Page 68 of Anywhere

Stop it. I scolded and sprinted harder.

Looking over my shoulder, I caught sight of Rook skidding around the last turn. He was a lot faster than I’d given him credit for. My hand got within inches of grabbing the door handle when I slammed into a spell blocking the way. A shriek tore from my mouth as my body was thrown backwards and sent somersaulting, ass over tea kettle.

Lying there, face down on the cool stone, I opened my eyes to find Rook’s black boots before me.

“Looks like Rhys thought you might make a break for it. Apparently, I’m the stupid and trusting one.”

With a moan, I tried to push myself up, but Rook hit me with the same spell as this morning. My body froze like a piece of wood in the winter, and other than my eyelashes and lungs, I couldn’t move a single body part.

“I get it. You don’t want to be here. Guess what? We had that in common. I would’ve run for the nearest hill when I first got here. What is it with you trying to kill me?” He dabbed at the back of his head again, and his fingers came away red. If he was going to kill me, he certainly had a reason. Guilt gripped my throat so tightly that if it weren’t for the spell, I would’ve cried out.

“Elewyen, you do realize you could’ve killed me? Doesn’t matter. I’m letting Rhys deal with your bullshit for tonight.”

He bent down and hefted me up. Then picked Barry up with two fingers.

“You really like this ugly little thing?”

“Doonnnaaa yeeeee ‘uuuurrrtt ‘immm,” I tried to say, but Rook rolled his eyes at me.

“If I didn’t understand you before, what makes you think I’d have a fucking clue what you just said to me now?” He marched back the way we came, and my heart fell thinking about spending the night in that dark and disgusting room.

When we reached the hall to go down, he continued past until he got to a set of stairs that went up instead. I was happy no one from my coven could see this. It was humiliating to be handled like a sack of food by a man, even one as sexy as him.

It felt like forever before we reached a door that led to massive sleeping quarters. My heart hammered like a woodpecker inside my chest. Is this where he would decide to take what he wanted from me?

He walked through another door, put me on my feet, and leaned me against the wall like a stiff board.

“This is my bathroom. Let’s just say you need a fucking bath. So this is what I’m going to do.” He pointed to the taps on the wall. “That one is hot, and that one is cold. Soap, shampoo, and conditioner. Use what you want, but you’re not coming out of this room until Rhys and Mari get back.”

He placed Barry on a strange table and made his way back to me. He moved some loose hair out of my eye and stared at me.

“I really hoped we would get along this time around, but it seems you want to do this the hard way.” He cracked his neck and gripped my jaw as he leaned close to my face. “Don’t make me become the bad guy, Elewyen. I don’t want to be, but I will.”

This close to my nose, I could smell him clearly. He reminded me of the forest during a heavy rain on a stormy night, making me want to inhale deeply. Even unable to fully understand what he was saying, I caught the meaning, and my body lit up as surely as if I’d burst into flames.

Stepping away from me, he released the spell a moment before he closed the door. I heard him speak a word, erecting a magical barrier from the opposite side.

Well, shite. One dank cage for a prettier smelling one.

Rhys

My head was swimming. Everything was happening so fast. I’m not sure what I thought would happen, but I quickly realized that Rook coming to the island less than a week ago had initiated a cascade of events. It was as if the world turned upside down and shook me until I couldn’t think straight.

Rook was seeping into my pores, and a part of me loved it, but another part of me was terrified to let him in that close. Mari and I had this magical evening, and I was just coming to terms with what that meant when wham, now our third, had found us. That had never happened that fast before. Was the universe rushing this for some reason that I couldn’t see or understand? Was it simply coincidence that had drawn Elewyen to us? She said she felt pain and sadness. Could she have felt what Mari and I did as surely as Rook? If so, I felt like an ass and hated that I’d done that to her. Rook offered himself, but Elewyen was an innocent bystander, and I put her through agony all night long.

I rubbed my eyes. I thought I was mentally and emotionally prepared for all this, but now I wasn’t so sure.

Glancing over at Mari in the passenger seat, I could tell something was off. She was way too quiet and not her normal bubbly self. She sat there like the dead staring straight ahead, her face blank of all emotion. I hated that after everything we confided in each other last night, it felt like a cavernous wedge had come between us.

“I feel ya staring at me,” she said and turned her head to meet my gaze.

“I be at a loss fir what ta say, but wanna say somethin’,” I confessed, running my hand through my hair. The sides of my faux hawk were getting a little too long, and I needed to get them cut soon.

“Rhys, there’s nothing to say. We knew all along that this was going to happen. Last night was like a gourmet meal, a once-in-a-lifetime thing. There is no looking back, no hoping that there will be a different outcome. We have to live in the moment. Your third has been chosen and is currently sitting in a cell. You don’t get any more real than that.”

Putting her elbow on the door frame, she leaned her head into her hand. I wanted to touch her, to comfort her, or maybe myself. It was difficult to wade through the emotions.

“Besides, we talked this all through, and we both know where we stand. I know you want to make everything all better. It is who you are to want to try, but there is no way to make this better. There is no way to incorporate me into the equation. You need to stop trying to work the problem and focus on all the other things going on. Rook and now Elewyen are at the top of that list, then there’s the island and asserting your authority as the head of the McGregor house.”