Chapter 6
Years of Regret
Willow stepped back and fell back into the seat.
“Careful,” he said, some of the concern returning.
She shook her head. “I … do you really not remember me at all?”
He looked down at her, his eyelids occasionally blinking and covering the startling blue of his eyes. Once, she thought she saw a set of eyelids move in from the sides, but Willow couldn’t believe she had really seen that. Being under his gaze was far more uncomfortable than anything she had experienced with the goons or the doctor. She stood up and moved to the door. “Shouldn’t we be getting out of here? That should be the priority.”
“I’m … You mean we’ve met?”
Willow began rubbing her forehead with her fingers and thumb. “You know what? It’s probably for the best that you don’t remember me. I don’t exactly have good memories about you, and if you not recognizing me means that you’ll keep treating me well, then …”
“If I hurt you, I want to make it right. Otherwise, how are we going to trust each other?”
Willow looked at him for a moment. “We’ve been trusting each other so far. Why should that change now?”
He took a deep breath. “You clearly have a negative view of me, so it’s possible that you would be more than happy to make sure I’m in a worse position before leaving. What guarantee do I have that you aren’t still trying to turn me over to them? And for you, why would you trust me given your negative view of me?”
“All I want right now is to get out of here. While I could do that on my own, they know who I am. They have my name, and they will find me. That was made abundantly clear to me. So, there is my motivation to make sure I get you out of here.”
He just shrugged at her.
She sagged and said in a defeated tone, “I know that you have power and money. And apparently you aren’t even human.” Willow looked up at him, her hair hanging down on the right side of her face. “I know that you have the ability to protect me. With nowhere else to turn, I don’t have any choice but to trust you, even though you tormented me in high school.”
There was a flash of recognition in his eyes, and his lips opened a little before he spoke. “Oh my. You’re Willow Addler!” His voice was far too loud, and she immediately put a hand over his mouth to shut him up.
Nolan tried to speak, but she shushed him. “We need to get out of here, Nolan. You shouting and drawing those assholes here isn’t going to help either of us. Whatever else you want to say can wait. Since bumping into you in the café, I've been leaning toward believing that you’ve changed into a decent person. I hope you are still the intelligent guy you were, so please don’t kill that hope.”
His eyes shone, and Nolan pulled her hand from his mouth. “I’m so sorry, Willow. I know I was a horrible, nasty brat back in high school. I’m not that person anymore.”
“That’s great, but not really relevant.” Willow was trying to feel anything that would indicate people were heading toward them. After repeatedly using her ability so much after having repressed it most of her life, she was starting to feel exhausted. Or perhaps it was the high level of stress and emotions she had experienced. Suddenly, she just felt so tired.
He pulled her into a tight hug. “I’m so, so sorry. I can understand why you would be willing to do me harm.”
Her body froze at the feel of his warmth and well-toned body. “It’s fine,” she said, not sure what to do as her body tensed up. Her face was pushed against his chest, and she could hear his heartbeat. “And I wasn’t trying to do you harm. I was told it was just supposed to be a prank.” She laughed but choked a little as she tried not to cry. “Funny because I really should have known that it was a setup. I barely managed to get a law degree, and that just proved that my parents’ money was responsible for most of it. I couldn’t even set a successful trap despite having the education that should have told me it was illegal.”
He placed a hand on her head. “I don’t know what’s happened to you, but don’t blame yourself. These people know how to hit pressure points to get what they want. And they know that your kind rarely has much support. If that plan hadn’t worked, they would have found another way.”
“Why are you being so nice to me when it’s my fault you are here?”
“I told you that I’m not here because of you. I’m here because of decisions I made.”
“You couldn’t have known what they told me to do, right?”
“No, I didn't know what they were planning, but I knew they were after you. My only goal was to protect you, and I failed. I’m the one to blame for our current predicament, not you.”
The compassion her former bully was showing her was more than any member of her family ever had. Fighting back the urge to sob, all she could think to say was, “I’m so sorry.”
He rocked her a little while she started crying. “It’s okay, Willow. It’s okay. There’s no reason for you to apologize. What I don’t understand is why money was enough to get you to agree? Your parents have more than enough to help you.”
Her voice was almost pleading as another tear rolled down her cheek and into his shirt. “Can’t we just go? I don’t want to talk about it.”
Nolan stepped away from her but held onto her upper arms. She could see his jaw tighten as he looked at her with concern. “Now that I know who you are, I am far more concerned about your history and why you are in such an awful position.”
Shaking his hands off her arms, she took a step away from him and scowled. “I really don’t think you should have any interest in me now. Thank you for forgiving me for what I did, but I’m not sure how to feel about you. You made school a living hell for me, but you seem like a different person now. And none of that is relevant right now while we are trapped in a maze-like facility full of people wanting to torture us.”
Nolan drew a hand down his face. “I understand. That’s entirely fair. But truly, I am sorry for the way I treated you. You didn’t deserve it.”
She felt the tears start to well up in her eyes again. “Can we please just figure out how to get out of here?”
“Yes, of course. But I really think that you need to sleep first. When I was healing your wrist, I could tell that you had nearly overexerted yourself. Your energy levels are very low, and I’m afraid once we leave here, you won’t be able to rest for a while.”
“I just want to leave.”
“I understand. Being trapped here with someone you loath can’t feel good, but I need to make sure that you are stable before we leave.”
“What – what do you mean by stable?”
“You haven’t really had a chance to explore and test your powers, so you can do serious damage to others – and more importantly yourself – if you push too far. I told you that someone like you destroyed a facility. The only reason she survived was because there was another dragon shifter nearby to help stabilize her. She … from what I was told, got so angry that she exploded nearly everything she touched. That could have eventually consumed her.”
Willow couldn’t help but give a feeble laugh. “I don’t think that we have to worry about me exploding in anger.”
“No. Given your abilities, I think that you are at risk of disappearing entirely.”
She looked at him, not sure if she heard him right. “What do you mean?”
“It’s just a guess, but because you can essentially disappear and phase through objects, I can see you pushing it to the point that you just disappear.”
Her heart began to race. “You think that my power makes me disappear?”
“No. Not if you are careful about how you use it.” He approached her and guided her to the bed. Carefully pushing her down, Nolan got her to sit down, then he sat beside her. Watching her, he continued trying to explain. “The people who work in this kind of facility like to push people like you to their limits.”
What the doctor had said clicked in Willow’s mind. “They push us until we die.”
“Yes. That’s why you are in much more danger here than I am. That's why it’s very important to let you rest and regain your energy. If we push to get you out of here in your current state, I’m afraid you won’t survive.”
Willow looked down at her hands. The memory of her broken wrist still seemed unreal because there was no sign of it now. “How am I supposed to rest? I can’t go back to the room where I was, and most of these rooms have a trigger that makes it relay information back to … somewhere. I don’t know.”
“How do you know?”
“I can sense it on the floors. When I connect with an inanimate object, I can figure out what’s in it.”
“Just inanimate objects?”
She looked over at him, the weary expression still reflecting a bit of a smile. “I don’t really want to try to move through things that are still alive.”
“Some people would say that rocks.”
Willow reached up with her now fully healed wrist and pushed him. Nolan laughed, then beamed at her. “I get it. It’s pretty normal to be good at just one thing. I couldn’t heal rocks and stone so it makes sense that your abilities don’t translate to walking through people and trees. And even if you can, I understand you not wanting to risk it. That just goes to show that you are a good person.”
“Are you making fun of me?”
“No. I’m being serious. A lot of people would use your gift to their advantage. Seriously, you could have walked into a bank or anywhere and just walked out with enough money to be okay. You didn’t. I’ve known people who would have experimented with living creatures to see if they could benefit from it. Your restraint is admirable.”
“I’m sure my parents – and a lot of other people – would point to it being a sign that I’m stupid or …”
He placed a hand over hers. “That’s only because they aren’t good people. Their assessment of you is based on self-interest. I suppose it’s lucky you did end up with a rich family who saw your power as embarrassing.”
“I don’t see how that’s lucky. They really used it against me.”
“If they had been poor, they would have used you to steal. That would have not only gotten you a police record, it would have made you more obvious to people like this.” He moved a hand to indicate the people outside the room.
Willow looked up and noticed the window. She hopped up. “I can’t be here out in the open.”
Nolan grabbed her hand and pulled her back to the bed. “It’s fine. I’ve manipulated the window. If they look in, they’ll just see a bleeding prisoner on the bed.”
This stunned her. “You can create illusions, too?”
“They don’t last long. Just an hour or two.”
“Oh, just a temporary illusion, nothing big.” She flopped down on the bed. “This has been so exhausting.”
“I understand. That’s why I think you should lie down and get some sleep.”
Willow’s eyes went to the door. “I think I’m going to need an hour or two. And I doubt it would help either of us if they saw me on the bed.”
“All you have to do is get under the blanket, and they won’t be able to tell the difference.”
“Seriously?” She looked at him askance. “There is a significant difference between our sizes. Anyone with half a brain could tell that it wasn’t you.”
“There is one more thing we could try.”
“And what’s that?”
“I can sleep on the bed, too. It’s not big, but if we are both on our sides, they won’t be able to tell you are here, too.”
Willow wanted to argue, to say that was a terrible idea, but she was too tired to fight. “Do you promise not to do anything?”
He looked hurt. “I’m not going to try anything with you, Willow.”
She was startled by his choice of words. “Oh,” she sniffed a weak laugh. “Of course, you aren’t interested in me like that. Thanks for reminding me. No, I meant you aren’t going to try to prank me or something.”
“No. I’ve never been one to prank people. I’m not going to turn you over to the people of the facility. I’m not going to do anything to harm you. While you are in my care, I will protect you and make sure that you get a chance to have the kind of life you deserve, not whatever hell you’ve been living.”
“Do you promise?”
He smiled. “I promise that you will wake refreshed and ready to go. Now lie down.”
Willow had no desire to argue. Even if she had wanted to, she didn’t have the energy. “Okay.”
She lied down and moved close to the wall, her face just a few inches away from it. Nolan lay down behind her, then pulled the cover over them both.
“Good night, Willow.” He kissed the back of her head. “And just so you know, you’ve always been too good for me. I always knew you were out of my league.”
She snorted, then mumbled, “You don’t need to lie. I remember everything you ever said to me when we were young.”
His voice sounded hurt as he replied, “You were always gorgeous, and that made you unapproachable. And I’ve spent years regretting the way I treated you.”
When she opened her mouth to respond, he placed a hand on her head. “Sleep.”
Whatever she was about to say slipped away as she drifted off into a dreamless slumber.