Free The Protectors: Book 1 in the Protectors Saga by Paige Dooling Page B

face. Going through the Ora
Gateway was bad enough once, but going through twice had left
Avery’s stomach flip-flopping and her head thumping painfully.
    It hadn’t taken Avery too much convincing to get
Gumptin to agree to go see Jade first. He had caught on quickly to
what Avery had already known; that if Gumptin was going to go
anywhere it was going to be in Avery’s car with her driving.
    Gumptin sat in the passenger seat, staring out the
window the whole way to Jade’s place. Avery could tell he was
fascinated with the scenery, the flat desert, the cacti, the craggy
looming mountains in the background.
    “The deserts on Orcatia are not like the deserts
here. They are really quite lovely.” Gumptin told Avery, still
looking out his window, and a pang of remorse sliced through
Avery’s heart. She didn’t want to have to think about leaving
Redemption.
    “We’re here.” Avery said, turning into the dusty
entrance of the trailer park, thankful to be able to put her mind
on something else.
    Jade’s dad worked as a mechanic at the only auto
repair shop in town and her mom as a clerk at the twenty-four hour
grocery store. They both worked long hours, which meant Jade was
alone most of the time. That time she spent either restoring
motorcycles, listening to classic rock, or hanging out with Avery
and her family. In fact, Jade spent more time over at Avery’s house
than she did at her own. It had been that way ever since they were
first forced together as children. They had become inseparable,
seeing each other almost every day for the past sixteen years. They
considered each other, not only as best friends, but also
sisters.
    Avery knew the one person that she could count on was
Jade. Jade had looked out for Avery her whole life. When they were
little, she had beat down any bully who had ever tried to start
anything with Avery. In second grade, Jade had given Alex Marquez a
bloody nose for stealing Avery’s lunch box. Then, in the sixth
grade she ended up giving Megan Dominguez a black eye for creaming
Avery in the face with a dodge ball during gym class. This was a
habit that had continued throughout their entire school years. The
latest victim was Camilla Roberts who Jade had caught kissing
Avery’s ex-boyfriend before he was officially ex. As for the
ex-boyfriend, Alex Marquez, he ended up with another, much worse,
bloody nose.
    They were protective of each other, but Jade had a
tendency to get over-protective. This was the reason, as Avery
stopped her car in front of Jade’s rusty blue trailer that her
nerves began to dance inside her stomach. Avery knew she had to
tell Jade everything, but she wasn’t quite sure how Jade was going
to react when she found out Avery had followed a magical gnome to
another planet without even talking it over with her first.
    Avery told Gumptin to stay in the car, then got out
and slammed the door shut. She spotted Jade lying on her back in
her front yard, working on an old motorcycle that had definitely
seen better days.
    Jade’s prize 2001 Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle that she
used to ride around town terrorizing the residents with speed and
noise, was perched in its usual spot, under a large canvas shade
covering next to her family’s trailer. Jade had purchased the bike
relatively cheap two years ago, it was run down and broken, but she
had spent two straight months fixing it up and airbrushing it a
slick black. It was now her pride and joy.
    “Jade?!” Avery called out as she approached her. She
grimaced a little as her nerves made her voice crack, something she
was not expecting.
    Jade lifted her greased stained face towards Avery.
Even smudged in grease and oil, Jade was still beautiful. It was a
different kind of beauty than Sasha’s, whose looks were more
sophisticated, or Avery, who always had a sort of ethereal beauty.
Jade had none of that, her beauty was strictly dangerous. She stood
a good few inches taller than Avery and had flawless pale skin
covering her