“I’m surprised the fire didn’t attract any attention from the mainland,” she said.
“When we escaped, I didn’t dare stay in the town closest to the island,” Mike said. “I didn’t trust the people there not to be in the pocket or under the control of the Savages running the island. I’m sure the fire drew attention, but they’ve all learned, been paid, or mind controlled into looking the other way.”
“What are we going to do now, Mom?” Dylan asked. “We can’t go home.”
“I’d like it if you came to stay with me,” Jack offered.
Dylan craned his head to look at Jack over his shoulder. His solemn, mismatched eyes were far too sad and knowing. Jack could never take away everything Dylan endured, but he would give the boy a much happier childhood for what remained of it, if Dylan would let him.
He believed Dylan liked him, but coming to live with him was a big step, and after everything he’d been through, it may be a step Dylan was unwilling to take, but Jack hoped he would. Not only did he want Charlie in his life, but he wanted Dylan there too.
“I’d like that,” Dylan murmured and smiled at him.
Jack hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath until it exploded out of him. He grinned at Dylan and hugged him and Charlie closer.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Charlie barely remembered getting off the boat and driving to the motel. She was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open, but a shower lay ahead of her, and even as tired as she was, nothing would keep her from the tantalizing prospect of hot water.
When they pulled up outside the motel, a door flew open and a woman raced out to throw herself into Mike’s arms. Mollie, Charlie assumed and watched as a human and two vamps exited the room behind her. She believed they were Aida, Willow, and Julian, and her assumption was confirmed when Willow and Julian ran to embrace Jack before being introduced to her and Dylan.
“We were worried about you,” Willow said as she stepped from Jack’s arms.
“I’m like a cat; I’ve got nine lives,” Jack assured her as he ruffled her hair.
Willow glowered at him as she smoothed her dark blonde hair. “I thought you were going to say you’re like a cat because you hate baths.” Willow waved her hand in front of her face and wrinkled her nose, but her violet eyes twinkled with amusement. “You stink.”
Jack laughed, and before Willow could stop him, he crushed her against him. “And now you stink too,” he said as he ran his hands over her arms before releasing her.
“Ass,” she muttered and danced away before he could grab her again. “But I’m glad you’re back.”
“So am I.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Dylan,” Willow said as she bent so she was eye level with him. “I can’t wait to show you all the cool stuff we have at home. There are games, boats, a tree house, playground, and a lot of other fun stuff.”
Dylan smiled tentatively at her. “That sounds like fun.”
“It is,” Willow assured him.
Charlie smiled at Willow when the beautiful young woman rose and extended her hand to Charlie. “And it’s nice to meet you, Charlie. Good luck with Oscar over there.”
“Oscar?” Charlie asked in surprise.
“Yeah, as in Oscar the Grouch. And now he even smells like he lives in a trash can.”
When Jack growled and took a menacing step toward her, Willow laughed and ran over to hug her father.
“We helped raise a bunch of assholes,” Jack muttered, and Charlie laughed.
“We really did,” Mike agreed.
“We got you a room,” Julian said as he handed Jack a key. “When you’re up to it, Dylan, come down to room ten. Willow and I have got some games we can play.”
Dylan’s face lit up and a lump formed in Charlie’s throat. They didn’t know these vampires, yet they were greeting her son with such warmth and already making him feel welcome. “Can I go, Mom?” Dylan asked eagerly.
“Let’s see how you feel after you take a shower,” Charlie told him.
“I’ll go buy clothes for you and Dylan,” Julian said to her. “We weren’t expecting you, but we’re glad you’re here.”
“Thank you,” Charlie whispered; she was afraid she might cry.
Julian smiled at her before walking away.
Jack rested his hand on her shoulder and steered her to their room. He unlocked the door and stepped back to let her and Dylan enter the room with the double beds. Dylan ran into the bathroom, and Charlie heard him laughing as he turned on the shower.
“He really will be happy again,” she said.
She’d been so scared Dylan would never find happiness again, but they’d only been off the island for a short time, and already he was blossoming.
“He will be,” Jack promised as he drew her into his arms. “Kids are resilient.”
Charlie relaxed into his embrace and rested her head on his shoulder as he swayed back and forth with her. She didn’t know how much time passed before a knock on the door pulled them apart, and Jack opened it to discover Julian there with a couple of bags of clothes.
“Thanks,” Jack said as he took the bags from him.
Charlie took the bag with Dylan’s clothes to the bathroom and opened the door to set them on the counter. “Clothes are here!” she called.
“Thanks, Mom,” he yelled back.
Charlie shut the door and walked over to sink onto one of the beds. Jack sat beside her and drew her close as the water shut off. Dylan emerged a few minutes later, freshly scrubbed and bouncing on his toes.
“Can I go see Julian now?” he asked.
Charlie would have preferred him to stay close, but she couldn’t erase that beautiful smile from his face. “Yes. I’ll walk you down there.”
“I’ll take him,” Jack offered. “Why don’t you take a shower?”
Charlie almost protested, but the siren’s call of hot water and clean clothes lured her. “Okay.” She kissed him on the cheek before rising to kiss Dylan’s wet head. “Listen to Julian and behave while you’re there.”
“I will,” he promised and hugged her before rushing over to the door.
Jack smiled at her before walking over to open the door. Charlie watched them go before skipping into the bathroom and tossing her ruined clothes on top of the pile Dylan left behind. She turned the shower on as hot as she could stand it and stepped beneath the spray.
She released a blissful sigh as the water beat against her knotted muscles. A shower. A beautiful, wonderful shower. It was the greatest invention ever, and Charlie never wanted to leave it.
A stream of soot and dirt pooled around her feet, and she had to wash three times before the water ran clear. Resting her forehead against the wall, she closed her eyes and let the shower run over her back.
The shower curtain pulled back, but she didn’t open her eyes when Jack stepped in behind her. She listened as he moved around, washing himself off before his hands rested on her shoulders and he turned her to face him.
Jack hated the exhaustion on her face as he ran his fingers over her cheeks. Her eyes fluttered open, and a small smile curved her mouth as he squeezed some shampoo onto his hand and worked it into her hair.
“What are you doing?” she murmured.
“Taking care of my mate,” he replied.
Some of the burnt ends of her hair broke off and fell away as he massaged her scalp. He carefully washed the shampoo from her hair. Turning her again, he rubbed the knotted muscles of her shoulders and back before working his way steadily lower. He hadn’t started this with the intention of anything sexual, but he scented her rising desire on the air.
“Dylan could come back soon,” she murmured.
“He’ll be with Julian for a couple of hours,” Jack assured her as he leaned forward to kiss her shoulder.
All visions of crawling into bed and passing out vanished from Charlie’s mind when Jack’s knuckles skimmed the underside of her breasts. Gripping his hand, she slid it down her bell
y before slipping it between her legs. His finger entered her as he kissed her neck.
Leaning her hips back, she felt the enticing evidence of his arousal against her lower back while she rode his hand. She was on the verge of coming when he removed his hand and guided his cock into her. Charlie rested her palms flat against the shower wall and met his rhythm as the water sluiced over her.
She came apart with a cry that grew louder when he sank his fangs into her shoulder. Jack thrust once more before pulling free of her and finding his release. Gathering Charlie against him, he turned off the water and grabbed a towel from the rack outside the shower. She was limp in his arms when he lifted her and carried her out of the shower.
He tenderly dried her before helping her into the blue shirt and jeans Julian bought for her. The clothes were a little baggy on her, but they were clean and dry.
Charlie’s heart swelled with love as she watched him taking care of her. Cupping his cheek, she lifted his face when he knelt before her to roll up the bottom of her jeans. “I love you with all my heart.”
Jack smiled as he rose and pulled her closer. “You are my heart, Charlie. Before you, my heart still beat, but it was dead. Now, it’s alive again.”
Charlie smiled as she rested her head against his chest. She’d never dreamed of finding someone like Jack; now she couldn’t imagine life without him.
Lifting her, Jack carried her out of the room and pulled back the blankets on the bed to lay her down. “A mattress,” she sighed. “A pillow,” she breathed and fell asleep.
Stepping back, Jack returned to the bathroom to dress before settling onto the mattress beside her to watch her sleep. Exhaustion weighed on him, but he couldn’t stop staring at her. When a knock sounded on the door, Jack hurried to open it before it woke her. Mike, Liam, and David stood there, freshly showered and looking as weary as he felt.
They didn’t have to speak; he knew why they were there.
“Doug,” Jack said, and they all nodded.
“Aiden said he’d keep an eye on your room and Charlie,” Mike said.
He glanced back at Charlie. “I’ll be right out.”
Closing the door, he strode over to her. He hated waking her, but he couldn’t leave without letting her know first. He woke her and told her there was something he had to do, but he would be back soon. She kissed him and went back to sleep.
Stepping out of the room, he accepted the shovel Liam handed him and followed them to Doug’s grave. They hadn’t discussed it, but none of them could leave here without their friend.
Epilogue
Three months later
Charlie leaned against the porch beam of the house that would soon be hers, Jack’s, and Dylan’s. At the end of the field, overlooking the sea, Doug’s marble monument glinted in the early morning sun. Fresh flowers lie on the grave, and tomorrow new ones would replace them.
Charlie blew on the coffee she clutched as she watched Dylan and Hope throwing the ball for Dawg, Hope’s dog. After three years without what she once considered the liquid of life, Charlie had been ecstatic to have her first cup of coffee after leaving the island. She may not need it, but she still liked it, and she wasn’t ready to part with it.
She chuckled when Dawg, a big, shaggy mutt with a lolling tongue and sparkling brown eyes, planted his front paws on Dylan’s chest. The dog leaned forward to leave a big, sloppy kiss on his cheek. Dylan wiped the saliva from his face before patting Dawg’s head and pushing him away.
Hope laughed as she ran away from Dawg’s bounding leaps while he chased her. At six, Hope was the closest to Dylan’s age here, and she’d become his best friend since they arrived. She was a mature six and good for Dylan, as she and Dawg got him to smile more than anyone else.
Though she wanted to get him back to as normal a life as possible, Charlie decided to keep Dylan out of school for the year. He needed time to come to terms with what they endured, his new life, and to catch up on the education he missed.
Everyone had gone out of their way to make them feel welcome, and they were adjusting to being part of the family. Dylan loved his life here, and after everything he went through, Charlie was going to give him this time to embrace his new family and life.
Every day, they did lessons together, and he was taking online courses. He’d already passed second grade and was acing third. With the way he was going, he would be caught up by December, but she wasn’t going to rush him.
At first, she’d kept him out of school because she was also concerned that if she enrolled him someone might recognize them from the news or missing people reports. Julian assured her that wouldn’t be a problem before going through the computer and eradicating as much of the information about them as he could. Of course, he could never get rid of it all, but the chances of a random person recalling a post from three years ago about her and Dylan were pretty slim.
When he finished removing as much of their old lives as possible, Julian built them new lives and identities. For this part, Dylan agreed to take Jack’s last name, and Charlie was more than ready to rid herself of her old last name; it had brought her nothing but sorrow. Julian carefully crafted them new IDs that would pass anywhere. When it came time for Dylan to return to school, no one would question who he was, and no one was looking for them anymore.
Though they’d both made friends at the school where Charlie taught before being taken, only one person continued to spend years looking for them, Miss Dodd.
Unable to let Miss Dodd go through the rest of her life worried about them, Charlie called her a month after they escaped the island. She didn’t know what she would say; she just needed to talk to her. Unfortunately, it hadn’t mattered. When someone answered at Miss Dodd’s home in Florida, they told Charlie she passed away three months ago.
Charlie couldn’t contain her sobs over losing the woman who had saved her, been her friend, and was the only mother she ever knew. And Miss Dodd had died never knowing what happened to them. After reading through some of the reports about them, Miss Dodd was the only person who never gave up on her, kept looking, and insisted she hadn’t taken off but was in trouble. She was the only one with any faith in her.
Across the open lawn where Hope and Dylan played, Mollie and Aida emerged from behind Liam and Sera’s house. They strolled across the grass toward the children. When Aida spotted the kids, she broke into a run and charged at them. Laughing, she scooped them up and spun them around. Hope squealed with delight, and Dylan laughed before schooling his features into a more serious expression.
“He’ll be okay,” Jack said as he emerged from the nearly finished house to stand beside her. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him. Resting his lips against her temple, he inhaled her fresh lavender scent and smiled.
“I know,” she murmured. “But I worry.”
“He likes it here.”
“He does,” she agreed. “So do I.”
“Good. Have you talked to Mal lately?”
“This morning,” she said. They talked at least once a week. Turning to face Jack, she draped her arms around his shoulders and smiled up at him. “He’s doing well. They’re in New Orleans now.”
“That’s good,” Jack said and kissed her nose.
After returning to discover their friends and family gone, Miguel and Darlene decided to stay with Mal. LeNae and Kirha were also with them, but LeNae was considering staying in New Orleans if the others moved on.
Gio and Lucia returned home with no memory of the Byrnes and only a vague memory of Jack procuring a boat and rescuing them. Mal kept in weekly contact with them, and they hadn’t revealed anything about what they endured on the island. They were having a rough time with their families, who were angry at them for taking off, but they were happy to be home.
Gio and Lucia were instructed to tell the police and their family they ran off before they returned home; it was the easiest explanation. Besides, neither of them was eager to start talking about vampires.
/> It wasn’t fair they were being punished for what happened to them, but they couldn’t tell anyone the truth, and if they claimed someone kidnapped them, the police would investigate. That investigation would eventually reveal their made-up story and only cause more problems.
“Mike found a property in Canada he thinks would work for all of us,” Jack said.
After everything that happened, they were more determined to find a safe place to retreat to if necessary.
“Really?” Charlie asked as she nibbled on his lip.
Jack smiled as he playfully swayed her hips back and forth. “Yes. He wants all of us to get together tonight to look at it.”
“Sounds good.”
Mollie climbed the porch to join them. “Hey,” she greeted with a wave.
While they were building their home, they were sharing a house with Mike, Mollie, and Aida. Over the past three months, Charlie had become good friends with everyone living here—it was impossible not to like the loud, loving family—but she was especially close with Mollie and Aida.
They’d all been through hell on the island and were the newcomers to the family. Charlie never had friends before, but not only had she discovered best friends here, she’d also gained the family she’d never allowed herself to dream of having.
“Hey,” Charlie said with a smile.
“Looks like everything is almost done,” Mollie said as she gazed at the house.
Charlie craned her head back to take in the small farmhouse with its wraparound porch and near floor-to-ceiling windows on the first floor. She helped design it, and everything inside were things she, Jack, and Dylan had spent hours picking out together. From the skylights in the large master bathroom to the greenhouse window in the kitchen, they’d lovingly chosen the things for their home.
“I’m going to go say hi to Mike. I’ll see you two later,” Mollie said.
She walked past them and entered the house where Mike was working with the others to put the finishing touches on their home. When Mike and Jack decided they each wanted to build their own homes too, they flipped a coin to see whose house would be first; Mike was still annoyed he lost.
Unforeseen: The Vampire Awakenings, Book 9 Page 29