Page 26

26

TREY

“I apologize that it took so long,” Li says through the opening of the trapdoor. “They lingered outside our shop for a while. I kept watching them through the walls, reading their lips. From what I could catch, they’re convinced you’re in the area. They’ve gone scouring to find you but have made plans to return later. They think you’re waiting until nightfall to come here for healing. You should go before they come back.”

I help Arella climb up the wooden ladder first, then I do the same. Li shuts the trapdoor, then Tao shoves the freezer chest back over it.

“Is it still light outside?” I ask, taking a breath of clean, not-musty air.

Li glares up at the ceiling, then nods. “Yes. The sun is starting to set though.”

“Could we stay here until it’s dark?”

“What if they return and you’re still here?”

“We’ll take that chance.”

Arella places an affectionate hand over my forearm. I’m living for any moment when she willingly touches me.

“Are you sure?” she asks me. “If they’ve gone out to look for us, that means they aren’t around here. This might be our chance.”

I scratch the back of my head. “Um, so, I’m not trying to be dramatic or anything, but if we leave now, I’m gonna die.”

The three of them scrutinize me with their eyebrows dipped.

I should probably explain. “Yesterday, well, I think it was yesterday—all my days are blending together. Anyway, it doesn’t matter what day it was. The point is that Katie, a Premonitioner, told me that she saw my death. It was right outside that shop selling all those waving cats. The Royals stab me and kidnap Arella in the daylight. So, if we could stay here until dark, that’d be great.”

With a firm nod, Li claps her hands together. “Who wants some duck?”

A half hour later, Arella and I are sitting at a small dining table with some bowls of rice, roast duck, and a side of brothy soup. Our gracious hosts took their meals to eat upstairs. They said that if the Royals come back, they’ll stomp on the floor three times as a signal for us to hide. In the meantime, they’ll work on putting their store back together since it’ll help make it look like they’re not hiding people in their basement.

I finish my meal within ten minutes. Arella cleans out her bowls shortly after I do. As I wash up our dishes, she dries them and puts them back into the cabinets.

The next time I see Katie, I’ll have to thank her profusely. Not only did she help save Arella’s life, she saved mine too. Without her knowledge, we definitely would have left earlier. Then the Royals would have found us outside and Katie’s premonition would have come true.

To continue waiting out the sunlight, Arella and I head to the love seat to rest. So far, we haven’t heard any stomping, and I hope we never do.

For a while, Arella cuddles with me in silence. She’s sitting between my legs with her back flush against my front and her head resting against my chest. Tenderly, I play with her hands, grateful to be this close to her again.

Things are quiet as I enjoy the feel of her body against mine, especially since my ribs no longer ache. Earlier, when she fell asleep on my shoulder on the bus, it hurt like hell to stay in that position, but I didn’t care. I would have rather ached as her pillow than been more comfortable away from her.

I’ve never been one to enjoy silence. It’s hard for me to be alone with my thoughts. Whenever I am, my mind spirals into reminding me what a worthless human I am, walking around without a reason to live. I felt that way until Arella came into my life. With her, I not only enjoy silence but prefer it. She calms my mind in ways I can’t explain. With her, I have a purpose. She’s my reason to live.

Arella breaks the silence. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“Tell you what?”

“That Katie had a premonition about your death. You freaked out when you saw those waving cats, and you said nothing.”

“I didn’t wanna scare you.”

She tilts her head back to look at me. “Trey, how am I supposed to protect you when you keep information like that from me?”

“ I’m the one who’s supposed to protect you .”

Her mouth draws into a hard frown. “Why can’t we protect each other?”

“I don’t want you to worry about me.”

She turns around to straddle my lap, and I’m not mad about it. I even pull her in closer, keeping my hands around her hips. Gently, she caresses the back of my head with her nails, sending tingles down my spine. “Will you make me a promise?”

My gut instinct is to say yes because I want to give this woman anything she wants, but I can’t lie to her. There are certain things I won’t promise her, and they mostly involve anything that goes against her safety. “Depends what it is.”

“Will you promise me that from now on, we’ll be a team? You protect me, and I’ll protect you.”

Something is tugging at my lips, because I can’t stop them from smiling. “Is it really that important to you to protect me?”

She creases her face together like I’m an idiot. “Victor got me to project my immunity onto you by trying to murder you in front of me. What does that tell you?”

Good point. “I’ll make you that promise on one condition.”

“What?”

“You have to promise me that we’ll be a team—forever. I protect you, and you protect me—forever. Deal?”

She beams and nods. “Deal.”

“Oh, and also, promise me that if someone’s throwing an element ball at me, you won’t jump in front of it.”

“Deal.”

“And promise me that you’ll never try to abandon me at a gas station ever again.”

She nods again. “Deal.”

“Great. Now can I also go back to calling you babe ?”

Her lips curve into a warm smile. “I’d like that.”

I don’t realize my hand is clutching her face, guiding her toward me, until my mouth is already consuming hers. My kisses start off tender—light pressure, short breaths, and gentle touches—until suddenly, I’m not gentle anymore. I pant as I claw at her body to come closer to mine, because even when she’s straddling me, she’s not close enough.

“Trey...” She moans as I lay her over the couch cushions and climb on top of her. I put a leg on either side of her hips, then attack her neck with my lips. Her soft hands reach under my shirt, clawing at my abs.

I melt into her touch, groaning against her collarbone. “Arella.”

I kiss up her neck as she arches her head back. I’ve missed this so much. The taste of her sweetness. The smell of her intoxicating scent. The way she lets out breathless whimpers as I keep sucking on her skin.

Naturally, I grind my hard cock against her inner thigh. She digs her fingernails into my back, making me let out an uncontrollable grunt. The things this woman does to me. The power she has over me with just one touch. I’m hers. For as long as she wants me, for whatever she wants me for, I’m hers. All hers.

My lips travel upward until I find her mouth again. Panting hard, we return to what can only be described as an animalistic make-out session. We scratch at each other’s clothes. She breathlessly moans my name over and over. I thrust my hips against her, attempting to find any sort of release from the torment we’ve been going through.

I know this chaos isn’t over, but for now, right here, I have Arella. She’s alive, she’s safe, and she’s allowing me back into her heart. This is all that matters. This is what I risked my life to get back. This is my reason to keep risking it all.

I love this woman with every part of my soul. To be without her is to be without sunlight and air and food and water and whatever else I need to survive. I’m never going to allow someone to take her away from me ever again. I’ll spend the rest of my life fighting to be with her if that’s what it takes.

“Arella?” I whisper against her lips.

“Mmm?”

“I love you.”

She doesn’t hesitate. “I love you too.”

I might pass out from how happy I am to hear those words from her. A rush of flutters fills me to the brim. I’ve never felt so full like this. So completely and utterly full.

I lean down to plant one long, hard kiss against her lips, then pull back again. “Do you think you can ever forgive me?”

“For what?”

“You know, blowing your tire so I had an excuse to meet you. Trying to use you to make my dead parents proud. Spending three days passed out in an infirmary while you were trapped in a place with people you didn’t know. Putting your life in danger. Should I go on?”

“Trey, most of that wasn’t your fault. Actually, none of it was. Now that I know the whole story, I would have done the same thing if I were you. Fake-date someone to find out information that could result in taking down the people who killed my parents? And to stop those people from killing more people? When that’s all it was supposed to be, I would have taken that mission in a heartbeat. You never meant for me or anyone to get hurt. The only thing you did wrong was trust the wrong people. I forgive you for what happened, but I think the more important question is, do you forgive yourself?”

I don’t have to think about my answer. “No, but maybe someday.”

Arella grabs my face and pulls my mouth to hers. She kisses me so long and hard, it takes my breath away.

I pant for air as I do a push-up over her. “I really don’t want this to stop, but I think we should get going.”

Twenty-some minutes later, I’ve got our heavy backpack over my shoulders. Tao filled it with a fuck-ton of Healing Water, Healing Goo, and Healing Spray. I hope we won’t need it, but it’ll be good to have.

“Come back to visit anytime, okay?” Li says as she leads us to the back door of their shop. “Don’t wait twenty years this time.”

I chuckle lightly. “I won’t. Thank you again for everything. Seriously. You guys saved our lives.”

Li stops at the door, then turns to give me a smile and pinch my cheeks. Her eyes glisten a little. “I’m so proud of you, Trey Grant. You’ve grown up to be such a strong and handsome good boy.”

My insides flutter as Arella and I exit their shop. Li will never know how much her words mean to me. That’s the first time someone other than Liz has ever told me they’re proud of me. Hearing it from Li is like hearing it from my mother.

Tao’s black SUV is exactly where he said it would be: two spots away from the dumpster. With his key, I unlock it with a beep . Arella and I climb in, I toss our backpack onto the backseat, then we’re off.

“I can’t believe they just gave us their car.” Arella shifts to get comfy in the passenger seat. “I mean, it’s a freaking Lincoln.”

“I bet they’ll have enough money on their next royalty check to buy another.” I glance into the rearview mirror. So far, so good. “Also, I’ll come back some other time and thank them tenfold.”

“Are we going to go search for your parents’ safe house now?”

“Yep.” I check the rearview mirrors again. There’s a car behind us. An elderly lady is driving with an elderly man in the passenger side. Probably not Royals. Also, their emotions are pretty content.

“How do we know that Victor doesn’t know about your parents’ safe house? Now that we’ve discovered he and your mom were a thing, what if she told him about it?”

“I thought about that earlier, and I think we’re okay. My parents’ message said that the only person I should trust is Aunt Debbie. That tells me Victor wasn’t on the trustworthy list for a while. Probably since the day Aunt Jodi left him and he broke things off with my mom.

“Now that I think about it, it was around that time when my parents started bringing me out to Julian, California. I remember because Victor had just started treating me like a plague-ridden toad. Whenever my parents brought me out there to stargaze, I’d wish on all the stars that my Uncle V would find another wife. I wanted him to be happy so he’d be nice to me again.”

All the emotions I had as a kid during those days come rushing back to me. Victor used to be my favorite person in the world. He was the one I’d beg my parents to let me call, so I could ask him to come play with me. He was the one I’d look forward to seeing every weekend. He was the one who taught me how to swim and to roller-skate.

We were so close that we had a secret word. Whenever either of us said crystal , it meant that whatever just happened stayed between us. It started one Christmas morning when Victor and I snuck downstairs to the decorated tree and opened one of my presents early.

In the midst of shooting Uncle V with my new Nerf guns, I bumped into the Christmas tree and one of my mom’s precious crystal angel ornaments fell. The wings broke off, and there was no fixing it. My mom never found out where her angel ornament went, because Victor and I made a pact to never tell anyone. From then on, whenever we had to keep something a secret, we’d say crystal .

That was the last Christmas I ever spent with Victor. Suddenly, he stopped coming by to take me out for late-night ice cream and walks around the neighborhood. My loud nights filled with Victor and me wrestling on the carpet while I avoided Aunt Jodi’s glares became quiet nights with just my parents, asking them when Uncle V would come back to visit.

“Let me see if I’ve got this right.” Arella ticks off her points on each finger. “Victor was in love with your mom but was married to Jodi. After Jodi left him for another man, Victor’s so heartbroken that he dumps your mom. Then he starts treating his own son like trash?”

I purse my lips and nod. “Sounds about right.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. With Jodi gone, wouldn’t he have felt more free to be with your mom? What if your dad—or the person you thought was your dad—found out about the affair and threatened to hurt Victor if he kept seeing your mom?”

“That’s possible, I guess. Either way, I’m not gonna try to make it make sense. The only person who can tell us why he did what he did is Victor, and to say we’re not on the best let’s sit down and hash out the past terms is putting it lightly.”

Arella and I talk for a bit longer before she eventually falls asleep.

When we finally arrive in Julian, California, it’s well past three in the morning. The sky is black, the roads are quiet, and the emotions coming to my head are mostly muted.

Arella’s eyes flutter open as I tap her awake.

“We’re here,” I say as I gesture toward the Y-shaped tree my parents always parked their car at. I shut the Lincoln off, then grab the backpack.

After locking the car, I take Arella’s hand and lead her through the woods.

“If we don’t find it,” I say as my fireball floats in front of us, “we could go to my cabin in Colorado. It’s not underground, but it can be a good transition place while we figure out our next steps.”

While the cabin property is under my name, I don’t think Victor knows I have it. I bought that cabin well after I moved out. Then again, he could easily look up properties I own and send his men there. Maybe my cabin isn’t a good idea.

“We are going to find this safe house,” Arella says with a hell of a lot more confidence than I have. She’s gripping my hand pretty tight to ensure that her immunity works on me.

I’m not anywhere closer to understanding her magic more than I was on day one. From what she told me in the car before she fell asleep, she doesn’t even have to think that hard about projecting it anymore. She said it’s been coming pretty easily to her. This woman is truly extraordinary.

I step over a fallen tree, then help Arella over it too. “What makes you so sure we’ll find it?”

“Because we’re not leaving until we do.”

I’ve told myself that countless times. Every time, I’ve always left with dirt all over my jeans and no safe house. If Arella’s that confident, though, I’ll try to be too.

A while later, we arrive at the big rock.

“ This is your secret rock?” Arella knocks on it with her knuckles. “It looks like any other big ol’ rock on the ground.”

“Because it is. I think my parents put this here to help my seven-year-old brain remember where Cheesy is.” I point toward the holey tree a few steps over.

Together, Arella and I take one hundred steps away from Cheesy. The whole time she counts, I expand my Empath power out to cover the woods. No one is nearby, which means we’re safe. I’ve never been so grateful for this gift until now.

“Ninety-nine,” Arella says. “One hundred.”

We reach the same area I’ve always come to. There’s nothing here but nature.

“Can I assume all these former holes in the ground are yours?” Arella gestures toward all the patches of dirt around us.

“What can I say? I was determined. Now as you can see, there’s nothing here. No safe house. No bunker. No trapdoor. No sign. No nothin’.”

“Let me look around for a bit. Keep holding my hand and move your fireball with me so I can see, please.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I salute her like she’s my drill sergeant.

For a while, I follow Arella wherever she goes as she scours the woods. When she finds nothing, as I’ve been telling her, she says, “We took a hundred adult steps. Where do you usually end up when you take a hundred kid steps?”

“About twenty paces back.” Hand in hand, I lead her there as my fireball follows us.

“Next to this tree?” She places a hand against the bark of a skinny box elder.

“Yep, and I’ve looked everywhere around this tree. There’s nothing here. My parents’ message said inside and underground . You see all these dirt patches? I’ve dug almost fifteen feet down starting from the base of this tree and all around it. I’ve even drilled into the trunk to see if there’s anything inside it. It’s a regular tree.”

Arella steps around the trunk, running her hand along the rough bark. I move my flames to follow her gaze.

She tilts her head back and squints her eyes. “Have you ever looked for anything up in the branches?”

“No. The safe house is underground , remember?”

“And your mom’s song says to ‘look to the sky when you feel down.’ Haven’t you ever done an escape room?”

“A what?”

“An escape room,” she says as if saying it again means I’ll suddenly know exactly what she means. “Seriously? Javina and I love them. It’s a fun place where someone locks you and your friends in a room, and you have to solve puzzles in under an hour to get out. I think your mom is hinting for you to look up. Can you move your fireball that way so I can see better?”

I do as I’m told, even though there’s no way in hell my mom would have given me a hard puzzle to solve. I was a kid when she died. Still, I float my fireball up the trunk and stop once the flames get too close to the leaves. “Any higher and I’ll light this thing up.”

“That’s close enough. Walk around the tree with me.”

Again, I do as I’m told, even though—I gasp. Right there, way up in the bark of one of the thick branches, is a carving.

“What?” Arella asks.

“There’s something carved into the bark.”

“Where?”

I point up. “Right there.”

She squints. “I don’t see anything.”

“Babe, it’s right—” I slap a palm against my forehead. “Oh, did you know that Zordi eyes are different from Ordi eyes?”

“How so?”

“Zordis can see things farther out than Ordinaries can. It’s like our eyes have the zoom and focus function of a camera. Maybe I can see it but you can’t.”

“Well, what’s the carving of?”

I bring my fireball down. “212E.”

“What’s that mean?”

“No fucking clue. You’re the escape-room genius here. You tell me.”

From her pocket, Arella pulls out the two receipts she wrote on the back of. “Look to the sky when you feel down. Know that things will turn around. Work twice as hard to the finish line. Now it’s your time to shine.” She taps the receipts against her thigh as she thinks to herself. “Turn around. Twice as hard to the finish line.”

“Are you thinkin’ we need to turn around?”

She nods. “Toward the east. Four hundred and twenty-four steps.”

“Why four hund—Oh! Twice the steps! Wow. Maybe my mom’s song was a hint. This whole time, I just thought it was her way of telling me to keep my head up because things will turn around as long as I work hard.”

“I’m sure she meant the song that way too. Now which way is east, because I have no idea.”

Finally! Something I can contribute! I point to our right. “It’s that way.”

Four hundred and twenty-four steps feels like a lot as an adult. I can’t imagine how I would have felt as a kid. When my parents said I should bring Aunt Debbie with me, I think it was more of a request than a suggestion: one, because I needed someone to drive me here, and, two, because they must have told Aunt Debbie that my mom’s song included instructions.

“Four twenty-two, four twenty-three, four twenty-four.” Arella stops taking her kid-size steps and glances at the huge tree standing in front of us. Its long branches loom above our heads like an umbrella. The trunk is so large, it would probably take at least three of my arms to wrap around it. Any other time, any other place, I’d see this tree and think nothing of it. Tonight, I’ve got a feeling this is it.

“What now?” I ask.

Arella paces around the tree, towing me with her. “I’m not seeing anything. Can you use your special eyeballs to check up top?”

My special eyeballs? I let out a light laugh, then do as I’m told. We walk around the tree twice, but I find nothing.

“Hmm.” Arella squats to examine the base of the tree.

I move my flames closer to help her see. “Anything?”

“Not yet.”

Suddenly, something shiny catches my eye. Now it’s your time to shine. The last line of my mother’s song. I wave at my fireball, and it floats back up to my eye level. The flames illuminate a shiny reflective device inside a little hole in the tree. It’s the same size as the hole in the rocky entrance to Shadow Ridge. I’m about to stick my index finger into the slot when Arella grabs my arm.

“What are you doing?” She gapes at me like I’m crazy. “You see a mysterious hole and you’re just going to stick your finger into it? What if you get your finger chopped off?”

“Relax. I think it’s a fingerprint scanner.”

“How do you know?”

“It looks like the same kind we use to open the door to the Ridge.” I stick my finger straight into the hole.

Nothing happens. No beeping. No ten-foot door sliding open. No guards greeting me with scowls on the other side. I glance around to see if there’s something off in the distance I might be missing. I don’t see a trapdoor that’s popped up from the ground, or an opening of any sort.

“What’s supposed to happen?” Arella asks.

“I’m not sure. Maybe I’ll try a different finger.” I stick my middle finger into the hole. Nothing happens. I try my ring finger. My thumb. My pinky. Same thing. I hope this isn’t the part I needed Aunt Debbie for, because her fingers are long gone.

“Try your index finger again,” Arella says. “Harder this time.”

After I blow some dirt out of the hole and wipe my finger clean on my sweatpants, I stick my index finger back in. Something clicks inside the tree, then a large part of the bark pops forward. I pull the bark back to reveal a hollowed-out tree trunk.

“It worked.” Arella’s jaw drops. “This is so cool. Like a real-life escape room, except we’re trying to get in, not out.”

It’s nice that she finds this amusing. I guide my fireball up the hollow. It’s a tight space, barely big enough for my broad shoulders. Downward is a flight of stairs. I flick my wrist, and my flames travel all the way down until they hit a metal hatch door.

“Me first,” I say as I step into the hollow. Our backpack hanging on my shoulders hits the walls of the tiny space. “Stay close, okay? And don’t let go of my hand.”

“Trey, we haven’t stopped holding hands this entire time. I’m not planning on going anywhere.”

And I hope she never does.