Charlie’s face became expressionless as she set her jaw and tugged her hand away. Jack watched as she rose and paced to the end of the cave. The stiff set of her shoulders told him she was shutting him out again.
“I don’t know what happened in your past,” he said, “but I’m not like Dylan’s father.”
“I didn’t say you were.”
“You act like I am.”
Charlie glanced at where he remained seated against the wall with his arm draped over his knee. His hair had dried into a disheveled mess that, annoyingly, made him more appealing.
“Why didn’t you let me go when I slipped on the rocks?” she asked instead of answering his question.
Jack showed no reaction to her question. “Why would I let you go?”
“Because I could have dragged you into the ocean with me. You should have let me go to save yourself.”
“Would you have let me go?”
“Yes.” But even as she answered him, she wondered if she would have let him fall to save herself. For Dylan, yes, she would have done what it took to get back to her son, but if it was only about her? No, she realized with a jolt, she wouldn’t have let him go.
So, after one day of sex, she would have followed him into the unforgiving sea? After all these years, she’d believed herself older and wiser; it saddened her to realize she was still a moron when it came to men.
Although, she had to admit there was no way Chad would have tried to save her. He never would have attempted to stop her fall into the sea, and he wouldn’t have looked back as he continued without her.
Jack had risked himself to save her when he refused to let her go.
Then she recalled Jack, sitting with her son and pointing out the rabbit’s organs. Chad wouldn’t have sat and patiently worked to teach Dylan something new. Chad never would have talked to Dylan as he’d never acknowledged Dylan’s existence.
And why was she comparing the two of them? They were complete opposites in every way. Chad was refined; Jack had a wildness about him that was exciting and a little scary. Chad wouldn’t have survived an hour on this island and never could have killed anyone; if anyone could make it off this piece of land, it was Jack, and he would tear apart anyone who got in his way. Jack was kind and cared for others; Chad was an abusive asshole who only looked out for himself.
Over the years, she’d worked to make sure no one could hurt her again; she hadn’t realized she was hurting herself in the process. Yes, people could tear out her heart and stomp all over it, but they could also be good like Miss Dodd, Mal, and Jack. Okay, the last two were vampires, but Jack had been a mortal.
Was she going to spend an eternity keeping herself locked away because one man shattered her world when she was a teenager? Was she really going to forever fear what someone would do to her because her parents were abusive pricks who tossed her and her baby aside like garbage?
Sure, she’d had it rough, but she’d made her life better over the years, so why was she still so defensive? For the first time, she realized that though she’d come a long way in her schooling and career, in many ways, she remained that abused sixteen-year-old girl. A part of her had shut down back then and never come back to life.
And now… now she didn’t know what was happening, but she felt something changing within her. What that change was, and who she was becoming, she didn’t know, but it had something to do with Jack, and it made her feel vulnerable in a way she hadn’t in years. That terrified her.
It didn’t surprise him to learn she would have released him to save herself, but he couldn’t deny it cut him deeper than he expected. She was his mate; he did not doubt it, but was it possible for one vamp to feel the mate bond while the other didn’t? He’d never heard of such a thing happening, but there were plenty of vampires out there he didn’t know.
“Maybe I wouldn’t have,” she muttered.
“Maybe you wouldn’t have what?” Jack asked.
“Let you go. Maybe I would have kept hold of you, but if I believed holding on to you would keep me from getting to Dylan, I would have let you go.”
“Fair enough,” he said. Mate or not, he couldn’t expect her to choose him over her child.
“Jack?”
The hesitance in her voice and the alarm in her eyes caused his eyebrows to rise. “Yes?”
“Why didn’t you let me go?”
“Because I’m not like the others. I’m not going to let you down, Charlie, and I’m not going to let you go.”
She stared at him for a minute before opening her mouth to reply and closing it again. What did one say to that? They’d only known each other for three, no four… maybe five days. Without Mal’s calendar, she had no idea how much time had passed, and often throughout the year, she rarely knew what day or month it was.
Of course, they always knew when the hunt was approaching. She’d also asked Mal to let her know when November fourth—Dylan’s birthday—Christmas, and Easter were approaching so she could do something special for her son on those days. She never could do much, but every year the others helped her hunt down different colored rocks for an Easter rock hunt. She made him new weapons for his birthday, and last year, he received a fishing pole.
Every Christmas, they cut down a tree and pulled it inside. They all made small gifts for each other and placed them under the tree. It was never much, but the tiny semblance of normalcy in their horror-filled world, made them all feel better.
Jack buried his disappointment when Charlie turned away from him. You’re not going to win her over easily; he reminded himself. One brick at a time.
“Sometimes, I see things,” she muttered.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Jack waited for her to say more, but she didn’t elaborate. “What do you see?” he asked.
Charlie contemplated how to answer him. It had been years since she told anyone, and then it went so wrong that she’d never uttered another word about the things she saw. Would Jack believe her?
What did it matter if he didn’t believe her? He’d asked the question, and she would answer him; if he didn’t believe her, then so be it, but she was tired of keeping herself locked away. She was tired of carrying her burdens by herself. She desperately wanted to lean on someone. Jack saved her from falling into the ocean when it would have been easier to let her go; she didn’t see him letting her down now.
“I’ve seen different things for as long as I can remember. When I was a child, I saw the death of a young boy who lived down the road from us days before it happened. I told my parents to warn his mother not to let him ride his bike on the street, but they wouldn’t listen to me.
“And then, three days later, when the boy was hit by a car and killed, my parents locked me in my room, tied me to my bed, and prayed over my corrupt soul for a week. They were convinced their prayers would evict the evil residing in me. It wasn’t until our priest came over and assured them a demon didn’t possess me, that they let me leave my room and eat something more than bread.”
Jack heard the bitterness in her words. “How old were you?”
“Five.”
Jack’s stomach churned with acid as he thought about her parents doing such a thing to her. She’d been nothing but a child, sweet and trusting, and probably terrified of what she saw happening to the little boy. What they did afterward would have traumatized her.
“That’s the year I realized there was something different about me. It was also the year I learned I couldn’t count on my parents and could never tell them the things I saw again.”
Jack was beginning to understand her a lot better. It wasn’t just Dylan’s father who betrayed her; no, her parents turned on her when she was only a child. From the time she was young, she was taught not to trust people, yet she was telling him these things about her.
This was significant and difficult for her; he would not disappoint her. She would never endure such betrayal again. From now on, she would know she could rely on him to believe in her.
“I never told them about the things I saw again, but they still found plenty of reasons to lock me away. At least they never tied me to my bed again.”
“What else have you seen?” he asked.
“The death of birds seconds before they hit the windshield or a window. I once saw where a runaway girl was hiding and called in a tip to the police. I’ve seen other things over the years, most of them revolve around death, but I never see anything about myself. Like I never saw those vamps kidnapping Dylan and me and bringing us here.”
She rested her hand over her heart. “I feel that Dylan is okay, but I can’t see him like I could see all those other things, and I hate it. I never saw Mal changing me, and you…” Her voice trailed off as she looked at Jack’s handsome face again. “I never saw you coming.”
“You probably would have run if you had.”
A smile curved her mouth. “Probably.”
“Then I’m glad I was unforeseen.”
Charlie considered this for a minute before muttering, “So am I.”
Jack tried not to let his happiness over her words show, and he decided not to pursue it. She was opening up to him, but he wasn’t going to push his luck. “You may not have seen me, but you did see something about this hunt.”
“I did. Of course, I didn’t know it was this year’s hunt, but I saw a hunt getting messed up by people breaking out of their cages. I never have a time frame on things. Like when that car hit the little boy, it could have happened the same day of the vision, or a year later. With that vision, I knew it would be sooner rather than later because he still looked the same when I saw him dying and hadn’t aged. I didn’t recognize anyone in my vision of the escapees, and I still haven’t seen any of those I saw escaping their cages.”
“Do you think they were important? Do you think there was a reason you saw them?”
“They’re most likely not important to me. Remember, I don’t see anything about me. I think the vision was to let me know things were going to change.”
“That’s a good possibility,” Jack said.
“It would be helpful if I could see things about myself or Dylan, but I’m only meant to see things about others. Most of the time, there is nothing I can do to stop or change it, and sometimes I don’t see things until after they happen.”
“What do you mean?”
“About five years ago, I saw a news report about a missing woman and her family’s search for her. I’d never seen her before, but after the report, I had a vision of the husband, who was pleading to the cameras for his wife’s safe return, strangling her to death and throwing her into a river. Four days later, they found her body on the shore of a river and arrested her husband.”
“Did you tip them off where to search?”
“I made an anonymous call. I don’t know if they took it seriously or not.”
“What exactly did you see about this hunt?”
“A lot of death,” she murmured. “More than usual and worse than usual.”
She tried to recall the exact details of her vision as she related them to him. “In my vision, I saw humans and vampires fleeing through the woods while the Savages chased them down in vehicles. A pickup truck ran over a woman.”
Jack recalled the brutal scene outside the barn as Charlie spoke of it with uncanny detail. The screams of the dying resonated in his head while the coppery tang of blood and the more acrid scent of gunpowder returned to him.
“It’s almost as if you were there,” Jack said.
“Was it really that bad?” she whispered.
“Yes,” Jack confirmed.
The clipped word came out harsher than he intended, but he didn’t like recalling what happened at the barn. While they were fleeing their pursuers from the barn, he told Mollie they only needed to be faster than the slowest ones. The words, though true, were callous, but he had to get away from all the death he couldn’t stop.
The haunted look in Jack’s eyes said all Charlie needed to know about what happened at the barn. She wished she could ease his torment, but she didn’t know how.
“The worst part is not knowing when my visions are going to take place,” she said. “Maybe I could help someone if I knew, but…”
Her voice trailed off, and she turned to watch the waves crashing against the sand. “Sometimes I think my ability to see into people’s lives and catch glimpses of the future is more a punishment than a gift.”
“Punishment for what?” Jack asked.
Charlie shrugged. “My parents could tell you a million different reasons, but I don’t know, being born I guess.”
Jack’s teeth ground together at the mention of her parents. He’d like to pay them a little visit and see how they enjoyed being tied to their bed for a week. They’d given Charlie bread; he wouldn’t be so kind.
“And what reasons would your parents say?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Charlie mumbled. “Maybe I was too willful as a baby. Maybe God believed I was born evil and punished me for it, or maybe I threw up one too many times and the devil entered my soul. Whatever the reason, the visions are my cross to bear, and I’ve done it for years.”
“Doesn’t God only give you what you can handle?”
“Supposedly. My parents saw it as the devil’s work when I told them about the boy.”
“Your parents sound like assholes.”
Charlie snorted with laughter. “They are or were; I’m not sure if they’re still alive, and I don’t want to know. I’d love to tell them what I’ve become. They’d see me as nothing but the pure embodiment of evil. It would be kind of fun.”
Jack chuckled. “It sounds like they would deserve it.”
The amusement vanished from Charlie’s face. “They would, but I can’t ever see them again.”
“Why not?”
“I’m afraid that if I ever saw them again, all the abuse and cruelty would come flooding back to me, and as a vampire, I might kill them. And then I would be the evil thing they always believed me to be.”
“You’re not evil.”
“I know that now,” she murmured. “But there were times…”
Her voice trailed off. She didn’t have to finish her sentence for Jack to know what she’d been about to say. There were times when she’d believed her parents were right and she was evil.
“You do some good with your visions,” he said.
“Some,” she admitted. “You believe me about them?”
“Yes,” Jack said without hesitation. “There are people and vampires in this world who can see and do things beyond what most consider normal. I’ve seen it.”
Charlie gave him a wan smile. “You’re the first person I’ve told since my parents.”
Jack was aware of what it had taken for her to trust him with this. “I’ll keep your secret.”
“Thank you. I wish I could have done more with the things I’ve seen.”
“You’ve done what you can,” he said.
“That little boy should still be alive.”
“That’s on your parents. You were a child; you trusted them to do what you couldn’t and talk to his mom. They’re the reason he’s dead, not you.”
Charlie knew he was right, but she couldn’t think about it anymore. There was one surefire way to bury Jack’s memories of the barn and her past. Bending, she untied her boots.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Jack wanted to keep her talking and learn more about her, but the look in her eyes froze his words as she kicked off her boots. She removed her shoulder bag and tugged her shirt over her head before tossing it onto her boots.
The mesmerizing grace with which she glided toward him held him immobile as his mouth watered. She stopped before him and undid her belt before pushing her pants down her hips to stand before him in all her naked glory.
“I’d prefer not to think about them anymore, and you make thinking impossible,” she said.
Jack rose to stand in front of her as she reached for th
e button of his jeans. His heart thundered when she pulled his dick free and slid her hand over it. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from her as she explored him.
When she lifted her eyes to his, red had replaced the green and blue of them, and he caught the hint of a fang as she ran her tongue over her luscious lips. Lifting his hand, his thumb traced her lips before he touched upon one of those glorious fangs.
When she gave him a seductive smile, images of burying himself inside her while he feasted on her blood exploded in his head, and he growled when she stroked him again. The head of his cock rubbed against the silken skin of her belly when she moved her lips away from his hand and bent to run her tongue across his collarbone.
Jack threaded his hand through her hair and held her closer. She was his, and he wanted to mark her in every way so everyone would know she was off limits. However, she had no idea where getting closer would lead them; he did.
If she discovered he’d kept his knowledge of what she was to him from her, Charlie might never forgive him, and he couldn’t blame her if she didn’t. Though he’d prefer to tell her after he had her again, he couldn’t wait.
“Charlie…” He rested his hands on her shoulders. “I have to tell you something before this continues.”
Her hand on his shaft froze as her eyes narrowed. Fearing for the safety of his dick when her grip tightened around it, he gently removed it from her grasp.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Has Mal ever mentioned vampire mates to you?”
“No. What is that?”
“Vampires have mates, and when they find their mate, that’s it for them. If the mate is human, the vampire will turn them, and if they’re a vampire, they have to complete the bond through an exchange of sex and blood. Once the bond is complete, there is no severing it. If one dies, the other goes mad or dies too. In that way, the bond can make a vampire weaker, but it also makes vampires stronger physically, and they can communicate telepathically with each other.”
Unforeseen: The Vampire Awakenings, Book 9 Page 15
