Salvaged Soul (The Ignited Series Book 3) (6 page)

“That’s me,” I said diplomatically as I stood, the words
‘walk, don’t run’
repeating in my head.

She laughed, a flirty, seductive laugh that kicked my defenses into high alert. A few years ago, I would have happily flirted back to see where it would go. Things were different now. I disliked shallow girls, hated when they played games, and had one hell of a good girl unknowingly encouraging me to be a good boy. Especially after the conversation I’d had with Micah that morning . . . hell, yeah, my defenses shot up.

She was saying something, but I was too busy plotting my escape to catch on right away.

“. . . this time we’re going to be spending together, it could be just like before . . .”

I stared at her dumbly. “What?”

She winked, pulling out all the stops. “I’m really looking forward to this mission, honey.”

Honey?
Who in the hell was this girl? Either I’d lost my touch, or I had missed some important part of this conversation. I shook my head. “Seriously, what?”

She lifted the envelope in her hand, with her name across the front. “The mission? Our identities?” She must have realized from my blank stare that I had yet to look at my identity. She looked all too pleased to clue me in, however. “You and me? We’re newlyweds,” she said. With a flirty bump into my side, she passed by me. “Looking forward to the honeymoon.”

At that, she finally left, sashaying away in that way girls did when they wanted you to check out their ass. I took pride of the fact that I didn’t look.

Chapter 6

{Kris}

He was dead.
Dead
.

The boat was set to leave in two hours. I knew because I’d heard everyone—
everyone
— talking about it. The whole island knew who was going on this mission, and were getting in their final moments before the time came to say goodbye.

Tears, well wishes, and hugs surrounded me.

Yet Nathan was a no-show. Since the moment I first heard the news, and heard his name dropped, I turned this island upside down looking for him. Now I sat, defeated, on a bench between the village center and the beach. Kim hovered just behind me and, though she remained silent, I felt her presence.

I lifted my chin out of my hands when I saw Alec approach from the direction of the mess hall. He shook his head solemnly and I lowered my head again. A moment later, I felt the bench shift slightly as he took a seat beside me.

“We’ve looked everywhere, Kris,” Alec said.

“I know,” I mumbled.

“He’s probably looking for you while you’re looking for him.”

“That’s why I’ve decided to stay here. He has to come by here at some point.” Worse-case scenario was a public, hasty goodbye when he passed by on his way to the dock.

My shoulders slumped under the weight of Alec’s heavy arm, but I didn’t care. He was there, and the weight of his arm comforted me in a way mere words couldn’t. I instinctively leaned into him, pressing my side against his.

There was nothing romantic about it. Not anymore. I knew that. Even Alec knew that.

For the longest time I hadn’t been sure if it were possible for me and Alec to be
just friends,
but as time went by, I had felt the shift in our relationship. It was more than just the fact that we were both born Skotadi, and going through a slow, agonizing change neither of us wanted. Though that connected us to each other in a way others could never understand, it was only a small piece of the very complex puzzle that connected us.

And I was always grateful to have him by my side.

Suddenly, his arm lifted. “Man, are you in trouble,” I heard him say, and I lifted my head to look for the target of his comment.

Nathan’s arms spread to his sides in exasperation as he approached. His gaze shifted from Alec to me, and he mouthed the word,
sorry
.

I jumped to my feet. “Where have you been?” The words came out a little squeakier than I intended, and I inwardly cringed at my weakness.

“Fighting with Jared,” he returned as he came to a stop in front of me. His arms started to reach out for me, but he caught himself, and held them back. He looked pained, tormented—the same as I probably looked.

“I still have to pack yet,” Nathan continued. Glancing over my shoulder at Kim, he added, “Maybe you could come with me while I do that?”

“I’ll be back here in two hours,” Kim said to me as her answer.

Two hours. Then Nathan would have to board the boat to the mainland. Until then, he was mine. We kept up with the charade for public appearances until we reached his room. The moment he shut the door behind us, I found myself enveloped in his arms.

“I’m so sorry,” he murmured into my hair. “As soon as I got out of the meeting, I tracked Jared down, tried to persuade him to get me out of it. I just . . . I don’t want to leave you.”

“Couldn’t persuade him?”

“No.” He pushed me back so that he could see my face. “He always said he trusted me more than anyone else. Apparently, he needs me on this one.”

“So . . . you’re still leaving.”

He nodded solemnly, and I suspected that he worried more about leaving me behind than he worried about the mission. Whatever it was.

“Where are you going? What is the mission?”

“I don’t know. It’s top secret. They won’t tell us until we meet at our rendezvous location.”

I scoffed. “What’s the point of that?”

“To ensure that no lovesick sap tells his girlfriend everything before he leaves.” He looked at me pointedly before releasing me and turning to his closet.

I watched as he tossed an assortment of clothes on the bed. As he dashed into the bathroom to grab the necessary toiletries, I picked up a shirt and started to fold it for him. If anything, to keep my mind off of the obvious.

They didn’t even know what they were going to be doing? Top secret? To me, that meant dangerous . . . life-threatening dangerous. My worst nightmare was unfolding right in front of me, and I was powerless to stop it.

It took me a moment to notice Nathan crouched in front of me, holding the shirt I had intended to fold. His eyes were lined with worry. For me. Always for me.

“Kris? Are you okay?”

I snapped out of my daze, and shook my head in a moment of absolute honesty.

He cupped my face in his hands, forcing my eyes to meet his as he offered me a reassuring smile. “Everything is going to be alright. I’ll be back before you know it.”

I huffed. “I’d rather you not leave in the first place. Why did they have to pick you?”

He shrugged. “Everybody who is going has a lot of experience. I’m one of the most experienced guys that they have.”

Nathan stood, rolled the shirt up hastily and tossed it into the large duffel bag laid open on the bed. Apparently, he didn’t concern himself with wrinkles. The rest of his clothes quickly followed until the bag was stuffed and zipped shut.

He looked at me triumphantly. Packing had taken all of five minutes. Only Nathan could pull that off, and still look incredible in whatever he took with him. Wrinkles and all.

“Now it’s you and me time,” he said.

The moment I had been waiting for. No sooner than I stood with a smile on my face, a knock at the door wiped it off.

Now what?

Nathan hesitated as if debating whether or not to answer it. Ultimately, he decided to risk it. I heard his heavy sigh when he saw the wide-eyed errand boy standing in the hallway.

“What does he want now?” Nathan demanded harshly.

“Jared wants to see you in his office.”

“Again?”

The boy shrugged, glancing at me. For help? Perhaps for me to remind Nathan of the golden rule to not shoot the messenger? He wouldn’t get any help from me. He was lucky I hadn’t already tackled him to the floor.

“He wanted to make sure I enforced you to come.” The kid visibly gulped, and I knew he was wondering how in the hell he would manage to force Nathan to do anything.

I started to feel a little bad for him.

“Fine,” Nathan gritted out, waving a hand at the boy as if to dismiss him. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

The boy scampered away, and Nathan shut the door. He turned to me, a silent apology written all over his face.

I forced a small smile. “Go get it over with.”

Nathan nodded solemnly as he closed the distance between us. He took my face in his hands, stilling me for a quick kiss. “I won’t let this take long,” he promised. “Meet me at the rocks in thirty minutes?”

I put on the bravest face I could muster. That would leave us with a little less than an hour. Not nearly enough time as far as I was concerned but, at this point, I would take what I could get.

Fear that it might be the last little bit we ever got gnawed at my gut.

One good thing came from separating from Nathan for a few minutes. Back in my room with nothing else to do, I enchanted a stone with a protection spell that I found in the big spell book. It was nothing more than a cheap souvenir shop stone set in a golden chain necklace, but that didn’t matter. It would hold a spell.

I just hoped it worked. Though my abilities were getting better—some days anyway—my spell casting was inconsistent. It seemed to depend on my mood, the weather, who I was with . . . a lot of variables. The only thing I knew for sure was that confidence was necessary for success. I put more focus and confidence into this protection spell than anything I had done up until that point.

More than anything, I
needed
this spell to work.

It took about fifteen minutes. Once finished, I slipped it into my jeans’ pocket and headed for the rocks.

That was what Nathan called his special spot and, according to him, it was his. He claimed to be the only person who visited the place. I couldn’t understand why. It was a beautiful and tranquil spot hidden away from the drama that infested the rest of the island.

Then again, I doubted anyone else knew it existed. As I climbed over the large boulders and ducked under low hanging tree limbs, following what I hoped was the right trail, I couldn’t help but wonder how he had found it. I sure wouldn’t have ventured down this path unless I knew that it would lead me to something worth my efforts. But I didn’t specialize in nature either. Not like Nathan.

When I jumped down from the last large boulder onto solid ground again, I saw my destination up ahead. Massive rocks, five and six times my height, grouped together in a large mound that resembled something like a large bowl. A crack, barely wide enough to permit Nathan to squeeze through, served as an entrance to the cavern created by the rocks. Inside was a deep pool of clear water fed by the small creek that snaked through the island. A narrow band of light filtered down from above, through a five foot gap in the rock roof. It served as the only source of light in the otherwise dark space.

I kicked off my sandals, and sat at the edge of the pool with my feet in the water to wait for Nathan.

Such a nice spot. Such tranquility despite the turmoil raging inside of me. Such a nice place to spend final moments with someone you loved. 

He better hurry
.

{Nathan}

I cast Rodney a look he wouldn’t challenge before bursting through the door to Jared’s office. Jared sat at his desk, looking at a stack of papers, and didn’t bother to look up when I entered.

“Nathan . . .” His lips curled into a sly smile. “Won’t you come in?”

“Cut the crap, Jared. I just saw you. What do you want now? And make it fast.”

“Got somewhere to be?” He finally looked up.

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

His smile grew as he set the papers down. “Wonder where that is . . .”

“Doesn’t take a genius to figure it out,” I returned. “Now what do you want?”

He gestured toward the chair in front of his desk. “Have a seat.”

“I’m not staying long enough to sit down. What do you want?” I repeated impatiently.

Since Jared and I went way back, he had come to expect attitude from me when warranted. Otherwise, I would have found myself in a heap of trouble for talking to a supervisor the way I talked to him now. He more than likely knew he was being a douche for dragging me in here now of all times, so he let it slide.

“I couldn’t ask you earlier because we weren’t alone,” he started. “How was last night?”

I hooked an eyebrow. “Really? You brought me back in here to talk about my date?”

“I don’t care about your date,” he corrected hastily. “Everything else. It went well?”

I stared. “What exactly are you asking, Jared?”

He sighed as he leaned forward in his chair. “There have been reports of increased Skotadi on the mainland,” he admitted. My eyebrows shot up, forcing him to add, “Don’t repeat that to anyone.”

It was common knowledge that small groups of Skotadi often searched the mainland for signs of the Kala. They knew we were in the area, but didn’t know our exact location. An increase in their numbers may indicate that they were getting closer, and was something the Kala would need to watch carefully.

“How many?”

He shrugged. “Not sure exactly. But we do know a large number arrived last night. If I had known, I would have never let you leave the island. You and Kris got lucky.”

No kidding. I blew out a puff of air, having realized the bullet we had barely dodged. “I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary,” I told Jared, “but then again, I wasn’t looking.”

Jared nodded, satisfied with my answer. His demeanor still seemed off. “They don’t seem to know where the island is at least.”

“That you know of. They’re not increasing their numbers for nothing.” The severity of the situation hit me, and I leveled my gaze on my friend. “You can’t send eleven of our best soldiers on a mission
now
, when there are Skotadi sniffing around nearby. We should stay here, and you know it.”

What if they figured out where the island was while we were gone? What if they decided to attack? At least Jared looked as conflicted as I felt about it.

“This mission is coming from the top,” he said in defense. “They’re requesting the best, we have to give them the best.”

“The top? Who?” Jared shifted uncomfortably, so I pressed harder. “What is this mission? Where exactly are we going, Jared?”

He hesitated as if debating what, and how much, to tell me. Finally, he decided to be truthful. “Mount Olympus,” he said. “The gods themselves have asked for our assistance. Do you want to be the one to tell them no?”