Awakened (27 page)

We all sat around the fire later that as we tried to come up with a plan for sending
Ella back to the Alex’s parents and what story we were sending her back with. I felt
guilty, starting off my relationship with Ella with a lie, but I had made a promise,
and I was going to keep it.

I wasn’t honor-bound. This secret had the potential to kill Ella, and I wasn’t taking
that chance. Ana was a big help, and even though the situation was her fault, I needed
her, and the job as babysitter was fitting. She would handle the mess she’d made until
further notice.

“It’s been four days, and Sarah and Eric are freaking out. Ella is gone, Alex is gone,
and I moved back to my parents’, since they are back in town. We seriously need to
send her back, and fast,” Mia explained.

“I can’t believe that I’m going to have to tell them that their son is dead,” Ella
said. She snuggled up close to me, and my guilt flared.

“I’ll tell them.” I didn’t know how I could make it work, but I felt as if it were
my responsibility.

Ella shook her head. “No, I will. I think it will be better coming from me.”

Ella

It was our last night together before I went back to Sarah and Eric, and Kale and
I snuggled on the bed in our pajamas. His scent was strong and crisp.

“How do you feel about the plan, Ella?” he asked.

I nuzzled his chest, refusing to answer. We’d talked about the plan well into the
night, and now all I wanted was to be with Kale, without the interruption of our lives.

“Hey,” Kale said softly. He pulled my head from his chest and stared into my eyes.

My heart sped up so fast that I lost my breath, and Kale’s eyes took on a hooded stare.

“May I kiss you again?” His lips, soft and full, were on mine before I had a chance
to answer. Kale completely dominated the kiss. His hand left my hair and traced a
warm path down my side.

He pulled back slightly, then kissed my cheek and slid his mouth to my ear. “You don’t
have to do anything you don’t want to do,” he whispered, kissing the outer shell of
my ear.

I quivered in response. There were so many things that I wanted from Kale, but this
was still something I wasn’t ready for. I knew that I was falling in love with him,
and that I wanted him to be my first, but it wasn’t the time. I was about to go through
so much emotionally with Alex’s parents, and I didn’t want that to interfere with
a special moment like this.

“I just want to keep kissing you, Kale.” I threaded my fingers through his. “I won’t
see you for three or four weeks, and I really want to enjoy this time with you now.”
I smiled as I thought of those three weeks without him.

“Hey,” Kale kissed my chin. “It’ll be okay. I’ll be here when you get back, and then
we’ll figure out our future together.” He pulled me closer to his side. I could barely
breathe, but that was all right.

“What’s to figure out?” I asked. “We are going to be together and live happily ever
after.” I smiled. As silly as the childish comment sounded, I was actually looking
forward to a happily ever after or something similar. I knew our lives would be nothing
close to normal, but I was willing to live that kind of life if it meant being with
Kale.

He rolled over and placed his hands behind his head. “There is more than just that,
but luckily, we have more than enough time to figure it out.” Kale didn’t sound completely
convinced.

Something in his voice made me prop myself on my elbow to see him in the moonlight
that shone through the window.

“What is it that you are worried about, Kale?”

A knock on the door saved him from having to answer me. He jumped off the bed and
headed to the door. I glanced at the clock. Who would be at the door at two a.m.,
and why?

Kale pulled the door open a crack, just enough for him to see and not me.

“Hey, man, you got a second?” I heard Deacon ask.

Kale looked back at me. “I’ll just be a second.” He went out and shut the door tight
behind him.

I resisted the urge to go see what was going on. I trusted that Kale would tell me
about it. We were past the protective lies and headed into a relationship where we
could both depend on each other for honesty.

I stood up and stretched. Later that day, I was headed back to what had been my home
since my stay in Ocean Trace, and even though I was headed back with bad news and
lies, I was a bit eager to go. I missed Lea, Eric, and Sarah, and I was beyond grateful
for their generosity. I wanted to show them that.

I headed to the window and stared out into the back yard. I couldn’t help but think
that all I was giving them in return for the hospitality were lies and a dead son.
How could l look them in the face and tell them that I was thankful, but after I sold
my parents’ home, I was leaving, never to return? I had at once thought that I’d be
able to visit them over the years. I’d probably have a good five to eight years before
questions about my graceful aging would arise, but I was a coward. I didn't have the
courage to return to a home that I’d helped destroy.

Kale came up with my cover story, a good one. I had gotten ahold of a cell phone and
called Alex for help, and he came to my rescue. Alex was always protective of me,
and that protectiveness had gotten him killed.

I pressed my face against the cool glass and took a few deep breaths. I wanted to
run away from all this, but I couldn’t. I wasn’t that type of person anymore. I’d
face my new problems head-on, no matter how much it hurt. I would solve them, not
leave them unattended and forgotten—which reminded me that I needed to talk to Kale
about what I’d learned from Laurent. He might have been a murderous creep, but he
had taught me how to control my visions and told me the truth about my mother and
father.

I moved to the dresser that held Kale’s cell phone and pulled it out. He had Mia’s
number in it, and I wanted to text her to see if she was okay, I thought better of
it when I remembered the time. I didn’t want to wake her up, but I needed to talk
to someone, anyone.

I paced the room, waiting for Kale to come back. The longer I was alone, the more
time I had to mull over everything that had happened. Realizing that the only escape
from my thoughts was out in the living room—where I had assumed Kale and Deacon were—I
grabbed one of Kale’s hoodies and threw it on over my tank.

I opened the door and quietly walked down the hall into the living room, but Deacon
and Kale weren’t there. I went back down the hall and placed my ear against the closed
door to the study where Kale had allowed Jace to stay, but I heard nothing. As I straightened
and started to turn, the door to the study opened.

“Hello.” Jace leaned against the doorjamb and looked down at me. He was still fully
dressed in his fatigues, even at two in the morning. His hair was ruffled, and his
eyes were slightly closed, as if he’d just woken up.

I raised an eyebrow at him. I hadn’t talked to him in almost four days, and that wasn’t
going to change now.

As I turned to leave, Jace grabbed my elbow and gently pulled me back him.

“Let go of me,” I said through clenched teeth.

“Forgive me.”

“Are you serious?” I asked, amazed. “Are you really asking me to forgive you for whatever
part you played in my parent’s death?”

Jace watched me with worried eyes and shook his head. “No, I mean for touching you
without your permission.”

“Oh, and not for killing my mother and father?” I yelled.

Jace reached out again—I took another step back.

“Ella, I didn’t kill them. There are plenty of things that I have done to find you,
but murder was never one of those things.” Jace sounded defensive yet sincere, but
I had been lied to too many times. Jace cleared his throat and started to continue
speaking.

I didn’t let him. “Listen.” I moved closer to him. “I don’t want to hear any of your
crap. You may not have killed them, but all this time you knew, you
knew
what had happened to them, and you didn’t tell me.”

I ran my hands through my hair. I was so tired of being lied to or having secrets
kept from me. “You were never going to tell me, were you?” Anger dripped from my voice.

There was a long moment of silence.

“No. I wasn’t going to tell you, but I knew you would find out,” he admitted.

I stared, shocked. I hadn’t expected Jace to tell me the truth.

“I knew what Aleixandre had done, and I still tried to take you to him. I still believed
that we could protect you. I still believe we can. What Aleixandre did was wrong on
so many levels, but you still needed to be protected, and the Council has the ability
to do it. ” He released a deep breath. “My mistake was in not being honest, Ella.”

“You knew that her parents had been murdered by Aleixandre, and you were still planning
to take her to him?” Kale thundered behind me. “This was why you were angry with the
Council when we rescued you.”

“Yes.” I knew he wasn’t asking.

“And you didn’t talk to me about this, why?” Kale approached us. He moved differently
when angry. His usual slow and easy gait turned strong, determined.

He towered over me. His jaw clenched, and his fists balled tightly at his sides.

“I thought that we had more important things to worry about, and I was worried about
your reaction.” I heard the nervous shake to my voice. I was worried, but more than
that, I knew that Jace didn’t kill my parents. He’d only received my anger because
the two men who had killed my parents weren’t available, and because he represented
the man who ordered the hit.

I glanced over my shoulder to see the unapologetic look in Jace’s eyes.

“I said that I realized—”

“The question now is if you realize what I will do to you if you don’t leave my property,”
Kale said menacingly as he moved closer to Jace. “I wonder if you understand the position
you have now put me in.”

Jace laughed, but I saw nothing funny about the situation.

Kale looked dangerously similar to the Chorý that had taken Alex’s life. His eyes
had darkened to obsidian, his chest expanded, and his fangs—which I’d never seen before—extended
past his lips. My heart pounded in my chest, and I backed into Jace, who placed his
hands on my shoulders.

“Don’t worry, Ella. We knew that
la Luxure
would one day be more than he could bear. Kale knew when we rescued you. He wasn’t
sure I was telling the truth, though.” Jace pulled me closer, protectively, and I
allowed it. I didn’t want Kale to do to Jace what the other Chorý had done to Alex.

I had only feared Kale once, and that was at the lodge when I thought Kale was going
to bite me.

Kale smiled, revealing sharp white fangs. He reached for me. “Come here,” he requested,
his voice soothing and warm.

“Don’t do that to her,” Jace said as I tried to move away from him. Jace pulled me
back.

I shook my head, trying to erase the fuzzy feeling, and looked at Kale in disbelief.
He had once again used Enthrallment on me. “You have to be kidding me!”

Deacon came around the corner and glanced at everyone in confusion. His gaze landed
on Kale, and he froze. “Man, you aren’t looking so well. What’s going on?”

Kale didn’t take his eyes off of me. Jace pulled me behind him. The black stare was
unnerving, and even though I was angry, I could still see something was seriously
wrong. Kale was acting odd, and Deacon looked worried.

I peeked at Kale from behind Jace’s shoulder and winced at the anger I saw there.

“It seems that the trust we had has once again become strained, Ella,” Kale said,
his voice deep and taut. “Why is that? Jace?” His emotionless expression looked as
hard as stone.

I cleared my throat and looked to Deacon, who was heading toward Kale.

“Look, man. I think we need to calm down a bit.” He glanced at Jace and frowned. “Let
Ella come over here to me. Kale is fine. He’s just angry, that’s all.” Deacon looked
at me with pleading eyes and motioned for me to come to him. As I moved, Jace held
up his arm, trapping me behind him and against the wall.

“She can stay here. Kale, when was the last time you fed the beast?” Jace asked tonelessly.
I didn’t think that Jace was afraid of Kale, even with that predatory glare.

“Look, just to defuse the situation that I can see coming from a mile away, let her
come over here. You and Kale can handle this mess without Ella being in the crossfire,”
Deacon reasoned, and it sounded great to me. Kale’s agitation was worsening, and it
was making me nervous.

Jace shook his head again. “Over my dead body.” He growled.

“Fitting words, seeing how that is exactly what is about to happen.” Kale sounded
sinister.

Things didn’t slow down, my life didn’t flash before my eyes, and even though I had
time to move when Kale leapt into the air and landed on Jace, I froze. In what could
have been a flashback to Alex’s death, Kale sank his teeth into Jace’s neck with a
snarl that made me scream. Deacon moved so fast and reached to pull me out. I hadn’t
even noticed that I was once again pinned between a wall and a crazed Chorý and immortal.

Deacon kicked Kale in the side. Kale grunted as his teeth left Jace’s neck, with a
sickening sound of ripped flesh.

Deacon grabbed my arm and flung me toward the bedroom door. “Get in there, and lock
it, now!”

I did exactly as told and slammed the door behind me. I leaned against it and tried
to still my heart, which beat so hard in my chest that it hurt. I fought the tears
and closed my eyes.

Bad move. I could see Alex’s face as it changed from anger to panic to utter fear.
I saw his face pale and his eyes pleading with me to run. I remembered how I’d run
until it felt my heart would explode into pieces.

“I can’t let this happen again,” I whispered, but what could I do? I couldn’t let
the Luxure or whatever it was kill our chance to be together. This wasn’t the first
time that Kale had struggled with it. Back in the cemetery—Kale had been struck with
the urge then, too, but he’d gotten over it. There had to be a way to pull him out
of it again.