Lost Ones (The Extinct Race Series Book 3) (4 page)

Chapter 5

Teams

It was a few days after Alex figured out she needed Zach to be able to cover more Dragons. Zoe had talked to Kaiden and he agreed as long as she could block them to her own limits she set in place, eight hours a day. So for the last two days Zach has spent a lot of time with Alex and Donny. She has been able to hold the block for an hour more each day. Alex wanted to be able to block them for at least eight hours and be able to do that for at least a week before they went out. Alex, Donny and Zach stayed close to Tia and John as well as her parents during training.

During training Mateo and Charles both tested her block more and more, they would surprise attack her or ambush Donny. Alex had asked for this, she wanted to make sure that in every situation she would be able to hold the block. The first day, when Charles had grabbed her from behind and pulled, she had dropped the block. It was also to make sure Zach and she could remain touching. If the skin to skin contact broke, so did the block on the other four. She could hold it on Donny without Zach, but blocking six more people she needed Zach.

It had been decided that a team would be formed once she held the block for a week for at least eight hours and over six people. Her team would be Tia and John for protection. They had insisted that they go. Charles would also go at the wishes of Camilla and Sebastian. They wanted to go too, but Alex wanted Vivi and Christian with her. Then Zach and Halina would make six because Donny was not letting Alex go anywhere without him.

Vivi was more than willing to go with the team. She had had enough of her aunt Ada and the constant defending of Aldrich. Ada was just not getting it through her head that the boy she once knew was now the evil man hunting them. Vivi spent the last two days trying to avoid the conversation with Ada. After dinner Vivi and Christian went to their room or went back out to train with Alex. Ada and Leon were given one of the rooms on the main floor because the toddlers slept in the two rooms that were made for the big kids, Gosha and Alexi slept in the only extra room in the suite. Granted there were enough beds for them, but Vivi was not ready to share the suite with her aunt. She needed the little space she got when she wanted it.

Christian was also looking forward to going. He loved in here, but he also missed interacting with people and feeling all kinds of different intent. He missed the intent of a person to help another person. His favorite was the elderly couples, he would help them a lot when the intent they had they could not do. He would wait until it was obvious what the older person wanted to do and then help, but never before they made it clear what they wanted.

Zoe also wanted to go out and find the others and another group was being talked about to go to remote locations. Some things that Ada had said clicked with Zoe and Kaiden and they talked about it at night when they were alone. Alex’s team was planning on going to major cities around the world, starting with locations that previously had a Sect within them. Remote locations that didn’t have a large population are where Kaiden and Zoe were looking to go. The only problem with two teams going out was the fealty thing. If anyone was found they would have to wait or meet up with Zoe and Kaiden. They needed to be present for the fealty to work. Kaiden had already purchased some rather fancy satellite phones for each member of the team already planned to go, he also bout ten more just in case. Each phone was being programmed by Jaco and each had a different number.

Zoe had moved half of the money in her bank account to an account for Zach and Halina. Their father Marcus was in the process of showing Zach how to invest and make more money for their future children to live on. Zach had set up three more accounts for those future children and they already had a good sum of money being dumped into them. He said those accounts were for his children and would not be touched. Marcus and Iraina did not want any money as they knew they were not going to have any more children. Iraina was only worried about Halina being taken care of, but Zach had shown her a secret account he had that he was going to give to Halina, just in case. Zoe left her father on the account she had and had added Iraina to it. That way if either of them wanted something special they could get it without having to ask.

Piper and Aidan had moved the money that they had in a hidden account to a major one and now had money going into another that was for Abby. They had said that if they had another child that they would make another account. Everyone else did much the same thing and would no longer allow Kaiden to pay for their things. Jaco had made some of the survivors that joined the family very happy by locating their money. Everyone was now chipping in with paying for the extra homes. They had talked the builder into building ten homes for each race. They said they were just thinking of the future.

The main house had been done for a while and Marcus and Iraina’s home. Hugh and his men we now working on the condos for the half-bloods and their mates. Everyone agreed that this was a propriety because they were comfortable living in the main home for a while. Hugh was making very good time and in the last two weeks since the main house was completed had a special group working on Mary and Mateo’s home, the framing was complete on that, and the rest of his team had about ten condos complete and five of them were now occupied. Repairs were also being done on the homes that had been done years before, also some much needed updates. The half-blood families were very happy they were getting update on their homes. Hugh made sure to listen to each one of the families on what they liked most and tried to accommodate them.

Because there was couples already here of the two races they needed to find, Zoe had gotten with them and asked their advice on furniture for the two empty suites. She was not decorating them just ordering the basics. Zoe also had a secret surprise for the couples. Kaiden was in on the surprise and he had agreed one hundred percent with her. They had been taking flights after training and believed that they had the perfect hidden spot. They all needed something to cheer them up after the deaths. So she worked on that every night after dinner when she would disappear to her room with Lily.

The Onyx families had become very close in the last few weeks and like to spend time together. Rosa and Michael had stepped away from training once they were proficient in two weapons. Mateo and Charles had both signed off on them. So they spent their time gathering books for the library and putting that together. Rosa had also managed to gather her Sect books and had them all hidden with a couple human families. She had contacted them after the library was built and they were just starting to arrive. Their Sect had not been burned down to the ground right away. Aldrich had waited until he had gathered all of his things before burning it. So Rosa and Michael were able to sneak in and gather everything they could.

Abby had become very close to her parents and loved to spend time with them. She turned out to be a Daddy’s girl and loved to do what he did. Ben was also with Abby a lot and where ever Ben was so were the four puppies. Those puppies had grown quite a bit and were all house broken. They still slept in Ben’s room every night, but now on their dog beds throughout his room and not on the bed with him. Jacob slept in the room with Justine and Gabe. They had rearranged it a little so that his crib was in the little alcove that used to be their private sitting room. They were happy with the arrangements that were made in their suite and were sort of dreading the day that their parent’s homes would be done. Then it would be just them in the suite. Piper and Aidan only changed the bed in Abby’s room to one that fit the both of them. They moved Abby’s bed against a wall for the nights that she actually stayed in her bed.

Colby and Makayla stayed busy with training and setting up traps for Alex. They were a little upset that they were not going on the team, but they fully understood why and they were very proud of Alex. She had sort of been adopted by them and they loved to rattle her up. Jaco and Shiloh were often found in their room after training. He was constantly in search of survivors and looking for missing money. Shiloh turned out to be quite tech savvy herself and they had set up another terminal in the suite for her. She had created some social media pages and was constantly checking those. She had also created a blog that gave updates on what was happening in Ireland. The blog however gave no mention on what they were, so that if Aldrich happened upon it he would not know what it was.

Paulo and Cassie were very busy helping Hugh getting fresh materials. Paulo had quite a knack for making the trees split into perfectly cut lumber without a saw. Cassie loved to do the landscaping around all the homes or the location where the homes would be. She had ordered in flowers from all over the world. She was also quite helpful with Mary’s garden. Mary now had a quite large greenhouse and a plot of land that she could plant in when the season permitted. Cassie and Mary had developed a quick friendship over the garden, as Cassie also loved to grow her own food. Aubry and Adam were also with Paulo and Cassie a lot. Paulo was teaching Adam how to manipulate the trees into lumber and Cassie was getting Aubry more involved in the gardening.

Carmine and Ava spent a lot of time getting to know Cara and Brice. Carmine and Cara caught up on everything and had already restored their brother sister relationship. Cara and Ava were also quite inseparable. Brice and Carmine were good friends now and they all loved to hang out in their free time. You could always find the four of them around the fire pit talking after training.

Bristol and Harley you could find on the beach with Conner and Delany. The four of them were used to being in the water a lot and it was hard for them to be away from it for a long length of time. They trained with everyone and then would go to the beach to train on their Dragon skills. They wanted to be prepared for anything and it had been a very long time for them using those skills.

Ada and Leon would float from couple to couple getting to know everyone a little better. Ada knew she upset Vivi so she tried to give her the space she needed. Ada and Leon both loved playing with the children. You could usually find them in the playroom with the kids. Ada was a very good teacher too. Leon had the patience of a saint and loved to rough house with the boys. They kind of set up a daycare in the playroom and would run it while everyone trained. Ada and Leon liked to go down and train when they could get Charles and Mateo one on one. Everyone else was pretty far into training so they felt comfortable with the one on one. They also needed a lot of help with the Dragon skills that Alexi and Gosha helped with. Because they were wanderers they never really used their skills.

At dinner every night they all gathered to eat together. The table had been adjusted a little so that it fit high chairs and hook on chairs. Zoe still held Lily during dinner, but little Jacob needed to be placed in a high chair. At dinner everyone sat mixed together. Piper and Aidan sat close to Abby and Abby still sat next to Ben. Ben of course sat close to his parents and Justine and Gabe. Rosa and Michael had moved down the table a bit so it did not seem that all the Onyx’s were in one spot.

Tonight at dinner Kaiden was going to announce the decision of a second team. Zoe and he had agreed today when they went to the cave that it was a good idea. They were only going to accept volunteers because they would not be protected by Alex’s block. They had decided that the group would be six people, just like the other group. This group would also be going to very remote locations were there would be very little civilizations.

After everyone was seated and they had made their plates Kaiden stood.

“Everyone, Zoe and I have an announcement to make and we would appreciate your attention.” Everyone looked their way and set their forks down. Zoe stood too and handed Lily over to Mary, Mary was seated right next to her. As soon as the baby was out of her hands, Zoe’s fingers began to move. She looked down at her hands and then at Kaiden. Zach understood right away and left the table in a hurry to grab her guitar.

Chapter 6

Finley

After she had gotten her parents dressed her Papa had arrived home. Her real parents had gone to greet him and inform him what they planned to tell Finley over dinner. Finley was still at a loss for what they wanted to tell her. She raked her brain for any possibility, but could not come up with one. She fiddled around in her room changing her clothing three times until she was happy with the outfit.

When dinner was ready they called her down. At first the conversation was all small talk and catching up. They were having her father’s favorite tonight. Clam chowder in homemade bread bowls with cheesecake for dessert. Finley was starting to get annoyed because they still had not said anything out of the ordinary. She wanted to hurry the conversation along so she started to ask questions.

“So isn’t there something you need to tell me?” Finley snapped

“In time little fish, right now we are thinking of the right words.” Emery told her

“Why in the world would you have to think of the right words, just spit it out already!” Finley was starting to get mad now. “Did we go bankrupt or something? Are you leaving me? WHAT!?” she yelled

“FINLEY!” Dr. Durand yelled and slammed in fist on the table. “Young lady you need to use your manners. Your parents will tell you when they are ready. For now you will sit there and eat your dinner. I will not have another outburst like that at this table. Do you understand?”

“Whatever, it’s me they need to tell something to not you.” Finley muttered

“Little fish, when the time is right we will tell you. Right now is not the time.” Kendall scolded

“Okay.” Finley muttered again

Emery and Kendal both were waiting until the cook had left for the night. She would not leave until dessert was served and then the maid would do the dishes later tonight. Julita had already informed her that they did not want anyone in the house after dinner and that the dishes could wait until later tonight. They were going to tell Finley the truth tonight anyway. Yesterday when they had come to the mainland they had gone to their favorite coffee shop. There was a mother there with her little boy, the little boy had one of those new tablet things and he was reading a story on some website. Emery watched from the corner of her eye as the big cartoon Dragon on the page caught her eye. She had nudged Kendal and he too turned to read the story.

Emery and Kendal both had heard the rumors of the Sect in Ireland over the years. They had not hears anything since the attack on their Sect and always assumed that every Sect was attacked, but words in this story caught her eye. Words that only a Dragon would recognize, the words in the story were all a different color. But the words that were markers for telling their race were always in the colors of the Dragons. They both looked at each other and realized they needed to do some more research. There were computers in the back of the coffee shop so they both went to the back to get on one. Emery found a blog with all kinds of talk about a town in Ireland. It spoke of everyday things, but something about it felt like it was a clue. Kendal had found the site that the little boy was on and he was rereading the story. After he was done reading it for the fifth time he grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down the words in order that he saw them. After he wrote them down he read the paper and then showed Emery. The paper read:
The rumors we were all told of Ireland are true. Here you will find a safe haven to be free. Come here find the forest that meets the ocean and wait in the forest. We will feel you.

After reading they went to their island and talked all night. They also went into the water and shifted, while in the water their Dragons told them that the information was right. They decided then that they were going to tell Finley everything and take her with them. They were just afraid she would not believe them.

Dessert was being brought out and as soon as they hear the door click they took a bite and everyone looked to Finley.

“Little fish there is a lot we need to tell you and we need you to have a very open mind.” Kendal started

“Okay.” Finley responded

“What we have to tell you might not seem real, but we guarantee that it is. You know the pull feeling that we have explained to you?” Emery asked

“Yep, strong are you or someone that is ok to talk to as long as it is not a man with red in his eyes, and a really big one would be my soul mate or something.” She responded sarcastically

“Very good and that is right, now look at our eyes very carefully. Do you see the flecks of blue?” Kendal asked

“Yep, I have them too, I just assumed it was hereditary or something.”

“They are it is a marker really for something else, but first we need to tell you something else.” Kendal told her. “There have been men after us for the last twenty some years. The pull or our eyes will tell them who we are and they will kill us or you. The night your mother went into labor there were some of those men very close. We left you with Dr. Durand and Julita that night and led them away from you. We led them all the way to Austria and then lost them there. We have not seen them in a long time, but they are around and it is just a matter of time.”

“So, there really are some crazy people trying to kill me? Why? What did I do to them?” Finley whined

“It is only because we are your parents no and you are like us. No other reason.” Emery stated

“So you made me a target, thanks.” Finley snapped

“We also need to tell you that we found a place that we can go where these bad guys can’t. We want you to come with us.” Kendal announced

“You want me to leave the only home I ever knew? And what about school?” Finley snapped and was starting to raise her voice

“You can change schools and this house can be replaced along with all your things, you can even bring all your things or we can have them sent for.” Emery said

“Right like you guys have the money to do that. You live on a deserted island and don’t even have a home. You keep a shack of a house on the water and all that has in it are clothes. I have seen it.”

“So you followed us once before? I thought I felt you.” Emery smiled “For your information little fish, this is our home. All your things are bought with our money and we have paid for everything for this home since you were born. You Maman and Papa have their own money that they make and that they have been able to keep in the bank and haven’t touched it for seventeen years. Honestly they are quite the richer because of you.” Kendal stated and Finley choked on her pie.

“Are you for real?” Finley asked

“Quite for real, you didn’t ever wonder why your credit cards have our name on them.” Emery asked

“I never paid attention I just paid.” Finley stared in disbelief at her real mother and father. They looked quite please with themselves too.

“There is something else we need to tell you Finley, the reason why we have a pull and flecks in our eyes, I also think you saw us today. Finley, little fish, we are not completely human. When we find our soul mates and make love there is a need to bite. When we bite we are then able to shift into what sleeps inside us always. Finley we are Water Dragons.” Kendal stated

“WOW! What the hell did cook put in your food? You high or something Dad? She slip shrooms in your soup? You seriously want me to believe that I am some freak? A Dragon, really Dad?”

“Finley think about it. You can swim faster than any human alive. You can see farther than anyone else. You feel your most content in the water and you cannot go a week without swimming. You saw us in our Dragon forms today. You saw us under the water and you know I am right.” Emery stated

“I need to go for a walk.” Finley stated as she stood suddenly and stormed out of the room. She ran out of the house and the bodyguards were quick on her heels. Some of what her parents said made sense. But they only proved she really was a freak and she tried so hard to fit in. She notices she is heading for the water so she turns the other way. While her parents were telling her all this crap she started to get more and more upset and the weather changed with her mood. The rain was falling and thick storm clouds had started to form. People were all running inside shops or their homes. She walked along the sidewalk and past shops. Her parents must be following her because she can feel a weak pull, but they must be far from her still.

She stormed past the coffee shop her parents always went to, but what she didn’t notice were the three men inside staring at her. What she had mistaken for the pull of her parents, but far away, was really the three men now watching her.

They felt her as soon as she walked by. They had just arrived in this city and couldn’t believe they had found one so quick. They started to get up to follow her and then they noticed the four men following her, so they watched. The three of them had ducked into this little café as soon as the rain had started to fall. This girl looked very well taken care of and also looked very upset. The four men were having a very hard time following her until she turned quickly and walked back the way she came. The three of them quickly grabbed their things and followed after the men.

They watched from a good distance. They could no longer feel her, but they now knew what she looked like. Carl grabs a pair of binoculars out of Scott’s bag and watches her through them. He sees her go into a very nice house and the four men went to either side of the house into apartments. They now knew the location of a Dragon.

“So what do you want to do Scott, you wanna take her now or enjoy a few days, I mean she isn’t going anywhere.”

“Let’s let her have her peace tonight. I’m hungry and need a drink that last one I am still healing over too.” Scott replied

“I could use a drink too” Declan replied

They all agreed they would come back in a few days. They came here for a vacation, so they were going to have their vacation. She didn’t act like she felt them anyway and she was really young so she probably didn’t even know what she was. They could enjoy the few days they had and then handle business.

Finley stormed back into the house and went to find her parents, she found them in the sitting room.

“Gave up on following me huh?” Finley snapped “Well I have made up my mind, I am not going anywhere. You can go. I am safe here I have the boys.” She stated and then walked up to her room and slammed the door.

Downstairs her parents looked heartbroken and confused. They knew they had to go and would come back for Finley, even if they had to kidnap her. Emery had to tell her daughter of their intentions before she left. She got up and walked up to Finley’s room.

“Little fish, I need to talk to you.” Emery called

“I’m here.” Finley sounded defeated. “I may have something sleeping inside of me, but I want it to stay asleep. I just want to be normal mom. I don’t want anything to change and I don’t want you to leave either.” Finley cried

“Little fish we have to go. It is our only hope of surviving. I will be coming back for you, but we need to check it out first. I need you to know something ok. If anything happens while we are gone you get to the water and you swim as fast as you can. Our island is about a hundred miles out and it is little, but it is safe. There is food on the island and we should only be gone a week. But if anything at all happens you swim little fish. No holding back either, you swim for your life and I will come for you.” Emery said as she kissed her daughter on her forehead. She hugged Finley goodbye and then walked out of the room.