by Mary Martel
We stopped in front of a set of stone stairs and I helped him down to sit on the steps. He needed a break and I needed to calm down, because I really wanted to pick him up by his arm and drag him up the stairs. They would be coming for me any minute or second now. I didn't know how much time we had and we couldn't be sitting here taking a break.
"Give me just a moment, please," he murmured, while trying to catch his breath. "Then I’ll be ready to go, I promise."
Yeah, I had to say I didn't really believe him at the moment.
While he caught his breath, I decided to talk about Dash, or more like my relationship with Dash. And myself. Normally, I absolutely would not talk about myself with a person I barely knew, it took a lot for me to do it with people I loved, and I still had issues with opening up to Rain about aspects of my past. I was all about internalizing and spending time in denial.
But I really, almost desperately so, wanted this man to like me. If he was anything like his son, then I knew I'd be in for a hard time simply because I'm female and they'd been abused far too much at the hands of a woman.
I touched the scar on my cheek and blurted, "I got this scar on my face just moments after your son was stabbed."
His head snapped up and his lips parted. Okay, so maybe that wasn't the best way to start, but I couldn't help it, it's just how I rolled. I had diarrhea of the mouth. Always.
I narrowed my eyes on his face and blinked in surprise. The swelling had gone down and several of the cuts were healing rapidly. Julian was amazing, as always.
"My son was stabbed?" he asked in a low, dangerous voice.
Yup, I'd messed up starting with that fun little fact. Since I was me, I kept right on going with it, bad idea and all. Why stop now?
"There was this kid at school. His name was Chucky, and unbelievably he preferred being called that over Chuck. Well, he wasn't a very nice person to me and Quinton, who's the head of our coven, he is extreme when it comes to protecting his family. So he took a personal offense to this Chuck's behavior. This is where things get a little... hairy."
Using the wall as a crutch, Romero pulled himself up to his feet. He swayed slightly but managed to stay standing.
"Let's get out of here. You can tell me all about this... Chuck person and what it is he did to you and my son."
I liked the sound of that, especially the whole getting out of here part. I wrapped my arm around his back while he wrapped his arm around my shoulders.
As we slowly made our way up the stairs and down a winding hallway, I told him all about what had gone down with Chuck, and eventually we came to a wooden door as I came to the end of the sad tale, telling him about Chuck's death. He didn't seem all that broken up about it.
I handed the torch to him and placed my free hand against the wooden door. Nothing. No magic, no sense of age, the door was just a regular door.
I turned the knob, pushed, and the door swung open. We stepped through and into a clearing surrounded by trees.
"I fucking hate this place," I grumbled unhappily. "And the stupid trees. And these godforsaken shoes. And the stupid fucking Council. And, if I never see dirt again, I'm sure I'll die a happy person."
"Long list to complain about."
He had no idea, I could keep this shit up for hours and hours if he wanted.
"Which way is north?" I asked him.
I spun us around in a circle and honestly wasn't surprised to see another old, dilapidated house attached to the door we'd just come through. It seemed like there were a series of old houses out here that were all connected through underground rooms and tunnels. Almost as if there had once been a whole community out here a very long time ago, and given how old that magic had felt in that door, they were probably a community of witches.
And the Council knew all about it, I'd bet my life on it.
I looked up at the stars and found what I was looking for. "There." I pointed in the direction of north. "We go that way. There'll eventually be a car waiting for us. Somewhere. Hand the torch over. We can't carry it through the woods, someone will see it and then we're fucked."
Well, he'd be fucked. I had a feeling given who I was, I'd be just fine no matter what. Hell, maybe I could have simply demanded they release Romero to me and they might have just handed him over to me.
Wordlessly, he handed over the torch. I let him go long enough to bend over and snub the torch out by rubbing the tip of it across the dirt.
I wrapped my arm back around Romero and dragged him through the clearing toward the woods, headed in the direction of what I had guessed was north. When we crossed over into the woods, I hauled my arm back and chucked the now dead torch into the woods. It sailed through the trees before smacking into a branch and falling down into a massive pile of leaves. The whole thing filled me with regret as soon as it had landed in that pile, because it had been far too loud in the silence of the forest.
I looked back over my shoulder for the very first time since starting this wild journey, and stepping through the vines what felt like hours and hours ago. Figures wearing dark robes that matched the one I'd given Romero started pouring out of the open door we'd just come through minutes ago.
"Holy fuck," I whispered in horror. "I know you feel like garbage right about now, and your body is on the verge of shutting down, but I'm going to need a little more from you. I need you to run with me. Can you at least try to do that for me? If not for me then for Dash, please?"
He'd either do it or I'd drag his ass through the forest on my own. Those were his only options, because I wouldn't be leaving him behind for the Council to find.
Romero looked bad over his shoulder and shuddered violently. His arm fell away from my shoulders. He reached behind and grabbed my arm, pulling it away from where I had it wrapped around his body. He grabbed ahold of my hand and laced our fingers together. His grip on my hand tightened almost to the point of pain.
"I can run," he whispered fiercely, and pulled on my hand, practically dragging me behind him.
"There!" someone shouted behind us. "I see movement in the trees."
We ran.
Together, hand in hand through the trees, we ran. Both my shoes came off and we both continued forward barefoot. My feet stung with cuts and scrapes and who knew what else. I tried not to feel it as I ran faster and faster, until I felt like my lungs were going to burst.
About a mile and a half later, Romero started slowing down and fell back. I couldn't believe he'd made it that far without passing out.
His fingers started to slip through my sweaty grasp and tears finally started to fall down my cheeks. This night had been one out of my nightmares, it couldn't all be for nothing. I would not leave him behind. Dash thought his father was dead, he had a right to know the man was alive and to see him, to get to know him man to man.
If we didn't make it out of this and Dash found out that we kept this from him, I didn't think he'd ever be able to forgive those of us who'd been involved in this night.
My feet skidded across the rough ground, aching in agony as I whirled around, reaching back for him. Romero hunched over, his hands on his knees as he wheezed.
The crashing in the woods grew closer by the second. I couldn't imagine actual Council members running through the forest, so it must have been the lackeys.
"Tell—" Romero wheezed and panted between each word. "My son...that I love him."
No. I shook my head and the tears came even faster.
I absolutely would not do that.
If he didn't make it out of this, he wouldn't be alone, because I'd rather die than leave him. We'd go down together and neither of us would ever see his son again. I would never get to tell Dash that I loved him again myself.
"Keep. Going," I gritted out harshly through teeth clenched so hard my jaw hurt with each word.
He had to. He couldn't quit on me now.
An arm slid around my middle from behind and I was hauled back into a hard chest. I opened my mouth to scream bloody murder, bu
t was cut off when another hand went to my mouth, cutting me off. I struggled, kicking my legs back and fighting to get free.
Romero's eyes widened as my attacker started dragging me backwards and, in my state of panic, I didn't even think to use my magic defensively to free myself. Romero no longer had magic to use, so he went for a different tactic. He charged forward, running straight at me and my attacker.
"Make him stop before he gets hurt," Quinton whispered urgently in my ear. I sagged in relief against his hold on me and his hand left my mouth.
"Romero, stop," I choked out. "It's okay, he's here to help. This is Quinton Alexander, and he's a member of my coven. Remember, we talked about him before?"
Recognition flashed in his crazed eyes. Immediately, he halted in his tracks.
A dark figure darted out from behind me and ran right for Romero. Quinton's hand covered mine again when I once again went to scream, this time not out of fear for my safety, but in warning for Trenton to be careful with Romero. If my bodyguard hurt this man, even by accident, I didn't think I'd react well to it.
Trenton dropped down, rammed his shoulder into Romero's stomach, and lifted him up with Romero draped over his shoulder. Trenton wrapped his arm around a weakly struggling Romero as he whipped around and darted back toward where he'd come from.
"Tell him it's okay, baby," Quinton urged in a rush. "We need him to calm down so we can get him out of here as fast and safely as possible."
I noticed then Quinton hadn't once addressed Romero himself, but instead had instructed me to speak one on one with him. It was weird and I swore to ask him about it later when we'd made it out of this wretched place.
Quinton let me go and I raced after Trenton and Romero. Catching up to them, I ran the palm of my hand up and down Romero's back soothingly. Once, twice, three times. Any more touching seemed inappropriate coming from me.
"Calm down, Romero Flynn. This is Trenton. He's one of my guardian's and he's here with Quinton to help get us safely out of here. Just go with it."
Remember when I told you I sucked at pep talks? Well, I hadn't been lying.
It was a lot to ask for and required a level of trust I didn't think we'd quite established yet. Neither of us really knew each other, yet I'd done more to secure his safe return home than I’d ever done for another human being. I hadn't done any of it for him though. Okay, so in the beginning that might have been true, but now after dragging his ass through the woods hand in hand, I now felt differently and knew that even if I didn’t love his son, I still would have come back for him. I might not have gone through all that I had, but eventually I would have figured out a way to get him out. Dead or alive.
At my words, Romero surprised me and actually relaxed over Trenton's shoulder. It was all very undignified, and for Trenton's sake, I really hoped Romero's junk rubbed all over him. Just because.
Trenton shot me a dirty look over his shoulder before running off with his burden.
I started to run after them, but Quinton stopped me. He swept me up in his arms, bride style, and ran after Trenton.
"They're going to follow us," I warned him.
Before he could respond, my father appeared directly in front of us. Quinton sidestepped Rain and spun around to a stop, slightly behind my father. He held me high up in his arms, tight against his chest, almost as if he'd never let me go.
Trenton and Romero disappeared from sight and my eyes went back to my father. His arms were spread out wide at his sides. His head was tipped back with his face aimed up at the sky. His lips moved, and words too quiet for me to hear came out of him.
The dark sky flashed with light and the flood gates opened. Rain poured down in heavy torrents, while a thick fog started rising from the cold ground.
Rain dropped his arms and turned toward us. "Hurry," he urged. His eyes trailed over me in Quinton's arms and his mouth pinched tight in unhappiness. "The spell will only hold them off for fifteen minutes. Tops. We need to get to the SUV. Now."
It hurt too much to look into his questioning eyes, so I took the coward’s way out and buried my face in Quinton's chest. I didn't think I'd ever be ready to answer the questions in Rain's gaze. I knew he'd voice them later, and I also knew I wouldn't be ready to answer them then either. He wasn't even supposed to be here.
I clung to Quinton like a freaking lifeline while he easily carried me through the woods.
It didn't take long for us to leave the woods and find a dirt road. Romero and I had been headed in the right direction. Thankfully, backup had shown, or we never would have made it here.
A black Escalade was parked on the dirt road. I recognized it was the one I'd bought for Trenton and Simon. It had all the bells and whistles, and had cost me a scary amount of money that I had almost pissed myself over when I'd been told the dollar amount. After the initial sticker shock had worn off, I'd paid for the stupid thing because my guardians deserved nothing but the best. And I planned on giving it to them.
They were my trusted companions and would be until my last breath. My coven could decide they no longer wanted me and go for a different female witch or to separately date normal, non-magical women. Not that I ever thought they'd do that, but my guardians were so very different. They were bound to me and only my death would set them free. They were stuck with me as much as I was them. They hadn't chosen me, their magic had. So I didn't go the cheap route with them when it came to anything. Only the best would do when your vows were stronger than the average marriage ones.
I was basically their wife without all the feelings or sex or any of the good stuff. They got some good benefits though. Like the tricked out SUV. I would have gotten them each their own if they hadn't protested and only agreed to accept the one.
Now that SUV was parked here on the dirt road with the back door all the way up and the front passenger and side door open and waiting for us.
Trenton loaded Romero into the way back and slammed the door down closed. Hurriedly, he came around the back and climbed into the front passenger seat. After looking to make sure I'd followed, Trenton closed the SUV door.
Quinton climbed in the open door with me still in his arms. He slid all the way over to the other side with me in his lap and held tightly to his chest. Rain climbed in after us and slammed the door shut.
"Let's go," Rain barked out harshly.
I looked up from Quinton's shoulder and met Simon's sharp gaze in the rearview mirror. He blatantly ignored Rain's command as he waited for the one that would really matter to him.
That command being from me. I jerked my head up in a nod. Once. "Let's go home."
Simon's eyes left mine in the mirror as he focused on the road. He shifted the SUV into drive and we started rolling down the road.
"Baby," Quinton murmured as his hand went into my hair. "What is this covering you and crusted into your skin?"
My body started shaking uncontrollably.
My bottom lip trembled.
I breathed deeply in an attempt to not cry again tonight. I knew I'd fail, but I tried anyways.
I sucked in a sharp, shaking breath, and a whimper escaped me. I cursed myself. I hadn't planned on ever falling apart about tonight, but if I needed to couldn't I at least do it at home where I could lock myself in a bathroom and actually be alone to fall apart in private?
"Ariel?"
I knew Quinton only asked out of concern. He didn't like the unknown, and I had lived in his version of it for the entire night. Now I showed up looking like the scary version of Carrie and I couldn't be upset with him for asking.
Still...
No.
There were certain things I would like to take to my grave with me.
Because I knew he'd never let it go, those were the things I would give to Quinton and Quinton alone. When we were alone.
"It's blood," I said in a dead voice I almost didn't recognize as my own. "Some of it's mine. Most of it is not."
Very gently, he asked, "Whose blood is it? Do you know?"
"Don't," I whispered in that same dead voice.
He closed his eyes tight. His hand slid up to the back of my head and he pulled me deeper into his chest, shoving my face in his neck and holding me there.
I closed my eyes and let it all out. I cried. I sobbed. I cried so hard I struggled to breathe.
Quinton held me tight the whole time. Rain reached over and placed a comforting hand on my knee that didn't leave until we pulled into the driveway at home.
The rest of the car remained deathly quiet.
I wondered if they would have been so supportive if they'd known the truth of why I cried. I knew the truth and I hated myself for it.
Chapter Twenty
Don’t You Say Her Fucking Name
There was this little voice inside my head that screamed at me to get out of the SUV and run as soon as we pulled into the driveway. I didn't want to face anyone else tonight and I didn't want to have to explain anything.
I didn't run. After everything I'd done and been through to get to this point in my life, being a coward and hiding didn't sit well with me.
Quinton attempted to carry me once more, but at the look on my face he sat me down on my feet just outside of the SUV. Julian was in my face immediately. His hand went to the back of my head and he roughly jerked me forward and into his chest.
He wrapped his arms around me and held on for dear life, attempting to smother the life right out of me. His lips went to my ear where he whispered, "Are you injured? You're covered in blood and I'm hoping it's not yours."
I flinched, that last statement having cut far too close to home for comfort. He didn't know that though, none of them did.