Shattered Skies: Beginning's End (15 page)

I made myself a promise right then and there that I would never again complain about my life. I was going to get to the bottom of all this and th
en I was going to become a shut-in. There was really no reason for me to leave my apartment. I mean, at least I was safe in there and there wasn’t anyone trying to eat me or be in love with me. Maybe I could get another cat, or twenty, and then live like that woman in one of the movies that Darien and I watched. She was crazy; she never left her house and she talked to the cats like they were human. I could definitely see the plus side to that. My future as a crazy cat woman was looking better and better with every exhausting step that I took.

Dr. Walker’s office was about ten times worse than Jewel had described it and I hadn’t thought that was humanly possible. There wasn’t a single piece of furniture left upright. Books were ripped off the shelves and scattered throughout the room and all of Dr. Walker’s papers were thrown everywhere, like long forgotten confetti. Everything that had always been in the office was still there; chaotically rearranged, but there, except for one important thing: good old Dr. Walker himself. I would bet my right arm that he had gone to find Darien, just like any other worried father would do, which could easily prove to be a deadly mistake. How could this possibly get any worse? I was singlehandedly risking the lives of everyone in my family every time I went near any of them. 

Even if I promised to ignore Akia for the rest of my life, that didn’t mean that he would just as willingly ignore me. In fact, I bet that ignoring him would just make him more determined than ever to get my attention. Besides, would never seeing him again be enough for Darien to forgive me? I knew him better than that. I knew that Darien would not rest until he took Akia’s life. I would have to leave; that was the only way that I could fix everything. Once I found Darien and returned him to Jewel and got Doctor Walker back safe where he belonged, I would leave. I couldn’t handle the Akia thing and I didn’t know if I was brave enough to go to him with the truth. If I did he might kill me, but everyone else would be safe. The only answer was getting as far away from everyone as I could. It would hurt me more than death itself, but everyone else would eventually go on with their lives. Akia would meet some high class monster and he would realize that I was just a passing second class fancy. Darien would hold his first baby in his arms and realize just how much he cared about Jewel. Everyone would be so busy with their own lives that they would forget about me. I would be OK with that, after all, I made my bed and I am the kind of girl that sleeps in it. I would figure out all the details after I found Darien and Walker though, because now I had to focus on the task at hand. If we all got out alive, it was going to be a welcome surprise.

Dr
Walker was too old to look like one of the never aging creatures and human servants were only allowed out on the streets to do Dominus errands with a hand-signed pass from their owners. If a servant with no papers was spotted, they would be killed on the spot and questions would be asked after the fact. Doctor Walker was a smart man, but even he wouldn’t be able to talk his way out of such a situation if he got caught. My only hope was that he hadn’t left without at least trying to forge a realistic note. He was way too smart not to think about a note. He was, after all, the only reason that we were all alive. It was his job to take care of all the little details. If it hadn’t been for him always being one step ahead of the dangers around us, none of us would be here. He would never intentionally put himself in harm’s way because he knew that we all depended on him. I had to believe that. If I didn’t, I was going to have a breakdown, and if that happened, I would be of no use to anyone. The thought of not only being responsible for the death of my best friend but also for the only parental figure that any of us had, was way too much to handle. I would never be able to recover from that.  I had to convince myself that nothing bad was going to happen, that everything was going to be OK because it had to be. I just hoped that if I was lucky enough to find one of them, the other one would be in tow.

When I got to Darien’s favorite bar, the Spinning Dragon, I was crushed by the realization that this wasn’t going to be as easy as I had hoped. The place was so packed that entire groups of Dominus were spilling out into the parking lot. The place was nice, but it was never this busy. There had to be something really interesting happening inside. Then I got the stabbing pain in my stomach and that is when I knew something was really wrong
. I tried not to panic. Somehow I knew that one of them was in there. I didn’t know what was going on but I knew that one of them was in there and in some kind of serious trouble; I could feel it and it felt like a constant tugging in the pit of my rapidly sickening stomach.

Trying to push my way through the crowd of immobile creatures packed in the line out front of the bar proved to be even more of a challenge than I had anticipated. The monsters didn’t get this distracted often. I knew there must be something intensely sinister going on inside that had all of them so fascinated. My first thought was that Dr. Walker had been caught and was being executed. Just thinking that for a second caused a whole new panic to run through me. He was in there being tortured and I couldn’t do a damn thing to stop it because I couldn’t make a path through the monsters to get to him. I knew that I had to get to him even though I didn’t have a plan as to what to do if he was still alive when I got in there, mainly because I figured it was too late. If he was still alive, I would do whatever it took to get him out, even if it meant turning myself in and letting them kill me just so they would forget him for a second. I would not be able to go back and face my family if I had to tell them that Walker was gone. Death would be a
faster less painful punishment. A second would be all he would need to get away, right? For a minute I let myself beg for him to be smart enough to run away if I was brave enough to step up to the plate. I knew that he loved me but he was way too smart to let my death be in vain.

What is it about blood and gore that draws a crowd? No matter what species you are dealing with, the need to see two or more people ripping each other apart can draw a crowd like no other. I didn’t need a crowd right now, I needed a private place to kick Darien’s ass and snap him back into reality. Since I knew that it wasn’t going to be that easy, and since I was use to not getting what I wanted, I was a pro at making plan B’s, C’s, and D’s on the go. When I got inside the club, my panic eased a little. I figured I was on the inside now and no matter what was happening, it was easier to take care of it on the inside than standing on the outside.

All of the Dominus were chanting the word ‘fight’; I had to admit I was a little relieved because I knew Dr. Walker well enough to know that he would never fight one of these creatures. He had enough smarts to know that he could never win. I was finally able to let out the breath that I didn’t know I was holding. The crowd parted slightly and a wave of relief washed over me. I wouldn’t have to die or face my family with news of Dr. Walker’s death because he wasn’t in there.

Just like I expected, the calm feeling disappeared just as quickly as it came. I felt my heart plummet to the floor before my eyes had time to make sense of what they were seeing. Darien was in a hand to hand battle with one of the monsters, and he was pretty close to losing completely. There was no way that he could win. No matter how many hours a day any of us put into the gym, we would never be able to win a match with even the weakest of the new race. I had to do something before Darien got himself killed or even worse. Someone might sober up enough to realize how truly weak Darien was. How could they not see that no Dominus could lose this badly? I knew that if he was found out, it would lead to a death sentence for me as well because I would never be able to stand by emotionless and watch my best friend being killed just for being human. I didn’t know what to do. Either way, I was going to have to interrupt what was going on or he didn’t stand a chance. I couldn’t live if he wasn’t alive. Even when the time came for me to disappear; I would know that Darien was alive and well, and that would be enough for me. If Darien was dead; that would kill me. That was the only thing that I was certain of.

After weighing out the options in my mind, I settled on the one that I hoped would be the least painful for everyone, and maybe if I was lucky, no one would die either. I didn’t want to ask for too much; there was no reason to come across as demanding. I am bright enough to know that I could never in a million years take the monster that was on the verge of tearing Darien apart down physically, but I was pretty sure that I could get his attention, fawn all over him, and make the little man in his pants want me enough to lure him away from my stupid best friend who was so hell bent on revenge right now that he didn’t realize what he was doing. 

I quickly took off my jacket and laid it on the table knocking over a few drinks in the process, but there is no use
crying over spilled vodka. Then I undid the buttons on my shirt all the way down to my belly button, leaving only a black lace bra between the eyes of about 100 drunken Dominus men and my full tanned breasts. Not my brightest idea by far, but I knew I had to make it work. If at any time Darien took a blow that would make him bleed we would both be killed. Blood and drunken Dominus can make a vicious mix, so vicious that they will literally tear each other apart if their will power isn’t strong. My open shirt definitely made it a lot easier to move through the crowd. In fact, I wished I’d thought of it earlier. The men were just moving aside with their eyes wide and staring and their mouths agape. Monster or human, it didn’t matter. If you could get their minds on sex; they were putty in the palms of your hands. When I got to the center of the crowd my plan worked a little too well but on the wrong person. Darien looked up at me shocked, surprised and completely distracted; which gave his monster opponent just the chance he needed to hit him hard enough to knock him out cold. I saw the monster draw his leg back to kick Darien in the head and I moved without thinking. If he landed that blow, there was no doubt in my mind that it would kill Darien. A Dominus could walk away from such a blow but Darien, on the other hand, would be killed instantly. 

I somehow managed to put myself between my passed out friend and this very, very angry creature that if he did so desire, could snap me in half like a twig. “Hey there sexy! Why don’t you leave this loser alone and come buy me a drink?” 

At first I thought he was going to push right through me and kill Darien while I stood there helpless. I pressed myself against him a little bit tighter to get my point across and the anger seemed to just wash away quickly, replaced by a lustful smile. He grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the bar. I had a brief second to glance back over my shoulder as I was being dragged away. Darien was breathing, but other than that, I couldn’t tell how seriously hurt he was.
Darien, if you can hear me, please be alright. I am so sorry. Please be OK.
I knew that he couldn’t hear what I was thinking, but I could hope.

Darien wasn’t bleeding and the other monsters were so busy cheering me on as we walked by, I was sure he would be left alone.  I had done half of the job I set out to do;
insuring that the Doc and Darien would be OK. Darien was still alive and thanks to the monsters’ short attention span, they would probably let him lay there until he woke up. Now all I could do was hope the Doc was still alive too.

“What would you like,
babe?”  Focus Cat I told myself. I could still blow this if I couldn’t keep his attention diverted long enough for Darien to recover and get the hell out of there.

“Um, vodka on the rocks please. My name is Cat. Nice to meet you.” 

“Jax.” 

OK
, so he wasn’t much of a talker, but that might be a good thing. If I could bore him with talk, then I could get back to Darien quicker. “I can’t tell you how hot it made me watching you tear that guy apart. What started it?” I made my voice a whisper, trying to sound sex -crazed, looking at him like he was the most desirable thing in the room. 

“Well honestly I was just minding my own business when that son of a bitch walked up behind me, pushed me and said I will give you one chance to kill me, then I’m going to bury you. I never even saw that dude in my life.” 

Damn it Darien, what the hell had gotten into you?
I wondered to myself. I hated to admit it, but I knew the answer. He tried to give me his heart and I had handed it back to him. Well not handed it back to him; more like I threw it on the ground and jumped up and down and stomped on it five or six times; yeah, that was a better description. But still, I was going to kill him when and if he woke up. I was not worth dying for, that was for damn sure. 

I had to make everything right. I just had to. He had a woman at home that wanted nothing more than to love him. He was going to be a father; that meant way more than having me ever could. I had to make sure that he lived out his destiny. I was certain that he would see how m
uch Jewel meant to him; that is as soon as his ego recovered. 

“Oh my! You are so brave. Weren’t you scared? I mean, he is a pretty big guy.” I gushed and flattered Jax, and when the bartender handed me my drink, I drank it in one gulp, trying to wash away the wave of nausea I felt because I was making myself sick. I wanted nothing more than to kill
this bastard with my bare hands and my patience was wearing thin. I had to think of a way to get out of this conversation fast. As soon as I did, I would be able to get Darien to a safe place and then I could go back out and look for Dr. Walker before something even more horrible happened.