Free When Silver Moons Rise (Lost Immortals Saga #2) by KaSonndra Leigh

excited grin.
    “But they can get stirred up, smartass. Then people will know we’re back here, hello,” Desi teases.
    “Chill, Desi. Sit down and fix your spikes, or something. Put that other mirror to good use,” Jalen says and plops down in a corner beside a crate holding a white cat.
    “Oh, I’m going to fix something. But it won’t be my hair,” she snaps back. I sit up and glance at my two stowaway friends.
    “You’re so good with words, babe. Actions, well, you need to work on that little tidbit,” Jalen says, crossing his ankles and closing his eyes.
    Desi growls and pulls out her dagger. “Is that so? How about I start by trying out a few moves on you.” Jalen’s eyes pop open. He hops up and pulls out his saber before I can even blink.
    “Hey! You two are going to calm down. Okay? Jalen?” I stretch my eyes and wait for him to respond.
    “Tell it to the angel-blood over there,” Jalen answers, his gaze locked on Desi.
    “Why don’t you come tell me yourself, chromo-freak,” Desi says in a taunting voice. Jalen charges toward her and of course, Desi returns the favor. And I’m thinking as I stand in-between them that maybe this wasn’t the best idea, bringing two people from opposing groups along with me on this venture.
    “Calm. Down,” I repeat. “Will you, please?”
    “Got it,” he says and lowers his saber a bit.
    Desi says nothing, but she does lower her dagger.
    “Great. This is going to be a super long, and super annoying trip if you two act this way the whole time,” I mutter. “Remember what this is all about. Saving the people we love. Wait to destroy each other when we get back.”
    Desi scoffs. “That’ll be hard. Thanks to the chromo-freak over there, we’re now wanted criminals.”
    “Mm-Kay. I do believe this chromo-freak saved your exiled ass back there,” Jalen snaps. Desi doesn’t have a comeback. We both know that Jalen is right. Not only did he save us from the Conductor and his undead, but he’s also the one who researched and found a train to get us as close to Barrow as possible. It’s funny how the three of us have wound up together this way. We each represent an element of all three races: the human, the supernatural, and the confused, aka me.
    I sigh and take a seat in the hay in front of a jet black horse that decides to nibble at my back pack while I keep an eye on my hotheaded friends. I turn and gently swat at it. “Hey! Those are my energy bars, not yours.”
    “Are you actually scolding a horse? Well, did it answer you back?”  Desi asks, squatting and removing her backpack. “Somebody kill me now, please.” She shakes her head and laughs to herself.
    “That can be arranged,” Jalen says, moving back into his corner. I shoot him a hard look. He gives me an innocent face that only my best friend can do so well.
    The train rattles onward, leaving Castle Hayne behind. Sitting inside the cargo area, I bury my worries and the nagging guilt I have about leaving my family. Jalen and Desi finally stop glaring at each other and settle in to whatever thoughts they have going through their heads. We race toward whatever fate has in store for us, something I’m destined to discover.
     

Chapter Nine
    To Say Goodbye (Chela)
     
    The next morning, I watch Jalen stab at the air with his saber. Although he hasn’t mentioned what happened back at the train station, I understand my friend well enough to know it bothers him. Faris was there for me the first time I hurt someone a few months back. Well, if you count dissolving undead revenants with your wind power as killing someone, anyway. I was lucky enough to have someone there for me. Now it’s my turn to offer a shoulder for my friend to lean on. That is when he’s ready to talk about what happened.
    I steer my thoughts back to the situation we’re in. The only time I’ve ever been outside the city was when I was assigned to find nuclear containers hidden by Outcast rebels in the woods. I knew