Everlasting Bond (38 page)

Katrina looked at her in confusion, when she heard a welcoming voice. “Hi.” Just hearing his voice was enough to make Katrina’s heart melt. Turning, she found Cole’s ang
elic face staring back at hers.

“Cole.” Katrina could barely get his name out wit
hout crying.

“I’ll leave you two alone,” her mother said, as she slowly crept out of the room.

Katrina never took her eyes off Cole as he made his way over to the bed and sat down next to her.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“A little bit better, now.” Feeling the warmth of excitement rush to her face, Katrina lifted a corner of her mouth and gave him a warm smile.

“Good.” Cole smiled back; he crossed the room and s
at down on the bed next to her.

Katrina looked down
at her hand. “Did you do this?”

“I washed out the dirt and wrapped them. I didn’t want them to get infected.”

“Thanks.” She smiled back.

“You’re welcome. I was going to wake you, so you could change, but you were out cold,” he explained, as he motioned towards her. “Would you like to go clean up and change clothes?”

“Yeah.” Katrina went to stand when she realized she had no clue where she was. “Where am I?” she asked, looking around the room.

“We’re at my family’s hideaway.”

“And where’s that?”

“
Montana.”

“
Montana? Wow!”

“What?” Cole gave her a confused look.

“Nothing. Just never been that far from home before.”

“I wanted to make sure it was safe before I took you back.” Cole brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face.

“Oh,” Katrina faintly uttered, she stared into his eyes. She felt her body lean into him, when she quickly collected herself and blurted out, “Where’s the bathroom?”

“It’s through there.” He nodded his head towards two large double doors.

Katrina went to move, but she suddenly stopped. She was afraid to leave. “Will you be, uh—,” she bit down on her bottom lip not wanting to sound like a basket case.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

She grinned and nervously shook her head. Heading towards the bathroom was a challenge. Taking that first step was so painful. She wanted to scream. Her body was so sore that the pain caught her off guard. She had been so caught up in shock at her mother earlier it didn’t faze her, but now it stung like a bitch.

“Caroline?” Cole ran over to her.

“I’m fine. Everything just hurts.”

“You want me to help you?”

“No. I can do it.”

“Are you sure?”

“I need to.” She went to move when she winced in pain again.

“Let me help you, please?”

“I have to try. If I don’t, he wins,” she pleaded with him.

Cole hesitated. It took a few seconds for him to relent and let go of her. “Okay.”

Each step she took seemed like an eternity for her. She was determined to make it there by herself, but it was a struggle; it didn’t help that she could feel Cole’s eyes on her the entire way.

Opening the door, she noticed the bathroom was as elaborate as the rest of the house. The sandy colored marble countertops glistened in the light, as the flickers of auburn spirals inside it accented the golden fixtures. The lightly crème colored walls were adorned with more fancy artwork that resembled Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus” painting. Decadently adorned with crimson roses, the small space had a
certain romanticism about it.

Undressing, Katrina winced once again at the pain. All of the blood mixed with the down pouring of rain had caused the gown to form itself to her body like a crispy shell. She had to practically rip it off of her. It took a few tries, but it finally came loose. As soon as
it did, relief swept over her.

Watching it fall to the floor, Katrina felt free at last. It was the last reminder of the hell she’d been through and she was glad to be out of it. When she was done, she was going to have Cole burn it.

Looking up, Katrina’s eyes stopped in shock at the reflection staring back at her. There were bruises everywhere. Her body was almost completely purple. She shuddered as the painful memories surfaced, about each and every one of them.

Feeling Donovan’s malicious hands as if they were still touching her caused her entire body to scream in protest. Katrina hoped in time the horrid memories of what happened would fade away. In disgust, she turned and made her way slowly into the glass shower.

As the beads of hot water pounced off her sore skin, she gritted her teeth together. It was all she could do to stop from screaming. It was like scorching metal pellets stinging every crevice of her body. Instead of letting the water massage her fatigued muscles like she normally would, Katrina made it a quick one. The pain was too much. Plus, she had spent so many nights waiting, yearning for Cole to come back. And now that he was just outside her door, she didn’t want to a waste another minute.

Stepping out, Katrina grabbed a charcoal colored bath sheet that was neatly folded on one of the golden shelves and dried off.  As she bent down to dry one of her legs, she noticed a black bag nestled in the corner of the bathroom floor. It looked the same as the black bag she ha
d always kept at Stacy’s house.

Katrina felt a brief sense of happiness, at the thought of the memories the bag held for her. Unfortunately her bliss was short-lived. Her joy quickly turned to pain, as she realized her best friend was gone and never coming back. Tears trickled down her cheeks, as the aching hole she felt in her heart throbbed. Part of her was missing and it always would be. She was so caught up in her grief the light tap at the bathroom door sent her heart racing.

“Caroline, is everything all right?” Cole’s muffled voice questioned through the door.

“Yeah
, I’ll be out in a minute.” She quickly searched through the bag and grabbed the first thing her hands could find. Slipping into her black sweats and burgundy lace tank top, her body sighed in content. It felt good to have something that was so familiar and hers fit softly against her body.

Opening the bathroom door, she found Cole propped up against the wall. Glaring into the flickering of the fireplace,
he looked like Michelangelo’s
David
—a perfectly carved statue, lost in his own thoughts and she didn’t want to interrupt.

She tried to step quietly, but should’ve known better. As soon as she took her first step, he turned to face her. Just the sight of him cause
d her pulse to race. The way he looked at her made her heart want to beat out of her chest in excitement. His whole face lit up at the sight of her. So much had happened while he was away and she wanted to spill every last detail, but she couldn’t. Instead, she sat back on the crushed velvet bedding, a nervous wreck, and fidgeted with her empty hands.

A heavy mixture of confused emotions began to run wild inside her. Keeping her eyes firmly planted on the floor, she pretended to be preoccupied with other priorities. She hadn’t seen or spoken to Cole since the last night they spent together. She was starting to feel awkward. And she
wasn’t sure what to say or do.

“Caroline,” Cole’s low voice began. “Can yo
u ever—forgive me?” he pleaded.

Katrina watched him make his way over and gently seat himself next to her. She wanted nothing more than to throw her arms around him, but then her other emotions took over.

“For which part—the fact that you left me all alone or that you never even said goodbye?” She struggled to fight back tears.

Even though he was inches from her, she couldn’t bring herself to look at him. Nervous tension clouded the small space, as the two sat side by side. Having wished for this moment many times, her nerves began to work themselves into a heated frenzy. He was so close, within her reach at last, but she still felt betrayed.

“I suppose I deserve that. I didn’t want to leave, but I had to. It was the only way to keep you safe.”

“But you left without saying anything at all.”

“If I had waited until the morning, would you have let me go?” Cole’s hand gently reached for hers.

Katrina took a deep breath and realized he was right. “No, I would have begged you to stay.”

“For what it’s worth, I thought of you every agonizing second I was away,” he assured. Tenderly placing a finger under her chin, he forced her to look into his blue eyes and Katrina’s heart melted. She could see just how vulnerable he was and it made her body take over.

For too long had she been wishing to have those icy ocean colored gems staring back her. Katrina’s nerves began to work themselves into a heat
ed frenzy, as he got closer. Within her reach after so many lonely nights, she wanted to take him right then and there. She could have sworn he was about to lean in and kiss her, when he stopped himself.

“Come in,” Cole answered, w
ithout taking his eyes off her.

“Kat,” Jake’s hesitant voice interrupted. Katrina turned to see her brother coweri
ng in the doorway.

“You can come in, Elias. Her wounds are covered,” Cole assured him.

“Kat, I just wanted to come and apologize about earlier,” Jake said, giving her a half smile. “I didn’t mean to—”

“He didn’t mean to try and make a snack out of you,” Andrew’s sarcastic voice burst through, easing the awkward silence.

“Thanks, for that.” Jake threw a grin back at Andrew, as he knelt beside his sister.

“Apology accepted, Jake.”

“Really? You’re not mad at me?”

“No. Frightened would be accurate.”

“I’m so, so sorry,” he pleaded with her. “I would never ever try to do that on purpose. You have to believe me.”

“I do. And as much as it might scare the hell out of me, I know it’s part of who you are now.”

“You have no idea how glad I am to hear you say that.” Jake sighed in relief, as he threw his arms around her.

“Aw, group hug!” Andrew said, as Katrina felt him squeeze hi
s arms around the both of them.

“Andreas! Get up, before you crush her,” Cole laughed.

“Sure thing, dad!” Andrew winked. He went to leave when he stopped. “Oh, I almost forgot; I found something of yours.” His voice grew very soft and gentle. “I thought you might want it back.” Andrew held up her amulet.

Katrina didn’t say anything. She hesitated. After everything that happened, the amulet wasn’t exactly something she had been missing. Katrina knew Cole must have picked up on her apprehension because he quickly answered for her. “Why don’t you leave it on the nig
htstand? She’ll get it later.”

Andrew shrugged his shoulders and set it down. He stood back for a brief second before he added, “We’ll let you lovebirds catch up and go have some fun of our own.” Andrew cocked an eyebrow, took Jake by the arm
, and led him out.

Jake turned and said, “Bye, Kat. We’ll talk more later,” before shutting the door behind him.

Katrina sat there absorbing everything in. Information overload was an understatement. It took her a moment to let some of the dust settle. Coming to terms with everything would come in time, but she needed baby steps to make it there. She shook her head at the thought of what had become of her once boring small town.

“What?” Cole asked.

“It’s just ironic how fast things can change. When I started school my biggest worry was when I would get out of here.”

“And now?”

“Now everything’s changed.”

“Caroline, I realize this is a delicate issue for you and I don’t mean to pressure you in anyway, but have you given any th
ought about us and our future?”

“Cole, I want to be with you always, but—”

“But not that way.” The hurt was in his voice, as he finished the sentence for her.

“But
I’m scared,” she corrected him.

“Scared of what?”

“I don’t know. Of the unknown I guess.”

“Caroline, nothing will change. You’ll remember everything about your human life. The only difference is you’ll be young forever. Do you know how many women would love to be offered such a gift?”

“I know and it’s not something I tread on lightly, believe me. Part of me wants to more than anything, but another is scared to death. With everything that’s happened I just don’t know who I am anymore and want some time to figure out me before I can do something that big.” Cole didn’t say a word. He just sat there and Katrina wasn’t sure what was going through his mind at that moment. “You’re mad at me, aren’t you?”

“No. What you’re saying makes sense. It’s just hard to hear that’s all.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Caroline, I love you. I always have and I always will. I’ve waited over a hundred years for you.” His hand lightly grazed her purple tinted cheek. The touch was
so gentle that it sent shivers of fire vibrating inside her. “A little longer won’t kill me.” Without thinking, Katrina shuddered.  Pain filled Cole’s face. “Sorry. I forgot about that.”