Chapter 26
It felt right to be with him. I felt the flicker of my heart as I snuggled against his back. We’d just hit the bridge when he pulled the bike to the side of the road and parked it. We climbed off, and I looked around and watched as Lachlan and his pack walked up shirtless, and with purpose.
“They’re just beyond the bridge,” Lachlan said as he met us. “There is also a vampire tracking them.”
“Cayla was watching the shelter when they left. She thought it seemed off that they’d be out in only a pair, since most left in large groups, so she followed them to the clearing,” Jaeden offered.
“The people there are holding him and another man, but it’s unclear what they want,” Lachlan continued. “We didnae dare breach the clearing and chance them panicking while they had the boy.”
Several different visions rapidly flashed before my eyes. It was as if my mind was showing me photographs of an event. Jimmy was there, along with quite a few men who seemed to be holding Grayson prisoner. My mother was also there and she looked very good for a dead person, but there was another face I recognized and I felt as if my heart was being crushed when I saw it.
“Me,” I said woodenly as it sunk in. I was what they wanted, because if my mother hadn’t been insane, I was her newest Knight. The first time I’d listened to the recording it hadn’t made sense. She talked about Sentinels like they were pieces of a board game, one they’d been trying to figure out how to cheat on. “They’re here for me.”
“You can’t know that, Emma,” Jaeden said as he stepped protectively towards me.
“Is there a woman with the same color hair as mine over there?” I asked Lachlan.
“Aye, there is.”
“Emma,” Addy called softly as she walked up beside Liam.
“Why are you here?” I asked with a feeling in the pit of my belly that said we had too many pieces on our side. “Go back to the shelter. You’re the only one I trust to keep it safe.”
“I couldn’t, not after I listened to one of those tapes. I’m so sorry she did this, and the pain she put you through! I couldn’t let you do this without me. You know I use humor as a barrier, but I love you. I couldn’t let you do this without you knowing it. It’s me and you, always me and you, bitch.”
“What tapes?” Lachlan and Jaeden both asked together.
“My mother’s tapes, the ones she made right before she faked her own death,” I admitted. “They’re the reason why Grayson left the protection of the shelter with Jimmy,” I swallowed the anger. As an afterthought, I smiled at Addy. “I love you too, hooker.”
“I thought your mother was dead,” Jaeden said as Lachlan nodded his agreement.
“Yeah, me too,” I said as I took in the looks of uncertainty and regret as they put it all together. I’d had time to cope with my mother being a murderous bitch, maybe not a long time, but enough to not want them to look at me like this. “Don’t do that; I’m sure you all had a fucked up family at one time. Turns out, mine happens to be a lot more fucked up than I thought.”
They smiled as if I’d hit it on the head with my mental hammer. I was about to say more when voices erupted inside my head. My hands rose to my temples as I listened to them.
“So, what’s the plan?” Jaeden asked, but I ignored him.
“She’s coming, soon. Right now she’s standing with a vamp and a few mutts.”
“And the vampire watching us now, when do we kill her?”
“Soon; make no commotion that will spook Emma, we need her.”
“We’ll have her Trina, she belongs to us.”
“Can she hear us?”
“No.”
“Not yet, but she will once we’ve ended her mortal existence.”
“What are they saying?”
“Emma just asked them if they had a plan.”
“Emma?” Jaeden asked and my eyes lifted to his. “You okay?”
“Did she hear us? Why’s she spooked?”
“Sorry, I’m just worried about Grayson,” I said, hoping it led the strangers who obviously could hear us, astray. “What’s your plan?” Because it sure in the hell wouldn’t be the plan I went with now.
“Justin, come away from them. The vampire will sense you if you get too close.”
“No! I want to know his plan. It will give us an advantage.”
“Very well, but the moment you have it, pull away from them.”
There were three other people who I could hear, but I couldn’t give it away. They’d believed we were unaware that they could hear us, but I had a plan. I listened absently as Jaeden and Lachlan quickly sketched out a plan, and wasn’t surprised when Jaeden’s men and Shamus showed up.
“Shamus,” Jaeden said carefully.
“Can it; I love a good fight, you know that,” Shamus said before his eyes flickered to mine.
I wondered what had happened to make their friendship so rocky, but I had inkling she was busty, blonde, and bitchy. Shamus was her master, as Jaeden had called him, and she hadn’t seemed happy at all about it. I was about to speak when I was given something I couldn’t quite understand. A vision of my future, and it was pretty damn grim.
“Emma?” Lachlan said narrowing his eyes at me.
“Pull back; that’s a direct order, Justin.”
I could see other people’s past memories could I now see the future? They called Justin, back, whoever he was. I still didn’t trust that they couldn’t hear us. The voices were crystal clear, and sounded close. If they could hear us, they already knew what our people had just planned. Grayson’s life was at stake. I wondered if they were like me, with the voices in my head; I’d have to come up with my own plan. I reviewed each scenario I’d seen in the vision and everything I had heard and made a decision.
I walked up to Jaeden and Lachlan both and touched their cheeks with my hand. I pushed every ounce of willpower I had into them, and prayed it worked. I watched their eyes turn from surprise, to wonder as they watched what I had just seen. It was working! Shamus watched us until he stepped forward with narrowed eyes and reached out to touch my face.
His eyes narrowed and then grew wide with excitement. “Well I’ll be, a fecking unicorn,” he whispered as he smiled, lost in the vision I was giving them.
There were three scenarios in the vision, none of which had gone the way I wanted them to. I included the part where they’d been discussing the plan, and it being overheard, but that wasn’t the disturbing part. The disturbing part was the choices I made in each scenario.
When they’d finished watching it, I held my hands out for everyone else to watch it as well. They now knew we were being watched, and they knew what I would do. Jaeden had been given the warning for Cayla, who popped out of the brush and walked towards us. She had long blonde hair with vibrant pink streaks pulled into a ponytail, and pink Converse high-tops. Not exactly what I would call covert, but she had managed to be undetected by my people and the wolves for over a month. A thin waif of a teenage boy with dark shaggy hair and pale skin followed close behind her.
“Why did you call me back?” she asked and looked right at me. Her eyes smiled and she held out her hand to mine. “I’m Cayla, your stalker. Nice to finally meet you; this is Nery, my best friend and also your stalker.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” I said as I held out my hand and grasped hers tightly. Her eyes narrowed and Nery touched my skin with ice cold-fingers that made me hesitate and the vision wavered. She’d seen enough of it to know we were being watched.
“Emma, I don’t want you to do this,” Jaeden warned.
“I have to,” I said as I turned to find Addy who’d also watched the vision with tears in her eyes.
“You don’t have to do this, Emma, please,” she sniffled as Liam held her to him.
“I have to do this; I love you, Addy, and this isn’t goodbye. It’s only the beginning for me. When Grayson makes it this far, you take him home and protect him. Promise me,” I whispered through unshed tears.
“No more,” I said as the chatter started back up. I turned to Jaeden and smiled. “Rain check on that thing we discussed?”
He glared, because well let’s face it, my plan sucked. Okay, it only sucked if it didn’t work. As in, if it didn’t work, I wouldn’t be coming back, and that sucked hard and blew at the same time. Worse—the option I had chosen was the best chance of the three scenarios and we all knew it.
I turned to move in the direction of my conniving mother, but strong arms pulled me back and then Jaeden’s lips found mine. His kiss wasn’t a goodbye, it was toe curling and beautiful. “This isn’t goodbye, Emma,” he whispered as he pulled away and leaned his forehead against mine as we both caught our breath. I smiled weakly at him and stepped away from his arms.
“I’ll miss you all, take care,” I said because shit was getting deep with Addy and she’d begun crying hysterically. Liam pulled her into his arms as I retrieved the crossbow from its harness on the bike. I walked across the bridge without looking back.
I was going to save Grayson.
I wasn’t going to see any of them ever again if this shit didn’t work.