Secrets Abound (Supernaturally Bound Book 1) (36 page)

“Look, bunny, I sewed this just for you. It’s precisely like the one my mother wore when she married my Uncle Jed. You should see the pictures, she was so beautiful.” Hunter choked.

His story wasn’t making any sense, but I wouldn’t expect too much coherence from someone so obviously unbalanced. He lifted Cassie up and slipped the dress over her head.

“Her name was just as beautiful, too. Rosalie.”
Rosalie? Mrs. Creepy was his mother?
“She was like you, though. She was a whore. She
cheated
on my Uncle Jed with his own
brother
, my
father
. And what did he do? He forgave her, took her back like nothing ever happened. He told her he’d raise the baby like his own, raise
me
like his own. And then, do you know what she
did
?” His voice grew louder as he grew angrier. “As soon as I was born, she left him. She left in the middle of the night like a coward.”

No, you idiot! She’s dead! Your Uncle Jed murdered her!
I wanted to yell. He drew in a deep breath to calm down.

“No matter, though. That’s all in the past. Let’s focus on the future.” He tugged the wedding dress over her head and began straightening it out and fluffing at the sleeves. “You are going to make such a lovely bride. Are you excited the big day is finally here? Do you even understand this gift Uncle Jed is giving you? He’s giving you salvation. Do you understand? No, of course not. No worries, though, you will.”

As Hunter continued his ramblings, I tuned him out and focused on finding an escape route for when Hunter left Cassie alone.
If
he left her alone. If not, then I’d have to cause a distraction, somehow.
Maybe I could set his house on fire.
Great thought, but I can picture my lighter at home on my bedside table, and I sure as hell didn’t know how to start a fire with two sticks.

“Damn, I forgot the shoes. I’ll be right back, bunny. Don’t you go anywhere.” Hunter disappeared through the doorway. Terrified that he might see me, I crouched low against the barn. Keeping his focus set forward, Hunter sprinted toward the house. As soon as he rounded the corner, I flew into action.

I knew I had a limited amount of time and this would be my only chance of escaping with Cassie. I dashed into the barn and hurried to find the stall Cassie was in. I only had to peek into two stalls before I found the correct one. I lifted one of Cassie’s arms around my neck and attempted to lift her up. She was out cold and was absolutely no help. I managed to get her off the cot but couldn’t get her any further.
Okay, this is pathetic. I have got to start working out.
I needed to find something to help me. I jetted back out of the stall to search for something and almost crashed right into Aiden.

“Aiden, what are you doing here?” I asked, relieved beyond belief to see him.

I didn’t even wait for an answer as I threw my arms around him and gave him a tight hug. It felt like everything would be okay, now. Now that he was here. Shifting back, I saw Eli standing in the entrance to the barn, watching our whole exchange. He had his arms crossed and a hurt expression on his face. I stepped back, putting a few feet between me and Aiden.

“Where’s Cassie?” Aiden asked, snapping me out of the moment.

“In there.” I pointed toward the stall, and he raced over to it.

Eli strolled toward me but stopped halfway and shifted away from me. He began lightly kicking at a stack of hay with pretend interest. Guilt kept me from speaking. Did he know that I had thought he was the murderer? My chest tightened. Would he ever forgive me? The awkward silence was broken when Aiden came waltzing out of the stall with Cassie in his arms.

“Let’s get out of here.” Aiden said, and I gave a tight nod in agreement.

Every muscle in my body jerked at the sound of gunfire. My eyes flew to the source. Hunter was standing in the entranceway with a handgun pointed in my direction. No, not mine.
Aiden’s.
Horror gripped my chest as my heart strived to beat faster through my tightened muscles. Aiden was on the ground next to Cassie, blood spilling from his head.

“No!” I screamed as I flew to his side.

His body was motionless, and his eyes were dead. Tears blurred my vision as I shook his lifeless body. I knew it was pointless, but logic wasn’t processing in my brain at that moment. All I could think about was how desperately I needed Aiden to
not
be dead. The traitorous air abandoned my lungs in a painful fight as I attempted to breathe. His blue eyes, usually bright and alive, had dulled into a lifeless grey.

“Aiden, please.” I sobbed as despair threatened to overtake me.

I needed him to respond. I needed him to say that he was okay. He just couldn’t be dead. I wouldn’t accept it. Helplessness washed over me as his body remained still and unresponsive. My insides were moving around in a painful game of musical chairs. I was positive nothing would be in its proper place if someone were to check.

In my peripheral vision, I could see Eli and Hunter struggling in a fight for the gun. Finally, Eli knocked the gun out of Hunter’s hand, and it slid across the ground, stopping a few feet from me.

“Bridget.” I heard the now familiar voice say from behind me. I knew if I moved even slightly, I’d see Rosalie standing beside me. She sounded strong this time, though, not in so much pain. Her body must be here, somewhere. “You have to grab the gun. Listen to me, please. You need to do it, now. You haven’t much time.”

My attention was drawn to the entranceway, once again, when I heard the sound of a shotgun being cocked. Jed stood with a shotgun aimed at Eli who was still fighting with Hunter. Terror, once again, strangled my lungs. My fear became shock when, suddenly, I was no long seeing Hunter and Eli but, instead, two Hunters. Eli had made himself look like Hunter?

Confusion covered Jed’s face. He didn’t know who to shoot, so he pointed the gun at Cassie’s body. Rage filled me to the point of overflowing, and I sprung off the ground toward the handgun. I lifted it up and aimed it at Jed. Then, for the first time in my life, I shot the gun and killed someone.
I killed Jed.
I glanced over at Rosalie who was already beginning to fade. She gave a nod as if to say thank you. Jed must have been the one holding her soul here with his need to relive her murder over and over, again.

“You bitch!” Hunter screamed with hatred in his eyes.

Eli, who had changed back into himself, punched Hunter in the side of the head, knocking him unconscious. In the room full of unconscious bodies, some dead, some not, Eli and I were the only two left awake. So many emotions swirled through me. I felt confused, shocked, angry, sad, devastated.
Aiden was dead
. That thought provoked a tear to fall.

“Are you okay?” Eli asked right next to me. I hadn’t noticed him moving, but my mind was chaos, at the moment.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I wiped away the tear. I knew I needed to be strong, right now. “Can you help me get Cassie?”

“I got her.” My heart skipped at the voice.

I didn’t want to turn my head to see, in case I was imagining it. I needed to know though, so I twisted around to see Aiden lifting Cassie into his arms. I was relieved and confused. He had been shot in the head. I didn’t imagine
that
. In fact, there was still blood on his forehead.

“Follow me.” He strolled out of the barn with Eli, who didn’t seem fazed by the resurrection, not far behind.

I lingered for a second, perplexed by the events I had just witnessed. However, that wasn’t important, right now. We needed to get Cassie to a hospital, so I temporarily suppressed my questions. As I followed in silence, I made a point of keeping my gaze away from Jed’s body, even though the image had already burned itself into my brain.

“What are we going to do about Hunter?” I said to Eli and Aiden’s backs.

“Leave him. The police are on their way.” Eli said.

They had parked Aiden’s truck a mile down the road from Hunter and Jed’s house. I sat in the backseat with Cassie’s head lying on my lap. After ten minutes into the silent car ride, Cassie began to stir. Her eyes flew open as she awoke in a panic.

“Where am I?” She screamed.

“It’s okay. You’re safe, now.” I told her in a soothing voice. She looked at me and seemed to calm down, but then she glanced down at her body and screeched.

“No! Get this off of me! I don’t want this on me. Get it off!” She yelled, frantically trying to rip it off.

“You don’t have anything else to wear.” I told her.

“I don’t care!” She continued to yank at the material.

“Okay, okay. Calm down. I’ll help you.” I helped her lift the dress over her head and shoved it to the floorboard. “There.”

“Thank you.” She said, instantly calming down and began to drift back into sleep.

“Here, put this on her.” Eli handed me his coat, which was particularly warm since he was sitting right in front of the heater.

I took it from him and lay it on top of Cassie. I glanced at Aiden and saw his arms were bare. He wasn’t wearing a coat or even a jacket. In fact, he rarely wore any type of warm clothing. Yet, it was freezing out, tonight. A million questions began to spring up again, but I settled on only one.

“What are you?” I asked.

I didn’t direct the question at either specifically, but it applied to both of them. They responded with silence and side glances at each other.

“Aiden’s a vampire.” Eli said quickly. I wanted to call him a liar, but after what I saw tonight, how could I?

“Seriously?” Aiden shot a glare at Eli.

“You didn’t let me finish. What I was
going
to say is Aiden is a vampire, and I’m a shapeshifter.” Eli explained.

I was stunned into silence. I had no idea how to respond to that. It made sense, like everything was clicking into place. All the bizarre things about Aiden I had noticed.

“So, what does that mean? You couldn’t die because you’re already
dead
?” I asked Aiden, still trying to wrap my brain around this.

“Something like that.” Aiden muttered.

“And is that why you were able to heal so fast after the accident? Because you’re a…shapeshifter?” I asked Eli.

“Yeah.” He said.

I stayed quiet with my thoughts for a while after that. It seemed like every few seconds I’d think of something new that fit into their story. Like how Aiden never seemed to sleep or how after we had made out, there was that bite mark on my neck. This thought made me blush. I was hoping they wouldn’t be able to tell in the dark vehicle, but who knew what all they were able to do?

“Why am I just finding all this out, now?” I asked. As my confusion dissipated, I became pissed at them. “You were both
lying
to me this whole time?”

“We couldn’t tell you, Bridge.” Aiden said.

“Couldn’t or wouldn’t?” I spat back at him.

“It’s more complicated than that.” Aiden muttered.

“More complicated than the fact that you were supposed to be my
best friend
, but you lied to me every single day since we met? Even after I confided so much in you,
trusted
you with things I’ve never told anyone before.” I threw back at him, then turning to Eli, I said, “And you, you’re supposed to be my
boyfriend
. Yet, you were perfectly okay with lying to me? Even after the accident, when I was so worried about you, you didn’t even bother to tell me you were never in any real danger?” I knew I was too emotionally raw from the night to even be engaging in a conversation of this magnitude, but I couldn’t let it go. I was furious with the both of them, but mostly, I was hurt. When my questions were met with silence, I continued, “I guess now I know what you’re biggest secret is.” I muttered, directing it at Eli.

The only sound in the tiny hospital room was the dripping of Cassie’s IV. I sat in the uncomfortable, grey chair in the corner with my knees against my chest. The doctors checked me out when I first got to the hospital, but I refused to be admitted. They cleaned my scratches and forced me into a pair of clean scrubs after seeing my torn and filthy clothes. I was relieved when they let me wait in Cassie’s room once they were finished with me. I wanted to be here when she woke up. The cops had called her parents, but they were stuck at the airport in Toronto due to a snowstorm.

I had given Aiden and Eli the silent treatment the rest of the way to the hospital, and Eli took off the moment he found out I was okay, which was all right because I needed time to think. I didn’t say anything about Aiden hanging out in the waiting room. It wasn’t my place to ask him to leave since he was friends with Cassie, too. Plus, he did help save her.

I heard a tapping on the room door, which was propped open. Aiden stood in the doorway holding two cups and a bag in his hands.

“I brought you some necessities.” He announced. I ignored him and stared down at my feet. They had been beaten up since I was barefoot this whole time. They were wrapped in bandages, now. Aiden crossed the room and slid into the chair next to mine. “I have some bad news.”

“Can you even call it bad news, anymore? I mean, at some point the ‘bad’ can be assumed.” I muttered bitterly.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Well, then I have some news.” He stared down at the coffee cups in his hand. “The cops couldn’t find Hunter.”

“What?” I said, shocked. “How could they not find him? He was knocked out cold.”

“I guess he wasn’t quite as knocked out as we had thought.” Aiden said casually, but I could tell he was beating himself up over it. Normally, I’d try to reassure him, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it, today.

“You don’t think he’ll come after Cassie again, do you?” I asked, getting worried.

“No, he’s going to be too busy hiding out from the cops. His face will be all over the news by tomorrow.” Aiden assured. I didn’t completely buy it, but it was enough to snuff out my concern, for now. “Bridget, I’m sorry you had to find out that way. I swear I wanted to tell you, but it would have meant you’d be in more danger. You knowing now means you are in more danger.”

“In danger from what?” I asked skeptically.

“From others like me and others like Eli. Bridge, there’s a whole world you don’t even know about.” His voice was low and soft.

“Then, enlighten me.” I demanded. “I don’t want to be left in the dark, anymore.”

“No, it’s too dangerous.” He said simply.

“Fine, then I’ll just ask Eli.” I threatened.

“Listen, there’s something about Eli that you need to know.”

“What?” My voice was incredulous.

“I know this may sound like I’m just trying to start trouble, but it’s the truth, okay?” He said, pausing as if he wanted me to answer, but I remained quiet as I waited for him to finish. “The only reason Eli started dating you was to get to me.”

“Aiden, that’s low.” I said, shocked he would even say something like that.

“It’s the truth.” He stared intently at his hands, swishing the coffee around in the cups. “He was trying to distract me from something his brother was doing. It worked. I didn’t even realize…It doesn’t matter. I just thought you should know.”

Aiden set a coffee cup and the bag on the table and left the room. I didn’t want to believe what he was saying, but his words sounded sincere, and they made me second guess myself. I needed to simply ask Eli. I needed to know for sure.

My eyes moved to the bag on the table as I became curious what “necessities” Aiden had brought me. I lifted one of the bag’s edges to peek inside. Temptation whispered kind thoughts to me as I spotted a clean outfit. I absolutely detested the scrubs I was wearing and decided to change into the familiar clothes.

At the bottom of the bag, I spotted a pair of fluffy house shoes. They were the kind that you could wear outside. I was confused about where he got them since I didn’t own a pair, but then I noticed they still had tags on them. He must have bought these tonight. I slipped one on to check if it fit, and my damaged foot was cradled in the softness of the slipper.

After I changed clothes in the bathroom, I returned to my uncomfortable chair glanced at the clock on the wall, 3 a.m. Tiffany was supposed to come visit Cassie later on in the morning. I decided I’d try to get a few hours of sleep before she arrived. I curled up in the chair, shifting around until I finally found a semi-comfortable position. Eventually, I dozed off, but it wasn’t a restful sleep. My dreams were haunted with the image of Jed’s body falling to the ground. I finally gave up around seven and simply let my thoughts consume me, for a while.

I was broken out of them when Tiffany came waltzing in. She crossed the room and pulled me into a hug. It was so unlike her that it took me a moment to respond.

“How are you doing? How is she doing?” She asked.

“The doctors say she’ll be all right; physically, anyway.” I told her.

I sat back in the uncomfortable chair that was starting to grow on me. I mean sure, it was scratchy and it painfully jabbed my back, but at least it didn’t try to pretend to be something it wasn’t.
I desperately needed sleep if I was thinking about a chair in terms of a person.

“That’s good, but how are
you
?” She asked, again.

“Me? I’m fine. I’m not the one lying in a hospital bed.” I said nonchalantly.

“Okay, then. How’s Aiden?” She asked.

“Fine, I guess.” I said.
I mean technically he’s dead because he’s a vampire, but he doesn’t seem alarmed by it so I doubt you should be, either,
I added in my head.

“Where’s Eli?” She had an awful lot of questions, today.

“Your guess is as good as mine. He left last night, and I haven’t heard from him, since.” I instinctively checked my phone again, but still nothing. “Why?”

“Oh nothing, it’s just…” She glanced over at Cassie who was still sleeping then gazed back at me intently. “I was wondering if you knew if anything was up with him. There’s something off about him and Sam, but I can’t put my finger on it.”

Well, they’re shapeshifters, whatever that means,
I thought. Of course, I would never tell
her
that, so I merely said, “You should cut them some slack. Your parents may be overbearing, but theirs are never around. You don’t know what that’s like.” I never realized how much I related to Eli on that note before now.
I should text him.
I glanced at my phone and noticed I already had a text, but it wasn’t from Eli. It was from Tiffany.
Sorry, girl. Can’t make it this morning, got a flat tire. I might come by later.
I twisted my phone around and showed the message to “Tiffany”. Guilt flushed “her” face as it slowly morphed into Eli’s. I wanted to yell at him for his deception, but I couldn’t muster the energy.

“I’m sorry, I just…I had to see if you would tell anyone. I wish I didn’t have to do that.” He stumbled on his words. I gave him a curt nod. I wanted to ask what would have happened if I hadn’t passed his little test, but I didn’t feel like fighting with him over this when there were so many other things to fight about, at the moment.

“I need to ask you something, and I need you to be honest.” I bit my lip nervously.

“I promise.” He nodded.

“When we started seeing each other, did you have an agenda?” I asked, not wanting to actually say the words. If it wasn’t true, I never wanted to have them in my mouth.

“What do you mean?” His entire body went dead still, and I knew the truth, right then. Still, I needed to hear it from him.

“Did you only ask me out to get to Aiden?” I searched his face for some clue that I was wrong, but I only found more guilt.

“I’m assuming Aiden told you this, but maybe you should be asking Aiden why he was assigned to protect you. He’s not your friend, Bridget. He’s your bodyguard.” He blurted. I soaked in his words. I couldn’t handle any more revelations, so I was just going to focus on the one at hand.

“Please, just answer the question.” I bit the inside of cheek.

“Yes.” He said, unable to look me in the eye. It hurt to hear that word. I wanted to stick my fingers in my ears and scream to drown out the sound of it. In fact, I wanted to drown out my life. I felt betrayed on every level. “Only at first, though, Bridget, I swear, but then I started falling for you, and it had nothing to do with him. I’m so sorry.”

“How could you? You were just using me?” I felt the tears forming in my eyes.

I was such a fool. I wanted to laugh at how idiotic I’d been. There I was calling Ryan naïve when I was the blind one. I was the one surrounded by secrets and lies, and I didn’t spot a single one.

“Please, Bridget. I’m sorry.” He said, grabbing my hands.

“We almost had sex.” I choked. “I nearly lost my virginity to you and the whole time…” My voice became strangled as my throat tightened around the words. My hands shook as I thought back to that night.

“No, it wasn’t like that, I swear.” Now, he was looking me straight in the eyes. “I love you.” The words only made my chest tighten and the tears brim over. I couldn’t hear that, right now. I was too confused. I felt too betrayed. Yesterday, I might have reciprocated that sentiment, but now…

“I can’t.” I stammered out through the lump in my throat.

“Please.” His brown eyes had their own shine to them.

“I can’t Eli. I need time. I need to be alone.” I said in low voice.

“How long?” He asked, his eyes pleading for me to forgive him, now.

“I don’t know. I just know that I need time to get over this, if I even can.” I told him, pulling my hands back out of his.

His gaze dropped to the ground, and he nodded slowly. Without any more arguments, he left me alone to cry the tears that had been dying to escape. I cried until I finally dozed off.

“What’s going on?” I woke up to Cassie’s scratchy voice. I flew out of the chair and hurried to her side.

“You’re in the hospital. Do you remember anything that happened?” I asked.

“Yeah, but it’s all hazy, like a bad dream.” She said. Maybe she’d be able to simply forget the whole thing like a dream. I brushed her arm with my fingers, but she winced in pain. I jerked back. She studied her raw skin, for a second. “He scrubbed me for hours. He said I was dirty.”

Her eyes filled with tears, as she spoke through a lump in her throat. This wasn’t going to be as simple as her merely forgetting anything ever happened. She would be scarred by this. I wanted to reach over and pull her into a hug, but I knew it would only hurt her.

“Where’s Ryan?” She asked, using his real name for the first time.

“He’s in the waiting room. He’s been here the whole time.” I told her with a smile.

“Really?” Her eyes began to tear up, again.

“Yes. Do you want me to go get him?” I asked her. She nodded and pushed the button to raise the bed so she was sitting up. I started out the door but turned back and said, “Cassie, I’m glad you’re okay.” I paused. “I’m sorry about our fight.”

“No, I’m sorry. I was being such a drunken bitch.” She bit her lower lip in an attempt to stop the tears.

“Lord knows I’ve had my own stupid drunk moments.” I smiled at her. I was so glad she was alive.

In the waiting room, Ryan was pacing around, and Aiden was sitting calmly in a chair in the corner. I told Ryan that Cassie was awake and asking for him. His relief showed on his face as he left to be with her. I slid into the chair next to Aiden to give them some time alone.

“Hey.” He said.

“Hey.”

“Did you talk to Eli?” He asked, even though he already knew the answer. I didn’t know that much about vampires and shapeshifters, but my guess would be that he knew that wasn’t Tiffany coming to visit.

“Yes.” I bit at my thumbnail.

“I told you I was telling the truth.” He affirmed.

“Yeah, you were telling the truth about
that
.” I shot.

“What does that mean?”

“It means that I know you were ordered to protect me.” I accused.

“What? Did Eli tell you that? What else did he say?” He asked, seeming more interested in what all Eli knew than the fight we were having.

“Nothing, but
you
had better start talking.” I warned. “Who ordered you to protect me?” He didn’t respond so I continued, “Was it Ash?” Then a thought occurred to me. “Is Ash even your brother?”

“No, Ash didn’t order me to protect you and no, technically he’s not my brother.” He answered.

“Fine, if you won’t tell me who, then at least tell me why. Why does anyone care about what happens to me? I’m nobody.” I maintained.

“That’s not true, Bridget.” Aiden said, still not answering my question. All these new truths and even they were shrouded with secrecy.

“So, none of this was real? Our friendship was all a ruse so you could stay close and follow
orders
?” The thought had been in the back of my mind, but only when I said it, did it truly hit me. The loyalty that I had admired in him, his overprotectiveness, how much he cared about me, it had all been because he was ordered to do so?