Redemption (Night Marchers #2) Written by: Rebecca Gober and Courtney Nuckels (18 page)

Kao doesn’t even think twice before he turns
and walks away; I take it as my cue to follow him.

Branches slap me in my face and arms as I
follow Kao at a distance. It’s so much different than traveling
with Tristan; Kao is definitely not the gentlemanly type. Nor is he
the type for small talk. He hasn’t said a peep since we first left
the campsite.

“Ow,” I holler under my breath as a branch
slaps me across the cheek. I reach up to rub the spot it hit while
another one pummels me in the leg. I pull my hand away from my face
to find blood from where the branch scratched me. “For goodness
sake Kao, think you could cut it out?” I yell at him from sheer
frustration.

Kao turns to me suddenly forcing me to plow
into his chest. I back up a few paces to create some distance
between him and me and look Kao square in the face. At first I see
a look of anger, hatred, and maybe a hint of jealousy. Then the
look dissipates as if it never was and is replaced with a look of
compassion, and understanding.

“I’m sorry Emma, I just have a lot on my mind
right now.” His mood changing makes me wary to be alone with him,
but I realize I’ve been left no other choice. I keep trying to tell
myself that this is for Adam and hopefully for Kai as well.

“It’s okay, I understand.” Hopefully he buys
it.
Yeah, I understand that you are a murderous jerk.
I
watch him smile as he turns and begins walking again. Another
branch comes and slaps me in the arm. I grumble an expletive under
my breath as we continue walking.

We come to a clearing as Kai’s tree house
looms from up ahead. I’m still not sure of Kao’s intentions for
taking me here, but the thought that I have help within earshot
helps to calm me. Silently, Kao ushers me up the several flights of
rope stairs and into the main section of the tree house then closes
the door behind me. I begin to feel a little uneasy knowing that
the Menehunes can’t see me from here and I take a deep breath to
calm my nerves. Kao puts a pot on the stove and begins moving about
the kitchen gathering ingredients. There is an awkward silence
hanging in the air that you could slice with a knife. I begin
feeling a bit antsy waiting for Kao to explain why he dragged me
here in the first place. I get this feeling that Kao is like a
bottle under pressure and any minute he's going to erupt and show
his evil side.

He returns, handing me a mug with steaming
tea and grabs his mug so he can sit across from me at the table. I
tap my fingers anxiously against the side of the mug waiting for
Kao to break this silence. I watch as Kao studies me over the rim
of his cup while sipping his tea. It looks to me like he’s waiting
for me to say the first words.

Giving up on him starting the conversation
I’m the first to break the silence. “So, Kao, what’s the plan? You
say you can help Kai?”

Kao continues to study me making the silence
he’s carrying very awkward. After what seems like forever he
finally speaks up. “Yes, I think I have a plan, but first things
first, we have something to discuss.”

I watch in nervous anticipation as he slowly
takes a sip from his cup.

“Enlighten me Emma, why is it that you are
able to heal so quickly?” I watch as Kao’s eyebrows lift in
question and he stares deep into my eyes. I squirm in my chair a
little as I try not to avert his gaze. He stands up and walks over
to me. I catch a flash of something white in his hand. I flinch
when he raises his hand to my face and begins wiping the dried
blood off my cheek with a wet white washcloth. A look of
satisfaction and greedy curiosity fills his face. I'm sure that
he's looking at the newly fading scar on my cheek as he sits back
down across from me and takes a drink of his hot tea.

Crap!
“Well, I can’t say I’m really
sure to be honest.” I am positive that isn’t what Kao wanted to
hear, but I need some time to think. Out of all the things in the
world he would ask me, that was not what I had expected to have to
answer.

I watch as a sly smile slowly spreads across
his face. “Is that so,” he replies. He sets the cup down on the
table a little too hard causing me to flinch. Kao leans closer to
me closing the space that is between us. “Emma, you expect me to
believe that? I think you know more than you’re letting on. I think
you know where the bones are. How else can you explain yourself?
You want to know what I think?” Kao asks as he gets up from his
chair and paces the room. He doesn’t wait for me to respond before
he begins speaking again. “I think Kai entrusted you with his
secret. Why else would you heal at such remarkable speed?”

I was about to answer him when it became
clear his question was simply rhetorical.

His eyes narrow at me before his expression
changes entirely. He begins talking to me in an entirely different
way, almost with cheerfulness to his voice. “Because, you know, if
you do know where the bones are, you could use that to free Kai.
Make him human again.” He leans forward to insinuate his words.
“You do want that, don’t you?” His proximity is making me nervous.
He's so close I can feel his breath on my face. I know what this
man is capable of, and I know he is not afraid to harm whatever he
has to in order to get what he wants. I'm instantly grateful that
Kaylee and Tristan aren't around.

I clear my throat and find the courage to
speak. “Well, now that you mention it, I do remember Kai telling me
about some powerful bones. He even took me there once to honor his
fallen King, but I had never associated them with his immortality.”
His eyes flash with desire when he hears the word immortality. Not
a desire for me, but for it. I remain in eye contact hoping that
Kao doesn’t detect my lie. “So, how does this help Kai exactly?” I
ask with a little too much innocence in my voice.

Kao gives me a half smile before sitting back
down at the table with me. He steeples his fingers as though lost
in thought. “Ah, yes. Well, with that kind of knowledge, it would
give us great trading powers with the chief Night Marcher. That
would most definitely be something he would be willing to trade
for.”

I can see the hunger in his eyes. I know all
too well that Kao’s intentions are anything but what he just said,
however I try to keep my knowledge of his true desires out of my
voice. “There is such thing as a Night Marcher chief?” I ask trying
to give Kao a reason to believe my feigned innocence.

"Oh yes, but he is a hard sell. He does not
relinquish his people without having another to take its place.
Perhaps this secret will motivate him to make a trade without the
sacrifice." His eyes rake over me from head to toe, assessing me. A
shiver runs down my spine and my stomach rolls with nausea. He
continues, "So Emma, where are the bones?"

This is it, our plan. I just have to make him
confess while I lead him to a supposed burial ground that I don't
even know exists. "Um, they are not far from the inlet of the small
beach that leads into the Honopu Valley. It's near a cliffs edge. I
don't know how to get there though. Kai had taken me on a boat." I
sigh a breath of relief knowing I pulled the location out of thin
air. Plus, I figure if we are close to the Menehune cave perhaps if
things go wrong, they can step in.

He stares me down, like he's a human lie
detector. I try to keep my face as impassive as possible. He speaks
up, "Yes, I think I know the place that you are referring to."

Of course he does! My mind flashes back to
the night when Kai and I saw Kao down on the beach. We had spent
the night there only a few days before when Kao had been hunting
me. Hopefully the fact that he had tracked us to that beach will
make my story even more believable. "Okay, how are we going to get
there then?" I ask.

"The fastest way will be to go by boat. If I
were to drag you through the valley, it would take all day. We need
to get there before nightfall. Kai will begin his hunt for you the
second the sun sets over the horizon." He says rather matter of
factly.

"Do you have a boat?" I ask a little nervous.
I guess I hadn't totally thought my plan through. I have no idea
how the Menehune's and the Night Marcher chief are going to follow
me if we go off into the ocean. I would think another boat
following Kao and I would be a giant red flag.

"Yes. We should go now." He doesn't wait for
me to confirm. He just grabs a bag and puts a few supplies into it.
He hands me a flat piece of bread shaped like a pancake. "Eat this;
I need you to have all of your strength today."

I reluctantly grab the cake of bread from
him. I eat it as we exit the tree house and head towards the beach.
It tastes good, almost like rolled oats and nuts made into some
type of odd circular pastry. I don't know where he got it, but it
appeases my hungry stomach.

Sure enough when we get to the beach area we
find a small canoe roped off laying face down on the sand. He turns
it over almost effortlessly. We both push it towards the water and
I hop in. Kao pushes the boat further into the water and then hops
in behind me. Just like the ride I took with Kai in this same boat;
there is only one set of oars, so I let Kao do all of the work.
It's fine though, I need time to think. I'm grateful for Kao's
continued silence throughout the entire trip. I think through what
I'm going to do when we reach land. I know that I need to stall a
bit in order to give the Menehune's time to get there.

We reach land roughly an hour after we first
set off. I look up at the sun and try to guess what time it is. Kao
catches my gaze and says, "We still have about two hours before
sunset."

I don't like that he can tell what I'm
thinking, but I nod my head anyhow.

"So, where is it?" Kao asks as he turns the
boat upside down on the sand.

Hopefully this will work as a stall. "Well,
it was dark, but I know the bones are buried at the base of a near
the cliff." I look up at the cliff that overlooks the beach. It's
dotted with over a dozen trees. "I figure we could just examine a
few trees first. Maybe one will jump out at me." I shrug my
shoulders at him, hoping I'm not wearing his patience too thin.

He thinks about it a moment then replies, "I
guess we don't have much of a choice." he looks across the beach to
a narrow opening that leads into the valley. "Let's go." His
bluntness makes me wary and uncomfortable, but I push through
knowing the upside if I succeed.

We both walk side by side across the beach
and head towards the tree line that leads up a jagged cliff. If I'm
going to get him to confess, I need to get him to talk to me. "So,
do you think this will work?"

Kao just shrugs his shoulders and says,
"Hopefully."

Great
, I need to get more than a
single word out of him. I stop and pull off my shoe pretending to
empty sand out of it. I figure I need to do some stuff to bide my
time. I'm none too excited about making my way up that cliff with
Kao. "So what was it like growing up with Kai?" I ask nonchalantly
while putting my shoe back on.

He stops and looks at me incredulously. Like
he can't guess why I would care or want to know. "It was fine. We
were never very close."

Man, Kao really knows how to talk.
I
try again, "So, how did you become a Night Marcher? Did you look
one in the eyes too?" I know very well that he chose to be a Night
Marcher. He wanted immortality but did not consider that with that
immortality came slavery.

"That is none of your business! We need to
focus if we are going to keep your boyfriend from killing you." He
storms off towards the tree line angrily.

I hold my ground and stay put. Knowing I need
to stall and give the Menehune's time to catch up, I figure I will
lie on a little bit of what I call
girl guilt
. I sit down on
the sand and watch. Kao makes it all the way to the other side of
the beach before he starts to turn around as if he just realized I
wasn't behind him. I quickly throw my head into my hands and try to
conjure up some tears so my act will be somewhat believable. It's
not too hard to get the water works to flow these days. I have a
lot to mourn for: Adam's death, Kai's sacrifice for me, Kai trying
to kill me, hurting Tristan. I'm certainly not lacking in the woe
department. I start racking my shoulders a bit to make it seem like
I'm really sobbing once I hear Kao approach.

He lets out a long exasperated sigh. I listen
to his feet marching through the sand back towards me. When he
reaches me, he leans down next to me and puts his hand on my back.
It takes everything inside me not to repel from his touch. He takes
a deep breath and then asks a little gruffly, "What is wrong with
you?"

I don't look up; I just sniffle and say,
"Everything."

He moves his hand from my back and reverts to
trying to stroke my hair lightly. It's very awkward and I can tell
he doesn't feel comfortable doing it so he pulls his hand away a
second later. "Look, I'm sorry I'm being so cross with you. Like I
said, I'm frustrated and I need to get this done."

He uses his hand to lift my face up so I can
see him. Goosebumps rise up on my arms as I think about the night
when Kai first turned into a Night Marcher. Kao had lifted my head
up with his hand to look at him just as he's doing now. I look
away, so he doesn't see the pure hatred in my eyes. "Why Kao? Why
do you really want to help Kai so badly?"

He puts his hands back down on his lap and
says, "I told you Emma, I've made many mistakes. This is only a
small part of penance that I can do for him."

I look up at him. I don't believe a single
word he says, but I try to soften my features to pretend like I do.
"You are just going to hand over the chiefs bones to the Night
Marchers like that?" I ask wiping the tears away from my eyes.

"Yes, why would I need them?" He asks with an
undertone of tension.