3 Hit the Road Jack (29 page)

“Do you have any radios?” I asked Kalel.

“They run on satellite signal, which we wouldn’t get in El Yunque,” he replied.

“
What about old fashioned walkie-
talkies?”

“Usually they max out at about a quarter mile, and El Yunque is huge.”

“Well crap.” I pushed around the pasta on my plate, quickly growing cold. “Any ideas?”

“What about the military radios? Those allow communication over miles,” Kellan suggested.

“We’d be hard pressed to get a hold of those between now and then.”

“The army should have some. We have a base in Miami. I can request some to be delivered during the layover,” Al offered.

“Even if they don’t work, I’d just feel better going in with some
thing
,” I said, taking a bite of my cold pasta and then pushing the plate away. My stomach had been uneasy all evening, foreboding corroding my core.

“Any idea where in El Yunque he could be? From the aerial maps I pulled up on my phone there’s several mountains covered with rainforest and supposedly tunnels running through the mountains too.”

“Anywhere. Given how often he’s communicated with us, I doubt he’d choose our arrival to be silent.
We’re walking right into a trap that he’s set up perfectly,” Kalel stated.

“Are you guys ok walking in there knowing that? It’s not too late to back out. I would understand.” Part of me was praying that they would, and t
he other part was praying they would
n’t. As much as I hated to admit it, I was probably going to need the back up.

“We’re sure,” Al answered for them, giving everyone a stern look warning them not to go against him.

“Actually Lexi, I’m not scheduled to go with you into the forest,” Will said.

“Why am I not surprised? Tell me Will, what is it exactly that an Eislom does?” He at least had the decency to look slightly embarrassed.

“I’ll accompany you
only
until
a certain
point,” he announced.

“Woohoo.” I twirled my pointer finger around in a tornado motion.

“Believe me or not, I am doing my job Lexi,” he defended.

“That’s fine Will. I guess I just don’t understand exactly what your job is, or rather what the point of your job is.” He nodded his understanding, not bothering to further explain himself.

“What do you say we go out to the club and let loose? It’s our last night here,” Gabi said.

“I’m game.”

“Alright. Let’s go cut a rug,” Craig nodded.

“Cut a rug? Really Craig?” Gabi snickered. “Come on. You can do better than that.”

“Jealous of my flossy vocabulary mate?” he smirked. Gabi burst into laughter.

“Hey Craig, when was the last time you talked to Mel?”

“This morning.”

“She’s ok?”

“Beautiful as ever. We S
kyped.”

“And I won’t go beyond that. Al, have you talked to Beth?”

“Earlier. She’s been calling me regularly checking on everyone. She’s a nervous wreck at home of course.” He took a long, slow sip of his water; his eyes grew starry just talking about her. It was sweet to know that after all this time they were still madly in love like my parents were.

I smiled, looking at Kellan, getting the same starry eyed look in return. He leaned in and planted a soft kiss on my lips. I jumped at hearing a chair scrape backwards. Kai shot up from the table, threw down a wad of cash and walked away. Kellan surprised me by pulling away and standing up to follow him. Gabi and I exchanged worried glances.

“Let them hash this out,” she ordered.
I watched Kellan catching up with Kai, my heart racing, pounding in my head.

I sw
e
ar
I didn’t sit still, bouncing in my seat, straining my ears to hear what was going on between the two of them. The anticipation was killing me. I was hoping they would work it out, but I half expected to have to break up a fight off in the distance.

What felt like forever, but was probably only two minutes later, Kellan and Kai both strode back to the table, both of them tense, but at least walking amicably beside each other. I raised a questioning brow at Kellan. He shrugged and smiled.

“You guys ready to head out?” Kellan asked.

“Um, sure,” I stuttered, trying to figure out what he’d said to Kai that could possibly have evoked a truce.

“Just go with it,” Gabi whispered.

“Enjoy it love,” Craig added.

“They both love you Lexi. Men will do many things for the woman they love,” Al commented. I blushed at the fact
that
my fiance’s dad acknowledged that more than just his son loved me. I didn’t know how he remained so calm and collect
ed
about it. Maybe he was secure in my love for
Kellan in return
.

“O
ceana
here we come!” Gabi yelled.
“Oh my gosh Lex, I checked it out online. Every room has a different theme, and guess who will be traveling around the world tonight?” She wagged her brows sugge
stively
.
I could tell she was trying to let go of Rafi, but wasn’t quite there yet.

“I can
’t wait, but shouldn’t we go back to the hotel and change first.
”

Gabi looked me up and down, still in my JC velour set. “Oh yea.”

Al and Will opted to
stay at
the hotel, which wasn’t surprising. I couldn’t exactly picture the two o
f them at a night club anyways. Gabi and I changed into our best LBD. She wore her
s with
a pair of black tights and
a pair
of
blue suede pumps
nearly identical to mine
, accessorizing with silver and teal feather earrings and a purple clutch. I paired my dress with black tights as well, but opted for my purple suede ankle boots that had a fringe detail, large square diamond earrings and
a
diamond tennis bracelet that my dad had given my mom a few years back for Christmas. Gabi and I both let our hair fall free and wavy.

“Ok, now we’re ready to go party,” she smiled approvingly at our ensembles.

“Kellan, please hold my ID,” I passed him my fake license that Kalel had given me before. I carefully tucked my cell phone in my bra, pulling my v-neck cut back up for modesty. The dress already clung semi-close everywhere else on my body
, even down the long sleeves
;
I didn’t need any more sex appeal.

The club was huge, and crowded. I checked my watch, surprised to find it was already eleven
when we arrived. At the club, Gabi and I went off, leaving the guys to hang out. We actually did make it through each room of the club, although my favorite was the Reykjavik Icehouse. The neon blue lighting created a perfectly chilly backdrop. I enjoyed the Parisian Boudoir’s seating. The banquets were upholstered in the most luxurious
crushed velvet
fabric and provided a premium view for people watching.

By the time we found the guys again, we had mingled with more local males than we had fingers and toes. They were all very nice and had a bit of Southern charm to them that I found endearing. Gabi got a few phone numbers, but I knew she wouldn’t be calling any of them anytime soon. It was going to take a while for her to get over Rafi. She put up a good front, but I knew she cried behind closed doors.

“Where were you ladies all ni
ght
?” Craig asked, a twinkle in his eye, as if he already knew.

“Mingling, getting stacks of local numbers,” Gabi bragged. I elbowed her, looking at Kellan who was smirking, completely unfazed by the information. They definitely knew.

“What did you guys do all night?” I countered.

“Mingled; got our own stacks of local numbers,” Kellan winked.

“These two pussies followed you two around all night,” Kai rolled his eyes.

“And how would you know that?” I smiled, having cornered him.

“We followed you two to make sure you were ok,” Kalel stepped in.

“You don’t think we can take care of ourselves?” Gabi pressed, her hand on her hip.

“Frankly, no,” Kalel stated.

“Hmph,” Gabi scoffed, grabbing my hand and leading me out the exit doors.

~~~

I stopped short at the white envelope taped to the door of my hotel room, my serum flood
ed
my mouth immediately. Cautiously I looked up and down the hall, but found nothing suspicious. With a shaky hand I snatched it off the door. When I flipped it over and didn’t find Jack’s seal
though
, I frowned.

I pulled out the note tucked inside, swallowing the hard lump in my throat.

Dear Lexi
&
Kellan,

It’s been a true honor and pleasure to have been blessed with the opportunity to get to know and work with the heroes of the next vamp generation. Lexi, given your determination, I know you will accomplish all I’ve read. And Kellan, you will influence this journey more than you realize.

Earlier, you asked me what an Eislom did; what is my role precisely. An Eislom’s role is to help their assigned students until they gain the ability to navigate the trenches alone
. I was to open your eyes to your destiny without revealing it; I was to facilitate you both in achieving your destiny without changing it.

If I look back to where you started Lexi, more dependent on others than yourself, you’ve grown immensely and far surpassed my expectations. Kellan, look a
t when you first met Lexi to now,
you have grown and evolved into a strong vampire who has more inside him than he gives himself credit for. Together you are a power duo
;
world domination in a coupling. I’d like to think that I helped mold you into that pair, but truthfully, I only made you both aware of your
purpose
. Until I came along, you were merely living
;
but now you are living to succeed and fulfill that charted journey
.

Unfortunately, my job is done at this early stage. I’m
ever so
proud of you both for your immaculate progress; you’re quick students. Should you ever need a reference or require my skills, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Proudly,
Your Eislom,
William Jameson

“That’s it? He came and went that quickly?” I stood stunned, staring at the paper in my hands. I knew I had a stupefied expression on my face, but I was so caught off guard by Will’s departure that I didn’t know how to react. Kellan took the paper from my hands.

I thought back over our journey, trying to think of how Will had influenced it because I would give him that
;
he did influence us to some degree. He forced us to involve our purpose in every decision that we
made; I think he was the one that made us accept our destinies for what they were predicted to be while not shying away from making it our own still.
And, admittedly, now that he was gone, I felt like a part of our journey had ended already. I was saddened by that.

“What’s going on Lex?” Gabi asked, watching my expression with concern.

“Will’s gone.”

“Oh. You really liked him didn’t you?”

“Yea. I gave him a hard time, but I appreciated him.”
I shrugged, trying to brush it off.

“I’m sorry chica,” she said, pulling me in for a hug.

“It’s ok. He did say earlier that he wasn’t going with us into El Yunque, so I knew a goodbye was coming, I just didn’t know it would be so soon.”

“Well, technically it’s only a day early.”

“True,” I gave her a small smile. I took a deep breath. “Well, that’s that. I’m going to shower and get comfy, probably try to get a few hours of sleep before tomorrow.”

“Make sure you sleep,” she said, looking pointedly at Kellan. Kellan threw up his hands, as if saying he wasn’t starting anything, but not stopping it either.

“Good night Gabi. I’ll see you in the morning,” I smiled, pulling Kellan into the room by his shirt.

He threw my back against the wall, crowding my space and kissing me hard. His lips
pushe
d me to respond,
forc
ing
my
mind to mold to his. It was an intense collision that had my mind spinning in seconds and my body heating beneath his touch.

“Sorry about Will babe.”

“It’s ok. I knew it was coming.”

“At least you never have to worry about me leaving you,”
he said, instantly stopping me dead in my panting track
s
. The journal came rushing back to me.

“The journal said you were shot last minute in the forest. It could have easily been a rainforest.”
I didn’t realize I was crying until he wiped my cheeks with the pads of his thumbs.