Dark Spirits (30 page)

Chapter Thirty

Paige

It was nighttime when I awoke in my bed, lying on my belly. Alone. I stretched my fingers on Nathan’s side. It felt cold. He must have gotten up a while ago. I wondered how long I’d been asleep or what day it was. I had a sudden feeling of
deja vu
. Hadn’t I just gone through this same scenario, but at Nathan’s house? I hoped my life wasn’t going to continue being repetitious in the manner of me crashing for hours or days at a time. That would suck ass.

I could vaguely remember Nathan guiding me up the stairs, helping me put on a pair of pajama bottoms and a sweatshirt, gently talking me through it. Then he crawled in bed with me, and that was the last thing I could remember. But how long ago was that?

I looked at the green numbers on my alarm clock–7:26 p.m. My back throbbed, and my body was stiff. But instead of pushing myself up, I lay and listened to the voices downstairs.

Carrie and Tree were here, and Nathan was filling them in on what happened to me. He closely mirrored the same version I’d told Brayden, right down to not including what he’d done to Cassondra. I smiled at the silent camaraderie finally forming between us. We’d been through a lot together since we’d been back from the island, and now it felt like we weren’t just boyfriend and girlfriend but partners as well. My chest filled with warmth when I had the same silly thought I had earlier about Nathan being my own personal warrior. I made a face when I imagined how dorky I would sound if I said it aloud.

Slowly, I pushed myself up and swung my legs off the bed. I groaned at my achy bones and back muscles protesting my every movement. Nathan said for a young immortal like myself, it would take some time for my wounds to completely heal. Well, it seemed like after my open cuts had sealed, the healing properties in my immortal body decided to go on a strike. I mean, seriously, my back still felt sore and raw, and I was a bit annoyed by it. What good was it to have the ability to heal quickly when it didn’t work properly?

I took a deep breath, trying to drive off my sudden grumpiness. What I needed was a shower and some coffee. But then a thought occurred to me concerning the shower.

Crap.

Forceful water might seriously hurt my back. Unless . . . yeah, I could adjust the stream to low while I washed my hair. That would work.

“Paige is up if you want to go talk to her before she takes a shower,” I heard Nathan say to Carrie after she had worriedly expressed her concern regarding my physical and mental state.

I smiled because he knew me well enough to have known that. I wouldn’t even be surprised if he made a pot of coffee as well. Another wave of warmth filled my chest. I felt lucky to have him and didn’t think I could ever love somebody as much as I loved him.

“What about Brayden?”
A tiny voice in my head asked. I didn’t want to go there, so I pushed all thoughts of Brayden aside and rose to my feet, causing the bed to squeak. The hall light flipped on, throwing a wedge of thin golden light through the crack of my door. I could hear Carrie’s footfalls on the steps, so I switched the lamp on for her to see.

“Paige.” There was a soft knock, and my door opened wider with a creak. She poked her head in, and I noticed her eyes were tinged red.
Had she been crying?

When I waved her in, she crossed the room and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. She felt cold and kept swallowing as if she had something lodged in her throat. She tightened her grip and broke down, sending tears to my own eyes. I patted and rubbed her back, hoping it would calm her. “It’s okay, Carrie.”

“Nathan told us everything that had happened to you,” she choked out. “I’m so sorry, Paige.”

“It’s not your fault,” I said.

She released her arms and looked at me, her face shiny with tears. “I know, but you went through a living nightmare, and I can’t imagine how alone and afraid you must have felt.” Her bottom lip quivered. She stuck her fingers on it and continued talking through them. “I wish–I wish”– she closed her eyes, pushing more tears out, then opened them–“I wish, I could have been there for you.”

 “I’m glad you weren’t because it would kill me to see somebody hurt you.” She looked so sad with her wide brown eyes. It broke my heart. “So don’t feel bad. Okay?”

 “Does your back still hurt?”

I nodded.

“Can you show me?”

Without saying a word, I picked up a handheld mirror from my antique vanity and turned to the full-length mirror. Gingerly pulling my sweatshirt over my head, I held the front of it over my chest. When Carrie gasped and started to cry again, I lifted the hand mirror to see for myself. Purple welts edged with a yellowish puke color covered my entire back. It looked nasty, and I wondered if this was an improvement from the day I’d received them.

“Oh, Paige. I’m so sorry,” Carrie apologized again.

I could hear Nathan and Tree climbing the steps. I decided not to move. I was sure Tree would want to see, so I might as well get it over with now, rather than repeat the same act to allay his curiosity.

“It’s okay. The open wounds had already healed, so it could have been a lot worse,” I told her.

“You had open wounds?” She sounded horrified and cupped a hand over her mouth, sobbing into it. I wish she’d stop crying because it was making me feel bad.

“Son-of-a-bitch,” Tree said when he entered the room. Nathan was right behind him with a cup of coffee in his hand–
bless him.

He set the mug on my dresser and went to me. Immediately, he inspected Roeick’s handiwork. “Looks better than it did, but I’m sure it still hurts.” His voice was low, and when he fixed his intense eyes on mine, I gave him a ghost of a smile and shrugged.

“I’m sorry, Paige.” Tree said almost mournfully.

“You and Carrie need to stop saying you’re sorry.” I slowly lowered my sweatshirt and turned to them. “I’m okay. Really.” Carrie left the room, and for a brief moment I thought I somehow managed to upset her even more. But then she returned with a wad of toilet paper to wipe her snotty nose. “I appreciate your concern,” I said to break the awkward silence, “but Nathan found me and took care of Roeick.”

“He told us what he did to Roeick and Aosoth,” Tree said. “Too bad I wasn’t there to help.” He cracked his knuckles, and darkness flashed across his face.

I took note both he and Carrie had made casual references tonight about wanting to be there with us. And although Ayperos told Carrie to saddle up beside me, I in no way wanted her or Tree involved in any of this. I didn’t have a problem preparing them like Nathan started doing, just in case they ran into trouble, but to get directly involved was not what I wanted. Besides, they needed to go to college and build a normal life with each other, something I wished I could do.

“I’m glad you and Carrie weren’t there.” I gave them a hard look and held my gaze so they’d know I was dead serious. “I don’t want either one of you caught up in this mess.” Carrie tightened her arms around herself and raised her chin. I knew what she was going to say before she even said it and raised my chin as well, feeling Nathan looking at me from the corner of his eye. He took my hand and squeezed it several times in Morse code:
It’s okay. Let her think what she wants.

“Well, Ayperos said--”

“I know what he said, Carrie. But I’m sure, he didn’t mean for you to be involved in
our
world for the rest of your liv--”

“Your world?” She pfft and glared at me. “Just because Tree and I are human doesn’t mean we’re exempt from
‘your world.
’”–she made air quotes in a harsh, pissed off gesture–“We may not have super powers, but what happens in the shadows of this world is
our
business as well.”

“Carrie is right,” Tree agreed, draping his arm around her shoulders in support. Carrie glanced up at him and smiled, but when her eyes shifted back on mine, her smile faded. “Our bodies may be fragile,” Tree continued, “but with the proper training from Nathan, and with education, we’ll be able to hold our own.”

He made a good point. I’d much rather have them trained and aware instead of ignorant, vulnerable, and defenseless. But I didn’t want them trading a normal life for the one I would forever be in, especially since I’d love to be in their shoes–with Nathan of course.

“We’ll continue with the training,” Nathan assured them, and as if they were one body, Carrie and Tree’s shoulders relaxed in unison. “And I’ll educate you on what you need to know.” I caught the,
on what you need to know part,
but by the satisfied looks on their faces, I knew they hadn’t.

“But you need to move on with your lives,” I added. Carrie opened her mouth in dispute, but I flipped my hand up to let her know I wasn’t finish. She closed it and scowled. “I want the two of you to continue with your plans on going to college, get married, and have a family.”

“But, Paige,” Carrie quickly said before I could stop her. “Tree and I had decided on not having kids.”

Dumbfounded, I looked at Tree because I knew he always wanted a house full of kids. He nodded, and his eyes held no regret in his decision. “We don’t want to bring a child into this world,” he told me. “Not to mention, there’s a possibility of having a soulless child, which would be another warm body for a dark spirit to possess.”

“Yeah. We don’t want to take the chance,” Carrie said when Nathan and I exchanged a look that said,
Omigod. They’re serious.

I took a deep breath, my mind racing on what to say to appease them in such a way to where they’d still live in this world like normal people instead of getting entangled with the dealings of fourth dimensional beings.

Then it came to me.

“Okay. How about this. You continue your training and education with Nathan, go to college, enjoy a regular human existence, and if we need your help, we’ll let you know.” That seemed reasonable to me, but Carrie shook her head, making me want to scream. I picked up my coffee instead and took a sip before I did just that.

“Because of what we know,” Carrie said, “we’ll never be ordinary again.”

“We don’t want to anyway,” Tree stubbornly added, which made me want to shake the crap out of him until he realized what he was accepting into his life. But he’d been like this since he knew I was immortal, and no amount of shaking would change his mind.

“What would you do if something happened to either one of you?” My voice rose in frustration. “Do you think you could live with that? Huh?” Nathan was standing behind me, and he wrapped loose arms around my shoulders. Just that simple gesture calmed me a bit, but my stomach twisted in fear that my two best friends could possibly end up dead soon if they were to follow through with their decision.

Tree took Carrie’s hand. They looked at each other with such intimacy I almost felt embarrassed being in the same room. “We’ve discussed that as well.”

My heart dropped, and my eyes filled with tears with the thought of them dying. How could they make light of a life changing decision? How could they be okay with the threat of losing one another? How could they give up years together?

“Don’t cry,” Carrie told me when she noticed my tears. “We’ll still go to college and put up the facade of normalcy. But on our free time, behind closed doors, we want to help you and keep this world safe.”

Nathan turned me around and held my cheeks in his strong hands. “It’s their life, and I can understand why they feel this way. I know you want to keep them safe, but you can’t control what they do because you’re afraid you’ll lose them.” He kissed my forehead and continued. “Loving people comes with the risk of losing them. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

I did, but I didn’t like it, even though I knew he was right. When he saw the understanding on my face, he rubbed my cheeks with his thumb and softly kissed me. The corner of his mouth curled into that sexy smile I loved, making my chest flutter. “We’re going to go downstairs so you can get cleaned up. Okay?”

I nodded, and they left me to my thoughts. I took a few sips of my coffee, realizing there wasn’t much to think about. They made their decision, and I didn’t have the right to control them. I found a pair of black and white capri sweats and a white long-sleeve hoodie. Since I had to stay home for my own protection, I decided to go commando underneath my pants. A small wicked smile crossed my face when I thought about Nathan. I’d definitely have to call it to his attention later.

During my shower, I made a point to think of nothing else but Nathan and me, and what experiences we were going to enjoy once this whole mess was over with. I envisioned us traveling the world, seeing and learning new things. I also wanted to eventually go to college like Carrie and Tree.

It could be done.

Why not?

But then I thought about Nathan being a tracker–a damned good one at that. He’d want to go back to it, I was sure, and I didn’t want to deny him of it. Suddenly, I became worried, wondering if it would come between us. I mean, how could we exist as a normal couple if he left home for long periods of time, tracking dark spirits? I was sure he’d give it up just to be with me, but did I really want him to disregard something he loved to do and excelled at?

No.

But then I thought how silly it was for me to worry about something so far off in the future. The way things were going, none of us knew what was in the cards for us. This world was on the brink of human genocide by the hands of a power-hungry dark spirit. Unfortunately, it was up to me to stop him: an eighteen-year-old lost and confused girl who didn’t have a clue what I was capable of, knew much about this dark world I now lived in, or if I could find the incantations before the dark spirits got hold of me. Hell, I didn’t even know where they were.