Unforgiven (Wanderers #3) (10 page)

“What the hell you want me to do? This dress is
making my underwear ride up my ass.”

“Why are you wearing underwear?”

“Are you kidding me? Really didn’t want to show the
whole bar my ass.” She just rolled her eyes.

When we walked inside, I realized Bobby was right.
This was a rough crowd and most of the women here were dressed more
crudely then we were. I wouldn’t have thought it possible if I
haven’t seen it for myself. Josie and I took a seat in the middle
of the pub. Billy sat at the bar where there was a long mirror on
the back wall giving him a view of the room and Dean and Cameron
took a seat in the far corner pretending to be a couple. Although
if you really paid attention it didn’t look like they were
pretending. Something was going on there and I was going to get to
the bottom of it, but it would have to wait. Once settled into my
seat, I waited.

A waitress came over to our table and asked us what
we’d like to drink. Before I could answer Dean projected in my head
to order a beer. He said if I didn’t I would look suspicious. He
said to sip it so it at least it looked like I was drinking it. I
rolled my eyes and hoped that my next power I received was to
project thoughts so I could at least say something back.

I ordered a beer like he said and even took a few
sips to calm my nerves. I didn’t know why I was felt so uneasy. It
wasn’t like we haven’t been doing this same thing for the past
month, but something about this night was different. There was
something in the air that left a bad taste in my mouth – that could
have been the beer. These cups didn’t look like they’ve been washed
– ever.

Twenty minutes later Bobby finally showed up. He
walked in like he owned the place, saying hi to his buddies as he
stumbled through. Proving he couldn’t go a few hours without
staying sober. I paid him no mind and went back to my beer. I
scanned the room trying not to bring attention to myself, but that
was kind of hard to do in this outfit. My eyes shifted to Billy and
he looked back at me in the mirror gesturing with his eyes to the
guy that was heading to our table. “Sleaze ball at one o’clock,”
Josie said, looking over my shoulder.

“
Ella, this guy probably thinks you’re a
prostitute. Just play along,”
Dean projected.

Great, so now I have to pretend to be a
hooker.
At least I was dressed for the part. “Hey sweetheart,
how about you and me go take a ride?”

I cringed when his breath hit my shoulder and tried
not to show it. “Sorry, but you can’t afford me,” I said
smiling.

“Then how about your friend?”

“It’s my night off,” Josie said, smiling sweetly.

“I didn’t know whores got the night off,” the sleaze
laughed. It took everything I had not to punch him in the face.

I could see Billy tense up at the bar and I knew I
had to step in and say something. “Why go for the amateur when you
can have a pro. Play your cards right and maybe we can make out a
deal,” I purred, dragging my finger down his arm. I could feel the
bile rising in my throat, but I did what I had to to keep it at
bay.

The sleaze smiled, pulled up a chair, and joined us.
Then he called the waitress over and ordered drinks and shots. His
long brown hair was pulled back into a leather band. He had on a
leather vest and ripped up jeans. His hairy chest was covered in
sweat and tattoos. Bobby was making his rounds and took a swing by
our table. “Hey Julius, what you got here?”

“Mind your business old man.”

“Hey, there’s enough to go around. Don’t be
stingy…share,” he said, looking him in the eye as he compelled
him.

Julius spent the next hour sitting with us and buying
us drinks and shots. Dean kept projecting thoughts into my head on
what to do, but all it did was annoy me. So I ignored him the best
I could. I knew both him and Billy were on edge the whole time.
Bobby was the only one who was relaxed, but he was also drunk.
Every now and then he would throw me a look, but I’d just avert my
eyes. There was definitely something off about Bobby, but I could
only handle one problem at a time, and my current issue was finding
a way to get rid of this Julius guy. Any more shots and I wouldn’t
be able to walk straight.

I thought quickly and told him we had to go to the
bathroom to freshen up. I yanked Josie from her chair and signaled
for Billy to do something about Julius. “How you holding up?” Josie
asked once we were in the ladies room.

I splashed some cold water on my face. “I’m not gonna
lie. If Billy doesn’t get rid of that Julius guy you’ll be carrying
me out of here.”

She laughed. “Hang in there. You’re doing pretty
well. Let’s give it another hour or so and if we don’t find
anything how about we call it a night?”

Normally I would protest, but the way I was feeling I
couldn’t argue. “Sounds good to me.”

We stood in the bathroom for about ten minutes until
Dean projected to me that he was gone and wouldn’t be a problem
anymore. I didn’t care how it was taken care of. I just cared he
was gone. We walked back out to the table and sat down. I was dying
for a glass of water and wondered if Dean would yell at me for
ordering some. I didn’t care and ordered some anyways. I needed to
refocus and clear my head, which was hard to do with all those
shots the sleaze bought us.

“You ladies hanging in there?” Bobby asked.

“Better now that creep is gone,” I replied.

“Ah, Julius is harmless.”

“Maybe to you, but he didn’t seem that way to me.” I
shivered at the thought of what could have happened if Billy didn’t
get rid of him.

We sat around for another hour and still nothing. I
was starting to think this was another dead end when Julius
returned. He stumbled back in the pub with a few of his buddies.
“Him, over there,” he said, pointing to Billy.

Crap
.

I watched Billy’s reflection in the mirror. He was
very calm and cool. Dean was yelling in my head for me to get out
of there, but I refused to move. Julius’s friends gathered around
Billy, surrounding him. He finished his drink and stood up. Billy
looked at them and smiled. Then he swung and that was it.

Dean came rushing over to help Billy still yelling at
me to get out of there, but I refused. I wasn’t the weak little
girl from the bar back home. I knew how to defend myself now and I
wasn’t going to back down. I walked over to the biggest guy, tapped
him on the shoulder, and when he turned around, I slugged him in
the face knocking him on his ass. I was feeling pretty smug until
some other guy knocked me to the ground. “You might want to stay
out of the way little girl and let the men fight,” he said. I was
not going to let some guy tell me what to do. I stood up and dusted
myself off. I looked at the guy, smiled, and then attacked.

The fight only lasted about ten minutes before the
bartender busted out a bat and broke it up telling us all to get
out. We made our way to the back and slipped out the side door.
“What the hell were you thinking Ella?” Dean yelled, automatically
attacking me.

“Relax, I know how to take care of myself,” I said,
right as I tripped and fell on my ass. Dean laughed believing he
just proved his point.

I turned to see that it was some bum lying in the
alley whose legs I tripped over. His long, dark black hair was a
greasy mess and his face was covered by the collar of his trench
coat. I looked down to see he was wearing Armani slacks and very
expensive designer shoes, his right hand gripping a bottle. I
thought it odd for a bum to be wearing very expensive duds, but I
figured he probably stole them.

Josie bent down to help me up. “You okay?”

“Yeah, but I think I actually hurt my shoulder.”

“You hit your shoulder?” Cameron asked confused.

“Inside the bar when that butthead knocked me over. I
think I fell on some glass,” I said, reaching behind my shoulder
and flinching. Josie turned me around to inspect my cut. She pulled
out the shard of glass that was sticking out of my shoulder and I
could feel the blood start to trickle down my back. “Where’s Uncle
Bobby?”

“We lost him in the scuffle,” Dean said. “Don’t worry
I’m sure he’s fine. He gets into fights at least once a week.” I
wasn’t so much worried as I was concerned about what was really
going on with him.

Josie reached into her bag to grab some tissues when
I heard a low growl come from the bum. Before I even had a chance
to react he grabbed Josie and bit into her neck. She squealed. I
could see the panic in her eyes. I quickly changed into attack mode
and knocked them both back into the wall. He dropped Josie and
Cameron pulled her out of the way while I gave him a quick spin
kick to the gut. He growled again and came at me. I countered his
attack, but was having a hard time fighting him off. All the booze
was affecting my coordination.

Billy moved in to help me. He had him pinned up
against the wall. I reached behind Billy to pull the stake from his
back pocket. The bum fought back knocking Billy out of the way and
the stake from my hand. I panicked, but when he looked at me we
both froze. My heart stopped. Billy grabbed the stake and flew
forward ready to plunge it into his chest. “No stop!” I yelled,
grabbing Billy’s arm and jumped in front of him.

Billy looked at me like I was crazy. I ripped the
stake from his hand and pushed him away. The bum fell to the ground
too weak to stand. “Ella, what the hell are you doing?” Billy
asked.

I ignored him and bent down in front of the bum. I
reached out to turn his face towards me. When I saw his eyes my
whole body went numb. “Bellissimo Angelo,” he smiled. He reached up
to touch my face, but he stopped short. His face turned angry
again.

Dean and Billy rushed toward me but Josie stopped
them. “Oh God,” I said breathless. “It’s you, it’s really you,” I
whispered.

“Okay seriously? What is going on?” Cameron
asked.

Everyone stood silently behind me and watched, ready
to strike if need be. I looked into his eyes ready to cry. His
faced softened and then suddenly he leaned over and puked, barely
missing Dean’s shoes. Then he passed out. I sighed and pushed him
back on his side. I looked him over and graciously pushed the hair
back off his face. “Ella?” Josie said softly.

“Billy, help me get him up.” I grabbed his one arm
and tried to lift him but I wasn’t strong enough.

“Wait, you can’t be serious?” Cameron freaked.

“Ella,” Dean said, laying a gentle hand on my
shoulder. “You can’t help everyone. Some people just need to –”

I threw his hand off. “It’s Tristan you idiot!” I
snapped.

He stood back to get a good look at him. “That’s
Tristan? Okay no offense but I don’t get it?” Cameron said, shaking
her head.

I gestured for Billy to help me. “Wait,” Josie
stalled. “What if he snaps again?”

“He won’t,” I assured her.

“How can you be sure?”

“Because I can read his mind and he’s dreaming.”

Of me.

I left that last part to myself. “And because he’s
passed out and I have a feeling he won’t be waking up anytime
soon,” I said, holding up the half empty bottle of whiskey.

“He seemed pretty functional a few minutes ago,”
Cameron pointed out not liking this idea.

“That’s because he smelled the blood and I guess he
attacked Josie because she was the closest.”

They didn’t argue with me anymore. Instead Billy and
Dean helped carry Tristan to the car. “If he pukes on me, I’m going
to be very pissed off,” Dean complained. I just rolled my eyes and
slid into the back seat with Tristan. Cameron was hesitant to get
in the car. I assured her it was fine and she slowly slid in.

When we got back to the hotel, I knew we had to find
a way to get Tristan inside without drawing attention to ourselves.
I suggested Josie transport him. Billy was opposed. Best friend or
not he knew at the moment Tristan was unstable. I told Billy I
would go up to the room first and he could wait outside with them.
Josie wasn’t so crazy about the idea either but no one could come
up with a better suggestion.

Once I made it to the room I texted Josie to let her
know I was ready. It took her longer to transport Tristan than it
did me. His weight and height made it harder, took more of her
concentration. They landed just a foot short of the bed. Her
landing wasn’t any more graceful than when we came crashing in. It
was a good thing Tristan was passed out. He definitely will be
feeling it in the morning.

“Help me get him onto the bed.”

“Ella, I could barely transport him. There’s no way I
can lift him onto the bed.”

I didn’t push her to help. Instead I waited until
everyone else came up to the room. Billy and Dean helped me carry
him to the bed. I asked them if they wouldn’t mind giving me some
time alone with him. Josie said we could have the room for the
night and they would stay with the boys in their room. Cameron and
Dean weren’t exactly keen with me staying alone with him, but Josie
reassured them it would be okay and that we were right next door if
anything should happen.

I sat next to him on the bed and watched him sleep.
The boys helped me take his coat off before they left. I peeled off
his shoes and laid them next to the bed. He had on a black button
down shirt and slacks. His hair was grown out so long it was
starting to curl around his ears. From the scruff on his face I
knew he hadn’t shaved in weeks and his hands and face were filthy.
He had dark circles under his eyes, one of the signs that he hasn’t
been feeding much. His skin was paler than normal and I noticed he
lost weight. He was in bad shape and I had no idea what to do to
help him.

I got up and went to the bathroom to get a washcloth.
I sat down carefully on the bed, not wanting to disturb him and
then I gently started to wipe the dirt off his face. He stirred
slightly but still slept. I couldn’t believe after weeks of
searching I had finally found him. And there he was, in my bed, and
unconscious. Okay, so not quite the reunion I pictured, but just
knowing that he was alive was enough for me.