Authors: Sarah Brocious
Joseph and Titus had not heard from him yet either.
The day he had learned that Nolan was going after Raina, he had been so tempted to make this trip right away. He had stormed out the door ready to jump the next flight. Then he had thought better and returned. As much as he didn't like to admit it he needed his new group. For once in his life he had friends he could count on and that was too great of a thing to just throw away.
Jonathan had gone ahead because his appearance at his grandpa's would not be deemed odd. Not like Thanatos showing up out of the blue. He could've ruined everything.
He played it cool and waited until he knew Emmanuel would not be at the home. After days of deliberation, the group decided it would be good if he were there. It would just be an added protection for Nolan and for Raina.
He had boarded a plane and even had Turk crated so he could come along with him on this trip. He wanted Raina to see the animal. He knew that this would give her great joy. And now he was speeding toward the River’s estate.
“Damn this car is slow,” he barked out; his impatience was getting the better of him. His foot was heavy, but the car was not agreeing with his necessity of speed. He sighed, and pounded his head back into the head rest.
Turk growled low in his throat and watched Thanatos with concern. He didn’t respond well to angry words or growls. But he tolerated such sounds from Thanatos…someone he had learned to trust. His tail now thumped against the seat anxiously when Thanatos gave him a glance.
"Don’t worry boy," Thanatos said with encouragement. He had said very few words on this trip and the dog responded by lolling his tongue out of his mouth as if he were smiling.
"What do you think boy? Think she's gonna be happy to see you? Happy to see me?" He tugged the collie’s ear. “They are taking long getting there,” he complained. The sharp green eyes turned back to the road and he shook his head. "If they don’t hurry…the partners will beat them there…and then what?” He thrummed his fingers nervously on the wheel at the thought of meeting with the three partners, That is, if they decided to show up together! The idea of one of the three in particular nearly made him turn the car back around. Was he ready to face him? Was he ready to stand behind Nolan, who would bare the brunt of the pain.
“It’s my fault,” Thanatos growled.
Turk whined again and shifted on the seat.
He shrugged. "I let the influence that Richard Elenora had over me dictate whether I spoke up or not. And then I just didn't care.” He rolled his shoulders, as they started cramping under the tension of his muscles. He felt nerves rolling through him as he let his memories take over. “Well, I care now,” he continued. “I let Nolan carry this on his own for so long. I allowed him to think that it was mostly his fault. But it wasn't his fault at all. How could he have known? He thought he was doing a kindness and it blew up in his face. Of course if it hadn't blown up in his face he wouldn’t be with Raina." He smiled sadly
Turk whined happily at the mention of his mistress’ name. His tail thumped with wild abandon, and he gave a low bark. This made Thanatos smile.
Thanatos suddenly felt very self-conscious having a conversation with the dog who couldn’t even answer him. But he had needed to say all of this out loud.
He reached for the phone that he had tossed aside and called Joseph for the second time in an hour.
"No change, Thanatos," Joseph said gently into the phone. "I am expecting Titus soon. He hasn't heard yet from Nolan in the last forty-five minutes since you called me." He didn't say the words harshly but with gentle compassion.
"Do you know if they had their meeting? Do you think Nolan has had time to get there and get her out?" Thanatos felt a bit of panic rising in him. "How do we know what’s going on?"
"I did have a pair of my eyes check out Richard's home. They met there yesterday and must have learned something of great importance because they left in a hurry. I had them followed and they went straight to the address that Jonathan gave me." He cleared his throat. "The only thing I can think of causing them to run out would be if they were notified of some sort of disturbance. I think Nolan made it to the compound."
Thanatos could barely swallow as the shock and fear rose up in him. "Do you think he managed to get himself and Raina out before the others arrived?"
"I believe he did," Joseph said with confidence. "I think, if they had actually been able to contain Nolan, there wouldn't be any talk of them returning.
“Returning? You mean they are heading back to your place?”
“Yes, well at least Emmanuel is returning, according to the message he left me.”
"How do you know they don't have him or her?"
Joseph smiled into the phone. "Emmanuel plans on coming back here this afternoon. If he had Nolan in his grasp he wouldn't be anywhere near here. No, he doesn't have Nolan. He is coming back here in hopes that Nolan returned."
Thanatos frowned. "Titus said that Nolan did plan on coming back and making Emmanuel pay for what he's doing. Isn't it dangerous now for them to return? Shouldn't he just keep Raina somewhere safe?"
"Trust me, she will be safe here. Nolan will be safe as well. I am making sure of this. You know how much I love that boy and how much I've grown to love Raina. I will not let harm come to them and I will not let harm come to you either, Thanatos."
"What about Richard? Will all three be there?"
“I don’t know," Joseph said just barely over a whisper.
Thanatos felt a bit of defeat. He hoped that maybe it was possible to convict Emmanuel without including the others. "I should be there before they get there. Maybe if it's just the two of them it will be okay. But if the other one is there I really don't think Raina should be around him. Joseph, we can’t put her through that. We can still protect her," Thanatos groaned.
"You may be right," Joseph agreed. "But maybe she needs to face this. Maybe Nolan needs to get this out in the open and off of his own conscience. I know he's scared to death of what this may do to her, and what it will do to him."
Thanatos hated the thought of the pain it could cause the both of them. "But maybe we can shelter her for just a little longer. Can it be a secret for just a little longer?" Thanatos voice was pleading.
"He may not show up at all," Joseph said, trying to ebb the panic in Thanatos voice. "If Emmanuel is trying to play this off, he may not want to include any of them. We may be jumping the gun on the panic."
Thanatos felt sweat trickle down the back of his neck. He really was panicking. This was another feeling that he was not used to. He drew in a breath. "Nolan will try to contact us. Maybe we should hide Raina way until Titus has figured out how he wants to bring this before Isaac. I do not want to just throw her into this. I need to…"
"Protect her," Joseph finished for him. "Yes, I know this. But where other than my home will she be more protected? There would be you, Nolan, Jonathan, myself, and even Titus, and Isaac. Six to stand in between three. There would be enough of us to protect her, Thanatos."
"Physically," Thanatos agreed.
Joseph was silent a moment on the other end of the phone. And then he said with gentle compassion, "I believe she will protect herself. We've all been treating her like this gentle little dove. She's much more than that."
Thanatos laughed at this. "Indeed she is." He felt pride that Joseph had also recognize this in their Raina. "But I would still like to try to shield her from this. I know Nolan would like to do the same. So if he does call, I will warn him. I will let him decide if she's strong enough."
"This sounds fair," Joseph agreed. "But what if we cannot contact them or he cannot get through to us? There's nothing we can do to stop them. We just have to prepare ourselves to be there for her and for him when this all goes down." Joseph listened to Thanatos’ silence for a long while. He knew that he was struggling.
“Fine! I will allow myself to consider that,” he bit out. “I will be there soon, and I don't want Richard knowing I'm there, or the others. Especially not the others!"
Joseph cleared his throat. "I think that's a great idea. I would like to keep Jonathan out of this too for as long as it is necessary."
"And where is your granddaughter in all of this? Last I heard she was trying to seduce Nolan and not doing a very great job at it. Was she still at the compound when Nolan arrived? I would be watching for her too," Thanatos quickly went on without waiting for Joseph's answer. He knew Joseph knew just as little as he did. "She plays stupid but I know she's just as involved in this as every one of the others. Richard doesn't give her enough credit. I should know...I was with her all those years. And though I don't respect her in the least…she's brilliantly cruel." Just saying those words made Thanatos blood boil.
"I love my granddaughter," Joseph said gruffly. "I will always love her. But I agree she can be cruel. Not only can she be dangerous when it comes to Nolan. But she can be a danger when she's around Richard and his influence. He knows how to use her. I make no excuses for her but the worst thing that ever happened was that she lost her mother. Her mother was such a gentle beautiful person and she would have gained greatly from being around her and her influence. Anything gentle and sweet you ever saw in her came from her mother. Richard was different than he is now. Nothing of his mortal life remains. Much like the partner he is with now with, and you know I don't speak of Emmanuel.”
The green eyes filled up like storm clouds and again his anger boiled. "As Raina’s protector I know I go off on the deep end when it comes to watching out for her! I am not too proud to say all of this truly frightens me. But mostly, I believe, I fear for Nolan. I fear for what this will do to him. He doesn't deserve this now."
"No he doesn't," Joseph sighed.
Thanatos hit the steering wheel with the palm of his hand and startled Turk. "When did I become such a sap?" Thanatos growled.
Joseph chuckled. "I like compassion on you, boy! It suits you!”
Thanatos allowed a little smile. “Well the old cut throat Thanatos would come in handy right about now!”
Joseph laughed. “Oh he’s still there, but not so cut throat…just cunning!”
Thanatos liked the sound of that.
“Just get here safely. We'll talk more when you've arrived," Joseph sighed.
"I won't be long," Thanatos promised. He listened as the other end of the phone went dead. And he again tossed the phone into the console. When all this was over he would need a new phone from all the abuse it was taking.
He reached over and patted the dog beside him. "It won't be long now boy and you'll see your mistress." His brow furrowed at his words. He returned his eyes to the road and his foot became heavier on the gas pedal.
He just wished he knew where Nolan was, and what he was up to. He trusted he was keeping Raina safe. But where?
"Raina, Aelan, my sweetheart, you need to wake up."
Raina's eyes slowly opened and she felt disoriented….very confused. She'd expected the half-darkness to greet her eyes as it did every morning in her cell. She expected the hard thin mattress below her back.
Presently nothing was right!
What greeted her eyes was sunlight and below her back was the soft cushion of a feathered mattress. Silky soft sheets surrounded her and a warm heavy comforter nearly drowned her. She remained still even though she just wanted to burrow into the comfort. It was all so familiar an all so....right.
"Have I died and gone to heaven?"
She tried to remember what had happened right before she fell asleep but it was blurry. It was almost dreamlike. Her brow furrowed. No, she hadn't dreamt being a prisoner and she hadn't dreamt the discomfort of that prison. She most certainly had not dreamt of her rescuer.
Maybe she was dreaming now. If that were so, she didn't want to wake up. It was quite a lovely dream! She smiled and stretched. Her dreams had never been this vivid... had they? She smiled and stretched even more. Well, maybe they had. Her mind flashed to the first night she met Nolan…the evening air, the smell of his leather jacket, the feel of his strong arms, and the lure of silver eyes and safety! What a dream!! They had never been more vivid than with Nolan. And they had never quite been dreams, had they? This thought brought her stretch to an abrupt end. She felt a thrill go through her.
"I am awake," she whispered breathlessly. She sat up slowly and the smile spread wider across her face.
Nolan sat with a smug smirk in the chair beside her bed. HER bed!
“Good morning.” His deep voice made her tummy tumble with butterflies. His smile got broader at her silence.
"I most certainly have died and gone to heaven." She felt tears fill her eyes.
"Then all my work was or not," Nolan teased her gently.
She blushed and just stared at him for a moment. Perfect, beautiful, godlike Nolan sat right there. He wasn’t her imagination, and he wasn’t a dream! He was real life, in the flesh! She didn't think she could feel more fulfilled then she did at that moment. The way that his eyes were on her, it made her breath catch. The way that he was grinning at her like a little schoolboy...it made her heart melt. Her melted heart skipped a beat. She knew no moment could have been as perfect as this one. For a brief time she just forgot all the worries that had led up to this most amazing moment. He was here! Nolan was here, and they were free.