Our Story - Part Four - The Lost Ones

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“What?” Garret asked. Hope was spreading within him. Maybe this could work. Maybe his clan could forgive him.

Ayden grinned at him. “Hey, someone has to watch your back, buddy. I’m not going to let your stupidity kill you. So, I’m going to call Liam, and let him know what happened-”

“No,” Garret said. “I will. Before I do, however, I want to see the truth.”

“That hurts, man, really. Right here.” He touched his chest looking truly wounded.

“Ayden?”

Ayden waved a hand at him dismissively. “Yeah. Go ahead.” Garret concentrated briefly.

“Angela’s here?”

“Yeah, I told her to wait at the hotel. She misses you, Gar.”

“Angela? The one you mentioned?” Rowan asked.

“Yeah,” Garret nodded.

Ayden perked up suddenly. “Ooh, are we going to get to see a cat fight? Sign me up.”

“Ayden, shut up,” Garret growled.

“What have I done for the past two years without you telling me what to do?” He cocked his head to one side. “She’s here.”

“One normal night,” Garret muttered. “I don’t think that’s too much to ask for.” He took a deep breath in. “Ayden, let Angela in and keep her entertained. Rowan, follow me.” She just stared at him. “Please.” With a sigh she followed him into his room. “I’m sorry, baby, I didn’t want our second date to end up like this.”

“No big,” she shrugged. “Really, my only problem is you being a big jerk and ignoring me.” He winced.

“Sorry.” He took out his cell phone and hit two buttons. Rowan moved close to him so she could hear the conversation.

“Hello, Garret,” Liam said.

“Liam, hi.”

“I was hoping you’d call.”

“I’m sorry I ran out on you guys,” Garret said slowly. “There were... extenuating circumstances.”

“I knew about all of that,” Liam told him. “That’s why I was trying to find you, to tell you that everything is all right. I know why you ran off, and all about the young girl. I’ve spoken to Ayden and the others about being more discreet and choosing their victims better.”

“I don’t do that anymore, sir.”

“I know, and it’s not an ideal choice but understandable. I also wanted to warn you.”

“Warn me?”

“The Predator’s are searching for you. They attacked Serene.” she could feel Garret tense at that. “She’s okay, but her side is scarred pretty bad.”

“How?”

“They have a new weapon. This one is a combination of mahogany and silver, it’s really… amazing. It’s quite interesting, it works against us and ‘shifters.” Liam paused. “I’m going to let you go. Be careful, kid.”

“I will. Thank you for the warning, sir.”

“Oh,” Garret said as an afterthought, “and have fun with the meeting between Rowan and our little Angela.”

“How did you know her name?”

“I must have picked it up somewhere,” they could almost hear his smile then there was a click. Garret flipped his phone shut.

“Ready?”

“Do I really want to meet this woman?”

“Do me a favor?”

“What?”

“Play nice?”

“Don’t I always?”

“Not with me.”

She smiled. “You’re just special.”

“Yay.” He hugged her to his chest kissing the top of her head and sighing contentedly. “This is amazing.”

“I’m happy for you.”

“I never in a million years thought that he’d forgive me, much less accept me back. This does mean that we’ll have to go see him.”

“We?”

“Of course. You’re my girl, he wants you to meet him.”

It was hard not to berate him over the ‘my girl’ comment, but she made it. “And you know this how?”

“He told me.”

“Huh?”

He smiled. “Telepathically, calling him was just a courtesy, letting him know I wanted to talk. While we talked we also communicated.”

“But... he’s in New York.”

“Liam has the strongest telepathic ability around,” Garret told me, “he says I’m just as strong but the farthest I’ve been able to reach is maybe a county over. You’re stalling.”

“A little.” He took her hand and led her out of the room. A woman was sitting glaring at Ayden. When we came in she stood and her ocean colored eyes snapped directly to Garret.

“You’re okay,” she breathed.

“Hey, Angela,” Garret said with a small smile, not releasing Rowan’s hand. Angela looked at Rowan then at their hands. Rowan could see the slow change over her face from happiness to anger and annoyance. “This is Rowan, my girlfriend.”

“’Girlfriend’?” she asked. “You run away from the clan and end up with this... child?”

“’Child’?” Rowan repeated calmly.

“Ladies,” Ayden said. “Let’s not fight, unless, of course, we’re in a ring with a pool of Jell-O. And I get to sell tickets.”

“Ayden,” Garret growled. “Shut up.”

“C’mon, you can’t say that you wouldn’t want to see two hot girls rolling around in a pool of Jell-O, fighting over you.”

“Just stop talking.”

“Sir, yes, sir!” Ayden saluted. Garret sighed shaking his head. Angela looked at Ayden with a harsh glare. He winced at whatever she was sending to him and gave an apologetic smile. “Right, so where do you want us to stay, oh fearless leader?”

“’Leader’?” Rowan asked.

“Didn’t Gar tell you?” Ayden asked. “He’s the beta of the clan.”

“Beta?”

“Well, second in command, I guess, but the ‘shifter’s term just sounds so much cooler. Liam hand picked Garret to be his heir.”

Rowan looked at Garret raised her eyebrows in question. “He failed to mention that.”

Ayden also turned to Garret glaring at his friend with mock censure. “Garret, how dare you.”

“When will you shut up?” Garret asked exasperated.

“I’m going to put my vote on never,” Ayden chirped.

“I’ll second that,” Garret said almost smiling. He was too happy to have his friend back to stay mad at him at the moment.

“How much money do you have?” Rowan asked him for the second time.

“Enough,” he shrugged. “Let’s just forget that, shall we?” She looked up at him thoughtfully. The guy she was quickly falling for had just changed in front of her. Reuniting with his clan had just taken away a little of his lightness and added a little responsibility.

“Well, we’ve disrupted you two enough, we should get back to the hotel,” Ayden said.

“No.”

“No?” both Ayden and Rowan asked.

“Look, the Predators are apparently after me,” Garret said. “What better way to get at me than to take out two of my friends. I have an apartment off just off campus, we can all move in there, it has three rooms.”

“Why do you have another apartment?” she had to ask.

“Just in case.”

Rowan blinked. “In case of what?”

“One of Liam’s early lessons,” Ayden told her. “Always have a escape route, just in case.”

“In case of what?” she asked a little annoyed. Ayden stopped talking looking between Garret and Rowan, worried.

“In case he had to bail,” Angela put in.

Rowan turned to Garret. “Why don’t you walk me to my room?”

Garret stood. “Good idea.” They walked out and he stared at her.

“’Bail’?”

“I got the apartment after we had our fight... the physical one. I needed a place to stay. I kept it because it’s always good to have a refuge.”

“Refuge?”

“It’s hard to explain... Liam drilled it into us that we should always have another place, under a different name, because you never know when you’ll have to disappear.”

“Were you planning on disappearing?”

“Not without you, love.”

She smiled a little. “Now you’re trying to be charming.”

“No, I am charming.”

“Ha. So what’s this about you being the heir?”

“I’m going to kill Ayden. I’m going to tie him up in a basement, torture him, then kill him.”

“Little too kinky for my taste.”

“Excuse me as I shoot myself to get rid of that image. Liam decided that out of everyone in the clan I had the best ability to lead. Micah was going to be the leader but then he started screwing up, killing indiscriminately, it’s how we got targeted by the Predators to begin with. Micah’s punishment was complete house arrest, he’s not even allowed to leave the mansion anymore. He feeds from blood bags, from the hospital, I mean. That started two years ago, he has eighteen more years to go.”

“Just twenty years?”

“He’s lucky he’s Liam’s son, otherwise he’d be dead. You never risk the clan for the fleeting pleasure of a good hunt.”

“So, you ended up being the heir.”

“Yeah, Micah resents me... which is part of the reason I enjoy it,” he told her as they started walking.

“You don’t like him.”

“No, I hate him. After he started killing like that... he’s the reason the Predators found us and the reason they’re after us. Which means he’s the reason that I killed that girl. Plus it’s because of him drawing their attention to us that may have led to them taking Lupe and Orion, if they did take them.”

Rowan sighed looking down. “What can we do? The longer they have Lupe the less our chances are of ever finding her.”

“We’ll figure it out,” he said.

“I wish I believed that... but more and more time keeps going by. I’m so scared.”

“I wish I could tell you that everything is going to be okay, that we’d be okay, and we’d find Lupe and Orion before anything bad can happen to them,” Garret told her hugging her tightly.

“I’d better get upstairs.”

“Yeah. Be careful.

“I think I can manage going up the stairs by myself, thanks.”

“I know... I’m just a little protective.”

“Overprotective is more like it, but that’s okay, I guess. I mean, it’s part of who you are. For what it’s worth,” she told him, “I had a great time tonight.”

“Me too,” he said. “Goodnight, angel, sweet dreams”

“You too, goodnight.” She walked into the building and was halfway into her room when someone grabbed her from behind.