Authors: Jennifer Blyth
“Perfect,
” I said aloud. If I ha
dn’t know
n
any better
,
I would’ve sworn
they’d
planned
this
.
“What’s perfect? Am I missing something? What are you
guys up to?”
Kaleb looked at me with an innocent expression. “Why can’t we just tell him?”
I shot Kaleb the evil eye.
Now I was left with no choice, so
I explained
to Kael
that
Jayce had said
the elements
weren’t
safe with me around. I t
old him how the entire world
depended on their survival and
I filled him in on
our plan
to make a getaway so everyone
would stay
safe.
“Wow! That’s
pretty
heavy,
” Kael said
,
rubbing his head
trying
to process
everything.
I glanced ove
r at Kaleb, who seemed
quite
relieved Kael knew what was going on. N
ow
he wasn’t under so much pressure to keep it
under wraps
.
We both looked back at Kael, waiting to see what he was going to say.
“I’m in!
Where and when are we going?” h
e
asked, punching his fists together
.
“Kael,” I said using the most serious
tone I could,
“I need you to
understand
,
Kaleb will be safe with me
, they know we are connected After what happened to Garrison, Daray owes me this much
.
I
’ll try my best to protect you, but there’s no
guarant
ee what will happen. This is
g
oing to be extremely dangerous and we’ll
be completely out
numbered.” I wanted him to be informed
of
absolutely
everything before he committed
.
“Don’t
worry
that pretty face
of yours
.
Believe me,
I can handle myself.” H
e stood up
,
flexed his muscles, and
flash
ed
his big toothy smile.
“W
ell, w
hen you put it that way,
” I said
,
laughing.
He was so big and fierce.
H
is smile
however,
made him
look like the kindest fellow
; b
uilt like a bear
, with the
seeming
innocence of a
child.
W
e were all in agreement. Kael was coming
and he seemed pleased
.
“We
’d better hurry up and get out of here before anyone else
comes along or
the whole clan joins us.
Who
’s on watch?
” Kaleb asked.
“Makan and Kynthia. Why?”
“Where’s Jayce? What if he connects?”
“I saw him just before I came up here. He’s not really himself right now. Poor guy
’
s quite depressed. Makan took over his shift so he could take some time to pull himself together. He’s sitting alone in the b
ack room, sorting th
r
ough things,
”
Kael explained.
Hearing this made my mission even more important. I needed to get this settled quickly.
“
Okay, good, everyone’s busy.
How do you suppose
we
get out of here?”
“Let me handle that one.” Kae
l walked over to the window
, glancing
back at
us
before pushing
it open
.
After p
roviding us with another
one of his
toothy smile
s
and
a whooshing sound, h
e transformed. Now flying directly in front of
us
was a large bird with distinctive
,
brilliant purple eyes.
Kael flew over Kaleb and grabbed
onto his shirt as he
lifted him
out the window
. I ran over to
watch
what was happening
. I looked down
in time to see him place
Kale
b gently
on the lawn near the property line.
A
few
second
s
later
, he flew back into the room
and picked
me up with a swift lift. Once
landed, I turned to take a long last look at the big house.
I would miss each and every one of them
dearly. They
all meant the
world to me and because of this,
I was going to leave. I
’d
leave
,
so they could stay safe. I didn’t want any more harm coming to
anyone
I
cared about
.
This way
Jayce
wouldn’t feel
so conflicted because it simply
wasn’t right
having
to choose between the elements and m
e
. I didn’t e
xpect him to make that choice, i
t was too
di
fficult and I understood
completely
.
Though leaving everyone broke my heart,
it seemed
to be
the only way to get things resolved
on
c
e and for all
with the nightwalkers. Perhaps one day, this would all be nothing more than a
distant
memory. Perhaps one day
,
Jayce and I could be together without ever
ything going wrong. I knew we were meant to be
and I’
d
prove it by making
things right
and
keep
ing
everyone
safe
.
With my
new sense of determination
,
I walked out into the night with Kaleb and Kael by my side.
Changes
~ Chapter Nine ~
The three of us
made
our way through the dark
ening
forest. It felt strangely uplifting
being
away from the others
, because
I knew
they
were
safe
.
A loud snapping sound came from a branch as it broke into pieces.
What caused the break? Was it a vampire or we
rewolf? Possibly a doomahorn?
Or m
aybe
it was Jayce
coming after
us, begging me not to leave
. We froze in our places, listening carefully. Another
rustling
sound
came from
a short distance
away
, right
where we’d
just
been walking.
We all started feeling more intense,
realizing we weren’t the only ones
awake and moving.
The
lush
forest
around us
was thriving.
A hooting
owl flew out of a
nearby
tree, while a family of raccoons scurried along the ground
in the opposite direction
.
I suppose
I hadn’t really noticed this before because
I’d been
too wra
pped up in myself to
see that
there
was
more in
the world than
the three of us.
Moving a little more
c
autiously
, we
walked
through the thick forest
,
heading
towards the beach. No one really said much
now, the
guys
stayed
busy
and alert ensuring
there were
only forest animals near
by
.
I felt quite nervous
as I thought about the
unknown waiting for us
.
Th
en,
Jayce
ran through my mind again. How did
eve
rything get so mixed up with us? We’d been so happy two days ago, n
ow here I was alone
and without him
. I couldn’t
ask
him
to choose me over the elements because i
t wasn’t fair. I would’
ve resented him if he
’d
asked that of me. It would
’ve
be
en
the same as telling me to choose between my family and him. Not a decision to be made lightly
or likely to be in my favor
. So
,
I l
eft
with Kaleb and Kael in th
e middle of the
night, heading into the
forest, sacrificing my love
so Jayce and the elements would be safe. So the world could stay
safe.
He was right; they couldn’t fight for me. My broken heart would
mend over
time;
the loss
es
and sacrifices
,
well
,
those would
never be forgotten.
I was hurting. I didn’t want to be away from Jayce. I needed him in my life. I knew it was selfish
,
but
I
couldn’t help wanting
the one thing that made me
feel
happy. Why couldn’t it be all about me for once?
Suddenly,
a sharp pain shot through
my stomach
. The p
iercing ache
stole my breath away
and
I crouched down
,
h
olding
myself
.
Kaleb
came over, placing
his hand on my back
.
“
What’s wrong
?”
Kael stopped walking
and headed back
over
towards us.
“My stomach really hurts
.
”
I g
ently sat down on a
n
uprooted
tree trunk.
“I just need a minute.”
Kael and Kaleb sat
on either side of me,
constantly scanning the forest to make sure
we didn’t ha
ve any un
invited guests stopping by.
A few minutes passed and
the pain subsided. I took my time
standing
up
waiting
to see if my stomach was going to
act up again
.
When I felt more like
myself, I told the guys, “W
e’d better get
moving if
we want
to make it
to the beach tonight.”
K
ael spoke
up.
“
Why don’t
I
s
hift? I can get you there fast
er
and Kaleb is quick, i
t wouldn’t take him long to catch up
.”
“Absolutely no way! We stay together. N
o one is going off alone. T
hink of us as Siamese tri
plets if you
must
. We’re
joined and there’s no way anything’
s going to
break us apart. Understoo
d?” I folded my a
rms across my chest
show
ing
I meant business. I
was
a girl
,
but there was no way I was
going to let
these
big
guys
push me into anything I didn’t think was safe. Our lives depended on it.
Kaleb laughed.
“Kael, she won’t give.
Seriously, it’s
b
etter just to do it her way. She’s stubborn.”
“Stu
bb
orn? More like a pain in the —
”
Kaleb interrupted
.
“Now, now. We’
ve
got
to stick together. I’m with her no matter what. You can stay with us
,
but only if you listen to what she says. She won’t lead us astray.”
Kael made a face
,
admitting
defeat
. We
’d take
the slower way and stick together
even if it took us all night
.
Almost three hours later,
we
made it to
the
road le
a
d
ing to the beach. At least the rest of the way
was
downhill,
making
it easier for us to walk.
We’d have to think up a way
Kael could fly
us
both up
to
the
top of the
steep
hill. Walking back up was going to be killer.
We
proceeded down the hill and t
en
minutes later
,
we were
walking on
the sand
.
‘
W
hat
do you think you’re
doing? Are you trying to get yourself killed?’
I gasped
,
hearing the voice of
my love
,
and tears came to my eyes, reminding me of what I was giving up.
‘I’m sorry
,
Jayce
,
but t
his is the only way. I can’t be
held
re
sponsible for anything else more that
happens or
if anyone else
gets
hurt.
It’s too much to bear. Please
, I don’t want you to
feel obligated to choose
between the others and myself, i
t’
s not fair and I
see
that
it’s hurting you
greatly. I’m going to find the vampires and get this all straightened out.
I’ve made my choice and there’
s
no
way
to change my mind. It’s done
.’
I hoped
he understood
what
I was trying to do.
Nope, opposite reaction,
Jayce started yelling in my head and I couldn’t block him out. It was perfect. He was miles away from me and here we were, still fighting.
‘Jayce, I’m going to
find Daray. I’m sorry.
This was the only way to keep
all of you
safe.
I didn’t want it to be like this.’
‘Find him for what?’ he growled.
‘So we can
finally
finish what was started.
Everything
’s
gotten
too complicated
. I want my life back. If fate
permits, my life will include you, but if it needs to be with him to get simplicity back,
so everyone stays safe,
so be it.’
‘You’
re
nothing like I thought
. You think you
’re going to
get your happy ever after with that parasite?
Ugh,
I
h
ope yo
u enjoy your eternity of hell
.
You
deserve it!’ Then
,
he left me.
My heart stopped beating
as
it
broke into a thousand pieces.
This
was
my doing
, but he’d left
without knowing the truth
or
without putting up
much of a fight. He didn’t beg or plead
,
he just said his bit and that was that. It seemed so easy for hi
m to leave
. Did
n’t I mean more to him
?
“Oh
,
Kaleb,
” I said
reaching
over
for a hug
. “What have I done?”
“
You’re doing what you need to
.” He
embraced
me tightly.
My blood began running cold.
“Oh no. He’s here,”
I whispered.
Kaleb let go
of
me
and
m
otioned Kael with his head
. T
hey both
took their places on either side of me.
Shea suddenly flew
in front of my face
, her tiny wings fluttering furiously
. “Shanntal, what are y
ou doing? This isn’t safe.
Get out of here!
”
I waved my hand
,
trying to shoo her away. Cleary aggravated, she dove down into Kaleb’s pocket and turned on her dimmer.
It was too late to react to
her hastiness, w
e weren’t alone.
Lakylee
was
in sight
.
This
was astonishing.
I didn’t normally have this
reaction around her, it had
only happened
before
with Daray. I
was quite surprised
to learn that
I
could sense all vampires and even half
-breeds. This was
g
reat
; my
own built-
in radar for
bloodsuckers.
She looked
wilder than
ever.
Kaleb and Kael steadied themselves
as she approached
. Her strength wasn’t going to be underestimated or ignored, as it had been last time. Her
long dark
hair was a complete mess
;
pi
eces
were
sticking straight
up
and her clothes were
dirty and
torn.
I assumed
fr
om her last meeting with Kael.
She snarled, as she
neared
.