by Celeste Raye
She tried to explain that she had never met him before. Drennan was talking about shooting him, and even though Celeste was facing something horrible, she knew that she didn’t want anything to happen to Charlie.
“He isn’t anyone to me. I don’t even know him. He was sent here by my aunt, Drennan. I was getting dressed; that’s it. We were leaving when you walked in, not about to get it on.” Celeste bit the last sentence out because it was preposterous to even think about seriously.
“So, you were going to go with him?”
She agreed that she was, even though the rage was quite a sight to see. Celeste didn’t know why, but for a moment, she actually wished Charlie hadn’t even come. It just pissed off Drennan; he was going to get hurt, and now she had that inkling of hope crushed.
“I just thought my aunt needed me. You know that she’s old.”
“Yeah, as long as she leaves that cabin. I didn’t think she could make the trip. You seem to think that I don’t know who you are and what your kind are capable of. I see you trying to bewitch me. But you can’t, can you?”
He was moving closer, having forgotten about Charlie on the ground, and at least something good was going to come of the distraction—nothing good for her, though, by the looks of it.
“Surely, you can’t mean to do it here, Drennan. What about all of those people out there waiting for us?”
He didn’t seem to care, and Celeste was pushing him back as he tried to kiss her. She had let a lot slide, but seeing Charlie, picking up that bit of hope, was enough to give her a reason to fight. That’s what she should have been doing the whole time. Celeste was not helpless just because she didn’t have magic. She was powerful in other ways.
It wasn’t like she was muscular; far from it. But when she was younger, she’d had trouble with grabby boys, so Evelyn showed her how to take care of guys that didn’t get the hint. She did that then, kneeing Drennan in the groin as hard as she could.
The others that had stormed in were gone. They’d been sent away by Drennan when he had decided that he was going to have her. Now, though, it gave her some space, and she called out to Charlie, telling him to get up. She wouldn’t be able to stay long. Drennan was going to be after her. At the moment, he was doubled over, but she knew that he would be up soon.
She went to the man on the ground and tried to shake him awake. He had been hit hard, but he was a shifter, and she knew that he would heal pretty fast. All she had to do was get him to realize the situation. She shook him harder, looking behind her to see what her victim was doing.
Drennan was now up, his hand on his balls. The look of anger was intense, as was her sudden fear. Everything she did was a calculated risk. If Charlie didn’t get up and help, it was going to be a big mistake. It wasn’t a good scenario, and she called out to him again, hitting him hard across the face. Celeste was desperate and ready to do pretty much anything to get a rise out of him.
“You have to get it together, Charlie, now!”
His eyes popped open, the bright-colored rings, and she wished that he would shift. It would make it all easier, and she could only imagine what a yard full of humans would think. At the moment, she really didn’t care.
Meeting Charlie’s gaze, she reiterated how important it was that he got up and helped her.
“Come on, Charlie. Take me out of here, far away from this guy.”
Charlie seemed to get it together a bit, and he agreed with a nod of his head. He sat up, and it was then that Celeste was picked up from behind. She was in her bra, panties, and stockings, so she could feel his grip biting into her bare flesh. She tried not to call out, but Drennan was holding her so tightly that everywhere he held her hurt.
She was struggling, demanding that he get off of her, but the madman behind her was insisting that she was his. Celeste was worried again that she was going to be taken away. She was being dragged out the door, and she already knew that no one was going to stop him. They were all there for him and worked for him. There was no one else there that was going to help. Her only chance was the bear.
“Please, Charlie, get him.”
She wasn’t really even sure what she was asking for, just that she couldn’t go with him again. Charlie was there to take her back to her aunt, not ideal, but it had to be better than what she was going through at the moment.
Charlie was still a bit out of it, shaking his head a few times, but then he seemed to right himself, and before they got through the door, he was launching at the man holding her. Celeste was relieved and afraid all at the same time. She was thrown to the ground, and the two men started to fight.
It was over in seconds, and someone was hitting the ground. Considering how fast he had done so before; she was worried that it was going to be Charlie. Celeste was actually afraid to look behind her, waiting instead for something to be said. She was waiting for the hard grip to drag her away, though the fight was out of her. The hope gone.
“Come on, Celeste. Are you okay?”
It wasn’t Drennan. Hope surged again, a dangerous feeling that was suddenly upon her. She wanted to be sure that everything was real. Had she made it all up to take away from the fear she felt?
He pulled her up to her feet, checking her over and saying something about how her aunt would not be happy if he brought her back damaged.
“So, my aunt really sent you here?”
He agreed and was still checking her over to make sure she was okay.
“I’m fine, really. Just get me out of here.”
“Not a problem, princess.”
She gritted her teeth and then smiled. “Yeah, you would be who she sent.”
“Aren’t you happy?”
Her first response was no because the guy was frustrating her, but she looked back at the man on the floor and agreed that she was.
“Get me away from him, and my happiness will go up, for sure.”
Charlie chuckled and started to pull her away.
“Are you sure this isn’t a dream?”
Charlie looked back and shrugged. “I don’t think so. I can’t dream about a girl that I’ve never met before, although I do know that you’ll be in mine from now on.”
She thought it was sweet, but it didn’t allay her fears. She wanted something substantial, something to prove that it wasn’t all in her head.
“Kiss me.”
“What?”
He turned around and looked at her suspiciously.
“Come on, kiss me, so I know that it’s real.”
Chapter Nine
Charlie looked back at Celeste, and he couldn’t believe that she was serious. Why would she ask such a thing? Her answer was even more confusing, but so help him, he wanted to kiss her, and before a decision was made in his mind, his feet were already moving towards her.
He touched her face and pulled her in towards his lips. Charlie had to bend down substantially to get ahold of her, but when he did, sparks flew between them. He pulled back quickly because of the electric charge that she held. It was so strong, the connection between the two of them, that he was trying to figure out if it was her magic doing it, or if it was Celeste herself.
“Now, do you believe that I’m real?”
Celeste agreed and pulled him down for another kiss before he could stop her, if that was even his intent. At the moment, the little witch was feeling really damn good in his arms, and he was trying his best not to mess it up. Charlie was enjoying the moment, but then reality pulled him away from her.
“We have to go. Are you convinced?”
Charlie was still reeling from her touch, but he was thankful to see that it wasn’t just him who was affected. She had a look in her eyes, a bit dazed, much like he was feeling at the moment. One kiss, well technically two, and he was looking at this witch in a whole new light.
He stepped over the man he had to knock out, proper this time. Drennan was only human after all, so it was a lot easier than it should have been. He thought of ending him, just because,
but knew that the new leader of the Rebel Bears would not be okay with it.
So instead, he pulled her out with him and walked towards the gate. He was just about to the exit when someone yelled after him.
He pushed through the two guys, hitting one in the throat and the other behind the knees and then took his gun. It was quick, and they were left groaning while Charlie tried to spot an entrance into some woods nearby that would hide his transformation. Now that he was away from the house and Drennan, he was feeling his power come back.
“Do you feel that?”
Celeste nodded her head that she could. She mumbled a couple of things to herself and then stopped. They were on the sidewalk, and he was panting, out of breath from all the fighting. He could see the people coming out of the wedding and the yard where they were congregating. He grabbed her arm because Charlie didn’t want to be seen. He wanted to get the hell out of there, shift to his animal side, and put some distance between them.
“What are you doing? We have to go!”
She shook her head and put her finger to her lips like she wanted him to be quiet. After a moment, Charlie started to realize that they weren’t looking at them, but actually walking right past them.
“I take it you got your magic back?”
She agreed and they started to walk slowly out of the way. The woods were quickly overrun, and although he liked her little trick, he wanted to get out of there with his.
“I need to shift, but they are everywhere.”
“Do it here, in our little bubble. I will hop on, and we can get the hell out of here.”
He waited a few seconds, concentrating against all of the distractions around him. Then, he was a big beast, and she was sliding her leg on either side of him. He growled, and she took it as he was ready to go. He was, but for something else.
Charlie shook the thoughts out of his head.
It wasn’t long before the two of them were out of the situation and away from the men that were trying to kill them. Charlie wanted to get somewhere far away, but Celeste stopped him not too long after they started. She wanted to rest, get something to eat, and take a shower. All of the makeup on her was from the wedding, and she made it clear to Charlie that she wanted new clothes as well.
He thought it was a lot to ask, considering he saved her from rape and all kinds of other things. Charlie wanted to put distance between them and the others, but Celeste was pausing.
“Is it because you don’t want to go to your aunt’s? She told me that you might not be too happy to go back.”
Celeste waved him off like it didn’t matter. “Everyone has their own ideas of what I should do with my life, and I want to make my own decisions. I don’t think it’s much to ask, but everyone else has already planned out my life for me. It’s quite annoying.”
While he could see where she was coming from, Charlie didn’t really get it.
“Isn’t that part of life, obligations and all that?”
He thought of what he was doing there now. He had saved her from obligation, not some notion of right and wrong. Surely, she had to see that.
“I guess you’re right, but maybe some of us aren’t ready for it.”
That he could understand, and he sort of nodded his head. “Yeah, I know that feeling all too well.”
“So, can’t you give me a little time, a bit more freedom? A couple of days is all I am asking for. I know we have to go, but do we have to leave in such a hurry?”
She had a smile on her face, a grin in her eyes. He didn’t want to tell her no, simply because he didn’t want to disappoint her. That look on her face, pointed in his direction, wasn’t what he wanted to see. He wanted to do anything he could to get the look of need on her face. The one that he shouldn’t want to see but did.
Maybe they did need a couple of days to take it slow. He was ready for a break, still healing from Evelyn’s abuse. He also had a gang to get back to and a brother that he had to explain it all to as well. To say that Charlie wasn’t ready to go home would have been an understatement. He didn’t know if he ever wanted to go home again.
“Well, I am sure that a few days won’t hurt anything. I will just tell her that it took longer than I thought to find you. Though, I want to know what was going on there.”
She stopped him. “Let’s find a place first, get some food and a shower, and I will tell you whatever you want to know. Okay?”
He agreed, but there was something Celeste was holding back.
Chapter Ten
Celeste’s mind was moving far faster than her body. They’d found a hotel, and she was in the bathroom, staring at herself in the mirror, while the glass started to fog up with the steam. Her vision of her face was becoming distorted, and for a minute, she could swear that she saw her mother.
It had been a while since she’d come to Celeste and Celeste knew that she had to find a way to get her message. She wasn’t there for no reason. Celeste wrote a question mark into the condensation on the mirror.
Writing appeared on the glass, and she paused.
“Go home, little one. Auntie Evelyn will help you.”
Evelyn had taken over for her mother after she died. She did her best, tried to keep her safe, but it was a lifetime of being stuck in a gilded cage, one that she was desperate to escape. It had taken some real doing to get her aunt to let her go so far away to help another. The reality, though, was Evelyn had been right about some of the darkness in the world. Her virginity had almost been stolen, and a marriage pushed upon her. Celeste couldn’t think of any other two worst things that could’ve happened.
She put another question mark up, and there was no answer.
“If you want me to go back, can you promise that my life won’t be as miserable as it has been?”
There was no answer, and Celeste felt a sadness come over her. She missed her mom, and the loneliness of her passing was too much at times.
“Are you okay? I heard you talking to someone.”
The voice at the door prompted her to wipe her tears.
“Just talking to my mom.”
“Your mom. Is she on the phone?”
“No, she’s dead.” Celeste chuckled in a bitter way. “Just having a chat with a ghost. Nothing to worry about.”
There was silence on the other side of the door. The water was still running, so she took off the rest of her clothes and got into the hot water. She couldn’t have heard him, even if she had wanted to. She didn’t, though. Celeste just wanted a minute to her thoughts, without anyone’s feedback. Dead or alive.
“Feel better?”
Charlie had a winning smile on his face, and she groaned inwardly. Of course, he would be the chipper sort, and she didn’t know what to say to him. She felt like crap, and the future didn’t look all that bright either. One way or another, she wasn’t feeling like things were going all that well.
“I don’t know about that but thank you for slowing down a bit. Everything is happening so fast. It’s like the world is spinning, you know?”
He agreed like he knew what she was talking about. Celeste didn't think that he did, but she was thankful that he was at least acting like he wanted to be helpful. There was obviously a reason that her aunt had sent him and not somebody else. Evelyn never did anything without keeping a score, so it was probably a situation where he had owed her something. Celeste figured that the best way to go about it was to first find out what her aunt had on her savior.
“So, how do you and my aunt know each other? I don't seem to remember you coming around, and I think I would remember someone like you.”
There was no way that Celeste could have met him before and not remembered him. He was tall, handsome, dashing, muscular. He was pretty much every girl's fantasy of a perfect man.
“I had never been to your aunt’s before. I hadn't had any dealings with her. It was actually my brother, and since we're blood-related and Jake wasn't around, I kind of picked up his obligation to come find you. Let's just say that you
r aunt has a way of helping people see things her way.”
“Threats. She's really good at threats, and if that doesn't work, then she will bring up some prophecy or something, and the next thing you know, you're doing something that you said you never do. Trust me, I know exactly how my aunt is.”
“She is very good with the threats. She actually blew up part of my gang's clubhouse. Just blew it to bits and killed a couple people in the midst of it. That was her way of getting my attention.”
Celeste felt bad for him and the people that had died. She knew that Evelyn did not think so much about everyone else’s life. She thought that witches were the only ones that mattered, and Celeste had seen her, on many occasions, treat the rest of the races like they meant nothing.
“I'm sorry that happened to you. I'm even more sorry that it was because of me, but I have to say that I am really glad you came. I think it is pretty clear to see what you were saving me from. It was not a good thought. I don't think I would ever be happy in that sort of situation, so thank you, Charlie.”
“You still didn't want to leave with me at first. Why?”
She sighed loudly and shrugged her shoulders, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
“What can I say? My aunt is a lot like Drennan was. They both want to use me for my powers. I'm about to come into them. Then they're going to push me into a coven, that I don't even want to be a part of. I'll have to do things that I don't want to do, and honestly, I just want to live a life away from all this.”
“Away from what, your family?”
“No, anyone with magic. I don't even want to be a part of the magical community. It's too much, and I just want to be normal.”
Charlie looked at her a little strangely. “You want to be human?” He scoffed, and the words came out quite sharp, which made her look up. Why was he so worried about it?
“I wouldn't say that I want to be human per se. I have power now, as you can see, quite a bit of it. I just don't want this ancient power that comes with all the obligations. And being human wouldn't be so bad. How much simpler would it all be if that were the case?”
