Lost Energy (16 page)

"…Exemplian science is around
to make sure the Pairing holds during the next life." Funny how we were
able to complete each other's sentences, but again, we've had these discussions
for a while. Well, they were one-sided discussions with him telling me stories
in my head at night, but same thing as far as I was concerned.

I leaned in for a kiss and he
obliged, taking his time. After pulling away, he grazed a thumb across my
bottom lip. "You need to eat."

His big palm cupped my cheek and I turned
into it. "What do you got?"

Tarek's smile, like catching
miracles in a bottle, and if it were the last thing I'd ever see, I'd die
content. "This and that. I think there's a stale granola bar in the trunk.
Not great, but tastes better than the eatables.

"The eatables?"

"That's what I've been calling
the animals here that seem safe enough to eat. I don't know what they are, to
be honest."

I laughed, pulling him back on the
narrow bed. "Stale granola sounds delicious."

His nose touched mine, that perfect
smile creating peace deep in my heart. At that moment, love felt strong enough
to fix everything. "If it makes you feel better, it has chocolate in it."

I ran my fingers through his
tangled hair, giving it a small tug. "Oh, I feel fine at the moment.
Though, a little chocolate wouldn't hurt."

Tarek gave me a loud, smacking kiss
and hopped from the bed to find my outdated feast. I stood and stretched my
muscles before combing through my own knotty hair with my fingers. As soon as
we made it back to the castle, I'd change out of the dirty-ass clothes and into
the jeans and sweatshirt I snagged before leaving my apartment. Then we'd all
get busy figuring out how to find some of those list people. Most living on
Earth would be easy enough, thanks to the internet. Yeah, probably not. I had
doubts they'd use their real names. Shit, I had no ideas after that.

"Tarek?"

He launched the bar. "Yeah?"

I caught it, barely. He had a throw
like a Yankee pitcher. "What're we gonna do?"

His smile disappeared, replaced
with a look I'd seen once–the one he gave right before he killed Casimir. "I
don't know."

The only sound filling the room was
the crackling of the granola wrapper clutched in my hand. We stared at each
other, both desperate to be the first to come up with a solution.

He beat me to it.

"Screw this." He stormed
over and gathered me up in his arms. "Whatever happens, I'm not giving up.
We'll win this time, I swear to you. Those bastards will lose."

I believed him. Believed him with
my entire being.

I ate while he sent Wilma another
message, telling her I'd be coming there to fight.

Wilma never ignored a dumbass
comment.

Seconds after he gave me the thumbs-up,
he pressed a hand to his forehead and grimaced. But he smiled through it all.

I leapt off the bed. "What?
Did she say something?"

Wilma's raspy voice blared so loud in
my head it vibrated my brain.
You keep your fucking ass away from here,
missy! I catch you stepping one foot out of a portal, I'll kick your scrawny
butt back to Arcus myself. That's not a threat.

Tears flooded my eyes and relief
loosened my knees. I laughed as I cried. "She seems okay."

His dimples flashed. "I'd say
so." In an instant, though, his smile vanished. "Oh, no." He
rushed outside.

Fear attacked my legs, slowing them
down as I ran to follow. "What's wrong?"

As soon as the question left my
mouth, a high-pitched scream echoed through the woods, terror laced all through
it.

"He's here."

FLYING
SQUID

O
ne person could outrun me.

Tarek.

My lungs protested trying to keep
up while we raced to the source of the scream. The trees' symmetry helped with
speed, and we were able to go full-bore without dodging branches or tripping
over underbrush.

Screams pierced the air again. Tarek's
pace went from fast to breakneck.

As we drew closer, the agitated
squid shaking tree limbs, we spotted Winston holding Shaina behind him. He
threw the more daring pink beasts into the river with a waving hand. Animals trapped
in the water squealed until their heads fell below the surface. The squid never
reappeared and silence took over.

Tarek reached Winston as another
squid flew over our heads and into the water. My giant tackled him, but not
before giving some unseen command to the animals. All who survived the
Protector climbed high in the trees and kept quiet.

Tarek didn't hold Winston on the
ground for long. His big body flew through the air and slammed into the closest
thick tree trunk.

Shit!

"Stop!" I ran to Tarek,
but he didn't need me.

He jumped to his feet and ran at
Winston for more. I grabbed his arm, tugging. I might as well have been trying
to move a boulder, but he halted. His body remained rigid and ready to fight.

"Hold on, goddamnit!" My
voice cracked. Panic had a way of doing that.

Winston had the calm act perfected,
something I thought only Tarek had mastered. Instead, he looked like he could
rip off arms and feed them to the squid. I squeezed Tarek's forearm before
going to Shaina, whose glassy eyes and pale face said shock had already set up
shop.

I swung an arm around her shoulders
and tried to reassure her. "It's okay. Everything's fine." Telling
that lie annoyed me.

Her wide eyes met mine. Recognition
gave her face back some of its color. "You're Lena, the girl from the
restaurant?"

I nodded. "The very same."

"What the hell is going on?"

Where to start?
"We'll explain soon, promise."
I glanced at Winston. "But we need to make sure your guy doesn't try to
kill us."

"Kill you? He's not–He's the
gentlest man I've ever met." Tarek's snort sent Shaina into a rage. "
You
attacked
him. Dios
mío
,
are you some kind of giant? You're twice his–"

"Size ain't everything, baby."
Winston pulled Shaina from my arms. "I'm not going to hurt any of you as
long as I like your answers."

"Well, why don't we all go
have a chat with Avery?" Tarek found my hand and stormed toward the
castle. "If you don't like the answers, kill her. She's the one who
involved you in the first place."

∞
∞ ∞

Winston stood by the fire, Shaina
still in shock by his side. When we barged through the door with him behind us,
Nicolette went into Protector mode, though shaking made her lighted suit look
like it vibrated. Farren turned into total fangirl again after realizing
Winston wasn't going on a killing spree. Belva, Mom, and Jake sat on the couch,
nervous.

By the time Avery finished telling
the whole story, we were all pissed off again. Except for Shaina, who stood as
dumbfounded as ever.

"So, long story short, we're
pretty much fucked. Ah, sorry, ladies." Farren rocked on his heels and folded
his arms across his chest.

Winston turned toward the flame,
staying silent. No one interrupted, none of us that stupid.

Shaina rubbed his back and
whispered in his ear. I had to give her credit. Crazy as all this was for her,
she still managed to make sure Winston didn't go apeshit on any of us. I gave
up a silent thanks to whoever might be listening that Exemplians hadn't gotten
to her before Winston.

When Winston finally faced the
crowd, he kept Shaina close. "This isn't as bad as it seems," he
said.

A glimmer of hope, faint but
blossoming, chipped the heavy stone in my gut. "How do you figure?"

He gave a small smile. "For
one, y'all got me."

Yes!
But…arrogant, much?

Tarek wasn't convinced. "Okay,
great. Just great. Perfect. And what, might I ask, can you do for us?"

Winston bobbed his head as though
his earbuds were in and pursed his lips. He then waved a hand at nothing in
particular. "I can feel the energy you've collected. You got the ability
to bleed the lines, yes?"

Tarek leaned forward, his eyes
lighting. "Where're you going with this?"

Winston scanned the room, clearly
not impressed. "We do need a few more people, but…"

"But what?" Tarek grabbed
my hand. He might act calm for everyone else, but I knew he needed me as much
as I needed him.

"I got a plan, Warden."
Winston pinned Avery with a glare. "But you're going on a trip first."

Before she could answer, Nicolette
shook her head. "Not without me."

"I got no problem with that."
He looked at me. "You're coming, too."

Tarek's hand tightened on mine, but
he kept silent. I, on the other hand, didn't feel the need to. "And where
are we going?"

"To Cheveyo. If what she says
is true," he pointed to Avery, "we should be able to convince a few
Exemplians hiding out on Earth who have a big enough grudge to volunteer."

"Why does Lena have to go?"
Tarek's deep voice shook a little.

Winston shrugged. "He's a True
Warden. If she had a relationship with him, we need her to convince him to give
up some of those rogues' locations."

"And what if she doesn't
convince him?"

"Then I guess I'll have to get
her back here before the guy kills her."

"No." The fire jumped
from the hearth, flames licking the rug in front of it. Shaina was the only one
who bothered to stomp them out before the old fabric disintegrated.

Before another fight broke out, I
stepped forward. "When do we leave?"

Actual respect shined in Winston's
dark eyes.
Weird.
"Soon."

Tarek gripped my elbow, tight. "Lena–"

"We don't have a choice."
I reached up on my toes and whispered in his ear. "Please, don't."

"I won't let anything happen
to her, Warden, because you'll have my lady here. I'm trusting you, so trust
me."

That seemed to calm my giant some,
his shoulders not as tense. He spoke to Winston, never taking his eyes off
mine. "You'll have a day."

"That works."

Tarek nodded. "Farren, you go
with them."

Farren cracked his knuckles. "Absolutely."

"Now," Winston clasped
Shaina's hand and headed toward the staircase, "we're going upstairs for a
while. Don't bother us."

Tarek yelled after them as they
climbed the stairs. "What if you can't convince anyone to help?"

Winston's soft chuckle sounded like
music and soothed like a balm. His confidence made that glimmer of hope shine,
no matter how cocky he sounded. "Like I said, you got me."

∞
∞ ∞

While Tarek, Jake, and Farren
argued, trying to figure out exactly what Winston had planned, I went outside
with Belva and Mom. They could argue over the details. I wanted to get a better
look at what Belva could do with her newfound ability.

We walked through the woods,
gossiping as if we weren't hanging out in Arcus. Our main conversation topic
focused on guys, with Mom smiling every time we complained about this annoying
habit or that awesome way they did everything else. When I prodded her about
Jake, her smile deepened, and she said, "Sometimes you get it right."

She sure did, and so did Belva and
I, though Farren had yet to admit Belva had already caught him. The entire time
we had an interested audience, not only the complete attention from the squid,
but the other wildlife, too. Even the tree limbs seemed to bend toward Belva.

Once we made it closer to the cabin,
I turned to my friend. "All right, pal, show me your magic."

Mom scooted closer to the cabin's
door. "I'll wait over here, if you don't mind."

Belva smiled, tying her hair up in
a messy bun with an elastic band. "No problem, Jacie. But don't worry; I'll
keep them in check."

The new confidence Belva exhibited made
me proud. Not that I wasn't proud of her before, but the way she held herself,
like she could take on the world.
Hmm.
I guess she did take on
this
world…and won.

Still, I didn't much trust the animals.
They might like her, but they didn't have the same affection for me. I stood
back a couple feet, though not as far away as Mom.

She laughed, pointing up. "You've
dealt with worse than these guys, seriously."

"Actually, your new pets are
pretty high up on my list of dangerous encounters."

"I won't let them hurt you."

I kept an eye on the rustling
branches as the things descended when Belva held up her hands and pulled down. "Ah,
yeah, thanks."

After two or three crawled close
enough, they reached out and brushed Belva with their thick arms, almost how elephants
caressed their handlers with their trunks on those Discovery Channel shows.
Some that had to wait in line whined, trying to knock the attention-receivers
out of the way. No violence marred the actions, more like children vying for
attention. They weren't the terrifying monsters in the trees anymore, just
sweet, innocent beings wanting love.

I couldn't look away, even though standing
this close to them made me more than a little anxious. My friend succeeded in
taming the untamable, and I was in awe. Completely and utterly.

After a few minutes, Belva's sweet
smile turned down with worry. "Something's wrong."

"What is it?" I searched
the sky for opening portals and attacking Protectors.

"They're sad." She soothed
them and kissed their tentacles.

Relief relaxed my shoulders, and I
concentrated on Belva. An Exemplian attack was the only problem I worried
about. "How do you know?"

She kept nuzzling them, consoling
their soft cries. "Don't know. I just do."

Oh, right.

Winston threw at least four in the
river that I witnessed. Who knew how many more before Tarek tackled him. Maybe
these things were a family. I mean, why not? Anything was possible. No way
would I tell Belva. Her love for the squishy things was apparent, and if she
got pissed enough, she might have her new friends attack Winston. That wouldn't
be good for any of us.

Her attention helped their somber
mood. Even smaller animals came out to curl around her legs and jump up for a
pat on the head. Whatever mojo she had, it helped turn Arcus into a fairy-tale
land where everything was nice and pleasant.

That all ended when Tarek came
crashing through the woods leading everyone to us, including Winston.

The squid began to hiss, not willing
to keep what he did a secret.

Belva waved a hand in the air and
clicked her tongue.

Ah, what?
Now she could talk to them?

Whatever she did, she managed to
calm the animals down, though one curled her into its grasp, protecting her. Farren
moved forward but stopped when Belva held up a hand. Her eyes widened, but to
her credit, she didn't freak out.

Winston didn't show an ounce of
guilt. He watched the scene with the same awe I felt moments ago. "You
controlling those things?" He didn't bother to look at Belva; he was too
busy smiling.

Belva rolled her eyes. "No, I
don't control them. They're not my slaves."

"But they listen to you,
right?" Winston moved closer to the one holding Belva, causing it to
squeal so loud we all had to cover our ears.