Not Your Average Happy Ending (13 page)

Kendall

I was having a panic attack. Again. Ash knelt next to me as I took deep breaths and tried to get myself under control. I hadn’t had a panic attack since the night Ash threw Cameron in the pool a few months ago. I thought I’d gotten over them. Apparently, I was wrong.

“It’s okay, Kendall. Breathe.” Ash rubbed circles around my back, just like that night.

“I’m okay,” I squeaked.

No one said anything as I regained my composure and was able to take a breath without gasping for air. Ash helped me to my feet and I wiped the rest of my tears away. I turned to Dax, who still stood in the same place. His nose was still bleeding from Ash’s fist, but he didn’t seem to be bothered by it. All he did was stare at me with a curious expression.

It was unsettling. He looked an awful lot like Ash. I don’t know why I hadn’t noticed before. I’d only ever seen him when it was dark. I didn’t like it.

Ash looked at Dax and let out an annoyed breath. “Sam, get him a towel or something.”

“Right-o,” Sam said. He disappeared into the kitchen and came back with a stack of napkins. He threw them in Dax’s face.

“Thanks. And thanks for the warm welcome, Ash,” Dax muttered.

“You’re lucky I didn’t do more than that,” Ash said. I could feel the tension rolling off of both of them, and was worried another fight would break out. Or I’d pass out or something. I was lightheaded from crying and from the pain in my side that was getting worse by the second.

“Let’s go sit down,” I said. “In here.”

“Sam, Misty, be ready to attack if he tries anything,” Ash said. “Actually, go tell Glade and Cornelious what’s going on. I need to talk to Dax alone.”

Sam hesitated. “Are you sure?” He eyed Dax with distaste and Misty wouldn’t even look at him.

“I’ll be fine,” Ash said.

I believed him. He was barely controlling his anger as it was. If Dax tried anything, I was sure he’d beat the crap out of him before he could lift a finger. Part of me was terrified he would, but another part of me wanted him to. After all, Dax deserved it. He almost killed me. And I was slowly dying because of him.

I looked at Sam, who still stood where he was. He didn’t want to leave us. “Ash is right. Don’t worry about us. Just don’t be gone long,” I said.

They both nodded and left without another word.

We sat down on the couch and Dax sat across from us in the chair with a bunch of bloody napkins in his hand. Ash really got him good. I couldn’t help but smile.

I was surprised Ash hadn’t brought up the night Dax stabbed me. I knew it was probably on both of their minds. Maybe he didn’t want to bring it up until we got some information out of him. Or maybe he didn’t want me to go into another panic attack from talking about it.

“Feeling better?” Ash said, smirking.

“No,” said Dax. “Thanks for asking though. I appreciate it.” He scowled at him and sniffed.

I couldn’t wait any longer. I had to know what happened to Ellie. “Why does Linkin have my sister, and how do we get her back?”

He glanced at me as he wiped the blood off of his face. “He has your sister because I wasn’t able to get the necklace from you. He figured you’d go after her and trade the necklace for her. At least, that’s what I think. He never told me he was going to take her.”

“What does the necklace have to do with anything?” Ash said. “It’s driving me crazy.”

Dax grunted. “Linkin just wants it. I don’t know why and I don’t really care. All I know is that it’s powerful or something and very important. He won’t stop until he has it.”

“How can you not know what it does?” Ash asked. “You’ve been training with him for months. You’d think he’d tell you a little about it before you tried to kill someone for it.”

He flinched and glared at Ash. “If I remember right, it was
your
necklace in the first place. You’ve been around magic your whole life. How did you not notice it was enchanted?”

Ash tensed. “Don’t even start with me. You have just as much magic as I do. We’re
family
. Remember?” I couldn’t help but notice how Ash spat the word family. It was sad really. Not knowing you had a brother and then finding out it was your nemesis years later.

Dax smirked. “Family. Right. As for the necklace, I’m just saying…you’re supposed to be Mr. Know-It-All aren’t you? I’m surprised you didn’t figure it out.”

“That’s it,” Ash said, getting to his feet. I pulled him back down.

“Boys, please,” I said, rubbing a hand over my face. It was exhausting even being in the same room with them. I turned toward Dax again, ignoring Ash and his nasty temper. “What do I have to do to get my sister back?”

He studied me and I shivered. I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to his being here than he was letting on. Why would he care if Ellie was gone? He was the one who was turning her into a monster. “We’ll have to give him the necklace.”

“It won’t come off,” I said.

“It will if you freely give it to someone.”

Ash frowned. “How do you know that?”

Dax shrugged. “Linkin told me.”

“Funny. You made it pretty clear that he didn’t tell you anything about it and yet you know random facts like that.”

“Well, I
am
his son.”

“So am I,” Ash said, his voice laced with annoyance. “Unfortunately. He seems to have a grudge against me though. So does your mother.”

“Leave my mom out of this. She has her own reasons to have a grudge against you.”

“How so? What have I ever done to her?”

He looked away. “Just drop it. I’m not giving you another reason to hit me.”

“Fine,” Ash said between clenched teeth.

I let out the breath I was holding. “We’d probably get a lot more done if you two would quit arguing about everything.”

“He started it,” they said in unison. They glared at each other and I rolled my eyes. They really
were
acting like brothers. And it was getting ridiculous.

“I need a drink,” I said and went into the other room, leaving them alone together. Maybe they’d accomplish something if I wasn’t sitting there glaring at both of them. Or maybe my plan would backfire and I’d end up watching a wrestling match.

There was dead silence as I stood in the kitchen. I downed a whole bottle of water and took a deep breath before heading back toward the living room. I heard voices and hoped Ash and Dax were figuring something out. I paused at the door and listened.

“I don’t understand why you’re even here,” Ash said. “You knew I was looking for you. And not because I wanted to hang out with you either. You’re an idiot for searching me out. You know exactly how I feel about you. What you did to Kendall–”

“I never meant to hurt her.”

The room went silent. I heard Ash take a breath. “I don’t believe you.”

“Of course you don’t. You’ve hated me your whole life. Why start believing me now?”

“That has nothing to do with this.”

“Oh, really? Your grudge against me has nothing to do with you choosing not to believe me?”

“You almost killed the girl I love,” Ash said. He sounded scary. A few napkins lifted off the counter in the kitchen, and I prayed he’d control his temper.

“I told you. I didn’t mean to. Linkin told me he needed her necklace and I couldn’t just take it from her. The knife was supposed to scare her. I didn’t intend to actually use it.”

“And yet somehow she ended up with a knife in her side.”

“She ran into it herself!”

“Right. Just like she magically fell asleep at her prom last year?”

“That was different. Things have changed.”

“You’ll never change.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Because I know you. I’ve known you almost my whole life. You’ve always been the same.”

“And what if I’m not anymore?”

“That’s not possible.”

“Will you guys stop it?” I said, coming around the corner.

They both quieted and stared at me.

“Yes, I heard everything,” I said. I turned to Dax. “Ash asked you a question and you never answered.”

“Which one?”

“Why are you here?”

He hesitated, looking vulnerable for once. “Because of Ellie.”

“I thought you were using her to get to me?”

“I was.”

“And you actually care what happens to her now?”

“Yes.” He avoided my eyes and I heard Ash let out an exasperated breath. “It’s true. I don’t want anything to happen to her. That’s why I need your help.”

Ash laughed. “You almost killed my girlfriend and you expect my help?”

Dax stared at him for a long time. “If you come with me, I’ll give you the knife I stabbed Kendall with. Then you can destroy it to save her life.”

The muscles in Ash’s jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

Dax looked at me and then at Ash. “You’re going to have to trust me.”

Ash

I still couldn’t believe Dax was in the same room as me. The fact that he was still walking and not writhing on the ground was a miracle as well. I was having a really hard time fighting the urge to beat the crap out of him.

“Ash, you ready?”

I tried to keep my expression neutral as Dax spoke, but I’m pretty sure I failed by the way Kendall glared at me. She mouthed “be nice” and I looked away, not understanding how she could be so calm around the guy who almost killed her. I know it bothered her, but her thoughts were on Ellie alone, I was sure.

“Ash?” Dax addressed me again and I glanced at him.

“Sure.”

“Please tell me there aren’t going to be any dragons this time,” Sam said.

Instead of answering, Dax looked at me and rolled his eyes. I fought the urge to laugh, and focused on Kendall instead.

“I still don’t know why I have to stay here,” she said. She was so cute when she pouted. I gave her a quick kiss and wrapped her in a hug, careful not to squeeze too hard in case I hurt her.

“Because you’ll be safe here.”

“I could help you.”

Dax snorted and I shot him a glare.

“You’ll help me more by staying here. I can’t worry about you and focus on saving Ellie at the same time.”

“I know.”

“Misty and Glade will be with you in case anything happens.”

“That’s comforting.”

What was that supposed to mean? “They’ll keep you safe if Linkin sends someone back here for you.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Will you just say goodbye already?” Sam asked. “We’re always waiting on you.” I couldn’t help but notice the way his eyes met Misty’s. He gave her a small smile, before walking out the front door.

“I’ll be back soon,” I said. My fingers slipped through Kendall’s once again. I never planned on being away from her so much. I hated it.

“Be safe,” she said.

***

A few minutes later, we were in a forest. It was already creepy, but since the sun was setting, it made it ten times worse.

“This way,” Dax said. He led us through a bunch of trees and deeper into the Dark Forest.

“Yep. Looks familiar.” I recognized the clearing where we had our run-in with the dragons. I glanced at Sam and noticed him looking around, his arms folded.

“What fun memories we had here,” he said. “Dinner with dragons. I’m glad they never got to eat.”

“Not one of our finest moments, I agree,” I said.

Dax stopped and looked around, pushing the hair out of his eyes. There was a large opening in an outcrop of rock in front of us.

“Great. Another cave,” Sam said. “I swear I’m having déjà vu.”

“You and me both, Sam.”

Dax rubbed his hands together. “Stay here.”

“What?”

“I’m going to make sure they have Ellie first. If not, you can go back to Kendall’s and we’ll figure out what to do next.”

“Wait. You don’t know if they actually have her.”

He let out an annoyed breath. “I’m pretty sure they have her. The problem is, I think Linkin knows I…” He hesitated. “Care about her.”

“You? Care about someone? That’s funny.”

He glared at me. “If that’s the case, it makes things a little more complicated.” He glanced around, looking nervous. “Just stay here. I’ll go see what’s going on.” He strolled to the mouth of the cave and disappeared.

Something wasn’t right. Why would he leave us out in the open? I grabbed Sam’s arm and pulled him into some bushes. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Me too. I just didn’t want to sound like a wimp, so I didn’t say anything.”

Shenelle and Dax came outside then, speaking in hushed voices. I wasn’t usually one to notice outfits, but Shenelle was wearing all black. It was strange to see her in that color, since she usually wore crazy colorful clothes.

Sam leaned over. “Since when did Shenelle go Goth?”

I didn’t answer, just kept my eye on Dax. Even though I could hear their voices, I couldn’t understand what they were saying. After a few minutes, Shenelle backed away, shaking her head. Dax took a step toward her, looking frustrated. Then a second later, Shenelle smiled and looked straight at the bushes we were hiding in.

“I knew he’d give us away,” I said as I grabbed Sam’s arm. “Move!”

“Oh, crap,” Sam said, just as black smoke burst out of the cave and snaked its way across the ground toward us.

I dove out of the way, feeling it whoosh by my head. “Nice try,” I muttered, getting to my feet.

I should have kept my mouth shut. Another burst of smoke flew at me and I cursed as it wrapped around my wrists and ankles, making me fall flat on my face into the dirt.

“Well, so much for a surprise attack,” Sam mumbled. “I think I twisted my ankle. You can call me a wimp now.”

My body shook with rage as I was lifted up by an invisible force. I glanced at Sam as we floated toward the cave, both of us powerless. Again. Powerless against a psycho fairy, a power hungry djinn, and a wannabe daddy’s boy.

Dax stood to the side as we approached, his arms folded. He looked totally relaxed. I wanted to punch him in the face again. Too bad my arms were pinned to my sides or I would have knocked his teeth out when I passed.

Shenelle looked pissed. She had her wand out and made us stop about a foot in front of her. “Linkin. They came. Just like Dax said they would.”

Linkin stepped out of the cave, his long black robe and a bunch of smoke billowing around him. “Well done, son,” he said, glancing at Dax. “Now. Let’s have a chat with my oldest son.”

“I’m not your son,” I spat. So it was official. I was the older son. And Dax and I had different mothers. My life was so messed up.

“On the contrary—”

“No! I refuse to acknowledge you as my father. The only father I knew was Paul Summerland. And when he died, Logan raised me. You weren’t in my life at all.”

Linkin laughed and looked behind him. He pulled on a golden chain and someone moved through the darkness. I couldn’t see who it was. “Your ‘father’ was nothing more than a weak human. I took care of him a long time ago. And Logan was weak, too. Being all noble and saving a boy who even he was scared of. How did he react when he found out what you were?”

Rage filled my senses and, of course, the wind started blowing. Linkin smiled. “Here we go. Let your power free, Ash. Call on the darkness that’s in your heart. I know it’s there. I feel it too. Let it fuel your magic.” The wind blew harder, though I didn’t mean for it to happen. “You have no idea what you’re capable of, my son.” His golden eyes glowed and I looked away, focusing on something else instead.

Kendall.

Her beautiful face. Her hazel eyes. The way she put me in my place when she didn’t agree with something I was doing. The softness of her skin. Her laugh. And most of all, the way she said “I love you.”

I began to relax and breathed hard through my nose. I wouldn’t let my power consume me. Not this time. It was what he wanted. He wanted it to control me.
He
wanted to control me.

I focused on Sam and Misty. Laughing. Joking around. All of our crazy memories the past year.

My breathing slowed and another image entered my mind. My mother. I couldn’t remember her face, but I knew she had light hair. And her skin glowed. Those were the only things that stuck out in my mind. I’d only been a child when she left me at the Academy after all.

The wind stopped, my anger subsided slightly. I took a deep breath and turned my gaze on Linkin. The man who claimed to be my father and, for a split second, I saw fear in his eyes.

It was gone just as fast.

He took a step closer, inches from my face. “You will not win, Ash,” he whispered. “No matter how hard you try.”

Shenelle caught my eye and nodded her head in Dax’s direction. I looked over to see Ellie standing next to Dax.

“Ellie,” I said. “Are you okay?”

She didn’t answer and showed no emotion, even though I swear she was looking straight at me.

“What have you done to her?” I shouted. “Let her go!”

Linkin laughed. “Tell your little girlfriend to give me her necklace and I’ll release her. Or join me. Choose one and I’ll let her go.”

There was no way I’d be doing either one. “Ellie,” I said. “You’re going to be fine.”

She didn’t hear me. At least I think she didn’t. She was in some kind of trance. My whole body tensed. I had to get free. Then I could get her out of here. I focused my djinn power on creating a small breeze between my wrists and the smoke that held me. If I could get out of the smoke, like I’d done once before in the cave, Sam and I could both use our power against Linkin. It wouldn’t even be close to a fair fight though, with Shenelle and Dax as well.

“Make your choice.”

“How about we talk about this in a civilized manner. Or would that be too hard for you?”

He frowned and walked over to Ellie, his eyes narrowed and locked on mine. When he reached her, he pulled out a very black, very sharp looking dagger. I was certain it was the knife that stabbed Kendall. I could feel the magic pulsing from it. He moved the blade until it was pointed at Ellie’s heart.

“The necklace, Ash. That’s all I’m asking.”

I opened my mouth to protest.

“Wait,” Dax said. He took a step forward and put his hand on Linkin’s arm. He pushed it back, away from Ellie’s body. He glanced at me for a split second before turning his gaze on Linkin. “This wasn’t part of the plan,” he said, his voice hard.

“Plans change,” Linkin said.

Dax didn’t move. “You said you wouldn’t hurt her. You swore you wouldn’t.”

“I lied.” He stared him down and Dax shrank back a little, before standing up straight and stepping in front of her.

“I won’t let you do this,” he said.

Linkin raised an arm and a burst of smoke shoved him backward. “Learn your place, boy. Step back.”

Dax frowned and backed away, but looked uneasy.

Linkin turned to me again. “So, Ash. What will your choice be?”

I stared at him. I was running out of time. We needed help. My thoughts turned to Kendall and I attempted to send her a warning with my mind. Hopefully it would work, because we were definitely in trouble.