"Yes." he answers simply.
"Do it. We have to get her and William here, immediately. We need to find Leyland’s Mother." She should know her son cannot remember who he is; maybe she can help him.
"Of course. I will go to William's human consort, Mickey. I will be some time. Can you tell Everly?" he looks back at her car, at the three heads within. Concern finally pulls his brows down in a frown.
I nod. "I'll tell her. Go." Giving the giant orders doesn't give me any thrills the way you might think. No. He's family now. We need to work together to put things right. To help Le. I walk into the house as Vic strides the other way, hopefully to get help for Leyland. I enter the kitchen and begin making breakfast. Le looked like he had lost weight in the few days he was gone. So I decide to make a full English. I grab everything from the double fridge and lay them out on the counter. While a huge part of me wants to be outside, with Ever, Garrot and Leyland, I know that those two are closer with Le than I am. I love my brother, but Everly and Gar are in love with him. Some time passes in silence, I busy myself with chopping, frying and laying the table for breakfast. Just as I put the bacon under the grill, Everly, Leyland, and Garrot walk in the kitchen door.
"Breakfast will be ready in fifteen," I tell them. But no one looks my way or answers me. Shit. This is so much worse than I expected. We thought Leyland had been kidnapped, but we didn't know he was being tortured. He now has a shirt wrapped around his waist, giving him some modesty.
"Shower," Garrot says on their way past. Yeah, I bet Le has not showered since he's been gone. Ah, fuck me. What a shit show. If I was a better brother I'd have found him sooner, saving him from being whipped and almost raped. Any later and he would've been forced to marry that crazy bitch. Thank fuck for Everly! The way she exploded that evil bitch Selina made me cringe, but it was fucking glorious at the same time. I shake my head and bits of bone and matter fall from it. Err, gross. I look up to the ceiling and wonder if there is room for another in that shower?
Leyland
We drive for what feels like hours, the car quietly zooming down roads faster than I thought possible. The two people in the car with me claim they're my family. I don't recognize their faces, though. The redhead, Everly, keeps looking at me as we speed down the middle lane.
"Leyland?" she says tentatively.
I can't look her in the eyes. I can't. That—that creature almost took away my manhood. I almost let her. I jump in my seat as her hand touches my leg softly. She snaps the arm back as if my skin had burned her. Maybe it had? For I feel on fire with shame.
"Take this brother, wrap it around your waist," the curly haired man in the back says as he passes me his shirt. Taking it gingerly, I do as he says and wrap it around me as best I can. I'll redo it when I get out of the car. I look at Red out of the corner of my eye, that’s what my mind has called her, and something stirs within me. What? I don't know. But it twists around my heart and squeezes it painfully, sucking the air from my lungs.
"So, you don’t know me, Le?" she asks. She says my name like she utters it a lot. Maybe I do know these people? They appear to know me very well.
"I am sorry. I do not." I wish I did. Then I wouldn't feel so alone. Red is beautiful. I turn to look at her as she concentrates on the road. I watch, fascinated, as she captures her bottom lip in her teeth, worrying it. My penis twitches under the shirt on my lap, making me jump.
"What?" she shouts, loud enough to make me wince again. "Shit, I'm sorry, Leyland." she apologizes. It's immediately obvious she is nothing like Selina. I try to relax against the leather seat, but it only rubs against the cuts on my back, so I sit forward again.
"I'm so sorry we didn't find you sooner, brother," the handsome man says from behind me. Brother?
"Are we brothers?" I ask him, turning my head to look at him. He is handsome, the brown and blonde curls on his head are soft like mine, but he appears to have spent a lot of time in the sun. He has scruff across his face, like me, but his is lighter. Maybe we are brothers? We are similar, but our noses are different, as are the colour of our eyes. His are green, mine are a light grey.
"No. Not by blood, but by something more powerful." he replies, his voice soft. Huh.
"And you, little woman, are we related by blood?" I ask red. Hoping against hope that we are not related by blood, my body is drawn to her, it yearns to feel her against it. The color of her hair in the rising sunlight captures my eyes, the thing inside my chest constricts and I can barely breathe.
"No. I'm your—we're—" she begins.
"Lovers?" I provide for her. The hope inside me rising. She is incredible. Each time I look at her my pensis twitches again. My gut feeling about her is that not only are we lovers, but we are so much more. Is she the one I missed so much while in Selina’s jail?
"Yes," she breathes. She sounds - relieved? "You remember?"
"When I look at you I - the spot between my shoulders is itchy." I confuse myself by saying. It has been driving me mad for hours, I need to ease the itch before I lose my mind.
"Let them out, baby," Red tells me.
"Let what out?" I look back to her, confused.
"Your wings," the man Red calls Garrot replies. We pull up outside a cute house in the middle of nowhere. It's getting lighter, a new day beginning, but it's absolutely silent here. "Get out, and concentrate on the..." the man starts to say as another car pulls up. This one is bigger and makes a lot of noise.
"Just Karl and Victor, it's ok," Red says. Her sweet voice like a balm to my soul.
"If it's ok, can we sit here for just a few more minutes?" I ask her. I’m not ready yet to leave the small space. I like being near her, and him too, I feel comforted and at ease here with them.
"Of course. Take as long as you need," she replies, the love she clearly has for me pouring from her.
I think I might need a long time, but I don't say that out loud.
BY THE TIME I'M READY to get out of the car, the sun has risen higher in the sky. It shines through the windscreen, making the small space too hot to stay here for much longer.
"Shall we go inside?" I ask them both, I desperately want to get clean.
"Yup. Shower?" she asks me and it's everything I can do to not throw myself into her arms and sob. This woman, so unlike Selina, is sweet and caring. I’m not sure who she is to me, or who I am to her. But I find I really like her.
Chapter Twenty-Three
EVERLY
As I lead Leyland up the stairs by his hand, I send a silent prayer to whichever God is listening. Thank you for allowing me to find him. But fuck you for waiting so long! Tortured, almost raped. What the fuck? As we go to the bathroom I try to force myself to forget the sight of that evil bitch exploding. It was far too quick for my liking, but not wanting to drag out Leyland’s suffering any longer, I closed my eyes and imagined her popping like a balloon. They flashed open again as pieces of her hit my face. Do I feel bad that I had killed someone? Nope. That bitch was evil and evil don't get to keep breathing. Sure I could have killed her like a normal person, or even handed her to the police. She did attempt to rape Leyland, so they could have locked her up. But where is the justice in that? Being locked behind bars, having someone do your cooking, cleaning and no bills to pay was not a punishment for the crime she tried to commit. No. That's a bloody holiday compared to what rapists deserve. Them and child molesters deserve death, slowly and painfully. I wish I had time to show that bitch what it feels like to have your power taken from you, but I couldn’t stop myself when I turned to Le, his face was so full of sadness, his body abused and broke, I just couldn’t stop myself from punishing her. Princess of Everland? The fuck is that? Regardless, she was evil and deserved what I did to her. My only regret is that we didn’t find Leyland sooner, saved him from what she did to him. Maybe then, he would remember who we are? Then he wouldn't be the shell of the man he was only days ago. I wish I could erase his memories of the last few days. Where is Damon Salvatore when you need him?
We reach the bathroom and Garrot puts his hand on Leyland`s arm, making him whimper and move away. He bumps into me and I crash to the floor.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't—" Leyland’s panicked tone makes snakes writhe in my stomach
"It's ok, I fall a lot. Big butt helps soften the blow," I say as I push myself back up. As I stand he peers around me, as if trying to get a look at said butt. So I turn my hips and wiggle it, making him laugh.
"I'll leave. Le ... I`m so sorry," Garrot mumbles and walks out of the room, tears glistening in his eyes. Leyland’s face falls and he drops his chin to his chest.
"We tried to look for you, Leyland. We couldn't find you." I tell him, my voice breaking. He looks up into my eyes, unshed tears in his. Stepping forward, I slowly bring my hands up, not breaking eye contact with him, I pull loose the shirt around his waist. "Let's get you clean, Le." I tug his hand to get him into the shower and turn it on. I lean past him and grab the soap and cloth. "Want me to—?" Worried he will spook I ask permission; the haunted look in his eyes tells me he's been through more than just being whipped by that horrible bitch. He nods, no expression on his handsome face.
Lathering up the cloth, I gently start to clean his skin. I begin at his chest, squeezing soap suds on him, then rubbing them in circles into his skin. I'm aiming for relaxing, almost like a massage, but when I follow the trail of bubbles down his abs I see that he's turned on. His dick stands long and proud, curved towards his stomach. I know I should ignore it, like, he can't help his body's reactions, so that's what I do. Ignore it. He startles me by talking.
"Why do you shower fully dressed?"
"I didn't want to scare you. After ..." I shrug my shoulders, my white t-shirt is see through now that it’s wet, my nipples poke through the material and my joggers stick my my legs.
"I want to see you, erase the images of that monster from my mind." He looks deep into my eyes, some of the pain there has lifted. Since he's asked me to get naked, I do. Stripping out of wet clothes is difficult, let me tell you. I get frustrated and just start yanking at the sodden material. When my hand slips and I bang my elbow into the tiles, I let out a yelp.
"Want some help there, Red?" Le says, chuckling at me.
I look at him, mock anger in my eyes. "Go for it, bird boy."
He giggles and says, "What am I?" He manages to get my t-shirt off and is now working on the joggers I threw on.
"Not a hundred percent sure, but I think you're an angel. Maybe a boss Cupid?" My bottoms are around my ankles when he looks up.
"Cupid? Huh, I—I think I feel that." his eyes are riveted on my boobs, his mouth slightly open as he stares at them, then his eyes train down my body. His breathing picks up, sending cold air across my skin.
"You can feel people's hearts?" I ask in hope. He flings the wet bundle of cloth into the sink, stands and presses his body again mine, and cups his hands around my face.
"I feel yours, sweet girl. It's breaking." My legs feel weak and I wobble a bit. "Does it break for who I used to be?" He presses his forehead to mine, letting the spray from the shower hit his back. The blood and water mixes together, pink liquid runs down the drain and an idea pops into my head.
"Turn around Le, let me see." I ask, he hesitates, I now see he is wincing slightly as the water touches his flayed skin. "Please?" He turns and places his hands on the tiles in front of him. I clamp my teeth down on my tongue to stop myself from crying or screaming. Vivid red slashes crisscross the skin over his muscles, some are dark bruises, some are open wounds oozing blood. "Inner lights can heal," I say aloud. That's what William had told me, so with the memory of when Karl, Leyland, and I pushing our inner lights into Garrot to save him from death by Selkie poison in my mind, I place a palm on the tender skin. He sucks in a breath and moves away slightly. "Let me try to help you, Leyland. Please?" His dark brown curls have flattened against his head, he looks so different. Not just on the outside, but on the inside too. The storm grey eyes that used to hold so much light, are now haunted.
"Okay," he groans out. Somewhere between pain and pleasure. Closing my eyes, I imagine the lights inside my soul, swirling, mixing with each other. I reach out with my mind and grab hold of them, then yank as hard as I can. I visualise the light flowing down my arm, into my hand and then seeping through to Leyland’s skin, healing, stitching as it flows through him.
Another sharp intake of breath and my eyes pop open. I stand there and watch as my silver sparkly light wraps itself around Leyland, slowly pulling his skin back together. He reaches a hand back to grab my free one, and pulls it around his waist, resting it on his abdomen. The muscles there contracting and releasing. I press my cheek to his back, my body flush against his. His deep breath soothes us both.
"It feels ... good," he whispers over the sound of the shower. He has both of his hands over mine on his stomach, his fingers rubbing my wet skin. I close my eyes and push more of my light into him. God please let me heal whatever has happened to his mind! With the extra push of power Leyland lets out a moan and he drags my hand further down his body. When it hits his hard cock, he lifts my other hand off his back and places it on top of his heart. "Do you feel that, Red? Our hearts beat as one."
I do feel it, it's almost as if I can feel his heartbeat flutter across every inch of my skin.
He turns in my arms, his back completely healed. "What are you? Are you an angel?" He asks as he takes both my hands and plants a kiss on each on them. Holding them tight to his chest, Leyland looks deeply into my eyes.
"I am—um, a sea goddess? I think. I'm still discovering what exactly I am."
"I feel like yours. Am I yours, Red?"
The breath leaves my lungs. Even with no memory, Leyland feels our connection. I can't help the tears that flow down my face. I nod my head slightly. He leans forward, our lips just millimeters away from each other when the door slams open.
Garrot
Karl finishes breakfast and I load Everly`s and Leyland`s plates onto a tray. I add a first aid kit and take it upstairs to them, thinking they could use some time alone so that Leyland can get used to being here, among his family again. While I'm fucking elated that he's alive, my heart is fucked up over the fact he doesn't remember anyone or anything from his past. I push my light brown hair off my face as I climb the stairs slowly. What if he never remembers? Have we lost Leyland forever? Ah, fuck me. I can't cope with these thoughts. Let's just get him healed and fed, then we can talk about what happens next. Because fuck if I know how to handle this.
Reaching the top of the stairs, I almost drop the tray and scream like a girl, because standing outside Ever's bedroom door are two very naked women. They both turn to me, freaking me out because they move as one, and place their forefingers to their lips. Universal sign for don't make a fucking sound. Then, in true horror movie style, their voices enter my head.
"Hello, Gar Gar," the one on the left says.
"You don't remember us, but we never left you or Leyland." Venus's singsong voice rings in my mind.
"You've grown, son." the left one says, shocking the shit out of me.
Leyland’s mother, Venus, cocks her head at me, and giggles silently.
"Asia, honey, he's grown into a fine specimen of a man." Wait. Asia? As in MY Mother?
"Yes darling, it’s I, your mother. But we don't have much time. We must make haste." With that, she twists the handle and moves into the bedroom we all share with Everly. Walking quickly but gently so I don't drop everything on the tray, I follow behind them. When I turn to the bathroom I see them both completely naked in the doorway, their skin still glistening from their shower. Arms wrapped around each other, they stand there frozen in time.
Turning to the two women I ask "The fuck?" Oh, so articulate. My mind can't come up with a better question right now. My mother is here! Ever and Le start to move again, they wrap towels around themselves and move to sit on the bed, mouths hanging open as if they are trying to speak.
"She must he
al his mind. Before he is lost forever," Venus's melodic voice rings in my head. She walks, well, she floats, over to the bed and places her hand over Everly's forehead. Orange light pours from her palm and soaks into Everly.
"What are you doing?" I ask as both Le and Ever them fall back on to the bed.
"Hush, my child, she is giving her a boost. Come here, let me look at you," Asia, my mother, speaks in my mind. My legs take me forward to her, and she stands on her tiptoes to place a hand on my face. Her long, dark hair flows down her back, her skin is almost translucent. Haunting purple eyes are sunken into her face.
"Sweet boy. I am sorry I left you. I was needed elsewhere. But I keep an eye on you. I'm proud of you." She tells me softly. Tears spring to my eyes and my heart pounds in my chest. My mother killed herself shortly after I was born. When an attempt to save a slave went wrong, a girl was killed. And my mum was not able to forgive herself. "I'm sorry, Gar Gar. Truly."
"Why did you do it? Did you not care for me? For Dad?" Anger laces my voice. I was just a baby, I needed her too. She left me. She left us.
"Shh, baby. The prophecy is being fulfilled, you will be very happy soon. I had no choice but to do this, I didn't want to let you go, son. Everly is a worthy Queen and the world needs her. You must be strong." As she finishes talking, Venus walks back to us. Her white-blonde hair floats around her, like she’s underwater. It’s mesmerizing.
"It is done. Garrot, you should know—this woman carries ..." Before she can finish they vanish, and Ever and Le come around with a gasp. The sound of feet pounding up the stairs makes us all jump. Sitting up, both Everly and Leyland look at me. They don't seem surprised to see me, though. Karl and Victor crash through the door, each with a sword in their hands, ready to fight.
The Everly Davis chronicles Page 32
