Caged

  His eyes brightened as he smiled. “K-kitchen was my first s-stop.”

  I chuckled. “Of course it was.” Mum probably talked everyone into eating. “Lauren—she about?”

  Gabe pointed his thumb nowhere in particular. “Beth t-talked her into helping out in the k-kitchen.”

  “I’d better go check on her.” I swung back to Shelley, mouth open for far too long as her green eyes captured mine. “You need me, I’ll be downstairs.”

  Sean stood propped against the doorway to the guestroom when I strode back down the landing. I glanced into the room, caught Connor perched on the windowsill—looking far more composed, and Josh helping the doc on the far side of the bed. Daniel sat in the wicker seat, his forearms resting against his thighs. No Dad, though.

  Tossing soiled bed sheets to Brook, Jem pointed to the corner. “Drop them there. We can take them down once we’re done here.”

  I continued past and down the stairs. Rounding the bottom newel post, I spotted Samuel through the living room doorway and swerved that way. “How you doing?”

  His face lifted from its resting place in his cupped hands. “Be better when I get home.”

  Any werewolf would have been on edge whilst smack bang in the middle of another pack’s domain—surrounded by them.

  “You made your call, yet?”

  He shook his head. “Your father asked me to wait.”

  No doubt an order made to sound like a request. “It shouldn’t be much longer before we start formulating a plan.” Hopefully. I jerked my chin to the right. “I’ll be in the kitchen.”

  Figuring he’d be more comfortable alone, I left him and padded along the hallway to the kitchen entrance at the end. The second I stepped in the room, I found Lauren in Dad’s regular seat at the end of the table.

  Her chair scraped back as she stood. “You were ages.”

  “I had a detour to make.” I waved at her to sit back down and moved across to my chair beside hers. My entire body groaned with the relief of relaxing into a spot of my own. “Mum been treating you okay?”

  The female in question came in from the dark conservatory before Lauren could answer. Mum stopped short. More lines than I remembered marked the skin beside her eyes, though they smoothed slightly when her face relaxed into a smile. “You must be hungry.”

  Food couldn’t have been farther from the top notch on my priority list, but knowing Mum wouldn’t stand for excuses, I nodded.

  “I’ll fix you something.”

  Dad stepped in behind her as she crossed the kitchen, his eyes searching mine—for what, I didn’t know.

  A mug appeared beneath my nose, steam spiralling upward from its contents. I scooped it up, smiling my thanks at Mum. The coffee smelled like strong chicory, as well as brandy—Dad’s no doubt. I took a long, slow sip, my lids lowering.

  “Can I go home soon?” Lauren asked.

  I opened my eyes. Hers held so much hope, they risked overflowing, and I’d never wanted anything more than to tell the girl exactly what she needed to hear.

  She must have seen the despair I knew my face displayed because tears arrived to coat her irises with glistening moisture. “Can I?” she whispered.

  “Lauren?” Dad dragged out the chair on her other side and sat. “There’s no reason for you not to go home, but there are some things we need you to be clear on before that can happen.”

  She sniffled and wiped her cuff beneath her nose. “Like what?”

  Liquid bubbled on the hob Mum tended, the steam carrying rich flavours to all four corners of the kitchen. Saliva coated my tongue despite my brain’s rejection of the idea of food.

  “Well … for one, I think it would be wise if you remained here until we know it’s safe for you to return home.” Dad leaned forward, his expression radiating trust with an ease that came naturally to him. “I need to be certain the people—”

  “Vampires,” Lauren said.

  Dad’s eyebrow arched up.

  “They weren’t people, Mr Holloway. They were vampires.”

  Dad dipped his chin. “I need to be certain these … vampires aren’t in a position to come back for you. We also need to come up with a plausible story for where you’ve been.” He paused as though to ensure she followed, and although Lauren didn’t speak, her finger shuffling kicked up a gear. “Because an explanation of, ‘I was kidnapped by vampires and caged next to werewolves and shifters’, probably won’t cut it with everyone who’ll have been looking for you.”

  “Not unless I want to be locked up, right?” she whispered.

  “Right.” Dad nodded.

  Mum placed a bowl on the table in front of me. “Eat.” She folded my fingers around the spoon like she used to when I’d been a kid. Her hand stroked across my hair as she brushed her lips over my cheek. “You’ll be no good to anybody if you collapse from exhaustion.”

  I responded by scooping up the spoon and feeding it into my mouth. My taste buds perked up as the liquid spilled over them, but the initial swallow sent it to my stomach with the subtlety of a dropping slab.

  “So … what am I supposed to tell everyone?” A tear spilled over Lauren’s lashes. She swiped at it with her forearm. “What am I supposed to tell my mum? That I ran away, or something?”

  Smart girl. I sent her an encouraging smile before trying a second sample of the Scotch broth.

  “That is the line of thought I’ve been leaning toward.” Dad nodded. “You see, I’d be willing to bet your mum contacted the police as soon as she realised you were missing. Any story you go home with will more than likely be passed onto them. Do you understand what I’m saying to you, Lauren?”

  “Keep my mouth shut.”

  Dad shook his head, somehow managing to make it look as though the concern emanating from his eyes was all for the girl, rather than for the pack’s exposure. “Let me try and explain it better, okay?” Once she’d nodded, he continued, “If you made an announcement like that? It would hit the news within minutes. Every news-watching person across the nation would hear about it and know who it came from. Some of those who catch wind of it could very well be of supernatural origins. Most of them will not be happy about their secret existence no longer being secret.”

  “Your own secret would be out, too, Lauren. Folks would want to know more about you.” I slurped my broth and swallowed. “You ready to be studied through a microscope? Treated like a test subject?”

  Her head jerked side to side. “But how am I supposed to go back and act like everything’s normal? Nothing will ever be the same. I won’t ever be the same. Not after …” She twisted to me, seemed to make some sort of imploration with her eyes and the wringing fingers she set on the table by my elbow. “How am I supposed to deal with this … on my own?”

  “You won’t have to.” Mum walked across to Lauren, all mother, one hundred percent reassuring—a trait in her that had earned the pedestal I’d stuck her on for as long as I could remember. “I’ll ensure you have a way to contact me.” One hand settled on Dad’s shoulder, and as though silent communication had passed between them, he eased back in his seat. “If you ever feel the need to talk to somebody, all you’ll have to do is call.”

  Lauren’s frightened yet intelligent eyes locked onto Mum’s a few seconds before she swung back to me. “You’ll give me your number, too, right?”

  “Sure.” I gave her a smile. “Just don’t be texting me every time you buy a new pair of shoes.”

  Her eyebrows and lips set in straight lines. “Bet you can’t text, anyway.”

  I matched her expression. “Can, too.”

  “Not with those fingers.” A hint of the teen-girl attitude I’d first met peeked through. “They’re too podgy.” The humour faded almost as fast as it arrived, and a small tremor affected her shoulders. “But you’ll be around … if
I need you?”

  I doubted the girl would sleep easy for a long time—not with the sights she’d witnessed, not with her harsh reality call and her new understanding of the world she lived in.

  I met her gaze. “Any time. Every time.”

  “Right,” Mum said, drawing Lauren from me. “You ready to take that bath, now?”

  Lauren nodded. “Thanks, Mrs Holloway.”

  One arm extended, Mum waited for Lauren to stand and folded it around her like the wing of a bird around her chick.

  Opposite me, Dad’s bright blue eyes bored into me like a drill trying to penetrate the exterior to my soul.

  Evading him, I watched Mum and Lauren from beneath lowered brows, sticking another spoonful of soup in my mouth that I didn’t really want. Once they’d left the kitchen, I pushed to my feet to avoid the bucket-load of questions I sensed coming.

  “Do not leave that table before you’ve finished your meal, young man,” Mum said from the hallway.

  Half-standing, I froze.

  “Sit back down … and make sure he eats, Nathan.”

  Dad’s raised eyebrows seemed to mock me when I turned back to him. “You really want to argue with your mother?”

  And lose? I shook my head, lowering into my chair like I’d made the choice to do so myself, and picked up my spoon as though I’d never intended to leave the bowl half full to begin. “So …” I deposited almost cold broth into my unwilling mouth.

  Dad relaxed back into his seat—an act I’d have bought if I didn’t know him so well.

  “… when are we going to organise the cleanup?”

  “Soon.” Dad sighed. “That the only thing on your mind?”

  I frowned. “Isn’t it enough?”

  “A question isn’t an answer, Son. You’re distracted.” His head tilted. “You’re never distracted.”

  I dropped my spoon into the bowl and nudged both away. “There’s a lot to do.”

  “I agree. But it’s a clear-cut problem. We know what’s going on. We have all the evidence and documentation we need to locate those responsible. It can be wrapped up in a couple of days—maybe sooner if I get Jack on board.” He took a deep breath. “But you know that. Whatever’s bothering you has nothing to do with all this.” Laying his forearms on the table, he leaned forward until I had no choice but to meet his gaze. “Are you going to tell me what’s really on your mind?”

  My teeth pressed together until my jaw ached. I wanted to look away but couldn’t—either that or my pride wouldn’t let me.

  “Well?” he asked.

  “It’s my fault.”

  “What is?” No dispute, no coddling, which I’d expected.

  “Us—this … mess, and us getting dragged into it. It’s all down to me. And I have no idea why.”

  “Care to elaborate?”

  “I was set up. Set up to be taken.” I brushed a hand over my hair, back to front, laying strands flat across my brow. “I have no idea why.”

  Dad’s brow creased a little. “No idea why you were set up?”

  “No idea why they wanted me that badly.”

  “Modesty has always been a quality of yours.” He half-smiled. “But I still don’t understand why that makes this your fault.”

  “Because if it wasn’t for me, Gabe would never have been kidnapped and fuc—messed up the way he has been, and Kyle would never have been used as a trap.”

  Dad gave a small headshake. “Not following.”

  “For goodness sake, Dad. What’s not to get?” My right hand fisted on the tabletop. “If I’d just kept my nose out of other peoples’ lives, Gabe would have stayed safe, at home with Shelley. I thought I was helping him, and all I managed to do was put the kid in danger. It’s my fault.” I banged my fist against my chest as my voice thickened. “My fault Kyle’s lying up there on that bed. My fault Gabe’s infected with something we don’t know can be healed. I should never have got so involved with him.” My brow dipped low. “They took him as bait, Dad. If not for me, Gabe would never have been taken.”

  Dad’s focus darted to the doorway; a quiet groan left his throat.

  I twisted—already knowing what I’d see.

  Beneath her shock of red hair, Shelley eyes burned with way too many emotions to separate, but amongst those, blazing way hotter than any other: betrayal.

  31

  Shelley’s hands fisted at her sides as red bled into the cheeks of her face. “You lied to me?” The grind of her teeth reached my hearing—a split second before she bolted into the hallway.

  I shot to my feet, my chair clattering back. “Shelley, wait!”

  Her shoes slapped along the floor tiles. “Gabe!” A moment later, rapid pummels hit each step on her run up the stairs.

  I swung into the empty hallway.

  “Yeah?” Gabe called from my bedroom where I’d left him.

  Shit! I reached the bottom step as she leapt onto the landing above. “Shelley, give me a chance to explain.”

  “Why?” she snapped, spinning to glare down at me. “So I can be lied to some more?”

  I ascended a few steps as I peered up at her. “I never lied to you.”

  Footsteps crossed the landing from my bedroom, and Gabe’s face appeared over Shelley’s shoulder. “Mum, what’s wrong?”

  Shelley’s blazing stare remained fixated on me. “We’re leaving.”

  “Wh-what?” Gabe’s eyes widened before his brows knotted. “Wh-why?”

  “Please, calm down, Shelley,” Dad said from behind me. “You’re misinterpreting what you think you heard.”

  “Think?” Shelley’s glower shifted to Dad. “I know what I heard, thank you very much.”

  “Will you please come back downstairs?” he said. “Let me tell you why you’re wrong about this.”

  Shelley’s mouth set in a grim line. “Why would I want to hear more lies?”

  Dad’s foot hit the step behind me. He nudged me aside as he passed and climbed higher. “Believe me, Shelley, nobody has lied to you.”

  “I know what I heard.” Shelley folded her arms across her chest.

  Dad’s shift to the right blocked my view of her. “Yes, and I understand your reaction to it.” As I went to duck to the left, he reached behind and grabbed my forearm, forcing me back. “However, I’m pretty sure you, in return, understand Ethan is his own worst enemy when it comes to self blame. He’d shoulder the responsibility for global warming and every tsunami that hits the planet if he thought for one second there was a possibility of him having contributed to them.”

  Shelley stared hard at Dad as though absorbing his words. Uncertainty arrived with the flicker of her eyes. I thought he’d succeeded in getting her to see sense until she said, “Can you honestly tell me that Gabe being taken had nothing to do with him being close to Ethan?”

  “Wh-what?” Gabe stared down at me over Shelley’s head. “Wh-what’s she t-talking about?” When no one answered him, he tugged on his mum’s shoulder until she gave him her attention. “Mum, wh-what’s g-going on?”

  “It’s not safe for you here, Gabe.” Her gaze swung and locked onto mine behind Dad. “I made a mistake.”

  “Shelley, I’m …” My words sizzled beneath the inferno in her eyes.

  Gabe’s focus flitted between me and his mother; his irises dulled to a dark grey. “Wh-what are you t-talking about?”

  “Him.” Shelley’s chin jerked toward me.

  I shook my head, mentally pleaded with her not to say anything.

  “He bloody got you kidnapped.”

  Gabe frowned, mouth puckered in utter perplexity. “Wh-where would you g-get a stupid idea like that from?”

  “From him.” Turning back to me, she said, “Or are you going to deny it?”

  Ho
w could I? Shelley had got her information directly from me, and, surely, to dispute that would make me look worse than I already did.

  My eyes darted aside as shame heated my cheeks.

  “Ethan?” The confusion in Gabe’s deepened tone far outweighed that claiming his eyes.

  “She’s right.” I lifted my eyes back up toward his towering form. “It’s because of me you were taken.”

  “Bullsh-shit!” Gabe’s teeth ground as he scowled down at me.

  “I couldn’t agree more,” Dad said.

  “It is my damned fault,” I said, turning on him. “I know they took him as bait. They knew who I was from the off. They knew who Gabe was when they targeted him. They’ve probably hand selected each and every bloody being they’ve taken from day one. If Gabe hadn’t spent time with me, then the chances are he’d have slipped beneath their radar.”

  “How the heck can you go from dampening your worth beneath modesty to placing tickets on yourself?” Dad gave a low growl. “You have no proof that they hadn’t already spotted Gabe prior to targeting you. They could just as easily have gone after him and then realised how they could use his kidnap to their advantage and—”

  “And I played right into their hands? Dad, these”—with a quick glance toward the room that held Craig, I lowered my voice—“vampires—as much as I hate to admit it—are smart. If they went after Gabe, they did so because they’d already planned to. They’ve done their research. They know who each one they’ve taken is, and what they are—with the exception of Lauren. Gabe has spent his life beneath the radar—proven by the fact Jack didn’t even realise he had a pup in his territory. And he’d have stayed that way, if I’d just refrained from sticking my damn beak in, drawing attention to him. Tell me, Dad—how the hell does that make me blameless?”

  “It doesn’t,” Shelley said as she grabbed Gabe’s wrist. “Come on.” She stomped down three steps, her hold on Gabe dragging him behind her in a stooped plod.

  He tugged back, sloshing the liquid in the drip bag he still held. “Mum, st-stop.”

  With her entire body braced, Shelley hauled Gabe until he complied and stamped onto the next step down.