The Tainted (The Tainted Series Book 1) (13 page)

After all the craziness of the last half hour, Rebecca was far too awake to fall back asleep again. Turning away from the rest of the crew, she pulled her knees up to her chest and stared out at the dark woods flying by her window, allowing her thoughts to wander.

The car hit a slight bump in the road causing Rebecca’s head to knock against the glass, bringing her back to consciousness. She wasn’t sure when she’d fallen asleep, but as she rubbed the sore spot on her cheek, she could see that the eastern horizon was beginning to glow a soft orange and pink.

“We’re almost there,” Owen said as she looked over at him. From the dark circles under his drooping eyes, she could tell he hadn’t been able to fall asleep.

She took a quick scan around the car and, as far as she could tell, the only other crew member who’d slept was Trysten. He was still completely dead to the world, sprawled out in the back seat with his legs stretched over an anxious and unnerved Aeden.

Etain began to rustle around in the front seat. Lifting up a large canvas bag, she handed it back to Owen. “Wake up Trysten and pass these out. We’ll be there in less than 15.”

Owen grabbed the bag and rummaged around inside of it while Aeden unceremoniously shook Trysten back to consciousness.

Lifting his hand out of the sack, Owen passed Rebecca a handkerchief and a large metal canister. Confused, she looked up at him and was about to ask what in the world he’d just handed her, when Aeden, taking his set of items, began to explain.

“It’s a smoke canister. We use them when we fight the Aillil so we can see them coming. They’re cocky bastards, so when you fight them one-on-one, they wont use their invisibility--they like it when you can watch them defeat you. But when they fight in a group, it’s all about killing by any means necessary. So, unless you’re Faolan, you have no idea they’re coming for you.”

Rebecca spun around to look at Faolan, who merely shrugged in response. Rebecca’s stomach lurched and she began to realize why the other crew members hadn’t been able to sleep.

Etain turned around quickly in her chair, “Aeden, there’s no need to scare her like that! We may not even need to use them.”

Aeden harrumphed from the back seat as he rolled his eyes.

“Why doesn’t Trysten just make us all disappear? Can’t he just grab onto us or something?” Rebecca asked to no one in particular.

“Doesn’t work like that,” Trysten said from the back. “I can only make myself disappear…trust me I’ve tried.” His voice trailed off and he turned away from her, a wave of sadness crossing his face.

Rebecca looked down at the can in her lap, “How is this supposed to help us see then? If there’s smoke everywhere, how can we see anything, let alone breathe?”

Owen answered her this time, “It’s not ideal, we know that, but it makes it as hard for them to see us as it is for us to see them, and harder for them to breathe since they don’t wear these,” he lifted up the handkerchief in his hand. “When we set all of these off, along with the ones the other Truaillithe have at their house, the cloud will surround everything. The smoke will be swirling around you. What you’ll need to look for is when it moves quickly or is pushed aside. That’s when you know a soldier is coming.”

Rebecca’s nerves began to get the better of her and she looked down to see her hands trembling in her lap. The very idea of being stuck in a thick, smoky cloud, surrounded by invisible Aillil soldiers, was worse than any nightmare she’d ever experienced.

Owen rested his hand on her shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. “It’s OK Becs, we’ll all be right beside you.” Though his voice sounded sincere, she couldn’t shake the horrible feeling of helplessness that was settling over her.

The SUV made a sharp right turn onto a long, paved driveway that headed up a sloping hill covered in tall, thick trees.

“Alright, as far as I know, they’ve been working through the night to pack everything up inside the house. So, when we arrive, we just have to move everything and everyone into their vans and get the hell out of there,” Etain said as she tied her handkerchief around her neck.

As the rest of the group tied on their handkerchiefs, Rebecca followed suit. “Why don’t they just move everything into the vans themselves? Couldn’t they have done that last night?”

“Everything needs to appear normal at the house. If the Aillil are watching them and even
suspect
that they’re going to run, they’ll attack immediately and we wouldn’t be there to help them. They’d never survive,” Faolan said as she pulled the SUV up beside four large, white vans. Behind them stood a massive house. It wasn’t as unique, or nearly as fancy, as the crew’s house, but what it lacked in flair it made up for in enormity.

The group piled out of the vehicle and split up immediately. Everyone seemed to know exactly where they needed to be and what they were supposed to do, and before Rebecca knew it, she was standing alone. Frightened, she scanned the thick woods that surrounded the house. The sun had just barely made it over the horizon and, at this angle, it cast leering, dark shadows along the misty tree line that sent shivers up Rebecca’s spine.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed onto her arm, causing Rebecca to leap back in fright.

“Calm down,” Etain whispered, though when Rebecca turned to look at her, she could see that Etain was also looking warily out at the woods. “You’re going to help me move everything while the others scan the forest.” She continued to explain as she led Rebecca up the steps of the front porch. “When they finish out there, if all is clear, they’ll help us move anything that’s left. Hopefully, we’ll be out of here in less than 20 minutes.”

When they reached the front door, it was immediately pulled open. On the other side stood a tall, strikingly handsome man. He had beautiful chocolate skin, shaved hair and high cheekbones that complimented his square jaw. It was his eyes, however, that stood out most. They were a bright, almost glowing, green, unlike any she’d ever seen before. They were the same colour as the young leaves in spring.

“Come inside quickly,” he whispered harshly, waving them through the door and shutting it behind them.

Once it had closed, he turned toward Etain. Though their eyes met only briefly, there was something in the glance that made Rebecca feel as if she were intruding upon their moment.

The man moved his gaze over to Rebecca. His face hardened as he sized her up. “Who’s this?”

“Rebecca. She’s new to the crew,” Etain answered, though she was no longer paying him any attention. She took a step away as she took tabs of everything around them.

The man continued staring at Rebecca, though now she caught a hint of jealousy in his eyes that made her even more uncomfortable.

Breaking away from his gaze, she too took stock of the chaos around her. The entire front room was piled high with luggage and boxes, packed and ready to be brought outside. Her eyes came to a halt when they landed on a basket sitting next to the closed door. It was filled to the brim with smoke canisters, like the one she had shoved in the front pocket of her sweater. She quickly turned away. Just looking at all of them, knowing what they were for, made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

“Breadan, where are the others?” Etain asked, looking back at the man.

“In the living room. We’ve been waiting for you all to arrive. You know, this would have been a lot easier if you’d just let us…”

“Not now!” Etain barked at him, cutting him off, though her face looked surprisingly empathetic.

“Etain! I’m so glad you’re here!” A young woman, no older than 16, came rushing down the hallway toward them, ending the awkward moment. She was the spitting image of Breadan, from her beautiful skin to her breathtakingly green eyes.

Breadan’s nostrils flared in anger as he turned and headed off down the hallway in the direction the girl had come from, mumbling back, “I’ll ready the others.”

“Fina, how are you? How is everyone?” Etain asked as she embraced the girl.

“We’re alright, but it’s been a hard week. We need to get out of here.” The smile quickly faded from the girl’s face as she spoke. “Breadan doesn’t want to admit he was wrong, but we should have been out of here a long time ago.”

“It’s alright, we’re here now,” Etain said, allowing a small smile to part her tense lips.

The girl turned toward Rebecca, smiling again. “I’m Fina, Breadan’s sister,” she said, offering out her hand.

“Rebecca,” she replied as she shook the sweet girl’s hand. Though they might look incredibly similar, it was clear the siblings had exceptionally different characters.

“Alright, first things first, we need to get all of this moved out of here and into the vans.” Etain bent over and picked up as many bags as she could carry.

Fina opened the front door and then began to load herself up as well. Rebecca followed suit and together they drug the first load around to the back of one of the vans. Fina pulled out a set of keys, unlocked the back doors, and they quickly stacked everything inside.

As they headed back toward the house for a second load, they passed by Breadan. He had three other older Truaillithe, two male and one female, in tow and they were all carrying their own loads of luggage. The three unfamiliar Truaillithe gave anxious, silent nods of greeting to Etain as she passed by, but took no time to slow down.

They worked swiftly and in complete silence. In less than ten minutes, they’d managed to load everything, filling the back of each van.

Once back inside, Breadan led them down the hallway to the living room where the other Truaillithe waited.

When they walked through the door, Rebecca stood in stunned silence for a moment. The room was filled with well over thirty children, ranging from around the age of 6 to 12. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but it hadn’t been this. She’d never imagined that Maverick had been able to find
this
many Truaillithe, let alone enough to fill several more of these safe houses. Her heart swelled slightly as she realized everything he’d done for these kids. Maverick had saved every one of these children, taken them away from whatever horrible life the Aillil had created for them, and given them a fresh start.

Rebecca scanned the room, looking over the young faces. They seemed frightened and panicked, and several of the children even stood up and ran over to the older Truaillithe when they entered the room. She also noticed that everyone in the room, old and young alike, wore a handkerchief around their neck. For some reason, that gave Rebecca a horrible sense of foreboding.

“Ok everyone,” Etain called out, gaining everyone’s attention. “I have directions to your next safe house.” As she spoke, Etain pulled four sets of folded papers from her jacket and handed one to each of the older Truaillithe. “Now, I need all of you to split into your four groups and line up behind your leader.”

In a frenzied, but surprisingly organized, rush, the young Truaillithe quickly filed into lines behind each of the older members. Fina took her place in line behind Breadan. Once everyone was in place, Etain told them to stay completely silent. Together, remaining in their designated groups, they headed down the hallway to the front door.

“Alright, one at a time, each group is going to rush out to their van, climb inside, and leave. Understood?” The older members nodded in response.

Rebecca’s eyes lingered on Breadan. His scowl had only deepened throughout this entire process, and now, for some strange and unnerving reason, he appeared to be aiming the bulk of his anger toward her.

“Ok,” Etain said as she turned toward the door. But no sooner had she moved, than a heavy thud and a loud hissing emanated from the front porch.

The room fell completely still, while the front window was enveloped in a thick white smoke.

Suddenly, a bright, electric flash momentarily danced across the glass followed soon after by a thundering crack.

“They’re here!” An urgent yell called from outside, fulfilling everyone’s worst fears. “The Aillil…they’ve found…” The voice was cut off as sudden sounds of fighting erupted.

Acting immediately, Breadan rushed forward, “Lorcan, Beltany, Quinn, with me.” He turned toward Etain, “We’ll clear each van and wait for you to bring our group.”

Before he could leave, Etain reached out and grabbed his forearm, her face unable to mask her pain and fear, “Be careful…please, Breadan.”

Breadan gave a soft nod and, without another word, he and the three older Truaillithe rushed outside, each grabbing several smoke canisters from the full basket and setting them off as they passed through the doorway.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Etain sprang into action. “Rebecca, I need you to be at the back of each group as we take them outside. We’ll work one at a time.” She then turned toward Fina. “Your group will be last. I’m trusting you to keep control over everyone while we do this.”

Though panic and terror were clearly written across her face, Fina gave a strong nod to Etain and instantly began organizing the younger, frightened Truaillithe.

“Group one, together.” Etain called, turning back to the first group. “We head out in a pack. Make sure to stay close, move fast, and hold onto each other as we run.”

Like little soldiers, the younger Truaillithe grasped onto each other and determinedly set their eyes on the door. Rebecca followed suit and, holding onto the last member of the group, readied herself for the rush outside.

Her heart was beating so loudly that she could hear it reverberating in her ears, and cold sweat from sheer fear was dripping slowly down her back. She watched Etain pull the front door open and begin to lead the group outside into the thick wall of white smoke. Before she knew it, her whole world was enveloped by the dense haze.

Keeping hold of the end of the chain of little Truaillithe, Rebecca swiftly pulled the handkerchief up over the bottom half of her face. She struggled to see anything around her in the overwhelmingly smoky haze. Running as fast as they could, while still staying together, the group made their way forward, following Etain’s lead. The terrifying sounds of intense combat echoed all around them. Rebecca had no idea how, but, within seconds, they’d made their way to one of the vans. An older Tuallithe suddenly materialized, swiftly opened the side door, and began helping the younger Truaillithe inside.