Out of Reach (28 page)

I find unwashed dishes in the sink and a
string of Ben’s clothes trailing down the main hallway. Slumping
into a kitchen chair I cross my arms over my heart and stare at the
wall, willing my brain to make sense of the chaotic predicament I’m
in. I want to cry. I want to believe that garbage women spout,
claiming you’ll feel better after the fact.

I’m exhausted, stressed out, my career is
potentially in shambles, and I’m caught in a web of secrets. If all
that isn’t a recipe for tears then I don’t know what is. Still, the
tears don’t come. I guess I’m just not wired that way.

This is useless, and most
women are full of crap
, I remind
myself.

Getting up from the table after my failed
attempt to connect with my feelings I grab an ice-cold Coke from
the fridge and head to the bathroom. There’s nothing caffeine and a
hot shower can’t fix.

Tossing my cell phone on the bathroom
counter I leave my drink and slink back down the hall to the
laundry room. Stripping out of my nasty clothes I dump them, along
with everything else piled on the floor, directly into the washing
machine. Returning to the bathroom I savor my first sip of Coke.
The sight of my phone reminds me I still have one unheard
voicemail.

Unsurprisingly it turns out to be Melanie,
happy to hear we are going to be home on Friday and instructing me
to have my skinny ass to The Spotted Dog no later than 7p.m. I
didn't tell her we were going to be home today. I assume Kade must
have called her. Placing the phone back on the counter I jump in
the shower.

Somehow I think better in the humidity, and
as the steamy heat clears my head I try to game plan my next move
and what I'm going to do now that I'm out of a job. I can't go back
to Preston-Ward; the Wanderers have made that painstakingly clear.
To be honest, I don't think I want to, not after knowing what Mr.
Taylor was trying to do and how I'd unwittingly almost helped him
succeed. Kade told me earlier he'd be taking care of my resignation
for me on Monday, which is fine by me. My only request had been
that he help me fix things with Ben and Melanie so they believed
whatever lies we needed to tell them.

"Of course," he'd promised. He'd been right,
like always. Using power had consequences and I was just beginning
to understand all the collateral damage that had to be cleaned
up.

I had been instructed to
lay low until the Wanderer investigation into Preston-Ward was
over, so other than discovering my hidden talents or searching the
job market, I had no plans for the foreseeable future.
Too much time on my hands
, I think and inwardly groan. All that can wait for Monday,
though. I plan to relax and enjoy the weekend, starting with
tonight. Shutting off the water I wrap a towel around my body and
tip toe into the closet to get ready.

The digital display in the Mini reads 9p.m.
when I glance down at it for the hundredth time. I'm later than
late. I'd only anticipated missing Melanie’s 7p.m. deadline by
thirty minutes. I knew it'd be past 7p.m. by the time I got
polished and grabbed a bite to eat, but somehow I'd dawdled and now
I'm two hours late. Honestly, I'd still only have been just over an
hour late if I'd been able to get out of my car when I first
arrived to the bar. Prying my hands from the steering wheel I force
the door open and take a deep breath, making the necessary two
steps to get up and out of the little coup. Slamming the door
closed definitively, I give myself no choice but to cross the
street to The Spotted Dog.

I hesitate again on the sidewalk. How do I
walk through that door and step back into real life? My empty house
was easy, but my friends and family are in the bar right now. In
light of everything that’s happened, how do I make the transition
from knowing to blissful ignorance? My face is too transparent, the
events of the previous days have been etched deeply into my skin
for all to read. I can see them all through the window, bathed in
the soft glow cast by the recessed lighting, the shadows of my
past. Stepping back into the alley adjacent to the bar, my pulse
races and the pounding of my heart resounds in my ears, deafening
me to all else. I struggle to breath. I cling to the brick wall and
its cold hard stability, desperate for control. I can’t do it, how
do I lie to the people I love? Don’t get me wrong, I’m a good liar,
just not with those closest to me—but then I’ve never had to
be.

Pushing away from the wall,
straightening to my full height, I close my eyes.
I will do this
, I tell
myself,
I have no
choice
.

Standing alone in the alley shivering, I
affix the mask to my face, the mask I will wear for the rest of my
life. The woman who opens her eyes is stoic, as if the concerns of
mere minutes before are gone. I am counting on this woman to move
us forward, to keep living, to open the door to the bar, that
mystic portal back into our reality. But time passes and still this
new creation makes no attempt to move. Looking to the heavens she
speaks our prayerful petition to the sky. “Please, God, help me
cross this threshold.”

“God has nothing, or perhaps he has
everything, to do with it,” replies a broken voice from the shadows
behind. Whipping around in surprise I can just make out a poorly
dressed man slumped against the brick wall further down the alley.
Fear grips me as he lurches to his feet and I recognize the risky
situation I’ve put myself in. Quickly checking my surroundings I
choose the safest exit available to me. Sprinting the short span to
The Spotted Dog, I rush through the entrance.

What the hell was
that?
I wonder, coming to a halt just
inside the front door. Turning to look out the nearest window I
don’t see anything.

“Gwennie!!!” Melanie’s shriek distracts me
and I forget about the startling experience, immediately caught up
in a whole new danger. I’m trapped, stuck between a gaze of loving
and desirous mystic blue and one of passionate and possessive
liquid amber. If I couldn’t reconcile the two chapters of my life
old and new, I sure as hell wasn’t going to be able to sort out the
two men pulling me apart.

Plastering a smile on my
face, I take the easy way out, choosing the short blonde spitfire
screaming my name from our usual stools at the bar. Embracing the
girlie moment for all it’s worth I crush Melanie to my chest in a
bear hug, like we haven’t seen each other in years. When I finally
let her up for air she just laughs, a little tipsy and completely
oblivious to my uncharacteristic display of affection. Kade sees
it, not missing much, and I catch his slight frown out of the
corner of my eye as I down the shot Melanie’s handed me.
Fuck him
, I think to
myself ordering another,
this whole thing
is his fault
.

The music is great and I quickly find myself
as carefree as the melody. I give up dancing, though, when the room
begins to spin, resigning myself to sit at the bar and drink with
Melanie. Looking around I notice the short blonde seems to have
left me, so I finish her shot since no one’s been by to refill my
glass in a while. Twisting around on my stool, I do a double take
when I find Melanie on the seat to my right.

“When did you get there?” I slur,
confused.

“Thank God you’re pretty,” she teases
rolling her eyes.

“Ben!” Melanie yells a second later, hurting
my ears. Tired I cross my arms and rest my head on the bar.

“I’ve never seen her like this,” Ben’s voice
cuts in over the music. Melanie’s fairylike laughter follows.

“It doesn’t happen very often, but after
finding out what happened to her lab this doesn’t surprise me.”

“Yeah I guess,” Ben responds, concerned.

The first of many lies had started tonight
with me pretending to hear about my lab for the first time from
Melanie. It’s good to know the ordeal had provided me with an
acceptable excuse to drink, though.

“She can’t drive home,” Ben says.

“No,” Melanie agrees.

“Can you drive her? I can’t leave, I’m still
on duty.”

“I’ll take her,” a deep voice volunteers,
suddenly joining the conversation I’d been eavesdropping on. If
some tense, awkward, alpha male confrontation takes place I’ve no
idea; I’m too inebriated to lift my own head and contribute to the
conversation about my well-being.

Lying there I try to remember what Ben and
Kade think of one another. Is there animosity between them? Are
they cordial for my sake alone? I can’t seem to recall. They rarely
if ever inhabit the same space, I realize through my fog. Sometime
during my speculations the trio must have come to a decision,
because strong, familiar arms suddenly scoop me up and carry me
outside, Ben’s humorous voice telling me to hold on. I’m lowered
into a vehicle heavy with Kade’s rich scent and I know who’s won
the right to take me home.

The sound of a car door opening and closing
pulls me back into a semiconscious state. I’m sitting in the
passenger seat of the Mini and Kade has brought me home, I
remember. My door opens and a groan escapes my lips as my body is
effortlessly lifted and cradled against Kade’s chest. My feelings
are as queasy as my stomach and, as I’m whisked across the front
lawn, I try to keep my mouth closed and a hold on to both.

Kade doesn’t just plop me down on the couch
when we enter the house. He walks me all the way to my room, laying
me tenderly on the bed before removing both my shoes and covering
me with a light blanket. Keeping my breathing even I pretend to be
asleep while my silent guardian sits motionless at the end of the
bed, watching over me.

“I love you,” I sob suddenly, afraid he’s
gone when I no longer feel his weight on the edge of the bed.

“I know,” he breathes tucking a bedraggled
strand of hair behind my ear on his way out.

Chapter 36

Kade

The front door pulls closed with a soft
click behind me as I step out onto the front porch. Alone in the
moonlight I gaze up and take a deep breath. Running my fingers
through my hair I exhale slowly, hoping to clear my head.

Tonight had not gone the way I’d imagined.
To tell the truth, I’m not sure what I had anticipated, but the
events that unfolded tonight had been furthest from my
expectations. My heart had whispered lies, telling me Gwen would
run into my arms, and like an idiot my head had believed it.
Shaking off the memory I trudge down Gwen’s front-steps. As I reach
the lawn, a familiar feeling alerts me to the presence of
another.

“Why don’t you come out Hal, I saw you at
the bar. I know you’re following me.”

Shifting my weight I redirect my attention
to the bushes that conceal my brother. A soft rustling precedes
Halim’s emergence into the light.

“I wasn’t so much following you as I was
keeping an eye on her.”

“You don’t think she’s safe with me?” I
accuse, surprised by how clipped and aggressive I sound.

“You know that’s not true. You also know
this is a dangerous time for her. We still don’t understand what
happened at Preston-Ward and any Sylph we failed to contain may try
to track her down, seeking vengeance. It never hurts to have
back-up, Kade.”

Marching across the yard I stand toe to toe
with Hal.

“Say what it is you need to say to me.”

“You’re being completely unfair to her,” Hal
answers. Shocked, my eyes widen for a split second before narrowing
to stare more intensely at my brother. “I watched you tonight at
the bar, staring at Gwen like you own her.”

Sucking in a breath I challenge, “Have the
events of the past week totally slipped your mind?” Aggravated I
want to shake my brother, to make him see, but I refrain. “She
finally sees past the glamour; she sees me, she loves me.”

“I’m well aware she holds feelings for you,
but you need to realize that this week was a lot for her to take
in.”

“Gwen can handle it, she’s strong,” I
interrupt.

“Damn it, Kade, her old life doesn’t just
disappear because all of a sudden the supernatural exists. Look at
what happened tonight.”

My mood darkens and I reflect on the memory
of this evening. Gwen had walked into the bar tonight and without a
word to anyone proceeded to get shit-faced drunk.

Hal continues. “The people she cares about
still exist for her, Kade. They’re not something she can just
divorce herself from.”

Clenching my fists in an attempt to control
the anger threatening to crack through my tightly controlled
exterior, I bare me teeth and hiss, “You’re out of line.”

Done with the conversation, I storm off in
the direction of the street, only to be stopped dead in my tracks
by my brother’s next statement.

“What’s your name mean, Kaden?” Not
bothering to turn around I stretch to my full height and pause for
several heartbeats not wanting to answer.

“Companion.”

“That’s right, the angels
called you Companion, but did you ever stop to think maybe they
didn’t call you that because you
are
a companion? Maybe they charged
you with it because that’s what you needed to become. What Gwen
needs you to become.”

Chapter 37

Gwen

Rolling over in bed I pull the pillow tight
against my head in a vain attempt to escape the morning rays that
have begun to creep through the windows. I groan; everything hurts.
My head is pounding, my throat is dry, and my body plays host to a
myriad of other aches and pains.

Man, alcohol is really starting to lose its
appeal the older I get. Unfortunately it hasn't erased the pain or
magically solved anything like it promised last night. Dragging my
ass out of bed I down three glasses of water in the kitchen before
pulling a Coke from the fridge. The need for caffeine greatly
outweighs the potential risk of further dehydration. I'm sure my
logic is flawed but as long as I drink as much water as I do Coke
I'm pretty sure I'll be alright.