Jetlagged
Jen’s arms were heavy and sore as she raised them upright and blocked oncoming blasts of red energy. The urge to protect someone behind her was strong in her mind and heart.
Cregorous spat something at her, his words jumbled and mixed, sounding like gibberish to her ears.
Her vision skipped like a scratched disk; a jarring bolt of noise accompanied the strained motion.
Rapid movements as energy was traded. Jabs and punches between her and Cregorous. It didn’t matter how tired her body felt, or how much it might cost her, everything that mattered lay somewhere behind her. She couldn’t refuse the tension in her heart at what might happen if she failed to protect.
He felt so much more powerful this time, like she couldn’t hold her ground.
She went to land a punch on Cregorous’ face, and he caught her wrist. Simultaneously, a white-hot pressure struck her abdomen. The look in Cregorous’ eyes were haunting and hateful as he glared at her.
“I told you it was stupid to get in my way,” he sneered.
She felt shaky, the energy in her palm no longer connecting with her head as a reverberating shock rumbled toward her brain.
Slowly, tremblingly, she looked down and saw that the dual blades at Cregorous’ wrist had impaled her.
As she lifted her gaze back to him, she barely registered what was really happening when he deftly pulled his blades out of her lacerated body. He pulled his arm back and jabbed toward her face, spite etched in his expression as the blades neared her face, and she—
The action of falling forward startled her awake.
Had she actually fallen asleep? Jen wasn’t sure.
The thrum of the engine and gentle voices from the front seats greeted her. She blinked a few times. Right. She was in a car.
Craning her neck, she noticed the smudge mark against the window where her forehead had been resting a moment prior. She self-consciously brushed her brown hair aside, letting out a sigh.
“You okay, kid?” Tyron asked in the seat next to her.
She cast a quick glance to him. His expression unreadable, as per usual. There was a flicker of something in his gaze, though. There was a stretched look to his skin, and bags sat under his eyes. The harder edges to his frame were softer as he leaned into his seat.
Pulling at the fabric of her jacket as she hugged herself, she muttered, “Yeah, no, I’m fine.”
He was silent, but she could feel his eyes stuck on her, reading her actions. She tried not to grip her jacket too much. However, something about the tightness of the fabric across her back eased the tension in her gut as she pushed the fractured nightmare away.
Tyron cleared his throat. “Y’know, I think we still have a little bit before we get there, if you want to sleep.”
A sigh escaped her, and she slumped back in her seat. “I don’t think I can.”
She admitted just enough.
It was a game that she’d started to play with herself, and with anyone from the Alpha Team. She’d say something that could be interpreted multiple ways, something that could lead to a discussion that might help her start to get past the terror in her heart and mind. Or it could be dismissed away and just be looked at as a passing comment.
Every time she told herself that she wanted it to just be let go and forgotten, and every time it was deemed as a passing comment, she kind of hated herself for not being more direct about her problem. But she couldn’t. No…no, she couldn’t voice her fears. Not now. Not to them.
Because…what if?
For half a second, she thought that Tyron might actually ask her what she meant. For half a second, she registered concern in his eyes. He glanced toward Ar’on before he settled in his seat and said, “Yeah, I thought planes were supposed to be comfortable.” He looked over at her and offered a light smile.
She dropped her gaze to the floor.
His expression evened, and he let out a short breath before he lifted his arm and said, “C’mere, kid.”
It took her all of two seconds to scoot across the seat and settle next to him, letting herself cuddle against his side and rest her head on his chest. He draped his arm across her shoulders and pulled her close. The steady rhythm of his heartbeat soothed her, and his warmth was greatly appreciated. She might’ve packed too light after all, with how chilly England had already proven to be.
Her eyes drifted shut, and he shifted under her, leaning more on the crux of the door and the seat so he could angle his body a bit and stretch his legs.
The sleep that enveloped her might’ve lasted ten seconds or an hour; she wasn’t sure. But the next thing she knew, a text alert startled her. She sat up and stretched as Tyron moved his arm from her shoulders and fished his phone out of his pocket.
Blearily, he took in the information on the screen and deftly unlocked the phone. He nudged the front passenger seat with his foot and asked, “How long?”
A snorting, gasping noise came from the seat, and Ar’on sat upright. “Wha…?” the elder hybrid asked as he raked a hand across his face.
“We should arrive at the Mitchell’s estate within fifteen minutes,” the driver said.
“Thanks,” Tyron mumbled as he typed a response into the phone.
Jen rubbed her eyes and eased back to her side of the car. Okay, so, maybe an hour of sleep. Could be better, could be worse.
With a laboring sigh, Tyron stretched and grumbled something.
“You okay?” she asked, taking in the pained look on his face.
“Tight quarters are never fun for sleeping,” he said as he slumped back. “You?”
“Thanks for letting me use you as a pillow,” she told him with an awkward smile.
He looked toward the ceiling and let out a short breath. “That’s…not exactly what I meant.” A pensive expression ghosted his features.
She fidgeted with the hem of her jacket sleeves.
“How’re you feeling?” he asked quietly.
There were a lot of ways she could answer that.
Chewing on the question, she figured now probably wasn’t a great time to bring up her nightmares, or her growing concerns of her own strength, or the fact that she couldn’t quite seem to get Cregorous out of her brain for longer than a few hours before something startled her back to that stupid rooftop with pain radiating throughout her body. But, truth be told, her most present concern wasn’t any of that.
“I’m just…” She raised her brow and shrugged a little. “I’m nervous about meeting the other Human-Born.”
He squinted at her. “Why?”
“What if they don’t like me?”
A disbelieving grin came to his face. “That’s what you’re concerned about?”
Right now, yeah.
“Yeah. I mean, I know it’s stupid, but—” Her shoulders drooped. “C’mon, Tyron; you know me. I’m not exactly little miss social butterfly among my peers.”
“I’m sure you’ll be fine. At least you have something in common,” he offered.
With a roll of her eyes, she said, “Yeah, that’s easy for you to say.”
Tyron looked at her and opened his mouth to answer. He was stuck for a few seconds, and then a captured breath escaped him, and he said, “Believe it or not, I do kind of get what you mean.” He scratched the back of his neck and looked out the window. “These guys are gonna be your team, and yeah, it’s insane, but you’re gonna have to work together. And it’s a little nerve-racking ’cause you’re up against something that’s unprecedented, and all eyes are on you, expecting impossible things. And you don’t exactly trust everyone you’re working with, and you don’t really know if you’re up to the task.”
It was the most transparent that she’d ever seen him.
What, was this car a magical place that made him feel comfortable with her? Comfortable enough to suddenly burst out feelings and concerns? In the year and a half that she’d been around her Zaheri, they weren’t prone to suddenly divulging information about themselves, much less personal feelings.
She must’ve let her mouth hang open too long, because he looked toward her and quickly rolled his eyes. He gestured vaguely with his hands in his lap and said sarcastically, “Yes, it’s a shock, I know. I don’t have everything figured out.”
“That’s how you feel now?” Jen asked quietly.
He winced a bit before bobbing his head a little. “Sometimes, but…that was more how I felt when…well, when I was assigned to be your Zaheri and lead the team.”
“You didn’t think you could do the job?”
“Well, yeah.” He nodded. “Keeping the First Human-Born safe, not to mention training you. That’s still something that’s…” He looked over at her and added, “Tricky.”
She swallowed, feeling the tension stir in her gut again. Big fear number two edged in her core, and she told herself to knock it off.
“Because I’m powerful.” She tried to say it like a fact. Like it was okay. Like it was just any old thing to say. Like how you say in a boring, dull way that the sky is blue, because everyone knows the sky is blue.
But what if the sky being blue meant that, for someone else, the world collapsed because the sky had always been orange in their mind, and now it was all wrong and broken and upside down?
It didn’t come out like a boring, dull fact.
A few broken words left Tyron’s mouth, the consonants puncturing the quiet air between them. “You’re…because you’re unique, Jen. And…” He looked over her shoulder and gently shook his head. Carefully, he looked back at her and said, “I told you we care about you.”
“I know you do.”
“But that’s why it feels impossible to do my job well.” He sighed and shook his head. “You’ve fought him, so you know what I mean when I say Cregorous is…I don’t think…”
Ah, big fear number one. The proverbial monster in the closet.
The trepidation in Tyron’s eyes reminded her of two incredibly real facts.
One: Tyron didn’t think he was strong enough to stop Cregorous.
Which meant that two: If Jen was stronger than Cregorous, and he was an unstoppable force that no one could stand up to…
She threw an emergency brake on her mind as her heart stuttered in her chest and her lungs tightened. No. No, no, no. This isn’t the right time for that. She had to shove both fears number one and number two out the window and into the rolling, grassy fields that passed by.
Swallowing back the sick feeling in her stomach, she guessed what he was trying to say. “You’re not strong enough to stop him.”
“That won’t stop us from trying,” the Zaheri said quickly. “We’ll never stop trying to protect you, Jen. That’s what we’re meant for. That’s what we were made for.”
The comment struck her, and she looked at him quizzically.
He seemed thrown by her expression and flicked his gaze about the car. “What?”
“Just…” What you were made for? You really think you were made to protect me? To fight for me?
“Jen?”
She didn’t look at him. “How do you know that this is what you were made for?”
She didn’t see his furrowed brow or the few attempts to start a sentence. “I can’t really explain it. I don’t think any of us can.” He let out a small breath before adding, “I guess it’s just something you know when it’s time.” Falling back into his seat, he whispered, “Elders, is that what’s wrong?”
“No.” She shook her head, only to stop abruptly and say, “I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Jen,” he started, looking a little lost, his brow raised as he slightly shook his head. “Your journey isn’t something any of us know. Trust me; I wish I did.” He sounded pained. “If I knew, I might be able to help. I…” He looked at her like she was precious, the way her dad looked at her sometimes. “I might be able to take it from you,” he whispered. He shook his head in an angry sort of way. “But I can’t. That’s something for you to figure out.”
It seemed almost stupid if she really thought about it. What else could she possibly be made for? The stars practically aligned for her when she had still been in utero.
His phone let out another pinging alert, and as he pulled it up, Jen saw Janet’s name across the screen.
He caught her prying eyes and waved the phone a little. “Just Janet.”
She hadn’t asked him, but the way Janet had kissed him before she’d evacuated during the day of the attack had been pretty…wow.
Were they married? He didn’t wear a ring. But maybe Agerians didn’t wear rings.
She was awfully curious though, about the whole thing. In all the time she’d known her protectors, none of them ever talked about girlfriends or wives back home, but they also weren’t the sharing sort of people.
Krelien had mentioned that Janet was a “bird” that Tyron was into. But, with Krelien, that could mean anything. Janet was human, so how did Tyron know her? Had they met on Earth? She clearly knew he was a hybrid, and she seemed to act as though she was fully versed in Agerian stuff. But then, how’d she wind up on Tilion?
Jen pursed her lips and carefully asked, “So…is she like…your girlfriend?”
He flinched a little, his face flattened, and then he cleared his throat. “Um…I mean…” Rubbing the back of his neck, he said, “I think so?”
“You think so?” Jen asked incredulously. “How can you not know?”
“I’ll be fair,” he started slowly. “When you say ‘girlfriend’…I have no idea what that means.”
Ar’on laughed.
“Shut up!” Tyron snapped.
Jen stared at him with an open mouth and a concerned look.
“What?”
“Do you never watch TV?”
The Zaheri’s expression changed to one of annoyance.
She held up her hands. “All right, sorry.” She fell quiet, and after a few seconds of silence, she muttered, “So, do you want to know—”
“Yes!”
Jen laughed a little. “Someone you’re dating.”
Tyron shook his head, his eyes pleading.
“Someone you like.”
He continued to stare at her.
“Well, how’s it work in Agerius?”
“You’ll think it’s cliché,” Tyron said quickly, sitting back a little.
“What? Do angels go aaaahhhhh when you see them?”
“Nearly,” Ar’on said.
“No,” Tyron corrected.
“What?” Jen laughed.
“No! Not really! Not like that!” Tyron quickly backpedaled. “It’s…similar, I guess. It’s just…it’s weird. You’d have to be a guy to understand.”
“Seriously?” Jen asked, still laughing.
Ar’on turned in his seat to face them and said, “Y’know, some women have—”
Tyron reached forward and forcefully shoved his mentor’s face back.
Jen looked at Tyron for a moment as he glared at her. A smile remained on her face as she said, “Oh, come on; you have to tell me.”
“We…” he started, moving his gaze away from hers, looking terribly embarrassed, “get a sense of some kind. Sometimes it’s abrupt, right as we meet someone; and other times, it’s gradual. But there’s always a sure feeling.” As he spoke, he felt a little less awkward and met Jen’s gaze. “You know you’re looking at your partner.”
Shrugging a little, Jen asked, “So, what? When it happens, you just walk up to them and propose?”
Deadpanned, Tyron said, “No.”
“If you know—”
“There’s still…Look, you still gotta get to know who you’re gonna spend the rest of your life with. You don’t just walk up to a girl, hand her a bouquet, and say, ‘Hey, will you marry me?’” He ruffled his hair. “You still gotta make an effort. You gotta show her that she’s special to you.”
“Because women hybrids don’t get this…?”
“Heseda,” he finished.
“Come again?”
“Heseda. That’s what we call it. And no, women don’t get a Heseda—not normally. So, it’s up to the guy to make sure he lets her know. I mean, maybe it is as easy as telling her outright. I don’t know.”
“You didn’t?”
Tyron looked a little forlorn.
“How long have you known Janet?”
“A long time.” With a sigh, he looked thoughtful and continued, “I was terrified. She’s human. I had no idea if she would understand. I didn’t know if she’d be scared off by it.”
“So, why didn’t you start dating back in Agerius?”
“At first, I thought it was a cruel joke of the Elders. Give me someone who won’t live as long. Someone I might not get as much time with. Someone I won’t be able to grow old with.” He shrugged helplessly. “And then, I was just…scared. Scared of what it could do to her. Scared of what it might cost. Of what it might mean.” A scoff left him, yet the smile lingered. “I think the human phrase is, ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder.’”
His phone buzzed again. Whatever Janet had said made him smile, and Jen had to bite back her own grin.
There was something about the vulnerability that Tyron had offered that made her feel as though she were talking with her brother. Chip had talked with her a lot when he had been in high school, about girls he liked and dates he planned. About what he should say or do and what he thought she should look for in a guy when she got older. And, for that moment, she knew she was looking at a soldier, a warrior, who had one good thing in his life.
Maybe it sounded silly, but Jen suddenly wished that humans did things the Agerian way.
“I’m really happy for you, Tyron.”
He lifted his gaze to her and smiled. “Thanks, kid.”
In the past ten minutes, Jen had learned more about Tyron than she had in the whole time she’d known him. Hope rose in her that maybe, somehow, her Zaheri could become more than just the people who were meant to protect her.
Maybe they could become her friends.
The car began to slow down, and a whistle came from Ar’on.
Tyron and Jen shared a look as the car rolled to a stop.
The driver turned to them. “Welcome to the Mitchell estate.”
Getting out of the black sedan, Jen couldn’t take her eyes off the massive building that lay before her. It was gorgeous, with stone walls and towering pillars, expertly framed windows and trim adorning the building. The structure was long, a picturesque English estate. A main walkway of gravel wound up the hillside to the entrance of the mansion.
Ivy crawled up the sides of the large building in sporadic spots. The grass was a little less colorful with the dawn of spring on the horizon. Jen couldn’t be sure if calling it a front yard was accurate, because it was expansive—large enough to dwarf anyone’s backyard in her neighborhood. She could only imagine what the back of the estate looked like. The thought of hedge mazes and sprawling gardens and fountains came to mind.
The second vehicle came to a stop behind theirs and, almost immediately, the rear door opened. Kaldok got out, wearing a disgruntled expression.
“So, how was the trip?” Tyron asked, taking in Kaldok’s uneven ears and drooped tail.
“Next time, we swap traveling buddies,” the werewolf said as he went around to the hatchback of the SUV.
Blaze shimmied out of the back seat, and Archer eagerly unfolded his large frame from the back of the vehicle. The SUV swayed from the weight change. Both grovix stretched themselves out; Blaze mimicking the motions of a large cat, and Archer the motions of a large dog.
Krelien exited the front passenger seat, wearing an easy grin. “You’re just jealous that the driver liked me best.”
The driver stepped out of the car with a sour expression.
“You had fun, didn’t you?”
The question was met with a stoic look and a repressed roll of the driver’s eyes.
Kaldok let out a small snort of air and shook his head.
Archer shook himself, some loose fur flying with the breeze.
“What happened?” Jen asked.
Blaze looked to Jen. “Krelien had a rather passionate desire that we might all join in song while traversing.”
Wincing, Archer hushed, “He’s a little tone deaf.”
“Hey, God loves tone deaf people,” Jen said as she poked Archer on the head before petting him. “I didn’t know grovix could sing.”
“Oh, we can’t,” Archer said with a grin as he leaned into Jen’s touch.
“We are capable of howling, barking, yelping, snarling, growling, yipping, roaring, and speaking. Singing is one feat our physiology does not allow for,” Blaze said absentmindedly, her gaze drawn to the estate. “This is quite a living space.”
“Wait—people live here?” Kaldok asked.
“Apparently,” Jen muttered.
“I thought places like this were prisons.” Krelien crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the mansion.
The rest of the team continued to stare forward and said nothing.
Jen turned to him and squinted. “Why?” she asked.
Krelien gestured to the mansion loosely. “It’s a big ol’ place that’s away from everything else. Isn’t that a prison?”
“Lots of buildings fit that description—airports, factories. Heck, schools, in some cases.”
As Krelien opened his mouth to continue the conversation, one of the drivers cut in, “Shall we park the cars, as we assume you will be…gracing us with your presence for an extended stay?”
Great. We’ve already made a bad impression, Jen thought.
Tyron turned to the drivers. “Oh, um…We’ll be here for a couple days. So, I guess park them.”
“Of course, sir. We will just be needing the keys for the second vehicle,” the driver of the SUV said with a look to Krelien.
Just as everyone turned to Krelien, the Jumper mumbled, “What’s this red button do?” Hitting the panic button, the car began to blare its alarm.
Blaze and Archer spun around, their fur bristling. Kaldok quickly slapped his pawed hands over his ears.
“Krelien!” Ar’on growled.
“It’s not my fault!”
“Give me that!” Jen yanked the keys out of Krelien’s grasp and hit the panic button again. The alarm ceased, and she threw the keys to the driver, who immediately got into the car and started the engine. She turned to her Zaheri and said in a stupefied way, “It amazes me you guys lasted all this time without a human around.”
“Why does it not surprise me that it would be you making all this ruckus?” a deep, bass voice said behind them.
They turned and saw a massive black and gray furred grovix standing on the path that led to the mansion. His light brown eyes shimmered in a mischievous way. He stood a few inches taller than Archer and looked as though he weighed more than the Alpha Team grovix.
He smirked at Archer and let out a scoffing laugh. “Archer.”
Archer’s ears flattened as a scowl reached his face. Through gritted teeth, he said, “Ryder.”
“You two know one another?” Tyron asked Archer.
A condescending look flitted across Ryder’s face. “We’re old friends.”
“Another pup, then.”
Ryder snapped his gaze to Tyron’s and bristled. “Only by age, not by stature. The Beta Team’s made up of the best of the Elite and no doubt the best of the grovix.”
Blaze marched forward. Though she was a solid foot and change shorter than Ryder, the black grovix practically melted with how his demeanor shrank.
The Elemental grovix gave him a scowl and said in an even, dark tone, “I would watch your tongue in the presence of your Alpha.”
Nearly on his belly, Ryder’s ears were flat against his skull as he looked up at Blaze with a pleading sort of gaze. He looked every bit the dog that’d just been caught digging through the trash. “Begging your pardon, Alpha Blaze. I—I didn’t mean you, of course. Or Alpha Frost. I assure you. I—I misspoke.”
Archer fought the smile that came to his face.
“No, of course you would not. That would make you an asinine pup and an inarticulate fool,” Blaze said with a lighter, slightly condescending tone. Her gaze grew cold and a snarl formed on her petite snout. “You would be wise to remember your station, Ryder. And wiser still to never degrade any other Zaheri again. Grovix or otherwise.”
Without another word, Blaze walked past Ryder’s prostate form with her head held high. “Archer, come along,” she said.
Ryder slowly rose, his demeanor still drawn in and his ears pulled back.
Wearing a cheeky grin, Archer cantered by and said, “Like the lady said, Ryder, remember your station.” He chuckled gleefully as he fell into step with Blaze.
Watching Blaze and Archer walk off, Ryder let out a growling snort before he looked back to the rest of the team, darting his eyes to each of them. “Well, don’t keep us all waiting,” he snapped before heading toward the mansion.
Once the grovix were a few paces away, Jen said, “Um…What was that?”
“That was…grovix diplomacy,” Tyron answered.
Whipping her head over to look at him, Jen said, “Blaze has never acted like that before. I thought you said that Archer was a pup, just like this Ryder guy is?”
“He is.” Ar’on nodded.
Jen stared back at them and dramatically gestured toward the grovix, as if to say, ‘And’?
“Just…think of grovix like sentient wolves,” Tyron said as he started to push Jen along the path.
Digging her feet to stop, Jen asked bewilderingly, “Wait—Blaze is an Alpha?”
“Yeah. And we really don’t have time to discuss the particulars.”
“Let’s put a needle in it,” Krelien said.
“Pin,” Jen corrected. “And fine,” she grumbled to Tyron. “
