him from beating up his girlfriend. I wasn’t even
going to kill him. I never kill them. But
Christian…”
“Christian!” Liam gasped. “He tried to kill
you?”
I nodded. “You know him?”
“Oh, the Council will not be pleased about
this,” Liam said. “I must report this to my father
at once. What did he do?”
“He attacked me,” I said. “I knocked him out
with a headlock and ran away. My family and I
were running away when he caught up to us, and
he locked us up in a warehouse. Max came to
rescue us.”
“Ah, yes,” he said. “Maksim. I understand he
was just entering training when he left to rescue
you.”
“Yes, he’d just left,” I replied.
“It is good that he did so,” Liam told me. “The
Council would have been furious if the hunters
had harmed you. Obviously, my father has seen
visions of your gifts, and… of you and Alexi.
You’ve been on the protected list since very soon
after you were born. Your father and my father
were good friends.”
“Is that why Alexi and I were betrothed?” I
asked.
“That was a part of it,” Liam answered. “They
were good friends, and it would have been nice
for them to have the two of you marry. But my
father saw a vision of you and Alexi together
before you were even born, while your mother
was with child.”
“Before I was even born?” I gasped. “He saw
us together that long ago?”
“Indeed. He also knew you would one day
save Alexi’s life.”
“But I’ve already done that,” I reminded him.
“And we’re not married. So we didn’t need to be
betrothed for that.”
“You have,” Liam agreed. “And you will do
so again one day.”
“Does everything your father see come true?”
I asked.
“Almost,” he said. “Things do change from
time to time, but father’s visions are rarely ever
wrong.”
My mind traveled to Kai’s face, and then to
Max’s. Barnabas’ visions had to be wrong this
time. I was deeply in love with Kai, and I loved
Max, too. There was no room left in my heart for
Alexi. Sure, I cared about him. But I didn’t love
him. It couldn’t be true.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Liam said.
“Oh, what… so you’re a mind reader, now?” I
snapped.
“No, but your face screams pretty loudly. You
may not love my brother now, but you will.”
“Well, we’ll see,” I muttered.
“We will, indeed,” Liam said, grinning.
“Stop being so smug,” I growled at him, but I
smiled a little in spite of myself.
“It’s time for your next training session,”
Liam said after looking at the time on his phone.
“You ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I said with a sigh.
*****
Chapter Twelve – Progress
It had been over a week since I had come to
the Council. My training was progressing well,
and Liam was still passing messages back and
forth between Alexi and me. It was the only
contact I had with my family and friends.
I learned how to control my sleep touch
ability quite well. I still needed the emotional
response of fearing Liam would be hurt, but
fortunately, he didn’t actually need to be hurt for
me to activate the ability. Just the fear of him
being hurt was enough to evoke the response.
We also worked on tracking. I could only
track people whenever I was touching someone
else who was thinking about that person, and the
ability was stronger if the person I was touching
knew and cared about the one I was trying to
track. This presented a difficulty. In order to
track someone, I had to have two people who
knew each other well and who cared about each
other.
Liam managed to locate two other trainees
who had developed a close friendship. He took
one of them to a remote location on the
expansive property, and I held the hand of the
other one while tracking. Eventually, I was able
to
track
someone
without
keeping
the
connection, but I still had to touch that person
once while they were thinking of the missing
individual.
One morning, Liam woke me up much earlier
than usual – well before dawn. He said he had
prepared a training exercise for me that he
thought might help me improve my tracking
ability substantially.
“You responded so well to our training
sessions with electricity that I thought maybe we
could bring the technique into your tracker
training.” Liam told me. “I’ll be going with Gus
– you remember him, right? He’s the guy who
helped me train your sleep touch ability. If you
don’t find me within a certain time frame, he will
begin shocking me, and he will not stop until you
find me.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” I said with wide eyes. “I
thought we were done with that.”
“Your training in tracking is not progressing
as quickly as we had hoped. My father feels this
is the only way to help you.”
“No,” I whispered. “Not again.”
I couldn’t stand it. I hated to see him hurt that
way, and I was so glad when we didn’t have to do
that anymore. Once I could control my sleep
touch ability without him being hurt, I was so
relieved. Now he was telling me I would have to
go through that again.
“It is the only way.”
“No!” I shouted. “I won’t do it! I can’t do that
again, Liam. I can’t stand it. I can’t stand for you
to be hurt.”
“I will be fine,” he said. “Just find me
quickly.”
“What if I can’t? What if I fail and you… no, I
can’t.”
“I have faith in you, Alice.”
“Well, I don’t. And I don’t want to risk you
being hurt again.”
He smiled at me.
“You care so much for people. It is what
makes you so strong. I have faith that you can do
this. Please try.”
I felt tears welling in my eyes, but I said,
“Fine, Liam. But it’s going to kill me if I can’t
find you.”
Liam and Gus headed out a few minutes later.
It was still dark outside. I had until sunrise to
find Liam, and if I didn’t Gus would begin
shocking him and would continue to do so until I
found him. I was to wait fifteen minutes and then
begin tracking him.
I paced the hallway restlessly, my eyes shifting
toward the clock often. I didn’t want to lose one
second when so much was at st
ake. I gnawed my
fingernails anxiously. At the very moment fifteen
minutes had passed, I closed my eyes and thought
of Liam.
Please, please, please, I thought. Let me be
able to do this.
At first, I felt nothing. I squeezed my eyes shut
as tightly as possible, picturing Liam’s face in my
mind. I started to grow anxious when nothing
happened. What if I couldn’t do this?
Suddenly, I began to picture Liam’s face – his
eyes pleading up at me – when he was being
shocked on my first day of training. I heard his
voice echoing in my mind, screaming in agony as
the electricity surged through his body. The
pungent aroma of his burning skin filled my nose
as though it was happening again.
I felt the tug so hard I lurched forward. It was
as if someone had tied a rope around my heart
and was yanking it as hard as they could. With an
urgency, I began to follow the feeling. I pushed
my way out into the chilly morning air and broke
into a run.
I could see the black sky turning faintly blue,
and a slight orange glow erupted from behind the
tree line in the distance. I gasped! I thought I had
more time before sunrise, but it was already
coming.
“Liam,” I whispered, feeling a surge of panic
swelling in my throat.
I let the tug guide me, and it pulled me along
at a blinding speed. The sun rose higher and
higher, and soon the sky turned from deep blue to
a lighter shade, and I could see the rich golden
globe of the sun slowly starting to peek over the
trees.
I flew across an empty field and toward a
small building in the distance. The tug was even
fiercer than before, and I scarcely needed to move
my feet at all. It felt as if my entire body was
being pulled straight toward it.
He must be there! I thought.
Just as the sun began to rise fully, I burst into
the small shed. I saw Gus moving the lead
toward Liam’s skin, and I screamed, “Stop!”
I collapsed onto the floor, panting, desperately
trying to catch my breath.
“I told you,” Liam said, a sly grin on his face.
“I knew you could do it.”
I looked up and him and glared.
“Never again, Liam,” I snarled. “Don’t you
ever do this to me again.”
“The hardest part of your training is coming
soon,” Liam said. “Unfortunately, it’s about to
get a lot worse.”
“Worse than this?” I asked, shaking my head. I
didn’t see how that was possible.
Liam reached out his hand and helped me to
my feet.
“It’s going to get bad,” Liam said. “Really
bad. But before we get to that, you’re getting a
day off. I have a surprise for you. Why don’t you
go get ready and meet me out front. We’re going
out.”
“We’re leaving the compound?” I gasped
excitedly.
“Yep,” he said. “Where we’re going is a
surprise, though.”
“I don’t care where we go, as long as we get
out of here for a while!”
Liam smiled. “Go get ready! We’ll leave as
soon as you’re ready.”
I practically flew all the way to my room to
get ready. I sifted through the unfamiliar clothing
in my room – clothes Liam had picked out for
me since I couldn’t leave the compound – and I
chose a frilly pink shirt and jeans. I rarely ever
wore pink, but today seemed like a pink day. I
guess I was almost happy.
I met Liam outside a few minutes later. He
had his red sports car revved up and ready to go,
and I hopped in quickly.
“You look terrific,” he noted.
“Thank you,” I said. “So where are we
going?”
“Put this on,” he said, tossing me a blindfold.
“Are you serious?” I moaned.
“Afraid so,” he said.
I sighed. Leave it to the Council and its funky
rules to ruin a happy moment like this. I put it on
and frowned.
“Fine,” I fussed. “It’s on. Now let’s go.”
It wasn’t long before the car came to a stop
and Liam turned the engine off.
“Can I take this stupid thing off, now?” I
asked.
“Not yet,” he said.
He came around to my side of the car and
opened the door, and then he took my hand and
guided me out. He led me carefully across a
patch of hard ground – pavement, I guessed.
“Watch your step,” he said. “Step up.”
I slowly felt for the step with my foot. When I
located it, I stepped up.
“Another,” he said, and I stepped up.
“One more.”
I stepped up once more, and then he led me a
few steps forward. I heard a door open, and we
stepped inside.
“Liam, where are we?” I asked.
I felt him tugging at the blindfold, and as soon
as it was over my eyes, I shrieked with glee!
“Alexi!” I shouted, throwing my arms around
him.
“Alice,” he whispered into my ear, holding me
close.
“Kai!” I yelled when I noticed him standing
behind Alexi.
He put his arms out for a hug, and I flew into
his arms. His lips found mine, and his warm
hands rested on my cheeks as he kissed all over
my face. I noticed he had tears in his eyes.
“My turn,” I heard Max say.
“Max!” I screamed, rushing to him and
squeezing him tightly.
“I’ve missed you,” he said, burying his face in
“I’ve missed you, too,” I breathed. “I’ve
missed all of you.”
I looked around the room at all of the smiling
faces. I noticed my mother, brother, and Jamie
were missing.
“Where’s…”
“They went home,” Alexi explained gently.
“Your mother was really missing her home, and
your brother and Jamie decided it was best if they
took her there.”
“Oh,” I said, disappointed.
“You can call them later, if you want,” Liam
said.
“This is the best surprise ever!” I squealed,
throwing my arms around Liam.
He seemed startled, but he hugged me back.
He cleared his throat uncomfortably, and I let
him go.
“Thanks, Liam,” I said. “It’s wonderful.”
“It took a lot to convince my father to allow
it,” Liam told me.
“I appreciate it more than you know,” I said.
I turned to Alexi.
“So…” I started. “Are Kai and Max living
here, now?”
“Of course,” Alexi said. “They wanted to be
near you, and I knew you would wish that, too.
So of course I invited them to stay.”
“Wow,” I commented. “That’s really great of
y
ou.”
“I told you, Alice,” Alexi said. “I will always
do my best to give you whatever you want. I just
want you to be happy.”
“Even if…” I started to ask him. “Never mind.
What are we doing today?”
“Anything you want,” Alexi said. “Today is
your day.”
“We have to be back at the compound by six
PM,” Liam reminded him.
“Oh, damn,” I muttered.
“What’s wrong?” Alexi asked.
“I was just hoping we could go to Tybee
today, and it’s really not a good idea until it gets
dark,” I said.
“Well, we might not be able to go to Tybee
today, but I know of a place you would really
love,” Liam said.
I raised my eyebrow at him.
“Oh, yeah? Where?”
“Do you trust my judgment?” Liam asked me.
“Yeah, I think so,” I said.
“Alright,” he said. “Alexi, I was thinking
about taking her to the cabin. What do you
think?”
“You know, that’s not a bad idea,” Alexi
agreed. “I think she would love it there.”
“Cabin?” I asked.
“Yeah, it’s the cabin our father used to take us
to when we were kids,” Alexi explained. “It’s
right by a lake, and it’s really private. It’s
beautiful there.”
“Sounds great,” I said. “Let’s go!”
“Shall we take the Guardian?” Alexi said.
“We’ll all fit in it.”
“You don’t need the Guardian for three
people,” Liam said.
“You’re not coming?” I asked.
“I don’t want to intrude,” Liam told me.
“Intrude? Nonsense. Of course you’re coming
with us,” I insisted.
I noticed Alexi raise his eyebrow at Liam.
“I…” Liam cleared his throat. “Okay, if you
want me to go, I will.”
“Great, let’s go! I can’t wait!” I jumped and
clapped my hands together in excitement.
“If we’re going to the cabin, I need to get a
few things, first,” Alexi said. “Liam, can you
come with me? We’ll pick up some stuff and be
back here in an hour or so.”
“Sure,” Liam agreed.
Alexi took my hands and kissed me on the
forehead.
“We’ll be back soon,” Alexi said.
“Hurry,” I whispered.
Alexi backed away slowly, holding onto my
hands until the last possible second.
“Take care of her,” Alexi said to Kai and Max,
and then he and Liam left.
Kai and Max both stepped toward me at the
same time. Max paused, and then backed off,
glaring angrily at Kai. Kai put his arms around