Myopia (Young Adult Zombie Paranormal Romance) (Wisteria Series) (17 page)

Seconds later, the guard was lying next to her with a bloody nose while clutching his arm.

“Are you all right?” Coles asked.

Scrambling to her feet, she glanced at the man her stepfather had just dealt with. “I’m better than he is.”

“Why are you here?” Coles demanded. “This area is restricted.”

“David told you me you’re leaving the island?”

“And?” Coles scowled.

“You’re letting them kick you out? You’ll die out there.”

“I’m not letting anyone do anything to me,” Coles replied. “There’s nothing left for me here.”

“What? You’re choosing to leave? The Town Hall’s wrong about firing you. You can make them change their mind.” She grabbed his arm. “If this is about Andrew and—”

“Andrew.” Coles shook his head.

She knew the two men had been close friends.

“Wisteria.” He paused and gently stroked her hair. “Go home.”

Tears did fill her eyes, as he’d never showed her such warmth before. “At least tell my mum you’re leaving. Don’t be a coward. You’re abandoning my mother and you don’t even care?”

Taking her by the arm, he led her aside, until they were out of earshot of the others. “You know what’s out there, so don’t ever call me a coward. And as for your mother, this was her idea. You think she wants me around now that I can’t protect you and your brother?”

“What are you saying?”

“Forget it.”

“No, tell me.”

“Your mother seduced me into returning to protect this town. I brought my men back to Smythe because I thought she loved me. Basically, all that woman wanted was to make sure I kept your family safe. Now she’s said I’ve nothing to offer her. And you know what? She’s right.” Coles moved away.

“She’s not like that.”

“No one knows what your mother is really like,” he scoffed. “You of all people should know that.”

It did sound like something her mother would feel…for strangers, but her mother was different when it came to him. “No, she loves you, she just—”

“Elliot, you need to leave now,” Bruno bellowed. “The family reunion is over.”

“Even if she does, I don’t want to stay.” He turned toward the gate again.

“But we might be in trouble.” She clutched at his arm as he moved away. “Bach’s people are coming here to look for something.”

“More of his kind is on the way?” He paused. “You knew, but didn’t say anything?”

“I wanted to be sure,” she replied. “I’m still not sure what’s exactly happening.”

“And they’re coming here?”

“I think so.”

“It’s a good thing I’m leaving now then.” He jerked away.

“What?” Glaring in shock as the man walked away, she wanted to say something, but she didn’t have the words.

“Wisteria.” Stopping, he walked back to her. His tone was calmer and somber. “Talk to your mother about this. I can’t help you anymore.”

“Now, Coles,” Sir Charles commanded.

Bruno approached and grabbed Coles’s arm. “Now!”

“Take care of yourself.” The Major glared at the man, jerked his arm free from Bruno, and walked through the gates out of the island.

Looking around, she didn’t see any soldiers, only the civilian guards and a couple trackers. Sir Charles probably feared the rest of the soldiers might leave with him. And as much as the leadership council hated Coles, they needed the soldiers.

As her stepfather left, she saw a red and black tanker floating in the distance. The gates were closed just as she saw him get into the motor boat—he never looked back.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Bach was on Jarthan, preparing to finally leave now that he’d gotten the official news. The empirics would be leaving for the Isle of Smythe in three days. Now he was expected to return to Smythe to await their arrival. While he was gone, he wanted Enric to help him find out what Felip was up to.

“No,” Enric replied firmly when Bach asked him. “I am not interested in tracking down that
D’cara
. Let the empirics handle it. That is what they are trained to do.”

The boys were in Bach’s chambers, as he packed his belongings.

“Why do you not have a steward gather your possessions?” Enric jeered at the sight of Bach packing. “You are not a domestic.”

“I need you to find where Felip went. Your father has connections that can look into these things. I would prefer not to discuss that when a steward is here.”

As the Lord of Jarthan, Enric’s father was an avenue to get information without having to go through empirics or official challenges.

“The empirics are looking into this,” Enric remarked. “They have a full-on investigation to locate Felip. The mongrel is probably hiding somewhere in the Vashteen plains or Gunori Dessert, hoping they do not find him.”

“Felip was on Earth. Somehow, he journeyed from home, through Jarthan to Earth without being stopped. And since your father guards Jarthan and the threshold, I cannot understand how he is doing that. I need to know what he is trying to do.”

“You saw him on Terra?”

“No.”

“How do you know he was there? Your Terran told you?” Enric grumbled. “You promised this was over.”

The last thing Bach wanted was to be drawn into another conversation about Wisteria. “Felip is still after something and we do not know what or why. How I found out is not important.”

“Well, leave it to the empirics.”

“Enric, you are my friend. I took you on my Great Walk and now that you have finished you have been elevated to the Ino caste. That means you get to live on the Sable Mountains and my father paid you quite a lot when you completed too. You are very wealthy now.”

“And?”

“You owe me.”

Enric’s face dropped and he shook his head. “So, when the time comes, I will not stand in your way if you want to make Alba your intended.” Enric clearly was not thrilled at this notion.

Bach wondered what had happened to change his mind.

“Just put this issue with the Terran aside, please.” Enric sighed.

“Alba does not feel the same way.”

“No, it seems you two were meant to be together.”
No, she was in love with someone else,
Bach wanted to say.

While Enric covered Bach’s relationship with Wisteria to protect himself, he might respond differently if he knew his sister had once loved a human so deeply she couldn’t be with anyone else.

“What happens when Felip comes back and runs into Alba? Can you risk Felip tracking her down? I know she is an empiric and can clearly take care of herself, but is that what you want?” Bach said instead.

“I will see what I can find,” Enric agreed reluctantly.

*****

After school, Wisteria went straight to the tracker station to wait for her mother to return. She wanted to talk to her about Coles leaving. When she arrived, the controller told her that her mother was working a double shift and that it would be another seven hours before she returned.

Feeling numb from everything that was happening, she headed home. A few minutes into her trek back to the farmhouse, she spotted Steven and Gareth heading toward her.

Steven said something to the boy, and then they argued for a bit until Gareth left. “Wisteria.” Steven headed toward her.

“Crap,” she muttered, checking for a way to escape. The clock tower was few feet away. If she ran, she would get there before he reached her.

“Ria,” he called as she took off. “Ria.” He jerked her back as she neared the clock tower.

“Go away.” She pulled at his grip on her arm.

“Why are you behaving like this?” Steven hissed. “You act like I’m trying to attack you or something. You’re not that special, Wisteria. You should be happy that I’m even paying you any attention.”

“Why do you think I have time for this? My friends died outside because you and Dillon organized another party.” She shoved him back.

“I didn’t organize another party. Dillon did that on his own.”

“Okay, fine.” She continued toward the tower doors.

“I’m not a monster. I feel terrible, too. I lost friends there, too. Don’t walk away from me.” He tried to stop her from leaving. “I heard about Coles and I wanted to see how you’re doing,” he said.

His concern surprised her to say the least. “In a period of ten days, I’ve lost my best friend, my stepdad, and even Andrew, because you had that stupid party, Steven Hindle.” She was shaking with rage.

“We didn’t know that would happen.”

“There are biters everywhere. How could you not know?”

“I’m not psychic.” Steven grabbed her forearm. “We’re not the only ones sneaking onto Norton for drinks or whatever. Charles and Bruno do it all the time.”

“Sir Charles is an idiot.” She pulled at her arm. “You’re an even bigger idiot for listening to a thing he says.”

“What happened to you? You used to be so sweet. It used to be that just seeing me lit up your face.”

She couldn’t remember that time. It seemed like years ago, but it had only been seven months. However, reflecting on her stupid crush over Steven was the furthest from her mind. “What do you want from me, Steven?”

“Wisteria---”

“Because I know you’re not really interested in my life. So tell me, what do you really want? You’re looking to score points with your friends or are you trying to make Hailey jealous again?”

“I like you?” It sounded like a question. “Is that what you want to hear?” He ran his pale hand down along her arm.

She smacked his hand away. “I promise, if I ever get that desperate, I will think about jumping off a bridge, and we’ll talk then.” Ducking under his arm, she marched toward the heavy doors of the clock tower.

“Man, who do you think you are? No, really.” Slamming her against the side of the building, he laughed. “Don’t you get it? I’m going to give you the only thing you’ve ever wanted.”

“What exactly is it that you want?” Bach appeared behind Steven. His green eyes darkened when he saw the blond-haired boy’s hands holding her abdomen. “What are you trying to do?”

She was startled; she hadn’t sensed him on the island.

“Man, Bach, this isn’t any of your business,” Steven ridiculed.

Like most people in Smythe, Steven didn’t know about Wisteria and Bach’s relationship. She suspected if her mother knew, she’d harm him, so she was glad to be discreet. Bach, she believed, didn’t want anyone to know because he didn’t think it was any of their business. Now looking at him, she wondered if part of him regretted that now.

“Go now,” he warned Steven intently.

“Whatever.” Steven let go. “Why didn’t we see you in quarantine?”

“I am immune.”

“Immune,” Steven scoffed. “No one’s immune to Nero.”

“I wonder if you are immune to a punch in the face.” Bach lunged at the shorter kid.

Steven ran.

“Who was that?” Jason walked out, followed by his dog. “Was that Steven Hindle? Oh, I see you found your friend.”

“Are you okay?” Bach asked as he gazed intently at her.

She buttoned her coat and avoided his stare. “Yeah, he’s just a jerk.”

James was now barking from down the street.

“I need to walk him, but I need you both out in three hours. There’s going to be a meeting here,” Jason spoke as he gazed down the street.

“Wait you know about—us?” she asked.

Jason gave her a cynical look. “Do I look like an idiot?”

The dog kept barking.

“James, enough,” the man called, jogging over to the dog. Owner and mutt soon departed, leaving the pair alone.

*****

In silence, Bach followed Wisteria into the room behind the large clock.

She was muttering angrily to herself, but not talking to him.

He’d waited in the tower for several hours before jumping down to find her with Steven. He scowled at the thought of her with that boy again.

Now, she seemed so stressed and he assumed that was why she hadn’t sensed him when he returned to Smythe. “What is wrong?”

Approaching the biel core, she warmed herself. “My stepfather walked out.”

“But that is good news.” He was relieved Major Coles was gone because he never totally trusted Coles.

True, it was Coles who’d made it possible for him to remain on Smythe to travel in and out of the island undisturbed. Coles had told everyone that Bach was simply immune to Nero and they believed that. But the man didn’t fully understand the rest of Bach’s abilities or who he really was.

“How could you say that?” She turned back to him, staring at him like he was crazy.

“I thought Coles leaving would make you happy.”

“He’s committing suicide, that doesn’t make me happy. And I’ve no clue what this is going to do to my mum. And with him gone, we lost over sixty-eight people,” she explained. “I don’t want to lose anyone else.”

“Maybe this place is not as safe you thought.”

“No place is safe.”

“I know a place that is safe.” Standing next to her, he tangled his fingers into her hair. “Stay in my den and I promise no one will hurt you.”

“You know I can’t leave Smythe.”

“I am not asking you to leave forever.” Although that was what he wanted.
 
He also decided to tell her about the arrival of the cohorts.

“Uh.” Taking off her coat, she rubbed the back of her forearm violently. “What is this?” she cried.

“What is wrong?”

“Nothing,” Pulling her sleeve over her arm, she kept rubbing the spot.

“Did Steven hurt you?” he demanded. “I do not like the way he treats you. If he hurt you, I will end him now.”

“No, no, just promise you won’t be disgusted.”

“About you?” He couldn’t understand the question. He could never find any part of her disgusting. “Why would you ask me that?”

Rolling up her sleeve, she showed him her arm. “I’ve been getting this rash and it keeps coming and going. No one knows what it is. It kind of looks like your tattoos, but these aren’t tattoos.”

“I do not have any tattoos.” Inspecting the dark spot, he immediately knew they were from him. He should’ve told her this could happen sooner, so she wouldn’t be worried. Gently, he ran his hands over her skin and some of the shana vanished. “It is nothing to worry about.” Part of him was elated, because he knew this meant she did in fact, love him. Part of him was terrified, because this would be hard to hide from the empirics when they arrived.