Asleep *FINISHED!/COMPLETE*

*Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

JASE

I knew Ellie wouldn’t understand what I was doing. Sometimes I barely understood my gift myself. It was hard to explain, the gift of Sight. Sometimes it was gut feelings, which is usually what it feels like when it’s just your Bright. Other times it was a brief flash of an image… Very rarely, it was a sort of vision that played out in your mind like a single scene from a movie… but sometimes, most of the time, honestly… It was as if there was this overwhelming sense of knowing.

It settles over you with an undeniable heaviness, and then solidifies in your mind with a crystal clear calmness. If your mind tries to wonder or question, it can’t - because there is no denial of absolute truth. You can’t fully explain what exactly you know or even how you know it- you just know. And when I saw Oren’s jaguar pull up and those red heels step out, I just knew that Kai needed to get her out of there. And that I needed to stay in order to keep her safe.

That’s what was driving my insanity as I approached the vehicle after hiding in the alleyway and watching Satan herself, and her number one henchman, enter that disgusting excuse for a human’s building. I had to know how Ellie fit into their world, into our world. I needed to know who she was to them and whatever other secrets they were hiding if I wanted to keep her safe. And after realizing what Ellie was to me, there was no existence for me without her.

I attempted to call on my Sight ability to search for potential outcomes for my decision as I climbed into the trunk of my enemy’s car, but came up blank. The gift of Sight was finicky like that. It didn’t always like to be called upon. I sent up a silent prayer that someone had my back and this wasn’t the dumbest thing I’d ever done since breathing my first breath.

I checked for the internal release handle before quietly clicking the jaguar’s trunk shut, with myself situated somewhat uncomfortably inside. I waited silently, patiently, for their return and let out a small breath of relief when I heard first, the passenger’s side door, and then, the driver’s side door, shut with a muffled bang. Thankfully, I hadn’t been detected before actually doing any valuable recon.

I closed my eyes and listened intently, trying to catch every word as the car accelerated down the street.

“How in the hell did she find him so fast??” Claudia Stone seethed in the passenger seat, too privileged to dare drive her own car. “And better yet, how did she even GET there, Oren?!” Claudia raged, her elevated pitch making it all the easier to make out their conversation.

“I know how,” Oren spat, “Those damn Cross’s, that’s how.” The disgust in his voice at our last name would have stung if I cared about these people in the slightest, but I didn’t.

Instead I smiled, not only at knowing how badly we got under their skin, but also at knowing that Ellie found her own means to get herself to where she wanted, without the help of me or my family. A strange and unfamiliar warmth spread through my chest as I thought about how strong and capable she was. Ellie was a fighter, my heart and soul knew that without a doubt.

“This is one giant s**t show, Oren. If you had done your JOB, we wouldn’t be in this mess, you imbecile!” I could have been mistaken, but I could have sworn I heard a thwap as Claudia smacked Oren across the side of his head.

“OW!” Oren wailed.

What a baby.

“It’s not MY fault she escaped! She had help!”

Escaped? Escaped from where? My mind was reeling as I thought back to the day I met her, well, found her really. And who helped her? I had a feeling I owed them a debt of gratitude I’d never be able to repay.

“I don’t care who helped her or why! She doesn’t belong out here in this world, our world, left to her own devices. She is too valuable in this war/”

Her voice had quieted on that last sentiment, and I could barely make out the words, as if the information was too important to share too loudly.

“I know that,” Oren replied, irritated. “I looked for her for 24 hours straight. She’s only been gone 2 days! How the hell was I supposed to know she’d manage to find a way to Callen so quickly? She was a runaway orphan for Christ’s sake! I don’t know how the Shades we have on the police force didn’t find her first. And I have no idea how she ended up entangled with the Crosses.”

Shades on the police force, huh? Interesting. Dad will want to know about that, I’m sure.

“It doesn’t matter now,” Claudia said, exasperated. I imagined her pinching the bridge of her nose.

“We have to get her back, Oren. She must either submit to the Shade, or be eliminated. There is no other option. Callen cannot find out who she is to him, or everything we’ve worked so hard for, for more than a decade, will have been for nothing. Not to mention what the Illumines might do if they realize who she is or what she can do.”

My breath left my lungs for a moment as I hung onto one word from what my number one enemy had just uttered… eliminated.

“Do you think he recognized her?” Oren asked quietly.

“No. He was curt and short with me when he wasn’t satisfied with my answers as to who she really is, but it’s not possible. A Shadow Caster’s work cannot be undone that easily.”

“But it can be undone?” Oren sounded in disbelief. “How?”

“There are equal and opposite forces at work in this world, my dear. But don’t you worry your pretty little mind. We have the upper hand here, and our sweet Elliana will not be taken from us so easily. Now take me home and get her back, or your coveted position in my inner circle will suddenly be up for grabs.”

Claudia’s voice was ice cold, and the threat was an easy one to decipher. Oren was to find and return Ellie, or pay with his life.

Unfortunately for them, they had no idea the hell that would rain down on them if they harmed a single hair on her head.

Unfortunately for me, I was left with more questions than answers, and a dreadful sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach at the thought of my very soul being sought after by my worst enemy.