Deadly Expectations (65 page)

My vision failed as he battered the bruised arms that tried to protect her head then he turned his back on her and walked to her door.
 
The last thing I felt was a viscous kick to my belly.
 
The door slammed shut.

Alina cried.
 
She wanted to cry hard but it sounded like it hurt less to be silent so her sobs gave way to the sound of air wheezing in her throat and desperate attempts to sniffle to clear her nose.
 
I heard her come close then her arms were around me as she pulled me up.
 
My head sagged back and my arms stuck out awkwardly as she held me tight around my ribs.
 
She put a hand behind my head to steady it and hold it to her shoulder then she took me up away from the bloody carpet.

“Mom?” she called.
 
“Mom?
 
Are you here?
 
Is Anna with you now?”

Her voice grew tighter as she tried not to cry again.

She was taking me to the angels.
 
To our mother.
 
She was such a good big sister.

“Please mom.
 
I can’t leave her alone here … please come get her.
 
Take care of her.”

She smelled of whiskey.

“Mom … mom.
 
Come on … mom … wake up.
 
Please.”

Rough stubble caught the hair on top of my head and pulled it over my face.

“It’s like this every night.
 
Please Anna, come on, try and wake up.”

My ribs moved as air came in and went out again and the arms around me were so much bigger and stronger than Alina’s.
 
I reached up and held on to Paul.
 
Even in the lamp light my hand still glowed faintly but it didn’t hurt him when my hand was on his back.
 
I pulled my arms in between us to hide myself as my eyes closed again.

“Sshhh,” he said, “bad one.”

“Mm
hm
, he left her Paul.
 
He beat her and he left her,” I sighed.
 
“She’s safe now.
 
He won’t get to hurt her again.
 
I’m going to cut his fingers off and shove them down his throat before I let him die.”

“Who’s safe now?
 
That Alina she was talking about?”
 
Someone whispered.
 
Keith or Patrick.

“Her sister … Damian took her.
 
Tried to use her to draw us out.
 
It’s been hard on Anna to be so helpless to protect her.”

“It’s okay now,” I told him.
 
“Tummy hurts.”

Paul gently put my head back on the pillow.
 
“Ray thinks ligaments.
 
Not muscle.
 
Could be sore for a while.
 
He says you’re going to have to go home if you keep doing things like that.
 
He says be good little sister.”

“Okay,” I smiled.
 
Ray went to a lot of trouble to look after me too.
 
It sounded like Paul told him what I did; he would be worried.
 
“Tell him I’ll be good.
 
He likes to hear that.”

“I’ll get you another shot.
 
Just a sec,” Paul said as he got up.

I studied my palm then I opened up my other hand and tried to take the energy back.
 
Keith and Patrick watched as the last of the blue light disappeared.
 
I sighed with relief.

“You can take that?”
 
Patrick asked.

“Yes … if I use up my own to get around I have to sleep for a couple of days to get it back.
 
Nothing can wake me up.”
 
I told him; then more quietly.
 
“I don’t have a lot of time left … I’m not wasting what little I have sleeping any more than I have to.”

“What do you mean?”
 

I closed my eyes and didn’t answer.
 
Shouldn’t have said it.
 
Paul came and gave me the shot.

“What does she mean Paul?
 
She says she doesn’t have a lot of time.”
 
Patrick again.
 
Keith still wasn’t talking to me.

“She thinks Damian will come for her before the baby comes … she doesn’t think she’ll make it,” Paul explained sadly.
 
“She won’t talk about it … don’t bring it up to her again.”

I woke up alone.
 
The room was dark but after I carefully got out of bed and opened the curtains it was bright.
 
Outside was cold and sunny.
 
Paul wasn’t in the room.
 
No note.
 
I didn’t really care.
  
Whatever he’d given me left me feeling like I was drifting … everything was good.
 
After I dressed and tied my hair back I got some cash and took my key and phone.
 
I wanted coffee.
 
One wouldn’t hurt.
 
If I didn’t wake up at least I’d feel like a jittery piñata dangling from the ceiling.
 
That would be more fun than hanging around in the room.
 
I had no intention of spending the afternoon and evening at Keith’s restaurant again.
 
I didn’t fit in with them at all and just wanted to go home.

I got some food and a small coffee in one of the food courts.
 
After I ate I took the coffee to a bench and sat down with it.
 
I was still loopy.
 
It was good going down but it just made me feel queasy once it was in my stomach.

“There you are,” it was Keith.
 
“Paul said you’re not answering.”

He sat down with me as I took out my phone.
 
It was off so I held the power down but it didn’t come on.

“I didn’t notice it was dead.
 
Can you let him know?”

“Yes.”
 
But he didn’t call.
 
“Look, Anna.
 
I wanted to say thank you for what you did yesterday.
 
I haven’t been very friendly to you this week and I’m sorry.
 
You’ve always been so loyal to Paul.
 
Sometimes you don’t think first and it gets you into trouble.
 
Too willing to put yourself in the way for him and last night you did it for us.

“I can see how upset he’s been that he can’t do anything about it.
 
I think he accepts it now for the most part.
 
It’s who you are.”

He hesitated.
 
“If you weren’t in my line I would talk to him about taking you as my other mate.”

I opened my mouth but I couldn’t think of a reply to that.
 
Should I be flattered?
 
Two mates was something I didn’t want.
 
Three was both silly and indulgent.

“Oh,” he said, “I thought you knew how that works.”

I shook my head.
 
“I don’t, but you’re not going to get away without telling me.”

“I guess not now that I’ve opened my mouth.”

He quickly called Paul and explained about my phone and where we were.

“I would have to ask permission to try from your unborn child’s father.
 
When you’re expecting and most connected to him.
 
If he thought I was unworthy he would have to have a good reason.
 
There are rules for that.
 
He couldn’t refuse if I was worthy.
 
If you would accept me in your bed … then we’d be connected as mates.
 
Your first is chosen for you.
 
Any other attention toward you from any of us is forbidden.

“I’d be the first one responsible for your child if something happened to his father … it’s not something we enter into lightly.
 
And he would be responsible for mine if I found you first and something happened to me,” Keith said.

“And no concern about how she would feel about her husband’s buddy showing up at the door with flowers and cheap aftershave?”

“Not really,” he shrugged, “from our point of view we’re ensuring the survival of our children.
 
I’ve seen Paul with you … it would be a load off my mind to have someone like him backing me up with Marie and the baby.
 
Even with you he would still be responsible for her … without you they would become a mated pair.”

“Has he asked you?” I blurted without thinking.
 
The filter between my mouth and brain was off as I continued to feel like I was floating above the bench.

His eyebrows went up briefly.
 
No doubt Paul would hear about that.

“He wouldn’t be interested while he has you … but if he didn’t and he did ask I wouldn’t object.”

“You can inherit one too?”
 
I asked, trying to change the subject.

“Yes … If I had two I could let one go … one of my sons with the other mate could take her.
 
And sometimes when a new one splits I could be chosen for her.
 
It’s complicated.”

“It’s all complicated,” I had resigned myself to Paul’s family getting more and more complicated.

“Come on,” Keith said helping me up, “Paul’s coming to meet us and I need to get to the restaurant to open.”

Paul met us on the way.

Keith had to hurry but said that Maria wanted to hang out in our hotel room with me.
 
He’d told her that I’d turned my ankle on the stairs and caught myself but hurt my back and pulled muscles.
 
Keith said he’d send sandwiches or something cold that wasn’t so likely to make her sick.
 
That sounded good.
 
I didn’t realize I’d wandered so far into the mall and all the walking made everything I’d hurt the night before hurt more.

“Do you need anything for pain?”
 
Paul asked when we got back to the room.

I didn’t like how it made me feel so I shook my head.
 

“I still feel funny … I went looking for you.”

Paul plugged my phone in to charge.

“You couldn’t use the phone?” he asked, starting to sound angry.
 
“That’s twice in two days I’ve had to look for you.
 
You ran off again last night.”

“I didn’t … I told someone where I was going.
 
I didn’t want to worry you.”

“You told Ray where you were going too … and you were gone for two months.
 
And last night you took off after someone.”
 
His voice was rising now so I waited for him to cool down.
 
I had no idea if anyone was in the adjoining rooms.

“So I tell you and there’s a big mess in a hallway here?
 
There’s police … then Damian?
 
Maybe you want the next one done publicly
?.
”

He fumed, staring at me.
 
I was right and he knew it.

“You still could have used the God damn phone.”
 
His voice was still raised.

“You could have used the God damn pen and left me a note.
 
Every time I wake up you’ve run out the door again,” I hissed back.

He covered the distance to the desk in a few steps and yanked the drawer open.
 
Then he pulled out the hotel notepad and threw it down.