by Mary Martel
"Her feet are fucked up and she’s going to need you to look at them, but I have a feeling she's not going to let you until after you've looked over Romero and she's showered off all of that blood that thankfully belongs to someone who is not her. She's refusing to tell us who it belongs to," Quinton shared with Jules in a dark voice that held a promise of the violence he'd been reining in for days now. He was barely holding it in check, and sooner than later he was going to explode and that anger would land on someone. I just hoped it wasn't me who got nailed with it. I could take no more emotional baggage or bullshit from anyone, not when I was so busy drowning in my own.
I shrugged my way out of Julian's hold and avoided eye contact with him. I had a feeling I would be doing that with a lot with people for the next several days... or weeks... or however long it took for me to come to terms with everything. Most especially, it'd be my own eyes in the mirror I avoided the most.
I met Rain at the back of the SUV. He had the door up and was helping Romero get out.
"Thanks, Dad," I muttered, sounding unfriendly even to myself. Another set of eyes I failed to meet. I didn't want to see the concern I knew would still be in them.
I had no problem meeting Romero's eyes though.
"So this is the infamous Rain?" Romero mused. "And to think I originally thought you were a lying little bitch like all the rest. So far you've been nothing but the oddest female I've ever met in my entire life. Strange that you're so genuine, you must not have had a normal upbringing."
Oh dear.
Romero had a very unflattering way with words that I had assumed had to do with his years in captivity, but I was beginning to think that perhaps it was simply his personality and something we'd all need to get used to.
Rain stiffened and the air in the garage began to change. Something dangerous was coming if I didn't step in and put a stop to it.
A palm pressed against my lower back in warning. Quinton was as pissed as Rain, offended on my behalf. You didn't insult our family. You just didn't. Another hand landed on my shoulder, squeezing gently. Julian was offering support if I needed it, but the tension radiating off of him let me know he was not happy with this situation or Romero's behavior either.
However, not a single one of them addressed him, and it was incredibly weird to me that none of them would so much as speak to him. I did not get it. And I was so fed up with everything. I didn't have the heart to ask about it today. If they didn't want to talk to him, then what the hell did I care? I wished they didn't want to talk to me right now. That would make my life a little bit easier until I was ready for it.
"Where are the others?" I asked, while looking around the garage, expecting them to come running out at any second. "Where's Dash?"
"They're inside." Julian hesitated before continuing, "They still don't know anything and they're very upset."
With me.
That was what he didn't say, they were all still very upset with me and probably would be for a very long time. I had serious apologizing to do and that was all I really could do. What I'd done hadn't been easy for me either, but it's not like I hadn't had a good reason to do it. And I hadn't been off having a good time either.
"Let's get you inside, Romero." I wrapped my arms around him and he leaned into me just like he had done earlier.
Simon ran ahead of us and opened the door. I gave him a small smile in thanks as we limped our way past him.
I deposited Romero on the couch in the informal living room, and there I left him with the rest of my coven who, for once, had absolutely nothing to say to me.
Then, because I could take no more, I got the fuck out of there. Dash was there, Romero would be just fine. He had to be.
I swiped my palm across the foggy mirror and clutched the towel tightly to my chest with my other hand. As the mirror cleared and my face appeared, I couldn't help but flinch.
I looked the same but I knew I wasn't, and I would never be the same girl I was a week ago, hell, even a mere day ago. You couldn't erase the things you'd seen with the mere swipe of your hand like you could the condensation on a mirror.
My eyes, so green and so much like Rain's, had never resembled his more than they did in that moment. They weren't empty. They weren't even haunted. They were dead, dead, dead.
I picked my hairbrush up off of my side of the counter and used it to brush through the wet, tangled mess that was my hair. Perhaps I should have attempted to detangle it before I washed it. Now it was clean but still a freaking mess nonetheless. I tore the brush through my hair and didn't even flinch when it got caught on one of the more serious tangles and my head jerked to the side. If there was pain in my scalp, then I certainly didn't feel it. I just kept brushing. And brushing. I didn't stop until I got every tangle out and stood before the mirror with my longish hair hanging down over my shoulders, wet but no longer a mess. At least something in my life wasn't in complete disarray anymore.
The whole time my eyes never strayed far from the dead green orbs staring back at me in the mirror.
I couldn't stand to look at myself anymore. I cocked my arm back and threw the brush at my face in the mirror. The hard, wooden backside cracked against the mirror as small lines shot out all around where the brush made contact with the glass, creating a web of fragile splinters.
Seven years of bad luck, supposedly now headed my way. All for one moment of despair that seemed to be stretching on far longer than a moment. I hoped I wasn't in for seven years of that as well.
The door blew open with force, and with nothing to stop it the doorknob slammed into the wall. It bounced off the wall and headed back the way it came. It made contact with Rain's outstretched forearm and swung back toward the wall.
Rain stormed into the room. The look on his face was so ferocious that even in my state it registered as dangerous, but I didn’t care enough to step back and away from him, away from the danger he brought in with him. I had no self-preservation left, and I just did not have it in me to care.
"Are you okay?" Rain demanded. "What's going on in here?"
Silly questions, old man. Especially that first one. I hoped no one else asked me if I was okay. I might scream if they did. Screaming would not be good.
I just stood there staring at Rain as if I were mute and incapable of speaking.
His eyes moved from me and shifted all around the room, pausing on the broken mirror. "I'll have to burn that for you, take care of it."
Oh, would you look at that, Rain believed in superstitions too. Once again, like father like daughter.
"Julian's waiting for you in your room, baby girl. I want you to come on out now so he can take a look at your feet. Then I think you should lie down, get some rest, and things will look better when you wake up in the morning."
Somehow I doubted that. And I couldn't even feel my feet, so I didn't care to have them looked at. I didn't really want to be touched by any kindness at the moment.
My voice came out in a croak when I asked, "Why aren't you asking me about what happened? It's why you're in here with me, isn't it? It's what everyone is dying to know."
Rain stood carefully still, as if he was afraid to move, afraid to scare me. "No, baby girl. You're wrong. I'm in here because, as your dad, it's my job to take care of you. It's one I enjoy doing even though at times like this it fuckin' kills me to have to do that job in the first place, because it means you're in a position where you need someone to take care of you. I'm only here to see to you. I'm not gonna push you to talk. None of the guys are gonna force you to talk. You'll talk when you're ready and we'll all be here for you when you are."
I shook my head, not believing him in the slightest. "Not Quinton," I croaked out. "He'll never let this go until he knows every last little detail. He'll push and push until I snap and I’m forced to give him everything he wants."
I could feel it building inside me. Something coming to life in a rush, and I knew there'd be no stopping it even if it died, and I didn’t have it in me to t
ry. My body began to shake uncontrollably and I clenched my free hand into a tight fist.
Rain sighed in defeat while holding his palms up toward me in a clear show of restraint and to show me he meant me no harm. "You're right, baby. Not Quinton, he's different. It's my job to take care of you because I'm your father. It's Quinton's job to take care of you because he's the head of your coven. I know it might seem like he treats you differently than the rest of the guys because he does. That isn’t to say he wouldn't get pushy with them and force them to give him their secrets and pain because he would. It seems more intense with you because he loves you in a different way than how he loves them. They're all going to treat you differently than how they treat each other. That's to be expected. But Quinton, he needs to take care of his family in the only way he knows how. Look at what he did to that Annab—"
That thing building inside of me finally snapped.
I bent forward at the waist and screamed in a voice so ragged it hurt even my own ears to listen to. "Don't you say her fucking name. Don't you ever say it."
I straightened on a jerk, and my arm shot out at my side. In a vicious arc, I swung my arm across the counter, swiping at everything in sight. Bottles of face cleaner, makeup remover, bottles of different hand soaps, the holder without toothbrushes in it, everything went flying. I grabbed at the hand towel hanging on a little ring mounted to the wall and yanked. The towel dropped to the floor and the ring hung crooked, swaying precariously before crashing to the floor to lie beside its discarded burden.
I opened my mouth and screamed wordlessly.
"Fucking Christ," Rain ground out harshly in a voice I barely heard over the sound of my screaming.
I whirled around and grabbed hold of the plastic shower curtain and liner, which had been put up solely for my privacy that I never actually used because they made me feel claustrophobic. I held them tightly in my fist and pulled. The metal rings clanked against the rod as the curtain snap, snap, snapped, tearing from ring after ring. Halfway through the entire rod came down with the curtain. The heavy rod hit me in the shoulder on its descent and bounced off. It crashed to the floor in a heap beside my feet.
The room was utterly silent outside of the sound of my ragged, labored breathing.
Frantically, I searched for something else to destroy.
The door in front of me, the one that led into Dash's bedroom, opened.
"No," I whispered urgently, as Dash's blurry face stepped into the open doorway. I blinked, chasing the tears away, and he became a lot less blurry.
Tears of his own filled his eyes and he reached his hand out to me. "Ariel, honey, come here."
I shook my head from side to side. I couldn't be around him right now, not him. Not when it was all still so fresh. Not when I'd done everything for him.
"Go be with your dad."
He flinched as if I'd struck him in the worst way possible.
He cleared his face of all emotions and reached for me once more. "Come, be with Romero and me. He's asking for you, and I want you there with me. Please, honey, come with me."
Any other time I'd give him anything he asked of me. I had a feeling it hurt me more than it hurt him for me to have to tell him no. But I had to because I didn't want to be alone with him and Romero right now. I didn't want to be alone with anyone but myself right now, but especially not him. I wasn't quite ready to face him when he called me out on knowing about Romero and hiding it from him. I didn't want to give him a chance to turn on me, I was too raw to deal with that now, if I ever would be able to.
"Not now, Dash," Rain spoke from directly behind me. "Why don't you go see to your father while I take care of my daughter. I know we're all one big happy family now, but I think it's time you and I focus on our own blood for the time being. When she's ready for it, I'll let you know and you can see her then. Until then, I suggest you go see to the father she risked her life and sanity to bring home to you."
Low. Freaking. Blow.
All of it.
Boy, when Rain really wanted to, he could be a serious dick.
Dash's features turned to stone. He was pissed and this was exactly what I had been trying to avoid.
"How dare you try and tell me what to do when it comes to Ariel," Dash ground out between clenched teeth. A muscle ticked angrily in his jaw. "She owes me an explanation, and you must know that there's no fucking way in the state that she's in right now that I'd try and force her to give me that explanation any time soon. Jesus, what kind of person do you take me for? I thought it would be good for her, given she's clearly in a state, to be around me and my dad. Now the only thing I'm convinced of is that she shouldn't be in here with you not—"
Quinton appeared in the doorway behind Dash. His hand came down to rest on Dash's shoulder and Dash tried to jerk away from his touch. Quinton did not let him go. In fact, he stepped up behind him and wrapped his arm around Dash's chest.
Dash didn't struggle, but his eyes never left mine as Quinton dragged him out of the bathroom.
"I love you," Dash whispered. "Nothing will ever change that. You have to know that. And now I have my father back thanks to you. Come to me when you're ready. We'll be waiting for you."
The door closed behind Dash and Quinton as my knees buckled and my legs went out from underneath me. Rain caught me before I could hit the ground.
He lifted me up with an arm under my shoulders and another one under the backs of my knees. He held me tight to his chest as he turned and walked toward the open doorway and into my bedroom.
The door slammed shut behind us after we stepped into my room. "Lock," Rain whispered under his breath, and a curl of heat left his body. He'd spelled the bathroom door. Smart man. Simply flicking the lock in place wouldn't be enough to keep them at bay if they truly wanted to get inside. Magic was the only way to go around this house, because a locked door was never enough. Not when it came to determined boys.
Rain sat me down on the edge of my bed up close by my plethora of pillows. I wrapped my arms around my middle and slumped in on myself. The numbness had receded upon my outburst and had yet to return. I wished it would, because the pain left in its place was eating me up from the inside.
I needed something to focus on besides it. Something different to occupy my mind.
Rain sat down beside me on the bed and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. He pulled me into his side and the hold he had on me tightened.
"Julian," Rain barked out. "Get over here and tend to her feet while she's sitting down. And tell your boyfriend to get her some clothes."
I tipped my head to the side and blinked up at Rain. Had he said boyfriend? How the hell did Rain of all people know about Damien and Jules? I hadn't even known myself until recently, and I damn well knew they weren't open and sharing their relationship with Rain of all people.
"You do know I'm right here, asshole," Damien snapped angrily. Gone was his haughty nature. In its place was an aggressive male I'd yet to see take over Damien before. "I'll get the clothes because they're for Ariel, but next time you want something from me then I suggest you actually address me. Otherwise you can go fuck yourself."
Damien stormed out of the room and into the closet I shared with Dash. I was proud of him for standing up to Rain. My father would never respect a person who didn't stand up to him.
"Don't worry, baby girl," Rain murmured to me. "I spelled the door inside the closet that opens up into Dash's room while I waited for you to get out of the shower. Nobody's getting in through there. You can relax. You're safe in here with myself and the two of them."
I knew I was safe in here with them. I also knew I'd be safe in here if the rest of them joined us as well. But I appreciated the effort he went to for me. I nodded my thanks but remained silent. The screaming fit I'd had in the bathroom had taken it right out of me. I had no fight left in me. I was utterly exhausted.
I sat stiff, frozen against Rain as Julian knelt on the rug at my feet with his big black bag beside him. He opened i
t and pulled out a mason jar with some type of bright blue goop that looked kind of crusty. I wrinkled my nose in disgust when he unscrewed the lid and the smell hit me. Rotten, vile waste.
"No," I whispered harshly and frantically. "Don't you dare put that garbage on my feet. I'd rather be in pain than smell like shit."
"No kidding," Rain muttered in agreement under his breath. "What did you kill and stuff inside that jar to bring on that godawful smell?"
Why did all of Julian's concoctions have to smell absolutely horrendous? Nobody wanted to smell like garbage, Julian had to know that. Why couldn't he make something that smelled like roses instead? I'd like that.
Julian blatantly ignored Rain’s and my bitching. He stuck two of his fingers inside the jar and scooped out a big glob of blue smelling shit. He didn't seem to mind the smell. With the hand not covered in goo, he picked up my right foot and held it up in front of his face for inspection.
He whistled under his breath. "You really did a number on your poor little feet. Yours are worse than Romero's were." He paused in his inspection to call out over his shoulder, “Will you get the tray and bring it over here?"
Julian smeared the goop all over the bottom of my foot. The cold stung as it glossed over my cuts and bruises. The pain in my foot finally started to register right around the same time as the medicine started to work and it went numb for an entirely different reason.
Julian wiped his fingers off on a handkerchief he pulled out of his bag. Next came an Ace bandage. He unrolled the bandage and started wrapping my foot up. When he had it wrapped up tight, he stuck a small metal clasp to the end and it stuck to another part of the wrap, securing it in place. He sat my foot back down gently on the rug and picked up the other foot. He did the same thing with the left foot as the right one. When they were both done, he tucked everything back away in his bag and snapped it shut.
He looked me in the eyes, gave my knee a gentle squeeze, and stood up while speaking. "I'm going to go wash my hands then I'll be back. Drink the tea Damien's going to give you. It'll help you sleep and get the rest you need. After you drink the tea, I want you to put the pajamas on that Damien's also going to give you. Then I want you to get into bed and under the covers. Rain can leave then. Damien and I are going to stay in here with you tonight. I hope you're ready for it, Ariel, because you're not going to be left on your own again for a very long time, if not ever."