Chapter Twenty-Nine— Options

My hair was still damp from the third shower I took today. My head was on Nickolas’ chest and I was curled into a ball at his side. We were on his bed and I had just gotten finished telling him everything that happened to me while I was with Nash. Nickolas was putting a hold on his white-hot fury so that he could hold me. Just hold me.

“What are we going to do?” I asked after a straight hour of quiet. “Nash thinks we’re meeting him in the woods tonight.”

“And we are,” he said plainly.

I sat up to stare at him. “You’re kidding.”

“I’m not.”

I crossed my legs and held his hand, mostly so that I could keep mine from shaking. “I can’t lose you.”

He squeezed my hand before putting me back on his lap. “You won’t lose me.”

“He’s lived with his kind for a long time. He knows how to fight.”

“I have the same instincts as he does.”

He wasn’t going to convince me that this would be a cakewalk. I would worry for him even if he was going in with a machine gun and an army all his own. Which reminded me…

“Any luck with that number?”

He sighed. “No. But we have a few hours. I can look.”

We got off of the bed but I wouldn’t let go of his hand on the way out the door. We walked past the kitchen where Kim was feeding Dahlia. We didn’t tell her what happened when Nickolas had to rush out to get me. It was too hard to try and say without Dahlia hearing.

Nickolas opened the door to the storage room and Kim snapped at us. “Hey, you kids have been poking around in there for days. I had a whole system I worked out and you just up and ruined it. Care to tell me what you’re doing?”

Nickolas clearly was in no mood to deal with her. “We’re looking for a contact number. The menagerie my mother came from.”

She scoffed. “Well, then I’m glad you wasted days looking.” She waved a spatula at us. “Serves you right for not talking to me. What, a human can’t be of any help?”

He eyed her. “Can you?”

Her hand went to her hip and she tossed the spatula on the counter. “Your father was a great many things, a packrat being one of them. I have the phone numbers for both Cami and your dad’s menageries. Follow me.” She started walking to the other side of the house. Nickolas gave me a look before we went with her.

We walked into her bedroom, a place I’d never been before. There were half a dozen pictures of her with Mr. Weaver. Several were of Dahlia and a couple were Nickolas. She went right past them and to her closet. She opened up the door to the little room and walked inside until I couldn’t see her anymore.

“Nick, I can’t reach this,” she called out. He left my side to go to her. When he came back out, he had a shoe box in his hands.

“That it?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Kim said. “It’s in an envelope marked Wyoming.” She left the room while Nickolas started digging around the box. He found the envelope in ten seconds and took me back to his room.

I sat on his bed while he dumped the envelope out next to me. There was a little book and a few pictures. He picked up the book and thumbed through it. “There’s an address in here.”

“And a number?”

Nickolas pulled his phone out of his pocket. He spoke to me as he dialed. “Yup.” He put it on speaker and set the phone down.

It rang three times before someone answered. It was a girl. “Levi Griswold at your service,” she said. “And yeah, I’m just gonna use any excuse to say those words together now. They sound too good together. You mind?”

“Fine by me,” a man on the phone said to her.

She went on, “Anyway. How may I help you today?”

Nickolas paused. “Is Icarus Griswold there?”

“Maybe. Who’s calling?”

“My name is Nick Weaver. My mother was Camellia Holmes. She used to live in his menagerie.”

I heard the girl speak again, but it wasn’t to Nickolas. “It’s for you, Tiger.”

There was a moment between the girl and the man she passed the phone to. “Is she in some kind of trouble?” There was careful worry in his voice.

Nickolas shut his eyes for a second before he spoke again. “No. She’s—she died. A little over ten years ago.”

A few seconds passed. “I’m very sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you. I was calling because I was hoping that you could help me out. Maybe give me some advice on what to do. I’m in a mess and I’m not quite sure how to fix it. I thought that you might be willing to help.”

“What do you need help with?”

Nickolas launched into the whole story. From the problems with Nash’s menagerie wanting Dahlia, to Nash deciding that I was his mate, even though I had one.

“Uh oh,” the Levi girl said again. “I learned the hard/fun way that Luciens don’t take too kindly to someone trying to get all up in someone’s mates business.”

“We don’t,” Nickolas said.

Icarus spoke again. “Clearly Nash should die.”

“Clearly,” Levi added. “Don’t be movin’ in on a lady when she doesn’t want it. Not cool.”

“And,” he went on. “Killing him comes with all sorts of issues for you. But I know Marcellus and I know what would happen if you kill his second in command.”

Nickolas started pacing. “Then what do you suggest I do?”

“If there was time, I would send help for you. Unfortunately it’s impossible. So what I can do is wish you the best of luck.” There was a short pause before he made an annoyed sound. “I wasn’t done, Levi. No need for hitting me. Even though you might as well be throwing feathers at me.”

There was a laugh and Levi shouted, “Shut up, Henry! And how was I supposed to know you weren’t done?”

I could almost hear Icarus shake his head. “What I can offer you, is a safe place to stay. After you kill Nash, Marcellus will come for you. But you’d be safe with us here. Would you be willing to uproot your sister and mate?”

Nickolas looked at me as if he needed permission. So I gave it. “We don’t have a choice, Nicky.”

He nodded. “Yes. We’ll do what we have to do. Thank you, Icarus.”

And that was it. If my fiancé survived the night—which he had to because he wasn’t allowed to die—then tomorrow would be spent packing for a new home. We would be living with a bunch of strangers in a new state. Wouldn’t be the first time. At least this time I would have Nickolas and Dahlia. If we could get Kim to agree.

“Stay safe,” Levi said before she hung up.

Nickolas rubbed his head with both hands before he sat down next to me. Then he put his elbows on his knees. “I’m sorry.”

Of course he felt guilty. “Don’t be. I’m fine with this if you are. Just have to figure out the Thune’s. And Kim. How do we get her to let us take her daughter?”

He rested his head in his hand in my direction. “I say we save that for when this is over. As well as the fight itself. She won’t let me go. That’s not an option. We’ll tell her we’re going out to dinner or something.”

I agreed. “How do you feel about all of this?”

His smile was bitter. “If I have to kill someone to keep you, then I will. As long as I have both of my girls, I’m happy.”

As long as I had him, I would be happy too.

***

I changed into jeans and an old shirt. I wanted to wear one of Nickolas’, but he thought I shouldn’t rile Nash up. He was right, it might motivate him more. We didn’t want him having more reasons to fight with all he had.

Dahlia went to bed after a long goodbye from Nickolas and I. We both decided he was going to be okay. The goodbye was just to make us feel better. She didn’t understand a thing. She just fell asleep.

Kim didn’t suspect a thing. She was stuck in her room catching up on work that she missed today. Her door was closed and it was more than easy to slip out of the house.

It was up to me to text Nash saying we were on our way. He hadn’t sent me one all day. My guess was so that Nickolas wouldn’t suspect us. Moron.

We sat in Nickolas’ car as it warmed up. Maybe we were stalling, I wasn’t sure. I was shocked that I wasn’t shaking uncontrollably for what I was about to see. I felt worse for Nickolas. He was the one fighting for his life and mine. He didn’t seem scared at all. Braver than I could ever hope to be.

“You need to stick to the trees,” Nickolas told me. “Neither of us will aim for you, but an accident can happen. I’d feel better if you just waited in the car.” All I had to do was look at him. “But,” he amended, “you can come.”

“Can I?”

“Yes.”

When I was quiet for far too long, he pulled me to him. “Nothing is going to happen to me, Cupcake. I’m gonna be just fine. Then I’m going to take you home and you’re going to have a lot of sex with me as a reward for fighting so valiantly.”

I smiled. “I can do that.”

He started driving, and my anxiety went through the roof. I bet he could hear my heart, even with the other sounds of the night. It was pitch black outside and there wasn’t a car in sight.

“Random question,” I said as a way to distract myself. “Am I the only one that you’ve ever…um, been with in this car?”

He laughed. “Yes. You’re the only girl in my car. Well, other than Dahlia. And Kim. Mona now… I didn’t let those random girls near my toys, Posey. I told you before, as awful as this sounds, they didn’t mean anything to me. I didn’t mean anything to them either. Just something to do.”

That was somehow both a comfort and disheartening. At least it meant something to him when it was him and I. He made sure I knew that. He filled my head with a million I love yous when we were together, in every sense of the world. The gratefulness and the skepticism he had on his face when I said it back, that proved it too.

Once we turned onto the street adjacent to the school, I felt my heart start racing just after it started calming. So much for not having a panic attack. Nickolas pulled the car over and shut it off. He started emptying his pockets, leaving the contents on the dash.

“How are you doing this?” I asked.

“I’m going in as a wolf. So you and I won’t be able to talk. Just keep at a safe distance and you’ll be okay.”

I nodded and stared down at my lap. He was going to be fine, I had to remember that. This would all be over soon and he was going to get home in one piece.

We stood outside of his car while he shifted. His clothes were put in the car and I looked down at the wolf that loved me. He nudged my leg with his nose.

“I love you, Nicky,” I told him as I knelt down. His face was level with mine. “Please be safe.”

He pressed his nose to the center of my chest. I took that as an agreement. I walked with him into the woods. I wasn’t sure where Nash was meeting him, but I knew he was close. Nickolas sniffed at the air and bumped me in a specific direction. I followed behind him after that.

We walked for ten minutes before he stopped again. He smelled our surroundings. Nickolas looked back at me, and didn’t move again. Then I saw why.

A puma strode right out from behind the trees. His body was massive. So, so much bigger than Nickolas. Nash watched me for a moment before looking back to Nickolas. He growled at him ,and I knew it was time to hide.

I backed away and stood beside a tree as the animals moved slowly to each other. My chest hurt as my heart attempted to escape my body. For all its pounding, I still thought it would cease to function. Nickolas was just so much smaller than Nash.

When it started, that was when my breathing stopped. Nash launched himself at Nickolas. Small, yes he was small. But he was fast. He got behind Nash and sank his teeth into the puma’s side. There was a loud sound of anger and pain before Nash thrashed around, knocking Nickolas to the side. He rolled into a tree and Nash went at him again. He butted his head into his side. There was a yelp and my hands went to my face to cover my own sound of misery.

I didn’t know what to do. I hated that I was stuck just standing here watching the love of my short life, fighting a potentially losing battle. I looked around for something, anything to use to help. I should have brought a bat.

I heard another pained sound from Nickolas as I heard a cracking sound. A rib? I couldn’t tell, but I saw Nash with his head at Nickolas’ side again.

Through the pain, Nickolas jumped at Nash, latching his teeth onto the back of his neck. Nash thrashed again and Nickolas went flying into a tree. He landed at the base as Nash turned to go in for the killing blow.

“Nickolas!” I screamed. And Nash turned. He knew in a second, and I knew in a second that he figured it out. Not that I was trying to hide it. But I was stupid before. I could have, should have used it. So I would now.

I smiled at Nash and it held his attention for as long as it needed to. Nickolas forced himself up and his teeth sank into the middle of Nash’s tail. There was a sound of surprise more than pain when Nash realized what happened. Nickolas didn’t let up immediately. Instead he pulled Nash back until his crooked tail snapped again. Then he let go and started running.

He distanced himself from Nash enough to have a real advantage. Nash couldn’t come at him in any way that Nickolas wouldn’t have seen. Still, with a broken tail, he stalked over. He walked off kilter and I thought he might stumble. The two were at a stand off.

Nickolas was the first to move. Nash tried to dodge, but everything about him was off. Nickolas got his teeth into his back leg as Nash was whipping around to him. He went on for a bite and Nickolas ran behind him.

It wasn’t enough.

Nash swiped at Nickolas and his claws tore across his thigh. Blood stained his fur and ran down the length of him. My heart was in my throat and I decided I couldn’t watch more of this.

I was in the woods. There were trees everywhere. Rocks. Something I could use. I ran as fast as I could and I listened to the fight in the background. Snarls and yelps of pain. I ignored it so that I could focus on what I needed to do. The only light was from the moon and I used it the best I could. After I dropped to the ground, my hands found a stone.

I moved back to the edge of the clearing, only fifteen feet from the fight. I saw Nickolas limping away from Nash. Nash’s side looked matted but I couldn’t see blood. It was too dark. That wasn’t the case with Nickolas. I saw so much blood. I hoped that it wasn’t all his.

My hand went back and I tried as hard as I could to aim at Nash. His focus was all on Nickolas as he readied himself to attack. I hurled the rock and watched it soar as the outcome was in the hands of nature now. I didn’t get him where I wanted. Instead of his head, it hit him in the back leg. He looked back at the rock and he looked to me. His dark eyes had betrayal and doubt, like he couldn’t believe his mate would hurt him. Maybe he was still holding out hope that I was his. That the rock was meant for Nickolas.

All it took was a few moments of doubt.

Nickolas leaped forward and dipped his head, getting under Nash’s neck. His bloody mouth opened and he latched onto his throat. There was a gargled sound from Nash as Nickolas pulled his flesh from his body.

Blood. More blood than I’d ever seen started pouring like a river down the front of his body. Nickolas stepped back and spat out the fur and skin that he tore from Nash. Then he collapsed.

I ran to him, ignoring the dying puma as he choked for either air or death. I would have given him the latter if I didn’t have to make sure Nickolas was breathing.

I fell to the ground in front of Nickolas. He was panting and bleeding and his eyes were shut. I put my hand on his side and leaned down to check him over. I could tell what bloody spots were really from him and what just looked like it was. There were bites and scratches on him but nothing that seemed like he couldn’t heal from.

His eyes opened and he started shifting back to a human. It was slower than normal. Maybe a full thirty seconds before it was Nickolas’ body on mine. His head was on my lap and my hand on his chest as he panted.

“Is… he dead?” he struggled to say. The wounds on him made my breath hitch. His stomach and hip had a bleeding bite mark. A dozen punctures to go with the gashes that were spread along the rest of him.

I forced myself to look over at Nash’s body. He was still. His blood was pooling in the grass below him as he lay there. There wasn’t a sign of life but I still wanted to bash his brains in with that stone by his leg.

“Yeah,” I said. “What can I do for you right now?”

His eyes were half open. “I just need to shift a few times.”

“What does that do?”

He took a few seconds to breathe. “It heals.” He paused. “Every shift heals.”

We sat there for about twenty minutes as he shifted several more times. Eventually he got to the point where he could stand. He had his weight on me as he was getting up. He was healing, but there was still damage. Neither of us wanted to be out here anymore.

“What do we do about that?” I nodded with my head at the dead puma.

“Nothing. Let them find the animal that killed Mars.”

I looked at Nickolas as he put his arm around my shoulder. “Maybe that would fly if there was an explanation for why there’s a puma in Maine. And what killed it.”

“Not our problem,” he decided.

I got him to the car and he dressed. He let me drive us back to his house and I helped him inside. We were so sure that we’d get away with this scot-free.

We were wrong.

Kim was waiting for us in the kitchen. She was in her robe, her hand on her hip and a scowl on her face. “What did you just do?”

And so we sat down. Nickolas winced on the way down to the seat and I stood beside him. I was the one to tell Kim what we did. All of it. The planning and the fight. The fact that there was a dead puma just outside of the school at this very moment. With any luck, some other animal was coming along to eat him. I wanted him gone.

Kim had her hands spread out on the table and her eyes were locked between them. “So the threat is gone then? Since he’s dead and all.”

I looked at Nickolas and he took over. “No. It’s not gone. Not by a long shot.”

Kim blinked. “What else could there be?”

Nickolas cast a look at Dahlia’s bedroom door. “Nash’s menagerie will come after me when they find out what I did. They’ll kill me and then they’ll take Dahlia.”

There was stony silence from her. Then, “They will not take my baby. I’ll die before they get a hold of her.”

Nickolas hung his head. “We have another option. Not really an option at all,” he added.

Kim looked up from the table. “What is it?”