“Yes, sleeping. I’m listening for Sam’s growl, so I can focus on what we need to discuss.” I stand next to Gunner and offer my hand in truce.
He shakes his head.
“Gunner—” Miss Beverly tries to correct his actions, like she’s as close to him as a second mother.
“No, it’s okay,” I tell her. “I understand, more than you know.”
Gunner looks at me. “Who are you?”
I take a seat next to him. “My name is Ryder, and… I have a lot to tell you.”
It wasn’t easy, but I explained who and what I am. Maybe it was instinct or a very good sense for liars, but Gunner did not seem to doubt me. I tried to give time after each bit of information so they could catch up. Miss Beverly heard more details than the night before. I filled them in on how I met Rose and why I came into their lives. Gunner’s reaction to Rose being in danger is not shocking to me. He does love her. I know this. I had to watch.
The Prophecy part of this ordeal is a hard one to decipher since everything I tell them is against everything they have ever been taught. Gunner’s eyes run while he learns that, in one very special evening with Rose, he fathered a child who would change lives for humans all over the world. We just don’t know how yet.
“How can I have anything to do with a prophecy? I’m human.”
I study him, wondering how he’s going to handle this.
“I-I am, right?”
“Your mother was very special.”
Gunner nods in complete agreement.
“Eve—”
Gunner recoils. “How do you know her—”
“—was one of us.”
Gunner rises to his feet. “No, no… You’re wrong.”
I wait patiently for him to be ready for more.
“I think he’s telling the truth, honey.” We both look at Miss Beverly. She nods. “Your daddy met Eve in the woods, baby. I was there.”
Hunter reflects, Oh, so Miss Beverly does know of us.
Parker agrees, This is why she did not seem shocked.
Gunner plops back down to the couch. “This can’t be.” His hands rub his face. “So I guess that answers the how… What about my dad?”
I do not have all the answers. “He is human. How you wish to handle what he is to know is a private matter and only your concern.”
Tears escape him as he and Miss Beverly learn Rose is far from being out of danger. Gunner’s voice is low and tired. “How do we keep Rose safe?”
“These events have happened at such an alarming rate, we have not been able to decide all of Rose’s future yet.”
Gunner glares at me. “This is not just your decision to make.”
I palm my fist. “Gunner, I am willing to include you on decisions when it concerns to your baby as long as we can come to a meeting of the minds on a couple of things.”
Gunner inhales a deep breath I take for an answer.
“First, never, ever, try to come between Rose and me like you did outside. I say this with none of the ego you may think is attached to my words but as a true warning because you are not aware of what you faced in the backyard. Rose saved your life when she wiped my vital fluid on her. She learned this in my village when I almost attacked my own family members for approaching her too quickly. I am Tied to her, and this is to be taken very seriously. Never has a Guardian Warrior been Tied to a human he is to guard. It is making me… unstable.”
“Fuck you very much, but whatever, Warrior Boy.”
Blaze laughs, Warrior boy?
I look at Rose’s mom. “I was just insulted, right?”
Gunner rolls his eyes. “He’s an idiot.”
I’m done with his slander. I stand.
Gunner stands.
Rose’s mother panics. “I need the hose…”
Parker skfens, Ryder! No, knowing I’m not backing down, and apparently, neither is Gunner.
“Miss Beverly, I will not disrespect your home. I will drag Gunner outside before I beat him.”
No need to get blood on her carpet.
I have Blaze’s vote.
Gunner and I go chest to chest, headed for round two. Just then, Sage and Hunter rush in the front door, getting a hold of me. Apparently, they were prepared for a moment such as this. Miss Beverly gasps at the intrusion. Gunner appears surprised by the big men, but then his eyes squint, studying them, possibly even recognizing them on a deeper level. Gunner is truly part Warrior Elf. His body language says he’s struggling with an urge to defend a home he considers his own and another urge to be a part of a brotherhood he somehow knows he belongs to. Blood runs deep with our kind.
Still being restrained, I insist on being heard by Gunner. “I have been trying to pay you the respect I feel you deserve because of how Rose feels about you, but do not fool yourself and believe for one moment that you have the upper hand over me. Your genes may have started this historic event, but this unborn is already considered as precious as a god by my people, and they, including myself, will defend her, violently if necessary.”
Because I’m preparing to battle for Rose, I easily shrug both Warriors off me in frustration. Not seeming surprised by my actions or strength when it pertains to Rose, they both turn to Rose’s mother.
Sage says, “Please excuse us barging into your home uninvited, but we did not wish for Ryder to hurt someone dear to you, Miss Beverly.”
Miss Beverly’s jaw seems to be dislocated.
Gunner mumbles, “I can handle him.”
Hunter’s head gestures acknowledgment to Gunner. “I respect that you think you can, son, but it is highly unlikely.”
Gunner walks to Rose’s mother. “You okay, Mama? They really didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Do you only know that because of Ryder?” Sage eagerly asks.
Gunner rubs his stomach. “No, I… feel your intentions. If that makes sense.” Both Sage and Hunter nod. Gunner points to me. “I felt the same when he told me—” Just then, Gunner inhales sharply, his eyes with a painful recognition. “Her?”
I blow out air, not sure whether I dislike or care for this male. “Yes, Rose carries your daughter.”
Miss Beverly’s trembling hand flies over her mouth. Gunner falls back to the couch again. Sage and Hunter take this as their time to exit.
On the way out the door, Sage speaks out loud to me. “Parker said to tell you, it is time to tell all.”
I understand.
They leave, and I dredge up energy to continue. “I’m so sorry to push, but there is more.” Gunner goes absolutely pale. He is at his limit, but I must move us forward. Rose’s mother’s face is horrified. “While Rose was under attack the night in the woods, celebrating her birthday, I was outnumbered a hundred to one. She was going to die.”
Miss Beverly attempts to muffle her cries.
“She didn’t because… I mixed her blood with mine.” Neither seem to have strength to ask how. “This made Rose undesirable to the Demons but started the Prophecy. My vital fluid being what it is—and being blended with yours, Gunner—has brought us to where we are now. An unborn in the need of what Rose cannot offer. My blood.”
Miss Beverly catches on quickly. “That is what was wrong with her tonight? You fed her?”
“Rose does not have the liberty of ingesting it.” My heart is heavy. It has yet to recover from what I am forced to do.
“What are you trying to say?” Gunner is alarmed about what Rose might be enduring. He should be. I open my mouth and show my fangs. “Jesus Christ.” Gunner sounds disgusted.
I think I’m begging for mercy. I’m plagued with my own guilt. “This is what Rose has been dealing with for this past week.”
Miss Beverly hides her face in her shaky palms. “My baby.”
“Please ke
ep breathing, Miss Beverly. Rose did very well. If I could change this fact, I would, but there is no other way. Rose and the baby will die without me.” With all the sincerity I have to offer, I tell them both, “Be assured that as long as I am alive, so are those two females.”
With her eyes closed, Miss Beverly nods in surrender, but Gunner is not as willing. “This is wrong!”
“Which part?”
“All of it. Part of me says I have no choice but to believe you, and another part of me wants to tell you to fuck off. Again! Look, I appreciate how you feel about Rose, but you cannot just waltz in here and try to take away my everything.”
Ryder.
This conversation is so needed and too important, so I shut out my brothers, and I try to talk to the one who must understand me. “Gunner, I am not—”
“Yes, you are! My father and this family are all I have! Rose is my best friend! Do you understand what you are asking me to walk away from?”
“I’m not asking you to walk away. I’m asking you to think about what you are doing. You are asking Rose to make a choice. Is it because you are in love with her or because you love her and are afraid of losing your closest ally, who’d rather die than live without you?”
Silence.
Gunner shakes his head that is resting in overwhelmed hands. “She tried to talk to me. I-I’m such an asshole.”
“This is a lot for all of you, but I’m begging you to put any hatred toward me aside for Rose’s sake. For the baby’s sake—”
Sam growls.
As soon as I reopen myself to skfen, I hear, Ryder, we’re under attack.
I’m running up the stairs so fast, ripping off my shirt to get to my hidden knives, that Gunner and Beverly do not have a chance to respond. Sam, who stands over Rose’s sleeping body, shows his teeth in a warning.
My knives drip. I’m ready to fight. Status?…
Knee deep. Stand by.
Gunner and Beverly are in the doorway. I hand Gunner one of my knives as I reach for a spare hidden between Rose’s mattress and box spring. “I don’t know yet how bad it will get. Get the kids, and come back.” Without a hint of argument, Gunner and Miss Beverly run off.
I glance out a window. A Clone crosses the empty fields. Chase runs across the yard and tackles it. Miss Beverly and Gunner come rushing back in, each holding a sleeping child wrapped in a blanket.
Miss Beverly asks, “Should I call nine-one-one?”
Gunner gives her a look, waiting for her to understand the magnitude of our situation. I quickly explain. “If their bullets are not laced with a Warrior’s blood, they are of no use to me.” She nervously nods. “Right. Nine-one-one. Bad idea.”
I gesture to Rose’s closet behind them. “Lay them in there, shut the door, and hope they don’t wake to see nightmares are real.”
“Jesus, please be with us.” Rose’s mother quietly lays Louisa on the closet floor then turns and takes Wade from Gunner, lays him down, and shuts the door. Beverly stands with her back to the closet door, gasping in fear. “I want Rose with me too.”
Gunner rushes to Rose, knife in hand. He stops in complete awe as he watches Sam run to Miss Beverly, as if switching protection duties. “Did that just happen?”
I tell Miss Beverly, “Moving Rose to the closet will only draw more attention to Wade and Louisa.”
Miss Beverly’s chest heaves as if trying to inhale with scared, paralyzed lungs. “Oh, God, please help me.” Sam stands in front of her, watching the windows on high alert.
I’m on high alert, too, but I face Miss Beverly. “He is. God sent me.”
Tears fall from her eyes as she nods with a painful surrender to let me handle Rose. It must be against her every maternal instinct to let an elf she just met make the calls when it comes to her eldest daughter’s safety.
My skin pricks. My ears perk. My internal warning goes off. Sam growls. “We’ve got company.” I turn back around to see out the window. More Clones head across the lawn. I unlock the windows then run to the foot of Rose’s bed, ready to protect her.
“Why are you unlocking her windows?” asks an appalled Gunner.
“They will break them and wake Rose. They are coming in, one way or another.”
Ryder, Chase skfens, They are getting past me now.
Miss Beverly stays quiet and still until a Clone comes flying up onto the porch roof. She screams at the dark, cloaked figure with glowing red eyes, causing Rose to toss in her bed. Gunner cusses with aggression and possibly fear. Without diverting my view from the window, I say, “Try not to scream, Miss Beverly. Rose does not need to wake and see this.”
The Clone grins as he slowly opens the window, regarding Miss Beverly and Gunner. As Gunner tilts his head, the Clone’s grin deepens. I want to greet the unwanted visitor and kill him outside, but I don’t dare take the bait and leave Rose unattended.
Miss Beverly whimpers as the Clone perches himself on the windowsill, observing my lack of action. Seeing my refusal to abandon my post, he pounces. I leap, preparing to meet the cloaked shadow midair. Humans might miss details, but I see the Clone’s cloak blow in the wind as he and I fly toward one another. Blaze has said the closest description of our view as we fight is the slow-motion effects in a classic called The Matrix. I have never witnessed a cinema feature, so I’m unaware of his meaning.
My brutal force wins, and the Clone’s body flies right back out the window. Another takes its place.
“W-What are they? Please let me hide her!” This mother sounds desperate in the face of the mysterious, usually hidden creatures. Miss Beverly is still giving me control. I’m thankful. It will help me save her daughter.
I’m fighting the second Demon. “They will find her.”
“B-But how?”
I throw the dead Demon out the window as another enters. “Think of it as mystical GPS.”
“I want my child safe!”
The Demon struggles.
“It’s your grandchild they want.”
“Not fucking happening,” Gunner calmly states, knife in hand.
“Remember what I told you about what happened in the woods.” I pick up the Demon and break his back over my knee. “Believe me. Rose being behind me is the safest place for her.” I toss another Clone out Rose’s window.
Miss Beverly is a mother bear ready to defend her cubs. I think she’s frustrated at being helpless, causing her to snap at whoever’s available. Gunner. “Why are you so calm?”
Gunner shrugs his shoulders and points to me. “I think because he is.”
I’m shocked how quickly Eve’s genes are helping Gunner see the truth of who we are. With this knowledge, I figure he may be ready for more, so I give him examples to learn from. Two more Demons enter. “Gunner, get your knife ready, just in case.” I look at Rose’s ally to see if he hears me. He’s already in a fighting stance. I nod with respect and fight the next two.
Chase tells me, Ryder, I’m trying to get to you.
I see you down there fighting for her, brother.
“Gunner, we have more coming.” I punch then kick. “Don’t let their hands get on you. Move quickly. Stab”—I stab the Clone still standing—“like that and shove.” I push the Clone and his buddy out the window.
Another enters, heading straight for Rose. Miss Beverly moans in fright. I spin with my arm extended, impaling his gut. When he folds over, I grab his head and detach it, telling Gunner, “Or rip his head off… Huh, that was weird.”
“Ya think?”
“No, it had no weapon.”
Another Clone jumps in, followed by Chase.
“Nice of you to join us.”
Chase makes a quick kill. “Hi, everyone.” He throws the body out the window. Sam puts his snout in the air and bellows his hello. Chase smiles.
“Hello to you, too, Sam.”
“H-How many Warriors are out there?” Rose’s mother asks.
“Five total, ma’am—” Chase is interrupted as another Demon tackles him. Chase tells the Clone, “I’m trying to talk here,” and stabs it with irritation then tosses out the body. “Damn! How rude.”
I chuckle. “Yep, another Warrior has been born.”
Chase wipes off some of his glowing red blood from an injury on his arm. “There are so many of them, it’s like gnats getting on my damn nerves.”
Rose’s mother squeals. “Is five enough?”
I give Chase a warning glance for scaring Miss Beverly while I kill another Demon. Chase realizes his error and nods at me. “Yes, we have it all under control. Ryder killed over forty by himself once. Right here in this room!” He’s not helping in the slightest.
“Here?” Miss Beverly shrieks. “This has already happened? While we slept?”
“So glad you’re here, Chase,” I say with audible sarcasm, tossing out the Demon.
He shrugs apologetically and mouths, “Sorry.”
I tell him, “Gunner wants to learn to keep Rose safe.”
“Now’s a good time as any.” Chase totally understands where I’m headed.
I lift my chin to Gunner. “Observe. I’ll try to teach mid-fight.”
A Clone flies in, and we fight before it ever hits the ground. Sam barks from behind me. He senses what I’m up against. When the Clone and I stop fighting and circle each other, ready to attack, I tell Gunner, “This is an older Clone. He is experienced.” I defensively move my body as the Demon tries to hit me, possibly to keep my mouth shut. I grin as the Clone and I exchange blows. When I hear Miss Beverly whimper, I say, “My brothers are here. We won’t be overrun.”
Gunner watches intently. “How do you know that thing is older?”
“He did not go for Rose first. He is controlling his impulses. This takes practice. They are simpleminded.” The Demon tries to punch me again. “Aw, I think I hurt its feelings.”
Chase asks, “Where’s his weapon?”
Rain (Stranger in the Woods Book 1) Page 22