I Am Number Four

Chapter Seventeen: Reunited at Last

Leila smiled watching Mason and Camden while they trained, it was so strange to think about the fact that she was actually with others of her kind; it had started to feel like she had people that she could truly rely on again. 

The last few weeks had been good and Leila had nothing more than respect for the three that she had spent so much time with; they were preparing for what came next for them all. 

It had been surprising for Leila to learn that Avalon was bonded with a human; something that her own Cêpan had said was going to be rare now that there were so few of them left. 

"Where did you live before here?" Avalon asked curiously, she stretched a little relieved how calm things were now and she could only imagine what would happen when they left Paradise. 

They were more sure now than ever that it was coming close to the time when they needed to leave; they didn't want to attract any more attention than they needed to. 

Leila sipped on her drink, she was warm and she was relieved that she had found it so easy to adapt to being around the other Garde after everything that had occurred. 

"I was staying in New York, what about you?" Leila replied with a shrug, she had tried to blend in with the world around her and it had not worked; she had been alone for a while before feeling a pull that had led her to the others. 

It was nice and Leila wanted nothing more than to focus on the life that she had now, she hated to think about how her time in New York had end and she doubted that she would ever forget what had happened.

"Florida," Avalon replied making the three of Garde look at her in surprise, there had been activity in Florida a couple of months back and it had made them all wary. 

Avalon looked at her friends confused wondering why they were surprised; she had liked Florida even if it had been just another short stay somewhere.

"When did you move here?" Mason asked moving closer, he peeked at Camden knowing that they could not ignore this; it had to be the reason why the Mogadorians had found Avalon and her carers so easily. 

The two refused to think of Lillian and James the same way that they thought of their own cêpans; the two had not prepared Avalon in any way for what was happening to her nor had they told her the truth about who she was. 

They doubted that Avalon would have ever learned the truth if Lillian and James had not been murdered and it would have left her vulnerable later in life if not killed her. 

"Early September," Avalon murmured feeling like she was missing something, she couldn't think of anything that might cause such a reaction. 

There was one thing that she could think of but Avalon doubted that it was that, she still thought fondly of the first time that she had meet John and how her life had been so simple then. 

Camden groaned wondering why he hadn't asked this question sooner, he couldn't believe that he hadn't thought about this before and now it was something that might hurt them. 

"Were you in Florida the night of the 8th?" Camden asked confusing Avalon who then fell silent, she slowly nodded her head and chewed on her lip as she realised what they were all thinking about. 

Avalon suddenly felt stupid for not realising it sooner, she had no idea how she hadn't even considered it before; she looked down at Mason's leg at the three scars that were burned into his skin, the same three scars that she knew where on John's leg at that very moment. 

"Ava?" Leila asked carefully before Avalon looked at her companions, a smile slowly forming on her face; she couldn't believe that she hadn't noticed any of this and she suddenly felt like a weight had been lifted.