Torn (20 page)

"It was you the
whole time wasn't it? The bank. The mayor. Were you responsible
for the Les Miserables tickets too?"

Why now? Why did the
fates choose to continue to rub my face in how amazing she was, in
just how much I'd lost without ever truly owning it.

"Why? What
possible difference does it make one way or the other?"

"Because I want
to understand. Why me? Why would you do all of that for me?"

"You really
don't understand? You saved Rachel. If for no other reason, then
for that."

It wouldn't have
worked with another shape shifter. It didn't work with Adri either.
She was still moving with exquisite care, somehow managing to close
to within a few inches of me. I felt myself tremble as she
cautiously placed her hand on my arm. The planter dropped to the
ground as I let her closer to me than I'd let anyone other than
Rachel since I'd first shifted to a wolf.

The horror I'd seen
earlier on her face had vanished, replaced with an incredible
compassion, gratitude and the acceptance I'd given up hope of ever
seeing on her face or the face of anyone not of the pack.

"That isn't why
you did it though. Is it?"

I shook my head,
imminent tears making my voice rough.

"No, I just did
it for you. Maybe not so much at first, but I couldn't get you out
of my mind. You were everywhere I looked. In my class, at lunch,
even in my dreams. I couldn't get away from you."

Her heart skipped a
couple beats as she moved ever so slightly closer to me.

"Do you still
want me to leave?"

"Do you want to
leave? I won't stop you if you do. If you can convince your mom to
leave town, there's even a chance you'll be safe from Brandon."

She was so close now
that I felt, as well as heard, the shivers that ran through her at my
words.

"He's like you
isn't he?"

I laughed, but it was
nothing more than an attempt to avoid breaking down as we returned to
the fundamental reason she couldn't really want me.

"You mean a
monster? Yes, we both feel the call of the moon. Does that scare
you?"

I felt her move
against me again as she shook her head. "No. I guess a
little, but not like it should. You wouldn't hurt me after
everything you've done for us."

"I could kill
you without even meaning too. You're so fragile. All it would take
is an accident, a momentary loss of control. I really am a monster"

The words burned, but
she deserved the truth, not the kind of sugar-coated lie Brandon
would've fed her.

"No you're not.
I don't understand what you are, but you aren't a monster. Brandon
is. Vincent, Cassie. They're all monsters, but you aren't."

I finally risked
looking up and fully meeting her eyes. "How can you know that
when sometimes I'm not sure myself?"

She took another deep
breath and then moved her hand from my arm to my stomach. She
wrapped both arms around me and pressed her face into my chest as I
stood paralyzed, unable to move for fear of startling her.

"Thank you for
saving my life. Were those wolves some of Brandon's friends?"

"Simon and
Nathanial."

She trembled slightly
at the acknowledgment that someone she'd known, however slightly had
been intent on killing her.

"I didn't know
them that well, they mostly ignored me, but I didn't think they'd
kill me."

I felt another surge
of elation wash through me as I carefully returned her hug. It was
hard to know how much of the truth she was ready for, but it was only
fair that she know who and what she'd really been dealing with.

"Maybe they
weren't going to kill you. I can't say for sure, but they've both
killed people before. I couldn't take the chance that they weren't
just playing around. I had to stop them."

Her delicate fingers
reached up and traced the periphery of Donovan's handiwork on my
shoulder. The gauze rustled quietly as she sought for the right
words.

"They could've
killed you?"

"I came out ok
all things considered."

Her face had long
since dropped the emotionless mask she used most of the time. Her
expression momentarily took on an unsatisfied cast at the same time
her scent peaked slightly. Part of me spared a thought to wonder
what had caused her disquiet, but the rest of me was overcome by the
sudden realization that for the first time since I'd first seen her
at school she smelled whole and healthy.

Her studied response
distracted me before I could finish the thought.

"Well, I'm glad
things turned out the way they did. Otherwise we'd both be dead."

Dead. I felt myself
tense up as I contemplated our coming destruction. I'd just killed
two people, but somehow that didn't bother me as much as the fate I
knew awaited everyone that mattered to me.

"I suppose I'd
better clean this up or Donovan is going to be very unhappy."

Adri looked around at
the shattered pottery and shook her head slightly in amazement.

"Who's Don...."
She stumbled slightly as some realization struck her. "I've
been here before. In my dream. Then I drew it, which I didn't
understand because I only ever draw real places, and this was
imaginary. Only it wasn't, but there wasn't any way for me to
know..."

She turned back
towards me with astonishment written all over her face, only to look
confused when I didn't comment.

"Isn't that odd?
Doesn't that make you want to know what's going on?"

I wanted to tell her
the truth about this too, but there was just too much that it wasn't
safe for her to know. The Coun'hij was lax about many things, but
they were absolutely rabid about ensuring our kind remained a secret
from the world at large. It wasn't just the humans that could become
a danger to us. The humans had numbers and effectively unlimited
resources at their disposal, but there were other, darker things that
we'd managed to hide from nearly since the dawn of time.

I opened my mouth to
tell her
something
, but she cut me off.

"Don't lie to
me."

"I'm not sure
what to tell you. There's so much you don't know, and most of it I
can't tell you. More importantly, you're better off not knowing."

Despite my having just
told her I couldn't tell her all of the things she'd just asked about
she seemed to be waiting for me to go on.

"Hold on there.
You can't just leave me in the dark about all of this. I'm in up to
my neck; you have to at least let me know what I've fallen into."

"I'm sorry, I
know this has to be hard, but you don't belong in this world. You
admitted yourself that you don't know anything about us. It was a
mistake for me to let you get involved."

It was surprising just
how hard the next piece was to get out.

"I'm going to
remedy that right now. We'll get you home, and then your mom is
going to get an offer that's too good to pass up. With any luck
you'll both be out of town within a couple days. I think I can
arrange it so neither of you will be back for a year or two. That
should be more than enough time for this all to resolve itself one
way or another."

Adri's pulse shot up
like a heart-attack victim. "Wait. No. You can't do that."

I was already headed
out of the grotto, but the sound pulled me back around in time to see
her collapse. I just managed to catch her before she hit the ground.
I picked her up and waited anxiously for her eyes to flutter back
open.

"Are you ok?"

I tried to set her
back down as I spoke, but she grabbed onto me with surprising
strength for someone so delicate.

"Don't leave me.
Please don't make me go."

The tears seemed to
tear at things that were still raw, things that hadn't had a chance
to fully come to term with the idea that she didn't hate me. I
wanted to give in, to promise her anything, but duty compelled me to
do what was right for her, even if she didn't know it yet.

"Adri, you don't
understand. This is the only way to keep you safe. I can't protect
you here. I can't even protect my own family."

"No,
you
don't understand. This whole time I thought I was in love with
Brandon, I didn't even know him. You did so much for us and didn't
even hate me when I was so rude. I've been so stupid, please don't
send me away."

She was building up to
another attack, and I didn't have the heart to put her through that
again, not so close to the last one. I placed a finger on her lips to
silence her and then said the last thing I should have been saying.

"Very well. I
should send you away for your own protection, but I'm too selfish to
do what's best for you. Maybe later I'll be able to do what's right,
but not right now, not so soon."

Rachel was waiting for
us, happiness and concern warring with each other on her expression.
I knew what was bothering her as soon as I got close enough to feel
the energy surging out from the rest of the pack. I gently put Adri
down as I prepared for the coming battle.

I vaguely heard the
girls apologize to each other, but couldn't focus on anything other
than keeping my beast from tearing free into my hybrid form and going
for blood. A tiny fraction of me wondered at how much stronger my
protective instinct had gotten when both Rachel and Adri were
involved, but there wasn't time to explore the change.

I pulled the door
open, only to have Rachel place a hand on my arm to stop me.

"The rest of the
pack is back. Jasmin already told them what happened. It doesn't
look good."

It was a confirmation
of what I'd already known was coming, and I felt a growing distance
settle on me as my power surged out in challenge. I turned towards
Adri and offered her the best comfort I was able with my beast riding
me.

"I realize it's
unreasonable to ask you to trust me right now, but I'm going to need
you to do so. Can you remain quiet for the next few minutes?"

The words she
responded with were unimportant, I could smell her agreement, feel
acquiescence in her heartbeat. Rachel shook her head at me, but my
heightened senses knew she was agreeing with me whatever her body
language might be indicating. I stalked inside the house and went
directly to the East Drawing Room. I heard the girls follow behind
me, but my attention was on Jasmin.

The rest of the pack
was clustered around her, James and Jess on either side, with Isaac
and Dom further back. I only just managed to focus on Jasmin's
words. I had to. If there was a chance to head this off without
bloodshed, then it was my duty to find it.

"She goes back
to Brandon tonight. It's a long shot, but it's better than nothing.
She brought it on herself so there isn't any reason to cry over what
might happen."

"Unacceptable.
She wasn't properly his. There was no bond of Ja'tell, and
consequently we have no obligation to return her to him."

My voice already
sounded like the transformation to hybrid had begun. It was enough
to give Jasmin pause, but not Jess.

"Alec, we have
to do this. None of us are stupid; we know what's going to happen.
You killed two members of his pack."

"Still
unacceptable. You've all aired your opinions; you can retire to your
beds now."

James looked up. He
was shaking so badly it was obvious he was even further gone along
the process of losing control than I was. Dom tried to calm him
down, but he shook her off with a roughness that was uncharacteristic
directed at her. His voice came out as a near growl.

"You selfish
jerk. You've been mooning over her for weeks. You've got her now,
but at what cost? This isn't open to discussion. We're taking her
back to Brandon and asking for leniency."

The girls had shifted
slightly, angling for a better view probably, but I reached back and
gently moved them so they were directly behind me. The last thing we
needed right now was to give anyone an actual visual target.

I was trembling now
too. It was becoming harder and harder to talk when so much effort
was being consumed in not going for James' throat.

"There's only
one way you're going to touch her, James. Are you really ready to
take that step?"

James replied with a
wordless but unequivocal pulse of power. Jess and Jasmin joined in
with their own metaphysical wind as they too began shaking. A growl
brought my attention back to James, and when he looked up at me the
brown of his human eyes had been replaced by the hot yellow of a
predator that'd owned the planet since before the last ice age. Mine
were already the ice blue of a royal hybrid, and as my control
slipped ever so slightly my hands transformed to hybrid claws.

They were moving
forward now. If I'd been inclined to back down now was the time to
do it, before they edged into pouncing range, but the thought never
gained any traction in my mind. Two of the most important people in
my world were behind me, and I would kill for them even if it meant
laying down my own life.

Adri's pulse was
hammering away behind me, but Rachel's oddly maintained a near
resting rhythm. She murmured something nearly inaudible but
strangely comforting to Adri and then shifted slightly behind me.

"Jasmin, please
don't do this. I'm not going to move. She doesn't mean anything to
you. What about me?"

Jasmin stopped her
stalk as Rachel's words hit her. Jasmin and I had been best friends
for nearly my entire life, but she shared a bond with Rachel I didn't
really understand. That relationship did what even the threat of
death couldn't.

With an effort no
human could ever appreciate, Jasmin brought herself back under
control. As soon as she stopped trembling she turned and left the
room, moving at something more than normal speed in an effort to
leave before temptation overcame her again.