Breaking Out (13 page)

“Cut the crap.” Two sets of eyes were locked
on me tight enough to leave bruises. “It’s a good time to tell us
what you know.” Charlie practically hissed. Jay was scowling and
Samson growled from the backyard, maybe sensing the tension in the
room.

Even the stupid dog was gifted. What was I
thinking? Epic Fail. If two words were ever more appropriate I
couldn’t dredge them up. I’d really thought I could handle this
spying thing, but they’d been too normal—too nice—and I’d dropped
my guard.

I slumped in the chair, nauseous and
defeated. “I don’t know anything.”

CHARLIE

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

I’d been
trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, but if she didn’t
agree to talk to me, then I might have to…no. I’d figure out a way
without hurting her.

“You know who I am, don’t you?”

“You’re Charles Crawford.” She spoke softly,
without energy.

I wiggled my hand near my head, giving her a
heads up that I knew she was lying. “If you keep lying to me I’ll
never be able to trust you. There are lives at stake. Please tell
me the truth.”

“There are lives at stake for me, too,” she
snapped.

I frowned. Stupid of me not to think of that.
She might’ve been forced to work for someone. The knot in my
stomach loosened.

“Is your house bugged?” Jay asked.

“No. At least I don’t think so.”

“I’ll take a look around.” He did a quick
sweep of the kitchen, heading for the living room next.

She was twisting a lock of hair around her
finger, tugging on it. Her other hand was in her lap, clutching her
napkin hard enough to whiten her knuckles. I moved my chair next to
hers and held out my hand. “Give me your hand, Ivy.”

She tried to scoot her chair away from the
table, but I held it in place. She was trembling. “Don’t hurt me.
Please.”

Oh man. She’d been hurt before. “I won’t. I’m
looking for the truth, but no matter what it is, I won’t hurt you.
I promise.” I took the hand that was in her hair and held it with
both of mine. It was warm and a little bit sticky, the odor of
syrup and bacon still strong.

Use your healing energy
, my mom had
told me. Okay, lets see.

I allowed my aura free reign to swirl around
hers, clearing away the grey and rebooting the spring green color
most humans carried with them, yet not interfering with her
shields. She wasn’t human, but she’d been spelled to look that way.
I wouldn’t hurt her. Not unless it was a question of our survival.
She looked up, ”Oh,” she sighed, relaxing her shoulders. ”You’re
not him. You can’t be him.”

“Who?”

“Charles Cuvier. He’s a powerful blood magic
user. A beast who tortures and murders children.”

Her hand was trembling. “Who told you that?”
I asked.

“The advisor of our chieftain, my new
guardian.

Truth. “Who are your people?”

“I can’t tell you. I’m under a blood
spell.”

That was the truth. I wondered if it was
worth putting in a call to my mom’s dad, Simon. He was a sorcerer,
adept at rescinding spells spun by blood magic. But did it really
matter if we knew what species she was? She wasn’t demon, fae,
shifter, vampire or wolf, which probably meant she was one of the
unseelie races. I’d met a few, but there were hundreds.

“Were you sent to find me?”

“Yes.”

Truth. She clutched at her belly, fighting
against the spell. I sent her more healing energy and she seemed to
relax. “By who?”

“Lord Tellek.”

Truth. “Is he your ruler? “

“No. He answers to the chieftain, but I have
a hard time believing the chieftain wants to hurt you. He’s a
peaceful ruler.”

“What were you told to do?”

A tear fell on our clasped hands. “Make you
want to help me. Protect me.”

“What else?”

“I was supposed to take you to them. To
Tellek.” She choked on a sob. “It hurts.”

I sent her wave after wave of my energy,
taking away her pain, her fear, her doubts. “You’ll be okay.”

“My family will be killed if I don’t report
in.”

I released her hands, grabbing a couple of
napkins and shoving them toward her. Crying females made me
nervous.

Jay spoke in my head. “
So far, no bugs,
other than the random cockroach
.”

“
Cool, thanks
.”

“
If you let her contact Tellek, they could
have some kind of code we know nothing about. She might give him
information like where you are. I don’t like it.”

“
I agree, but she told me the truth about
her family.”

“
Well that sucks. Now we have to let her
report in.”

“
I’ll figure out a way to keep it safe for
us.”

“
Sweet.”

“
Jump in the shower then get our stuff
together. We’re leaving. All four of us.”

“
Already jumping.”

When the water came on in the bathroom I
turned back to Ivy. “Help me clean up.”

“What?” She wiped her face with another
napkin. “Jay did the dishes.”

“I’m not leaving a mess for the next tenant.
Liam would make me dig a hole.”

“What? Who’s Liam? And what do you mean the
next tenant?”

“Soon as I shower, we’re all leaving.”

I handed her a broom to sweep up. She needed
something to do to distract her. “But I’m coming back here, right?”
she asked.

“No. It’s not safe. Pack up what you can
carry in a backpack and say goodbye to your cockroach pals. We’re
finding someplace cleaner and safer.”

“But I have to report in. Tell them where I’m
going.”

I sighed. “I’ll do what I can, but right now,
I have to protect what’s mine.” I glanced up the stairs, then
scratched Samson behind the ears.

Her expression held such yearning. Maybe
there was some hope for this girl.

IVY

CHAPTER NINETEEN

He’d taken
me through the lines, my heart beating like a tiny bird’s. I’d
never imagined I’d have a chance to travel the way of the fae, but
there I was, holding his hand, swimming in an ocean so alive with
magic it made my heart sing. In all the craziness I’d forgotten his
bloodline was half fae, especially since I’d been trained to focus
more on the dark demon and vicious cheetah part of his nature. But
holding his hand as the life energy of faerie danced around us and
between us, I watched his fae bloodline take the reins, forcing his
darkness away. His skin glowed golden, his hair as well. The purple
of his eyes accented his handsome, smiling face. When I’d wobbled
at first, he’d twined his fingers between mine. I wanted to stay
there with him forever, bathed in the refreshing warmth that united
all magical creatures.

But it was over too soon and Jay was throwing
up in the bushes. Yuck.

I looked around. We were on a dirt path just
east of Route 1, above Malibu.
Oh yeah
! I started to race
toward the ocean, crossing the highway, ditching my backpack and
tearing off my skirt.

“Hey.” Charlie was there, laughing. “Where do
you think you’re going?”

“I’m wearing a bathing suit. I want to
swim.”

“The water’s freezing.”

“Not to me. Five minutes, okay? I
promise.”

He shrugged. “Knock yourself out.”

One more minute and I was in the sea, diving
under, then body surfing into shore when a good-sized wave came
along. Jay and Charlie were standing on the beach frowning and
Samson was barking, so I let the last one bring me in, ending up on
my feet and joining them on shore. Samson sniffed my feet, then
sneezed and ran off, distracted by a seagull.

The boys were both looking at me in that
automatic ‘guy checks out chick” way, but I ignored them, grabbing
a towel from my pack and drying off. There was nothing special
about me.

“Hey little mermaid, you hungry?” Jay asked.
This one was always thinking about food.

“She has to get changed. We have an
appointment in half an hour.”

“Where?”

“The restaurant at the end of the pier.
There’s a changing room over to the right.” They waited outside
while I made myself presentable.

“You’re not going to be able to come in with
us, sorry.” We were walking down the pier, the other pedestrians
staying clear of Samson. Couldn’t blame them.

“Why?”

“It’s a business meeting.” Charlie and Jay
were both dressed in nice leather jackets and dark jeans. They
looked amazing.

“Yeah. You can hang with Samson.” Jay
said.

“Uh, not happening.” I stepped away from the
Monster.

Jay took my hand is his and smiled. “Believe
me, if Samson didn’t like you, you’d already be a chew toy.”

I turned toward Charlie, scowling. “How can
you own a dangerous dog like that?”

“First of all I don’t own him. He honors me
with his loyalty and his company.” Samson licked Charlie’s hand.
“Second, it beats carrying a gun.”

“I suppose you’re going to tell me he’s
faster than a speeding bullet.”

“Nah. It doesn’t penetrate.”

“What?”

“His skin’s like armor.” Jay whistled and
Samson strolled over to a bench outside the restaurant.

“No it isn’t. It’s normal skin.”

Charlie shrugged. “It’s magically shielded to
repel weapons, at least around his vital organs.”

“You did that?”

“No. He’s a fae dog.” Charlie shrugged and
pointed at the stone bench with a view to the South. “You two sit
here. We’ll be out soon.”

“Hmm.” I flipped my hair out of my eyes.
“What if I decide to leave?”

“You think he’s gonna let you leave?” The
Monster wagged his version of a tail.

“Hmmp.” I sat, turning my back on the two
jerks. “What do I do if he runs off?”

“He won’t. He’s on guard duty.” Charlie
scratched the Monster behind the ears.

“We’ll bring you some food,” Jay added. At
least he seemed to care about me. Charlie was all business.

A seagull landed on the pier’s railing. The
Monster barked at it. Big surprise. “Shut up, big mouth.” I
grumbled. He whined, moving closer and placing his enormous head on
my knee. I waited for the growl, but it didn’t come. Maybe he
wasn’t sooo bad. He had these big sad eyes and that short chubby
tail was a riot. Every time he wagged it his whole butt wagged
too.

I reached out very slowly, palm down, and
spoke softly, the way I’d seen on TV. “Come ‘ere Mr. Wiggles.” He
sniffed and licked my hand, his tongue just hanging there as he
panted. Drool pooled around my sandals.

I wiped the spit on my jeans. Yuck. He whined
again, pleading with me for more attention. I touched the top of
his head and moved my hand slowly down to the back of his neck. He
seemed to like it so I did it again. I yelped when he jumped up on
the bench next to me, stretching out and laying his crate-sized
head on my lap. Ugh, it was so heavy. I started to pet him again,
but he groaned and fell asleep. Wow, some guard dog.

Then he started to snore.

CHARLIE

CHAPTER TWENTY

The female
wolf had left a message that she was running fifteen minutes late,
so Jay and I gave each other some space and called home.

Mom answered on the second ring.
"Charlie?"

"Hi mom." I laughed. Sometimes she was kinda
spooky.

“You okay?" she asked.

"I'm great."

"I had a dream that you...that you teleported
into a house where a girl was sleeping.”

This wasn’t unusual for Mom. "I did meet a
girl. She was being hassled, but she's okay now."

"You didn't get hurt?"

"I'm good.” I put as much sincerity into my
tone as possible. No reason to tell her about the werewolf thugs or
the mysterious Ammon or anything else.

"Do you have any idea when you'll be able to
come home?"

I didn’t have an answer to that question.
"Not yet." Now was definitely not the time to tell her about my
private investigator idea.

"Honey, you know you can call us anytime you
need to talk."

She was trying so hard not to push, probably
afraid I wouldn't call her at all if she did. And I didn’t doubt
for a moment that somebody was keeping a close watch on us. It
might be a fae or Isaiah or even Sinlae, but someone knew exactly
where we were, even if they didn’t know what we were doing.

Still, she and Dad were making them leave us
in peace, and that meant everything to me.

"I trust you, Charlie. You’re smart and
you’ve had the best training. I don’t want you to think I don’t
respect your decision to take this trip. It’s just…I miss you.”

"I'll visit soon. I promise."

"You'll call me if there's a problem?"

"Yes.” I saw the female wolf at the door.
“Gotta go. Love you.”

The wolf was medium height, curvy and pretty,
dressed in a blue business suit and heels. Jay grinned at me,
saying, “
You do the talking. I’ll sit there and nod my
head.”

“
Your ideas are usually good ones. This is
gonna be a partnership.”

“
Fine, but don’t bite me if I suggest
something impossible.”

“
Biting you has never entered my
mind.
” I brushed some road dust off the shoulder of my leather
jacket. Maybe we should’ve spruced ourselves up a little more.

She was smiling, glancing around the room to
see if we might already have our table. When I approached her, she
frowned and looked away. Realization hit a couple seconds
later.

She gave each of us a cursory glance, her
eyes becoming angry slits. “Please don’t tell me you two children
are Charles and Jason.”

“I’ll have to go against your wishes, Ms.
Turner. I’m Charlie and this is Jay.” I extended my hand and
smiled. I might be a kid in her eyes, but years and years spent
surrounded by other races taught me a lot about diplomacy. In most
cases a smile and a polite response worked miracles.