Chapter Twelve
I dreamed.
It was evening and I was walking alone in a lovely garden surrounding a spectacular villa nestled into the cliffs above the Pacific. Waves crashed against a rocky shore, gulls screeched in their search for the last juicy meal of the day, and crickets warned off trespassers. As the garden darkened, my skin buzzed with electricity, and I caught a familiar scent.
Garrett walked toward me, all grace and style and looking like every girl’s fantasy. Despite his beauty, warnings were flashing in my head, but I was already lost, my gaze locked on his, my heart keeping pace with each of his long-legged strides.
Was this his home? How did I get here?
His closeness made me nervous, his sweet scent strong, so I bit my lip as I had when I’d first met him. This time a single drop of blood escaped from the corner of my mouth and dripped slowly down to my trembling chin. He reached out and captured the red droplet with a finger, lifting it slowly to his mouth, sucking gently as I watched, enthralled. A slight shudder rippled over his body when he swallowed, a warm smile spreading across his face, immediately putting me at ease. Silver flecks had appeared in his startling eyes the moment he’d swallowed, adding fuel to my sense of wonder.
How could a man’s smile make me feel so at peace? How could a man’s eyes become eyes I needed to gaze into for eternity?
I knew I was dreaming, but at the same time I wanted the dream to never end.
With great care he grasped one of my hands and pulled me beside him, lowering us onto a bench overlooking the angry sea. He rested his hand on my shoulder and leaned closer. “Jacqueline,” he whispered against my hair, “I was so afraid for you. Now you’re safe with us.”
No one had ever called me Jacqueline, I’d never liked the name, but spoken with Garrett’s rich tone it was perfect. My heart beat very fast. “I don’t understand,” I whispered against his shoulder.
“You should know the truth. May I show you something? It’s only a memory and cannot hurt you.”
“Yes”
His eyes drew me in as the scene changed quickly. I appeared in the park of my nightmares, an invisible bystander watching a younger me being beaten and stabbed by my long-ago attackers. Only this time Garrett arrived like a hungry demon, ripping into them with sharp fangs and supernatural strength. The men screamed and died.
As horrible as it was, I couldn’t look away because I was glad they were dead.
The dark angel crouched beside me, holding my horribly injured body with great gentleness. He bit into his wrist, encouraging me to drink his blood. I was pale, barely breathing, probably close to death. As I drank, the bleeding slowed and stopped, my color improving. I heard an ambulance in the distance as Garrett lowered me gently to the ground and disappeared into the trees in a blur of motion. He’d carried away the bodies of my attackers as if they were made of feathers and not flesh and bone.
The vision faded and I was once more leaning against him outside the villa, feeling both grateful and terrified at the same time. “I was almost too late. Je suis désolé. I’m so sorry.” His eyes gleamed with anger and frustration and such sadness. I wanted to tell him that I was fine. That he’d arrived in time.
“Garrett—”
He brushed my hair away from my face, smiling his sad smile. “Sleep now, Jacqueline.” And the velvet night swallowed me.
I woke up soaked in sweat and trembling violently. Reliving the attack had shattered me. I stumbled to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face, sinking down to the tile floor and wrapping my arms around my bent knees.
I’m losing it. Did Garrett come to me in a dream and show me how he saved my life two years ago? “Ridiculous.” I’d spoken out loud in the hopes of convincing myself. Dreams could not be real. That drug must still be affecting my mind. And the whole me-drinking–his-blood thing was just too weird.
But why did he seem so familiar? Could he have come to me that night? I opened the bathroom window and took in a few deep breaths of fresh air. This was just nuts.
When I stumbled back toward the bed, I looked at the small clock on the dresser. 5:00 a.m. What am I going to do now that I’m wide awake at 5:00 a.m.? I decided to get dressed and take a walk to straighten out my head. A narrow path snaked through the woods, leading south. Rob had said to avoid it, but since my night vision was excellent, and I wasn’t usually big on following rules that made no sense, I chose to check it out.
Moving as quietly as possible down the forbidden path, I soon forgot the dream and became much more interested in my surroundings. Sheltered under oak and fir trees, the azalea and huckleberry shrubs colored the dark trail with blooms that would brighten beautifully in the early light of dawn. The first chirping and warbling of birds in the high branches caused me to glance up.
The moon was in its waxing phase. Before long it would be full, lighting up the woods with a silvery glow. Good thing I’m not a werewolf, I thought smugly. They’d probably be pretty jumpy right now, waiting for their forced change. Or maybe they liked the hunt as much as shifters did. I stifled a laugh with my hand when I realized how, in just a few days, I’d come to accept this crazy supernatural world.
Kinda hard not to when your own body made it impossible to ever think of yourself as human again.
I arrived at the beach and turned right, continuing to walk along a well-trodden path that followed the shoreline. The sky was growing lighter, yet some objects were still unclear, even to my more sensitive eyes. I saw a dark shape in the water, and crouched down, not sure what I was looking at. After another moment I stood, my mouth hanging open in shock.
A gentle breeze carried the scent of eucalyptus. I was startled, turning to see if it was some other cougar. Ethan had been snoring away when I’d left the cabin. “It’s me,” Ethan whispered, moving beside me. “I heard you leave. Are you okay?”
“I’m not sure.”
“What’s up?” asked Ethan.
“Well...look!”
Ethan glanced in the direction I pointed and then back at me. “What?”
“There’s a boat. We could leave.”
He laughed and sat down on a large rock along the path. “There are only a few problems with that idea. First of all, it won’t start without the key and Rob has it. It’s his boat. That’s how we got here in the first place.”
“Oh.” I sank down beside him. “I hadn’t thought about that.”
“Second, if we left, he’d come after us.”
I rolled my eyes. “How could he do that without his boat?”
“He’d call Garrett or one of his other friends to intercept us and bring us back here.”
“Oh. Yeah. I guess he would.” I pouted.
“Third, where would we go?”
“I don’t ... maybe ... I guess nowhere.” Ethan’s words had reminded me that I didn’t have a home to go back to. I could try to find Maggie and Justin in their new town in Colorado, but would they want me back? My body slumped against Ethan’s.
“Do you still want to leave?” he asked, sounding kind of sad.
I watched the boat bobbing in the water. It looked like a nice one, practical like Rob, with a good sized deck and an inside cabin. It was definitely some kind of motorboat, since it had no mast or sails. Behind it, the sun was peeking out, the sky streaked with bands of orange and lemon and berry. That’s when my stomach growled.
Ethan laughed, standing and stretching out his hand to help me up. “C’mon, I’ll make you pancakes.”
Rob was sitting on the porch when we got back. Ethan greeted him and headed to the kitchen, hopefully to get started on the pancakes. I sat on the bench next to Rob, still mulling over Ethan’s question. Did I still want to leave?
“Early stroll?” Rob asked.
“I found your boat.”
“Ah. Cheetahs are good trackers.”
“It was an accident. I wasn’t looking for it.”
“They’re also lucky,” he laughed. “You decided to forego
the attempted prison break?”
“Ethan’s making pancakes.”
“It’s good you have your priorities straight.” He managed to keep a straight face, but his dark eyes were glittering with humor.
Later, during breakfast, I announced, “I don’t.” They looked at me curiously. “I don’t want to run anymore.” They smiled and kept eating, feeling no comment was necessary.
We trained for three more days. On the fourth morning after the discovery of the boat, Rob sat us down at the table.
“I think I’ve done all I can with you here on the island. I’m sending you to Crescent City.” He handed Ethan a key. “Take the boat. There are maps in the cabin under the logbook along with two cell phones. My number and Garrett’s are programmed in. There are extra clothes in the bin over the bed and there’s some cash there as well.”
“Ethan, dock it in our usual slip at Sea Bright Docks. Tell Harry that I’ll contact him in a few days. Directions to a house owned by my friend Carly O’Neal are in a manila envelope. She’ll put you up while you’re being trained. Call Garrett at three in the afternoon and he’ll take over from that point. You’ll be meeting a couple of other rogue shifters that I trained here on the island. I think you’ll work well together.”
I ignored everything Rob had just said, asking Ethan, “You can drive a boat?” I must have looked shocked, because they both laughed at me.
“Pilot, yeah. Rob taught me,” Ethan answered like it was no big deal.
Rob continued, his expression turning serious. “Follow only Garrett’s or Carly’s instructions. There are some shifters in the community who don’t believe kids like you are salvageable. They think you’re dangerous and that you should be locked up, or worse. After you get to the house, stay out of sight as much as possible.”
“Dangerous?” I couldn’t believe anyone would think that I was a risk to their precious community.
“Garrett and Carly will explain. Just don’t go wandering off.”
“You’re not coming?”
“I’m going out of town for several days.” He shifted his gaze to Ethan. “Garrett’s the best trainer you’ll ever work with, so don’t give him a hard time.” His dark gaze returned to me. “Call him today at three. Don’t forget.”
We gathered up a few things, heading down the same path I’d discovered three mornings ago. Finally, I was going back to civilization. There would be TV and movies and unlimited internet. I bounced up and down with excitement as I walked along the narrow trail toward my newest adventure.
Rebirth - Book 1 Rogues Shifter Series Page 12
