Stay (15 page)

“You thought what?” He didn’t move off of her, he just watched me.

“I thought you loved me.”

He smiled. “Oh, Casey. Casey. Why would you think that?”

Jared laughed from next to me. “She’s so gullible isn’t she?”

“You do love me. I know that. It’s her. She’s the one manipulating you.”

“Me?” Vera said in a sugary sweet voice. “Would I ever do that?”

I started sweating again. “Yes. He doesn’t want to be with you. You’re controlling him.”

“Casey?” Toby’s voice came from next to me. “I’ve been searching for you everywhere.”

“Wait…” I looked at Toby standing there clothed. I turned back to the bed. The other version of Toby was still there on top of Vera. But was it Vera? I squeezed Toby’s hand. The real Toby. He had to be the real one.

“That isn’t me.”

I nodded. “I know.”

“Do you know?” a voice asked from behind me. “Do you know which one is the real Toby?”

I turned around. “Tiffany? What are you doing here?”

“I was worried about you. I told you I’d visit.”

“I’m sorry you got pulled into all of this. It’s all my fault.” I’d never really apologized for it. That was what I was supposed to be doing. Apologizing. There. I finally remembered.

“That’s ok. It’s not your fault. You’re innocent in all this. You’re the victim.”

Finn’s words flashed through my head. Hadn’t he just said I wasn’t the victim? “No. I’m not the victim.”

“Really? Are you sure about that?”

I thought about what Levi had said. About confidence. “I am sure. I’m not a victim.”

“Yes you are. You’ve always been the victim. Everyone in your life hid things from you.”

“That’s in the past.” I squeezed Toby’s hand. The real Toby. “Everything is in the past. Life is about moving on.”

“So are you just going to move on now? Move on from watching the love of your life with your sister?”

“No. That’s not Toby. I’m sure of it.”

“This is Toby? You’re sure.” She pointed at the Toby holding my hand.

“Yes.”

“Oh. Let’s find out for sure.” She stepped toward him and every alarm in my body went off. I moved to transform, but my wings didn’t work. I looked down. I was back in the straight jacket. If I couldn’t get my wings out there was nothing I could do.

There’s a bear inside you
. My young voice echoed through my head. The straight jacket disappeared, and I was me, but I wasn’t. Everything looked different. I glanced down. I had paws. What was I? Was I a bear?

Tiffany had her hands on Toby, she was chanting something. The chanting sounded familiar. A memory of being tied down in the cave came back. A shadowy figure with a robe leaned over me chanting the same words in the same voice. Wait. Could it be possible? I closed my eyes shut and tried to remember. The fog lifted, and everything clicked. Tiffany was the boss. I lunged for her, pushing her away from Toby.

“Get off me!” She yelled. “You’re not a bear! You’re not a bear!”

I refused to listen. I could be whatever I needed to be. I held her down, not sure what to do. Part of me longed to tear her apart, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t.

She reached up and started to strangle me. My eyes started watering, and I couldn’t breathe.

“You can’t do it. You’re weak. You’re a weak girl who can’t do anything.”

I needed to kill her. I needed to destroy her, but I couldn’t. I was too afraid. Everything was getting dark. “I can’t do this,” I tried to choke out, but I couldn’t speak.

“But I can.” Vera stepped off the bed, but before I could focus on her long she transformed into a bear. Tiffany’s hands loosened. I stepped back and looked away knowing what was coming. Vera growled, and Tiffany screamed.

Tiffany screamed again. I couldn’t watch even though I knew it wasn’t real. None of this could be real.

Toby squeezed my hand. “Casey?”

“I love you.” Those were the only words I could muster.

“I love you, too.” He led me out of the room, away from the cries. “We can go now. We can go back.”

The fuzziness was back. The haze. I couldn’t feel anything but Toby’s hand on mine. The one sensation that seemed to continue through everything.

“Casey?” It was my mom’s voice this time. I blinked a few times, finally opening my eyes. “Honey?”

I looked to my right. Toby was right there. He smiled at me.

“Did you see all that? Did you see?”

He nodded. “I was there the whole time. You just couldn’t see me.”

“I trusted you.”

He sat up and pulled me onto his lap. “Yes, and more importantly you trusted yourself.”

“That last part. Did you see what I became?”

“Yes. I was impressed with how you took care of her.”

“But I didn’t. I made Vera do it.”

“It was all you, Case. It was all your mind. Vera wasn’t there anymore than Levi, Finn, or Jared. That was just another vision.”

“Oh…” I looked at Mom again. “Oh. Wait. Tiffany. I know who the boss is. It’s Tiffany.” That realization was a hard one to swallow. She’d tricked me. She’d tricked all of us.

“We know.” Gareth said from next to me.

“What?” I asked with confusion.

“Jared told us.” Hailey appeared next to my mom. “He sent us here. He’s on the way to help Levi and Allie.”

“What?” I was still so confused. “And who’s we?”

“Hey, Bates.” Eric moved next to Hailey and grinned. “It’s always nice to see you.”

“When did they get here?”

“About an hour ago,” Mom said calmly.

“An hour?” Toby asked. “Were we out that long?”

“You were out for over three hours,” the healer explained.

“Oh.” I wasn’t sure what to think.

“Do you think you could do what you did in real life?” Toby asked quietly.

I knew exactly what he was asking. Could I take bear form? “I don’t know.”

“Would you want to?”

“Yes.” I’d liked being a bear. It hadn’t come quite as naturally as my wing transformation, but it was a sensation I enjoyed. There was a different type of strength and instinct associated, one that only came when you became an animal completely.

“Then you should try it.”

“Not now.”

“Yeah, I think we’ve got enough on our plate.” He ran his hands through my hair. “How are you feeling?”

“Normal, or as normal as I’ve ever felt.”

He laughed. “Good.”

“Do you feel any more of that magic?” Mom asked the healer.

“No.” The healer looked into my eyes. “But we should watch her carefully just in case.”

“Then I think it’s time for the ceremony,” Gareth leaned over us. “Do you feel up for it?”

“I don’t know what the ceremony is, but I am feeling better.”

“I’ll have your mother explain everything to you while you get dressed.”

“Dressed?” I looked down at my jeans and t-shirt. “I need to change?”

“Yes.” Gareth smiled. “We all do.”

Offering to go with Jared to find the king and queen was probably a mistake. I don’t know exactly what I was thinking, or if I was thinking at all. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Jared needed the help of a bear whether he knew it or not, and I wanted to be the bear to help. That was the root of the problem. I wanted to be that bear not only because I was strong, but because I wanted more time around Jared. That desire was dangerous.

I got dressed, getting increasingly tired of wearing the same clothes more than once. Luckily I’d slipped into a new cami and shorts by the cave, but I had a feeling I’d be wearing this set for a few days. I’d learned to go without a bra pretty quickly after joining the Urusus. It was hard enough keeping underwear lying around. I’d learned a cami could go a long way.

“Are you done playing around with me?” Jared called from a seat toward the front of the plane.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“We’re all aware you’re gorgeous. You don’t have to throw it in my face.”

“Like I said, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I tied my wet hair up into a ponytail and sat down next to him.

“You’re a piece of work.”

“I suppose that’s better than being a piece of ass.”

He groaned. “Let’s just stop the games for a few minutes. We’ve got work to do.”

I grinned. “All right, what’s the plan?”

“The plan is to get to the island and make sure Allie and Levi are okay.” He gritted his teeth. “And if you say another word about me wanting Allie I’m leaving you on the deserted island.”

“You know I only did that to make you mad.” I crossed my legs. “I realize you aren’t that much of a shmuck, or at least I hope you’re not.”

“How’d you know it would work?” He watched me.

“Because I can tell Levi is important to you. He’s like a brother.”

“Observant. He’s more like a brother than my actual brother is.”

“That sucks.”

He shrugged. “Not really. I mean it sucks that my brother turned into a traitorous idiot, but it was his choice. No one made him do it.”

“Are you sure?” I decided to take the chance of pressing him. “I mean how do you know he made the choice? Or more likely that he didn’t regret the choice once he made it?”

“You’re talking about yourself again.” He pivoted so he could look at me better. “You’re talking about your own choices.”

“No. I’m talking about your brother.”

“Do you regret your decision to leave home? To leave Casey?”

“Did you have to leave that last part in? The extra jab?”

“It’s the only real part. It’s all about Casey. All your guilt, all your regrets.”

“I guess we have that in common.”

“Regrets and guilt over Casey?” He leaned back against the seat. “I guess we do.”

“How many people are we meeting? Just Owen?”

“He’s the only other one meeting us on the island. We have a whole team ready to move in on our signal though if it turns out we need it.”

“Why not go in with an all-out attack? Bring everyone?”

“Because if Tiffany was lying, and they’re safe and enjoying their honeymoon, bringing in an all-out attack probably wouldn’t go over well.”

I laughed. “If that’s the case, none of this will go over well.”

“True, but I’m hoping that’s the case. I’d prefer him being pissed at me rather than him being dead.” He looked off.

“Let’s hope Tiffany was just running her mouth. They may be fine.”

“I wish I could believe that.”

“You’ve got a bad feeling?”

He nodded. “Yes, and Hailey had one too.”

“But it’s not like it was a random feeling. You both knew that things were crazy. The wedding party was attacked.”

“That just makes it more likely that we’re right.”

“It also makes it more likely that you’d have the bad feeling. It’s not the out of the blue gut feelings that always turn out to be right.”

“Do you get those a lot?”

“The gut feelings?” I nodded. “Way too often. I got one before the boss showed up. Murphy kept saying they wanted to help Casey, but I knew they didn’t.”

“She’s fine.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Not any more than you know Levi and Allie are okay.”

“I never said I knew they were ok, I just said they might be.”

“Let’s stop while we’re ahead. There’s no reason to stress each other out more.”

“You’re nothing like I expected you to be.” I suppressed a yawn. He probably wouldn’t have taken having someone yawn in his face particularly well.

“You mean because I’m not a good enough kisser for you?”

I laughed. It was a natural kind of laugh I’d missed having. “No, because you have a brain and heart.”

“And those two things didn’t come across when you first met me?”

“When we first met all I knew was that you were elitist and that you hurt my baby sister.”

“No more bringing that up.”

“Whatever. I’m just saying you’ve surprised me.”

“You’ve surprised me too.”

“Oh?”

“In one of the same ways.” His eyes twinkled with amusement, and I wondered what he was thinking about.

“Which one?”

“The heart part.” He stretched, accentuating the muscular chest hidden beneath his fitted t-shirt.

“Does that mean you don’t think I have a brain?”

“I didn’t doubt that when I first met you. That came across right away.”

“I came across as smart, yet heartless. Interesting.”

“Well, I came across as stupid and heartless. Even better.”

“I thought you were attractive.” I let my eyes scan his body again. “You had the looks going for you.”

“Well, that’s something.” He smiled slightly. “I’m going to go talk to the pilot. Try not to get yourself into too much trouble.”

“I’ll try.”

He walked off, leaving me by myself. I sat there staring out the window wondering how I’d ever gotten myself into the position I was in.

“You should buckle up. We’re getting ready to land.”

I turned away from the window and looked up at him. “Aren’t you going to sit?”

“I don’t have to.”

“Then why do I?”

“Because I’m a Pteron.”

“And I’m a bear.”

“Fine. I’ll sit.” He sat down next to me. “And just to make you happy, I’ll buckle.”

“How would that make me happy?”

He reached over and buckled my seatbelt for me.

“Uh, did you just buckle me in?”

“I told you to do it, and you weren’t moving.”

I could already feel the slow descent, and I knew we’d be down on the ground before we knew it. “Who knew you were such a softy?”

“A softy?”

“That you care so much. I guess you’re trying to show me how wrong I was about you not having a heart.”

“No, I just want to avoid any injuries. I can’t afford to have you slow me down.”

“Yeah, that’s it.” I smiled.

The landing was bumpy, and I was glad Jared had insisted on the seatbelt. Without it I would have undoubtedly been thrown from my seat. Even with it on I held onto my armrest for dear life. We were jostled as the landing gear made contact with the ground. From the looks of it, we weren’t landing on any sort of runway. I hoped they had good insurance for plane repair.

Once the plane came to a complete stop, Jared unbuckled and stood up.

After a few moments my heartbeat returned to normal. “What, you’re not going to unbuckle me?”