True Fate (24 page)

Chapter 13

Rhea went to work and got her stuff out of her
car and moved it to Nia's.
 
They would
have to rent a suburban if her calculations were correct and she'd have to figure
out how to get her car home later on. She texted Adam and her dad to meet her
at home as soon as possible.

She had a message for all of the people messing
with her bestie's head and she would make them listen however she had to. Aaron
was going to help her, he just didn't know it yet. So she texted him not
expecting a response anytime soon, he had Nia to take care of but she told him
to get her a meeting with the others and made herself busy as she waited for
his reply.

Rhea: Aaron I need to talk to you as soon as you
can. It's not an emergency but before tomorrow would be great.

That would do for now she supposed until then she
had to get packed. Rhea was surprised to hear the lock turn she was already
freaked out and she was alone so she grabbed a golf club in the hallway ready
for whatever. She tensed and was relieved to see it was just her dad. Setting
her improvised weapon back in the bag she and Nia had gotten her dad for
Christmas she blew out a huff. Nia was closer than any other person on this
planet to her and he already knew the sort of loyalty they had between them.

Al walked to the kitchen and grabbed a cold bottle
of water, he tossed his keys on the counter and asked, "Okay, what
happened?” he leaned on the counter and waited chugging the ice cold H2O.

Rhea wondered what she should or could tell him,
but decided she trusted him, she just wanted him to be safe. "Well, Nia
had a fight with her dad.” she said seeing if he knew anything at all.

He pursed his lips, "All I know is she left
in some guys arms and I have never seen him before. She was inconsolable and
Vince was devastated.” he said. "He won't talk to me about this and I'm
worried about him and Nia. What's really going on?" he asked then took
another drink.

Rhea let out the breath she'd been holding and
replied as casually as possible, "Well since you don't know, all you need
to know is what you saw. Vince has been keeping secrets from Nia. Secrets she
needed to know a long time ago. It's life changing stuff dad and Nia's been
going through a lot lately.
 
It was just
too much and she snapped.” Rhea explained shrugging her shoulders.

“I have never seen her break apart like that and
that guy, he's her boyfriend, Aaron.” she told him what she needed to and
nothing more, she wasn't about to drag him into this mess. Al just nodded with
sad eyes, he was never one to meddle in other people’s business.

"Hmm.", was his response. He drank the
rest of his water and Rhea decided to go ahead and break the news about the
road trip’s early departure to him.

"Umm Dad? We're leaving tomorrow for our
road trip. All of this is just too much for Nia and she thinks the time away
will give her some time to be ready to deal with it all.” Rhea said as
confidently as she could. Al crushed his bottle and tossed it in the recycle
bin as Rhea braced for a lecture or some sort of protest.

"Okay.", he said simply nodding and shoving
his hands into the pockets of his work pants. Trying not to seem surprised Rhea
smiled though she certainly was. She had expected the protest and at the very
least some shock. But seeing as they were supposed to leave Monday anyway,
perhaps it wasn’t such a big deal.

"Thanks for understanding dad.” she said
wrapping him in a grateful hug.

"You just promise me you will be careful and
safe, huh?” he said embracing her tightly. "You're all I got kiddo.
Remember that.” he added.

Rhea loved her dad and although he wasn't all she
had he was a huge chunk of her world. "I love you dad, thanks for being,
cool. I need to go and finish packing.” she said heading to her room. “I love
you too Rhea, with all my heart.” With that he nodded and watched her walk
away, she may be nineteen but he just wasn't used to all her freedom.

Although he knew she was grown, he just wasn't
sure that he was fully ready for this cross country stuff. When they'd gone to
Florida he had Rhea check in twice a day and he didn’t get a wink of sleep.
This was going to be rough, his baby wasn’t a baby anymore.

Rhea went online to rent the car for the trip,
she wasn't taking no for an answer. With that out of the way she continued
packing although there wasn't much to pack. They were going from warm and
steamy, to cool, cold then colder weather. They only needed a few things and
since they hadn't been shopping they'd have to do it on the way. So she packed
what she needed in her largest duffle and put in her empty space bags. She'd
bought them for college but this would be a great time to try them out. Going
to the restroom she got her toiletries together and the doorbell rang.

"Rhea.", her dad called. She went to
the living room and Adam stood there awkwardly. Her dad knows him of course but
he hasn't been over since graduation.

He was around like a brother growing up but Rhea
had developed a crush on him in junior high that she was too embarrassed to tell
him about it.

The sight of him made her insides do belly flops
and she smiled as he came towards her and hugged her. Albert made a choking
sound and Rhea blurted, "Dad stop!", and drug Adam to her room
looking over her shoulder as her dad chuckled going to sit in his recliner.
Shutting the door she stood there holding his hand and just looked at him as he
smiled a crooked smile and looked at her questioningly.

“So…?” Adam smiled again rubbing the back of his
neck with his free hand. Rhea really liked being this close to him she thought.
At least she sure had imagined it enough.

"So what?” she asked trying to shake the
hazy feeling from her clouded brain.

"How's Nia?” Rhea looked down and was
mortified so she let go of his hand quickly, ignoring the butterflies on
steroids that were assaulting her insides at the moment. Rhea smiled goofily
and invited him to sit.

Explaining the same generic explanation that she
had to her dad only adding, "She’s as okay as she can be I suppose. There's
some things I can't tell you but some strange stuff is happening with Nia. It's
hard to explain and I'm not sure if telling you everything is okay. She would
want you to know she hasn’t lost her mind though.” Rhea explained moving a little
further away so she wasn’t trapped so close to his spicy scent.

“I’m glad she is okay.” He said as he stared at
Rhea.

The silence dragged on for a second or two
bringing the awkward vibe back when Rhea shook her head and remembered. "Actually,
I need your help if that's okay.” she said slowly.

"Anything.", he replied, answering
immediately. Rhea’s cheeks turned a bright pink and she felt suddenly hot. So she
decided to take off her jacket and tell him her plans and she was definitely
glad to have him here. Letting him know she needed to go pick up her car and
get everything settled, before they had to leave. Then she leaned back a bit
with a grin she had no control of.

Riding with Adam to the docks was thrilling and she
drove her car back home with him following her. She got out of the car and Adam
met her beside her car. "So are y'all still going on the trip then?” he
asked
.

'Crap',
she
forgot to tell him.

"Yeah, she wants to leave tomorrow."
She waited as he was obviously thinking about something.

"Aaron's going and his cousin Eric and
possibly two other people too. I rented a Suburban.” she explained.

"And I even got a turtle for the top for the
luggage.” she informed him, he had yet to speak and she was starting to worry.
"Umm Adam.” she said.

"So… I'm thinking I should quit at the docks
and go along for the ride. I mean after that scene today. How could I possibly
work for him?” he asked. Then quickly added, "They could get a temp you
know."

Rhea thought for a moment and she immediately
wanted to jump for joy but what if things got bad, she was the only 'normal'
one going on the trip. And then there's the fact that Nia was worried about her
safety already. But she couldn't call her to see what she thought about it
either
. 'Dang.'
 

So she took a deep breath, "Okay I'm cool
with it but I have to warn you if Nia freaks you may have to stay. She's the
one I'm worried about right now, okay?” she said then waited for him to
respond.

He abruptly wrapped his arms around her waist
hugging her and lifting her off the ground spinning in a circle and she
laughed. "Awesome! I got to go pack!” he said setting her down and she
smiled as he nearly ran out the door,
'Yeah, it would be okay. Right?'
she thought
,
at least she
hoped it would be anyway.
 

###

Eric was getting confusing signals through his
protector bond, it seemed Nia was broken and hurt yet she was happy and
euphoric. He'd have to wait till he got back to Darragh to call her or perhaps
he should summon her to a dream. He couldn't decide with her sporadic emotional
state. All he knew was that he needed to hurry this up so he could figure it
out.

Avery sat across from him at a restaurant trying
to decide if he was ignoring her or just deep in thought. He did have a whole
other life she had no concept of. He said he was still connected to the
dreamscape and he could be consciously summoned there at any time.

"Everything okay?” she asked quietly, but
got no response, "Hey, hello.” she said waving a hand in his face. That
snapped him out of his distracted state.

"Sorry, Ave I'm getting crazy signals from
Nia I don't know if she needs me or not.” Eric said with a frustrated look on
his face.

Avery huffed out a breath, she was getting tired
of the twangs of jealousy that plagued her whenever he talked about Nia. Even
though he knew he was devoted to her and his heart was hers. Their fate and
promise was serious business for him but so was his oath to Nia. She just
wondered if he had to choose between her and Nia what his choice would be. To
speculate the answer was too frightening. Though she knew she didn't need him
to protect her she has been taking care of herself and hunting down bad guys
for a while now all on her own.

"Oh, well maybe we should go to her job or
something. Fake lunch delivery to the wrong address always works.” she
suggested with a shrug.

"I don't know maybe I should text her, we
just need to get back soon. Okay?” he answered. Avery just nodded and was
determined to find a way to get over this ridiculous feeling.

###

Nia was beside herself the feeling pressing in on
her felt a lot like grief. Perhaps it was because she trusted her dad and had
such a special relationship with him. Thinking that he didn't keep anything
from her may have been a stretch, even if it had been for her own good. Why
didn't he at least tell her something on her birthday? The past two years she
was certain he should have said something! It was certainly going to drive her
crazy trying to figure him out. She was grateful for the earlier distraction
but everything had caught up to her again.

Aaron just held her patiently as the tears flowed
once more, he was amazing, she thought as he held her like she was precious. That
alone meant everything to her.

Having no doubt those arms were where she
belonged Nia didn't care what anyone thought or how long they'd actually known
each other. Obviously their souls recognized that this was fate. She needed him
now, things were changing and they would go through it together, that she could
handle. While it didn't make the pain any less it definitely made it more
bearable.

"You thirsty?” Aaron asked as her sobbing
slowed and he stroked her back gently. Nodding Nia sighed and he got up then
headed to the kitchen.

Nia sat up on the side of the bed slowly and took
a deep breath feeling dizzy and her eyes stung, she stood slow and made her way
to the bathroom at a steady pace. Aaron passed her on the way with two waters
and a plate of green grapes. He gave her a small smile and she touched his arm
trying to assure him that she could manage the bathroom on her own.