Love's Cruel Redemption (The Ghost Bird Series)

by C. L. Stone

  I pressed my hands to his chest, dipping my face into his shoulder. I breathed in the deep leather and cypress scent he had, letting it take over my senses.

  He pressed his face into my neck. He kissed it once and then spoke, his lips tracing against my skin. “I’m sorry.”

  “Why?”

  “I shouldn’t have let him get to you,” he said. “I should have had you stay with me.”

  “Don’t talk like that.” I pressed my hands against his chest and made him look at my face. “Nathan, we did what we could. I could have done it differently, too. But it happened. Now we’ll do it right.”

  He nodded and leaned in, pressing his forehead to mine. “I’m still sorry. After what happened to me at the lake, and then we saw the masks...”

  After almost getting killed, I understood why he was upset. It could have happened to me.

  But it hadn’t. It just could have. However, Mr. Blackbourne had told us often not to play a what if game, and I was pretty sure that worked with this. We could only do so much, prepare for what we knew. We couldn’t prep for everything. We were in the Academy. This was our life. Sometimes dangerous. But we had to get through it.

  Instead of letting him dwell any more, I cupped my hands at his cheeks, holding him, feeling the roughness of coarse facial hair at my palms.

  He redirected his attention to me, and his eyes fell to my lips.

  My heart raced. Without thinking, my palms tugged him toward me.

  His lips locked on to mine.

  I kept holding his cheeks and kissed him. The only pressure was on my side at first. He remained still, his lips open but not responding.

  I kept going. I’d drag him out of his dire thoughts, like I was trying to pull myself out of it as well.

  Slowly, he came to life again. His lips moved slowly at first, and I slowed down to his speed. He kissed me deep, sensually. His hands went lower on my back, gripping my waist. The way he pulled at me, my hip hit against the console between us.

  The pressure delighted and thrilled me. The way he was always rough with me excited me to no end. It was always different from the others. It wasn’t wild like North, or calm and sweet like Kota.

  This was Nathan, natural and unbridled. It was all slow, deep. A hungry passion.

  And I felt it more when his hand slid down to my butt, squeezing and nearly lifting me out of the seat.

  I broke the kiss to breathe against his cheek, and he lowered his head, kissing his way down to my neck. He nipped once and then locked down and sucked hard at my skin, close to my ear.

  I gasped, inhaled again and gripped at his shoulders. We were breaking the rules by hanging out here when we were supposed to be grounded to somewhere with other people, but I needed this, and I sensed he needed it, too.

  He tugged at me again, and then his body jarred the center console, like he’d break it with his own body just to get to me.

  I gripped him harder and breathed out. “Nathan...”

  A rapping at the window startled us both. Nathan launched himself away from me and turned.

  Danielle stood in the dark, hovering over the window, blinking in. She banged on the window again. “Idiot. What the hell are you doing?”

  “Fucking shit,” he said. He rolled down the window, breathless and growling. “What the hell do you want?”

  “What are you doing out here?” she screeched at him. She waved toward the Lee house. “I’m working to give you a break and you’re out here messing it up. I swear...”

  “How did you know it was us?” he asked.

  “You’re parked outside my house, dipshit. I came out to see who it was.”

  I hadn’t realized it, but we were within view of her house. Did she recognize the car, too? She took a risk approaching it. We could have been anyone.

  Nathan lowered the growl in his tone but still barked at her. “We’re going.” He put his hand on the stick to change gears to get us out of park. He paused and looked at her. “Who were you meeting out here?”

  She glared at him. “None of your business.”

  “You came out to a random car parked across the street. In the middle of the night. You’re going somewhere.”

  She pointed at him with a long finger extended toward his nose. “I’m not out here asking you why you’re macking on Sang and why she’s not with Kota or Silas. Do you want to give me crap about what I’m doing? Because I think we both know you can get off your high...”

  She paused as another car came onto the street, bypassing the diner and approaching us slow.

  Nathan squinted out the rearview mirror and then turned fully in the seat. “Who is that?”

  “I don’t know,” Danielle said. “I don’t recognize the car.”

  “I do,” I said, gazing out at the brown sedan. “That’s Mr. Morris.”

  “The teacher?” Danielle asked.

  Nathan turned to her, reaching out to her to grip her by the arm. “Danielle, I swear to god, if you don’t get into your house and stay put right now, I’ll kill you.” He let her go and barked at her. “Go. Now.”

  She backed toward the house and disappeared inside.

  Nathan waited until she was in before he rolled away, heading down the street.

  The car stayed behind us. If it was Mr. Morris, it was highly likely he recognized the car. He followed us so many times, I was sure they all memorized the license plates by now.

  “We should get inside with Erica,” I said.

  Nathan didn’t say anything but pulled into the Lee’s driveway. He pulled up to the second garage door that Kota never used, and he reached around me, into Silas’s glove compartment. There was a garage door remote, and he pushed the button to get the door to rise.

  He pulled in slow. The fit was tight with Erica’s car next to us but he closed the door behind us.

  “I don’t want this car out there where they can mess with it,” he said. He turned the engine off and breathed out slow. “I guess we’re doing this. Ready for Erica?”

  “Yes,” I said, lying through my teeth. I was grateful that we were here, even if I was nervous about talking to her. Mr. Morris could park on the street all he wanted. We could get someone to watch him later, perhaps. If he was the one Volto was talking about, we needed to be more careful.

  He grimaced and waved me to the door. “Go in first? Tell her I gave you a ride at Kota’s request? I think if we say he’ll be here in a bit, it’ll go down better.”

  I wasn’t totally sure how we’d explain the late hour. Or the fact that we were driving Silas’s car.

  I didn’t hear the dog barking until I got out of the car. He was inside, just on the other side of the door, clearly he’d heard us. I imagine he wasn’t used to anyone pulling in to this spot. Kota always parked in the drive and the guys always seemed to leave the space open. I had to squeeze around the dog crate and a few other things along the garage wall to finagle onto the steps that led into the house.

  Nathan got out of the car, but he waited by the driver’s side door.

  I went in but was stopped short by Max. His wet nose dove at my thigh, and he sniffed and jumped, excited.

  No chance of sneaking in.

  “Kota?” Erica’s voice called from the living room.

  I entered, closing the door but leaving it open a crack. “It’s me,” I called out.

  Erica was on the couch. The TV was off, but the lights were on. She sat up, holding a novel in one hand and brushed away her hair from her face with the other. “Sang? What are you doing up so late? Is Kota with you?”

  “No,” I said and rolled off what Nathan told me to say before I could think about it. “He’ll be along. Nathan drove me over. We were...” I paused, unable to explain the cause and catching myself before I could come up with a lie about it. “Long story,” I said.

  She didn’t seem upset by this and angled herself to look over my shoulder. “Is he coming in?”

  “If that’s okay.”

  “Sure it i
s,” she said. “Let him come in.”

  I opened the door again, and Nathan was already on the steps.

  “She’s up,” I told him.

  Max wiggled out beside me to get a nose into Nathan’s thigh. Nathan petted him a few times. “Calm down,” he said. “It’s just me.”

  Erica left the couch and dropped her book on it. She wore her USMC shirt, oversized with big yellow lettering, and pajama pants.

  I hesitated. I sensed Nathan close behind me, and he stopped because I had. I don’t know why, but part of me was waiting for what I was sure was going to happen. Questions. Wondering why we were alone together like we were after what happened.

  Erica looked over both of us and then directed her attention at me. “Everything okay?”

  “We need to stay here tonight,” Nathan said behind me. “Is that okay? Kota and maybe someone else may be here soon.”

  “Sure,” she said. “Don’t you have school? Why are you here so late?”

  “Long story.”

  “I’ve got time,” she said. She motioned to us, directing us to the couch. “Want to come talk about it?”

  Before we could answer, there was a knock at the front door, hard enough to rattle it. It sparked new excitement in Max, but when he raced to the door, his excited bark turned into growling.

  Our attention shifted. We stood, quiet. No one else knocked in our group. And whoever it was, the dog didn’t like it.

  “What in the world...” Erica left us to go inspect.

  Nathan nudged me aside and followed her. His stance changed, his shoulders rounding out. I stepped behind him. He went to the dog, tugging him back.

  Erica checked the peephole and then frowned. She turned to me, waving to get my attention. She pointed at the hall where her and Jessica’s bedrooms were. She mouthed to me, go to Jessica.

  Was it Mr. Morris?

  How did she know to be concerned about him?

  I went to the hallway, but I put myself at an angle where I could slip away down the hall like she asked. Nathan was still in my view, but not the front door.

  The door opened. Erica spoke. “What’s going on? Who are you?”

  “Sorry to disturb you,” Mr. Morris spoke, his voice grumbly like he was getting over a cold. “I’m Fredrick Morris. This is Mr. Hendricks. He’s the principal at...”

  He was here? My heart raced. I debated going to Jessica, but froze, terrified to leave them alone or even reveal I was here.

  Did they see me in the car?

  “I know who he is,” Erica said. “Why are you here?”

  “We’ve been sent to look for Sang Sorenson,” he continued. “We’re here to get her to go home.”

  “You’re not taking her anywhere.” Nathan’s voice was loud enough to shake the walls. He disappeared from my view. “She’s staying with us.”

  “I don’t know if you realize how much trouble you’re in,” Mr. Hendricks’s voice rose, demanding. “She hasn’t been home for weeks. Her parents have been looking for her. She needs to come with us.”

  “If she needs to go home, I’ll take her,” Erica said.

  “We’re here to make sure she—”

  “No.” Erica’s voice rose now and there was creak like she was holding onto the door and possibly closing it. “She’ll stay with me. I’ll take her.”

  “If you don’t let her come with us, we’ll have to call the police,” Mr. Morris said.

  “Do it,” Nathan threatened.

  “Call them,” Erica said. “In fact, I think I should. Nathan, go get my phone. We’ll straighten this out, but by my life, you’re not taking that girl out of here without me.”

  “We don’t have time for this,” Mr. Hendricks said.

  There was a scuffling at the door. I didn’t dare look out. With my heart in my throat, I stepped back, heading for Jessica’s room.

  She was at her door, listening. She backed up when I opened it. “What’s going on?”

  I kept my fingers to my lips, urging her to stay quiet. I closed the door behind me. We didn’t have much time if they were trying to barge in. “Where’s your phone?” I whispered, locking her door behind me.

  She ran for her bed, dumped out the blankets and a phone plopped onto the floor. She scooped it up. “Who do I call?”

  “Kota,” I said. “Call him. Tell him to...”

  There was shouting in the living room. Nathan’s. Erica’s. Possibly Mr. Morris as well. Something large and wooden broke. The dog barked and then he yelped. Suddenly it was if he was outside, unable to get in and barking madly at the door.

  They were in.

  Erica cried out. “Nathan! Don’t you hurt him...”

  “We didn’t want to do this,” Mr. Morris said.

  “She’s probably in one of those rooms,” Mr. Hendricks said, sounding winded. “Go find her.”

  I waved to Jessica and we retreated to her closet. She stepped in, I joined her. We sunk down together between shoes and coats in our way.

  The glow of the phone illuminated her face, and she spoke into it in whispers. “Someone’s here,” she said, her voice shaking. “Sang’s here. They did something to Nathan.” She paused just as the door to her bedroom rattled hard. “They’re coming for us.”

  I swallowed hard, reaching over to quiet her. Was there a chance he’d bypass this room and check the others? Maybe we could run...

  The closet door flew open. Mr. Morris stood over us. He grabbed me by the shoulder, hauling me up. “Got her,” he said.

  I kicked.

  I screamed, but my voice cracked at the high pitch.

  Jessica joined me, throwing herself at him and took bites at his calves.

  Morris reeled back, kicking out at Jessica to get her away while holding on to me. “Get off of me!”

  “Sang Sorenson!” Mr. Hendricks called out from the living room. “You’ve got three seconds to get out here before I make sure your boyfriend—”

  There was a loud wail as Mr. Hendricks cried out. There was a struggle on their side, too.

  Mr. Morris dragged me, and I fought him where I could. Jessica kept lunging at his legs, and reached for my arm, tugging me. “Let go of her!”

  Mr. Morris shoved us both hard. Jessica fell to the floor. Morris held on to my arm, lifting. I was folded over, in the wrong position to flip him.

  The lights around us suddenly went out. Completely. The dark was overwhelming.

  Morris loosened his hold on me and it allowed me to straighten out a bit, enough to get a hold of his ears behind me.

  I grasped him, lunged forward.

  He flew over me.

  Once he crashed down, I stepped on his chest to fly over him. Down the hall. If I could get out, get away, they’d follow me instead of continuing whatever they were doing. If I could make it to the woods...it’d buy time.

  I only hoped he’d leave Jessica alone and come for me.

  Morris groaned, getting up behind me.

  There wasn’t much light coming in front the windows, but I knew the house enough, and followed Max’s barking toward the front door, the closest exit.

  It opened before I could get there.

  Max rushed in, snarling. He bypassed me completely and lunged himself at Morris behind me.

  A hand grabbed me by the wrist, tugging me in the dark toward the opening. In my panic to get out, I let it guide me out to the porch and down the steps.

  Out in the cold night air, the male figure that guided me was unfamiliar. Tall. Short hair. That’s all I knew.

  Because I didn’t know him, I stopped, yanking myself away.

  He didn’t reach back for me. “Go,” he said. “Go home. I’ll help your friends.” He left me in the yard, going back in the door and disappearing into the shadows.

  My heart raced, now alone in the yard. Who was that?

  There were two cars parked outside. One was Mr. Morris’s. The other I didn’t recognize.

  I didn’t want to leave them, but once they realized I was
n’t there, and this new person was coming for them, if they managed to escape at all, they could find me out here.

  I bolted down the road. I ran until my lungs burned, and I still ran.

  I headed toward the lights of the diner. I made it to the lot just as two cars took the curb onto Sunnyvale at a high speed. One was a silver BMW.

  The other was a police car, with sirens blaring overhead, chasing it.

  Lose Control

  Nathan

  After Erica lunged at Mr. Hendricks’s waist, reaching for the pistol he’d pointed at their heads moments ago, Nathan swept a leg out, knocking him over.

  And then the lights went out.

  Hendricks flipped over, a boot connecting with Nathan’s knee.

  Nathan flipped backward to get away from another kick and then landed hard on Hendricks’ chest, putting every ounce of weight on his body. He was strong, but at the pressure Nathan kept on him, he’d snap in two if he tried to get up.

  Erica was scrambling around. Nathan wasn’t sure if she was looking for the gun or something else.

  There was scuffling at the door. It opened and Max came inside. There were voices, one of them Sang’s.

  Sang!

  He did a push up off of Hendricks’s back so he could stand up, but the moment he did, Hendricks rolled over and connected again with a boot, this time at his thigh close to his groin.

  Nathan flew backward, unable to ignore the pain this time, but adrenaline keeping him upright. He twisted, trying to scrape his way across the floor. The man was as strong as an ox.

  Sang needed to get out. It was too dark in the area to see who left and who was still inside.

  Erica broke away, heading to the foyer. “Good Max, hold him.”

  Before Nathan could see what was happening, Hendricks was upright, taking another swing at Nathan. It was badly aimed, barely popping him in the shoulder.

  Another body, dark, lunged at Hendricks. It gave Nathan a chance to get himself upright, hovering over the two bodies struggling on the carpet next to the broken coffee table.

  The man pushed Hendricks’s face into the carpet. “Get his legs!”

  Who was he?

  Nathan threw himself at Hendricks’s legs, crushing them with his weight. Hendricks struggled, cursing, his body contorting as he tried to escape but the two of them managed to keep him down.