The Travelers: Book Two
Read The Travelers: Book Two Online
Authors: Sennah Tate
THE TRAVELERS
Book Two
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Red Lily Publishing
Copyright © 2015 by Sennah Tate
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This is the second book of five in
The Travelers
series. If you missed the first book,
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Table of Contents:
About the Author
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The sound of sirens plagued her dreams. Memories of the shadows haunted her every waking moment. The shadows that wrapped around her, latched onto her very essence and choked the life out of her like weeds. She remembered that peculiar feeling of weightlessness as the creeping shadows drew her further and further away from her body and Earthly tether.
It wasn’t an unpleasant sensation. Slowly she was sucked further and further away; days passed like that — hazy with the sun beating through the grimy warehouse windows, only a bowl of water left for her like she were a dog.
Izzy hated thinking about that time. She’d given up on escape by the time her brother and his friends saved her. As her energy returned, the shadow writhed and slithered within her. It drove her crazy, made her hungry for more of the magic she’d only had a taste of. Flashes of red obstructed her view as she launched herself at her best friend.
She struggled to remember what happened next. Strong arms locked around her, held her firmly in place and enraged her even more.
Those arms never let go. For hours he held her as she struggled against him, called him every name she could invent and tried to maul him with her fingernails.
She remembered him rocking her as sweat poured down her face; he whispered encouragements while she howled and cried in torment; his voice — soft and musical — encircled her frenzy-ravaged brain and helped her heal.
Soon, the warmth and comfort of drifting in Aaron’s arms was more enticing than the weightlessness the shadows offered. His lips — so soft and inviting — crept toward hers; the fog in her brain cleared as his mouth graced her with a delicate kiss.
For the moment, all of the terrors were gone. For a time, she felt safe enough to let go. The shadow’s vice-like grip on her core released just as Aaron’s lips released her from their sultry embrace. The offending leech slipped away and Izzy’s next memory was waking with Aaron softly snoring in the armchair next to her.
“Are you sure?” Gemma asked again.
Isabel opened her eyes after replaying the whole thing in her head. She nodded.
“Yes, I’m completely sure.”
“Why would Aaron deny it?” asked Alina.
Izzy shrugged, “Maybe because I told him I wasn’t interested and he went for it when I couldn’t fight him off?”
“But, you think it helped you feel better, right?” Alina pressed again.
Izzy frowned and crossed her arms in front of her chest, scowling at a crack in the linoleum flooring. She still thought of Alina as fragile and broken from the abuse she’d endured; even if her persistence annoyed Izzy, she couldn’t lash out and risk hurting her.
“I do,” she said.
Gemma came to her rescue with her most accommodating tone, “Regardless of the outcome, his intentions were clearly way off base. If Izzy told him she didn’t want to see him again, he had no right to kiss her — especially when she was so vulnerable.”
Alina’s face fell as she realized she was out-numbered, “I’m just happy that Izzy is okay, is all. Who knows what would have happened otherwise…”
Izzy sighed, finding it difficult to hold on to her anger while Alina insisted on clinging to the bright side of everything. It was endearing, but frustrating.
“Besides, I was only slightly mad that he did it. I’m more pissed that he’s denying it,” Izzy said, standing from the kitchen table to make herself another cup of coffee.
“Well, you said yourself that your memories are kind of sketchy… maybe it’s not exactly how you remember it,” Gemma tried. The rift between Izzy and Aaron had been spreading and now worked its way between Carson and Gemma. They each took their friend’s side and had fought about it more than once. It was in Gemma’s best interest to convince Izzy to just let it go.
Izzy wasn’t having it, though.
She could still feel his warmth pressed against her, the taste of him lingered on her lips even days later. As much as everyone wanted her to let it go and admit that she may not remember everything exactly, Izzy couldn’t do it.
“No. It happened,” she said, leaving no room for argument.
If Izzy were truly honest with herself, she would know that she had just as much contempt for herself as she did Aaron. After everything he’d done to her… after she laid herself bare before him and he rejected her — not once, but twice! — after all of that, when Aaron finally did kiss her, she was ashamed to admit that she
liked
it.
“I believe you,” said Gemma, reaching a hand across the table to comfort her.
“These things have a way of working themselves out,” Alina added.
Izzy frowned; she thought she would have allies in these two, but they seemed to be crusading for a cease-fire, too.
<<<>>>
Aaron Washburn was not in the mood for this. His best friend had dragged his sorry ass out of bed far too early; Carson wasn’t even a little fazed by the string of obscenities Aaron hurled at him. Carson grabbed him by the ankle and pulled him off the mattress until his tail bone connected with the wood floor.
“Son of a bitch, what the hell is your problem?” Aaron groaned, rubbing his aching bottom.
“I’ve waited long enough for answers. I’m through waiting for you to get your shit together.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Aaron rubbed his burning eyes, struggling to open them against the bright florescent lights overhead. He’d had a pretty lively date with a bottle of tequila and planned to take the vixen to breakfast, too. Nowhere in his plans had Aaron wanted to involve Carson.
“My sister. What’s going on with you two?”
Aaron snatched a pillow from his bed and curled up with it on the floor.
“Not a damn thing. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.”
Carson yanked the pillow out from under him, letting his head fall to the floor with a heavy thud.
“Mother —”
“I saw the fucking video, Aaron,” his foot landed on Aaron’s chest, pinning him to the floor when he tried to get up. He applied only the smallest amount of pressure, just enough to tell Aaron he wasn’t fucking around.
“So, I suggest you give me an explanation that doesn’t piss me off even more before I lose my patience.”
Aaron groaned and winced as he tried to take a deep breath and Carson’s heel dug into his ribcage.
“All right! Look, I went to the bar to talk to Izzy because she was avoiding me. She told me to get lost. She doesn’t want anything to do with me and she didn’t want anyone to know that there was anything between us… which there isn’t.”
Carson dug his foot in, pushing the air out of Aaron’s lungs.
“Why did you lie?”
“I told you! Izzy already fucking hates me. I didn’t want to make her any angrier. I knew that the tape was a dead end.”
“But you let us waste time on it anyway.”
Aaron shrugged, “I didn’t really feel like getting my ass kicked for something I didn’t do. I still don’t, for the record.”
Carson sighed and released his friend.
“Fuck man, you should have told me.”
“There’s nothing to tell. I got back home and she still hates me. You want me to call you in the morning to tell you the sky is still blue and the sun is still fucking hot? It shouldn’t be news that my relationship with Izzy is a cluster fuck.”
Carson sank into Aaron’s bed.
“I didn’t think you had a relationship.”
“Exactly.”
“You know I’m not trying to hide shit from you man,” Aaron continued, letting out a heavy sigh. “If you can’t tell,” he motioned around to his dingy bedroom, littered with empty bottles and dirty laundry, “I’m trying my damnedest to forget the rest of this god-awful rock exists. It wasn’t personal, buddy.”
Carson nudged him playfully with the pillow he’d snatched away, “Yeah, okay. How’s your head?”
Aaron shoved him back with a half-cocked grin, “A hell of a lot better than my ass.”
Carson laughed and Aaron chuckled along in spite of himself.
“Yeah, that’ll probably leave a bruise,” said Carson.
“Are you gonna kiss it better for me?” Aaron teased.
“Nah, I’ll kick it for you if you don’t straighten this shit out though. You need a shower… like three days ago. We’ve got work to do and you’re in sorry shape.”
Aaron’s head drooped; he knew Carson was right. Between memories of Afghanistan and memories of Izzy’s venom toward him as she came down, Aaron didn’t know which was worse.
“I don’t think I’m going to be of any use to anyone,” said Aaron.
Carson clapped him on the shoulder with enough force to make Aaron wince.
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re the only one of us with a military background. If anyone is going to be useful in fighting a war, it’s you.”
Aaron let his head fall back until it hit the mattress; how could he tell his best friend that this wasn’t his fight?
“We got Izzy back. What are you still fighting for?”
Carson shook his head, “You really have changed.”
“Yeah, well, you spend two thousand days in a sandbox where everything from the sky to the creepy crawlies under your tent are trying to kill you. Let me know if you change,” he said, reaching for an empty bottle he spotted under the bed.
He sloshed the contents around, debating whether there was actually any alcohol left or if it was all backwash. With a shaky hand he unscrewed the cap and downed the contents. The subtle burn of tequila let him know it wasn’t all his own saliva.
“You can’t feel sorry for yourself forever. I’m sorry you went through all of that, but you can’t dwell on it forever.”
A bark of false laughter answered him, “Watch me.”
Carson rolled his eyes, feeling his temper start to burn through him. He couldn’t afford to have Aaron totally out of commission, but he certainly wasn’t much use in his current state.
“Well, give me a call when you grow a pair and stop hiding from everything.”
“Guess I can delete your number then,” Aaron mumbled, crawling back into his bed.
Carson slammed the door on his way off, not giving a damn if the sound sparked Aaron’s panic.
What could he do for his friend? Could he even help someone that didn’t want to be helped?
His phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Hey,” Ty answered.
“What’s up?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing,” Ty said.
Carson sighed as he climbed into his car and turn on the A/C, a fine sheen of sweat already forming on his forehead from the intense heat inside the car.
“I
tried
to talk to Aaron. According to him, the video is nothing.”
“And?”
Carson wiped his brow.
“I believe him… to an extent. I don’t think he had anything to do with her disappearance. There’s something he’s not telling me, but I suspect he keeps more secrets in general these days.”
“Right. Well, I picked up a couple of disappearances on the scanner that you might find interesting.”
“Oh?”
“Two women in Sandy Hill were reported missing. Neither of them were high-risk; we have a secretary and a nurse, both single.”
“Anything to connect them?”
“Not yet,” Ty said with disappointment tinging his voice.
“What makes you think Waters is behind it?”
“The M.O. matches. Friends and relatives said that they noticed their friends were unusually happy one day and then uncharacteristically irritable for about a week before they went missing. Both seemingly just walked away from their lives without coercion or planning.”
“Fuck. That makes seven this week. How is no one else connecting the dots?”
“They seem to be focusing on small towns with limited resources; without any evidence of foul play, the authorities just assume the women don’t want to be found.”
“Well, I guess we should call everyone together. We have to do something about this. With or without Aaron.”
“Understood,” Ty answered before disconnecting the call.
Carson let out another loaded sigh before he picked up his phone to call his new girlfriend, Gemma.
“Hey sweetie, what’s up?”
The sound of her voice was enough to bring his wolf to life — enough to make him bristle with protective energy. It also made him smile and filled his heart up with warmth that he didn’t even know what possible.
“Hey, meeting at the clubhouse.”
“Oh no, what’s up?”
“More missing women,” he said.
“How’s my sister?” He was starting to wonder whether having Izzy involved was more of a help or a hindrance.
“Well, she’s still pretty upset, but I think we’re getting there. What about…?”
Carson guessed that Isabel must be near-by and Gemma was avoiding saying Aaron’s name for a reason.
“We’re just going to have to leave him be for a while.”
Gemma sighed and he could hear the disappointment in her tone.