LAILAH
TWENTY-FOUR
“I’m beginning to think that I shouldn’t ever let you leave my sight,” Cami grumbled as she waited for us to pile into the minivan she was driving.
“I’ve been gone for what, a week, and you guys end up on the most wanted list, get kidnapped, and bring back someone from the dead.
What the fuck is wrong with you people?”
I was unable to hold back my laughter at hearing just how absurd our lives really were compared to the rest of the world.
“Careful there, short stack, you’re the one driving the mom mobile,” Parker teased. “Did you need to put down a few dictionaries to sit on so you can see over the wheel?”
Cami flipped Parker off and stuck out her tongue. “If you hadn’t just died and come back to life, I would kill you myself.”
My anger flared at her comment. I knew she wasn’t being serious, but it was too soon for that kind of crap. “Cami,” I warned.
Catching the look on my face, she tossed up both hands as if I was going to attack her. “My bad, I shouldn’t have gone that route. There are plenty of other ways to insult that idiot that don’t involve killing him or him being dead.”
“That is the world’s worst apology,” I pointed out.
“Oh well, that’s because it wasn’t an apology. More of a recognition that some jokes aren’t welcome at this time,” Cami reasoned, giving me a smile and a wink. “Everybody in and buckled up?”
“Yes, Mom,” Parker teased, kicking the back of her seat.
“Don’t make me come back there,” Cami growled. “Fuck, I’m glad you’re not really dead.”
Parker chuckled and reached around to slap her shoulder. “Me too, tiny-tot, me too.”
Rolling my eyes, I let them bond over their strange way of showing love as we pulled away from the motel we’d been staying in.
The drive was only a half hour but I couldn’t help but feel tense, ready for something else to happen to us now that we’d left the safety of our little hideout.
It was irrational, and I knew it. Besides, we needed to get Jay’s mother somewhere safe and get the chance to find out what really happened.
Other than having a few conversations with Jay, she refused to share anything until she felt she was safe from her husband.
I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I didn’t know if that was really possible, with how deep his ties to the world around us were.
Of course, I had no doubt that Jay would do whatever it took to make his mother safe.
This had been too close of a call for him on top of thinking we had lost Parker.
No one really spoke as we drove. Instead, we all looked out the window lost in our own thoughts.
When we finally arrived, it felt reminiscent of when I first showed up to Ryevick, only it was summer and there were no students on campus.
Cami drove us to the back of the school property to a rundown warehouse that looked like it was for groundskeeping.
It would just be like the Elementi to make a blind cover just as the Manor was for them back at Ryevick.
Before we got out, Cami made a call, letting them know we were here.
Apparently, they were sending someone out to meet us.
“Just be prepared, you guys. This facility isn’t one of our top priorities so it isn’t as fancy and updated with tech as Ryevick is as our HQ. They will be able to help us with what we need but just lower your expectations,” Cami shared, looking mostly at Jay and Parker with a cocked brow.
Before either of them could say anything, a door on the side of the building opened, and a woman dressed in jeans and a t-shirt came out to greet us.
“Hello, I’m Blessing and I run this facility.
It’s a pleasure to meet you all even if it is under unfortunate circumstances.
Please follow me. I’ll show you where you can set up and get you situated with all you need.
We might not have the fanciest of things but we still know how to get the job done. ”
Grinning, I knew I was going to like Blessing with her no-nonsense attitude.
She guided us into the building, which indeed was for maintaining the grounds, but led us to another door that opened to a flight of stairs leading down under the building.
In true Elementi fashion, they preferred the whole underground facility vibe.
The actual Elementi part of the building made me feel like I was in a normal office with offices, drab carpet, and an open space with cubicles.
Blessing led us past all that into a large conference room that had long vertical blinds that could be closed if we didn’t want people to look in at us.
A large whiteboard and corkboard were set up like we were in some cop shop and needed a murder board or something.
“How many computers will you need?” Blessing asked. “I didn’t want to pull from our resources until I knew who could go without for now.”
My jaw dropped at that statement and turned on Cami.
“They don’t even have enough equipment for themselves, let alone us?
What the hell is with that? How can they do their jobs monitoring what’s going on when they don’t have the things they need?
No wonder the Dark Lord picked to have his army here with Makoto so close by. ”
“Lala, I get why you’re upset but, girl, you’re yelling at the wrong person. Take it up with Beth and others on the council. They decide who gets funding and how much,” Cami said defensively.
Letting out a calming breath, I relaxed. “I’m sorry, Cami, that was unfair. With all that’s been going on, I’m just finding that I have extremely low patience with things like this.”
“You’re preaching to the choir, babe,” Blessing commented. “I’ve been trying to tell them that we’re missing things but they don’t want to hear it. Kept saying that the feedback from other sources told them this area was a dead zone for demon activity.”
My teeth ground as I clenched my jaw. “Let me guess, Makoto made that judgment call.”
“Funny how he seems to keep coming up and fucking us over, isn’t it?” Cami muttered.
Jay stepped forward and extended his hand to Blessing.
“Thank you for being here and not giving up, even if they didn’t listen.
” She took his hand, shaking it. “If you could do without two computers, we’ll manage just fine.
If there is a printer available as well, then we don’t have to worry about using a tablet or anything to share information. ”
“I can work with that,” Blessing answered, giving him a slight grin in response. “You are nothing like your father, you know that.”
Jay bowed his head to her. “I take that as the highest compliment.”
“You should. He’s a prick.” Blessing huffed as she turned to leave the room. “I’ll send someone by with drinks and snacks for you. Brain's gotta have food to work their best.”
Now that we had the room to ourselves, none of us seemed to know where to start. So in true Jay fashion, he took the lead and gestured for us all to sit down as he guided his mother to sit beside him.
“Okasan, will you please share with us what you know?” Jay asked in English.
Up until this moment, he had only ever spoken to her in Japanese, so I assumed that was all she spoke.
I shouldn’t have been so simpleminded. I’d also found out that her name was Hina, not that I ever planned on calling her that.
It seemed so informal even if she was practically my mother-in-law.
Hina gently placed her hands in her lap and looked over the rest of us before she settled on me.
Her eyes, so much like her son’s, seemed to be able to see into my soul but I wasn’t scared, just unsettled to be so vulnerable.
Thankfully after a moment or two, she broke her hold on me and turned to face Jay before she spoke.
“It all started before I was pregnant with you,” she started, her voice soft as if it was floating on a breeze.
“Your father woke up one night, claiming that he had been visited by an angel who promised him that his child would save the world. Now, all of us knew the rumors that Synergy could possibly be a person and that’s what your father believed that angel meant.
From the moment you were born, he pushed you to be the best on the promise that you would fulfill this great destiny.
When you came into your power and we discovered you were not Synergy but the element of air, he was crushed.
He disappeared for a month, claiming it was for work and I believed him since he hardly ever spoke to me about such things.
It was always made clear to me that I was his wife, but that didn’t mean I deserved more from him than a life where I was looked after. ”
My heart clenched, knowing it must have hurt so much to be brushed off like that when it was clear she loved Makoto in her own way. Jay had told me he never planned on being married or loving anyone so he didn’t end up like his father, but the Heavens decided otherwise.
“When he returned one day out of the blue, he told me that he secured our son’s fate and would give him the power he was promised.
That’s when he took you from me,” Hina said as her voice cracked.
“The only part of Makoto that ever loved me was what he gave me through you, my son. I knew if I tried to stop him it would only make things harder on you, so I let you go, hoping one day he would give you back to me.”
Jay took his mother’s hand and pressed it to his cheek before kissing the back of it in the largest show of affection I’d ever seen him give to someone other than me.
“There was no way I was going to abandon you, Okasan. I will see that you are forever free from him and able to live your life once this is all over.”