Love & War Book 1 in the Arcadia Falls Chronicles (3 page)

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I opened my eyes the next morning and could
tell I hadn’t gotten enough sleep. My eyes were dry and itchy, and
my legs felt like they were filled with lead. I rolled over and
looked at the clock. It was 6:35. I knew I needed to get moving or
else Drew would pound on my door and holler for me to hurry. I
threw back the covers and headed for the shower to wash away the
cobwebs in my brain.

Once the bathroom was sufficiently steamy
and the hot water was running over me, I didn’t want to get out,
but eventually our pathetic water heater forced me to shut it off
or freeze. Knowing we were going hiking, I wore my boot-style
tennis shoes with the heavy treads rather than my normal workout
shoes and decided on jeans instead of yoga pants.

Trying to hurry, I ran a brush through my
dark hair without really caring what it looked like, and then I
twisted it into two braids so my beanie would fit onto my head. No
sooner had I slipped the pink beanie on than I heard a knock at my
bedroom door. Quietly, so as not to wake Alice who still slept in
my bed, I crept to the door and cracked it open.

Drew had also chosen to wear jeans and a
sweatshirt instead of workout clothes. A few strands of hair peeked
out from under his beanie hat. It was amazing how that hat changed
his whole look. Even the green in his eyes looked more intense.

“I’m ready,” I whispered. “Just let me grab
a jacket.”

“I’ll wait for you downstairs,” he
whispered, and he took off down the hallway.

I hastily strapped on my shoulder holster
and secured my gun in its place. Knowing it was extremely cold out,
I grabbed my hoodie with the furry lining inside and zipped it up
over my holster.

I met Drew downstairs in the living room
where the early morning news flashed brightly against the darkness.
I paused for a moment and watched him without him realizing it. He
stood in front of the television, blocking most of my view of the
newscasters and their reports.

I hoped that whatever was between us lasted.
It seemed I didn’t have much luck when it came to people I loved
staying in my life. Before my mother died, I didn’t have many
friends. The few friends I had made over the years, I'd had to
leave when we would move… and we had moved a lot.

Drew turned and saw me staring at him. I
felt the heat rise up to my cheeks and, surprisingly, he actually
blushed too. It was pretty strange for him not to know I had been
standing there.

“Hey,” he said, grabbing the remote and
clicking the television off.

“Hey,” I whispered.

“Here.” He bent over, retrieved a to-go mug
off the coffee table, and extended it to me.

I accepted it and sniffed the opening.
“Coffee?”

“Yeah, I know how much you like that
crap.”

“It’s not crap! It helps give me my super
powers.”

“Sure, it does,” he swung his backpack over
his shoulder, “at the same time it’s eating your stomach away.
Let’s go.”

I didn’t care if he liked coffee or not. I
took a big swig of the warm liquid and grabbed my own backpack
before I followed him out the door.

The sun was rising, bathing the earth in
warmth against the brisk, cold air. Drew reached into his jacket
and took out his sunglasses. He put them on, covering his pretty
green eyes, but protecting them against the brightness of the sun
that reflected off the snow.

We started off through town at a rather slow
pace so I could drink my coffee. While we walked, I thought about
the Talon Building. If the board was going to refuse to acknowledge
our warnings to prepare for attack, we had to take it upon
ourselves to protect the community and our families. We could not
just sit back and let the vampires win when we had a proper
warning.

“What are you thinking about?”

I glanced at Drew’s sudden question, and he
raised his eyebrows above his sunglasses.

“You’re looking very serious.”

I laughed a little bit. “What? You’re the
only one who is allowed to sport a look of intensity?”

He shrugged. “Fine, don’t tell me.”

I tipped my cup, finishing off the last drop
of coffee. I really wasn’t sure I wanted to talk to him about the
whole idea until I had an actual plan. On the other hand, it didn’t
matter. Drew would have to be in on it to execute any plan we came
up with.

After making sure my cup was empty, I
stopped and took my backpack off.

“I don’t know. I just don’t think we should
sit back and wait, just because the board doesn’t want to believe
us.”

I shoved the mug into my bag and swung the
bag back onto my back. I looked over to see his expression. I had
fully expected to see his face full of criticism or even
disappointment. Drew was normally a guy who played by the rules,
especially when it had anything to do with the board.

Well, except for that time he ignored all
the rules and came to save me from my psycho father.

This time, instead of the criticism or
disappointment I'd expected, I saw confirmation.

“I agree,” he said. We picked up the pace
again. “Actually, I’m a little shocked they didn’t believe Luke.
Us, yeah. But, Luke? I just don’t get it.”

“I know!” I threw my hands up. “He’s been
with them forever. I wonder if they think he’s getting old, or
maybe they think he's too close because of all that happened with
Trevor before.”

Drew shook his head. “We all vouched for
what we saw.”

“I know, but maybe they think he’s losing
it, and that’s why he believes us.”

Again, he shook his head. “I just don’t
understand why they would ignore such a blatant warning.”

I adjusted my beanie on my head. “So you
think we need a plan?”

“Yes, I do, but it’s not going to be easy
without the other hunters backing us.”

I sighed out of pure exhaustion at the
thought of trying to convince the other hunters to help us.

“I know, but we will find a way.”

I tried to be optimistic—not for him—mostly
for myself.

We had crossed town on the streets and
finally hit the edge of the woods where we found the trail we
wanted and headed up. For a while, it was quiet. That’s how Drew
worked. He wasn’t talkative most of the time and did that whole
I’m-a-broody-man thing. It was perfectly fine with me, because I
liked to do my own share of brooding.

Carefully, we crunched over the icy trails.
Not many used the trail up to the falls, so it had not worn down to
the ground like the well-used trails would have. It was covered in
a thick layer of snow, with ice underneath it. Drew led the way,
letting me know where the more dangerous spots were located.

Eventually, I heard the first evidence of
the waterfall. The roaring slowly grew from a whisper to a loud
churning. I was relieved we were almost there. I loved being near
the falls, no matter what the weather happened to be. The trail
ended, opening up to a small area of land that surrounded the
waterfall. I stopped and took off my bag, because I thought we
would stop.

“What are you doing?” Drew stood next to me,
looking amused.

“Aren’t we stopping?”

“Nope, we’re going up farther.”

I could have slapped him for the stupid grin
he had on his face. Apparently, my willingness to stop and hang out
by the pretty waterfall was funny to him.

“Fine, let’s go.” Reluctantly I slid my
backpack on again. We had gone a little way past the falls before,
but not too far due to the snow, so this would be new.

The terrain was considerably rougher beyond
the waterfall. The trail veered up steeper as we moved on. Rocks
jutted out of the ice, and the snow was much deeper than it was on
the other trail. Our feet sank all the way down, soaking our jeans
to mid-calf and making me even colder.

Eventually, the trail opened into a wide
field, or what would have been a field if it hadn’t been covered in
snow.

“Here we are.” Drew shed his backpack and
withdrew two bottles of water. He threw one of them to me, and I
caught it easily.

“Where’s here?”

Drew tilted his head. “Check it out.”

He stood back up and started toward the tree
line. I followed, wondering what the heck he had in mind. I wasn’t
dumb enough to think this hiking trip was for enjoyment. I knew
something was up and, as it turned out, I could hear it before I
could see it. It was water, not the roaring waterfall sound, but
more like babbling brook.

Drew pushed some of the tree branches aside,
then took my hand and pulled me through. I expected to see more
trees, a never ending forest of trees, but what I saw took my
breath away.

“Oh, my. It’s beautiful,” I managed to
whisper softly.

There was the water I’d heard, a beautiful
creek, not a tiny little creek one could hop across, but not quite
big enough to be called a river. Trees hung over the top of the
water like their branches were trying to reach out and touch it.
The current rushed quickly over the rocks that jutted up out of the
water, creating a decent amount of rapids on its way to where I
assumed it would meet the waterfall.

Along the river, there were several large
rocks that sat high out of the water. These huge boulders had
relatively flat tops. They seemed almost out of place in the
scene.

“Why are we here?” I asked.

Drew squeezed my hand.

“We are going to work on your superpowers
today.” He grinned.

“Don’t you think it would make more sense to
work on fighting? I’m getting really good with my fire power.”

“It’s not your fire power we are going to
concentrate on.”

I scrunched up my nose. “Huh?”

He led me to a rock by the water that was
big enough for us both to sit on. “You already know that you have
other gifts aside from the fire— like your fast healing—so we need
to tap into the other powers.”

I shook my head. “I wouldn’t even know where
to begin to do that.”

“I do.” Drew told me and spread his hands.
“Do you remember when we were training last week and you tried to
do the jump kick?”

I nodded.

“Well, your jump was incredibly high, I
mean… you made it look simple to jump that high without even
trying. So imagine what you could do if you practiced jumping long
distances?”

“I thought I was just in excellent physical
condition.” I stuck my lower lip out, pretending to pout. "Why are
we doing it here? Why not just back at the gym? It seems like I
should be able to practice jumping anywhere, but you picked way up
in the snow and ice-covered mountains.”

“Think about it, Chloe. Even though everyone
knows about your fire power, we don’t want to flaunt your other
gifts. They can be quite effective when the element of surprise is
added. At the gym, everyone can see you. Who knows who that can get
back to?”

He was right, like he freaking always was.
Ugh

“Okay, so what do you want me to do?”

“You see those rocks over there?”

Oh, man.
I didn’t have a good feeling
about this at all.

“Uh huh?”

“You think you can jump them?”

“Oh, no!” I waved my hands out in front of
me. “There is no way I’m jumping those, no way!”

He had to be crazy if he thought I was going
to do that.

“If we start on the snow, when you feel
confident enough, we can move to the rocks.”

“I don’t think I will ever be confident
enough to do that.”

“Chloe, I feel like you need to be pushed to
accomplish things like this.”

I raised my eyebrows, not really
understanding.

“You see, every time you have ever done
anything you thought wouldn’t be possible, it was in a time of
need. So, it’s either this, or I can go trap a vampire and let him
loose on you. Now
that
would be motivating!”

“You wouldn’t do that.” I shoved his
shoulder.

“Oh, yes, I would! Don’t doubt me!”

“Fine, I’ll do the jumping, but without the
rocks for now.”

The next thing I knew, I was sprinting
across the snow in a full-out run, mentally preparing myself to
jump from the twig Drew had placed as a starting point to the twig
he placed where he wanted me to land. As soon as my foot hit the
mark, I pushed off with my feet and did a sort of flying-ballerina
jump. My landing was about two feet short of where I was supposed
to land, and I felt my leg give a bit, so I fell into a roll.

“Damn.” I sat up and brushed the snow out of
my hair and off my clothes.

“Again.” Drew motioned his hand upward.

Man, he had become mean-ole-trainer guy
again. I didn’t really like mean-trainer guy. I didn’t say
anything. I was strong, and I would get this. I jogged far back
from the starting point and sprinted toward it again. This time,
when I pushed off, I did another flying-ballerina jump, but before
the landing, I brought my feet together, bent at the knee and
tucked them up underneath. I still missed the mark, but this time I
stuck it and landed on my feet.

“Better!” Drew called out, nodding at me. I
returned the nod with a wide grin and made my way back to the
starting point again.

Over and over we did the drill. It seemed
endless. Even when I finally hit the landing mark, he moved it back
and made me try to hit that one. I jumped and jumped until I
thought my legs were going to fall off.

After hours of running, jumping and
conquering distances I never thought possible, Drew called break
time.

“Come on, let’s sit down over here.” He
patted a large rock next to the bank of the river that would
accommodate both of us.

I plopped down onto the rock and lay back a
little bit. He reached into his bag and came out with a couple of
sandwiches. “Sorry, it’s peanut butter and jelly. Anything else
would have gone bad.”

I sat up and accepted the sandwich he
offered. “No worries, I love PB&J.”