by Jaime Loren
I reached up and slid my fingers through it, fighting the horrible feeling it would be the last time.
My chin trembled, and he shook his head.
“No.”
“I know,” I replied, but my tears said otherwise.
“No,” he whispered, then sought my mouth. His tongue slid against mine, and I melted into the bed as he rolled on top of me. I couldn’t imagine a time I would ever say no to him. A time I wouldn’t welcome the feel of him inside of me. He cradled my head as he moved, not once breaking eye contact.
And that’s when I knew he was once again committing me to memory. That his fear was even bigger than my own.
He kissed away my tears and slid his fingers between mine as our bodies moved together, each motion bringing us closer to the end.
It was earth-shattering and all at once calming, hard and soft, fierce and tender. We didn’t care who heard us, because no one else existed. When he relaxed on top of me and kissed my lips, I wanted to tell him I loved him.
But that wasn’t part of the plan.
We held onto each other for as long as we could before silently getting up to dress.
We knew what we had to do.
And we had to pray Rowan would be willing to help.
Chapter 47
(Scott)
I chugged another Red Bull.
“Are you sure that’s such a good idea?” Tom asked as we sat outside the Tav, where April was celebrating her birthday.
I shrugged. “I guess we’ll soon find out, won’t we?” I crushed the empty can in my hand and threw it on the ground with the other three, then waited ten minutes before I went inside.
“Scott!” Rowan called as I closed the door behind me. After taking a deep breath I approached them. I gave Rowan a knowing look, while Mike stood up to let me in next to April. She was as pale as a ghost when I sat down. My stomach turned at how much stress this was putting her under, but I needed her to be here.
I needed her.
“April,” I nodded unenthusiastically.
She mumbled a hello before looking away.
John stared at me, a horrible shade of grey.
“You must be Joshua.” I smiled, holding out my hand. I had to wait a moment before he responded. The instant his palm met mine, my heart seized. I wondered if his did too. He was my brother.
My brother.
This couldn’t be happening.
“I’m Scott Parker. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Joshua Banks,” he replied slurred. My jaw tightened over his performance. I stared at him a moment, trying to wrap my head around it all. I could see his mind ticking over with what looked like fear. Was he scared of me? Could I actually pull this off?
“It’s great to finally put a face to the name.” I smiled.
He smiled nervously. “Oh?”
I nodded. “Stella and I had a few deep and meaningfuls before your accident. She thinks the world of you.”
His smile came more naturally. “Oh. Well the feeling’s mutual. She’s amazing.” He wrapped his arm around her.
I grinned. “She is.”
He shot April a quick look. It felt so strange—sitting next to the woman I loved, and across from my own brother: her murderer. April was right. It was a twisted nightmare.
He was just a kid back then. How could he be the one who’d escaped Hell?
When I turned back, he was studying my face. He had that same look our mother used to get when she was trying to tell if one of us was lying. Usually, it was John. He hadn’t been a bad kid, but he had definitely been the black sheep. Our father had even joked that he had the black hair to prove it.
How was all of this possible?
“I didn’t know you were back,” Stella said. As she lifted her palm from the table, I noticed it left a mark. She was nervous.
Good. We’d deal with her later.
“I wouldn’t miss April’s birthday.” I smiled at April. She didn’t smile back. “Just because we’re going our separate ways, doesn’t mean we won’t always be friends.”
Stella shot April a look, narrowing her eyes. April’s not now head shake was almost imperceptible.
Rowan put his arm around April. He was embellishing, but I couldn’t really fault him for taking advantage of the situation. We were lucky he was talking to us, let alone helping us set John up. All we’d had to tell Rowan was that Stella had confided in April and told her Joshua didn’t always take no for an answer. Being the loyal friend he was, I’d had to talk Rowan out of driving straight to John’s house to beat the crap out of him.
We’d told him all we’d planned to do was teach Joshua a lesson, and to help Stella leave him. It was deceitful, and we would make it up to Rowan afterward, but our number one goal tonight was to blindside John.
So far, it was working perfectly.
I smacked the table. “Anyway, it’s probably my shout. Joshua, what can I get you?”
“Ah, a scotch on the rocks, thanks,” he replied.
The group fell quiet.
“Kidding,” he went on. “Cola would be fine.”
I nodded and stood as I asked everyone else. Rowan offered to go and get them for me. I patted him on the back and gave him a one hundred dollar bill, and he joked that he might not come back.
“So,” I said, settling back into my chair. “April tells me you’ll be running again in no time?”
“That’s right,” Joshua nodded, relaxing. “In a month or two, I’ll really be allowed to test it.”
“In the meantime,” Stella interrupted, rubbing his bad leg, “he’s gaining some great upper body strength.”
I glanced at April, thinking of the type of upper body strength he’d inflicted on her in the past. She had her face turned away from me. Her body was tense, feeling like rock next to mine. I subtly slid my hand under the table and brushed the back of my fingers across her knee. Soon enough, the tips of her fingers connected with mine. Such a small touch, but one that sent my heart racing. “I saw you, you know—the night of the accident. You were an absolute mess. I never thought I’d be sitting across from you a few months later, laughing off your injuries. It’s a miracle you survived.”
He grinned nervously. “That’s true.”
Rowan returned with our drinks, and I raised my bottle to John’s glass, smiling.
“Here’s to the Miracle Man.” The others at the table joined in the toast.
The conversation carried for another hour, and after we’d sung happy birthday to April and she’d cut the cake, some of the group broke away to mingle. April’s parents kissed her goodbye, and she looked across the room at me, her eyes riddled with anxiety. A moment later Rowan was by her side, rubbing her back. It’d taken a couple of years, but I understood him now, and I’d never been more grateful to have him around. All he seemed to care about was April’s happiness, and if that included being pissed at me for leaving her while she was in a coma, so be it.
John was apparently fooled by my performance. He spoke as if we weren’t brothers, and acted as if he hadn’t been killing April for hundreds of years. When it was close to midnight, I stood and said my goodbyes, then walked away from the table.
He’d bought it. He had no idea I’d recognized him. He was sitting at the table, as smug as could be, believing he’d gotten away with everything he’d done to April. To me.
He was dead wrong.
The room was then thrown into darkness.
Thank you, Tom.
People around us groaned and mumbled, and a few cell phone lights flashed, working as makeshift torches. I reached for April and pulled her against me, slipping my arm around her waist.
Her breath quickened. “Scott?”
I crushed my lips to hers.
Chapter 48
(April)
For a moment I blocked the world out. It was just Scott and me. Boy kissing girl. Girl laying her life on the line for boy, trusting that boy knew what he was doing. Boy holding girl so tight, no
one could ever come between us again. I savored the moment. Relished the feel of his tongue against mine. Marveled at the heat of his body melting my bones. Concentrated on the beat of my heart—as fast as a hummingbird’s wings—as the complaints erupting around us began to unravel the moment and tug us back down to earth.
Scott pulled back, pressing his forehead to mine as he took my face in his hands. “Now,” he whispered.
I kept my voice low. “I love you, Scott Parker.”
His breath shuddered, and he kissed me again.
I didn’t want to let him go. “Good luck.”
“You too.”
I reached for Rowan, who snagged my hand in his and squeezed.
“Stella?” he called.
“Here.”
There was laughter as people bumped into tables on their way toward the exit.
“I can’t find Joshua,” Stella said, an edge of panic in her voice.
Rowan let go of my hand and moved toward her. “I can see him. Come with me.”
It was his job to get her outside without John. Scott held me behind him, shielding me, just in case the most important part of our plan hadn’t worked.
Then the back-up generator kicked in, casting blue light across the room.
It was still dark, but now I could see John, collapsed under a table.
My pent-up rage boiled over. I reached John before Scott did, and pulled him onto his back. “You fucking son-of-a-bitch,” I seethed, pulling at his collar as he groaned. “How do you like it now, huh? How do you like being helpless, you asshole!”
“April!” Scott pulled me off him.
“Let me do it,” I begged, struggling against him.
He held me tighter and spoke in my ear. “Stick with the plan, baby. Find Rowan and Stella.”
By this stage, Tom had joined us inside. “Hurry.”
Scott nodded, letting me go to grab John’s arms. “Take his right,” Scott told Tom, and together they started dragging him toward the far exit, away from the exit Rowan had led Stella through.
“What’s going on?”
I spun to find the Tav’s owner coming toward us. “Um … he had too much to drink.”
He looked John up and down. “He brought his own liquor in?”
“Apparently. I’m so sorry.”
“What’s his name?”
“Joshua Banks.”
“Don’t worry,” Tom said in an American accent. I was impressed. “I’m taking him home and teaching him a lesson.”
The owner, grumbled. “He ain’t allowed back.”
“Noted,” Tom replied, and he and Scott kept moving.
“Find Stella,” Scott reminded me.
I nodded and headed for the other exit.
Rowan and Stella met me outside.
“Is Joshua still in there?” she asked.
“Not that I know of.”
Rowan shot me a look. “Maybe he’s waiting by your car, Stell.”
Her gaze darted around the crowd as people came up and said their goodbyes to me.
“Maybe,” she replied, unconvinced.
“Let’s go check,” I said, pulling her to the other side of the lot. It bought Scott and Tom more time to get John in their car on the other side of the Tav, but she became more agitated when he wasn’t waiting at her car.
I pulled out my phone. “Let me call him.”
She paced anxiously as I pretended to dial. I waited another full minute before telling her it went through to voicemail.
She shook her head. “Something isn’t right.”
Rowan frowned at me. “Maybe we should go back to April’s. He might meet us there.”
She sighed. “Maybe.”
My heart kicked into overdrive when I had to touch her. “Come on, Stell.”
She looked down at me, contemplating. “Okay. But I have to get my bag. I think I left it inside.”
I quickly scanned the parking lot. The last of the cars were pulling out, and I was sure Scott and Tom had had enough time to leave. “Don’t get lost in there,” I said as she marched toward the Tav.
I waited until she was back inside, then exhaled with relief.
“I’ve never spiked anyone’s drink before,” Rowan said, his eyes filled with mischief. “Took him a while to go down, didn’t it?”
I turned to him. “I can’t thank you enough. You really put yourself on the line tonight.”
“You know, you could’ve asked anything of me today, and I would’ve said yes.”
My heart actually warmed. I didn’t think that was possible tonight, under these circumstances, but it did. “I don’t deserve you.”
“You’ll never get rid of me. I’m just waiting for Scott to screw up, and then—” He made a swooping motion, complete with sound effects.
“Rowan.” I smiled.
So did he.
“So you figured it out,” Stella called, storming toward us.
Rowan straightened up.
She stopped a few yards away. “I’m sorry, Rowan. You were never meant to get caught up in this.”
Something metallic glinted in her hand, and then she raised it and pointed it at Rowan.
My squeal was drowned out by the crack of her pistol.
Rowan’s head flicked back, the thud of the bullet against his skull almost as loud to me as the gunfire.
My heart seized, then sent out a burst of cold horror that reached my fingertips and toes in an instant. My vision blurred as I held my breath, my throat closing. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. I tried to will my feet to move in order to catch him as he fell, but they wouldn’t budge.
And then it occured to me he should’ve fallen by now, but he hadn’t.
The bullet dropped to the ground before him. I exhaled quickly.
“You know, that’s actually not the first time that’s happened to me,” he said, lifting a hand to his forehead.
My draw dropped. Stella’s eyes were wide when I glanced at her.
Then she refocused on me.
Rowan didn’t hesitate to jump in front of me, taking at least five bullets before we hit the ground.
He cradled my head, taking the impact of the pavement as his weight crushed me. Stella’s pistol jammed on the next round.
I struggled to breathe, but Rowan’s breath was hot against my ear. “Hold still,” he whispered.
“What?” I wheezed.
“I’ll explain everything later.” In the next moment he was on his feet, charging towards Stella.
I stumbled as I got up, clasping my head, trying to make sense of the fact Rowan had just been shot six times, yet he was tackling Stella to the ground.
“Run, April!” he called out.
“What?” I gasped.
“Run!”
My legs felt like jelly. I wasn’t sure if they’d carry me to my car.
“Now!” he roared, right before Stella’s pistol went off again, shattering my car window beside me.
I didn’t need convincing after that.
Chapter 49
(Scott)
Wallingford, Connecticut
John’s black hair hung in his eyes. A bead of sweat trailed down his nose and dripped onto his stomach. He’d looked innocent in sleep, but the drugs Rowan had slipped into his cola were now wearing off. His eyelids fluttered as he came to. I wiped the sweat from my brow, my Red Bulls keeping my brain in overdrive. I wasn’t looking forward to the crash, but hopefully John would be long dead by then.
Tom finished dousing the barn with gasoline, then came and stood behind me. “Do you want me to leave?”
My eyes didn’t leave John. “You can stay as long as you like. But if you leave now, you’ll have plausible deniability.”
He laughed. “It’s not like anyone will find out about this anyway. Only April.”
At the sound of her name, John decided to talk, sans slur. “That fucking whore.”
I stood up so quickly my chair flew back, and I punched John so hard his chair
fell over. Both of us groaned in pain. I shook my hand, my knuckles splashed with both his blood and mine, and then grabbed his collar to right him and his chair. “That’s my fiancée you’re talking about,” I seethed, shoving him again before letting go.
He grinned as I picked up my chair and took a seat opposite him.
The flood lamps cast shadows across his already dark face. “So, here we are. Brother.”
The word was like a knife in my back. I took a moment to compose myself before speaking. “I thought you were dead.”
He chuckled, then raised his eyebrows, animating his whole face. “Surprise!”
I glared. His features darkened again. I clenched my jaw, my knuckles whitening as I fisted my hands on my knees and leaned forward. “What are you?”
“Human. What are you?”
I tilted my head. “Don’t play games with me.”
“We used to play a lot of games before that little bitch sucked your cock.”
I stood slowly, my muscles trembling with fury. It took every ounce of strength I had to control my voice. “She was going to be my wife.”
His eyes narrowed. “What do you want me to say, Scotty?”
“I want you to show some remorse.”
“I did you a favor.”
“You ruined my life!”
He shook his head. “Look at you—you’re young, you have a shitload of money, women would sell their souls to fuck your brains out—”
“I want her!” I roared, picking up my chair and throwing it across the barn. “All I’ve ever wanted is her!”
He took a deep breath and spoke calmly. “Then let me go, and you can have her.”
I scoffed. “You’re not in any position to be bargaining with me.”
He smirked. “Is that so?”
My stomach tightened, despite my confidence that April was okay.
His laugh was full of menace.
I narrowed my eyes. “Who tried to drown April at the cabin? Clearly it wasn’t you, considering you were on the brink of death at the time.”
Only now, as the words fell from my mouth, did it make sense. He’d fallen asleep, just as I had when April had confessed her love for me. Only difference was, while I was safe in bed with her, John had been driving with Stella—on his way to kill April, no doubt.