She hopped down from the horse. “You had no right to do that.” She moved to him, and with one solid swing, swung her right hand to his face.
Being locked, as he was, his left cheek absorbed the entire blow. His head could not even move from it. He just stood there and felt the pain. He felt the blood spill from his nose. He felt everything. “Rana?” He moaned. “Please Rana, let me go.” At moments like these, he truly did not understand her at all. He knew what she felt for their father, but at the same time, it did not make sense. Not for what he did to their mother, no one could understand such things like that.
She stood there incensed. She felt hate. She felt total anger if not more than this. If he were not her brother, she would have killed him for it. She wanted to, but in the end, she could not. She did let him go. “Why did you do it?” Tears again exploded down her face. “He was just an old man. He would not have hurt you. He couldn’t have done it even if he wanted to.”
With him free to move, and seeing her eyes fade out of blue, his left hand went to his face. He wiped the blood from his upper lip. “He needed to be ended Rana. He was dangerous. He needed to be stopped before he killed again.”
She turned to the horse. “He was your father too Rochie.” The tears stopped, but it only made her rage grow stronger. “He loved you too.” She put both hands to the horse’s side. She leaned against it, trying to keep herself standing. If it were not, there she would have collapsed from her pain. She was at least thankful for that. “You did once. You loved him once.” She tried to breathe. She tried to think. Both were so hard to do.
Rochie watched her closely, and hearing her words, both inside her and out, he did understand her pain. He understood the agony. He understood what he had to do, but that was it. Apparently, he was the only one who understood why he did what he did. “Rana? He killed our mother.” She had to know about this. If only she did, she would agree, he was sure of it. He did not have the choice but to take him out before he killed others. Before, he even killed her. “He killed her for nothing. He killed her because they told him to.”
She bowed her head. She already knew this, but he did not understand why he did it. She of course did know why. She was told as much. “He did not have the choice, Rochie. She tried to kill him. He did not have the choice but to stop her from trying.” She looked back up. “If he did not take her, she would have destroyed him.”
“That is not true Rana.” He moved to her side. He stared at the side of her beautiful face. “Mother did not try to kill him. She would never do that, she could never do it.” He reached to the side of the horse and leaned against it with his right hand. It was time for her to hear the truth. “Devish ordered him to do it. It was Devish who did it.” He bowed his head.
She scoffed with this. “You would say anything to justify your hatred for them, will you not Rochie.” She turned to him but kept her head down. She could not force herself to see his face. She could not see his eyes. She doubted that she ever would be able to do it ever again.
This time, he scoffed. “He did it Rana. It was him. He could not have our father be in love with a human. He could not let him do it. He told him to take her life.”
She shook her head hard. “You are something else, are you not Rochie? You will do and say anything to defend your hatred of them.” She turned from him and moved away.
He watched her stop only a few feet from him. “You do not believe that Rana, do you? You too have seen his cruelty to humans—to all of us. You have seen what he can do, and has done.” He left the horse and joined her again by her side. “You know I am right.” He took her shoulders with both hands.
Feeling his touch, she let the power within her come flaring out again.
He felt it, as his body locked up. “Rana?”
She broke his grip. “I will never let you touch me again.” The rage emerged. Right then, right at that moment, she wanted to take his life. If he wasn’t her brother. If he was not a part of her, she would have, but again, she could not do it, so she turned, and ran to the trees. She would run until she found Devish.
With his body motionless, Rochie just watched her run. “Rana?” he screamed to her as she disappeared into the night. “Rana?” She was gone so fast. What have I done? He hurt. His heart ached. His mind flashed. In the end, he stayed like that until she finally let him go. In all reality, she probably just ran far enough away that she no longer was able to hold him. When he moved, he went back home.
He cried for the rest of the night. In all truth, he would cry for the rest of his life.
19
She opened her eyes. She looked to her right and saw Devish sitting with her on the backseat of the car. Seeing him, she blinked heavily. She also finally breathed. She did not even remember getting off the plane. She never remembered getting in to the car.
He noticed her and turned slowly to her with such a gentle motion that he did not even look like he moved. “Are you all right my dear?” He let her sleep since arriving to the airport. He continued letting her sleep when he placed her inside the car. He just did not do it for her. Since arriving back in Scotland, he felt intrigued. He felt strong. He felt longing. He felt like he was home and it made him feel gentle. He also felt sublime.
The streets were very narrow and close. The buildings were taller than they were once, but all in all, it all looked the same. Driving out of the city, and seeing the countryside, that was when he finally felt everything all together. It had to be the rolling green hills. It had to be the gray colored sky. It had to be the smell of the rolling plains, but whatever it was, he now knew that he missed it all so much. He was finally home.
She looked out her window on her left and saw nothing but the dream. “I am fine.” She felt the need to answer him even though she did not truly want to do it. More and more she began to feel lost. She began to feel soft. Nothing felt right. The dream did not help in the least.
Hearing this, he quite frankly did not believe her. “You do not feel all right, my dear.” He felt her heart racing. He felt her breathing flow from hard to slow. He felt her muscles tighten up. He felt her anything but all right.
She swallowed shallowly. She bowed her head even more. “I saw my father’s death again.” She thought about everything else. “Why did Rochie have to kill him?” She looked down to the door handle of the car and found herself playing with it with her fingers. Seeing it, she felt even more lost than she already did.
He sighed with hearing this. “He never liked us Rana. You know this.” He looked ahead to the driver. He looked through the windshield and again let out a huge and heavy sigh. He did not understand her some times. He did not understand human emotions. He did not understand them at all, and this made it hard for him to feel for her. He just did not like it, even though he did try. He would do it for her.
She turned to him and saw his face turn calm. He turned cold. Seeing him, feeling him, she knew that he was not telling her the full truth. He was holding something back, she was almost certain of it now, and she wanted to know what that meant. “Did you order my father to kill my mother?” she now asked one of those thoughts. “Did he do it for you?” She had to know. She wanted the truth.
He kept his eyes forward, but he did close them. “I did what I had to do. I had to protect us from those that wished to destroy us. I had to protect the families.” He opened them again, but could not bring himself to look at her. He knew what he just said, and what it meant. It was the first time he had ever been honest with her about this. He regretted this, but at the same time, he didn’t. He, like he said, did what he had to do.
She heard this, and bowed her eyes. She could not believe it, but at the same time, she did. In some ways, she already knew. “You lied to me then.” She looked back up.
This time, he looked her in the eyes. “I am sorry my dear Rana. I truly am. It was not intentional.”
She could even see what a looked like a tear in his left eye, or maybe it was the hint of the settin
g sun glistening off the windshield in front of him, but either way, she could not be sure, but she did see it. “Why? Why did you do it?” she continued. She had no idea where this was going, but now she needed to know. She had to, like it or not.
“What would you have me do, Rana? What would you expect of me? You know that the humans have longed to kill all of us. If I let those humans stay within the families, they would have struck us all from within. I could not let this happen. I will not risk all of our lives for nothing more than a simple human emotion.” He looked back ahead. “I will not even risk it for love.”
“Why?”
He shrugged so subtly, so softly, that he barely noticed it himself. “I saw love once. I saw the pain it caused.” He closed his eyes again, but only briefly before opening them again. “I saw what it did to my father. I saw how loving a human caused his pain, and how it caused him to do things that he did not understand. I saw how evil it was.”
She did not agree with this, at least not fully. “That love created me. A Walker loved me.”
He softly shrugged again. “You are different, my dear.”
Again, she tried to understand but didn’t. “Your brother was also created by love.”
This made him turn. “And look what that gave us.” He truly shuddered, and this time, he noticed it. He did not like it either.
She noticed it too. “You were betrayed by him, I know.” She suddenly felt sad for him. She felt bad for him too. “I know how that hurt you.”
He felt this from her and hated himself for it. “As I have said…love has burned us all.”
She heard this and it made her continue with everything else roaming around inside her heart. “I heard you speak with Vincent about me and Kalima.” She looked at the side of his face, looking for anything to help her understand any of this, but saw nothing. She just did not, but then again, she did. “I heard you talk about using me to get what you want from him.” She looked back to the handle. “Is that true?”
He took a deep breath before he began. “Yes.” He bowed his eyes to the back of the front seat. “I must do what I must do.”
“Even if you have to destroy me?”
He scoffed some with this. “My brother loves you. He will do anything to keep you from pain—to keep you unharmed. He will do what he must do to prevent me from harming you.”
She nodded. “It’s a bluff then.” She looked down at her own knees.
He laughed subtly with this. “I will do what I must.”
She looked back at him. “You said to Vincent that he loved me back then.” She bowed her head again to him. “I have no memory of him like that. I can’t remember being with him.”
He turned somewhat to her, but did not look at her. He kept his eyes down. Hearing this, he had to think. In fact, it caught him off guard some. He did not expect it. “I see.” He had to know what it did mean, but before he could ask her anything, she began again.
“Did you block me?” She looked at the side of his face. “Did you block my memory of him?” Without seeing his eyes, she could not see what he was thinking. Seeing him refuse to look at her, she could only know one thing. He’s not telling me everything. He’s keeping me from knowing the truth. It meant only one thing because of it. He has to be the one that blocked me. Nothing else makes sense to me, but why. Why would he do it? She did not know, but could only hope to find out.
He breathed again. “I did what I had to do my dear. He hurt you. I wanted to keep him from doing so.” He looked back ahead, and noticed that they were nearing the castle. He could now see the walls. He could now see his home. The magic grew inside him, and he could not believe how strong it now felt. Everything else just seemed to fade away—even her.
She watched him look back ahead. She nodded with what he said, with it only confirming to her what she already knew. He did. He blocked me for just that. This made her calm down some, so she let it. She did not have the choice.
“We are here my dear.”
The car stopped.
Samantha came to door of the car and opened it up for him.
He stepped out and joined her, and said nothing else to Rana.
All she could do was to get out of the car herself.
“My Lord.” Samantha greeted him with a smile. “Welcome to your home, my lord.”
He returned her smile, as he looked up to the massive wooden front door to the wall. The gate stood a good twenty feet tall, but it looked huge. It was as massive as it ever was. “Thank you my dear Samantha.” He watched her close the door, and turned back to the car. He was about to say something else, but the sounds of a deep reverberating howl blew to them from the trees. It sounded low. It sounded powerful, and he knew instantly who it was. He sounded as powerful as he ever has. “He is here.” He looked over the roof of the car to the trees. The sound multiplied ten times over and seemed to flow on the breeze. It even caused a shiver to course down his spine as he heard it.
Rana turned to the sounds as she closed her car door. Jimmy? She recognized the sounds. She recognized his calls. She was sure that it was his. He’s here. He’s finally come home.
The howling continued for several seconds but then it suddenly stopped. Only the wind was left in its place. A gentle breeze blew along the wall.
Samantha hated the sound. “It sounds like dozens of them.” She was sure of this. She did not know why, but she was.
Hearing her, Devish nodded. “He has a call like no others my dear. He is bigger than most ever were.” He turned back to her with prideful eyes. “Have you done as I wished? Did you bring the human?” He was dying to know.
She shrugged with a subtle nod. “I have. He is resting comfortably upstairs.”
He smiled. “I do hope that you have treated him well my dear. After tomorrow, he will be a brother. We must show him our undying respect for this.”
She nodded. “I paid him respect. I did not harm him, my master.”
He turned back to Rana, saw her pining into the trees and suddenly felt disappointed. He knew why instantly. “Rana my dear?” He knew, deep down inside, how much she loved the black wolf. Seeing how she reacted to his calls, it only confirmed to him that small fact. “We must head inside, my dear.” He turned back to the gate and watched Vincent coming to the car. Seeing him, he turned back to Samantha. “My dear, would you please show Rana inside to her quarters? I have some important things to discuss with Vincent before we join you.” He gave her a full and welcoming smile.
A look that made Samantha shiver some, but at least, she did nod. She met Rana at the hood of the car and motioned for her to follow her inside.
Rana did, and together, the two of them headed through the door.
With her gone, Devish moved to Vincent and they met near the hood. “Vincent, I wish for you to keep your eyes on Rana. I need you to watch her and keep her close to you. We may have a problem.”
Hearing this, Vincent did shrug. He did not understand. “What is it, my lord?” He had to know. Nothing made sense.
Devish stood close and brought his voice down to a whisper. “Something is not right about this. She does not remember being with my brother. She has been blocked.”
Vincent still did not understand.
Devish saw this in his eyes. “I am not the one who blocked her.” He had trouble believing this, but at the same time, he had to worry about it too. It meant that more was going on that he did not know about. This meant that someone else was involved. He knew of only one other person that could have done this. “Kalima must have blocked her. If he did, he did it for a reason. I must know why.” He looked back to the trees. The night was coming, and soon, he knew that the fight was going to begin. This was welcomed, but now, it wasn’t. He had to know more. He had to keep to the plan. He just wasn’t sure anymore.
Vincent nodded. He still did not understand, but now, he did not care. He never trusted Rana. Now that he had a reason not to, and could show this openly, he was determined to do as he was told. H
e could not wait for it now either. “I will my lord.”
Devish nodded. “Good.” He turned and walked to the gate. He walked through the door with Vincent by his side.
20
The howls came fast. They sounded loud. They sounded powerful.
Hearing them, Robert turned back to the window. He could not believe what he thought he just heard. “That sounds like Jimmy, but it can’t be him. It sounds like a dozen of them.” He looked to Kenar, who was sitting on an easy chair by the door to the room. Since coming to this cabin, the cabin that was just outside of the city of Glasgow, he has felt at home again. It felt nice being surrounded by the trees. It felt nice to be back where all of this began. Hearing the howls, he could only nod with agreement. “It does.” He smiled. “It surely does in deed.”
Robert heard what sounded like glee in his voice. “There are many of them, aren’t there?” He knew that Kenar could read Jimmy’s thoughts. He knew that because of this, he had to know more than what he was letting on. He knew what was going on. He was sure of it.
Kenar turned away from him, and looked to the front door on his right. The living room of this small cabin felt warm and cozy. It felt confined. The smell of the log walls smelled like sitting in the deep forest of pine. He now knew why Kalima made it. In a way, it felt like him. “I only know what I heard myself.” He shrugged too. He truly did not know.
Robert did not agree. “What’s he up to Kenar? What is his plan? You know more than what you’re telling us.” He felt this more than ever. He could hear it in his voice. He could see it in his eyes.
Kenar shrugged again. “I have no idea Rochie. I cannot read him. I only know what you do.” He shook his head.
Robert left the window, moved to the spot directly in front of him and placed his hands on his hips. “I thought you could read him. You’ve always been able to read him before.” He knew he was right. What changed? He did not know, but now he was more convinced than ever that Kenar did know more. It just did not make any sense, if he didn’t.
A Werewolf's Saga Books 4, 5, & 6 (A Werewolf's Saga Boxed Sets Book 2) Page 52