Celtic Rose (18 page)

Kallisto flew into Talus’ arms and hugged him tightly. William wrapped his arms around both of them, sandwiching Kallisto between them. They all needed comfort. She took one arm and wrapped it around William’s waist. Ramina and Kalan clung to each other. Talus reached out to bring Kalan and Ramina into the rest of them. Talus wrapped an arm around them, as did William, hugging them to Kallisto’s side. The contact of the group woke the flowing river inside of Kallisto. Instead of just flowing into William like it had before, it started flowing through everyone. Kallisto could feel it flow through William and into Ramina, which in turn made it flow into Kalan and through him to Talus and back into her. Everyone froze and concentrated on the feeling of energy flowing through them. Opening their eyes, they could see a faint yellow glow, and they watched as it flowed from one person to the next, giving them an even stronger sense of calm and togetherness. No one questioned it after they pulled apart and it went away. They only knew that it was comforting, and they didn’t need to know any more than that.

It was around five in the morning. Early though it was, they decided to go ahead and get started. None of them felt as though they could sleep anymore, anyway, not after that horrifying and enlightening dream. Kalan and Kallisto woke Hope to say goodbye. She cried a little, but she knew she couldn’t keep them from going. She kissed them and sent them on their way.

Kalan was the first to drive. They traveled on for four hours before they decided to stop at a convenience store to get breakfast and coffee, not because they needed it but out of habit. They were all still wide awake.

After the rest stop, Talus took a turn driving. Kallisto wanted to drive but they kept mentioning her broken ribs. She had actually forgotten about them. They had stopped hurting and she wasn’t too sure they were still broken. Kalan poked one, just to check, and the pain came back full force. He apologized several times for poking it, but he wasn’t too sorry for the fact that he had proven their point.

They made another stop around five o’clock that evening. It was still light out, but the sun was edging to the horizon. It would take three more hours of driving before they would make it into Phoenix. Kallisto hoped Gabriel would meet them or at least show them where to go to get to him. Having visions put into her head was a strange feeling, but the feeling made her feel normal for the first time in her life. Strange things like that seemed more normal to her than everyday things like going to work and taking care of her mother. Anything otherworldly fascinated her beyond belief and she felt happy anytime something strange happened. The rest of the time everything just felt boring and strange. She guessed she knew why now; supernatural things were in every aspect of her first life, and not having them made her feel ordinary. Now that they were back she felt more like who she was supposed to be. That made her hope he would show her again.

Nearly everyone needed to use the restroom by the time they got to the convenience store. William stayed with Kallisto as she sat in the booth waiting for the others. She wasn’t tired but she had to sit to keep from having any more pain from her ribs. William couldn’t sit, he was too wired. He only went a few feet from her to look at magazines while they waited.

Chapter 8

“Where’s Kallisto?” Talus asked as he walked out of the bathroom. William looked up at him, confused, and then looked behind him at the booth. Seeing no sign of her, he dropped the magazine.

“She was right there not two seconds ago.”

They searched the store, but couldn’t find Kallisto. Kalan and Ramina came out of the restrooms then. They looked at each other and smiled, laughing at the fact that they had opened the door and stepped out in sync with one another. It only took a moment for them to realize something was wrong, and a second more to realize what it was. They all rushed out to the car, hoping Kallisto would be there; she wasn’t. A nervous feeling started to gnaw at Talus’ stomach, as though something was very wrong with Kallisto.

“Kallisto!” Kalan yelled. The next thing they knew Kalan dropped to the pavement. They rushed to his side, trying to wake him, when they heard squealing tires behind the store. A second later an old, green and white Ford pick-up came around and sped onto the road. Kallisto was in the back of the truck with two guys. Two more took the seats in the cab. They had knocked her out somehow. She slumped between them, unmoving, unable to cry out or fight. Ramina jumped into the car and revved the engine, stopping just long enough for the guys to put Kalan in and hop in themselves, then proceeded with the chase. The truck sped down the road and turned down a narrow dirt road trying to lose them. Ramina whipped the car in a sharp left turn, keeping up with them easily. The old beat-up, rusting Ford was no match for Kallisto’s little Buick Lesabre. It may not have been a power car, but it could keep up with an old truck.

They traveled for a few more miles, trying to pass the truck. Out of nowhere a big off-road vehicle came flying out of the trees and skidded to a stop in the middle of the road in front of the would-be kidnappers. The huge Chevy pick-up with a roll bar on top blocked the entire narrow dirt road, kicking up dust as its monster-truck tires squealed to a stop. A guy leapt from the truck and ran to the rusted pick-up, punching the driver before Ramina, Talus, or William could blink. Kallisto’s savior hoisted himself into the bed of the truck in one fluid motion. The remaining kidnappers fled the vehicle, letting Kallisto fall to the bed of the truck, smacking her head on the metal side. Talus flinched when he heard the resounding crack. Finally jumping into motion, William and Talus scurried out of the car and ran to help the guy with the kidnappers, while Ramina ran to help Kallisto. When they reached the truck, they got a good look at their rescuer as he punched through the back glass and pulled the passenger through it.

“Gabriel?” William shouted in shock.

Gabriel jerked to look toward him, giving the other guy just the distraction he needed. He smashed a bat into the back of Gabriel’s knees. Gabriel dropped to his knees for a split second, stunned with pain, then resumed his standing position. The guy swung the bat a second time, but this time Gabriel did a back flip off the truck, grabbing the bat as he went.

Standing on the road, Gabriel made tsk-tsk sounds as he waved the bat like a stern finger. “Now that’s not fair, you with a bat and me with no weapon of any kind. Let’s even the odds, shall we?” Gabriel hurled the bat into the woods. It flew so hard and fast that it cleared the trees.

“There much better. Now…” He straightened his shirt and crouched into his fighting stance. “Bring it on.” Gabriel taunted the kidnapper with his hand. The kidnapper screamed in fury, or maybe it was his version of a war cry. As the guy ran toward him, Gabriel laughed and grabbed him, picking the would-be kidnapper up over his head.

“Oh, I forgot; I do have a type of weapon,” Gabriel said in mock remembrance, and then his arms started to shake, not with strain but with power. The kidnapper started convulsing and shaking. The zap of electricity rang out over the cries of pain as it pulsed from Gabriel into the kidnapper. After a few seconds of this payback, Gabriel threw the kidnapper down. He jerked and twitched as he thrashed about on the ground.

Talus had another one of the kidnappers pinned to the truck. Since Gabriel’s attack was so effective, they only needed to throw a few punches to make them surrender. William was locked in a choke hold by the last kidnapper, struggling to break free. Gabriel started to go help him, but when William saw him coming he twisted out of his hold. William grabbed his attacker and slammed his knee into his torso. When he doubled over with pain, William brought his knee up again and hit him in the face. The guy fell to the ground flat on his back, blood gushing out of his nose as he landed. Satisfied by knocking the guy out, William turned to Gabriel.

“I don’t need any help, Gabe. I can handle it.” Even for William this seemed a little too arrogant.

“As you wish, William.” Gabriel smiled politely and placed his hands behind his back. Blue crackling energy appeared to flow through Gabriel’s hands, but when he closed them into fists the power was gone.

“Hey, get over here, you guys. I can’t wake Kallisto.” Ramina held Kallisto in her lap, trying to stop her head from bleeding where it had hit the truck. They ran to the truck in a hurry, all except Gabriel. He came up to the truck with no expression and climbed into the back with them. He grabbed Kallisto’s hand and closed his eyes.

“What are you doing?” William said, sounding disgusted.

“Hush. I’m waking Kallisto.” Gabriel kept his eyes squeezed shut as he spoke. After a few moments he leaned back and opened his eyes with a pleased smile. “Wake up Kallisto,” he whispered.

At that moment, Kalan got out of the car. His head was bleeding too. This cut was near the one he got from the fight with the snake, and made it look much worse than Kallisto’s. He came over to the truck.

“What happened?” Kalan asked, but as he saw Kallisto’s head, he realized what happened. “Oh...wait! Why did this happen now and not when the snake had hurt Kallisto?”

“It happened now because the bond between you and Kallisto is at its strongest,” Gabriel answered. “From now on, anything that happens to Kallisto will happen to you and vice versa.”

Kalan looked at him for a moment and then nodded in understanding.

“Hope already told us that Kalan,” William said, obviously annoyed. “Why are you listening to this stupid mutt? We already know all of this and I bet we could make it just fine without him.”

“What is with you William? He came to rescue us.” Talus shot him a disappointed glare.

William crossed his arms in yet another cocky display of attitude. “We would’ve eventually caught them and handled it just fine. I think we can save our own.”

“Yeah, you’re just fine.” Kallisto glared maliciously at the sarcasm in Talus’ voice. Her playful glower did nothing to soothe his worry. Turning to Gabriel, he said, “We need to get her to a hospital again.”

“We’ll take her to my place. This was an attempt on her life and it won’t be the last. I have medical supplies at my place and it’s secluded. We’ll be safe there. But for now…” He grabbed the bottom of his shirt and ripped it off into a long bandage. He tore it into two pieces and wrapped one around Kalan’s head. Kalan flinched as Gabe yanked the impromptu bandage tight. Then he wrapped Kallisto’s head. She sucked in a sharp breath and Talus grabbed her hand.

“Sorry about that, but it needs to be tight enough to stop the bleeding.” He finished tying the make-shift bandage more gently now. When he finished, he placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed slightly. “There. Is that better?” When Kallisto nodded, he gave her a proud smile.

“Good, we need to get to my house so I can clean and fix both of you up properly.”

“Okay, just let me get up.” Kallisto tried once again to sit up but she swooned. Gabriel caught her before Talus even had a chance to move. Talus stared at him in awe.

“Here, let me help you.” Gabriel started to pick Kallisto up. William pushed him, but Gabriel didn’t budge. He just looked at William with annoyance.

“We can handle it, Gabe,” William said, taking a step back into a fighting stance. Talus looked at William completely bewildered by his attitude. Gabriel laid Kallisto back against Ramina, but kept his back to William.

“Still the kingdom’s lapdog, aye Gabe?” William smirked. Talus couldn’t understand why, but he was pushing for a fight with Gabriel. Gabriel spun quickly toward William, with a look of murderous rage on his face. A fierce growl roared from deep in his chest. They all stared wide eyed at Gabriel. Talus looked at Kallisto and saw her eyes drop to his chest. Talus turned back and looked at his chest as well. On his chest was a silver bullet; in the dream it had been a silver dagger. Talus guessed he changed the object with the times.

The growling seemed to get louder and fiercer, but nothing happened. Talus wasn’t sure what he expected to happen, but from the dreams he knew something was supposed to happen, because Kallisto always expected it. Kallisto tried to sit up, apparently to try and stop them, but the pain must have won her over. She hissed and grabbed her head, falling against Ramina. Ramina wrapped her arms around her and tried to comfort her. It was strange; Kalan had the same wound but he didn’t seem as affected by it as she was. William and Gabriel looked at her in unison. Gabriel immediately calmed down and William looked ashamed. Gabriel turned back to William and the anger was back on his face but less than before. “You’re giving her unnecessary pain because of your vendetta,” Gabriel yelled.

“I would never intentionally hurt her dog!” William yelled at Gabriel, enraged.

“Do you even know why you’re calling me a dog?” Gabriel asked with a mischievous grin.

“Because you’re a slave and you would do anything to please your master, just like a dog. You are a mixed breed. You’re not of royal blood,” William spat. “You’re only here because you have to be, not because you want to be. We all want to be here. We tried to save Kallisto and Talus because we love one or both of them. You tried to save them only because it was your job.”

“And you don’t think I love Kallisto?”

“You had the chance to kill the witch and warlock before they cursed us, but you choked. You didn’t even do any damage. At least I wounded the witch before I died.”