The Pearls (23 page)

Mateo sat in his office stressed out and wringing his hands, Tia and John were sitting across from him. They had just come in from the ba
ck and what they showed him had him completely in fear and wonder. When Mateo was younger his grandfather had told him tales of all kinds of mythical creatures. He always assumed they were fairy tales.

Mateo needed to contact Gabe. He just knew Gabe would have answers and would know what to do. The boy was young but was older beyond his years.

“So what’d you think? It’s pretty wicked isn’t it? We figured out about a month ago that we could do this. I think it is awesome.” Tia beamed with pride

“Tia we have to keep this a secret, we only showed Mateo because he knows a kid with eyes like ours. We cannot do that again.” John admonished her

“I know I know” she grumbled

“I need to call Gabe. I don’t know what to do with this. You both leave soon and I just don’t think it is wise for you to go. If people find out they will hunt you down and kill
you or worse capture you. You are not normal. Would you like to sit in a lab and have them poke and prod you Tia? Would you like to become a lab rat?” Mateo was confused and furious at once

Mateo knew he had gotten to Tia when she opened her mouth and quickly closed it. He had to try Gabe again. He picked up the phone and dialed the number, hoping and praying the boy miraculously came home in the last week.

Lunch was finished and plates were clean. Gabe made and plate and took it down to the safe room for Blake. He didn’t trust the man but he couldn’t be cold hearted either.

Mary had ushered the others into the living room to sit
. She wanted to talk and wanted to hear more about them.

“Kaiden, can you tell me more about your home?” Mary asked

“Sure thing, is there anything specific you would like to know?”

“I would like to know how safe-
.” Her words were cut off by the phone ringing. “Excuse me please.” Mary got up to answer the phone.

“Hallo?” there was a pause “Oh Mateo I have good news
, Gabriel just got home this afternoon. Let me get him for you.”

She went down the hall and disappeared. A few seconds later Gabe appeared at the phone.

“Mateo good to hear from you!” he beamed and listened “You what? You have some people there you want me to meet?” another pause “Bring them right over please.” He listened some more “Yes yes, I will be here, I need to meet them. See you soon.” Gabe turned to face the others and smiled.

“What was that about my love?” Justine asked

“Seems we are going to have company soon and seems they are quite unique according to Mateo.”

“Oh?” Kaiden asked

“Like how unique Gabe? Like us unique or like Blake unique?” Zoe asked her fear spiking.

“I am not sure
, Mateo was just really freaked out, and adamant that I meet them. If they are dangerous, well they are coming to my home. This is my territory and I will kill them if they are coming to hurt us.” Gabe said

They were all quiet for a while contemplating who was about to come to the house. They had about three hours until they would be there. Gabe got up and went to his room. He came back with a large chest. He set the chest down and went back to get another. The first chest was black with silver clamps. The second c
hest that he brought out was grey with black clamps.

“Justine this is from your parents. It has family photos and journals. Everything they wanted to keep secret and hidden. They left it with my parents before they ever went into hiding.” Gabe scooted the
grey chest over to her.

“This black one is mine
, it is full of everything my parents left me. I would like Kaiden to look through it. Zoe you may also look through this too.” Gabe said. He slid the chest to Kaiden and slid himself over to Justine.

Mary was back and forth between them and the kitchen. Eventually she joined Gabe and Justine. They all sat there pouring over all the information they were reading.
Zoe was amazed at all this information. Gabe’s parents truly were the historians he said they were. They seemed to have catalogued everything. There were listings of all the Dragons in their Sect. There was also a complete list of all the children born, including half-bloods and full-bloods. Some of the names had deaths listed and cause and others were blank. The ones that were blank all seemed to be in the last twenty four years when all the killing started.

Zoe was overwhelmed. She put down the death journal and picked another. This one was full of all the myths associated with Dragons
that haven’t been proven. There were writings of magic use and other things. She put that Journal down and grabbed another. This one was all about the beginning of the murders. This journal told the story of what happened before all hell broke loose.

She set this one aside and wanted them all to read this. She glanced over at Justine and noticed the joy in her face. Gabe was gently rubbing her back and pointing at things. Mary was just watching them interact.

The three hours passed before they even realized anything. They heard the car and the crunch of the gravel. Gabe and Mary got up to go outside and Justine, Zoe and Kaiden quickly put everything back in the chests. Zoe left out the one journal and put it on the side table. They scooted the chest under the windows and went to join Gabe and Mary outside.

They all made it outside as the car was cresting the small hill. Justine went to Gabe and took his hand in hers.
Kaiden and Zoe stood to the side and held each other. Mary stood near Gabe shot gun in hand. The car parked and three people got out. There was a tall man who walked with the grace of a trained fighter. Then there were two teenagers with him. A small girl with long curly hair the color of sand stood next to a taller boy with brown hair. She was on the small side but very fit, the boy was also very fit and muscular. They both had a golden skin tone and looked ready for a fight. The girl had light brown eyes with sand colored flecks, the boy had hazel colored eyes with sand colored fleck. All of them except Mary felt the pull of the two full-bloods that stood before them.

“Mateo good to see you after so
long and you brought some interesting friends with you.” Gabe smiled and hugged the tall man. “I also have some new friends that I would like you to meet. This is Justine, the woman I left to find.” He smiled down at Justine and placed a kiss on her head. “This is Kaiden and Zoe, Zoe and Justine are long time friends.”

“It is very nice to meet you all and I can see you all have some similarities to Gabriel here. This is Tia and John. They also have the similarities that I speak of.” Mateo gestured to Tia and John and waved them over.

Kaiden had an idea and quickly turned into Zoe and whispered “Tia and John do you know what you are?”

Their heads shot up in Kaiden’s direction and they both got huge grins on their faces and nodded up and down.

Kaiden nodded and whispered again “Have you turned? Have you shown anyone?”

Gabe was listening intently and was watching them. When they both nodded their heads yes, Gabe quickly ushered them all inside.

“So Mateo you got quite a scare from these two I hear?” Gabe asked him and Mateo just looked at him in curiosity.

“How did you know?” Mateo asked in wonder

“Mateo they have shown you something that could get you killed. They have put your life in great danger. So if I tell you, then I am putting you in more danger. I am not sure I want that.” Gabe said

“Mateo
, sir, I am Kaiden, may I ask you a few questions while Gabe here contemplates what he tells you?”

“Sure you can ask me anything. I am a very private man so just to warn you anything to personal I will have a hard time sharing.” Mateo told Kaiden

Tia and John sat on one couch completely overwhelmed. They did not know that what they showed Mateo earlier would put him in danger. They were just seeking answers and thought he might know something because he talked about Gabe a lot with them.

Justine and Zoe sat on the other couch watching the two Dragons. They were astonished that these teenagers had already turned.
A little jealousy crept into Justine, Zoe was pretty much just shocked to silence. They also feared that they may have been seen and therefore followed. Both girls kept their senses on high alert.

Gabe sat in a chair with his hands on his head in thought. While Mateo sat across
him,and Kaiden was standing between them. It was like Kaiden was a teacher and all of them were facing him while he gave a speech.

“Mateo are you married?” Kaiden started the questions

“No”

“How long have you lived in this area?”

“About fifteen years”

“Have you seen anyone else with similarities like ours that you mentioned?”

“No Gabe was the first that I ever noticed a difference in.”

“Do you have children?”

“No”

“Would you move if we asked
? If your life depended on it?”

“If I was in danger
, yes I would. But I can tell you, I am quite the fighter, I do know how to protect myself.”

“Well then could I hire you?”

“Excuse me?”

“If we tell you the truth
, you will always be in danger. I would like to be honest with you Sir, so I am offering you a job and then we will be able to be share the truth with you. This job however requires you to be able to keep a very large secret. It requires trust and dependability and the chance to use the fighting skills you know. I understand you are a great instructor and we are going to need one. I will offer you a large salary and take care of all your expenses.” Kaiden told him.

Everyone looked to Kaiden in surprise.

“Kaiden are you sure you want to do this?” Gabe asked

“Do you trust this man Gabe? Would you fight with him and defend him?”

“Without a doubt, he is the best trainer I have had.”

“And are we not going to need a good trainer?”

“We are. I am just confused, you are so different from what I expected.” Gabe said

“Thank you
, I will take that as a compliment.” Kaiden said. “Now Mateo would you like to train a lot of people like us? And would you like to be in on our secret?”

“I know your secret son. I am just confused by it. They showed me what they can do.” Mateo confessed

“Sir would you like two million dollars a year to train potential fighters?” Kaiden asked

“That’s a lot of money son.” Mateo said

“Do you need more to accept my offer?”

“No son
, I will take the job. I love to instruct and well there isn’t much of a market for it here.”

“Good glad to have you. Now on to the serious stuff, Tia and John did you know what you were before you turned?”
Kaiden looked at them waiting for an answer. Kaiden was radiating power. He knew that these kids were loose cannons and they could be a potential threat to Zoe.

“No we did not. We just knew we could fight and no one could beat us. We were and are very fast and we hear everything around us. Those senses are now heightened and we can both feel that you guys are what we are.
But you and your girlfriend feel a bit different than they do.” John said