Earth. He really is the huntsman.
“When I was first hired, I didn’t realize who you were. I took the job, did my due diligence, as I always do. When I realized, I hesitated… but a job is a job, and I’m a professional.”
“You, sir, are not a professional,” Ethan declared.
“I thought I could do it.” Earth talked over him. “When I was… in that tunnel with you.”
Neo’s body stiffened, and I placed my palm on his thigh to hopefully quiet some of his turmoil.
“Go on.” I urged.
Earth’s voice strained. “You called out for your father.”
I remembered. He was the person I thought of before I was about to die. The man who occupied what I thought was my very last thought.
“I couldn’t do it. You hadn’t done anything… and I felt I owed him a debt.”
I gasped, remembering that day. “You said the debt you owed my father was repaid!”
Earth nodded.
“It was you!” I gasped again, finally allowing myself to believe completely.
“I cut your hair and took your nail to send to Audra as proof of death. That’s why I told you to disappear and never come back. I thought you would listen. Turns out you’re way stupider than I thought.”
“I am hardly stupid!” I argued, indignant.
“You came to my bar,” he deadpanned.
“It’s not like I knew you were the killer!” I shot back.
“Stupid,” he muttered.
“Why didn’t you say something then?” Neo asked, teeth clearly grinding.
“Because I didn’t know you’d bring her home.”
“But he did,” Beau said. “And you tried to, ah, off her again.”
“Twice,” Fletch pointed out.
“That second time, I was just trying to scare you off. I thought if you knew the huntsman was still around, you’d run.”
“And the fish market?” Neo asked, voice tight.
Earth said nothing, and a sick feeling sat like a rock in the pit of my stomach. He really would have done it that day if Neo hadn’t been able to pull me out.
Gasping, I realized something. “You hurt Neo!”
“I was trying to keep him out of the way,” Earth mumbled. “I didn’t want to hurt him.”
“But you did.” My voice was fierce. “And he has stitches! Did you even apologize?”
Earth jolted, taken aback. “What?”
“Did you apologize for what you did to him?”
His silence was a clear no. “You really have no manners,” I admonished.
Ethan made a sound of agreement.
“An apology won’t change what I did,” Earth deadpanned.
Neo’s body was strung tight like a string on Fletcher’s violin that was about to snap.
“No, but it’s a beginning to try and make up for what you did.”
“He can’t make up for trying to kill you,” Neo refuted, voice cold and flat. Not at all the voice I was used to.
“But you didn’t want her to die,” Fletch insisted, clearly still struggling with the fact someone he looked at as a hero could be so corrupt. “You’re the one that warned us about today. You’re the reason we got to her in time!”
Some of the heaviness lifted, and a little bit of hope bloomed within me. “Is that true?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Earth replied.
I looked up. “Neo? Is that true?”
He nodded.
“And Audra?” Trepidation curled within me, a rising darkness trying to claim the light. “Where is she? I need to tell the police.”
“Shh…” Neo mollified a portion of my anxiety, stroking down the back of my head. “She’s already been arrested.”
Vague memories from earlier today replayed in my mind, her cloaked figure cackling but then walking away… leaving me to die. “I thought she left.”
“Earth knocked her out in the hallway,” Fletch announced, proud.
“You did?”
“She pissed me off.”
“But you’re here.” I wondered. “Aren’t you worried she will tell them everything you’ve done?”
Earth shrugged. “She has no proof it was me. And even if she was going to try and prove it, ratting me out would also be an admission of guilt on her part. Hiring a hitman isn’t exactly the reputation that power-hungry crow wants.”
“She definitely wants power,” I whispered, shivering at the things she’d said when I’d literally been suffocating to death.
What a terrible woman. To stand over the body of someone who was her family and cruelly watch her struggle to live.
“But she already is powerful. She’s one of the richest women in this city,” Ethan murmured.
“She never said anything to you, Ethan? Never made you question her when I was missing?”
Ethan was quiet a moment, then shook his head. “No. When you went missing, she called, and I came to help at the companies, knowing everything would be in chaos. She stayed in her penthouse, claiming she was too distraught to leave. I know she spoke to the authorities, and then we did that television appearance when there was some hope you could be alive.”
“She’s cunning and jealous of you,” Earth said. “She knew with you around, she would always be second best.”
First my mother, and now me. I wondered if she ever loved my father at all or if she just saw him as a means to an end.
He deserved so much better. So had my mother.
“I will see her in jail.” My voice shook with conviction and confidence. I wasn’t ever one to abuse my power or even flaunt it. But for this, I would.
I would do everything within my capabilities to see that malevolent woman locked away. Forever.
64
Huntsman
* * *
The rules I had were not made to be broken. I broke them anyway.
Never compromise your identity.
Not only did my hire find out my identity, but I confessed to a room full of people who I really was. Willingly.
Only kill who you are paid to kill.
Okay, maybe I didn’t kill anyone I wasn’t paid to kill… but I would kill Audra for free. She really pissed me off.
Always finish the job.
I failed at this three times.
Never make it personal.
Oh, it was personal.
Now all that was left was to take my punishment.
“You. Stay there,” Ivory ordered, probably thinking I was about to run off since the cops were on their way.
I wasn’t.
It felt as though I’d been running my entire life, and I was tired. I made my choices. I broke the rules. Now I would pay the price.
“Everyone else, gather around.” She gestured, fanning out her thin, pale arms as if she would pull them close.
“Be careful.” Neo warned, holding on to the IV line as though it might somehow yank free of her arm and thrash wildly about.
I really didn’t think I’d see the day that closed-off painter would let anyone in.
But I understood. Probably better than anyone. Because here I stood, my shattered life around me, but I couldn’t regret not killing Ivory White.
She was too good and pure to be ended so violently. Would I have been able to kill her if not for the debt I owed her father?
I didn’t think so. But I would never say that out loud. Some secrets were meant to stay buried.
Everyone gathered around, forming a small circle of bowed heads as they all whispered and talked, leaving me to stand on the outside looking in.
Fletch’s head popped up, gaze swinging around to stare at me. His eyes were wide, his lip in a pout. As he stared, Beau reached up to palm his head and pull it back down with everyone else.
I’d done a lot of bad things in my life. I wasn’t really sorry for any of them. But I was sorry for something.
Hurting my brothers. The three men who’d accepted me without any pause.
I’d betraye
d them too. And it would be a lie if I said knowing they probably wouldn’t have accepted me if they knew who I really was hurt.
No. I had no right to be hurt because I did this to myself.
I hurt anyway. All my life, I didn’t have anyone until the three of us formed the bond that I’d just severed.
No wonder I was a huntsman. I was really good at killing things.
The low sounds of whispers floated through the room until finally they all broke apart. Neo didn’t look at me, his body language still rigid and pissed off. Everyone thought Fletch was the softest… but he wasn’t.
It was Neo. Neo had a heart he’d strung barbed wire around to protect it from pain. He would never forgive me.
Awkwardness descended, stifling the room.
“I’ll wait in the hall,” I said, starting forward.
“You should leave before the detectives arrive.” Ivory spoke, halting my progress to the door.
“What?” I asked, staring at the small girl in the center of the bed. Snort was snoring heavily near her feet.
Traitorous beast.
“You shouldn’t be here. We can answer all the questions.”
Blinking, I glanced around at Beau, Fletch, and even Ethan nodding in agreement. Neo wasn’t agreeing, but he wasn’t disagreeing either.
“You need me to tell cops she hired me.” I reminded her.
Ivory shook her head. “No. I don’t. She tried to kill me earlier today. My word will be enough. I’ll just say she confessed to hiring someone and then trying to do it herself when they failed. And I can tell them about my mother.”
It took a minute for me to fully understand, and even when I did, I had to ask, “Are you saying you aren’t turning me in?”
“Well, that depends,” Ivory said, her voice prim.
Fletch made a sound like this was not how things were supposed to go.
“Are you going to keep trying to kill me?” she asked.
My shoulders relaxed. “I’ve already tried three times, and I still haven’t been able to get rid of you.”
Neo made a low growling sound, but Ivory smiled.
“So no?”
“No.” I was sincere. “I’m done.”
“Thank goodness. I’m so weary of people trying to murder me.”
Neo made another grumbling sound. Ivory reached for his hand. His enveloped hers completely, and a lump formed in my throat.
“Why would you even believe anything I say anyway?”
“My father saw good in you. I see it too.”
“We all do.” Fletcher jumped in.
“Well, I don’t even know you,” Ethan muttered.
“What you did was really shitty, E.” Beau spoke up. “We’re all pissed as hell.”
I didn’t say anything.
“But you’re our family.” He went on.
“And family sticks together.” Fletcher finished.
Emotion welled up inside me, tightening my chest, creating a buzzing sound between my ears. Turning, I looked directly at Neo, who’d remained silent and motionless up until now.
“What about you?”
“What about me?” He challenged.
“You okay with this?”
He still didn’t meet my eyes, looking at a spot just over my shoulder, jaw tight and brows drawn. “It was a group decision.”
I never said I was a good man, and yes, I said I would take my punishment, but that was before I knew I had another option.
Never in a million years would I have thought they could possibly… “You can forgive me?” I whispered, scarcely able to say the words.
It was too much to conceive, maybe even more than I would be able to do.
Fletcher rushed across the room, his body knocking into mine when he wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug. His cheek was buried against my chest as he hunched around.
He was the most affectionate man I’d ever met… and I should have hated it.
But I didn’t.
“I forgive you,” he said into my shirt.
I patted his back, kinda grateful for the kid.
Everyone else just looked at us.
Beau cleared his throat. “Might take the rest of us a little longer.”
I nodded. This was more than I expected.
“But we don’t want you to go to jail. So get out of here.” Beau finished, gruff.
Glancing at Snort, then back to Ivory, I said, “He’ll hang out with you a little longer.”
Smiling, she nodded.
Partway to the door, I stopped again, retreating to the side of her bed. Across the mattress, Neo watched with a narrow gaze, practically daring me to touch her.
Kneeling, hands resting on the side of the bed, I gazed into her blue eyes. “I don’t deserve this, but thank you.”
“You can repay me by living a better life.”
I nodded. “I will.”
“Go on,” she said, shooing me toward the door.
I went, my limbs unexpectedly heavy, my heart an odd mix of achy and full. I was a selfish, bad man… but some people liked me anyway. I didn’t know how to feel, so I was left as a horribly mixed concoction of emotions.
“Earth.”
Partway down the hall, Neo’s voice brought me around. His face was shuttered, eyes mysterious. There was a bit of dried blood smeared on his lower lip, and his knuckles were red.
“I’ll turn myself in,” I heard myself say, but once the words registered, I knew I meant them. “If that’s what you want, I’ll do it.”
Surprised flickered in the depths of his onyx eyes, but then it was gone, all his emotions hidden away. “I don’t want you in jail.”
Slowly, I nodded.
“But I’m not like Fletch. I can’t forgive you. I can’t forget what you’ve done.”
“I know.”
“You were my brother, and you betrayed me.”
“I know.”
We stood staring at each other for long, silent moments.
Clearing my throat, I said, “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry doesn’t mean anything.”
“No. It doesn’t. But someone told me it’s a beginning to make up for what I did.”
“Ivory’s a lot kinder than me.”
“I don’t expect you to forgive me. I’m not even asking you to,” I told him. Hitching my chin down the hall, I said, “She’s waiting for you.”
I was walking away when his voice rang out again. “I’ll try.”
I stopped but didn’t turn. My vision blurred a bit as I stared down at the floor.
“I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try to forgive you. Just… If you ever do anything like this again, it’s you who will end up in the river, and I won’t pull you out.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to,” I whispered, my heart squeezing with the painful sensation of hope.
I heard him turn and walk away, so I continued on. The distance between us grew, but a strange sensation of brotherhood remained.
65
Neo
* * *
She called out in her sleep, voice filled with panic and sorrow. Soft blankets fell to my waist when I sat up, gently tugging her fitfully sleeping form into my lap.
“Ivory,” I whispered, rocking us in the center of the bed. “Wake up, princess.”
“Neo,” she whimpered, damp eyelashes fluttering.
“I’m here.” I promised, tucking her a little closer.
A soft sigh left her rose-red lips, and her troubled, sleepy gaze found mine.
“It was just a dream.” I assured her, dragging my fingers through her hair.
“Another one.” Rolling into my chest, she flung one arm around my neck.
Warmth and love spread from my middle, filling my limbs all the way down to my toes. “It’s only been a week.” I reminded her, hand gliding over her back. “It’s going to take a while to get over everything that happened.”
“I know.” She sighed, tugging back so we could look at each other.
“You want to talk about it?”
She shook her head.
Pulling her in, I tucked her head beneath my chin, rocking us gently once more.
Her fingertips whispered over the bare skin on my arm, arousing and relaxing me at the very same time. The soft scent of jasmine always clinging to her skin surrounded my senses, enclosing us in a bubble where only we existed.
“Neo?”
“Hmm?”
“Would you have come back if Audra hadn’t tried to kill me again?”
Ripples of shock went through me, no clue until now she’d even wondered this. Slipping my hands around her, I tugged, but she whined and clung even closer. Almost as if she were scared of my answer, as if she wanted to hide her face away.
Sighing overhead, I lightly palmed the back of her neck. “I was always on my way back to you. I couldn’t stay away.”
“Really?” Her voice was muffled against my bare chest.
“I think that’s why I left so many flannels. Leaving pieces of myself until I was ready to stay.”
“I was afraid you wouldn’t come back.”
“I know, baby. I was stupid and selfish.”
“You were afraid.”
I made a sound of agreement.
When she pulled back, her stare touched mine. “Are you still afraid?”
“Love is scary. Part of me will probably always be scared.”
Her bow-shaped mouth turned down, and the small pout was so cute I smiled. “But you know what someone told me once?”
“What?”
“We should go on strongly despite the fear.” She smiled, her porcelain skin nearly lighting up the dark bedroom.
Pressing our foreheads together, I inhaled, drinking in her scent, her presence… her love. “I love you more than I’m afraid.”
“I love you too.”
Ivory’s lips brushed mine, pulling back with a silent plea. Answering, I pulled her back in, locking our mouths together and rubbing my tongue over her lower lip, asking for entrance. As soon as she parted them, I swept inside, both of us making soft sounds of satisfaction.
Tongues twirling together, I explored her mouth lazily, relearning every inch as if I didn’t already know my way around. Lips gliding together, we kissed, saliva mingling, shared breath filling our chests. Trailing my hands down over her back, I dipped one beneath the hem of my flannel to glide over the softness of her skin.
Ivory White : A House of Misfits Standalone Page 33
