Falcondell: The Devil's Son (10 page)

Chapter 23

I walk home after my shift finishes. There is so much buzzing around in my mind and the walk will help to clear my head.

As I approach the house though I suddenly notice with alarm the unmistakeable sight of Ash’s motorbike parked in the drive. My heart thumping I race inside and as I reach the kitchen I look in horror at the sight before me. Sitting at the table holding a mug of coffee is Ash and opposite him looking worried is Aunt Sarah. Seeing me they both look up and Ash grins lazily and Aunt Sarah looks at me with a worried expression. Trying to find my voice I say weakly, “What’s going on is everything alright?” Clearing her throat Aunt Sarah looks nervously towards Ash. “Come and sit down honey, we all need to talk.” I throw Ash an anguished look and he winks at me reassuringly.

Aunt Sarah looks at us both. “Grace, Ash came to see me to ask for my permission to take you out.” Looking at them both in surprise I feel myself blushing and say weakly, “I’m sorry, what did you say?” Laughing Ash almost looks as if he is enjoying this and Aunt Sarah carries on. “He has told me that you have been meeting up and want to date. He knows that this is a problem for you and has assured me that he only wants to look after and protect you. The trouble is Grace; you know what will happen when your Guardians find out. It’s not up to me, I can’t make that decision.” Interrupting Ash looks at her with a soft expression. Reaching out he takes my hand gently in his. “Mrs Rivers I know who Grace is and all I want is to love and protect her.” Aunt Sarah visibly pales as he carries on. “There is nothing to fear from me. I love her and just want to look after her. The best way that I can do that is for us to be together. I will protect her secret and nobody will ever know from me. I know that you consider me to be the worst possible person to know this but I can assure you that I am the best one for her. Nobody would dare go near her and I would make sure that she is looked after and loved and above all happy. I came to see you because I don’t want to sneak around anymore. Grace deserves better than that. I’m not being selfish; if I was then I wouldn’t have come here to ask your permission. If you say no then I would respect that. I know that I have taken a risk because you will have to tell Grace’s guardians, I know that and I wouldn’t ask you to keep anything from them. All I ask is that they meet me first, before making any decisions.”

Aunt Sarah relaxes slightly and as she looks at me I can see the worry in her eyes and I feel bad. Sighing she looks at us. “Grace honey, I can tell that you want this more than you have probably wanted anything in your life before. I love you living here and look upon you as a daughter to me and a sister to Gabe. I also know that you need to have as normal a life as possible whilst you can. If it was up to me I would agree as I can see that he makes you happy, it’s in your eyes. The trouble is I am worried that I will lose you and I’m not ready for that yet. Have you really thought about the consequences of this, both of you?” I am surprised to see how kind Ash is with my Aunt. Smiling sweetly at her he says softly. “Mrs Rivers, I have thought of nothing else since I first saw Grace. All my life I have got what I wanted. I just take what I want and to hell with the consequences. It has taken a lot for me to come here today because I realise that in doing so I could lose the very person who matters to me the most. I want to do the right thing for once and no more messing around. For all our sakes I just want the chance to do something right for a change. This is too important to me to mess it up and all I want is for a chance to prove to you all that I am worthy of her.”

I see tears come into Aunt Sarah’s eyes as she looks at us. Despite the worry that I know she must be feeling I can tell that she understands. Looking anxiously between them I wonder what will happen next. Standing up Aunt Sarah smiles at us both. “I too want what’s best for Grace. I know that it is not good for anyone if you have to sneak around. It is obvious that you care deeply for her but I am not sure that you really realise just how special she is. I want her to be happy but my first job is to protect her. For now you have my blessing but that may be short lived. I can’t take the risk and will need to contact her guardians. I will do my best to reassure them that she is safe, but I can’t guarantee what they will do.” In surprise I watch as Ash moves over and unexpectedly gives her a hug. She is also surprised and laughing he says, “Thank you Mrs Rivers, that’s all I hoped for. You will see that I will look after Grace so well that the best place for her would be with me. I promise you that no harm will come to her.” Looking over at me he winks and smiles gently. “I love you Grace, I always will. From now on I am going to prove to you and everyone else in this Town that I am not the heartless beast that they think I am. If I don’t then I could lose you forever.”

Suddenly we are interrupted as Gabe flies into the room and looking angrily at us all says, “What the hell is going on here?” Ash laughs and Aunt Sarah winces at his choice of words. She turns to face him. “It’s ok Gabe, there’s no need to worry. Ash has come to ask my permission to date Grace.” He looks at us all in disbelief. “You can’t seriously be thinking of letting that happen.” Still looking worried Aunt Sarah looks at him nervously. “Actually I am. For some reason it just seems right. However it is not my decision to make. I will contact Grace’s guardians and they will decide. In the meantime I am giving them the time together they crave, no matter how brief it might be. Grace needs to live her life Gabe and has to learn what that involves.”

Looking at us all in disbelief Gabe then storms out of the room angrily shouting at us as he goes. “You will regret this all of you. When Grace is gone we will all suffer the loss. I can’t believe you are all willing to take that chance.” We jump as the door slams behind him and seeing my Aunt’s worried expression I smile at her reassuringly. “It’s ok, I can feel that it will be alright.” Moving over to her I hug her and she instantly relaxes. “I love you Aunt Sarah, thank you for this, I really mean that. Please don’t worry, Ash is not as bad as you think, I trust him with everything.” Her eyes swimming with tears my Aunt says, “I hope so Grace, for all our sakes.”

Chapter 24

Ash and I sit together on the porch side by side on the swinging seat. Holding my hand in his he says gently. “This is all I wanted Grace. To be able to spend time with you out in the open and not in the shadows. You are my girl and I want everyone to know that. No more hiding and we will deal with every obstacle as it comes.” Seeing my worried expression he reaches up and traces the worry lines around my eyes. “Don’t worry little Tess. You and I are good together; nobody will want to mess with that.” I try to relax but my mind is buzzing with everything that has just happened. I wonder if it will all be as straight forward as he seems to think it will be.

Suddenly Ash jumps up. “Look I’m going to leave you to eat something and get changed.” I look at him in surprise. “Why, what’s happening?” Grinning he says, “I am taking my girlfriend to the party. We may as well have some fun whilst we still can and I am going to deal with the next barrier standing in our way.” As I look at him with a puzzled expression he winks. “It’s time our friends knew about us. That way there will be no more worrying about Skylar and her bunch of losers and it will also send a message to all those other guys that are after you that you are taken.” I look at him in surprise. “What other guys?” His eyes flash angrily. “You obviously don’t know but I hear them talking. You are in demand more than you know. They all want to date you and it won’t be long before one of them plucks up the courage to ask. They won’t dare when they realise that you are already taken.” Thinking about Easton I know that he is right. I watch as he leaves and my thoughts turn to the evening ahead. I am not sure if I am ready for this.

Ash picks me up at around 9pm. It feels strange to be going out on an actual date and watching my Aunt look at us with a worried expression I try to contain the nerves that I am feeling. Gabe never came back and I know that she is worried. Tucking myself behind Ash on his motorbike I wave at her as we speed off. Wrapping my arms around his body I savour the feel of him. I can feel him tense up under my touch and laugh to myself as I realise the effect I have on him. As we draw near to the Sullivan’s place I see several other motorbikes parked outside. I can tell that they are Ash’s friends and my heart sinks. Turning to face me Ash kisses me gently. Pulling back I see his eyes flashing in excitement. “Are you ready Grace?” I nod nervously and grabbing his hand I follow him inside.

The party is in full swing and I look around me with interest. The music is extremely loud and there are people milling around everywhere. As we enter the house I notice the stunned looks as people see us walking in together hand in hand. Most of the kids here are from our school and I can see the shock on their faces as they see us. Ash squeezes my hand and walks through them all, acknowledging nobody and looking around him with the arrogance that follows him wherever he goes. I can see his friends grouped outside by the pool. They are laughing and joking loudly with each other and with a sinking feeling I see Skylar draped all over Jace. Teagan is sitting opposite them looking annoyed at something and I watch as they all turn to us in surprise. Jacob comes towards us looking worried. Smiling gently at me he turns to Ash with a worried expression. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Ash looks at him angrily. “Grace is my girl and they have to deal with it. Nobody better get in my way otherwise they will regret it.” Raising his eyes up Jacob steps to the side and Ash pulls me with him into the group. Grabbing a beer off the side he hands it to me and takes one for himself. Sitting down he pulls me beside him and just looks around him with a hooded expression. Angrily Skylar walks over and stands in front of us. It all goes silent and her eyes flashing angrily she sneers. “Are you kidding me? You can’t seriously be telling me that you have ditched me for that.” As she waves her hand towards me Ash grabs it and I see her wince in pain. In a menacing voice he says, “Her name is Grace and she is worth more than you will ever be or ever wish to be. Just you remember who you are talking to and if I ever hear one bad word said about her or if you try anything to hurt her then you will have me to deal with.” He pushes her roughly away and she stumbles back in surprise. His friends all look amused, even Jace who I would have thought would have stood up for her. Teagan looks angry and hisses at Jacob. “Did you know about this?” Looking at her with a bored expression he says, “What’s it to you?” Angrily she shouts. “Skylar’s my friend. The least you could have done is tell me. I am your girlfriend after all.” Jacob looks at her with a sneer. In a chilling voice he says, “Yes, about that Teagan. It would appear that I have no further use for you in that role. Consider your position terminated, effective immediately.” Ash snorts beside me and the other guys laugh out loud. Teagan looks at him in shock and disbelief. “Jacob, no. You can’t mean that. I’m your girl, what are you saying?” Raising his eyes up Jacob says, “God you’re so stupid. Let me spell it out for you. You are no longer my girlfriend so get lost. Is that clear enough?” Bursting into tears Teagan races off closely followed by Skylar and their friends. The guys all laugh hysterically and I feel extremely shocked at the brutal way that they dealt with them. Ash squeezes my shoulder and leans in saying. “I’m sorry Angel. I forget that you’re not used to this. Don’t think badly of Jacob. He has wanted to do that ever since that night on the beach. All he wants is Cally and like us it has been eating up at them. I did this for them too. He will go and find her and they will be together like us. No hiding anymore, there’s no need. He had to do it that way. Those girls need to know that they can’t mess with us, it’s how we will protect you both.”

Shrinking back into my seat I feel out of my depth. This is a whole new world for me and I’m not sure that I will fit in.

Soon the party carries on around us and I notice that Jacob has left. Thinking of Cally I know that she will be as anxious as I am. Soon I spot a familiar face and jumping up I race over to Piper who has arrived with Gabe. They both look warily at me and I say, “Please don’t judge me. I can’t do this without you two. Say we’re ok, please.” Piper looks at me with a worried expression and Gabe hugs me tightly saying softly, “I’m always here for you Grace. It’s my job remember, the protector. Fat lot of good I am at it though.” Laughing I pull away and look at Piper. She also hugs me and whispers. “I’ll always be here for you Grace, what are friends for. I am just worried for you that’s all.” Feeling an arm snake around my waist I am pulled against Ash firmly. Piper’s eyes widen and he says, “Listen, we all want what’s best for Grace. You are her friends so now you are mine. You have nothing to fear. I will look after her better than anyone else possibly could. She is safe with me and so are you.” Gabe nods and pulls Piper away with him to get a drink. Spinning me around Ash looks deeply into my eyes. “Now I am going to do what I have wanted to do ever since I took that book away from you that first day in the library.” Looking puzzled I say, “Do what?” He leans down and looks at me gently. “Let everyone know that you’re mine.” He then reaches down and pulls me  towards him. Tilting my face up he kisses me softly and gently with so much love that my knees go weak. Leaning against him he strokes my hair lovingly and I can feel that every set of eyes in the place are upon us. Then he takes my hand and leads me back over to his friends. Sitting down he pulls me on to his lap. Whispering he says, “I think they know now don’t you?” Snuggling into him I do feel safe and loved. I just hope that it won’t all be taken away from me because now that I have found it I never want to let it go.