Amaretto Flame (17 page)

Before lifting myself off the bed, I said,
“Jackson, there's just one more thing. I don't know who else knows
about you, but I'm hoping all of this is something that can stay
between you and me.”

“I've already told you that your secrets are
safe with me,” he said, “and I trust you.” I gazed at him a moment,
wondering whether it was really safe to trust this man I didn't
know, and then I nodded.

We agreed to go together to my house to
collect my work clothes, and although my nerves were stretched,
there were no other surprises. After a bit of arguing back and
forth, Jackson agreed to me taking a quick shower as long as he was
on guard outside of my bedroom door. Standing under the hot water,
I realized that I'd gone from thinking Jackson was an oblivious
human to him being my...what? My ally? I liked to think that I was
a pretty tough girl, but as I put on my work uniform, I couldn't
deny being glad that I wasn't alone last night, or today.

I had thought that being at work that night
would distract me the way being around the humans normally did.
Instead, it made me more tense. I found myself looking at the door
all night long to make sure no muscle-bound Venator were walking
through it. I doubted the Venator would attack in such a public
place, but if we'd really pissed them off, who knew?

At around midnight, something did take my
mind off my troubles for a little while. I was taking an order to
the bar from a table of six when I saw the pervert walk in; the man
I'd kicked for Jenny. I thought about intercepting him right away
and telling him to leave, but Renee shoved the tray full of drinks
into my hands as I watched him. Keeping a close eye on him, I took
the customers their drinks and brought the tray back to the bar. I
saw when he caught Jenny's eye, and instead of walking over to him,
she turned and immediately walked to the bathroom.

Since there weren't that many customers, I
decided Erika could handle it for a moment, and I followed her
inside. I found her standing over the sink with her eyes squeezed
shut, her hands trembling.

“Jenny?” I said quietly, embarrassed for
having intruded upon her. She opened her eyes quickly and scrubbed
her hands over her cheeks, giving me a fake smile.

“Hey Olivia. I'm okay,” she said, wiping her
hands on her apron.

“Are you sure? I saw him come in. I can go
talk
to him if you want--”

“No!” She said quickly, and then lowered her
voice. “No, Olivia.
I
have to deal with him now.”

I stood there looking at her, unsure of what
to say next. That's when she really broke down and tears started to
slide down her cheeks.

“Oh my god. I'm so embarrassed, Olivia. I
shouldn't tell you this but I know you won't tell anyone else.” She
walked over to me quickly and grabbed my hand, as if she needed
something stable to hold on to. “That man is someone my father owes
money to. My dad...he gambles, you know? He owes that guy a lot of
money. One day when he came to collect, he saw me at home, and he
told my dad what a beautiful girl I am.” Jenny closed her eyes
again and more tears escaped. I started to get a sick feeling in my
stomach.

“I don't know how it happened, but the next
day, my dad was telling me that if he came into the bar, I was
supposed to be real nice to him. Dad kept bringing up my college
tuition and saying that if I wanted to continue my education and I
didn't want anything to happen to him, that I would have to be
really, really nice to this guy.” Jenny took a deep, shaky breath
and then looked at me. “After what you did the other day, the guy
came back to my house. He told my father what happened and
threatened him. My dad told me that if I didn't 'get with the
program' and do what I was supposed to do, that he would kick me
out and I'd have nowhere to go.”

I could feel the red haze threatening to
descend over my vision now, and worked to keep it at bay. “Jenny,
what is it that your father wants you to do?” I barely managed to
get the words out, but as soon as I did, she began sobbing. My
stomach was definitely turning now, and as I bit the inside of my
lip to keep from cursing, I put my arms around her comfortingly.
She didn't need to answer me; I understood.

“What if the man got his money back?” I
asked. Money was something that I could get plenty of, and if it
could make Jenny's problem go away...

“That's just it,” Jenny replied. “I think my
father would run up another debt. He can't seem to stop. And now
that this guy has taken a liking to me...” Jenny trailed off, a
desperate look on her face. “I could go stay with Erika, but I have
a little sister at home.”
I bit my lip harder, anger taking over my every thought. I couldn't
stand seeing Jenny's snarky and humorous self being replaced by
this terrified, betrayed girl. I'd been wrong. Wise Ones certainly
weren't the only ones to suffer at the hands of their families.
Jenny was a grown adult and she was still being victimized by
someone who was supposed to love her. I brushed her hair out of her
face and smiled reassuringly.

“Jenny, if you can get through tonight, I
promise you I'll help you find a way out of this, okay?” My voice
was deep; full of anger. I made a conscious effort to control it.
“I can help you.”

Jenny nodded, smiling at me. “Thanks,
Olivia.” She paused and took a deep breath. “Don't tell anyone you
saw me crying in here. It would ruin my bad-ass reputation.” She
raised an eyebrow at me and I couldn't help smiling at her.

For the next few hours, I kept my senses
stretched out and my attention focused half on my customers and the
rest on Jenny. I did notice Jackson's singing, which I'd grown
rather fond of. Still, I was on alert the moment Jenny's 'friend'
got up to leave. He'd had several drinks, and was moving rather
slowly. I gave a quick glance around to make sure no one noticed,
and then I slipped out the back door toward the dumpster where we
normally took the trash. In half a minute, I'd circled around to
the front of the parking lot, and was waiting as the man exited the
front door.

Even as I was walking toward him, I heard
Perry's warning somewhere in the back of my mind.
“And ye harm
none, do what ye will.”
I clenched my jaw against the sound of
my conscience, and remembered the desperate look on Jenny's
face.

“Hey there, handsome,” I said lightly as I
reached the man. His face registered his surprise a moment later,
and the corners of his mouth turned down in a scowl. He didn't have
time to react much more before I'd grabbed him and pulled him
around the side of the building. He was a lot taller than me, so I
couldn't clamp my hand over his mouth the way I'd wanted to, but he
was so startled that he didn't let out much more than a few
surprised grunts.

It was easy enough to overpower him and bring
him to the ground. The strength that he had was riddled with the
alcohol, and adrenaline was speeding through my veins, empowering
me. He started to mumble, and I put a finger to my mouth, signaling
for him to be quiet. With him sitting against the brick of the
building, I leaned back and extended my arms. The still night
around us turned windy, leaves and debris stirring slightly, and
then moving quicker until I'd whipped up a windstorm. All around us
it blew and his eyes danced with fear as he watched me.

I let my lips pull back over my teeth in a
sneer and then I dropped my hands. Gravel, leaves, dust; all were
stationery and suspended in the air for a moment in time, before
dropping to the ground. The man's eyes were as round as dinner
plates and I leaned forward slowly. He tried to back away from me,
but there was nowhere for him to go. I put my lips close to his
ear.

“Listen carefully. If you go anywhere near
Jenny or her father again, I will find you. No matter where you
are, I can find you, and I will hurt you. I will hurt you in ways
that you have never imagined; until you are begging to be released
from this life. Do you understand me?”

I backed up slowly, my smile still pasted on
my face, riding an incredible high from the use of magick. The man
was nodding vigorously, his hands out as if to defend himself.

“Good,” I said, and then I stood and
disappeared into the shadows, running back around the building and
slipping back inside the door. Inside Stallott's, it was business
as usual, and I immediately approached a table of my customers just
as they were finishing up their drinks. As I went for refills, I
noticed Jackson's eyes on me questioningly.

I'm not exactly sure how Jackson Vance became
my housemate, but I do know that it wasn't entirely without
protests on my part. It started with a ride home from work, since
my vehicle was still disabled in front of the safe house. Even
though I suspected he was at least partially aware that I'd done
something to that man, he never mentioned it. He drove me home in
near silence, and when I thought he was walking me to the door, he
was actually preparing to stay the night.

“I can't leave you on your own,” he'd said.
“We're in this together, now.” He raised a corner of his mouth and
let those eyes drill into me. “Besides, there's a lot we need to
talk about, remember?”

“I can't put you in danger like this,” I
whispered, arguing with him on the front porch. He just shook his
head, refusing to hear me.

“Look, there are two things for certain. One,
you're safer with me here, and two, standing here arguing isn't
achieving your goal of seeming normal,” he said.

Glancing around, I sighed. “Come in.”

I took a few quilts and pillows from the
linen closet and tossed them on the sofa, kicking my shoes off at
the same time. “I don't think my feet will ever get used to this,”
I said, feeling the dull ache in my heels. Jackson sank down on the
sofa and patted the seat next to him.

When I sat, he pulled my leg onto his lap and
began massaging my foot with his warm hands. The contact was too
intimate for me at the moment, and I'd planned on snatching my foot
back and saying something biting...but man, it felt really good.
When he ran his thumb down the arch in my foot, I shivered, earning
a small chuckle from him.
“So, tell me what you're doing here. If your family is somewhere
else, what on earth brought you to Staves?” He asked.

I thought about Ivanna and the coven, a wave
of embarrassment running through me. I wasn't sure if I should tell
Jackson anything, but a bigger part of me wanted to open up; to
have someone to share with. Knowing he was a Wise One made it
easier to trust him.

“I was punished. I messed up and...well,
Staves is kind of like my own personal prison,” I replied.

“Wow. You must have done something really
bad, Slayer. What'd you do? Kill someone?” The corner of Jackson's
mouth turned up.

“Hardly,” I said, bitter again at the
injustice of my punishment. “What about you? It's just you and your
mother? That's almost...unheard of among us.” I was very curious
about Jackson and why he wasn't part of a coven. It's true that
there were solitary Wise Ones, but they were a minority.

“Yes. We were part of a group when I was a
child, but my mother decided it wasn't in our best interest,” he
replied, taking my other foot in his hands. I held back a sigh of
pleasure when his fingers began moving across that one. The strange
tingling enhanced the relaxing effect his hands were having on
me.

“What are the chances I'd be sent to a town
with...others like me,” I mused, my eyelids growing heavy.

“Were your parents like you too?” He asked.
His words were soft, but the subject matter was enough to make me
tense up.

I sat, tucking my feet under me. “No. Well,
yes. My father was, but my biological mother is a normal human,” I
replied. I could hear the stiffness in my voice.

“Is that why she...” He trailed off, but I
knew what he meant.

“I guess that's part of the reason,” I said,
skirting the truth.
My mother tried to kill me because I killed
my father
, I wanted to say. I felt like telling him all of it;
watching his reaction to me, to who I really am. I didn't have the
guts, though. “So, I'm super-tired. Let's finish catching up
tomorrow,” I added, moving to stand up.

To my surprise, Jackson leaned forward and
put a hand on my cheek. “I can't imagine anyone not wanting you,”
he said softly. “Goodnight Olivia.”

I ignored the tears that welled in my eyes as
I whispered goodnight and went upstairs.

Whether I actually felt safer with Jackson in
the house, or I was still completely drained, something made me
sleep like a dead person that night. I don't recall any dreams or
interruptions, but when I woke to another gray day loaded with the
possibility of rain, one thing was on my mind. How had Jackson
healed me? We'd gone through countless experiments in Eagleton, and
people had tried to use magick on me numerous times. When Everett
was little and first came to us, he'd tried to talk to me in his
mind rather than out loud, but had never succeeded.

In fact, that was probably the only reason he
ever said that first word out loud at all. The Venator in the
alleyway had tried to cast spells on me unsuccessfully, and
Charlotte had tried to heal me dozens of times over the years. Even
Ivanna expressed frustration that none of her illusions could fool
me. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to understand
exactly what was happening. I contemplated it through a hot shower
and as I dressed and brushed out the long strands of my hair. I
walked down the stairs noiselessly, and was disappointed to find
Jackson up, scribbling into a notebook. Part of me had wanted to
see what he looked like, peaceful and sleeping.

“Good morning,” he said, grinning up at
me.

“Hi,” I replied. “What are you doing?”