Blood Oath (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book Two) (14 page)

Brooklyn laughed. "Uh, you probably did. It’s like a combination of the movie and music awards down there."

No, it wasn’t that. It was something else, like something wicked wrong. And I could feel it deep inside my guts. Like something bad was going to happen. The smell of death lingered nastily in the air.

"Brook, tell me something. What do you know about this whole immortal stuff? I mean, do you think that it’s possible for us to truly die?"

Brooklyn lightly pushed me. "Will you get out of my head? See, that’s the exact question I asked one of the
Circles
. You know, when that end leveler went
poof
? So, I asked if we have all this immortal stuff running through our blood, then how did she die? The answer is that we don’t get a live-forever pass. Don’t get me wrong, we do live, like, for a very long time, but eventually we die—poof—back to the earth as dust."

She popped another chip into her mouth. "But the
Elementi
— that’s a whole different story. They live
forever
. Well, that’s if they don’t get"—she made a knife-cutting-the-throat gesture—"axed by some stinky
Daemon
or
Banished
. But that’s our job, right, to make sure that we protect them?" She pouted thoughtfully.

I grabbed some chips, chomping them enthusiastically. "This whole thing sounds like some sort of wicked scientific project gone horribly wrong."

"I know, right? Especially when you know that we wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for the
Elementi
creating us like some sort of genetic mutation. So it’s a good thing that
Elementi
guys are smoking hot." She wagged her eyebrows.

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, why does everything you say always end up being about hottie
Elementi
and
Eternals
? The world can rock on without them, you know. How about the hottie
Normals
?"

She rolled her eyes. "
Normals
? Yuck, so not a worthwhile endeavor, my friend. Besides, the fact that
Elementi
are hot makes this whole deal about needing them genetically to keep the
Eternals’
population from dying just a little easier to deal with, don’t you think?"

She was right. In a worse scenario, the
Eternals
could have been stuck making out with shriveled, ugly toad-looking
Elementi
. I would take a race of gorgeous
Elementi
hotties any day. But what I didn’t hear in the equation was the fact that the
Elementi
needed us just as much as we did them. We were bred to be their protectors, their Warriors. Well, didn’t that count for something?

We both walked back to the stone bench and sat down tiredly.

I looked at her curiously. "So spill, what are your parents like?"

Brooklyn stared up at the stars. "My mother is a very successful singer living out in Los Angeles with her gorgeous
Ares
mate."

"What about your dad?"

She looked at me blankly. "You mean my
Elementi
genetic donor," she spat nastily. "He lives in New York. We don’t speak much. But that’s how it is sometimes with the
Elementi
. I’m not delusional. My father only had me because of his misplaced duty to keep the
Eternal
society going."

I could feel her sadness seeping out.

Brooklyn smiled slightly. "Look, I can deal with it. You know, with the whole duty and survival thing."

I took a sip of soda. "I guess someday that’s going to be us. You know, being sucked into the whole
Eternal
duty and survival thing."

Brooklyn wagged her eyebrows suggestively. "Let’s hope. I wouldn’t mind having a hot
Elementi
as my soul mate. The cool thing is that things are not as uptight as they were when my grandmother was a girl. Now
Elementi
and
Eternals
date each other like crazy and get married with no problem. But according to my grandmother, centuries ago, that was a big no-no. But still for the
Eternals
, their first priority is the blood oath."

I grimaced. There it was again,
Elementi
first,
Eternals
second.

"My mom absolutely loves her mate, and he absolutely loves her too. In fact, they’re nauseatingly in love." She made a puking sound. "And he’s fiercely protective of her. Not that she needs protecting."

She got a real dreamy look in her eyes. "My mom told me that when they met, it was like
bam
! She knew instantly that he was her soul mate."

I scoffed, "The soul mate thing sounds real serious."

She sighed. "The soul mate thing is majorly huge. They say that when you imprint with your soul mate, there’s this pull, like everything stops when the person is around." She smiled cheekily. "So…what’s up with your parents?"

I wanted to spill everything, but I knew that I shouldn’t or, like, couldn’t. So I went with the next best thing, the fuzzy truth. "Well, my mom and dad died. My Grandma Celeste pretty much raised me."

Brooklyn patted my shoulder consolingly. "No, she didn’t die; she was transformed in Hallowed Eternity. I like that a whole lot better. It just sounds a lot more magical, you know?"

I smiled gratefully, then looked up at the stars soulfully, letting the wave of sadness roll over me. I asked wistfully, "Sometimes, don’t you miss just being a
Normal
?"

She looked at me like I had two heads. "Uh, nope, I mean, what’s so special about being a
Normal
? In high school, I was that rich biracial girl that everyone wanted to hang out with because I was the ultimate party girl. But the truth is that I was always living in constant fear of someone finding out that I was different. You know, because I could do things that no one else could. I was absolutely exhausted from pretending to be normal by hiding my gift. But here, it’s totally different. Here I actually belong, and I don’t fear being different."

A slow smile spread across my face because it suddenly hit me that I, too, had spent so much of my time trying to fit in, too much of my time just being angry—angry that my mother was not around, angry that I didn’t really understand who I was, and angry that I felt different than everyone around me. But now, honestly, I could just let that go, because in this world, this
Eternal
world, I was just Gabrielle,
Neophyte
. Nothing more, nothing less, and I was totally cool with that.

Brooklyn snapped her fingers. "Okay, I know what will cheer you up." She looked at me slyly. "That’s if you’re up to it?"

I looked at her suspiciously. "Up to what?"

She smiled. "Sneaking into that big meeting they’re having tonight. I mean, why shouldn’t we know what’s going on?"

"I don’t get it. Why aren’t we invited?"

"Are you serious? Uh,
Neophytes
are at the bottom of the food chain. So, are you in?" Brooklyn jabbed me playfully in the side with her elbow.

My eyes twinkled mischievously. "Heck yes." Then I got a twinge of guilt. "But if we get caught, my grandmother will absolutely kill me." Not to mention ground me for the rest of my teen life.

Brooklyn giggled. "So let’s not get caught."

Great point. Heck, you only live once. Well, in this world, maybe a very long time. "Okay, I’m down with it, but we have to get the Gabby Girls because this is a prime Gabby Girls Adventure."

Brooklyn laughed. "Seriously? Gabby Girls Adventure? You crack me up."

I smirked at her. "Umm, I don’t know what you’re laughing at because I just made you an honorary member. Welcome, Gabby Girl Brooklyn," I responded while pushing her toward the exit. "So, let’s get the rest of the Gabby Girls and roll out."

Brooklyn giggled. "I can tell hanging around you is going to be crazy fun and a whole lot of trouble."

I fluttered my eyes dramatically. "You can no doubt count on that. Trouble follows me like a magnet."

chapter

NINE

I burst through
the door with Brooklyn, giggling, looking at them excitedly. "Gabby Girls, we have another Gabby Girls Adventure. Gear up. Let’s roll out."

Brooklyn pushed me playfully. "Okay, you’re way too loud. Remember, it’s a top secret Gabby Girls Adventure."

"Okay, it’s a top secret Gabby Girls Adventure," I whispered loudly.

Jessica giggled. "So, what trouble are you getting us into now?"

"We are sneaking into that big meeting they’re having tonight," I boasted.

Jessica and Zora groaned painfully in unison.

Zora shook her head with displeasure. "Come on, Gabi. We just got here. At least give us a week to marinate before getting us into major trouble."

Brooklyn hugged them both. "Come on, you know you want to go. Are you with us?"

Jessica and Zora smiled at each other, nodding in agreement.

They screamed in unison, "Gabby Girls Adventure!"

Jessica looked at me woefully. "But I’m not going anywhere until I get something to eat. I’m starving."

I quickly pulled out a huge bag of chips from behind my back. "Here you go. You know I’ll always hook you up."

She snatched the bag greedily. "That’s so wrong. You came here all prepared to bribe me?"

"Of course," I responded quickly.

She ripped the bag open, shoving a handful of chips into her mouth. "Well, it worked. A job well done, Gabby Girl."

Scanning the room quickly, I noticed our last partner in crime was missing. "Hey, where’s Princess Rosalinda?"

"She went to get some fresh air or something," Jessica mumbled as chips shot out of her mouth.

I looked at Zora questioningly; she shrugged her shoulders, then looked at Brooklyn. "So how are we going to get into the meeting without getting caught? Or worse, getting caught and thrown out of the academy?"

Jessica bit her lip nervously. "That would be the absolute worst. Grandma Priscilla would absolutely kill me."

Brooklyn rubbed her hands together. "Don’t worry. I’ve got it covered. Just follow me and keep real quiet."

Zora adjusted her glasses. "Yeah, just follow you to the pits of Hades."

I waved my hands in the air, mimicking clearing the space. "Hey, no negativity. She’s got it covered." I looked over at Brooklyn quickly. "You do have it covered, right?"

Brooklyn gave us a toothy grin. "For sure. Come on, trust me. We’re not going to get caught, at least not tonight."

Jessica looked at us nervously. "‘Trust me,’ famous last words."

Rushing over to the door, I looked at them with a smirk. "What’s life without a little Gabby Girls Adventure?"

They looked at me like deer caught in headlights before sighing softly.

"Normal and without any drama," Zora responded quickly.

They giggled and tiptoed out of the room. Brooklyn walked down the opposite end of the hallway. "Okay, follow me. I found this sweet hidden passageway when I got here." She pushed open an unmarked mahogany door that exposed stairs that spiraled downward. They ran down the stairs, ending up at the back of the castle, where they quietly ran across the lawn and through the woods, ending up on the other side of the castle.

Brooklyn walked up to a stained glass door and wiggled the doorknob. "Just like I thought, it’s locked. Just give me a minute here." She ran her hands slowly across the door, closing her eyes.

Jessica gasped as she looked around with paranoid eyes. "What are you doing? You’re not going to break in, are you?"

Brooklyn opened one eyelid, giving her an annoyed look. "Of course not, I’m just going to shift through it. So technically, I’m not really breaking in, okay? But you have to keep quiet so that I can do my concentrating thing."

I was amazed when Brooklyn’s body slowly transformed from solid to translucent, then completely disappeared. A few seconds passed, and the door rattled noisily on the other side, unlatched, and swung open, revealing Brooklyn in the doorway, smiling hugely and posing like a model.

I did a double take. "You do realize that’s super weird, right? What are you, the disappearing
Neophyte
?"