Huntress (13 page)

"I need to call Ted and tell him that I’m going to be late coming home. Gimme a minute."

Drew sauntered in as she moved to the back door and dialed her husband.

"She doesn’t believe you. She’s going to ask Ted if he thinks that they can commit you without consent."

"Of course she is," I said calmly. I expected Rose to go this route. She was logical. She would conclude mental instability immediately. "I don’t want to do anything that could hurt her though so my bag of tricks isn’t going to work."

Biting my lip, I gave him an imploring look. He knew what I wanted. I could see the hesitation in his eyes. He was trying to decide if telling Rose was going to be less messy than breaking me out of the mental ward.

Hearing Rose start back to us, I decided for the last ditch option. "You have been my best friend for over twenty years. How could you even think to have me committed Rose?"

"Baby, there is something wrong with you. The weight loss, the hallucinations and delusions of grandeur…something is wrong. I just want you to be okay."

"Did it not occur to you that I could be telling the truth?"  Tone pleading, I crossed my arms defensively over my stomach and started pacing. "I’m telling you this because I need you. I need you to be there for Dylan if anything happens to me." I was begging her to believe me with my eyes and my tone.

"I know that you believe that what you are saying is true. But Grace, I’m a scientist. You have to know that I’m going to be logical about this."

She grabbed my wrist and stopped me mid-pace. "I wouldn’t even think of having you committed if I didn’t think that it was necessary."

"Drew?" I asked shortly. I needed him to do this. "How effective do you think I’m going to be if I’m fighting off my publisher, my ex-husband and everyone else who thinks I’m insane just so I can get back to normal?"

He sighed. "Fine."

"Grace, I don’t know what kind of hold he has over you, but I think that it’s important for you to realize that things started going crazy as soon as he came into your life. I know that it’s been hard with the Brandon situation. It’s completely understandable considering how crazy life has been for you these last few months." Concern was heavy in her voice and she moved to take me in her arms. She was going into her soothing mom mode and it meant that she was going to do or say something that I didn’t like.

Stepping back, I said wearily, "Just shut up and watch."

I didn’t know what he was going to do, but I expected something dramatic, full of flash and bang. What I didn’t expect to see was Drew shifting into a version of me.

"I didn’t know you could do that." I studied his new form thoughtfully, temporarily forgetting Rose. Was this how he saw me?

Instead of the frumpy housewife image that I had of myself, I saw a warrior woman who looked strong and confident. He’d even copied my bruises and cuts. Instead of looking ugly, each mar on my skin was shown as a badge.

My lips curled into a faint smile and I felt a bit of a blush rising. Rose’s gasp brought me back to myself. I looked at her, hoping that she was getting it now.

You could say that her jaw was dropped. She started to speak several times and failed. I bit my bottom lip to keep from laughing at her expression of shock. Finally she turned to me and said quite frankly, "Your boobs aren’t that big." She then promptly fainted into my arms.

Rose came around and I handed her a cup of hot cocoa. She inhaled the fragrance deeply and took a sip. "Wow."

"I know."

Those three words held an entire conversation. I sat down next to her and curled my legs up beneath me, laying my head on her shoulder.

"Shit just got weird."

"Yeah," she said softly.  Then, "Holy crap he is hot."

"Yeah, I know. He also reads minds." Once I’d said this, she started blushing furiously.

"Trust me, you couldn’t have thought anything worse than I have and I have to live with him." I gave her a wry smile and patted her arm.

"I can’t believe that this is happening to you Grace. I’m almost jealous." She smiled but it had a hint of bitterness. "You’re going to live forever."

I shrugged. "Maybe not. Who knows?  I could die tripping over a rusty garden rake and break my neck. I have no idea what this change is going to do to my body. I’m a little afraid." That was the first time I’d said that out loud.

"Well, you’re probably going to outlive me. Think of all of the wonderful things you’ll get to see!  You might even have a flying car!"

I laughed at that and took a sip of my drink. "I haven’t gotten around to thinking about that yet. I think about outliving my friends and my family. I think about you growing old and finding another old biddy to go world cruising with - picking up hot young Italian gigolos."

"You’re the only old biddy I want to cruise with," she said and hugged me.

We fell into our normal chatty routine and talked for what seemed like hours before Drew came in and interrupted.

"Lunch is almost ready. Rose, will you be eating with us?"

She shook her head and disengaged from me and the couch. "No, I have to get home to Ted and the kids." She looked down at me. "How long do you have before you have to go away?"

"Not long."

"You won’t be here for Christmas?"

We always spent Christmas day together.  After presents, I'd drag Brandon and Dylan over to her house.  We'd spend the day drinking and cooking.  Rose was the closest thing I had to family, and the thought of not being around made me sad.

"She’ll be here for Christmas," Drew interjected quietly. "I promise."

Rose nodded. "Ok then, I’ll call you tomorrow and we can plan for it."

I walked her to the door and gave her another hug. "I love you.  I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you sooner. I just," I paused. "I just couldn’t yet."

"It’s ok. I love you too, but you should know better. You don’t have to go through this alone."

I watched her drive away and closed the door. "Thank you," I said softly.

"Don’t thank me yet, you have payback coming for the lip."

That made me laugh.

"I didn’t know that you could shift."

"Yeah, it runs in the family," He answered noncommittally.

"I don’t think my tits are that big either," I quipped.

"Yeah but you wish they were," he replied with a smile.

"I’m afraid, Drew."

"I know," he said quietly. He pulled me into a big hug. I was an open book right now. No blocking, no feinting. He could read my mind as easily as he could a street sign. "It is ok for you to be afraid. It’s ok for you to be concerned for Dylan. I can promise you that while you are in training, he will be taken care of just like you were here. Diana asked that I stay with him and make sure that he was safe."

I couldn’t help myself.
 
I wrapped my arms around him in a tight hug and kissed him hard. "Thank you! Thank you so much. You don’t know how much that means to me."

He broke away from me with a surprised look on his face. I fell back in confusion.

"What? What did I do?"

"Nothing," he said gruffly, turning away. "Let’s get you fed. Then I guess it’s time to haul up Christmas decorations."

"Can I get a shower first?" I was starting to reek from the sweat.

"Please." He smiled and just like that, the confusing tension was broken. "You smell like a boy’s locker room. I’m surprised Rose didn’t mention it."

I ran down the hall to my bedroom, wishing that I could read minds too. Drew’s reaction to my gratitude threw me off.

I stripped off my sweaty clothes, tossed them into the laundry basket and started the shower, stepping into the lukewarm spray.  One of the best things I’d ever done was remodel my bathroom. The shower had alternating jets coming out of the walls that beat my poor, tired muscles into a relaxed submission.

While I washed my hair, thoughts of all of the things I still needed to get done in the next few weeks plagued my mind. First, only a few chapters of the book were left. Marisol had worked her magic and the publishers had pushed my deadline back. The final rough draft was due on Monday. That was doable. God, she was a gem - usually this would have already been done.

Next, I had to figure out what to tell Dylan about my absence.   Before the divorce, he'd just stay home with his Dad while I was away.  I really wasn't sure what to do with this now, though.  Brandon
was
his father and perfectly capable of taking care of him but stubborn, jealous Grace didn't want another woman caring for her son in any way.  It pricked at me and although I knew it was completely juvenile, I couldn't control the emotion.

I’d talk to Rose about it. She would help me get past my petty emotions and we’d come to a conclusion that was better for Dylan.

Drew’s deep voice interrupted my thoughts. "Hey pokey, your food is going to get cold. Stop daydreaming and come out here and eat."

I turned off the water and wiped a small space of condensation off of the shower door so I could see him.

"Hello, I’m naked in here!" I called exasperated.

"Hello, you’re not the first naked woman I’ve seen," he replied.

"Well … well I don’t have a good argument to that, so just g-t-f-o so I can get dried off and dressed."

"You know that the Amazon women would fight naked. Those were good days." He wandered off whistling.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed a towel, hurrying to get dressed. For one, Drew really was an excellent chef and eating his lunches and dinners were partially what kept me going. For another, he promised that we’d start practicing with weapons today after we brought the Christmas decorations up from the basement.

Thus far, the only action I’d gotten was hand to hand combat. Ask me how easy it is to fend off a mercury golem with nothing but feet and fists. Not easy.

Drew met me in the kitchen with cup of sweet potato and ginger soup and a half of a roast beef sandwich. It smelled delicious and I gobbled it down like it was my last meal.

"If this Hunter business ever dries up, you should open your own restaurant. You cook like a god!"

He raised his eyebrow at me and grinned.

"Oh, well yes - there’s that. Even though you’re not a god so don’t get all holier than thou at me." I grinned back and popped the last bite of the sandwich into my mouth.

"I actually own several restaurants," he shrugged. "Hunter business isn’t a full time gig."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Most of the people that come through the Rifts aren’t here to cause trouble. They just pop in, look around and pop back out again. Plus, there are enough of us that it’s not that big of a hardship. Like with any military organization, we get leave and days off."

"That sounds so…"

"Ordinary?"

"Yeah. I expected to have to be fighting every day, covered in gore with the souls of thousands on my conscious."

"You are seriously cracked and dramatic. You know this, right?" He’d put his hands on his hips and was studying me closely.

"Well how am I to know? Diana made it sound all life and deathy with no parole."

"Well at least you come by your dramatics honestly," he smiled. "You will still spend a great deal of time here with your friends and family. The time away will be minimal, really."

"Good to know. Great sandwich by the way."

"It was the aioli. I use garlic and ginger with a smidge of ground mustard."

"Well that doesn’t sound good at all."

"But it was?"

"Yeah, it was delicious. The red onions set it all off perfectly." I patted my flatter stomach. "Aww Drew, I’m going to miss your cooking so sooo much."

"It’s good to know I’m needed," he said as he began piling dishes into the dishwasher.

"Let me do that." I edged around the counter and took the plate out of his hand. "You cooked, I’ll clean."

"Nope, you bring up boxes."

I groaned.

"Strength and balance training, lady. I checked out those boxes earlier this morning. You must have packed them to punish someone."

I had.  Brandon always hauled them up from the basement and I'd been punishing him with over-packed boxes for years.

"Crap," I muttered.

"Lesson learned." He turned his back to me and started cleaning the counters and stove.

I hated it when I had the realization that I’d been so wrong. I don’t think anyone really likes taking that deep, hard look at themselves. Realizing that you’d been a petty jerk, then having to pay a physical price for it, well that’s just extra craptastic.

The boxes
were
really heavy and their bulk made it difficult to carry them up the stairs.  Every few steps I had to stop to adjust my grip.  I was starting to feel bad for Brandon now, and that made me angry.  He'd done this for the last four years without complaint.  Every one of those years I'd been punishing him for - in my eyes - being the ultimate prick.  Wow.  I wasn't a very nice person.