Dive In

Chapter 13

“Ella? Hello? Wakey-wakey,” said a sing song voice, gently shaking her shoulder.

“Five more minutes,” she grumbled, rolling over.

She was painfully aware that the sun was streaming in through her bedroom window, making it nearly impossible for her to fall back asleep. Her head pounded and everything ached. Even her fingers throbbed. She tried to pull the pillow back over her head when she realized that she was still naked.

With someone in her room.

Come to think of it, that voice sounded pretty manly...

“Ella, you don't have five more minutes. We need to go now,” whoever it was began tugging on her blankets, and Ella let out a screech.

She scrambled to pull the blankets back up around her, tumbling to her bedroom floor in the process. Her eyes shot up to see Landon standing over her, a small smile on his face. He took a step back and turned around, making a show of covering his eyes.

“How the hell did you get in my room?” she grumbled, frantically searching for clothes to put on. An old pair of jean shorts and a baggy t-shirt that belonged to her aunt were laying on the desk, and she pulled them on quickly.

“I came in through the window. You should really get a lock for that thing, for a second story window it's pretty easy to get into. Can I turn around now?” he asked.

“Yes... I thought the lake was on lock down. There's Mortalis in the area, is it really that smart to be sneaking into the building where two of them are staying?” huffed Ella.

“They're long gone,” said Landon simply, plopping himself down on Ella's bed.

“What do you mean gone? My aunt wouldn't just leave-”

“Well she did. We tracked her jeep. We found it abandoned by the highway,” Landon laid back, closing his eyes. It dawned on Ella that his lack of a proper response was because he was exhausted. His eyes were dark and sullen, and his voice was low and gravelly.

“Abandoned by the highway? Do you know how bad that sounds?” A knot was steadily forming in her stomach. This wasn't like her aunt at all.

“According to the guards who searched the Jeep, there was signs that they took a different vehicle from that point. Probably an official Mortalis vehicle full of more agents. Which means they hopefully fell for the trap the Forestfolk set last night. I'd bet that your aunt left you a note downstairs somewhere. Go find it,” he waved her off groggily.

Ella started towards the door and then paused, “Are you okay?”

“I'm just a little tired. They had me running with the guards all night, they wanted as many people on patrol as they could get,” he sighed.

“I... I told Derek everything,” she mumbled.

“About the Wildfolk?” Landon shot up from where he was laying.

“He's my brother, and he saved my life last night. He deserved to know what happened to me,” she said, holding up a hand to stop any protesting.

“Saved your life? Wait... What happened to you last night? Can we trust him? He's human,” Landon's nose crinkled at the word.

“He's my brother above all else. Of course we can trust him. We may fight and have our differences, but when it comes down to it he's family,” Ella defended.

“If you think you can trust him... I'll trust him too. I swear though, one little slip up, and I'll have his memory wiped clean of us,” he sighed, laying back down.