Chapter 28

KHLOE GILES

Night had fallen. Wes left an hour ago. It still hurt. I was sitting alone in the back room, the lights out. My family left me alone to breathe. I never thought Wes would actually leave. It hurt, more than I thought it would. I had him for five minutes and he was already gone again.

“Knock, knock.” A sharp tapping on brick broke the silence. I looked up at him from the chair I was curled in.

“Hey Scotty.” I turned to face him.

“Got a minute?”

“Yeah, what’s up?” Time to get back to work.

“Sara thinks she found a way to get into the fairy kingdom.”

“She has? I want to see it.” I stood.

“Are you sure?” He looked over me, trying to determine if I was okay or not. “Keith said losing a Protector can weaken a witch.”

“I’m not a hapless child, Scotty. I survived without Wes, and I can do it again.” I pushed past him and into the club area and I could hear Scotty walking behind me.

Everyone was sitting around a table at the club conversing. I joined them and they all looked up. I saw the sad, pitiful looks on their faces and it annoyed me. I hated being pitied. My dad opened his mouth to ask if I was okay. I could read the question on his lips before he even asked. I raised my hand to stop him.

"Don't. I'm fine. I just want an update. Scotty said Sara found a way into the fairy kingdom."

"Yes, I think so. But it might be a little complicated." She frowned, looking over papers in her hand.

"How complicated?" I asked, plopping down into a seat across from her.

"We need things I've never heard of before." Sara explained.

"Like what?" Seth asked.

"Roots bane. An eye of an Erinyes. What are those?" Sara asked, making a face of disgust.

"A type of demons. They'll be hard to track but shouldn't be too hard to kill. I can have one before sun up." Seth shrugged, rubbing his chin in thought.

"Great. Seth, will you please look into getting everything we need. We'll figure out how to put it together later." I looked over Sara's shoulder at the list.

"Not a problem." Seth agreed, taking the list from Sara.

"Sara and I are going to go back to the house and get the other stuff we need."

"You're going alone?" Keith asked, concern in his voice. I shook my head.

"We'll take Scotty, Will and Sonia with us as body guards and look outs." I decided. I hadn’t planned on doing that, but it did seem like the best idea. Keith agreed.

"What's the update from everyone else?" I asked, looking around the table expectantly.

"We've counted enough people for five fifteen quad teams to send to the headquarters." My dad informed me.

"Great. That's a lot more expected. Did Wes leave the map with you?"

I asked, dad nodded. "He did. We have more than enough team members to overpower HQ."

"Good."

"We have four medical teams." Mom informed me. "And they are already training to set up perimeters once the sites are overtaken."

"Great. Keep up the good work. Once we figure out how to break Hades, all hell is going to break loose. Literally." I smirked, "Hades isn't going to come easily."

"This battle won't be nice and it's going to end bloody." Scotty agreed.

"If we can have minimal impact on blood count, then by all means, figure out how to do it." I told him. He nodded.

"Seth, get Sonia and Will ready to go. We'll leave out in thirty minutes. When we come back, we'll go over the plan to get to the fairy kingdom and get some rest."

“I want you to take with you anyone you need to help you find the items on the list." I tell the body guard and he nodded.

"When can we be expected to go into battle?" Scotty asked.

I shook my head.

"It depends on how long all of this will take tonight." I told him honestly. He nodded in agreement.

"Anyone who is finished with their work needs to sleep or get some rest. I want everyone ready to go when they can be." I ordered.

"There isn't much left to do on our part." Mom said looking over at my father.

"Keith, do we have enough catacombs to help all of these people?"

"Yeah. The cabins stretch back for miles. It shouldn't be a problem."

"Good." I glanced around at the packed club. We really did look like an army. It was amazing and a little overwhelming.

"Let's break up for the night. Mom, dad, help Keith break everyone up into cabins." I ordered and they all agreed, "Sara we'll leave on foot. Be ready to go in thirty." Sara just nodded. I stepped away from the table and Scotty followed.

"Are you sure you’re okay?"

"Yeah, I am." I looked up at him and offered a tight smile.

His lips pursed together, and I knew he doesn't believe me.

"I don't have time for this right now Scotty." I said, turning away from him. He grabbed my arm, holding it gently.

"Khloe, it's okay." He whispered in my ear. I sighed heavily and leaned into him. He wrapped an arm around me.

"I can't break down right now." I mumbled into his chest.

"C’mon here." He ordered and tugged me to the back room, out of eyesight.

"Talk to me." He ordered, once we were alone.

"I don't know." I moaned, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Come on Khloe, what's going through that thick skull of yours?" He asked, running a hand through my hair. I leaned into his touch gently.

"I hate him for leaving."

"Of course you do."

"I just got him back and he is gone again. How do I handle that?"

"I don't know." He admitted, his hand stilling and wrapping around my waist.

"I don't know what to do about us anymore. I always thought Wes and I would...you know." I sighed.

"I know."

"And then we did. We kissed and it was great. But obviously he doesn't think I'm enough. Or maybe I was wrong about all of it.”

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, maybe I was wrong. Maybe he isn't my Protector. Maybe it's someone else. Maybe he belongs with some other witch." The idea was like a knife in my chest. I had already spent three years watching Wes and Tara together. Imagining him protecting another girl was even worse. Scotty rubbed my back gently.

"If he is your Protector, he will come back. Khloe, just because he leaves doesn't mean he is gone for good." Scotty told me. I looked at him for a long moment.

"When did you start approving of Wes?" I asked curiously.

"When Keith explained to us how Protector's and Witch’s work." Scotty shrugged. "The way he describes it. The way he explained what you could go through without Wes. I don't want you to have to go through that. So if Wes isn't your protector, that's fine by me Khloe. If he isn't strong enough to stick around, that's his problem not yours. But if he is your protector, he'll come back. A bond like that doesn't break easily."

"Thanks Scotty." I hugged him tightly. He hugged me back and we sat there like that for a long moment.

"It's almost time for you to go." He said and I finally pulled back.

"Yeah. I should get ready. I'll never hear the end of it if Sara has to wait." I sat up and stretched, dabbing at my eyes. I hadn't realized I'd actually been crying. He offered me a gentle smile.

"Everything is going to work out Khloe. Promise." He said before walking out. I watched him go and smile a little. Until a feeling of guilt settled in Mary was right. Scotty was a great guy. Any girl would be lucky to have him. I knew I couldn’t spend the rest of my life waiting for Wes to return. What if Wes didn’t return? He hadn't promised he would. I pushed a hand through my hair, pushing the thoughts back with it. I straightened up and cleaned off my face.

"Lava quod os." I whispered into the air. I felt a warmth on my cheek and a moment later the tear stains were gone. I made my way back out into the club where Sara was waiting. She looked annoyed. Will and Sonia were waiting with her. So was Scotty.

"Ready to go?" I asked quietly.

"No thanks to you." Sara huffed.

"Get over yourself old woman." I grinned teasingly as we headed for the door.

"I am not old! I am two years older than you!" She protested and I couldn’t help but giggle.

"You are a git!" She whacked me and I burst into another fit of laughter.

"Who’s ready for a party?" Scotty cut in, walking behind us. Will and Sonia walked in front.

"We shouldn't walk together. It looks to strange. Too easy to spot."

"Why don't Will and I take the head of the group? Scout the path for anything in our way." Scott offered.

"Sounds great. Sonia take lead, Sara, fall back. Stay about ten feet in front of each other." I ordered. The girls fell into line without complaint and the boys moved ahead of us.

"We'll meet you guys at the house. Send up a signal if you get in trouble." I told Will, who agreed. I watched them hurry off. We waited a few minutes, until they had disappeared before we follow after. On the street, there was little resistance and until later, I didn't realize that the sound of the Drones that normally scouted the city at night were gone. Right now, everything was perfectly normal. I had a sword in my hand. Sara carried a gun for extra firearm. Sonia had bottles of potions snuck into her pockets and at least twice as many spells in her head.

We made it to the house in record time and the girls and I joined up again. We were standing on the corner of the street, looking around. Nothing but silence greeted us. The boys were nowhere to be seen. I glanced up and looked around. The sky was dark. No signal.

"Maybe they are already at the house." Sara offered, knowing what I'm thinking.

"Maybe." I walked forward, easing my way down the street. Sara and Sonia follow. Our house was three down from the end. We reached it in a matter of a few seconds. I saw no guards and no sign of the boys.

"Think that they've already taken them out?" Sonia asked, trying to conceal the worry in her voice.

"Something's wrong." Sara was the first to admit it. I nodded in agreement.

"Let's get to what we came for and then find the boys." I told them. I snuck around the back of the house and once again, the night was silent. There were no guards. Not anyone. The wild orchid sat about a mile in the woods from our house. The walk there didn't take long at all. In the middle of the orchid was an old house. It was an old farmstead built about two hundred years ago when the first settlers came. Sara and I had turned it into a playhouse when we were kids. Instinct told me to go there, so I did.

“Sonia, wait outside and keep check on the perimeter just in case.” I ordered. Together, Sara and I headed into the farmstead. No boys. I didn’t think about this as I grabbed the small backpack bundle in the middle of the floor, where Abbey obviously hid the books. I checked it quickly to make sure everything is inside before tossing it over my shoulder. Sara and I headed back out.

“Anyone else think that was too easy?” I asked, looking between them. They both nodded.

“And where are the boys?” Sonia asked worriedly. I looked around at the empty night.

“Let’s find out. Sara you go west. Sonia, you go east. I’ll check the path between here and the house. Maybe they got lost on their way back.” I didn’t like the idea of us splitting up, but it didn’t look like we would have much of a choice. We started to split up, but Sonia paused, her head tilting to the side.

“Do you hear that?” She asked. I started to ask what, but then I heard it to. Someone was coming our way.

“Prepare to fight.” I lifted my sword, standing my ground. There was nowhere to run but inside the house and there wasn’t any way that it would provide enough coverage. On the path ahead of us, leading into the woods, there was a figure.

“On your orders Miss. Khloe.” Sonia whispered in the darkness.

“Not yet.” I replied, watching the figure as it moved closer. Soon I made out blond hair in the moonlight. Then I made out an outfit. Blue jeans, black tank top. Then I noticed the glowing, cat like eyes. I cursed.

“No.” Sonia whispered, “It’s not possible.””

“It is.” I whispered back, “It’s Lil.”