Rock n Roll Promises (YAE) (Rock n Roll Paraphantasy Series) (11 page)

“Fine, I get it, but you have jumped ship, and I
am still ticked off at you. Now back to this guardian
thing.”

“Come sit on the couch, I will explain it.”

“I think I will stay right where I am,” she said as
she shook her head. “I swear, Sebastian, if I move,
we are going to fight this one out. I’m so tired of all
the lies and secrets.”

“I know a man who used to belong to three
witches. He was a shape shifter and all alone when
the change first took place. He had no one to turn to
for help and advice. He never knew what he did was
even possible. He wandered the forest for years and
scavenged what he could as far as food went. When
he found empty homes, he broke in and stole food.
He did what he had to do to survive. He refused to
be around humans for fear of what he was capable
of. His shifting was as erratic as his moods.
Sometimes he changed into a bear while other
times, it was a fox. He couldn’t control it.”

“That is terrible. I almost know how he feels.
One day your life just isn’t what you knew or
planned. It is terrifying!” Her body shook slightly as
the memory of her first day in her new life flashed
in her mind. Refocusing her eyes, she looked back
to let him know he could continue.

“His third year in the wilderness he came upon
these three witches. It took some time, but he finally
befriended them and they agreed to help him. They
told him they recognized what he was and they
could help teach him to harness and control it. He
thought he’d found his saving grace, but really he
just traded one hell for another. Everything was
great for a couple of months. They were true to their
word, and he learned how to harness and control his
beast. He finally chose a Bengal Tiger as his
permanent shape. In the middle of the night one
evening, he heard their distant screams. He shifted
and ran to help them. He killed the men who were
trying to string up the witches. That is when
everything changed for him. The three witches cast
a spell on him. They combined their power, twisted,
and turned it until it was mutilated and nonrepairable, but they achieved what they were after.
He belonged to them. They alone controlled him.
These women were very powerful. He was to be
their personal body guard.”

“Why not just ask for his help? He helped them
before, why the use of magic?”

“Because they had more planned for him than
just his help as their body guard. They were what
the humans feared all witches to be, evil and mean.
With the magic they weaved, they now had control
of all of him, including when and where he turned
as well as what he turned into. To top it all off, they
controlled who he killed and in what fashion he did
it. They managed to conceal him as a tattoo.”

“What did they do with him after that?”

“They used him for gain. They would go into
local towns and wreak havoc. They behaved like
gypsies. They sold elixirs that were supposed to
heal, but left the body covered in boils and blisters.
Talismans they swore would ward off evil and
things of that nature would leave a trail that led to
the human’s houses. They spelled men and woman,
making them do things they abhorred or feared.
They forced men to rape women and forced women
to kill their children. All of this they found amusing
and fun.”

Her body shook and tears slowly ran down her
face as her heart broke at the thought of the
devastation they caused.

“Oh my God, Sebastian, that is terrible.”

“They got what was coming to them, Anna, I
assure you. Let me finish. At night they rifled
through people’s belongings, taking whatever they
wanted. It didn’t take long before the townsfolk
would catch on. When they tried to catch the
witches and burn them, the witches turned him
loose. They made him slaughter men, women and
children. He destroyed almost an entire town. This
went on for years.”

“Those poor people…poor him.”
“Yes, poor him, it nearly destroyed him. He has
one of the purest hearts I know. He, you, and Paige,
that is why I try and protect you so much. I know in
your heart of hearts, you don’t want to kill or hurt
anyone. I know you are angry with me, but my
intentions were true.”
“As much as I hate it, I know that, but you have
to learn I am not a doll or a puppy that needs all that
protection. All I have ever really asked of you is
that you be honest with me. No, I don’t want to take
any life if it can be avoided, but I am not naive to
the fact that sometimes it is necessary. I am not just
going to let someone kill me, either. If it comes
down to them or me when they threaten my life, I
will snuff them out. It is pure survival, plain and
simple.”

“That’s true, and I know that about you, but
when I first put you in this life, you could not
protect yourself. That is why this was necessary.”

She looked from the man in front of her to her
friend and back. “Are you even paying attention?
I’m not mad because of what you did. I’m mad
because you lied about it. You lie about everything.
Ugh, I don’t want to fight about this anymore, just
finish the story.” She waved him on to continue.

“They met their end when they ventured into
English country. Little did they know, vampires, or
acquaintances of vampires, ran most of our town.
We spotted them right away for what they were.
Word had already reached us about some of the
other towns along the way. Let’s just say that our
web stretched very far. We sent a few humans to
them to investigate and see if they were the women
we had heard about. We caught up to them in the
middle of the night and confronted them. They
turned their protection loose, but we were ready for
him. Needless to say, three witches and a tiger were
no match for us. It took us all of about two minutes
before they were hogtied and under our authority. I
am the one who made them return him to his human
form and cut their link to him. He has been a friend
and ally to me ever since.”

She chewed her lip as she let it all sink in.
I
could not imagine. I guess maybe Sebastian is a
good guy at heart, but dang if I am going to admit
that to him. He is full of secrets and lies, and I am
tired of being the one in the middle of them.

Her head popped up as a final question burst
through the surface. “When did you place the
tattooed guardian on my back, because I don’t
remember it always being there?”

“The night I turned you. At first, I placed him
high on your back, under your hair so you wouldn’t
notice, but finally we chose the lower back. We just
wanted you protected. You were new to this life and
I knew there would be times when we would be
apart. He has always been with you in one form or
another. He was in human form the day you
awoke.”

Guardian…human form….

The picture that had danced behind her eyes,
shimmered, and waved as her past fused with the
present.
Chapter 9

Sweat covered her body, and her muscles ached
from the exertion. Her hands were blistered and wet
from perspiration. The shovel threatened to fall
from her grip at any moment. She continued to help
Ozzie throw dirt over the dead werewolf.

“Ozzie, you sure no one will find him here?”

“I don’t think so. I hope not, but I don’t know if
any of his buddies knew Mr. Perry was coming over
here. You are part…well, can you smell him
anymore?”

“A few more feet and I won’t. The smell is
faint.”

 

“So, why a few more feet?”

“I just want to be sure it’s covered completely.
The last thing we need is a pack of his friends
showing up.”

“I have been thinking about that. I think we need
to call Jaxson.”

Paige stopped shoveling and stared at the man in
front of her. She let the wooden handle slip from her
grip as she studied the grim expression on his face.
His brows were furrowed and his eyes had
darkened. That was the trigger. Fear seemed to
crawl up her spine like a spider on its web: slow and
determined.

“You think they will come for Anna, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do. From what I have learned from
hunting them, they share some kind of connection
with other pack members. How powerful that
connection is depends on rank. For example, their
link to the leader will be the strongest. However,
they will feel it, whether in human form or wolf, if a
member is killed or dies. The question is, whether
or not they will avenge the death, and again, that
risk rides on rank.”

“By the look on your face, you think Perry sits
high in rank?”

“Paige, I fear he is the leader. As I said, my team
and I have been monitoring him and his pack. From
what we can gather, if he is not the head honcho, he
is the highest in this area. He is the biggest of the
bunch and they have been following his orders.”

“Why hasn’t your team done away with them
yet?”
“Because we haven’t seen them do anything that
endangers humans yet.

We suspect they are behind more than the kids at
the cliffs, but we don’t have proof. For all we know,
it could have been a rogue pack passing through the
area. We didn’t even know to look for any pack in
this area until those kids died. It was obvious they
were killed for sport by werewolves.”

“Are there any other werewolves in the area?”

 

“None that we found, just Perry’s, but we can’t
prove they did it.”

 

“Do you believe that?”

“No, I think he is responsible, but without
proof…I don’t relish killing. I believe all creatures
deserve to live, and werewolves can live without
taking human life. That is why I wait until I have
solid proof. It would hurt me too much to go on
what I think and kill them, only to find out later it
was someone else. I would be the same as the
mindless murderers I hunt.”

Anger flashed across her skin as her protective
nature took over. She stormed over to him, hands
flying in every direction. “He tried to kill Anna!
Isn’t that proof enough?”

“It could be explained away as a need to get rid
of a rival.”

 

“Why are you protecting and defending him?”

“I’m not protecting him, as you recall I did shoot
him and it killed him. I did it without blinking. I am
not trying to defend him. I’m trying to be objective.
I did not say he didn’t get what was due him. Listen
to me. What if the two incidences are not related?
My point is, I had not killed him to this point
because I didn’t have proof of his offense. However,
that doesn’t change the fact that his pack may come
for us.”

Sighing, she let her anger go and reached up to
kiss him. She was on her toes with her mouth a few
inches away when the buzzing from her phone
vibrated her leg from inside her pocket. She gave
him a quick peck and pulled out her phone.

“Speak of the devil. It’s Jaxson.”

The metal was smooth and cold under her finger
as she slid her hands across her phone to answer it.
“Hey, we were just talking about you.”

“Really? Have you heard from Anna? I have
been calling her phone for hours and she won’t
answer. Is she still mad at me?”

“Oh she ticked at you, but that is not why she
didn’t answer her phone. She invoked her trance.”

“What? Why did she do that? She knows not to
do that without protection, what—”
“Hey, hey, hey, take a chill pill. She’s doing what
you asked her to do. What am I, chopped liver?
Ozzie and I are here watching over her. What help
could you offer her more than that?”

“I will be right over!”
The dial tone hung in her ear as she looked at the
phone. “What crawled in his pants today?”

 

“He’s just worried about her; that is all. He loves
her, you know?”

 

“I take it you heard the conversation?”

“Yes, that phone is very loud. Well, look at it this
way; I was going to have you have him come over
here anyway. Now he is.”

“Yep. How do you know so much about him
anyway?”

 

“He’s part of my Monday night poker crew.”

 

“Oh, you mean guys night in?”

 

"Exactly! Plus we hang out quite a bit.”

“I knew you were friends, but I didn’t know you
were close friends.” She wrapped her arms around
his frame when he pulled her close. She always felt
warm and safe in his embrace, as if to confirm she
belonged there. She turned her eyes up to him as his
soft voice filled her ear.

“Does that bother you?”

 

“Not at all. He’s obviously never going away.
Can I ask you a question, a serious one?”
“Sure.”

 

“If I left, would you go with me?”

 

“Why would you leave, is something wrong?”

Tightening her arms, she pulled him back when
he tried to pull away as the situation got serious.
“Answer my question first, and then I will explain. I
just have to know.”

“I would think you would already know the
answer to that question. My life is here, always has
been—”

Tears welled up in her eyes and dropped from
her cheeks. Pain seared in her chest as a theoretical
knife plunged deeply into her heart.

Is he about to tell me he won’t leave? I can’t
stand to hear it. I won’t hear it.

 

She placed her hand over his mouth and stopped
him from speaking.

 

“Don’t say it.” She noticed her wrist looked very
tiny in his grip as he removed her hand.

“Don’t say what? That I would follow you to
Hell and back? Paige, why…are you serious? Did
you think I was going to say no?”

“For a second there I did. It’s your own fault.
You should have started with the following me to
Hell and back. I had to ask because there was a
small chance you wouldn’t. I mean, it’s not as if my
life is normal.”

“Woman you are crazy, but God knows I love
you. I know all about your life and I am still here, I
love you, all of you. Why would I want normal?
Normal is boring and overrated. I mean really, who
is normal? Even we humans aren’t completely
normal.”

“But you are normal.”