by Celeste Raye
“You need to trust your brother, Audra. He is far more capable than you may think he is.”
“I know that he is some sort of badass, but I still worry about him. He has a conscious, and Ben doesn't. That is what I worry about the most. That they will get ahold of my brother, and something will happen.”
The same thoughts were running through Neil’s mind as well, but he wasn't going to give credence to those thoughts. He couldn't, because then he wouldn't be able to sleep.
“I am sure that he is fine.”
“Are you really?”
He didn't want to lie, so he just nodded his head that he wasn't worried about him. He didn't say the words though. Saying the words seemed to be too close to a lie for him.
“Can’t you go out and make sure that he’s okay?”
It was precisely what Neil wanted to do, but he knew that he couldn’t. He had to stay there with her, and he certainly wasn’t going to drag her out with him. He was trying to make sure that she was okay. That was all he was tasked with doing, and Neil knew that Sam would never forgive him if Neil put Audra in danger, even to save him.
“I need to stay here with you.”
“I want you to go help him. I am sure he is fine, but I want you to be sure.”
Neil wanted to know why she was so eager for him to leave, but he pushed it aside. She was scared for her brother.
“Do you really want me to go?”
“Just see if you can find him really quick. I would feel so much better if I knew that he was safe.”
Neil wanted to disagree, but he found it hard to tell her no. It was impossible when she was batting those beautiful eyes of hers. He was sure that there was something more that he should be doing, but he wasn’t sure what.
“Fine, Audra, but you have to agree to keep all of the doors locked and to not answer for anyone. There is a panic room in my bedroom closet. If something happens, lock yourself in there until I come back. I’m the only one with the code, so you won’t have to worry about someone being able to get to you.”
“Do you think it will come to that?”
“I don’t want to think so, but we have to be prepared for the worst-case scenario. I’m sure that your brother is fine, but I would like you to have a plan in place. I don’t want to leave you, but if it will make you feel safer, I will.”
It was all she could ask for, and Audra thanked him with a kiss on his lips. Neil wanted more but knew that it wasn’t the time. He was going to have to take care of this first. Audra didn’t know how far and fast he could go. He would be back in no time, hopefully with Sam in tow.
The next thing to worry about for him was going to be how he was going to tell his friend that he was in love with his sister. Neil hoped that Sam took it better than he imagined. There hadn’t been enough time to show what he felt, just that it was different and new.
“I will be back soon. Remember what I said. Use the panic room if you get scared, okay?”
Audra agreed, but she was nervous. He could tell from the expression on her face.
“I will be right back. I promise.”
Neil left with an unsettled feeling, but he pushed it away. It wasn’t time for that. He got far enough away that he could shift without her seeing him. Neil took to the skies and sent out a beacon for his friend. Sam would know what to do, and he would find him in no time.
Chapter Thirteen
It was quiet in the house without Neil there and Audra almost immediately wished he hadn’t left. She felt safer when he was around. Out of curiosity, she went to go check out the panic room that he was talking about. She envisioned a tiny little room made of concrete, and when she got there, it wasn't that far from the truth.
The panic room was in the closet, in the back. The room was quite a bit bigger than she had imagined, and it was made of concrete and steel by the looks of it. Audra stepped into it for a moment and immediately found her heart started to race. She had never been so claustrophobic as she was then. The air was thin, and she quickly had to leave. She couldn't breathe, and even though she knew it was all in her head, it didn't feel any different than if she were actually suffocating.
Audra trembled at the thought that she would have to go into that place. She wanted to keep only positive thoughts moving, but it was hard to do so. Her brother should have called by now. She pulled her phone out and tried him again. All he had to do was answer, and then she would be able to think straight.
When the phone went to voicemail, she didn't bother to leave one. Audra had already left a handful or so. Sam knew that she was looking for him. She was sure something was wrong. It wasn’t like Sam to not check in, no matter what was going on.
Her phone rang a few moments after she hung up. It made her jump because it was so quiet in the house.
Naturally, she figured that it was her brother calling her back. Audra had just called him after all. She pushed the talk button and asked Sam where the hell he was.
“I haven't found Sam yet, but I will. I have found you, though.”
Audra's heart stopped for a moment, and it took a minute for it to restart. She couldn't breathe; the suffocating feeling was back.
“Ben?”
“Did you really think that you could actually get away and that I wouldn’t find you, Audra? I thought you were a smart girl.”
That was exactly what Audra had hoped, but she should have known better. Meanwhile, Ben actually did know better. In the back of her mind, the whole time she had been waiting for him to show up. It was most likely the reason that she had been so quick to get close with Neil. Audra had known that her days were numbered.
“No, Ben. I don't think I'll ever be able to get away from you. Not until one of us is dead. I have no false conception about that at all.”
There was a dry cackling from his side, and she did not like the sound of it at all. He was too at ease, too confident. Nothing ever went wrong for Ben.Why did it have to be so easy for him?
“I'm glad that you know where you stand. And we both know I'm not going to be the one that dies. I will give you one more chance to come home. If I have to go there and drag you back, it will not be as pleasant. I still have a headache from where you hit me. This will not go unpunished, but it will be far less severe if you just come back now.”
Audra wanted to believe that he was bluffing. She didn't want to think that he was on his way, but she knew better. If he didn't know exactly where she was, he was most likely tracking the call at this very moment. How long has she been on it? Too long. Audra was not the authority on that sort of thing, but she figured that she had already been on it for a minute.
She pulled her phone away from her face and looked at the time. Yep, almost two minutes on the call.
“So, you are telling me that if I come home, there will be no repercussions?”
“That is not what I said at all, Audra. I am just saying that you may survive them if you come back now. You know how my temper can sometimes be. I might lose control if I have to go get you.”
She heard somebody talking in the background, and it made her even more nervous. She had to get out of there. Her mind went to the panic room for a moment, but only a moment. Audra would not be able to get into a place like that.
Audra didn't know the area very well, but she knew that being on her feet seemed like a better idea. As much as Neil had talked of the panic room, it was just a tiny little box, and she didn't want to be in it. She also didn't believe that Ben could not get into it if he wanted to.
Her eyes looked through the sliding glass door, and she saw the skyline of the city. She was going to have to go. That was her only option, and the big city seemed like a good place to get lost. That’s what she needed to do now. She would be on the run, alone, but it was the only way.
“Audra? Are you still there?”
“Yeah, I'm still here.”
“So, what is your decision?”
“I will come back to you.”
“Good. The
car will be there in five minutes. Make sure that you are ready to leave when we get there so I won’t have to wait. You know how much I hate waiting.”
“The person that I am staying here with does not know you. He does not know that I am married or anything like that. He is just helping me. That's it.”
“Are you trying to keep him safe from me?”
He said it with a little added smirk to his voice, and Audra knew that it was too much to ask. She knew that she was going to have to keep Ben chasing her so that he wouldn't be focused on Neil. Even though she had not known Neil that long, she did not want to bring down that sort of drama to anyone. Especially not someone like Neil, who had shown her nothing but kindness and a willingness to help.
“No. I don't care either way about him. I just don't want it on my conscious.”
“I will keep that in mind. I guess it all depends on how pissed off I am when I see you next. You better be there.”
Audra now knew that Ben knew exactly where she was. She had five minutes, supposedly. And if he said five minutes, then she figured she really had only two or three. Audra didn’t even want to know how he had found her. It didn't matter. All that mattered was that he had not found Sam. If he had, he would most likely be bragging about it now. Ben had never liked Sam because he was far too truthful. Sam didn't know when to shut his mouth, no matter who it was that he was talking to.
“I will be here waiting for you then. Just let me come back, and we can work this out.”
“No promises, Audra, but I will see. Like I said before, it will depend on my mood. You should know this by now.”
Audra did know. His mood controlled everything, and at this moment, he didn't sound thrilled. She was hopeful that the fact that she wouldn't be there when he got to Neil’s place would be enough to send him off in her direction. All she needed at the moment was a little bit of time to get away and then she would refocus Ben. That was her plan anyway.
Chapter Fourteen
Looking for Sam took longer than Neil had first anticipated. He was hopeful that he would find him right off the bat and he could get back to Audra. That was the plan anyway.
Reality was, it was a lot harder to find him, and when he finally did, Sam was a little reluctant to leave. He had a couple of aunts and uncles that he was trying to track down.
“Your sister is very worried about you, Sam. I don't think I can stress that enough.”
“You don’t have to tell me anything. I know how Audra is. She's very strong willed for such a tiny person, isn't she?”
“Yeah. That is one way to describe it.”
Sam was staring into the eyes of a friend he had known for a long time, and he started to chuckle to himself.
“If I didn't know any better, I would think that my sister got underneath your skin.”
Neil had told himself that he wasn't going to get into it with Sam. He didn't want to. He wanted things to remain easy between them, and Neil figured if Sam knew the truth, because Sam knew the truth about him, that he would not be happy about it at all. But now he was suggesting that he might be. Neil was afraid to take the bait.
“I just want her to be safe, Sam. That's all.” Sam looked dubious.
“Uh-huh. So you say.”
Neil wasn’t going to lie about it. But he wasn't going to offer anything either. He had learned his lesson before about that.
“So, are you ready to go?”
Sam smiled and nodded his head that he was.
“Do you know how long it has been for me?”
“I do. The only way to travel, isn't it?”
Sam agreed, and the smile on his face was contagious.
“You know, I used to feel that way when I first started.”
“And then what happened?”
“I don't know. It’s still fun, but I guess I don’t appreciate it as much anymore.”
“Well, come on, stop talking. We have places to go.”
Neil turned away from who was in the van for a moment and shifted into his true form. The black dragon that was left bent down close enough so that Sam could climb on. Sam was full of smiles, and Neil could only shake his head.
After Sam got on the back of the dragon, it lifted off into the air and started to fly back home. Neil usually had nothing to come home to, but now it was different. Now he had Audra to come home to. It made the dragon fly a little bit faster and made him get there a little bit sooner.
Neil did not even have to land to know that something had gone wrong. The place was on fire, and as he dove towards the house, he forgot all about the man that was on his back riding him. All he was thinking about was Audra. She was a new precious flower in his mind, and he was scared to death that something that happened to her.
When he landed on the ground, he quickly turned back into his human form and ran forward. He could breathe fire, but at the moment, he wished he could breathe water. Sam was a bit freaked from the chaotic landing but was quick to get to his feet.
He looked behind him to see Sam panicked and he tried to reassure him. “Let's get inside. We don't even know if she is in here or not. She could still be in the panic room. I told her to go to the panic room if something happened. I'm sure that's where we'll find her.”
Neil really hoped that he was right. There was a sinking feeling in his heart, and he didn't want to believe that something had happened to her. He had promised her that he would keep her safe, but it had been a lie. He had left her, and now Neil knew that until she was safe in his arms again, he was never going to forgive himself. How could he?
The two men ran into the house, not worried about their own safety. They were calling out to Audra, but they were not getting any response. Neil moved towards the stairs. He was still holding out hope that he would find her in the panic room. However, it looked like that's where the fire was coming from, and it had barely even touched the bottom floor yet.
Most of what Neil owned was going up in flames by the time he got up to the top floor. He couldn't be bothered by that though. They were just things, and Audra was so much more than that. She was a light that came to him on an otherwise dark day. He couldn't believe that he had left her. He had known better. He had told himself as he was doing it that it was wrong, but he couldn't stand to see her unhappy.
When she had looked at him with those big blue eyes, there had been nothing he could do but what she wanted. At that moment, he would have done anything to bring a smile to her face, and now he was seriously regretting it. If he would have been smart, he wouldn't have let her influence him; then she would be safe. Now there was no telling where she was.
As much as they wanted to keep calling out to her, it all felt rather impossible. It wasn't just the fact that his friend was right next to him, freaking out as well, but because it was her. Audra was the first person that he had ever met that made him feel like maybe destiny was a real thing. He knew as soon as he met her that he wanted her, and after being with her, Neil knew that it was right. He didn't know how, but he just knew.
He finally was at the door of the panic room, and the bedroom itself was partially engulfed in flames. The heat did not bother him nearly as much as it did Sam, and that is why he told Sam to stay downstairs and look. His skin and whole body were made for fire, and he barely felt a thing. All he could feel at the moment was his heart pounding in his chest. That was not going to go away until he saw Audra safe and sound. He kept hoping and praying that she was in the panic room. He still wasn't sure what had caused the fire, but it certainly didn't look natural. It looked like someone had set it and there was only one person that he could think of that would do it. While Neil had plenty of enemies, they would have done things differently if they were there for him.
The keypad on the door was hot to the touch, but Neil put in the code anyway. It was known to him by heart, and even then, he had to put it in twice because his hands were shaking the first time and he kept pushing the wrong buttons.
Neil waiting impatiently as th
e pressurized door opened and he held his breath while he looked inside. Smoke was quickly filling up the room, but it wasn't quick enough to prevent him from seeing what was inside. Or rather, who wasn't inside. All of his hopes that she was somehow in there and was safe from everything went out the window. She wasn't safe at all. She was gone, and Neil had no idea where Audra was.
He went back downstairs after searching the other rooms, and he noticed that the few things that Audra had brought with her were gone. If the worst had happened like he'd imagined and they had found her and took her away, why would they let her get her things? It didn't make sense to him, and it nagged at him the whole time he was downstairs looking in the house for her. He had to check for her, but she was nowhere around.
Sam was beside himself with worry, and Neil tried to calm him down, but he himself wasn't calm. They couldn't tell the police what was going on or that someone was in the house. Neil gave them as little information as he possibly could and shooed the police on their way. There was going to be an investigation by the fire department because it looked like arson to them.
When everyone had left, Sam and Neil were trying to figure out what had happened there. It was easy to blame her disappearance on her husband, but some things just didn't match up, and it bothered Neil until he finally said something to Sam about it.
“Look, I hate to say this, but do you think that your sister started this fire? Maybe something spooked her and she felt like she had to get away?”
Sam stopped for a moment and he insisted that Audra would never do something like that.
“Well, all of her things are gone. I don't know why they would let her get her things if they came to take her away. It just doesn't make sense to me, Sam. If she were really scared, she would have gone to the panic room like I told her to.”
Sam smiled grimly. “That just tells me you don't know my sister very well. You can't tell her anything. She never listens. I begged her not to marry Ben, but sometimes I wonder if she married him out of spite. Just because I told her not to.”
