Flee (The Aurora Lockette Series, Book 1) (16 page)

“Never mind.” I kicked the dirt as we
approached the shooting range housed in a long, narrow clearing in
the forest. “Old man,” I muttered.

“Heard that. Use your subcompact today.” He
pointed at the hard black box containing my gun.

I flipped open the latches on the box. “But I
like big guns. What about an AR-15?”

“You can carry a subcompact with you wherever
you go. The Shyama will follow you wherever you go. You can’t carry
an AR-15 with you when you go grocery shopping, but you can carry a
sub, so we focus on the sub. Got it?”

“I could totally get an AR-15 to the grocery
store. Have you seen my purse collection?”

He rolled his eyes. “Gun, Aurora. Pick up the
damn gun.”

Oopsie. Now he looked angry. I picked up the
gun and shoved in the clip. I put on my ear protection and looked
behind me to make sure Dennis had his on too. Then, I shot in rapid
succession until the clip was empty. When the dust cleared, the
center of the target was in tatters.

He smiled. “Good.”

By the time I got back to the cabin, dusk had
arrived. I showered and found Carmen on the front porch, wrapped in
a quilt to block the cold air.

“Where is Dennis?” I said.

“He went back to his place. Konstantin went
with him.”

“Oh.”

She patted the seat next to me. “Sit.”

We swung back and forth. “Your new passports
arrived today,” she said.

“Which ones?” I asked.

She grinned. “UK, Sweden, and South
Africa.”

“I don’t even want to know how you get forged
passports,” I said.

“They’re not forged. They are real government
issued documents with your real name, picture and address. The fake
names and addresses come later. Having a 140 year life span can
complicate things for you. Aurora Lockette will eventually need to
die, at least in name, so you can get a new SSN number.”

“I hadn’t even thought of that,” I said.
“This is still so weird. This big secret, all of us.”

“You’ll get used to it. The tough part comes
later.”

“How so?”

“When you meet someone special. When you want
to get married. That will probably be the next person you tell. And
then later, your kids. They’ll notice you’re not aging normally at
some point. No one else can know, really.”

I laughed, but it came out forced. “I’m
currently stuck on someone I can’t have and even if I wasn’t, how
the hell am I supposed to find love when the Shyama are hunting me
down? How am I supposed to be with someone who gets older and ages
and gets sick, when I don’t? I don’t see it Carmen. I just
don’t.”

“Your time will come.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “What is it?”

“I can tell you’re still struggling with
him.” She looked at me with pity in her bright aqua eyes.

It was true, of course. I was pathetic. The
hole in my heart was not healing with time as conventional wisdom
had promised.

Three months had passed since I’d fled to
Alaska. I was patient, waiting for the new activities that consumed
my day to distract me, waiting for good old father time to at least
lessen the tightness in my chest. But it didn’t. I was still in
love with Gavyn. Hopelessly, foolishly in love.

“I don’t know what the hell to do with myself
sometimes, but I’m trying to get out there and be normal. At least
as normal as I can be, seeing as how I am some sort of super-freak
living in a village full of super-freaks and being hunted by dark
forces.”

She leaned her head against me and threw some
of her quilt over my legs. “You do try hard. It’s difficult to
watch sometimes. Why don’t you call him? You need to ask what he
actually thinks before you shut him out forever.”

“In the unlikely event he would want to talk
to me, I can’t do that to him. I can’t put him in danger.”

“Calling him won’t put him in danger,” she
reminded me.

“No.” My voice dropped a whisper. “I can’t
hear his voice and not see him.” I pulled the blanket to cover more
of my body. “This way is better. I’m okay. Don’t worry.”

She stood. “Don’t be a foolish girl. Life is
too short.” She tugged on the corner of the quilt. “Are you going
to stay out here?”

I stood. “Nope. I’m cold, and I still smell
like gunpowder.”

I followed her into the house.

“Help me with dinner?” she asked.

“Sure.” I washed my hands, rubbing the soap
all the way to my elbow. I had flat calluses forming where the hot
gun touched my skin, round after round. It was one more sign I was
morphing into a different person. My body was hardened with compact
muscle; my gait was fast and strong.

I could fight. I could kill. I could win.

I still couldn’t cook worth a damn though so
I chopped vegetables and grated cheese for the tacos. Carmen did
everything else. She pulled them out of the oven as Konstantin and
Dennis walked in the front door.

“Good timing,” Carmen said. She saw their
faces and her tone changed. “What’s up?”

Dennis plopped down at the kitchen table. “We
have some activity we need to address.”

I followed Carmen to the table with a stack
of plates. She served the greasy tacos with a giant spatula. Dennis
waited until we had time to eat at least some of our food before he
spoke again.

“A situation has come to my attention.”

Carmen spoke next. “Where?”

“New Orleans. There is a group of us there.
They have four blockers out there, but something is off. One of the
females, Maryanna, is having problems. She has seen the Shyama
three times now. She has a handler, but I think something must be
wrong with the bond. We need to evacuate them. This is an excellent
opportunity for us.”

“How many Shyama are there?” Konstantin
asked.

“Just two, as far as we can tell.”

Carmen threw her napkin on the table. “You
want to take Aurora, don’t you? Use her to draw them out?”

“Yes,” Dennis answered. “We’ll take a good
team. She’s unbonded, so she can easily draw them out with her
presence and see how we operate. It’ll be a good learning
experience for her.”

“I don’t like this,” Konstantin said.

“You can’t keep her in here forever. She
needs to find a handler.”

“He’s right,” I said. “Like it or not, I’m a
target and I need to see how this works. This is what I’ve been
training for.” My heart was pounding and my palms were a little
sweaty, but not from fear. I was excited.

Dennis smiled. “We move out in two days.
We’ll be taking all of you, plus Damien and Karen. We’ll all fly.
Oh, on a plane, I mean.” He winked at me. “My brother will meet you
at the airport. We have four blockers from Houston meeting us
there. They will drive in with the weapons.”

“Why is your brother meeting us there?” I
asked.

“He’s my handler. His name is Ben, you’ll
like him.” He stood to leave. “I must go. There is much to do.”
Konstantin followed him out.

I was alone with Carmen in the kitchen. She
leaned against the counter and folded her petite arms over her
chest. “Why are you so excited? I feel off about this.”

“Yeah. Something is definitely off. I can
fly, you can read minds, and we’re being hunted.”

She gave me a look I’d seen on my mother’s
face before, a mixture of amusement, anger, and reproach. “You
didn’t answer my question. You should be a little afraid, at
least.”

“Well, I’ve been trained to do this, right?
I’ll get scared later,” I said.

“You’re reckless. It all boils down to him,
doesn’t it? You need to resolve your feelings for him. This is not
healthy.”

“Can I not have any privacy here? Even inside
my head?” I ran up to my room and slammed the door behind me.

I was wrong to snap at her. She’d been taking
care of me for months now. I rocked slowly in the chair beside the
window, staring out into the dark, snowy, world outside. I couldn’t
see much, but my mind welcomed the view nonetheless. I switched on
the lamp beside me and read a novel, grasping for the distraction I
knew wouldn’t work.

The next morning, I woke up to the sweet
smell of pancakes and bacon wafting through the cabin. I pulled on
a thick robe and slippers and went downstairs, my stomach rumbling
with hunger.

“Good morning,” Carmen said, still in her
pajamas like me. “Do you want some breakfast?”

“Yeah.”

She piled a plate with pancakes, syrup and
bacon burned to a crisp, just the way I liked it.

I took the plate from her and set it down on
the counter behind me. “Look, I’m a turd,” I said. “I’m sorry I
snapped at you last night. I really appreciate all you’ve done for
me. I want you to know that.”

She embraced me, rubbing my back soothingly.
“I shouldn’t have said what I did. It’s not my place to comment on
him.”

We ate breakfast together at the table, our
conversation tuned to a much lighter note.

“Hey, I was thinking. Why don’t we head into
town with Julie and have some fun? We can get our hair done or go
shopping or anything you want. It would be nice to try and relax
before we leave tomorrow,” she said as she pushed her now empty
plate away from her.

“Cool. I’ll call Julie.”

Julie, of course, immediately agreed to come.
She suggested pedicures, an idea I latched onto.

I got ready quickly, eager to get into town
and come back for our meeting. As I was blow drying my hair, a
flick of movement on my wrist caught my eye. It was the bracelet
Gavyn had given me. I stared at it for long time, wondering how I
could have possibly forgotten I had it on.

It was a shackle, tying me to something that
wasn’t mine. I yanked at it roughly, trying to pull it over my
hand. It was snug around my wrist, just as Gavyn had tied it. I
wanted it gone. Now. I rummaged through my drawer looking for a
pair of scissors.

Carmen’s voice floated up the stairs.
“Aurora? You ready? Julie’s here, hon.”

I slammed the scissors down and grabbed my
purse. Bracelet intact, I pasted a big fake smile on my face before
heading downstairs.

It was the dead of winter, but it was always
winter in Alaska. The ground was covered with ice and snow, the
trees marked with white frosting. When I paid attention, the beauty
of this place was breathtaking.

We pulled up to the salon several minutes
later. It was pretty, with soft eggshell green décor. Fortunately
for us, it was also very warm. We eagerly took off our snow boots
and climbed into the chairs, dipping our feet in the bubbling
water. After a few minutes of pampering, my body relaxed.

Carmen had her eyes closed and was leaning
back in her chair. Julie, for once, did not feel the need to talk
and was sitting silently as she flipped through a magazine. I
grabbed a magazine off the rack next to me. Girly nonsense was the
theme of the day, after all.

“Sexy Brit star woes onset love interest,”
the headline blared. The paparazzi style picture showed Gavyn,
looking just as handsome and perfect as I remembered him. His arm
was casually slung over the shoulder of Mira Tavana, his
breathtaking costar in
Blue Leaf.
The caption indicated the
photograph was taken outside a restaurant in L.A.

The surprising pain ripped through my thin
facade. I tried to fight it off, but it consumed me. I was still
sitting in silence as I stared at the page that had just shattered
the little sanity I had left.

Carmen’s eyes popped open and she shot up in
her chair, instantly alerted to my state of mind. “What is it?” she
whispered, flicking her red hair out her face as she spoke. Her
eyes darted down to the magazine splayed across my lap. “Oh.” She
took the magazine off my lap, re-shelving it quickly.

Of course he had moved on. Why wouldn’t he?
Why would he worry about me when he could have someone like
Mira?

Carmen leaned forward and whispered in my
ear. “I’m sorry. That’s not something you should have to see.” I
glanced over at Julie, who was now watching my sudden outburst with
concern.

“I’m okay,” I managed to say, my voice thick
with repressed tears. “I’m okay,” I repeated. I leaned back in my
chair and closed my eyes. I took deep breath, counting to five to
inhale and five to exhale. It was all I could do to keep from
becoming completely unglued. Behind my eyes, the picture of the
happy couple was burned on my retina.

Somehow, despite all my denials to Carmen and
myself, I had clung to a fantasy. I hid a small glimmer of hope
deep inside my being that Gavyn still loved me, that he wasn’t
afraid of me, that he wanted to be with me.

Julie’s concerned voice worked on the edge of
my conscience, sounding like it was far off in the distance.
“What’s wrong? Are you sick?”

“She’ll be okay. She saw something that upset
her,” Carmen said.

I sat very still, waiting to calm down.
Eventually, the pain started to fade into something else. Something
hard. Something angry. I could hear the bubble of the pedicure
baths and the soft chatter of the technicians. I was present again.
I opened my eyes, determined to fake it.

I spent the rest of day in almost complete
silence. Julie was kind enough to fill my silence with her chatter.
Carmen watched me, but said little as we moved through the shopping
mall and off to an Italian restaurant for lunch.

Back at the cabin, Dennis gathered everyone
and spread out maps of the Garden District and the French Quarter
of New Orleans on the table. “Study it and memorize all the
streets. We’ll be doing this at night, so we can’t have any
confusion. Understand?”

We all nodded in response.

“The group coven lives here.” He put his
finger down on the map. “The Shyama have been spotted here, here,
and here.” His fingers moved to three locations on the map, all in
the heart of the French quarter.

He pulled a marker out of his pocket and
circled a small swatch of land off the Mississippi river, only a
few blocks away from Jackson Square. “This is tricky, because it’s
in a touristy area. It’s the dead of winter, so it won’t be too
crowded. There’s lots of tall grass here. It will block us off
visually from the city, plus the river is right there to dispose of
the remains. We all hide here, except for Aurora. Your job is to
draw them out, have them follow you to this location.”