Deviant (Blendling Trilogy #1)

Chapter Twenty-One

Cameron and the twins face are in front of me. I can read the panic written all over their faces as I take in my surroundings. I immediately noticed that I'm wet, they must have poured water on me when they tried to wake me.
"Dude you scared the crap outta me!" Cam yelled, pulling me up and clapping me on my back. "What happened? We've been trying to wake you"
"Sorry. I was dreamscaping" I explained "I saw our mums and Bass, they're fine."
"Are you sure" Belle gasps
"Where are they" Sherry asks
"Are they okay?" Cam asked
"They are fine." I reply. I briefly explain the situation to them.
"That's bull. I'm not hiding. If they want me, I'm definitely not hiding!" Cam yelled
"Relax, I didn't say you should hide. I'm just begging you to survive. If we're going to take them, we need a plan. We cannot wait for them to find and attack us before we act."

I let my words sink in and go to ease myself. After I return, I go in search of a toothbrush. I wash my mouth violently, remembering his tongue in my mouth. I gag and spit, rinsing out my mouth only to begin brushing again, even though my gums bled. I feel whatever he put in me settling in and I groan. I didn't want to tell the others about the dreamscape with him, I didn't want them to hate me.

They're waiting for me when I finish scrubbing my mouth raw. Belle hands me a cup of coffee and I sip it in gratitude, feeling the injuries in my mouth burn when the hot liquid reaches them.
"So any ideas?" Cam asked
"I say we make this place more habitable." Sherry says immediately. "This caveman life isn't doing it for me" She says
"That's it?" I ask incredulously. "Lets turn this dump into a sweet pad? Are you kidding me right now?" I yell
"Oh pipe down" she replied. " We don't know how long we'll be here. Is it a crime for me for me to want reasonable accommodation after all the trouble we'll go through? You know we need safe houses and I refuse to come back to this dump after surviving huddles."
"Relax" Belle says when I'm about to reply.
"We fixed this place as best as we could using the limited things we could gather. It's large, we just need to tush it up a bit" Cameron says, taking Sherry's side and I feel betrayed.
"At least let's fix the plumbing. We have enough money for something better than this" Belle says

I sigh in defeat. It's obvious they'd spoken about it while I was asleep. Still I can't imagine taking unnecessary risks because of luxury. Survival was topmost in my mind.
"We'll be exposing ourselves to unnecessary risks" I try again.
"We know. But think about it this way, we'll be hiding for a while. I say we make this mountain into our base. I flew to the top and could see for miles around. We can practice up there and watch for our enemies. It wouldn't hurt us none. I'm sure there's a bigger city close by where we can buy stuff. And you are smart enough that we wouldn't need someone to install our stuff for us. We can fix motion detectors in the surrounding woods. Think about it. I can erase the mind of anyone who gets too curious."

I couldn't put up much resistance in the face of such an impassioned speech so I gave in on the condition that we stayed together. We flew through the woods that afternoon, stopping to hike each time it thinned out. I started to believe our mission was futile. There was no way we could fly stuff this distance without being noticed. By evening, we reached a lively city. I don't know where we are but I am too tired to care. We find an Italian restaurant and shuffle in.

While we are eating, a man and woman enter. I could tell immediately that they were hunters. They however hadn't come to hunt us as their eyes trail the maitre d' about the place. The man, oblivious to the danger, fleets from table to table, chatting with customers as he observes the waiters. He briefly stops by our table and when he turns to leave, I grab his arm.
"Be still, you're being hunted" I whispered. I'm positive that these hunters are part of Sanchez's group. The man freeze and eyes me. I immediately feel him try to probe my mind.
"Young incubus, what brings you to these parts" he says in a heavy Italian accent. He noticed the hunters then and frowns.
"Easy, they don't want to cause you trouble where there are witnesses" Cam said, obviously picking up the hunters thoughts. "They will follow you home so they can take out your family."
"Don't worry, they don't know where you live. These two just got eager to find you so they broke from their party." I say, reading their emotions.

I don't know what species the man is but I was guessing spirit elemental from the way he was nodding. He was reading us like we were reading them. The hunters quickly exit the restaurant when they see we've noticed them. They are outnumbered and want to make a quick escape. I don't doubt that they'll be hunting us too if they report seeing us so I dash after them. I'm about to tackle them as they reach a black sedan parked at the curb when I feel Cameron yank them back with his mind. He drags them behind the dumpster beside the restaurant.

The man quick reached for the gun tucked into his waistband but I quickly slams his face into the dumpster. The gun skitters away and the maitre d' grabs it, firing off two rounds. The sound is absorbed by the silencer screwed to the gun and the noise of the busy street. He killed the man with the first and injures the woman. Tossing the gun aside, he strides forward and grabs her, digging his fingers into the wound.
"Why are you after me!" He demands and she spits in his face. I feel a familiar warmth fluttering in my stomach and I flush in shame. The gift, as I started to refer to it, was fluttering in response to her pain.
"Lemme try" I whisper and he let's her go. I smile at her and the gift wraps around her. She moans and throws back her head. "Why are you hunting him?"
"His family is on the list of those that refused change" she gasps out.

I ask her other questions and she answers quickly as she bleeds out. She tells me where her batch of hunters are camped and how many they are. The maitre d', whose name was Gavin, insists on coming with us to find them. Even though we didn't need to involve ourselves, I couldn't help but see this as another opportunity to gather information; another opportunity to use the gift. The girls mutter a quick spell and the bodies disintegrate to dust.
"I didn't know you could do that" Cameron whispers to me as we leave the dumpster. I flush in guilt and look away as Sherry palms the keys to the sedan we swiped from the dead man. I couldn't tell Cam about the gift, not yet.