The Unmaking (The Rayne Whitmore Series Book 1) (20 page)

            Another thing that has
been noticed, but that they’ve done nothing about. I try to hide my frown, but
as always, Diana catches it, and probably my thoughts too. She doesn’t say a
word either, so I pretend to be oblivious to our exchange.

            As we say our goodbyes, I
think about where we are to go. Diana said to picture the place in my mind as
she opens the gate for us to return. Since Damien is the only one I can trust,
I immediately think of him. Still, I can’t say that I’m not afraid that he
won’t be there, and if something has happened to him, it would break me so bad
that I would not be able to put the pieces back together.

            After this, I’d have to
hardly ever see him again. He wouldn’t become someone to be used against me,
even if he argued with me about it. Because if the choice came over saving him
and stopping the witch responsible for my family’s death, I would let him die.
That too would break me, but I knew what choice I’d make, and I didn’t want to
ever have to make it.

            I decide on his front door
instead of inside his house where who knows what could be inside, let alone
give someone a heart attack. Diana takes the picture from my mind and with one
more glance at the three of them, my tattoo begins to glow.

            Together, Selene and I
step through and begin walking, but within seconds, we’re in front of Damien’s
door. His house was never as large as ours because he lives alone, but from the
well kept condition of every single blade of grass to the trim around the door,
you can tell that Damien is well off.

            His neighborhood is full
of old, upper middle class, retired persons and I hope none of them are nosey
enough to be hanging out of their windows right now. I look at the dark blue
door and I hesitate before knocking for a couple reasons, one, out of fear, and
two, because my world now feels different and I need a second to allow my
senses to adjust.

            I look around me. It’s
almost evening, the sun making its trek back to bed. I can hear the slight
vroom of cars rolling by and music in the distance, up-tempo, happy. I breathe
deeply, taking in the different smells, smells that I haven’t smelled for a
long time like barbeque and gasoline. It’s less clean, but it’s home. I even
feel lighter, not really ever thinking about the difference in gravity while I
was there after the first night. That meant I’d be faster here, stronger.

            Finally, Selene says
patiently, “Are you ready Rayne, or should we come back.”

            I look at her smiling.
“No, it’s okay. I’m ready.” There’d be time for sightseeing later. I need to
see Damien now. I give the door three hard knocks and then stand back. About a
minute later, a tall, dark, handsome man in need of a shave opens the door. At
first, he looks confused. Then, I drop my luggage as he pulls me into a fierce
hug and sobs a little. I return the force of the hug and shed my own tears.

            “Dammit Ray Ray, I’ve
missed you. I was so worried that something had happened and I’d never know.”

            “Me too, D. I thought that
you wouldn’t be here, that I’d never be able to find you.”

            Finally, Damien lets me
go, and looks at Selene.

            “You’ve kept her safe.
Thank you,” he says to her, voice shaky from the tears.

            She just smiles at him and
nods. Damien ushers us in his house and it’s the first time I’ve felt at home
in a long while. We all sit down in the kitchen and Damien pours us some juice.
While I sip it, I watch him as he examines me from head to toe. He looks at my
short red hair, so much like Jazzy’s, my non manicured fingers, my newly muscled
arms and legs, and more. Then, he lingers on my yellow milk maid dress and
bites back a laugh.

             I put the cup down and
smile, taking in Damien’s own uncharacteristic appearance. His growing beard,
his weight loss, even his sad looking eyes. I don’t know what battles he’s had
to face, but clearly, he hasn’t been sleeping soundly for many nights. His eyes
are beyond tired.

            “You’ve changed so much
Ray Ray. Not even your physical appearance, but the air around you is
different. I don’t know what it is, but I can tell that you’re not the same,”
Damien tells me; uncertain on whether or not that’s a good thing.

            “I have changed, more than
I thought possible, more than just losing my family. I am a warrior now,” I
explain.

            “Ah, I see. But, what does
that mean?”

            I stand up, glance at
Selene and tell Katsu to reveal herself to Damien. He leans back in surprise as
my sword seems to appear out of thin air. “It means that I now have more
strength than probably five or six of you, and that I have skills that will allow
me to avenge my family.”

            He acknowledges my lack of
explanation. I know he wants to know exactly what happened while I was gone,
but I don’t think it really matters, especially since this visit may possibly
be one of the last.

            “So, what is your plan Rayne?”

            Selene begins before I can
even respond, trying to save me from having to be the bad guy. “I’m sorry
Damien, but the less you know, the better. What we are going to do next could
endanger your life. I’ve convinced Rayne that it’s better if we just keep you
out of this. That may mean for a long, long time.”

            Damien looks at Selene in
anger and clinches his fist, when he turns back to me, he unclenches it in
defeat. I can see it in his eyes that whatever he’s gone through in the time
I’ve been gone hasn’t been rainbows and sunshine. He’s obviously had his share
of threats.

            “Please don’t let me lose
you too,” I whisper.

            “I can take care of myself
Rayne. I’ve been doing it for this long. At least let me make my own choice,”
he says quietly.

            “Can you Damien? Can you
protect yourself from what could be coming? I mean sure you’ve known I was a
witch, but what about a demon stronger than the one that killed her family?
What happens when they use you to force Rayne’s hand? You think humans are
ruthless, you have no idea what my kind is capable of,” Selene raises her voice
as she stands, stepping closer to Damien.

            She’s pushing it, I know,
but he needs to see the point. He stands up too, getting in her face. “I know
how to protect myself. I have weapons. Jason and I, our company we’ve developed
things…”

            Suddenly, Damien is flying
through the air and slamming against the far wall. Selene’s hair is floating
from the magic swirling through her. She’s focused and I decide to let this
play out. Damien is struggling against the push of her power to no avail. Then,
a kitchen drawer opens and knives begin to fly out, towards Damien at
disturbing speed. I have to force myself not to stop it, knowing Selene won’t
hurt him.

            “Weapons will not mean a
thing if you don’t see the attack coming. You are human, you do not have the
strength, speed, or skill to kill what could come for you. And now that Rayne
has been un-made, she has become a different sort of target. Stay out of this
or I will force you myself.” Then, she drops him and the chill of her magic
leaves the air as the knives drop to the floor.

Chapter Seventeen

           
H
e stands himself up again, but refuses to look me in my
face, embarrassed and angry. “I will be here whenever you need me, but I won’t
force you to use my help. I’ve been waiting for you to return and have set you
up with a new identity and place to stay as well as a vehicle. I just hope
that’s enough for now. The place is about forty-five minutes away from here.”

            “You know I appreciate any
and everything you’ve done for me, D. I just want you safe. Please don’t think
that I think you’re useless or weak.”

            “Then, why are you and
your girlfriend trying to chop my balls off?”

            Selene snorts and sits
back down. “Appreciate our concern for your life Damien.”

            “I do. I just want to do
my part.”

            “You have, and for now,
your part is done. Let me do the rest now. Like I said, I will call you when I
need you, believe me. Trust me. Trust in me, Damien,” I plead.

            “You are your father’s
daughter,” he says and I smile and hug him, understanding all that he meant in
those words, and appreciating the reminder that even though they were gone, all
of them now live through me.

            “I can do this. And I will
have you to thank too. You have a job to do and that’s running the business.”

            “Yeah yeah, the desk job.”

            We both laugh and the
tension in the room eases slightly.

            “Let me go get your
information out of my safe.” About five minutes later, he comes back with a
bunch of paperwork. “Here. This should be all you need. Checking account
information, new id’s, social security cards, birth certificates, and more.
Read up on it.”

            “Thanks D,” I tell him.

            “Oh, and one more thing,”
he begins, now with a smile on his face. “I’ve got a name for you. He may know
the name of the witch who ordered the hit from the leads Selene gave me to
check up on.”

            “Who is it?” I ask
urgently.

            “He’s apparently an Alpha
wolf, goes by the name Anubis,” Damien says.

            “How did you get to that
name?” Selene asks before me. I wonder if she knows the name, but given her
detachment from the supernatural community, I doubt it.

            “Well, I’ve been using
certain methods, asking questions, having sources ask around, and apparently, a
couple years back, his wife or girlfriend was killed by a demon after a
business conflict. One of your sources finally came back with the info. We put
two and two together and figured it was probably too much of a coincidence for
it not to be related to our situation here.”

            “You said a couple years?
A couple being two or are you just saying a couple as a guess?”

            “Well, I believe it was
about two years, maybe three at the most, why?” Damien asks curiously.

            “It’s just something that
we’re looking into. So, where can we find this Anubis?” I ask.

            “I think I know where to
start,” Selene tells me.

            “Well, if her ideas don’t
pan out, there’s another source we could possibly try.”

            “Okay. I’ll contact you if
it doesn’t pan out.”

            We sit in silence for a
few more seconds, then, I raise my hand like a student.

            “Um, yes?” Damien asks,
amused.

            “Well, we’re going to need
a ride, but before that, can you do me a huge favor?” I ask.

            “Sure, what is it?”

            “Can you make me a burger?
I am absolutely dying to have one.”

            With that we all laugh.

◊◊◊

             Damien convinces us to
stay the night before we get started on our day. When we get up the next
morning, he takes me to see my family’s graves, then to our new place. It’s on
the southside of town, quiet and peaceful. There’s enough distance between the
homes that we’ll be able to keep a good level of privacy and if anyone comes
snooping, you’d see them a mile away.

            The home seems to have a
large square footage, was recently built in the past five years, tan with a two
car garage and a privacy fence in the back. There’s nothing to make this home
stick out and that’s the point. We are to keep a low profile. Still, given that
I am used to living in mansions, this will take some getting used to. But how
can I even complain? Damien had set this up while I was gone to make sure I’d
be safe.

            He walks inside with us
giving us a tour of the house and also the security code to the alarm system. I
have to admit that Damien did an excellent job with the design and layout. The
first area of the house is the living room and dining room. The dining room has
a nice square mahogany table with a dark brown contemporary rug with red and
yellow swirls under it. There is a large mirror covering the wall that is
almost 3D in its design. The living room has a black leather sectional,
ottoman, beautiful forest green throw pillows that are nearly the color of
Selene’s eyes, paintings with various greens and yellows, and a large glass
table with a small silver statue of two women embracing on it. There are two
silver lamps on either side of the sectional and an area rug that seems to pull
it all together.

            Next, is the kitchen tour.
Selene practically has an orgasm when she steps into the fully equipped kitchen
with a center island. All the appliances are stainless steel and ready for her
use. I have always tried to steer clear of any kitchen and I don’t foresee
myself hanging out in here any time soon. The stove is gas and seems to have
way too many knobs and buttons for me. Our sink even has a purple tiled
backsplash wall. The counters are granite with multicolored flecks. The
cabinets are mahogany as well as the pantry doors. There is no food in the
house since he didn’t know when we’d be coming, so luckily we’d grabbed a few
groceries on the way.

            Three steps down, lower
than the area the kitchen, living room, and dining room sits is a den or family
area. This room has a sixty inch flat screen mounted on the wall with speakers
on each side. The cream suede couches in here are accompanied by a comfortable
looking red chaise lounge. There’s not much else to this room which is fine
because Damien’s done so much already.

            Our bedroom is upstairs
from the main level and as we trek down the hall, I am glad that our room at
least has a walk in closet and a master bathroom. These are two things I just
can’t compromise on. The bed is a memory foam king with a black and gold
comforter set and large headboard. I have to refrain from jumping in like a
little kid. On each side of the bed are two nightstands with small bendy lamps.

            We also have two spare
rooms and a large finished basement with nothing inside of it, making it
perfect for training.

            Last, we go into the
garage where there is not only a black Ducati parked, but a silver Jaguar. I
give Damien a big hug.

            “Hey, I can’t let you just
lose your love of nice things completely. Besides, most people have average
looking houses but really nice cars or bikes. You won’t stick out with these in
the city,” Damien tells me.

            “You’re right, but next
time keep in mind that I like Lamborghinis too,” Selene jokes.

            “Well, once this shit is
settled and Rayne stays safe, I’ll buy you two of them,” Damien promises.

            “I’m gonna hold you to
that then,” Selene responds.

            We all stand there for a
few minutes without anymore words, letting reality finish sinking in. This will
be the last time for a while that I’ll be able to meet with Damien in person.
This is the start of what I had fought so hard to do. I’m becoming that much
closer to meeting my goal.

            “Thank you D. I owe you
more than I could ever repay. I love you,” I tell him as tears threaten to blur
my vision.

            “Just do what you have to
do so that we can all start over. I love you too, always have. One more thing I
forgot. I need to run to my car.” A few minutes later, he comes back in the
house with a small box of things.

            “What is it?” I ask
standing on my tip toes, trying to peek.

            “This was all the stuff in
Jason’s office that I kept for you. I know that we had to burn down your house
so everything else was mainly lost, so I knew you’d want to have something.”

            “Thank you. This means so
much,” I tell him, my heart beating fast as I pull out a picture of the four of
us. We had taken this picture on a vacation in Costa Rica four years ago. I can
still feel the waves splashing on us just after the picture was snapped. My dad
was holding my mom close and Jazzy was trying her best to give me bunny ears.