I hate that I can still hear some muffled sobs from inside.
Lights fill the parking lot as two cop cars pull in. They aren’t even using their sirens.
One gets out, looking bored and irritated as he slams the door behind him.
His partner is younger, taller, and seems a bit more confused as he follows the older cop up to the door.
I step in front to block them because no men should enter until Sally is ready, but luckily, a groan from the man on the floor stops them cold.
“My God,” the older cop says as the younger one runs over to Mr. Kearns. “What have you done?”
“Good,” Brett says, standing imperiously to walk over to them. “About time someone held him to account.”
“No, you,” the older cop says, whirling to face Brett. He gets in Brett’s face, trying to look intimidating, but Brett simply stretches to full height and the cop reaches only his chest. “What did you do to Mr. Kearns?”
Brett’s eyes narrow in that dangerous way I’m beginning to recognize. “What about what Mr. Kearns did to his family?”
The cop looks at me for a moment, as if he’d much rather yell at me, but then he’s forced to look back at Brett, who’s waiting for an answer.
“That was never proven.”
“There are pictures.”
“Anyone could have hurt them; it doesn’t prove Mr. Kearns did it. He’s an upstanding member of the community,” the cop says, taking a step back and putting his hand on his weapon. “I’m going to have to take you into custody.”
Brett looks angry enough to explode. “I will not go. This is outrageous. I was defending these women and children. You dare say I’m the one to be brought into custody? You and what army?”
“Mr. Kearns might have broken the law, but that doesn’t give you the right to hurt him.”
“Mr. Kearns fired a gun near the shelter,” I call out, earning a glare from the cop.
“Regardless, we can’t see him hurt—”
“But you can see women and children hurt?” Brett asks, taking a step forward so quickly that the cop nearly stumbles in his hurry to get back, clearly terrified. “Why kind of person are you?” He sweeps his hand toward the shelter, where families are peeking around the hallway to watch. “You corral those who are hurt and force them to cower in fear, but this man is free to go? You have proof.”
“She may have provoked him—”
I step up to grab Brett’s shoulder because, by the look of his posture, I think he might be about to attack a cop.
“Hey,” I say, pushing back a furious Brett who seems to be losing it. “All he did was move him back from the door and disarm him.” I hold out the gun the man was using. “Check the prints. It’s freshly fired.”
The cop just glares at me. “You’re in trouble of your own, missy, if you keep hanging around here—”
He’s stopped midsentence due to Brett’s fist smashing into his face. “You would DARE threaten her in my presence? You will die for your insolence, pig!”
This time, I really grab him by the jacket, using my not-inconsiderable strength to pull him back. “Stop! Don’t do that.”
The younger cop who has been kneeling by Mr. Kearns jumps up and quickly runs over to us.
He gets between Brett and the older cop and gives us a placating look. He’s handsome and fresh-faced and looks heartbreakingly young to be a cop.
“He deserved that,” he says, watching his partner groan on the ground. “It’s been a long time coming.” He eyes Brett. “Though, you probably still shouldn’t have done it.”
Brett and I both just stare in shock, surprised that he’s on our side despite Brett hurting his partner.
“It’s bullshit,” the cop says. “I’ve always thought it was bullshit when he tells us to ignore calls from the shelter. I’m glad we showed up tonight.” He glances back at Mr. Kearns, who I now realize is handcuffed. “I’m Matt Johnson, by the way.”
Brett shakes his hand. Then I do, and then Matt pulls on gloves and gets out an evidence bag, reaching for the gun that I’m still holding.
He looks at it, then at the man on the ground, then shakes his head in disgust. “This is proof that we need to stop protecting men like this.”
I can’t help but be impressed by this, but Brett still looks suspicious.
“If you believe your cohort is wrong, why do you not correct them?”
The man looks up at him, and his blue eyes are narrowed. “I’m still a junior in the department, but I do what I can. I told them to assign me to these calls, because honestly, that guy is a douche.” He nods at his partner again.
The older partner rolls over. “You’ll pay for this, Johnson!”
“Yeah, I don’t think so. You threatened a witness,” Matt says. He turns back to us. “Any idea why Kearns painted his hands black?”
Brett opens his mouth as if to correct him, but I shake my head at him abruptly.
They’ll find out its frostbite soon enough, and it’s not like they can accuse him of causing that.
“No idea at all,” I say. “Look, do you mind just taking quick notes and getting your friend and Mr. Kearns out of here? The people inside need to rest and recover from the shock.”
He nods. “Does anyone inside need an ambulance?”
“No,” I say. “I don’t think so. But Sally will be out to talk to you more about the case. They’ve been receiving threats.”
Matt sighs. “I was worried my partner was helping to cover things up. Hopefully, this will finally give me the leverage I need to get some reform in the department.”
“All right,” I say, giving him a wave. “I’m going to take my friend here home because it’s been a long night for all of us. He just drove me here but ended up stopping Mr. Kearns with his bare hands.”
Matt watches Brett, who is glaring at him imperiously. “The police are still going to want to question him. I really should bring him by the department.”
Brett’s hands tighten into fists. “As I said, you and what army?”
There’s a tense standoff for a moment, and then Sally comes out, tentatively holding the door as she lets out a sigh. “Oh, Matt. Glad it’s you.”
“Sally,” Matt says, tipping his hat at her. “Glad I could come. Though, it looks like a good Samaritan already took care of it in time.”
They start talking about the case, and Matt radios for backup.
Mr. Kearns’s family members are peeking out of the lobby cautiously as if trying to see where their dad is.
Brett is standing to the side of the door, arms folded, quietly watching the snow.
He may be totally silent, but I know there’s no peace in him. I can feel all the turmoil in his heart.
I can sense he didn’t even like hurting Mr. Kearns, though he felt he had to.
Perhaps he has a softer heart than anyone would have thought.
I’m watching Matt talk to the family as paramedics check his partner and Mr. Kearns, and in the chaos, I notice a little girl wandering over to where Brett is standing.
I’m about to stop her when I see her reach up to tug on his coat, and when he looks down, she gives him a little flower. Something that looks made of paper. Then she reaches her arms up toward him, and he simply looks down at her in shock.
When he sighs, finally taking a knee to be on her level, she runs forward to hug him, trying to wrap him in her tiny arms.
I move over to pull her back but see Brett’s shocked face turn gentle before his arms softly encircle the girl.
He seems to realize she just needs to feel safe now, and he speaks in a low, soothing voice as she begins to cry in his arms.
He looks so big, so protective and yet gentle, that my heart can’t help but melt into a steaming puddle.
Then he sets her gently back from him, giving her his sleeve to dry her tears.
I can’t see what he’s saying, but she’s smiling now. Nodding and wiping at her own face.
I see him hold up
his hand in front of her, and to my shock, a snowflake forms, beautiful and crystalline, dancing and turning in his hand, floating and suspended in midair.
She reaches to touch it, and it disappears in a little puff of frost, making her giggle.
He leans close to whisper something, and when she nods, he gives her a smile. Then he stands, walking her over to me, and I take her hand to bring her back to her mom.
We get to leave soon after, and though I know things might still be complicated after this, I’m glad he was by my side tonight.
I study his handsome profile whenever it’s safe as we drive home. His expression is utterly stoic. I’m not sure what to ask him. How to help.
How to say thank you for what he did.
So I just ask him what’s been bothering me since this happened. “What did you say to that girl?”
“I just told her she’s stronger than she knows,” he says softly. “And that if she ever needs my help, she can call me and I’ll know.”
I smile at him because the thought is bittersweet. “Is it good to make her believe something outlandish?”
“She is strong,” he says. “And if she needs me, I will hear her.” He turns to me, and his handsome profile is even more striking to me now. “I told you we fae form bonds fairly quickly. I will know if she ever needs me.”
“That sounds painful, making such bonds,” I say.
He gives me a meaningful look as he crosses his arms over his chest, finally relaxing back into his seat. “It is worse to have no bonds at all.”
I’m still stewing about that by the time I finally fall asleep a few hours later with a gorgeous, kind, utterly incomprehensible man just down the hall.
12
Brett (Boreas)
Of all the things I will miss when I head back to my kingdom, the human drink known as coffee is at the top of the list.
It wakes up my mind and makes me feel fresh, even after a night that felt like pure hell. For the first time in so long, I had nightmares.
Not about what I did to that terrible human, but of the things I saw in his mind.
It isn’t that evil doesn’t exist in my world, but rather that it isn’t able to reach those who are vulnerable because they are protected.
I suppose I have to admit that outside my center of privilege, perhaps things happen in the chaos realm.
But I have never been exposed to any of it.
I didn’t like how easy it would have been to allow chaos to enter my heart.
I sit at Avery’s small table, sipping my coffee as I look out into the still-dark, quiet morning.
“Did you want some cream or sugar for that?”
I look up to see Avery coming out of her room, and for a second, I’m breathless at just seeing her.
Her dark hair is loose, falling over one shoulder. She’s wearing a fluffy black robe over red-checkered pants and a white shirt.
Plus oddly fluffy shoes with a bunny on the front of them.
Her pert nose wrinkles at me as she stares at my mug of coffee. “How can you just drink it straight like that?”
I glance down at it. “Is there another way?”
This is how the dragons told me they served it.
Then again, the dragons who hosted me weren’t too fond of me sometimes.
She snorts back a laugh, and I try not to stare as her curvy body settles in the chair across from me.
My soul just longs to resonate with her. And my body wants to entwine with hers.
And I want to take her away from this world forever, where she can be safe in my palace, far away from anything dark.
She lets out a sigh as she stands and goes over to pull out a carton of something and a small jar of something else, which she sets on the table.
This is cream and sugar apparently, and she helps me make my coffee with it, laughing when I taste it apprehensively.
To my surprise, it’s much better, and I toast her with it as she gets up to get a cup of her own.
I would offer to help, but Avery has already proven to be the type that doesn’t accept help readily.
I’m just glad I was there to help handle things last night, though it feels like my soul will always be scarred by what I saw.
The worst part might have been that cop, who tried to defend that evil monster and slandered the innocent with his next breath.
“I have to say I’m not impressed with your human cops,” I say, sipping my coffee again.
She’s back with her mug and sets a plate with pastries on the table, sliding it forward to share with me.
I take one and wolf it down hungrily, noting that I should go grocery shopping soon so I don’t eat her out of house and home.
“That Matt one was okay. Maybe he can change things,” she says, stirring her coffee and then dipping a piece of her pastry in it.
Jealousy surges through me, and though I should be grateful that the younger cop wasn’t terrible, I didn’t like the attention he paid to Avery at all.
And I still don’t trust any humans. Especially the males, now that I’ve looked up crime rates.
I try to stifle it, though, because I can tell Avery would not approve of my outburst.
“Thanks for helping last night,” she says quietly, her dark eyes meeting mine in a way that’s softer than I’ve ever seen them. “I don’t know what we would have done if you weren’t there.”
I scoff. “I think you could have handled him. Though, I’m glad you didn’t have to.” I turn my mug in my hand. “I shudder to think of you defending that place alone.”
“I used to live there,” she says, and it feels like my heart stops.
I think my soul just reached a new level of hell as I realize what must have happened to her.
“Your father…?”
She shook her head. “No, one of my mother’s many boyfriends.”
“Were you strong? Even as a child?”
She nods, and her wavy dark hair bobs. “But my mother told me never to show anyone. That they would take me away. She was afraid. And she told me to never fight back against Dan. That was the boyfriend that killed her.”
I swallow because darkness is unfurling in my heart, and I feel like I’m helpless to make it stop.
“Did he—” My voice feels stuck in my throat. “Did he hurt you?”
I wasn’t there. I couldn’t protect my soul match.
She shakes her head. “My mom was protective of me. She took the hurt instead, and the first time it looked like he was going to go after me, she left him. Took me to that shelter. That’s where I met Sally.”
“Really?” I ask because listening to the sound of her voice is the only thing that keeps me grounded to this earth.
“Yes,” Avery says. She sips her drink, pain in her eyes, though it’s dimmed, as if she’s very used to facing it and the shock of it can’t hurt her anymore. “I was pretty young, but Sally’s mother volunteered at the shelter and Sally was often brought to play with the kids. She was normal, you know?” Avery smiles. “A breath of fresh air.”
I nod, but I’m dreading with every part of me what’s coming.
Avery cups her mug, and for the first time, I think I see a tear touch the corner of her eye socket. “I wish I could go back to that night. Tell my mom it was a trap. Tell her he never meant to be kind to us. But she had nowhere to go. She believed him when he said he’d be good this time.”
I nod because there’s nothing I can say. All I can do is listen.
She gives me an apologetic look. “Is this too much?”
I let out a sigh. “You are my soul bond. I want to know everything about you. You will never be too much.”
She puts her hands through her hair, looking like she’s trying to keep it together. “I’ve never told anyone. Not in so long.”
“Then tell me.”
I see a tear fall to the table, and I’m there in an instant, gathering her into my arms and carrying her over to the couch where I can hold her in my lap and soothe
her.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that last night makes me remember.” She chokes back a sob.
I rock her against me, pressing kisses to her hair, waiting for her to be ready to say more.
I meant what I said. She’s my soul bond, and I want to know everything. It doesn’t matter if it hurts me. It would hurt her more to keep it in.
“He killed her. He had a gun. Sally’s mom was with us, helping us load things.” She swallows. “It was all so fast.”
“Then what?”
She looks up at me with tearstained eyes, and it’s hard not to want to hunt down her stepfather. “I hurt him. I lost it. Does that mean there is chaos in my heart? Is that why I can’t feel my magic?”
I hold her close as she continues to cry, letting out her long-held pain.
No wonder she keeps people at arm’s length. No wonder she can’t stop going out in the dark.
“No,” I say soothingly. “You did what you had to.”
“Sally saw me,” Avery says softly. “She saw me hit him. Hit him until he stopped moving so he couldn’t hit either of us.” She lets out a pained moan. “Sometimes I don’t know if I should have done more or less. I didn’t save my mother, and—”
“You did perfectly,” I say. “If you hurt him, then he had to be hurt. I’m just sorry you had that on your hands.” I take in a deep breath. “Is he in prison?”
She nods. “He was, but he died there in a fight with another inmate.”
I suck in a breath, not sure what to say to that.
“It’s all right. It was a long time ago,” she says. “But it’s good, getting it out.” Her tears still wet my shirt, but I can feel that her pain is starting to abate.
Sometimes we just have to share the most painful things in our hearts with someone.
We simply sit there for a moment, and I’m grateful she’s safe in my arms while I’m still coming to grips with the world she lives in.
Avery,” I say. “Where I come from, things are so different. If you come with me there…”
She looks up at me, and already the tears are drying and that familiar strength is shining from her eyes. “But don’t you see? This is exactly why I have to stay here. I have to fight. I have to help. If I had only acted sooner—”
Found by Frost: Wings, Wands and Soul Bonds Book 1 Page 8
