Return (Awakened Fate Book 3) (14 page)

He directed the last question to me.

I hesitated.

“You’re safe, Chloe,” he repeated. “So please, is this why people have tried to hurt you?”

I swallowed, wishing I knew whether I could trust the words. “Not exactly.”

His brow drew down. I shifted uncomfortably in the seat.

“There’s this, um, cult. Of dehaians. They,” I glanced to Mom and Dad, “they think I’m some kind of monster. They were trying to kill me. S-sacrifice me, actually.”

His brow rose again. “Sacrifice.”

I nodded. “They came after us at the cabin. Shot Dad.” I twitched my head toward the sling on his arm. “And then some others pretended to be EMTs. They took me and Baylie. Knocked her out, held a knife to her to keep me quiet, and then… and then injected me with a drug. Made me change like one of them, so I… I had to get, you know, underwater or I’d…”

Fidgeting, I trailed off. It felt weird to tell someone what’d happened. Someone who was only slightly less than a stranger, anyway.

“That’s where I was this week,” I finished uncomfortably.

He didn’t say anything for a moment. “And so the one with the odd stab wounds…”

Blinking, I dropped my gaze to my lap. “It was an accident. He had the needle. He was trying to stick it in my neck.”

The chief drew a breath and then let it out slowly. “Okay.” He glanced to my parents. “But this cult, they’re not going to be coming to Reidsburg. They’ll stay in California?”

I nodded.

“So we’ll just focus on keeping you safe around here. If that man today wasn’t related to this, then we just need to make sure–”

He cut off when I made a small noise. “What?”

“There… there is one other problem.”

He waited.

I shifted in the chair, trying to figure out what to say since I didn’t want to bring up Noah, what he was, or risk my parents letting slip anything about the same. “Earl is connected to this. He’s part of a… a group. They hunt dehaians. To, you know, kill them. On the way home, I ran into him. But there are others who followed me back here too.”

“Chloe, you didn’t tell us this,” Mom protested.

I hesitated. “Sorry.”

The chief watched me. “Do you know where these others are?”

I shook my head. “They were in a maroon SUV, though. There’s five of them. They were at Baylie’s house yesterday.”

The chief’s brow rose. “Them?”

I nodded.

“And the man who broke into the Mitchell’s today was with them?”

I hesitated. “I think they know each other.”

“Have those other guys tried to hurt you? Threatened you? Baylie’s family is pressing charges after how those boys roughed her up, but if there’s something they’ve done to you that we could use to be rid of them even faster…”

He left the idea hanging. I shook my head.

“But your–” Mom started, her gaze going to my scarf.

“That was Earl.”

An incredulous gasp escaped her as she looked away.

The chief’s gaze went between us. “What are we talking about here?”

I grimaced. My fingers pulled down the edge of the scarf.

His brow rose again.

“He tried to strangle me.”

The chief regarded me for a moment, his gaze going between my face and my neck, and then he appeared to push aside whatever had gone through his mind.

“Why don’t you go back down the hall to your friends, Chloe?” he suggested. “Your parents and I… we need to talk.”

I hesitated, glancing to Mom and Dad. “Um, okay…”

Dad gave me a small nod. Tugging the scarf back into place, I rose to my feet.

“Chloe,” the chief added when I reached the door.

I looked back.

“Really glad you’re home.”

I managed a smile. Nervousness still twisting my stomach, I left the office.

Chapter Nine

Zeke

The clock on the wall was the loudest thing in the room.

On the chairs beside the front door, Chloe’s friend Baylie sat next to her stepbrother, Noah, while on the sole other chair in the room, his mother read a magazine. Behind a window to the next room, Gladys, the middle-aged woman who’d offered us all sodas and candy from her office, now studied something on her computer screen. Meanwhile, I leaned against the wall nearby, too edgy to sit down even if there had been a seat to take and struggling to keep myself from pacing.

Chloe hadn’t had the chance to tell the others that the older policeman and his nephew were landwalkers. Or that, if they found out what she was, they might try to hurt her.

Like almost everyone else.

It was infuriating. My ‘get Chloe to safety’ plan wasn’t exactly going according to plan. In fact, it’d gone merrily to hell at every turn. From bringing her to Nyciena to getting her home now, there always seemed to be
somebody
waiting for their chance at her.

I was beginning to think taking her to the Arctic Circle was the only solution. At least it’d get her away from everyone who wanted her dead.

Among other things.

My gaze flicked to Noah. I pulled it away again. He didn’t matter. Not where anything besides Chloe’s safety was concerned.

Though in my book, there was a good chance that meant safety from him.

I shifted position on the wall. He’d helped us escape from Earl. I appreciated that. But his kind had been created to kill us, and most of them seemed pretty damn obsessed with it. Even if he claimed not to be like them, I wasn’t sure I cared. It still didn’t exactly make him the type of person you wanted to keep around.

And I was really tired of Chloe having people who might decide they wanted her dead around.

A click came from the handle of the hallway door. I shrugged away from the wall while Noah and Baylie both straightened.

Chloe came out.

She looked pale. Shaken. With a tight smile to Gladys, she let the door shut behind her.

But as she started across the room, she suddenly paused. Her gaze twitched from me to Noah, an uncomfortable look flickering over her face.

“Hey there,” Noah’s mom said encouragingly as she set her magazine aside. She rose and motioned for Chloe to take her seat.

Chloe crossed the small space quickly and sank into the chair. “Thanks,” she murmured.

“What happened?” Baylie asked nervously.

Chloe glanced to Noah’s mother and the woman behind the window. “It… it was fine.”

Her voice sounded like it’d been anything but.

I studied her as she sat there, not quite looking at any of us while obviously uneasy thoughts made her brow twitch down. I wanted to press for more, to find out if he knew about her, if she thought he was dangerous, or more specifically if we should be getting the hell out of here right now, but there wasn’t a way. Noah’s mom hovered nearby, while through the window, Gladys was watching us all with an expression of equally maternal concern.

We couldn’t exactly bring up dehaians and landwalkers.

“You okay?” Noah’s mom asked. “Can I get you anything?”

Chloe hesitated. “A pop would be nice.”

The woman nodded. She headed for Gladys.

Chloe watched her go, and then looked to me. “He knows,” she whispered.

A breath pressed from my chest. “Do we need to leave?” I responded, my voice equally low.

She gave a tiny, helpless shrug. “I’m not sure. He said he understood why Mom and Dad, you know, let him believe the other thing. And he doesn’t seem like he–”

Chloe cut off as Noah’s mom came back. Taking the can, she managed another tight smile. “Thanks, Sandra.”

“Of course.”

Opening the can, Chloe didn’t say anything else. She sat there, not taking a drink, with her fingers wrapped around the metal.

I drew a breath and looked back to the hallway door. She might be right, but I wasn’t happy taking chances like this.

In her chair, Baylie shifted position and my gaze flicked to her. On the opposite side of the small room, she and Noah were both watching us, wary curiosity on their faces.

“So Chloe, I was thinking,” Sandra said into the quiet. Chloe glanced up at her. “If it works for your parents, I’d like to have you and your family over for dinner tonight. Maybe just some pizza, salad, that sort of thing? Or we could come to your house, if that’d be more comfortable for you?”

Chloe gave a small nod. “Dinner would be great. Thanks.”

Sandra smiled.

Silence fell over the room again. The clock kept ticking on the wall.

The hallway door opened. Chloe’s parents came out, the older policeman behind them.

They looked tense.

But then, for them, I was starting to suspect that was normal.

While the cop stopped by the window to talk to Gladys, Chloe’s parents headed for the exit as though they couldn’t get out of the station fast enough.

“Chloe, come on,” Bill called.

Eyeing them warily, she set the can aside and rose to her feet.

Bill and Linda were already on their way out the door.

“Bye, folks,” the cop said as we followed them. “I’ll be in touch soon.”

Linda paused and looked back. “Goodbye,” she replied, an anxious smile hovering around her tight mouth. “And thank you.”

He nodded.

My brow drew down warily, but with that, she just hurried outside.

Sunlight glared in our eyes after the artificial light of the station. In a silent group, we walked around the corner to the cars, with Sandra the only one of us who didn’t look distracted or anxious as hell. Noah and Baylie were scanning the area around us, presumably keeping an eye out for his cousins, while Bill and Linda just seemed on a mission to get us out of there sooner than yesterday.

“Guys, what’s going on?” Chloe asked nervously when we reached the sedan.

Bill didn’t respond. “Sandra? Would you all mind watching the house for a few days?”

Curiosity flickered through the woman’s eyes. “Uh, yeah. Sure.”

He nodded. “Thanks.”

“Wait, where are we going?” Chloe asked.

“Chief Reynolds convinced us there are some people it’d be good for you to see,” her mother answered. “He thinks they can help you.”

“What people?”

Linda hesitated. “We can talk more on the way.”

Chloe didn’t move. “Are they the people you told me about yesterday?” she asked, choosing her words carefully. “The ones you talked to about stuff?”

“Yes.”

She looked to me. “I-I don’t want to–”

“Chloe,” her dad interrupted. “It’s for the best.”

She stared at him, as though incredulous of how that could be.

“Who is this?” Noah asked cautiously.

“Um, they’re like–”

“Chloe!” her father barked.

She blinked in shock at his furious glare.

“It’d be better for Chloe if she had her friends around, right?” Baylie interjected. “I mean, she’s been through a lot and–”

“Honey,” Sandra began. “I don’t know if–”

“Yeah,” Noah cut in. “We can come with you. Follow in Baylie’s car.”

Linda made a nervous noise, her expression edging toward fear.

My brow twitched down. She almost seemed scared of Noah.

Like she knew what he was.

“This is not your business, young man,” Bill said firmly. “Or yours, Baylie. I appreciate your concern for my daughter, but as you said, she’s been through a lot.”

He motioned Chloe toward the car.

“Why do I need to see them?” Chloe asked.

Bill’s glare deepened and I felt my blood pressure rise. “We are
not
going to discuss this here,” he stated.

Chloe’s gaze flicked to Sandra and then away. “I don’t want to go anywhere. I just got here and–”

“This is not a debate!” Bill snapped.

She stopped, a breath escaping her at his tone. I could see her shaking, and more than anything, I wanted to just pull her away from here and leave.

Because protecting her from things didn’t just mean glowing behemoths and Sylphaen.

“This is really the best thing for you, Chloe,” Linda added, her expression begging Chloe to believe her. “Please just get in the car.”

For a heartbeat, Chloe stared at them.

And then, without a word, she turned and climbed into the sedan. I followed, circling the car to the other door and never taking my eyes from her parents as I got in.

Outside, I could hear Bill talking to Sandra, while Noah and Baylie looked to Chloe through the darkened windows. Linda was back to clenching her hands, studying them all and her daughter with an expression like she wished they were already driving away.

Chloe didn’t take her eyes from her lap.

I reached over, brushing her leg with my fingers and then taking her hand when she moved it toward mine.

Bill and Linda got into the car, and Bill’s face darkened at the sight of me holding Chloe’s hand. I met his gaze flatly and, after a heartbeat, he turned his attention to the sedan. No one said a word as the engine started and Bill pulled the vehicle from the tiny parking lot.

I cast a quick glance back. Noah and Baylie were getting into Sandra’s car.

The drive to the house was short, and when he parked the sedan in the garage, Bill spared Chloe a look in the rearview mirror.

“Go inside and pack a bag. We’re leaving immediately.”

She raised her gaze to his reflection. “Why are you doing this?” she asked, the resentment in her voice so tired, she almost sounded as though she didn’t expect a response.

And he didn’t give her one. “I said go.”

He pushed open the door and left the car, with Linda doing the same a moment later.

Chloe let out a breath, and I couldn’t tell if she was about to laugh or cry. “Well, that didn’t last long.”

My brow furrowed. “What?”

“Them. Not being them.”

At that, she opened the door.

“Chloe.”

She paused, turning her head back toward me.

“You don’t have to go,” I said. “We could leave. We don’t need to stay here if it’s just going to be dangerous for you too.”

She gave a tiny shrug of futility. “Where else is there?”

“North. The Atlantic. I don’t know. The point is, we don’t have to be here.”

“And what? You’d stay with me?”

“Yes.”

Chloe looked pained. Grateful, but pained, and she shook her head. “I can’t keep you from your family like that, Zeke. It’s… it’s not fair. Ina and Jirral and… I just can’t.” The futile expression returned. “And I don’t know anybody anywhere else.”