by Peiri Ann
“Scott healed Glen and cleared her memory, I suppose?”
“He did.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“Tracey, you and I have had our own thing going on. From last night and today I haven’t had the opportunity. But I found out yesterday morning, after I left your house.” I give an irritated look. “You’re right—I should have told you.”
“Damn right, Nathan. What the hell? First we have daddy issues, then we have Jackal Cindy issues, and now we have Glen and Scott being targets of murder issues. And that probably means, whoever it is, is also going to try to kill us.”
“That may…be correct.”
“I’m tired.” I take a few breaths. Shit is happening that we can’t change. “So now what?”
He pulls me to him. “Now we enjoy the weather, stare at the clear sky, and let me hold you.” He rubs my shoulders. “I told you it would be like this. There is always someone trying to kill us. We just kill them first.”
I shake my head at him. “You did tell me. I just don’t know how I feel about it.”
“You don’t have to feel any way. You will be safe at the house, and now Glen will be there. Let us take care of it.”
“As temping as that may sound, I will be doing whatever you will be doing with you.”
He doesn’t respond for a while. “You go back to school on Monday. Will you miss me?”
My chest aches, remembering that. I sit up. “I’ll see you in the morning, you’ll visit me when I’m on lunch, and you’ll wait for me to get out. I think I’ll be fine.”
“You have it all figured out, huh?” he responds, moving to sit behind me.
“Seems like it. So we get rid of one problem, like your dad, just to add another.”
“Tracey, just forget about all of that right now—just for right now.”
“Okay, but can you please explain to me why Scott won’t tell Glen?” I take his hands in mine. “That would really take away one of the problems.”
“I don’t know, and I understand, but I can’t tell him what to do. He makes his own decisions and he decides what’s best for his relationship. It would be too simple for him to tell her, making life easy, and sometimes, easy is just too easy.”
“We are easy?”
“Well, somewhat, but let us be thankful for that.” He kisses my neck. “Because our relationship could be just as bad.”
“How?”
“Doesn’t matter, because it’s not.” He kisses my neck again. “Can we just forget about everything else and focus on now, us, together?”
He kisses the other side of my neck, and my body starts tingling. “I love you. I’m sorry I brought this to you. Making you deal with this and having you feel obligated to stand by my side,” he says, before kissing me again.
“Nathan, my choices are my own.” He moves my hair from the back of my neck and kisses me there. “I chose you. I knew what could happen.”
My grip against his hand tightens with his kiss. “I knew the risks.” He kisses the nape of my neck. “I want you.” A kiss. “Your family.” A kiss. “You.” A kiss. “Your life.” A longer kiss. “And whatever else you have to offer me.” I turn to face him. “I have no regrets, and you shouldn’t either.”
“Don’t stop loving me.”
“Won’t happen.” I kiss him. “Don’t leave me, ever.” Images of him lifeless, creep into my head. Tears try to fill my eyes.
“Don’t, Tracey, before I do like Scott and make you forget it.” He pecks my lips.
“You better not ever do that to me.” I relax my eyebrows and lower my eyes. “I do not understand those two.”
“Not tonight, Tracey.” He pulls me closer to him. “Just us, remember?” He kisses my chin. “Let me make one of my dreams come true.”
I smile, intrigued by what that could be. “Mm, I think I like the sound of that,” I say, turning to him fully. “And what was it like?”
“Like this.” He moves me to where my legs are on his sides. He takes his shirt off, placing my hands on his chest. “And then some of this.” He grabs my jaw, pulling me to kiss him.
There is love in his kiss. No lust, only love. I give him just as much love as he’s giving me. My hands stay on his chest, even when one of us deepens the kiss. This is us, for a long time, sitting under the night sky, enwrapped in each other.
26: Abhorrence
Nathan’s bedroom door is open when we walk in to find Glen and Scott, lying on his bed watching TV. The room is clean, and they look way too comfortable.
I lose it. “No! Get up right now. This is not happening!” I look at Scott. “And you two had better not done anything in this bed.”
“Oh, calm down, Tracey. We were just waiting for you all to come back,” Scott says, as if I’m the one irritating him.
Why don’t you and Glen move? Maybe you could take her somewhere to talk. There is no way Scott can escape me now. Scott’s eyes open wider. I raise an eyebrow. “Something wrong, Scott?”
Nathan walks to my side. “What are you up to?” I smirk, ignoring his question.
“Look, Glen. I need to talk to you about something now that Nathan and Tracey are here.” I’m going to tell her. Now!
“No!” Nathan and I object.
“What’s wrong? Why don’t y’all want him to talk to me?” She sits up, crossing her legs. “Go ahead, honey. Express what’s on your mind.”
Scott looks at us and we turn to walk out of the room. “No, you two better not, or there will be no privacy for either of you this whole weekend.” We reluctantly lean against the TV stand.
“Look, Glen,” he starts. “I love you, and I need you in my life. I don’t want you to leave me. I know we haven’t had the best relationship experience, but I want us to be better, get better. Like them.” He points to us. “I have…well, I am…with me, you…” He takes a breath and shifts, moving one leg under the one that he has bent up.
“What, Scott?” Glen encourages, rubbing his knee.
He takes another visible breath. “I’m a Sephlem, not a human.” I hold my breath, looking at Glen.
Glen looks at me. “Listen, right?” I nod. She turns back to Scott. “Okay, and what does that mean?”
“I’m also…well, I possess traits of a demon.” He pauses again. She says nothing. “Life may not be the safest with me,” he rushes his words. “And I know I’m giving you minimum information. But I love you and will stay with you forever because we—no, you—are my mate. We are meant to be together.” He grabs her hand.
Cheater.
He shoots me a look and turns back to Glen. “Is that okay with you?”
Glen looks at me, I raise my eyebrows, and she looks back at Scott. She shrugs her shoulders. “Okay.” She kisses him.
I smile at them, standing up from the TV stand. “Okay, now that we have that out of the way, can we have our room back?”
“So you knew about this, Tracey?” Huh?
“Umm, huh?”
“Tracey!?”
“Glen!?”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asks angrily.
“Glen, there was nothing for me to tell. Scott had to tell you.”
“But you’re my friend.” I can hear the hurt in her voice.
“Glen, I’m sorry. I wanted to tell—I did—but it really was not my place.”
“So how did you find out?”
“Find out what?” I’m not in the mood for this.
“About Scott. You don’t seem surprised.”
I’m getting frustrated. It’s late—maybe two in the morning—and she wants to have this conversation for the second time. And this is why you needed to tell her on your own, I say internally to Scott.
Sucks to be you, he teases, leaning back against the headboard.
I can so flip this on you, I return.
Try it.
“Scott, don’t go there,” Nathan threatens. He really can hear everything that goes on in my head.
“
Yes, Scott—don’t!” I mock.
“No, Tracey, do. Start spilling.” Glen grabs back my attention.
“Glen, I’m with Nathan; Nathan told me about him. They are cousins. Of course I would know about Scott.” Damn, this sounds familiar.
She crosses her arms. “I still don’t understand why you didn’t tell me.”
“I couldn’t, Glen. Scott wouldn’t let me.” I make the saddest face I can. “You know I love you, Glen, and would tell you anything.”
Glen turns to Scott with a face of furry. You are going to regret that. Scott threatens me in a low tone.
“And that would be you all’s queue to leave.” Nathan motions them to the door.
Glen pushes Scott roughly from the bed. He grabs her arms and kisses her neck with a smile—probably hearing something in her head that contradicts her actions. The moment they are on the other side, Nathan closes the door.
Alone and cold, I wake up in Nathan’s huge bed. Still tired, I wrap myself in the covers, trying to fall back to sleep. Once I relax, I see that stupid jackal attacking me. Nathan.
Yes, Tracey. I’m in the kitchen. Come eat.
I get up and put on some jogging pants and a shirt, to meet him in the kitchen, after cleaning up in the bathroom. It’s easier to make it around his house now—for the areas I go to frequently anyway.
“Hey.” I sit at the island. It’s full of food—way more than for him and me anyway.
“Hey.” He grabs a plate from the cabinet and starts putting food on it, then hands it to me. “Juice, milk, water?”
“Milk, please.” He is mellow. I watch him walk to the fridge, grabbing a glass, and pouring the milk. “You know, there is something I’ve been meaning to mention.” He looks at me as he hands me the milk. “Something your dad mentioned.”
“And what was that?” He starts making his plate.
“He said he was burdened and hybrid. How is that?” His head rises and he looks at me.
“Come again?” He puts the plate down, not finished.
“He said I wouldn’t be able to defeat him because he was burdened and hybrid, like saying he was indestructible.” He picks up his plate and continues adding food to it. “Did you know that you are the hardest person to read that I’ve ever met?” Especially when you are in this type of emotionless mood.
“Come on. Let’s go eat somewhere else. The kitchen will be crowded soon.” He walks us to the family room. It is down the hall from the great room. It is small, like my family room, and makes me feel comfortable. The only difference is there are four walls and it’s closed off by a door.
He starts eating, and still has not commented on what I said about his dad. “So what are you thinking?”
He looks at me. “To be honest?” I nod. “I don’t care. He’s dead. And that’s really the only thing that matters to me.”
I open my mouth to interject. “Before you say anything,” he cuts me off. “I know that sounds harsh, and what he said may have been true.” He shrugs. “Then again, it may not have been. But, to me, my father was like the devil himself, and I was glad to destroy him.”
I shrug. “Just thought I’d mention it.”
“I’m not ignoring it. It did spark my interest. But, like you pointed out to me last night, we have a lot going on right now. And how it works is…once a problem occurs and is solved, that’s it. We focus on what is, not what was.”
I guess that makes sense. Why keep up a problem that is no longer a problem?
“Hey, Tracey. What’s up, big brother?” Little Nathan and Cindy walk in, chipper—her on his arm.
“She spent the night?” Nathan asks his brother.
“Yeah, is that a problem?” Yes.
“No, Nathan. When you have a moment, I want to talk to you.” Why wait for a moment? Just quietly tell him, so we can move on to what the hell is going on?
“Hey, Tracey.” Cindy comes over to my left and sits on the armrest of the couch. My hands burn and I lose my appetite.
I force myself to speak, but refuse to look at her. “Hello.” It’s strong and sounds forced.
She ignores it. “So where did you two end up going last night? How do you like being with Nathan? Does it seem weird to you when you speak to them and they have the same name? Do you love Nathan? Oh, do you think he loves you too? Why are you with him?”
She goes on, and I have to cut in. “I’m sorry, Cindy.” I turn to her. “But you are out of line with some of—” She smiles at me—that jackal smile—but from her face. I scoot closer to Nathan and clear my throat to finish my sentence. “You’re out of line with some of your questions.”
I feel the vines cover my ear. My eyes demand me to blink, forcing me to see something I am missing. I fear blinking, for what I might see.
Nathan shifts behind me and touches my arm. I relax, only a little.
The smile remains, getting wider. “My apologies, Tracey. I didn’t mean to be so forward.”
I blink—from dry eyes—and when I reopen them, there she is in full jackal. I try to remain calm, but my panic spikes. She really scares the shit out of me. Jackals are definitely worse than clowns. Her sharper teeth stick into her lips cutting them, but she shows no pain.
My hand is hot and I put it behind my back as I feel the vines travel around it. Nathan grabs it. I turn around to look at him, because I know it has to be burning him.
Bad idea.
Jackal Cindy grabs me by my neck, at the same time, clawing at my face, and throws me across the small room at the same time clawing at my face. Everything moves so fast—she is fast. Before I hit the wall, or the floor, Nathan catches me and I stand at his side.
Already next to us, Jackal Cindy grabs me by the back of my neck and drags her sharp nails down my neck, to my back, over my butt, and down my right leg, then throws me into the flat screen TV on the wall.
Nathan catches me, once again, before I hit the floor, and grabs my hand. I no longer feel the pain from the scratches; although, I can feel the blood trickle down my body. I look over to Little Nathan, who is standing there in awe—although, not helping. Apparently, we are moving faster than it seems.
Nathan spins me around to his left side, never breaking contact as I face him, looking at Jackal Cindy. She is on his right, facing the wall, intending to attack again. Nathan uses his—now free—right hand and, without turning around, slams her head into the wall. I can hear the shatter of plaster. He turns around to face her, spinning me around under his arm, like a dance move.
He places my hand on his waist, under his shirt, to keep the contact. She screeches loudly as he turns her head in one direction and her body in another. His body hardens, and in less than a second, softens again as I watch her body hit the floor, lying in one direction, with her head in another—still attached. She smiles and then there is nothing.
Nathan turns to look at me, then turns me around and runs his hands down my back, in the same areas where I feel the scratches. He takes off his shirt and pulls it over my head. The length falls past my waist.
My clothes must be shredded and my body bare. He turns me back around and finally slows down.
His eyes are swirling from night-blue to grey. “Your face.” He runs his finger over certain areas of my face. “I fixed it. Are you okay?”
He touches over my neck and my face. “Yeah.” I pause. “Everything happened so fast,” I say, still in astonishment.
He looks over at Little Nathan. “Please tell me you had nothing to do with this.” I would really hate to kill my little brother.
I rub his hand to help him relax.
Little Nathan blinks in his own astonishment and then starts shaking his head vigorously. “Nathan, I promise. I had no idea. She had just come around, maybe a few days ago. We did some things and she was cool. I didn’t even know she wasn’t human. We caught you two coming in the other day and she wanted to meet you. I thought everything was cool.” He speaks quickly. “I’m sorry, Tracey. I didn’t know.”
&nbs
p; Nathan starts to speak and I cut him off. “It’s okay, Nathan.” I start walking forward and Nathan is on my heels.
I look at Little Nathan and he looks like he has disappointed us and is still in disbelief. “Don’t worry about it. Shit happens.” I smile, trying to make him feel better.
“Seriously, Nathan. I better not find out you had something to do with this.” He doesn’t look at him.
I rub his arm, trying to calm him down. “It’s okay, babe. Let’s just go.”
“Clean up in here.” Nathan orders his brother as we walk out of the family room.
We walk into the hallway, running into Glen and Scott. Glen’s eyes buck at Nathan’s bare chest. “Mm, Nathan. Good job, Tracey!” And at that, everything moves in slow motion.
Scott loses it. His hair stands up, his teeth sharpen, and his nails are pitch-black. He lunges at Glen, who is only a foot or so away from him. He tackles her, slamming her through the wall—they went straight through the wall.
Nathan reaches for Scott, and I am after him, trying to help Glen. He isn’t quick enough. Scott has Glen by her throat and the side of her face is crushed in. Blood is draining from her left eye and her nose.
Nathan stands still with his fists balled. Scott drops Glen and I rush to her side. She’s not moving and doesn’t speak. I prop her head up in my lap and tears start filling my eyes.
What the fuck, Scott? You have got to be kidding me. Scott is still alive, so Glen has to be too.
Nathan’s voice is deep and venomous. “Scott, what are you doing? Control yourself.”
He has control over Scott, but Scott is trying to fight it. His body is shaking out-of-control, trying to escape from Nathan’s possession.
“Don’t do this, Scott. I don’t want to hurt you.” Scott’s skin has taken on that dark, reddish complexion, like Nathan’s did, and looks hard.
I refocus my attention back to Glen, feeling her jerk, gasping for air. I don’t know what to do. I can’t heal Glen. I can’t do anything for her. She too starts shaking, but shaking as if her heart is racing.