Authors: Tammy Blackwell
She was standing up to Liam? Maybe this
wasn’t the real Talley after all.
“
You thought…?” The look
Liam gave me made me feel a bit like a two-headed cockroach. “He’s
your brother. How could you think that?”
Wait. I was the bad guy here? No. Nuh-uh. I
don’t think so.
“
You knew?” Righteous
indignation laced my words. “Let me guess, it was all part of the
Liam Cole Plan. Was letting me feel betrayed and broken down part
of that plan, too? Did it make me more malleable? Did I bend easier
to your will since I had so little left to fight for?” I am a
trained martial arts fighter. I have a black belt in four different
disciplines. Yet, when my fist pounded against his stupid arrogant
chest, it was the same inconsequential swat women have been giving
larger, stronger men since the dawn of time. “You…. You… You
ass
!”
I put both hands on his chest and shoved
with all my might. He staggered back a few steps, though more out
of shock than my brute strength. Liam’s jaw clenched as he shifted
his weight slightly, and I could see in his eyes that the gloves
were off. I put my weight on the balls of my feet and brought up my
hands.
Things were about to get interesting.
“
Jase! Do something!”
Talley demanded.
“
No need,” he replied.
“I’ve got a pretty good view right here.”
“
Jase!”
“
Come on, Tal. He deserves
it.”
Showing the utmost confidence in me, Talley
said, “He’ll hurt her.”
“
Well, maybe she deserves
it, too.”
I weighed my options. Liam was bigger,
stronger, and possibly even faster. I had to be smarter. He would
expect stealth and misdirection, but if I went straight at him?
Would I catch him off-guard enough to have the advantage? There was
only one way to find out--
“
Are you sure there is a
cave up here?” Came a giggling voice from about halfway down the
mountain.
Crap.
“
I promise. It’s called
Murder Cave because --”
“
We have company,” Liam
announced. I thought about adding a “No, duh,” on there, but
realized he was probably saying it for Talley’s benefit.
“
Seriously?” Make that
Talley and Jase’s benefit.
Liam shot me a look and said, “We can
discuss this late, but we need to move now. It’s too risky for us
all to be seen together.”
“
We’re parked near Chimney
Rock,” Talley said. “You?”
“
Princess Arch,” Liam
answered. Jase made a valiant effort to not laugh, but was
unsuccessful.
“
Okay, Jase will go with
you and guide you back to the house, and Scout will come with
me.”
“
You’ll never find your way
down the mountain,” Jase said exactly at the same time as Liam
declared, “It’s too risky for you to be seen with her.”
The look of annoyance Talley shot the both
of them was priceless. “One, I grew up hiking these trails, Jase.
In case you’ve forgotten, I’m the one who guided us here.” She
turned towards Liam, who had the sense not to glare back. “And two,
what risk? Who is going to recognize her? I’m her best friend and
it took me a while to realize the person behind the wig and color
contacts was Scout.”
“
Sunglasses,” was all he
said in response.
Delighted over Talley’s ability to put the
boys in their place, I slipped the sunglasses back on with a
smile.
Chapter 8
“
How are my parents? How is
Angel?” The questions came spewing out the moment Talley put the
key in the ignition. “Charlie?”
“
Everyone is fine.” She
turned her palm up so she could squeeze my hand in hers. Through
our bond she sent a shot of reassurance. “They’re fine,
Scout.”
I took a deep breath, trusting her unlike I
would anyone else. She may have looked different, but she was still
my Talley. I could feel her goodness in every cell of my body, and
if Talley said they were okay, then they were okay. But still…
“
Details. Lots of them,
please.”
Talley backed the car out of the parking
spot before fulfilling my request. “It’s been a bit tricky with
your parents. Jase is playing the part of Sarvarna’s lapdog, and
she’s keeping a pretty close eye on anything he does, so he can’t
just out and tell them what is going on. Luckily, I have a bit more
leeway. They keep me around because my skills are valuable, but
they all think I’m too much of an emotional basket case and way too
devoted to you to be of any real use. So, I’ve been the one to talk
to your parents mainly. I keep it vague so as not to get the Alpha
Pack nosing around and to keep your folks from freaking out, but
they know you’re alive and in hiding. Your dad wanted to go out and
find you, thinking he could protect you from whatever you need
protecting from, but Jase managed to stop him.”
She tapped her finger on the steering wheel.
“And…?” I prompted, knowing there was something there she wasn’t so
keen on sharing.
“
And, well, they’re
currently not speaking to each other, but don’t worry. It’ll work
itself out.”
I sighed as I slid back against the seat.
Dad and Jase weren’t speaking to each other? Great. Add that to the
list of things I’ve royally screwed up just by being me.
“
Angel?”
Talley smiled, which made me nervous. Things
other people found amusing about my little sister usually aren’t
that funny to me. “Well, of course she has no clue about what is
really going on and thinks the whole car crash story is
true...”
“
Oh God.” Somehow that
seemed worse. “The news is implying I’m dead.” Poor Angel. My poor,
sweet, innocent little--
“…
So she called CNN to set
them straight. She left a message telling Nancy Grace to shut her
stupid mouth and quit saying her sister is dead, because she’s
not.”
“
She did not. She’s only
seven, for pity’s sake. Where would she even get the phone
number?”
Talley was really going to have to stop
smiling like that. My peace of mind was in serious jeopardy. “She
may have been under the influence of Jase.”
“
This is the reason they
really should be kept apart as much as possible.” Although, I found
I was actually grinning a little bit myself. “Did Nancy Grace
reply?”
“
Oh yes. She played the
voicemail on air. The whole world got to hear Angel call her a
lying wicked witch.”
“
Nuh-uh.”
“
She did!”
Talley slowed down to a virtual crawl,
letting a red pickup pass. I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw
a familiar blue-grey car.
“
She’s sorta kinda grounded
from now until she’s thirty, but that’s probably for the best.
Angel isn’t exactly the kind of kid who needs access to computers
and phones. There’s no limit to the amount of havoc she could
cause.”
“
True,” I admitted. “And if
she’s grounded, that means Mom and Dad will be keeping an
extra-close eye on her. That makes me feel a little
better.”
Talley reached over and gave me another
reassuring hand squeeze. “Everyone is fine.”
“
Everyone?” I bit the
inside of my lip so hard I tasted blood. “The news said he was in
critical condition.”
We were at a stop light, so Talley was able
to turn to look at me. After some consideration she said, “Can you
promise to not make a single sound?”
I shook my head, but was truly confused
where this was heading until she punched some buttons on the
console. After a few seconds the pop music, which had been pouring
through the speakers, ceased and a trilling filled the car.
He answered on the third ring.
“
Hello?”
“
Hey, Chuck! How are you
feeling?” To my knowledge Talley never called Charlie Chuck. In
fact, as far as I knew, I was the only person given that
honor.
“
Talley?” He sounded weak.
Not zombified or sad, just not strong. Like maybe he wasn’t really
used to talking and needed a nap.
“
Yep. It’s me. Jase and I
decided to head into Eastern Kentucky for the weekend. He needed
some air, and I wanted to look for bears.”
Bears…?
“
Did you find
one?”
“
Two actually.”
There was a rush of air over the speakers
and when Charlie spoke his voice was clenched. “And how were
they?”
“
Good.” Talley spared me a
glance which I really wished she wouldn't do since she was
navigating an overly curvy road. “Really good. A little tired and
cranky, but they’re bears. They’re supposed to be tired and cranky,
right?”
“
Cranky is exactly how I
like my bears.”
With considerable effort, I swallowed my
giggle.
“
Speaking of cranky bears,”
Talley said, “how is your therapy going? You’re not still giving
the physical therapists a hard time, are you?”
Charlie was giving the physical therapists a
hard time? That didn’t sound like Charlie. Jase? Yes. I’ve actually
seen him go head-to-head with a trainer over a basketball injury,
but Charlie is usually more laid back.
“
I’m not giving them a hard
time. I just don’t understand why we can’t go ahead and increase
what I’m doing if I’m ready. Anyway, they should
want
to push me harder.
The sooner I can walk, the sooner I can go home and get out of
their hair.”
I gasped before I realized what I was doing,
causing Talley to shoot me a shut-the-heck-up look.
“
Well, surely someone is
there to keep you in line,” she said, more for my benefit I think
than Charlie’s.
“
Yes, Mama Talley. Bob and
Cory have been very good babysitters in your absence.” It sounded
patronizing and sarcastic, but both Talley and I knew he secretly
loved Talley’s overprotective, Mother Hen-like tendencies.
“Actually, Cory is waving hello to you right now.”
If Cory the Canadian, an Alpha Pack
Taxiarho, was still around, either Liam was right about that whole
Charlie-is-beloved-by-the-Alpha-Pack thing, or he was being treated
to the same around-the-clock attention I enjoyed back in July. If
it was the second, I wondered how they kept the gun trained on
Charlie’s head without the nurses and doctors saying anything.
“
Hey, Tal. You remember
that girl who quit high school and became a truck stop waitress? I
think her name was Flo?” Talley raised her eyebrows at me, and I
nodded. Leave it to Charlie to remember a random rant from a year
ago. “If you see her, tell her I miss her. A lot. Is she still
living with that guy?”
“
I don’t think they’re
getting along too well, but yeah, they’re still
together.”
“
Tell Flo to lay off him.
He’s a good guy. He’ll take care of her.”
He’ll forget to tell her
that her brother didn’t really betray her and let her walk around
with a shattered heart for no good reason.
That’s what he will do. Not a good guy. Not someone I want to
take care of me.
Talley must have been able to see my
thoughts etched across my face. “You know, I can imagine what Flo
would say to that. I can’t tell you though, because I think it
would involve a lot of cuss words.”
Charlie laughed and it was one of the single
most beautiful sounds in the whole world. “I’m sure it would. But
she needs to believe me on this one. I know what I’m talking about,
and she should trust him, one hundred percent.”
I shook my head in denial, but Talley said,
“I’ll tell her.”
There was some commotion in the background,
an IV pole beeping and a female voice.
“
I’ve got to go, but
thanks, Tal. Thanks for calling me.”
“
Get some rest,
Charlie.”
“
I love you.”
Her hand reached out and grabbed mine. “Love
you, too.”
Then the connection was cut, and I burst
into tears.
Chapter 9
“
It’s not that bad,” Talley
said, her fingers trying to fluff out my natural hair in vain.
“It’s pixie-like.”
“
Remember Thomas Bardwell?
That weird kid who was only around for the third and fourth
grade?”
“
The guy who told us he had
to move to Timber because a dragon ate his other house?”
“
Yeah.” He was also the kid
who got a piece of corn stuck up his nose and didn’t tell anyone
for three months. “I have his haircut.”
Talley chuckled, throwing her arms around me
for the tenth time in thirty minutes. “I’ve missed you so much,”
she said for the twentieth time.
“
I’ve missed you, too,” I
told the top of her shiny black hair. “It’s been
lonely.”
We were sitting on the porch swing of an old
clapboard house watching the boys as they did something underneath
the hood of our car. The place belonged to Talley’s Aunt Della, her
mother’s non-Seeing sister, who was at a bluegrass festival in
Virginia. Talley assured us her father’s pack wouldn’t come around
due to some bad blood and hurt feelings, and Liam decided it was
remote enough for us to stay the night. The house was located in a
literal hole in the ground, accessible only by driving to the end
of the world and hanging a right onto a single-lane serpentine road
whose pavement had more cracks and chunks missing than could
possibly be considered safe. The driveway was all but hidden and
cut down at such an angle I may have left fingerprints in the
dashboard of the CRV Talley was driving. The house itself looked
like something out of a Depression era picture on the outside and a
ceramic doll museum on the inside.