Arrowed (Arrowed Series Book 1)

by Gryffin Murphy

  “And he isn’t Ripped himself?” I asked, “He’s doing this with full volition?”

  “I think he understands himself well enough to know that his mind wouldn’t last through the Ripping. He’d lose his sense of purpose and fly off the handle. He needs to be in his right mind, however crazy it actually is, in order to properly see out his plans.” I thought about this and he pulled me to him, hugging me tightly.

  “Are you scared?”

  “I’m not going to run from you again, Noah,” I consoled him, “But I am scared. For you and your clan. This Ripping ordeal sounds scary.”

  “We’ll be okay,” he rubbed his hand across my back, “Plus we have some friends offering their help.”

  “Good,” I insisted, “Get all the help you can get! I want to help, too, if there’s anything I can do.”

  He laughed happily; tilting my face up to him and pressing his lips against mine. “This is how you can help,” he said before kissing me again.

  “Well I’m happy to assist,” I said with a smile.

  ➹➹➹

  Noah

  I lost myself in thought as I parked the truck in a spot close to the video rental store. I couldn’t believe how amazingly our conversation had just gone. She had taken everything I told her in stride, and didn’t once wince or push me away. We had an open and honest conversation involving the paranormal and she didn’t run scared! I hoped it was a positive indication of how all our future conversations would go as well.

  "I can’t wait to see this place," she said as she got out and shut the door behind her. I hopped out of the car, catching up just in time to open the door for her. The electric bell above us released a dull beep, and we were met with the overwhelming smell of dust balls and cigarette smoke. Thanks to the Internet, video rental stores were increasingly becoming a thing of the past, and this store was living proof. The only reason we were here was because Sophie didn’t believe me when I said our town had one.

  I muffled a cough into my fist, as Sophie strolled on ahead, looking up and down the aisles with an index finger tapping against her lip. I quickly moved and positioned myself behind her, wrapping my arms around her shoulders. I didn’t care if the PDA was too much, I had gone days without touching her and I was still feeling deprived of the feeling. It didn’t seem to bother her, however, as she rested her hands over my arms and leaned down to place a small kiss on my forearm.

  "What exactly are we looking for?" I murmured in her ear.

  "What are you in the mood for?" she countered. I was going to respond with you but that was a little too cheesy, even for the Arrow. She pulled away and faced me with a playful smile. "Why don't you go find a movie you want to watch, and I’ll find one I want to watch? Then, we’ll watch both."

  I nodded seriously at her proposal and made a show of setting off on my mission. A lot of the store’s supply was VHS tapes with yellowed plastic cases. Given Sophie didn’t own a VCR, this significantly limited our options. I moved to the New Release section and spent some time perusing the titles that weren’t, in fact, “new” at all when the sound of Sophie's laughter caught my attention. I followed the sound; an automatic smile on my face, but my happiness waned when I saw the reason for her amusement was the tattooed, eyebrow-pierced clerk leering over the counter at her as if she was something to eat. Immediately, I clocked his strategically flexed biceps. They weren’t impressive, but I still hoped Sophie wasn’t noticing.

  He leaned forward and handed her a DVD, murmuring something to which she laughed again in response. Jealousy raged inside me, and I blindly reached behind me and grabbed the closest movie my fingers fell upon.

  I stalked towards my new enemy, a vein pulsing in my throat. By the time I got there, however, I decided to play a different card, so as to not alert Sophie. I'd seen Connall do it a thousand times when dealing with Benji, and it was exponentially more infuriating than actively displaying your rage.

  "These two please," I said coldly, in my lowest voice.

  Sophie looked up at me with a quizzical look on her face, but I didn't meet her gaze. Instead, I casually placed my arm around her and gave the guy a meaningful stare.

  "Sophie, can you check the video game section for anything decent?" I asked coolly. My eyes flashed to my arm around her and then returned to his, knowing he'd receive the message.

  "Um, sure," she said slowly, turning to go to the small video game section located in the corner. The clerk watched her longingly as she walked away. The second he noticed me glaring at him, however, he returned his eyes to the DVDs on the counter before him.

  "Just these two?" he mumbled and then coughed.

  "Yes, thank you." He turned to remove the security bands,

  "Oh and clerk?" I made sure to say the word 'clerk' the way someone would say the word 'vomit'. He froze and turned around, straining a smile.

  "Please be prompt about it." I felt Sophie's eyes upon me again, but when I turned to meet her gaze she looked back down at the outdated video game she held in her hand.

  "Ten fifty," The clerk grumbled. I reached into my pocket and tossed him some crumpled fives, not taking my eyes of her.

  "Anything good?" I called out to her.

  "No," she grumbled, swiftly placing back the game she had been looking at. I hadn’t expected her to really want a video game, so her frustration surprised me.

  "Here you go." The clerk handed me the bag.

  I turned, my hand not yet reaching to take it. "What's your name?"

  "It's Evan," he said, rolling his eyes. He could pretend to be unimpressed with me all he wanted. I took the bag, and forced him to look into my eyes. His shoulders rose a bit, almost in alarm.

  "I'm going to remember that," I said very slowly.

  Without another word, I turned to leave and noticed that Sophie was already outside waiting for me. I gave him one last meaningful glare before I let the door close behind me. I turned and saw her leaning against the car, her eyebrows scrunched together and her arms folded across her chest.

  "I didn’t even notice our selections but I’m going to guess already that we’ll probably have a better chance of finding something good on Netflix,” I said conversationally, avoiding her glare. She scoffed and climbed into the passenger seat, slamming the door behind her.

  With a deep sigh, I walked around the truck and got in. It wasn't until we were halfway down the road that she scoffed again, making a show of angling her body away from me. Clearly she wanted me to know that she was mad at me, and not the store’s terrible excuse for stock.

  "Okay, a shíorghrá,” I said with a sigh, "What did I do this time?"

  "'Oh and clerk'," she mocked in a deep voice. It sounded as if she was imitating a cartoon elephant and I had to bite my lip to keep from smiling.

  "What?" I asked innocently.

  "Why were you so rude to him, Noah?" She threw her hands in the air. "Trust me, I'm an employee in a small store too. It isn't easy. And giving someone such undeserved attitude is-is!" I waited patiently as I let her form her words. "You were a total jerk back there, Noah. A total and complete…assbutt!"

  "’Assbutt'?" I gasped, choking back laughter. I glanced over at her quickly with a mocking look of complete horror. Unfortunately that only irked her more, and she met my false emotion with full-blown wrath.

  “If you value your vital parts remaining in their current location you will not make fun of me right now, Noah Mactire,” she growled. Oh jeez, that was a new one. I’d gotten my fill of colorful threats from her before, but after some time they all became recycled. For her to invent a new expression of her anger meant I really had done it this time.

  “Sorry,” I acquiesced, mentally fighting the sensation of how her ferocity excited certain parts of my body, “You were saying?”

  “What did that guy do to deserve that?” She crossed her arms across her chest and frowned at me. Her anger was enjoyable, but her disappointment in me was not something I could laugh at.

  “He was
…looking at you,” I admitted. She raised an eyebrow and I groaned at her confusion. “Like he was undressing you with his eyes, looking at you,” I clarified. She still looked unconvinced so I continued. “I’m serious, Sophie. I don’t have to be a Seer witch to know what was going through that guy’s head. It was written all over his face. The guy was ogling you, and not in a respectful way either! It set me off a little.”

  She sat back in her seat as she thought about this, keeping quiet for the rest of the ride. “Did you have to be so hostile, though?” she asked, her voice slightly softer when we arrived at her house.

  “On the contrary, I think I kept my composure pretty well given the fact that I felt like taking him out back and beating the crap out of him.” I got out of the truck quickly and jogged around to open her door for extra brownie points. She still wasn’t looking me in the eye, however, so I continued my defense as I followed her into the house, “Instead of resorting to violence, I kept my cool and just firmly broke the news to him that you were unavailable for whatever disgusting things he had in mind for you.”

  She looked at me in horror. “Oh, gross, Noah!” I agreed. It was stomach turning imagining about what that grease ball had been thinking about. Given her continued infuriated expression aimed at me, I suddenly realized I had misread something.

  “Wait- what’s gross?” I asked, helping her take off her denim jacket and hanging it up in the coat closet.

  “You!” She jabbed a finger into my chest when I turned around. “You might as well have peed around me to mark me as your territory! I’m a person, Noah, you can’t just stake your claim!” Now I was the one getting frustrated. Here I was thinking we had been doing so well and now she was acting like she wanted to see other people?

  “I know that!” I yelled. She stormed off into the living room with a huff and I tried not to fume in there after her. We certainly were skilled in bothering each other, that was for sure. It did surprise me that the Arrow even allowed me to get so frustrated with her, but I was grateful because it made our relationship feel real instead of a fairy tale. If I was forced to roll over and be a thoughtless Prince Charming any time we disagreed, I’d probably go crazy.

  Still, as much as I enjoyed our arguments we had been having a very nice time before the store and I was eager to return to that mood. Taking a calm breath, I slowly walked into room and sat down on the couch and angled myself to face her.

  “I suppose I could have peed around you,” I said. Her eyes widened and I hastened to deliver the punch line. “I am part wolf after all.” The corners of her mouth lifted for only a moment before she sat up straight and slapped my arm.

  “Be serious!” she scolded. I held my hands up in surrender.

  “Okay, okay,” I soothed, “I’m sorry. I will admit it; I was a bit too territorial. I would be lying if I said that wasn’t in my nature, but I know that’s no excuse. I’m sorry if it upset you. I’m not sorry for bragging that you were my girlfriend, though.”

  “You weren’t bragging, Noah,” she disagreed, her voice softer, “and don’t think you can fix this with compliments and flattery.”

  “So I was jealous!” I threw my hands up, “Is that entirely unforgivable?”

  “Yes!”

  “WHY?”

  “Because jealousy means there’s a lack of trust!” she yelled. Just when I had her coming down I riled her right back up again. “It’s stupid, too! You don’t ever need to be jealous. You’re the only one I see, the only one I ever think about and I’m so crazy in love with you that I-“

  Unable to help myself, I cut her off by crashing into her. Kissing her fervently, my hands grasped either side of her face as her fingers tugged at my hair and she let out a small hum.

  “I interrupted you,” I said, pulling back quickly. I learned from the first time I pounced her mid-sentence that she didn’t love that. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be.” She sighed, her eyes still closed as she laid a hand over mine. “I’m still mad at you, though.”

  “Please don’t be,” I pleaded, “I’ll try to be better next time. I guess I didn’t cope well with the jealousy because I’ve already lost you once and I’m terrified it will happen again.”

  “I told you, I’m not going anywhere!” Her eyes opened and her brow furrowed again.

  “Yeah?” I challenged with a smile. To my relief, she smiled in return.

  “I’m staying right here. I don’t want to be with anyone else anywhere else,” she declared, moving to straddle my lap. My eyes widened at this sudden change in her mood. “In fact, I’m going to prove it.”

  Before I could respond, she kissed me hungrily and my arms wrapped around her in exultance. In the end, it didn’t really matter what DVDs we had ended up renting; I doubted we were going to spend much time looking at the screen, anyway.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Sophia

  I replaced the canned soup’s price display with a “Sale!” card, humming under my breath. Work at the grocery store involved some pretty mundane tasks, but I found I enjoyed doing things that allowed my mind to wander. I was a daydreamer and there was nothing like re-pricing sale items to let the imagination run wild.

  “Good afternoon, Sophia,” a quiet voice said. I turned to see an elderly woman pass me with a smile. I smiled widely, wishing I knew her name.

  “Good to see you!” I responded. She went on her way and I found myself feeling a little stunned. People knew my name? It felt oddly satisfying to be recognized. Back in New York, I always lamented being seen in public by people I knew. Here, however, I didn’t mind it so much. It filled me with a warm sense of home.

  It was hard to conceive it had only been a couple weeks ago that I was feeling so lost and dejected. Then suddenly, Noah came into my life and it was like all of these broken pieces came back together. I had friends, a routine, a boyfriend, and even a father that didn’t act like I was invisible anymore. I couldn’t believe how things had gotten so right so quickly. It almost made my eyes tear up just thinking about it.

  After having such a difficult year, it felt like this kind of stability was long overdue. I welcomed it, not questioning the reasons for how I got so lucky. Maybe James Allen wasn’t so far off the mark, after all. Whatever it was that was making my life so good at the moment, I didn’t want to let it go. I hoped with all my heart that things would be this way for a long time.

  “Noah is waiting for you outside,” Mark said, interrupting me from my thoughts. I looked passed him to see my favorite mountain man through the windows, looking at me with a smile. I couldn’t hold back my responding grin.

  “Do you want to go to him?” Mark asked, “You only have five minutes left on your shift. I can cover for you.”

  “Really?” I hugged him quickly, “That would be awesome!”

  “I guess now that your boyfriend’s here you won’t be needing that ride home.”

  “You’re off the hook tonight, carpool buddy,” I joked. I went into the back, punched out, and removed my vest, giving Mark one last wave before practically running out of the store. When I got outside, I found Noah leaning with arms crossed and a smug smile on his face. Wait- he was leaning against my car! And it looked good as new.

  “She’s all fixed up,” Noah announced, gesturing his arms widely.

  “He,” I corrected, recalling our inside joke. I jumped into his arms as I hugged him gratefully. “I still can’t believe you guys did this for me. It’s too much.”

  “It is not too much,” he disagreed, “Besides, it was good practice for Frankie and me. If we’re ever going to run a successful mechanic shop we need to gain some experience. You were the one who was too kind by offering up your car as a guinea pig.”

  “Can I drive it?” I asked, offering my hand up for the keys. He eyed me speculatively.

  “I don’t know, can you? Are you angry? Scared? Any emotional level above a 5?”

  “Keep mocking me and I’m sure I’ll get there,” I sang threateningly. I
shook my open palm under his face with impatience. He laughed, dropping the keys in my hand and I ran to the driver’s side to get in. Settling in, I ran my hands along the wheel as I took in the interior that I missed so much. My eyes fell upon the media console box and I froze.

  “Did you have a good day at work?” he asked, climbing in to the passenger side.

  “Noah,” I said slowly, keeping my eyes on the large screen on the dashboard.

  “Yes, dear?” he said in a light tone.

  “What am I looking at?”

  “A SIRIUS radio, GPS, and Mp3 player,” he said swiftly.

  “Hmm okay. I know I hit my head pretty hard in the crash, but I’m 90% positive that this car had a broken CD player as its media box before that happened.”

  “I told you,” he said pleasantly, “She’s all fixed up.”

  “He.” I took a breath, forcing myself to focus on the issue at hand. “Noah, I appreciate the gesture, but I can’t afford this!”

  “Who said anything about a price?” he asked, his nose wrinkled in confusion, “We aren’t charging you a dime for any of it, Sophie.”

  “Are you serious?” I turned to face him head on, “I can’t accept that! This car was nearly totaled. It must have cost a fortune to fix it!”

  “It was fixed by total novices,” he explained, “Haircuts at beauty schools are free for a reason. We weren’t licensed professionals, why should we charge you a professional price?”

  “So if someone else- someone you weren’t dating- donated their car to you as a guinea pig, you wouldn’t charge them either?”

  “Nope,” he said with a smile. There was no way for him to support that statement, but there was no way I could accuse him of lying either.

  “I can’t believe this,” I whispered, running my finger along the beautiful black buttons and dials. “Doesn’t this thing come with a subscription rate?”

  “Everything’s taken care of,” he insisted. I shook my head in disbelief. I wasn’t worth all of this. It was too much trouble, too much expense.