Kissed (The Thorn Chronicles) (25 page)

“You know, you can’t say things like that and not tell me. I need to know.”

I sighed, resigned. “You told me you wanted to kill me and described how you were going to do it.”

He didn’t react, just stared at the road stone faced. He stopped in front of an ordinary house. He sent a text, then got of the car and came over and opened my door. I got out, wary. As soon as I cleared the door Puck had his arms around me, crushing me in a hug. He whispered fiercely in my ear.

“I can’t imagine why I’d ever thought that. I don’t want you anywhere near dead. Please don’t think less of me because of the things that my dark side would have you think.”

He pulled away and kissed me lightly on the lips.

“I—” He started to say something else when a cough interrupted him.

I turned. Jason stood behind me with raised eyebrows.

“Puck, I knew you had guts, but I didn’t think you were stupid enough to go after Kai’s girl.”

I didn’t let Puck have a chance to retort.

“I’m not Kai’s girl anymore.”

Jason laughed. “I think Kai’s going to have to be the one to decide that.”

“Excuse me—”

Puck interrupted. “Jason, Naomi’s face needs to be healed. Can you take care of it?”

“What happened?” he asked examining my wound.

“I ran into the back of Puck’s hand. It was an accident.”

“Is that so?” He placed his hand on my temple. When he removed it Puck nodded. The pain disappeared and I relaxed, grateful for his ability.

“Jason, would you like to help me on a special project I’m doing for Alejandro. I’m not supposed to talk about it, but I can’t do this one on my own.”

“Sure.”

“Meet me in Alejandro’s gardens tomorrow morning. Don’t tell anyone else.”

Jason nodded and walked back towards the house sitting in front of us.

As we drove back to Ginny’s I watched Puck. He was tense and quiet.

“Why did you tell Jason that your project was for Alejandro?”

“Because he wouldn’t help me otherwise.”

“I think you need to tell Alejandro what’s going on.”

His knuckles went white on the steering wheel. “No. Alejandro won’t let me do this. And I don’t know anyone else who has the ability. Plus, no one else is going to be able to go to Arkansas.”

#

The next few days were better. Jason helped a lot. For the most part I hid out in various greenhouses while Puck singlehandedly destroyed Alejandro’s roses. Puck told me that destroying objects infused with Guardian energy made it easier to be a spy. Kai had discovered that from their dad. Kai was training to become a spy for the Destroyers before their dad died. It took Alejandro a few years to convince Kai that the Guardians were the good guys. Now he uses his ability to spy
on
the Destroyers instead of
for
them.

Jason would come get me when it was time to bring Puck back to reality. On the fourth day, Puck came out of his self-imposed monstrosity himself.

“Tomorrow I’m going to go out and infiltrate the Destroyers. I need to do that here in Vegas, not only to find out information, but so that I’m comfortable with them.”

“Puck, you’ve only been able to come out of it by yourself once. Don’t you think you ought to give it more time? We’ve got another week.”

“It’s got to be tomorrow. We don’t have time to mess around. The more time I spend with them the easier it will be for me in Arkansas. Jason is going to drop me off. I’ll wear a tracker. If I’m not back by noon Jason will come get me.”

“I don’t like this. I’m worried about you.”

“I know, but I’ll be okay. You’ll see.”

#

The next morning I woke to Ginny squealing again. This was becoming a regular occurrence so I didn’t think much of it.

“Ginny, are you okay?” I asked, coming out of my room. She continued squealing.

In the kitchen I found her standing in front of Alejandro who held a little black box. Puck walked in the same time I did, but he came from the living room. When Ginny saw me she burst into tears.

Alejandro stood there, looking lost.

Ginny handed me the box and then began to hyperventilate. I turned the box around and saw that it contained a ring with a diamond the size of a dime.

“Wow.”

Puck had come around behind me. He plucked the ring out of the box and examined it.

“What’d she say?”

Alejandro shrugged. “She hasn’t said anything yet.”

We all stared at Ginny. She took heaping gulps of air and finally spoke, “Yes.”

Alejandro whooped, grabbed Ginny in a big hug and spun her around. Then he snatched the ring back from Puck. As he slid the ring on her finger I finally realized what the implications were of this whole bizarre morning. Ginny was going to marry Alejandro. And she had no idea what he was or the ability he had to influence her choices.

Even though I was upset with Alejandro for keeping her in the dark, I smiled and pretended that all was okay when Ginny finally untangled herself from him and made her way over to me. I told her I was happy for her and couldn’t wait to help her plan the wedding. And that, yes, I would be her maid of honor. Weddings took ages to plan so I figured I had time to make sure she was fully informed before taking the leap.

“Fall,” she said. “I want a fall wedding.”

Alejandro put down his cup of coffee that he was nursing. “This fall or next?”

“Why wait? This fall.”

The words took a minute to register for me. “But that’s less than four months away.”

“Then we better get planning. I need to go take a shower.” She leaned down and kissed Alejandro and made her way back to the bathroom, occasionally pausing to admire her ring. As soon as she was out of earshot I rounded on Alejandro.

“You will tell her what you are.”

“Demanding aren’t you?” He smiled and raised his eyebrows. I looked to Puck for support, but he just rolled his eyes.

“If you don’t, I will,” I said.

“Of course I’m going to tell her. In time. Because she’ll get suspicious and I’ll have to. But not before that. There is no reason to rock the boat.”

“You’ll tell her before the wedding or I will. I wouldn’t recommend waiting until the night before either. She’d be likely to throw the whole thing off.”

“What purpose would it serve?”

“Truth always serves a purpose.”

Puck interjected. “The only purpose telling Ginny will serve is to make her angry and confused. She’s happy Naomi, why can’t you see that? Let her be happy. She loves him, and that is real, whether you think so or not.”

I glared at Puck. “Have you ever been in love?”

The silence in the room was deafening. I waited a few moments and when he didn’t speak I continued. “When I think about the way Kai used me, it kills me. It’s not fair to have that much power over someone. That whole time I thought it was just my father and his sick cult that had all the control over me, but Kai controlled me too. I loved him. I still do. It’s not fair and it’s not right for someone to have that much power and control without the other one knowing.”

Puck’s chair skittered across the floor and by the time I looked back at him all I saw was the back of his head disappearing out the door.

Ale sighed. “You might be right. Will you give me time to think about it?”

I nodded, exhausted by the whole ordeal. I didn’t want to think about it.

“Besides, you’ve got something else you ought to be worried about right now.”

I jerked my head up.

“What?”

“Puck.”

“What about him?” Could he know what Puck’s been doing everyday in his garden? I suppose if he took the time to go out there he would’ve seen the damage, but did he know Puck was draining the roses for power? Although I did my best to repair the roses, it was still obvious they’d been through Hell and back.

“I do believe you’ve hurt his feelings.” Alejandro straightened in his chair and frowned at me.

“How?”

“Puck has been in love. Still is, if I’m not mistaken.”

“With who?”

“You. Now, I must go say goodbye to my fiancé. Good luck making up with Puck.”

Puck couldn’t be in love with me. No, Alejandro must be mistaken. But then I thought of how he looked at me when we kissed. And how he was always around. And there was that unmistakable feeling when I was with him. He was in love with me and I had just mentioned that I still loved Kai. Which was sort of true. At the point I didn’t know how I felt about Kai. I was angry with him, but if walked through the door right now, I don’t know if I’d slap him or kiss him. How did I feel about Kai?

I once asked Puck where his name came from. He rolled his eyes and changed the subject. But I persisted. After swearing on my first-born child that I wouldn’t tell anyone, he told me. His mother wanted to name him Cupid, but his father thought that was a stupid idea so she played with the letters for a while and came up with Puc. She added a “k” so people wouldn’t pronounce it like puke. Maybe I should change his rose from a Tuscany to a Heart of Cupid.

Ginny had the day off and Alejandro had to work so we had the day together. Ginny wanted to go shopping and I resigned myself to a day full of shoes and dresses. First, though, she needed to consult with a client by phone so I sat on the balcony, watched the cars go by and inhaled the smog. A knock on the door startled me out of daydreams.

Jason stood there, his eyes wide and his fists clenched. “Where the hell is Puck?”

I backed up, startled by his anger. “I’ve no idea. He left here an hour ago.”

“Too late,” he muttered and raced for the elevator.

“Wait, what’s up?” I asked getting on the elevator with him.

“I got a text about fifteen minutes ago from Puck that said he was heading into enemy territory on his own. Without a tracker. And he didn’t tell me where he was going.”

“Can I help you find him?”

He stopped and stared at me for a minute. “Duh, I need you. You’re the only one who can get him to come out of it. Why would he go off on his own like that anyway?” Jason cursed and kicked the paneled mirror.

I remained silent, not wanting to upset him anymore. “I should get my phone in case he tries to call.” Back in the apartment Ginny sat on a stool eating lunch.

“Hey Ginny, you remember Jason.”

She nodded and smiled.

“She’s Alejandro’s fiancé.”

Jason whistled under his breath. “When did that happen?”

“This morning.”

“Congrats Ginny. I expect you’ll be seeing a lot of us. Alejandro keeps us pretty busy. When’s the wedding?”

“We haven’t set a date yet, but probably sometime this fall.”

I went to my room and grabbed my phone. No messages. I knew Puck could handle himself, but I was frightened for him. I’d never get over it if somehow he couldn’t find his way back. I’d have no one to blame but myself. I shuddered. I’d already been responsible for Ruth’s death, I didn’t want to lose Puck because of my stupidity too.

On my way out of the room, I heard someone knocking on the door. I raced for it. When I turned the handle, I prayed that it was Puck. But the two detectives stood there glowering.

“Hey guys. We weren’t expecting you for another week. Is everything okay?” I tried to hide the disappointment in my voice.

“Can we come in?”

“Sure.” I stood aside and they walked past me. In the kitchen they sat across the table from Ginny. Jason paced anxiously at the door. I knew he wanted to leave, but if he wanted me to help him find Puck he could wait.

“Your parents’ lawyer found a loophole in the case. The case was dismissed yesterday.”

Terror filled my stomach. They were no longer in jail. They would come out here for me. My father had my phone number. He’d find me and hold me prisoner in my old home or he’d give me back to Dwayne so he could marry me. Then he’d probably kill me, just like Ruth. I took deep breaths, trying to remind myself that Ginny and Alejandro and Puck would protect me. And that I wasn’t still a kitten myself. I had claws and I knew how to use them.

Ginny put her arm around me protectively. “You okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

The agent fidgeted with his briefcase for a moment. And then drew out a piece of paper.

“Since the case was dismissed, your parents technically have done nothing wrong. The first thing they did upon release was to file a court order to bring you back. We are here to take you home.”

Ginny’s arm tightened around me and she laughed. “No way. She’s staying right here.”

The detective tugged at his tie. “Ma’am, it’s a court order. You don’t have a choice.”

Ginny held up her finger and scrolled through her cell phone. She glared at the detectives as she waited for someone to answer.

“Why wasn’t I told they were released?” she asked into the phone with deadly calm.

I wandered back over to Jason fully confident that she wouldn’t hand me over to the detectives. She had connections everywhere.

“Naomi, we have to go. Puck could be anywhere right now.”

“I know. But I can’t leave until we figure out this mess.”

Puck was out there, with Destroyers, all because he agreed to help me. Now it was pointless. They were out and Father would come looking for me. Puck could be lost for nothing.

Ginny began screeching into the phone. Her words were incomprehensible. Her face went beet red and she threw the phone across the room. She stood breathing deeply for a few minutes. Then she smoothed her hair with her hands and looked at the detectives.

“I will have a court order on Monday. Come back then.”

“Ma’am, we have a court order today. She comes with us. You can recover her on Monday.”

“She could be dead by then. She won’t go back to that home. I don’t care what kind of technicality those assholes were released on. They murdered three people, what will stop them from doing that to their own daughter?”

“According to the state of Arkansas the arrest was a mistake. They didn’t murder anyone. If you refuse to release her, we’ll arrest you. Right now.”

Ginny went pale. Then she dug through her purse and pulled out a checkbook. “You look like reasonable men. Name your price to leave and pretend like we weren’t home. We’ll leave the country until I can straighten it out. All you need to do is pretend like you didn’t see us. Ten, twenty grand. Name your price.”