Traitor (25 page)

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Reese bobbing up and down spastically. “Ashlyn! What are you doing with her? She’s on the dark side!”

“This isn’t Star Wars, you dork,” Jamie coughed out from below. She was trying to claw her way out from the bottom of the dog pile, but to no avail.

“Well, if it were, you’re not the droids we were looking for!” Reese retorted.

That made both Tess and I laugh, and Tess hoisted her large frame off both Jamie and me. I sucked in a lungful of fresh air, and pulled Jamie up as I got to my feet.

Tess overtook Jamie before we could explain anything. Jamie cringed in pain as Tess pulled her arms behind her back. Tess’s glare was so intense, I thought she might be capable of turning us to stone. She shook Jamie sharply, and Jamie moved like a rag doll in Tess’s tight grasp. “Why are you here, you sea slug?”

Jamie actually looked hurt from the insult. Reese’s face even showed sympathy for her, and he still thought she was against us. Jamie looked down at the ground, and I could have sworn a tear fell. “I – I made a mistake, Tess. I’m sorry.”

“Like hell you are!”

I jumped in before Tess’s angry, maternal side could get any more violent. She was a bear when she thought her babies were in trouble. “Tess, seriously, just listen to her. She shared some things with me, and I’m going to vouch for her.”

Reese was swaying back and forth in his spot. He seemed unsure as to what he was supposed to do. I laughed. “Some Protector you are, letting Tess to all the hard work.”

He punched me playfully. “Hey, I was just letting Tess do the heavy lifting. She’s been on a tear since I went back and told everyone you had gone to Neamar.”

Jamie leaned toward Reese and away from Tess, who was still pinning her arms behind her back. “Somewhere she’d still be if it weren’t for me, for your information.”

Reese looked from me to Jamie, then back. “What does she mean, Ash?”

“Ankou has put some extra precautions in place now that he knows I’ve been coming and going.”

Jamie jumped into the conversation once more, and somehow slipped through Tess’s grip with a smooth pirouette. I could only guess Tess had lightened up on her. There was no way Jamie was getting away from Tess without it being on purpose. “Right – and without me, she’d have been stuck in Neamar forever.”

Tess eyed her skeptically, then looked my way. “Where’s Dalbach, Ashlyn?”

Jamie answered once again, cutting me off before I could speak. “I kicked him out of my room when they came in. He’s probably off somewhere picking on lesser Changelings at the moment.”

My heart leapt at the mention of Dalbach. “He’s not dead? I thought you killed him!”

Ashlyn laughed. “Of course not. He’s the best servant I have. I was just getting him out of the room without him growing suspicious of my intentions. I don’t want him to go tell Ankou I’m contemplating treason.”

It seemed ironic to me that they were both traitors, yet unaware of it. What a life. Suddenly my life didn’t seem so complicated.

Reese looked shocked at these revelations. “You went looking for Jamie, Ash?”

I sighed. “Not particularly. We kind of ran into each other after I left my dad.”

Tess gave a sympathetic smile. “Is he okay, love?”

“Not really. He doesn’t want me to save him.”

She nodded. “I didn’t think he would.”

That caught me off-guard. “What do you mean?”

“He knew the fight your Memaw was in. He wouldn’t want to help further Ankou’s maniacal ideologies in any way, even if it meant saving himself. Protecting you means more to him than his very life. That’s what being a good father is all about: protecting your babies. Ask any mother or father, they’ll all tell you the same thing. They’ll lay down their lives if it means their children are safe without a second thought.”

None of us really knew what to say to that, so the resounding silence was a little awkward. Reese shuffled his feet for a minute before he gave in to what he obviously was itching to do – get me in a massive hug.

His thick, muscular arms wrapped me tight against his chest, and I heard him inhale deeply. “You stink, Ash, but I’m so glad you’re safe.”

I laughed and tried to pull away, but he held me even tighter. He laughed at my attempt to get away. “Oh no, you don’t. I’m not done hugging you!”

That’s when I heard him.

Liam’s warm Irish twang was like music to my ears. “Oh yes, you are. That’s my girlfriend, and I think it’s my turn to have her for a bit.”

Reese’s grip somehow got even tighter. Every muscle in his body seemed to tense at Liam’s comment, but it was obvious they’d been together. He didn’t seem shocked to have Liam here. Reese let out a low growl of what sounded like irritation. “Liam, you need to accept that I’m her Protector now.”

“I can accept that, but you’re not protecting her, you’re hugging her. You said so yourself. I believe that falls in my line of duties.”

Reese took a shot below the belt. “That’s about all the duty you have left.”

I felt Liam press against Reese, and then Reese pushed me behind him. Liam’s voice was velvety and dangerous. “No, you’re wrong. I also have the duty to love her. I’m quite keen to get back to that, so if you’ll let me have her now, I don’t think she’d oppose a kiss.”

Reese shrugged automatically. The indifference that now filled his voice was almost painful to hear, and I could only imagine his face matched his tone. “Whatever floats your boat, man. Just know when she needs someone the most, I’ll be the one she calls on.”

With that, he stalked off, never once looking behind him.

Liam stood there with his arms behind his back. His blue eyes burned with desperation. I could tell he’d been worried. He worked his face into a strained smile. “Were you trying to give me a heart attack, or do you honestly not think before you do things?”

I laughed. “I operate pretty much on whims. When I look back, most of my life has been moments of ’it seemed like a good idea at the time’ just strung together. I’m working on it.”

His smile became softer. “I’m glad you just come by these things naturally. Otherwise I’d think you were trying to kill me on a daily basis.”

Tess coughed conspicuously, which caused us all to look in her direction. “Well, uh, Jamie, why don’t you and I go try to figure out what to make for dinner? We have a few more mouths to feed tonight.”

Jamie nodded, catching on. “Uh, sure. Yeah, that’d be fine.”

Tess started off and put her hand on the small of Jamie’s back to guide her in the direction of the house. Tess’s grasp looked a little tighter than it needed to be, and Jamie’s grimace affirmed it. As they passed us, she mouthed “
I won’t say a word”
to me.

I knew she was talking about Memaw. For once, I was glad that Jamie was keeping a big secret.

L
IAM CLOSED THE
gap between us and swept me into his arms. I intertwined my fingers behind his neck and felt his muscles work as he pulled me tight to his chest and spun us around in a circle. He laughed, and for the first time in a long time, things felt normal. He put me gently back on the ground and held me an arm’s distance away, taking me in. “God, I’ve missed you, Ash.”

Hearing those words made everything better, even after all the information overload Jamie had just given me. “I’ve missed you, too. I thought you weren’t coming back to Ohio?”

His blue eyes glittered, and the light that danced behind them made me believe he was truly happy. “School starts tomorrow. Need to graduate and all that. I hear it’s helpful to get into college, you know.”

I smacked my forehead. “Ah, crap! I completely forgot about school. Do you really think that’s priority number one with everything going on?”

He put his arm around my waist and pulled me close to him again. “I think we need to keep some kind of normalcy in our lives, even if it’s as awful and mundane as high school.”

I grinned. “You’re probably right.”

“You know I wouldn’t lead you wrong. We should probably go pick up our schedules. You can spell me in on everything when we’re driving there.”

“What makes you think there’s anything to be spelled in on?”

Liam laughed. “Oh, come on. You brought Jamie home. There’s at least twenty things I probably need informed of.”

I rolled my eyes. “No one else has asked me any questions.”

He smiled as he wrapped both his arms around my waist and walked us back toward Reese’s house. “That’s because no one knows you like I do, and also, you haven’t even gotten to the house yet, you dork.”

Part of me wanted to correct him about anyone knowing me like he did. Reese knew me. He knew me just as well as Liam did.

That part of me also knew not to say anything, as well as to deny those thoughts anyway. Reese didn’t need to know everything. Liam was my piece of normalcy now. I needed that more than I needed Reese, right?

***

Liam dug through my backpack stuffed with everything we could salvage from the house, looking for my car keys. Memaw was shouting something unintelligible at him from the kitchen, but he didn’t turn to face her. “We’ll be right back, Emily! I promise nothing will happen to her.”

“After everything she’s done, it’s hard to tell what calamity will strike us next,” Memaw chirped as she came to us. The smile she wore was evidence she was teasing, but the worry she attempted to hide in her eyes still shone through.

Liam was still digging in the hallway, but I turned to look at her. “Hey now, I was trying to find MaKenna for you.”

As soon as I’d said it, I regretted it. Jamie sat at the kitchen table behind Memaw and waved her arm across her neck, indicating for me to shut up. I bit my tongue immediately, and Jamie nodded. Memaw, however, perked up at my comment. “Did you happen to find out anything?”

Jamie jumped in before I could respond. “No, Emily. I told her it was best to get back before she was noticed. She’d already caused a stir in the dungeons where Peter is being held.”

Mom, who’d been leaning against the stove in conversation with Reese’s mom, went still. She looked between all of us. “Peter? As in my husband, Peter?”

Crap. It was my turn to motion for Jamie to shut up. Her apologetic look told me she didn’t know that wasn’t a subject to be touched. Of course she didn’t know, she hadn’t been around. Suddenly, leaving and getting class schedules with Liam seemed like a great idea. I looked at Memaw, who appeared as panicked as I did about the arising situation. I used my heel to kick Liam. “Um, Liam, you find those keys yet?”

On cue, he was a typical male. He rose, keys in hand, rubbing his head. “Ouch! Why’d you kick me?”

I laughed nervously. “I didn’t kick you. What are you talking about?”

He didn’t get it. “You definitely kicked me. Why did you kick me? I – “

I didn’t give him a chance to finish. I turned him, pushed him toward the door, and plastered on a perma-smile for my mom as we backed toward the door. “Oh, great! You found the keys! We’ll go get our schedules and be back. Okay, thanks, bye.”

When Liam opened the door and started out, he turned his head to look at me, completely confused. “What in the hell?”

“Just keep walking. I’ll explain in a bit.”

In the kitchen, I heard my mom turn on Memaw. “Emily, so help me God, what’s going on? Peter isn’t dead?”

This was one time I was glad Memaw knew how to deal with hostile people. I’m pretty sure Mom was the only human that might be able to give Memaw a run for her money.

***

Liam was nonplussed when we got in the car. “Can you please get me up to speed? I feel like I’m missing out on things I should probably know.”

The engine roared to life in Reese’s Jeep as I turned the ignition. The seats rumbled beneath us, and I accidentally gassed it too quick without shifting. The car lurched and sputtered to a stop. I hit the wheel in frustration.

Liam put his hand on mine and pinned it to the wheel gently. He took his other hand to put it under my chin to turn me toward him. He smiled as his hand navigated to my cheek. “Breathe, then let’s try this again. Are you hungry? Let’s go get lunch.”

I had to give it to him, he was the only part of my life that felt constant. Reese used to be that, but now with everything going on, things had changed. They weren’t bad, it was just harder to figure out what we were if he was going to be around more.

I sighed. “You know, food sounds good right about now. Let’s get our schedules and then eat?”

Liam let go of my hand and settled back into his seat. “Sounds like a plan.” He grinned his crinkly-eyed smile and glanced my way as he clicked his seat belt in place. “I’m just taking some precautionary measures to make sure I get there alive.”

I punched him in his shoulder after successfully shifting the Jeep into gear. “You’re a pain in the butt.”

He laughed. “But you love me.”

There was no denying that. I shook my head and smiled as we pulled out of the driveway. “You’re right. I do love you.”

We settled into an easy silence for a few blocks before Liam put his hand on my leg. “Look, I don’t want to pressure you, but I wouldn’t mind knowing what’s going on.”

“I know that.”

He puckered his lips. I stole a glance, and it seemed like he was thinking about what to say next. “I’m really sorry for being an ass. Sometimes it just comes out before I think things through.”

“I know that, too.”

He laughed. “But seriously, I know I’m not technically your Protector anymore, and I’m okay with it. Well, not okay, but I’m doing my best trying not to murder Reese in his sleep with that stupid foam finger of his.”

It was my turn to laugh. “That’s probably a good idea. We need as many people on our side as possible.”

Liam nodded thoughtfully. “Which brings me back to the twenty-seven million questions I’ve been wanting to ask you.”

There wasn’t ever going to be a good time to have this conversation, so it might as well happen and be over with. I bit my lip as we pulled into the parking lot of Fairborn High. “Look, I need to be honest with you. About everything. That means you’re going to know things that I can’t tell anyone else. Not Reese, not Memaw, no one. You have to swear you won’t tell. I need to get things off my chest, but I can’t do it if I can’t trust you.”