Dangerous Lovers (211 page)

I must have passed out. I wasn’t shocked. My whole body was exhausted with pain. They – the guards, the ones who looked so human but were anything but, broke three bones this time. It was a blessing, honestly. Only three. Drip-drip. Three. Drip-drip. Cracks. Drip-drip. Snaps. Drip-drip. Agonizing screams. Drip-drip. No relief.

I shuddered at the memory. The feeling of the bones breaking still lingered. I tried not to let my mind wander to what happened before they broke my bones. I tried not to remember what the drip-drip was.

I managed to get my mind off the memory, off the lingering pain and fell back to sleep. I don’t know how long I got a reprieve from my memories since they attacked at an unexpected pattern. It didn’t feel long until the next one attacked. I was spared another nightmare and was rewarded later in the same night with a much more pleasant memory.

I was five.

He lifted me up and placed me on his shoulders. I always liked this view; he was so tall that I felt as if I could touch the clouds. I was giggling; the sound was foreign to me now but seemed so natural then. My dad touched my exposed toes pretending to try to bite them. I giggled more.

“
My little survivor.” His voice was much less gruff then my last memory of him. He sounded care-free, happy.

I smiled holding on to his hair. He was taking me out to our spot, as he called it. Our little safe haven. It was just past the woods behind our house. It was an open meadow where long grass grew. I used to run around and my father would search for me. It was never quite hide and seek because he never let me out of his sight for too long and whenever he did catch me he would place me back in the area where the grass was all pushed down from our many visits. I got jostled when my father started to run, he got about as excited as I was when we came out here. I was about to ask him if he was going to change when a growl rumbled through his chest.

My father pulled me down from my perch around his neck and placed me on the ground. His blue eyes stared back at me with urgency.

“
If I say run, you run back to the house as fast as you can, don’t look back and don’t stop no matter what.” Instead of answering, shooting fear ran my blood cold. I whimpered trying to pull away from his stare and his tightening hold. “Promise me, Audrey.”

“
Okay daddy.”

He nodded once and adjusted his grip as he straightened up. We walked slowly to our circle where a man that was as tall as my father waited. He had stone colored grey skin and wings. I couldn’t stop looking at them, but when I sensed his gaze on me I looked at his eyes. They were black. I hid behind my father’s leg as he pressed his hand on my head.

“
What do you want?”

“
You know what I want. You have always known.”

“
This isn’t a good time. She only passed away five years ago.” My father’s voice turned into a growl. The other man didn’t even flinch away but his stare lingered on me for a moment when he offered a sweet smile, but it disappeared as he looked back at my father.

“
And I told you years ago…”

The memory faded out as new voices started to filter in.

• • •

Stone had taken me out on a picnic. We walked until we hit the edge of the lake that Nixie had found when we first arrived. We had been at the cabin for two weeks. Nixie seemed content here and when not spending time with me, she would go to the lake. Stone would only take off once in a while to go for a run. He usually took the form of a wolf and disappeared. Elijah would disappear but I never knew where he went. I didn’t have the courage to ask.

The night started to settle in around us. The sun had set only moments before. I enjoyed the darkness, in light you could see every attack, every moment. In darkness you were blind. I moved closer to Stone. Over the past two weeks I had grown much more comfortable with him. We didn’t speak, just enjoyed the lapping water and the forest sounds. Stone started to trail his hand on my arm moving up to my shoulder. My eyes fluttered shut.

“When they first took me, I just remember hands everywhere. Pulling and tugging on my clothes, skin, and hair.” Stone stiffened and his movements became a little more rigid. “I don’t know where they took me but when I was finally allowed to look again, the room was made of stone. It was so uneven, each piece felt like a sharp knife to exposed skin. The first few days they left me in there as I was. No one came; I wasn’t given food or water. My throat was raw from screaming. I had given up and collapsed. It felt like every day they would stop and torture me. I had fought for a while. They had tied my hands together after I started trying to claw them. I,” I shifted. “I wrapped the loose rope around one of the guards necks. The others tried to pull me off, but I managed to…” I stopped again. I wasn’t sure I could say it. How would he look at me? He knew without a doubt now that I was a monster.

“You killed him which is more than he deserved.” Stone whispered in my ear. I turned and he was sitting right next to me, his eyes were a murky red color.

“I killed,”

“And I would have tortured him. I would have made sure that he suffered longer than what you had done.” Stone held me tighter.

The rest of the time we were at the lake, we were silent. I remained trapped in my memories, and Stone didn’t stop the subtle movements.

• • •

We took many walks in the forest the next few days. I was eager to get out and taste the air. Sometimes it was only Gabriel and I, sometimes Nixie would come as well. Gabriel told me that I had to call him Stone when there were other people around and as much as my friendship with Nixie had grown, I still felt hesitant with her. Trusting Gabriel was hard enough. At times I would still shy away from him without realizing it. He always took his time with me though. He was careful and understanding. At times I could see the frustration set in, his jaw would tighten, and his eyes would flash.

Elijah remained distant even though he would join our nightly games. I think we all knew that he could beat us no problem but he would stare at the board and make silly mistakes. I got better at some of the games but I still didn’t understand the first one we played.

It was the middle of the week when Elijah commented that we needed more supplies and Gabriel said that we would be going with him.

“Nixie said she is okay with staying here and holding down the fort. Come on.” Gabriel pulled me outside.

Elijah already waited inside the car, looking forward. He never acknowledged our company. I wondered if I had crossed a line when I had asked him to tell me about my past, but I felt like I had done something wrong. I looked down and started to count without realizing that I was. Stone turned around in his seat and grabbed my hand to kiss it. Stone had told me before that we had to shop far from the cabin in fear that a paranormal might be by and catch our scent if it was a werewolf or some type of tracking was paranormal. When I looked up at his eyes, I could see he was trying to calm me, always doing so much for me. It felt selfish, but I couldn’t bring myself to want to stop it because I never had anything. Nothing that was purely mine since Aiden. I wasn’t even sure if Stone was entirely mine. I had memories of times my father would take Aiden as a less harsh punishment.

On the drive into town, I stared out the window. I couldn’t get enough of the outside world. I wanted to feel the air; I wanted it flying through my hair so fast that it felt like I was flying. I dreamed of that sometimes. Those were the good dreams. Drewms of flying high above the world, looking down at it and seeing how small it was compared to me. I wanted to be so much more, but more than that, in the skies I was safe. I was truly free.

I was jarred from my thoughts when the car hit the highway. Elijah drove for another two hours before stopping.

“I will pick you up in four hours.” Elijah said as he stopped the car. Stone got out and opened the door for me.

“I have a surprise for you.” I opened my door and waited with him on the sidewalk. I didn’t ask what the surprise was because I had mixed feelings about whether it would be a good surprise, or a bad one. I had only bad memories of surprises. Surprises meant punishments, brandings; it meant pain and white rooms. Stone grabbed my hand and started to pull me toward a building.

“What - what is it?” My teeth chattered as fear wrapped its cold fist around my heart. I promised myself that he wouldn’t hurt me, he wouldn’t lie to me, and he wanted to protect me. He wanted to protect me. He was lying to me. I started to shake my head violently. No. No. No… Liar. Liar. Liar. Whether I called him or myself a liar, I wasn’t sure.

“Easy, hey easy Audrey. Look at me.”

I heard his voice over my internal chatter, but I hadn’t realized that I was saying it out loud. When I looked up at Stone, his eyes were a cloudy grey color.

“It’s okay, I would never hurt you. I was going to take you to a movie. I promise. You will be okay. I will always make sure you are safe.” Stone grabbed my hand and brushed his thumb over my knuckles. “Okay?”

I nodded. He asked again.

“Okay.” It came out quick and shaky.

He accepted it though. He led me along into the building. Inside, there was a salty, buttery aroma that muted the building’s stale air. The room had posters and a counter.

“What would you like to see? Romance? Horror? Action? Comedy?” Stone looked down at me and smiled.

A movie? I remembered those. So long ago…I bit the inside of my lip. I held back a smile. His eyes remained a steady blue color while in public, but I could see the subtle changes in them.

“I think a comedy.” I replied timidly.

He purchased the tickets and other treats as he called them and asked if I was ready. I nodded and let him take me into the theatre. When we sat, he handed me a tub of popcorn and a drink.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Stone

Watching as her lips parted into a smile, I knew this was a good idea. I could see the positive changes in her. Her hollowed out cheeks were filling in, her once too skinny form was becoming more curvaceous. She stood just a little taller each day, and her eyes would shine at times. Sometimes, when we arrived, she would revert and become the girl I first met, hiding in herself, and fearing everything around her. But when I saw her struggling, I would step in and remind her she was safe.

“Ready?” I asked.

She nodded and I hid my disappointment. I was trying to get her to become more vocal. Since she started to use her voice more often, I realized how beautiful it really was. It wasn’t light and musical like Nixie’s, and it wasn’t hesitant and quiet like when I first met her. It was deep, sultry and damn sexy.

We headed into our screen and I felt her hold tighten around my hand. I knew that she felt more comfortable in dark places, her body had always relaxed. She had told me a few things but the way she shifted and talked, I could tell she would rather avoid her past. I could understand after all. It wasn’t as if I had told her all about my past. She did tell me about the white room, about her experiences since she left. I was fascinated by her in every way. She was stronger than she realized, and watching her grow within the short time we broke free from Jacobs had done her well.

When we sat down, I saw her look around and take everything in. Her thick hair covered the scarred side of her face, and all I wanted to do was push it away. On the scarred side of her face was the jagged part of her lips. I always made sure to kiss it lightly to remind her how gorgeous she was. She would blush, yet she never said anything about her disfigured face. I could see people staring, but she didn’t seem to notice. She continued taking in the sights of the new world around her. A world she was just discovering.

As she settled into her seat, I held out the popcorn to her. She looked down at it; she had been careful about the food we offered her so I grabbed some and popped it in my mouth. I’d hoped she’d watch me and think of my mouth as much as I thought of hers. Though she let me kiss her, I waited for the time that she would come to me.

As the movie started, I saw Audrey move her hair out of the way of her covered eye. She never usually did it. Audrey had confirmed what Jacobs said was true about her eye. Somehow she could see out of her dead eye. Looking at it now, I couldn’t help but wonder how it was possible. I knew around others she wanted to hide her scars, humans didn’t have scars like we did. Other paranormals would look for a second and look away understanding that our world was ugly and scars were a constant, though they weren’t as large as Audrey’s. They also didn’t know the extent of her scars. Humans though would see it as a disfigurement; they were disgusted and would shy away. I, on the other hand, was glad that I could see her entire face. I resisted the urge to trace the furthest scar. It was the smallest but also looked the most jagged.

I couldn’t focus on the movie. My mind kept taking me back to times when I had been the one inflicting pain. When I had left scars that would never fully heal. One of my first missions, one that I wish that I could forget, still haunted me.