Unforgiven (Wanderers #3) (4 page)

I drank half as he instructed me and followed him
downstairs to the car. I knew I wasn’t a hundred percent better but
I did feel a lot stronger than this morning which was a plus.

I started to get a little nervous on the way to
Tristan’s grandparents. I had a bad feeling his grandmother,
Deirdre, would not be so cooperative. I went over in my head all
the questions I wanted to ask and all the questions I should ask.
My head was full of so many things I hadn’t even realized we
arrived. I got out of the car and made a hesitant step toward the
house. Josie stayed back with me waiting patiently. I let out a
slow breath and pushed open the gate.

Josef greeted us at the door happy to see us this
bright and early in the morning. I smiled at him politely as he
welcomed us into the house. Deirdre was sitting in her chair. She
was not as welcoming as Josef and Caleb. “Can I get you something
to drink?” Caleb asked. “Breakfast should be ready
momentarily.”

“Would you like some help?” I offered.

“No, no Josef can help. Just sit and relax.”

“Kind of hard to do with Deirdre sitting there
glaring at me,” I thought. We all sat there silently while Josef
and Caleb finished fixing breakfast. Sensing how uncomfortable my
friends were I decided to make nice. “So, I like your garden. How
do you have so many different flowers throughout the seasons?”

She just narrowed her eyes at me, got up, and then
left the room. “O-kay,” I said, looking at my friends confused.
Josie just shrugged her shoulders.

Caleb returned to the living room to let us know
breakfast was done. As we all gathered around the table, Caleb
informed us that Deirdre would not be joining us. He said she was
not feeling well. I tried to act disappointed.

During breakfast, Caleb told us all about the
favorite places Tristan liked to go. All his favorite places to
eat, hang out, and shop. He told us stories of his childhood,
including all the trouble he used to get into when he was little.
His face lit up when he talked about him. I smiled. There was no
doubt how much he truly loved his grandson.

When we were done I offered to help clean up, but
Caleb said no, we were guests in his house and him and Josef would
clean up later. I thanked him for the breakfast and all the
information. Then we said our goodbyes as we headed out to start
our search.

We began with checking out one of the places Tristan
liked to eat. Unfortunately, most of the time was spent driving
around and trying to figure out where the hell we were. Billy made
the mistake of letting Josie control the map. She didn’t even know
how to read a map. “Doesn’t this thing have GPS?” Josie whined.

“No, that would have cost more,” Billy grunted,
trying to keep his anger in check.

“Give me that,” I ripped the map from Josie, tired of
their bickering. “The town is about a mile that way.” I pointed to
my left. “How about we start there and walk around to see if we can
find anything.”

We spent all day driving and searching the areas
Caleb suggested. We had a hard time finding any clues. Most people
weren’t too eager to talk to out-of-towners, which told me we were
going to have a hard time getting the information we needed.

It was almost night time and Billy suggested we call
it quits for the day. I agreed only because my stomach was growling
at me in protest. We stopped and grabbed some food on the way back.
When I reached our room, I opened the door, and stopped dead in my
tracks when I saw him sitting there. “Dean, what are you doing
here?”

“You didn’t think you were going to take a trip to
Ireland without me, did you?”

“I uh…”

“Relax, no one knows I’m here and I’m not going to
bust your ass or tell you how dumb it was to leave the hospital.” I
rolled my eyes. “I’m here to help,” he smiled.

“Really?” I asked not convinced. Dean never did
anything that wouldn’t benefit him. I knew there had to be an
ulterior motive.

“Yes,” he glared offended.

“How’d you even know where to find us?”

“Cameron.” I looked over at her and she just
shrugged. “Who you think got you the car to leave,” he said.

“Why didn’t you just leave with us then?”

“Would have brought up too much suspicion us leaving
together so I waited until they discovered you were gone and left
the next day so they thought I left to look for you.”

I sighed relieved that he was here to help as oppose
to attempt to take me home kicking and screaming. I threw the
greasy bag of food down on the table and plopped down into a chair
to take off my shoes. Dean automatically helped himself to the
food.

“So do you actually have a plan here or you basically
flying by the seat of your pants?”

“Both,” I replied.

“Well, I had a long flight,” Dean crumpled up his
napkin and threw it on the table. Then he got up and made himself
comfortable on one of the beds. I stifled an eye roll and got ready
to crash. Luckily we managed to get a room with two king size beds
so we were able to fit three to one bed. Unfortunately I somehow
got stuck sharing a bed with Cameron and Dean. I wasn’t happy about
it – Dean kicks in his sleep.

I spent most of the night curled up close to Cameron.
“Ella, I know I said I would be here for you, but even I have my
limits.”

“Sorry,” I mumbled. Tired of being kicked in the
shins, I got up, grabbed a blanket and pillow and tried to make
myself comfortable on the small couch. I would rather be cramped
then kicked.

We spent all morning searching and trying to find
clues, but once again, nothing. Feeling exhausted and rundown, I
asked if we could head back to the hotel for a little and take a
break. When we got back to the hotel I found the nearest bed and
crashed. I was so exhausted from this morning I didn’t even bother
to take off my sneakers.

I slept for several hours. Finally getting the rest I
needed. When I woke, I noticed the girls were doing their hair and
makeup. “What’s going on?” I asked.

“We’re going to a club,” Josie replied from over her
shoulder.

“Josie, that’s not why we are here,” I said
annoyed.

“Hello, it’s Tristan we’re looking for. Where else
are we going to start?”

“True,” I thought.

“From what Caleb told us Billy thinks we should start
there. Billy said he remembered Tristan telling him he went to this
club a lot.”

“What kind of place is this?” I asked, looking at
Josie’s choice of outfit. She had on her black knee high boots with
a tight, short, red mini skirt and black lace halter top.

“It’s a night club that caters to our kind.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means if you’re not on the supernatural team you
don’t get in.”

“What’s the dress code? Less is more?”

Josie scowled at me. “We have to blend in and from
what Josef told us about this place it’s very slutty chic. Okay,
not his exact words, but you catch my drift.”

“Josef?” I said skeptically.

“He called while you were asleep and I asked him if
he knew anything about this place. He’ll be here in an hour, by the
way, oh and apparently Dean made a big stink about getting his own
room because you snore.”

“Okay one, I do not snore,” I knew Dean just used
that as an excuse to have his own room which was fine by me. “And
two, why is Josef coming with? He’s only sixteen and I really don’t
want him involved in this. It could get dangerous.”

“Ella, he’s a local. He knows the ins and outs and
could really help us out.”

“I guess,” I mumbled to myself. I didn’t really know
how I felt about including him in our little adventure.

“Here,” she said, throwing what looked like a shirt
at me. “I went shopping with Cameron while you were sleeping.”

Clearly there was a lot that happened while I was
asleep. “What is it?” I asked, holding up the dark blue satin
material.

“It’s a dress,” she said rolling her eyes.

“Where’s the rest of it?”

“Ella, live a little.”

I sighed and got up to get ready. The dress was
strapless and just covered my butt. I made a mental note to
remember to not bend over. The blue satin matched my streaks and I
have a feeling that’s why Josie picked it. I wore my hair down and
Josie did my make-up. It was heavier then I would have done, but
Josie insisted it completed my look. Then she handed me a pair of
strappy silver heels and said we were to meet everyone in the
lobby.

“Damn Ella, where you’d get that dress? Hookers R
us,” Dean said. He gave me a look that said he clearly did not
approve of his little sister wearing something so scantily clad.
“You couldn’t find something that maybe actually covered you?”

“Not my choice,” I mumbled walking past him. No need
to start a fight now. “Is everyone ready?” I asked.

“We just have to wait for Josef,” Cameron replied.
“He should be here any minute.”

“I didn’t know we would be babysitting tonight,” Dean
complained.

“Dean, knock it off,” I warned. As usual he ignored
me. I fidgeted with the hem of my dress trying to pull it down as
far as I could until we heard a rumble of motors. I looked around
to see Josie and Cameron shrug. Billy and Dean exchanged a look. I
decided to step outside to check it out for myself. I tugged at my
dress as I walked out, feeling over exposed. Josie swiped my hand
away saying it was fine. I stifled an eye roll and searched for the
cause of the noise.

In the distance I spotted a pack of bikers, who just
so happened to be coming right for us. I took a step back. The
biker leading the pack pulled right up next to me and took off his
helmet. “Hey Ella.”

“Josef,” I said surprised. His eyes widened as he
looked me up and down making me feel self-conscious. His cheeks
flushed red when Dean cleared his throat, indicating he was staring
longer then he should have.

“Um…yeah, hey,” he stuttered.

“You already said that,” I teased, making him blush
more.

“Sorry I…”

“It’s okay,” I smiled. “Are these your friend’s?” I
gestured to the other bikers hoping to distract his gawking
eyes.

“Yeah, I hope you don’t mind. I thought they could
help,” he said uneasy.

“No, I don’t mind. It would help to have a few extra
set of eyes,” I told him. “Are we just going to follow you
then?”

“I thought it would be better if you rode with us,”
he said.

“Okay,” I looked around. “Is there someone else
coming in a car?” He gestured to the motorcycles. “You’re kidding,
right?”

“It’s easier this way. Hop on.” He held out his
hand.

I looked down at my dress and then back at Josef who
was waiting expectantly. “This isn’t going to work.”

“There’s enough of us that we can all ride,” he said,
not understanding my issue.

I shook my head. “That’s not what I meant.” I pointed
to my outfit making him blush again.

He got off his bike and handed me his jacket. “Here,
this should help,” he said, helping me put it on.

“Thank you.” I looked back to my friends and noticed
Billy was admiring one of the bikes, going on about I didn’t even
know what. I knew nothing about motorcycles. From what I could
gather from the conversation he had one back home, but had to give
it up. The guy offered to let him ride it and I’ve never seen Billy
so giddy. Josie hopped on the back squeezing Billy tight while
Cameron got cozy with one of the bikers who looked like Jax from
‘The Sons of Anarchy’. If I got to choose I would have picked him
as well. Not normally into the rugged type but, hello, have you
seen Charlie Hunnam on S.O.A.?
Holy-hotness-batman.

“I’m sorry but I’m not riding bitch,” Dean
whined.

“Dean, I’m not in the mood for this,” I said, glaring
at him.

“Dean, you can ride with Gina,” Josef told him,
gesturing to the only girl in their group. She was dressed head to
toe in leather and had two long dark braids that hung over the
front of her shoulders. The ends of her braids were tied with suede
shoe string and had feathers hanging from them.

Dean turned to her and smiled. “Hey sweetheart, how
about you slide back and let me drive.” She just looked at him and
revved up the gas. Clearly she was not going to move and looked
like the type you didn’t want to piss off. Dean rolled his eyes and
hopped on the back.

I carefully got on the back on Josef’s bike, put on
the helmet he handed me, and grabbed on tight as we took off.

I never rode on the back of a bike before. The wind
felt cool against my bare legs and blew the hair off the back of my
shoulders sending shivers down my spine. I wanted to spread my arms
out wide and welcome the night. The ride was exhilarating like
nothing else I’ve ever experienced before. I didn’t want it to
end.

Unfortunately the ride to the club was short. If I
had the option I would have asked Josef just to ride around for a
while. We pulled into a side alley next to the club and they parked
their bikes. I slid off the back and handed Josef back his helmet
and Jacket, but not before I made sure my skirt was pulled down as
far as I could manage it. Josie cleared her throat when Josef
started to stare again. He averted his eyes quickly, embarrassed. I
just smiled bashfully and walked over to Josie and joined the rest
of the gang.

We followed Josef and his friends to the back of the
club. He signaled for two of his friends to come forward. The three
of them stood around the door while the others kept watch. “What
are they doing?” I asked. Before anyone could answer me I heard a
click and the door opened.

I looked at Josef. “It’s magically protected. You
have to know the secret code to get in.”

“What’s the secret code?”

“Now if I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret,” he
smiled. I stifled an eye roll and followed everyone else into the
club.