Mortal Obligation (28 page)

Paden was standing just inside of the French doors, his eyes fastened on the trail. His arms were crossed and he glared at the girls walking up the path. He didn't move when Ree pushed the door open and walked in, but his eyes followed her as she brushed past him. If he wanted to talk to her, she wasn't going to be the one to initiate the conversation. He would probably only chew her out for going running by herself and she wasn't up to being told what she could and couldn't do today. She figured the gods made this island so she could be safe and she was going to do what she wanted without answering to her Guardians.

“Why didn't you tell anyone you were going running?”

She bristled at his tone and refused to even turn around and look at him. Instead, she headed toward Sophie's office where she could hear the others’ voices. “I told Pam where I was going,” she said blithely.

“Pam? Pam isn't the one trying to keep you safe.” He was right behind her, his voice tight. She hadn't even heard him move away from the door.

“No, I managed to keep myself safe all on my own while running on the god-sanctioned island.”

“Ree.” His voice held an edge.

“Drop it, Pay. I don't feel like having this argument again. I wanted some time alone and this is likely to be the only place I’m going to get it.” She pushed through the office door and was immediately swamped by the excitement of her friends. “What's going on?”

“We're hunting tonight.” Bryce was tossing a medicine ball from hand to hand as if he was playing with a softball. He smiled and added, “On the mainland. We're heading downtown.”

Juliette rolled her eyes and leaned her head back on the arm of the leather sofa.

Weylin sat on the edge of the fireplace, picking at his fingernails with a knife. When he noticed Ree looking at him he raised his eyebrows. “What? I didn’t bring any nail clippers.”

“Yeah, because you’re so metrosexual when you aren’t fighting Dark Ones.” Ree laughed. Ree sat next to him and ignored Paden as he continued to glare at her from the doorway.

“So, you guys are ready for this?” she asked. She wasn't at all sure she was ready to go hunt Dark Ones. Good grief, they were going to go kill things tonight. They had barely been training for three days.

“They think they are, and I think it is time for them to see what they are really up against,” Roland said from his seat on the window ledge.

“But, are they ready?”
Am I ready?
She kept the last question to herself.

“Where’s your faith, Ree? We’ve been working hard all week!” Weylin chided her.

She nudged her shoulder into his as an apology. “I just don't think a week is a really long time. And it hasn't even been a whole week!”

“They've learned a great deal in the last few days.” Roland shrugged. “This is what they are made for. To kill the Dark Ones and to secure the planet for the humans.”

“That's right; we are walking, talking, bad ass Dark One stalkers!” Bryce fist bumped Weylin, and Juliette groaned. Ree looked at Roland and then at Sophie, thinking they had just demonstrated that they were, in fact, not ready.

“You aren't going alone. We will be with you guys,” Sophie said.

“But will they come after us? Will this be the big battle?” Ree sat on her hands to keep them from shaking. Everyone in the room turned toward her, their excitement forgotten. Mel put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. Gritting her teeth, Ree tried to not snap at any of them. It wasn't their fault they could tell how frightened she was at the thought.

Sophie tried to reassure her. “Don't worry, Ree. Chances are that their leader is tucked away somewhere safe until the showdown.”

“And how do we know when the showdown is supposed to happen?” Ree's voice had turned icy. Anger was her response to fear, and in this case it was a whole lot of angry.

“It is something that builds over time. You won't really know when it is going to happen until you are there experiencing it.”

“Not comforting.” Ree stood up. “When do we leave?”

“We're going in early. You guys have an hour or so before we take the boat. Try to wear something that is comfortable, that you can move in but won't make you stand out. We don't want to look like a gang of gym thugs prowling the streets. The unfortunate truth is that the nicer you are dressed, the less likely you are to attract attention from law enforcement.”

Ree grimaced, not sure what she had left to wear that was clean.

“If you didn't bring enough clothes, I can get some stuff put together for you.” Sophie closed the notebook on her desk and stood up. “Any one need anything? We have closets full of different things. We often have people come to stay on the island that have nothing with them.”

Weylin, Paden, Ree, and Melanie all raised their hands. Bryce and Juliette were obviously well prepared, considering Jules had dragged a giant suitcase to the island. Ree liked clothes as much as the next girl, but had nowhere near the amount Juliette collected. Of course, her friend’s clothing budget was probably five times larger than her own meager allowance.

Everyone headed in different directions: to their rooms, the kitchen, and the training room. Making a quick run to the kitchen, Ree snagged a sandwich from a platter on the island and waved to the busy Pam. She wanted to go to the training room to see what kind of weapon she should carry, but Paden was just turning down the hall in that direction. She changed her plan and went to her room instead.

Clothes were lying on the bed when she entered the room, and she fingered the dark jeans and black turtle neck as she finished her snack. There were a pair of tall black leather boots and she was amused to see they were the correct size. She brushed the crumbs off of her fingers before looking at the tag in the boots. The leather was soft and supple, and they had a short heel that wouldn't hinder her movement. When she saw the Gucci lining she almost dropped the boot. She had never owned anything so expensive in her life. Surely they had something that wasn't so expensive she could wear. What if she scuffed them, or did something else equally terrible to the boots? She set it down carefully in front of the bed and picked up the jeans.

Ree groaned when she saw the tag inside the waistband, and threw them back onto the bed. She didn't even look at the black turtleneck sweater. Whose clothes were these? Sophie was much taller than Ree, so they couldn't be hers. Shaking her head, she decided to take a quick shower before changing. Once finished, she pulled on the clothes, laughing to herself. She had never worn anything so pricey and it was downright ridiculous she was wearing it to go fight evil monsters. She pulled her hair up into a high ponytail and tucked her bangs back behind her ear. Looking at the boots, she sighed and pulled them on over her gym socks and tucked the jeans into the cuff. She put on the necklace Melanie’s grandmother had sent for her and let it hang on the outside of the sweater. Standing up, she realized the clothes were even more comfortable than she would have thought.

Catching her reflection in the mirror, she stopped and stared. A dangerous, sexy woman was looking back at her. A knock on the door snapped her out of the trance. Dreading an awkward conversation with Paden, she reached out to the person on the other side of the door with her extra senses. The intense battle of emotions hidden under a calm layer of nonchalance meant it was Roland. When she opened the door, he was wearing a small smile. His blue eyes always left her a little breathless, but she managed to smile in return.

“I brought you something.” He held out a knife with a bright blade longer than her hand, and the handle was wrapped in leather.

“Um, thanks.” She took it and held it in her hand, looking at the blade. Something tugged at her memory as she examined the weapon. It felt comfortable and familiar resting in her palm.

“Careful with that end.” He laughed.

“Har, har. The Dark One has a sense of humor.”  She held the knife down by her side and wondered what she was going to do with it.

 He walked into her room and motioned for her to follow. “You're right-handed, right?” He pointed at the chair next to her bed. “Put your right foot up there.”

“Why?” She stood there, looking suspicious and unintentionally tightened her grip on the handle of the dagger.

“Because I plan on ravishing you.” He rolled his eyes when she started blushing and pulled something out of his back pocket, holding it up for her to see. “Gods, you blush easily. I want to put the leg sheath on, and I figure you don't know how to do it yourself. I won't bite, little Ree.” He chuckled as he watched her fight for composure.

Pressing her lips together in embarrassment, she set her foot on the chair and watched as he knelt down in front of her. He pulled the boot off of her foot and set it to the side. His hand was warm as he wrapped the sheath around her calf, cinching the leather tight.  His fingers trailed down her leg and encircled her ankle. She gulped when his dark blue eyes met hers.

He wasn't smiling anymore, and there was heat behind his stare. With his free hand he picked her boot up off the ground and maneuvered it back onto her foot. He held his hand out and she placed the knife in his fingers. Carefully, he slid it into the sheath and tugged at the leather of the boot. After making sure it was secure, he carefully stood up, leaving little space between their bodies. His hand trailed up the leg that was still propped on the chair and briefly rested on her knee. Heat raced through her body and her breathing quickened. Ree knew he could hear her heartbeat stuttering loudly and blushed, but didn’t look away.

Once again she found herself locked in his stare and didn't step away when he reached up and touched her cheek. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered if he had been so perfect before he had been turned and decided he must have been. He was gorgeous in a way very few were blessed with. Her gaze roamed from his eyes and over the rugged planes of his cheek to the lush fullness of his lips. His eyebrows drew together and his mouth pulled up on one side in a half smile. His thumb ran across her cheek gently and she shivered.

“It's your eyes that are so expressive. It's like reading a book.”

She blushed again, and looked down. He chuckled but let his hand drop and took a step back so she could move her leg down from the chair. “I don't know how to fight with a knife,” Ree said, trying to find a subject that wasn't so uncomfortable. Tensing her leg, she moved her foot a little to see if the knife was noticeable. It was actually pretty comfortable, and the handle was so slim that it didn't pucker the denim of her jeans. Even more so, the weight felt familiar and oddly reassuring tucked against her leg.

“We will work on that later. I just want you to get used to wearing it, and not being afraid of it.” He stepped back and looked her up and down.  “Sophie did well with the clothes. Very striking.”

“These are hers? Maybe she has some other boots I can wear. These are really expensive, and I’d hate to mess them up.” Ree looked down at herself and tried to not think about his compliment.

“The gods stock the closets with whatever we need. Consider it part of your paycheck.”

It still seemed like a waste of good clothes to Ree.

As if reading her mind, Roland laughed. “Don't worry about it Ree. They owe you much more than expensive clothes.”

“I guess,” she said, frowning.

“C’mon let’s find the others and head to the dock.”