Finders Keepers (23 page)

Her own voice was dry and croaky.
 
“Where is Taylor?”
 
Aside from a richly furnished room with leather chairs and an ornate walnut desk, the room was empty.
 

“You don’t need to worry about her for the moment.
 
She’s fine, and will continue to be so as long as you cooperate.
 
And you may trust me on that.
 
It only took me a moment to realize she knows nothing about what she has stumbled into and that it doesn’t take much for her to bestow trust.
 
I think she has borrowed one of Lola’s swimsuits and is enjoying the hot spring this house is built around with Sky, Sarah and Lola.”

Ellie turned her mouth down and scowled at the goblin, but she didn’t attempt to argue with him.
 
It stabbed her in the same place that Taylor and Manny’s pseudo relationship already struck, and it hurt more than her hammered head.
 
But she wasn’t enough of an idiot to try and deny it was true, because it probably was.
 
For the first time, Ellie felt like she could see hers and Taylor’s relationship with clarity.
 
Taylor was loveable, but unconsciously self-interested.
 
And Ellie, ever self-conscious of Taylor’s rising popularity the last three years, had let herself ride Taylor’s coattails, just grateful that their friendship had lasted.
 
She hadn’t realized how dependent she’d become on Taylor.
 
She’d blinded herself to it.
 
Taylor took Manny, the only boy Ellie had ever truly loved and ruined him.
 
And Ellie forgave her, thinking Taylor was just being misguidedly loyal.

“Sky is there too?”
 
Her voice wasn’t quite as steady as she hoped.

“His behavior, of course, is not inexcusable, but he is just a pawn in all of this.
 
Gibbs is the true mastermind.
 
He will take responsibility for this charade and pay the consequences.
 
How much of this plan were you a part of?”

Her mouth dropped open.
 

“Will you deny it?
 
Lola tells me that you and Gibbs are very close.
 
Did you know he was going to blow up his own people?
 
Did you help him retrieve his materials?
 
Did you even know what he was?
 
Maybe you, too, were just an innocent victim?”
 
The way victim slid across his lips and tongue like an oiled snake caused Ellie’s spine to stiffen.
 
She’d already been convicted of Gibbs’ guilt.

“His motive was revenge.
 
That’s how he recruited his gang.
 
All the young ones who had family members who died in the mine accident…he told them that it wasn’t an accident.
 
He told them that one of the council members planned it in order to sabotage the relocation effort.”

“And did you?”
 
Ellie wasn’t dumb.
 
She waited for him to state how ridiculous the claim was.
 
He didn’t.

“Gibbs’ father claimed that our children were becoming more and more deformed the longer the generations lived underground.
 
You know, two hundred years ago, goblins did not live below ground.
 
There were more woods, bigger trees, unexplored places and mountains where we could hide.
 
After years of being picked off, hanged as thieves, shot like coyotes and exterminated, our forefathers banded together and went underground.
 
They built this magnificent city.”
 
His hands gestured around him as if Ellie could actually see beyond the walls.
 
“
Blackturn
wanted to pass.
 
It wasn’t completely unheard of.
 
Goblin ancestry has quite a bit of human in it.”
 
The corners of his mouth turned up in a cruel smile.
 
“We like pretty human girls.”
 

Ellie’s stomach dropped like a cement weight and her hands became clammy.
 

“Then there was the accident.”
 
He shrugged his shoulders.
 
“It was not an organized conspiracy like Gibbs would have you believe, though I am not sorry it happened.
 
Now, since I don’t really believe in torturing young girls for information, and because you have not been forthcoming, I will show mercy and let you be with your amore before the sentencing.”
 
He stood and barked out a sharp order in a language Ellie could not comprehend.
 
Two adult goblins, looking more like mobsters than goblins in their pinstripe suits strolled in and none-too-gently helped Ellie to her feet and marched her out.

His wavy mop of brown hair rested on his arms which were laid out across his knees.
 
He looked up when the door opened.
 
The guard pushed her from behind and she tripped, landing on her hands and knees.
 
Immediately, Gibbs jumped to his feet.
 
As soon as his hands touched hers, Ellie knew.
 
And her heart nearly stopped because of it.
 
He loved her.
 
Gibbs helped her to her feet and steadied her by placing his hands on her waist.
 
A thrill raced from where his fingers touched her, up through her body until she felt the tingle in her chest, her head, her fingers, and her toes.
 

The mask he’d worn so carefully and faithfully, which she’d only glimpsed even fleeting cracks in before, was completely erased from his face now.
 
Fatigue, anguish, and fear haunted his handsome features.
 
Tentatively, she reached up and placed her hands on either side of his face.
 
At her touch, he took a deep, shuddering breath.
 
His eyes flicked away as if he were contemplating bolting.
 
But then, cursing under his breath, he pulled Ellie close and kissed her.
 
His mouth was hard and desperate against hers.
 
Her head swam, intoxicated.
 
He was fire and ice.
 
He pulled away just long enough for her to catch her breath and then he kissed her again.
  

When they finally came up for a substantial breath, Gibbs' breathing was ragged (as was
was
hers), and he pushed her away slightly.
 
“I shouldn’t have done that.”
 

 
“You’re not the villain you want everyone to believe you are.”

He quickly flipped Ellie’s hand over where her bandage was torn and brown with dirt and blood.
 
“Aren’t I?
 
All of this is my fault, Ellie.
 
I’m a monster.”
 
His hand closed carefully over hers.

She looked down at her hand enclosed in his larger one.
 
“You’ve done nothing except try to protect me.
 
That’s why you took me to your mother’s house and posted guards--to keep me safe.
 
That's why you came after me when I escaped.
 
You saved my life and then you
allowed
me to leave again.”
 
She stepped toward him and he didn’t retreat from her.
 
“I know you didn’t want Lola to bring me back, even though that’s what everyone assumed, and you only let Dodge cut my hand to protect me from Lola and anyone else who thought they could use me to exploit Sky."

Always carefully guarded, his face was practically an open book now.
 
Genuine surprise flashed over his face and then a little bit of possessive pride.
 
Her insides warmed at the look.

“I think it’s time you told me what’s really going on.
 
It’s always revolved around the bird…Sky.
 
Why are you protecting him so fiercely?”

 
Taking a deep breath and then letting it out, like a long-contained secret, he said, “Because he is the future goblin king."

Her mouth dropped open.

"There is only one shape-shifter born per generation and he or she is the goblin king.
 
The council has ruled in place of a king for the last one hundred years only because the three shape-shifters who have been born have all been murdered before they could assert their claim.
 
I have protected Sky and his destiny since he was five.
 
Before my father died, he took me aside and told me about Sky and that if he failed to protect Sky, it would be my job.
 
His true reason for taking us aboveground was to hide Sky.
 
Sky never really believed in the threat.
 
When he turned sixteen, he decided he was tired of hiding, so he announced his claim.
 

I started the gang.
 
I thought going on the offensive would flush the killer out and also give Sky a wider circle of protection.
 
We led everyone to believe the group was bound together by revenge, but the truth is our sole purpose has always been to protect Sky so that he could claim what is rightfully his.
 
The bomb was supposed to be inert—just a scare tactic to make the murderer or murderers believe we knew who he or she or they were.
 
Sky is a genius with electronics.
 
The thing lit up, flashed, beeped, and had a count-down timer.”
 
His words were coming out faster and harsher, more angry.
 
“What we didn’t know was that we had a spy in the group, and that the mole was working on the explosive behind our backs.
 
Three months ago someone detonated it while Sky was working on it.”
 

Gibbs turned his face away from her.
 
“I think it was the first time Sky realized how much danger he was truly in.
 
He took off and I couldn’t find him for days…weeks…then months.
 
I didn’t know if he was alive or dead.
 
If he’d made it out of the city, if he bled to death somewhere along the way…
 
What if he’d been eaten by a stray dog?”
 
Gibbs ran his fingers through his hair.
 
“Then someone in the group tipped me off about you.
 
I didn’t stop to check if it was good info.
 
At the time all I could think about was how I had almost let my little brother get killed.
 
I’ll never forget the night of the thrift shop raid.
 
You took on three of us and won.
 
I figured that proved your guilt.”
 

Ellie shivered.
 

“It wasn’t until the park that I realized I had my information wrong.
 
Sky obviously cared about you and was going to do anything to protect you, even attack his own brother.”
 
Gibbs suddenly looked as unsteady as she felt.
  
“He’s my kid brother and my fool plan almost killed him.
 
He loves you and as soon as I realized it, then it became my responsibility to protect you too.
 
He didn’t always agree with my methods, but we’ve had the self-same goal to keep you safe.”

“You only did it for him?”
 
She looked into his green eyes.
 
He knew what she was asking.
 
Why did she belong to Sky and not him?
 
The memory of their latest kiss burned bright in both their memories.
 

He looked guilty.
 
“I had no right to step over the line with you.”
 
He hesitated, brushed his thumb softly over her palm, and then dropped her hand.
 
“Ellie, let’s just get out of this alive and then you and Sky can sort it all out.”

Her heart was in her throat.
 
He'd already turned away from her.
 

"I’m not confused.
 
Pinstripe was a pet, and Sky… a friend.
 
Dear and loyal, yes, but it’s always been you, Gibbs.
 
Only you."