Arianna's Tale: The Beginning (30 page)

“Where’s my dad?” I demanded, still staring
at Evan, not sure why I thought he would have an answer but so sure
that he did. He barely shrugged his shoulders and I glared at him.
I pushed myself to my feet and walked past everyone and into the
bedroom before I closed the door and flipped the lock. I sat down
on the bed and focused on my bad feelings, sorting through whom
each one was coming from. What I found where Dad’s feelings usually
came from, wasn’t the worry and fear and panic that everyone else
was feeling… it was guilt… and love… and numbness…. I focused so
hard on the feeling, I swear I heard him speak…
“I love you
kids.”
But then all of the feelings disappeared and I realized
tears were flowing out of my eyes. “No,” I muttered, my eyes
opening as I grabbed the nearest thing and threw it across the
room, barely hearing the shattering glass as I shook my head,
“No!”

“Anna?” Jack called in a panic at the door,
jiggling the locked doorknob, “Anna, open the door, please.”

I didn’t even try to stop crying as I walked
over to the door and pulled it open. “What?” I murmured coldly, but
Jack’s gaze fell to the floor and he suddenly picked me up and
placed me on the sofa.

“Did you not even realize you were just
walking on broken glass?” he demanded with worry written across his
face while Rayne and Aeril disappeared into other rooms. Rayne came
back with towels while Aeril went into the bedroom with a small
broom and a dustpan. “What happened?” Jack insisted, but a hand
wrapped around my wrist and sent a strange chill across my skin as
I looked up at Evan.

“I’m sorry about your dad,” Evan whispered
and I looked at him in wide-eyed shock before he smiled distantly
and walked over to Aeril. A second later, Aeril dropped the broom
and turned around to face me, horror in his eyes.

“Arianna,” Aeril uttered with such regret in
his voice that even Rayne stopped picking glass out of my bloody
feet to look over at him. “Shit….”

I could literally feel the tension spread
around the room before Rayne bandaged my feet and picked me up from
the sofa, heading toward the elevator doors.

“Rayne, what are you doing?” I questioned
while he pressed the button for the elevator and balanced me
carefully in his arms.

“I’m breaking from the pack and taking you
away from here…” Rayne murmured nonchalantly but I started
struggling to get down which made him hold me tighter.

“Rayne, no!” I blurted, “You can’t! I can’t
leave my brothers!”

“I’ll tell them where we are… I’m not going
to let this stupid pack cause you any more grief,” Rayne muttered,
“I can protect you….”

“You can protect me from a troll all by
yourself? Didn’t he break Violet’s back?” I pressed, fully aware of
Aeril and Farren blocking Jack into the living room area, “Put me
down, Rayne.”

“I can’t trust Alex anymore… and I can’t
trust him with you,” Rayne sighed, shaking his head, “I can’t do
it, Arianna… I love you, and I can’t trust him to keep you safe
anymore.”

I froze as I looked up at him, wondering why
the elevator was taking so long when it suddenly chimed open.

“Rayne, please don’t do this,” I pleaded,
his gaze falling down to me. He started to step into the elevator,
except Evan was standing in his way. He shook his head once and I
felt Rayne flinch before he turned around and walked into the
bedroom, placing me on the bed.

“Call your brother… Malcolm found your dad…”
Rayne muttered, sighing before he walked back into the living room
area. Evan walked into the doorway, his eyes searching my face
before he smiled distantly and pulled the door partly closed.

I picked up my cell phone with shaking
hands. It wasn’t possible, was it? My dad couldn’t be dead… could
he? I was barely able to click on Austin’s number, and tears
streamed from my eyes when he answered.

“Arianna, are you okay?” Austin instantly
asked and my heart sank even deeper. “Arianna?”

I inhaled a shaky breath. “I’m okay, Austin,
but…” I faltered and heard absolute silence in the background of
the end of his phone, “Austin… I still have my feelings open… and
everyone panicking was troublesome… but… I realized… that I wasn’t
getting that from D… Dad….”

“Arianna, what’s wrong with Dad?” Austin
demanded, his voice cracking.

“D… Dad… I… um… he’s gone, Austin,” I
whispered, sniffling while Austin went deadly silent.

“Are you sure…?”

“I wish I wasn’t,” I whimpered, falling onto
the bed and burying my face in the pillows, “I’m sorry,
Austin….”

“It’s not your fault, Arianna…” he
whispered, “Are you safe where you are? Is Jack still there with
you?”

“He’s in the other room, but he’s here… I’m
fine,” I assured quietly, “But I think it really is my fault,
Austin… I think… I think it was Mark… I think he’s mad he can’t
find me….”

“All the better reason for you to stay out
of the way where he can’t get to you. Don’t do anything stupid,
Arianna,” Austin insisted seriously, “Stay where you are or I’ll
call Jack and tell him to tie you up to keep you there if he has
to.”

I laughed through my tears and heard him
chuckle distantly. “I won’t do anything stupid, I promise,” I swore
and Austin sighed, “Are you going to tell Jay?”

“I kind of have to…” Austin grumbled, “I
don’t get why you didn’t want him here, Anna… he really likes that
Trina girl….”

“Oh?” I mumbled, feeling the anger well in
my chest, “I should let you get off the phone… I think I’m just
going to try to sleep….”

“All right… I love you, Arianna,” he
concluded, “I’ll call Mom tomorrow, too.”

“Love you,” I whispered, “Bye….”

I hung up the call and quit trying to hold
back my anger, sadness, and frustration as I just cried until I
fell asleep.

“Anna,” Jack gently called, his hand resting
on my shoulder lightly shook me awake as I moved enough to look at
him, “It’s morning… Mark hasn’t been spotted coming back across the
border or anything… the cops officially declared your father’s
death… it’s time to get you home… Why don’t you get washed up and
we’ll get out of here?”

“Do I look that bad?” I laughed
halfheartedly and he smiled sweetly as he brushed my hair away from
my face, lightly kissing my forehead.

“You always look beautiful to me,” he
quietly recited, “Get washed off, cleaned up, change clothes…
Breakfast is on its way up.”

I only nodded before he kissed my forehead
again and walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind
him.

When I got to the bathroom, I laughed. Jack
was way too nice to me… Makeup was smeared across my face and my
eyes were puffy and red from crying, plus my new bangs were
sticking straight up in the air. Dad hadn’t even seen my new
haircut…. Tears stung my eyes before I jumped into a hot shower,
letting the water wash my tears down the drain.

When I got out of the shower, and was
wrapped in a towel, I heard a commotion in the living room and
snuck across the bedroom to peek out the door.

“I can worry about her if I want to,” Ty
hissed angrily, his icy blue eyes darting over to me as my face
shaded pink and I closed and locked the door. “Evan, I’m surprised
you haven’t said anything to them.”

I scrunched my eyes in confusion, but darted
over and tossed on the jeans and shirt laid out on the bed. I threw
my hair up into a wet ponytail and opened the door again, stepping
into the middle of their argument as Ty instantly looked over at
me.

“What are you doing here, Ty? How did you
even know where I was?” I interrogated and he laughed, his eyes
sparkling.

“They haven’t told you?” he responded
inquisitively, “I’m fae, Anna Gray. I can find you if I want
to.”

“You’re… what?” I faltered and his lips
curled up into a grin.

“I’m a faerie,” he reiterated, “Little
winged people linked to nature…? Don’t get along very well with
werewolves…? You had no idea….” He was nearly laughing, but my mind
was going back to the first time the little dancing lights had
appeared in my dream… it had been right after Jack’s birthday
party, right after I had met Ty, and there had been rock music in
the background of the woods.

“My dreams are real…” I whispered, watching
his gaze grow more curious, “Are there other faeries around here?
Are they hurt?”

“Two of my band mates are missing,” Ty
answered seriously, “Do you know where they are?”

“The troll doll ate them… in my dreams… at
least…” I muttered distractedly, shaking my head, “I guess the
troll… Mark… if all of it’s real….”

“It’s real, Anna,” it was Evan again and I
darted my gaze up to him in confusion, “It’s all real.”

“Trolls don’t eat faeries… but a troll would
consume a fae’s magic…” Ty considered, “If that’s the case… they
will have automatically been sent back to Faerie to
recuperate….”

“Anna… would you please ask him to leave?
Since he refuses to listen to anyone else,” Jack requested in a
completely disgruntled voice but Ty waved him off.

“I’m leaving. I have to check on my friends.
But you had best keep Anna Gray safe,” Ty finalized. He smiled at
me, and then he was gone. Just there one second, and gone the next.
The elevator doors opened and the poor waiter looked startled to
find us all standing around.

“Um… room service,” he announced and Jack
motioned him inside and instructed him to just leave the cart
before he tipped the very scared waiter who slipped back into the
elevator and away.

“Breakfast is ready…” Jack murmured while I
crossed the room to find a tray full of pancakes. I rested my head
against his chest and felt him flinch in surprise before he slid
his arm around my waist and pulled me closer. “I’m so sorry about
your dad, Anna…” he whispered and I shrugged my shoulders.

“Shit happens…” I mumbled, staring blankly
across the room, “I don’t know what’s going to happen now though… I
will not live with my mother… ever again….”

“She should be able to name Austin as yours
and Jason’s legal guardian…” Jack considered with a sigh, “We
shouldn’t be talking about this right now… we need to get back to
the house, to your brothers….”

I didn’t say a word as I collected a small
plate of food and went and sat down on the sofa, staring blankly at
the t.v. that I hadn’t even noticed before then.

Only a moment later, Rayne was sitting
beside me and Aeril beside him, and then Farren sat down in the
chair beside me, Evan sat down on the table, and Jack walked up
behind the sofa and rested his hands on either side of my head.

“None of us are thrilled about taking you
back to the house…” Jack murmured and I grinned to myself.

Very smart, getting Jack to tell me that…
I’d expect it from the rest of you, but not so much from Alex’s
right-hand man.

“This isn’t a ploy, Anna,” Farren
interjected while I wondered just who all Aeril was communicating
my thoughts to, “What Alex did yesterday was wrong on so many
levels and we don’t trust him anymore. Especially not with
you….”

“What part of what he did yesterday was
wrong? And Aeril better stay out of this,” I countered, but Rayne’s
hand slid down my arm and I darted my attention to him.

“All of it, including letting your little
brother meet Trina when he knew you didn’t want them to meet,”
Rayne replied and I laughed distantly, “We need to get you back to
your family… that’s really our only goal right now. We intend to,
and he knows it, keep Alex away from you.”

“He won’t cooperate,” I muttered, absolutely
certain that he wouldn’t, “He thinks what he did was to protect the
pack… maybe me… but definitely all of you… Despite the results, he
believes he did the right thing.” I ate my food and stared blankly
across the room. “Why did Ty know where we were? Who else
knows?”

“We didn’t tell him… We don’t want him
anywhere near you,” Jack growled behind me and I laughed
distantly.

“Then why did he know where I was?”

“Because he’s a faerie,” Evan remarked and I
darted my eyes to him, “Go ahead if you want, I won’t stop you; but
they won’t understand either.” I narrowed my eyes before I barely
lifted a finger to point at him.

“If he can’t talk, why do I keep hearing him
talk?” I finally asked, not looking away from Evan who stared
calmly back at me.

“That isn’t possible,” Farren remarked in
confusion.

“He knows I can hear him,” I muttered as
Evan barely inclined his head in acknowledgment.

“Maybe you just
think
you hear
him?”Aeril suggested and I sighed as I sank deeper into the sofa
and started eating again.

“Tell Jack I said he broke his ankle when he
was five and wasn’t paying attention when he was running through
the woods in wolf form,” Evan stated, providing me information I
could never know on my own, but I barely shook my head, “He’ll
believe you if you do.”

“Jack, Evan says when you were five, you
broke your ankle running through the woods in your wolf form,” I
uttered between bites, but I felt his hands clench the back of the
sofa.

“And Farren burned down the old garage by
trying to have a bonfire at the house when he was sixteen,” Evan
continued and I sighed again.

“Evan also says Farren burned down the
garage with a bonfire,” I recited, disinterested by then, but
Farren was leaning forward in his seat, “Oh… when you were
sixteen.” I glanced briefly at Farren to find his gaze darting
between Evan and me.

“Now they pretty much believe you. They just
don’t understand how it’s possible so that’s stopping them from
fully believing you…” Evan reasoned but I looked up at him
again.

“How is it possible?” I pressed, “And you do
know, so don’t act like you don’t.”

“I do, but I can’t tell you right now,” Evan
answered with a distant smile, “They believe you now.”