Silverbow (29 page)

“At first, it’s not as hard as you may think. I had been bound to Darius for about five years before I met your father. Darius treats me good and bad. I knew I could flee; at least for a little while. I needed the break. We were in a bad spell when your charming father walked into the picture. I didn’t tell your father about my Binding. He charmed me off my feet and I truly cared for the man. Then something happened and I felt a connection with your father. It was as if I had iron shackles keeping me to Darius but a warm comforting hold pulling me to Marshall. It almost made my bind to Darius a little more bearable; though it was so dangerous. Little did I know, you were that pull. I was pregnant very soon after meeting him. I came out here and tried to stay. My ache to be back with Darius kicked in eventually and it caused me to be horrible to Marshall. I regret those days. It was our first fight that I bit him. He knew I was pregnant and trying to go back to Reno. He wasn’t going to willingly let me leave while carrying his child.

I helped him through the change. He had expected to be bound to me, I think. When it didn’t happen he began to add things up and realized I was already bound and that’s why I couldn’t stay. He tried to be so good to me so I would stay longer. I really did love him so. I tried. Darius caught wind of where I was and I couldn’t let him find me pregnant. So I went to a friend’s place and stayed until you were born. By then, I needed Darius like a dying addict needs one last fix. I felt like I was slipping into shock without him. It hurt so badly. I brought you here to your father and I ran as fast as I could back to Darius. I felt as if my life depended on it. Sadly, you will understand that one day.” She stood and filled our coffee cups.

“What happened after, Pops died,” I asked. She returned to her seat and sighed.

“When I got back to Darius he could feel that our connection was weaker. I was more defiant and distracted. I called your father daily and met up with him as many times as I could get away with. I saw you a few times when you were still a baby but after a while we figured you would be best off without me in the picture at all. He still sent me pictures,” she smiled as tears threatened her jade eyes. “Darius finally figured me and Marshall out. It took him over twenty years; he’s not too bright,” she said rolling her eyes. “That’s when he sent out the cavalry. He assumed that with Marshall dead, he would fully have me back. When your father died, I didn’t feel a change and neither did Darius. He spotted you and knew right away,” she nearly whispered. “You are the divider between him and me. It wasn’t your father.”

“That’s why I am his new target,” I said and pushed my coffee away.

“You can love all the men you want in your life but you will always belong to Murphy. That is, until you form another bond…with child. You will still be Murphy’s but you will be shared with your child. It hurts the mate most when it’s not
their
child. It messes up the circle. The child between you two should make you both stronger, binding you by blood. But you aren’t Darius’s. So it only weakened us.”

Everything was finally falling into place. I saw things a little clearer and felt myself open up to her a little more. Maybe she wasn’t as horrible as I had once thought she was. I leaned over and wrapped my arms around her. She tensed and then gave into the embrace. Her warmth blanketed me and eased all my nerves. Tears fell from my eyes and she moved to wipe them away.

“I’m sorry I left. I’m sorry I can’t promise I will always be here now but I do promise to keep and open line between us. You call, I’ll come. Our connections would have been unbreakable had your father been my bound mate. All I can do is be there for you as much as you will let me from here on out,” she offered. I would take it.

“I’m glad you came,” I said as I sat back in my seat and grabbed a napkin to wipe my face. “However, we still have a problem,” I said snapping us out of our happy reunion. “Your mate wants me dead.”

“I don’t know what to tell you,” she said and dropped her eyes to her lap.

“You once told me to just go along with him and not fight him.” As I spoke, I sadly came to realize that she wasn’t all that good either. “Were you just going to let him kill me,” I asked, wishing I had realized this before forgiving her.

“I didn’t know what he…no…I,” she stumbled. I pushed my chair back and stood.

“Which bond ranks higher, Viv? In all these fucked up new rules of my life; which bond ranks higher, Viv,” I asked as I glared down at her. She remained silent. “We only have one bound mate for life, right? But you could always have more children,” I answered my own question. “I’m just a loose wire to you. You don’t know me. You may have loved the idea of having a child but you didn’t love
me
.”

“I didn’t get the chance, Dakota,” she finally spoke up. “I didn’t know any better. I didn’t know the effects it would have on the bind. I just hoped that you and your father would be okay and in some way Darius and I would make it. I was a fool.”

“What now?” I walked to the sink and poured my coffee down the drain along with any compassion I had for her. I was just a weak link in her chain. Did she still want to spare me or was she looking to regain all her strength with Darius. She could not be trusted. I turned on heel to confirm that thought. She flipped a cell phone closed and tucked it back in her purse.

“I’m so sorry, Dakota.” Her voice was trembling and tears stained her cheeks. Standing, she took her purse under her arm and grabbed her keys.

“Did you make a call to him? Did you send a message,” I asked as I felt the ice set back into my heart. I moved to the doorway to block her path out. Anger burned like acid in my throat. She dropped her gaze, refusing to meet my gaze. “You are just his little puppet whore. You are going to let him kill your own flesh and blood so he can have an even tighter grip on you. You sicken me,” I spat and her eyes narrowed.

“Maybe I want more control over him,” she admitted. “The bind goes both ways, child.” She had lost her softness and suddenly sounded evil. Straightening her stance, she lifted her glowing jade eyes to meet mine. “You made me weak. Your father made me weak. I lost so much because of my choices over you two. I don’t want to spend the rest of my days struggling with Darius. Some days we just want to kill one another and get it all over with. Other days we lay longing for that powerful fierce burn we once had. I’d rather be killed by a sharp blade than a dull one. It’s all or nothing now.” 

“Your mind has been made up all along,” I forced myself to sound disappointed and scared.

“Yes and he is on his way,” she informed me.

“Why not just do the job yourself, you coward,” I provoked her.

“I don’t want the blood on my hands. I might make your man’s list,” she said as she tilted her head and gave me the same snobbish glare Mrs. Yates always had.

“So you do use him. You are going to get him killed,” I tossed in. She laughed lightly and shook her head.

“He
will
kill you, girl. You do not match his strength and he has a few new members. And even if I
did
get him killed, my feelings wouldn’t be hurt to have you both gone so I could finally be
free
. No one likes to be
owned
,” she exposed her plan. Darius could take me out and then Murphy would kill him. Viv would be free of all her ties. “Over 30 years of imprisonment
REALLY
gets old.”

My mind caught fire. I wasn’t armed. I didn’t know where Murphy was. I wasn’t sure if Greyden was upstairs sleeping still or at the fence line. I had no silver bullets. There was no where to run or hide. I took a deep breath and turned away from her, walking up the stairs. As long as I wasn’t fleeing for the door she didn’t seem to mind. She stepped into view at the bottom of the steps and watched me until I vanished down the hall. Walking to Greyden’s door, I opened it slowly. Inside there was a tangle of blue satin sheets but he was missing. Damn.

I went into the bathroom and found my holster hanging on the back of the door but my gun was missing. SHIT! Where was my gun? I began to panic. I knew my shotgun was down by the door but I would never get past her and for all I knew, she already had it herself. I slipped back into the hall and glanced down the stairwell on my way to my old bedroom. Viv leaned against the wall looking up at me with a smirk smeared over her coral lips.

“He should be here any minute now,” she chimed. Her voice grated my every nerve now.

I pushed my door open and rushed to my pillows. There was a God. I found my Browning beneath them and tucked it at my back beneath my shirt. It wouldn’t save me but it could buy me time. I slid on a pair of work boots and looked around for my cell phone. Grabbing it from the nightstand I flipped it open and dialed Greyden. The call went straight to voicemail; his phone was always off if he was working the fence. The fence! It finally dawned on me that he said he would take time off from the fence. My gut churned. Where was Greyden?

I shot out of my room and back to the stairwell. Below Viv was opening the front door for someone. Greyden walked in ahead of Darius and I nearly choked. Darius pressed a sawed-off shotgun into Greyden’s back. I gasped and started down the stairs nearly losing my footing.

“Let him go! It’s me you want, you sack of shit,” I protested. Viv smirked and walked back into the kitchen. I glanced over her shoulder out the window. Darius’s truck was behind hers and there were two men I had never seen sitting in the bed.

“Is that any way to talk to your Step-Daddy,” Darius teased and shoved Greyden into a kitchen chair. Greyden gazed up at me with those burning sapphires and I held my breath. The gun pointed in my direction and I held my hands up where Darius could see them. Going for the gun tucked at my back didn’t seem like a good idea at that moment.

“She is going to have you killed too,” I said trying to keep my composure. “She wants to be free from us both. You will take the fall for my blood and she will break free of all her chains.”

“She is full of shit,” my mother claimed. “Just shoot them both already,” she ordered him and waved her hand with impatience. “You always have to fucking play around. Just do the job!”

“I’m really tired of your mouth, woman,” Darius barked. I figured this is how they usually were together. His eyes slid over me and a sick smile parted his lips. “Did you think that up all by yourself, little girl,” he asked and tilted his head.

“I didn’t have to. It’s the truth,” I replied as I leaned back against the kitchen wall. “She has you fooled, Darius. You just wait and see.”

“Dammit, Darius! Get it over with,” Viv blurted. Darius turned to look at her with the barrel of his gun still aimed at me.

“Why don’t you come do it yourself, bitch,” he asked her. “You are the whore that had her! You brought her into this fucked up world, you take her out!” Greyden growled and Viv stepped over and slapped him hard enough to turn his head. He cut his eyes to stare her down and she sat on the table in front of him, pushing his hair away from his cheek.

“This one is…
nice
,” she said as she let her eyes fawn over him. Darius’s face started to shift in anger as she pushed his buttons and tried to take the attention off of his question. Greyden continued to growl quietly. I found myself admiring his ability to keep from freaking out.

“Get over here, Vivianna. Pull this fucking trigger and take care of your own mess.”

“No.” She stood and walked to the kitchen doorway. With her back to him, he shifted the aim of his shotgun and blew her head to bits.

Shock flooded the room and then an agonizing scream of pain. My mother’s body fell forward into the entry way that was now splattered with bits of skull and brain matter. Blood, speckled with silver, stained my hardwood floor. I turned towards the screams and found Darius sitting on the floor with his back to my sink. The gun lay next to him and his hands clenched his chest. I felt a freezing pulse in the air and it slammed into me. I dropped to my knees and caught myself on my hands trying to catch my breath. Greyden spilled from his chair to my side and drew me up in his arms. I couldn’t feel her anymore.

Darius’s screams turned into sobs and I watched him slowly collect himself and his shotgun. I waited for him to turn it on me, but he stood in front of us with it limp at his side.

“Now
we
are free,” he whispered. His eyes went to the sickening sight in the doorway and then back to me. The fire in his eyes had dulled. He looked as though someone had stolen half of his life. In a way, she had. Greyden started to stand and Darius put his barrel to Greyden’s head. “Sit. I’m taking her,” he informed us. “Get up, little girl. I still have business with your
mate
.”