“God, I’ve missed you,” I whisper when his lips move to my neck. He groans in agreement. A second later, he rests his forehead on my shoulder. His ragged breaths match mine and I can only imagine his heart is beating as fast as mine too.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that, but it’s been hell without you, and knowing you still care … I … I couldn’t help myself.”
My fingers run up into his hair, cradling his head to me. “I missed you like you wouldn’t believe,” I admit. “I never stopped loving you. It’s just those bonds.”
Rocks straightens up, cupping my face in his large hands. “I haven’t fulfilled a single one. I couldn’t do it. I won’t do it. AuburnSky is the only female to have asked. She’s twenty-three so … kinda keen.” He shrugs. “Anyhow, you saw how the Sire reacted when I said no. The others … well, blood bonds can take years to be called upon. When they call, I will deny them, and I’ll deal with the consequences of that when it happens. All that matters is being with you. It’s what I want.”
“Seriously?”
“It’s all I’ve thought about. Losing Decker made me realize that life is too short to live by other people’s terms and conditions. Will you have me back if I’m faithful to you as both a Camazotz, both bat and man?”
I grin, biting my lip. The happiness inside feels so foreign. It’s fireworks after a thunderstorm. It’s hot, salted, caramel buns on a chilly winter’s morning. It’s Rocks asking to be mine and only mine.
My answer is to kiss the living daylights out of him. I feel his lips curl into a smile, and we rest our foreheads together. “Your car is turning out to be my new favorite place.”
We both laugh. Rocks slumps back onto his seat, his long fingers drumming out a beat on his knee.
“We’ll work this out. Now tell me everything again from the start. There has to be a way for me to get in there,” he says.
We use the privacy of my car to catch up. Rocks tells me that the colony hasn’t seen or heard from little Elm or Oak, since I was there last. That sends a shiver up my spine. The colony is experiencing the anguish of missing kids as well. When I ask him if Sylvana is still preaching that my evil ways are to blame, he goes quiet. I eye him before we both focus on the pickup truck rumbling toward us.
“I promised no more secrets,” he admits with a grin after the ancient vehicle drives past. “She’s been cursing you for weeks. It’s a miracle your hair hasn’t turned green. Maybe you’re out of range?” He reaches out and runs two fingers through my ponytail. God, I’ve missed those cheeky eyes and that beautiful smile. “But seriously, she has half the pups scared out of their wits. One of them cried when an aeronaught customer told her she had a pretty dress.”
“That wicked hag!”
“You should hear what Bailey says in your defense. She won’t stand for a single bad word to be uttered about you. And her dragon threatens to char-grill anyone that disagrees with his mistress.” He winks.
“How is she?”
“Good. Flying better, but she also had a thing or two to say about us breaking up. She’s going to be a force to be reckoned with when she’s an adult.”
“Are you allowed to be here? What about the owls?”
“I snuck out since it’s daylight. Even I won’t go out alone at night since … you know.”
I nod and breathe a sigh of relief. Rocks is being careful, and that’s all I can ask for. He also updates me on the Duskwing drama. The Shadows sent another envoy to find out if the Duskwing are behind the aeronaught attacks. According to Rocks, relations between the two colonies have gone from frosty to arctic.
The Duskwing claimed they aren’t behind the owl attacks because they have suffered losses from the barbaric creatures too. Strickland doesn’t believe them. Rocks said the really odd part of their second visit was that there were hardly any Camazotz present. He knows they prefer to live at the farm rather than their roost, but it was a ghost town.
I lean forward, peering out my windshield, trying to locate the sun. It’s behind the tree line so I start the car. Rocks cannot be out alone after dark.
“Let me out here. It’s not far as the bat flies.” He points toward the trees on the horizon. “I’ll see you Saturday. Text me.” Rocks leans over but then stops. My heart beats like it’s sprouted fairy wings.
“You can.” I bite my lip. I don’t know why I’m back to being so nervous at the thought of Rocks kissing me. But then again, Rocks and I didn’t have a lot of time together together before his wing injury.
“Yes!” He leans over and kisses me three times. “Keep me updated. Any time, just call.”
My guilt complex has returned from the outer reaches of the galaxy. Sharing my load with Rocks has helped. I might just get a decent night’s sleep later.
My mom is waiting when I arrive home. The house smells of lemon bleach, and I trip over the vacuum cleaner cord on my way to the kitchen. Seeing the vacuum out adds to my happiness. Kelly is really coming back to us.
“I saved you some dinner,” she says, pushing the foil-covered plate my way. Her dishcloth stops wiping the countertop. “Do you think he’ll forgive us?”
Knowing she feels bad for sending the cops after Rocks makes me close the distance between us and hug her. “You know the way to his heart is through his stomach. I’m sure he’ll forgive you in no time if he gains five pounds. His father though will be another story. He’s pretty upset.”
“You must invite his parents down, and I’ll apologize in person.”
Yeah, nope! Never gonna happen.
“No, they just need time. You look better.” Her face crumples as though she’s going to cry, but she doesn’t.
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I just … I vanished for a while there, but I’m okay. Your poor father. He’s been coping with all of this on his own. I feel terrible. When you yelled at me about Rocks, it woke something up inside. I saw your disappointment and realize that I deserved it, but not for letting Mini be taken, for letting this family down since.”
I rub her back. “We were so worried about you.”
“You and Rocks going to be okay?” I can see the worry in her eyes. It’s the first time she’s looked at me with concern since Mini vanished.
I nod. “He’s coming around on Saturday. He wants to help any way he can.”
That makes her cry. She tells me what a wonderful, young man he is, wanting to be here for us during such a trying time. I can think of more colorful words to describe this situation than “trying.” I also want to tell her that Mini is fine. Lonely, but okay, and with Rocks on board, we’re going to bring her home.
Mom returns to the vacuuming while I eat dinner. Home-cooked food is the best. My mind drifts to Mini—if she’s tucked up asleep, if she’s alone. I’m so grateful Rocks is going to help. There has to be a way for us to save her—Rocks and I—together. The feel of him kissing me makes my fingers drift over my lips. God, I missed that. I want to kiss him for hours on end, but that can wait till we rescue Mini, and I feel so bad enjoying myself while she’s still a prisoner.
His promise to me plays over and over in my head. I feel my lips smile, but it fades when I think about the blood debts still hanging around his neck. I believe Rocks when he says he won’t do anything about them if he’s asked. I just worry what the Sire will do to him as a result. Will he be put on trial again for refusing a blood bond? I sigh, wishing I had more answers than questions for once. I guess we’ll deal with that when it happens. For now, I need to focus on a plan to rescue my little sister.
21. The Plan
“Are you sure you won’t be in danger?” I ask.
“You forget how good I am at keeping out of sight, and this is about getting Mini, so it’s worth it. Plus, I’m not planning on attacking anyone and ending up on the television. Relax.” He runs his warm hands up and down my arms.
Rocks is standing in my room. My worry is preventing me from focusing the way I’d like to on his tight, black t-shirt and bare,
inked arms. I swear his muscles are even more defined since I last saw him. The plan is for him to be my aerial escort when my human escorts take me to Enzo’s in an hour. I’m worried, with half the population on bat alert, that he shouldn’t risk being seen flying over the city during the day. It’s one thing for him to visit me in the ‘burbs, but who knows where Enzo’s warehouse is located?
Opening my desk drawer, I grab the envelope I’ve had for a month. Getting emotional before meeting Johnson and Brick probably isn’t the best idea, but I want Rocks to have those photos. He drops onto my bed when he sees Decker’s smiling face in the first picture. I sit beside him and rest my hand on his thigh as he flicks through the rest of them.
“These are even better printed. Thank you.” He leans over and places a kiss on my forehead. “Thank you.” Holding up the photo of his brother and I, Rocks says he wants to frame it.
“Hey, did you get a pic of Strickland?”
Rocks clicks open his silver pocket watch to check we have time. He opens up his photos’ folder, then hands me his phone. Strickland is standing with his arms folded across his chest, looking as cranky as I’ve ever seen him. His forehead is furrowed so deeply he’s practically got a unibrow.
“I stalked him all over the market to get that. Fitting, don’t you think?”
I grin. “Strickland on a good day. Does he know you took it?”
“Nope.” His wide smile tells me exactly how proud he is of his ninja photography skills. He indicates for me to look through his photos. “Oh my God.”
Bailey is on his shoulders with her pink seahorse and dragon sitting on Rocks’ head. Their smiles could light the universe. I want a copy. I flick through photo after photo of Rocks at the market with different Camazotz.
There’s a heap of him with his siblings—Baxter, Moonshiner, Ireland, and Bailey. Graceland doesn’t feature in any, and I guess she shares her father’s disdain for technology. I doubt her feelings toward me have improved much as Rocks has been in even more trouble since I saw her at the blood ceremony.
Surprised doesn’t even cover how I feel looking at the picture of Rocks with Judge. The Fold member with the deadly scar down his face is smiling and has an arm slung around Rocks’ shoulders. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he was Rocks’ father and not the angry man in the other photo. Judge clearly views Rocks as family—since technically he is Rocks’ stepdad—and it’s nice to know that one leader in the Shadows has Rocks’ back. I show Rocks the picture on the screen.
“Yeah, he was happy to have his picture taken after I gave him the photo of Decker. I’ve never seen Judge so open to what your world offers than when he was looking at the image of his son.”
Rocks admits that he thinks Judge will stand with him if the Sire decides Rocks isn’t allowed to see me. Apparently, I’m still banned from the market. When I go to protest that he should not be here, he says Mini comes first. I hate that I selfishly need his help so I let my counter argument dissolve on my tongue.
“Check out the videos,” he says, oozing with pride.
The angle shows he’s standing at the bottom of an enormous tree. The trunk is dead straight, and the branches all seem to be growing from the other side, off center—a freak of nature. There’s movement high in the branches, a short squawk, and next thing a dark shape is zooming straight toward the camera. It’s body barely an inch from the rough bark, and wings tucked in close to its side, the bat’s face gets closer and closer until its nose slams onto the screen before the camera drops to the ground.
The phone keeps filming, and I can see grass and one of Rocks’ black boots. The sound captures Rocks laughing and swearing at Jeremiah about getting close, but not that close. A second later, Rocks rights the camera, and it zooms in on Jeremiah—as a human—rubbing his sore red nose. It’s flight school for daredevils.
* * * * *
As the automatic roller door rumbles down, closing on the concrete, I listen as hard as I can for any calls from Rocks.
Nothing.
Trying to stay calm, I head down the hallway to the waiting duffle bags and pray that he knows my location. Locating the warehouse is step one, and without it, Mini won’t be coming home. Inside my laundry room, I get to work opening the top journal. I grab the first heavy duffle and lug it over. As I heave it up onto my desk, I glance at the ceiling.
I feel as obvious as the sun coming out at night. Rocks wants details of every room inside the warehouse. He needs to know what weaknesses his Camazotz-sized self can take advantage of, but whoever is watching behind the mirrored glass cannot know I’m mentally taking notes.
High above me is the grill of the air duct. Of course! With the distinct smell of the product only a couple of rooms away, and not one window in the place, all the rooms are vented.
This is good news.
“Hello, Papa,” I say, walking uninvited into his office later.
His back is to me, and he’s looking through the open blinds into the cutting room. The young girl who explained production to me is working today wearing bright red, lace underwear. I use the chance to look around. Enzo’s office has a vent high in the false ceiling too, and I can’t see any alarm panels or sensors.
“I’m glad you came to see me,” he says, walking to the enormous slate grey safe in the corner. Opening it, he hands me a large, yellow envelope. “Check the details, and let me know if there are any problems.”
Rocks has a birth certificate and social security number. There are documents for Jeremiah too. My smile is real. Mini is usually the only recipient of genuine smiles when I’m stuck here.
“Thank you. Thank you so much.” Enzo opens his arms, and the gesture almost wipes the smile away, but I force myself to step into them. His hug makes me want to grab Mini’s baby wipes and shower with them.
“Bring me photos of the two if you would like other documents.”
Over my dead body.
He will never lay eyes on Rocks. It’s the only reason I risked getting these. His name, which isn’t in the system anyhow, is one thing, but his photo is totally out of the question.
Rocks is sitting on the edge of the porch swing when I pull in. He’s by my side faster than my eyes can track, asking if I’m okay. Before I’ve had time to close my car door, his hands run over my body to make sure I’m in one piece. I don’t miss his nose twitch as he picks up the unpleasant aroma of my job.
“I lost you. I’m sorry.”
Dumping my cell back in my car, I give the street a quick scan before speaking. “Let’s go inside.”
Rocks paces my room while he explains how he lost sight of the SUV. He says the vehicle entered a six-level parking garage just south of downtown, and he needed to wait a second before he could swoop down and follow because a family of four had just exited through the open boom gate. He didn’t want to get too close and risk unwanted attention.
By the time he entered the garage, he couldn’t see the car, and after searching every row, he realized there were two other exits onto the street behind. My suits took a detour through the building to lose any tail, or in this case—wing.
“We’re gonna need help. I’ll ask Jeremiah and Ezra. They can wait by each exit to see which one they take.”
“No way! Nuh-uh. Not happening.” I fold my arms.
“Ah-ha.”
“Nuh-uh. No.”
“Connie, we can’t do this alone. You saw a man murdered. We have to get Mini out of there, and we’re gonna need help.”
“No.”
“You need to tell Kelly and Chad what’s happened to Mini.”
I nearly fall off the bed at his ludicrous suggestion.
“Have you suffered a head injury I don’t know about? I cannot tell them. They’ll go straight to the cops!”
“So we’re just going to bring her home, and the cops and everyone will celebrate the case getting solved? Where exactly are you going to tell them you found her?” His red eyebrow bar rises up under his hair. He’s thought long
and hard about our plan. My eel comes out to party in my guts—it thrives on misery. It astounds me how stupid I can be at times. All I was focused on was getting my sister away from Enzo, but bringing her home is just as complicated.
“Fudge me! Fudge Enzo! Fudge, fudge, fudge!” My fist slams into my mattress.
Rocks pulls me in for a hug. I listen to his steady heartbeat then take a deep breath. My heart rate slows to match his. “We need a way to make Enzo stay out of your life for good. I have an idea, but you’re really gonna have to trust me.”
* * * * *
On Sunday, Rocks pays Josie Hendersen a house call—alone.
As much as I hated to admit he was right, the risk of me being followed to my birth mother’s house is ridiculously high. This all started with that stupid surveillance van outside her place anyway.
All morning, I try to stay calm, but the longer I wait, the more I sweat. I’ve cleaned my room, the bathroom and the kitchen. Twice.
Josie has a plan.
It’s a good one.
My fingers fly over the keys trying to reply. Josie has a plan? That concept is hard to fathom. The woman that practically slammed the door in my face, telling me to get lost, wants to help? I don’t think I’ll ever understand how adult brains function.
You sure we can trust her?
I hate to ask, but Josie doesn’t care about me, let alone Mini. Rocks thought Josie might be able to convince Chad and Kelly not to tell the cops when I come clean about Mini’s location. He’s right. If we’re going to rescue Mini, my folks need to be in the know. But the thought of telling them who I am sends the eel ducking for cover.
As I wait for his reply, I ignore twelve other text messages, six Facebook alerts, and four snapchats from the girls getting ready for school tomorrow now that Spring break is over. The text I’m anxiously waiting for finally beeps.
She wants him behind bars too.
She feels responsible.
Good! That letter was the start of a landslide of events that just keeps on coming, and we need a way to stop it—forever. I want my old life back and the sooner the better. The ways that I have let down Dad and Mom make me ashamed to be called a Phillips. Lies, deceit and dishonesty are the trademarks of an Ascari. My old worry that I won’t be welcome as a Phillips once they find out bubbles to the surface. Mini is only in danger because of me, but if I want to make this right, then I have to risk never seeing Mom smile at me with love ever again.
Sanguine Moon Page 30
