I’m hurting him—
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. “I’m leaving. I’ll go.” She turned on her heel and stumbled toward the door. She was halfway there before she was able to force herself to open her eyes and bother looking around.
Pack. She needed to pack.
Where was she going to go?
A hand curled over her shoulder. “He’ll be fine, girl,” Rob said, his voice gruff. Gentle.
She shoved his hand away.
Chapter Eleven
“That’s a nice trick.”
Celine watched the young man as she guided him out of the bar. “Thanks,” she said listlessly.
“You know, you’re not as much fun as I thought you’d be.”
She looked at the Grimm at her side. “Sorry, Red-eyed Rob. Would you like me to buy some red contacts and pretend to be as crazy as you are?”
He grinned at her. “Red-eyed Rob? Oh, I kind of like that. Makes me sound rather maniacal.”
She sighed and looked back at the mortal. He’d been about ready to slip. She hoped she’d caught him in time. It was a different breed of demon that time—succubae. She didn’t like succubae. They felt…sleazy.
“You know what’s bad about this little gift?” Rob said thirty minutes later as they left the young man alone at his home. He hadn’t ever noticed his escort.
Of course, they’d kept themselves cloaked.
“All sorts of things?” She still didn’t feel entirely right about the hypnotizing bit.
“Well, no. It’s not a bad thing to make people see reason the way you did. But the way you do things, you don’t even get to get your hands dirty.” With a morose sigh, he said, “We walked out of the bar without killing so much as one demon. One.”
“We had to get that guy home. Away from the demons. That was more important.” Slipping him a look, she asked, “Do you want to go back?”
He shrugged. “No. It’s like eating stale popcorn now. The fun is doing it then. Besides, she left not long after we did. I felt it. I’ll track her down later. You need to get some rest. You look knackered.”
Knackered—translation? Tired. Hell yes, she was tired. But she almost feared going to sleep anymore.
Two weeks.
It had been two weeks since she’d been sent away from Jacob and every day that passed without seeing him made the icy ache in her heart spread even further.
“Shouldn’t he be awake by now?”
The question slipped away from her before she even realized it.
But she couldn’t take it back.
Rob blew out a breath, moving to lean against a tree. Absently, he reached up, curling a hand around the limb hanging over his head. The muscles in his arm bunched, tensed, relaxed. Bunched. Tensed. Relaxed. She heard wood crack and she arched a brow as he darted out from under the tree just as the thick limb came crashing down.
“Oops.”
He glared at her. “It’s your fault. You keep making me think. And I’m not supposed to work with others anyway—I’m no good with them.”
“I’ve gotta agree with ya there.” She had to trot to keep up with him. Even as fast as she was, she couldn’t do it. “You broke that poor tree, and you didn’t answer me.”
“How am I to bloody know when he’s to wake? I don’t even like the fool.” Rob shoved his hands in his pockets, his eyes staring straight ahead. “Poking his nosy fingers where they don’t belong, prying about the way he does.”
“He did it to you too, huh?”
Rob’s lip curled. Then he sighed. “Well, it’s likely it wasn’t intentional with me. I’ve got…issues. And his gift was still new, wearing on him. But he couldn’t keep it under control and the two of us, we had a row.”
“A row, huh?” Somehow, Celine suspected that was putting it lightly. “You still haven’t answered me.”
“Yeah, I did. I dunno how long he’s going to sleep. He’s lucky, though, that sleep is all he does. He could be dead, right and proper.”
They hit her, those words, brusque and cool, like a fist in the heart. Staggering in her steps, she pressed a hand to her chest and closed her eyes. “It was that bad.”
“And this is why they don’t put me with people,” Rob muttered. Eying her narrowly, he went to her. “You’re not going to cry, are you? I’m sorry. He’s alive. I know that. So that means he’ll wake.”
“I know.” She swallowed and took a deep breath. Somehow she had the feeling that tears might just make Rob go a little madder than he already was. “I’m fine.”
Awkwardly, he patted her shoulder. “You’re not a bad sort, you know.”
“Gee, thanks.” She sniffed and pressed the tips of her fingers to her eyes. Man, she missed Jacob. She just wanted to see him—reassure herself he wasn’t still the same man she’d last seen in that bed…
“Oh, come now, you can’t do that!” Terrified, Rob patted her back. The ability to comfort anybody was something he’d lost long ago, so long ago, he didn’t even remember it. But instinct had him wrapping his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. “Come on. You don’t need to cry now. I told you he’d be fine, didn’t I?”
A harsh sob escaped her.
He winced at the sound of it. Helpless—female tears had always made him feel completely helpless. Well, for a very long time, he hadn’t cared. Odd…he cared now. That was—strange. Frowning, he reached up and absently toyed with one of Celine’s curls. “I guess maybe you need to get the tears out, then.”
She sobbed harder.
He stroked the silken curl. She cried, and it bothered him. So very strange. The misery of others didn’t leave him unaffected. Too often it amused him, which was just plain wrong, but this didn’t amuse him. He didn’t like it. “Come on, pet. You can stop it with the tears. It’s not as bad as all that—”
He felt the rush of wind, but he’d been distracted. Too distracted.
It wasn’t until hands closed over him and he was flying that he realized just how distracted he was.
As the cold, ghostly tendrils of a fellow maniac’s power wrapped around him, Rob lay flat on his back, staring upside down, peering up at Jacob’s face. “Oh, well, now. That’s a welcome sight. Jacob, lad, please turn around and tell your woman to stop sobbing.”
Jacob snarled and bent down, his hand closed over the front of Rob’s shirt. He jerked up.
Rob let him. After all, the boy still looked rather pale. And he didn’t want to see Celine cry more.
“Don’t play your tricks on her,” Jacob growled, leaning in until he was nose to nose with Rob.
“Tricks?” Rob frowned. And then he sighed. “Oh, sod off, you fool. She’s crying over you.” Jabbing Jacob in the shoulder, he said, “Will you turn around and speak to her? She’s standing there with her mouth gaping open? A silly look, even if she is a lovely woman.”
The fury leeched away as he stared at Rob, but confusion remained. Rob…the bastard had had his hands all over Celine. Rob—he’d been touching Celine. She’d been crying.
Rob had a talent for making people cry.
Came in handy, which was a crying shame—it meant they were stuck with the bedlamite. Sometimes tears, misery, pain…just like regret, just like grief, were what was needed to drive people back into their right mind. Rob just liked to play with his talent a bit too much—and he didn’t always mind his manners.
Sucking in a breath, he backed away a step. Had to, because Rob smelled of Celine’s perfume and the lotion she wore and it was going to… He turned away, but that didn’t help much.
Now he found himself staring at Celine. Vaguely, he was aware of Rob’s ramblings as the other man made himself scarce, but he couldn’t give a bloody damn what the other man was saying or doing, as long as Rob just wasn’t here.
“Jacob…?” Celine’s gaze was locked on his face, but as he took a step forward, she rushed toward him and he found himself stupefied as she jerked up his shirt.
Apparently that wasn’t good eno
ugh, because she grumbled under her breath and then tore it down the middle.
“Ah, Celine? Why are you tearing my clothes?”
She shot him a look. “You were missing huge chunks of flesh,” she whispered. She skimmed her fingers down his side, dug them in a little.
He bit back a wince, didn’t let her know it was still tender. Regenerating organs wasn’t pleasant, and it would be a few days yet before he was back to full strength. He was still a good fifteen pounds under his normal weight but none of that mattered.
He was awake and that meant he could see the one thing that had plagued him, even as his body tried to heal.
Celine had lived through it. She’d lived through his foolishness.
Her hands rested on his sides, her fingers massaging him restlessly. For pity’s sake… Swallowing, he caught her wrists, eased them away. Stroking his thumbs along the delicate skin on the inside, he said, “Will is his closed-mouth self and wouldn’t say anything. Were you hurt?”
“No. I didn’t get so much as a scrape. Anytime I even looked like I was going to move from the humans, I got Will’s glare or Rob snarled at me.” She tugged on her hands and eased back, blushing as she glanced down at his shirt. “Sorry about that. I…well. Sorry.”
Setting his jaw, he watched as she put as much distance between them as she could, as quickly as she could. Well, he supposed she could have taken off running, but it would seem she wanted to still talk. Fine, then. We’ll chat. “I hear you’ve been paired with Rob. You got rid of me, after all.”
“I…” Celine’s mouth gaped. Then she snapped it shut with an audible click. Through clenched teeth, she ground out, “I didn’t get rid of you. You were out like the proverbial light, slick.”
“And you wasted no time taking off, did you?”
She glared at him.
“Right, then. Well, Rob’s not going to be much good at teaching you control, but that will be Will’s mess, the bloody fool. Take care, Celine.” He got two steps, then a slim, strong hand caught his arm. He stopped, looked down at her hand then up at her face. “Yes?”
“You just walk away.”
“It seems I’m not exactly needed around here now, am I?”
“You just about got into a damn fight with Rob over…what, I dunno. But it had something to do with me, and you can’t make me believe otherwise. And now you’re just going to walk.” She shoved him.
He scowled as he stumbled a bit. “Do you mind? I’ve barely been awake three bloody hours and I’ve spent—”
He shut up. She didn’t need to know that, did she?
“Spent what?” Celine narrowed her eyes.
Jacob glared at her. No. He wasn’t about to—
“You spent that time looking for me, didn’t you?”
“No.” He spent most of that time looking for her. The first thirty minutes or so, he’d stumbled around like a drunk, trying to get himself a little more awake. Then he’d eaten. Then he’d tried to get Will to talk. All Will had told him was that Celine was out in Amarillo, Texas.
Amarillo.
Texas.
That hadn’t sounded bad. Then Will had mentioned Rob.
And Jacob had seen red.
Getting to Texas hadn’t helped—it was infernally hot in this place. Finding her standing in Rob’s arms? This day just wasn’t meant to be a good day for him, that was all.
“No?” She stood there, watching him with eyes that saw him far too easily. He didn’t like it. She saw him too easily, and that left him vulnerable. She was still hung up on her husband—she’d said as much, hadn’t she? Said she still loved him. If she wasn’t going to move on…
Her hand touched his cheek. “Are you just going to stand there and glare at me?”
“No.” Reaching up, he caught her wrist. Bugger, he didn’t need this. He just… No. He didn’t need this. From the time he’d met this woman, she’d had him in a mess. If he’d thought she felt the same about him, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. But she didn’t. Wasn’t love grand…
Dipping his head, he brushed his mouth against hers. “Good-bye, Celine. Don’t let Rob drive you too insane. He’s good at that. Excels at it, even.”
Good-bye…
Chapter Twelve
She gaped at his lean back at he strode away.
He just—what?
No.
“Jacob!”
He kept walking.
Oh, no, he didn’t.
She took off running after him as he rounded a corner. Except he was already gone from sight.
Gone—
“Oh, now that’s just not fair,” she snarled, spinning around and driving her foot into the trunk of the tree nearest her. It was a bent, half-dead affair and there was an ominous crack that made her wince. Now she was going around killing trees just like Rob.
Rob—
Rob or Will, one of them would be able to tell her where to find Jacob. Or at least, Will could. And he damn well would, or he’d listen to her shrieking at him nonstop for the rest of eternity.
Will had a moody look on his face. Rob finished gathering up his things, rambling on, determined to get out of here now that his services were no longer required. And the sooner he got away, the better, because that look in Will’s eyes spelled bad, bad…
The door flew open.
Celine stood there, her eyes flying across the room to lock on Will’s face. “Where in the hell is he?”
Will shoved off the chair. “You never could do anything simple, could you, Celine?”
“I didn’t do a damn thing! He just disappeared. What in the hell did I do?”
Will closed his eyes. “I don’t know. I wasn’t there. What did you do?”
“Not a damn thing!” She flung a hand in Rob’s direction and he glared at her, ready to join in the fray himself, but then said, “Jacob jumps on him, just about starts wailing on him—I’m starting to believe he really was a trouble-maker—and then he starts rambling on about me not letting Rob drive me crazy and he disappears. Where in the hell is he? I want to kick his damn ass.”
“Well, this has been great fun…” Rob grabbed his bags.
Will and Celine both looked at him and snapped, “Shut up.”
Shut up?
Oh, now this was just getting to be too much.
“Celine, maybe you just need to let Jacob settle down. His brain…” Will’s voice faded away and he sighed, rubbed a hand over his face. “Sometimes we come out of stasis disoriented. He came right after you when what he should have done was spent a few more days resting. Perhaps give him a few weeks, let him recover fully. Then go speak to him. I know…”
“Know what?” Celine demanded.
“Oh, come now,” Rob jeered. “You can’t stop there. After all, I already know what the problem is. The bastard is shit-faced in love with her and he can’t handle it. Come on. Say it, let her hear it so she can adjust to it and then figure out how to get herself out of this insane mess. She doesn’t need to go after him—she needs to get her head examined.”
“Oh, now that’s a bloody laugh, coming from you,” Will fired off, turning to glare at him. “Would you just shut up? And put your damn things away. You’re staying here with her for the duration.”
“Oh, no, I’m not.” Rob grabbed his bag and headed for the door. This team-player bit was for the damn birds. He was done with it.
“Rob… Don’t push me.”
“Sod off,” he tossed over his shoulder. He hit the door and grabbed the doorknob. But before he managed to turn it, he froze. Aw, shit.
“I warned you,” Will said from behind him.
Rob growled, “Will, I’m going to rip you apart if you don’t release me.” It took a hell of a lot just to force the words out and he could feel the pressure of Will’s gift squeezing in on his mind—if they weren’t careful, they’d end up with Rob having his mind bursting like a ripe melon.
“Celine, you need to give Jacob some time—”
“No.” Ignoring
the look in Will’s eyes, ignoring the decidedly amusing sight of Rob frozen in place, she glared at the freaky man in front of her. If he decided to freeze her ass like he’d done to Rob, she couldn’t stop him. But that was the only thing he could do to keep her. She was going to find Jacob, damn it. Now more than ever she had to find him.
“Celine, just listen—”
“Screw you,” she said. Shooting Rob’s rigid back a narrow look, she focused her eyes back on Will. With his arms crossed over his chest, his austere face set in those forbidding, uncompromising lines and his silvery eyes so cool and remote, he looked like one scary, unrelenting bastard. He could freeze people in place with a thought and she’d watched him use whatever other powers he had to kill nearly three-dozen demons. All he’d had to do was see them and he could kill them. Scary. Ass. Bastard. But she didn’t care. “Where is he?”
“I told you that he likely needs—”
“Is Rob right?” she interrupted, stalking closer. She closed the distance between them, jabbing him in the chest with a finger. It was like drilling it into concrete. “Answer that, damn it. Just answer me.”
“What’s between you two belongs between you two,” Will said, his voice stiff.
Smirking at him, she fell back a few steps.
Rob was the one who pointed out the obvious. “If it belongs between the two of them, mate, why are you trying to interfere, then?”
For the first time since she’d met him, Will looked…caught off guard, she decided. “Damn it, Rob, shut up.” He looked back at her, his eyes icy. “Would it be so hard to just spend a few more days with Rob, let Jacob’s mind settle?”
“Settle?” she echoed. Just how much did his mind need to settle for them to fricking talk? “And you want me to just keep working with the raging lunatic there? Maybe you’re as crazy as he is!”
The raging lunatic stumbled. Will must have let him go because he almost hit the ground before he turned to face them. “He’s easily as crazy as I am, probably more so. He lost his mind, his soul, all of it ages ago.” Rob gave Will a narrow smile and added, “That’s why he does this foolishness, you know. Trying to regain some of that soul he lost back. The insanity, of course, is permanent.”
Grimm Tidings: Grimm's Circle, Book 6 Page 10