Undone, p.13
Undone, page 13
Jeri smiled. “I’m going to look for a river. Apparently, I need to be there.”
“A river?” Kara lifted both brows. “I’ve had enough with visions of water.”
“What do you mean?”
She grinned. “I’ll explain later.” She motioned to the table. “Let’s get a seat near the table Mitz will put snacks on.” she started walking.
Jeri followed her. “Are there always snacks and food?”
“Mmhm. I don’t remember us finishing a meal once without having to run do something, so snacks are life for me.” She slid into the chair nearest the end where Mitz set the trays.
“I’m going to get fat if I hang out with you guys too much.” Jeri sat beside her.
Trendan turned around and looked at her. With a nod to Troy, he started walking over.
Kara leaned closer. “You’re getting a look.” She smiled. “How’s that going?”
Jeri watched him stare at her as he came toward them. “I’ll let you know if we ever have a chance to talk.”
“Do you need gloves? I don’t know how it works with Solrelm men.” She lifted her tattooed arm. “This is what happens if you don’t have gloves with men from Alterealm.”
Jeri looked at her arm. “I should probably ask questions, considering if anything happens, I might end up being a queen. I’m not sure I should be in a realm that I’m not from.”
“I’ll get you gloves.” Kara nodded and sat back in her chair.
“Mind if I sit here?” Bethany leaned over the chair. “I want to be closer to the food.” She whispered. “I’m starving. I’ve been staring at screens trying to figure out where they are for hours.”
Jeri pushed the chair out.
“Thanks.”
“Any luck?” Kara leaned on the table to look at her.
Bethany shook her head. “A few maybe locations. I’ve been video chatting with Alona and showing her because she knows the city well, but no bingo yet.”
Jeri turned her head just in time to see the despondent look on Trendan’s face.
“I don’t think he’s happy I sat here,” Beth whispered.
“She doesn’t know if they need gloves for Solrelm men,” Kara said quietly.
“Oh. Better I sit here then.” She gave Jeri a wide-eyed look. “Ask questions. Clarify everything.”
Jeri couldn’t help but smile. “I think I need to hear your stories.”
Beth chuckled. “All of them are totally ridiculous.” She looked at Kara. “Except hers. Raf proposed to her. Lucky girl.”
“He did. But let’s not forget the several breakdowns I had before all of that.” Kara hissed out a breath. “I thought I was certifiable.”
“Certifiably gorgeous.” Prince Rafael sat beside Kara and then looked over his shoulder. “Good, we’re the closest to the food.”
Jeri smiled and shook her head. “I’ve never met so many obsessed with food.”
Rafael smiled at her. “You wait. Three days from now, you’ll be wondering what time it is and have no idea what meal you had last or should be having next. Mitz is the only reason we haven’t all starved.”
Prince Leone sat down beside Bethany. “Right. I’m starving, too.” He leaned back and looked at the table. “There’s going to be food, right?”
Prince Quinton walked behind him. “There is always food, punk. Even for those that are lazy and don’t deserve it.”
Leone glared at him. “I am not lazy. I wiped out going down that hill. The grass was wet.”
“Right.” Quinton sat behind him. “And it only took you ten minutes to get up.”
“Exaggerate much?” Leone scoffed, sat back in the chair, and crossed his arms.
“That will be enough, children.” King Chase sat across from them and then smiled. “I have got this dad thing down.” He patted his chest. “Dad of the year right here.”
Queen Alona sat beside him. “You say that now. Wait until you never get to sleep, and you’re up to your elbows in dirty diapers and spit up.”
Chase cringed. “It’s not that hard.”
On cue, Prince Michael walked in and veered straight for the table with the coffee brewer on it.
Quinton pointed to him so Chase would turn.
“My god. He’s aged fifty years this past week.” Chase looked at Alona. “Our child won’t do that to me.”
“An infant pretty much rules, Chase.”
Michael started walking toward them with the coffee pot in his hand. He stopped, looked at it, and turned around. Placing it back on the burner, he picked up his cup and came back in their direction.
“Is Autumn coming?” Alona inquired.
He shook his head and then yawned. “No. She’s napping with Viola right now.” He dropped down into the chair beside Chase. “Paisley said I’d want to be here.” He set his cup down and opened his arms wide. “So, here I am.” Yawning again, he put his head down on the table. “Let me know when I need to listen.”
“You’re pulling off this dad thing with flair, brother.” Leone teased.
“Mmm.” Was the only response he received.
The doors opened, and Bohdi walked in.
“Uh, we’re idiots,” Bethany said softly. “We should get some of Bohdi’s people to the room of monitors. They’ll probably know more of them.”
“That’s a good idea.” Alona agreed. “I haven’t been very helpful.”
“Too many of them don’t show us much outside, or we would have found more locations,” Beth said.
“Did I miss the food?” Daxx came walking over. She paused and looked at Michael and then sat down beside him.
“Mitz hasn’t brought it out yet,” Leone told her.
“Oh.” Daxx sighed and looked around. “Do we have places to hit—you know, go take out some bad guys?”
“I’m not sure what all the reasons are we’re here.” Rafael crossed his arms and sat back. With a grin, he reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like an ID card. He flicked it, and it flew over and hit Michael on the cheek.
Michael jerked his head up and looked around and then saw the card. Moving just his eyes, he scowled at Rafael.
“Pay attention, brother. Class is about to start.” Rafael motioned to the others walking toward the table to sit down.
Jeri was smiling. They weren’t anything like what she pictured them to be. They seemed like a normal family. She glanced around. “I don’t see Crissy.” She looked at Kara.
“She’s probably in her tower settling down.”
“From what?” Daxx looked between them.
“She saw the other seer and said that could have been her,” Kara explained.
“Oh.” Daxx turned in her chair and watched Victor walk over to the table. He had a hard look on his face. Which Jeri thought was probably his usual expression unless he was looking at Crissy.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“All right.” Troy stood up and looked around. He paused on Trendan. “You and Jeri are looking for this river?”
Trendan nodded.
“You call us if you run into any trouble, or it even feels wrong.”
Trendan nodded once more. “I just hope we find it.” He looked at his phone and frowned.
“Trouble?” Troy stood motionless and watched him.
“No. Bastian spoke to Elyas, and the person who told him his other died in childbirth—” He looked up from his phone. “Was an old guard for my family.”
“Where is this guard now?” Victor demanded.
“Unknown.” Trendan typed something on his phone. “Sigor is going to see if he can locate him.”
Victor nodded. “We will bring him here if he does.”
Troy inclined his head to his brother. “Absolutely.”
Michael put his hand up. “I can’t remember if I’m on a task list.”
Troy’s expression changed to amusement. “You do have a task, brother.”
Michael looked disappointed.
“Go have a nap.”
Michael got up quickly. “Absolutely, my king.” He saluted him and all but staggered from the room.
“Tor and Ulric have to take a watcher shift,” Trendan said quickly. “With Bas and I both missing, we’re a little short.”
“I felt sad for a second, and then I remember what you do,” Daxx said.
“Without them, humans go extinct.” Leone clarified.
“I get that. That doesn’t mean I want to think about it.” Daxx shrugged.
“I’ll be at the guard’s yard if I’m required. Page me.” Victor stood up. “We have guards from Solrelm, Veiltide, and Interealm coming over for training.”
“Good.” Troy sighed. “We’re going to need a lot more if we’re to cover everything.”
“I’m over studying the camera locations?” Emil sat forward.
Troy looked at him. “Yes, with Bohdi, Alona, and Paisley.”
“I still don’t…”
“Shush, Chase.” Alona looked annoyed. “If I can’t do anything else, but staring at a camera is as safe as it gets.”
“Call if you find a location,” Chase said with a pleasant smile on his face.
“Actually, call Reagan. We need to check for traces of magic.” Troy reminded him.
“Yes.”
Arius stood up and walked around to stand behind Paisley. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “Leone, Beth, and I will work on more housing for the fathers.”
Bethany stood up. “Even if we don’t have enough space, we’ll find somewhere for them.”
“Good.” Tory turned to Abe. “You go meet up with Bastian. We need to start moving the fathers.” He glanced at Quinton. “Quinton, Rea, Liri and Raf will help.”
Abe stood up. “We’ll get them all moved.”
“Princess Aireese suggested bringing Arius in if they were uncooperative. She doesn’t think any magic used would be good at this point.”
Arius grinned. “I’m just a phone call away.” He tipped his head to Abe and then walked out of the room.
“Aireese is going to be at the locations with Kara and me when the men are brought there. And hopefully, we’ll find some that will be all right after the magic is removed.”
“Any word on my father?” Reagan asked.
“He’s first on the list.” Troy smiled.
“Thank you.” Reagan exchanged a look with her mate, Quinton.
“Is that everyone?” Troy looked around. “If you’re not on one of the teams, I suggest you go rest while you can.”
“Troy?”
He turned to look at his mate.
“I’m not on a list.” She didn’t look happy.
He grinned. “Yes, you are. If they find a location, after Reagan clears it, you and some of our guards go in and clear it out.”
Daxx smiled at him. “Finally.” She pointed to Emil. “Find those locations. Quickly.”
Trendan stood up. “I want to get going before it’s too dark to locate the right spot.”
“I can take them over.” Crissy stood in the doorway. She sighed. “I want to do something.”
Troy nodded. “Absolutely. Thank you, Crissy.”
She nodded and waved her arm to motion for Trendan and Jeri to come over. “I need my roof for some quiet time.”
Jeri had no idea what that meant, but this was the first time she’d seen Crissy look affected by any of what was happening. Usually, she was too distracted to focus on what was going on around her. She heard everything. You just didn’t know she did until she had something to share.
Chapter Twenty-Three
She slowed and went around the corner, and Trendan knew this time to let her lean. How had he lived this long and never been on a motorcycle before? He didn’t care that he was behind a woman. He would happily do it all day. He’d declined a helmet and was pleased he did. The feel of the wind on his face reminded him of boat trips a long time ago. Trips he wasn’t supposed to be on.
Sitting this close to her was distracting. He almost fell off more than once. The intense vibration from their souls seemed to level out after they were moving. Considering his reason for existing was souls, he didn’t know nearly as much as he should about them. With anything else, he could look up information. The likelihood that there was a book about souls was zero—unless it was written by some fraud claiming to be a specialist.
As she slowed the bike, he realized they were at the location they’d agreed on. He couldn’t help the feeling of disappointment that the ride was over.
He got off, so she could without hindrance, and then smiled when she took off the helmet.
“You’re not a bad passenger.” She set the helmet on the seat. “What did you think?”
“I think—” He looked at the machine. “I may have to get one for myself.”
Jerika laughed, and it was the best sound he’d ever heard. “Flora and Ava are great teachers.”
He wasn’t sure which ones those were. “Really? You didn’t take a class or something?”
She shook her head as she looked around. “No. Espy wanted one first before most of us were old enough. So, Capri started collecting them—” She smiled at him. “And now we have a very eclectic collection.”
“I’ve noticed.” He wanted to stand here and look at her but knew they had things to do. He looked around. “I suppose we should find the river.”
She nodded and tucked the key to her bike in her pocket. “I can hear it. Any idea what we’re looking for?”
Trendan exhaled as he decided on a direction. “No idea at all.”
“Well, it’s a nice day for a hike.”
He motioned for her to go first. “After you.”
As she walked, he realized he knew nothing about her. Had she always been in the city, or did she come from the country? “I just realized we might get a whole conversation in without having to rush somewhere else.” He felt awkward trying to start a conversation with her. You would think at his age, conversing with anyone would be easy.
“That’s true. I was thinking when we were in Alterealm that we hadn’t had a chance to talk.” She ducked under a branch and then looked back at him.
Trendan lifted it out of his way. “I was wondering if you have always been in the city or if you moved there.”
She paused and turned to look at him. “My story isn’t a pretty one. I’ve always been there.” She started walking again.
He wasn’t sure what that meant. No one’s story was pretty. His certainly hadn’t been. Born a prince. Stuck collecting souls of the dying. “How did you end up with Capri?”
She slowed so she wouldn’t have to stop to answer him. “She found me after my aunt died. I was living on the street trying to survive.” She didn’t look back at him. “I was slowly losing my mind because I didn’t know what was happening to me.” She did turn to him briefly. “Seeing souls isn’t something that’s listed in a doctor’s compendium.”
Trendan touched her shoulder and then stopped. She turned and looked at him. “I feel like I should apologize for what you’ve been through. If my people had…”
“I’m pretty sure it’s not your fault that my bloodline is a mix of four realms.”
He frowned. “No, but we should…”
She stepped closer and put her hand on his arm. “What’s happened wasn’t something one person or realm is responsible for. This was planned a long time ago.” She shrugged. “Maybe not the mixed DNA to the extreme of mine and the girls, but the breakdown of the system was plotted long before either of us were around.” She gave him a big grin. “And yes, I know how old you are, or I have a really good idea.” She looked at his hair. “The long hair looked good on you, by the way. You should grow it back.”
Trendan touched his hair. “I try to keep it with current styles now, so I blend.”
Jerika laughed softly. “The look you give people screams how much you don’t blend.” She started walking.
Trendan was quiet as he followed her. What did that mean? He blended. When he was in Interealm to do his job, he usually elected to be invisible. It was easier that way. You couldn’t just walk up to a person who was in their last moments of life and say, ‘Hey. I’m here for your soul.’ There were enough horror stories out there about soul eaters and worse. Mistakes had been made over the centuries where a soul watcher was seen, and then the masses cried devil’s work. He rolled his eyes and then shook his head.
“We’re close.”
He looked over her head to see if it was visible yet. “I suppose we start looking for whatever we’re looking for.”
“Too bad Crissy and Yuna didn’t give more instruction.”
He smiled. “I don’t think visions come with step-by-step directions.”
“That’s too bad.” She stopped. “There’s the river.”
Trendan stopped beside her and looked around. The river was rushing past them. “I see what Crissy meant about staying out of the water.”
Jerika nodded and moved closer. “Yes. That would not be fun.” She looked along the embankment and then in the other direction. “Did Elyas give any specific details?”
“An arch.” Trendan looked at the other side of the furious water. “He said there was an arch of natural growth near the entrance of the cave.” He glanced at her. “Anything familiar from what you saw?”
She put her hands on her hips, turned slowly, and then shook her head. “The growth doesn’t match what I saw.” She moved just her eyes and glanced his way. “But it was a long time ago. I can’t even be sure the same plant life is here that was before.”
“Great.” He nodded his head slowly and watched the water speed by. “I guess we could walk along one way and then try the other.”
“Okay.” She checked both directions and then went left. “The river I saw wasn’t moving like this.”
“A lot has changed. Development causes the natural flow of water to be altered.” He’d watched that happen to many villages over here. They built up the land, and the water runoff changed or disappeared altogether.
