Mist (Book Three of the Royals Trilogy)

Chapter Seven

SKYLAR

We had just ordered our drinks when we heard a commotion by the entrance. I looked at the door and quickly moved back to my spot. "They're here," I whispered to Mark who looked too calm. I raised an eyebrow at him and he gently grabbed my hand under the table.

"Don't worry, they won't get in," he whispered back and turned his back to the door. 

"How do you know?" I asked slowly and he laughed softly. 

"It's one of the reasons why I chose this place, you need a mandatory reservation to be here," he said with a smile and I instantly relaxed.

"What are the other reasons?" I asked playfully as I took a drink of my wine. It was the first time I had drunk wine, it wasn't as bad as I had originally expected. 

Mark chuckled and gripped my hand tighter for a second, "I thought it would be a nice restaurant for us to go to. You know, a memorable place that could be part of a date."

I blushed and looked away for a second. When I turned back to him, he was still looking at me intently, "well, this isn't exactly a date." 

He shrugged, "no, but we could come one day... alone." 

I chuckled and quickly shook my head, "no please, this is too much. I am not that kind of girl."

He laughed and nodded, "I kind of picked that up." I nudged him playfully when suddenly, someone cleared their throat, breaking us out of our conversation. I turned to look at Gideon who was still eyeing the entrance, uncomfortable. After a second, he looked back at us.

"Our chaperone team is gone. Now, what did you wanted to tell us that was so important?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. 

I was about to speak when the waiter interrupted us and took our orders before returning to the kitchen. Gideon was still looking at us expectantly. I nodded and took out a device from my jean's pocket and placed it at the center of the table. 

"What is that?" Melissa asked in puzzlement. 

"This device prevents others from hearing us. If the spy team is still here and trying to listen in to our conversation, this will block it, that also applies to communication through cellphones or wristband devices," I explained as I turned the black stick on, a blue light shone on one side and it started to blink until it turned green, meaning our conversation was secure.

"Alright, we have something important to tell you but this must stay between us only," I began as I looked at Melissa and then at Gideon. Both of them nodded their heads in agreement and waited for me to continue. "There is something bad happening, there is someone at camp who wants to perform a dark magic ritual to become the most powerful creature in the planet. If this person succeeds, no one would be able to stop her."

Melissa raised an eyebrow and looked at Gideon, who shrugged, and the back at us. "How do you know this?" she asked, still unsure on whether we were telling the truth. 

"There's this place at the edges of camp, it's called the Cave of Answers. It is a very... mystical place. It is our connection to our Spirit Guides," Blair spoke softly and when she mentioned the Spirits, Gideon let out a scoff and rolled his eyes. His sister glared at him but nonetheless, continued, "as you can see, not all Hunters believe in that which is why I'm not surprised anyone has ever taken you there. But I assure you it is real what you see in there. Skylar and I have been there and we have met our Spirit Guides and have seen vision, fragments of the nearby future. The purpose of our Spirit Guides is to help us reach the goal. That is why, a couple of months ago, we came to the realization that the camp is in danger. Then, our mission confirmed it." 

"I've never been the religious kind," Melissa started to say and I quickly intervened. 

"It's not a religion, Mel, it is an... alternative reality, a parallel dimension to ours," I said with a shrug but nobody said anything. 

Melissa nodded slowly and continued, "I get it. If the two of you saw the same thing it must mean something but I am still clueless as to what's going on. How did your mission confirm your visions?"

I spoke this time, "when Blair and I set out to find the Royale Brothers, we ended up at the Queen of Shadow's lair, you already know what happened in there. Dalia was captured and taken back to camp. Before leaving for our mission, we talked to her and she revealed to us how to find the Royale Brothers and... Blair's father." 

I trailed off and looked at Blair. She was tense and staring into space. Gideon fidgeted and cleared his throat, "What? Are you talking about Hunter Liam?" I nodded my head at him. "That's impossible, my mother said he died on the field," he said bewildered. 

"He didn't," was all Blair said, his tone was firm and confident. 

"Yes, he's alive. So one night we tracked him down and that same night, we found where the Royale Brothers were hiding. We left as soon as possible and you know the rest. What you don't know is that after we sent you off first, Gideon, we didn't stay behind to investigate the area. We went to find Hunter Liam," I said slowly, Gideon's expression remained blank but his body had begun to stiffen. He looked at Blair who only gave him a sly smile. 

"We found him at the Death Swamp," Blair said nonchalant.

Gideon looked shocked for a second and then glared at Mark, Blair and I. "You know it is against the law to go there. Why were you there?" he demanded sternly.

I rolled my eyes but let Blair answer. "We told you, we were looking for my father. He was in the Death Swamp. We found him surviving in a small cottage before taking him with us. He told us the truth... he said that if we don't stop this person, she will eradicate all supernatural creatures, she already had everything she needs, all except the location." 

"Which Huntress are we talking about?" Gideon asked expressionless.

Blair, Mark and I shared a look and then turned back to him. "It's Elda."

Gideon's expression turned to one of disbelief and anger and he quickly started to shake his head. "That's impossible, it isn't true, I would know."

I sighed and nodded my head in understanding, "but you don't, Gideon. Are you really with her at all times? Does she tell you about any meetings she may have? Does she disappear at times and come back much later?" 

Gideon glared at me and crossed his arms over his chest, "everyone has their secrets."

I tensed as I remembered my biggest secret. The thing I was planning on hiding from him and all others who didn't already know. "Not this many, not this radical and destructive," I responded calmly. 

Gideon still looked unconvinced. I turned to Melissa, wanting to see if she was on our side. She looked nervous and I could see she was torn between wanted to stand by Gideon's side and standing with us. "I-I don't know what to believe, I hardly know the Camp Leader. Yes, once she mentioned something sketchy to me, she was interrogating me about you, Skylar, she wanted to know every detail about your life before the accident. I found it odd and refrained from saying anything but as I was leaving her office, she made me swear not to tell anyone about our meeting or about what she had asked me."

I nodded my head and looked at my friends. Mark still hadn't said anything and I gently tightened my grip on his hand to let him know he should say something. Gideon was his brother, after all. Mark looked at me from the corner of his eye and nodded almost unnoticeably.

"Gideon, we brought you here to tell you the truth. No lies. We're not trying to turn you against Elda, but we're opening your eyes to the truth. If you keep supporting her and standing by her side, you are voting against the supernatural, against freedom, against the Hunters' Laws. We already said what we had to say, now it is time to wait for Hunter Liam to show up, maybe you'll listen to him more," Mark said calmly as he looked at his brother. Gideon didn't say anything, he only nodded. 

It was then that the waiter reached our table with our dinner. He set them in front of us and excused himself. Our meal was spent in silence. It wasn't exactly uncomfortable, just tense. Everyone was thinking about what had just been said.

After the table had been cleared, I noticed Blair becoming restless with every minute that passed. Gideon stayed silent and stiff at his place, he occasionally looked around the room expecting to see someone wearing the same clothes we were. I, on the other hand, began to worry. I remembered the Hunters that had been sent to follow and keep an eye on us. What if they had found Hunter Liam? 

I shook the thoughts away and instead tried to convince myself that he was just running late. A couple more minutes passed by and there still wasn't sign of Blair's father. Mark had begun to look at his watch every now and then and I could feel his leg moving under the table, restless. 

"I'm going to use the restroom," Blair said with a sigh. She avoided all eye contact and quickly got up. She was moving too fast and not paying attention to where she was going that she bumped into an older looking woman. The stranger with grayish hair let out a yelp of surprise and Blair quickly held her in place by her shoulders. "I'm so sorry, ma'am," she blurted before rushing towards the bathroom. 

I shared a worried glance with Mark as Blair disappeared. The silence at the table was becoming more unsettling and Blair still wasn't back. This wasn't going like we had planned. "I'm going to go check on Blair," I said calmly and Melissa started to get up to follow me. "No, don't worry, I think it'll be best if I talk to her alone." Melissa nodded in understanding and got back on her chair. 

I hurried towards the bathroom and opened the big, white door with a golden knob. Inside, the restroom was shinning, the faucets were golden, there was a wide mirror going from one side to the other and the toilets, along with the sinks, were sparkling white. Blair was sitting at the other side of the room on a elegant bench with elaborate design. 

"Blair, are you alright?" I asked softly as I sat down next to her. To my surprise, the bench was much more comfortable than it looked. 

My friend looked at me and I saw she had tear-filled eyes. I tensed and quickly wrapped my arm around her. "What's wrong?" I whispered soothingly. 

The door of the restroom opened and a rich class woman stepped inside. She stopped in her tracks when she noticed Blair and I on the bench. She gave us one long, disgusted look before leaving the restroom. I chuckled and shook my head before returning my attention to Blair. 

"It's my father, he's not coming," she said defeatedly. 

I tensed, "we don't know that yet, maybe he's just running late. Maybe he found a lead on the Dragon Stones." My attempt to make her feel better failed as she shook her head. 

"No, he's not coming. I know so. The woman I ran into put this in my pocket," Blair said as she took out a burner phone. My eyes widened and I opened the phone. The screen lit up and I searched the contacts for Liam's number but there were no contacts. Then, I noticed a message notification and I opened it. My eyes widened and I instantly got up, "Blair, we need to get back to the table. You're right, Hunter Liam isn't coming, but he still wants to talk to us." 

Blair's eyes widened and she was on her feet in a second. Both of us rushed out of the restroom and back to our table where Gideon was still quiet and Melissa and Mark were whispering amongst themselves. 

When they saw us, they all sat straighter and watched us as we sat on our places. "Hunter Liam isn't coming," I said at last and I heard Gideon let out a scoff. Blair glared at him, she was clearly upset about not being able to see her father. "He's not coming but he was here. He sent Blair a burner phone," I said and everyone's attention was fixed on Blair. 

She took out the small, black phone from her pocket and put it at the center of the table. "He wants to talk to us," she said calmly and Mark instantly nodded. 

"Alright, call him. The connection is secure," Mark said reassuringly and Blair nodded before dialing the only number on the phone. It rang a couple of times before someone picked up. 

"Hello Blair," Hunter Liam spoke from the other side. Blair let out a sigh of relief. Gideon looked surprised to hear the Hunter's voice, it must have been years since he last heard him speak. "I have something to tell you," the voice continued. 

"We're listening," I said confidently. I hoped whatever Blair's father had to say, would convince Gideon to help us. He would be our greatest help to take down Elda.