Burdened (A Burdened Novel) (45 page)

“Right.” H
e nods at me, then looks back at his sister. “How about we talk with our mates first? Then we’ll talk as a group.”

She nods as people start
pouring into the room, taking in the scene.

I know
that, because two are dead, that really means three are, and Nathan’s mother has to be in distress now that her husband is gone. A part of me starts to feel bad for her. Although, no regret builds in me. What’s done is done, and it needed to be done.

His family comes in
: Roseland first, followed by his wife, and Little Nathan, followed by his mother. Depression wipes over me. The cousins follow, and all of their faces take in the scene: the black liquid that rests against the concrete floor; the broken, glistening chains hanging from the ceiling, swinging in the windless air; and the pools of mixed-colored liquid, below where Nathan and Justin had hung.

I cringe at the thought of remembering Nathan’s body hanging there
and, what seemed like, lifeless. Nathan pulls me closer, rubbing my shoulder, trying to comfort me. I accept it.

Roseland starts walking forward
, then the others follow. They stop three feet away from us, when Roseland notices the pile of dust, which is two feet from where we stand.

He looks
at Nathan, and Nathan squares his shoulders, ready to take on the attack. I assume there might be one.

Nathan’s mother pushes through the crowd
, stepping beside Roseland, on the opposite side of his wife. She drops to her knees and starts to sob uncontrollably.

No one moves, and only I look at her. I feel bad for her pain
, but not about our actions.

“What happened?” Roseland
is calm and quiet. His voice holds disbelief and astonishment.

Taylor steps forward
, cutting off Nathan’s open mouth, and Justin flanks her. “Justin and Nathan were missing. Rose, Tracey, and I left to find them. We arrived here to find them on the brink of death—Nathan worse off than Justin.” Her voice cracks. “They were hanging from chains that were once a part of those.” She points to the broken chains, still attached to the ceiling. She pauses—as if she is trying to figure out which parts to tell and which to leave out. We didn’t want anyone to know about the bond, considering how his mother had reacted. She looks at Nathan.

He steps fo
rward, having no other choice but to tell. “I am not sure of the extent of what happened, but I can confirm, when I came to—thanks to Tracey—Taylor was pinned against the wall, behind a desk, half-unconscious. Tracey was near-death, on the ground, with shattered bones all over her body. Our father was standing over her, preparing to kill her. I did that to him.” He nods towards the dust. “For trying to kill Taylor, Justin, and me, but mostly Tracey.”

“
This morning, I spoke with him when I arrived at the house. Some things happened to Tracey, that you all are not aware of, that involved him. I warned him that if he
tried
to kill her, there would be no words.” He looks over to his mother. “I’m sorry, mother, but enough was enough. What happened here tonight shouldn’t have.”

“So what happened to Rose?” Little Nathan steps forward, his face holding no expression or emotion.

Nathan looks at me, his expression questioning if I want to tell.

I don’t
, but I may as well—start treating them like a family. Right? I step forward, taking Nathan’s hand that he offers to me.

“That was me.” I don’t speak loud
, but high enough for them to hear without the walls echoing. I move the sticky hair from my face, and everyone gasps. I look at my arm and those damn vines have not disappeared.

My body is still in battle mode. I ignore
the vines. “Rose rode here with us—the entire time being a part of a bigger plan than just finding Nathan. Once we arrived in this room, Rose took the side of your father’s. They fought Taylor, while I was trying to save Nathan, who, at the time, seemed to be dead—” Tears well up in my eyes. I shake my head. “Once they had Taylor down, and I had done all I could to help Nathan, I started fighting with your father, and Rose attacked me from behind.” I open my still-black palm, letting the snake of fire slither from me.

It circles around Nathan and me in a protective manner. “I let it fight Rose for me
, while I had a few rounds with your father. The last time I looked at them, it had slithered into her, through her mouth. Minutes later, she glowed red and…” I pause, wanting to get the words right, but nothing comes. “…exploded.” I open my hand, welcoming the fire snake back to me. It comes quickly. “I would apologize,” I say, as I look back up to them. “But I don’t regret it.”

“None of this is Tracey’s fault
, so do not blame her for anything.” Taylor steps up again. “She was trying to save us, and being new to this, she did a damn good job at it. She possesses abilities that are new to her, and she learned to use them quickly.” She looks at me. “Honestly, I’m proud of her, and I thank her for what she has done for us tonight.” I smile at her, and she returns my smile.

Roseland
walks up to Nathan, looking him over. “She healed your face, but not the rest of you? Are you not in pain?”

“I am
. I didn’t want Tracey to see me as I was, but we haven’t had the chance for a complete healing session yet.”

“You’re still bleeding.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Justin
walks over to them, Taylor glued to his hip. “Nathan is stronger than I thought.” He smiles at Nathan. “I’m glad you pulled through.”

I look over
at their mother, who is being helped up by mild-faced Little Nathan. Her face is red and her eyes are beyond puffy. He leads her over to the nearest chair, not saying anything.

“So would you all care to tell
us what happened before the girls arrived?” Roseland asks with curiosity.

“Not in front of them
.” Nathan looks at me, knowing I am about to protest. “And not right now. Just know that your father was beyond successful in his plan to kill Justin and I—and possibly Taylor—and would have succeeded if it wasn’t for Tracey. I never thought Rose was a part of it, until I saw her cut me herself.”

“What did she say
, if anything?”

Nathan looks
at his mom. “Not now, Roseland. We will talk later. I have something I need to do.”

Nathan moves and I move with him. He stops midway to his mom. “Can you stop my wounds from bleeding? I don’t want to freak her out.”

I rub my hands over his moist body, over the flesh-baring wounds that show bone or tissue. The minor scratches I ignore for now.

I look
him over. “Okay.”

“Thank you
,” he says too softly, pulling me to him and kissing my forehead.

We cover the remaining distance to her
. She looks at him and her eyes fill with more tears. Little Nathan steps to my side.

“Tracey,
can you give me one moment?” Nathan asks me.

I shake my head
. I can’t.

“He’s going to be okay
. Everyone is here. She definitely won’t hurt him.” Little Nathan looks at me, reassuring me with his scrunched grin and high eyebrows.

I slowly let
Nathan’s hand go and take a couple of steps back. Little Nathan steps with me.

He punches my arm. “You are really dirty.”

I look down at my clothes and skin. I am disgusting. I half-smile. “Yeah, I guess you’re right, huh?”

He half
-hugs me. “Thanks for saving my brother.” He lets me go as if nothing happened.

I smile at him and punch his arm. “You’re welcome.”

“I mean, I am upset about my sister and all, but we all kind of knew something was going on. And everyone knew…” His voice lowers. “…you know who…” He goes back to his original level. “…wanted to kill them.” He rubs the back of his neck. “That was no secret. But it’s really killing my mother.”

“Yea
h, that’s the only part I feel bad about.” I push my arm back, looking at it first, to make sure the ugly vines are gone. “Rose’s husband, he’s…” I can’t finish.

“Yea
h, that’s how we knew something was going on. Roseland got the sense to come here after we had searched a few other spots. This is one of our father’s hide-away spots.”

He kicks his foot
, making some small rocks scatter across the floor.

“Don’t feel bad
,” he continues, after a long pause. “You did what you had to do for your mate. And he did what he had to do for you. My mother will understand that. Plus, she knew this was coming, after he had tried to kill Taylor and Justin a week ago.” He moves a little closer to me. “Taylor was never going to let that go unhandled.”

“Yea
h, I can believe that.” I pause, touching the black fluid that’s drying against my skin. “I really need a shower.”

“Yea
h, you really do. Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.” I turn to him.

“If you and Nathan are bound, why haven’t you accepted our family?”

“Why do you think Nathan and
I are bound?”

“You’re a human with a pet snake made of fire.”
He smirks.

I
tilt my head side to side, deciphering through what he said. “Yeah, I can see where you’re going with that.” I pause. “We’ve talked about it. I just wasn’t sure when your father sent someone to use me against Nathan. Well, something like that. I’m still kind of unsure of what happened that night.”

“So what he said was
true—our father had been doing things to you?”

“We
suspect, but could not prove it.”

“Same difference. When you know
, you know!” He shrugs his shoulders and starts walking back over to Nathan and his mom.

I look over
at them and she stands up to hug Nathan. He is like a bear, standing in front of her. He picks her up and stands her on the chair. She laughs, and they hug a mother and son hug.

Little Nathan
points to them with his elbow and looks at me. “See, told ya.”

They pull away from each other and her shirt sticks to his bare chest.
“Sorry, Mom.”

“No worries
,” she responds. He helps her down from the chair. “Okay!” she speaks loudly. “Everyone, let us leave this place. Those of us who can, burn this place down. I would prefer to never see it again.”

She doesn’t look at the black liquid or the pile of dust. I walk back to Nathan’s side.

“Thank you, Tracey, for saving my son. And now that I understand that you two are bound, I am not ready for any more children right now.” My eyes go wide. “I think it’s a little early, but that’s yours and Nathan’s business.” She raises her hands as she says it.

“I love you
, Mom,” he says low, and she smiles at him.

“I love you too
, son. Be good, and do right by Tracey. She’s a good girl.”

“Thank you
, Mom,” I answer. His eyes widen, and her expression turns excited.

“What are you saying
, Tracey?” She sounds like her son. “I like the way that sounds from you.”

I look at Nathan
, saying more to him than his mother. “I
would
like to be accepted into your family.” I step a little closer. “I’m not ready to move in right away or anything, but one step at a time.”

Nathan’s mom turns me
to her, hugging me close. “That makes me so happy, Tracey.” I hug her back, smiling to myself.

It’s going on nine o’clock when we make it to Nathan’s house. Nathan and I
rode with Taylor and Justin, and the rest left in the cars they came in. On the ride home, Nathan told Taylor about the bond, when we bonded, my dream when my palm turned black, the ugly, burning feather under my eye, which I refused to let her see, the ugly vines, and my fire hands.

I
don’t want to talk about what happened in the cottage before Nathan came to. It fills me with too much anger, and it hurts to remember Nathan as being almost dead.

The four of us sit in the kitchen eating. I was hungry
, considering I ran out on dinner. Nathan made us some garlic-herb chicken with mixed veggies—broccoli, carrots, string beans—and some chopped red potatoes. I drink from my glass of water, finishing it quickly.

“So you were supposed to meet Tracey’s parents tonight
,” Taylor says, out-of-the-blue.

Nathan drops his fork to his plate
, sits back in his chair, and wipes his mouth with a paper towel. “Tracey, I am so sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it
. It’s not like you blew me off. We’ll reschedule. Maybe you can come by for breakfast tomorrow, before my parents leave for the weekend.” I look at him before I finish my plate.