Chapter 246
My sister had a couple of broken ribs, and one had punctured her lung, just as I’d expected. Between the three Healers, they had just enough juice to put her back together. Everyone else had to wait a little while, but eventually, everyone got patched up, and the next day we headed back to Kansas City. That’s right—no stops in Shenandoah. I’d get my stuff later.
I expected a long lecture from several people about how I had, once again, ignored direct orders and put myself in danger. But that’s not what happened. My sister, Aaron, Elliott, and Brandon all let me know that wasn’t the smartest thing I could’ve done but that they appreciated my efforts. Aaron suggested that next time I run it by Cadence, and while I knew that would’ve done me absolutely no good, I smiled sweetly and agreed.
I think they were madder at Christian than me, and I knew I’d better start working on repairing that relationship as quickly as possible in case I ever needed anything from the Guardian again. He wouldn’t even look at me for several days, he was so mad that I’d used him like that. I couldn’t blame him, and it was sort of nice not to have to worry about finding him staring at me with that creepy look in his eyes. I still vowed to find a way to make it up to him.
Living in my sister’s guest room was pretty cool, though I did miss my parents and my friends. I made a lot of phone calls and sent a lot of texts, as I’d promised I would. I continued my training with Aurora as my coach. Brandon was all done with that now, but he’d still come with us sometimes, just to keep me company, when he wasn’t busy with other things. It was awesome getting to see him every day, and when I started my classes, I did have a couple of the same ones he did, including pre-AP Algebra, which was great because he was a lot better at it than I was.
Being inside Gibbon’s head had been jarring, and his memories stayed with me. It made it hard to sleep at night, and there were times I’d lay awake for hours. I thought part of it might just be my body adjusting to all the changes. Guardians didn’t sleep much at all, and most Hunters didn’t sleep nearly as much as humans—except my sister. Still, I thought part of my insomnia was due to my encounter with Gibbon, and I tried to push him out of my head. A few sessions with Hannah helped, but when I was alone in my room, I still saw the faces of his victims. They haunted my dreams.
I had pretty much given up on Aaron’s theory that something evil had come through the portal. None of the Vampire conversations I eavesdropped on said anything at all alarming, and I was doing more and more listening. I knew he’d mentioned that it had taken them decades to figure out that Dracula was back, but I thought he was just being paranoid. Surely, if something that major had happened, someone somewhere would be talking about it. Days had passed since the blue moon, a week and more, and there was nothing.
One night, I sat in a chair in the living room, listening to my sister and Aaron talk about their wedding plans. They’d finally picked a date. September second, the same as my grandparents, and while they had months to plan, they were all over it. I felt safe knowing they were both nearby, and soon, I was blinking more often and longer until I dozed off.
I found myself standing in the desert. In front of me, a large dilapidated building cast a shadow across the sand and shrubs. It was night, but I could see clearly, and a thousand stars filled the sky.
There was an electricity in the air, and as I smelled ozone and began to feel a tingling sensation, I backed up behind a tree, realizing something important was about to take place. Goosebumps sprang up on my arms and a prickle of fear shot up my spine.
A stirring at the entrance to the building, which looked like it might’ve been an insane asylum or hospital in the distant past, drew my attention. My mouth fell open as I watched a familiar face I’d never seen before emerge from behind the broken gate. She was wearing a flowing white dress, her blood red hair and her gown billowing out behind her despite the lack of a breeze. She was headed across the yard, and as I turned my head, another face I recognized came into view. A muscular man with dark brown hair quickly crossed to meet her, wrapping her up in his strong arms.
As soon as their flesh touched, a charge of power ignited the air, and I felt as if I’d been hit by a lightning bolt. Every hair on my body raised on end, and I stood up straight, despite wanting to stay out of view. Like a marionette or a brainwashed zombie, my mouth began to move. As soon as I spoke, both of their heads swiveled to look directly at me, but it wasn’t just my voice that echoed through the night. It was the voice of hundreds of thousands speaking as one.
“The time is now!” we cried in unison.
Once the words had left my mouth, everything went black and I crumpled to the ground, feeling as if all of the air had been sucked out of my lungs. My thoughts were no longer my own, but I had an overwhelming feeling that it was time—time for mayhem, time for revenge, time for… destruction.
