Alora: The Wander-Jewel (Alora Series Book 1) (29 page)

Charles choked o
n
the heavy smoke. His eyes were stinging so badly he was forced to squeeze them shut against the acrid assault. But he kept his hand on Kaevin’s arm, waiting for Alora to transport them to the safety of the ranch. He felt Kaevin’s arm jostling beneath his grasp and heard Alora scream. What was happening? He reached into his pocket, retrieving the ceramic knife that was now his constant companion. Then Kaevin’s arm was wrenched away from him as he heard Bozeman growl and snarl ferociously. What could make his good-natured golden retriever rabid with anger? A man’s voice shouted in pain, Bozeman yelped, and all was silent. Charles called out for help, frustrated by the thick smoke obscuring his vision. He couldn’t slash with the knife for fear he might hit Alora or Kaevin.

He heard Graely’s voice. “What is it? Kaevin? Are you still here?”

“I’m here!” Charles called out. “I lost my grip on Kaevin. But something happened to make Alora scream.”

He heard Bozeman whimpering, and knelt on the ground, groping with his left hand, knife still at the ready in his right. His fingers found fur, and he felt his way up to Bozeman’s head. The dog whined and licked his hand. As he moved his hand back down to the Golden’s side he found dampness. He felt a hand on his back and tensed his knife hand.

“Charles? Is that you?” He relaxed at Graely’s voice, sheathing his knife.

“Yes, it’s me. I don’t know what happened, but Bozeman’s bleeding. I can’t find Alora and Kaevin. I think she transported them.”

The wind shifted, thinning the dense smoke and revealing Bozeman, on his side, with a dark stain on his fur.

“This had to be Vindrake’s doing,” said Graely. “We can only hope Alora and Kaevin arrived safely at the ranch.”

“Is someone hurt?” cried Laethan, arriving behind Charles.

“It’s just my dog, Bozeman.” He bit back his emotion.

Graely gave a tight-lipped smile, examining Bozeman’s mouth. “I believe Bozeman got his teeth into Vindrake. I see blood on his mouth, but it doesn’t appear to be bleeding.”

Laethan’s face was set with grim determination as he probed Bozeman’s side, eliciting a yelp. “Good boy. I’ll take care of you. I bet you have a nasty taste in your mouth.”

*****

Kaevin opened his eyes, shivering as he lay in the cold wet snow. He shook his head and blinked, trying to clear the fog from his pounding head. He felt a body next to him. It must be Alora. Where were they? He writhed up on his elbow. Alora lay motionless next to him, her face pale and her lips blue with the cold.

“Alora!” he croaked, reaching with his bandaged hand to her face. “Alora, wake up.” He edged over to place his lips on hers when he spied the blood on her neck. Fresh red blood was flowing down, soaking into her sweater. “Alora!” Was she dead? No, he was still alive, so she must be alive as well. He placed his mouth on her unresponsive lips and kissed her. Nothing happened. Kaevin looked around desperately. He recognized this place. They were at the ranch, lying right where he’d first seen her playing in the snow. He could see the house, but it was too far away for anyone to hear him calling. Perhaps he could use her gift to take them to Jireo, like he’d done that night at the dance. He put his lips on hers and concentrated on Jireo. But nothing happened.

Kaevin could feel his strength ebbing, blackness closing in, his vision narrowing. He kept their mouths together, tasting his own salty tears as they ran down his face. With a surge of panic, he realized she was too weak. She was going to die. They were both going to die. He tried to stand. He needed to carry her to the house. But he collapsed while still on his knees, his vision swirling. He pulled himself to lie with one bandaged hand stanching the blood flow from her neck, and rested his head on her shoulder, his lips pressed to hers.

*****

“You might as well sit down,” said Beth. “There’s nothing you can do. You can’t help anything by pacing.”

“They’ve been gone too long.” Jireo responded without breaking stride. “They should’ve been back. There was another fire, and that’s no coincidence. I must find Kaevin. Before it’s too late.”

“I agree. Two fires in two different buildings. Someone had to be behind those fires,” Brian said. “Graely should’ve let me stay and help.”

“That place is dangerous,” said Karen. “I don’t want you to go back anymore.”

“I’d go back if you’d let me,” Wesley declared. “I like doing something that has meaning. In Laegenshire, I’m not just winning medals, I’m fighting against evil.”

“It’s not your fight,” argued Karen. “It would be different if you were a soldier and someone had attacked the United States, but we don’t even know these people.”

Jireo stopped to stare at her, and her face reddened. “I don’t mean anything personal by that. You understand, don’t you?”

“I never asked for your help anyway.”

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to meet Brian’s concerned eyes. Brian lowered his voice. “Don’t listen to Karen right now. She gets upset and says things she doesn’t mean. But she’s like a mother bear. She would fight off Vindrake with her bare hands if he threatened you in front of her.”

Jireo pressed his mouth shut and returned to pacing.
Wesley’s mother isn’t my concern anyway. Where is Kaevin? Why hasn’t he come back?

Brian sat beside Karen on the couch. “You married me when I was a soldier, Karen. It’s about honor. It’s in my blood, and Wesley’s too.”

“But he’s just a boy,” she objected.

“Like I said, he’ll be seventeen in a few months, and that’s how old I was when I joined up. That’s how old I was when we fell in love.”

She shut her eyes tight, squeezing them against a flood of tears.

“Mom,” said Wesley, “I just want to help—to fight for good. But you heard what Raelene said. Vindrake may have a way to come here. We can’t just run away from danger, when he could bring evil right here to Montana.”

Jireo’s heart pounded in his ears and his chest tightened. He felt an intense pain in his head. “There’s something wrong—something’s happened to Kaevin.”
He’s dying. I can feel it. I can almost see it.

“What is it? How do you know?” Beth asked. “Can you hear him?”

“I—I can see him. No, I can see Alora, in the snow. There’s blood and…”

“Snow?” cried Beth. “They must be
here
—they’re out in the snow somewhere.”

Jireo was the first one through the door. Outside, the bitter cold assaulted him, taking his breath away.

“Fan out,” said Brian. “Whistle if you find them.”

Jireo lumbered through the deep snow. He’d seen the house through Kaevin’s eyes. The vision had been from this direction. The bright moonlight illuminated something dark in the snow about a hundred yards from the house. He turned around to whistle and found Beth on his heels. She put her fingers to her mouth and let out a piercing shrill before passing him up.

He caught up with her as she reached the bodies, lying prone in the snow. So still. So much blood. A dark stain covered Alora’s neck and soaked into Kaevin’s sleeves and spilled into the snow. Without a word, Beth knelt beside them, reaching a tentative hand to Kaevin’s neck.

“Are they... are they alive?” His voice cracked.

“Kaevin’s got a pulse. Barely. So that means Alora’s alive too—for now.”

Jireo nodded, his mouth too dry to speak. He could somehow feel Kaevin’s life hanging by a thread.

Janice was the first to reach the scene, followed closely by Brian and Karen. “What do we need to do?”

“Get them warm. Keep them together. And get them to a hospital.” Beth’s voice was level and calm.

How can she speak with such authority, having only sixteen years?

“I think we should call… Mr. Whitford’s doctor friend… Dr. Sanders.” Wesley, the last to arrive at the scene, huffed out between heaving breaths. “He’ll know what to do.”

“I’ll get the car keys.” Karen hurried back toward the ranch house, wobbling with unwieldy steps in the deep snow.

Wesley and Jireo scooped the pair up from one side while Brian, Janice, and Beth supported the other, endeavoring to keep the unconscious couple in contact. With laborious effort they trekked through the snow, depositing their burdens in the back seat of the Suburban. En route to the hospital, Wesley’s father called Dr. Sanders on his home phone number, taken from an ancient Rolodex on Charles Whitford’s desk. “Dr. Sanders?” he said. “I’m Brian, a friend of Charles Whitford. We have a bit of an emergency with Alora and her friend Kaevin.”

The groan emanating from the phone was so loud everyone in the Suburban could hear it. “Please don’t say another word. I’ll meet you at the hospital. Where’s Charles?”

“He’s uhmm... he’s out of town.”

“Never mind. Forget I asked.”

*****

Jireo’s chest constricted as if three warriors were sitting on it. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Kaevin was dying. When Dr. Sanders emerged into the waiting room, Jireo was the first to reach him.

“How are they?”

“Alora’s lost a lot of blood,” said Dr. Sanders. “Her blood pressure was so low, her heart almost stopped. Another five minutes and we would’ve lost her.”

“I almost flew here in the Suburban.” Brian grimaced. “I was just praying we wouldn’t hit ice and start skidding.”

“She’s not out of the woods yet. Her blood pressure is back up, but her heart rate is too slow.”

“And what about Kaevin?” Jireo asked.

“We can’t find any injuries?” Dr. Sanders scratched his chin. “At least, we can’t find any new injuries. Nothing that would cause him to lose consciousness and decrease his heart rate. We drew blood, but the test results aren’t back yet. Could he have been poisoned?”

“It’s probably just Alora who’s injured. Kaevin’s heart was slowing down because Alora was dying.” Beth made the statement in a matter-of-fact voice, but Dr. Sanders’ mouth gaped open.

“What are you talking about?”

“Didn’t Mr. Whitford tell you about Alora and Kaevin being soulmates?” Beth wrinkled her nose. “I thought you knew about everything.”

“Don’t tell me anything I don’t have to know. I want plausible deniability.”

“But you know they need to be touching, right?” Beth grabbed his arm. “Do you have them together?”

“They’re as close as they can be in the emergency room without being on the same bed. But I don’t—”

“You don’t have them on the same bed?” Beth’s voice rose an octave. She pivoted on one foot and ran toward the double-doors leading to the emergency treatment area. Jireo followed right behind her.

“Hey! You can’t go back there!” Dr. Sanders called. But Beth never even looked over her shoulder, and Jireo stayed on her heels.

Through the doors.

Dodging a wheeled cart piled with strange items.

“Excuse me, I’m sorry.” Beth closed the curtain she’d peeked behind and flew to the next one. “Here! Jireo, in here! We can’t move Alora—she’s hooked up to an IV.”

“I’ve got him.” He hefted Kaevin’s slack form and shuffled around to place him on Alora’s bed. Jireo rolled him onto his side against her.

“Here, let me put this rail up to keep him from falling off. I need to put their hands together. Oh, I forgot about those splints on his fingers.” Beth stretched his arm out and placed Alora’s hands on his forearm.

“What are you doing?” Dr. Sanders demanded from behind them.

Beth put her hands on her hips, and her nostrils flared. “I’m saving their lives if it isn’t too late. Do you want me to explain? Or do you want
plausible deniability
? Or you can separate them and deal with a couple of dead kids.”

Dr. Sander’s mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, and his face grew progressively redder. But his gaze moved to Alora’s monitor, and he mumbled something under his breath.

“Fine. Her heart rate is rising. You’d better hope you’re right about this.” He stomped out through the curtain. “Just keep this closed, and I’ll keep the nurses out for now.”

Jireo’s muscles were wound tight.
Kaevin and Alora could still die. And even if they survived, they wouldn’t have the strength to transport. How could he communicate with Laegenshire? If only he had a sightstone, Darielle would understand the situation.

Beth slumped into a chair. “This has been a long, stressful day. I don’t know how you’re still standing.”

“I don’t know how you can sit still.”

“Ha. I have no problem resting when I get the chance.” Beth groaned as she stretched. “You know, I thought the soulmate thing was pretty romantic when I first heard about it. But I can see why all the adults say they’re too young for it. It’s kind of hard to keep them alive. Your world is dangerous already, but being soulmates really complicates things. I don’t know how any soulmate couple survives, no matter how old they are.”

Jireo lifted his shoulders. “When we first come into our gifts they seem to drain the energy from our bodies. But my father can use his gift all day without getting tired. Nordamen says it has something to do with how we channel the energy from the Stone. I think perhaps an older soulmate couple wouldn’t use the energy from their bond.”