Mortal Obligation (35 page)

Taking a mighty sniff after a very long time, she finally felt more in control of herself. The tears had helped to cleanse some of the pain that was clutching her heart. Paden had eventually laid her down on the bed, but when he had tried to move away she had yanked him down with her. She didn’t want to be alone with so much pain.

Tucked against his side with her head resting on his shoulder she toyed with a button on his shirt a little embarrassed by her outburst. “I’m sorry.” Her voice was thick and worn out.

“Why are you sorry? You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“I got snot all over your shirt.”

He laughed and his arm tightened around her for a moment. “It’ll wash out.”

“How is everyone else? Is Weylin okay?” She tilted her head up toward him and waited for his response. There was a brief hesitation before he answered and fear tightened her stomach.

“He’s fine, Ree. I don’t know much about what I’m doing when I heal, and his ear was gone. There was nothing I could do about it.”

“He’s missing an ear?” Ree’s voice squeaked. She remembered the ragged edges poking out of his bloody hair and squeezed her eyes shut. “Will he be okay?”

“Yeah, he isn’t saying much so we left him in the other room to try and get some sleep.” Ree frowned and decided to talk to Weylin as soon as he woke up. She owed him a giant bit of gratitude and hoped he could forgive her for getting him into this mess. “What about the others?”

“They’re fine. We all came back with some cuts and bruises, but you and Weylin were the worst. We don’t heal well when we’re bitten by Dark Ones. It won’t kill us, but it seems to interfere with our Immortal gifts. The biggest thing was the lecture we got once we were sure you two were going to be fine.”  Grimacing he wiggled on the bed in discomfort.

“What were we supposed to do? Not try to save Claire?” Shaking her head against his chest, she moved so she was more comfortable. Having him hold her was the best balm she could have imagined. “Where were they, anyway? They shouldn’t have just left us like that!”

“Roland ran into more trouble when getting John and his family to their house. It looks like the Dark Ones have started hunting any Immortal lines, or families that have a little something extra in their genes.” His voice was very serious, and Ree could feel the anger bubbling just under his calm exterior. She snuggled closer and wrapped her arm over his chest. “Roland texted Sophie to let her know his suspicions and she went to make sure that as many of our people were as secure as she could manage.”

“She thought we would be safe in the pub because she had placed protection spells there,” Ree told him.

“We would have been safe if we hadn’t left.” His voice was tired.

“We had to, Paden. It’s why we’re here, doing all of this. We had to try and save Claire.” She looked up at him. “I’m so sorry, Pay. I loved Claire too.”

His chest shook with his effort to not cry. Neither of them said anything for a few minutes while he tried to regain control of himself. Ree realized they still hadn’t spoken about Tristan and she had no idea where to start. That wound went so deep and was so painful she wasn’t sure she could actually speak about it.

Finally she broke the silence and asked, “What do I tell my parents? What if they go to the grocery store one night and run into Tristan?”

“I don’t know, Ree. I don’t think you can tell them their son is still alive, but that he’s a monster.” Anger edged his voice and his hand tightened on her arm. “I didn’t think about it until we got back to the house, but he started partying when he was hanging out with Michael and Shannon. It’s all starting to add up. The drugs and drinking could have been a cover-up for the Dark Ones’ influence.”

“You mean he was something like Michael and Shannon? What did Roland call them? Darklings? He wanted to be a Dark One?” Acid churned in her stomach.

“I don’t know, Ree. He may not have fully understood what they were offering. Who knows what they told him.”

She lay there quietly, lost in her own thoughts until she realized Paden’s breathing had become slow and even. She glanced back up at him and smiled when she saw his mouth hanging open.

For a moment she was overwhelmed with gratitude that her friends were with her and helping to fight this evil curse. They made all the difference. Without these people, she would be nothing but a lost girl, but with her friends she might actually have a chance.

I will try to keep this short, but I owe many people a great deal of gratitude. My sister, Becki, who has read my scribbling from the very start—I owe you so much. You have been my backbone, writing warden, and sounding board. Without you, this book would have never seen the light of day. I love you, B.N.B.

I must also thank my mother and father for encouraging my love of reading. You guys taught me about imaginary worlds and fantastic things. You told me I could do anything that I wanted to do, be anything I wanted to be, and go anywhere that I wanted to go. Thank you both so very much.

I owe a great deal of thanks to all of those that took the time to be beta readers for Mortal Obligation. Tina, Becca, Heather, Courtney, Laurie, Lauren, and Hunter: I can’t tell you how much your feedback meant to me. I’d also like to give Anne at Victory Editing a big thank you for helping me through my noob status! She put up with all sorts of questions and ramblings without making me feel like I was a complete moron. I would also be negligent if I didn’t thank Laurie and her husband for the awesome website they designed for me!

I can never thank my mother-in-law, Lisa, enough for the loooong hours she spent working on my book cover. I am so proud of it! I would also like to give a shout out to the “Inner Circle”, and the “HPers.” You guys gave me the support and encouragement that I needed. You also made me laugh. A lot! You guys rock.

Thanks also go to my husband and daughter for their patience, love and encouragement. You guys are my foundation. I love you.

Nichole Chase is a daydreamer. No, really, just ask any of the math teachers that had the misfortune of seeing her name appear on their class schedule. For years she has had storylines and characters begging for attention, but she resolutely pushed them aside to focus on more normal (read, boring) jobs. Well, no longer! She is currently heeding the voices in her head and frantically writing their stories. Nichole resides in South Georgia with her husband, energetic toddler, three dogs, and two cats. When not devouring novels by the dozens, you may find her writing,
painting, crafting, or chasing her daughter around the house while making monster noises.

Mortal Obligation is the first book in The Dark Betrayal Trilogy.  If you would like to learn more about Nichole and her projects, please stop by her website, check out her blog, and follow her on Twitter. Nichole also has a FaceBook fanpage that she updates on a regular basis.

www.NicholeChase.com

www.nicholechase.blogspot.com