Oblivion (2 page)

I nod.

“Who was it?” she asks.

“I don’t know,” I say, and shrug. “Probably Raine’s

side. But whoever it was, it’s bad. Real y bad. Reed

told me to get you out of there, so you know he must

have been desperate.” I look around again, but I

don’t see anything except smoke and trees. “The

only problem is, I have no idea where we are.”

Another explosion rocks the forest, shaking the

ground underneath our feet.

There’s a flash of red-orange light from the direction

of the amphitheatre, and a large plume of black

smoke starts pouring into the sky.

“Come on,” Natalia says, taking my hand. “I know

where we can go.”

I take Cam back to the cottage, the one where

Danata and her friends were practicing their magic. I

don’t know that it’s the best plan – we should

probably be trying to get out of the woods and back

to our cars – but with the compound being under

siege, I don’t know what else to do.

We dart through the trees, staying close to the

ground, ducking when we see firebal s shooting

through the sky. It’s terrifying, but I’m able to take

smal comfort in the fact that whatever kind of attack

this is, it’s obviously bigger than me and Cam. With

the amount of destruction that’s going on, it seems

like Raine’s side is set on destroying the whole

compound. I’m not even sure they know that Cam

and I are here – but if they figure it out, who knows

what they’l do?

“What is this place?” Cam asks as we climb the front

steps of the cottage.

“Some of the younger witches live here.” I hold my

breath and knock, not real y expecting anyone to be

there. Most people were back at the amphitheatre,

watching the bond breaking ceremony. After a

second goes by with no response, I turn the knob,

open the door, and step inside.

I’m standing in the living room. It’s smal , but nicely

furnished, with an ivory couch, and two oak rocking

chairs. The wal s are covered with black and white

prints of beach scenes, and a red and green striped

shag rug sits on the shiny hardwood floor.

“How do you know who lives here?” Cam asks,

coming into the house behind me.

“I met them earlier.”

“When you were with Reed?”

I can see the hurt in his eyes, and I feel my heart

squeeze in my chest. “Yes,” I say, “when I was with

Reed.” I want to say that I never should have gone

with him, that I shouldn’t have left Cam alone with

Raine. But before I can say anything, Cam shuts the

door behind him, turns the lock, and heads toward

the kitchen.

“Come on,” he says. “We have to pack.”

“Pack?” I fol ow him to the back of the house, into a

large kitchen decorated in shades of orange and

green.

“Yeah.” He opens some of the cabinets, which look

to be fil ed with cans of food.

“Help me find a backpack or something to carry

these in.”

“What are we packing for?” I ask, rummaging around

under the sink and emerging with a mesh grocery

bag.

“In case we get caught out there,” he says. “Or in

case we have to hide.”

I frown. “What do you mean, caught out there?” I sit

down at one of the wooden stools in front of the

Formica-covered breakfast bar. “I think we should

just lay low until the firebal s calm down, and then try

to find our way back to your car.”

He turns around and looks at me in astonishment.

“Lay low and then find our way back to my car?” he

repeats.

“You think we should find mine instead?” I ask. “I

mean, at some point we’l have to find both of them,

but I figured yours would be closer.”

He sighs and sets the can of soup he’s holding down

on the counter. He crosses the kitchen, and sits

down on the stool next to me. “Nat,” he says, taking

my hand. “I’m not sure getting out of here’s going to

be as easy as you think.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, a cold feeling of dread

rising up through my body.

“No one’s looking for us yet.”

“We don’t know that,” he says. “I think we have to be

“We don’t know that,” he says. “I think we have to be

prepared for anything.”

He takes my hand. “Right now Raine’s side is

focused on fighting Reed and his men, that’s true.

But at some point, they might figure out we’re here,

and when they do, they’re probably going to come

after us.” He sighs and closes his eyes, then runs the

fingers of his free hand through his hair. He looks

tired, and there’s stubble on his cheeks. “Not to

mention we just tried to go against your side. We

tried to go against Reed. So we’re in double danger

now. It’s us against everyone.”

“We had no choice!” I say, standing up. “Cam, they

were going to kil you and Raine, they were going to

–“

“Hey, hey, hey,” he says, grabbing me around the

waist and pul ing me down onto his lap. “Calm

down.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, burying my head in his neck. “I’m

just so sick of this.” I start to cry, and he lets me,

stroking my hair and letting me get it al out. It’s a

huge relief to final y be able to let go, to not have to

pretend, to be able to admit that I’m terrified and

frustrated and angry.

“Shh,” Cam says, “Shhh.” He kisses my cheeks, and

brushes my hair away from my face. We sit like that

for a moment, our foreheads touching, our eyes

closed. His presence calms me, and after a few

minutes, I start to feel better.

“I’m sorry,” I say again.

“You don’t ever have to apologize for how you feel.”

He kisses me again, his lips sending a mil ion

explosions down to my toes. “Natalia,” he whispers,

“when I was up there, on that stage, and I thought… I

thought I was going to die, al I could think about was

you.” I don’t say anything. My heart is beating fast,

and there’s a current of energy pulsing through my

body. “I kept thinking that I was going to die before I

got to talk to you again.” He pul s back and looks into

my eyes. “Before I got to tel you that I love you.”

His words send shivers up my spine. “I love you, too,”

I say softly.

And then his lips are back on mine, and I lose myself

in his kiss. In that moment, nothing is wrong – Cam

and I are just two people, two people who just told

each other they love each other for the first time, two

people who can’t believe they found each other.

I want to keep kissing him forever.

But I have to pul back. Because there’s a knock on

the door.

I move away from Cam, and he puts his finger to his

lips, signaling me to be quiet. I freeze, afraid if I

move even one mil imeter, whoever’s outside wil be

able to hear me.

The knock comes again, harder this time. And then,

someone tries the doorknob.

Cam’s eyes are locked on mine, and I know what

he’s thinking. Stay quiet, stay stil , but if it comes

down to it, we’re going to have to fight. I see his gaze

flick around the kitchen, and I can tel he’s scanning

the room, looking for something we can use as a

weapon if we have to.

Another knock comes from the door, and again, the

rattle of the knob. And then the sound of a key turning

in the lock. Cam’s eyes widen, and we both stand

up, ready to run. But before we can, a familiar figure

steps into the cottage.

“Hel o?” a female voice cal s out. Danata.

I let out the huge breath I’ve been holding.

“Oh,” I say in relief. “It’s you.”

“Yes,” she says, looking surprised. “It’s me. What are

you doing here?” She sets her bag down on the

table by the door, and goes to curtsy again, but I stop

her.

“You don’t need to do that,” I say, blushing as Cam

gives me a ‘
what the hell is
up with that?’
kind of

look. “This is Danata,” I tel him. “She lives here. It’s

okay, she’s on our side.” I turn back to her. “What’s

going on out there?” I ask.

She crosses into the kitchen and sits across from us

at the breakfast bar. “It’s an ambush,” she says, her

face serious. “From the other side. They’ve come to

get Raine.”

“But Raine was going to surrender,” I say.

“Wel , apparently someone didn’t like that.” Danata

shrugs, then looks down at her lap. “Everyone’s

searching for you.” I know what she means. Raine’s

side is looking for me. And my own side, led by

Reed, is looking for me, too. They both want the

same thing -- to capture me, to use me so that they

can become more powerful. It’s exactly like Cam

said. There’s no one we can trust.

“We have to get you out of here,” Cam says,

squeezing my hand.

“How?” I ask. Outside, I can stil here the firebal s

flying overhead, punctuated by explosions and

yel ing in the distance.

“You were right, we need to get back to one of our

cars.”

“Do you know where your car is from here?” I ask. “I

parked mine on the path coming in from the

highway.” I think about it. “But I don’t know how to get

back there.”

“I can show you,” Danata says.

I look at her, startled. “What?”

“I can help you,” she says, “I can show you how to get

back to your car.”

Cam and I look at each other, and I can tel we’re

both thinking the same thing.

Can we trust her?

“Why would you do that?” I ask.

“Because.” She looks down at the floor, playing with

her hands. “I want to help you. I don’t think it’s right

what Reed’s doing.”

I hesitate, not sure what to do. On one hand, I don’t

know if she’s tel ing the truth. On the other hand, if

she
is
tel ing the truth, I can certainly use the help –

but at the same time, I don’t want to be responsible

for getting her involved in this. I shake my head. “No,”

I say, “I can’t let you do that.”

“Why not?” she asks, and for the first time, I hear a

little bit of fire in her voice.

She sits up straight and throws her shoulders back,

like she’s daring me to tel her she can’t do

something.

“Because you’l be in danger,” I say.

Cam nods. “Nat’s right,” he says. “But if you can just

tel us how to get --”

There’s a knock on the door. It’s a different knock

than the one that came a few moments ago, when it

was Danata. This knock is loud. Hard. Forceful.

Cam and I freeze again. But Danata springs into

action. “Stay here,” she whispers, and heads to the

door.

“No,” I whisper back, shaking my head. I reach for

her arm to try and stop her, but she’s out of my reach

and before I know it, she’s at the door.

“Hel o?” I hear her say when she opens it. “Oh, hi,

soldier.” From her casual tone, I’m guessing it’s one

of Reed’s men, and not one of the intruders from

Raine’s side.

“Your name, please?” a gruff male voice asks.

“Danata Richel e,” she says.

“You live here?” he asks. “You’re in training?

“Yes,” she says, her voice back to sounding young

and innocent.

“You mind if I search the premises?”

My heart drops and I feel the adrenaline start to

pump through my body. Cam reaches out and grabs

my hand. He motions toward the back door, letting

me know that we should be ready to run. But the

cottage is smal , and if we get up, the soldier wil

most definitely hear us. Even if we could outrun him,

once he got on his walkie talkie and notified

everyone else, we wouldn’t stand a chance.

“Why do you have to search the house?” Danata

asks. “I’m the only one here.”

“We’re looking for Natalia and Campbel ,” the soldier

says. “And I’ve been instructed to search

everywhere.”

“It’s awful what happened at the bond breaking

ceremony,” Danata says. “I was so scared.” Her

voice stil sounds shy and innocent. The firebal s that

have been shaking the forest seem to have stopped

for the time being, and I can hear her loud and clear.

“Yes,” the soldier says, “it was awful. Now if you

could – ”

“Do you think we’re in danger?” Danata says. “Are

they going to blow up the whole compound?”

“I seriously doubt it,” the soldier says. “Reed is

preparing the army as we speak.

Now if you’l let me in, I’l have a look around, and