saw
this, Cale,” she exclaimed as the small shuttle came into view. The
silver casing stood out easily in the dark.

He only frowned.

They hopped out of the car. Kyra breathed in
the fresh mountain air, presumably for the last time.

She slipped the strap of her bag over her
shoulder, noting that it felt heavier now than it did when she’d
stowed it. She yanked on the zipper and fished out a bottle of Jack
Daniels and Johnnie Walker Blue Label. She imagined the empty spots
in her liquor cabinet.

Cale gave her a lopsided grin.
“Souvenirs.”

Zipping the bag, she muttered, “I should
have grabbed my seventeen eighty-seven Chateau Lafite.”

Nearby crickets went quiet at their
approach. On closer inspection she could see the shuttle was sleek
with smooth angles, much like a modern sports car, only larger and,
she assumed, with a hell of a lot more power under the hood.

Cale must have hit a button because the
shuttle stirred. A hatch came down, morphing into a set of stairs.
She turned to Zoey, who stared in awe. Kyra hugged her, holding
back an overload of emotion. She’d lose it if she didn’t get this
over with quickly.

“
Be good, stay
safe.”

“
You too,” Zoey choked
out.

Cale stood to the side, waiting
patiently.

Finally, Kyra let go and headed inside
before she had a chance to change her mind and make a run for
it.

The interior felt a bit cramped with a total
of twelve seats, situated in pairs around a thin aisle that led to
a wide window. She plopped her bag down and wrapped her arms around
her torso.

“
Hey! What are you doing?”
Cale hollered.

Alarmed, she poked her head back outside and
her jaw dropped.

Zoey had thoroughly wrapped herself around
Cale like a backwards backpack and was holding on for dear life.
Cale spotted Kyra in the doorway and stretched his arms straight
out to the side, horrified.

“
Take me with you!” Zoey
bellowed.

Kyra emerged from the shuttle. “Zoey,” she
sighed, stepping toward the two. “It’s too dangerous. You can’t
come.”

“
Please don’t leave me here
alone!”

Kyra’s heart squeezed. “You’re going to be
fine, Zo.”

“
No, I won’t!”

She grabbed Zoey by the waist and pulled,
but Zoey didn’t budge. She pulled harder. “Zo, let go.”

“
No!”

“
Let go of
Cale.”

“
No!”

“
Zoey!” Her tone turned
harsh, and she looked to Cale for help.

He shook his head, his eyes glinting with
concealed humor. “I’m not in the habit of trying to get females off
of me.”

Kyra let out a frustrated growl and prepared
to peel Zoey free when a familiar clicking echoed from the dark.
Her hair stood on end.

Cale went ridged, and their eyes locked.

“
Everyone in the shuttle,
now!” Cale ordered.

Zoey jumped down and raced for the craft.
Kyra ushered her in before following. Cale brushed passed them to
take the helm and sealed them in.

“
Both of you, sit down and
don’t touch anything.” He didn’t wait to see if they obeyed. The
engines rumbled to life, and the craft slammed off the ground under
his guidance. He felt better in the air, but only a fraction. If
that had truly been the Kayadon, it was possible they had ships
nearby as well. His readings showed nothing, but the sooner they
were on
Marada
,
the sooner he could relax.

He opened a transmission to the ship. “We’ve
jumped, and we’re coming up fast. Do you have our signal?”

Moments later, Aidan replied, “Aw, I was
hoping to hold on to my second status a little longer.”

Sebastian had appointed Aidan second in
command?

“
Is Sebastian
there?”

“
No, I’ve just hailed him.
We weren’t expecting you for another hour. I’ve just locked on your
signal. Wow, you’re burning hard.”

“
Aidan, how are we looking?
Are we clear?”

“
Looks like it. Is
something wrong?”

“
There may have been some
Kayadon on the ground near us just before we took off.” Cale
glanced at the shuttle’s fuel level as they reached the upper
atmosphere. “Our fuel won’t last much longer. How close are
you?”

“
Not far, I’m headed right
for you. Five minutes if you keep up your speed.” There was a
pause. “I’m reading three entities on board, Cale. Do we have
another stray?”

Another
stray?

“
There’s a human with us.
She’s not a threat, and she won’t be staying.”

Zoey didn’t protest, but that was only
because she was not familiar with the language he and Aidan spoke.
Kyra wasn’t bothering to translate. Actually, they were both being
uncharacteristically silent. He looked back and saw them both
stricken with fright.

“
The worst is over,” he
assured, but neither made a remark. “Kyra, you understood the
language I was speaking a moment ago?”

“
Yes,” she replied, full of
anxiety. “You said we’re low on fuel.”

“
Why did you learn it?” he
asked to distract her.

“
Royalty needs to be able
to communicate with all sorts of beings. Plus, I spent some time
with the dragons.”

“
What does that have to do
with anything?”

“
They were traveling space
long before many of the other races. Most of the common languages
evolved from them.”

That was something Cale hadn’t known, but
more importantly her voice was evening out. The light out the
window changed as they broke through the atmosphere. A unified gasp
breezed from two sets of lungs behind him.

“
Kyra,” Zoey muttered, her
tone a little wild. “We’re in space.”

“
Yup.”

“
We’re in honest-to-god,
no-shitting, mother-freaking space!”

“
Mm-hmm.”

Zoey let out a small hysterical giggle and
then immediately started sucking in air. “Do we have enough air? I
can’t breathe. Did you say we’re low on fuel? How are we going to
get back? I need some air.” She jumped out of her chair.

Kyra leapt up and forced Zoey back into her
seat. “Everything’s fine. We have plenty of air, right, Cale?”

“
Uh.”

“
Cale!”

“
We should have enough for
this trip. Just calm her down.”

She turned back to Zoey. “See, plenty of
air. And we’ll figure out how to get you back to Earth. Okay?”

“
Ah, shit,” Cale
blurted.

“
What do you mean, Ah,
shit!” both girls squeaked.

Ignoring them, he re-opened transmission.
“Aidan?”

“
I see it,” Aidan answered.
An unidentified ship now followed them. “How’s your
fuel?”

“
Nonexistent,” Cale
replied, thankful anew that Zoey couldn’t understand. However,
Kyra’s breath caught.

“
What?” Zoey whispered.
“What is it?”

To Aidan, he said, “We’re maintaining good
speed but the planet’s gravity still has us.”

“
We’ll get to you before
they do, but we may take fire.”

“
Where did they come
from?”

“
Looks like they emerged
from a large body of water just after you took off. That’s why our
scans missed them.”

Cale deduced that whoever had been in the
woods must have contacted the ship that now tracked them.

“
I see you now,” Cale
said.
Marada’s
outline emerged from the darkness.

“
I’m going to have to scoop
you up at speed. Do you have enough fuel to set her
down?”

“
Just get us on that ship,
Aidan.”

“
I take that as a
no.”