Dark Awakening: Echoes of Destiny (The Children Of The Gods #88)

62. Jade

62

JADE

J ade's footsteps echoed on the pavement as she approached the pavilion, flanked by Kagra and Phinas. The morning air was crisp, carrying the scent of coffee from the nearby café. Under normal circumstances, it would have been a pleasant start to the day. But today, worry was gnawing at Jade's insides, making the familiar sights and smells of the village seem almost surreal.

As they neared the entrance to the pavilion, a distant voice caught her attention. She halted abruptly, her enhanced hearing picking up the sound that her companions hadn't yet registered.

"Did you hear that?" she asked, her eyes scanning the area.

Kagra and Phinas paused, listening intently. After a moment, they too heard it. Someone was calling Drova's name, the voice growing louder with each repetition.

Then, rounding the corner at a full sprint, came Pavel. His face was covered in dirt, his eyes frantic.

"Jade!" he called out, spotting her and changing course to intercept their group.

As Pavel skidded to a stop in front of them, Jade took in his disheveled appearance. "What happened? Have you seen Drova?"

Pavel nodded. "She was at my house. Slept in the backyard, I think. She told me about being responsible for the thefts and the sabotage."

"Where is she now?" Phinas asked.

"She ran off. I tried to convince her to turn herself in and go to Kian, but she...she used her power on me." He gestured to his dirt-covered face, a look of shame and confusion crossing his features. "She made me eat dirt, but then she came back and told me not to. She looked so scared. I've never seen her like that."

Jade felt a chill run down her spine. Her daughter was using her powers so recklessly and against a friend, no less. She could see the hurt and worry in Pavel's eyes.

"She just lost it," Pavel finished. "I think she was stressed out of her mind and needed me to calm her down instead of saying that she was being stupid. She lashed out, but then she felt bad about it and came back to remove the compulsion." He shook his head. "It was like being under Igor's control all over again, except he never ordered me to eat dirt."

Jade smiled without an iota of mirth. "Igor did much worse than that. Thank the Mother of All Life that you weren't subjected to his whims."

Pavel hung his head. "I know. I'm sorry I said that. And Drova is nothing like him. She just needs to learn that she can't use her power like that."

"Did you know?" Kagra asked. "About her power and what she has been doing?"

"No clue, I swear. I didn't suspect anything. Then I find her on my lounger in the morning, and she dumps all of this on me before I'd even had my coffee. And I wasn't thinking when I told her that it was incredibly stupid on her part and offered to escort her to Kian."

Kagra was still looking at Pavel with suspicion in her eyes. "Why did she come to you?"

He shrugged, but there was a guilty look in his eyes. "She likes me, but I made it clear that she was too young for me."

Drova was young, but she had reached the age of consent for a female, and if she weren't Igor's daughter, Pavel would have probably accepted her invitation, but Jade was glad that he hadn't.

He was a fine young pureblood, but he wasn't exceptional, and her daughter should choose someone with better genetics to father her child.

"You did nothing wrong," Jade said. "Do you have your earpieces with you?"

Pavel shook his head. "I didn't think I'd need them in the village, not for training." He looked at his watch. "For which I am late."

"When you get home, put them in your pocket, or better yet, in your ears."

Next to her, Phinas snorted. "Yeah, good idea. Next time, Drova might tell you to eat shit."

The color drained from Pavel's face. "She wouldn't. She even came back to stop me from eating more dirt."

"Go," Kagra said. "Bhathian doesn't like it when trainees are late."

When Pavel continued into the pavilion, Jade turned to her companions. "Change of plans. I have a feeling we will find Drova lurking around Pavel's house."

"Why?" Phinas asked. "He just came from there."

Jade put her hand on his arm. "She probably ducked into some hiding spot, and he ran right by her. I trained her, so I know her moves."

They set off at a brisk pace, the usual morning bustle of the village fading into background noise as Jade's mind raced.

What had driven Drova to this point?

How had she missed the signs that her daughter had inherited her father's talent?

As they entered the section of the village where Pavel's house was, Jade scanned the area, looking for Drova. Every shadow and corner was a potential hiding place for her troubled daughter.

Then, as they rounded a corner, Jade saw her.

Drova was walking toward them, her usual swagger on full display. To anyone else, she might have looked completely at ease, unconcerned by the chaos she had caused. But Jade knew her daughter.

She saw the tension in Drova's shoulders and the tight line of her lips. Beneath the bravado was a scared girl who had waded in too deep and didn't know how to swim back to shore.

"Stay here," Jade murmured to Kagra and Phinas, her eyes never leaving Drova. "I need to talk to her alone."

Ignoring Phinas's protest, Jade stepped forward, closing the distance between herself and her daughter. As she approached, she saw Drova's fa?ade falter for just a moment, a flicker of fear and uncertainty crossing her face before the mask of confidence slipped back into place.

"Drova." Jade kept her voice calm and even. "We need to talk."

Drova halted a few feet away, her posture stiff and defensive. "Come to arrest me, Mother?" she asked, her tone dripping with false bravado.

Jade took another step closer. "I've come to talk to you and understand why you did what you did."

For a moment, Drova seemed to waver, the conflict clear in her eyes. Jade held her breath, hoping that the blood bond between them would be enough to break through the walls Drova had built around herself.

"Will it matter what I say?" Drova finally asked.

Jade felt a pang of guilt at her daughter's words. "I want to hear your side. I want to understand why you felt you had to hide your ability from me. Were you afraid?"

Drova rolled her eyes. "Of course, I was afraid. Look what they did to Igor. He deserved it for what he had done, but if he were not such a strong compeller, they might have only jailed him and not put him in stasis."

Jade closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. "The only reason Igor still lives is because Kian convinced me that we might one day need what is stored in his head. I had every intention of beheading him for what he did to me and every other female in the compound. Don't think of him as your father. He doesn't deserve it. At best, he was a sperm donor."

Drova pinned her with a pair of hard eyes that were very much like Jade's. "And how do you think that makes me feel, knowing that half of my genes come from a monster?"

"You are not a monster, and maybe Igor wasn't a monster either before the gods manipulated his genes. I don't know. He decided what he wanted to do, and he didn't care who he murdered to achieve his goals. But I can promise you one thing. No one is going to put you in stasis. They will have to get past me first. But we do need to talk about what's happened, about the choices you've made." She looked at the passers-by, who were making a large circle to avoid them. "But we cannot do this here. I want you to come with me to Kian's office and explain your actions to both of us."

"What is he planning to do with me?" Drova asked in a much less confident voice.

"You will probably be placed under house arrest, but I will take you hunting with me whenever I can."

Drova's shoulders slumped. "That doesn't sound so bad. Are you sure that's all he is going to do to me?"

Jade closed the distance between them and put her arm around the girl's shoulders. "You didn't kill anyone, and your crimes were minor. The big issue is your compulsion of Parker, Lisa, Cheryl, and possibly Pavel if he seeks retribution for you forcing him to eat dirt."

Drova's eyes widened. "He told you about that?"

"He did. He was worried about you."

Drova closed her eyes. "I'm really sorry for doing that to him. I got angry when he said that what I did was stupid."

"It was." Jade started leading Drova in the direction of the village square. "But everyone is allowed to do a few stupid things when they are young. That's how you learn."

Drova nodded. "I just wanted...I wanted us to be free and true to ourselves. We are not like them, Mother, and we can't live like them."