The Rift (15 page)

“No kidding,” he said. But he hugged me hard
and let me stay there. “To make it up to me, you are going to go
shopping with me, tomorrow. You are going to throw out the baggy
clothes you’ve been wearing and you are going to wear the clothes I
pick out.”

“And this is going to make me love myself and
want to live?”

“It’s a start. You’ve given up so much,
moving into Varius and, basically, being under house arrest. You’ve
changed and your clothing should reflect that. Looking good on the
outside will make you feel better about yourself. Confidence breeds
confidence.”

“Uh-huh, and if I say no?”

“You can’t say no. You owe me for that
comment about me and Tucker.”

He had me there. “Fine, but I don’t have to
enjoy it.”

Henry rocked with me on his lap until I fell
asleep. I drifted off to the scent of green things, flowers, and
fresh dirt.

I woke up, alone, with someone on top of me
trying to choke the life out of me. Their hands were so tight
around my neck that I couldn’t make a sound. I kicked and twisted,
but the hands didn’t move. My lungs were starting to burn and I
knew I was going to die. The room exploded into light and I heard
someone whispering my name. I forced my eyes open and met Henry’s,
his face twisted in concern. I felt tears leak out and I didn’t
wipe them away. I was so, so tired and I just wanted to stop being
afraid, to stop reliving all of the horrible things that happened
to me. I rolled away from Henry. He climbed into bed and wrapped
his arms around me, spooning me from behind.

I wanted to push him off me. I was
embarrassed that I needed him, that I’d made him worry again. I
didn’t want to be the weak, helpless girl anymore. When Henry’s
breathing deepened and I was sure he was sleeping, I slipped out of
his hold and climbed out of bed. I pulled a sweatshirt over my tank
top and left my flannel pajama bottoms on. I let myself out of the
room and pulled my running shoes on next to the front door.

“Want some company?”

I jumped, but managed not to scream. I turned
to see Jed on the couch staring at a blank T.V. screen. He was
wearing an Allman Brothers t-shirt, the first band t-shirt I’d seen
him in since we’d been in Briarton together.

“What are you doing up?” I asked.

He just shrugged. “I’ve got a lot on my
mind.”

I nodded. I imagined he was pretty pissed at
his mom for insisting we stay there and I couldn’t blame him. “I’m
in a terrible mood,” I said. “But if you want to run I can’t stop
you.”

He didn’t look at me. “If you want to be
alone, I’ll stay here.”

“Really? You’re going to let poor little me
go for a run, alone, in the dark? That doesn’t seem like you,
Jed.”

He finally looked at me, his jaw clenched. I
felt my lungs expand as I realized I’d gotten to him. I don’t know
why, but it made me feel a tiny bit better. “You can do what you
want, Kelsey. I’m done trying to help you when you so clearly don’t
want my help.”

And just like that, the air got sucked right
back out again. I felt like he’d punched me in the stomach. It was
him turning away from me after I’d kissed him all over again. Hurt
washed through me, followed quickly by anger. I’d told him the
truth about Wraith and, in my own way, I’d asked for his help.
Asking for help wasn’t something that came easily to me, and I
could clearly see that fact had gone unappreciated. “Why are you
still here, Jed? Surely, you could find someone else to take your
place as my guard.”

“Corporate wants me here.”

“And you always do what corporate wants,
right, Jed? Well, don’t do me any favors. I can take care of
myself.”

“Clearly,” he said, his voice twisted with
sarcasm.

I should have stepped out the door, but I
couldn’t. I’d been tied up in knots for months, trying to figure
out Jed, one minute my friend the next my enemy. I was tired of
wondering. I opened the screen door and motioned to the porch.
“Outside, now, Jed.”

He stood and turned toward the hallway. “I’m
done with this conversation.”

All of my righteous indignation left me and I
drooped. “Of course you are,” I said. I stepped out onto the porch
letting the door swing closed behind me. I was half way down the
stairs when I heard the screen door open and close behind me.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked.

“Go back to bed, Jed,” I said, as I continued
down the stairs.

He was down the stairs and in front of me so
fast I almost jogged right into him. “What does that mean?”

“I’m tired, Jed, and I’m in a miserable mood.
I came out here to run and get away from…”
myself
“everything. Please just leave me alone. I’ve gotten the message,
okay.”

He stepped closer, so his nose was almost
touching mine. “And what message would that be?”

“I get it, Jed. Whatever friendship we had in
Briarton is done, and you wish you were done with me. I don’t blame
you, but since we’re going to be stuck here together, would you
please just tell me what the hell it is I’m doing that is making
you so angry.”

“Why don’t you blame me?” he asked, his voice
suddenly gentle.

“What?”

“Why don’t you blame me for not wanting to be
your friend anymore?”

“Where should I start?” I asked, trying to
buy myself some time, to figure out what I should say. I couldn’t
think straight with him so close to me, his warm breath making
clouds in the dim light from the moon. “I’m some sort of
supernatural freak, with powers no one really understands. I won’t
cooperate with Varius. Apparently, I’m so screwed up in the head
that I needed an intervention, and I can’t seem to stop hurting my
friends. Any of that close to the target?”

Jed leaned in, so close I was sure he was
going to kiss me, which didn’t make any sense. His whole body
trembled and he took a step away from me. “Kelsey,” he said, his
voice husky. My knees shook so much, I thought I was going to fall
over. “I’ve been playing that guitar you got me,” he said. He’d
told me once he hadn’t time to figure out what he’d liked, and I
suggested he try out some hobbies. The day after I moved into
Varius I bought him a guitar and a book about learning to play and
left it on his doorstep. “I like it. It relaxes me.” He sighed and
ran his hands through his hair. “I want so badly to be that person
I was with you in Briarton, to take up a hobby, and…but I can’t be
that person. I can’t be who you want me to be.”

I reached out to touch him, still confused,
but hearing pain in his voice and wanting to offer him comfort.
Before my hand reached him, though, he was gone. I heard the front
door close and I spun around, but I was alone, again. He hadn’t
given me the chance to tell him that I liked him as he was, and I
would take whatever he could give me. He was giving up on me again.
The sky was starting to turn pink at the edges, and I picked up my
feet and started down the driveway. I figured I was less likely to
get lost if I ran along the road.

I’d only gone about ten yards when I heard
footsteps behind me. I turned and saw Thad jogging toward me. I
waited for him, and he fell into step beside me a moment later.
“You’re my bodyguard for the day?”

“Jed told me you were in a bad mood. Wanna
talk about it?”

“If I wanted to talk about it, I would have
woken up Doctor Veronica.”

Thad snorted. “Right. Well, let’s not talk
then, let’s just run.”

I grunted my agreement and we ran on in
silence.

By the time we got back to the house, I felt
lighter and Thad had actually gotten me to laugh. My laughter died
when I saw a familiar SUV in the driveway. “Shit,” I said, under my
breath.

“It’ll be okay, Kelsey,” Thad said. “I’m not
planning on letting you out of my sight today.”

“What do you mean?”

“Jed wants me to look out for you while
you’re with Houston.”

“Of course he does,” I said, ignoring Thad’s
questioning look.

As we neared the house, Wraith got out of his
truck. “Jeremiah and I stopped by to take you and Angelica out to
breakfast. Have you eaten?”

Mentally, I groaned. I just wanted to go
inside and curl up in bed, but finding out what Wraith was up to
was the quickest way to get sent back to Varius and away from Jed.
Besides, Angelica would kill me if I made her miss breakfast with
Jeremiah. “No. Just let me get a shower, and I’ll be back out. I’ll
tell Angelica you’re here.”

Wraith smiled, dazzling me with his good
looks. I walked up the porch stairs. “Thad will be joining us,” I
said, over my shoulder.

“That’s to be expected,” Wraith said.

“It’s chillier than I’d hoped.” Wraith slid
out of the Carharrt jacket he was wearing and wrapped it around me.
He paused after he’d closed it over my chest and his amber eyes
held mine with an intensity that scared me, because it wasn’t
unpleasant. The blue eyes he’d had in his reaper form had also
mesmerized, intrigued, and frightened me. He looked so very
different, but he was the same man who’d watched Landon attempt to
reap me, the same man who’d drained my life force until I’d almost
died. He smiled slightly and moved away.

“There’s always an adjustment period,” he
said, as though he’d read my thoughts. “This body doesn’t quite
feel like my own, yet.”

We were seated on a blanket in the center of
a grassy field, a few miles from the safehouse. Breakfast was a
picnic of bagels, cream cheese, and fruit. Angelica and Jeremiah
had wandered off for a walk and Henry had gone with them. Thad
watched us, but he was out of earshot. “Not as easy to seduce me as
you’d expected?” I asked, the question surprising me enough that
heat warmed my cheeks.

Wraith laughed. “Seduction isn’t my primary
goal with you, Kelsey. Though it’s easy to forget my priorities
when you are near.”

“Speaking of that, why don’t you explain what
it is you do want from me?”

He raised his eyebrows. “Is that your
question for today, Kelsey? I’ve already explained what I want from
you.”

“I want specifics.” It wasn’t the question
Jed or Varius would want me to ask, but it was what I wanted to
know. I didn’t really care how Houston and Bruce had been able to
reap wolves, I wanted to know why Houston was back in my life
again, and why he was making so much effort to convince me to like
him.

He leaned toward me until I could feel his
breath on my cheek. “I’m tired of having to beg and borrow for
every life I get, Kelsey. I’m tired of the infighting and the
squabbles. I’m strong and I’m feared, but with you by my side, I
could be unstoppable. We could make the rules and we wouldn’t have
to bow and scrape to anybody.”

I found myself leaning away from him. “Don’t
you already have that, with all of the territories you’ve
taken?”

He shrugged. “I’m a wolf, now, Kelsey. Those
territories belong to the reapers. I want to have my own place, my
own life, and never have to fear that someone will take it from
me.”

“I think you overestimate my power.”

He touched my cheek gently. “I don’t think I
do. You’ll be able to fight any reaper who tries to take what I
have or the people I protect. You will be able to see them coming,
to talk to them, none of which I can do any more. You will be able
to recruit and train more reapers to work for us as a security
team.”

“And what do I get out of this
arrangement?”

“You get an early retirement, lots of cash,
and what you always wanted, a simple, normal life.” He leaned back
on his hands and grinned. “Well, as close to normal as exists for
us.”

The sound of a scream ripped the grin off
Wraith’s face. He and I leapt to our feet in the same moment.
“Angelica,” I said.

Wraith’s nose twitched, he pointed, and we
started running. Thad jogged up next to me and another scream from
Angelica had us all picking up our pace. We ran to the edge of the
field, where the land rose and the trees started, and found Henry
on the ground, with a huge wolf standing on his chest. The wolf had
Henry’s forearm in his mouth and he growled and shook it when he
saw us approach. Henry’s face was twisted with pain and
determination, but his skin was pale and his own blood speckled his
face and chest.

“Jeremiah, stop,” Wraith said in a loud,
commanding voice, but Jeremiah didn’t let go of Henry. He didn’t
even look at Wraith. Angelica sobbed and paced behind him.

“Please, please, stop,” she said, over and
over again. Angelica was one of the gentlest people I knew. She had
once hit a man with a frying pan to save my life, but she’d hated
doing it. She didn’t even like to kill spiders. Her eyes met mine.
“I tried to pull him off, but he…I couldn’t.”

Wraith moved closer to Jeremiah and put a
hand on his head. “Jeremiah, stop now,” he said in that same
forceful tone. The wolf didn’t even seem to notice he was there.
“Bruce,” Wraith said, his expression grim. “Bruce, I know you can
hear me. You must stop now.” Still the wolf did nothing. Wraith
reached for Jeremiah, but stopped himself, pulling him off Henry
could rip Henry’s arm off, too.

Thad stepped up next to Wraith and showed him
a gun. “Tranqs,” he said.

Wraith sighed and nodded.

Thad shot Jeremiah with a tranquilizer and
still he didn’t release Henry. I was beginning to think we might
have to risk Henry’s arm to get the wolf off him, when Jermiah
shuddered, let go of Henry, and toppled to the ground next to
him.

Henry sucked in his breath, looked at his arm
and passed out. I hurried over, but his arm was a mess of blood and
torn skin and I couldn’t tell how bad it was. “We’ve got to get him
to Doctor Veronica.”

“I’ll bring the truck,” Wraith said. He
turned and raced back to the parking lot where his SUV, that had
somehow had room for all of us that day, was parked.