Violet (The Silver Series Book 4) (17 page)

“
Got. . . to tell you,” he
forced out, holding his ribs.

“
Shhh,” Jaze quieted him.
“Let Meg and Roger take care of you. We'll talk when you've had a
chance to heal.”

Mouse shook his head and met Kaynan's eyes.
His own filled with tears. “I'm so sorry.”

Kaynan took his hand. I clutched Rafe's arm
so hard his skin was white around my fingers. “For what?” Kaynan
asked softly.

“
Your parents.” My heart
slowed. Mouse coughed and blood colored his lips. He grimaced and
closed his eyes. “They made me tell them. . . where your parents. .
. .” He was taken by another coughing fit so severe he could barely
breathe.

Meg escorted us all from the room. My mind
reeled at what he had said and I could only stare at Kaynan. He
echoed my thoughts. “We've got to go.” Determination and fear was
thick in his voice.

Jaze glanced at Brock. “Get us a
flight.”

Brock left at a run through the open front
door.

Jaze turned back to us. “I'm so sorry for
whatever happens. Mouse wouldn't have said anything if-”

I shook my head. “It's our fault he was hurt
in the first place. If anything happens to our parents, it's on our
heads, not Mouse's. Let's just get there.”

Jaze's eyebrows rose, but he nodded. “We've
got some work to do.”

We left Mouse to Meg and Roger's
ministrations and returned to Jaze's. I packed the few belongings I
had and the thought kept racing through my mind that we wouldn't
get there in time. My muscles shook, but I forced the urge to phase
down until my hands trembled so much I couldn't pack. I wrapped my
shaking arms around myself and started to cry.

Strong arms closed around me. I turned into
Rafe's chest and a sob escaped my lips. “What if we're too
late?”

He smoothed my hair from my face. “They're
going to be alright. Believe it with all of your heart.”

Chapter 13

Jaze, Jet, Kaynan, Rafe and I were on a
private jet a half hour later. My heart raced at the unknown that
lay before us, and it was harder and harder to keep from phasing.
Rafe put an arm around my shoulder and I shook as the ground faded
into clouds below us. I fought the phase so hard my muscles ached,
and I caught the worried glances the boys exchanged, but I couldn't
keep it in any longer.

“
I can't control it,” I
whispered frantically, holding my shoulders to keep in my human
form.

“
The restroom,” Jaze said.
He stood and helped me past the two stewardesses to the tiny
bathroom. Rafe followed close behind and when I slammed the door
and locked it, I heard him lean against it from the
outside.

I fought back a growl of frustration and
pulled off my clothes before they tore to pieces. The bathroom was
so small I could barely turn around, but before I could question
how it was going to work, I was in my wolf form panting on the
floor.

“
Colleen, you okay?” Rafe
whispered from the other side of the door.

I leaned my head against the wall, miserable
and trapped in a wolf body on a jet. I could only imagine what
would happen if I came out that way.

“
Colleen?”

I gave a short whine, the whirl of the
impending danger to my parents compounded by the trouble we would
all be in if I couldn't phase back by the time we reached the
airport. I tried to clear my head and picture what it was like to
be human, but the scents of airline food and the stuffy air of a
crowded room wafted under the door. Salty pretzels and sugary soda
pop made my mouth water and I wondered when I had eaten last.

I forced the wolfish thoughts aside and
concentrated on the sound of the voices on the other side of the
door. The hum of the guys talking came surprisingly loud in the
noisy rush of the tiny bathroom. The hiss of air hurt my ears and
when I tried to find a more comfortable position besides being
wedged between the blue-watered toilet and the door, I hit my head
on the tiny purse tray and bumped my nose painfully against the
miniature sink. I let out another small whine and leaned against
the wall again.

The sound of Rafe's fingers just on the
other side of the door from my head caught my attention. It sounded
as though he was crouched at my level, his hand on the door while
he leaned against it. “Colleen, you're going to be okay,” he
whispered.

I let out a soft snort of disbelief and
wondered why they had even brought me along. I was a danger to
saving our parents and half of the reason we were here in the first
place. I blinked back tears and reminded myself that wolves don't
cry.

“
Colleen, remember the
forest? Remember walking hand in hand beneath the trees, the breeze
blowing through your hair, whispering of pine cones and babbling
brooks? Remember the sunflowers and how their soft petals glisten
like little suns in the meadows?”

I closed my eyes and let out my breath in a
small whoosh. The sound of his voice lulled me and I let go of the
what-ifs that would happen if I couldn't figure out how to phase
back. I listened and absorbed his voice the way one might a
beautiful symphony. My heart slowed.

“
Remember the foxes that
lived in the den by our cave? The kits used to scurry back out of
sight whenever we passed by.” The smile in his voice made me wish I
could smile back. My arms tingled and tried to remember their human
form. “Colleen?” When I couldn't answer, I heard him shift around
to his knees, a hand still softly touching the door. He took a
small breath, then began to quietly sing the song about the fox
that he sang to me our first night in the cave.

I closed my eyes and remembered holding his
shivering body against the chill of the darkness, the bullet wound
in his side that he had gotten protecting me healing as we lay
there on the cold stone floor. I remembered the feeling of his skin
under my fingers, the rise and fall of his chest and the beat of
his heart, his human heart. My limbs began to shake, then stretch
and change. The memory of his golden eyes, light with freedom and
the thrill of being alive, burned into my mind when my body stopped
phasing and I stood slowly back in my human form.

“
Thank you,” I
whispered.

“
Anytime,” he said quietly
from outside the door, the sound of a smile in his
voice.

I pulled on my clothes, splashed some water
on my face, then opened the door. One of the stewardesses stood
next to Rafe, but she didn't seem upset by the long waiting time.
Instead, she looked from Rafe to me with a smile on her lips and
contentment in her eyes as if we reminded her of a dear memory.

“
Excuse me,” I said,
embarrassed at the trouble I had caused.

“
It's no problem,” she said
with a warm smile. She nodded toward Rafe who had gone back up the
aisle to our seats. “He's a good guy.”

“
Far better than I
deserve,” I said with an answering smile. She stepped into the
bathroom and I followed Rafe back to where Kaynan, Jaze, and Jet
waited.

“
You alright?” Kaynan
asked.

“
Much better,” I replied. I
leaned my head against Rafe's shoulder and we watched the gentle
flow of clouds beneath the wing outside our window.

***

Someone tapped me on the shoulder a while
later. I turned to see Kaynan watching me, his dark red eyes
searching mine. “Rafe, do you mind if I, uh, talk to my sister for
a moment?”

“
Of course not,” Rafe said,
graciously giving Kaynan his seat and walking a few empty rows back
to talk to Jaze.

Kaynan sat next to me and I waited,
uncertain of what he wanted. He finally let out his breath in a
sigh. “Colleen, I’ve thought of a thousand ways to say this, but
nothing sounds right.”

I turned so that I faced him squarely and
smiled. “You know you can tell me anything.”

He shook his head and his brow creased as he
lowered his eyes. “How do I apologize for ruining your life?”

The thick emotion in his voice wrapped
around my heart. I touched his hand and he looked up at me,
blinking against the tears that brightened his eyes. “You don’t
have anything to apologize for,” I said quietly.

He snorted in disbelief and waved a hand.
“Look at this. Look at where my actions have brought you. You
deserve to be finishing high school and worrying about what college
to go to, not riding a private jet to check on your parents who are
under threat by some unknown agency out to kill us for being
werewolves.”

I pursed my lips. “Well, when you put it
that way. I’m kidding,” I said quickly to chase away the pain that
crossed his face. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for.”

“
I do,” he replied quietly.
His eyes met mine. “We both know that.”

I fell silent for a moment to collect my
thoughts, then nodded. “Alright. It’s good that you feel bad for
the accident. Debra shouldn’t have died.” He nodded with his eyes
on his hands and let me continue. “Nothing we do will ever change
the fact that she died, and I miss her.” My throat tightened and I
brushed away a tear that caught on my eyelashes. I gritted my teeth
to keep the horror of that night at bay and continued, “But don’t
regret the turn our life has taken. I like being a werewolf.” The
admission caught us both by surprise and Kaynan looked back at me
with wide eyes. I frowned, not knowing how to put my thoughts into
words. “It hasn’t been easy, and my life is so different now I
don’t know where I fit into it.”

I swallowed and refused to let any more
tears show. His hands covered mine now, but I didn’t look up. I
rejected his chance to blame himself for everything; there was one
thing I wouldn’t go back and change. “But I met Rafe.” My words
were quiet, but my heart beat faster and a smile spread across my
face. “Without this, I would never have known how empty I was
without him. I’m complete when he’s around, and it’s the best
feeling in the world.”

Kaynan was silent as he processed my words.
“Does he feel the same way about you?” he asked the thought that
had circled through my mind since I overheard Nikki and Jaze on the
porch.

“
I don’t know,” I
admitted.

We both looked back to where Jaze and Rafe
sat in deep discussion. Neither of us said anything, but Rafe
looked up as though he felt my gaze on him. His golden eyes met
mine and the smile that touched his lips was small, but it was my
smile, the one he used only when he looked at me. It filled his
eyes more than his lips, and the love he felt for me made them
shine in the dimly lit cabin.

My heart felt like it would burst and tears
trickled down my cheeks when I turned back around. “He does,” I
whispered, more to myself than to Kaynan.

“
I know,” my brother
replied. He put his arm around me and pulled me close. I held him
tight and it felt like we were brother and sister again.

Chapter 14

“
They're not here,” Jaze
said. The concern in his voice sent ice through my veins. “Mrs.
Rasmussen said several gentlemen from the gas company came to take
them back home. Your parents went with them without a
struggle.”

“
What are we going to do
now?” I asked. I felt like I did when I was five and had gotten
lost in a department store. I wanted to cry until they came back
like they had at the store, but I knew that would help no
one.

“
We go to them,” Kaynan
replied. He reached into the backpack he had brought and pulled out
a square, flat object. He flipped on the screen and a tiny dot
bleeped.

“
What's that?” Rafe asked,
peering close.

“
Mouse's tracker,” Jaze
replied, his eyes bright. “Did you bug your parents?”

Kaynan nodded, a hint of pride in his eyes.
“I put the bug Mouse had used on me to find Dr. Tannin's place in
the necklace I gave Mom so we wouldn't lose her if something like
this happened.”

I threw my arms around Kaynan's neck and
hugged him tight. “Kay, you're the best!”

He shrugged and looked back at the tracker.
“Let's wait and see if it works. Hopefully they didn't do a bug
check.”

Jaze started the engine of the rental car.
“There's one way to find out.” He gunned the gas and we flew back
up the road.

The tiny dot beeped as we drew closer. Jaze
drove as fast as he dared, darting around cars and taking shortcuts
when Kaynan pointed them out. He crossed a grocery store parking
lot and turned down Fourth Street in time for us to see a convoy of
cars heading up the next road.

“
That must be them,” Kaynan
said quietly, his voice edged with steel.

“
Buckle up,” Jaze
commanded.

Everyone hurried to comply. Jaze raced up
the road parallel to them, checked the tracker one more time, then
turned left down the next road and slammed into the first car just
as it was pulling away from a stop sign. Our car t-boned it,
efficiently blocking the street so the other cars couldn't go
around.

The force of the accident jolted me back to
the night Kaynan and I died. I cringed at the sound of broken glass
and the smell of burning rubber mixed with gasoline. My mind
slowed, numbing to the chaos that began outside. I could only watch
in horror as my comrades flew into action.

Jet dove out the side door and punched
through the driver-side window of the car closest to us. He pulled
the driver out of the window and head-butted him in the forehead.
The man slumped unconscious to the ground and Jet moved to the next
car.