Chapter Thirty— The Runaways

Kim was silent for so, so long. “You want to take my daughter halfway across the country, to live away from me for the rest of her life?”

“Nobody wants that. But it’s all we can do,” Nickolas told her. “When Marcellus figures out Nash is dead, he’ll know just who did it. We could have an army on us and I can’t defend anyone against that. I could leave, but then no one would be able to stop someone from taking Dahlia. And they would. They would have Dahlia and then they would come for me.”

He paused for a moment before he went on. “If I leave for the menagerie that offered, then I could keep Dahlia safe there. We would be protected. She would be safe.”

“And you would be safe?”

“Yes.”

Kim had her elbow on the table and her fingers went from her hair to her mouth. She looked at Dahlia’s door, using her hand to keep her head up. There was exhausted misery in her glassy eyes. She knew there was nothing else to be done.

She was crying when she turned back to us. “When do you need to leave?”

“Soon,” was all Nickolas said to her.

Then her eyes were on me. “Listen to me, Posey Dae. That little girl needs a mother. I know that I’ve done a shitty job over the past five years. I made a teenager a father because I couldn’t handle what life was throwing at me. But I know better now. I know that my baby loves you. It’s up to you to be her mother like Nick is her father. It’s a hell of a lot to put on someone, but if I don’t have an option, neither do you. Tell me that you’re going to take care of her.”

I nodded. “I’ll take care of her until the day I die.”

Kim left us and went into Dahlia’s bedroom, closing the door behind her. Then Nickolas brought me back to his room. He went to shower the blood off of himself and I sat on his bed.

I spent the time alone trying to figure out what I would tell Patton and Candy. I couldn’t just up and leave them without an explanation. That would be cruel and I wouldn’t make them wonder what happened to me. I guess I would tell them I was leaving. They couldn’t stop me. Not now. Mona was easy. She would get the truth. She was leaving for school soon anyway. That meant she would be near us. I could visit her if I wanted.

School was easy. We were a month from graduation and I would pass even if I didn’t go. I would pass with low grades, but that hardly mattered to me. Dahlia wasn’t even in school yet, so there would be little shock in her life. Other than the loss of a mother she hardly even saw.

Nickolas came out of the bathroom in a towel and he changed into his sleep clothes. Then he got into bed and pulled me against his chest. He asked me how I was feeling.

I laid my head in the crook of his shoulder. “Tired. I’m tired.”

He sighed. “Right there with you. We can start packing up tomorrow. Do you want to figure out your school stuff?”

I shook my head. “I’m done. Everything they give us is just study guides for finals. If for some reason I don’t graduate, I can deal with that later. After we settle.”

His arm went around my waist and rested on me. “Okay. We can call Icarus again in the morning; let him know how everything turned out. Make sure he didn’t change his mind about us.”

I yawned and my eyelids were getting too heavy to keep up. “He didn’t. I know he didn’t. Just sleep. We can talk in the morning. You need…” I didn’t stay awake long enough to finish the sentence.

***

Nickolas and I woke up before the sun was up. He was healed more than he’d been the night before. I decided I should keep the promise I’d made to him.

Afterward, we got ready for the day. He dropped me at home after we packed up his bedroom and most of Dahlia’s while she was out with Kim. She didn’t know what was happening yet. Kim wanted to tell her. So we let her do as she wished. I had to talk to Patton and Candy on my own.

I sat them at the table and tried to think up something to say.

“Well?” Patton said. “Are you okay?”

“Oh my god,” Candy gasped. “You’re pregnant. You’re pregnant aren’t you?”

I wish. “No. It’s not as simple as that.”

Her brow furrowed. “Then what is it?”

I tapped the table with my fingers. “Um, I’m leaving?” It sounded like a question.

“Excuse me?”

I paused. “In a couple days. Nickolas and I are going to Wyoming. He has family out there and he needs to go.”

Patton cut in. “And why are you going with him?”

I scoffed, not meaning to. “Because I can’t just let him go. I love him. We’re getting married,” I threw in. Maybe it would ease this.

Instead, both of their mouths dropped open. Two minutes passed before Patton spoke. “You’re seventeen, Posey. You’re too young to get married. You’re under our care for the next two months and you can’t leave.”

“I am,” I said simply. “I understand that I’m seventeen and this must make you think I’m the biggest moron on the planet. I don’t care. Thank you for taking care of me like you have been, but I have to do this.”

Patton rubbed his forehead. “You know that this isn’t going to end like you think it will. What if you get down there and Nick decides that he’s done with you? Boys are bastards and not to be trusted.”

“I love him,” I said again. “Please, all I ask is that you don’t try and stop me. I’ll go either way. I don’t have a choice. Everything I am is with him and Dahlia.”

Candy finally spoke. “I’m very scared for you, Posey. But you’re almost eighteen now. We won’t have a say in less than two months. So if my choice is to let you go now, or have you wait and resent me for it, then I know what I pick.”

“Candace,” Patton said with an edge. “She’s a kid.”

“I know,” she nodded. “And you don’t become an adult without falling flat on your face a few times. We both know how this story ends. If we say no right now, she’ll sneak out after dark and we’ll never know what happened to her.”

He stuttered. “You can’t be for this. It’s insane.”

“You’re right. This is insane. She won’t know what she wants in a year, ten. But this isn’t our choice to make for her.”

They went on and I stayed quiet. I made my point already and there was no changing my mind. There wasn’t an agreement at the end of the fight. Just two people holding steadfastly to what they think of all this. Patton and Candy were frustrated but they never raised their voices. More civil than some families I’ve been with.

Patton’s eyes landed on my ring. “You’ve had that for a little while. Any reason you didn’t tell us you were even dating the boy?”

I didn’t lie. “It just happened all at once.”

He nodded. “Great. So no thought went into it.”

“I didn’t say that. There’s more to it than I can tell you.”

He sighed. “But you’re not pregnant?”

“No.”

The conversation went on for another hour but it ended when the kids needed dinner. The last thing they told me, was that they would have to report this to my social worker. I didn’t fight them.

I went to my room to pack the few things I owned. Everything was in a box and up against the wall. It wouldn’t take more than ten minutes to get it all in a truck for the trip.

The doorbell chimed and my body tensed. I got up to see who it was, hoping it was Nickolas. And it was. He hugged me and Patton approached with a scowl.

“So,” he said. “You’re marrying her?”

Nickolas let go of me but left his arm around my shoulder. “I am. Just as soon as she lets me. I would have done it weeks ago if she would have had me.”

Patton eyed me. “You put the breaks on?”

“I did.”

He seemed mildly pleased. “Good. At least one of you has a hint of sense in you.”

“Leave them alone.” Candy said as she walked up. “You think you’re going to make them change their minds? No, you won’t. They’re teenagers. Let me tell you, you were a real dumbass when you were their age. At least they won’t be living in sin. Doesn’t that help?”

Patton looked sharply to Nickolas. “No. And that wouldn’t be a problem because I know that Posey is a good girl. Isn’t that right, Nick?”

He rubbed the back of his head. “Would you feel better if I lied to you?”

I blushed.

“What!?” Patton said with outrage he shouldn’t have had over a girl that wasn’t his daughter.

Candy smacked his arm. “Where the hell did you think she was sneaking off to at night? Did you really believe that she was with Mona? Look at that,” she pointed to Nickolas. “You don’t have that waiting for you in a bed and just stay home.”

Christ…

Nickolas cleared his throat. “Um, thank you?”

Patton was glaring harder. “Insane, the lot of you.” He huffed and walked off. Candy shook her head at him.

I looked up at the boy who I was sure was regretting the visit. “How did it go with Dahlia? Is she okay with leaving?”

“Wait,” Candy said. “You’re taking her?”

“We are,” Nickolas answered. “We’re going as a family.”

Candy smiled softly. “Then I wish you the very best of luck.”

I took Nickolas to my bedroom and shut the door. We sat on the bed and discussed our plans. Icarus was expecting us in a couple days. He said that we would have a nice sized family living area for the three of us. He didn’t normally let people our age and unmarried stay together like that, but we were engaged and I was Nickolas’ mate. That put us in a separate category than normal people would be. When it was permanent like this, we got to be a real family. All of us together and as safe as we could get. Icarus promised that nothing would hurt us and I believed it.

I called Mona and told her what was happening, that we were fine but we had to leave. She was upset but it comforted her to know that I wouldn’t be too far away. Still, she wanted a goodbye.

She sat on my bed opposite Nickolas and I.

“You killed him?” she asked.

Nickolas nodded. “I did.”

“And his body is just… at the school?”

Another nod.

She smiled but it wasn’t from amusement. “Sounds like a hell of a night for you guys. Did you get hurt? You look fine for a wolf who was fighting a freaking puma.”

He shrugged. “I healed just fine. But you can’t heal from getting your throat ripped out, so that’s why I’m here and he isn’t.”

Mona looked at me. “And, Miss I’ll Just Throw a Rock.”

“Hey.” I held my hands up. “I had to do something other than stand there. It was awful.”

Nickolas kissed the side of my head. “At least you were safe. And you didn’t hit me.”

Mona steered the conversation elsewhere. “Are you sure you’ll be safe in Wyoming?”

“As safe as we can be,” Nickolas told her. “We’ll be at a ranch with a ton of my kind. We can sniff out others and have a warning should Nash’s people find out we’re there.”

We told her the travel plans. We were getting a moving truck and bringing along our stuff in the back. A Jag wasn’t really meant to tow anything, so I’d be driving our stuff while Nickolas went with Dahlia. Neither of us liked it, but we had to deal. It was just this one trip, so we would be fine. The real sucky part would that we would spend the whole day apart and once we were together again, we’d want to, well, be together. Not happening while Dahlia was with us.

“Well,” Mona said. “I think I should sleep over tonight. Nick, you can go home.”

I stared her down. “Nice try, Mona. We’re here tomorrow too. I’ll see you again before we leave. I promise I won’t go without at least one more goodbye.”

She sighed when she saw the time. “I should go then. I have pinecone things to do in the morning. And I have to hurt all the people at school saying you guys ran off to join the circus.”

“Are you kidding?”

She shook her head. “That’s the mild version unfortunately.” She started telling us the others and I had to stop her after ten minutes. It was just too much.

Mona went home and I made sure that Patton and Candy were sleeping before Nickolas and I got ready for bed. His car was outside and they would see it in the morning, but I was hoping they would just think he was over early as opposed to having slept over.

Nickolas and I snuggled up to each other after he tucked me into bed. He kissed my neck. “Are you feeling All right about this?”

I didn’t turn. “I am. I think it might be good for Dahlia to get to have some friends that are what she is. I bet she’ll rule those kids.” I smiled to myself. “Little devil, just like her brother.”

“You’ll be a fae in a home full of Luciens. Will you be comfortable?”

“That Levi girl is fae. And even if it was just me, I wouldn’t care. I have my family and that’s all I care about. Really it is.”

“I love you so much, Posey. I’m going to keep reminding you of that.”

I touched his hand as it rested on my stomach. “I love you too. Next time we get the chance, I’ll show you just how much.”

“Hmm,” he said in my ear. “Sounds like a fun time.”

“It will be.”

I hoped he knew how fine I was with all of this. The next move I was making was a permanent one and there just weren’t words to describe how happy that made me. I would have a husband and a daughter. A real family that was really mine. All I’ve ever wanted out of life, I was getting all at once. I thought it should have felt overwhelming. Scary. But I wasn’t afraid. I was excited to start this life. I wanted to take everything that life had to offer.