Soul Snatcher (37 page)

Annie jumped
at the violent outburst though nothing was thrown towards her. She
took a step back and held her hand to her chest as if this would
help her cope with what was going on. Without one glance towards
her, Eli moved around the desk and straight past her, ignoring that
she was even there. He left the library faster than she could push
a word out. She ran after him as quickly as she could.

“
Eli, what are you going to do?” Annie asked panicked
when she had caught up to him. She had to run to keep up with his
pace.

“
Garrick,” he yelled ignoring her. Garrick was there in
record time, walking in step with Eli. Garrick kept his composure
though he would most certainly have heard the argument and surely
the smashing of the lamp.

“
Your horse is saddled and waiting outside,” he
responded then veered off when he saw that Eli did not need
anything else from him.

“
Eli,” Annie begged and grabbed at his arm. He snatched
it back, being sure not to harm her, and then stormed out the door.
She followed without pause. “Where are you headed?” Her voice was a
mess of tears and fear as it became mist on the dusk air. Eli
mounted the horse with ease and grabbed the reins, commanding the
horse’s obedience. He looked down to Annie.

“
Something that should have been done long ago,” he
said and kicked the side of his horse. The steed sped into motion
and carried Eli out of the gates quickly, leaving Annie far
behind.

Eli headed to
where the trackers were lodged in a hidden house outside of town.
All these years he had not gone after Baden, giving every excuse he
could give himself but he knew the only real reason was because he
was his brother. Now Baden had gone too far and his actions were
too close to home for Eli to ignore his presence any longer. It was
time to truly forget Baden was ever his brother and do what needed
to be done.

Annie stood
stunned in Eli’s wake. She had no idea what he had been talking
about and she had no way to change it. She ran to her room,
ignoring Garrick as she fled the horrible mess she had fallen into.
More so, the mess that she had run head first into. She locked
herself in her room, threw herself on her bed and cried.

Baden snuck
in and laid down beside her as she sobbed. She felt his hand on her
back but did not look up at his touch. She moved closer to him and
he held her knowing there was nothing he could do to fix the
situation.

Maybe it was
time for him to talk with Eli? However painful that would be for
Baden he would do it for Annie. He would do anything for her. Right
now he had to be there for her and he did just that.

CHAPTER
35

Two days
passed with no sign of Eli. Baden had looked for him and came up
short every time. Annie was stooped in the guilt and pain of it all
and nothing helped to bring her out of her misery.

One day, when
Baden was with Annie in her room trying to comfort her, there was a
knock at the door. They both froze and stared at each other for a
moment then Baden disappeared back to the trees. Annie ran to the
door in hopes to see Eli but was disappointed when she opened the
door to find Garrick standing there.

“
Miss Belle, Mr. Brighton has requested that you meet
him in town,” he said and handed her a small slip of paper.
Confusion clouded her face as she took the note and unfolded it.
There was an address and a time sprawled across the paper. She
looked to the clock on the mantel then back to Garrick.

“
This is in twenty minutes,” she said
bemused.

“
Then it would be best to leave immediately,” Garrick
suggested.

He seemed
grim but Annie hardly noticed. She slipped on the nearest shoes she
could find, which were a sensible walking shoe, then followed him
to a waiting carriage. Her day dress was simple and white but
suitable enough for town. He helped her into her seat in the
carriage but did not join her. She did not query why, as she was
too concerned with meeting Eli. So off she went to try and rectify
the situation.

In her rush
she did not have time to tell Baden of her plans but he followed
closely behind.

The moment
the carriage stopped, Annie jumped out without waiting for the
driver to assist, and she rushed to the address written. She was
already a few minutes late and she was fearful that Eli would leave
before she arrived. Without knocking she ran into the building and
stopped when the place was dark and empty. Dilapidated would have
been the best word to describe it, absolutely nothing but cobwebs
and dust lived in the place. Her breathing was heavy from her rush
to get there and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the
darkness. She heard footsteps off to the side and before she could
be overcome with fear she looked and saw Micah coming toward
her.

“
Micah, where is Eli?” She asked worriedly.

“
He asked me to meet you here so I could direct you to
him,” he said convincingly. She did not consider the fact that the
last time Eli and Micah had spoken, Eli had tried to kill him.
Everything was overshadowed with her thoughts of Eli at the moment
and obvious details went by unnoticed.

“
Why?” She asked as he placed his hand on her back and
led her out the door she had just come through.

“
He wanted your meeting to be private. This is to
change the trail of any who may be following,” Micah explained
easily enough. Though he had meant Baden she thought he was
referring to just anyone in particular that was in the area that
Eli considered dangerous.

Micah helped
her into a carriage she had never seen before that was waiting just
outside the building. He took the seat next to her and drew the
curtains so no one could see in. Without warning, the seat adjacent
to them lifted up revealing Garrick. He stepped out of the
concealed space and brushed himself off. Silently he placed himself
on the now closed secret compartment and acted as if he had been
sitting there the whole time. Annie looked at him, astonished by
his sudden appearance. She waited expectantly to be
enlightened.

“
Soon everything will be revealed. However, for the
time being we must take you to a location where you are safe,”
Garrick explained ambiguously. Annie gave up before she even began
asking any questions.

Baden hid
across the street and watched as Annie had been swept away by
Micah. He moved to intervene but stopped short when Eli suddenly
stepped in front of his path.

“
I think it is time you and I caught up?” Eli said
letting every bit of his hatred show.

“
As much as I would
love
to do that, I
must be off. If you had not noticed Annie was just taken by Micah,”
Baden said as he stepped around Eli.

“
Just another excuse,” Eli accused. Baden turned to
him, deciding not to hide his own loathing any longer.

“
The more time we waste here the more time he has to
hurt her. Feel free to try and ‘take me down’, or whatever it is
you plan to do, after Annie is safe.” Baden turned to walk away but
was stopped by Eli’s hand grabbing his arm. Trying to compose
himself for Annie’s sake he turned back to Eli.

“
Has he really taken her?” Eli asked, his face now pale
and his eyes fearful. Baden simply nodded. There was something
about Eli’s reaction that wasn’t quite right to him but he wasn’t
focused on anything other than Annie at the moment, so he didn’t
try to decipher what it was. “Then let us find her. How good are
you at tracking?” Baden gave a look as if to say, seriously? “Then
lead the way,” Eli demanded.

“
Try to keep up,” Baden said. He didn’t try to hide the
fact that he thought Eli would be a burden and that he would rather
ensure Annie’s safety on his own. With their awkward provisional
truce agreed, they were off.

After a short
time of travelling the carriage pulled over to the side of the road
and Micah jumped out. He turned to Annie as he held the door open
theatrically after his exit and smiled.

“
All good things come to those who wait,” he said
reaffirming what Garrick had said earlier. She rolled her eyes and
he laughed as he closed the door. Then the carriage was back in
motion.

“
Where is he off to?” She asked knowing she wouldn’t
get an answer.

“
Somewhere other than where we are,” Garrick said. With
a frustrated huff Annie settled back in her seat and prepared
herself for a long trip, just in case. She had no idea where they
were going.

To her
surprise, shortly after their stop, they pulled over and Garrick
assisted her out of the carriage. She looked up and realised they
were at the Westwood estate, where she had discovered what Baden
was.

“
We have some of your things in the carriage along with
some food. Do not look so glum, our stay is intended to be a short
one,” Garrick assured and started to help the coachman unload the
trunks.

“
Oh joy,” Annie said under her breath. Little did she
know that her stay would be much shorter than anyone had
planned.

CHAPTER
36

Baden and Eli
ran through the trees of a forest that was roughly forty minutes
out of town. Micah had left a purposely strong scent for his trail
and Baden followed it easily. Eli stayed close behind but struggled
to keep the pace with Baden. Eli was astounded at how strong Baden
was
. What he didn’t know was
that Baden was running much slower than he was capable of for his
sake.

As they
ran
Eli was starting to
wonder if he could actually do this. All he had to do was get Baden
into the house and the rest should be easy. Except for the fact
there was another indestructible snatcher in the house that he was
about to step into, with his estranged and volatile brother. Eli
pushed out his doubts and continued forcing his body to move. This
was the first time ever that he had felt puffed.

Baden slowed
to a more manageable pace then stopped shortly after. Eli hid his
strained breathing so Baden wouldn’t know he was tired. They crept
up to a small clearing where the cottage resided and crouched
behind some shrubs.

The cottage
was covered by the canopy of the trees but rays of sun filtered
through, ironically giving it a heavenly presence. The trees grew
around the structure, without imposing on its space, and it became
part of the forest. If you weren’t looking for it as you passed you
might actually miss it. The ground was covered in a sea of fallen,
dead leaves. The cottage itself was in quite good shape; it was
small but quaint and made entirely of wood. If it didn’t house an
unstoppable, murderous soul snatcher it would actually be a nice
place to stay.

“
I did not know it was this close,” Eli whispered to
himself. Baden looked at him as if he were strange.

“
What?” He asked. Eli internally panicked but kept
himself composed.

“
I just did not think Micah would keep her so close,”
he lied easily. Baden found the explanation plausible enough, and
took Eli’s anxious feelings to be concern for Annie, so he turned
his attention back to the house.

Eli
momentarily closed his eyes i
n relief then refocused on what was going on. Baden
couldn’t feel Micah anywhere close by but he could feel another
snatcher’s presence inside. He wasn’t too worried, he would be able
to deal with him easily. The only thing he was curious about was
why he couldn’t feel Annie. Eli spoke before Baden could think too
much on it.

“
I will go in first,” Eli suggested hoping that Baden
would refuse him. He had no back-up plan if he didn’t but Eli
supposed that was what a bluff was.

“
No, I will go in and you follow up behind me,” Baden
said. Another bout of relief filled Eli. Baden started to move and
suddenly Eli panicked. This was it, he was about to completely and
utterly ruin his brother’s life.

“
Baden, wait,” Eli said stopping him with a hand on his
arm. Baden looked down to Eli’s hand and he moved it
away.

“
What?” Baden asked impatiently.

“
I…I…” Eli paused to try and think of what he was
trying to say. Baden was becoming impatient and raised his brow to
hurry Eli along. “I just want you to know that I regret coming back
the night you turned.”

Baden was
shocked by his brother’s words because he could feel the truth
behind them.

“
That…” But when Baden tried to think of what he
thought of the apology he gave up. There was no use in talking
about it now. “Can we discuss that later?” He asked wanting to
focus on the task at hand. Eli nodded and let it drop.

Eli started
to feel guilty. He had just apologised for what he had done years
ago, and had really meant it, and now he was about to do the same
thing. As they crept up to the house Eli found no use in playing it
over in his mind. He just had to do what he had to do.