Only Witness, The (27 page)

              “If the treatment doesn't work, if I die instead, I need you and probably Houdini to keep him from doing anything stupid.”

              “Vera, if you die there's nothing that's going to stop him, so like I said earlier, you've got to start thinking like you're going to live. Now smile, it's time for you to get married.”

<#<#>#>#>#

              Vera had never been so nervous as when she walked out the back door, dressed and ready to be married to the man she loved, even though he was a man that she barely knew. It didn't matter that they were on the run, had left everything behind. All that mattered was the way he was looking at her.

              Someone had found flowers for her, fashioned them into a lovely little bouquet. Vera didn't know what they were called, but she would never forget them. If possible she would plant them at their new home so she could always see them.

              Vera walked to Deacon, let him take her hands in his. She stayed perfectly still as a woman approached with what looked like ribbons in her hand. Susan had explained that they would have their hands bound together for the ceremony. It wouldn't be legally binding, but it was a commitment in the eyes of The Strays, an important commitment.

              She'd read the rules, realized just how much they valued their traditions and was going to do her best to respect them. Figuring out how not to piss off The Strays was on the very top of her agenda, right after getting married.

              “And now, we can begin.” The healer spoke, nodded in the direction of the porch and bowed her head. Vera looked over to see a tall, dark haired man walking down the stairs towards them.

              “Thank you for beginning,” the man nodded his head at the healer. “You may go. I will take over from here. It will be my honor, if that is agreeable to all.”

              “We would be honored to have you preside over our wedding, Mr. Vega.” Deacon spoke, his tone formal.

              Vera didn't know who the hell Mr. Vega was, or why it was going to be an honor to be married by a man in jeans and a leather jacket, but she did know enough to not ask the questions that were racing through her head.

              “Please, call me Armando.” The man took another step closer and Vera saw for the first time the extent of the scars covering one side of his face. The contrast to how handsome he was made them all the more shocking. She tried hard not to stare but then his eyes were on her, and it would be rude to look away. “And you must be Vera. You are as lovely as I was told you were. May I?”

              Before she could respond, one of his hands were on her lower back and the other was pulling the top of her dress away from her skin so that he could examine the wound on her back. Several moments of long silence stretched out. Vera wanted to move but couldn't with her hands bound to Deacon's.

              “My sister has provided us with the ointment to treat the infection. Adelaide is a very skilled healer.”

              “I have heard that from many,” Armando removed his hand and let her dress fall back against her skin. “You are a very lucky woman, Vera. It is quite rare for one of our kind to mate with a human. That also makes you a very lucky man, Houdini. It makes The Strays lucky to have you all. Let us begin so that we can give adequate time to each ceremony.”

              Vera didn't know what to say to that. What other ceremony was going to be happening? She looked to Deacon who had a very neutral expression on his face. He was also locked down as tight as a drum emotionally, which put her on edge. What other ceremony were they talking about?

              “Is there a problem?” Armando looked as if he hoped there were a problem. “I was told that there would be two mate ceremonies tonight. Isn't that right, Lina?”

              Vera bit back a gasp as she realized the only other couple available for another mate ceremony. Susan and Houdini, but why would Lina tell Armando they would marry? Oh no, the rules. Vera looked at Susan, saw that she had an expression on her face that was somewhere between tears and terror.

              “It was supposed to be a surprise,” Houdini blurted out, “but I guess that ship has sailed. So,” he turned to Susan and dropped down to his knee, “marry me. Right here, right now.”

              “Yes,” Susan said suddenly, “yes, I'll marry you right now.”

              “Excellent,” Armando replied. “I just love weddings.” He snapped his fingers and the local healer came out of the shadows. “Start their binding.”

              “You ready for this?” Deacon's voice snapped Vera out of her thoughts.

              “Of course I am.”

              “Fantastic, let us begin.” Armando moved to stand in front of them. “One should not take a life mate lightly, for the bonds of these words can not be broken. Love is part of it, but so is honor and respect for both the union and for our people. Do you both understand that?”

              “I do,” Deacon confirmed.

              “I do.” Vera replied because she was sure, she'd never been so sure of anything in her life, but the words also gave her a feeling of anxiety. It wasn't for her and Deacon; she knew that they would be able to live up to them, until death did them part they'd be together. Her anxiety was for Susan and Houdini, virtual strangers set to be bound together for life. How was that even going to work?

              “By the power of The Council, I hereby declare the two of you mated.” Armando reached out and undid the knot holding their bound hands together. “This ribbon serves as the symbol of your union, treat it as well as you will treat one another.”

              “That's it?” Vera mouthed the words at Deacon. It seemed a little anticlimactic, but apparently was the full ceremony as Armando moved over to where Susan and Houdini stood. “We're married?” She questioned in her normal voice. “No wait, I mean mated?”

              “Yes,” he grinned at her. “And this is the part where you stop talking and I start kissing you.”

<#<#>#>#>#

              “Something's wrong, isn't it?” Vera glanced over to her shoulder to where Deacon sat behind her, applying the ointment to the wound on her back. She made herself smile, even as the burning sensation of the ointment sunk into her skin.

              “Everything's fine,” he replied, but nothing felt fine. The feelings that were coming off of him were troubled, his turmoil obvious. Vera opened her mouth to call him on it but something stopped her. If he was feeling troubled but saying everything was fine maybe it was for a reason.

              After their wedding it had gotten weird, really weird, with Susan and Houdini following in their footsteps. Armando came across as very nice, but Vera was pretty sure it was a front. For one thing everyone who knew who he was seemed shit scared of him. He knew it and liked it.

              “You ready to head to Wyoming?”

              “I am. The SUV is packed, Houdini programmed the GPS unit. We're good to go. Going to be a long ride and I don't know how to make it comfortable for you.”

              “I've got it covered. Susan gave me some pills to help with the pain, and it actually feels like it's getting better. It's a bit itchy, though, and that ointment smells like...” Vera kept a happy lilt to her tone because no matter what she wasn't going to be comfortable, there was no reason for anyone else to realize it.

              “Don't say it,” he told her with a chuckle, “besides, the smell fades and then all I can smell is you.”

              “Gee, thanks. I do not smell.” Vera glared at him.

              “You smell amazing, like rosemary and mint. The first time I was in your shop I thought it was your shampoo or a perfume ,but then I realized, it's just you. It's the best smell in the world.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to the back of her neck.

              “You smell like the woods,” Vera informed him, “earthy and alive.”

              “Earthy? Like dirty?”

              “No, just like earthy.” A small moan escaped her lips as he kissed her neck. “We shouldn't start because of my back.” It was a pretty shitty way to spend their life as man and wife, or wolf and mate, depending on how you looked at it. Either way, it was shitty that they couldn't be together.

              “I'm not starting,” he assured her, “we've got to get out of here early anyway. I'll get you a shirt to put on.”

              “I don't need a shirt.”

              “You do if you don't want me to start,” he informed her with a smile and a light slap to her ass. He got up to grab a shirt. Vera slipped it on and settled down on the bed. Once Deacon got in beside her, she shut her eyes and snuggled close.

Chapter TWENTY-THREE

              The ride to Wyoming was going to be the death of him, Deacon was sure of that as another tense hour ticked by. Part of the tension was his fault; the night before, after Vera had fallen asleep, he'd been too restless to stay in bed. He'd found Susan felt the same way; she was in the back yard deep in thought when he'd walked out there.

              They'd got to talking about the one thing they couldn't talk about in front of Houdini and Vera, just how much their mates didn't know about the choice they'd made. It was a risky conversation to have so close to the safe house. They'd both obviously been more concerned about Armando or another Stray overhearing that neither had noticed Houdini move into hearing distance.

              You could have cut the air with a knife when he'd emerged from the shadows. Deacon had been glad to head back to the warm bed with Vera in it while leaving Susan to deal with her mate. They hadn't said two words to each other for the entire ride.

              Everything just kept getting more complicated.

              “Alright, someone needs to tell me what's going on or at least turn on the radio.” Vera broke the silence and shifted to turn around in the seat.

              “I think we're all just tired, Baby.” Deacon offered from behind the wheel. He reached over, laid his hand on her leg.

              “I can tell when you're lying to me, smart guy,” she reminded him. “So, don't bother. Is this about...”

              “Why don't we just go back to quiet time?” Deacon hated the look of hurt that flashed in Vera's eyes, and he willed her to understand it wasn't that he didn't want to talk; he didn't want to talk in the truck in case it was bugged.

              He was probably being paranoid, but at this point he thought a little paranoia might just keep their asses out of the fire. Armando had left before them that morning, promising that he would see them soon. The Council, as a rule, didn't spend much time taking an interest in random members, so his interest could definitely be a problem.

              “Sure, no problem. Quiet time it is.” Vera turned in the seat so she was looking out the window.

              Deacon felt the connection between them close. He let out a stream of curses mentally but kept his voice even when he next spoke. “Don't do that,” he squeezed her leg hard. “Fuck quiet time, let's stop and grab an early lunch. We can talk all you want.”

              “Yeah, I'm with Vera. Talking is good.” Houdini spoke up. “Nothing worse than hearing, we'll talk later because we need to get rest, and then magically, no talking for the past six hours since we woke up.”

              “Jesus Christ,” Deacon consulted the GPS. They were miles from anything. “Let's just stop here and stretch our legs a little. Close quarters are getting to all of us.” He pulled the SUV over, and the passengers were out before he'd taken the key from the ignition. Houdini paced like a caged animal, a sign that he was more upset than he was letting on. Vera's face was blank, and Susan just looked tired. “First off, everyone needs to breathe.”

              “Fuck breathing,” Vera turned to face him. “Something's been off with you since you came back to bed last night. Something's been off with everyone else since we got into the truck. Now, someone better tell me what's going on.”

              “It's complicated, Vera,” Deacon replied. He didn't want to tell her what he knew she needed to know at a random point on the side of the road. “The Strays have a set of rules.”

              “I read them. If it's about the rules, why the secrecy?”

              “There are also unwritten rules, Vera.” Deacon pressed his fingers against his eyes. “I really don't want to do this here. Can't we just wait until we get there?”

              “No,” Vera shook her head. “I'm done with waiting.”


“Same here,” Houdini moved to stand next to her. “I want answers, real answers, to questions like did you both know that we'd have to get mated?”

              “I knew it was a possibility. I didn't think it would happen.” Susan admitted, her voice sounding very tired. “Vouching for you made you mine in their eyes. My guess is Lina didn't trust my word, so she decided to make sure.”

              “And the only reason you vouched for me was my expression at Deke's house? Right, Susan? Nothing else you want to get off your chest? Nothing you want to explain about your conversation with Deke last night?”

              Susan whirled to face him. “Fine, I had some kind of feelings for you. I didn't know what they meant, I still don't, and I didn't want to leave you behind. Satisfied now?”

              “No,” Houdini replied. His face was suddenly serious. “And if you have any questions about my family, you should ask me. I've stretched my legs enough, I'm getting back in the truck. Vera, do you mind if I take shotgun for a while?”

              “That's fine,” Vera replied, her eyes on Susan.

              “Don't look at me like that, I'm fine. We should go. We're burning daylight.” Susan stalked to the truck, got in behind Houdini and slammed the door sharply.

              “The cage might be bugged,” Deacon explained once he and Vera were alone. “We can't take the chance. We'll talk, I swear we will.”