A Clan of Novaks
Page 16
“We leapt through that portal,” I began, though I was finding it hard to form a sentence. My words slurred into one another.
Thankfully Heath—who had been preoccupied by a strong embrace from his father Jeriad—took over.
“As Grace said, we had to leap through the portal. We found hunters on the other side. They’ve established a base. A gated compound with buildings, mutants, everything.”
Everyone’s jaw dropped, stunned speechless. I was still grappling with the concept myself.
“Grace and I managed to fend off the mutants, but we got separated from Vicky,” Heath went on. “As we raced back to the portal, they shot Grace with some kind of drugged dart.”
“And they took Victoria?” Vivienne breathed, her face paler than my knuckles.
“We did not see them take her,” Heath replied, “but they must have taken her inside. She hurt her ankle while running and we got separated by one of the mutants. By the time we could look for her again, she was nowhere to be seen.”
“What realm is on the other side?” my grandfather Derek asked, eyeing my shoulder with concern, which Corrine was beginning to treat with the assistance of Arwen.
“No idea,” Heath replied. “We just arrived in a compound surrounded by trees. There was no way we could have guessed in such a short amount of time.”
“Right,” my grandfather said, gritting his teeth. He took Vivienne’s hand and squeezed it, then gripped Xavier’s shoulder. “We are going to return and retrieve her from those bastards.” His eyes traversed our group. “We have enough people with us.”
We didn’t have all members of the League present, but we did have a fair number. Aside from Victoria’s parents, there were my parents and grandparents, my great-grandfather Aiden and his wife Kailyn, Rose and Caleb, as well as five witches: Corrine, Ibrahim, Arwen, Mona and Brock. We also had Kiev, Micah and Jeriad… and, of course, Heath. Then there was Kyle, whom I guessed was still in the chopper.
My grandfather voiced aloud my thoughts a moment later. “Kyle will remain in the helicopter while the rest of us go through. But first, let us return to the aircraft to stock up on weapons.” His focus fell on me. “You, Grace, must stay with Kyle until you feel fully recovered.”
I wasn’t sure what Corrine and Arwen were doing, but I realized that the pain had all but gone. My dizziness was also clearing.
“Wait,” I said, wrapping my arms around my father’s neck for support. “Let me try to stand up.”
My father lowered my feet to the ground. I felt much steadier than before. I dared reach a hand behind my shoulder and I felt smooth skin. I realized that I also no longer felt so dizzy.
“The bleeding has stopped,” Corrine said. “But I think you should return to The Shade all the same. We don’t know what drug they injected into you.”
“My head feels much less light now,” I said quickly. “I wonder why that is.”
“Maybe the dart wasn’t meant to paralyze you completely,” my mother suggested. “Perhaps they spiked it with just enough sedative to stall you so they could swoop down and catch you… Either that, or your fae genes are equipped to fight off its influence.”
“Maybe,” I muttered, even as I felt a surge of gratitude toward Heath. If he hadn’t scooped me up and rushed me the rest of the way, they would’ve gotten me, just like they had gotten Victoria.
“I’m still not sure that you should be coming with us though,” my father said, eyeing me sternly.
“Let me see how I feel after we’ve gathered the weapons,” I countered.
“All right,” he murmured.
With that, we all made our way through the jungle swiftly, back to our aircraft. Kyle was waiting tensely in the cockpit as we climbed aboard.
My father went to him and explained the plan, while the rest of us equipped ourselves with backpacks filled with guns and ammunition, along with water and other supplies.
I kept monitoring how I was feeling. Still steady. And by the time we had finished gathering everything, I could say with confidence to my father, “I’ll come.”
Although my parents looked reluctant, they didn’t try to dissuade me further. This was the world in which they had raised me. A world in which everyone was encouraged to be a hero, to push themselves to the limit, rather than hide away and opt for the easier path. It felt only natural to me to go with them, even as I worried about what might happen to us in that strange, new world that lay in wait for us on the other side.
Grace
“Do you think the tracker will still work on the other side?” Vivienne asked Corrine as we gathered around the portal with our supplies.
Of course. I had forgotten about that. Each of our uniforms had trackers sewn beneath our badges, a technology created by the witches. The tracking device communicated with a receiver—a handheld screen—which then became a compass for locating a person.
Xavier pulled out the receiver from his pocket. “I already checked to see if she was showing up. There’s nothing. No signal from her whatsoever.”
“We designed the system to work on Earth,” Ibrahim said. “I don’t know if she will show up once we arrive in the supernatural realm.”
“Well, one way or another, we’ll locate her,” my grandfather said. “Even if it means storming every single room in their buildings.” His focus turned on the gate. “Now. We should not leave too much of a gap in between our jumps. As much as possible, we should try to travel through and arrive at the same time.”
Thankfully Heath—who had been preoccupied by a strong embrace from his father Jeriad—took over.
“As Grace said, we had to leap through the portal. We found hunters on the other side. They’ve established a base. A gated compound with buildings, mutants, everything.”
Everyone’s jaw dropped, stunned speechless. I was still grappling with the concept myself.
“Grace and I managed to fend off the mutants, but we got separated from Vicky,” Heath went on. “As we raced back to the portal, they shot Grace with some kind of drugged dart.”
“And they took Victoria?” Vivienne breathed, her face paler than my knuckles.
“We did not see them take her,” Heath replied, “but they must have taken her inside. She hurt her ankle while running and we got separated by one of the mutants. By the time we could look for her again, she was nowhere to be seen.”
“What realm is on the other side?” my grandfather Derek asked, eyeing my shoulder with concern, which Corrine was beginning to treat with the assistance of Arwen.
“No idea,” Heath replied. “We just arrived in a compound surrounded by trees. There was no way we could have guessed in such a short amount of time.”
“Right,” my grandfather said, gritting his teeth. He took Vivienne’s hand and squeezed it, then gripped Xavier’s shoulder. “We are going to return and retrieve her from those bastards.” His eyes traversed our group. “We have enough people with us.”
We didn’t have all members of the League present, but we did have a fair number. Aside from Victoria’s parents, there were my parents and grandparents, my great-grandfather Aiden and his wife Kailyn, Rose and Caleb, as well as five witches: Corrine, Ibrahim, Arwen, Mona and Brock. We also had Kiev, Micah and Jeriad… and, of course, Heath. Then there was Kyle, whom I guessed was still in the chopper.
My grandfather voiced aloud my thoughts a moment later. “Kyle will remain in the helicopter while the rest of us go through. But first, let us return to the aircraft to stock up on weapons.” His focus fell on me. “You, Grace, must stay with Kyle until you feel fully recovered.”
I wasn’t sure what Corrine and Arwen were doing, but I realized that the pain had all but gone. My dizziness was also clearing.
“Wait,” I said, wrapping my arms around my father’s neck for support. “Let me try to stand up.”
My father lowered my feet to the ground. I felt much steadier than before. I dared reach a hand behind my shoulder and I felt smooth skin. I realized that I also no longer felt so dizzy.
“The bleeding has stopped,” Corrine said. “But I think you should return to The Shade all the same. We don’t know what drug they injected into you.”
“My head feels much less light now,” I said quickly. “I wonder why that is.”
“Maybe the dart wasn’t meant to paralyze you completely,” my mother suggested. “Perhaps they spiked it with just enough sedative to stall you so they could swoop down and catch you… Either that, or your fae genes are equipped to fight off its influence.”
“Maybe,” I muttered, even as I felt a surge of gratitude toward Heath. If he hadn’t scooped me up and rushed me the rest of the way, they would’ve gotten me, just like they had gotten Victoria.
“I’m still not sure that you should be coming with us though,” my father said, eyeing me sternly.
“Let me see how I feel after we’ve gathered the weapons,” I countered.
“All right,” he murmured.
With that, we all made our way through the jungle swiftly, back to our aircraft. Kyle was waiting tensely in the cockpit as we climbed aboard.
My father went to him and explained the plan, while the rest of us equipped ourselves with backpacks filled with guns and ammunition, along with water and other supplies.
I kept monitoring how I was feeling. Still steady. And by the time we had finished gathering everything, I could say with confidence to my father, “I’ll come.”
Although my parents looked reluctant, they didn’t try to dissuade me further. This was the world in which they had raised me. A world in which everyone was encouraged to be a hero, to push themselves to the limit, rather than hide away and opt for the easier path. It felt only natural to me to go with them, even as I worried about what might happen to us in that strange, new world that lay in wait for us on the other side.
Grace
“Do you think the tracker will still work on the other side?” Vivienne asked Corrine as we gathered around the portal with our supplies.
Of course. I had forgotten about that. Each of our uniforms had trackers sewn beneath our badges, a technology created by the witches. The tracking device communicated with a receiver—a handheld screen—which then became a compass for locating a person.
Xavier pulled out the receiver from his pocket. “I already checked to see if she was showing up. There’s nothing. No signal from her whatsoever.”
“We designed the system to work on Earth,” Ibrahim said. “I don’t know if she will show up once we arrive in the supernatural realm.”
“Well, one way or another, we’ll locate her,” my grandfather said. “Even if it means storming every single room in their buildings.” His focus turned on the gate. “Now. We should not leave too much of a gap in between our jumps. As much as possible, we should try to travel through and arrive at the same time.”
