by Jamie Begley
Lifting her gaze from their hands, she looked at him closely. “Are you sick to your stomach?”
“No.”
“I was thinking—”
“Here it comes.” Gavin scowled at her, getting to his feet. “Don’t make too much out the kiss—”
She put up her uninjured hand to stop him. “I wasn’t going to make big deal about you kissing me. I was just checking on you before asking you for a favor. And … before you tell me the kiss didn’t mean anything to you, I don’t have to be told that—you just did.”
Gavin looked taken aback. “What were you going to ask me?”
“Never mind.” Ginny turned her blanket down. “I can find another way.” Laying down on the bed, she placed her arm over her eyes. All she was going to ask Gavin was to get the ice pack out of the freezer for her. Making the bed had strained the muscles in her back that were already sore.
“Would you mind turning the light off for me and shutting the door after you go? I’m ready to go to sleep. I’ve had a rough day.”
The light went out, and then the click of the door had her curling onto her side. Lying on her aching back didn’t hurt as bad as the pain in her heart.
Ginny could count on two hands the worst days of her life. Today had edged out number seven. She had been mauled by a dog, been hurt, her mirror had broken, and Gavin had turned into a darn snapping turtle to make sure she knew the kiss hadn’t meant anything to him. Sniffing back her self-pitying tears, she continued going down memory lane. The absolutely worst part of the day with the current holder of number seven being edged out, was now she had seven years of bad luck to look forward to.
Chapter Forty
Bright flashes of lightning illuminated the dark interior of the living room. Counting the flashes between the crack of thunder, Ginny sat on the stairway, listening to Gavin get out of bed and resume his pacing. Each time he got up, she could hear the swinging bed hit the side of the wall, jarring the windows.
Hearing a creak of a step behind her at the same time as thunder cracked overhead, she turned to see Silas coming down the steps to sit next to her. Putting her fingers to her lips, she nodded to her side, silently telling him that Gavin was still awake.
“Bad night?” he asked in a soft voice.
“The worst,” she murmured, sitting with her hands on bended knees. “I think it’s because he kissed me. I make him sick.” Raising her hands, Ginny buried her face in them.
“No, you don’t.”
“I do. He told me.”
Silas placed a comforting arm over her shoulders, pulling her closer to his side. “He just thinks you do.”
Ginny raised her face. “I’m pretty sure Gavin knows when he wants to throw up.”
“Describe to me how you feel physically when Reaper is close to you.”
Seeing he was serious, she put her embarrassment aside and started thinking of the best way to describe how Gavin made her feel. Her throat went tight trying to analyze the sensations she experienced and how she felt.
“I feel as if my heart is going to come out of my chest. I get … warm.” Fire was a better word, but she couldn’t tell her brother that without further embarrassing herself. “I feel as if every nerve ending in my body knows he’s there, and I just want to touch him, and when I do, an electric charge goes through me. I get butterflies in my stomach.” Ginny could see Silas smiling when the lightning flashed across the room below. “You think that’s what Gavin is feeling?” she asked.
“I do,” he whispered so low that Ginny had to tilt her head to the side so she could hear him. “I think he’s misinterpreting the signals that his body is giving him.”
“That’s not possible.” Ginny shook her head at him. “Gavin still loves Taylor, his ex-fiancé. He would know what being in love feels like.”
“Not if he didn’t really love her, and he definitely wouldn’t if he was lying to himself about his feelings for you.”
“You really think so?”
“I do.”
Both of them turned their heads, since they couldn’t see into Gavin’s room from where they were sitting, and listened to him get back in bed. Silently, they waited for the swinging bed to stop jarring the windows. Several minutes passed before they resumed whispering.
“If that’s true, and you have no idea how much I wish it were … do you think he’ll figure it out before he leaves in two days?”
“Reaper could have left after he tested negative. He didn’t.”
“Not because of me. He thinks you’re planning on killing me for my portion of the mountain.”
“He’s not going to be happy you told me.”
Ginny rolled her eyes at him, even though the full effect was lost in the dark. “We both know you would never do anything to hurt me.”
Silas solemnly stared at her. “Sometimes it’s unavoidable hurting the ones we love. I hurt you badly when I let the State take you away.”
“You did what you had to do.” Ginny leaned closer to his comforting warmth. There were so many past hurts that she viewed differently now that she was older. “When I left, I was only concerned with my pain. You were hurting as badly, yet I didn’t care. I wanted you to. I hate myself that I was being so selfish. You’ve lived your whole life keeping our family safe ….” Ginny had to clear the lump in her throat at how much she loved her brother. “Our family is almost grown, except for Fynn. You need to start searching for your own happiness. You deserve to find a woman who will give you the same love and dedication you’ve given to us.”
“I will when the time is right.” He smiled crookedly at her. “I’ll start working on my happiness once Reaper and you are.”
“Why don’t you call him Gavin like I do?”
“I refer to him as Reaper for a good reason, just like everyone else he comes into contact with, Ginny.” Silas’ direct stare had her wanting to look away, yet she didn’t. “Don’t let your love blind you to what type of man was created when he was kidnapped.”
“He just needs time to heal, to learn to trust me.”
“It’s going to be a long and lonely road before Reaper can reach that highway home. Right now, all he is thinking about is reaping a vengeance on those who hurt him. Until those roadblocks are cleared or he finds something more important, he’s never going to see the exit sign.”
“You believe he’s on a quest to pay back the people who hurt him?”
“Yes. I’ve heard his nightmares, same as you. I would too.”
Ginny recalled what Killyama had told her, and she agreed with Silas. Gavin had an endless pursuit before him to find the numerous people responsible for committing or watching the atrocities done to him. However, what he was seeking was unattainable. The dark web protected its own.
“Most quests fail.”
“Unless a hero is sent to help him.” Silas quietly stood, staring down the hallway toward Gavin’s room. “He’s asleep. Go do what you’ve been waiting to do. Give him a few hours of peace.”
Feeling stiff, Ginny used the bannister to help her to stand. “With the luck I’ve had today, he’s still awake,” she whispered.
“It’s after twelve; it’s a new day.”
“That reminds me, you don’t happen to have a four-leaf clover, do you?”
“No, but I have a horseshoe.”
“I can’t keep a horseshoe in my pocket.”
“I’ll have Isaac make you a charm to wear on your bracelet.”
“Can you do me another favor?”
“What?”
“Pretend you want to kill me … at least until Gavin falls in love with me?”
“Ginny, that’s the only thing in the world I wouldn’t do for you,” he said firmly.
“Not even a little?” she pleaded teasingly.
“Not even a little.”
Ginny warily waited for the bed to stop swinging after he had rolled over. Every attempt to climb onto his bed failed because of his tossing and turning. The way her endeavors we
re going, Gavin would wake up and spot her before she had time to lull him into a deeper sleep.
Exhausted, sore, and nerves on edge at her failures, Ginny gave up. Taking a step backward, she started to retreat. That was when Gavin changed his sleeping position, turning onto his back to claw at his throat.
She couldn’t leave him to suffer in his nightmare any longer.
Walking back to his bed, she muttered to herself, “Be brave. What’s the worst that could happen?”
“He could freaking kill me,” she answered herself.
“Nothing gained, nothing lost,” she muttered back.
“That’s easy for you to say—you aren’t freaking real.” Her common sense urged her to run.
Before she could talk herself out of the insane idea, she reached out, waking Gavin.
Finding herself lifted, Ginny braced herself for the impact of hitting the floor.
“I told you so,” her common sense gloated, ending when Ginny felt the mattress under her instead of the floor.
“Gavin, it’s me!” Ginny yelled, trying to bring him to his senses.
Glaring down at her in the darkness, Gavin seemed just as vicious as the dog that had bitten her the day before. “What in the fuck are you doing in here?”
“I’m scared.” She pretended to whimper at the loud crack of thunder. “I’m afraid of storms. Can I sleep with you? I promise not make a sound. You won’t even know I’m here.”
“Go back to your room.” He grunted, rising up into a sitting position.
Widening her eyes at another boom that had the windows rattling, she begged, “Please? I’ll go back to my room when the storm blows over.”
He gave in, scooting over. “Your ass is out of here when it does.”
Ginny raised her hand. “Scouts honor.”
“I know everything about your life. You were never in the girl scouts.”
Ignoring Gavin’s baleful stare, she climbed under the covers. “No, Freddy wouldn’t let me. He didn’t want me selling their cookies. He said he would have to take a mortgage out to pay for the cookies that he and my brothers would eat.”
Snuggling down onto the mattress, Ginny gave a heartfelt sigh at the comfort surrounding her. “This is the best mattress in the whole house. I wore a hole in this side.” Turning on her side, Ginny settled the pillow under her cheek. “Good night,” she yawned out.
“I hear plenty of sounds coming from your side of the bed,” he snapped.
Ginny didn’t respond, pretending to be asleep. She was so sleepy that she didn’t even have to pretend for long.
The swinging motion of the bed woke her. Half-asleep, she turned and saw that Gavin was asleep and having another nightmare. She groggily threw herself down on his chest, feeling Gavin come awake under her.
“What in the fuck are you doing?”
“Trying to sleep,” she muttered against his chest. “Go back to asleep.” Patting his chest, she resumed the sweet dream she was having.
“Roll over.”
“My back hurts.” Patting him again, she snuggled tighter against his chest. “I was going to get my ice pack out of the freezer before you went to bed, but you were so mean to me that I didn’t ask.” Ginny threw one of her legs over both of his.
“You’re snoring.”
“Sorry,” Ginny muttered, placing a hand under her cheek. “That better?”
“Yes.”
“Good, now go back to sleep and quit waking me up,” she groused.
“I’m waking you up?”
“Yes!” Sleepily, she patted him again. “I need to get some sleep. I have to be up early.”
“Why?”
“I have to bury the mirror.”
Chapter Forty-One
“This is the most asinine thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Reaper complained when his boot sank into the mud. It better be mud.
“Shh … you want to get us shot?”
He almost ran her down when Ginny turned to glare at him.
“The Porters aren’t going to shoot us.”
“Yeah right. I’ll remind you of that on the ambulance ride to the morgue,” she quipped before turning around to resume walking.
Dunking his head to avoid a low-lying limb, he nearly went flying over Ginny. His hands went out to catch himself, managing to grab the limb that had almost decapitated him.
“What in the fuck are you doing!”
Sitting on her bottom, Ginny glared up at him. “I’m trying to be sneaky, and you’re not helping.”
“This rid—”
“Will you please lower your voice?” she hissed. “Better yet, go back to the house. I’ll be there in a bit.”
“I’m not leaving you alone out here in the middle of the night.”
“It’s almost dawn.” Raising herself to her knees, Ginny started crawling. “We have to do this before daybreak.”
“Why—”
“That’s what I’d like to know.”
A squeak came out of Ginny at the male voice coming from behind a tree in front of them.
Reaper moved his hand behind his back.
“Keep those hands where I can see them, Reaper.”
A flashlight came on as another man walked out from a tree closer to him. The light was bright enough to shine not only on Ginny and him but also on the man who had stopped them.
“Tate.”
“Reaper.”
“What am I? Chopped liver? I don’t get a howdy?”
“Greer.”
“That’s more like it. What you doing down there, Ginny?” Greer asked. “It’s a little early in the season to be looking for our weed patch, ain’t it?”
“Is it?”
Reaper watched as Ginny got to her feet and started edging back to him, trying to hide the trash bag behind her back.
Did she think they were blind? The white trash bag was easily visible even before Greer had turned his flashlight on.
“Then I’ll sneak back in a couple of months.” Ginny turned to go, but Tate’s cold voice stopped her.
“What’s in the bag?”
“Nothing. I just brought it to use when I found your patch.”
“You were planning on taking the whole crop?”
Ginny turned pleading eyes to Reaper to get her out of the mess she found herself in.
Reaper crossed his arms over his chest. It was her ridiculous idea, he thought unsympathetically.
“Yes. Sorry. We’ll be going.”
Greer moved behind them to block them from leaving.
Reaper’s amusement in the situation ended at Greer’s move.
“Move back to where you were.”
The lethal intent had the sound of a rifle being cocked from another tree and a third man stepping out.
“Lower your weapon, Dustin,” Greer ordered. “They just came for a friendly visit. I invited Reaper over to get a taste of our finest. Didn’t plan on him taking the whole smorgasbord, but we don’t have to be inhospitable just because they didn’t come calling at a reasonable hour.”
“The problem isn’t they didn’t call. Toss the bag to me, Ginny,” Tate ordered.
“I can’t. I don’t want you to get cut.”
“Then toss it to the ground in front of me.”
With shoulders slumped, Ginny tossed the plastic bag onto the ground in front of Tate.
“Watch them,” Tate said, bending to untie the bag. Taking a flashlight out of his pocket, he turned it on to shine inside the bag. Looking up at her, Tate then turned the light off to tie the bag back up..
“What was it?” Greer looked toward Tate. “Please tell me it’s a dead racoon. I’ve been trying to take one out for the last month, and Holly won’t let me.”
“It’s a busted mirror. She’s trying to give us her bad luck.”
Dustin raised his rifle again. This time, Tate didn’t tell his brother to lower it.
Reaper wanted to pull his remaining hair out.
“Please tell me you don’t belie
ve in this ridiculousness.”
“We don’t need seven years of bad luck. Take your bag and go. Dustin, make sure they get back over to their side of the fence.”
“Leave it here. I’ll take care of it,” Greer countermanded Tate.
“Who are you going to give it to?” Tate asked.
“The Hayes’.”
He’d had enough. Reaper took Ginny’s hand, making her leave. The Porters wouldn’t shoot a woman, and if they shot him, they’d be doing him a favor.
“You don’t have much time, Greer,” Ginny yelled from over her shoulder. “You have to bury the mirror before daybreak.”
“Listen to her tell me what to do.”
Walking faster, Reaper heard them mouthing off behind their backs, feeling as if he had walked into an episode of the Twilight Zone as fists and punches were exchanged between the Porters.
“Should we go back?” Ginny whispered.
“No.”
“Greer, when I get home, I’ll make you some biscuits and send over a jar of Silas’s honey!” Ginny yelled out.
The fighting stopped.
“Make it three! Tate and Dustin want one to keep their traps closed!” Greer shouted back.
Reaper held Ginny’s hand tighter to speed her up at knowing she’d give them one of Silas’s preserves to sweeten the deal.
“Slow down, Gavin,” she gasped. “They aren’t chasing us.”
“No, because they belong in the looney bin where you belong.”
“Are you mad?”
“Yes.”
“A little or a lot?”
“A lot,” he growled.
“Well, at least you’re not sick to your stomach,” she mumbled.
Gavin turned on his heel at her smart aleck comment. “I’ll tell you what I’m not. I’m not going along with another one of your schemes. I’m not going to bring the honey and biscuits back—”
“I wasn’t going to get you to. I’m doing it.”
“And neither are you! They pointed a loaded weapon at us!”
“Technically, it was pointed at you.”
“Are you laughing at me?”
“A little. Wild man, you were never in any danger. I brought protection.”