I could feel Von’s cheek lifting with a precious smile. “A beautiful woman asking me to hold her? What a rough job this is turning out to be.”
“Thank you.” I cleared my throat and snuggled more firmly into Von’s side. “What you were doing this morning after Katrina’s, your secret package drop – was it important?”
“It was to me, yes.”
“Okay, then. I can move on and be cool about it.”
Von stroked his hand down my side. “Thanks, Peach. I promise to plan better next time. I have a thing I have to do every week, and I didn’t want to miss my appointment. I’m trying to work out this new schedule, but reaping seems to be pretty all-encompassing.”
“You’re telling me.”
Andy opened the door and walked right in, not knocking or anything. He stood at attention near the exit after checking the windows were secure. His goatee was cut short to his face, and I couldn’t decide if it made him look more or less adult. Being that I pegged his age at around thirty-eight, I’m guessing the goatee aged him slightly. “Ezra said you weren’t to be out of my sight. Carry on.”
Von bristled, his arms still around my malleable form that was growing more rigid by the second. “Hey, I almost got to second base here, mate. Think you could give us a little space?”
My mouth fell open at Von’s insinuation that he was trying to put the moves on me. “Huh?” Then I turned to Andy, indignant I’d been assigned yet another babysitter. “I think I’m okay sitting in a room. Von’s here. It’s Mariang they’re targeting, not me.”
“Ezra’s orders. More Duwende are on the way. You’ll be well protected.”
I twisted in Von’s long arms to look up at him as he took his cigar from his teeth. Making sure to keep my voice to a whisper, I said, “Von, I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to be here. I told Ezra about the plants. This isn’t a good idea.”
He held my troubled gaze before kissing the crest of my cheek. “I know.”
“I want to go home and back to my regular job.”
He pressed his forehead to mine. “I wish you could, but you can’t. This is what it is for you, Peach.” My face fell, but I kept my mouth shut as the devastation crushed me. He rubbed my back again. “Whoa. That was strong. I felt you crash just then. Hey, it’s alright.” Von was being sweet to me more than usual, and the funny thing was that I didn’t mind it at all. “Do you know how many women would kill to be able to do what you do? You’re a national treasure! You’re one in ten million. Look! You’ve got your very own purse holder.” He motioned to Andy, who was still standing at attention. “We need you.”
I was lost, and didn’t want to find myself here in this world. “Can I call my brother? I’m not doing so hot.”
“Of course. You can use my phone.” He handed me his device, which I only wiped off once, instead of the three times I usually needed to. Von pointed to the phone. “See, the wiping it off’s OCD, but that you can use it knowing there are still germs on it isn’t OCD. It makes no sense.” His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to puzzle through what I’d resigned myself to years ago. My brain was broken, and that’s the size of it.
“I don’t think I mind your germs,” I replied honestly.
The corner of Von’s mouth tugged upward, his eyes dancing with that light I adored. “Not in front of Andy, Peach. He’s going to get all sorts of sordid mental images of us tangled up in these very sheets.”
“Oh, stop being handsome,” I scolded him, palming his face. I tucked my chin downward when my blush crept up at the kiss he placed to the center of my palm. I prayed he wouldn’t notice the girlish thrill he injected into a long-dead part of me.
“Not possible.” He squeezed me tighter, guiding my free hand to rest in his lap while the phone started ringing.
After two rings, the voice that nearly jerked the tears out of me answered. “Hello?”
“Ollie?”
“Where are you? Why aren’t you calling me on your phone? What’s wrong?”
I fished around for an acceptable answer. “I’m out with… with Von.” I shot Von a look of apology he waved off. “I’m just hanging out with Mariang and all them to get to know our new sister.”
“What’s wrong? I can hear it in your voice.”
“Nothing. I’m fine.” My voice caught, and I wished beyond anything that I could be granted the privacy to break down. “I just missed you, is all. I think I might be late coming home. I’ll be there, but not for a while.” Another swoon hit me, so I gripped Von’s knee to keep myself from fainting. I accidentally let out a quiet whimper.
“Where are you at? I’ll come to you.”
“Ollie, you can’t. I’m alright. Go hang out with Gabby. I’ll see you tonight.”
“No way. I can tell something’s wrong. What is it? Did Bev do something? Is it work? Gabby told me about Beto and Jessica. Is that it?”
“No. And how did she know about them? Why didn’t she tell me? Did everyone know but me?” The cut hit me afresh. I closed my eyes and rested my forehead in the crook of Von’s neck, where he guided me. His warm skin centered me through my despondency. “Ollie, what am I doing?”
“You’re coming home right now. Tell me where you are.”
“What am I doing?” I repeated, utterly lost.
Von took the phone from me and made pretty convincing static noises before turning it off. “There, there, darling.”
Von’s embrace was too comforting, too soothing. Something about the wonderfulness of it all reminded me that I didn’t belong in the arms of the hot guy. I didn’t belong in anyone’s arms, though part of me wished the indulgence would never end. When I stood and stumbled toward the door, Andy intercepted my path. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“I can’t do this. I’m going home.”
“You’re not going home. You’re staying right here.”
Panic welled in my chest, making my heart thump erratically. “I don’t live here! I’m not a prisoner! I’ll go home when I feel like it, because that’s what normal people do. I’m normal!” I insisted, sounding every bit like the crazy person I knew I was.
Andy blocked the doorway. “Sit down, Lady October. Ezra will get more men here to escort you wherever you need to go. Now that we know what your capacity is for reaping, that will be your new daily quota. Terraway will be back on its feet in no time.”
“What? No! I was attacked today, and I’m exhausted. I’m going home.” Andy was hard to move, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to full-on come to blows with him just yet. “Dude, I need to go home. Shift it!”
Andy reached out and grabbed onto my hands with a punishing grip. Anxiety nudged me when people touched my hands, but when Andy squeezed me without mercy, the fear flooded through my nervous system. “You’ll stay and do your duty!” he commanded, shooting waves of submission through me.
I fought with the feeling of calm he tried to inject into me, but the more I tried to fend it off, my fight went straight into Andy, like he was sucking my will through a straw. I felt myself emptying – my fight, my personality, my choices all leaving me the longer Andy gripped my hands. I’d never had much, but I always had myself. Now Andy was taking even that from me. The second I entertained the thought that I truly hated this stranger, the feeling vanished, replaced with a hollow sense of peace I didn’t want and didn’t need.
“No!” Von was shouting, trying to pry me loose from Andy. “That’s not how this is supposed to work! Pulling isn’t used for mind control here! And you can’t touch her hands. Don’t you know anything about your charge? Let go!”
I screamed as my knees went weak and Andy lowered me to the ground. The last thing I saw was Von’s cigar hitting the floor as he threw a punch at Andy, and then the world went dark.
6
Faking the Flu
I awoke in the back of Terence the Taurus once again. “What? Where? Huh?” was all I could get out. I’d been laying upright with my head on Mason’s shoulder. When I pulle
d away from him, the world spun.
“Easy, tiger. We’re on our way to your house.” Von had his knees open, taking up too much of the backseat. His blue t-shirt was rumpled and there was a yellow paint stain on the thigh of his jeans. “Here, have something to eat. It’s been a while.”
Mindlessly I took the burrito Mariang handed back to me from the passenger’s seat and bit into it as questions bubbled up inside of me. “What happened?”
Danny spoke over the others. “Andy got himself fired. He barely made it an hour on the job. That’s got to be some kind of record.”
Mariang turned from the front passenger’s seat to face me, placing her frail hand on my knee. “When you tried to leave, Andy pulled your will from you. He blissed you out to keep you in the mansion. That’s very much against the rules. They used to do that with the Omens before Dad was instated as the Ambassador to the Topside. That’s how they got their numbers so high. They had a few Omens, and they’d work the girls until they dropped. If they tried to escape, the Reapers blissed them out. Then it started all over the next day.”
My mouth fell open, horrified. “Are you kidding me?”
Mariang nodded, her gaunt face solemn. “Dad ruled against that practice with me, which is why I’m still alive.”
Von’s mouth was drawn in a tight line as he went down his row of fingers, cracking them one by one. “Good for production. Bad for, you know, all of humanity. That’s how they burned through so many Omens.” He chucked my kneecap with his knuckles. “You holding up alright, November?
“I think so. A little dazed. My limbs feel like Jell-O.”
Mason’s arm around me scooped me closer. I sunk into his side as he rubbed my back, soothing the ache inside me that felt never-ending at this point. I chewed my burrito, smelling the unmistakable lavender scent of my waterless antibacterial hand sanitizer. “Did I wash my hands in my sleep?” I asked him, embarrassed.
Mason chuckled, leaning against the door of the car and turning his body sideways so I could sit in between his legs, rest against his chest and give Von more room. He raked his fingers through my ponytail as I ate. “Do you often wash your hands in your sleep?”
“Not often. Just a few times.” Ollie and Allie had caught me washing my hands several nights till my skin bled in the bathroom.
“No. I did that. Thought you might want any trace of Andy off you when you woke up.”
My eyes closed as I tried not to let myself fall apart at the depth of the thoughtfulness in that simple gesture. I reached up and pressed my palm to his trimmed beard, trusting Mason enough to not picture the germs crawling all over him. “Thank you. That was… thank you.”
He kissed the inside of my wrist and leaned over my shoulder with his mouth open, as if he was about to take a bite of my burrito. He grinned when I inhaled two giant mouthfuls of bean and cheesy goodness, so he couldn’t steal my meal.
“You’d better hurry. I’m coming for the rest of that baby if you don’t eat it.” There was a casual sweetness to Mason that made me forget how upset I was supposed to be. I knew he wasn’t doing excessive pulling; it was simply who he was. He hugged me around the middle, supporting my weight while I relaxed into him. “You don’t have to worry about Andy. Ezra will send a replacement out in the morning, and that’s that.”
Von added, “Danny and I talked Father of the Year out of the small army he wanted to send.”
“Not that I think we’re safer without the extra protection,” Danny muttered. “I can’t believe Andy did that. I’m sorry, kid. I should’ve been there to stop him.”
I blinked in Danny’s direction, confused at his unexpected humility. “Thanks, Danny. But you weren’t even in the room. You couldn’t have known.”
“I reviewed his test scores. I okayed him to come on the job and shadow me. He shouldn’t have done that. The only time Von, Mason or I would ever bliss you out is if you’re on the verge of a heart attack or something. I did it once to Mariang by accident when I was new on the job, and felt horrible about it for weeks. It’s like, one step off from date rape in my book.”
Mariang reached over and stroked his forearm. “It was an accident, Danny Bear. What Andy did was on purpose.”
Danny’s jaw was set, and I knew that though no one held him accountable for a mistake made years ago, he would not be forgiving himself any time soon. “Point is, Andy’s gone. And honestly, I’m not thrilled with just jumping into a replacement tomorrow, knowing any of them could be spies. We’ve got the three of us watching the two of you. Should be enough for now. That is if someone can remember to show up to work on time tomorrow.”
“That okay with you?” Von asked me quietly, his eyes insecure, but friendly.
“Can you remember to show up on time tomorrow?”
Von shrugged and shot me a wink. “Probably not.”
Danny choked the steering wheel as he turned into my driveway, groaning while Mariang giggled softly.
I only made it into the house upright because Von let me lean on him after Mason turned himself into the gray wolf I loved. Danny was carrying Mariang like a baby. It was sweet, given their intense connection, but I renewed my vow to never let a man carry me like that.
The cicadas were making their evening humming buzz sound that lulled me into thinking sleep might be on the horizon. But when Ollie barked his relief at us, I knew I wouldn’t get to rest anytime soon. “Where were you? Do you know how worried I’ve been?” Ollie was still in his jeans and red polo, even though it was close to ten o’clock at night.
“Hey, Ollie. You didn’t have to wait up. I told you I’d be back, and here I am.”
“You’re barely upright! What happened? You sounded scared on the phone. This guy? Is he the problem?” Ollie jabbed his thumb towards Von, who lowered me gingerly into a chair at the dining room table. The recessed lighting above me highlighted the bags under my eyes, no doubt. Mason sat at my side, his muzzle resting on my knee.
“Why do I always get that?” Von asked, bewildered.
“No, Von’s fine. Danny, Mariang and Von are staying over tonight.” I motioned to my wan expression. “Flu. Mariang and I both caught it. Might want a foot of space so I don’t get you sick.”
Ollie felt my forehead with the back of his hand. “You don’t have a fever.” He snatched up my keys from where Danny placed them on the table. “I’m taking you to Urgent Care.”
My eyes watered as I gazed up into my brother’s look of absolute concern. In that simple gesture, I saw Ollie clearly. “You love me,” I marveled.
“Why are you saying that like it’s some big epiphany? Of course I love you. Let me get you a sweater, then I’m taking you to a doctor.” He turned to address Danny, who’d just come back into the kitchen after laying Mariang down on my bed. “You should take her in, too. Mariang didn’t look too great. Whatever they have, I’ll take care of it. I’m driving.”
“I’m fine, Ollie. Just tired. I could use a solid night’s sleep. Any chance that’s in the day planner?”
Ollie put his keys down and sank into the chair next to mine. “I was worried. You hung up before I knew what was going on. You can’t do that. I’m actually here in the state. I can help you now.”
I bit my lip, holding back the question I wanted to ask. How long? How long would he be here? Just long enough for me to depend on him, and then go back to his home in New York?
I scratched my hands under the table to keep from blubbering all over the place. I was an Omen of death. It was best Ollie go back to his home. Whatever was hunting me, I didn’t want it anywhere near him. Mason licked the backs of my hands to remind me to stop punishing myself. I patted his fur that brought me more comfort than most things. “We haven’t spent much time together. Sorry I’ve been out so much this visit.”
Ollie rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, that’s the thing I wanted to talk to you about. Me coming back wasn’t just for Bev.” He glanced up at Danny and Von, giving them a look that told them to scram.
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Von took the hint. “I’m famished. Any requests for pizza toppings? I’m heading out.”
“Olives,” Ollie chimed in, pulling out a twenty. “Here. They’ve got chicken soup at the place in town on 42nd Street and Fraser Boulevard. Could you pick up some soup for October and Mariang? That’s where you’re going, right?”
Von ignored Ollie’s cash, waving the offer away, which I knew earned Von a little respect in Ollie’s book. Von paused his exit to rub my back and pull a portion of my stress from me. “You’ll be alright while I’m gone, November?” He lifted my hand and placed a kiss to the knuckle of my middle finger.
It was sweet, and though I probably should’ve been snatching my hand back from his entrancing touch, I allowed my blush to take over, turning the corners of my mouth upwards. I leaned into his hip, letting myself relax into his touch for the briefest of moments before bucking up. “I’ll be fine. Thanks.” I felt Ollie’s wide eyes on me, floored that I was so open around the stranger.
After Von made his exit, Danny excused himself to go check on Mariang, though I could tell from his look of longing toward the door that he was starving. Ollie waited until it was just us and my dog to start in on his agenda.
7
A World of Difference
“You’re back with Gabby for real this time? Ollie, that’s awesome!” I threw my arms around my brother’s neck, squeezing with every ounce of energy I still possessed, which actually wasn’t all that much.
“Whoa! Well, I didn’t expect that reaction. I mean, I knew you’d be happy, but I was worried you’d think we were rushing into things.” My brother wrapped his arms around me, patting my back before I released him.
“Yes, rushing into things with the girl you’ve been dating on and off for ten years. Will you two be moving in here?”
Tremble (Terraway Book 2) Page 4