Spiral (Spiral Series) (25 page)

In response, one of the Dekers tried to hit me in the ribs. That was his first mistake. I lashed out with my foot,
which
had not been bound like my hands, and sent him sprawling. The two Dekers on either side of me moved to grab my arms, but when they saw I wasn’t going to fight any more,
that I
just didn’t want to
b
e touched, they thought better of it and left me alone.

The van ride didn’t take long. I didn’t know where the Deker estate was, but it must
have been
relatively
close to our house
. W
hich
, when I thought about it,
was interesting.

For someone who had
just been thrown on the floor of the van
,
the ride was bumpy. I counted the turns. About a mile, then a right, three more miles, and then a left, after that a dirt road, a twist, more dirt road . . . I could almost taste the ground in my mouth. We moved fast and I didn’t have time to collect my thoughts before we were already slowing down.

I was led out of the van blindfolded, so all I could do was feel the gravel crunching underneath my feet. I knew once we were inside, because the sun no longer beat down on my face and a cool darkness flowed over me.

I heard several doors open and close as I was led around. All I could think about was getting this over
with quickly and getting back to see Natalie. I wanted -
needed
- to know what had happened with he
r hele on
her birthday. This
visit
was not part of the plan.

“Morning
,
Pierce,” said a nas
a
ly voice. Since my captors had released my arms, I ripped off my blindfold.

Standing in front of me was a Deker
E
lder
whom
I
had seen many times before. Syth. My aunt hated her with a passion she normally reserved for brussel
s
sprouts. She was about Eleanor’s age, with
piercing silver eyes and
gray streaks highlighting her black hair.

“Afternoon
,
Elder,” I said, using the polite greeting. I didn’t want to make anyone mad. I just wanted to leave.
G
lanc
ing
around the room
, I saw that w
e were alone. Well, there was no point
in
other Dekers being there anyway
, since
Syth was stronger than all of them, even if she didn’t look it.
I knew that h
er
W
atchful
would be
lurking somewhere nearby
,
though, just in case I tried anything funny.

“You are not in
S
ilve territory,” she commented. She was wearing a long blue dress
that flowed as she
moved
across the room
to sit gracefully behind a great desk. In her hand was a cup of tea. She didn’t offer me any. Good thing. I didn’t trust her not to poison it. “And your aunt isn’t around to protect you.”

“You know why I’m here,” I said, irritated
that
she would act
as if she was
ignorant
of the reasons
.

Syth’s eyes got harder. “Maybe, but you did not ask permission. How am I to know that you are not here to try and destroy the very foundations we Dekers are built on? You have just appeared in our territory without warning. What could have prom
p
ted that?”

I gave her a sardonic smile. “Are you saying that all it would take to destroy the foundations of the Dekers is little old me?”

She moved faster than I was expecting. One second she was seated behind the desk, placidly drinking her tea. The next second she was standing in front of me, eyes hard.

I steadied myself. I had no intention of giving ground.

“Careful
,
S
ilve,” she said. “You are not at home any
more. You have no
E
lders to coddle the poor orphan.”

At this, despite my determination to stay calm, f
ury pounded at my temples and behind my eyes. “Excuse me?” I said tightly, fighting for control.

“You heard me,” she spat out. “The
S
ilves and their
W
atchfuls are creating more problems than they are worth. Natalie is just an added issue, but there are other things going on.”

Make a frustrated noise I broke eye contact with her. “What other issues?”
I demanded.
She was the third person, after Gretchen and my father, to confirm that there were greater problems than just Natalie, not to mention my aunt’s evasiveness.

Syth smiled slowly. “They haven’t told you? That’s very interesting.” She looked at me consideringly for a moment, her eyes lingering.

Just as I was starting to growl in frustration she stepped back, moving again to her desk.

“Listen, because I will only say this once,” she said, settling comfortably back into her chair. “The
E
lders of many of the tribes have been meeting and arguing about the future of the unicorns. As you can guess, there are many different opinions about what to do.”

I nodded
.
I had heard of all this before. “It’s a very old argument.”

She nodded her head in as
s
ent. “Of course, but there are new twists. Natalie
’s
coming of age is one of those added complications.”

I raised my eyebrows, not understanding.

Syth scoffed. “Open your eyes!” She cried. “Natalie is the last known member of the strongest group of unicorns
who
ever exist
ed
. Neil isn’t here to protect her
,
and her coming of age could change everything.”

I stared at Syth. “The
E
lders want to use Natalie as a pawn in their games? She doesn’t even know who she is yet!” I growled.

Syth’s eyes flashed. “Yes, they want to use her. Of course they want to use her. Lives are at stake.”

“Yeah,” I shot back. “Like hers.”

Syth shook her head at my foolishness.

“And what about the Visioners?” I asked tightly. “That doesn’t explain the Visioners.”

“The
V
isioners want Natalie for two reasons,” said Syth, shrugging. “But I am not at liberty to say what those are. You are going to have to discover them for you
r
self.”

“So, this is coming to a head?”
I asked.

But I got no answer.
I had hoped Natalie would have some time to return to Locke after graduation
, to get used to the idea of being a unicorn,
and
to
train
her powers
. She needed to know how to use her
hele
. It didn’t look like that was going to happen.

I thought of Jar, who I had already asked to find out what the Visioners wanted.
Staring at Syth until it was clear that she wasn’t going to end the silence, I nodded curtly and said
, “Thank you for the information.”

Syth smiled. It was a cold smile that chilled. “I always liked you. I admire that you stand on your own, even when you shouldn’t. You have also become an extraordinary fighter. When I requested some of my young men go retrieve you this morning
,
they drew straws to see which ones
did
N
O
T have to go.”

I gave Syth a wicked grin. “They should have. They aren’t much
as
fighters.”

Syth’s face grew tight. “I know. It is something we are having to work on.” She waved her hand at me, dismissing me. “Be careful
,
Pierce. There are fewer people out there to protect you than you think.”

It struck me as odd that it was something they were working on.

I left the Deker compound quickly
once Syth dismissed me
. They insisted that I wear a blindfold again.

“I don’t suppose you’re going to drop me off at home?” I asked sarcastically once the van had started to move.

One of the men near me snorted. They ended up leaving me by the side of the road a couple of miles from the house
, but a
t least I knew where I was. They almost kicked me out of the van, hardly slowing down to let me out before they sped off in a cloud of dust. I watched them go.

When Syth had pointed out that there were fewer people around to protect me than I thought (
as if
I needed protection)
,
I remembered that I didn’t know where Eric was. When I demanded to know if the Dekers had hurt h
im,
Syth had only shrugged, smiling sweetly at me.

I jogged home. The sun was just disappearing beyond the horizon and the faint smell of car exhaust mixed with the crisp spring air.

I reached home barely winded and found Eric sitting at the kitchen table, looking pale and drawn. There was a red welt across his cheek and he was staring vacantly off into space. When he saw me he sprang up from the table.

“Are you alright?”
he
asked, carefully taking the ice pack away from his face. Watchfuls hated to appear weak.

“Of course,” I said, brushing aside his concern. “Let me look.”

He muttered something about overly attentive unicorns, but
he
let me heal him. I barely noticed the use of my magic. I could heal
wounds that were
a lot bigger than that.

“I’m fine,” he growled. “Those dumbasses just took my by surprise.”

I grinned. “You and me both.”

“Yeah,” said Eric, “
b
ut you don’t have a scratch on you.”