by EJ Everette
Well, I think, as Rip walks away from me in the same direction his twin took off just a few moments ago, they can think what they want. Rip is right. They just told me a shit ton of things and I need a fuckton of time, space, and energy to process it all. But, when I am done, once I wrap my head around it all, nothing changes. I am still merely their job, dictated so by some prophecy. Fuck that. No one gets to make decisions about my life but me. From now on, I am writing my own destiny.
7
Reid
This isn’t how it was supposed to happen. She was supposed to be relieved. She was supposed to let me hold her, run my hands through her hair, and comfort her like I have been fucking itching to do from the second we found her. My girl was supposed to be happy to know she belongs with me. With us.
But, just like every other good thing in my fucked up life, shit went south. Damnit! Fuck these stupid rules! Fuck the prophecy! Fuck my bro…
“Reid!” Speak of the devil. “Reid! Stop!”
“What?!” I spin around this time, ready to fight. I am done with this passive shit. I am well aware I am the fun guy in the group. I am the silly one, always making jokes and cutting up. Right now, though, right now no part of me feels playful. I am pissed and it's about time my perfect brother understood something.
“What could you possibly say to me, Rupert? What mighty perfect words do you have that you think will make this all better? That is the love of my life back there. My destiny! And she just kicked me out. Cast me away. Did you see her face? She was gone. That wasn’t even Gray, brother. That wasn’t the warm, amazing woman we know. She was blocked off, angry, and distant. What the hell kind of shit can you tell me right now to make all of that better? Huh?!” I shove him, only slightly, because I know my brother may look like a nerd but he can go toe-to-toe with me any day, and wait for his response. Surprisingly, instead of his usual put-together self, my twin looks distraught. And fucking pissed.
“You think it’s only your life in the balance here, Reid? You think you’re the only one fucking scared as shit that she won’t take us back? Ever think about, I don’t know, the REST OF US?! You know, the men you share that destiny with? Do you think this is what any of us, what I expected? I can see the fucking future and I never once thought she would push us away when she found out the truth! But guess what, none of us have the luxury of throwing a motherfucking fit like this. You know why? Because that woman is not only our reason for breathing, she is also our responsibility to protect. We are guardians, first and foremost.”
He has a point, which I always hate more than anything. After over 60 years, this man, my twin, is right way more often than he is wrong. Annoying bastard. I sigh, my shoulders dropping, and nod my head in resignation. There is so much more to this than just being with the woman we love. Hold up…
“Why didn’t we tell her?”
Rip and I had both started making our way back toward the lot up the road where the guys were waiting for us. Gray isn’t the only one who can feel our presence. The difference is, we have had the ability far longer than she has, it’s just strengthened now. I could pinpoint any one of my brothers’ locations at any given moment, even in this realm. Her igniting has amplified everything. My question needed no additional information. My twin stops walking next to me, reaches out to place his hand on my shoulder, then brings his head up a bit to meet my eyes before answering.
“Brother. There is nothing more in this world that I want than to tell Gray she belongs with me. With us. I know we implied a great deal of things today, but I would love to grab her, kiss her, and tell her she is fated to be loved and adored by us for the rest of our lives. Explain to her that no man will ever touch her again, aside from my brothers and me. Assure her that she will forever be cherished, worshipped, and not for her royal title but just because she belongs with us. But..” He drops his head now, his hand falling from my shoulder, forming a tight fist at his side. “But, she needs time. She has to figure things out on her own. She didn’t grow up in our world. She doesn’t understand these things like we do. She has lived a human life. We could lose her forever if we push too soon.”
“So what do we do then? Just stay away from her? What if we have already lost her?” I know. I know I sound like a child. I know I am probably missing some huge point right now but I literally don’t give a fuck. It hurts. This moment hurts, being away from her. Especially knowing she knows the truth now. Well, most of it.” We start walking again, the truck within sight, the guys standing around it, waiting for us. After a few more steps, and probably some reasoning inside of that jumbo brain of his, he finally answers me.
“We wait. She isn’t lost to us, yet. She just needs time. I know she will come around. Don’t let your fear and anger overrule you, brother. We have a job to do, one that will keep us busy, and the rest will fall into place.” He says this last part as we reach the rest of the guys and Mitch steps away from the spot on the truck where he has been leaning, waiting for our arrival.
“He is right. We have work to do. Are we good?” He is looking at me for some acknowledgement that I am not going to lose my shit again but Rip is the one who nods in affirmation. He seems to accept that and we all climb into the truck, Chance in the driver’s seat, stoic as fucking ever. Dean takes the passenger and I climb into the back with my brother and Mitch. Tight squeeze with this many big guys in such a small pace, but we make it work.
“Now that everyone is here,” Mitch cast a side eye in my direction but I don’t see anyone giving Pouty McPouterson behind the wheel any grief. Just because he hasn’t ignited yet everyone is so accepting of his mood swings. Whatever. I do my best to put on a small smile, or whatever my face is attempting, and wait for the new information.
“We have learned some things that need to be discussed. First up, Petra, the lawyer lady. As requested by the council, I did some digging. I just received notification from one of my contacts in the area with an update. Petra is part of the Pushkan clan. Witches.” He looks around the cab, letting this new information sink in. Witches can be valuable allies or they can bring entire villages down, picking off leaders one by one then decimating the remaining members. Well damn.
“Which side is the Pushkan clan on?” I ask. This is going to be a problem if she is playing for the wrong side. The asshat Aiden, who I thoroughly enjoyed destroying after he beat Tanner nearly dead, had been spelled by a witch from a different clan. One that worked for the lower beings of Gash. They had taken the feelings he already harbored, much like I had, and used them to influence his behavior. He was cursed and would have continued until Tanner had died if Gentry hadn’t stopped him in time.
“From what we can tell, they seem legit. The council has had a few dealings with them here and there over the centuries and they maintain that the clan is a mostly neutral family with no record of negative interference.”
Dean turns in the front seat to face us all better. “Why are they involved with Gray, then?” His question is the exact one I had intended to ask. If they are neutral, what are they doing with a clan member so closely linked to Gray and her family?
“That,” Mitch huffs out, his right hand coming up to rub at his forehead, “we don’t know.” According to what we could get out of Leanne today, Petra Pushkan claims to be an old friend of Gray’s Grams, fulfilling her responsibility now that Gianna is gone. To what degree this is true, I am not sure yet. It's definitely something we need to be looking into.”
None of us have slept for going on two weeks, not well anyway. Dean has barely moved in as much time. He doesn’t handle loss well, and, shit it’s all too deep and emotional for me to think about right now. A mission is what we all need to get us back in the game. As much as I hate to agree with my twin, this is exactly what we need to distract us from the gaping hole in our lives until Gray accepts us back.
“So we strategize,” I speak up. This is what I am good at. This is where my leader of a brother most often defers, though he never stays completel
y back-seat.
“Yes, but there is something else before we start dividing up. Another problem.” Mitch looks at Dean who nods, accepting his turn to present more shitty news to us.
“Gray is going to need a detail. The Gash foot soldiers upped their shit with the house fire and now she has ignited, a fact I am positive they are aware of. I know we have all been around in some way or another while she was in the hospital, but now that she is out and free to get around, we need constant surveillance on her moving forward.”
Well no shit. We all knew this was coming. Why are they acting so upset about this? Those fuckers have been after her from the start. It’s why we have had someone nearby all of the time. Rip spent that whole weekend with her to “study” when we caught that small horde of them moving in on her house. Then, when the human stalker kid trying to steal her from us ended up pissing her off, Dean was close enough to keep track of her until she finally stopped at the beach. We never really leave her alone unless we are all together, like right now.
“Besides these amazing moments we share as a group, she is never really without one of us. This isn’t new information. What am I missing?” Since no one else is going to ask, I take the bait. Should have kept my damn mouth shut.
“What you are missing, brother, is that Gray has practically dismissed us from her life,” my brother says through clenched teeth. “And, you know who she hasn’t gotten rid of?”
Shit. The human guy. Flynn whatever. She sure as shit isn’t mad at him.
“Exactly, and that means whoever has detail on the days they are together…”
He doesn’t finish his thought but he doesn’t have to. We all know what Dean is implying. We just had our hearts stomped on by the woman we love. Now, to protect her, we will have to stand by and watch her learn to love someone else. Worse yet, we can’t interfere one bit. Hell, this is going to be even worse than before.
Everyone starts talking at once, arguing over who will take what duty and I know. I know it is my job to delegate this shit and I know whoever ends up on Gray duty will both thank me and hate me, depending on how the days go. But I have to make the decision. My hands pull down at my face in frustration. With basically no wiggle room, and no way to please everyone, I go with what I think the best options will be and hope no one kills me for it.
“Dean, you and I will stay on the Pushkan thing. We will work with the council, interview some of our local contacts, the works. Out of everyone here, our tempers are… well we're the worst. I have already almost fucked things up once when alone with Gray and you knocked yourself out from anger when you saw the human kissing her. Probably safest to keep our distance.” He looks at me with so much gratitude, it almost helps ease the tension in the truck. Almost. Turning to my other brothers, I seal the deal.
“Mitch, you, Chance, and Rip will take shifts watching Gray. She is not to be left without someone close enough to sense if she is moving away. You don’t have to keep watch over her, with your eyes, but you need to be close enough to get to her if needed. Close enough to stop shit from going south if something comes for her. Rip, you are the most level-headed of us all. Mitch, you can sense the emotions of the enemy nearly as well as ours. We need you there to read people. Chance, well you seem to give zero fucks most of the time so we can use your muscle on scene in case there is a fight. Everyone understand their role?” I breathe out the last of my air and wait.
Finally, my twin speaks up. “I think, though I hate it, this is the best course of action. You are right, brother, and we need to play to our strengths. Gray’s safety is our number one priority. Let’s all get home, get sleep,” he says, his eyes burning a hole into Dean, “and start in a few hours. Everyone on board?” There are murmurs of agreement from within the cab as each of us start to develop plans for our roles, and deal with what the results of this mission will be. Everyone is quiet so it isn’t hard to hear when Chance finally says something, though he doesn’t embellish for any of our benefit.
“Fuck.”
Guess the Ice King does have some feelings involved. I try not to snicker when I hear him, but it’s good to know he isn’t completely detached.
8
Gray
I’m not sure how long I sat outside after the guys left, but eventually Leanne came to get me and drag my ass back inside. She wanted to talk about everything that went down but, honestly I just can’t right now. I told her I needed some space so she left a few minutes ago to meet a few of her friends at the beach. Sometimes I forget she has other people in her life other than Tan and me.
I need time to process everything the guys told me, but more importantly I need to figure out what comes next. What emotions am I feeling right now? Which ones can I afford to feel and which ones get locked up in the tower, never to be heard from again?
I am a princess. A god. Well, a goddess I assume. I am not from earth or whatever they called this place. Realm. Shit, I need to write all of this down somewhere. Grabbing a small notebook from my bag, I swipe past the doodles to an empty page. My favorite pen, the dark blue gel pen Grams got me for summer school, is in the zipper pouch in the front of my bag. I snatch it and burrow myself deep in the heavy duvet on Le’s bed. At the top of the page I write out, “What I know, I think”. Yeah, seems legit.
Okay first things first, god status, followed closely by motherfucking princess (said in my best Avril Lavigne head voice). From there, it’s a bunch of bullet point nonsense and questions I need answered.
Realms exist, a bunch, and I’m not from this one
My mom was murdered by… something
My entire life is a lie
I have a super power. Powers?
The guys are guardians from different realms
The guys have powers
There is a prophecy about me (so basically I’m either Buffy or Percy Jackson)
I could be evil
Someone or something is trying to hurt me
What is my power?
Do I have to leave earth?
What about Charlie? Does he have powers?
As lists go, it’s a rather depressing one, but it's what I have to work with.
Gah! I am still so irritated with the guys. The rational part of my brain is trying to tell me that they haven’t done anything wrong. They have been protecting me, exactly what they have been assigned to do. But, the human in me, or whatever I am, feels betrayed. They lied to me. They let me believe things. Led me to think they… well that they cared for me. I know nothing was ever going to come of the group of us. I’m not an idiot. I can’t exactly be with all five of them. Not to mention that I might legitimately be falling in love with Finn who, according to the guys, is actually who he says he is, and cares about me. Bonus points to the human. But still, I was beginning to trust them. Let them in. I introduced them to Charlie, let them see me when I was weak and vulnerable. I relied on them as more than just some guardians. I thought… I thought we were friends.
I slam the notebook closed, tossing it across the room into the fluffy beanbag chair I have spent countless hours on in this room when visiting Le. My pen lands right beside it and I throw my head back into the pillows in frustration. This is all too complicated. I have spent so much time in my normal state; avoiding others at all cost. Leanne and Tanner, they are unique. I guess Finn is, too. Something about each of them let me open up and trust them. They’ve been nothing but real with me. I don’t want, or need, anyone else. I thought I had that with the guys, but it was all some magicky bullshit. My feelings, my trust, have been manipulated to just accept them without question. The idea that anyone can have that control over me is terrifying. After what I have lived through…
It takes next to nothing to throw my mind back to just a few years ago, the last house I was in before Grams brought us home…
“That’s the last time you run from me, you little slut! This time, there is no way you will get loose. I guarantee it.”
My hands are tied once, twice, three times
in ropes that scratch and tear at my skin. The boy before me laughs, spittle falling from his sneer, as he grabs the massive chains and links them to my wrists as well.
“I’m not getting in trouble for your running off again. I don’t give a damn about your little brother being sold, missy. You’re never going to see that little shit again anyway. Accept it, play nice, and maybe they’ll let me be the one who takes care of you from now on. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? We’ve gotten so close, the two of us.” He punctuates this by pausing in his task to bind me and gropes my small breasts, exposed beneath my torn tank.
I can’t bother myself to react to him. At my fourteen years of age, he can’t be more than a year or two older than me at best. He has been here longer than me, long enough for the man and woman, names I don’t bother remembering, to turn him into a monster, like them. But it didn’t start that way. No, Eric started off as my friend.
He pulls my bruised legs to the side of the bed he propped me up against. I don’t even get the luxury of being on the bed, just laid against it, arms chained and wrapped to the headboard and footboard. He grabs zip ties, my least favorite invention lately, and pushes my bony ankles deep into each other before securing them together.
“We could have had a great deal of fun together, baby. We could have been a team. It breaks my heart that you fight me like this. That you fight them.”
“F...Fu...Fuck You.” I breathe out. I am still out of breath and wounded from the chase through the woods. I had broken free the moment I heard Charlie had been sold. SOLD! Eric had promised me to protect him. He said he had a way to keep him safe. He had pretended we were friends, that he liked me. He took care of me and attended to me like I was the most precious thing he had ever seen. He had been my first real kiss. Had even been my first…