Falling Into Place (27 page)

“And me?” Robert asked softly.

Her eyes shot to his, “You two are nothing
alike.” And neither was his uncle but she couldn’t tell him that.
Robert still didn’t know where she came from because she never once
had the confidence in his faith in her to tell him.

He reached up, cupping her face. His thumb
brushed across her cheek. “I’m not going anywhere, Liz. I already
promised you forever.”

She nodded because she had no other
words.

Robert turned back to Christian. “Let’s eat
first and we can discuss the rest.”

Christian nodded. “Good, I’m hungry.”

* * * *

Tremaine watched as Liz stood from the table
and took her plate to the sink. In fact, everyone watched as she
went to the living room to stare outside at the storm that was
brewing outside.

Christian softly said, “Why does she always
feel guilty? Always, and she never does anything wrong.”

Tremaine pushed his fingers through his hair
and met Christian’s gaze. “You’ll find out a little of it. She’s
always had it rough. Even when things are going good for her,
something tries to come in and wreck it.”

“No one is going to wreck it this time,”
Robert insisted.

Tremaine turned to Robert. “No one. They’ll
have to come through us, and no one is getting through us.”

Christian’s brow arched. “That doesn’t
explain her guilt.”

Sighing, Tremaine shook his head. “Maybe you
should ask her. I still haven’t figured out why she does that. Just
don’t expect a real answer.” He got up and took his plate to the
sink before moving to the living room.

Liz stood against the window frame, her eyes
locked on the dark clouds swirling closer.

Tremaine closed the distance and put his
arms around her, drawing her into the line of his body. “Talk to
me, Liz.”

“We’ll be doing plenty of that.” It came out
quiet and sad. “He needs to know, but he needs to know all of it,
and later I need to tell Robert the part I never did tell.”

“What part is that?” He murmured against her
ear.

“The part about his uncle. All of it, even
if he can’t stand to be with me after. I have to tell him.”

“He won’t walk away. I promise you
that.”

She nodded, and he knew what she was
thinking, but he didn’t know how to make her see that it wasn’t
going to happen.

Christian and Delilah took a seat on the
loveseat. Liz turned and took a seat in a chair, pulling her legs
up to sit cross-legged. Tremaine took a seat on the couch with a
pointed look at Liz.

He knew she had a hard time talking about
her past. That was laughable. Liz didn’t talk about her past. Ever.
She was terrified of her own demons.

Robert came in, his eyes lasering in on Liz,
and his mouth set in a hard line. He walked over and sat down on
the arm of her chair, but didn’t touch her.

She glared up at him before she shot up and
scooted past Tremaine to sit next to him, so of course Robert
popped over in the blink of an eye to sit on her other side.”

Robert caught her chin and looked her in the
eye. “We’re here for you.”

“You’ve made that clear. Look, part of the
tale is mine, and maybe I don’t want to be crowded when I have to
tell Christian. Okay?”

“Oh.” Robert’s expression softened. “I
didn’t think of that.”

“I know.” She almost smiled but shook her
head. “You start. I’ll fill in where I need to.”

Christian interrupted, “Liz, if this is too
much, I don’t care about my parents. I don’t need to know.”

Her fingers knotted in her lap. “Oh, but you
do, kid. I promise you that. At least the basics.” She nudged
Robert. “Go on, you start.”

Delilah took Christian’s hand. As a werewolf
she could smell the heightened emotions.

Hell, Tremaine could practically feel it and
he wasn’t an empath. As much as he wanted to wrap his arms around
Liz, he let her be. There would be time to comfort her later, if
she would let them.

“There is no easy way to tell you this,
Christian.” Robert brushed his hands down his pants. “Your father
is my brother.” He said the last through clenched teeth. “He raped
my sister, his twin sister. Apparently, he did this quite a few
times, and you were the end result.”

Christian’s brows nearly climbed of his face
as his mouth fell open. “Why didn’t she abort me?”

Delilah gasped and grabbed his face, pulling
his gaze to hers. “Don’t ever say that again. No matter why you’re
here, you are mine, and I’m not letting you go.”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” he said
softly. “I don’t understand though. Why go through with it, knowing
what I came from? My mother had to have gone through hell. No
wonder she gave me up.”

“She couldn’t go through with an abortion.
Your mother, Emily… she’s a talented healer. She couldn’t take your
life, but she couldn’t cope with having a constant reminder of the
abuse she endured. I think part of it was that she was afraid of
what our brother would do to you if he found out.”

“Yeah, he sounds like Father of the Year
material,” Christian sneered. “How does anyone do that to someone?
Let alone their own flesh and blood?”

Tremaine spoke up. “Robert’s family has
always been polarized. Robert and James couldn’t be more different
from each other. Robert took after their father Wilhelm, who has
always been an honorable man. His brother Sinclair was a dark mage
who preyed off the pain of others. James took after Sinclair.” he
couldn’t help but growl the name.

Liz closed her eyes and breathed deep.

Trem laid his hand palm up on her knee. Her
fingers laced through his and she met his gaze, but there was fear
there. He wanted to take it all away, make her realize that no one
would ever hurt her again. He wouldn’t allow it, but until James
was dead and gone, that was damn near impossible to guarantee.

* * * *

Robert sat there frozen.
Liz took Robert’s hand and looked at him. He turned to her and she
mouthed,
I love you, always, no matter
what.

He looked down at the floor and sighed
heavily. “I had to leave Liz to help my sister deliver you. Emily
was in a small town in Switzerland, and refused to go to the
doctors. She needed me, and I wish to God I had said no, or brought
Liz against Emily’s wishes, but I never imagined…,” Robert
stopped.

Then Liz picked up with, “Robert was
supposed to be back for dinner. I had wonderful news for him and I
had never been happier.” Liz took a slow breath before pushing on.
“The bell rang, and I rushed to open it, except something was
really off. He wasn’t acting like Robert, and then he gave me
roses, which Robert knows I hate.”

Robert’s eyes snapped open as he turned to
her. He couldn’t find his breath. He remembered seeing the bouquet
on the table by the door, but he never made the connection. Blood
red flowers that were sickeningly sweet.

One morning, soon after she arrived in their
manor, Liz told him about the hours she was forced to trim roses,
and if she made one wrong clip, she was whipped for it. That was
all she would ever say about the people who raised her. He had a
feeling he knew the real story, at least part of it, but he only
knew the pieces he had gleaned from her cries in her sleep.

Liz’s voice sounded far away as she stared
out the window. “I let him in, knowing it was James.”

“Did James look like Robert?” Christian
asked.

“No, not typically.” Robert whispered. “He
was an excellent illusionist, but he usually ruined it by being too
smug.”

“You honestly look more like James,
Christian,” Liz said softly. I can’t believe I never made that
connection.” Robert squeezed her hand but she didn’t look back at
him.

“When the phone rang, I turned to get it. I
thought I had a little time before he made his move. I was wrong.
He hit me in the head with something heavy and I went down.”

Guilt swamped Robert. It was his fault. The
horror settled in. He never knew why she hadn’t answered. “I called
at five to apologize for not being there,” Robert whispered. “I’m
sorry, Liz, God, I’m sorry.”

“No,” she whispered. “It was never your
fault.” She looked back at Christian. “James knocked me out. He
tied me to the table. He would have raped me, but I guess it pissed
him off when I told him I was having Robert’s baby.”

Robert barely held back a sob. Tears
silently slid down his face as he turned to her.

Her voice sounded dead, there was no emotion
in her hazel eyes. “James took the baby, he cut me open, but I
ruined him. I don’t think the best healer could ever put him back
together again. I sent him with a one way ticket to the Council
after that.”

“Liz,” Christian whispered. “Why didn’t you
kill him?”

She half-laughed, but it sounded pained. “I
was bleeding to death, I knew I had lost my baby. I thought I was
dying. I did what I could and attempted to put myself back together
again.”

“Then why did you leave Robert if you knew
it wasn’t him?”

“When Robert found me the next morning, he
startled me awake. I was in shock, and when he pushed at the
nightgown, I freaked out. I thought it was James, and I nearly
killed him.” Her eyes closed as she slowed her breath. “I can’t
always control my magic. When I’m that messed up, it happens,
there’s no stopping it.”

With all the pieces in place, Robert finally
understood why she ran, why she never came back. She was afraid of
herself, afraid she would hurt him again, so she left to protect
him. The knowledge crushed him.

“You brought me back. You healed me. You
took all the pain. I was fine.”

“Your scars,” she whispered, leaning into
Tremaine, who lifted her to sit her in his lap so he could wrap his
arms around her.

Liz melted into Tremaine’s embrace as his
hand smoothed over her hair.

Robert moved closer, taking her face in his
hands. “Liz, I’ve never blamed you. I knew whatever had happened
was bad. When you left, these scars were my only connection to you.
I wasn’t willing to give them up.”

Christian blurted out, “Those handprints
were from Liz?”

Liz nodded, a look of devastation on her
face.

“She had been through hell, she was
bleeding, and I was scared to death. I knew better than to wake her
like that, but I didn’t think.”

“Don’t, Liz,” Trem warned. “I know what you
want to say, but its bullshit. No one blames you.”

Robert caressed her face before turning back
to Christian. “I’ve loved Liz from the moment I saw her. There is
nothing I wouldn’t do for her. So when she begged me to let her go,
I did. She said it was what she needed and I gave her that even
though it broke me. I should have fought, I should have followed,
but I did what she asked because she always told me the truth about
what she felt.”

Liz shook her head and curled deeper into
Tremaine’s embrace. “I’m not sure I could have handled it if you
had followed right away. I was a wreck. I barely functioned for
months. Fuck, I even scared Tremaine for the first few years.”

Tremaine murmured, “I wasn’t afraid. I was
worried for you, doll. I wanted to take away the pain, but I didn’t
know how.”

She met Robert’s gaze with tear filled eyes.
“Robert,” she said, “I don’t think anything you could have done
would have helped at that point. I needed time, but then so much
passed I convinced myself you had really let me go.”

“Never, Liz. I thought that you would come
if you changed your mind.” He squeezed her hand. “I didn’t find the
note until after Emily was dropped on my porch. If I had read it
years ago, I would have come for you.”

Christian interrupted, “But what happened
with James?”

“They’ll get there,” Delilah told him. “I
can’t imagine any of this is easy on any of them.”

“Shit, sorry,” Christian muttered. “Please
explain why he’s still alive. No offense Bobby, but after that, I
can’t imagine you’re real forgiving yourself.”

“After I healed Robert, I went after him. No
one should have survived, but Robert had made some of us talismans
that act as a portal. They can transport you to a set place. Emily
found James, he should have been dead, but he was holding on. She
took him from the burning warehouse. She brought him back, but at
least she didn’t fully heal him.”

Robert snorted. “My sister thought she could
cure James of his need to hurt everyone. James is twisted to the
core, there is no cure for that.” He sighed. “My sister wanted to
make things right, but there are some things you can’t fix.”

“Why hasn’t he come sooner?” Christian
balked.

Robert answered, “Emily kept him in a
comatose state through magic. He finally broke free and cursed
Emily. He’s out for revenge, and now he’s after Liz. I won’t let my
brother touch her again.”

“Neither will I,” Christian practically
shouted.

Liz stood up and stepped away from Tremaine.
Her arms crossed over her chest. “Now listen to me, Christian.
There is no way you are doing a damned thing to him. It’s best if
he doesn’t know about you. I swear he will use you against me,
against Robert, against anyone who he thinks would get to us. So
please, you need stay out of it. We’re equipped to handle him. You
aren’t.”

“What can he possibly do?” Christian
quipped.

“Plenty,” Liz insisted. “He’ll use another
person’s face. He’s good at fooling people.”

“But you knew it wasn’t him. You didn’t fall
for it.”

“It wasn’t the first time he tried that
trick with me. And yeah, I always figured it out, but I always knew
what he was capable of.”

“Did he ever fool you?” Christian asked
Robert.

Robert nodded. “Yes. More than a few times.
At least until Liz would come in and strip the spell.”