Once Broken (Dove Creek Chronicles) (21 page)

chapter fifteen

“Let me drive the two of you back to headquarters.”

I hadn’t heard Gabe approach Dylan and me. I looked up to see him toss Garrett his keys, and open his hand for mine.

“Yeah, okay. Thanks,” I answered. “C’mon, Dyl. Let’s get out of here.”

We climbed into the truck, and I slid across the bench seat to sit in the middle. I put my arm around my brother, and he laid his head on my shoulder. It reminded me of when we were growing up, the times when he was sad or upset and looking for comfort. Those little grievances seemed small and insignificant now, but had paved the way for him to put his trust in me. I rested my cheek against his golden head and finally allowed myself to feel the acute relief of having found him whole and unharmed.

Our father’s death had been sudden and shocking, but it was something I’d been preparing myself for since I
learned the truth about the Amasai. I was sad more for Dylan’s sake than my own. At least he could remember our dad as a hero.

I glanced up and met Gabriel’s eyes in the rearview mirror. There was a steadfastness in his gaze that reminded me I was in good hands. Unlike ever before, I was grateful for him.

Feeling the truck slow, I looked out of the window to see that we were pulling into the driveway of our headquarters.

“You’ll be safe here,” I said to Dylan as we got out.

Jocelyn was waiting for us and wrapped her arms around Dylan as soon as his feet hit the gravel. He hugged her back and I could just overhear her murmuring words of comfort. She showed him into the house and I hung back, allowing them their privacy.

I thought I was alone, standing in the gray light of the very early morning. I closed my eyes and thanked God that a new day was about to begin, and that I had lived to see it. I asked Him to watch over Dad and Alex, to welcome them as the heroes they were. My prayers were interrupted as Gabe moved around the truck and came to stand next to me.

“Going in?”

“Yeah, just needed a minute,” I answered.

“I’m sorry it happened to you, too,” he said. “I would never wish losing a parent on you, no matter how much we’ve argued about it.”

I looked over at him. “I know, Gabe.”

“And I’m sorry you had to see it,” he added quietly.

“Me, too,” I whispered.

“If you need anything – and I mean anything – you’ll tell me, right?”

I nodded mutely, afraid that if I spoke I wouldn’t be able to hold back my tears.

Gabriel offered an embrace and I accepted, putting my arms around him tightly. For a few moments, we stood like that in silence and I felt calmed. The pain and grief rushed just below the surface, but I could keep them dammed enough to hold myself together.

The atmosphere inside was one of mixed feelings. Sadness mingled with jubilation that we had toppled a fearsome enemy. Meg and Gio were back in their human bodies, both looking devastated at the loss of their Alpha. Gio’s grievous wounds had healed, I was glad to see. The vampires clearly hadn’t been able to strike the blow that would send him to his permanent afterlife. My brother was looking less shell-shocked, his hand in Jocelyn’s. They were talking to Hugo and Meredith, who both looked purely grateful to be alive.

Gabriel went to join Casey, Garrett, and Aric in the sitting area. The four of them had the most to celebrate and least to mourn, but they had enough consideration to appear somber even in the face of our victory. Casey looked at me as I paused at the doorway, his hazel eyes softer than I had seen them over the last few days. He looked conflicted, like he wanted to say something to me but wasn’t sure if he should. I didn’t get the chance to find out which he would choose.

Jescha caught my attention. The angel stood alone, apart from the turmoil of the human emotions swirling about the room. Like a stone carving, she watched over us still and silent . . . Until the moment she beckoned me to her.

“I must leave you now, Remington. I cannot linger here much longer,” she told me.

“Why? Where will you go?”

“To Alexandros’ Judgment. I will speak for him.”

I hadn’t yet thought about what would happen to Alex, not in any depth. I knew what the rules were. He had taken a human life, which meant damnation. My insides turned to ice, and I shuddered. “Is there hope for him?” I asked, looking to Jescha for reassurance.

“Yes. The circumstances have bearing on his fate, which is why I must bear witness.”

Relieved at her sincere faith that Alex’ fate could be swayed, my thoughts turned to my father’s whereabouts. “What about my dad?”

“You know as well as I that your father was faithful. His fight is ended. He is at peace,” she said.

Tears leaked from my eyes once more, this time of relief. The angel placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Be strong, Remington. You have a long fight ahead of you yet. One I will be watching until you have need of me again.”

I nodded and pressed my palms to my eyes to scrub away the tears. When I blinked and focused again, Jescha was already gone. I had wanted to thank her,
both for her help and the peace of mind she left me with. I smiled a sad smile at the empty air in front of me and whispered my thanks.

A hush fell over our gathering and I turned to see that Hugo was about to speak.

“We are all exhausted, both physically and emotionally, so I will not keep you. I only want to say that I am proud to stand with each and every one of you. Tonight, we achieved victory over a dangerous enemy . . . But it came at a heavy price.” He paused, looking in turn at Dylan and me, Meg and Gio. “We will endure just as we always have, because we are strong together. Now go home and rest. We start again at sundown.”

It was almost heartening to know that I would have the Amasai to return to that night and the familiarity that would bring. I’m not good at sitting and wallowing.

“Remi, if you want to take the night off, we can cover your watch duties,” Hugo offered as I neared the group.

I shook my head. “Thanks, but no. I need the distraction.”

He seemed to understand, merely giving me a reassuring pat on the arm instead of an argument.

“You saved my bacon,
Rem. I didn’t get to say thank you earlier,” Dylan said, pulling me into a side hug and giving me a kiss on the cheek.

“I’d say any time, but . . . I hope that’s the
only
time,” I said. “You gonna learn the family trade and slay a few monsters yourself?”

“Actually, yeah. Hugo and I were just talking about that.”

“Good. Now you can be the one to call Mom and confess what we’re up to.” I stopped short of smiling at my punch line. We would have to call her and tell her about our dad. Jimmy, too. I hated the thought of having those conversations. “We need to call her, Dyl. Soon.”

He nodded. “You call Mom. I’ll call James.”

Even though Hugo had adjourned our meeting, everyone still lingered. It occurred to me that I didn’t particularly want to be alone and I wondered if everyone else felt the same. Dylan and I agreed to each make one of the difficult calls to our family, and we excused ourselves to go outside and do just that.

It was early yet, but I knew that both our mother and our brother would already be up getting ready for their respective jobs. Mom answered on the second ring.

“Hey Mom . . . I’m okay. Dylan’s okay,” I said, leading in with the reassurance that her children were safe and sound before I scared her.

“Remi-Jean, what’s happened? What is it?”

“It’s Dad. He’s . . . Gone. It was a demon.” My voice cracked as I explained. I thought I would have had better control, but I lost it as soon as I opened my mouth.

“Oh, God. I always knew I’d get this call, but I hoped not from you. Are you all right honey? How did it happen?”

She sounded distraught, the first time I had witnessed a chink in her armor in as long as I could remember. But even though my parents had split up a long time ago, I knew it wasn’t out of any ill will toward one another. I had just had to tell my mom that the father of her children had been killed. It wasn’t an easy conversation for either of us. I gave my mother the full story, as briefly as I could so that I didn’t have to rehash every gory bit of minutia.

“So Dylan knows now? Where is he? Can you put him on the phone?”

“Yeah, he knows everything. He’s on the phone with Jimmy right now, but I’ll have him call you as soon as he can,” I told her. Then, I bit the bullet and added, “He’s gonna train and become Amasai. He’s gonna join me.”

“I was afraid of that, but I don’t s’pose there’s anything I can do about it. Just look out for each other, alright?”

“You know we will, Mom.”

“Listen,
I’ll take off work today and start the arrangements for your dad’s funeral. What are your plans for the day?”

That was news to me. I hadn’t known that my mom was still the one who was responsible for my dad’s arrangements. “I’m headed home for some rest right now, but I’ll come over to see you
as soon as I can.”

Dylan hung up with our brother as I wrapped up my conversation with our mother. He came back to the end of the porch where I stood.

“How did Mom take the news?”

“She sounded upset, but I think she’s okay. She said she would start making arrangements later today,” I told him.

“Huh. Guess that makes sense . . . Dad doesn’t have anybody else to do that for him. Except us, but he wouldn’t have wanted us to have to deal with that.”

“True,” I agreed. “How did Jimmy sound?”

A puzzled expression crinkled Dylan’s features. “He didn’t sound surprised,” he said. “I thought that was kinda weird, but he said he would take off work and come up for the funeral.”

I shrugged. “You know how he is. Even if he was beside himself, we’d never know it.” Resting my elbows on the porch railing, I propped my chin on my folded hands. “You and I have a lot to talk about, Dylan. I’m sorry I kept you in the dark about all this, but it’s what Mom wanted. She thought it would keep you safe not to know about the Amasai.”

“How did you find out?”

“Valan –
the vampire that held you hostage?” I waited for Dylan’s confirmation that he knew who I was talking about before moving on. “He killed Dominic. It was supposed to be me, but Dom tried to save me and got in the way. Alex stepped in, but it was too late for Dom,” I explained.

“Geez, Rem. That’s horrible.”

“Yeah, it was. But now I help keep it from happening to anybody else, as much as I can. I haven’t been able to get Valan yet, though.”

“You will,” Dylan said with a certainty I didn’t feel. “You’re stubborn like that. One day, you’ll kick his ass.”

I smiled. “I sure hope so.”

Dylan and I settled onto the porch swing, and I explained everything I could about the Amasai. I answered his questions, and assured him that he would find a place among us and that we could use him. We would especially need the help in the coming days, knowing what Jescha had told us about the vampires launching a surge in their numbers.

The sun was riding higher in the eastern sky, soft yellow light slanting across the porch. Jocelyn came out to join us, looking tired but sanguine. I couldn’t recall a time when she had ever seemed tentative, but she looked as though she was worried she would be intruding on Dylan and me.

“I’m about to take off. Just wanted to see if you wanted a ride,” she told Dylan.

He and I rose from the swing at the same time. I gave my brother a nudge that said he better take her up on her offer.

“Yeah, I’d like that,” he said.

“Remi, I’m really sorry about your dad. Are you gonna be okay?” Jocelyn asked me, offering a hug.

I was
touched by that gesture coming from her, and I hugged her back. “I will be, yeah. Thanks, Joss.”

I hugged my brother one last time and we gave each other a long look. I felt like we were back to being as close as we once had been – no secrets between us.

REST DIDN’T COME AS EASILY
as I’d hoped. I slept for a few hours, then became restless in the late morning sun. Instead of fighting for more shuteye, I pulled myself out of bed and got moving. I stretched slowly as my feet touched the carpet, and was amazed to find that I didn’t have a single sore muscle or injury on my body. Meredith’s healing had done the trick, more than I had imagined it would.

I started a pot of coffee and
as it brewed, wandered over to the bookshelf in my living room. There were three old photo albums on the top shelf, the kind that were full of pictures developed from film not new digital ones. I pulled them down and carried them to the kitchen counter so that I could look at them while I had my requisite two cups of joe.

The pictures were in chronological order, starting when Dylan and I were very small. Mom and Dad were still together and along with James, we looked like a happy family that would be that way forever. The second album was full of photos of us three kids with our mother. We were at the zoo, helping her in the garden, baking Christmas cookies . . . And all of the other things that were full of warm, pleasant memories.