Mortal Obligation (11 page)

“What am I, Ree?” His voice was almost a whisper.

“How do you know my name?”

“What am I? Don't look with your eyes. Look with your gifts. Tell me what I am.” Something in his tone demanded that she do as she was told, as if he was daring her. She started to roll her eyes again. Who the hell did he think he was? But before she could tell him to get out, something in her gut tugged her attention back to him. She looked again, but this time paid attention to what she was feeling, too. He was old. Much older than he appeared, it was like a weight in her mind. And there was a real darkness to him. Something powerful was in that darkness, but she also felt sadness and despair. There was a human longing and pain that held his soul captive. Maybe that was why she didn't freak out when she realized what he was. Maybe it was that human part of him trapped under all of the pain that made her not panic.

She swallowed, her throat dry. “Dark One. You're a Dark One.”

His eyes were thoughtful as he watched her. “I was one of the first ones made on Earth.”

“But you're not evil. Not like the ones last night. I don't think you mean me any harm. And you're here during the day time.”

“Hm. I wouldn't say I'm not evil, but, if you want, we could stick with wicked.” His grin turned lascivious. She blushed again, reminded that he was in her bedroom and she didn't know why.

“But no, I mean you no harm. In fact, I very much intend to keep you safe. And as for being here during the day time? I was given a reprieve. The gods granted me clemency as long as I help with their agendas.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Let’s just say that I was human once and never really forgot what it was like to be one.” Again that sadness filled his eyes. She leaned closer again, wanting to take away some of that pain. He was a Dark One, but he wasn't evil. And it was hard to watch anyone deal with that kind of agony. Just as she reached out to touch his hand her bedroom door swung open, slamming into the wall.

She jerked back and looked up to see Paden standing there. He was livid as he strode across the room, stopping only a few feet away from them, almost like he was worried he might trip Roland into doing something drastic. His chest heaved under his t-shirt as he breathed heavily.

“Get away from her.” His voice was quiet and barely controlled.

Roland smiled at her before standing and stretching. His dark t-shirt rode up to reveal a slice of tanned skin just above his waistband. She looked away quickly, not wanting him to think she was checking him out. She blushed when she noticed Paden’s jaw grinding at the display.

“It's okay, Pay. This is Roland. He was driving the Mercedes that cut off Michael last night.”

She started to stand to get in between them but realized she still wasn't wearing much. Quickly she threw the blanket back around her, but not before she saw the gleam in Roland’s eyes, or the blush running up Paden’s neck.

“He's a Dark One, Ree. He isn't safe.”

Ree took a deep breath and tried to not be annoyed at his overly protective manner. “Yeah, Paden. I figured that one out all by myself.”  When she said that, Roland winked at her.

Someone else came pounding down the hall and skidded into her room. Weylin and Bryce stood there, their eyes going from the perceived threat in the room, to their friend Paden, and then to the obviously under-dressed Ree.

“Then what is he doing here?” He took another step closer to Roland, who merely shrugged.

“I came to acquaint myself with the young lady over breakfast.” Roland nodded to the tray.

“Acquaint yourself? Over breakfast? Is that a metaphor?” Weylin’s whisper carried throughout the room, but Bryce shook his head and nodded to Paden’s quivering frame.

“Not now, dude. We’ll have a Language Arts class later,” Bryce said out of the corner of his mouth.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you later, Ree. I’m sure we’ll have training sessions.” He stepped closer to her and took her hand. He looked at the others before bringing it up to his mouth, daring them to make a move. But when his lips touched her fingers, his eyes were only for her. “It was a pleasure to see you this way, maybe we can do it again soon.” He winked before grabbing the apple off of her tray and taking a bite as he pushed past the guys.

Ree took a deep breath and tried to control the blush that was surely noticeable to everyone in the room. What the hell had that been all about?

The guys seemed to be wondering the same thing, because they just stood there looking confused. All of them except for Paden, who looked like he had bitten into a lemon.

“What are you playing at, Ree? He could have hurt you.” His hands were still clutched at his sides, and a vein was throbbing in his neck.

“I'm not playing at anything, Paden.” She was thoroughly ticked off at this point. “In fact, none of us are playing at anything except for you. You aren't my big brother, and you don't get to decide who is allowed into my room!”

His face looked shocked for a moment. And then hurt mixed with anger settled onto his features. “I'm not trying to be your big brother, Ree. But he could have had ulterior motives.”

“What? The gods let him on their sacred island so he could murder me and condemn their planet to suffering?” She snorted. “I really doubt that. So what are you really worried about? The fact that there was a guy in my bedroom?”

“That's . . . that's not it at all. I just . . . he could have . . . .” He threw his hands up in the air. “I don't know, Ree. I just think he’s dangerous.”

“Yeah, well. Let’s hope he
is
dangerous because he’s on our side.” She heard the door close and realized Bryce and Weylin had backed out quietly. “Pay, we're it. We're the last battle. We decide who gets to stay.
We're it
. And we need Roland, and anyone else that can help us, on
our
side.” She looked down at her clenched hands. “I don't know how we're supposed to win.”

When she looked up at him, she saw the shock on his face. He hadn't known they were the last ones.  Without saying anything else, he dropped into the chair Roland had used earlier and ran a hand through his hair.

“Oh my god,” he said and then snorted. “Or gods, I guess. What a mess.”

He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, and looked at her. “Sophie told you this last night?”

She nodded in relief, glad they had moved past the fighting.

“She said they agreed to one hundred and one battles. And we’re the last ones. Paden, we’re the tie-breaker.”

He grunted and looked at the ground for a few minutes.

“Look, why don't you get dressed? They had toothbrushes and stuff in all of our bathrooms. When you're ready, we’ll go back to town, get our stuff together, and come back here.”

She nodded in agreement, but before she could say anything, he interrupted her.

“And I'm sorry. You were right, I'm not Tristan. But he did ask me to watch out for you, and now I have to keep my eyes open for even more. I don't think we should trust Roland yet, but I won't try to run him off.”

“And you aren't going to run people out of my room anymore, right?”

He hesitated for a moment. “I can't promise I won't get upset about it. That guy is really old, and I don't want him to take advantage of you.”

“I'm almost eighteen, Paden. I’m old enough to decide who I allow in my room. And he only brought me breakfast and introduced himself.” She grabbed the rubber band from the nightstand and pulled her hair back.

Paden seemed to wrestle with himself for a moment and then nodded. “Yeah, you're almost eighteen. But I really care about you, Ree. And that isn't going to just stop because you grow up. In fact…” He stopped and looked irritated.

“In fact, what?”

“Nothing. I'll see you after you get ready.” Without another word, he got up and left.

She threw herself back into the bed for a moment and stared at the ceiling in confusion.

After using the expensive soaps, toothbrush, and toothpaste, Ree felt like she had been to a spa. Everything in this place was luxurious and rich. Putting her washcloth back on the towel bar, she wondered who did the shopping for such a large house. It must be difficult to carry everything back to the island, but everything looked well-maintained and cared for. She slipped out of the bathroom, threw on her shoes, and headed to find her friends.

They were in the kitchen, standing around the large island. Paden stopped talking when she walked in, and, from their serious expressions, she figured he had been telling them what he knew about being the tie-breaker. Weylin was positively green, and Mel's normal, happy expression had been replaced by one of trepidation. For some reason, she felt like it was her fault they were all being sucked into this horror story. Maybe if they hadn't been friends with her, they wouldn't be about to face their possible death.

Bryce was leaning against the counter by the sink. His arms were crossed, and his expression was gloomy. Juliette was staring out the window over the sink. Her lips were pursed; she was obviously thinking about something intently.

“Well, I guess we should go get our stuff. We have almost a week before school starts, so we can try to learn as much as possible. I don't know how any of this will work once the semester starts,” Paden said. No one moved.

“Really? We're going back to school? There’s a giant battle going on that makes everything in our history class look ridiculous, but we're going to go back and study trig?” Weylin snorted. “Nah, I don't think so.”

“Get a grip, Wey. You're immortal. Or going to be immortal. You might as well get an education so you can take care of yourself forever.” Melanie piped in. She walked over to where Paden stood at the door. “I mean, I'm not going to support your lazy butt forever.”

Ree grinned. “She’s right, Weylin. You know how you like gadgets. How are you going to buy all the cool things a hundred years from now if you don't have any money?”

Weylin sighed, defeated. “Fine. Use my love of electronics against me. If we live to next week, then I will go to school. But I won't like it.”

Bryce slapped him on the back. “Yeah, yeah. You’re so tortured. No one ever does anything for poor Weylin. Let’s go, buddy, and I’ll listen to all of your complaints.”

The dock wasn't as far as Ree remembered. That was probably because she didn’t feel like she was about to pass out from exhaustion. There were several more boats tied up at the dock than she remembered seeing last night. She recognized the large boat captain that had whisked them away to safety.

Eric waved and motioned for them to jump on. “So, headed back to the mainland?”

“We need to get some things together,” Jules said.

He grunted and, once everyone was on, took them back to their car. The house that had been dark and mysterious the night before was a dilapidated Victorian in the daylight. Some of the shutters were hanging at odd angles, and the yellow paint was cracked and chipping. A few of the windows were shattered, with shards of wicked-looking glass sticking out of the trim at odd angles. The yard was overrun by weeds and dead plants. Even the trees had vines growing up into their branches. All in all, it was a rather pathetic sight.