I woke around five and found Blake still sleeping in the same position he’d fallen asleep in last night.
The fairy tales had it wrong. Sleeping Beauty wasn’t a girl, she was a guy, as he was sleeping right next to me.
I couldn’t stop staring at him. He looked so peaceful, as if we didn’t have this heavy omen of death lingering over us.
His lips started to curve. “Why are you staring at me like some creepy stalker?”
“How did you know?”
“I can feel those beautiful green eyes of yours on me.”
I laughed quietly and kissed him on the lips. His hand brushed my back, over my arm and shoulder and came to rest on my neck, touching the side of my face gently.
He broke the kiss. “We can’t start this now. We need to get packing.”
“Fine, party pooper,” I said as I got up, pulled off the blanket that covered me and walked into the bathroom. As I left I could hear a small chuckle escape him.
I switched on the taps and found myself sitting on the toilet seat for a long time with the blanket still wrapped around me.
I couldn’t get last night out of my head, and I refused to sully this feeling with what lay ahead of us today. I kept seeing him, the way he’d treated me last night; it was as if I was one of his orbs. Delicate, and gentle. He’d kept his word from that night: He said when it was going to happen it would be perfect, and it was.
It was going to be a long trip back to Areeth where the rest of us were going to enter Etan.
Tonight would be their day again. It wasn’t even time for the feast; they would be completely taken off guard. At least Goran wouldn’t be prepared if he knew we were coming. He would be totally taken by surprise since we’d decided to attack a month earlier. I just hoped Emanuel was right and that my father was with his men.
I still had to take King Helmut and Emanuel in. King Caleb and one of his guards, Becky and George, Sammy and Dean, and finally Sir Robert and Blake.
We all knew what to do. We had our mission. Our paths were going to part the minute we set foot in Etan. That was the most difficult part, not knowing who I was going to see afterward or whether they would see me again.
I forced the sadness away and concentrated on last night again.
His kisses on my body were everlasting; it was as if I could still feel them if I closed my eyes.
I sighed and climbed into the shower. I tilted my head back and let my hair wet as I got lost in my string of thoughts. It had been the most amazing night of my life. Being able to share something so deep in me, with Blake.
I hadn’t even felt this way with Lucian. Sure, I’d loved Lucian too, but it hadn’t been like this.
It wasn’t that “can’t eat, can’t sleep” feeling; it was the “jump in front of the bullet” kind without thinking twice. My connection to Blake was much stronger, and when I was with him, which was almost every minute of the day, I didn’t want it to end.
It was so intense. He felt like a part of me, but it wasn’t just that. He felt like my heart, the breath in my lungs, the blood in my veins. I wouldn’t live without him.
Was this what the dent was like for our dragons?
Did they become like this for us? Our life support?
It sounded pathetic, but it wasn’t. It was beautiful, to know that there were two beings that just couldn’t function without the other. Soul mates.
I truly believed the dent was something like that, and the words that he’d used in that poem weren’t literally what happened, it was just the metaphors he’d used to describe this feeling.
I closed the taps and get out of the shower. I draped the soft towel over my body and went into our room again.
Blake had left.
I quickly got dressed. We would change later when we get to Areeth.
At least the suit wasn’t black anymore, like in our vision, and the good part was that I hadn’t received a new one with him looking like a dove.
I laughed at that and remembered how Alex had transformed with the suit turning into armor that protected her face, her torso, everything.
Blake would look majestic wearing it.
I braided my hair and went down to where all my friends were hopefully enjoying breakfast.
I found Dean by the coffee pot, deep in thought.
“Hey,” I said and he jumped slightly. We both laughed.
“Would you like a cup of coffee?” he asked me.
“I would love one, thanks.”
He smiled as he took out an extra cup. “They are all on the porch.”
“How is she holding up?”
“Scared, but strong.” He smiled. “She will be fine.”
“You better be too, mister.”
He laughed and I went to the porch.
I heard Sammy’s hyena laughter, and the rest all laughing with her.
I opened the sliding door and walked out.
“Good morning, princess.” Becky smiled.
“You are chirpy this morning.”
“It’s going to be a good day. I can feel it.”
It better be. I didn’t say that out loud but I smiled at her, bent down and kissed her on top of her head then gave her a slight squeeze of my arm around her neck.
I sat down on the deck chair on which Sammy was sitting and leaned with my head onto her knees that she’d brought up to her chest.
“Don’t you dare look at me like that,” she said through a huge grin.
“What, how am I looking at you?”
“You are going to be fine, and you are too.” She stared at her brother.
“Of course we will,” Blake said and took a sip of his coffee as he lay with his head on the chair. “I figured out the missing ingredient.”
They all gasped. Still, as beautiful as it was, I didn’t buy it. I knew he was lying. How, it was hard to tell, but I just knew. He did it to ease all of our worries.
I just hoped Becky was right. That I would find the missing ingredient before it was too late.
Becky, Sammy and I made breakfast and we weren’t surprised that Emily and two of her friends had stayed over.
They finally emerged from their rooms and joined us around the table.
Blake piped all sort of things to make Ty uncomfortable, who was such a douche when it came to the morning after.
He was pretending a lot with Emily, and I hated him for that, but I guessed some boys would never grow up.
They left as we washed the dishes. Sammy went to look for more dirty cups around the house, and we laughed as her laughter filled the hallway from above us.
“You don’t agree with Blake, do you?” Becky asked as her hands lingered in the sink.
“Blake and I don’t agree on many things. You need to be more specific.” I put the dry plate into the cupboard.
Becky smiled. “The missing ingredient.”
“It’s sweet, but no, I don’t. I think he is just saying that to alleviate fears.”
“Why can’t it be what he says it is?”
“Because it’s not something you can touch, it’s something you need to believe in.” I took a huge breath. “And I just know it’s not. Like he knew it wasn’t Louie’s berries. Like you said, I will know when the time comes.”
“You will.” Becky sounded confident even though she didn’t smile this time.
Afterward we went to our rooms to pack our suitcases.
I found Blake throwing in his clothes.
“You are such a slob,” I said and picked up his jersey and folded it nicely before putting it in the suitcase.
“I’m not,” he said, wrapping his arms around me and falling with me onto the bed.
“We need to get going,” I said as he kissed me.
“Can’t we just stay here, hide?”
I gasped. “Coming from the mighty Rubicon! Now that is a first.”
He laughed. “I hate being the Rubicon. Seriously.”
“Stop whining.” I looked down at him, kissed him quickly and got up. “We need to pack.”
In less than ten minutes our suitcases were in the trunk, and we were ready to lock up.
We made sure that everything was more or less tidied up then jumped into the SUV.
When we reached the diner, Dean stopped and Blake took the bike from the trailer.
“See you on site,” Sammy said from the front.
“Bye,” I said and got out.
Blake made sure he had everything as Dean said goodbye and climbed into the front seat.
I pulled on my jacket as I watched my friends drive off and then Blake turned around and grabbed me again.
He kissed me like there was no tomorrow. Well there might not be one. My ears and everything started to vibrate. I’d felt it last night too and grunted as his hands slide fast and hard down my body to my thighs, he lifted me up and my legs curled around his waist.
His lips moved to my neck giving me a million goose bumps and I started to laugh.
“What are you doing?” I asked. “We don’t have…”
“Shush, just shush,” he said and his lips found mine again.
We both started to laugh just thinking what this must look like to everyone driving past.
“Okay, let’s go,” Blake finally said as my feet touched the ground. I really wanted time to just stand still. I wanted this omen over our heads to disappear and I wanted to know that everything was going to be okay. Everything. But time wasn’t our friend anymore. It was going by so fast, and nothing I did would make it slow down for a few more hours.
I waited while Blake got onto his bike. He zipped up his jacket and was ready to put on his helmet when he caught me staring at him.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he said as put on his helmet and started the bike.
I put on my helmet too and climbed on. My hands went into his jacket’s pockets, and could feel how he’d zipped them up so that my hands were warm and secure.
“You ready?” His voice came over the radio that was in both our helmets.
“Go for it!”
He revved the bike and I laughed as he sped off.
Excitement left my mouth. I used to be so scared about flying, heights and bike rides, but I wasn’t anymore.
I felt safe with him and knew that he would do something super cool if we were going to fall, because he was just that type of guy. In less than ten minutes we zoomed past the SUV, past the Jeep and hit the open road like there was really no tomorrow. I didn’t care about tomorrow anymore. This was it. The time to live and live it like I’d never lived before.
We reached the Dragon League before the others and found Sir Robert with the two royals and Emanuel in his office.
“I wanted to say that was you,” Sir Robert spoke to Blake as we walked in. “How fast did he drive, Elena?”
“Not that fast. I’m here, in one piece.”
They all laughed.
“You ready for this, Dad?” Blake asked.
Sir Robert looked at him. “I’ve been ready for the past eighteen years, son.”
He was going to be reunited with my father again. I hoped I would get a chance to see it.
“Okay, so you know the plan, Dad,” Blake started.
“Son.” Sir Robert looked at him. “I’ve been in two wars already; this will be my third. You, on the other hand…”
“I’ve lived with war, Father. Told you that many times, the worst kind there is. I’m not afraid.”
“I know,” he said. “Neither am I.”
They both smiled at one another.
At least he would be with Becky, George, Sammy and Dean. Helmut and Emanuel were going a different route. Their mission was to kill Goran, along with King Caleb and his guards. I couldn’t help but think their mission had some secret lingering around it. It was just a feeling I got every time Blake and I entered a room. I guessed they didn’t want to overpower us with information, since killing the Saadedine was our job.
But then again, King Helmut had sent Emanuel in with ten troops trying to find something secretive for him. I wondered if it was linked to that.
Emanuel and Blake started to tease one another as we took off our jackets.
“So, everyone ready?” I asked Sir Robert and King Helmut. King Caleb was not in the office anymore. I hadn’t even seen him leave.
Ever since he’d decided to fight with us, he didn’t stay in the same room as me or speak a single word to me. I was actually starting to miss his nasty comments.
I assumed he was scared my father was still alive. This time he had plenty more to lose than just his life.
His title was at stake too, as my father could take it from him. It had been given to them; they weren’t royals by birth.
“They are all gathered, stationed and ready at the campsite in Areeth. We still need to send word to the lab that everything is on time.”
“How will that work? I mean, won’t the explosion just destroy everything.”
He smiled. “It’s way too technical, princess. There are two actions that will take place. An action that will shoot the orbs from the bombs, which will drench the roots with your blood formula. A few seconds later, the actual bombs go off, which will destroy the Creepers.”
“You sure it will work?”
“The scientists say it will, they have the proof, and the rest is left up to faith. You need to have that, Elena. Trust Blake like you’ve never trusted him before.”
I smiled. “I do.”
I could feel Blake’s eyes on me, but he didn’t look at me long.
When the SUV finally parked, it was almost time to take the rest of the mission’s members to the site stationed in Areeth, the ones who would play important roles. Sir Robert, George, Becky and a special ops team were going to free my father and his men, while Blake and I were going with another ops team, trying to find the Saadedine. Finally, Emanuel’s group with the two royals would go another way.
I still wondered how on earth King Helmut and King Caleb were going to kill Goran. They were just as magical as him, but he was one of their men. I’d dreamed that, if it really had happened the way my dream had played it off, they were seriously hiding a lot, lying to all of us, and I still wondered who this Cooper and Marica were.
Did they really warn my father? None of them wanted to believe them the first time, so how on earth were they going to have the strength to kill him now? He was one of them, and for all I knew, they still saw him as one of them – just someone who had gotten lost.
They had a much bigger responsibility than Blake and I.
In a way I was so glad I wasn’t going to meet him. To be face to face with the man that had destroyed my entire childhood, my parents, what they stood for… I wouldn’t be able to control my anger, the way Blake had drilled it into me every time we would train. I wouldn’t make it.
Blake handed me my suit. It was the most beautiful white I had ever seen, much better than the black.
He gave me a quick kiss on the temple as he passed and left the room.
“You coming?” Becky asked with her suit in her hand.
I nodded.
Inside the bathroom, I really didn’t want to put it on. It was going to make everything real. My hand trembled slightly. I could die in this suit if I didn’t find the missing ingredient in time, even though Becky believed I would succeed.
“Elena.” Becky found me sitting on the bench in the women’s locker room. I looked at her.
“You need to put on the suit. It isn’t black. It’s white. It’s light, the color of life, not death.”
I smiled at her and started to strip down.
When I was done, I saw my figure in the mirror. I looked like one of the ops guys. Brave, fierce, bold. Then why am I so scared…
I took a deep breath to calm my beating heart and went to the door.
This is it. Just stay alive, Elena.
