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Jeff hurried up the stairs, and Nathaniel gave me the "patient parent" look.
"What?"
"Tessa." He dragged my name out and rubbed his face again. "I'm getting too old for your antics. We're here for a very important meeting."
"I won't screw it up, sir. I promise." That was the last thing I wanted to do. My people needed this.
"Jeff is an Elemental, Tessa. He may be half Light, but he holds real Elemental power, power I've seen at work firsthand. Do not push him. He may seem like a gentle, docile man, but anger him, and he becomes a warrior of legend. One even his brothers run from."
Nathaniel stood, giving me a moment to ponder on his words before the warrior-healer returned and stuffed his arms in a jacket.
"Time to go. Cal will kill us if we're late. And, personally, I'd like to destroy the Mindolin before I die, so let's head on out." He didn't wait for us, so Nathaniel and I hurried for our robes, and I twisted the lock on the door before closing it.
We walked through the snow—more had fallen overnight—to the main house and around the side. A multitude of vehicles were parked in front of the house. Jeff led us to a jeep while Adam and the Vampires climbed into a very expensive-looking SUV.
Before turning the key in the ignition, Jeff leaned over the steering wheel and moaned, clutching his stomach.
"See, those cookies will get you every time. I tried to warn you." Inside I was screaming. The drugs were working too quickly.
"Are you alright, Jeff? Do I need to have one of your brothers take over my protection today?" I couldn't have asked Nathaniel to say anything better to the proud healer.
"I got this, Nate. Just a small stomach cramp. I'm good." He turned the key, put us in gear, and had us zipping out of the drive in the next few seconds.
The man put on a good show for Nathaniel, but being up front with him in the vehicle with Nathaniel in the back seat, it was easier for me to see the effects the drugs were having on him. His upper lip was covered in sweat. He had to wipe at it every once in a while, and his leg bounced as his hand clutched his stomach. The boy was only at the beginning of a very horrible day.
The city of Rusolo came into view after the half-hour drive was almost over. I'd heard about the sizes of Light cities. I’d only been to the couple Nathaniel had taken me to and the one I'd been to with my mom right before she'd been killed. Those cities had nothing on the size of this one.
In the middle of all the hustle and bustle was the acclaimed academy of Mount Pickett. Looking like the castle it had once been, the school for the Light's best cadets towered over the rest of the city. For the first time, what we were doing and where we were going set in. I'd volunteered for this, to protect Nathaniel and work for peace for my people, but I hadn't put everything together when they said we'd have the meeting at Mount Pickett. We would be completely surrounded by people who would rather see us dead than make peace.
My heart stalled.
"Tessa," Jeff reached over and his hand brushed up against mine like he’d planned to hold it. Before we touched, he retracted it in a flash like he'd received a shock. Acting like nothing had happened, he continued, "I'll protect you. I promise. You may not think much of me or my elements, but I am capable of protecting you."
For the first time, I regretted drugging the man who had sworn to protect me and Nathaniel with his life. We might very well need Jeff if things went poorly today.
The city flew by in a flash, and I remembered almost none of it with my fear spiking. Nathaniel had tried to tell me about the city, but everything he'd said didn't do it justice.
We had our paperwork ready when the vehicle pulled up to the guarded entrance at Mount Pickett. Jeff handed the items over, and the young cadet guard narrowed his eyes first at the papers and then at Nathaniel and me.
"You done yet?" Jeff barked. I jumped. I hadn’t expected the usually gentle healer to carry that tone. Nathaniel had been right. I did not yet know everything I needed to about the warrior-healer.
"Um, ye...yes, sir." The cadet hurried along with the paperwork, and then we were driving much too fast through a parking garage.
My knuckles were turning white as I gripped the door handle and my seat. The warrior-healer had the nerve to smile and laugh lightly. "We're fine, Tessa." I only felt better when he groaned after laughing.
Adam's SUV pulled in alongside us when we finally parked. Jeff stumbled once while exiting the vehicle, but otherwise he held himself straight and did a fairly good job hiding his misery from everyone but his brother. Adam’s eyes spent a lot of time watching the warrior-healer.
We were all loaded into the elevator with some room to spare when a hand stuck itself between the doors and they opened to reveal Carmon, Sylee, and Jonas.
“Room for us?” Carmon asked the question, but it sounded more like, “Move over. We’re coming up with you.”
So we made room, and the three hopped on board with Nathaniel, Jeff, Adam, the two Vampires, and me.
“Good morning, Nathaniel, Victor.” Jonas cheerily greeted his colleagues with a smile and nodded to the rest of us. His eyes narrowed at Jeff, who stood in a corner looking at the ceiling. “Everything okay, Jeff? We’re not expecting company from that direction, are we?”
“We’re fine,” Carmon answered instead of Jeff, narrowing an angered gaze at the healer. “My brother has finally hit the maximum number of cookies his body will allow.”
“It’s not that, Cal.”
