Starlight (The Dragonian Series Book 5) (52 page)

“Seriously?”

“Of course, but I’m the Rubicon.”

“I hate that so much.”

He laughed. “I don’t.”

“Finally!” I heard Becky’s voice first before I saw her figure. She put her sunglasses on top of her head and her bag down next to my seat, throwing the keys from the SUV on the table.

“How did you know we were here?” I asked.

“George tracked you easily.”

He walked onto the deck too with Dean, Sammy, and the rest of Blake’s band, laughing at something. They all took a seat.

“I am starving,” Isaac said and looked immediately at the menu.

“So, how long did it take you?” Ty slapped Blake on his shoulder. “How fast does she fly?”

“Not nearly fast enough.”

“Man,” he grinned like an idiot and looked at me. “If you’d like to know, my birthday is in a few months.”

We both laughed.

“Did you get the keys?” George asked.

“Picked them up last night already,” Blake answered. “Top main bedroom is mine.”

Everyone laughed as George grunted.

The waitress came back and Ty immediately turned his entire attention toward her.

“My name is Emily and welcome to the Ceadar Inn. What can I get you to drink?”

Isaac said a Denoldi beer, and so did most of the others, Sammy and Becky went with coffee. Ty on the other hand had a huge list of things this poor girl could get him.

“Ty,” all Blake’s band members sang.

Blake just shook his head. Poor Emily blushed and looked at him. Then her smile disappeared as a light bulb went on. “Aren’t you the drummer from The Shifters?”

Oh crap.

“Busted,” Ty smiled and raised his eyebrow at Blake.

Idiot.

“Ty,” Blake said and Isaac threw a sugar packet at him.

“Seriously, it’s called a getaway, Ty.” Isaac and Jamie sounded furious.

“So what, no girls?” Ty asked. “Dude,” he looked at Blake. “I might die in two days, let me have some fun.”

Blake laughed. “I’m so sorry.” He looked at me.

“It’s fine.”

Blake looked at Emily, and took off his glasses. I thought she was going to have heart attack as she realized who he was. “Please, I’m begging you, don’t tell anybody that we are here. We really just want to get away for a few days.”

“Of course,” she finally said. “I won’t tell a soul.”

“No please, you can tell a couple of your friends. Most of us are still single,” Ty said and I just laughed softly.

“Whatever you say, Tiger,” Emily chirped.

“Actually a panther, but I get where you are going with that.” He winked at her.

She took his order and left.

“Really,” Isaac said. “You can’t just be normal for two days?”

“It’s fine,” I answered. “We all know Ty and we have no choice but to accept the guy the way he is.”

Blake laughed.

“It’s fine, Ty. I just hope that the walls are soundproof,” I looked at the menu.

The rest of the breakfast/lunch was extremely fun. I felt sorry for Emily but she kept true to her word and didn’t tell a soul, she did, however, take a few selfies with the band.

When it was time to go, I knew that I was going to see Emily again by the way Ty flirted with her.

Once the bike was on the trailer, Dean drove up the rocky road to our cabin that was built near a patch of trees. It was the most beautiful, eight bedroom and five bathroom cabin, with the hugest living room I had ever seen. It had a massive porch that looked out on the lake and a beautiful granite countertop kitchen with cherry wood cabinets.

Everyone ran to find rooms as Blake brought our bags in to take it to our room.

While the guys were busy finding their way, Sammy, Becky and I went into town to buy some groceries.

It was the most beautiful little community by the lake, with a couple of stores in town and the diner.

Sammy was really quiet and I had no idea how to get her out of her mood.

I knew she was just as scared as all of us were on this getaway, but we had to find a way for her to just forget about what was going to happen two days from now.

We split up inside the store to find all the things we needed.

I ended up at one of the aisles that carried toys and found a couple of water guns.

There weren’t a lot people in here, and I decided that maybe it would be the fun Sammy needed.

Becky found me and smiled when she saw the smile on my face.

“What is going on in that mind of yours?”

“Sammy!” Is all I said.

She looked at the guns. “Let’s do it,” she laughed and opened the water bottle  that was in her hand, filling up both our guns.

Sammy was pushing a cart stacked with all the junk food she could find as she came around the corner.

Becky and I crouched low and I watched Becky counting off with her fingers.

We jumped out and just sprayed her with water. She shrieked at first, cussed a few times and then she just let her hyena laughter fill the entire place. “No fair!” She yelled, but we emptied the entire water bottle on her.

Sammy quickly searched the toy guns and found one too.

For the next few minutes that was all we did. We sprayed each other with so much water that it made the floor slippery wet.

“What is going on here?” The clerk finally came to investigate and wanted to yell more when he found all the water on the floor and the three of us soaking wet. But the minute he saw my face he bowed down. “Sorry, Princess, I didn’t see you there.”

“It’s okay, sorry about the mess. I’ll pay for all of this. I just wanted one of my friends to have a bit of fun.”

“No need to explain. With what you are doing for all of us, you can have as much fun as you like.”

“Thank you.”

“You staying in one of the cabins?”

“Yes, a small getaway and if you don’t mind, can we please keep it that way?”

“Won’t say a word if anybody comes looking for you.”

“Thank you.”

The fun was ruined after the clerk came and we quickly found the rest of the groceries we needed and paid.

We walked into the next store, drenched.

“I can’t tell you when the last time I laughed like that was,” Sammy said.

“I really missed that laugh, Sammy.” Becky hugged her and kissed her on the temple.

We bought plenty of booze for the guys and then we left and went back to the cabin.

The inside was empty with no trace of anyone and we had to unload all the grocery bags by ourselves. We unpacked each item out of their plastic, and laughed at the memory of the clerk’s face when he saw me and not some troublemaker.

When we were done, we went to look for the guys and found them on the lake with the jet skis.

The rest of the day flew by, enjoying swims and jet skis. Around five Isaac lit the barbecue with Sammy’s fire and after dinner we played one of those booze games which got me completely messed up.

It was good fun though and when I passed out, I assumed Blake took care of me as I was woken up by the smell of strong coffee close by and two Advil’s for my headache.

Blake laughed as I opened my eyes.

“What happened last night?”

“Apart from the few minutes you puked your guts out?”

I grunted and buried my head under the pillow. “I was that drunk?”

“You had fun, Elena. You let loose.”

“Is it normal to have this headache?”

“Yes, it is. Here let me help.” He took the Advil’s off the side stand and chucked them over his shoulder. His hands were warm as he rubbed my temples softly.

I could feel the zing of his ability moving toward the pain and it slowly disappeared.

It felt so good.

“How is that?”

“Much better, now I’m just tired.”

“That I haven’t figured out yet, that’s what the coffee is for.”

I laughed and took the coffee from him.

“Get ready. We have a day filled with fun, Elena.”

“Awesome, I can’t wait.”

THE DAY WITH friends was amazing. It felt good pretending to be normal.

I was glad that I’d bought Blake that bike. We took it for a spin today and even Ty got a turn.

We went for a hike, and I got a chance to fly on Blake’s back for an hour or two. It was both of our favorite thing in the world to do. We loved just flying through the clouds and not having a care in the world.

We swam in the lake, and had more fun on the jet-skis, and at night we lit the barbecue again.

Tonight we told stories. Many of them were shifter stories told from one generation to the next about the first shifters and about why they were so secluded.

Then Emily and a few of her friends showed up around eleven and they joined in on our conversation.

Ty and Isaac were really funny too. They each pretended to sound like Blake and I had to say when Isaac pulled out the guitar and started to woo the girls, he did sort of sound like Blake when he sang one of their songs.

Nobody was thinking about tomorrow, even Sammy. She was cuddling next to Dean and laughed at Ty and Isaac’s jokes.

Ever since the day we blurted out that Blake’s suit had to change, she’d worried constantly about losing one of us.

I didn’t worry about that anymore. We hadn’t found the missing ingredient and I’d promised myself that she was not going to lose her brother. If there was someone that was going to die, it was going to be me.

The stars shone so brightly tonight. I was sharing a deck chair with Blake.

When Sammy yawned we realized that it was quite late and although I wished that I could just stay here and watch the sun come up, I knew it wasn’t a possibility.

Tomorrow I had to be fresh, had to be prepared for what we were going to face.

Sammy got up. “I think it’s time we call it a night,” she said and held out her hand for Dean.

“Dude, you still have your balls?” Ty asked and everyone laughed.

“Hahaha,” Dean mocked him back. “At least I have a warm girl to cuddle up to at night.”

“Too much info, Dean!” Blake joked.

“Then close your ears,” Dean peeped and everyone laughed.

Sammy kissed me on top of the head as she walked past and ruffled up her brother’s hair.

“Good night,” she sang to everyone, and we all bade her goodnight.

“Tomorrow is a big day, and whether I have balls or not, I’m calling it a night too,” George said. He got up and reached out his hand for Becky to hold.

“Don’t stay out too late, Elena. You guys need your rest too.”

“Yes, Mom,” I chirped and she laughed as she entered the house.

I didn’t want this night to end, and saw Blake starting to quiz me on our hand signals.

“It’s not safe,” I said.

“This one.” He showed another sign and it carried on like that until all of them were done and I answered all of them correctly.

“You are a fast learner.” He pulled me backward and wrapped his huge arms around me, kissing me softly in my neck.

I squirmed in his arms as it started to become too ticklish and he laughed. Ty was having a hefty conversation with Emily while Isaac was speaking to two of her friends. Jamie and the others had gone for an early morning swim.

Tomorrow lay heavy on my shoulders again. I couldn’t lose him and I didn’t know if he knew how I truly felt about him. That I would give up my life to save his.

I really wanted to be with him so badly tonight, but what if he still wasn’t ready. I couldn’t go through another rejection like the last time on my birthday when he’d said I wasn’t ready.

I was, he wasn’t and I wasn’t going to push that on him.

It hurt loving someone like this without knowing how many days you have left. I just wanted to make mine count now, try to tell him and show him how much he really meant to me.

“I think we should try to get some sleep, Elena. Today was a busy day and tomorrow is even going to be even busier.”

“Okay,” I said and brought our hands that were entwined with one another up to my mouth, kissing him softly on his hand.

I got up first, wrapped the soft blanket around me tighter and walked into the house.

“Goodnight everyone.”

“Faders,” Ty sang.

Blake flipped him off again and they all just laughed as Ty started with his disgusting remarks.

I pretended not to hear it this time.

I found Becky alone on the couch.
Where was George?

“Hey,” I spoke and she jumped from her thoughts.

“Elena?” Blake spoke softly.

“You don’t need my permission to sleep. I’ll be a minute,” I snapped playfully, which made Becky laugh as Blake just walked up the steps.

“What is up, where is George?”

“He’s speaking to his mom, saying goodbye.” Her voice broke but she pulled herself back together.

“Becky.” I went over to her and sat next to her on the couch.

“Let him, Elena. We don’t share the same beliefs, so he is just taking precautions. I know he will fight to protect me tomorrow.” She had fear lingering in her eyes smudged together with tears. “This is so stupid,” she said as she dabbed them away.

“It’s not stupid, Becky. We are going on a dangerous mission tomorrow. Just promise me you will be fierce, that you will make it out of there alive. Sammy cannot lose you too.”

She looked at me. “Don’t you dare, Elena.”

“I’m not going to survive in a world without him. The first time was hard enough,” I was referring to the time that I thought I’d killed him after one stupid kiss that should’ve never happened. “And we didn’t even like one another then.” My own tears welled up in my eyes and I wiped away a stray one that fell over my cheek. I swallowed hard and smiled at her. “I don’t even know what the missing ingredient is, Becky.”

“You said it was Louie’s berries.”

I shook my head. “Blake doesn’t believe that it is, and after he explained it to me, neither do I.”

“So none of you know what it is?”

I shook my head. “One of us is not going to make it.”

She just stared at me and then she closed her eyes. I could see her body deflating, and then Becky pulled herself together. She opened her eyes again. “You listen to me, I know you. We have been in situations like this before, Elena. You never know what anything is until the right time. I know you will discover the missing ingredient, you always discover what you must overcome, or the connection, and it will be in your reach as fate and trust have never let you down before. They wouldn’t bring you this close just to watch you die. Just don’t die. Keep on breathing, it’s all you have to do.”

She wasn’t listening to me. She wasn’t ready to say goodbye either, it’s not how she was built. I was really scared that this was going to hit her harder than I’d feared.

“Okay,” I smiled instead and gave her a hug.

“I love you, Elena Watkins.”

“I love you more, Becky Johnson.” I sniffed and swallowed my tears again.

“Just keep on breathing, it’s all you have to do.” She smiled as I got up.

“You too.”

I walked up the steps and went into the room. Blake had sounded tired this evening and I was sure that he was already fast asleep.

I opened the door softly and saw his figure on the bed. He was sleeping on his stomach.

I closed the doors and I couldn’t hold it together anymore. I loved all the people that were here with me on this getaway, even his stupid band members that weren’t stupid at all. They were brave and fiercely talented.

What scared me the most was that they would never know how much I loved them.

Tears ran over my cheeks, but I wiped them away fast and took a huge breath.

I pulled myself together and was ready to go to bed and just sleep next to Blake, not knowing if this was the last night we were going to share a bed or not.

I turned around, let out a yelp and jumped slightly as I saw a hulking figure standing right in front of me. Blake laughed as he pulled me into his arms. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

“I hate it when you sneak up on me. I thought you were asleep,” I spoke into his chest. His body was warm and I just soaked up his heat.

“Why the tears, Elena?” he spoke softly.

Shit, he knew.
Of course he knew. I shook my head. I didn’t want to speak about this on our last night. I didn’t want it to be sullen.

He moved away from me and lifted up my chin to look at him. I closed my eyes and took a huge breath before I opened them. The tears were still there. “We haven’t found the missing ingredient, Blake. We both know what is going to happen without it.”

He smiled. “I know what the missing ingredient is, Elena.”

“You do?” My heartbeat increased slightly. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I basically just figured it out.”

“What is it?” I had to know.

He smiled softly and stroked the side of my face with his thumb. His touch was the most amazing thing I’d ever felt and I didn’t want to lose it.

“It’s something you can’t see, or touch. It’s something much more.” He touched my chest. “Much deeper.”

“My heart?” I asked.

He chuckled.

“My heart is the missing ingredient?” It didn’t make much sense.

“Not literally. Mine too, this bond, Elena. The love we share. I truly believe it… no,” he stopped. “I know it’s us. Together, like you said, who we are, what we are, we will kill the Saadedine. Elena, we are the missing ingredient.”

“What about my blood?” I spoke again because I didn’t feel it this time. It had to be something I could see.

“It’s not your blood, your blood won’t affect him at all.”

“He is evil, Blake.”

“He was conjured, Elena. It wasn’t a natural process. The host.”

I remembered what Master Longwei had said that last time. “His host is not. It’s why my blood won’t work.”

“It’s why your blood won’t work.”

I sighed. “Okay, then it’s us.” I smiled and looked at him. “Just promise me that you will keep breathing, please,” I said and stood on my toes and kissed him. He had to breathe, he just had to.

Blake

“JUST PROMISE ME that you will keep breathing, please,” she said and came in for a kiss.

Our lips touched. I could kiss her forever, but a part of me feared really kissing her. I’d almost lost it that night, and I knew she wasn’t ready. What she’d gone through still lay heavy on me, and then there was the other part that I feared. What her kisses did to me. She was like my own personal fix. It hadn’t disappeared since that first time I kissed her and I feared that if I let go, I would not be able to stop.

She was like Fire Cain, the healthy kind, but also the dangerous kind. I loved this girl so much and I doubted that she would ever grasp that, but if someone was going to die tomorrow, it would be me.

This world needed her and I wouldn’t be able to survive without her anyway.

I’d made up my mind.

I had no idea what the missing ingredient was, I was just glad that she’d bought it.

The kiss deepened and I was lingering on the edge of no return. Her heart started to beat faster and I stopped. It was so hard, and getting harder each and every time.

I didn’t open my eyes, just moved my lips to her head. She wasn’t ready for this. She wasn’t there yet.

Still her heartbeat and then a different emotion filled my core. It was coming from her.

I struggled to pinpoint this one. It was as if she was disappointed, but it was mixed with something else. Something similar to what I felt. A different kind of fear, that she wasn’t ready either. That she would never be ready.

It didn’t matter.

I looked down at her. She was still breathing fast and then she rested with her head on my chest.

I closed my eyes and tried to connect with her mind. I remembered how easy it had been when I hadn’t given a shit, and now it was one of the hardest things in the world. Nothing worked, I’d tried everything, even the surrendering part. Nothing.