Turning to Amber, she said, “You’ll never come back again, will you? Tell him you’ll never come back.”
The look of fear in her mother’s eyes stopped her from saying what she wanted to say. It would do no good to antagonize him. In the rage he was in, she knew he was more dangerous than she had ever seen him. The man was insane.
“I’ll go,” she said, finally able to speak.
Dragging herself off the floor, she pulled herself up and stood facing Edgar. He watched her, his eyes dark, his mouth turned up in an evil grin. As much as she knew she needed to leave, she was afraid for her mother.
“Come with me,” she said, looking down where her mother was huddled on the floor. “It’s not too late to go home.”
“This is where I belong. You don’t. You never did. I know that now.”
“Amber’s not going anywhere,” Edgar said, his voice deadly calm. “She came home for a reason.”
He grabbed her, holding her arm tightly, painfully, as he leered at her. She tried to pull away, but his grip was strong and she was still reeling from the force of his blow.
He laughed. “Did you really think I could let you go without punishing you first?”
“Edgar, no, please,” her mother pleaded, grabbing his arm to pull him away from her daughter. “Let her go. You have me. Punish me.”
Shoving her mother back, he continued to hold Amber’s arm. “Amber came back because she knows what she needs. Isn’t that right, Amber?”
Her mother lifted herself and threw her body into her husband’s, startling him.
“Fly, Amber,” her mother cried.
Surprised by her mother, Edgar’s grip slackened momentarily, giving Amber the chance to pull herself from his grasp. She tried to spiral upward, but he was fast and pulled her backward, jerking her toward him. Amber watched as the world around her seemed to move into slow motion. She saw his hand ball into a fist that was coming toward her. She wanted to move out of the way, but before she could, she was consumed with the pain exploding in the side of her head, and then thankfully, there was darkness and then nothing.
When Amber woke, she was back in her old room. The lamp beside the bed was turned on. She glanced out the window into the darkness of the night. How long, she wondered, had she been unconscious? She tried to lift her head, but it hurt. She moaned.
She heard the bedroom door open and looked fearfully toward it. When her mother entered, her body relaxed. However, her mother’s eyes were both blackened and her lip was swollen.
Amber gasped. “He hurt you.”
“He did what he thought he needed to do,” her mother said, as she approached her and sat on the side of the bed. “He’s beaten me before, but the bruises he left were always where people couldn’t see them. He used the storage room at the church to beat me because no one could hear my screams.”
Amber felt sick inside. “We have to get out of here. He’s insane. You know that.”
Her mother looked off into the distance, her voice just barely above a whisper. “He’s in the garage. He’s getting some tools. He told me what he’s going to do to you. Don’t beg him for mercy. It will only make him hurt you more.”
“Please, you have to help me,” Amber pleaded, hoping she could reach her. Was there anything left of the woman she once was? Amber struggled to get up. She had to get out of here before Edgar found out she was awake, but she couldn’t move her arms.
“Remember what I told you. Don’t say anything. Take your punishment like a good girl.”
Amber watched in horror as her mother patted her leg in reinforcement before she stood up and walked to the door.
“Don’t go, please. You have to stop him. Please,” she begged.
Her mother opened the door and then shut it behind her. Amber stared at where she had been. “Mother,” she cried.
Her mother had never protected her and she wasn’t going to start now, Amber thought with despair. She had no one to rely on but herself to get out of here. She struggled against the bonds that held her. Her hands were tied to the rungs of the headboard. Trying to calm herself, she knew it was useless. She needed to conserve her strength if she were going to survive what was to come.
She watched the door with trepidation, expecting Edgar to come walking through it at any moment. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed as she waited for him. She knew his cruelty and this was part of his game, the waiting. It was, she knew fearfully, only the beginning of the torture he had planned for her.
Chapter Ten
Parker walked out of the surgery and into the waiting room where Max Aston, his wives, and children were waiting for word on their border collie, Apple. The collie had had a run-in with a porcupine, and some of the quills had remained and become infected. They needed to be removed, and poor Apple had needed surgery and antibiotics to help arrest the infection, which meant she would be with them for a few days so they could monitor her progress.
Little Angela Aston, only four, ran to him as soon as she saw him come through the door of the waiting room.
“Apple?”
He smiled down at the pretty little girl with huge blue eyes that looked up into his like he was a god. He bent down so they were at eye level. “Apple did great.”
He watched as she ran back to her parents with the news. He hadn’t thought much about children, but since Amber had come into his life, he was thinking about a lot of things he had never thought of before. The idea of children didn’t seem so strange to him anymore. Thoughts of a little girl or a little boy, or both, made him break out into a grin.
“I guess that means everything really is okay,” Max said to Parker.
Parker cleared his throat and tried to put Amber from his mind. He stood and addressed the family. “She came through fine, but she needs her rest. You can,” he said, looking at the their anxious faces, “look in on her in a few minutes, say four at a time, but then you should go home and come back tomorrow when she’s awake, okay?”
“Thank you, Parker,” Max said gruffly, walking over to shake his hand. “This dog means the world to us. We can’t thank you enough.”
“Just keep that nosy snout of hers out of harm’s way, at least out of the porcupine’s way,” he said with a smile.
“I’m hoping after this, she’s learned her lesson.” Max turned to his three wives. “Let’s get the kids grouped in threes, and one of us will go in with them.”
Parker smiled. They were a large and, from all appearances, a very happy family. He had known Max, Joyce and Samantha growing up since they were close to his age. Beth had come from a different Coven. When Max had made it known he had bonded with all three women, he had wished his friend the very best even though he wondered if this bonding thing was real since he had never experienced it. However, now, he understood and believed.
He checked in on Apple one more time before he left the office. The night-shift nurse had arrived, and there was nothing else for him to do. He also checked in on a few of Nathaniel’s and Markus’s patients who had needed to stay overnight. Satisfied that all was well, he walked back to the house.
Markus was cooking dinner. The smell of fried chicken met him at the door, making his mouth water. Markus was an excellent Vet, but Parker had often thought he would have made an even better chef.
“Hey, Parker, is that you?” Markus called from the kitchen.
“Yeah. I’m going upstairs to change. I’ll be back down in fifteen minutes. Okay?”
Without waiting for a reply, he ran up the staircase and almost ran head-on into Nathaniel who was walking with his head down.
“Sorry about that,” he said, coming to a stop just before he collided with his brother.
“How was your day?” Nathaniel asked absently.
“Fine, I guess. Have you heard from Amber?” he asked his brother. “I called her, but it went to voicemail and she hasn’t returned my call.”
“No,” Nathaniel answered with concern. I haven’t, and I call her, too,
with no answer. I can’t get it out of my head that something’s wrong.”
“I feel the same way...”
“I’ll try her again, but if she doesn’t answer, I think we should go over there,” Nathaniel said, heading toward the staircase. “I don’t care if her aunt’s there or not.”
Parker couldn’t shake the feeling of foreboding that had wrapped itself around him. He was sure Amber was fine, but why wasn’t she answering Nathaniel’s or his calls. He knew she wouldn’t want them to worry. It didn’t make sense.
* * * *
Nathaniel walked down the stairs slowly, wishing this feeling of unease would leave him. He knew the only way to alleviate it would be to hold Amber in his arms again. When he entered the kitchen, he sat down at the table without looking up.
“Amber’s on your mind, too,” Markus said as he sat down opposite his brother.
“On all our minds.” He sighed.
“I take it Parker tried calling her, too, and she didn’t answer.”
“I told Parker that if she doesn’t answer her phone when I call her after dinner, we’re going over there whether her family likes it or not.”
“Good. “I can’t wait until she’s with us. I don’t’ like being away from her like this.”
“She’ll be completely ours soon, little brother.”
“Not soon enough.”
Markus stood up and returned to his cooking. He was just about ready to put everything on the table when Parker sauntered in and took his place at the table.
Nathaniel opened a bottle of wine that he poured into their glasses. When Markus finally sat down, they toasted Amber.
Nathaniel had to take his hat off to his brother. Markus was an excellent cook. Their parents would be sorry they missed his fried chicken. Nathaniel loved the crispy coating that Markus had perfected. It was also incredibly moist. The rosemary potatoes and the string bean casserole were delicious, too. He would never tell his mother, but Markus was a better cook.
“Did the parents mention what time they would be returning?” Parker asked.
Markus shook his head in the negative. “They just said that they were having dinner with Mary and Andrew and then going out dancing after. Who knows what time they’ll fly in.”
“I’m glad they’re having fun,” Parker said, leaning back in his chair. “Besides, there’s more chicken for us.”
“Glad to see I haven’t lost my touch. With Mother home, I haven’t had a chance to cook as much lately.”
“Amber’s going to love your cooking,” Parker said with a smile.
“I’m counting on her loving a lot more than that,” Markus teased back.
Nathaniel cleared his throat and looked to each of his brothers. “I was hoping to have a chance to talk to Mom again about Amber. I know she has her doubts, and I want to try and put her mind at ease.”
“I think she’s fine with it,” Parker said, taking a sip of his wine. “She was hurt by Amber’s mother, and since the whole thing with Mardi and her family, they would prefer we weren’t involved with Bess Linden’s family. She’ll come around once she meets Amber.”
“Speaking of Amber,” Nathaniel said, checking his phone, “I’m going to try her phone again.”
Both he and Parker watched as Nathaniel called her. When he shook his head, they knew it went to voicemail.
“No answer,” Markus said.
“It’s time we pay Amber a call,” Parker said. “She had to know that when she doesn’t answer her or call us back we’re going to worry.
“It’s not like her,” Nathaniel said, throwing his napkin on the table as he stood up.
“She would never want us to worry unnecessarily. Maybe her phone isn’t working,” Markus said, pushing himself away from the table.
Nathaniel was still holding his phone when it rang. “It’s not a number I recognize.”
“Hello?”
“Yes, this is Nathaniel?”
“No,” he said sharply.
Markus watched his brother’s face go from confusion to anger in seconds.
“We need to find her. How long did you say she’s been gone?”
Both he and Parker felt the tension and knew something was terribly wrong.
“What happened?” Parker asked, anxiety in each word.
Nathaniel held up his hand and turned. “Okay. We’ll find her. Just let me get a pen and paper.”
Markus ran over to a drawer under the counter and pulled out a pen and paper and handed it to Nathaniel.
He watched as his brother wrote down what looked like an address.
As soon as the call ended, he said, “We have to go. Amber left her grandmother’s house sometime before nine this morning and she hasn’t returned. Since she’s not here, he thinks she went back to her parent’s house.”
“Why in the hell would she do that?” Parker asked, frowning.
“Seems her aunt told her the truth about her past and that Edgar wasn’t her father and that her real father was Edgar’s brother, Maurice, who is dead.”
“Damn,” Markus breathed. “But why did she wait until now to call us?”
“She thought Amber just wanted to be alone and she could understand that. When she didn’t come home for dinner, she decided to call us to see if Amber was with us. When I said no, it dawned on her that the only other place she could think of for Amber to go would be back to her old home.”
“We have to fly now,” Parker said, running out the front door.
Markus followed behind Parker and took to the sky. Nathaniel flew beside them. The feeling that something was terribly wrong was stronger now than it had been earlier, and Markus knew without a doubt that Amber was in some kind of danger. They should have gone to her house earlier, be damned her family’s wishes. No one, he promised himself, would ever keep her from them again.
Markus willed his body to fly faster as thoughts of Amber in danger flooded his consciousness. “If anything happens to her, I swear…” Nathaniel didn’t finish his sentence.
Chapter Eleven
Amber lay with her eyes open and her body cramped. The light from the window behind her bed had dimmed until the room was in darkness. She surmised that a few hours had to have passed since her mother left her alone. She was thirsty and she ached all over. Where was Edgar? Was it possible he was going to leave her alone? Had her mother talked him out of beating her? She doubted it, so where was he?
Thoughts of Nathaniel, Markus, and Parker surrounded her as she wondered what they were doing. Had they tried to call her? Edgar must have taken her phone when she was unconscious. Would her aunt be looking for her? How could she have been so stupid to come back to the place that had brought her so much unhappiness? She knew why. She wanted her mother to admit she had been wrong to keep the truth from her. Maybe even to say she was sorry for all the pain she had caused her only daughter.
Her aunt had told her mother had loved her. Had she really thought by confronting her mother that somewhere inside of her that person from the past still existed and might emerge if only to tell Amber she had loved her once?
She suddenly remembered how Lea had changed the shape of the rock she had held and what she had taught her. Trying to empty her mind of everything, she tried to focus on the ropes that held her to the rungs of the bed, thinking she could turn them into something else to free herself. But as hard as she tried, she couldn’t get Edgar’s enraged face out of her head. Tears of frustration ran down her cheeks as she realized she was totally and completely at the mercy of the man who wanted to punish her for being born.
Utter hopelessness engulfed her. There was nothing she could do but wait. If only she had thought things through instead of letting her emotions rule her. She had been angry that she had been lied to and kept in the dark about who her father really was, and she had to admit, she had been angry at Nathaniel, Markus, and Parker for not telling her the truth that she was they knew. None of that mattered now. All her family had been trying to do was protec
t her.
She knew her aunt must be beside herself with worry. Would she ever see the men she loved or her family again? She closed her eyes and saw the faces of all the people she loved. If only she could tell them how much she loved them. This time the tears that cascaded down her cheeks came from a deep sadness for all that could have been.
Despite the pain in her arms and wrists, she started to doze when a sound outside her door made her body jump. Looking toward the door, she expected to see Edgar walk, however instead she watched in shock as the door gave way, splintering under the weight of the three men she thought she might never see again. Immediately their eyes sought hers.
“You came for me,” she cried out.
Markus reached her first. “Amber,” he breathed, releasing her from the ropes. Carefully, he began to massage her arms as he lowered them.
Nathaniel and Parker were staring at her from where they still stood in the broken door frame.
“We were so worried,” Markus said, his lips in her hair.
“Worried doesn’t even begin to cover it,” Nathaniel spoke sharply, coming to her.
“Don’t be mad at me,” she whimpered.
“I’m not mad,” Nathaniel said, grabbing her into his arms and holding her against his chest. “I was scared to death that we wouldn’t get here in time.”
“How did you find me? How did you know I was in danger?”
“Your aunt called us. She told us where she thought you went. The closer we came to this house, the stronger were the feelings that something was very wrong.”
“Amber,” Parked choked, out, wrapping his arms around her as Nathaniel released her. “Don’t you know we can’t live with you?”
“I love you so much,” she said as all three men hugged her at the same time.
“And we you,” Nathaniel breathed into her hair.
“Where’s my mother?” she asked, pulling herself away from them. “Is she all right? Did Edgar…?” She stopped. She couldn’t put her fear in words.
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