Second Chances (The Extinct Race Series) (12 page)

“I felt half-bloods
. Well I felt a pull as soon as I got close enough to a couple men walking down the street and took off.” Penny said

“You did good pumpkin
. They just opened fire when they felt us I guess. They can’t see us so it had to be on feel.” Charles said

“Call all the patrols back 200 yards and get them binoculars or something.
I will not have any of my family being shot at when we are at home. You all are my family and I will NOT lose one of you! Kaiden get them some bullet proof vest or something!” Zoe cried

“Charles and Mateo please take care of the Queens wishes.
I am going to take her away from this and have a little alone time. I will see you all at dinner. Gabe, Christian, and Sebastian are you all well?” Kaiden asked

“Yes we are great now.”
Christian said

“Good that scared the crap out of me.”
Kaiden said and took Zoe’s hand and walked toward the mountain.

Chapter 12

Caves

It was almost time for Marjorie to start heading to Grace’s house to meet Zoe. Kaiden remembered this as he was walking hand and hand with Zoe toward the forest that surrounded the mountain. He pulled out his cell and quickly called her asking her to take the back roads into the other entrance and to meet Grace at the barracks. He explained that there was an accident and Grace was alright, but at the barracks and that Zoe was unavailable, so to leave all the things with Grace. He also explained that there might be a danger going the normal way, and just wanted to see to her safety.

After
Kaiden hung up Zoe was quiet in thought as they walked. Today really shook her up and for the first time she felt unease within the border. She now knew that if they surrounded the border, although the half-bloods and Dragons could not see through it, they could still feel them if they were near. They shot blindly into the border and it wounded them. If they got more aggressive, it could get worse. She worried about the men that were currently on patrol. She absolutely did not want anyone hurt while they were supposed to be safe within the border.

Kaiden felt her worry and was trying to pull her away from it.
He knew that the cave his parents took him to as a child was on this mountain somewhere, he just didn’t know where. He knew they were going to have to shift to find it though.

“Angel, I would like to try and find the cave with you today.
I think after training and with everything that happened today that we need to step away and relax a little. Then we are going to have to talk about things.”

“Yes I could use a little time before things start to get hectic.
I know they already are, but I need to think.”

The
y walked into the wooded area and stripped their clothing off. Zoe was the first to turn and Kaiden was not far behind her. They were quiet as they shifted and took flight. They circled around the mountain in unison from the lowest to the highest point. It took them a long while before Kaiden noticed something familiar.

There was a wall of ivy hanging on the side of the mountain near the top.
Trees were also scattered around this area, but the wall of ivy is what caught Kaiden’s eye. He didn’t notice the ivy wall the first four passes they did. It seemed to blend in with the green of the surrounding trees. Kaiden slowed in flight and began to hover looking at the ivy wall in wonder.

Angel I think this is it

I will follow you baby

Kaiden swooped down and slowed when he got
to the ivy wall. He swiped with his claw and the ivy parted. It did not break and fall it just moved and revealed the cave within. There was a small ledge before the ivy wall. Kaiden landed on the ledge and half his body was inside the cave and the other half was outside on the ledge. He shifted and was then standing on the ledge in his human form. Zoe was still hovering behind him and she started towards Kaiden. While she was coming towards him she shifted in midair and landed next to him. Kaiden chuckled and they walked through the ivy wall hand in hand

Once inside Zoe gasped as the beauty of the cave was revealed to her
. The cave itself was massive. There was a huge open area with a ledge at the top that over looked the huge pool below it. The ceiling was dark, but had lots of shimmering rock inside that caught the sun from somewhere overhead and lit up the cave. They could see all around them and even to the bottom of the huge pool, as the shining rocks were also lining the pool.

“Race you in!”
Zoe yelled as she ran to the pool and jumped in. Kaiden was right behind her as he dove in the water. They both went to the bottom and back up. They played and splashed around for a while. They were both happy and it felt peaceful within the cave especially in the water. A few times Kaiden got out and went to the top of the ledge to jump off. Zoe wasn’t afraid to do it. She was just enjoying the kid in Kaiden come out and shine.

“This is really nice in here Kaiden.
I am glad we found it and you brought me with you.” Zoe said

“I have
wanted to find this cave with you since we got here. I just lost track of time.”

“Kaiden why do you think the half-bloods are back?”
She asked

“I don’t know, but it is sooner than I expected in all honesty.
We took out a lot of his men.” Kaiden said as he swam to the edge and propped himself on a small ledge within the pool and pulled Zoe into his lap.

“Kaiden we really need to come up with a solid plan and start researching more.
I have been having fun with the clothes and planning of the houses, but we are losing sight of what we have to do. Mr. Steinman is only one man and there are plenty of us. I think we need to order a ton of computers and have everyone searching any kinds of leads. The internet may help us find them faster.” Zoe explained

“
You’re right as always. I have him looking more actively for Ben’s soul mate than I do anyone else. Now that we have the name of the Fire male we need to look him up and find him. His mother left with him, so maybe he knows about us. Then we need to use him to find his soul mate. We will have Water and Earth to find after that.” Kaiden said

“I just feel so lost Kaiden.
I don’t even know how we are going to find them. Gabe, he knew Justine was in the states and he drove for years. He went to every town and city from east to west. You had a general idea of where I was, and you had the names of my parents. Vivi she went out on feeling and just got lucky. Tia and John got lucky too. But I guess when there is illegal fighting and money they would of course both be drawn to that. Maybe with water we need to look into water sports and stuff, especially swimming. Who knows they may be famous or something.” Zoe laughed

“We will get on the computers as soon as we get back to the house.
Right now I just want to enjoy this time with you. I am so glad that all of us have found our soul mates so far. I feel so complete having you in my arms and being able to talk to you. You don’t know what it means to me to finally have found you.”

“Kaiden, I never knew what I was missing until the day you were sitting in the diner.
I wanted to run, but everything I feared held me in place. And then when you were at my door the next morning, I just wanted you to hold me. When you finally held me, my wall broke and you were all that I could think of. I was instantly drawn to you and in love with you. I was so scared of that feeling, that I denied it until I saw Justine. When she was able to just automatically accept it, I gave in. Once I allowed that feeling to consume me, it felt so right and so good. I finally, for the first time ever in my life, felt hope and love. You have completed me Kaiden, and my father and brother are just an added bonus.” Zoe confessed

Kaiden kissed her with all the love he had inside of him.
They laid there in the pool for some time, just enjoying the peacefulness of the sounds within the cave. Water dripped from somewhere to their left. The lights danced off the water and made patterns in the ceiling of the cave. Other than those things the cave was absolute silence. The thought of going back home started to consume both of them and they climbed out of the pool.

They were walking to
the mouth of the cave when something to the right of the entrance caught Zoe’s eye. There was a small alcove that was glowing. Looking straight at it you could not see it, but in her peripheral vision she could catch the glow. She walked over to the alcove and pulled a book out.

“Kaiden look.”

“What is that?” he asked

“I don’t know
, but looking at it straight on there was nothing there. I had to look from the corner of my eye and I saw something glowing. I stuck my arm in and this is what I found.”

They both opened the book and gasped at what was inside.
It appeared to be a journal of some kind.

If you are re
ading this book then my spell is broken and you are in danger of extinction. My name is Marsali, and I was the last of my kind. Thousands of years ago Dragons were real. We were all over the earth and we were at war with one another. We all had magic within us. Once we had all killed one another, I was the last one left. When a Dragon was killed, his or her magic would go to the rest of the living Dragons. It’s how we were created. So when I had all the magic of the others, I knew I was the last one alive. I left the home I knew and traveled the world. I found this mountain and this cave by chance. I was just thankful it fit me and hid me at the time. You, the human race were starting to spread. There were fewer and fewer places for me to hide. As I spent my months hidden within this cave, I watched the humans. I could fly in peace when I wanted because of my magic, but I was lonely. So I watched the human race. There was a small group of humans who lived on this mountain. It was their home as much as it was mine. I watched them and began to feel a jealousy that I never felt before. You see I had a mate. Only one was ever destined for me. But all I saw of that mate was when it was time for us to breed. He came and I conceived. He then left and I was alone to raise the baby. When the baby grew they too left. You see that was our way, I never knew love until I started watching the humans. So one day I used my magic to make myself human. I approached this group and offered them my magic. And this is how your race began.

Kaiden and Zoe shared a glance and then continued reading.

The leader of the group chose four pairs of seven. I am a Pearl and asked that he choose a mate for me. I created a spell that night that would give them all and their offspring some of my magic. They would also be able to shift into Dragons. So after the couples were chosen I changed all of them. All seven races now had four pairs of mates. The adults who had yet to choose a mate and the children who lost their birth parents were all changed randomly. I told them the things that I had incorporated in the spell. You would always have a soul mate who was destined to be your one and only. You would be able to have many children, but the children would not be conceived if the mate was not in the works. So if one became pregnant they knew that child’s mate would be born within five years. So you see I created this spell to last basically forever. I placed a spell on this mountain protecting all who live within it. No humans will ever be able to see us or our homes unless you trust our secret with them. There is a spell book that I wrote that has spells in it that you can cast to protect yourselves further. Now we have all lived in peace for a couple hundred or more years and I am ready to die. My mate and I are about to leave the mountain and find a place to rest. I wrote this journal and spelled it just in case there is ever a time that our race is ever in danger of extinction and total loss. There are a couple of fail safes that I put into the spell. I have never told anyone of these.

Fail safe #1
:

A set of twins will be born.
They will be direct descendants of my line and will hold what little magic I have left. They will both have soul mates and those mates will be very special. For these twins will be Pearl Dragons. I cannot change destiny and how I was made. The Pearl Dragon will always be a ruler of the race. Together these twins will be very powerful, they will just need to learn how to find that magic inside of them and use it.

Fail safe #2:

In the face of extinction I have placed a second chance rule. Basically if two pairs of the same race lose their mate, the chance of them becoming soul mates with another is a possibility. There is a clause to this though. If the first pair of soul mates conceived children together, then no children can be conceived with the second chance mate. If no children were conceived in the first mating, the second chance couple will be able to conceive

Fail safe #3:

If there are not at least four sets of mates per race then you will all give birth to random races. This is strictly here so there is no mixing of the blood line. This will also continue until there are at least four full blooded pairs of mates alive. Once there are four pairs to every race then you will give birth to the race that you are.

Fail safe #4:

The children that were born the last will all have special abilities. These abilities will be something that is not common in previous Dragons. For example, if there is only one set of Water Dragon full-bloods left, they will be able to do something special. I cannot tell you what this will be, but you probably have seen proof of this before finding this journal.

Fail safe #5

We figured out early on that we could conceive children with humans and then they would be able to turn into Dragons with a bite of a Pearl. But this bite would also make them sterile and did not possess the soul mate factor. So if you are reading this then you will soon find out that the half-bloods, as we call them, will now be given a soul mate after the turning. Also they will be able to conceive. Their children will never be able to be turned, but they will have all the abilities of their race. They will look fully human, but will be able to do what their race can do. So if two Earth half-bloods have a child, that child will be able to manipulate the earth as his parents can. They will have the strength of a Dragon and the speed along with the eyesight. They will just never be able to be turned. Also you will be able to feel them as a full blooded Dragon. Their “Pull” will not feel weakened like a half-blood is.