Genesis (32 page)

I thought for sure they were going to
eat me, but so far so good. In fact, it wasn’t that bad down here
once I got used to it. The creatures hadn’t crowded me or demanded
I do things for them. Instead, they cleaned up my bloody body,
brought me food that wasn’t half bad, and gave me a drink. I knew
the demands were coming, but it was nice to have a bit of time to
breathe.

Creed sat by me on a rock and watched
me eat. He seemed to be fascinated with his hands and kept offering
to get me things.

When I patted his leg, he stiffened.
“What?” I said, looking down at his skin. “It’s not catchy,
right?”

He laughed. “No, my lady, I think you
are safe.”

A smile crept along my lips. “Okay
then. I just wanted to say thank you. I mean, man, that was
close.”

He grumbled something I couldn’t make
out. “You have no idea just how close he was to claiming
you.”

I smirked at him. “Oh, I think I get
it.”

Creed nodded and toed a pebble in front
of him. “Rayla, when you feel up to it I need to talk to
you.”

I knew it. They wanted something from
me just like everyone else. I sighed and sat my cup down. “You
might as well get it over with.”

His expression turned utterly confused.
“What’s that?”

I stood up. “Your demands. You have
them, right?”

He rose and walked to my side. “I only
wished to discuss strategy with you.”

I cocked a hip. “For what?”

“
Well, for starters, how you
want to handle the rescue, and what else we can do for
you.”

“
Rescue?”

He smiled and his razor sharp teeth
startled me. Since when had he gotten those? “Your family is being
held by the Order, are they not?”

My mouth fell open. “You’re offering to
rescue my family?”

“
We merely await your
command, my lady.”

I chuckled. “I don’t suppose ‘go get
them’ would do?”

He tilted his head and stared. “We may
be the mightiest army on your planet, but we will need your help if
we are to avoid…complications. As it is we will have to pay a price
for what we have done.”

I pushed his shoulder. “I wouldn’t stay
here anyway, but what do you mean? Why would you get in trouble for
saving me from Luke?”

“
Lord Luthais is sure to go
to the council with this.”

“
They couldn’t possibly
blame you for what happened. He is working with
her
, even if he doesn’t know
it.”

Creed tilted his head. “All that
matters to the council is that the fae are able to stay on earth.
If there is a way for them to stay here without the threat of
eviction they will seize that opportunity no matter how they appear
in public. She has followers, some of which you might be
surprised.”

I bit my lip. “My mom?”

He winced. “How did you
know?”

“
Something felt off the last
time I spoke with her.”

“
It has only been a recent
development. Your mother was cornered when she went to Lombarda. We
believe she is being manipulated, but we cannot be
sure.”

I rested my face in my hands. “How is
this ever going to work out?”

His teeth made another appearance. Why
did they have to look like box cutters all lined up in a perfect
row?

“
One battle at a time,” he
said. Speaking of battles…we had best prepare.”

Tons of time later we had a plan. Well,
sort of. I still wasn’t all that happy with it, but when it came to
better options, I had nothing.

First, we had to locate my family,
which shouldn’t be too hard considering they were supposed to be in
a frigging swamp that spanned more miles than I wanted to think
about trudging through. Ugh. Here I was surrounded by real life
monsters, and all I could focus on was being devoured by a
gator.

Unfortunately, some fears don’t ever
give up.

Creed had taken it upon himself to be
my body guard, of which I was thankful, and the rest of the group
had been split into teams. The creatures capable of flying would go
in first. Supposedly, they frequented the human realm, so they knew
where they were going.

Next, the creepy crawlies, as I
lovingly referred to them, would slither up and surround the
compound, making sure no fae were present to cause
problems.

Then came me. I was supposed to create
a diversion so Creed and I could rescue my family while the others
kept the perimeter in check. The only problem I could see with
Creed helping me was that Uncle John just might have a heart attack
before we got him out, and if I knew anything about her at all,
Aunt Grace wasn’t about to go willingly, either.

I’d tried to explain this to Creed, but
he said he had that part of this under control. He also assured me
that the fae would not know what I was up to. He said they wouldn’t
be able to track me thanks to my ring. I looked at my hand again.
He’d found it in my room, and the only thing I could think was
somehow I had been compelled to take it off. I’d gotten so used to
wearing it that it had become like part of my hand. I told him that
it didn’t work, but he was certain it did. He wouldn’t expound any
further so I was left to wonder.

The first wave had already gone out,
and here I sat with Creed by my side, my heart racing faster than
it ever had. Considering what I had been through lately, that was
saying a lot.

Creed touched my arm and I jumped to my
feet. “Ready?” I asked, panting. “Are we ready?”

He patted my back. “Calm down, Rayla.
This is going to work.”

He’d said as much already, but this was
my family we were talking about. What if I did something stupid?
What if Luke or Ainessa showed up and ruined the whole thing? What
if the other lords came? They had to be looking for me, and once in
the human realm, there was no guarantee my ring or Creed could
shield me. He’d said he would do his best if something bad
happened, but that wasn’t exactly comforting.

When the call finally came, I was
exhausted. I still managed to jump to my feet instantly and follow
Creed to the middle of the room.

He gazed down at me, his brown eyes
nearly glowing in the dark. “Trust us, Rayla. We will not fail
you.”

I gave him a smile and tugged his hand
toward my heart. “I do. Let’s just get this over with,
okay?”

He didn’t say anything as he
transported us out of the dark realms. If I thought going in was
bad, coming out was ten times worse. I was going to get brain
damage from the trauma. Maybe that was what was wrong with
me?

Creed gave me a pat on the arm and
stepped to the edge of the little island we were on. About a
hundred yards away lay a larger land mass. Through the thick
vegetation, I glimpsed the roofline of what looked to be a massive
structure.

Something splashed in the water by my
right foot, and I scurried away. Thankfully, Creed caught my hand
before I could plunge into the water behind me.

“
Steady,” he
said.

“
Easy for you to say.” I
frowned at him. “If a gator bites you, you can rip it in
half.”

He frowned back at me. “I have a spec
of the power you possess, my lady, yet you seem to forget that at
every turn.”

I sighed. He was right.

Mother of all headaches aside, it was
time to stop being a world class wimp and get to it. “Are you
ready?” I asked.

He smiled.

I grabbed his hand and drifted us into
the compound.

Unfortunately, I landed us in a closet
that wasn’t big enough for one person, let alone me and a
monster.

Man, I needed to stop thinking of Creed
like that. He was more human than most people I knew. I inched the
door open and noises flashed around me so quickly, I had a hard
time distinguishing what was happening. Guards rushed girls through
the hall and out into the courtyard.

Holy heck they were evacuating. We
needed to hurry.

I concentrated on the far wall, making
sure no one was near it, and seconds later it exploded. The blast
propelled me backward, but Creed caught me. Plaster littered the
hallway, and a few girls had cuts on their faces. I didn’t have
time to worry about hurting them. A siren blared into the already
present cacophony of sound taking all thought from me.

“
Nice job.” He pushed my
shoulders. “Now let’s move. I can’t feel my legs
anymore.”

I nodded, inching into the hallway and
was swallowed up in a sea of people. No one seemed to notice us,
yet I found myself struggling against the crowd to get deeper into
the fortress. Creed moved ahead of me which thankfully diverted
most of the flow.

I still couldn’t figure out why these
girls weren’t screaming their heads off when they saw him. Then it
hit me: he had to be using a glamour. Smart man, but why couldn’t I
see it? I mentally shrugged. I didn’t have time to worry about it
right now. Somehow we managed to trudge up the stairs to the top
floor. It was nice to avoid the basement for once.

Voices crashed into us moments before
we reached the first door. The siren still blared, but I managed to
catch the conversation. “Where is your sister!” screamed Aunt
Grace.

“
Someone took her,” cried
Jenny. Her shoulders were slumped and her arms circled her stomach.
“I tried to hold on, but they were too strong.”

I plunged into the conversation without
a backward glance. “Where was the last place you saw
her?”

If I’d had a camera, I would be rich—or
at least get to gloat about this for a few years. Both Aunt Grace
and Jenny gaped at me as if I were a ghost.

I nudged Aunt Grace’s arm, but she
didn’t even blink. “No time for explanations. Where’s
Sarah?”

Jenny snapped out of it first. “I think
they have her in the hanger. One helicopter already took off. She
has to be so scared.”

I turned toward Creed.

“
I’m on it,” he said before
I could get out a word.

Grace threw her arms around me and
yanked me to her. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

“
No such luck,” I said
before I hugged her back.

Just when I thought we were in the
clear a man—no boy—

No.

Alex Wayne burst into the room. “We’ve
got comp—”

His ruddy cheeks went pale as mashed
potatoes. “Rayla?” He shook his head, his eyes locking onto me then
he was after me. I raced to the corner of the room because I didn’t
know what else to do about him before he caught up with me. No
greetings came. He just clamped his hand around my wrist and pulled
me behind his back.

Alex Wayne was protecting
me?

Frick’s gargantuan body crashed through
the door, his neck bulging, his veins looking like they were about
to pop. I would recognize him anywhere. Every moment of agony I
sufferend on that island could be traced back to him pushing me
around. Urges to do really bad things to him bombarded me, but I
managed to contain my rage.

“
Wayne!” he yelled. “No more
of this…” He caught me in his stare, and a sound so vile it hurt my
ears came out of him. He clapped his hands together in one loud
bang then reached for something behind his back. “Mistress is gonna
love me.” He held out a gun and pointed it at Aunt Grace’s head
before he gave me a look.

I sidestepped Alex before he could stop
me, or Frick could get out another word. “Not if I have anything to
say about it.”

All along I had been looking for the
elements outside of me, but now that my family was in danger
without even thinking about it I reached inward. They waited for
me, an unending supply of power bouncing in
anticipation.

I stretched my hand forward and with
one flick of my wrist, the pistol flew across the room. Sooner than
he could get away I moved my hand as if clamping around Frick’s
beefy bicep. He grunted but couldn’t break my invisible
grip.

“
Look,” I said. “I don’t
want any trouble from you. If you leave, I won’t hurt
you.”

He laughed, yet it sounded like a
threat. “You think you have some kind of power over me? You’re
pathetic compared to her. She knows all; see’s all. I only have
to—”

I lifted my hand to his neck and
crushed his windpipe. His big body collapsed as if I had cut his
puppet strings. His dull eyes stared blankly forward and his mouth
was caught in a permanent gasp.

I didn’t even know this man’s real
name. I’d given him a chance, but this was my family and no way in
hell was he stopping me from getting them back.

Alex choked behind me. For a minute, I
thought I had somehow caught him with the elements. Then I realized
he was laughing. A huff came out of me as I sidestepped him. I
didn’t have time to deal with his mess of a mind.