Reluctant Hero (The Dunamis Covenant Book 1) (14 page)

After about twenty seconds, the man said, "Ayyo, you only got three choices! Hurry up! I have to get back to work." Thomas thought it was almost funny that the man finished his statement by mumbling the words, "Stupid tourist!" under his breath.

Ignoring the slight, Thomas said to the vendor, "I'll have a Gyro and a bottle of water."

"That'll be nine dollars," he replied. Thomas handed the man a ten dollar bill and was handed back a dollar. Almost a minute later, the vendor was handing him his order. He gave an almost shooing wave, and he shouted, "Next!" Thomas ate as he walked, and the gyro left a pleasant garlic taste in his mouth. He then drank his water and continued towards a hotel. After checking in, he made his way to the elevator, he was growing tired again. He hoped that his room could drown out the rhythm of the city.
Tomorrow morning, I will finally be going back to Staten Island,
and Abby
. He beamed in spite of his pain as Abby's face once again dominated his thoughts.

He hadn't been on Staten Island since the day his parents were killed. He knew they weren't killed on the island because he remembered taking a couple bridges to get to wherever their secret Ethereal meetings were held. He also remembered walking through the park with his mother earlier that day, unaware of the fate that awaited them.

Thomas sat on his bed, studying the route he would take in the morning to get back to Abby. Not having her here with him hurt more than the wounds on his stomach. He concentrated on the different maps of all the sections of New York City. The locals called them boroughs, he called it confusing. After fifteen minutes, he had worked out that he would take the One Train to the Staten Island Ferry. When the ferry reached Staten Island, he would then take any bus that left platform A. Each of those buses would stop at Clove Lakes Park along Victory Boulevard. He would need to find the swings and then he would be with Abby. He hoped there was only one area with swings in the park. He had begun shivering even though it was a pretty nice day for November and then he noticed he was also sweating.
I can't be getting sick
, he thought.
I have to see Abby tomorrow.

Abby's bus pulled up to its stop in Roanoke, Virginia. She was weary as she exited the bus holding her backpack. She looked around and noticed she was in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. She inhaled the crisp, clean air, and she could smell nature all around her. She could see blueberry bushes near the bus stop, and hear the birds chirping in the wind-blown trees. She decided that this wouldn't be a bad place to live. She waved to the driver, then stretched her tired arms and legs. She was now one step closer to TJ. To her dismay, the bus station was nowhere near the car rental offices. She was, however, happy to see some cabs waiting to pick up fares from arriving buses. She walked over to the row of waiting cabs and asked the second driver, "Can you take me to the nearest car rental establishment?"

He took his time looking up from his crossword puzzle, giving her the impression that she had disturbed him. He looked at his young passenger, and as soon as he saw her green eyes and perfect figure, he straightened himself up, smoothed his shirt and looked back up at her like he had just won something. "I certainly can, sweetheart, hop in," he replied.

She decided she didn't like this man and she was thinking of choosing a different cab when she recognized one of Asa's Paladins. Her eyes went wide, and she hurried into the cab. She hoped she wasn't noticed, and then she said, "I need to get there fast, there's an extra ten bucks in it for you if you can make that happen."

"Yes, ma'am," The driver said and hit the gas pedal hard to accelerate. Abby had her eyes glued to the bus station, hoping she got away clean. Her hopes were dashed when she saw the Paladin get in a cab and take off after her.

Abby pushed an image of her in a desperate situation into her driver's head before speaking. "There's another cab following us with my ex-boyfriend in it. He's been stalking me all over the country and I don't know how he found me here. He's very dangerous, do you think you can lose him. There's another fifty in it for you if you do." She managed to do a convincing damsel in distress routine. She knew she could take the Paladin, knowing Asa wouldn't waste someone powerful at a bus station in Roanoke, Virginia, but she didn't know how many others would be close by, so she had to lose him.

He looked in his rearview mirror and smiled, "I think I can do that for you." He noticed the other cab trying to follow him in a discreet manner, and he saw the other driver. He pulled out his phone and called him.

"What do you want, Jackson," the other man howled.

"Don't say anything, just listen, Richie. I got a young lady here says your passenger has been stalking her all over the country, and that she's desperate to get away from him. She also said he's dangerous. Could you let me out drive you just this once?" He winked in the rearview mirror, but all Abby could manage was a nervous frown.

"You got it, Jackson, don't forget: poker at Jerry's house at nine. I'll be leaving with all of your money again."

He grinned and said, "I think Richie went for it, we should be fine." Without warning, he hit the gas pedal and took off as Richie tried to keep pace.

"Forget the rental car; get me to a good truck stop." Abby said.
I don't want to put my new identity to the test just yet. Maybe I could just hitch a ride with a trucker again.

Her driver took her a good forty minutes from the bus station and pulled up to a popular truck stop. "So where are you heading anyway, little lady?" he inquired while waiting for her to pay. "That'll be sixty-seven dollars," he added.

"I'm going to Michigan to find my fiancé. I owe you a big thanks and a big tip. Here's a hundred fifty, thanks again." She checked her hair in the mirror and walked into the truck stop as her cab pulled away. While she was entering the greasy spoon the truckers were in, she received a text from TJ. Her heart leapt as she read it.

Abby, stay out of Baltimore. It's crawling with Devlin's people. I managed to escape, but I took a pretty good hit. I'll be all right, I just had to warn you. I can't wait to see you tomorrow. I love you.

She was worried after reading the text. It pained her to think TJ might be injured and alone.
What did he mean he took a hit
? She now found herself even more desperate to get to him. She went to the first table of truckers and asked, "Do any of you know anyone traveling north?"

They all looked at each other with approving nods. They acted as if this establishment had never had a more beautiful patron, and they all eyed her up and down for a while before answering. When they had finished eyeing her, she wanted to take a shower, but she toughed it out. She had to, for TJ.

"Well, I could take you, for certain um... considerations." One large man began with a laugh.

"Leave the girl be, Eric," another man chided. "Man you want to speak to is Earl; he's at the register now." He pointed at an older man paying his tab.

She batted her green eyes at the man and grinned. "Thank you kindly, sir." Then she was off to see if she couldn't get Earl to take her to the man she loved.

She caught up to him in the parking lot and said, "Excuse me, sir."

He turned around and said, "What can I do for you, young lady?"

"I'm trying to get home to New Hampshire and nothing has been going right. Anyway, the other gentlemen in there said you were heading north, I was wondering if I could hitch a ride. I could chip in some gas money if you'd like."

"Well, you just said the magic words, darling. You ready to go now?"

"Yes, sir," she replied and walked towards his rig.

"I can take you as far as Philly. I hope that's a good start. You gotta wait 'til night time to get the big rigs heading all the way up north."

She didn't think that sounded right, but she wasn't about to argue. "Philly will be fine, thank you, sir."

"Sir was my dad, you can call me Earl. I think fifty should cover your part of the gas, what do you say?"

"I say you're a lifesaver, Earl."

*****

"He's not going to like that, Trina. Where do you think he went?"

"I don't know, Antonio. Simeon got himself killed by charging the police with his sword. I had to try to take Archer myself, but he was too strong. I did injure him, but by the time I woke up he was too far away to track."

"I'll get some more men out to you within the hour. You go to Naomi and let her take a look at you. You're the most powerful Dark Shifter we have in the Baltimore area. If he's still around there we'll need you on top of your game to help bring him in. I'll smooth things over with Devlin." When the call terminated, Antonio turned to see Devlin staring at him.

"Bad news, Devlin," he began.

"That would be obvious, since you have to smooth things over with me. What happened?"

"Trina and Simeon encountered Archer in Baltimore last night. Simeon attacked him with a sword in front of a crowd, and when the police confronted him, he charged them and got himself killed. Trina then tried to take Archer herself and he injured her before escaping. She did say she injured him, though."

"I want everyone we have to begin making their way to D.C., do you understand? It's time we put our final plan in motion. If Archer is anywhere near Washington, we will apprehend him and then we will either turn him or kill him. If he is untrained, it is most impressive that he was able to take out Trina. We cannot have that kind of power out there ready to oppose me. Uniting the Shadow Assembly will be hard enough. Then we will need to defeat the Council of Light. We don't need Archer in the mix as well."

Antonio nodded, and then left the room to carry out Devlin's orders. The thought of Devlin ruling the world and himself as Devlin's second-in-command put him in a good mood.

*****

"Abby Fitzpatrick is in Roanoke, or at least she was ten minutes ago. I tried to follow her, but she must have noticed me. Her cab lost my cab, but not to worry, Asa, I will find out the driver's name and have a chat with him." He pressed his gun a little bit harder into the Richie's throat while he spoke to Asa on his phone.

"Good work, Nate, let me know as soon as you do. If she's in Roanoke, it means she's meeting Archer somewhere on the east coast. All of our people back east will be alerted, and the rest of our clan will be heading that way. We cannot afford to let them get away."

"I will call you as soon as I have the direction she was heading."

"Make it happen, Nate. Their lives depend on it. All of our lives may depend on it." He hung up his phone and turned to his team. They were handpicked and represented the best the Undaraii clan had to offer minus the Fitzpatrick family. They had never gotten along with him or his father and none of them had volunteered to come out and help. After his dismissal of Abby, he couldn't blame them, but he also didn't need them.

He looked at those gathered around him and said, "Pack up whatever you need, and travel light. We leave for Washington on the next available flight. Our support team will pack up everything else, and our people will meet us there with weapons we can use until ours arrive. Abby has been spotted in Roanoke and we will soon have the direction she was traveling in. We must be ready." He looked at Stephen and ordered, "Alert the rest of the clan, we all go east." He turned to Stacy and added, "Get us on the next available flight, charter one if you have to." He looked to Malachi and said, "We need to speak, old friend." Before Malachi could answer, Asa's phone began to ring. It was from Nate so he answered the call. "What have you got for us Nate?"

"I caught up with Abby's cab driver, Jackson. A little money and the sight of my gun loosened his tongue. He said she told him she was heading to Michigan to see her boyfriend who was in trouble with the wrong people." He paused and when Asa said nothing, continued. "I also went to the truck stop he left her off at where four men confirmed that she had just hitched a ride with a man named Earl, heading north."

"What does your gut tell you, Nate? You're the only one that spoke to the parties involved." Asa knew his question would rattle the young Paladin. He wanted recognition just like all Paladins do, but didn't have the necessary ability to be noticed for the important tasks.

"I think Michigan was a ploy to throw us off, she knew I'd catch up to the cab driver sooner or later and left him that information to throw me off. I do believe she is heading North, though. I'm sure she didn't think I would be this close behind her. I believe she thought that anyone who had seen her at the truck stop would already be gone by the time I got here."

"I believe your assessment to be accurate, Nate, well done." He could almost hear the young man beam. He may never become a great warrior, but perhaps he had a promising career in intelligence ahead of him. He hung up the phone and called out to Stephen, "Change of plans, Stephen, get everyone to the northeast, from Washington to New York. Nate has just cut our search area in half. Abby's family is on Staten Island and it's probable that she's meeting Thomas there, where she imagines they'll be protected. The bulk of the clan will be going to New York." Asa hoped he would soon have Thomas and Abby in his grasp. He turned to Malachi and led him to the next room.

"I know you are angry with Thomas, but he didn't know he had that strength when he threw you. You must curb your anger, it will make it more difficult for him to come back and trust us."

"He made a fool of me, Asa. ME!" he yelled with a heavy mixture of passion and anger. "And he did it in front of my protégés, it was unacceptable."

"I agree, Malachi, but he just overreacted, he did not intend to hurt your body or your reputation. He was scared and his untrained Paladin abilities kicked in."

"I am not happy we are giving him a second chance, Asa."

"We have to, if we want him to defeat Devlin for us."

"And if he won't?" Malachi asked in a threatening manner.

"Then you may kill them both." Asa replied with a wicked scowl.