Redemption (19 page)

The door creaked slightly as Renee entered the master bedroom suite. The noise caught Ryan’s attention as he sat on the bed next to a stunningly still Lily.

“Anything?” Renee inquired, inching forward before making herself comfortable at the end of the bed.

“A few tremors here and there, but she hasn’t opened her eyes yet.” Ryan ran his hands over his face, his palms digging into his eye sockets. “I’ve been reading to her. It used to be her favorite.” Ryan reached for the green, leather bound book. “During the day time, we would banter with other’s words. The rest of the family thought we were immersing ourselves in the literature of the day, but it was really the only way we could speak without really speaking.”

“Can you tell me what she was like? I can’t really imagine her as a teenager.” Renee was a bit giddy to find out a little more of the friend she realized she really knew nothing about.

Ryan shook his head and closed his eyes imagining the first time he saw Lily.

“When I was just thirteen, my father announced we would spend a year in Boston. I was horrible the entire journey. Back then we went by boat and it wasn’t a short trip. I thought my father would murder me at several points as we sailed; but the moment I stepped off that boat and my eyes met hers, my whole life changed.” Ryan began to get a little choked up as he remembered the ivory ribbons that had been woven into her hair that day. “It was an instant connection for both of us and we were inseparable as our fathers worked together for that entire year. My sisters adored her. My youngest sister, Beatrice, thought Lily hung the moon and that she was solely responsible for making the stars shine every night.” Ryan’s fingertips sought out his wife’s cheek. He stroked them back and forth as the memories continued to flow. “She was interested in everything. Literature, science, history, and especially arithmetic… She was amazing with numbers. She loved how every problem had a finite solution; that numbers were the only thing in life where the answers never changed. I found it so fascinating that a girl so young could know so much. I learned more from her in that year than I ever had at home.”

“But you went back?” Renee asked, as her eyes glistened with unspent tears.

“Yes. My heart felt like ash, destroyed and floating listlessly in the wind. We spent the next five years writing letters and promising we would meet again someday. The day my father sat me down and told me his dear friends had passed away, I begged him to let me go to her. Instead, he told me she would be coming to London to live with us – indefinitely. I was happier in that moment than I had ever been in my life, until I realized she was only coming because her parents had passed on.” Ryan took Lily’s hand in his and brushed his thumb across her knuckles.

“The day she arrived, I thought I must have died because she was my heaven. She had become a beautiful woman and I had grown out of my awkward adolescence. We made our pleasant hellos before she left to get settled. That night I found her in the stables. She told me how hard it was to sell her horse before coming to live with us. How hard it was giving up everything she had ever known to move across the ocean. I took her to mean she regretted her decision and was about to suggest I go back to Boston with her, when she surprised me with a confession of her own. She told me leaving was the best thing she could have ever done. If she couldn’t be with her parents, the only other person in the world she wanted to be with was me.” The corners of Ryan’s mouth lifted slightly. “That was the perfect moment and I couldn’t waste another second without having her in my arms. I pulled her to me and kissed her exactly how I had imagined I would since the second I saw her.”

“How romantic,” Renee sighed.

“It wasn’t all flowers and rainbows, though. We were sure my parents would never approve of our relationship, and it took us seven years of sneaking around before we finally told them. My mother arranged the wedding so fast, both of our heads were spinning.”

“It happened soon after that?”

“On our honeymoon. She fell from the train we were traveling on. I only just learned that a vampire found her and turned her straight away.”

There was a knock at the door and Jefferson stepped in. “Sorry to interrupt, but Abe called. Becca has been in and out all night, but they think she’s coming ‘round.”

“What about Peter?” Ryan asked.

Jefferson shook his head as he let out a soft laugh. “He’s her doctor. Guess there’s nothing that one can’t do. I’ll have to remember to stay on his good side.”

“Yes, that’s if you can handle what an incredible pain in the arse he is.”

The mood in the room lightened a bit before Ryan looked down on Lily’s face to see a soft smile gracing her lips. An air of hope coursed throughout the room as they all felt a new chapter of their lives was about to begin.

Abe had spent the hours at Becca’s bedside doing what he had done over three years before – worrying she’d never be the same. The last time, she wasn’t. She couldn’t stand the sight of him. The man who had loved her for years, who had showed her the world, who would have given anything to be with her forever. The last time she woke from a hospital bed, his face terrified her and he was sure had haunted her nightmares for years.

Whenever she had stirred in her restless slumber, his touch seemed to calm her. He prayed with everything in him that this time would be different. That this time she would wake, see the love in his eyes, and make his world okay again.

Countless nurses and orderlies scurried in and out of the room throughout the day as bag after bag of blood was transfused. Abe stayed planted in his seat while Sam was in and out, checking and double checking whichever aspect of the investigation was going on.

“That should be the last one,” the young female nurse with a bright smile and ginger hair stated matter of factually. “Her levels are all up. The doctor should be around shortly to discuss the plan with you.”

“Thank you...” Abe looked to her name badge clipped on her scru
b top. “Erin. I know Becca will appreciate how well she’s being cared for when she comes around a little more.”

“Not a problem. Just let me know if there is anything else you need. Otherwise, I’ll be back to give her some medication in about an hour.”

Abe nodded as Erin grinned before leaving the room.

He took Becca’s hand and brought his forehead down to rest on her knuckles. He sat there praying and hoping a while longer before he felt her fingers twitch. He set her hand down and looked to see her droopy eyes staring back at him.

“Nice nap?”

Becca forced a weary smile. “As best I could on these mattresses. Even Liam gave us a decent bed, not that we ever got much sleep.”

“Well.” Abe shifted uncomfortably. “Sam is checking on everything. He thinks they found where you were being held.”

“No Ian though?” Abe shook his head. “I don't have the energy to work this myself. You have to promise me you will do everything you can to help find him, especially after what I have to tell you.”

Abe began to panic a bit. He wasn’t sure he could handle the details of her relationship with Ian and was hoping against hope that she wouldn’t subject him to that particular type of torture.

Becca lolled her head to the side to look Abe right in the eyes.

“You know Liam had a partner, right?”

“Yes, we figured he couldn’t have known everything he had without someone guiding him.”

“It was Gideon.”

Abe suddenly stood, his chair falling to the floor behind him. “Holy fuck! I mean, shit...”

Becca laughed softly at Abe’s unnatural swearing fit. Their entire time together, she could not remember a moment where he had even thought of uttering a curse word.

“Get it out.” Abe looked down on her with a smile.

She continued to laugh a little louder until she tired from the movement.

“You never swear. It’s nice to see you’ve loosened up a bit.”

“Well...” Abe shrugged his shoulders before picking up the toppled chair and sitting back down. “Did Gideon possess Liam?”

“I don’t think so, he just seemed to be giving the orders. Liam made sure to tell me that I would see him again before he busted through the wall. I’m afraid…” She gulped as she grabbed Abe’s hand. “Gideon is back, and he’s not going to give up this time.”

Abe brought her fingers to his lips and kissed them with his eyes tightly squeezed shut. He took a deep breath, lowered her hand, and opened his eyes to look directly into hers.

“I failed you so horribly before, but I will not do it again. I will move heaven and earth to make sure you are safe. You know I can do it too.” He smiled and gave her a wink.

“I know.” She rolled her eyes before coming to a new realization. “Wait, what about me? Are there things I can do? You know, because of the half angel thing?”

“That would be a question for Sam or Peter. They’ve both been here on and off so I’m sure they can help with all your questions.”

Becca relaxed into the stiff mattress while gazing into Abe’s eyes. She knew that she could count on him to try. She was so tired of being angry with him and being angry with herself. Even with her burgeoning feelings for Ian, she knew her story with Abe wasn’t over.

She gave his hand a squeeze just as her room door swung open and the face of a woman who was a great influence in both of their lives walked through.

“Imagine my surprise to get a call from my friends at Manchester telling me my best agent was indeed not on vacation, but had been kidnapped yet again by another psychopath.”

The woman stood at the bedside tapping her toe against the linoleum floor waiting for answers. Her deep brown eyes and short, dark caramel hair framed her seemingly angered features just as Abe had remembered them.

“Director Palmire, we just-” Abe spoke, but was interrupted by the woman’s raised hand.

“When did we get so formal? It’s Marla. You remember that, don’t you, Abe?”

Abe was pulled out of his chair and into the arms of the one and only Marla Palmire, Deputy Director of the FBI. She was one of the few members of the FBI that liaised with The Manchester Group, hence the close relationship with both Becca and Abe.

“Turns out its kind of the same psychopath,” Becca spoke up, as her fingers twisted in her blanket.

“Gideon?” Marla sat down on the edge of the bed as the question hung in the air.

Becca looked to Abe with tear-filled eyes, then back to Marla with a small nod.

“Oh, honey.” Marla gathered Becca into her arms as Becca attempted to control her sobs. “That bastard is not getting away with anything this time. Now that we have a Senator on our side, I don’t think he has a chance.”

“Senator Holt?” Becca pulled back to question.

“Yes. He’s never been directly involved with Manchester, but since one of the largest firms is in his state, he’s aware of its existence. He’s actually the reason I’m here. He’s outside.”

Becca and Abe both lowered their heads and let out a soft string of swear words.

“No need to worry, everything you say is off the record. He’s been briefed on how this works. Now, he just really wants to know what happened to Ian.” Marla took Becca’s hand while lifting her eyebrows, looking for some sort of approval.

“Sure.” She looked over to Abe. “I think...maybe, I should do this on my own.” Becca’s heart ached in confusion. She had loved Abe for a great deal of her life, but then Ian appeared and for a split second, Abe was replaced. She knew Senator Holt would have questions she just wouldn’t be able to answer in front of Abe.