Inborn (The Birthright Book 1)

Chapter 18

When I whisked home via a portal, I found Xavier waiting there for me with his arms crossed. His legs were spread out and eyebrows scrunched together.

"Unbelievable," he said, wiggling his shoulders in a kind of shrug. "People are dying, your best friend gets kidnapped–she never returned home, by the way–and you're still sneaking around like...like..."

"Like what?" My heart skipped when he said Joss still hadn't turned up. I was hoping I might be wrong.

"Like you're guilty of something."

I stared him down in our kitchen. Dark brown eyes against dark brown eyes.

"I'm trying to help," I said, my voice shaky.

"By lying to everyone? Mom and Dad are the only ones who can really do anything about this."

"No, they're not. Xavier–we don't know everything about them."

His mouth cracked open in disbelief. "Who's getting into your head? Is it that Bryce kid? Because you've known him for like five minutes. Mom and Dad have never given us any reason not to trust them."

"I'm not saying I don't trust them...but I am saying they're not telling us everything. Mom never talks about her past. Ever."

"Her family died, Roz. If you all died, I don't think I'd want to talk about it, either."

I swallowed, watching his cheeks turn maroon. "I get that. But I'm worried her past might be tied to this."

"Then they'll figure it out."

"What if they can't? What if they're missing important pieces of the puzzle?"

"Like what?"

I almost blurted everything out. Almost. But something happened right at the moment I was about to tell Xavier all about my meeting with the killer and the face stealing and everything.

The side of our house imploded.

It was so fast and yet in slow motion at the same time. I watched the banquette splinter into a million pieces. Xavier dove in front of me to shield me from the wood and glass and other debris hurtling toward us, and we were both blown across the room.

I blacked out, I don't know for how long, but when I came to my ears buzzed and something pinned me to the floor. It took me several seconds to realize it was Xavier. I tried to move, but every inch of me felt plastered to the ground. Smoke clogged my lungs and nose, making it impossible to talk or even breathe.

I coughed, and Xavier felt limp. He didn't budge or groan or anything. I couldn't see, whether because of smoke or because of the blast, or hear. But I could still feel and I definitely felt a set of hands grab me by the shoulders and pretty much shake Xavier off like a doll. I tried to gain my bearings to do something–anything–but I felt a sting on my neck, and the last thing I remembered was being lifted off the ground like I was feather light.

I woke up shivering. As I came around, I realized the shivering was because I was freezing. I'd curled up into a ball to try and deal with it, but my hands and feet were numb. My vision was blurry when I opened my eyes, and my head...I can't even describe what that felt like. It was like I'd been run over by a truck, but worse.

I couldn't even imagine sitting up, so I tried to discern where I was. It seemed dark. I was cold, so there was no heat. And I heard something–metal, maybe–sliding against metal.

I wiggled my fingers and toes, and I felt restrained. Something cold locked around my wrists. Cuffs? Probably magnetic cuffs.

I was almost too out of it to be afraid, but I was confused. I had to try and wake up enough to focus to make a portal and get out of there. Wherever there was.