Scott blinks back tears, holding the paper to his chest. “Thank you.”
Ciar nods. “No problem, I’ll let my friend take you there if that’s okay?”
Scott nods again, looking overwhelmed.
That was a nice thing you did, I think loudly, and I see Ciar’s lips quirk.
I can be nice, Bella, you just prefer me mean and cocky.
Asshat.
We wait with them until Ciar’s friend comes, a giant bear of a man who greets him with a booming voice and a man hug before propping his hands on his hips and looking at the women and Scott.
“Well then, let’s get them home.” He nods, cradling the little girl first, and Scott helps load the women into the mini bus the man brought. Once they are all inside, I turn to Scott.
“Be good, okay? Ciar will know how to reach me if you need anything.” I shrug, unsure what to say. I’ve always been weird with goodbyes.
He nods and then looks down, seeming to remember the blade. “Here, this is yours,” he murmurs, holding it out to me.
“Keep it, practice with it, just don’t cut yourself, kid.” I grin and step back, letting him on the bus.
He beams, clutching the dagger to his chest and climbs on. “Right then, we best be off,” the man calls, but then looks from me to Ciar and wiggles his eyebrows. “I never asked, who’s the hottie?” he whisper shouts to him, and Ciar rolls his eyes.
“A friend.” He shrugs and the man claps him on the back before winking at me.
“Friend, sure, see ya later, friend,” he says. I wave and he climbs on, shuts the door, and is off, leaving me with the nightwalker.
“We better get back to your hunt then, don’t you think, Bella?” he suggests, strolling over to me and dropping his arm around my shoulder.
I shrug him off with a grin. “Let’s go, Romeo.”
Ciar
We get back on the road then. We still have a lot of miles to cover if we are to catch this man with the head start before he meets the council. The good news is he will have to wait until Friday anyway, which is four days away, since it’s the only day they receive unannounced guests. That works in our favour. I let her know this and she relaxes slightly, she had been worried. I wish she would trust me with whatever she’s hiding, but I know that takes time, time we might not have though.
I’m piecing parts of her together, from fragments of conversations, remarks, and bits she doesn’t even realise she is sharing. Today, in that house, I learned she can fight and has an angel weapon, which I need to ask her about as they are rare as hell. The other is that she has been hurt and abused in her past. She connected with that boy, understood it, and I heard her conversation with him even when I was downstairs. It enrages me to think that while I was messing around somewhere on this earth, she was being harmed.
She’s a fighter, obviously trained, and used to bloodshed. She didn’t even flinch at the violence we reaped earlier, and she is obviously strong and has powers I haven’t heard of for a century or more. I thought the readers, which is what she is, died out a long time ago. They were usually human women with the burden of telling pasts and futures. Some disguised themselves and profited from their visions, others rejected them. So, what is my mate?
A mystery, to be sure, one I’m looking forward to solving. She lost someone as well, that much I have gathered, someone she loved.
“So, how did you get the angel weapon?” I ask, breaking the silence.
Shit.
Her thought floats to me before she blocks her mind, not wanting me to peek at her secrets. I allow it, I could break in if I wanted to, but I would much rather she tells me what she’s hiding rather than take it by force.
“I’m not going to tell anyone, I’m just curious,” I assure her.
“I stole it.”
Sort of true.
I grin at her thought, but again let her keep her secrets. “Who was he? The man you loved?”
She glances at me, her face hard before looking back at the road. “You just don’t give up, do you? What is this, question time?”
“Yes,” I deadpan. “Come on, Bella, we have a long drive ahead of us.”
She sighs but seems to relent. “He was like a father to me. After everything went down, he was there. He took me in even though he should have turned me over to the council. He protected me, taught me how to fight and function in this world. Gave me a life, a home. His name was Raph, and he was a good man. Slightly crazy.” She grins then.
“All the best people are.” I laugh.
She nods. “I guess I get it from him. He would sit for hours watching the shopping channel and buying shit he didn’t need. He tried to kill the first boy I kissed, the boy was so scared he peed his pants and ran away.”
I laugh with her. “What was his name? The boy?”
She grins then, looking over at me. “Why? Going to track him down?”
“Maybe, Bella, I’m possessive like that,” I tease.
“Well, I would ask the same, but I’m betting you couldn’t even name all the women. You probably have a long bloody list,” she taunts, jealousy in her tone, but all it does is sadden me. It’s true, I have a sordid past. I never thought I would have a mate, so I didn’t care what I did with my body. Anything to keep moving, to not feel.
“Not anymore,” I tell her seriously. “You were right, I covered my pain and loneliness, filling that darkness with meaningless sex and riches. It meant nothing. I can’t even remember faces, never mind names, and none if it matters now.”
“Why not?” she asks, looking at me in confusion.
Oh, Isabella, have you truly not worked it out, or do you really not want to know?
“Because I’ve found my mate, and now she is my everything. Everything I never knew I was searching for. The whisper on the wind I was chasing, the broken half of my soul, she’s here now.” I hit my chest hard. “Where no other has ever been, and she will be the only one for me. No other person in my past can even compare. I won’t say they pale in comparison to her, because that’s not true, they simply don’t exist. One brush of her mind and it wiped them all away, a clean slate.”
Bella
I’ve found my mate.
I don’t know what to say, so I say nothing at all. I make sure to shield my mind so he can’t read my thoughts as guilt, and yes, even regret pours through me. I enjoyed our flirting, hell, I’m even enjoying spending time with him. Sad but true. It’s nice not to have to face everything alone. He listens, really listens. Yeah, he’s a cocky flirt, but he’s also kind and sweet and so caring. Fuck, stop right there.
He has a mate, or did you forget? I remind myself. It makes me wonder why he was flirting with me to begin with. Maybe he’s just bored while he waits for her. Am I keeping him from her right now? More guilt piles on, it means our time is limited. I had become used to having him around somewhere through all the questions and cheesy charm.
I had started to lean on him. It’s a good thing this happened now so I didn’t get dependent. I don’t need a man, just a dick every now and again, I can handle everything else.