Roxy was ready to go through Trevor to find out what was happening with Mike. No one had called, or even texted, to let her know what the fuck was going on.
Trevor had taken her and Sasha to the cabin, clear up in the mountains, hoping that would calm her, or so he said. She thought it was simply to keep her as far away from danger as he could.
Her phone rang, and she practically dove on it. She saw Mike’s number and answered with a shaky voice. “Mike, tell me that’s you and you’re all right.”
“I’m fine.”
She heard the tremble in his voice. “No, you’re not. What the fuck happened?”
“Hey, prego, chill. I’ll be fine. I’m in one piece, unharmed.” He sighed. “Heading toward broken-hearted, but hopefully I can figure out the riddle that infuriating woman left me.”
“What are you talking about?” Roxy demanded.
He growled. “Gwen is convinced I need to understand Amanda’s reasons for leaving my ass. I don’t care why she left me. That was five years ago and good-fucking-riddance. I need Gwen.”
A lick of rage shot through Roxy. “Slow down. Please, explain.”
“It has something to do with Robert, and whatever she saw in Amanda’s head. I guess they had to go in to figure out where to find me. Whatever, Gwen wants me to talk to her, so fine, I’ll talk to her, but it’s not going to change a damned thing.”
“Where is she? I’ll kick some sense into her.”
“No. Stay out of that. I’ll get her back my way. She wants me to come for her, I’m coming.”
Roxy wanted to hit something, but sucked in a breath. “Fine. What happened to you?”
“Ugh, I think Amanda’s brother drained some of my magic to bring back his dead girlfriend or some shit. Honestly, the less I think about that, the better. Josie, or Josephine they called her, is gone. I protected myself. Gwen showed up. She seems to think she’s to blame for me having to protect myself.”
Roxy sucked in a breath. “No. It’s not. Even I know it wasn’t her fault.”
“Yeah, well Gwen is as stubborn as they come. So I need to convince her,” he grumbled.
“What’s your plan?”
“Well, I can’t write for shit, so I thought I’d get Robert to zap me where she’s going and I’ll paint her picture while I wait. She was impressed with a sketch on a legal pad. Think what I can do with my paint. I need to wow her.”
“Oh, fuck, why is she so stupid?”
“Gwen is not. She wants me to be sure it’s her I really want. There’s no question she’s the one for me. I’m doing this to get her to believe me. I told her, but I guess that wasn’t enough.” She heard his fist slam into something.
“That you love her? And she still left?”
“Oh fuck, Rox. I told you, it has something to do with Robert and their past. Thanks for taking care of Sasha a bit longer. I need to go.” It sounded like he was stuffing things into a bag.
“Go get her, but if she doesn’t come to her senses, I’m going to kick her ass,” Roxy promised. She spun to find Trevor staring at her.
“She will,” Mike answered.
“I hope so. Love you, Mikey.”
“You too, Sis.”
She hung up.
Trevor wore a frown. “She left?”
“Apparently. She’s going to be lucky if I don’t kick her ass for her stupidity.”
Trevor laughed. “Hey, slow down. She has a past. Mike said it has something to do with that. Don’t fault her until you know the whole story. Now, how about we take Sasha for a walk?”
* * * *
Mike gathered up a backpack of clothes and a travel case with a canvas, easel, and everything he’d need for a real painting. Then, he called Tremaine, and prayed the bastard would answer.
“Hey, Mike. I hear you’re in one piece.”
“Yeah. Look, can you get Robert to come back here? I need a big ass favor. Actually, a few of them.”
“She left?”
Mike sighed. “Something about her past, and me needing to understand mine. I’m doing what she wants, but Robert can cut down my travel time. I want to beat her to where she’s going.”
“Where is she going?”
“Home. Her home before their father split her family apart.”
“I always knew you were a smart kid. Give me a few, you’ll have your transport.” Tremaine hung up.
He made another call. Jordan answered with, “Tell me that’s you, Mike.”
“It’s me. I’m in one piece. I’ve got to go chase down a stubborn woman though, and I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”
“Gwen?” Jordan asked in confusion.
“Yeah, I’ll tell you about it another time. I wanted you to know I was fine, and I won’t be around until I can convince her she’s the one.”
“Good luck.”
“Hey, keep an eye on Doug. We’re going to have to tell him something eventually.”
“Maybe I can start on that while you’re out of town. I’ll find a way. He is my roommate.”
“Then good luck to you.” Robert appeared before Mike. He let out a sigh of relief. “Okay, my ride is here, I need to go.” He hung up.
Robert ran his hands down his lapels, looking away. “I told her not to do this.”
“Whatever, I’m not arguing. She wants proof it’s her I want, that Amanda doesn’t factor in? I’ll give her that in spades. First stop, I need to talk to Amanda. Second, I need to go to the home she grew up in on Lake George in New York.”
“Where?”
Mike shrugged. “She lived there before her father left. They had a family home there. Before Greg had his magic locked away.”
“I’ll get Preston on it. He can find out. We’ll have the information in her file.”
“Thank you.”
“You have everything you need?” Robert asked.
He nodded. “Yup. Let’s go.”
His brow arched, but he touched Mike and they were in the living room of the cabin Amanda was stashed in.
“Hey, Amanda?” Mike shouted.
She came down the stairs with a worried look.
“What are you doing here? I figured you’d be with Gwen after they got you out.”
He sighed. “I’m about to fix that problem.” He sat his stuff down and walked toward her. “She’s convinced I need to understand why you left so I can figure out if she’s really who I want.”
Amanda looked away.
“Was there more than drugs involved?”
Nodding, she stopped on the bottom step. “Remember how much I hated ghost stories?”
Mike nodded, a frown on his face.
“Yeah, well I grew up seeing ghosts or whatever. When I was a kid, I could ignore them and they’d go away.” She sank onto the stairs. “That changed the night of my 21st birthday, when Cole asked me to come to the club to get my birthday gift. I arrived early. He had brought a corpse back. Someone hired him to get information from their dead husband.”
“What the fuck?” Mike asked.
She looked up at him and shrugged. “I’d seen the zombies before, but I saw the guy’s ghost standing there shouting at him to put him back, and how he wanted to go to the light.”
Mike shook his head slowly.
“That’s when I ran into the dealer. He saw me distraught and offered me something to take it all away. I was freaked out and desperate. It worked. After that, every time I was with you, they came back. It was getting worse, so I kept shooting up.”
“Fuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“They can’t get to me now. I’m dead too. When you shifted, you scared the fuck out of me and I ran. I kept running and eventually the drugs stopped warding off the spirits. They got to me anyway. It was never you, Mike. I couldn’t control it and they kept coming to me. I tried to end it.”
“Suicide?” Mike asked, kneeling before her.
She nodded. “Tried to OD. Angelique came,” she pointed to her teeth, “and now I’m this. Changing me took one problem away. Instead of drugs, I need blood. I hate that, but it’s better. I don’t see the ghosts anymore.”
He shook his head. “No offense, but Gwen must be nuts. None of this changes anything. I still need to get to Gwen.”
“What?” Amanda asked, standing.
Mike did too.
She shook her head. “I already let you go. I don’t even want you back anymore.”
“Good, because I’m in love with Gwen. I want all the best for you, but that’s not me.”
“Mike, we’re on the same page. What can I do to help?”
“Nothing, Robert has it covered. I do have one question. Is what you’ve told me the same as what Gwen saw when she was in your head?”
“She saw part of it. I was worried about you and you were stuck in my head. I’m sorry. I was scared.”
“Hey, don’t. It’s not your fault. I need to make her see I’m not letting her go.” He hugged Amanda. “I’ll always care about you.”
“Shut up, Mike. And ditto. You have something with her we never did. I’m not the same girl, and you aren’t the same lovesick fool. Go get your woman.” She shoved him toward Robert.
Robert caught him and they were standing in a well-kept home. Gwen had mentioned she paid someone to keep the place up, but he hadn’t understood. It looked ready to live in.
He was still standing there slack-jawed when a card was placed in his hand. “Call me if you need me to come get you. Your stuff is right here.” He nodded to the backpack and travel case.
“Wait. I have a question.” Mike sighed. “She told me sometimes you have to go back to see why you didn’t work. I’m guessing she was referring to you. Were you good to her?”
Robert breathed in deep and smiled grimly. “You know I’m with Tremaine and Liz, right?”
He nodded, really not wanting to think too much about that.
“Yeah, well I was always in love with Liz. Some things never change. Something horrible happened to her, it shattered everything we had, or so she thought. She left, thinking she was doing the right thing. I let her go, convinced I was doing the right thing. It took Tremaine to pull us back together again. He’s the glue to our broken pieces.”
Mike nodded, but wasn’t about to touch that. He didn’t want details. “But Gwen. You were good to her?”
“Yes. She wasn’t in love with me. We tried because we were both lonely. Gwen was ready to move on, but clearly, I wasn’t. She walked away because she knew I hadn’t let go of Liz.”
“And now she wants to make sure I’ve really let go of Amanda. I get it. Gwen somehow decided there was a chance I would have regrets about letting Amanda go.”
“Do you?”
“Not a single-fucking-one.”
Robert smiled. “Then get her back, but it’s going to take her hours to get here. Probably be noon before she shows up. Preston already got the flight number and everything.”
“That’s okay. I’ll be here when she gets here. Let her sweat if she tries to call me. She did this to herself, and I want to make sure she’s ready to believe me this time when I tell her she’s the one I want.”
“Yeah, that is probably my fault. I’m sorry.”
“Hey, I’ve seen you with them. You’re where you belong. If you had kept Gwen, I wouldn’t have her now. As long as you weren’t an asshole to her, I have no reason to fault you.”
“Mike, it’s been a pleasure. Take care of her. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around. With my relationship to Tremaine, and him being your uncle, that makes us extended family.” He held his hand out for Mike.
Skipping the shake, he gave Robert an awkward hug. “I guess we are. I’ll call you if she doesn’t come to her senses, or if we need a quick way back.”
“You got it.” Robert disappeared.