Frog Hollow (Witches of Sanctuary Book 1) (18 page)

She stops short. “Where are you going?”

“Out.”

Rebekah sighs, her response to her grandson’s vagueness.

“What?” he inquires. “I still have to give a minute-by-minute itinerary?”

“I just want to know if I’m going to have to spend my afternoon fielding phone calls.”

“We will keep away from the crowds,” he says, as if complying is a chore. “Satisfied?”

She shoots him an annoyed look. “That depends. Is there anything else I need to know about the two of you?”

Julien casually throws his arm over my shoulder. “We are getting married next week.” He grins. “Vegas.”

Her lips purse.

“He’s joking,” I blurt out.

“I know.” Rebekah crossed her arms over her chest. “My grandson thinks he’s a comedian.”

“Someone has to.” He steps up to my side. “Do you mind if we go now?”

She turns away from us, and he rolls his eyes. He walks over to her, wraps his arms around her, and kisses her head.

“You know you’re my favorite grandmother, right?”

“You keep telling me that.” She sighs dramatically.

“I’ll keep meaning it too.”

She pats his arm. “Go have fun. Not too much, but enjoy this time you have with her.”

Then she gives me a look. It’s simple.

Choose.

Chapter 17

THE OLD CHAPEL

The square is alive as ever. The crowds thicken after the dinner rush. Julien guides me down a couple side streets in search of privacy. He takes my hand as we walk down the alley, not bothering to even look at me. A breeze whistles around us, through the long hanging limbs of the weeping willow next to the church. Julien pauses as soon as it comes into view. “I’m sorry about all that earlier.” He squeezes my hand. “It would have been much worse if she couldn’t see how amazing you are.”

I wrap my hands around his arm. “It’s okay, Julien. I wouldn’t have wanted to go through that alone either.”

“Thank you.”

My head falls over against his shoulder as we continue to walk. “So where are you taking me?”

“Someplace quiet, secluded, and hopefully, slightly romantic.” He looks down at me and smiles. “I’ll let you reserve judgment on that last one.”

I don’t answer, but a tickle of guilt twinges in my chest. We continue down the alley toward the chapel. The same chapel I met him in front of at the festival. It looks different in the darkness. Less daunting. I could no longer see the broken panes of glass and chipped edges of brick. “Wait until you see the view,” he says, leading me up the steps.

I halt midway up, looking back over my shoulder. “Are we allowed to do this?” I ask. “Isn’t it after hours?”

“This isn’t an actual, functioning chapel, Wilhelmina.” Julien smirks at me, pulling the rusty front door open. “It’s just a historical landmark now.”

“Oh.” I walk in, taking in the beautiful mahogany walls. “I think I would still feel weird having a date in a church.”

His eyes rise in surprise. “Is that what you think this is?”

I walk further into the old, forgotten sanctuary. The high ceiling looms over my head. “It isn’t?”

The door creaks shut behind us, and though he gives me space to wander around, I still feel his presence near me. He walks down the center aisle with his hands in his pockets. “I didn’t know whether that was still an option for us.”

“Really? So that almost kiss earlier—that was you testing the waters?”

He grins. “That was me not giving a shit about Reid Thomas.”

I furrow my brow, but he steps closer. His hip touches mine, his hand snaking around my back. “I don’t give up easily. It’s not in my nature.” He steps back, opening a small hidden door in the wall.

I pause, a little dazed by the close encounter. There is definitely something about the Haunted that makes them irresistible.

I peek up the shadowy staircase, but he maneuvers in front of me. “Just follow me.”

He grabs my hand and leads me up the steep, winding stairs until we slide through a tiny opening into a spacious room I assume is the attic. It’s empty, except for a few random sets of old benches and dusty boxes. In the far front of the room is a giant stained glass window that looks out over the street. I can see the missing pieces much easier now.

“How did you ever find this?” I trot over to the glass to look out at the street.

“Sometimes I just need a place to be alone.” Julien’s hand wraps around my shoulder. “This place looked empty enough at the time. Of course that was five years ago, but I still like coming back here. It’s peaceful.”

“That it is.” I sit in front of the window, running my hands over the intricate pieces of glass. He sits behind me, his forehead falling against the back of my shoulder. He sighs.

“What’s wrong?” I finally ask when he doesn’t speak.

“I’m sorry about this week. I know I’ve been acting weird.”

I turn into him, pulling his face up. “Why are you apologizing to me? I’m the one—”

“Reid, I can handle. He kissed you. I don’t like it, but I’ll get over it.” He frowns. “I left that night because of me.”

“What do you mean?”

He closes his eyes, shifting his face from me. “I left that night because of the other me. There is something about you, Wilhelmina, that makes my control slip.”

I involuntarily move away from him, and he lets me.

“I lost control that night on the square, and I lost control when he kissed you. That isn’t acceptable on my part. I’m sorry.”

“That’s why you’ve been acting weird all week,” I say, touching his cheek. “Why you’ve been avoiding me?”

“I promised you that wouldn’t happen. I gave you my word you’d always be safe with me. I had to make sure I could handle it if it ever happened again.”

He had to make sure he wouldn’t lose it if I chose Reid over him. He didn’t say it. He didn’t have to say it. The fear of it is evident in the shaky tone of his voice.

“This thing, whatever it is, between you, Reid, and me. It has to stop. It needs to stop now.”

“Forgive me,” he says weakly, as if he hasn’t heard a word I just said.

“What?”

“You promised to take my life when the curse takes me. I also need to know you’ll forgive me for whatever I might do or say before that happens.”

“Don’t say that.”

“I’m serious, Willa. You wouldn’t believe the thoughts he slips in my mind when I let my guard down. He spikes my temper for no reason. He tries to take the way I feel about you and make it evil.”

The fear in Julien’s eyes is deep.

“
Forgive
me.”

I kiss him. I do it to stop the pain I hear in his voice. I promised I would be here for him, and somehow I know this isn’t the time he needs to cry.

So I kiss him. It doesn’t feel like goodbye until he puts his hand in my hair.

“Forgive me,” he says again, pulling away just long enough to repeat this final request. “I need to hear you say it, Wilhelmina.”

“Yes.” I kiss his cheek, holding his face in my palms, forcing him to look at me. “I promise.”

He pulls me into his lap, and my head goes to his shoulder. I hold him like that, tight in my arms, refusing to let go. I can’t let go of him. Not yet.

His lips touch my neck, but we both pause. A wooden floorboard bends under the pressure of someone’s weight.

Before I can move, Julien is on his feet, crouched in front of me and hissing at the darkness. Only seconds later, my heart stops as my thoughts finally catch up, and I realize we are no longer alone.

My world spins around me in a blur, a wild combination of screams, curses, and greedy hands pulling at my flesh.

Attacked
.

It is all I can think while I become entangled in this war between Julien’s protective embrace and my unknown enemy. I yelp as Julien tears my arm from their grasp, blood erupting from the trace of their fingernails across my skin. We stumble backward, Julien’s arms wrapping tightly around my waist, and then I hear the crash.

Glass shatters around my body, stinging as it cuts through me, but I can barely register the pain. We fall, the cool night air rushing around us as my stomach churns with nausea, because I know what will come next. I try to stop it, to place a barrier between us, but the ground is hard.

My bones crack against the impact, and my ribs and elbow tear themselves away from the rest of my body. Blood is everywhere now, dripping onto my lips and smearing across my shirt. My eyes find Julien, but he isn’t looking at me. He’s hurt too, but his eyes remain transfixed up at the giant window from which we’d fallen. When I look up, someone stands next to the gaping hole, his mouth drawn back into a snarl.

It’s my stalker. I hadn’t seen him clearly through my window that night, but now I know this is the man. Julien groans as he begins to scramble to his feet and pulls me along with him. I cry out in agony, but I know better than to resist. “Run, Willa!” Julien begs, lifting me to my feet. “We’ve got to go!”

My feet move forward, though my attention remains on the terrifying man in the window. He growls openly at me, and I would have flinched if it weren’t for the front door of the chapel swinging open at that moment. A tall, dark figure steps through the entry into the light, and I gasp. I don’t recognize him, but the look on his face brings a whole new fear to my heart.

The boy can’t be older than I am, but he steps through that door like he owns it. His brown hair is cropped short, his black glasses matching the collared shirt and blazer. Everything about him looks precise, neat, but his face reads vengeance.

“Catch her,” he says simply, glancing briefly over his shoulder as if the whole situation bores him.

Julien tugs me harder, but I can’t stop staring as four men emerge from the chapel. I finally find the courage to turn and run like my life depends on it. The pain in my ribs flares with every step, but I manage to keep up with Julien’s quick pace. We run down the street, darting between buildings, down abandoned alleyways, until we hit the edge of the woods surrounding the small park. “We are a half mile from the courthouse,” he yells into my ear. “We need Abby and Sadie.”

I nod in understanding, taking a moment to wipe blood away from my eyes. Now that I have a sense of direction and purpose, I focus my waning energy toward it. I don’t dare look back. They are closing in fast. My heart contracts with every step they gain on us. Even now, I can’t forget the face of the boy who sent them after us. His calm exterior unnerves me, like he already knows we are caught and his mission is accomplished.

“Run, Willa, faster!” Julien pleads, his hand gripping mine as he pulls me forward. I dig my feet into the ground and push harder as we swerve through the trees toward our goal. I think about Reid and the danger I am bringing to him. This is exactly what he’d been afraid of all along. I promised to keep him and my family out of it, and now I am leading the threat straight to them. My guilt makes me waver, but it’s too late. The men have caught up with us—my choice is made.

The leaves rustle beside us, and with one quick flash of movement, my stalker jumps through the trees and tackles me to the ground. Everything inside me feels as if it breaks all over again, and I scream through the pain as I struggle against my foe.

Julien is running toward us, but the last thing I see is three dark figures engulfing him before the stalker’s hand finds my face. He spins me around, pulling my hands behind my back and over my head. My ribs scream at me as he tightens his grip.

“I’ve got the girl,” the stalker calls out, but I continue to squirm helplessly in his grasp.

“Good.” One of the other men snorts, and I look up to see him kick Julien in the face while the other two hold him down.

Julien swings his bleeding face back around, snarling at him. “That’s all you’ve got?”

“Don’t push me, Cote.” The man glares down at him. “I’m not scared of your father’s retribution.”

“Let him go.” I try to muster every ounce of power left inside me, but I feel helpless without the use of my hands.

The men all laugh at me, the one behind me chuckling in my ear. “So it’s true, then?” he asks, running his lips along the edge of my ear. “I thought maybe it was a possibility when I saw Julien at your house, but this is really just too cute to be true.”

Julien makes an attempt to lunge at him, but the other man blocks him from my view. “Did you really think forming a connection would save her?” I hear him ask Julien. “Roux wants you too.”

My anger grows as the man continues to laugh in my ear. “Get him out of here. I can handle the girl.”

The man smiles at Julien. “Two for the price of one. You really did make this too easy for us.”

Julien struggles, but he is highly outnumbered. The man shoots a quick jab to his ribs, easing his resistance. He groans as his legs go limp beneath him. The men start dragging him away, and I scream, “Leave him alone! Let him go!”

Fear, anger, and guilt burn like wildfire inside of me as they smile back at me. “I’d be more worried about myself.” He fists my hair tightly in his fingers. “Roux has plans for you.”

I manage to jerk away long enough to elbow the man holding me in the stomach, but he quickly recovers. “Bring her, and let’s get out of here,” the other one instructs, walking off to catch up with Julien’s captors. “We don’t want to keep him waiting.”

“Come on, pretty,” the man coos and jerks me forward. He doesn’t quite understand that condescending glare only works in my favor. The energy inside me shifts from my fingertips down to my very core, and as I grit my teeth, I imagine his face and neck in my grasp. With one mental snap, my energy rushes to him, and he begins to choke as I envision my hand around his neck. His grasp immediately releases as he falls to the ground and scratches at my invisible hold. I spin around, clenching my own fingers together to increase the intensity.

I smile down at his writhing body. “Bad mistake,” I say. “Don’t you know better than to piss off an Innocent?”

He whines, clawing at his neck as his face begins to turn blue. “Don’t bother to struggle.” I squeeze my hand tighter. “In a matter of seconds, you’ll lose enough oxygen to black out, and then I’ll be gone.”

The man gasps in enough air to hiss at me, “Will. Find. You.”