The Redemption Series

by Melynda Price

  “She’s having a little trouble processing it all. Sorry, Balen, I had to tell her the truth.”

  “Hey, I’m glad you did. The last thing I want is to mislead her. I tried telling her myself,

  but there’s only so much I can say.”

  “I know you don’t.” She gave him a sympathetic smile. “I think she’s struggling with her unbelief more than anything right now. It’s kind of a shocker to find out that you’ve been wrong about everything you’ve believed your whole life.”

  “I understand,” Balen said. “Maybe you guys should go ahead and we’ll catch up with you later.”

  Olivia walked over to Balen and gave him a hug. “I know you care about her, and it’s hard for you to see her upset, but she’s not mad at you. Have Ash give me a call. We can go to the hospital later.”

  The worry lines on Olivia’s beautiful face concerned him. It couldn’t have been easy to tell your best friend she’d fallen for angel. She’d been through so much over the last few days he was starting to wonder just how much more she could take.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Liam took her home. Olivia watched him frequently glance over at her as they drove down the road. It seemed as if he wanted to say something to her, but he remained silent. “I have to work at eleven. Maybe we could go see Nate after I get done?”

  “Whatever you want to do is fine. You sure you’re feeling up to going to work today?”

  “Yeah, I don’t want to miss. It’s a pain to have them cancel the classes. I feel pretty good, and I can always cut it short if I have to.”

  “I think I’ll go home and get cleaned up then. Let me know when you get done with class and I’ll go with you to the hospital.”

  “Thanks,” she replied absently, distracted by thoughts of Ashley and Balen as they pulled into the driveway. Things hadn’t gone well, and it dawned on her as she stood there explaining to her friend why she couldn’t, why she shouldn’t, be with Balen, that same exact argument could be made to her. She opened the passenger car door and turned to get out.

  “Hey,” Liam said, grabbing her arm.

  She turned back to him, and he leaned and kissed her. “I love you,” he whispered. “You know I’m here if you want to talk—always.”

  She didn’t say anything. What could she say? She blamed herself for what happened to Liam, for what happened to Nate, to Ashley, to Balen. None of this would have happened if she’d not let Max step into her life. And now he threatened to destroy not only her, but everyone she loved and cared about. She sat there a moment with her forehead resting against his cheek.

  “I can’t read you mind,” he said softly. “You have to talk to me. I know you’re upset, and you’ve been through a lot. It might help you to talk about it, but I can’t tell how much of this is Ashley, or Max, or us.”

  She couldn’t answer him because she wasn’t exactly sure of that herself. “I’ll see you later,” she whispered, kissing him on the cheek and climbing out of the car. If she was honest with herself, everything she told Ashley was true for herself. Liam wasn’t hers any more than Balen was Ashley’s. It was easy to see the truth when they were talking about someone else. Her inability to be objective had allowed her to delude herself into believing Liam and she could live happily ever after. And how long was that? Sixty, seventy years tops?

  Okay, that’s enough. Olivia scolded herself, shoving the argument with Ashley out of her mind. What she needed more than anything right now was to hold on to her last semblance of normal. And the best chance to feel normal was to act normal, even though her life was anything but. She embraced the normalcy of going to work. Maybe the meditation would even do her some good. She stuffed a change of clothes into her gym bag and closed the front door behind her.

  As she stepped off the front step, a sudden chill crept over her. She instinctively looked around, trying to find the source of her unease, but nothing appeared abnormal. The soft ticking of the neighbor’s sprinkler next door, the intermittent yapping of the neighbor’s dog from across the street… Olivia scowled, irritated with herself for being so jumpy.

  She tossed her duffel bag into the Jeep and pulled out of the driveway. As she drove down the road, her eyes continued to search the rear view mirror, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

  She arrived at work early for once, and took her time changing in the women’s locker room. She flipped open her phone to check for any messages and stuffed it in the outside zipper of her duffel bag. No messages. She’d hoped Ashley would as least text her or something.

  Olivia shoved her bag into her locker and fastened the lock on the door. She headed to her classroom and was pulling mats out of the closet when she heard a soft knock on the door frame. The noise startled her and she spun around.

  “Geeze, Clay, you scared the shit out of me!”

  “Sorry, Liv, I thought you might want a hand. I always help you pull mats.” Clay eyed her skeptically. “You all right? You seem jumpy.”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve just had a rough week, that’s all.”

  “That boyfriend of yours still giving you trouble?”

  “Ex-boyfriend,” she clarified. “And yeah, he’s a real asshole.”

  “I could’ve told you that,” Clay replied matter-of-factly, dropping a pile of mats at her feet.

  “Thanks,” she snapped sarcastically. “Maybe you could have given me the heads up on that about, oh, I don’t know…two months ago?”

  Clay chuckled. “Fair enough. So, Liv, you seein’ anyone now?”

  Oh no, dude. Please do not go there with me today. The bell of the front door chimed before she could answer. Saved by the bell, she thought, rolling her eyes. She didn’t have time for this crap.

  “Just a sec,” Clay said, leaving to go help the customer. “Huh,” he said, returning a few seconds later. “Nobody’s there. Now, where were we?” he asked, leaning against the doorframe.

  “I was just getting ready to start my class, and you were just leaving,” she said playfully, pushing him out. Clay was a really nice guy, and she didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but she most certainly did not she want to have this conversation.

  “You’re breakin’ my heart, Liv,” Clay protested dramatically, stumbling back.

  “Knock it off, you drama queen,” she laughed, turning around to head back into her classroom.

  ***

  Balen shifted dimensions before entering Ashley’s house and stepped back across when he reached her bedroom door. He knocked softly, waiting for her reply.

  “Come in,” she called, barely above a whisper, but he’d heard her clearly.

  He slowly opened the door and stepped inside. “Can I come in?”

  Ashley sat on her bed among a pile of crumpled blankets. She was picking at the thread on the corner of an old tattered quilt when she looked up meeting his eyes. He closed the door, walked over to the side of her bed, and knelt down beside her. Looking into her tear-stained face made his heart ache.

  “Is it true?” she asked.

  He could see the pain and uncertainty in her eyes, along with the hope he would deny everything.

  “How much of it is true?”

  “All of it,” he answered, not taking his eyes off her. He reached out and took her hands, holding them between his. “I wanted to tell, but there was only so much I could say.”

  “Prove it!” she said defiantly. “Prove you are what she says.”

  She couldn’t even bring herself to say the word, and that stung bitterly. “Will your eyes help you accept what your ears refuse to hear?” he asked sadly.

  “If I believe what Olivia told me, then it changes everything!”

  “It doesn’t change as much as you think, Ashley. It doesn’t change my feelings for you. It doesn’t change your connection to me.”

  “I have to know for sure,” she whispered.

  He frowned, letting go of Ashley’s hand, and stood up. She sat there watching him intently. Why couldn’t she just beli
eve? He sighed sadly and shifted dimensions.

  Ashley gasped. Her hands flew up to her face, muffling a choking sob. “Balen? Balen! Can you hear me? Come back!” she called. “Please…”

  He stepped back across without changing his true form, standing before her at his full towering height, giant wings extended. Their expanse nearly filled her room from end to end. Ashley’s jaw dropped. She stared at him in utter shock and disbelief. After a moment of breathless silence, he opened his arms inviting her into his embrace.

  Ashley scrambled off her bed and threw herself into his arms. He folded her protectively into his wings wishing things could be different for them. After a moment, he loosened his hold and gently tipped her head up so he could look in her eyes filled with unshed tears. She felt so incredibly fragile standing there next to him.

  “I love you, Ashley. But not the way you need me to love you, not the way you deserve to be loved.” Confusion and sadness reflected in her eyes at his confession, and it broke his heart to say those words. Despite his feelings for her, he had to go home. “Ashley, I wasn’t created for this,” he whispered, trying to get her to understand. “I’m not supposed to have these kinds of feelings for you. I’m drawn to you in a way I shouldn’t be. It’s wrong, and it’s not fair to you. And as much as I wish that wasn’t true, it doesn’t change that fact that it is. I don’t want to see you turning away from other opportunities because of me.”

  Ashley stiffened in his arms. “What exactly are you saying, Balen? What opportunities?”

  His chest tightened like a vice. He wished she wouldn’t make him say it. “Nate… Ashley, he’s a good guy, and he cares a great deal for you. And he really needs you right now.”

  “I know he does…” she said sadly. “But I don’t want to let you go.” She circled her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her as she stood on her tip toes trying to reach him. A soft knock sounded against Ashley’s door and she stumbled forward when Balen disappeared in her arms.

  “Ashley? Are you all right?” her mom poked her head inside her room. “It sounded like you and Olivia might have had a fight, and I wanted to check on you.”

  “Thanks,” Ashley turned toward her mom to give her a reassuring smile. “But it’s nothing we won’t get over.”

  “You want to talk about it?” she asked, walking over to the side of her bed to sit down and pat the empty place beside her.

  She shook her head. “It’s all right. I’m just a bit emotional after yesterday. I’m really worried about Nate. In fact, I gotta get going.”

  “Well, you know where I am if you want to talk,” she offered, standing up to walk out of her room.

  ***

  Max snuck down the hall of the fitness center to the locker rooms. He ducked into the men’s while waiting for Olivia’s class to start. He pulled off his clothes, stuffed them in a nearby locker, and stepped into the shower. With wet hair and a towel wrapped around his waist, the other guys in the locker room paid no attention to him. He could hear the showers in the women’s locker room shutting off, and women’s voices carrying down the hall as they walked out. He quickly dressed, ruffled his hands through his wet hair, and ducked into the women’s locker room before he lost his chance.

  He started in the back, looking through the holes in the lockers for Olivia’s bright blue gym bag. He found her locker around the corner, and picked up her lock to get a closer look at it. He considered breaking it, but that would be too obvious. He had to be careful not to alarm her, or the warrior would feel her fear and come running before he got a chance to finish what he’d started yesterday.

  Max spun the combination and slowly rotated it through the numbers until he heard the slight catch and felt the almost imperceptible click in his fingertips. He tugged down on the lock and it fell open. Being careful not to disturb anything, he dug through Olivia’s bag, searching for her cell phone. A hard rectangular lump pressed against the smooth lining of her bag. Bingo!

  He opened the outside zipper and dug her phone out. He went into her messages and wrote: Hey, want some girl time with Ash. Please pick me up there tonight after seven. Max scrolled through her phone book to Liam’s name, pressed select, and sent the message. He waited a few minutes for a reply. Olivia’s phone chimed as the message came in.

  Sure, thought you wanted to go see Nate after work?

  Anger flared through him like molten lava. Olivia’s phone nearly cracked in his fist. I can’t believe that son of a bitch is still alive! He punched in a response: Can’t have visitors yet so going to Ash’s instead. Gotta go, class is starting. He reluctantly added the rest of the message: <3 Love you! Typing out this sappy crap actually made him nauseated, but he knew Olivia’s texting language from experience and wanted to make sure it sounded legit.

  Olivia’s phone chimed again, K. <3 U 2. C U at 7.

  What the fuck? Max glared at the phone. It was a good idea he’d texted Liam first before sending Olivia her message or she would never have believed it was from him. Who texts like that? He scrolled through the messages and deleted his conversation. Then he entered her phone book and found Liam’s name, deleted the number, and entered his own. He scrolled down the list of names to see if she still had his number programmed in there.

  He smiled to himself, of course not. Women were so predictable. She’d already deleted him from her phone book, as if somehow the symbolism of the act made it more permanent. He flipped her phone shut and put it back into the front pocket of the bag, fastened the lock, and snuck out the back exit.

  ***

  Olivia was exhausted by the time class was over, her stamina was severely lacking. She burst into the locker room and headed straight for the showers. The warm water blasted against her flushed skin, leaving her slightly more refreshed by the time she was finished. She dried off in the stall. The click of her flip-flops echoed off the walls as she walked over to her locker and quickly dressed.

  “Great class, Liv,” one of the girls called as they walked past her on the way out.

  “Thanks.” She towel dried her hair, grabbed her duffel bag, and slung it over her shoulder as she left the locker room.

  She snuck out the back door, hoping to avoid Clay. She was afraid he’d try to talk “relationship” with her again. Once she got inside the car, she dug her cell phone out of her bag to check her messages. Hopefully there would be one from Ashley. Her phone read 1 New Message. She opened the text.

  Nate can’t have visitors yet. Sorry. Meet me at the park. C U at 6. <3 U.

  Olivia looked down at her watch. It was just a few minutes after five now. She sent back a reply and ran home to get changed. Even though she was tired, the idea of going up to the ridge and watching the sunset with Liam was just too tempting to pass up. Considering the last twenty-four hours, they could definitely use some quiet time together.

  The park was close to Ashley’s house, and she thought about stopping by to check on her, but decided against it. She’d probably get stuck there, if Ashley was still upset, and didn’t want to risk being late meeting Liam. Olivia pulled into the entrance of the park and looked around for the black Camaro. His car wasn’t there yet, and a feeling of uneasiness crept over her. Liam was never late. She stepped out of her car and pulled her cell out to check the time—5:45. She was fifteen minutes early. Okay, he wasn’t late.

  She forced herself to take a deep breath and relax. You’re just being paranoid after everything that’s happened. But still, as hard as she tried, she just couldn’t shake this feeling of impending doom. Her phone beeped low battery. Dammit, she was always forgetting to charge her phone.

  Olivia turned around and leaned over the driver’s seat to dig the car charger out of the center console. She plugged her phone into the outlet and set it on the seat to charge. She shut the car door and walked around to the back, opening the hatch far enough to reach inside and pull out a blanket.

  “Awe… this is really sweet, Liv, but you shouldn’t have. I doubt we’ll have time t
o use it.”

  Terror gripped her heart and she let out a strangled gasp, spinning around at the sound of Max’s taunting voice.

  “Why so surprised?” he asked, in that sickly sweet tone that made her wanting to puke. “Let me guess…you were expecting someone else?” His voice took on a hard, lethal edge. Like a heat-seeking missile, his hateful black eyes locked her. He took a step toward her, and she stumbled back, tripping over her legs as she desperately tried to keep her distance from him. Olivia fell back, striking her head on the hatch door of the Jeep, and then suddenly, everything went black.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  It felt good to lie down. Liam stretched out on his bed, hands folded behind his head. He hadn’t bothered to put a shirt on after climbing out of the shower. He still had a good hour before he was supposed to meet Olivia. He closed his eyes and tried to force his body to relax. His muscles were strung tight as a drum. Olivia dominated his thoughts. He constantly worried about her. She’d been through so much already, and the persistent threat of Max had his nerves fried. The bastard had gone into hiding, but he hadn’t wanted to leave her side long enough to go hunting—maybe that’s what he should be doing right now.

  He was jumpy, and couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. He was probably just being over-sensitive, considering everything that had happened. Besides, she was only going to Ashley’s, and Balen was there. She’d be perfectly safe with them. He couldn’t smother her—she still needed her space, but he could tell the stress of it all was getting to her, not that he blamed her.

  He lay there staring up at a crack in the ceiling, thinking about how he should be out looking for Max right now. Maybe he’d send her a text and let her know he’d be late picking her up from Ashley’s. The sooner he found him, the sooner he could end this—for now. But as long as she drew breath, he knew it was never truly going to be over.

  Olivia’s fear suddenly slammed into him like a sucker punch, driving the air from his lungs in a whoosh. He felt it for just a second and then it was gone—nothing. “Son of a bitch!” he growled, throwing on a shirt and grabbing his keys off the counter as he tore out of the house. He jumped into the Camaro, slammed the gear into reverse, and shot out into the street. The tires screamed in protest as he laid on the breaks, jerking the wheel. The car spun a 180 and tore down the road as he laid pedal to metal.