Unforgiven (Wanderers #3)

by Jessica Miller

  “What?” Josie asked.

  “Stop the car! Stop the car!” I shouted this time. Billy slammed on the brakes almost causing me to fly into the front seat. I bounced back against the rear cushion, jerked by my seatbelt. I frantically fidgeted with the latch trying to release myself from my restraints. Once free, I jumped out and ran over to the vast garden in front of me.

  “Ella what is it?” Josie asked, joining me.

  “I know this place,” I said, studying the way the flowers were strategically placed. The way the vines crawled up along the stone archway and over the fence.

  “Wait what? How?” Cameron asked, finally getting out of the car.

  “I’ve seen this before. In a dream.” I walked closer to the gate that led into the garden. I ran my fingers over the ivy that had ingested the door, pausing on the handle.

  “Ella, where are you going?”

  “I need to get a better look,” I said, pushing my thumb down on the latch and opening the gate.

  “You guys,” Billy called, running up behind us.

  I knew this was someone’s property and I was trespassing, but I had to see for myself. Everything about this place was so familiar. From the row of flowers that traveled down the stone pathway, the small cottage in the corner, the little lily pond down by the edge of the wooden fence. “Ella,” Cameron called softly. She hesitated by the gate, not sure if she wanted to risk going further. Not wanting to be left alone, she joined us in the middle of the garden.

  “Guys we need to go. We’re trespassing and I’m starting to have a feeling this is a place we shouldn’t be,” Billy said worried.

  “I feel it too, but not so much alarmed by it. What is it?” Josie asked.

  “Power. Very old and very strong power. This place is surrounded by it,” Billy replied, looking over his shoulder at the small cottage.

  “Ella?” Josie grabbed my hand.

  “Josie I know this place it’s…” I began until I felt it. The power. It was unlike anything I’ve felt before. It was strong, strange, and gunning for me. I turned around slowly. Standing a few feet away from us was an elderly woman and she looked pissed. Her white as snow hair was glowing under the moonlight and her long paisley skirt was billowing in the wind.

  “What are you doing here?” the woman asked with a heavy Irish accent.

  I took a step forward to address her, but she threw her hand up stopping me in my tracks, making the bangles on her wrist jingle like crazy. “I know what you are,” she glared.

  “I’m not here to hurt you,” I said, putting my hands up in surrender. “I just –”

  She cut me off. “How did you get in here?”

  “I uh, walked through the gate,” I said, wondering if she was serious.

  I saw a small flicker of humor in her eyes before she switched back to her accusing glare. I could tell I wasn’t going to get anywhere with her so I said, “I’m sorry. We didn’t mean to disturb you. We will be leaving now.” I signaled for my friends to follow and went to take a step forward when the woman let out a cackling sound and before I knew it I was knocked on my ass and out cold.

  *

  Josie

  Josie was the only one left standing. She turned to the elderly woman with fear in her eyes. “Who are you?” the woman asked curiously, clearly knowing Josie was different from the rest.

  “My nn-name is Josie,” she stuttered. “And these are my friends.”

  “What brought you here?” the woman asked, squinting at her.

  “My friend Ella thought she had seen this place before and she wanted to –”

  The woman waved her hand indicating she heard enough. “What are you?” she asked, taking a step closer.

  “I’m an angel,” Josie said proudly.

  A small smile crept across the old woman’s wrinkled face. She took another step closer, merely inches from her. She looked Josie over, studying her. “Humph,” she made a disapproving noise. Then she craned her neck to the side, listening. Her eyes grew wide and then she looked back at Josie. “Quickly, inside,” she said.

  Josie looked at her like she was nuts. “Now,” the woman demanded.

  “But what about my friends?”

  She looked over at all of them lying on the ground and sighed. She grumbled something under her breath then stomped her foot three times. Two men came running out of the house. “Grandma, what happened?” the younger boy asked.

  “Josef,” she hissed. “Don’t question me. Just help us get them inside.” The young man looked at Josie before he picked up Ella and carried her inside. Then the woman shooed Josie toward Cameron while the elderly man helped Josie carry her in. Then the two men went back outside to get Billy.

  *

  Ella

  When I finally came to, I had a massive headache. I sat up slowly and looked around the room. Josie, Cameron, and Billy were sitting comfortably on a large couch sipping tea. Confused, I scanned the area. Across from me was the woman who knocked me out. She was sitting in a rocking chair and staring at me. For a moment I thought I was dreaming. I stood up quickly, panic surging through me. My head was spinning. I thought I was going to pass out.

  A young man with dark hair came over and helped back on the couch. I flinched at first. “Whoa, careful there,” he said. He eased me back onto the couch and gave me a shy smile before he sat back down.

  “What’s going on?” I asked my friends, thinking we landed in an alternate dimension.

  Before anyone could say anything, the old woman stood up, and poured me a cup of tea. “Drink,” she said, shoving the cup in my hand. I looked at her thinking she was nuts. It was not the time to sit around drinking tea. It was time to get the hell out of there.

  The old woman stared at me, waiting impatiently for me to drink it.

  “It’s not poisoned is it?” I mumbled and she laughed. Afraid to drink it, I glanced over at Josie and she motioned for me to take a sip. I hesitated, afraid my friends were under some kind of spell.

  “Don’t mind her. I made the tea myself and it’s not poisoned,” the young man smiled. “I’m Josef by the way,” he said bashfully.

  “Ella,” I said, cautiously taking a sip. When I didn’t gag or instantly start convulsing, I proceeded to take another sip. My throat was dry and the warm liquid was soothing. “Can someone now please tell me what is going on?” I asked again.

  “I’ll be the one asking the questions,” the old woman growled. Her accent was so thick it was hard to understand her. “Why have you come here?”

  I eyed her warily before I answered. “Your garden,” I said with caution. “It’s very familiar to me.” She narrowed her eyes. I could tell she was trying to figure me out. We stared each other down.

  “Ella, this is Deirdre and Caleb and their grandson Josef. They were kind enough to let us wait here until you woke up,” Josie said, giving me the eye.

  “You’re kidding, right?” I said, giving the old woman the evil eye. “She knocks us out and then all of sudden decides to be hospitable. I’m not buying it. No offense,” I said to her husband.

  “No offense taken and I understand your need to be weary, but I can assure you we mean you no harm. My wife,” he paused, receiving a warning look from her. “Thought you were here to attack us which was why she cast a spell to disarm you, so to speak.” I opened my mouth for a retort when Josie hit my knee letting me know to keep my mouth shut. “Once she realized you were not a threat we brought you inside to make sure you were okay,” he smiled kindly.

  I looked at my friends. They smiled and nodded their heads. “You missed a lot while you were out,” Cameron shrugged. Apparently, I thought. Feeling a little more at ease, I sat back and sipped my tea. No one said anything else for what seemed like forever. The silence was deafening.

  I looked back over at the elderly woman. I didn’t know her and already I didn’t like her. She stood up and took the cup of tea from me pouring out the contents into a bowl. Then she swirled her finger around the insid
e of the cup. “What is she doing?”

  “Reading your tea leaves,” Josef said.

  She stared into the tea cup, concentrating. Then she looked up at me and smiled. “Who is it you seek?” she asked. I opened my mouth to reply but she interrupted me before I had the chance. “Who are you?”

  “Ella, Ella McCallister,” I said, my head held high.

  She flinched, but only enough that I noticed. She reached out and grabbed my hand. I tried to pull away but she held on tight. Despite my friends saying they were not a threat, instinct had me pull up my shield, but when I did, nothing happened. What the…? I tried again, causing her grip to tighten. I met her eyes and she was smiling. “Your power is useless against me,” she said.

  I tried to pull my hand away but she jerked it back to her. I took that as a challenge. “We’ll see about that,” I said, turning up the juice. I was not going to let this woman get me, again.

  Her grip was crushing. I thought she may even have broken a few fingers. I didn’t care. I fought through the pain and pushed harder. I pushed so hard I could feel the sweat dripping down my forehead. “Ella,” Cameron said in a warning tone.

  I heard a rumbling noise. Soon the floor started to shake, rattling the walls, and picture frames that hung loosely. “What the hell is going on?” Josef asked.

  “Get back,” Caleb warned him and pushed Josef behind him.

  “Ella,” Cameron cautioned, but I didn’t listen. Cups crashed to the ground shattering. Frames dropped from the wall breaking glass. I pushed against her giving her everything I got. There was an explosion of light. It was so powerful and so bright it jerked me back. When my eyes adjusted I realized the bright light was me. I was glowing.

  “Damn Ella, don’t you have a dimmer switch or something on that thing,” Josie complained, shielding her eyes with her arm.

  The grumpy old woman finally let go of my hand. The look of shock on her face was enough to make me smile. That was until I noticed my glow blast had knocked everyone else out, but Josie, the woman, and me. I automatically healed my friends first then moved onto Josef and Caleb who were lying on the floor. The grouchy woman put a hand on my shoulder to stop me. “Relax,” I said. “I’m not going to hurt them.” She reluctantly let go. I placed a hand on each of them causing my glow to slowly diminish as I healed them.

  When their eyes opened, they both looked at me funny. “Your hair,” Josef said. I looked over my shoulder at my friends nervously. Cameron cleared her throat and casually pointed to the left side of her hair. I needed no more conformation to know I had another blue streak. I let out a sigh and stood up ready to tell my friends let’s get the hell out of here when the old woman stopped me. I towered over her tiny five foot four frame.

  I squared my shoulders ready for her next attack. Josie placed a kind hand on my shoulder. “Ella,” she said in a voice letting me know I needed to back down.

  “Gran,” Josef said, taking her hand and pulling her back. “Enough of this. You know they are not a threat.” She made a noise then shuffled her feet back to her chair. “Please, have a seat. I apologize for my grandmother. She has a hard time trusting people.”

  “Clearly,” I said, rubbing my hand and narrowing my eyes at her. She just smiled. “I think we should go.” I gestured for my friends to hurry up and make a quick exit out of there before we ended up taking the whole house down.

  “Please, don’t go,” Josef begged.

  “You’re the one my grandson talked about,” the old woman said, making me stop in my tracks.

  “Grandson?” Josie asked confused, looking at Josef.

  I looked over my shoulder and into the eyes of the elderly woman. I knew exactly who she was talking about. “Tristan,” I said breathlessly. Everything clicked in that moment. “You’re Tristan’s grandmother. That’s why I recognized the garden.” She eyed me suspiciously. “That’s why I am here, to find him. You know don’t you. You know he’s still alive.”

  She didn’t say yes, but I could see it in her eyes that she believed. “My child, you have a very generous heart, a little too generous. If you’re not careful with it, it will break.” She smiled like she knew some big secret I didn’t. “Josef.” She signaled for him to help her up. He did as she asked and walked her in to the next room.

  “Wait, where the hell are you going?” I said annoyed. “What just happened?” I was so confused. First she knocks me on my ass. Then challenges me to a powers duel – which I clearly won – she mumbles some cryptic bullshit about me having a big heart and then walks away? No. That was not acceptable.

  I stomped after her only to have the Caleb stop me. “It’s late,” he said.

  “But I have so many questions,” I argued.

  “I know, but they will have to wait until tomorrow.”

  I looked at my watch. “But it’s only eight o’clock.”

  Caleb grabbed my wrist. “Where did you get this?” he asked, examining the watch.

  “It’s Tristan’s, it was a gift.”

  He rubbed his thumb over the watch and I swear he was fighting back tears. “This was my dad’s watch,” he said softly.

  “I’m sorry. I –”

  “It’s okay,” he smiled. “You need it more than I do right now,” he said, patting my hand. I shook my head not understanding. “Come back tomorrow. We’ll have breakfast and talk.”

  “Oh um…” I looked to my friends on how to answer.

  “I insist and so would Deidre,” he said kindly. “Tomorrow morning I will help you with anything you need to help find my grandson. I believe you were brought here for a reason, that all of this was not just a coincidence.”

  “Thank you,” I said at a loss for words.

  “Tomorrow than.” He nodded and we headed for the door. I waved goodbye and followed my friends out to the car.

  “Hey, wait up a second!” Josef called, running up to us. I stopped and turned around. “Um,” he blushed. “Are you guys really going to come back for breakfast?” he asked hopeful.

  “I, well…” I wasn’t sure.

  “Don’t let my gran scare you off. She’s just stuck in her old ways. I promise if you guys come back we’ll try to keep her on her best behavior,” he smiled sweetly.

  “I’ll have to let you know,” I said, not able to make any promises. I knew I would be crazy not to come back. This was Tristan’s family, but I had a bad feeling Deirdre wouldn’t be much help.

  “Well in case you decide to,” he pulled his phone from his back pocket and handed it to me. “Give me your number and then I can text you mine. You know in case you decide you need some help.”

  “Smooth, kid,” I heard Billy whisper. I turned back to see Josie elbow him.

  “Yeah, okay,” I said, ignoring them. I typed my number in and handed back his phone.

  “Great,” he smiled. “Hopefully I’ll see you around.”

  “Bye Josef.” I waved and hopped in the car.

  “Looks like we got a little Tristan in training,” Josie teased and Billy laughed.

  “Shut up you guys,” I said as I sat back and buckled myself in.

  “Okay, so how crazy was all that? And what was up with you and that old battleax? If this is any indication of how the rest of the trip is going to go I need to stock up on some aspirin,” Cameron said.

  “Yeah Ella, what hell was that between you two?” Josie asked, turning around in her seat.

  “I have no idea, but I do know one thing. I’m going to take this as a good sign.”

  “How so?” Josie looked at me like I was nuts.

  “First twenty minutes in Ireland and we run into Tristan’s grandparents, if that’s not a sign then I don’t know what is.”

  Cameron squeezed my hand letting me know she agreed with me while Josie sat back down in her seat the right way. We found the nearest hotel and checked in for the night. We ordered room service while Billy went down to the lobby to get some maps and find some information on the surrounding area.

&nbs
p; I was so beat from the flight and the power battle that I could barely lift my hands to eat. I knew I shouldn’t have tried to use that much power so soon, but hey, I was not going to let that woman get me. Tristan’s grandmother or not. After I finished my burger and fries, I joined Billy at the table where he set up a little area of maps to look over. “So where do we start?”

  “I think we need to start with you getting some rest,” Billy said, looking at me concerned.

  “Billy, I’m fine.”

  “Ella, you can fool Josie and Cameron, but you can’t fool me.” I began to protest but he stopped me. “I know you’re weak and feeling run down and after all that power you used tonight I’m surprised you’re still standing.”

  “I can hold my own.” I was tired of everyone thinking I couldn’t handle myself.

  “Look Ella,” Billy looked over his shoulder and lowered his voice. “I didn’t tell Josie or Cameron, but I know about your blood lust.”

  “What are you talking about?” I said, pretending I had no idea.

  “I can see it in your eyes. I know it’s uncommon for someone so young, but you’re different. We all knew that from the beginning.”

  “Gee, thanks for the warning.”

  “You know what I mean. You need to drink Ella. All this power you have is what is driving your need for blood. You’re going to burn yourself out if you don’t feed.”

  “No, I can’t. I won’t.”

  “Ella, this is part of who you are. Whether you want to accept it or not you are part vampire. You can’t deny your nature.”

  “Watch me,” I said, stomping off into the bathroom. He was wrong. He didn’t know what he was talking about. I was perfectly fine. I survived this long, which was proof I didn’t need blood. I gripped the edge of the counter and took a few deep breaths. I looked up at myself in the mirror and wished I hadn’t. I looked deathly ill. My skin was ghostly white and the dark circles under my eyes were even darker than before. My once silky hair was now dry and matted. I turned on the faucet and splashed some cold water on my face. I was rundown. I was weak and I was feeling the need for blood, but I refused to believe it. I just suppressed the urge hoping that it would pass. I took a breath and stepped out of the bathroom.