The Trials (The Elite Series) (3 page)

T
he limousine continued to glide through rolling hills and open fields on the vast acreage of the Abelardus property. The sun was high overhead and the weather outside contrasted the mood inside the limo perfectly. Outside it was bright and fresh. Clean air seeped through the cracked windows and added an exciting breeze. Inside the limo it was dim, and the moods emitting out of Connor’s two traveling partners were bleak and foreboding.

Randolph sat with his legs crossed next to an enormous designer suitcase. He tucked his phone away and now sat reading William Golding’s
The Lord of the Flies
.

Lu was sitting next to Connor, silver aviator sunglasses facing out the window near Randolph
’s seat. Connor soon found himself wondering if Lu’s gaze was pointed at the European scenery or at their traveling partner. If Connor had to guess, Lu was thinking about the Catskill incident and how Randolph had been one of the Elites that ambushed him and his sister. They wouldn’t even be here now if Connor hadn’t interfered.

“You were really going to kill us
, weren’t you? I mean, in the forest a few days ago, you were going to kill me and my sister,” Lu said evenly to Randolph.

Randolph didn’t even
hesitate or lower his book to look at Lu. “Yes, we were. If it’s any consolation, I didn’t want to and it wasn’t my idea, but just like you, I will stand by my family until the end.”

Lu looked over at Connor.
“Well, at least the psychopath’s honest.”

Connor, Lu
, and Randolph sat in silence for the majority of the trip. After the limo exited the Abelardus’ extensive property, they pulled onto a highway, and now found themselves maneuvering through light traffic, old buildings on either side of the road.

“Anyone hungry?” Lu asked. Not waiting for an answer from either one of them
, he pushed a button near the handle of his door and spoke to the driver. “Can you pull over somewhere so we can grab a bite to eat, please?”

“Yes
, sir,” came the simple response from the other end as the car slowed down and exited the highway.

Connor had only his eyes to tell him their location. Small buildings that looked like they were hundreds of years old were built almost on top of each other, children played in narrow stone streets
, and the noise of modern day human life was everywhere. Connor hadn’t realized how much he missed the simple noise of everyday life. Children kicked a soccer ball in the street, tiny cars honked at one another, and the world was normal again.

The limo finally came to a stop in front of a small café, with large
red and white-striped umbrellas and a quaint seating area outside.

Without hesitation
, Lu exited the vehicle, followed by Connor and Randolph with his suitcase in hand. “We’re not staying long, you can leave your bag in the car,” Lu said, eyeing his traveling partner mysteriously.

Randolph cleared his throat.
“I’ll be using the restroom before we eat. Should I explain myself to you as if you were a small child? Would you like me to give you details on what I plan on doing in the restroom?”

Lu visibly
clenched his muscular jaw and instead of answering his nemesis, ignored him completely, choosing a seat at one of the small tables. Randolph smirked as he turned to walk inside the café. Connor raised his eyebrows and sat down as the waiter came and provided them menus. The tension in the air between Lu and Randolph was as thick as fog. Connor felt that at any moment the two would be at each other’s throats, and if he wanted to complete the first trial, it would be up to him to separate them, if he could.

The menu was in a language Connor couldn’t read
, but as the waiter returned, chatting in his native tongue with Lu, it was clear at least one of them would be able to converse. Randolph reappeared, his suitcase firmly in hand, and ordered from the waiter as he took his seat, not even bothering to look at the menu. When it came his turn to order, Connor pointed a hesitant finger at the white and blue menu and what was his best guess at a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich.

Lu, Randolph
, and the waiter all shared a laugh as Connor reddened. “What?”

“The waiter is telling you
that you can’t order the location. You’re pointing to the café’s address,” Lu said, grinning.

“Well
, how am I supposed to know what anything is? I can’t even read this.”

Lu rattled off a few words and the waiter smiled and took off inside the café. “Don’t worry
, Judge, I got you covered. You won’t go hungry before you tackle your first trial.”

Connor gave Lu a dirty look that only made Lu laugh again. “Oh
, so tell me, Randolph, now that we’re all good friends, what did you plan on doing after you killed my sister and I? Start a war with the rest of the Council and their families? Were you going to try and turn some humans and create an army?”

“Let it go
, Lupus, I don’t need to explain anything to you.”

“You don’t need to explain anything to me or you can’t? The more and more I think about it
, the more and more I realize you’re just a pawn in this game.”

Randolph narrowed his bright blue eyes.

“You are, though, aren’t you? I mean the way your two friends just threw you under the bus, volunteering you to come along to save their own hide? Isn’t it obvious? You being the one to come here puts you on the bottom of the bad guy totem pole, right?”

Randolph sat silent and shook his head before his eyes wandered off
, signaling his loss of interest in their current conversation.

While they waited for their food to arrive and even when it did, sandwiches for Connor and Lu and a salad for Randolph, Connor tried to forget his current task and enjoy being out of the castle.

It was his first time out in public since being turned into an Elite and the world felt different. Smells were stronger, he could see further if he chose to, and he was no longer like the many people he now saw bustling about. He was an Elite, a Judge tasked with protecting not only the Elite race, but by doing so, the human species as well.

“It’s a short ride to the air strip from here,” Lu said
over the last bite of his meal. “We should be there before the sunsets.”

Lu
paid the bill with a black credit card and the trio once again entered the dark interior of the limousine and continued their journey. 

Lu was right
. Another hour of silence and passing scenery brought them to a stop at the chain link fence of a security shack that led to the airfield. A sharply dressed guard waved them in when he recognized whose limo it was. The car rolled through the entrance. The airfield consisted of a small landing strip and a few well-maintained buildings. The driver took them straight to the runway and a waiting jet that hummed with anticipation of flight.

As the limo came to a stop Lu grabbed his backpack and opened the door. Bright light pierced the limo’s dark interior
once again. Connor stepped out into the warm sun, his own backpack in hand. Randolph followed, hoisting his large suitcase with one hand. Although Randolph was slimmer than both Lu and Connor, it was clear he did not lack strength. His suitcase was bulging and still he lifted it as though it was no more than a few pounds.

“You realize
we’re going to the Amazon and not a five star hotel, right?” Lu asked over his shoulder as he walked to the jet.

“
I’m surprised you could fit all your hair products into such a small bag,” Randolph returned.

Lu s
troked his ponytail and smiled. “Girls love the long hair.”

The two were interrupted by a young female pilot and attendant
greeting them at the staircase to the jet.

“Good afternoon
, Mr. Abelardus. Where will we be going today? Another trip to Las Vegas? Amsterdam, perhaps?”

“No,
no, not today, Samantha. We’re going to the Amazon basin.”

The red headed f
emale pilot raised her eyebrows. “Yes, sir. Where exactly in the Amazon? So I can chart the quickest route?”

“We’ll start in Bolivia and work our way in from there.”

The pilot nodded and left for the cockpit.

“Can I help any of you gentlemen with your bags?” The attractive female attendant asked.

“I think we’ll manage, Holly. Thanks, though,” Lu said.

She nodded and watched as the men
walked up the short flight of folded steps and entered the jet’s cabin. Lu’s easygoing nature and politeness with the pilot and attendant surprised Connor. For as long as he’d known Lu, he had simply written him off as a sarcastic bully. Maybe there was more to him than Connor had given him credit for.

Connor wasn’t sure what he was most impressed by
as they entered the jet, the outside or the inside. The jet was as nice as any room he had ever been in with leather chairs and thick carpet. Randolph, Lu, and Connor found seats a comfortable distance away from each other and soon the jet began its taxi down the runway. Connor’s stomach did a small backflip as the plane’s wheels lifted from the ground.

The plane gained altitude quickly
, and before Connor knew it, they were soaring through the air. Connor had only been on a plane a few times in his life, and never on a jet or anything as remotely smooth as his current ride. He pressed his nose and hands against the small window like a child and searched for the Abelardus castle he knew was somewhere below. He was unable to find the castle, but content to look at the scenery beneath. Soon he was brought back to the harsh reality of his current situation and forced to put himself back into a mindset more suitable for a Judge.

Connor
opened his backpack and pulled out the large, worn
Dragonicon
. It was more like an encyclopedia than a book. The pages’ tattered and yellowish color held testament to its age and usefulness. The first few pages were a table of contents, listing what Connor guessed was every dragon species that had ever existed.

It took a few minutes
, but he finally found the dragons Morrigan referenced as “the man eaters” and turned to the corresponding page.

The same picture of a large reptile met him
: long snout, short pointy ears, the size of an elephant, although not as fat, with small folded wings on its back. Below the picture was a short description and a brief piece on how this dragon had managed to survive when all the other species had fallen into extinction.

Os Comedores de Man
, or “Man Eaters,” are a smaller species of dragon characterized by their small folded wings and exceptional IQ. They have adjusted to life and withstood the test of time. They are generally thought to be the most intelligent species of dragon. Once large creatures that flew the sky in freedom, the spread of human and Elite life has forced them to adjust to survive. These creatures have set up home in the deepest parts of the Amazon jungle. To further hide themselves, they have learned not to fly, somehow correlating flying and traveling long distance with danger and death. As a result, they now fold their wings behind them on their back. Over time, the wings have shrunk and become useless without exercise.

There was a thud next to him as Lu plopped his body in the chair beside him. “Brought a little light reading for the trip?”

“Something
like that. Morrigan gave me this book so I can read about what I’ll be up against once we reach the Amazon.”

Lu
nodded, his ponytail undone now, his shoulder-length brown hair shaking with his head.

“Lu, why did you come to help me?”

Lu stretched his large arms, muscles bulging as he took a large breath in and let it out slowly. “Because no matter how much I’d like to deny it, everything happens for a reason. Meeting you, you saving us in the Catskill forest, who you are, the trials, this isn’t just chance or luck.” Lu pointed a thumb towards Randolph, who sat in the row ahead of them. “Even my would-be executioner being here dressed in his designer suit as we head to the jungle, is no mistake.”

Connor saw Randolph adjust in his seat
, but he didn’t turn around or try to participate in the conversation.

“I’m not sure if I believe in
all of that,” Connor said.

“All of what?”

“All that talk about fate and destiny.”

Lu chuckled
. “That’s the beauty of it. You don’t have to believe in it. It doesn’t matter, because fate believes in you, and dude, there is nothing you can do about that.”

Holly brought the most delicious meals of roast duck, mashed potatoes
, and vegetables Connor had ever tasted, making him wonder how a jet’s kitchen could create something so delicious.

When the meal was cleared away
, Connor forced himself to try and sleep. There was no knowing what awaited them when they arrived or when the next time he would be able to rest. As he closed his eyes, thoughts of Laren and Katie invaded his mind. What was he going to do? He liked both of them, would say even at one time that he was in love with Katie, but that was before she broke up with him. That was before he met Laren. Katie and Laren’s personalities couldn’t be further apart.