"Yes, I'm fine," I said quickly, trying to smooth out my blood-soaked uniform. "I'm just a little, um, shaken up." I blinked several times in a row, trying to hold back the tears.
"Of course, you are." Amory whispered soothingly, patting the hand that he held.
"Can I go home, Amory?" I asked meekly, wanting nothing more.
"Of course, you can," he paused for a moment, "Actually, I have a better idea." Amory sat up straight, letting go of my hand and reaching the cell phone sitting on his desk. "I think it's best if maybe you leave for a little bit. The news of the broken engagement will travel fast and if there are more out there that want you dead, this might quicken their plans." I was speechless. I watched silently as Amory's mind worked quickly, deciding on the course of action he would take. "I think it's best if you get out of town for a while."
"Out of town, but what if-" I started, thinking about Lucan's reaction if Kiran wanted to find me and couldn't.
"I'll deal with them, we have to think of your safety first," Amory sat back in the chair and started dialing a number. "I am sending Jericho on a mission. He was going to leave this afternoon."
"Jericho?" I asked, putting the pieces together.
"Yes, Jericho. I think it's best if you go with him," Amory didn't wait for my reply; he pushed send on the phone and was explaining the details of the day to Jericho before I could object.
Sure, my safety came first, but I was pretty sure leaving town with a boy that was not Kiran was just as dangerous. I was maybe only days away from becoming engaged to the Crown Prince and Amory wanted to send me away, alone with a boy that not only had feelings for me but was in a Rebellion completely in opposition to the Monarchy.
Oh, boy.
Chapter Thiry-Seven
Jericho pulled up to the school in a black Escalade with severely tinted windows and no license plates, screeching to a stop right in front of me. I jumped into the passenger seat quickly, Jericho barely waiting for my door to be closed before taking off again.
"In a hurry?" I asked sarcastically.
"Obviously," he replied curtly.
"Hey, thanks for picking me up and you know, taking me with you," I tried to break the tension with thankfulness, but Jericho wasn't having it.
"Yep. Didn't really have a choice though," he mumbled, staring straight ahead through dark aviator sunglasses.
"No, really," I wasn't going to give up. "Seraphina was seriously trying to kill me. She had like this spinning weapon thing made out of broken glass. It was crazy."
"Your clothes are in the back seat," he replied, ignoring me. "You should change; I don't want blood on the seats."
"Ok...." I didn't know what to make of Jericho's attitude. He had picked me up, and not even questioned Amory about taking me with; but ever since the news of Kiran's broken engagement had been announced at our house yesterday, he had avoided me at all costs.
I pulled the duffle bag that Lilly had packed for me from the back seat and unzipped it. All of the shirts inside were warm and black and she had packed a couple pairs of dark, washed jeans and some black yoga pants.
I looked over at Jericho, who was wearing a black long sleeve shirt and dark washed jeans and figured out this must be the uniform of the Resistance spy. I laughed out loud; apparently this was my first real mission.
"How long are we going to be driving for?" I asked, realizing it would affect what I would wear.
"A long time," Jericho replied snidely.
"Ok...." I pulled out my yoga pants and an oversized thin black sweatshirt that hung off one shoulder. I usually wore this outfit to workout in, but a long car trip required comfort. I took off my shoes and unbuttoned my skirt, hoping Jericho knew what he was doing by demanding that I change.
"Not up here," he snapped at me. "Seriously, Eden, go to the back."
"Oh, sorry," I mumbled, tossing my duffle bag to the back seat and crawling awkwardly over the center console.
"And do something with your hair," he called from the front seat.
"Why?" I asked innocently, fingering my long, tangled curls.
"Because," he answered crossly.
"Because why?" I pressed, hoping to irritate him. I didn't appreciate his rudeness.
"Because it's...." I watched his aviator sunglasses tilt towards me in the rear view mirror. "Because it's everywhere."
That wasn't really an answer, but I obeyed anyway. I pulled a hair-tie off of my wrist and wrapped my hair into a messy bun on the top of my head. I slipped down to the floor, below the range of the rear view mirror and changed into the comfortable black sportswear that would be road-trip appropriate.
"That's better," I sighed, sliding back into the front passenger seat.
I watched Jericho glance at me for a moment before clenching his jaw and turning his attention back to the road. He let out a snicker that was actually hurtful.
"Is there a problem?" I asked carefully, sounding more sensitive than I would have liked.
"Yes, there's a problem," Jericho snapped at me again, and I flinched. This trip was going to be miserable.
"What did I do to make you so mad?" I whispered, not really expecting him to answer.
He turned to look at me full on for the first time since I had gotten in the car. I couldn't see his eyes behind his dark tinted sunglasses, so I had no idea what to make of him, and that bothered me.
"You didn't do anything," Jericho conceded, and his rigid shoulders slumped. He pressed down on the gas even harder and we accelerated past all acceptable speed limits. "It's just that.... Well, I was looking forward to taking this trip alone."
"And you're mad that I'm tagging along?" I asked tentatively.
"I don't know. I just felt like I really needed some alone time."
"I can understand that," I said honestly, feeling like I needed the same thing. "I won't say a word. You'll completely forget I'm here." I pretended to zip my lips closed with two fingers pressed together, and turned to face the window.
"You are the one person that I actually don't think I'm capable of forgetting about," I turned my head quickly, watching as heat crept up the back of his neck.
"So, you're Ok with me being here?" I asked hopefully.
"Ugh, yes," he sighed exasperatedly. "Only if you hand me my coke," he held out his hand and I looked around for a soda.
"Sure," I said energetically, "Where is it?"
"It's in the cooler in the trunk, Lilly and Roxie packed us some snacks so we wouldn't have to stop."
I unbuckled and leaned across the back seat, reaching with an extended arm into the trunk, awkwardly pulling a blue cooler across the seats. Jericho jerked the car to the left suddenly and I fell clumsily on top of his shoulder, before righting myself and giving him a disapproving glare.
"Sorry," he offered sheepishly, his face red, matching the tone of his neck.
I opened the cooler and took out two plastic bottles of Coke before turning around and sitting back down in my seat.
"So, where are we going?" I asked, realizing I had agreed to a mission I knew nothing about.
"The Mexican Border," Jericho replied casually.
"Really?" I was surprised, I hadn't been expecting Mexico, but then again, I hadn't really known what to expect. "What's there?"
"I don't know exactly," Jericho said pensively. "Amory just asked me to deliver a letter for him. He said it was of the utmost importance but that I couldn't tell anyone and that my contact would find me and not the other way around."
"Oh, well that sounds.... confusing," I laughed.
"Yes, it does," he agreed with me.
"So, the Mexican Border? All right. When do we have to be there by?" I folded my arms and smiled, this was fun, I was beginning to feel like a real spy.
"We have to be in El Paso by four AM, but I'm hoping to get there a little bit early and stake the place out." he said matter-of-factly.
"Oh, right," I tried not to laugh. "We don't want to be walking into a trap."
"Exactly," he replied seriously and when a laugh escaped me, he turned around, a little offended. "It's called due diligence, Eden, we have to be careful."
"No, I know. I'm sorry," I couldn't stop laughing.
"It's all fun and games until someone gets caught and sent to prison."
"No, you're right. It's just that, this is my first mission, come on, give me a break," I pushed his arm a little and his bicep flexed rigidly beneath my fingers.
"Just this once," he mumbled, turning his full attention back to the road.
"Is this what all the missions are like?" I asked a question I had been wanting to know the answer to for a long time.
"No, not really. Well, sometimes," he answered vaguely.
"What are they like, when they're not like this one?" I dug deeper.
"I don't know. We do all kinds of things."
"Like what?" I pressed, not willing to let him get away with avoiding my questions. "Like what were you doing in London before Amory asked you to come back here?"
"Just a lot of surveillance stuff. I had a list of dignitaries that I was supposed to watch and report back to Amory about. He wanted to know if Lucan was planning on arresting anyone, or if there had been Shape-Shifters turned in. Stuff like that," he admitted.
"That sounds kind of boring, actually," I mumbled, without thinking.
"Yes, boring, but necessary."
"Why?" I had a hunch, but I wanted to hear Jericho say it out loud, for some reason I loved to hear him talk about the Resistance.
"Well, I don't know, depending on the person being arrested, Amory would make a decision whether to rescue them or not. Or like the Shape-Shifters, we always rescued them and depending on the arrest, Amory was always worried Lucan would find the colonies."
"What colonies?" I asked, completely enthralled.
"Over time, most of the Shape-Shifters have moved into secret colonies in remote places of the world. Some of them still live in populated areas, but most of them try to stay completely hidden from all civilization."
"Why?" I couldn't stop my questions.
"Well, for two reasons I suppose. The first being, that Lucan would arrest them if he found them; the second, that since the decline of magic they try to stay away from humanity."
"Why?" I felt like a toddler, but I couldn't help myself.
"Because, Eden, they used to be able to shift into anything they wanted, that's how they got their name. But since the ban of intermarriage, their magic has been diminished and they are only able to shift into one thing, usually an animal. That's why they avoid humans, they want to shift naturally and in a habitat that makes the most sense."
"So like Lilly...." I started to put the pieces together.
"So like if Lilly were to find a colony, she would most likely go to the jungle regions because she is a tiger. I know there are colonies in almost every rain forest. There is a huge colony in the mountains of Peru, and one way in the north part of Russia. But so far, they have remained under the eye of the Monarchy."
