by Amy Richie
“Hey,” Achilles called out, pulling Paris’s eyes from me.
“I know,” he sighed. “It was supposed to be just a quick and easy rescue mission.”
“It hasn’t turned out like that.”
“If she would just come with us… But she won’t leave the sisters.”
I bit down on my bottom lip to stop myself from saying anything, especially when Achilles spoke again.
“We could make her; just pick her up and go.”
Paris was already shaking his head, though. “You’ll be lucky to get out of here alone, let alone with a struggling human. The wolves would get her.”
“Our stand here isn’t going to last much longer.”
I swallowed back any lingering warmth I felt. What was happening to me? I wasn’t going anywhere with Paris, definitely not to Blakesly House where Damien would be. How would I be able to find the sisters again?
I shook my head at my own wandering thoughts. Even if they didn’t always want me, I was safe with them. We were kind of like a family. Liza had the chance to feed me to the wolves and she hadn’t. That had to count for something.
I would still never trust her to braid my hair, but I had rode on her back plenty of times when Gloria made me. I was still alive. She only threw me off sometimes and now that I thought about it, it was never enough to really hurt me. She was just trying to irritate me.
We had come a long ways and I wasn’t going to let Paris’s heartwarming stare ruin that.
Out of habit, I searched for Gloria, making sure she hadn’t decided to take off without me. They were still sitting in the same place I had left them, though. Miranda had scooted closer to Addison and looked like she was ready to fall asleep.
Gloria was staring at me. After I was able to look away from her, I realized Melody and Liza were also watching me. Something in their expression made a shiver run up my spine. Were they mad that I wasn’t sitting next to them anymore?
I should have gotten up to join them again, but I wanted to hear what else Paris and his brother said. Maybe it would be something about the wolves that I could pass on to Gloria. When we finally did take off, it would be good to know as much as possible.
“If we could rally the others, we would last longer,” Paris was saying.
“You won’t get much from them. They’re ready to run.”
“Probably use their own pets as distraction.” His voice didn’t hold as much disgust as it should have. I had already guessed as much, so the idea didn’t surprise me much.
“Maybe we should suggest it.” I didn’t expect Achilles to say that, but I kept quiet. The pets were going to die anyway; if they could help get us safely away…
I let my thoughts fade away at the same time Pairs said no. “We can’t do that.”
“The wolves will claim them anyway. Then their packs will continue to grow.”
“We can’t just kill them,” Paris turned away with a frown.
“I’m going to Blakesly House,” Achilles announced with a grim frown. Paris turned back to him.
I leaned forward more, trying not to miss Paris’s response. “Damien will come.”
Damien? We definitely had to be long gone before that. How far away was Blakesly House? It couldn’t be far if Achilles was going for help. If it took more than a day, we would all be long gone. Either dead or far away.
“They will all come.”
“Don’t bring Dominick.”
“He’s a force against the wolves.”
“He’s not fond of the pets, though.”
“None of us are.” Achilles’ voice had grown gravely in his defense against Dominick. Could Dominick be another brother? I was going to have to ask Melody about them.
“We can fight without him.”
“Paris,” he reached out to grasp his shoulder, “the pack has become deadly in their desperation. It will be destroyed.”
Paris nodded, lips pursed in thought. “I will get Lexi and Miranda to safety before you return.”
“They won’t let them go, and the harder you try to keep her from them, the harder they will try to take her.”
“They won’t take her,” he snapped with finality.
Achilles took a deep breath that made his shoulders lift and then let it out slowly. “Is it safe to leave you here alone?”
“You think I can’t handle the wolves?”
“I think you’ll put yourself in too much danger in a crazy attempt to save a few humans.” His voice was harsh, but somehow still gentle.
“I won’t get myself killed,” he said at last, “but I won’t leave them here unprotected.”
“You only need to worry about Lexi.” It was strange hearing Achilles say my name.
“I told Owen that I would look after his Miranda.”
My eyes narrowed slightly. His Miranda? I thought she belonged to Addison. Owen would lie without question, but I doubted Miranda would. And the way she looked at Addison left no room for doubt.
“And you told Kiera you would come for Lexi.”
“Which I plan on doing.”
“When things get heated,” he turned his massive head towards me and then back to Paris, “remember what is most important.”
With those final words, he left him standing there alone. Paris stood silently—right in front of me—for several long seconds. A tiny muscle by his eyes vibrated rapidly, but other than that, his expression remained very calm.
I was watching him so intently that it made me jump when he was suddenly on one knee in front of me. “I know you heard all of that.”
I wasn’t going to try and deny it anyways. “You should just go with him.”
“I won’t leave you here.”
“You won’t have to. The sisters already plan to leave soon. We shouldn’t have even stopped at all.”
“They won’t be going anywhere.”
“Why? Because you say so?”
A ghost of a smile haunted his eyes. “It’s strange.”
“What is?” My annoyance was hard to hide.
“I’ve never tried to keep a human alive before.”
“Look,” I held my hand out angrily, “I know you mean well, but I don’t need you to look out for me.”
He needed to be paying attention to Miranda. He had told Owen and Addison that he would look after her. How could he do that if he was more worried about what I was doing? I could take care of myself.
“You’re no match for the wolves.”
“I don’t plan on fighting any of them.”
The knife weighed heavily against my ankle, but it wasn’t like I was actually going to use it. Gloria had just given it to me for a precaution.
“But you never know what might happen.”
“I can’t fight a werewolf,” I replied flatly.
“Then, what will you do? Go meekly?”
“Liza can outrun any of them.”
“She’ll carry you on her back?”
“Of course.”
“Won’t you be afraid?”
“No.”
“I’ve never…” he shook his head suddenly. “I’ll go and see Achilles off.” He turned then and hurried away.
Chapter 17
I watched him walk away with mixed feelings. It would have been easier if he just went with his brother back to Blakesly House. The longer I was near him, the harder it was to think straight.
My entire life, I’d always only done as I was told, what the sisters told me to do. Was he going to think he could tell me what to do now, too? Would I listen to him? Probably, I grimaced. It was obvious that he wanted to keep me alive, so I would do as he said.
I watched as the men shook hands. Achilles seemed hesitant to leave Paris alone. If I hadn’t seen him chase away the wolves already, I would have thought he was afraid to go outside of the safety circle we had created.
That wasn’t it, though. He was just worried about Paris. That much was obvious from their earlier conversation. I couldn’t imagine anything h
urting Paris, though.
He waited until his brother was well out of sight before coming back to join me. I didn’t expect him to, thinking he would join the sisters and discuss how and when we would run. I watched him warily as he lowered himself to the ground.
“He’ll return soon.” I couldn’t be sure if he was speaking to me or only to himself. “This must all be… Strange to you.”
“I’ve been with the sisters a long time; strange doesn’t really bother me.”
“Right,” he nodded, his fingers playing absently with the fray at the bottom of his jeans. We both fell quiet, but it wasn’t uncomfortable.
“You don’t have to be afraid,” he said after a minute.
I met his gaze, my own unwavering. “I’m not afraid.”
“Not when I’m around,” he winked.
I groaned lightly. “Why did you come here anyways?”
“To take you back to Blakesly House.”
“I know that,” I clicked my tongue impatiently, “I mean, why you? Why didn’t Damien just come himself?”
“Damien,” he scoffed. “If it was up to him, you would just stay here with the sisters until you die.”
Damien was starting to sound better. “Then… But you said Damien sent you to get me.”
“Kiera found out about you.”
Was that supposed to explain anything? “I don’t even know who that is.”
“Kiera is Damien’s mate.”
On its own accord, my top lip snarled back. “Oh.”
He smiled, amusement making his eyes lighter. “She’s not that bad. They’ve been together for a long time.”
“Does she know about the sisters?”
“Of course. Everyone knows about the sisters.” His gaze traveled briefly to them and then back to me. “And when she found out what Damien had done to your parents—that he had sent you to live with them…”
He let his explanation fade away, but I could fill in the blanks. “She sent you to rescue me.”
“Naturally.”
“And if I don’t want to be rescued?”
“I’ll stay here and keep you safe until the others come; then we’ll figure things out.” His gaze was tender, but firm. “Until then, I will protect you.”
“I really don’t understand why you keep saying you’ll protect me.” I wasn’t angry anymore, but I needed him to see reason.
“You’re human.”
“I know.”
“Although I will admit, you’re made of tougher skin than most of them.”
“Even more proof that I can handle myself.”
He half smiled, but his eyes still looked haunted. “I just want you to get out of this alive.”
“And Miranda.”
“What?”
“Miranda. You said you would get her out, too.”
“Miranda.” He whispered her name, but the confusion never fully left his face. “Of course, I’ll do what I can to protect…her, but my priority is on you.”
I shook my head slowly, bothered by his messed up priorities. “You know I’ll leave when the sisters do.”
“They’ll stay here until Damien arrives or until I tell them to go.” His smug smile proved that he actually believed that.
I didn’t say anything to set him straight, though. It would be easier later for us to slip away if he thought they were going to submit to his orders. My eyes couldn’t hold his stare down, though.
I shifted my eyes to my lap, where my hands rested. Why did Paris make me so nervous? It was probably just because he was a vampire, I tried to tell myself. That, and Liza had just embarrassed me in front of him. Did he think I had been staring at him?
“I’m going to see what the sisters are doing,” I told him quietly. I pressed my palms on the ground and pushed myself up. A sharp rock cut into my palm, but I didn’t flinch in the slightest, even though it hurt.
He didn’t try to stop me and each step I took carried me further away from him. This wasn’t starting out as a good day. Already, we had one dead human pet and a bunch of scared vampires. And the sun wasn’t even all the way up yet.
Although they preferred to travel by night, the sun didn’t bother them as much as it bothered the wolves. “It’s in their nature to hunt at night,” Melody had once explained. “You know, full moon and all that.”
“The moon?”
“Wolves howl at the moon,” she shrugged.
I could only hope that she had been right. I was never sure of much with the sisters, but I was sure of one thing. They would not sit here and wait for Damien Letrell to show up. We would be long gone before that.
Paris wouldn’t be able to stop them either. If he really tried, he could probably stop them from taking me with them, though. My eyes narrowed at the thought.
Part of me was starting to think it wouldn’t be so bad to stay with Paris. I was trying to shut that part up. He would take me to Blakesly House and leave me with Kiera while he ran off again. Then I would be stuck living in some stuffy old house with Damien and his new girlfriend. No way. I wasn’t going to let that happen.
The three sisters were talking quietly among themselves when I reached their side. They didn’t even look my way when I sat down. Melody wasn’t smiling, so I was pretty sure I didn’t want to know what they were saying.
Paris stayed sitting where he was, not looking at anything. He didn’t even glance back to make sure I had done as I told him I would. He didn’t have to, though; he could hear where I was.
I wiggled my foot around absently in my shoe. With everything going on here at the camp, I hadn’t even thought about my hurt heel. It seemed like a lifetime ago that I was soaking it in mud. Now, I barely even felt it.
“Does it still hurt?” Melody asked softly, suddenly next to me.
“Not really.”
She smiled. “You always have healed quickly.”
“Most of the time I didn’t have much of a choice.”
Melody pushed my hair off my forehead. “Once we get out of here, things will go right back to normal.”
Normal? I doubted seriously if anything would go back to how it was. Damien Letrell wanted me back so if we did get out of this, we would be running from Damien or Paris for who knew how long.
And what about Paris? Would I be able to just forget about him? I doubted that, too. His back was ramrod straight and a glare darkened his handsome features. His face changed when he smiled though, softened into a look of…
“What were you thinking?” Gloria hissed, interrupting my thoughts.
“What did you two talk about?” Liza asked hurriedly.
“Nothing.” I shook my head. “I mean, we talked about the wolves. Achilles is going to Blakesly House for help, but Paris is staying here.”
“To Blakesly House?”
“Yeah. Paris said Damien will come here, but not to bring Dominick.”
Gloria tensed. “We need to go,” she whispered.
“How many brothers are there?” I asked Melody.
“Six. Damien, Dominick, Marcus, Paris, Rueben, and Achilles.”
My mouth fell open slightly. “Will they all come here?”
“Marcus lives in the States, so probably not him.”
“But the others?” I persisted.
She shrugged. “Usually, if one is in trouble, they all come running.”
Paris wasn’t in trouble, though. He could get away if he wanted to. He didn’t, though. What had Achilles said?
“He said they needed to destroy the pack.”
“Obviously.”
“Is that even possible?”
“They are warriors,” Liza rolled her eyes as if that were obvious.
“So, they are strong?”
“More than strong.” Gloria wasn’t impressed though, it was just a fact.
“But, we’ll be able to get away from them.” I wanted her to ease any worries I couldn’t help from seeping in.
“Yes,” she said it automatically, so her words couldn’t
be trusted completely.
“Ok.” I nodded anyways.
“We’ll have to get out of here, soon, though.”
“We’re leaving,” Gloria suddenly snapped, “right now.”
“Are you sure that’s such a great idea?” Melody looked pointedly at where Paris still sat.
“We stick together.” Liza glared at me before stomping away from us.
Did that include me? Or was she only talking about the three of them? Melody gave me a look that was far from comforting, then went back to sit with Gloria. The two immediately began their whispered conversation.
Owen rose from his place by Addison and Miranda to walk over to Paris. He sat with his back towards me, so it was impossible to tell what the two were talking about.
I tightened my jaw. I didn’t want to know anyways. I didn’t even care. Here was nothing that I needed to know from him or any of his brothers. We were leaving.
I clenched my fingers into tight fists, the fingernails digging into my palms. “We should have just stayed in that damn town,” I muttered. Frustration made me whiney.
“We couldn’t stay there.” Gloria half chuckled. “They would have staked us for sure.”
“Do you remember that time in Rome?” Melody grinned.
“It was worth it, just to see the look on his face.”
Great, here we were being hunted by a pack of wolves, and they were reminiscing about a time in Rome. Didn’t they ever take anything seriously? Melody’s laugh was light and happy. I shook my head.
They would leave, with or without me, and it would be soon. I didn’t blame them either. Damien would be here soon to clean up the mess the wolves had left. Maybe even more of the Letrells; I didn’t really know.
It was strange for me to have my heart split in half. I wanted to stay with Paris and make sure that Miranda was safe, but I couldn’t leave the sisters. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to find them again.
Miranda slept on the ground close to where I was sitting. It was good that she had been able to relax enough to get some rest. I should have tried, but for once in my life, I didn’t trust the sisters not to leave me when I was asleep.
I sighed, swirling my finger around in the dry dirt at my feet. I wasn’t much of an artist, but I managed a weird circular shape that meant absolutely nothing. I wiped the dirt back smooth with my foot.