I’m in Jonah’s arms again, and I hold on for dear life. Nobody found my father’s body, he swears to me. The entire roof was searched afterward, looking for any kind of clues. The only two people they saw up there were Enlilkian and myself.
Which means they took his body. And I can only hope they aren’t going to do with it what I fear they will.
As the days go by, I start creating windows for all the rooms featuring various views. In my bedroom, it’s Rome. In the conference room, it’s the view of Karnach from outside of Guard HQ. In the living room, people can watch the waves from Kauai. In the kitchen, I pick what I think is a view of Paris. Eventually, people start requesting views for their private rooms and I am happy to oblige by giving them exactly what they want. A false sense that I’m actually doing something other than simply cowering in fear as I hide away from the worlds settles over me.
I call Cameron and Will every single day, even if for only five minutes, just to check in. I hate that I have to be vague with them, hate even more that I’m forced to lie at times. They, like so many others, think that Jonah, Kellan, and I got sent off on various missions at the same time, although I think Cameron has his suspicions that something is off with my story.
“You’d tell me if something were wrong, wouldn’t you?” he asked me just the night before. And I told him I would, even though Zthane has specifically requested we stay quiet about our location for at least the next week or so, so I feel like a horrible person deceiving yet another important person in my life.
If that wasn’t frustrating enough, Jonah was right when he said Kellan would not take away my pain, either. So after wracking my brain for another solution, I go instead to Karl and ask him to teach me how to fight.
He’s in the kitchen, making crepes. It amuses me how many of my friends are foodies and I manage to still ruin water when I attempt to boil pasta. “You mean, like hand-to-hand combat?”
I steal one of the broken crepes littering the counter next to the stove and shove it in my mouth. “Yesh.”
“I’m a Quake, Chloe, not a cage fighter.”
Rats. I guess—
“I have a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu,” Iolani says suddenly. She’s over at the refrigerator, pulling out a carton of grapefruit juice. She smiles winningly at Karl. “I am a Volcanic and a black belt. We ladies are quite badass, you know.”
Well now. This is quite convenient if I do say so myself. “Do you think you can show me some moves?”
“Let me check my schedule.” She pretends to pull a list out of her pocket. “Hmm ... mm-hm. Yep.” The imaginary list is stuffed back in her jeans. “I suppose I have a little free time I can slot you into. But only a little, mind you. I’m quite busy down here.”
I toss one of the broken crepes at her; she giggles and easily dodges it.
“Yes, you’re so busy,” Karl drawls. “It must be so exhausting, watching all of your soap operas one after another. What will you do if you miss an episode? Will Joe ever tell Jane that he screwed her daughter? Will Bob ever let Mary know he had quintuplets with the nurse that woke him up from brain surgery?” A sly grin curves across his lips. “Inquiring minds must know!”
“It’s Marcel who cheated on Felicia with her daughter.” Iolani sticks out her tongue. “And Rudolpho and Estelle with the quintuplet problem. But my, my, Karl Graystone. Don’t you know these storylines just as well as I do? How very scandalous of you.”
I burst into laughter. “She’s got you there.”
He sighs, but he’s chuckling, too. “Moira is obsessed. It’s like osmosis. Even Em is more interested in watching them than her cartoons. And now Lani here is watching them day and night with the volume turned way up ... it’s like I can’t escape.”
“I’ll tell you what, Graystone.” Iolani pulls a glass down from the cupboard and pours herself a drink. “How about you watch my eppies for me while I’m working with Chloe? That way, I can get all the deets from you and it will be like I haven’t missed a step.”
I crack up all over again at how he pretends to be so excited at this. “Can I? Really? We can debrief afterward!”
Iolani kisses her hand and pats her butt. “You know you want to know.”
“Whatever.” He turns to me. “Why the need to fight? You’re a Creator. I’m pretty sure you can best anyone without having to throw a punch.”
I hop up on the counter. “You’ve seen how the Elders tear me apart.”
Both eyebrows shoot up. “You want to physically fight Elders? Like ... with your hands?” He shakes his head. “Chloe, I’ve been with you in several of those fights. You don’t need to land a punch. You have your bow, not to mention all you need to do is touch one and it’s gone.”
I weigh my following words carefully. “I think learning to fight would be highly beneficial to my success against Enlilkian.”
He takes the pan off the fire and sets it to the side. And then he turns and looks at me, arms crossed. “You think learning how to fight will help you fight Enlilkian.”
I nod slowly.