This Is Where I Want To Be

162. Hitting The Fan

Chris

Fahan pulled out the last probe from my neck. He and Demitrios put me down on some rock. I could barely breathe. To keep me from dying, the men gave me so many shots they thought could strengthen me. I didn't know what possessed me. To allow him to take away everything that I had worked for. Went through, for.

"Chris." Caleb's voice broke through the fog around me. My eyes were too heavy. "Don't worry. It's over. I won't leave again."

The person's smell in front of me made me want to manifest, dig my teeth in, and empty them... I couldn't. Demitrios had tried to help by slicing their neck. The taste of blood didn't put me off. Maybe I was still in there somewhere. Caleb swore loudly when my manifestation didn't want to come. I had wondered if it really was Caleb during the process. I had heard his voice a few times... I had thought I was dreaming.

"What about Palmyra? How will you make that happen?" Fahan asked in the distance. I couldn't even speak. My eyes fluttered open to the scientists all staring, waiting for my answer.

Caleb spoke up and said, "There is a teleporter on Palmyra. Kubra will be here for only two days. After that, you're on your own. And then my mother will know."

They let us stay for those two days. Gave me the best food and supplements. As soon as I could walk around, I wanted to leave and never see them again. Fahan didn't deny us. Outside, there were strings of Chadari moving out of the city into their closest hotspot. Kubra was managing it from En-gannim. They were going directly to her palace. Since there were no Werewolves left. Juliet didn't even think to destroy it. It wasn't a large one. We still didn't know how Brylee built it in the first place.

Most of Fahan's people were off-planet by the time Caleb and I left. "I think you can figure out the rest," I said as we were going. Fahan didn't say anything further, and Kubra teleported us out to Earth. I was wedged in between them. Still too tired to walk for long periods. We didn't land in Washington or go to En-gannim. It was safer to exit in France and travel to Louis's estate. As we stepped out into the thicket, Kubra picked me up like a child. I was thin... No emaciated. If Juliet saw me like that... I had not thought through the aftermath and was suddenly scared she would be covered by more snakeskin when she realized what I had done. To have Michael back and think I was somewhere working through some issues. Then, have the rug pulled out under her.

They helped me to my room. "I think you can let Louis and Marcus go now. I'm going to sleep for a while. Will you help him, Caleb?"

"We let them go two days ago. Everything is fine. Sleep dad. We're all here." Caleb sat down on the bed and took off my shoes. He covered me with a blanket. Was Marcus and Louis there? I did not see them.

They both left, closing the door. There was such a commotion outside between the four men. Marcus and Louis were angry. Caleb was yelling. It was going to be a stressful time forward. For two days, I lifted my arm several times in front of me to see if fur and black nails would materialize out of thin air, but I failed every time. Caleb tried to reassure me about everything. There was no light at the end of this tunnel I had chosen.

***

Juliet

"Juliet! Juliet!" My head lifted from my desk. Jessy was half-running through the door. "He's back. His watcher tech is active. All of them."

I had been acting my little heart since I found out about Chris. There was no point in ruining all of Chris's efforts. When I went with Caleb the night they would take him off, I almost didn't make it. I pinched the bridge of my nose to stop myself from crying and rubbed at my brow to make it all look like tiredness. My eyes dropped to the desk. Jessy stopped with his hands on the wood, leaning towards me. "Why are you not jumping up?"