Never Back Down

by Susan Harris

  “Melanie saw everything, didn’t she? Did I hurt her?”

  Derek pressed his lips together in a firm line, his expression grim before he spoke. “Ya, she saw everything, but you didn’t hurt her. The moment she got near you, you turned the magic in on yourself somehow. While we were waiting for the chains to arrive, you woke up screaming. When Melanie reached out to grab you, the flames on your arms burned you, not her. Even when you were out of it, you wouldn’t hurt her.”

  “I wouldn’t be in this fucking mess if I hadn’t of tapped into my magic to try and find you when you got yourself kidnapped.”

  Ricky cringed as his words came back to haunt him. “Until I open my mouth that is.”

  Derek leaned against the wall, folding his arms across his chest. “Good thing about truth seekers, they always can tell when you mean what you say. Doesn’t mean the words don’t hurt, so always try and mean what you say.”

  “Because you can’t take them back.”

  With a smile, Derek nodded, remembering the words he had once spoken to Ricky. “Exactly.”

  Ricky heard footsteps come down the hall, and Caitlyn’s tearstained face came into view, those onyx eyes filled with fear. Ricky hated that he had done that to her. He flashed a smile but Caitlyn did not return it. Surprise welled inside him, not because he and Caitlyn were not close, but he always felt that she tolerated him simply because he was a work colleague and friends with the other guys. While he considered her family, Ricky had never been sure that she thought of him in that way.

  “And I am very sorry that I ever made you think that way.”

  Ricky wagged his finger at her. “Hey, no mind reading. One of you is bad enough. Plus, you drank my blood. I think in our weird ass little gang it makes us family.”

  Caitlyn began to tremble as if shock had suddenly hit her.

  “Hey Caitlyn, I’m good. I’m still me. Although I’m not sure if that’s a good thing.”

  The next thing Ricky knew, Caitlyn had her arms around him, the wetness of her tears trickling down his neck, and Ricky looked up at Donnie with eyes wide.

  What do I do? He silently asked, and his friend helpfully just shrugged.

  “Caitlyn, it’s okay. I’m sorry I upset you. But it’s me. It probably won’t be the last time.” Caitlyn said something in French, but Ricky had no clue what she said. Easing back, she sat down on the edge of the bed and looked him in the eyes. “I thought that I had killed you.”

  “Nah, I’ve got like nine lives or some shit. Can’t get rid of me that easy.”

  She patted his cheek like he was a child, and he gave her a small smile. Looking back at Derek, Ricky said. “So what happens now?”

  Derek pushed off the wall and came to sit on a chair to Ricky’s right. He stretched out his long legs and folded his hands in his lap. “Draven is getting help from the coven to make something that will help supress your magic in a healthy way until you get the hang of things. There’s no more self-medicating, Ricky. We can’t go through this again. You will listen to what we have to say, got it?”

  “Ya.”

  “Right now,” Derek continued. “You are taking an official leave of absence from work to get to know your son. Paternal leave. Unofficially, Draven has arranged for you to go to a discrete clinic in Northern Ireland where you will spend at least 90 days working through your magic issues.”

  “Rehab?”

  “Sort of. Your mom and Zach are going with you, and Draven will be going for the first month to help out. This isn’t negotiable, Ricky.”

  “And if I don’t go.”

  Caitlyn spoke next, her words chilling him down to the bone. “Then you lose everything. I have spoken with Fionn. While sympathetic, and also acknowledging that he may have added to your predicament by dropping a bombshell on you like that, he also states that he cannot have his nephew in danger.”

  “I would never hurt my son.” Ricky growled.

  “Then you will do as we ask of you. If you do not, then Fionn, as Sadie’s next of kin, will sign over all parental rights to me. Sarge will not allow you to endanger the team, so you will no longer be an agent of P.I.T, and, as Melanie’s sire, I will refuse to let a liability near her, so new into her second life.”

  Ricky squirmed under the intensity of her gaze. “Damn guys, way to bring a guy down even further. So basically, if I stay and try to kick it myself, you will take everything away from me?”

  A chorus of agreements rang out and Ricky’s heart dropped to his stomach. Panic welled in his veins and he felt the magic simmer, just a pulse. Closing his eyes, he counted to ten and then opened them again. Just as he was about to speak, he caught sight of a gorgeous redhead leaning in the doorway, her face stern.

  “Caitlyn doesn’t have to order me to stay away from you. If you don’t go, if you don’t do all you can to get better, then anything that might have happened between us is done.”

  This was a conversation they needed to have by themselves, but Ricky wasn’t sure if the rest of the gang would leave them alone.

  “Guys, can we have the room. Please.”

  All three supernaturals looked at Melanie who nodded, and then they walked out, leaving the door open. Ricky snorted at the illusion of privacy, knowing full well they could hear every single word spoken between them.

  “Before you say anything,” Ricky sighed, his path decided even before Melanie had come in the room. “I’m sorry that you had to see me like that.”

  “You saw me naked while I died from blood loss. I think this makes us even.”

  “Not until you’ve seen me naked,” he said with a grin even as Melanie rolled her eyes. She was dressed in black skinny jeans, black boots and a t-shirt that read, ‘Are you out of your Vulcan mind?’ With her red hair pulled back into a ponytail, Ricky wondered why he couldn’t be more like her, the human tech girl who became a vampire like it was nothing. As if this was who she had always been destined to become, when he felt like a stranger in his own skin.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about the drugs?”

  “Because out of everyone, I couldn’t bear the disappointment in your eyes.”

  Melanie frowned but didn’t reply to that. Instead, she said, “You are going to that rehab.”

  “I know.”

  “And you’ll do everything in your power to come back in control?”

  “Ya, I will.”

  “Good.”

  They stared at each other for a few minutes before Ricky asked, “Do you have feelings for me, Lanie?”

  “At the moment I feel the strongest urge to kill you, as if you haven’t been doing a good enough job of that by yourself.”

  Ricky couldn’t help but laugh. “Come here, Lanie.”

  Hesitating for just a second, Melanie strode over to the bed and sat down next to him. Ricky tried to reach out to touch her face, but the goddamn cuffs wouldn’t let him. With a sigh, he lowered his voice and said, “I want to be a man that is worthy of being with you. I need to be that man. Right now, I have to get well, and be a dad to my son. I need to know that you can deal with the fact Zach is now in my life. I know you can, but I need to hear it.”

  “Zach isn’t even the issue and you know it.”

  “Good. I will go to this rehab place and I will come back good as new. Then you and I have some things to sort out.” Leaning forward, he captured Melanie’s lips with his in a hard press of lips for a minute before he pulled away.

  Melanie pressed two fingers to her mouth. “What the hell was that?”

  The corner of Ricky’s mouth tilted up. “A promise.”

  A knock sounded at the door, and Melanie jumped to her feet with a yelp.

  “Sorry to interrupt,” Derek mumbled. “But Draven is here.”

  His warlock friend Draven strode into the room, his dreads slapping against his shoulders as he moved. He glared at Ricky grimly and shook his head. “You have been causing much havoc, my friend.”

  Ricky shrugged his shoulders. “I call tha
t Tuesday, Draven.”

  His friend chuckled. “Indeed, Ricky, indeed. Let’s see if this trinket I brought works before we have to dig your grave.”

  “Always the optimist, Draven.” Ricky cast a glance at Derek and motioned his head to Melanie. “Get her out of here.”

  She made to protest, but Ricky growled. “Please, Lanie. If I go nuclear again and they have to put me down for good, then I don’t want you to see it. Just go.”

  Melanie spun and dashed from the room, passing Caitlyn and Donnie on their way in. Draven took a small square box from his pocket and pulled out a ring.

  “I’m sorry, Draven, but I have to say no. You just ain’t my type, sweetheart.”

  “Isn’t it fortunate for me that I have a dislike of idiots.”

  Ricky grinned as Draven held up the ring for inspection. Ricky wasn’t much for bling, and the ring certainly wasn’t something he’d have gone out and bought, but the skull and crossbones design was something he could work with.

  “This was spelled by me and by Samhain Chace, after your mother came to your defence. I would not like to cross you mother, Ricky.”

  Draven held the ring out to Ricky, then slid it onto the middle finger on his left hand. He could feel the magic in the ring, hoped it would be strong enough to withstand the fury of magic in him.

  “This will dampen the magic in your blood, while still giving you access to it. It is only temporary, mind. I hope that after your stay at Havana, you will learn to control your magic and discover the full scope of it by yourself.”

  Derek came to stand beside him. “Now to test the ring,” he said. As he began to uncuff Ricky’s wrists, he tensed, waiting for the blowback of magic. Draven removed the other cuff, and Ricky hissed when magic flooded his system, the heat of the power burning him on the inside as if to chastise him for locking it away.

  The magic within the ring came to life, washing over his power and dulling it to a hushed whisper rather than a roar. Ricky exhaled a breath, heard a gasp, and looked at the spirals of smoke that came out with his breath.

  “Dude, I’m part dragon!” he exclaimed with a grin, hoping to elevate the tension in the room. His friends smiled, but as Ricky shuffled off the bed to stand, they didn’t seem to believe that he could do this.

  You can’t do it without the drugs.

  There’s a stash inside your car.

  Take off the ring and lose yourself in the high.

  They are not your friends.

  Ricky slapped the side of his head, as if that would dislodge the demons in his mind. He lifted his eyes to Donnie, who nodded. He would get rid of any drugs still lying around the place. Not that there were any.

  Looking at Draven, Ricky asked. “So, when do we leave for rehab?”

  “Right now. Your mother and son are waiting in my car for us. Donnie kindly went and got some clothes for you. I will wait outside while you say your goodbyes.”

  When Draven left, silence washed over the room, as if nobody knew what to say. Ricky went to Derek first, holding out his hand, but Derek engulfed him in a hug. Donnie did the same, and Caitlyn kissed him on both cheeks and told him to come back soon.

  As Ricky made to walk from the room, he looked over his shoulder. “If this was a TV show or movie, it would totally be the time for Amy Winehouse to start singing about rehab. See ya on the flip side, folks.”

  Lump in his throat, Ricky ignored everyone and everything as he walked out of Caitlyn’s house and opened the passenger door to Draven’s car. Turning his head, he gave his mam a smile, and she patted his cheek.

  “You okay, Ma?”

  “I will be, son. I will be.”

  Looking at Zach, Ricky felt his heart swell for the little boy.

  Derek’s words played in his mind. “They will take Zach from you and he will go into foster care. Do you want that?”

  No, that was not what he wanted. Had Sadie told him from day one that she was pregnant, that he might be the kid’s dad, then he would have manned up and been there for Zach. Sadie had robbed him of five years; Ricky would be damned if he was the reason he lost another five.

  Zach, nose in a comic book that Ricky recognized from his youth, lifted his head and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

  “Hi, Ricky, grandma says we are going on an adventure. Is that true?”

  Ricky winked. “Sure is kid. That okay with you?”

  The little boy nodded and went back to reading the comic. Ricky blew out a breath and grinned at Draven. “Onward, Jeeves.”

  Draven chuckled. “Get some rest, Ricky. It’s a long drive to Armagh. Then the real work starts.”

  Slumping down in the seat, Ricky happened to peer out the window as Draven put the car in reverse. Standing together were the people he called family, and the girl he longed to call his. His throat tightened. In that moment, Ricky understood how much he had to lose, should he fail in his quest to overcome an addition that should not have happened.

  While Draven drove away from his family, Ricky closed his eyes, saying to himself: 90 days…90 days and things can go back to normal. I can do this.

  90 days…easy peasey…right?

  Ever

  As the team made themselves comfortable in her living room, a nervousness took hold of Ever while they waited for Derek to arrive. As her eyes wandered around the room, she could almost laugh at the weirdness of having immortal gods and supernatural creatures all in one place. Not one human stood in the room. It made sense why Ever had never felt normal; she was far from it.

  Erika stood off to the side, chatting to a young woman who was the image of Caitlyn and happened to be her niece. The woman laughed as Erika smiled, and Ever was happy to see Erika being so open with others. Ever knew how hard it was for Erika to be herself around others, and to think that had changed all because of Loki. Through the years, Ever had feared that Loki and Erika together might be the biggest disaster in the world, but since declaring that they were going to give things a go, a weight seemed to have lifted from Erika’s shoulders.

  And the way Loki watched her, Ever knew that her brother was as smitten as he claimed, a massive feat for a man who guarded his heart more than even Erika. He had opened up and made her best friend happier than Ever had seen in all her lifetimes.

  Caitlyn perched elegantly on the edge of the couch, and Donnie lounged on the chair, his hand resting on her thigh. Ever felt an overwhelming happiness that they were finally together, and Caitlyn could grieve fully. What a terrible injustice to lose your entire family and be forced to live without them. And Donnie, what strength was contained within the vampire to stay by the woman he loved and not know whether he would ever be with her? Those two deserved nothing but happiness. Ever prayed to the gods that no more darkness would seep into their lives.

  Next to Donnie, Melanie sat a little stiffly. The girl with so much spirit and light was engulfed in a wave of darkness. Perhaps it had something to do with Ricky’s absence, since Caitlyn mentioned Derek would explain. Sarge had come when Ever called, and her godfather had pressed a kiss to her cheek before sinking down into one of the fireside chairs, his arms folded while they waited for Derek.

  When the others had arrived without him, Ever feared that her mate had decided that she wasn’t worth the trouble, despite the fact he had traipsed across the ocean to find her. During the last few days, she had time to consider her life without Derek, how her past selves had tried to go up against Odin alone and failed miserably. If she tried and failed this time, she wanted to know what it was like to be with Derek, not just remember some form of him.

  Ever felt a presence next to her and glanced up to see Loki standing there, a tumbler of whiskey in his grasp.

  “You have a drink problem, Loki.”

  “I prefer to look at it as stress intervention. Especially since my sister and my woman are about to embark on what might likely be a suicide mission.” He sipped from the tumbler. “Besides, what fun would it be if I was sober? Then I might let t
he demons out to play.”

  “That is a very scary thought.”

  Her brother chuckled, his eyes once more wandering in Erika’s direction. As if she sensed his gaze, she turned, winked at him, and then went back to her conversation with Kenzie, who was still sporting a bruise or two, courtesy of Erika. The two were arranging sparing sessions. No doubt, they would become firm friends.

  Ever shook her head as a rap sounded at the front door. Hurrying over to answer it, she opened the door and her breath caught. Like the very first moment she had laid eyes on Derek Doyle, on the quad at the college where she had taught, Ever was captivated by him. Hazel eyes full of intelligence and strength, lush full lips that begged to be kissed, and chestnut hair that slightly dipped in front of his eyes. Handsome, but unaware of his own beauty, he reached out to cup her cheek.

  They hadn’t left things on the best of terms after she flashed them to Cork, with her slipping out of the room to leave him to deal with the team when she went in search of Erika. Ever had been so stupid, running away from her problems instead of depending on those around her. Thankfully, Erika had seen sense.

  “Hey,” Ever said softly.

  “Hey,” Derek replied, and when he removed his hand, Ever instantly missed his touch. “What’s going on?”

  She stepped back to let him in, closing the door as she said, “This is all Erika’s show. Apparently, she thinks she can win a war.”

  “And can she?”

  “Not alone she can’t.”

  Derek’s eyes widened as he seemed to come to a realization and nodded. “Ah, I see.”

  They walked in silence into the living room. Erika glanced over. “Took your sweet time, Boyband.”

  “Had to send a team to investigate a building used for underground fights that collapsed and has a few dead bodies. Know anything about that, Valkyrie?”

  She grinned, leaving Derek to shake his head and flop down beside Donnie. Erika and Kenzie bumped fists, and Erika came to stand beside Ever. Loki pressed a kiss to Erika’s cheek before he stepped to the side and left her to run the show.