Arkadia (Halfway House Series Book 1) (19 page)

Dragon could hear her heart beating. It was very soft, but it was regular. He couldn’t stand one more second in that foul place; the stench made him wince with the terror Arkadia must have been feeling. Dragon had done the only thing he could think of. He gently grabbed Arkadia and flew away to the only place he knew she would be safe. Curled up at the back of the cave, dragon waited with Arkadia tucked in under his front leg and his tail wrapped around her for extra comfort. He was at peace knowing she was breathing and safe.

Dragon dared not sleep. He watched as her finger mended itself. He thought it might have been a residual of the healing spell she had cast when they had the run in with the wolves. For such a big fierce dragon, he must admit seeing the finger straighten, crack, and crunch as the bones mended really made his stomach toss a little.
That Fae is super lucky company walked in when it did. If he had had two more minutes alone with Ivy, he quite possibly would have killed her, and enjoyed it.
Dragon watched Arkadia’s breathing get stronger and more sustainable.

Happy that she was out of immediate danger, dragon slid Arkadia off of him and placed her gently on the bed. He then changed back into a human form; it certainly didn’t take any time for Bohdan to be standing at the mouth of the cave in human form, naked as the day he was born.

“Now that’s a view I could get used to waking up to every morning,” Arkadia whispered, her voice still strained from screaming in the basement. Bohdan spun around and ran back over to her, wrapping his arms around her as he held her so gently and lovingly.

“I have never been so happy to hear you speak, Arkadia. My Arkadia. My queen.” Bohdan leaned down to kiss her tender lips softly, and lingered a few seconds, Arkadia’s taste being savored as his own.

Arkadia went to stand, and grabbed hold of Bohdan as the room spun around her. She quickly sat back down.

“Stay,” Bohdan said, “Let me put on some pants and I’ll grab you some water.” He got up and slipped on some easy-fit jeans. Arkadia caressed his firm ass with her eyes as he pulled the jeans up, a soft sigh escaping her lips. His body was like the finest dining restaurant, delicious from bottom to top. Arkadia thought as soon as she recovered, she would be visiting his restaurant again to sample everything on the menu. Bohdan jogged over to the small supply he had of bottled water and brought her back a bottle.

Arkadia said, “If I was better, those pants would be staying off.”

“If you were feeling better, neither of us would be wearing pants,” Bohdan replied. Arkadia chuckled and took a sip of water.

“Oh Bohdan,” Arkadia said, “Ivy killed Violet.” Tears began to well up in Arkadia’s eyes, and her breath hitched as she remembered what had happened. “There was nothing I could do, I tried, I really did, but she … she wouldn’t listen … she killed her … she’s … dead.” Arkadia found refuge back in Bohdan’s arms; her head snuggled into his chest, as she listened to the calming beat of his heart.

“Shhhhh …” Bohdan hushed her. “Heal first. We can talk later, oh and call Eloise and let her know where you are. Dragon kind of just took off with you.” A sheepish grin appeared on Bohdan's face as he handed her a mobile phone.

“You’re going to be in trouble,” Arkadia teased as she called Eloise. “And here I was thinking you cared about your dragonhood.” She winked at him and began talking to Eloise.

Arkadia sat alone at the kitchen table. She ran her finger lightly over the brand-new tattoo on her hand. She had always been dismissive of the tiny triangle tattoo, the way the lines swirled off each point symbolizing the branches of different paranormals, the eye in the center being ever watchful, but now having successfully passed her PSEs and receiving her tattoo, she wanted to show it off with pride.

It had been four days since she was rescued, and with thanks to the healing spell already flowing in her body, she had been able to get back to normal quickly. Eloise hadn’t chewed out Bohdan too badly; it was lucky she trusted him, or the mantle above the fireplace would have had some new decorations.

Thinking about the last few months, Arkadia felt like it was a dream. All charges had been dropped against her as Ivy was found to be the real murderer. Arkadia still couldn’t believe that Violet had been a para like her, let alone had a secret twin sister locked away in an asylum. Since it all came to a head, Arkadia had learnt that Violet had spent all of her time trying to stop Ivy and thwarting Ivy’s every attempt to kill her. Arkadia didn’t know exactly what had happened in the past, and honestly, she didn’t care. Past was exactly that—past—and the present generations shouldn’t be made to pay the price for mistakes made hundreds of years ago.

Arkadia didn’t realize that all this time she had felt like she didn’t have a family; it was right under her nose. Raven, Emerson, and Zahmali all had scoured the neighborhood for her. They didn’t know by doing that, they were actually risking their own lives.

Each of them showed her no matter what, they had her back. It was a feeling that made her want to break out in song, having people to fall back on, people who would love you, support you, and hunt for you if you were kidnapped by some psycho witch with a vengeance. It was a heartwarming feeling. One she never ever wanted to lose.

Eloise had told her Ivy was taken back to the council by Rumor. Arkadia hadn’t wanted to ever see her again, so she had simply written a letter explaining what Ivy had done to her; what she had seen and heard; and finally, how those events had impacted her life and the way she thought; and her reaction after such a traumatic experience. Apparently, after she got arrested, Ivy had a massive meltdown. Admitting to Diane’s death as well as Violet’s, she had also admitted to framing Arkadia for it all, plus torturing her in the basement. The humans would never be able to get the satisfaction of seeing Ivy on trial. She knew too much and was clearly unstable enough to blab to the world if given the chance. The humans would ‘think’ they had gotten the murderer, but the council would make sure Ivy would meet with a horrible accident.

Arkadia’s head turned at the sound of a knock on the door. Still feeling tender in spots, she got up gently and walked over to the door. Bohdan was standing there, his normally wild and uncontrolled hair was tied back, and he had on a very well-fitting black suit which seemed to scream shirt abuse at being stretched to fit his broad and muscular shoulders. Bohdan handed a large bunch of brightly-colored wildflowers to Arkadia. “Wildflowers for my wild woman.” He winked and leaned in to meet her lips with his. His spare hand slid around the back of her neck, and he held her close as he brushed his lips lightly over hers, savoring the scent and taste of his mate.

“Are you ready to go?” Bohdan asked.

Taking the flowers from him, Arkadia nodded. “Just putting these in a vase. Be right back.” She turned and wandered back to the kitchen. Bohdan was here to take her to Violet’s funeral; swallowing past the horrible lump in her throat, she filled a vase and lowered the flowers into it. Another deep breath and she placed both hands on the countertop to steady herself, closing her eyes she took a second to center herself. “You will do this … you can do this … you must do this … for Violet,” she said to herself. Finally ready, she turned and walked back out to where Bohdan was waiting.

She had chosen a simple white dress for the funeral. Arkadia couldn’t bring herself to wear black, it seemed far too depressing, and she had purposely picked the white to represent the purity of a friendship, the purity of their friendship. She had left her hair down, letting the natural curl fall where it felt like. She topped off her outfit with some strappy sandals with serious bling up the sides, a virtual disco ball on her feet. Arkadia knew Violet would have loved the bling, Violet was a shoe addict after all.

Entwining her fingers through Bohdan's she gave his hand a small squeeze. “I’m ready,” she said.

“Your chariot awaits, milady,” he said with a small bow and a twinkle in his eye.

Arkadia shut the door behind her as she mumbled something about being in love with a cheeky dragon.

Bohdan could see Arkadia was barely holding on to her emotions as he pulled up to the cemetery. He leaned over and whispered in her ear, “I am going to be with you the entire time. No one can hurt you, no one will judge you, and it will be fine.” He placed a small kiss to her cheek and got out of the truck to come around to her side. While he was out of the truck, Arkadia had a few seconds to herself. “How can people NOT judge me?” she asked herself. Arkadia’s eyes brimmed with tears as Bohdan opened the door. Launching herself into his loving and safe arms she cried, “Why her? She wanted me. It should have been me.” Her tears flowing freely now, Bohdan just rubbed her back as he held her tight.

When she was able to walk, having calmed down a little, Arkadia and Bohdan walked hand-in-hand over to the gathering. They were greeted with hugs and handshakes as people saw them arriving. Arkadia was engulfed by Cat and Chey, who also wore simple white dresses with blinged-out shoes for Violet. All three of them sobbed openly at the death of their treasured friend.

“Don’t hate me,” Arkadia said to them.

“Hate you?” Both Cat and Chey looked confused through their tear-stained faces.

“I don’t understand?” Cat asked, frowning.

Cheyenne’s head worked it out first. “Oh Hell No! You’re not going to blame yourself for this.” Chey leaned back, hand on her hips, her, ‘Don’t take a shit’ look on her face. If they hadn’t been at a funeral, Arkadia would have been laughing as she mocked her.

“Ivy killed Violet, not you. Ivy did it all. You were a mere puppet for her to control and manipulate.” Chey grabbed Arkadia by the shoulders, making her look into her eyes as she continued, “Violet would hate it if you did this to yourself. This is exactly what she was trying to stop. If you let yourself think this shit, then Ivy wins and Violet’s death was in vain, as if it meant nothing, her years of friendship up in smoke.” Chey was looking deeply into Arkadia’s eyes; she really needed Arkadia to understand what she was saying. Chey wouldn’t be able to sleep at night knowing Arkadia was blaming herself for this mess. “Arkadia, do you understand?”

Arkadia nodded. “I do understand, it just hurts so bad.”

Bohdan followed slightly behind as the three girls walked over to the graveside ceremony together, arms entwined and holding each other up. Of course, it was Bohdan's first and natural instinct to be there for Arkadia, but he knew, rather he felt, that she needed the power of the sisterhood right now. She kept looking up to see if he was there, and sure enough, he was never more than three steps away. The girls took a seat next to Eloise and Violet’s family, and Bohdan stood behind Arkadia’s chair. He rested his hand gently on her shoulder, and Arkadia leaned her head over to softly rub her cheek against the back of his hand, her eyes closed for a few seconds to enjoy the love and safety those hands gave her.

As the preacher cleared his throat, a blanket of silence fell upon the crowd as the ceremony was ready to begin. The sun broke through the clouds, radiant arms of light from above cascaded down, like many arms from heaven offering support and warmth.

They sat there and listened to family and friends reflect on the life of a young woman tragically cut short, due to her sister being a sandwich short of a full picnic. Violet’s mom talked about the Halloweens of past, Violet’s favorite holiday of the year. Arkadia could never work out if it was the colors of fall, or the candy of Halloween, or perhaps, it was an unhealthy addiction to pumpkin, but it didn’t matter.

Bottom line was, Violet was dead, and Arkadia missed her already.

School returned to normal for the next few days. Arkadia felt out of place at first with everyone’s eyes on her as she went through her classes. According to the whispers in the hallways as she passed them, some thought she was normal and carefree, some just thought she was caught in a ‘wrong place wrong time’ situation, but there was always a few who were dead-set convinced that she was a witch, just waiting to steal their hair and cast spells over a bubbling cauldron of terror.

Arkadia didn’t care after a day or two as she had expected it, honestly. The leader of the ‘Arrest Arkadia club’ was no surprises for guessing, but Sebastian. No matter what evidence he was presented with by her, the police, or the lawyers, both he and his father were one hundred percent convinced that Arkadia was responsible for Diane’s death, and also for Sebastian’s sudden interest in lakes, creeks, and little ponds of water. Sebastian and his father were sure something fishy was or is going on when it concerned Arkadia.

Sitting at the lunch table with Bohdan to her left, their fingers entwined together in what was a constant display that they were a couple. Cat and Chey sat opposite them at the table, and then there was Raven, who since Violet’s tragic death, had taken to being near to Arkadia as often as possible. With Arkadia’s eighteenth birthday less than ten days away, the topic of discussion was working out the details on who, where, and when of a party. Eloise had told Arkadia to plan whatever she wanted. She had never had a party before; nobody had cared enough to give her one. She had birthday cake before, but not a true, balloon-bouncing, candy-gobbling party where you ate so much birthday cake that you got a bellyache.

Arkadia thought about her birthday party. She knew she didn’t want anything that involved magic or costumes. Arkadia wanted something simple, casual, and love-filled. After all, it had taken Arkadia this long to find a family who would fight for her, and she certainly wasn’t about to give it up for anything, Arkadia knew in her heart of hearts that this was the beginning of a bright and beautiful future for her, and she couldn’t wait to get started.

The rest of the day flew by. She hardly remembered anything she heard. Too bad if there was an exam tomorrow, she was going to be screwed. Walking out the front door of the school, she saw Bohdan waiting for her, leaning casually against the railings. A devious grin was on his face, and swinging from his fingertips was a blindfold, a long black strip of velvet. With a cheeky wiggle of his eyebrows, he asked, “Trust me?”

Arkadia laughed as she grabbed the blindfold. “To the ends of the earth, but you better have clearance from Eloise; she’s the one with a friend who bronzes.”

Chuckling, Bohdan replied, “I have Eloise’s approval. Just strap on your blindfold and let’s get going.”

With a cheeky salute, Arkadia did as she was instructed.

More than one group of hands led her to what she assumed was going to be the truck. “I know your giggle, Raven.” Arkadia laughed as she heard Raven giggle again. “Whoever that was that just touched my ass, better not do it again. I have a mean boyfriend, you know,” Arkadia teased and jumped slightly as a set of lips caressed her ear lightly, the hot breath setting her skin alight. “It’s okay. I have your boyfriend’s permission to.” Bohdan chuckled quietly as he gave her ass an extra squeeze for good luck.

The bumping along of the truck was putting her at ease; she trusted Bohdan with all that she was, and Arkadia had given up trying to keep the directions in check a while ago, and just decided to enjoy the surprise. What seemed like hours, which in all seriousness was about thirty minutes, the truck came to a stop. Arkadia listened to Bohdan get out of his truck, shut the door, and come around to her side. She was fascinated by how much detail she could hear when her eyes were taken away. Arkadia knew she could remove the blindfold at anytime, her hands weren’t bound, but there was no fun in that.

Her door opened, and in wafted Bohdan's scent. Her stomach flipped with excitement; it was crazy how much she loved him. In the short time they had known each other, her life had been in serious jeopardy twice, and he had saved her both times. In her book, that made him a keeper.

He helped her out of the truck, and she heard the beep beep of him locking it behind her. Arkadia could smell the forest around her, so earthy, and she loved it. Arkadia must have been distracted a few minutes longer than she thought, because the next thing she knew, she was she was being nudged by dragon.

“Oh dragon, I was hoping to see you.” She wrapped her hands around dragon’s neck and held him tight, placing soft kisses against his smooth scales. A soft purring grumbled up from dragon’s belly. “I am assuming we are traveling dragon airlines, and I am to board now?” She heard dragon grunt. “Aren’t you going to give me the safety talk and show me where the exits are?” Arkadia teased, as dragon nudged her firmly with a snort. “Okay, okay, okay, don’t get your flames in a fizzer.” She climbed up on his back by feel, rubbing her hands over him and making sure she was centered on his backbit was a lot harder than she would have thought without sight. “Are you sure this isn’t just some whacked-out excuse to get me to rub myself all over you, dragon?” Arkadia laughed. A quick flap of dragon’s wings, and Arkadia barely had time to wrap her arms around his neck, and they were off. “Smooth move, Sparky, smooth move.”