Kissed (The Thorn Chronicles) (29 page)

Kai held up the bloody knife. “I have to go. Puck and Alejandro are on their way here. Your mother’s blood must be fresh. She probably won’t die, but it needs to look like it. Tell Ale and Puck that we need to get her into hiding. A mental hospital would probably be best. I’ll see you later tonight.”

He kissed me lightly and then disappeared out the side door, the bloody knife in hand. I looked down at my mother, unconscious on the floor. She repulsed me. I felt a little dirty, knowing all that power she had, the power to make my father do evil things now resided in me.
Father
. I had forgotten about him.

He sat on the steps to the dais with his head in his hands. I sat down next to him and put my arm around him. I used none of the power that now buzzed within me. I wanted him to feel his own emotions. How long had it been since he had been in control of himself? All this controlling of other people needed to stop.

He looked up at me, his eyes wet with tears.

“Naomi, can you ever forgive me? The things I did to you. I can remember them all, but they don’t make sense. Why would I do those things?” His questions turned to sobs and his body shook.

Then the door crashed open and I turned. In ran Alejandro, Puck and Ginny. Ginny wrapped her arms around me. “Thank goodness you’re okay. When Alejandro told me what was going on, oh, I thought for sure you’d be dead.”

Puck and Alejandro whispered next to me.

Puck spoke, “Come on let’s get you out of here. Alejandro will stay here and take care of your mother and father.”

“Kai said that you had to get my mother into hiding. What about my father?”

Alejandro looked at me. “I’ll take care of it. They will both be well taken care of. You know your dad isn’t going to be well for a while. Right now he is in shock, but when that wears off he’ll be nearly insane with the guilt. He needs to go somewhere to recover. I promise I’ll take care of him.”

“Come on,” said Puck. “We need to go.”

#

Ginny fussed over me all the way to my old house. She was a little freaked out by all this “supernatural” stuff, but she admitted that it made the last few months make sense. Alejandro had explained everything to her on the plane ride over.

Puck was silent.

“What happened to your hair?” she asked, picking up a dry clump.

“A knife and bleach.”

She cringed.

“And your nails. I’m calling Rita tonight. The first thing we are going to do when we get home tomorrow is to pamper you.”

I grinned. It was nice to be taken care of.

When we arrived back at my house, Ginny went in and started searching the cupboards for tea. Puck and I lingered in the garage. He pulled me into his arms. I let him, the comfort nice after all I’d been through.

“Come here, I want to show you something.”

He led me down the hall to my father’s office. Pictures still covered all the walls.

“Look,” he said pointing to a picture on the wall.

It was Alejandro. Next to him was a picture of Romeo. There were a few others that I recognized from the meetings at Alejandro’s house. The pictures were all glossy like the magazine picture I had of Puck.

Puck pointed at pictures and ticked off names. “Dylan from Michigan, William who is the Major Guardian over New York City and Greg, Head Guardian of the southern states. They even have pictures of the international heads. Felipe and Gustav, who together rule Europe. We have a spy in our mist. A good one from the looks of it.”

“Puck, it’s Jason. He’s the one who took me to my mother. And I’m pretty sure he sold me out to the FBI agents.”

Puck frowned and ran his hand over his face. “That makes sense. He’d have access to a lot of us. I’m just glad I didn’t let him in on our biggest secret yet. He was primed to become a Council Guardian. I’m glad it hadn’t happened yet. He knows about you though. That could be dangerous. I’ll have to talk to Kai about that.”

Puck seemed to know an awful lot.

“How do you know all this? I thought you were just a Minor Guardian. You complained to me once that you were never told anything.”

He snorted. “I lied. Sorry. I think you need to sit down for this.”

The front door slammed. Puck cocked his head and held up a finger. “Wait here, I’ll be right back.”

I waited for a few minutes and then heard yelling.

“You asshole. She’s mine,” Kai yelled.

I jumped up and raced toward them. Kai was right in Puck’s face. Then he saw me.

“And you. You lied to me. Or have you been kissing more than one Guardian?”

He had no right to talk to me that way.

“I had a good reason to lie to you. Puck is your brother. You would’ve flipped. Plus, I didn’t know what had become of you since I left. I wasn’t sure you were entirely you.”

Kai sank into a chair by the table. “You think? Well at least I won’t have to talk to him anymore.”

“Because of me?”

“I wish it were that simple,” said Puck.

I sat down, puzzled. Ginny sat across from me, her hand in Alejandro’s. She hung on every word that was spoken.

Puck took the chair next to me and rested his arm across my shoulders. Kai scowled but remained silent.

“I have a confession,” Puck said.

I shrugged. After everything I’d heard tonight, nothing would surprise me.

“You see it’s quite necessary to keep the higher ranks of the Guardians a secret or we’d all die very quickly. The Destroyers are good at assassinating their enemies. Look at all those pictures they had on the wall. They know who we are even if they don’t know exactly who is in charge. If it was easy to find the Master Guardian, they’d take over. Very few people know who the Master Guardian is. And so, even though I didn’t want to keep that a secret from you, I had to.”

I thought about that for a minute.

“But Alejandro said that he used to be the Master Guardian but wasn’t anymore. Is it Kai?”

Puck grimaced. “No, it’s me.”

“What?” I looked quickly from Ginny to Alejandro to Puck.

“Me, I’m the Master Guardian.”

Holy Crap. I did not see that one coming.

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“Yes, it does. Alejandro was the Master Guardian when we were kids. He recognized our power and trained us to take over when we got old enough. Kai actually should be it, but he wanted to hunt down the Master Destroyer. So instead he became Council Guardian and I took over.

“But I need a new Council member, because Kai can no longer fulfill that role. Would you be willing to become part of my Council? You could follow in your grandmother’s footsteps. You have the power for it. If you want to be the Master Guardian, the job is yours.”

“My Grandmother?”

Alejandro interjected. “Yes, she was the Master Guardian before me. I was the only one on her council and the only one of a few that knew that she was a Guardian. Powerful as anything. I was very sad when she died.”

I shrunk back into the couch. “And you want me to be the Master?”

Kai growled. “You can’t have her. I need her. She’s still a Shade. She can come with me.” He clenched his hands into fists on the top of the table.

“Where are you going?” I asked, thoroughly confused.

Kai seethed and Puck answered.

“Three years ago when we decided to send Kai out here, he had a very specific mission. To bring balance back to the Destroyers. They had gained far too much power. To do this, he had to infiltrate the Destroyers. Become one of them and take over as the Master. He could only do that by killing the current Master Destroyer. That is how power is transferred among them. The Destroyers saw your mother’s blood on his knife. They assume he killed her and recognize him as their leader now.”

“But he didn’t kill my mother.”

Puck glared at Kai. “Yeah, I noticed. But the Destroyers don’t know that, they think she’s dead. And you took all of her power so she won’t be coming back to them. We just better hope none of them realize that she’s not really dead.”

Kai spoke. “I need you to come with me Naomi. Just for a year or so. You keep me balanced. Please.”

Puck stood up and his chair clattered to the floor. “No, she won’t come with you. She can’t. Naomi is a Guardian not a Destroyer.”

“But Kai is good. How can he be the Master Destroyer?” I asked.

“Because I’m the only Guardian we know of that can be a Destroyer and Guardian at the same time. It’s a talent I’m grateful for, but it’s exhausting. That’s why I need you.”

Alejandro cleared his throat. “A few weeks ago you told me you chose to be a Guardian. Now the real choice is before you, Naomi. Will you stay with Puck and develop your skills as a Guardian or will you go with Kai and become a Destroyer? I think it’s a little early to give you the Master Guardian position, but you could be on the council. When you are ready to take over, you can.”

Ginny jumped to her feet. “She will do no such thing. Naomi will come home with me. She needs time to sort this all out and I’m not ready to give her up yet. Plus, look at her. There is no way she can make a decision that big with hair like that.”

In spite of myself I smiled. Only Ginny would be worried about my hair at a time like this.

“No,” said Puck, Kai, and Alejandro at the same time.

Alejandro tugged at Ginny’s hand and pulled her back down onto the couch.

“You have to decide tonight,” said Alejandro. “This is a crucial time. You have demonstrated a vast amount of power. You must learn to harness your power and use it for good. So far you’ve been a Shade, not really a Destroyer, but not a Guardian either. Tonight you must decide. You will either go with Kai and become a Destroyer or you will come with us and become a Guardian. Puck has the right to accept you so the rest of the Guardians are just going to have to live with the decision.”

“If I become a Destroyer, will I be able to become a Guardian later, when Kai comes back?”

Alejandro shrugged. “I don’t know. People do change sides occasionally, but it’s difficult. But if you do go with him, I would encourage you to stay a Shade for as long as possible.”

“Ginny’s right. I can’t make a decision like this right now. I need time. Please.”

All three men shook their heads. This was so frustrating. My whole life I’d been told what to do and now they were doing it again. I looked out the window and noticed that the sun was coming up.

“I’m going for a walk. I’m not making any promises, I don’t know if I can make this decision today.”

I walked out past my charred greenhouse and tried not to look at it as I crossed into the woods. I found my outdoor garden. Father had not destroyed that one. In my grief over my greenhouse I’d forgotten about it. Power still resided out here. I stopped and sniffed my Ruth Alexander roses. Tears came to my eyes as I found the faded picture of Ruth tied to the stalk. She died because Mother was evil. That idea was still hard to get used to and her death was on my head, because I had chosen to be her friend.

“Naomi,” said a voice.

I turned and found Kai standing near the entrance to the gardens.

“I want to be alone,” I said, irritated.

“But I want to be with you.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Does Puck know you’re out here?”

“No, he’s still searching the files in your mother’s office.”

“Oh, well, I still want to be alone.”

He ran his hands through his thick hair.

“Come with me,” he pleaded. “Please. I don’t know how to do this without you. I love you. More than I’ve ever loved anyone. Even my father. I very nearly took off with you that night you escaped. I want nothing more than to be with you. But I cannot forget my duty.”

“I don’t know. My mother was a Master Destroyer and look at the damage she created. She killed my best friend. I don’t think I can be part of an organization like that. Even though you saved me from this house. I know you are simply trying to do damage control. I don’t know if I can love you when you are like that. Puck tried to become a Destroyer once and it scared the snot out of me. I’m not a Destroyer. I never have been. I’ve always been a Guardian. It is not in my nature to hurt others. It’s not fair of you to force this decision upon me tonight. I won’t go with you.”

Kai turned instantly cool. “Fine. Enjoy your life with Puck. I’m not sure I’ll be back.”

He turned and disappeared into the woods.

“Wait,” I cried. “Wait, I do love you.” But he didn’t answer. I ran into the woods, but I couldn’t find him. He had disappeared. I sank to my knees under the cover of the trees. The leaves scratched at my legs. Tears streamed down my face and I fought back sobs. I could feel the ticks and bugs crawling on my legs, but I didn’t care. The only thing I cared about at that moment was that Kai was gone. And he wouldn’t ever be coming back for me.

Depressed, I made my way back to the house.

“Oh, thank goodness,” said Ginny. “We thought you’d left with Kai.”

I shook my head and tried to force a smile, but instead the tears came. Puck reached me before Ginny did and enfolded me into his arms. I cried into his shoulder for a good half hour. When I finally found the ability to look at him, he smiled and kissed me on the forehead.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go home.”

As we drove out of the driveway I looked back at the charred remains of my greenhouse. Poking out of a broken window was a splash of pink. A budding rose.

Heartache. I hoped to avoid it. I never grow them. I suppose now, I should order a few. The pink blooms will fit well in the little greenhouse Alejandro gave me.

I didn’t come out of my room for a week. Except on Wednesday when Ginny dragged me to Rita’s to fix my hair. She did a cute pixie cut and dyed it black with a streak of red. It looked fantastic and the red matched my manicure.

On the way back from Rita’s Ginny brought up Grandma. “Why do you think my mom never told me about any of this?”

I shrugged. “Probably to protect you. Did you see what my mother did? You are just a normal human being, she didn’t want you targeted.”

Ginny nodded, lost in her own thoughts.

I didn’t think I was capable of crying so much. I missed Kai and unlike last time, when I thought we’d be together again in a few months, this time I knew I’d never see him again. At the same time I was angry because he put me in this position. He forced me to make a decision. One that I wasn’t ready to face and now I had to live with it. Regret tastes bitter.