Slowly his senses crawled back to near normal. Aaron climbed off, staring down with open contempt. Behind him, Nathan and Jackson had become an audience. They stared in mutual awe and dread.
His leader didn’t bother to mask his disgust. “Go take care of the body. Then get out of our home.”
Nothing should have pleased Holden more. Any other day, the dismissal would have him skipping out of the house. If this was the case, why was he pinned with horror at what he’d just done?
“If I see you here again, I will personally end your miserable existence,” said Aaron.
Holden still couldn’t answer. He swallowed the wretched urge to call after his alpha—former alpha?—as Aaron stalked out of the house. The smooth rumble of the Maserati at last brought him to the point he could groan and cover his face with one hand.
Large hands were on him, almost hesitantly. Holden didn’t resist as Jackson helped him sit up. Nathan also crouched in front of him, his eyes as dark as his brother’s but wide with a light of odd respectability Aaron had never before given Holden.
“Hey, man,” said Jackson quietly. “Look, I can help... I mean, with the burial.”
Holden met his eyes. In that moment, an understanding connected them in camaraderie. For the first time, it occurred to him that Jackson wasn’t as blind a follower as he seemed.
“I can help, too,” said Nathan in unusually subdued tones.
A tight smile pulled Holden’s lips. He allowed Jackson to help him up, but waved him off when support was offered. The vertigo that often came with getting his ears boxed hadn’t affected him so badly this time. He’d been down long enough to regain most of his control.
“Thanks, but I got this,” he said.
Jackson hesitated, and then lowered his gaze. “Sorry.” He shifted uncomfortably. “Just... look after RayRay, wouldja?”
Holden knew he’d never hear those words, in that order, from Jackson ever again. When he spoke, he put all his effort into his voice, hoping the pup understood that his answer would always be the same.
“I will.”
He stumbled out the front door. Aaron had been kind enough to dump the shovel, bag, and lengths of rope on the lawn before he’d driven off. Squaring his shoulders, Holden snatched the necessities and lumbered into Douglas Park, back where the little girl lay just as dead as they’d left her.
Chapter Ten
With Monday came a gloomy downpour of rain to match Rachael’s mood. The walk from the bus to the front hall was enough to plaster her blonde hair to her head. At her locker she removed her sopping sweaters and stuffed them into her backpack. Hopefully in gym she’d be able to lay them out somewhere to dry a little.
She struggled to focus on her schoolwork that morning, naturally preoccupied with what to do about her brother. Her fruitless fight with Roxi a couple years back haunted her. It’s exactly the same, she thought. The time limit to save him had been graciously extended, but in that moment one week felt just as harsh as one hour.
What was the lycans’ obsession with wanting her brother dead? She wished Holden hadn’t been forced to drop out of school to survive. All of her problems would be a million times more bearable if she could just talk to him.
And for that matter, why did senior year have to be exponentially more brutal with their tests? Rachael scratched her head angrily, hunched over a quiz. She foolishly wished all of this could have happened last year, or even after next summer.
You could skip, her conscience nudged her. It’s stupid to be here. Jackie’s in trouble and you haven’t done anything about it yet.
But her father would be furious once he heard she was skipping school. What if he grounded her, or took away her privilege to see Jackson?
Dealing with the fallout later is better than doing nothing and letting him die.
A surreal sense encompassed her from that point on. Conversations with her classmates sounded distant and fuzzy. The idle chatter of after-school activities and last night’s naughty date seemed pathetic in her world. Werewolves exist! she wanted to cry. And they’re going to try killing my brother—again!
Only when the shrill bell sounded for lunch did the haze seem to lift. Rachael snapped up, acutely aware of her surroundings.
She shouldn’t be here.
Resolved, she strode from her fourth period class to her locker. A deluge of rain continued to rap a heavy beat on the hall windows. Though it showed no signs of letting up, her decision remained unchanged.
Rachael knew she’d need her baggage light. She tossed all her textbooks and ruined clothes into the locker, her backpack strung limply over one shoulder, and slammed the door shut. The ferocity of the metallic clang lost itself amongst teenage chatter.
Perhaps because she walked with purpose, nobody stopped Rachael from striding out the front door and into the torrential winds. Drops lashed at her like tiny whips, but she just shielded her eyes and pressed on.
She hadn’t even gotten to the sidewalk when a bright yellow umbrella infringed upon her vision. Blinking in confusion, Rachael turned her back to the wind to face Vera.
Her friend was completely soaked, though wisely wearing a lavender raincoat that beautifully offset her brilliant umbrella and rain boots. She squinted. “It’s weird. You’re not the type to skip class.”
Rachael smiled wryly. “I gotta go save my brother from evildoers.”
Vera’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh. Why didn’t you say so? I left my level 30 Giltinė mace in physics.” When Rachael snorted, Vera shook her head. “Seriously, I’m just worried about you.”
“I’m okay,” said Rachael with far more calm than she felt. “Can you just do me a favor, as a friend? Pretend you didn’t see me?”
“No can do,” said Vera with a cheeky smile. “But I can relay the story. Convince me.”
She hated to lie to her best friend, but Vera’s concern kindled warmth in her heart. Some honesty was better than none. “Jackie got into some trouble. I can’t concentrate. I need to be there for him.”
Vera nodded solemnly. Then, ignoring Rachael’s protests, she pushed the umbrella into her hands. “Sounds like the worst cramping in the world. Way worse than mine, and you know I’m a crybaby.”
Unable to contain herself, Rachael wrapped her arms around Vera in a fierce hug. Hopefully the rain would hide her tears. “I love you,” she choked out.
“Aw, whatever. Save it for Holden.” Vera patted her on the back. “Call me if you need anything. I mean it,” she added as the embrace ended. She caught Rachael with a disquieting stare. “You’re my best friend, and you can trust me with anything. Even nasty growly evildoers.”
Something about her joke raised the hairs on Rachael’s neck. Nevertheless, she agreed to the terms and left, using the umbrella to block the wind. The going was slow. More than once a shift in pressure turned the canary yellow umbrella inside out. Still she pressed on.
Rachael hadn’t thought about where she was going initially, but the idea struck her halfway home. She needed to go back to the woods, where Jackson and the body had been discovered.
Her father was, thankfully, not at their house. Rachael used her key to unlock the heavy deadbolt, pulling off her squishy shoes at the door before making her way upstairs. A hot shower sounded lovely, but she instead changed her clothes, grabbed a more suitable jacket, and called Holden’s apartment.
“Yeah?” he answered.
“Are you going to work?” she asked, buckling a worn brown belt around her hips.
His voice was strangely flat. “I just got home. Jordan has the evening shift today. This sucks, Ray. If he keeps taking my hours, I can’t make rent.”
What did that matter, thought Rachael. He was about to move in with Aaron anyway. She flagrantly changed the subject. “Holden, I need a ride to Douglas Park.”
Some real tone colored into her friend’s voice. “You gotta be kidding. Did you stay home sick or something? It’s gross outside.”
Patiently, she said, “
I don’t have money for a taxi, and I’m only asking because if I walk all the way there myself, I might not make it home tonight. Daddy comes home early Mondays.” That and she couldn’t afford to get sick or lost alone. She knew the woods better than even the lycans, but going alone was never a smart idea. Rachael had tangled with a lycan once and lost. She would be dead if not for Aaron’s fortuitous timing. If she were to somehow come across another, she was aware enough her strength was subpar.
Holden must have been thinking the same thing, because he replied, “No way you’re going alone. I’ll pick you up in twenty.”
“Thank you.” She breathed a sigh of relief.
True to his word, Holden shortly arrived in a beater car. Only pausing to ensure the door was locked, she splashed down the driveway and climbed into the blessed warmth of the vehicle. Holden wordlessly shifted gears and they rumbled off.
The windshield wipers toiled furiously to keep the glass clear as they drove. The rhythmic thwack thwock soothed Rachael more than she ever could have thought.
She cast a sideways glance at Holden. Thank goodness he was always there for her. If she actually had to go into this alone, she wasn’t sure she would be successful.
She placed her hand over his, curving her knuckles as his were over the shift knob. When he afforded her a brief look she offered him a smile, which he returned.
When they reached Douglas Park, Rachael was grateful for Vera’s umbrella. The rain hadn’t let up one bit. She popped open the sunny cover as she climbed out of the car.
Holden didn’t join her, choosing to fall into step just a pace behind. “That’s awful bright,” he said.
Rachael smiled. “Vera let me borrow it.”
“Yeah, but it makes us easier to find.”
She frowned uneasily. “I didn’t think we were on the run from the paranormal police.”
He replied with a noncommittal grunt. “What exactly are you looking for, anyway?”
Rachael’s grey eyes hardened to steel. “I need to see that body.”
“Whoa, whoa, wait.” Holden stepped in front of her. “You don’t want to do that. Trust me. I know you’ve seen a lot, but that wasn’t pretty.”
Grimly, she pushed past him. “I know.”
He grabbed her elbow, jerking her back so hard she stumbled in the mud. Rachael shook him off in disbelief. Why would he try to stop her? Didn’t he understand the situation her brother was in? Even if he and Jackson didn’t get along, he had to know she couldn’t just let this lie.
Holden wormed his way under her umbrella, forcing her to raise it. His significant height advantage was effective. Water dribbled from his hair, turning rusty locks to unremarkable brown. “I get you want to help,” he said gently. She had to strain to hear him over the dumping rain. “And I want to help you. But if I’d seen something notable, I would have told you already. There isn’t anything. Just the mangled body of a dead girl. Sorry, but I can’t let you put yourself through that.”
Frustration made her want to cry. Rachael swallowed her anger. “Then we have to look for something else. You didn’t hide the—her where you found her, right?”
“No,” he admitted grudgingly.
“Then let’s start there,” she pleaded. “I won’t go digging, but if we can find anything, it may help. I just can’t believe this was Jackie’s fault. And even if it was, he couldn’t help it. There has to be a way to help him, Holden. I can’t keep losing my family like this.”
He puffed up his cheeks, eyes floating upward as he appeared to wrestle with her request. In spite of the grave circumstances that brought them here, Rachael was struck by a moment of admiration. Even now he was so hauntingly attractive. His lanky body was strung tight with apprehension and corded muscle. Blue-green eyes floated around, looking everywhere but at her as the colors smashed against each other like a storm in the ocean.
She shook herself violently, appalled by the inappropriateness of her thoughts. Now is not the time! she cried out inwardly.
Still, the fact he wanted so badly to both aid and protect her was achingly sweet... and it made him infinitely more appealing in every manner.
Sure enough, he heaved a sigh great enough to move mountains. “We can take a look. Move all the sticks you want, but you have to swear not to dig into the dirt.”
Rachael threw her arms around him. The umbrella dangled from her hand loosely, bumping against his back. He hugged her back fiercely. The searing heat of his body warmed her through the cold rain, spreading into her heart and causing it to rise into her throat. When they parted he flashed her the crooked smile she’d feared had left him forever.
Quickly their muddy trek turned grim. Rachael’s socks were slimy within minutes, and she despaired that the elements would hide any evidence that could have been present.
“Do you think Aaron might have hidden anything?” she asked.
Holden’s shoulders stiffened. “Who knows,” he muttered.
Rachael hiked and scoured the trees with her eyes. Whatever she had impossibly hoped for—maybe tell-tale scratches in the trees, or the sighting of another wolf with gold flecks in its eyes—failed to materialize. Any paw prints were long gone in the storm. “He wouldn’t hide something that would go against Jackie, would he?” she persisted.
A strange whimper turned her head sharply. To her surprise, it was Holden, holding his head in one hand. “No,” he said. “But if he did find something, we’re never going to know.”
An odd note of abjection tarnished his voice. Alarmed, yet hesitant to abandon her fruitless search, Rachael stood at his side and touched his arm. He refused to look at her.
“Did something happen to Jackie already?” she whispered.
The winds carried her voice in the opposite direction, but Holden clearly heard her. “No. Maybe. I don’t know. I’ve been—” He took a sudden sharp breath. Then, as though a flip switched within him, he straightened his back and faced her. “Look, I need to be honest with you. I haven’t exactly been in Aaron’s good graces lately. Pretty much since they all came back. Plus,” he added hurriedly when she frowned, “the fact you and I are so close, well, he’s going to keep me out of the loop as far as your brother goes.”
Rachael had the dark feeling there was more to his confession. Just looking at his face told her that he was going to remain tightlipped, however. So she folded her arms as best she could while gripping the base of Vera’s umbrella. Suddenly the brilliant yellow seemed more annoying than friendly.
“Okay,” she said slowly. “So where does that leave us?”
Holden shrugged. “We keep looking, like you said. If we find anything, we’ll go tell him. I just can’t promise he’ll want to see me.” His eyebrows knitted with regret. “I’m sorry. I feel like I’ve let you down.”
Just like that, as though his tenderness was all it took, the rain eased its furious pour. Both of them looked around. When Rachael caught his eyes again, she grinned at the quirked smile he bore.
“You’ve never really let me down,” she assured him. The gold sparks in his eyes brightened. “I’m really glad you’re here with me. There’s no one else I trust like this.”
Holden covered the hand she used to grip the umbrella, urging it aside so the drizzle fell upon her freely. He searched her face with such utter care that her breath caught. A part of her still stomped and shouted that this wasn’t appropriate.
That voice was silenced as he pressed his lips against hers.
Dropping the umbrella, Rachael pressed forward. Her arms remained awkwardly at her sides, unsure where she was supposed to put them. Holden didn’t seem to care. He pulled her closer, keeping the kiss soft and heady.
It wasn’t her first kiss, not if she wanted to count her excursions as a silly kindergartner. But it was by far the best; so gentle yet passionate in its restraint.
Finally, it was Holden who pulled back first, though only a fraction of an inch. Redness akin to a fever colored his cheeks. “Sorry,” he whispered.
“Don’t be,” she whispered back. Her blood still coursed through her giddily, making her light-headed.
“I was hoping give you your first kiss on your birthday,” he admitted.
“It’s not my first kiss,” she said, a little too defensively.
He grinned. “Your first from me, then.”
Rachael giggled. Then, gradually, she remembered why they were in the woods in the first place. Flustered, she spun around and tried to put her mind back on Jackson. “I—sorry. I just... I mean, we need to—”
“No, I get it,” he said, somewhat guiltily.
Horrified he might have the wrong idea, Rachael blurted, “I don’t regret it.”
Behind her, she could almost hear the boyishly silly twinkle in his eyes. “Me either.”
For all their surroundings tried to make them miserable, Holden felt as though the clouds had parted and the sun shed its golden glow upon him. It was juvenile. It was borderline ridiculous. But his rash attitude had finally paid off. He’d kissed her. She’d liked it, had responded with such velvet positivity that he wanted to pump his fists into the air and shout.
Holden had to hold back a cheerful whistle as he thrashed to the sodden brush. 126 years apparently cast no shadows over a teenager’s first kiss with a girl. Like Rachael, it hadn’t been his first. Yet her reaction told him that she was just as taken by it as he’d been.
Screw decorum. He should have done it sooner.
All the while he made sure to keep his back to her without allowing her to wander too far away. He couldn’t risk losing her while the rain still fell and stifled her scent. No longer like zinnia, as when they’d first met. Though she no longer cared for her garden, Rachael still possessed an enticing smell. It was definably and only hers; sweet as fresh grass and smooth with the barest fuzz, like the skin of a pear. God, the way her cheeks had turned pink like the most vivid azalea....
Holden had to continuously sink his thoughts below the clouds. As elated as he was, he’d still promised to help her, even if he didn’t have the heart to tell her it was pointless.
Secrets in the Fade (Secrets of the Sequoia Book 2) Page 9