Twenty minutes. It was all the time Nash could stand to wait after his father left. Alastair had explained away Ryanne’s reaction but had also cautioned Nash to give her time to herself to process all that had gone down that morning.
Because teleporting into Ryanne’s space seemed arrogant and assuming, Nash took the time to drive from his home to hers. He spent the next seven minutes in his car, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel and staring at Ryanne’s lighted bedroom window, like some crazy-ass stalker.
A sharp rap on the window startled a yelp from him.
When he got out of the car, it was to find Quentin not trying too hard to fight back a grin.
“What the hell are you doing here, man?” Nash sneezed and grunted his thanks when Quentin balled his hand into a fist to stave off the closest raccoons.
“Your father asked me to hang out and watch over Ryanne.”
“Thank you.”
“You were there when we needed you. This is a small repayment.”
“Still, I’m grateful. How are you feeling from yesterday’s little nap in the glen?”
“GiGi patched me up, right as rain.” He gestured to the apartment with a thumb over his shoulder. “I just saw your girl cross from the bedroom to the kitchen. I think it’s safe for you to go up.”
“You heading home to Holly?”
“Yep.”
“Give my sister a hug for me.”
“Will do. Take care of yourself, too, Nash. You need rest.”
“Yes, mother.”
Quentin flipped him a bird as he mounted his Harley. “Later, loser.” He gunned the throaty beast and headed out of the parking lot with a wave. Although it didn't chase away the worry in the pit of his stomach, Nash's lips quirked upward at Quentin's well-hidden concern. A few months ago, he never would've imaged his sister’s happy-go-lucky husband caring if he lived or died.
He turned toward Ryanne’s apartment building and stopped short. The woman herself stood at the main door, looking like hell. She was still the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
“Am I welcome?” he asked roughly.
“Always.”
He ate up the distance between them and lifted her as she jumped. He held her tightly against him with her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms firmly locked around his neck.
“I’m sorry,” they gushed simultaneously.
They parted to look at one another.
“I should never have dragged you into this stinking mess.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Nash. None of it. I know that. Knew that, but it was like—”
He stopped her apology with a gentle kiss. “All I care about is that you are okay. Right now, in this moment. I need to know you are okay.”
She gave him a tearful nod. “For the most part.”
“That’s good enough.” He kissed her again. “Want me to be romantic and carry you up the stairs?”
“Three flights?” she asked skeptically.
He leaned in to whisper in her ear, “I do have a spell that can make you light as a feather.”
“If you’re calling me fat, Nash, we’re done.”
“Pfft. It’s more along the lines that I’m a book nerd who seldom works out.”
“I’m going to call you a liar. I’ve seen you naked.” She sighed and released him. “I can walk.”
He clasped her hand and tugged her into the building. As they made their way upstairs, he thought about all the things he wanted to say. All the promises he wanted to make. There would be time for all of that, thanks to her twin’s sacrifice. For now, she needed to heal. To be given the space a thoughtful partner would allow.
“I can take care of your sister for you if you’d like.”
“Your aunt already said she could make arrangements for the crypt.” She tugged him to a halt on the last landing. “How does the death certificate thing work? I assume we need documentation. How do we… hide what happened?”
He raised his brows and waited.
“Oh, yeah, never mind. I suppose it’s a simple matter for people like us.”
“Simple enough,” he agreed. He didn’t care to have this type of conversation in the hall where anyone within hearing distance could listen in. He could cloak the sound, but he’d prefer to discuss this topic later. “Come on.”
“I’m not sure I can stay here tonight.”
“Okay. Let’s get a few of your things and head back to my place. I—”
A sixth sense had him spinning and tucking Ryanne against his chest. A bullet ricocheted off the wall by his head. When a hail of bullets began to pepper the hallway walls, Nash quickly shoved her up the stairs toward the top of the building.
Victor! It had to be.
Already he knew that teleporting was out of the question. Victor would have Blockers surrounding the building, but Nash had a plan in his back pocket. They only needed to make it to the roof, and they’d be golden.
When they reached Ryanne’s floor, she tried to bolt toward her door, but he dragged her onward. “Up. Keep going,” he urged.
“We’ll be trapped!”
“Shh, keep your voice down and move your ass.” He sneezed but didn’t have time to worry about his particular trash panda curse.
They made one more flight before Ryanne started to show signs of weakness. Looked like he would need his feather-light spell after all. “Climb on and don’t let go, no matter what.” With each step, he grunted out the words to the spell until she weighed next to nothing upon his back.
Just as he thought his heart would pound out of his chest and his lungs would cease to work, he burst through the rooftop exit. “Hop… off.” He pointed to the Rebar pole to his left even as he reached for the one to his right. With her help, he slid them into two-inch-thick steel brackets he’d had installed on either side of the door.
“How did you know?”
“My family has enemies.” He paused for a deep breath. “As my employee and the love of my life, you fall under my protection.” He grinned and grabbed her hand. “Better to be prepared, no?”
They ran toward the westernmost side of the building.
“Who is after us, or shouldn’t I ask?”
“Victor. He wants the necklace.”
“But we don’t have it.”
He snorted.
“We do?”
“It’s in my pocket. All your anger tonight wasn’t your own.”
“I’m confused.”
“The explanation can wait. Put this on.”
She was dumbfounded when he dragged out a set of harnesses. “We are ten stories up. If you think I’m putting that thing on and scaling down this building, you’ve lost your mind.”
“Scaling, no. Zip lining, yes.” He tested all the fastenings and kissed her hard. “You’ve got this, babe.”
“Did you take into account the men on the ground with automatic weapons?” she screeched.
“I did. We aren’t going down. We’re going across. They’ll think we trapped ourselves up here to wait for assistance. Which reminds me…” He held up a finger and dug out his phone. No signal. “That bastard jammed the signal. Fuck!”
A strangled scream came from below. Nash peered over the edge and laughed. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”
A second scream echoed up to them.
“The raccoons!” she exclaimed, peering over the edge. “Good God, you really are brilliant.”
He grinned and swore longer and louder.
“Fall back! Fall back!”
More strangled screams mirrored the first.
“Shoot them! Shoot them!”
The distinct chirp of locusts echoed around them. Nash lifted his head from the scene below to check the surrounding buildings.
His father leaned back against the wall of an adjacent apartment complex, arms crossed over his chest. Laughter shook his frame when someone else screamed, “What the fuck?”
A low whistle caught Nash’s attention.
“Move away from the edge,” Knox called.
Nash hustled Ryanne about ten feet from the lip of the building. As they watched, Knox spread his arms, closed his eyes, and clapped. A low rumble started, and the building swayed beneath them.
“What is he doing?” she yelled.
“Earthquake is my best guess.”
The cries of the injured men below drowned out Nash’s affirmative response.
“We need to move.” He grabbed Ryanne’s hand and pulled her toward the zip line. Miraculously, it still held. “This is going to be a tandem ride, babe. Don’t freak out when our weight causes a major dip in the line.”
“What about the light-as-a-feather thing?”
“We need the weight to carry us faster.”
“No spell for that?” she muttered.
He dropped a kiss on the shell of her ear and double-checked the straps securing them together. “I won’t let anything happen to you. Try not to scream. We don’t want to alert them to our getaway plan.”
Ryanne squeezed her eyes tightly shut and managed to keep her mouth closed as well although that particular feat was a little more difficult. If asked before tonight, she probably would have said she wasn’t afraid of heights. Zip lining to another rooftop from ten stories up had her reevaluating her fears.
How had Nash found time to retrieve the Red Scorpion? The thought of it this close to their bodies made her shudder. If she never saw that creepy freaking thing again as long as she lived, she’d consider herself fortunate.
She also wondered why Victor’s men hadn’t made an attempt to kill them while they were in the parking lot? Had the soldiers figured the chance of escape was greater on the ground floor?
She shrugged off the questions as she extended her arms to Knox. He pulled them to safety and glanced over the edge. “They are regrouping. Hold on, kids.”
Before she had a chance to blink, Ryanne’s cells were heating to burning. Within seconds, the three of them were in a place she’d never seen before. She glanced around the glen and looked to Nash for an explanation.
“This stretch of land is protected on all four sides. Thorne Manor lies there in the center of that land.” Her eyes followed the path of his finger. “The Carlyle lands run adjacent. This is the middle ground and is sacred. Blessed by Isis herself.”
“We’re safe here?”
“As safe as we can be for now.”
Knox stepped forward and steadied her as she stripped her harness off. “There was a breach once, but the wards were strengthened since then. We’ve also added some high-tech gadgets. You’re safe.”
“Incoming.”
The air crackled, and Alastair stepped through a rift in space.
“I still don’t understand how you can do that,” Ryanne said to Nash. His abilities left her in awe.
“I feel a temperature change in the air.” He stepped away to hug his father. “Thanks for the locusts. I’m not sure how you knew to come back, but it’s appreciated.”
“Call it a feeling, and I simply followed your lead with the bloody trash pandas, son. The swearing was inspired.”
“I feel bad for unleashing a hundred raccoons on the town.”
“They’ll find their way home soon enough.”
Nash cast his father a worried look. “Salinger isn’t going to stop until he has the necklace.”
“The necklace?” Surprise lit Alastair’s face. “I thought he was targeting you because you’re my son.”
“Maybe that, too,” Nash agreed. “But Spring made a point of retrieving the Red Scorpion before she left the standing stones. She handed it off for safekeeping.”
Alastair scrubbed his hands up and down his face then ran his fingers through his hair. Ryanne couldn’t remember a time when she’d seen him so disturbed. It was concerning.
“He won’t stop, son. We have to find a way to keep you and Ryanne safe.”
“I only hatched an escape plan. I’m not sure where to go from here.”
The men locked eyes.
Alastair grimaced. “I think you do.”
Ryanne suspected the only way to stop Victor was death and that they all knew it. “How do we eliminate him?” She was proud her voice only shook slightly.
“Good question, child.” An admiring light flared in Alastair’s sapphire gaze when he looked down at her. “That’s what we all need to figure out together.”
His kind regard warmed her. Alastair Thorne didn’t tolerate incompetence, as she now well knew. Any type of praise from him meant a lot.
“It’s been a long few days. Let’s get everyone back to Thorne Manor to rest,” Knox suggested. “It’s safe for the time being.”
They all concurred with this plan. Ryanne especially because she felt like the walking dead. Could witches turn into zombies? She’d have to ask if that was a thing. At this point, she couldn’t even think about her sister and the fact Rylee’s body needed to be left behind in the apartment. If she did, she’d lose her mind. Better to allow the numbness to take hold.
The silence around Ryanne registered, and she glanced up to find three sets of concerned eyes focused solely on her.
“I’m sorry. What did I miss?”
“We were discussing Rylee.” Nash squeezed her hand. “Dad intends to send a team of men to your place to move her to a safer location and to gather anything you can’t live without. Are you okay with that?”
Tears burned her eyes, and she pressed her lips together. A single nod was all she could manage.
While she could feel the intensity of Nash’s gaze, she avoided looking at him, preferring to devote all her attention to the blades of grass at her feet.
“You go ahead,” she heard him tell the others. “Ryanne and I will be along shortly.”
Once the others were gone, he led her to a spot under an ancient oak tree. He took a seat and gently drew her down into his lap. “Want to talk?”
“No.” She heard the catch in her throat, and she feared saying another word.
“Then let me just hold you for a bit, okay?”
She nodded and folded into him, her face buried against his neck. The warmth of his embrace eased a fraction of the coldness invading her mind and soul. And it was there, in that precise moment, that she understood what selfless love was. Nash’s silent consideration was the perfect example of what true love should be.
“I love you, Nash,” she whispered fiercely, gripping his face to stare into the depths of his beloved jade eyes. “I love you so damned much.”
His grin was slow to form and transformed his entire face. The wink he shot her should have made light of the moment, but it only emphasized the fact that he was perfect for her. She snorted, an aborted laugh, and wrapped her arms around his neck to hug him tight.
“I love you, too, Ryanne.” He rested his cheek against her temple. “You make me a better person in every way.”
They sat in silence for a while, each digesting their feelings for the other and maybe what that meant going forward. As Nash cuddled Ryanne close, she allowed her fingers to play with the thick hair at the base of his neck.
“I never want to go back,” she told him. “If I could stay like this with you forever, I’d die happy.”
“Let’s not talk of dying today. It’s still too raw for me.” He shifted marginally. His beautiful eyes left no inch of her face unexplored. “I don’t know what I would have done if I lost you—to either death or to indifference.”
“I feel the same.” She frowned and glanced down at the pocket containing the necklace. “Why do I feel so at peace here? Why isn’t that horrid little thing upsetting the balance?”
“I can only guess it’s because we are on sacred land. Or perhaps it’s done all it can do to us.”
Sacred land.
“Nash? Do you think if we buried the Red Scorpion here, it might neutralize its power?”
He squinted into the distance as if he were doing mental calculations. Finally, he focused his attention back on her. “It might just work.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“I will need Knox’s help, I think. He’s as strong as Serqet, and if anyone can spell the piece so she can’t find it to start her reign of terror again, it might be him.”
“Should we ask Isis, or is that pushing it?”
He worried his lip with his teeth as he stared at her.
“Nash?”
“I’m not sure. Let’s go to Thorne Manor and worry about it later.”
“If we take it with us, we risk exposing someone else to its evil influence.”
“We’ll talk to my dad and get this worked out.”
They walked hand in hand toward his family’s estate. With each foot traversed, Ryanne became more uneasy. She’d lost too much to that damned necklace. Her sister was the greatest loss. Rylee had been too young to die and didn’t deserve to go out like that. Anger began at a slow boil within. Pulling to a stop, she reached for his pocket.
“No!” He shouted as he gripped her wrist. “No, Ryanne,” he said again, softer this time. “I can feel your rage building along with your desire to strike. It’s the necklace again. It seems to affect you more than others. If I had to guess why, I’d say Serqet’s blood in your veins.”
“Evil attracts evil?” she snarled. “You’re saying I’m a horrible person.”
He distanced himself from her and shifted his body to put the necklace as far from her as possible. “I’m saying Serqet created this cursed object. It could be the scorpion tempts you more because of it.”
The dark, oppressive air that had filled her lungs and clouded her brain moments before eased with each step Nash took away from her. Damned if he wasn’t right!
“I can’t be anywhere around that thing, can I?”
“It doesn’t look like it,” he replied grimly.
“What are we going to do?”
He shook his head helplessly. “We’ll figure it out. In the meantime, we have to set a safe distance for you from this blasted necklace.” Nash eyed the distance between them. “Would you say this is about eleven feet?”
“At least. Maybe more.”
“Do you want to lead or follow?”
“I don’t know where I’m going.”
“Right, but I’m not comfortable turning my back on you right now.”
What the hell did he think she’d do? Club him on the head? His distrust tempted her to do just that.
“Come here and we’ll teleport. You’ll only be next to me for a minute at most.”