Shadows of the Ancients (27 page)

~*~

I woke on a cloud of fluff. Everything beneath me was soft and wonderful. The smell was of home, fresh sheets on laundry day, mom, dad, and Evan. All their scents mingled with my own, and wrapped me in a feeling of comfort and tranquility. I tried rolling over, and ended up regretting that decision. Pain shot through my shoulder, and my eyes shot open.

“Jess, are you okay?”

My response came out as a series of grunts and groans. “Shoulder hurts,” I finally managed.

“Now that you’re somewhat awake, you could always try to shift. It will help with the healing. We couldn’t force it on you while you were knocked out.” His face looked sad, “you’ll probably have some scarring as a result.”

Scarring meant I had done a considerable amount of healing as a human. “How long?”

“It’s been three days since we got you back. You were gone for a full day before that. We didn’t have a scent to follow. I don’t know how, but he covered your tracks well. Jess, I am so sorry. We had to wait for Zach to make his escape. It took that little coward forever to attempt it.” Evan was speaking through gritted teeth.

“Marcus?”

“You don’t remember?”

I almost shrugged, but the pull on my shoulders from the slight movement I did attempt stopped me short. “After Zach got there, I pissed Marcus off enough to come close to the cage. I remember…” It came back to me as I thought about it. “Oh, I ripped his throat out.”

“Yes, you did.” He smiled at me. “The bars to the cage were treated with wolfsbane, but was also dripping off of both you and Marcus.”

“He tried to make me drink it, thought it would weaken me. I kept it, so that I could use it as a weapon.”

“Good thinking, although it backfired a little when it rolled off of him and onto you.” He winced.

“Ahh, that explains all the burning. I wasn’t exactly thinking clearly at that point. He shot me, a lot.” I tried sitting forward again, and I’m not sure that I even made any forward progress because Evan hadn’t seemed to notice.

“I know, Jess.” He leaned in closer to me and nuzzled my neck. “I’m so sorry we didn’t get there sooner.”

“What about Zach?” I had to say. I wish I could have told him it was okay, and that I know they all did their best, but honestly, I couldn’t. I wish they had done better too, then maybe I wouldn’t still be in pain. Hell, if Mikael hadn’t fallen for Marcus’s set up to begin with Evan and Asriel would never have left. I can’t imagine with both of them there, that Marcus would have stood a chance.

Evan growled. “He slipped away in the chaos, but don’t worry we’ll get him.”

“I am not worried about him…” I whispered. In a way I wasn’t, but then I thought about Marcus, and how long he waited, and watched my Aunt Anna before he came back and shot Lucas. Maybe, I should be worried about Zach. Especially since he’d watched me kill his uncle. “Evan, I need my mom, and…” I tried clearing my throat, “some water.”

“I’ll go get her.” He winced when I tried to move, and stopped because of the pain. “Jess, stay still. I’ll get you into a more comfortable position when I bring your mom back, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.” I tried again while he was gone, but I couldn’t move without shooting pain causing more nausea to rise up. I stopped making the attempts after that because I needed my strength for a shift when I was done telling my mom about Aunt Anna.

Evan came back with my mom, water, and a whole entourage of people. “Sorry, they all insisted on making sure you were okay.”

I managed a small smile. “I need to talk to my mom first,” I said looking at all the faces around me. “Please, it’s important.” Everyone turned to leave, including Evan. “Not you.” He turned to face me again. “You promised to help me sit up, that means you get to be my pillow.”

“Anything you need,” he said as he carefully climbed on the bed, and helped move me to a sitting position, sliding in behind me. The moving part hurt like hell, but I was excited to be sitting up.

“Ew, I really stink. You guys never heard of sponge baths?” Both Evan and my mom laughed.

“When you’re good enough to shift, we’ll go for a swim in the lake, and bring you home for a shower.”

“Deal.” I said, then I took a sip of the water my mom held out in front of me. I’d never been so thankful for bendy straws. “Mom, I needed to tell you what Marcus said.”

“Baby, this can wait until you’re feeling better.”

“No, it’s already waited too long.” I started recounting everything that Marcus told me whe I was locked in the cage. She listened intently, crying as I talked about how Lucas died, and how her sister had tended to him all by herself. I was sure she was remembering doing the same for her sister, and then I told her the rest, about how Marcus followed her there that day, and watched from the woods as she did the same thing. By the time I was done, my mom was speechless. She leaned her head over on my good leg, and just cried. I didn’t care how much it hurt to move, I ran my fingers through her hair, offering the only comfort I could. “I’m so sorry mom, I didn’t know.” I whispered. “I wish I had known. I can’t even begin to imagine having to go through that.”

“Anna would be so proud of you,” she finally said through her sobs. “Thank you for avenging her.” She was silent for a minute before she went on. “I thought maybe he’d just stumbled on the cottage out there after he’d been shunned, but apparently, Marcus knew it was there all along.”

“What do you mean?”

“He was holding you in Anna’s cottage.”

“Eileen!” Evan’s voice was full of sympathy. “You should have said something, you didn’t need to be there.”

“She’s my daughter, of course I needed to be there.” My heart bled for my mom. The last time she’d been to that cottage she had found her sister dead in it. Then to have to go rescue me from the same place, and I can only imagine the sight I was to behold when they pulled me out of there. “You saying he had hoped to make Lucas’s death look like a hunting accident makes me wonder what really happened to Drew.”

“I wondered that too, but I didn’t get to ask him. Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry about any of it, baby. Ever. What he did… If I could bring him back so I could kill him again myself, I would.” She rose up, maybe strengthened some by her fury, and she turned to leave. “I have to go tell your father. He’ll want to know. Will you be okay?”

“Yes, I’ll get Evan to bring me down soon. Maybe if I’m already downstairs, shifting won’t be so bad. I worry about how well I’ll be able to use my legs at first though, because my arms feel like dead weight right now.”

“Take your time baby. You don’t need to rush things.” She looked over my shoulder at Evan, “call out if either of you needs anything.”

“I will.” He said, and my mom was out the door and shutting it. “I’m sorry you had to learn about your Aunt that way, Jess.”

“I’m named for her, you know?”

“I thought your mom said her name was Anna?”

“Anna Marie. She gave me her middle name. Anna was shunned, my mom couldn’t just name me after her completely, but she never stopped loving her sister.”

“Jess, there’s something else you need to know.” Evan did not sound particularly happy for some reason, so I braced myself for more bad news.

“What?”

“My family is here.” I stiffened in his arms, panic rose up from my gut and brought with it that now too familiar taste of bile.

“Ughh,” I groaned, and swallowed my fears down. “What do we do?”

“They’ve been demanding to meet with you. We’ve been stalling.” He ran his hands down the lower part of my arms in a gesture that was meant to comfort me. “They’re not having it anymore. When I was downstairs, I got a text from Mikael saying they were on their way. My brother Malachi, his wife, my father and mother, they’re all on the way here.”

“Do they know what happened to me?”

“Mikael told them a little bit, and that you were gravely injured. After three days, they’re wondering why you are still unable to wake and heal yourself. They’re coming to see for themselves why I would chose to stick by such a weak person. Those are their words, not mine Jess.” He added the last part when he felt me try to pull away. “They don’t understand. They haven’t been told you’re a white wolf. So, they can’t understand why we haven’t forced the change on you so you can heal.”

“You guys tried?” Shock colored my words. It had been Marcus’s plan to weaken my body enough to make my mind susceptible to his suggestion. Maybe if he had known it wouldn’t work he would have spared some of the gunshot wounds. Actually, scratch that thought. I probably would have had only one, if he had known, and it would have been right between the eyes.

“We did.” I nodded, already expecting that answer. Of course they would have tried.

“Okay, well, give me just a minute to let this settle in, and then maybe help me downstairs? Maybe I can shift and we can run before they get here? That way, they don’t see the white wolf, and when we get back to the house, I’ll be good as new.”

“That sounds like a terrific plan, Jess.” I leaned back into Evan, and closed my eyes for a minute. His arms were lying down by his sides, as I think he was afraid to touch me, in case it hurt.

“Evan, can you just wrap your arms around me for a minute. I miss feeling them.”

“I’ve been here the whole time with you, Jess, but it might hurt you if I tried.”

“I don’t care. He took so much out of me already. I just want to feel somewhat normal for a minute. I need to be able to close my eyes for just a minute, and have your arms wrapped around me so I feel safe again.” He didn’t say another word. He slid his hands beneath mine, across my abdomen, and held me like that. “Thank you,” I said as let my eyes close for a minute.

NO REST FOR THE WEARY

I must have nodded off for just a minute. I awoke to the sound of some banging downstairs, and a loud booming voice demanding Evan’s presence.

“Hey, I have to get down there.” He said, as he shifted out from behind me. He stacked a bunch of pillows and blankets up behind me so that I would be comfortable. “It looks like we both took too long of a nap. My family is here.” There was a sadness to his voice that broke me inside. “I’ll be right back for you, okay?”

“Okay,” I whispered after him as he left my room.

“If this girl is fit for any of my sons, then she should prove it by coming down here and facing our family.”

“She’s been through a great ordeal,” I heard my mother say.

“So I’ve heard, and a better wolf would have healed by now.” He insisted.

“Father,” Evan’s voice carried back up the stairs to me.

“Ah, there he is, my wayward son.” There was a bit of shuffling around, and then I heard him say, “what the hell have you gotten yourself mixed up in now? And when were you planning on telling me about that Lesser being you allowed Asriel to take as his mate?”

“Father, how about we make proper introductions, and get comfortable first.”

“Or, how about we meet this woman that has you so enamored you’re willing to face my wrath?”

That was my cue. I couldn’t let Evan be punished for my weakness. I was going to have to pull my big girl panties up, and haul my broken ass down those stairs to face the music with him. I leaned forward, both of my shoulders blazing fire with the effort. Immediately, I sat back and had to catch my breath. “Oh, God that hurts.” I tried one more time, sitting forward quickly this time, I manage to scoot up close enough to throw my feet down on the floor. The forward movement on the bed had my thigh screaming in protest along with the burning in my shoulders. “Oh boy, this is going to be so much fun,” I mumbled to myself. I leaned forward a bit further, clasping my hands onto the desk chair in front of me that my mother had been sitting in a short time ago, and I tried to use it to help leverage myself to a standing position. I failed miserably. As soon as I put weight on both of my arms, my shoulders burned, and the muscles gave underneath me. I damn near face planted into the back of the chair, and then I ripped something open in my right shoulder as I caught myself before momentum had me rolling with the chair to the floor. I managed to right myself at the last minute, and stopped all movement long enough to catch my breath.

Once I was standing upright again, I tried taking a small step forward onto my wounded leg. It hurt like hell, but it was doable. One baby step after another got me closer to the door. Evan had left it open when he went downstairs to try to hold his father off. I finally listened again, hoping to catch a snippet of conversation that said all my efforts weren’t necessary, and that I could haul my ass back to bed. Instead I heard loud and clear as Evan’s father yelled at everyone downstairs. “I don’t care what you think her condition is, if someone doesn’t get that girl down here right now, I am going to go up there, and see to her health myself.” While it sounded like he cared in theory, his words were more threatening than they were nurturing.

I took a page out of his book, and yelled back myself, “I’m on my way down!” Sweat was beading up across my forehead with the effort it was taking to move to the top of the stairs, but when I got there, I saw Evan, at the bottom and he looked scared. I think it may have been because it appeared I was going to topple straight down the stairs at any moment. That was still very much a possibility, I realized, as I took the first downward step, and lost my footing. When Evan took that first step to come help me, I shook him off. “I got it.” I stopped, breathing heavily with my efforts, and then took the next step. It took every ounce of energy, and effort I had in me to get my ass down those stairs. I did it slowly, but I did it. Evan was wincing the whole time. He could see my face as I traversed the steps.

By the time I got to the bottom his father walked over in front of him, and looked up at me. “This is what all the fuss is about?”

“Well, if I had known you were coming, I would have at least hopped in a shower.” I said, deadpan. I stuck my hand out in greeting, waiting for him to shake it, “I am Jessica Marie St. Marks, daughter of Jameson St. Marks and Eileen Stewart St. Marks.” Contrary to Marcus’s statements, I did actually know proper etiquette. I just didn’t use it around him because he’d always rubbed me the wrong way. Now, I knew that feeling was because he had been a psycho.