Reaching Retribution(64)

“I don’t get any other options? Stand next to you or die?”

“I think that’s pretty generous. I know which I’d pick if I were you.”

“Well, you’re not me. I’d rather die than work for you.” I take a step forward and glare at him. “The second option. I pick number two.”

“If that’s how it’s going to be,” Zahtri says. He brings his hand back and slaps me across the cheek. The force sends me flying backward into the wall. When my head connects with the dark surface, I slump to the ground and the room around me starts spinning. Zahtri’s laughter is all I hear as I slowly lose consciousness.





Chapter Nineteen


Colton


Pacing through the ballroom, I wait for Tom to come back. Everyone is moving around anxiously. Natalie walks over to me and grabs my forearm. I halt and turn to look at her. She looks like she’s ready to kick some ass. Dressed in all black, she has a sword strapped to her back and a dagger wrapped around her thigh. Dark eyeliner lines her eyes brightening her already bright blue eyes. “Calm down, Colton. Everything is going to be okay.”

“How can you be so sure?” I ask her.

“I just am. If we’re going to be successful tonight, we have to be sure. Ryanne and Liam are counting on us. They need us to be sure.”

She’s right. “Thank you, Natalie. For all of this. I would have gone crazy if you didn’t help keep me calm this whole time.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Colton. I’m the only person who understands what you’re going through right now. We need to help each other. You’re like a brother to me,” she says with a small smile.

“Hey!” Conner yells from across the room.

“You’re like a second brother to me,” Natalie corrects herself without acknowledging her brother. I laugh and hug her. Without Liam here, I’ll watch out for Natalie tonight. I wouldn’t forgive myself if anything happened to her after all this.

Tom walks back into the room and walks straight toward me. “I found him,” he says.

“Found who?” I don’t know who he’s talking about.

“Vincent, I found him.”

“No freaking way. He didn’t want to be found. How did you find him?” Vincent is just like Larkin. He can transport to different locations without having been there before. Unlike Larkin though, he can transport many people at once. He’s helped us once in the past few months. He brought Logan to the house when Emma and Ryanne were shot. His power will make transporting everyone to Dravin’s compound much easier.

“I called him.”

I stare at Tom. We’ve tried calling him countless times in the past few weeks with no success. He didn’t want to be contacted, so he never answered. He remained hidden, and we remained hopeful he’d come to his senses.

“He said Claire visited him and told him that he was needed. He’ll be here in a few minutes.”

“Who’s Vincent?” Natalie asks.

“Vincent is an old friend of mine. He went into hiding when a couple of Gadramicks tried attacking him for his power. They wanted him to work for them and didn’t like his refusal, so they tried to kill him. We’ve been trying to call him to see if he’d help us, but he wouldn’t answer. He wanted nothing to do with this fight…until Claire talked to him. Apparently, she was able to convince him it was time to get back into the fight. To use his magic again.”

“What’s his power?” she asks.

“He’s a traveler.”

“Like Larkin and Travis?”

“Yes, except he can move multiple people, or objects, at once. He’ll be able to help transport people to the compound, which means we’ll be able to get there much sooner than we originally intended.”

“That’s great!” Natalie says. Her excitement attracts the attention of everyone else in our group.

“What’s going on?” Emma asks as she skips over to us. She’s dressed similarly to Natalie: dark clothes and make-up, hair up in a high bun with a sword strapped on her back and a dagger on her thigh. In fact all the girls are dressed similarly. Incendia’s wearing her hair down. Her bright red hair contrasts strikingly against her black attire. Lily looks tough. It’s strange to see her in anything other than her red cheerleading uniform. I’m still getting used to her being a mage.

“Vincent is coming,” Tom announces. David and Logan both step forward, mouth hanging open, and stare at Tom.

“Really?” Colin asks.

“Who’s Vincent?” Incendia asks. Tom explains the whole story again, this time to the entire room. Everyone quiets and listens to Tom as he speaks. Natalie starts pacing. Like me, she wants to get this over with. We’re very antsy and need to get moving. The sooner the better. I don’t know how much more waiting I can take.