Tori Page 8

  And there he was.

  She grinned weakly. At the same moment, Devon spotted her, and relief broke out across his face.

  “There you are.” He looked around. “Not sure how I found you, but I’m damn glad I did.”

  And then she realized how bad his situation could have been. “Sorry, I didn’t notice you weren’t behind me earlier. I’d have gotten back sooner.”

  He shrugged. “I’m just glad you came back.” He reached out a hand. “Can we walk from here?”

  “I hope so. I’m tired,” she admitted, taking his hand. As soon as his fingers closed around hers, she felt better. Calmer. More in control. She’d been so worried. Trying to change her focus, she said, “Any sign of the men?”

  He shook his head. “Are you kidding? If I couldn’t follow you, I doubt they’d have been able to.”

  She laughed softly. “Well, thank heavens for small mercies. The bad news is that I just reacted and ran to safety and wasn’t actually considering what I was doing. I didn’t run to the parking lot.”

  Weariness settled on his lean face. “That means we have a ways to go. We’d better get moving. It’s darker out here than I’d like.”

  She turned in a slow circle, orienting herself. “What time is it?”

  “It’s been just over an hour and half since we called Connor.”

  She winced. “Not good. They must be worried about us by now.”

  “I’m trying to get reception, but there’s none so far.”

  “No, there won’t be out here.”

  She contemplated the issue. They had two choices, and neither appealed to her. “We’re at least an hour away from the vehicles.”

  “Really? That far?” He looked around. “And if that’s the case, is there a closer exit where we can get picked up?”

  “No.” she groaned. “I just ran blindly, looking for safety, and the forest gave me a direct path to it.”

  From the look on Devon’s face, she knew he didn’t understand. “I’m only a few minutes from my…our cottage,” she quickly corrected. “That’s what I meant about safety.”

  “A cottage?” he asked in surprise. “I think you mentioned something but I didn’t question you about it before. How?”

  “Granny.”

  That stopped him. Then again, Granny’s name was enough to stop most conversations with the locals.

  “She had a cottage here?”

  “Yes, this was our real home. She kept a small place in town for the days we had school, but other than that, we lived here.”

  “This far away?” He turned and looked at the thick woods. “How can you possibly know where we are?”

  “The woods are always thicker and larger here at the edge of the cabin. It’s to keep the location safe.”

  “And we can go there?”

  “We might have to.” She was studying the evening sky. As much as she didn’t want to take him to her special home, it wouldn’t be long before the angry clouds overhead released their fury, and there was no way they could make it to the vehicles without a hell of a good soaking.

  Raindrops started to fall.

  “There’s no help for it. We’re going to have to go and sit the storm out. We can always wait until the worst has passed, then come back via the caves. I can reach the caves from here.”

  “None of this makes any sense, but if you’ve got a place for us to stay warm and dry,” he said dryly, “now would be the time.”

  “Follow me,” she yelled as the wind picked up, but then stopped as her hand was grabbed again.

  “That didn’t work so well last time.”

  She nodded and held his hand, leading him through the woods. By now she couldn’t see anything, but it didn’t matter. Her energy was like a homing device, and these woods were hers.

  Her energy knew exactly where to go, and how.

  Without warning, they entered a small clearing. Tori stopped suddenly at Devon’s exclamation. The cottage stood in front of her.

  Tears formed in her eyes, the stinging sensation a reminder of that last long, lonely year. She could have just come here to heal. That’s what the place was here for, and in the past, it had always done a wonderful job. So why hadn’t she done that? Why had she run from everyone?

  Especially when everyone she loved was here.

  “Is this it?” he asked doubtfully.

  She tried to look at the cottage through his eyes. The building was small, deceptively small, and with the rain sheeting down on them, and no lights on, it looked more like a deserted shed than her childhood home.

  “Yes,” she whispered, “this is it.” She walked over to the front door and mentally unlocked the locks, noting the extra layer of protection that someone – Genesis, most likely – had put on it. Truth be told, that scared her more than anything else she’d heard about Genesis’ problems because this… Well, this was proof.

  And it was all too real. And damn scary.

  How bad had this been? Had she come close to actually losing her sister? She stepped just inside the doorway and flicked on the lights, noticing that her hand was shaking. Jessie raced inside, grinning from ear to ear. So many happy days had been spent here with the multiple spirit pets that Granny had adopted. Pets that had been lost or hadn’t found owners or had come and gone to the spirit world but hung close to Granny. She’d been special. Hell, she’d been damn special.

  And Tori missed her something awful.

  That was why, she realized. That was why she’d run as far away as possible, instead of coming here. She couldn’t stand the memories. Hated the pain. Knew it could only get worse as her and Devon split and her world, past and present, broke completely apart.

  So, it was definitely not a good place to be. She’d wanted to return here, but the memories had hurt. Genesis was dealing with her own crisis and in a way, that had hurt Tori, too—both because her sister was beautiful inside and out, and she hated to see her in pain—and also because it meant she hadn’t been there for Genesis. Same for Celeste. Believing her actions would remove some of the problems off both their shoulders, she’d turned and run. And kept on running. She hadn’t had a plan any time in the last year, other than to find a way to keep moving forward.

  Gentle chitters woke her up to the presence of a very worried Jessie at her side. He’d missed this place, too. She’d also taken him from his home and all he’d loved. Damn.

  Now there was something different in his voice. Something that really scared her. She squatted down beside him. “What’s the matter, Jessie?”

  He reached out a hand toward Devon behind her.

  She turned and gasped.

  Devon swayed on his feet, his body in shock and ready to collapse beside her. “Devon? What’s the matter?”

  His glassy stare met hers, but he couldn’t seem to be able to formulate an answer.

  All business now, she tugged him inside and quickly closed and locked the door. “Don’t try to talk. Let’s get you to the pool. Come this way.” Urging him every step of the way and half helping to support him, she took him to the small room at the back of the kitchen. Pushing the door open, she tugged him forward. “Just a little farther. You can do this. You’re almost there.”

  He followed her, one foot shuffling in front of the other. She managed to get him up against the stone edge, noting with relief that the water appeared crystal clear and eager for someone to work on. Hell, she’d love to dive in herself. She turned her attention back to the big man at her side. “Devon, I don’t know what happened to you, but this is a healing pool.”

  His gaze turned to the pool, then back to her.

  “Do you understand?”

  Her fingers were already busy undoing his shirt buttons.

  “Yes,” he whispered.

  “Thank God. We need to get you out of these clothes.” She tugged the shirt down off his shoulders from the front, then moved around behind him and froze.

  Blood dripped in a wide sluggish trickle from the long, slashi
ng wound across his back.

  “Devon, you’ve been shot.”

  *

  Shot? No. Not possible. There was no one around to shoot him. Besides, why would anyone? He hadn’t done anything.

  Only, his back burned fire. His muscles refused to work, and somewhere along this last stretch of path he’d barely been able to keep his feet moving forward.

  Shot?

  He barely understood that Tori was trying to take his clothes off. How many times had he dreamed of her doing just that this past year? But now, she was saying something about a healing pool.

  Healing pool? Here? How was that possible? But the evidence was before him. And that blew him away. The water was so clear and so blue and so beautiful, he could feel his very soul reaching for it. Crying out for it. Needing it in a way he couldn’t begin to understand, but his body was already on the move. He took one step, then another.

  “Uh, hang on, Devon. We need to get the rest of your clothes off.”

  “Hurts,” he mumbled.

  “I know it hurts,” her voice gentled. “At least kick off your shoes. Let’s sit you down on the side here.”

  The next thing he knew, he was sitting at the edge of the water. It was so close. But not close enough.

  Following his instincts and ignoring Tori, he fell backwards.

  She yelped.

  And then he heard no more as the water—warm, caring, eager water—closed over his head, and he sank to the bottom of the pool. Just as he began to feel the need to breathe, he could feel the warm, gentle pressure of the water lifting him up for a deep gulp of air, then letting him sink deeper below.

  His arms lay outstretched, and he could feel the water soak into his jeans and socks and cover his skin in the wonderful sensation of liquid healing.

  The fire in his back burned hot and loud for a brief moment but was immediately chased away with cooling waves of goodness. He groaned, the waters lifting him up higher and higher. Just as he needed to breathe again, he broke through the surface, and this time he floated.

  His mind filled with colors and weird sounds. Not painful, but not comfortable, either.

  He wished there was just peace inside.

  And then he knew no more.

  Chapter 14

  Tori watched Devon bob in the water in exasperation. “Just a little more time and I could have gotten the socks off, too, but never mind. Do you always go swimming fully dressed?” She stood with her hands on her hips at the edge of the pool and watched the healing waters take care of him.

  Jessie chattered excitedly at her side. She nodded. “Go for it.”

  Jessie dove in.

  She laughed as he twisted and splashed and swam, like an otter with a newfound toy. Of course, after a year away, it was a newfound toy again. This pool was his pool. It had always been here, ready and available for everyone in the family to use, and those from outside who came searching for it. She remembered a few times when Granny had let a stranger or two into the pools. It had been such a rare occasion that they all knew there was a special reason when it did happen.

  Their pool was powerful. It worked at a different level then the ones in the caves. Those pools operated equally well, but it was just that this one was…different.

  And she was damn grateful it was here.

  She chastised herself for not seeing he’d been hurt. That explained him getting lost. Devon was alpha in every sense of the word, and he’d never have put himself in a position where he’d need help to find his way around. He was a problem solver. He had abilities, but not strong ones, as she recalled—or maybe she just hadn’t thought so back then. Now that he’d lost them…she wondered if the pool would be able to help restore at least a small part of them.

  Stranger things had been known to happen.

  As he appeared to be doing fine now in the loving embrace of the healing waters, she turned and picked up the shirt she’d managed to get off him before he’d fallen in. There was a small hole under his arm and beside his ribs. Thankfully the bullet had apparently struck at such an angle as to have grazed his back instead of entering his chest wall. A bad burn, but nowhere near as damaging as it could have been.

  Thank God.

  She could feel exhaustion setting in, more from the shock of seeing how close a call he’d escaped versus being worn out physically. She collapsed into a small chair beside the pool’s edge. It had been so close. She’d led him for miles in the woods while he’d been bleeding like a stuck pig behind her, and she hadn’t noticed.

  She closed her eyes and gave herself a good talking to. They were here now, and they were safe. The pools could fix him.

  But could they fix her? She’d have to wait and see. The pool was focusing on him right now. She’d have to go in later.

  After one last glance at Devon, Tori pushed out of the chair and headed back into the cottage proper, reacquainting herself with her home. The atmosphere was different. It was still peaceful, but there was an odor of turbulence. An air of trouble having been and gone. She really wished she’d made it to Genesis’ place and had a chance to talk to her. It seemed like she’d missed so much. She really hadn’t meant to. In fact, she’d been so lost she’d barely been able to focus on anything but surviving.

  She rummaged through the kitchen cupboards, wondering if there was anything to eat. They’d always kept supplies on hand. Aha! It looked as though Genesis had restocked recently, or had gotten into the habit of coming here a lot, as there were supplies aplenty. After some contemplation, Tori thought she could pull together a pasta dish quickly and easily enough. Devon was going to wake up hungry.

  And if she didn’t feed one appetite, the other would come to life. Knowing how combustible they were along that line already, she was happy to find something here to cook for him instead. Besides, she rationalized to herself, her own stomach was growling. She’d been hungry a lot this last year. For all her best efforts, living alone under the radar hadn’t been easy. She was happy she’d done as well as she had, but it hadn’t been good for her.

  She hated to admit it, but she’d been a bit on the spoiled side, allowing herself to use her position as the middle child to get things she’d wanted. Not that a few minutes on either side should have made a difference, but she’d let herself use it to her advantage and had carved out a ‘middle’ child spot for herself. If the others looked to be getting more than her, or her sisters had something she wanted, she wasn’t above using that to take advantage. That had been a while ago, and thankfully, she didn’t think she’d been such a brat in the last years, but it hurt to look back and see the things she’d done or hadn’t done as a reflection of who she was now. She’d learned a lot over the past year.

  She’d figured Genesis had it easy, but it didn’t sound like that from what Devon was saying. Knowing Genesis, she’d have made the best of her situation, but that didn’t mean she’d had it easy. She’d actually been the one left behind. With the memories and the pain and the loss. With both her and Celeste walking away, Genesis had been completely alone.

  And that would have been rough. Not to mention, she’d have had to deal with the townsfolk and their judgment. The attitudes and smirks of those who looked at them and laughed behind their backs.

  Granny had been hated by some, feared by many, and revered by others. Tori had no idea what the hell had gone on while she’d been gone, but she was determined to find out. With water on to boil, she checked out her old bedroom. It was the largest in the house, something she’d fought for growing up. Staring at the room from the doorway, she realized how much she missed this place. She had the biggest bed—an old metal one with a lumpy mattress. She threw herself on top and stretched out.

  Oh Lord, even her back was screaming for joy. This was exactly where she needed to be right now. Squirming comfortably on the coverlet her grandmother had made for her, Tori studied the posters of the world and people she’d hoped one day to meet that filled the walls. A writer. An herbalist who’d created a wonde
rful concoction to help people sleep. A chef who’d made a fantastic cheesecake using Pokee flowers.

  They were just random thoughts she’d pulled out of her head growing up. But that was her. Random. She was good at a lot of things. She was great at none.

  Sigh.

  Her sister Genesis did fantastic star charts, even though she didn’t believe she could. That she didn’t like the results said a lot about her accuracy—as in, she was accurate, but often hated seeing the truths. It was the interpretation of the star charts that she couldn’t handle. Tori was better at interpreting the charts, but she still lacked much of the patience required to throw them as perfectly as they needed to be thrown. She did enjoy working on them, though. It was too bad that the world laughed at the damn things, so she’d often argued against practicing her skills. Now, she realized it was talent to be honed. To be used. To be honored.

  Now, Celeste was talented. And had zero self-confidence. She was also magical with animals and often said she should have been a spirit pet and not a human. Her goal in life would be to turn into one.

  Not a good goal. Tori didn’t know if one person could be a spirit pet for another person, but if it were possible, then Celeste would do it. But she tended to spend too much time with her spirit pets and avoided the human counterparts. She’d been a basket of uncertainty. Only Matt had ever seemed to ground her.

  Sad to think that she and Matt didn’t make it.

  Were Connor and Genesis good together, or was that just Devon’s imagination? Too often, one person settled in a relationship—and she didn’t want that person to be Genesis. Her sister was all heart. Tori was spitfire material. And she had no idea what she deserved.

  Only, she felt like she’d done enough spitting for a lifetime. She still couldn’t believe she had Devon back in her life. Nor could she believe that they were both here in the cottage. Struggling to her feet, she made her way back to the pool room.

  Devon now floated on his back, completely at peace as the water gently lulled him to sleep. Jessie swam under him.

  She grinned. Oh, if only Devon could see himself now.