3 Hit the Road Jack (28 page)

“Go relax for a bit. I’ll be over later.”

“Ok.” I was ready to escape the room and the emotional truth that hung there.

Chapter 27

“Hey,” I smiled as I fell into the spot beside Kellan on the sofa. I curled up into him and pulled out the red iPod
n
ano
;
I’d stopped to get i
t from
our room on my way back. I handed him one of the ear buds and placed the other one inside my ear and flipped it on. He studied me for a minute as the music started.

“You ok babe?”

“Yea. Just trying not to avoid remembering a lot of what’s happened over the last couple months.”
He gently removed my hair scrunchy and allowed my hair to fall around my shoulders. He ran his fingers through my strands, soothing me with the motion. I closed my eyes, enjoying him, allowing the music and Kellan to surround me as I blocked everything else out.
Sometimes we all need a little meditation time.

I left my mind open so Kellan knew exactly where I was at that point. Communication was one of the most important parts of a relationship, and despite being able to connect at any second and read each other, we often didn’t. We kept the barriers between us. I always found that when we did release them though, tossing caution to the wind,
un
restricting our thoughts, we grew closer, stronger.

Already Kellan instinctively knew just what I needed mo
st
of the time, but every relationship has a disconnect from time to time. It’s holding on through the hard times, through the misunderstandings and emotional low points, that secure your relationship
for eternity. If facing your problems is more than you’re willing to bear, then you’re not with the right person. I couldn’t imagine going to hell and back with anyone else, for anyone else. Regardless of his heated moments, I could
n’t
picture myself consciously walking away from Kellan.

Given my age, it’s normal for me to stray; after all, this was supposed to be the prime of my life. I was supposed to date around and have fun, not tie myself down. But I did. And I knew I made the right decision because I didn’t regret it. I didn’t feel like I was missing anything with Kai. I didn’t feel like I was missing anything with another guy. Occasionally I found someone else attractive, my eyes would travel, but they were never better than Kellan. The best way I could put it was my mind would stray, but my heart would stay. He was my foundation, my anchor. I always came back to him, and always would.

He leaned down and kissed my head, as if acknowledging that he’d heard all of that. I rolled over and lay down so my head rested on his thighs. I gazed up into his brilliant green eyes; they were crystal clear despite a dark teal ring settling in indicating his desire for me. His pupils dilated as he continued to play with my hair.

I smiled back up at him, feeling like a giddy puppy. He beamed back at me, his dimple on full display; his full lips were stretched, yet retained their pouty pucker. Would I ever grow tired of looking at him?

“I hope not.”

I laughed.
“I don’t think
I
will.”

“Good.”

My face shot to the right at the sound of someone clearing their throat beside us. “Hey Kai,” I greeted, sitting up.

“We couldn’t get a flight out tonight. Earli
est flight is tomorrow morning.”

“That’s fine,” I shrugged.

“It’s a commercial flight that stops in Miami before continuing on to San Juan.”

“Ok. Do you need me to do anything? I know Kalel is still tapped into the cameras around the city. Want me to monitor them?”

“No. He disconnected from them. We never caught the assassins on them anyways. They kn
o
w how to avoid them.”

“Is there anything I can do? I feel like you guys have done almost everything.”

“Prepare yourself. We’ve searched and El Yunque is a large rainforest with mountains, caves, waterfalls and absolutely no cell phone service. Once we’re in, we’ll have no way of contacting anyone on the outside.”

I felt the life drain from my face. Jack was setting us up good. We wouldn’t know how many of his men we were going to face until we were in, and we wouldn’t be able to call for back up at all. We were alone; this was it.

“We need to take as many weapons as we can carry. By chance, do you think we could get the same outfits we used the last time, the ones that stopped me from being burned?”

“Yea. I’ll have Art ship them overnight to the hotel.”

“Thanks.” I looked down at my necklace. It’d been a random thought I’d had, and given Kai’s feelings towards him, he was probably the best person to ask. “Kai, do you think Ralph is working with Jack? My necklace doesn’t work with the ninjas around, almost as if they know exactly what it’s made of and what to do to deactivate it.”

“That’s crossed my mind a few times,” he sighed. I scooted over to sit in Kellan’s lap as Kai sat down beside him.

“Does Ralph have access to your card records? To the Bladang’s expenses?”

“Only for the company card because he has to purchase so many parts and pieces.”

“You and Kalel have been charging the hotel bills to your company cards, haven’t you?”

I knew the second everything pieced together for him. “Shit!
I knew I never should have trusted him. I only keep him because he’s Gabi’s cousin, and ok, so he is brilliant with technology, but he’s not worth the trouble. I’ve never trusted the twerp.”

“Twerp?” I chuckled. “Never heard you use that word before.”

“I reserve it for him.” Kai pinched the bridge of his nose. I nearly jumped when he leapt up and yanked his phone from his pocket. “Cancel Ralph as
an authorized user on the AmEx right now! I want him on 24/7 surveillance and I need a log of all of his computer activity.” There was a pause. “I don’t care if you have to hire someone completely new to crack his security codes and encryptions. I want it done immediately. Call me when you get something.”

“You really think he did it?” Gabi asked, stepping into the conversation ring.

“I don’t know Gabi, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that my necklace has worked with everyone except Jack’s team.”

“I don’t take offense to it. I mean we’re barely blood relatives in my eyes, and he drives me insane with his fat word musings, but I also don’t picture him as the type to make business deals. He’s more of a behind the scenes kind of guy.”

“You think someone else in the lab set it up and Ralph is just going along with it?” I checked.

“I don’t buy that. The guy is a lot more conniving than you give him credit for Gab,”
Kai scowled.

“I’ll admit he’s not as innocent as he looks, but he’s also not as devious as you’re making him out to be.”

“How well do you really know your cousin Gab?” I asked, recalling the
bad vibes
I got when I met him. She remained silent, which meant not well. “Listen Gab, I’m not saying he’s a criminal; innocent until proven guilty and all. But he is the only one with access to the credit card charges and my necklace, which is pretty incriminating.”

“I know,” she sighed. “I just can’t believe that he would be so stupid. He’s deathly afraid of Kalel.”

“People are unpredictable,” I shrugged.

She took a deep breath. “Ok, so you cut him off from viewing the accounts, but was that before or after you booked the flights?”

“Shit!” was the expletive that exploded from Kai.

“Calm down. You can’t change it. Have you booked the hotel yet?”

“Kalel was doing that.” I was waiting for Kai to rip out a chunk of his curly brown hair the way he was tugging on it, nearly turning his shoulder length hair into an afro. I reached out and placed my hand on his forearm to stop him.
“Sorry,” he said, letting go of his hair.

“It’s ok Kai. We’ll figure it out. It’s no different than what we’ve faced so far.”

“I just can’t believe it’s one of my own fucking employees screwing us over. A family member at that!” He abruptly turned and punched the wall, the entire structure shaking as he
connected with
and crumbled concrete. I had this innate notion to hug him like a mother would her angry child. I yanked him into my arms, pinning his arms to his sides. He scrunched his brow, taking deep breaths that did nothing to calm him.

“Kai, stop. You can’t change it. I know you’re mad, but breaking walls isn’t going to change things. It is what it is; what’s done is done. From here on out, we’ll just have to be more careful. Only those who are with us can see where we are, even Art. Sadly, it’s as much our fault for being careless as it is his for betraying you.”

He relaxed in my arms and looked down at me. “How old are you?” he smirked. I rolled my eyes and took a step away from him.

“Ok, now I’m really read
y
to kick some ass. My family betrayed us
;
Rafi died,” her voice caught at the mention of him, “And I’m ready for revenge. None of what we’ve gone through should be in vain.”

“You know, that’s part of the problem between vampeens and vampires. We’re always trying to vindicate each other’s actions. It’s always about revenge, isn’t it?”

“Don’t go all churchy on me Lex,” Gabi squared off with me, hands on her hips as she pursed her lips.

“I’m not going churchy on you Gab. I’m just stating what I’ve been oblivious to. Why are you still on this mission Gab?”

“To get revenge for Rafi,” she replied.

“Kai, why are you on this mission?”

“To get revenge on the fucker for your parents and for trying to mess up my operation.” He said it as if it was a no-brainer, as if I should have known that all along.

“Kellan?
”

“I’m ready to get back at the pendejo for messing with my woman,” he declared.

“Oh God. This is a revenge mission,” I groaned. “That’s not what I wanted at all.” I sighed, closing my eyes to the truth. We were no better than Jack the way we were using our negative experiences to fuel our attacks. Here I was thinking we were protecting other vamps, when really it was a selfish mission all along.

“We’re selfish creatures Lex. We don’t
have human hearts or compassion,” Kai stated.

“That’s not true, otherwise you wouldn’t be on this mission with me. You have compassion when it comes to me,” I challenged.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” he shrugged.

“What does that mean?” I bit out.

“I just told you I was on this mission because the asshole messed with my operation,” Kai said through gritted teeth.

I narrowed my eyes, accepting the challenge. “So you mean to tell me that if Jack was torturing your brother you wouldn’t beg to trade places with him, take compassion on him in the midst of suffering?”

“He’s a big boy.”

“I don’t believe you.” He shrugged again. “What about when your dad was suffering right in front of you? You didn’t beg to trade places with him?”

“That’s different. I was a new vamp back then. Time has hardened my heart.”

“If you had a hard heart Kai, then you wouldn’t love at all, and I know you love me.” Abruptly the room went silent. Craig, Will, Kalel, Gabi and Kellan all had stunned faces
;
they couldn’t believe I’d just said that. I could barely believe I’d just said it. Kai looked at me, fire in his eyes. Then, suddenly it was gone. He bottled all his emotions and buried them deep inside.

“I don’t have time to argue with a naïve child,” he growled and walked out the room. I stood motionless staring after him with my mouth gaping open.

“That was a low blow Lex,” Gabi said, effectively slapping me in the face with guilt. I sighed, collapsing back onto the couch.

“I think we all need a bit of fresh wind and more gator,” Craig suggested, effectively breaking the tension again.

Chapter 28

We all went out for dinner at a local restaurant on the waterfront
side
of town. It offered variety; no gator, but Craig wasn’t too disappointed. He just liked food in general. Eventually Kai joined us as well, once he walked off his anger. I probably should have, but I didn’t feel bad.

We were again the only crazy group to sit outside in this weather on the deck overlooking the water. It gave us time to talk about our strategy in Puerto Rico anyways.