Denial (Goblin's Kiss Series Book One) (27 page)

After his anger
was absorbed into the tree and leaving him enough to face me, he
said in a very low, deep tone, “Emma. I am only here to keep you
from a dangerous fate and will do anything in my power to keep you
from living it. I
’
m sorry you think so badly of me,
but I didn
’
t lead you to him with the
intention of leaving you there, but to see if he still regarded the
same intentions. If I could have avoided this whole situation, I
would have.”

I was right. He
didn
’
t want to be here. “Then I don
’
t want to be here
either.”

Without thought
to the consequences again, I took off in a run. Where to, I
didn
’
t know. I should have known from the way the tree shook
beside me that was a mistake.

The ground was
noiseless and the woods were telling me less secrets than Ames was.
I turned to see that he wasn
’
t anywhere in sight. Fearing I
was finally alone with nowhere to go, I sat down and cried like the
girl I am. It had been a long time coming. I
’
d wanted to belt out
the sobs for days, but not in front of him.

A warm hand
landed on my shoulder making me shoot up to a standing position and
nailing the culprit in his or her family jewels and then some. My
stepfather used to say when he taught me to defend myself,
a bony knee to the groin with the force I used
could render a man sterile
. He was worried
I
’
d
have to fight off boys in the high school, not magical beings in
the woods of Tennessee.

Ames doubled over making a
whimpering sound and in my opinion exaggerating the
point.

“Oh, please. You
shouldn
’
t be sneaking up on me. I didn
’
t know if you were the good
guys.”

His voice
squeaked, “I would wonder about the knowing part with how much you
hate me, but I
’
m in too much pain to
think.”

I laughed a
little, but concentrated on the words he used. “
I don’
t hate you.” Just
the opposite.

“Good to know
for next time. I
’
ll protect the goods when
you
’
re near to be sure I can still be a man in this
lifetime.”

For some reason, my face flushed
at the picture his answer sent to my brain. It was doing that a lot
lately.

I stuck my hand out to hide where
my mind had gone.

He looked down
at it and said, “I
’
m not sure that might not be a
secret weapon of choice too. I might fare better on my
own.”

Now he was
teasing me. Lightening the mood, I went with it. “Either way, now
you know I
’
m not the daintiest damsel in
distress. Next time, let me know you
’
re going to touch me
first.”

Oh gawd. Did I just say that? My
cheeks flushed for the third time in one conversation. A very weird
conversation.

“Noted.”

He
didn
’
t smile, but the disarming dimple rose to signal
I
’
d
effectively embarrassed the heck out of myself.

“Will you come back?” he asked
carefully.

“I want to know
why you
’
re helping me.”

“I
’
ve told you. No one deserves what he has planned for
you.”

A heavy sigh of heartache later, I
gave up and returned with Ames to the cabin.

Trigger and Wicker were fast at
work on the army game they were playing when we left. Ames told
them to be ready to go to town in thirty minutes.

I was so excited I bounced up and
down. “Where are we going?”

He eyed me curiously, “Is there
something you want?”

Was he offering?
“I
have
been
dying for a frappe.”

He might have
held back his smile if he
’
d known how genuine it looked to
me like he was trying to make me happy, but he
didn
’
t. And then he said, “
Done.
”

He disappeared into the bathroom
with a crooked walk left over from my knee jerk
reaction.

I was falling
for her. I already knew this, but now I know it without a doubt. I
singlehandedly let this girl talk me into giving up that I wanted
her, watched her kick me in the nuts without retaliation, and now
gave in to her every need without hesitation. I glanced over at the
guys as I told her she
’
d have her coffee catching them
both using the remote as a fishing pole to signify that I was being
reeled in.

Of course, they were
right.

We left
thirty
five
minutes later.

In town, we went to the hardware
store first for more items needed for the trap system around the
perimeter of the house. My better than average hearing could detect
it closing faster than I could piss in a tin can. I was good at
both.

The next stop was to wash all the
clothes we had worn. I hated mixing her clothes with ours, but she
insisted.

At the grocery store, we stocked
up on several rather froufrou meal items at her insistence. She
wanted pasta, she got pasta. She wanted Earl Grey Tea, she got the
Earl Grey Tea. She also wanted yogurt, cheese, and red, cherry,
sugar-free Kool-aid.

Verdangit! I was
hosed. Trying to change her mind was like trying to stop a tornado.
I think that
’
s one of the things I like about
her the most. Unwavering determination. Her self-assuredness
wasn
’
t always there, I
’
d learned, but it
wasn
’
t absent either.

Of course, the guys threw in
doughnuts, potato chips, and two cases of Mountain Dew.

I grabbed a bag of beef jerky at
the checkout stand stealing a chance to get my head clear and have
something for myself. I was still so caught up in her prancing
around the store with her internal list of items needed to make
everything dressed up in pretty Italian dinners that I had
forgotten to get anything I like.

That
’
s it. I would just have to stay
outside the cabin and take a turn keeping watch. I needed
air.

I stilled the
steering wheel into Starbucks and ordered her a mocha frappe. I had
my wits back enough that I ordered a house blend coffee with just
sugar for myself. Trigger wanted the same and Wicker ordered a
super girly cappuccino. I eyed him in the mirror as he scowled. He
muttered for me to shut up and I gave him the “I
didn
’
t say anything”
look.

“I thought you
liked tea,” I asked sounding way too much like a dang girl with the
word
tea
. I had
to force the word out.

“Depends on the mood of the day I
guess.”

Trigger mocked
her with the same words, “
Depends on the
mood of the day
.”

“Shut up, Trigger,” I barked
louder than I meant to.

“That
’
s a very female answer for I can
change my mind any ole day. Women are all the same,”
Trigger grunted.

“Shut up
, Trigger,” I tried to
stay within a normal tone of voice for her safety, but the guy was
grating on my last nerve.

“You two quit it. I am perfectly
capable of slamming my girl hand upside both your
heads.”

Wicker made his first sound. “Why
I stay away from them.”

“Yeah,
cuz
’
you would make it far without us. A man without a woman is a
bull without horns. Ornery and grumpy all the
time.”

She was right. I knew this
now.

“How did you get so wise?” Wicker
asked.

“My stepfather Phillip was A-#-one
at it,” she smiled weakly. “When my mom was gone on her business
trips for two days a month, he was a bear until she came back. The
very next day, he was all smiles.”

“Huh! Something not okay for the
kiddies to hear in that read between the lines, boys,” Trigger
added with a sly smirk.

Trigger was such a
moron.

As the girl
handed our drinks through the window in the drive-thru, I caught
the glare of the sun shining off something moving at high speed and
squealing to a stopping point with both our front bumpers knocking
heads. Seconds turned our movements into slow motion as we all
exited the car in pursuit but I jumped back in checking on her. I
screamed at Emma to get back in the car and roll her window up, but
of course she didn
’
t do anything I ever said to do.
Why would she start now?

The driver of
the silver Escalade stepped out after us brandishing a familiar
long powerful machete intended just for our pleasure. Her door was
back open before I could put the Jeep in neutral and jump the piece
of crap jerk I knew all too well. I
’
d killed one like him a month
ago. I stood between Emma and him using a hint of magic to stop him
but not enough to alert the human race that was fast forming an
audience. The car behind us in the driveway started to back away
after seeing our dramatic exodus from the cars.

The big, burly
one from the passenger seat was also all too familiar to me too. He
seemed to show up any time I had altercations of the “keep someone
safe” kind. No, it didn
’
t happen too often, and they were
usually human, but this was the princess. Royalty who
wasn
’
t proud or conceited. Not overly compulsive to her own needs.
I couldn
’
t be sure why they were here since I never knew why they
chased me in the first place.

If I had to
guess, these guys got wind of who I had, which worried me more.
Though I haven
’
t ever known which realm all the
goons who follow me around belong to, I
’
m betting these guys are
from her realm. They were here to take her back.

But I always got
the vibe that these two weren
’
t goblin. They had magic and it
kept me always wavering on who was and was not part of my
race.

A downward blow to the first guys
neck put him out fast and the burly dude was bulky enough I just
needed too...snap! Not one person saw the small one-inch blade
extend into either neck, but left out the ability to kill if aimed
in the right area below the ear. I didn’t intend to snap his neck,
but his angle had me pressed against the machete. I could feel
their magic and it made me scared for Emma. It seemed stronger than
most and definitely more than any in my realm. It was odd how some
of the goons who followed me sometimes were strong in magic. I
tried several times to trace any of our kind to who they might be,
but nothing ever came up.

I hated killing,
but the machete he held in his limp hands would have found its
mark
in my gut.
To everyone else, the brute appeared knocked out. I pulled
them both into the car single-handedly making the masses gasp in
loud unison. It didn’t help that my excessive amount of strength
pushed the car over by ten inches. Their magic was strong, but not
strong enough.

They were relatively easy to put
down, but the growing crowd of onlookers would not be. I shimmied
over to Emma asking for her help in dousing the crowd into thinking
it was just a jealous boyfriend thing and they would be okay. She
was fast on her feet and the show was over without too much of a
hitch.

I jumped into the Escalade and
pulled it into a parking spot across the street, jogged back to the
Starbucks, took over the wheel from Emma, and drove us out of
there.

Once we were
safe and far away, I texted a friend to make the Escalade and its
contents disappear. Emma was shaking...a lot. I reached for her to
help her calm. Her skin was warm and it made my body light on fire
like I
’
d touched hot coals, but the second afterward her body just
seemed to shift into a downward spiral. Her fast heartbeat slowed
to a normal pace. Her closed lids opened and found mine creating so
much pain I couldn
’
t seem to avoid it. She was
disgusted by what I
’
d
done.