11. Dion Adair
1760 Words
“Is this going to hurt?”
Cody looked at Nadia with his big brown eyes. She had never really spoken with him, but as he looked at her, she felt overly protective of him.
“No, it shouldn’t hurt. But I won’t lie, Cody, I’ve never actually tried this before.”
She had tried and succeeded to make the shield, but never in a person. Cody sighed a bit, but he didn’t press her further as he nodded.
“I’m sure it will be fine, Teddy. Besides, you’re the toughest eleven year old in the country, you’ve got this.”
Nadia turned to look at Lena, who was sitting in a nearby chair. Nadia gave her a smile before she turned back to look at Cody.
“That is true. And if it does hurt, then I’ll stop. I don’t want to harm you.”
Cody smiled and leaned back. Nadia felt something buzz in her pocket, and she quickly grabbed her phone to see who it was. Her shoulders fell when she saw a text from her sister, Natalie, and she put away her phone again. It had been more than a day since Nathan had left for California, and she still hadn’t heard from him, which disappointed her more than she wanted to admit.
“Lena, can you hold my hand when it happens?”
Nadia looked at Lena who gave her a quizzical look. Nadia smiled and nodded to both of them.
“I don’t see any issues with that.”
Lena stood up and placed herself next to Cody in his hospital bed as she nuzzled herself close to him.
“I’ll always be here to hold your hand, Teddy. Always.”
Nadia smiled to herself as she watched the two siblings. Something about their relationship made her think of when she was little and Alex protected her.
“Great, then…”
A knock interrupted Nadia, and soon Kendrick stepped in. He had a serious look on his face, but then again, Nadia had never seen him without a serious look on his face.
“Luna, can we talk for a minute?”
Lena raised an eyebrow as she got up from the bed. She gave both Nadia and Cody a look before she walked out of the room. Nadia turned to watch Lena outside, wondering what it was about, but as the door closed she redirected her eyes to look at Cody as she donned a smile.
“I’m sure it’s nothing.”
Cody reciprocated her smile, however, it didn’t go to his eyes.
“Perhaps. I usually don’t hear it if it is something anyway. Everyone is scared to tell me because they fear it’ll make me worry more than I should. Even when everyone else worries.”
Nadia reached out and grabbed his hand.
“Have you told them that it bothers you?”
Cody shrugged as he let her squeeze his hand.
“No, but it’s okay. I know they mean well.”
Nadia could feel her heart break as she watched the young boy slump back.
“I always felt left out when I was younger, you know. Everyone always assumed that I was too weak to do anything about it anyway, and so it was pointless to tell me. I couldn’t do anything, but it was still frustrating. It felt like I was completely a part of my family. I still feel like that sometimes.”
Cody smiled a bit wider as he nodded.
“But they include you now, right? I mean, you basically saved us all when the Red Cross Crows attacked.”
Nadia nodded.
“They do, I guess, but I’m still pretty sure that I’m left out occasionally. I think you should tell Lena to keep you updated. It’s only fair since you play such a big part, and I don’t think it’s cool to keep others in the dark just because they aren’t a werewolf or they’re eleven. But that’s just my opinion.”
Cody’s face lit up a bit, and Nadia could feel that he felt heard, something he probably didn’t feel very often.
“Nadia, can I tell you something?”
Nadia smiled as she nodded.
“Of course.”
Cody started to play with his hands as he visibly thought of what to say.
“It’s weird and probably nothing, but when I was attacked by the Red Cross Crows, I thought I heard Anders speak in the background. I know he’s probably dead, but it just felt so real.”
Nadia furrowed her brows a bit as she leaned closer.
“What did he say?”
Cody shrugged as he looked slightly shameful.
“I don’t really know, I couldn’t understand it. It was something like ‘and die on there’ but not really that. I don’t even know if I heard it right, it just sounded so much like him.”
Nadia squinted a bit as she processed Cody’s words.
“Maybe it wasn’t him, but maybe it was. I’m glad you told me though, Cody, so thank you for that.”
For the first time since they had started to converse, Cody smiled with all of his face. At the same moment, the door opened and Lena reentered. Her face was serious as she met Nadia’s eyes, but she quickly looked away as Nadia met her eyes.
“Alright, let’s do this.”
Lena sat near Cody and cuddled him, however, her expression seemed slightly distanced. Cody gave Nadia a look that she understood immediately; Lena had been told something that she wasn’t sharing.
“Yes, let’s. Are you ready, Cody?”
Cody took in a deep breath as he nodded.
“Yes.”
…
It was starting to get dark as Nadia flipped through the pages of the many books that Anders had given her. She wasn’t exactly certain of what she was searching for, but she at least wanted to give it a try.
It was five hours since she had put the shield into Cody. Only time would tell if it worked. Nadia had felt the magic in her hands as she had touched Cody’s chest, and Cody had felt a warmth spread through him. However, that was all that had happened, and though it did indicate that at least something had happened, Nadia still felt somewhat inadequate and powerless as they didn’t know for sure. Because of that, she had been reading through the many books ever since she had gotten back.
She looked at her watch and frowned. She was supposed to meet Lena by the cells in ten minutes, and she hadn’t found anything yet. She sighed in frustration as she closed the book she was reading and buried her hands in her hair. She then grabbed her phone for the first time in five hours; nothing. A surge of anger suddenly passed through her as she pushed the many books off her desk.
“Come one, Goddess! You didn’t give me a wolf, so the least you could do is give me something else!”
She sat and waited for a while as if her tantrum could have worked, yet nothing happened. She sighed once more and bowed down to pick up the books as her anger started to evaporate when she noticed a note that had gotten loose from one of the many books. She picked it up and read it.
“Dion Adair will help you...”
Nadia frowned as she read the few words on the small piece of paper. She didn’t understand what she had found until a thought crossed her mind. She fastly got up and searched through her papers to find something that Anders had written for her while they were training. She then put the two notes together and smiled; it was the same handwriting.
“Die on there… Dion Adair! That’s it!”
Nadia made a loud shriek of happiness as she jumped up in the air. She then assembled her stuff before she almost ran outside.
She had been waiting for five minutes before Lena got to the cells. Lena had barely gotten to where Nadia was standing before Nadia started to speak.
“I found something! Or actually, Cody found something and then I found something that made sense in collaboration with what Cody found. Nevermind, look.”
She enthusiastically shoved the note up in Lena’s face. Lena read the note and looked confused before she turned her eyes to meet Nadia’s, not as enthusiastically.
“I don’t get it?”
Nadia pulled away the note as she kept on her wide smile.
“It’s a note from Anders. It’s the name of someone who can help us.”
Lena gave a very vague smile as she understood. However, she didn’t look any more happy than she did moments before.
“Great.”
Nadia furrowed her eyebrows as she put away the note.
“It is great. It’s the first clue we’ve gotten since the fight. I thought you would be more glad to see this?”
Lena closed her eyes as she smiled, but it still looked forced.
“You’re right, it’s really great. I’m sorry, Nadia, it has been a weird day and the prospect of what we’re about to do is not really making me any calmer. But I’m glad we have a clue. Really.”
Nadia felt ashamed as she remembered why they were there. She looked at the building before she refocused on Lena.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think. We can talk about it tomorrow. Are you ready to do this?”
Lena took in a deep breath as she looked at the building behind Nadia.
“Yes. Let’s get this over with.”
- Writer
