Torn (35 page)

She brightened up,
something all the more incredible given that I'd just said
parents
.

"I suppose I
might have frustrated them a time or two."

"And to think
Rachel says
I'm
stubborn."

I almost returned her
smile, but the sound of a familiar pair of feet exiting the house
almost pulled me up out of bed. A second later Jasmin's Mercedes
started up and squealed out of the garage.

Adri looked up,
suddenly concerned.

"What's the
matter? What do you hear?"

"Jasmin just
left."

"What's wrong
with that?"

"It's not safe
for her to leave the estate. Brandon's pack could be waiting for
her."

I went to roll to my
feet, but Adri held onto me with all of her strength. She couldn't
have physically restrained me, but I stopped regardless.

"Alec, she'll
probably be ok. I know it isn't the best idea but please don't stop
her. Not tonight."

It was suddenly clear,
and I wondered that I hadn't realized what was happening sooner.
James and Dom had each other, Isaac and Jess were together, and now,
however briefly, I'd found Adri. I didn't have the first clue who
Jas might have her heart set on. It seemed impossible that whoever
it was hadn't swept her up already, but it must not have been
reciprocated or the whole school would already be abuzz with the
news.

I felt my heart ache
at the thought of proud Jasmin standing in the darkness, utterly
alone as the lights throughout the town slowly went out.

Adri watched me put
the pieces together and held on even more tightly.

"Please don't
let on that you know. I wasn't supposed to say anything. I just
couldn't let you go after her."

I smiled down at Adri,
and if my smile was a little bittersweet it held more joy than the
situation really merited. So much hurt in so few people. Jasmin
hauntingly alone, Adri with the scars of loss that I couldn't really
understand. My own poor sister.

Adri seemed to read my
mind, "What about Rachel, Alec? Where is she? She doesn't
have anyone either."

"You're right,
but she's still suffering from a deeper hurt. She's with my mother."

It wasn't my secret to
tell, but Adri wouldn't use it to hurt Rach. Of that I was certain,
and in a way this would allow someone to share just the tiniest
sliver of what Rach was going through.

"No, mother
isn't going through a good episode. She's asleep. Rachel crept into
her room and crawled into bed with her. It's a poor substitute for
what she aches for, but it's all mother can offer right now."

"Alec, there
must be something we can do."

She released me and
started gesturing wildly as her concern overcame everything else. I
recaptured her hands and shook my head.

"Not right now.
Rachel cherishes her few remaining illusions. One of the most
important is the pretense that nobody knows just how hard it is
sometimes for her to be the only human in a house full of shape
shifters."

She was trembling now.
All the pain she carried inside and it was Rachel's that nearly
reduced her to tears. I brushed one hand across her lips.

"You've been a
godsend for her Adri. As badly as it hurts each time she sneaks
away, it hasn't happened nearly as often since you got here. She's
been improving ever since you moved into town, and the rate of change
has increased over the last two weeks."

She'd calmed slightly,
but I could feel the hurt rising up out of her battered heart.

"I suppose we
make quite the pair, her and I. Two shattered little dolls trying
our best to make sure the pieces don't blow away and leave us with
nothing. An imposition to everyone around us."

I pulled her in tight,
thinking only of comforting her.

"Not an
imposition. Never that."

She nuzzled the hollow
of my throat and then moving with human slowness that was still
somehow too fast for me to stop, reached up and kissed me. It was
the first kiss magnified a dozen times over, and it wakened my beast
with a tingle of power.

For the first time I
could remember, my beast and I wanted exactly the same thing. I
desperately wished there was some way I could stay with her forever.

It seemed like we
stood glued together for hours, maybe even days. When we finally
parted it wasn't because I was satiated, but because it was the right
thing to do, the only thing that promised even the slightest chance
of me maintaining my control.

She was trembling as I
held her at arm's length and finally managed to convince her to lie
down and try to go to sleep. I told her ancient legends until she'd
finally drifted off, and then curled up beside her and drunk in her
scent.

I left Adri's side as
I heard Jasmin return to the house. She shot me a defiant look as I
intercepted her on the way to her room. I held up a hand to
forestall the tongue lashing she was a heartbeat away from
delivering.

"Jas, I'm glad
you made it back ok."

She was so shocked I
was able to pull her in for a hug, something I hadn't done in far too
long.

"Thank you for
helping take care of Adri for me. I know it's not fair, but if
possible please try to get her out tonight."

Jasmin nodded as she
wiped away the moisture at the corner of her eyes before it could
become actual tears.

"We'll get her
out. Dom and I both love her too, and Isaac will do it just because
it's the right thing to do."

I nodded in gratitude
and then pulled out my phone.

"It's nearly
time."

"I know. I'll
go get Dom and we'll get Adri out of her dress and into something
that'll keep her from freezing."

I sent a quick text to
Isaac, and then went in search of Donovan. I found him in his
office, a black and white movie playing on the TV.

"Yes, Master
Alec?"

I waved him back into
his seat and pulled the extra chair around so I could face him.

"Donovan, I want
you to go to her tonight."

He shook his head, the
perfect picture of a loyal retainer intent on going down with the
ship.

"I'm serious.
There's still a chance that I can hurt Brandon badly enough that the
rest of the pack can escape. If that happens they'll pick up mom and
Rachel and try to disappear. There won't be anything stopping you
from doing what you've wanted to do all these years."

Again a slight shake
of the head, and then Donovan cleared his throat.

"I'm too much of
a prize these days to be allowed to disappear and you know it, Alec.
Under your guidance the family fortunes have grown by an order of
magnitude. Brandon, the Coun'hij, none of them can afford to let
that kind of wealth get away from them."

Donovan reached into
his desk drawer and handed me a thin slip of paper with an address
and a fifteen digit code on it.

"If anyone
survives they should go here. I've been steadily siphoning off
untraceable funds for most of the last decade. It's a paltry sum,
but it should be more than enough for all seven of them to disappear
for the rest of their lives."

The thought of Donovan
waiting patiently as Brandon arrived to capture him, of the torture
that he'd be subject to so that Brandon could learn our financial
secrets, was almost enough to bring me to my knees. Donovan
misinterpreted the horror on my face and reached out to grip my arm.

"I can hold out
long enough for them to acquire the funds and disappear. I know that
much already. He'll eventually get the rest of the family holdings,
but not that piece. Your family will be taken care of no matter what
happens."

I shook my head,
"That's not what I was contemplating. I'm sorry I let things
come to a head. I should have done something different, should have
bought us a few more months in the hope I'd manifest a power."

Donovan tightened his
grasp on my arm as he shook his head.

"You have done
nothing to be ashamed of. We all have our part to play and you've
played yours better than most could have hoped. I'm proud of the man
you've become, and I'll do my part now to protect those we love."

He turned back to the
movie and I stumbled out of the room at his polite dismissal. Isaac,
Jess and James were waiting for me in the East Drawing Room. James
looked up as I entered the room.

"We're going to
stay and fight no matter what happens. We won't let anything happen
to Adri."

I shook my head, "No,
James. I appreciate the thought, but the packs will be too closely
matched. Unless I manage to hurt Brandon much more than I expect I
will, the odds will be against you all. Just get out of there. Take
Adri if you can, but run back here, get mom and Rach and then get out
of town."

Isaac looked for a
moment like he would argue with me, but I pressed Donovan's paper
into his hand.

"Everyone needs
to memorize that and then destroy it. Donovan's arranged for enough
wealth to be secreted there to sustain you all for your entire lives
if you're ok."

I heard footsteps and
turned to meet Jasmin, Dom and Adri with a smile. Adri was dressed
in jeans and a white hoodie that emphasized the porcelain perfection
of her skin. She managed a vague smile in my direction, but it was
obvious she was still half asleep. I carefully picked her up and
carried her out to the Hummer.

Donovan had displayed
incredible foresight in having copies made of the keys for both
vehicles we were taking and distributing them to the entire pack.
Jasmin slipped into the front seat of the Hummer as I set Adri inside
and the other four joined Jess and Isaac in her Jeep.

Despite a valiant
effort to stay awake, Adri fell back asleep within moments of the
engine turning over. She'd obviously been worried I'd be offended,
but it was a silly fear. Spending time with her, awake or asleep was
divine. The pavement rolled away beneath us as I watched the rise
and fall of her chest, the complete vulnerability of her face.

All too soon it was
time to exit the vehicles. The last leg of our journey would be on
foot. I grabbed the backpack Donovan had left on the floorboards and
then double checked that everyone had secured their copies of the
keys inside the tiny pocket sewn into their ha'bits. I cinched the
backpack up tight against my shoulders, and then slipped my keys into
Adri's pocket.

Jasmin frowned at the
action, but we all knew I wasn't going to survive the night. I'd
give the fight my utter best, and I'd lose. No single, normal hybrid
could hope to stand against Brandon.

I waited while
everyone shed their street clothes and then shifted forms in a
harmonious wash of power, and then I picked Adri up and followed them
all off into the night.

The pack ranged about
Adri and I, careful to keep close enough to be able to support each
other, while still watching for ambushes. Being in my human form
slowed our progress somewhat, but I was loath to give up the feel of
her against my human skin.

Adri re-awoke after
we'd been walking for fifteen minutes. As she opened her eyes with
the barest hint of a shiver, I realized she was cold and shifted her
around slightly, wrapping my arms more fully around her in an effort
to keep her warm.

"We've still got
nearly half an hour, you should get some more sleep if you can."

She shook her head,
but her eyes closed of their own accord despite her best efforts. A
short while later we all caught the scent of the other pack. I
nearly managed to get the flares out of the backpack without waking
Adri. She stirred slightly as I handed Isaac and James each a pair,
and then came fully awake as the first set of flares were ignited,
bathing the clearing in green light.

I felt Adri's quick
intake of breath at the same time she clutched at me, but gently
disengaged from her as Jasmin and Dom came up and flanked her.

I stripped my clothes
off in quick, economical motions, and then surveyed the pack. Isaac
and James had calmly taken up station on the outside of the group,
with me in the center, the girls slightly behind me. I chanced a
quick glance at Adri and saw her attention completely focused on
Vincent, a dark-furred figure who'd materialized in the center of the
clearing almost as though he expected to be the one to face me.

Just beyond Vincent
was the ever shifting clump of four-legged figures that was the rest
of the pack. There was a nervousness to their movements that made me
wonder what they expected to happen.

Whatever threats
Brandon had used over the last few days to motivate them were equal
to the task and his entire pack turned towards us with a flood of
power that surpassed anything they'd displayed previously.

One by one we
responded with answering surges of power, and in less than a second
the air between the two packs seemed to hum with potential violence.
They still outnumbered us slightly, but the arcing tendrils of energy
told a story in which the advantage was slightly on our side.

As always Brandon was
the final piece that reduced the fight to one which we couldn't win.
Brandon stepped into the circle formed by the two packs, and I felt
the first surge of rage from my beast at his appearance.

He didn't intend on
being reasoned with. He'd only remained in human form because skin
was a better canvas for the bloody symbol he'd drawn on his own
chest. I was one of few living shape shifters that could have hoped
to recognize the symbols of the four main royal lines, but I didn't
need the hours I'd spent pouring over my father's journals to know he
hadn't copied any of the recognized sigils.

As bad as that would
have been, this was utterly worse. He wasn't claiming a royal
lineage, he was declaring himself the creator of a new lineage, and
the jagged, bold lines he'd chosen boded for a bloody, terror-filled
reign if he wasn't slapped down by the Coun'hij.