Obscured (The Obscured Series Book 1) (24 page)

“What
were you thinking when you hurt her? Huh? Blaine?” Eli growled.

I
had never seen him so angry before. I cringed. It was a completely different
side of him that I never knew existed. Intense was a mild way of describing it.

After
throwing him to the ground, Eli kicked him a couple times.

“Where
were they keeping you?” Eli asked me.

I
pointed to the open door, afraid to speak. Eli pulled Blaine to his feet and
pushed him through the door. Eli stopped dead in his tracks as he stepped into
the room.

“Abby,”
Eli called.

I
walked into the room and my gaze followed Eli’s gaze to all of my blood that
had
dripped
onto the floor. The dried blood drips
went from the doorway to the other side of the room and ended next to the bed I
had been sitting on. It looked really, really bad; much worse than it had actually
been. I knew I wouldn’t be able to convince Eli of that right now. I silently
berated myself for not cleaning it up when it happened.

“Is
this your blood, Abby?” he asked sternly.

I
didn’t want to answer. I knew how angry Eli already was and I didn’t want to
throw fuel on the fire.

“Abby,”
he probed gently.

“Yes,”
I answered looking down.

Before
I could say more, Eli had given Blaine his right hook, hard enough to cause
blood to surge from his nose. Blaine landed with a thud on the ground. He was
out cold after that last blow.

Eli
wrapped me in his arms, and pulled me from the room. Ren finished up by putting
Randy in the room with Blaine and closing the door quietly. There was no need
for a lock since they were both bound. Ren still said nothing.

“I
was so worried about you,” Eli said, “Are you okay?” He spoke softly with his
forehead pressed to mine.

“I’m
fine, I swear,” I said.

My
emotions started to betray me again and tears slid slowly down my face. All of
the emotions hit me all at once—happiness, sadness, fear, alarm, love, content.
He held me tighter, like we were the only ones in the room. I breathed him in,
he smelled like the most amazing cologne, a scent I’ve come to know as Eli’s
scent. It was soothing.

“Can
I help?” he asked quietly.

“Please,”
I spoke barely above a whisper.

Once
again I was engulfed in a breeze that lifted my hair. I breathed it in and then
exhaled loudly, feeling immensely better. Remembering we were in fact not
alone, I turned to face Ren and Bailey who were quietly watching us. Ren had a
smirk on his face. I blushed, and for the first time since we had been there,
Bailey just smiled.

“That
really is amazing Eli,” Ren commented.

I
assumed Ren was referring to Eli ‘helping’ me. Eli just shrugged it off, but I
could tell he was elated at the compliment. In that one look, I could see how
much he looked up to Ren. I was immensely grateful that Eli not only had
someone looking out for him, but for him to look up to. Someone who clearly was
a good role model and cared deeply for him.

Ren
cleared his throat. “Bailey why don’t we go explore the house and see what we
can find,” he said, putting his arm out for her to take. I giggled at the
obviousness of them giving us some alone time, but I was grateful.

Before
they were even out of sight Eli was bending to kiss me again. Our lips
intertwined sweetly. I closed my eyes and took it all in, enjoying every second
with him. I’d waited for it ever since that awkward moment at the lake. It had
been the first time I had ever thought of him as anything more than my best
friend. It felt like an eternity to have waited for this now.

He
pulled away just as slowly as he had before. He rested his forehead on mine,
his breathing heavy and uneven to match mine. His enticing blue eyes peered
down into mine, making my cheeks feel heated.

“As
much as I have tried to fight these feelings, I can’t fight them anymore and I
don’t want to. I’m in love with you Abby, everything about you.”

I knew
without a doubt what I truly felt for Eli, and I wished I hadn’t tried so hard
to push it away for all that time. I couldn’t wait a moment longer. “I love
you, too.

Eli
pulled back from me and looked at me with a surprised look on his face. It was
like his eyes were peering straight to my soul. He hugged me tighter. “You do?”
he whispered.

           
“Yes,” I smiled.

           
“I didn’t think you felt the same.”
           

               
The ecstasy of our love filled us
as we shared our third breathtaking kiss. Nothing felt more right, more
perfect, more us. That word made me giddy: us. Our future was uncertain, that
much I knew, but I wouldn’t let that taint the moment, right there and then. No
other moment in my life had felt that good, that natural.

               
“I was so angry with you for
going with him. I was so angry with Pete for taking you. I felt so utterly
helpless, until I got your visions. So clear. You lead me right to you,” he
said proudly.

               
“You saw them?” I asked quietly,
“That’s how you found us?”

               
“Yeah, it was awesome, almost
like you were taking pictures with a camera and sending them to me.”

               
“I was in a way, I suppose. I
tried to look at everything and pushed them out to you. I didn’t know if it
would work, but I tried my hardest because you said that’s how you found me
last time,” I explained.

               
He looked into my eyes in awe.
“You’re amazing. Do you know that?”

               
I blushed. Nothing could top that
intimate moment between us.

               
He took my hand and led me in the
direction Ren and Bailey had gone. The rest of the house didn’t provide
anything impressive. It was four bedrooms, two of which were empty aside from a
sleeping bag in each. I assumed that was where Pete’s goons had been sleeping.
It surprised me based on how tastefully the ‘prison’ room had been decorated.
Maybe that had been for our benefit. Maybe he had moved the things from the two
empty bedrooms. I would never be sure, but it didn’t really matter.

               
“Now what?” I asked as we
gathered in one of the empty bedrooms. I wasn’t directing my question at anyone
specific, but Eli was the one to respond.

               
“We wait. Eventually Pete is
going to come back, and we will be waiting.”

               
“What time is it?” I asked,
remembering that my mom was probably worried.

               
“It’s 8:30. I already took care of
your mom if that’s what you are worried about.”

               
He looked at me with his gorgeous
blue eyes. He had taken care of everything. I couldn’t believe how he looked
out for me. And to top it all off he was in love with me. It made my heart
leap.

               
“How?” I asked curiously.

               
“You left your purse in
Ren’s
car. I used your keys and left a note for her.
According to her, you are working until 11:30 tonight. I hope that’s okay,” he
said shyly.

               
I moved forward and hugged him
once more. “Thank you. When did you guys find us?” I asked, looking to Ren as
well.

               
“We were watching the house for
about an hour when we saw Blaine emerge. We were moving in to snatch him when
Bailey came out too. It kind of surprised us.” I saw Bailey smile shyly. “She
explained what was going on and once we were up to speed we moved in,” Ren
explained.

               
Eli added that he had parked
around the corner so his car wouldn’t raise any suspicion. I would have never
thought of that. It was only a matter of time until Pete returned.

We
decided it would be best to hang out in the living room while we waited. It
turned out that the TV was set up with the best cable around, and whoever lived
there owned a collection of DVD’s that would put a movie store to shame. Eli
flipped through channels continuously just to see what kind of shows were on.
We never really settled on one for more than a few minutes. Despite the
situation, we were enjoying ourselves. I couldn’t help but feel like a crime
fighting team on a stake out.

When
the lock on the front door clicked, all four of us jumped. Bailey and I backed
away towards the door where our captives were being held. We didn’t want to be
caught up in anything. Eli and Ren took a few steps forward, but they kept out
of view so that when Pete stepped into the living room they would have the
element of surprise.

Pete
stumbled into view carrying four bags of take-out. He was looking down in the
bags rummaging for something. Eli ambushed him before he even knew what hit
him. It amazed me how fast Eli could take out an enemy that was twice his size.
I guessed that it might have been part of his training. Maybe that was one of
the things Ren had helped him learn in his training.

Pete
was groaning on the floor, holding his side.

“How?”
Pete grumbled.

“We’re
smarter than you,” Eli spat. “You really need to learn to leave well enough
alone! The elders aren’t happy. I’d hate to be you right about now. You are to
meet with them tomorrow. Maybe they will let the thugs in that room go without
consequences, but you on the other hand won’t be so lucky, they have assured
me.”

“You’ve
got to be kidding. Do you really think I’m that stupid?” Pete howled.

“Well…”
Eli smirked. “In case you haven’t noticed, you don’t really have a choice. Look
around, you aren’t in charge anymore.”

As
Eli talked, Pete struggled unsuccessfully to get free.

In
the scuffle, the bags of food had wound up strewn about the floor. I stepped
forward to collect them. I took out five burgers and orders of French fries and
handed three of them to Ren. Bailey, Ren and I hand-fed all three delinquents
without unbinding their hands. We might have been giving them a taste of their
own medicine, but we were not cruel enough to starve them. It seemed that maybe
they hadn’t been either, since there was enough food to feed Bailey and I as
well.

Eli
went through Pete’s pockets and found my cell phone among his things. I was
glad to have it back. I don’t know when I got to be so inclined to have it at
my side, but it was becoming a bad habit.

It
was decided that Ren would stand guard that night. The two helpers would be
locked in the room, and Pete would be watched closely in the living room.

Eli
drove Bailey and I home. We dropped Bailey off first. I felt bad that she was
going home to an empty house, but she insisted it was fine and that she
wouldn’t have it any other way. Before I left her, I made sure that she would
call me if she needed anything, even if it was just to talk.

After
we dropped her off, Eli didn’t take me straight home. It was only 10 p.m. and
my mom wasn’t expecting me to be home from work until after 11:30. He didn’t
tell me where he was going, but I was pleased when we turned into the parking
lot at the park where we had eaten our late night dinner. It seemed like ages
ago, but really it had only been a few days. I liked that park. It seemed to me
that it may become ‘our’ place, but maybe that was just me being overzealous.

We
walked silently hand-in-hand around the park for a little while before sitting
down at a picnic table to talk. It was comfortable being with him, even more so
now that we were truthful with ourselves and each other about our feelings. The
weight of hiding and fighting them had been lifted off my shoulders. It felt
good.

“What
are you thinking right now?” he asked causally.

“I
should have been honest with you sooner, but the truth is, I was trying to push
my feelings aside.”

Eli
smiled. “So does this make you my girlfriend?”

“Absolutely!”
I laughed. “That is, if you want me to be,” I finished suddenly unsure.

He
kissed me lightly on the lips. “What does that tell you?”

I
giggled.

It
felt really good to be carefree, even if it was only for a little while. There
had been so much going on that we hadn’t had a chance to be truly relaxed since
before Eli had told me about his secret identity. I had high hopes that the
whole ordeal with Pete would blow over very quickly now that we held him
captive.

He
leaned down and gently kissed me, snapping me out of my thoughts. His kiss was
slow and more deliberate. Under the stars with him, it was amazingly romantic.
I let his kiss take me away, and I felt like I was floating on air. For that
moment in time, I didn’t have a care in the world.

We
didn’t think about tomorrow. We didn’t think about anything, except right then
and there. Selfish? Maybe, but I think we earned it.