Chapter Seventeen
Hayes
A fter Aaliyah leaves with her dog in tow, the six of us remain silent. This wasn’t how we’d been hoping this would go, but I’m not overly surprised.
There’s so much pain inside of her. I don’t know if it’s just from what Archer did to her, but I don’t think it is. Some of the hurt is buried so deep inside of her, I think it came long before she ever met him.
As an empath, I want to do something to make her feel better. I hate seeing others hurt. Or at least the people I care about, and I do care about her, even if it doesn’t make sense logically.
“Fuck,” Tyson curses as he drops back into his seat. “I didn’t mean to get so pissed.”
Archer scoffs. “That seems to be a regular issue with you, Tyson. You have a lot of anger in you.”
“You would too, demon, if you were caged as a child and had your magic ripped from you regularly.” Tyson leans forward, his fists clenched on the counter as he stares down the demon.
Shaking my head, I push to my feet. A hand on my arm stops me, and I glance down at Reid. “Are you going after her?”
“Yes. I can’t deal with all the emotions in the air. Tyson can’t seem to stop projecting, and it’s giving me a headache. Plus, someone needs to talk to Aaliyah.” I glance out the door, watching as she throws a ball for the dog. “She has so much pain inside her, Reid.”
He nods. “I’m not surprised. Go. I’ll try to get Tyson to calm the hell down. Or maybe I’ll let him and Archer fight it out.”
“If they do that, make them do it out front.” Leaning down, I brush my lips across his, and he allows his love and contentment to leak out to me. I run my hand down my cheek, sending my love for him down our bond until we’re both smiling.
A smile that falls away as I step outside. As soon as the door shuts behind me, my shoulders relax as the emotions rolling around the air inside are blocked from me. I don’t miss the way Aaliyah tenses at my arrival though.
Instead of speaking, I move to stand behind her and off to the side so she doesn’t feel like I’m sneaking up on her. I stare out at the woods, longing rushing through me. It’s been so long since I’ve been able to sit in a forest among the trees.
If Aaliyah wasn’t so closed off to us right now, I’d ask her if I could spend the day among her trees.
It doesn’t take long for Aaliyah to turn to me and ask, “Can I help you with something, Hayes? I think I made myself perfectly clear before coming out here. I’m not what you’re looking for.”
I keep my eyes locked on the trees, trying to ignore the emotions currently pouring from her. I’m not really sure what comes over me when I suddenly say, “Actually, I was hoping that you could walk with me on your property? As a dryad, I prefer to spend at least part of my day among the trees, but Archer and Naomi’s place doesn’t have many.”
As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I relax. I don’t know if she’ll say yes or not, but I really hope she does. I’ll need to tell her about being an empath eventually, and a walk among the trees sounds like the perfect time to me.
“Sure.”
I look down at her and smile, which she quickly returns. Hurrying around to the front of her chair, I offer her my hand. She only hesitates for a moment before taking it and allowing me to help her to her feet. “Would your dog like to join us? I’m sorry, I didn’t catch her name.”
“Her name’s Kira, and she’d love to. We haven’t gone tromping through the woods in some time.”
Kira chooses that moment to run up with the ball in her mouth. She sits at Aaliyah’s side and drops it. Her eyes remain on me, but her ears are trained on Aaliyah.
Aaliyah laughs, petting the top of Kira’s head. “Kira, this is Hayes. Hayes, this is Kira. Hayes and I are going for a walk in the woods, would you like to come?”
Kira is barking and jumping around before Aaliyah has even finished her question. I laugh at the dog’s exuberance and relax further. There really is nothing better than a dog’s joy for life.
“Go on then, but stay close.” Aaliyah smiles as Kira races for the tree line. We follow at a more leisurely pace, both silent. We’re not too far into the trees when she turns to me. “Walking through the trees isn’t the only reason you came outside, is it?”
I shake my head. “Of course not. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Of course I’m okay. Yes, I kind of feel shitty about the fact that I hurt River.” She shrugs. “But I really do work best on my own.”
“Hmm… I guess I should’ve started this conversation differently. Part of the magic I get from being a dryad is empathy. It’s how we’re able to commune with the trees, allowing us to feel their needs and their wants.” I pause. “But those of us with stronger magic are often also empathetic to humans and even supernaturals.”
She considers me for a moment. “Are you saying that you can sense my emotions?”
“Yes, because you’re not blocking them. The others, they know to have a mental shield up. You didn’t, which is part of the reason I’m mentioning it.” I pause, wondering if I’m pushing this too far. “It’s how I know you’re not nearly as okay as you say you are. I sensed your pain, Aaliyah, and it’s heartbreaking.”
She curses, kicking a stick. “Of course, you’re a damn empath. Can’t hide shit from any of you.”
Even as she says it, I feel her mental shield going up, her emotions dampening.
“Now you can,” I say with a laugh. The smile she gives me is sad. “I’m a really good listener. I’d say you can ask the others, but then they’d want to know why you were asking. We’re a bunch of nosey motherfuckers.”
That pulls a laugh from her. “Let’s walk for a bit before I spill my guts, yeah? There’s a place I think you’ll really like.”
“Sure.”
The two of us walk in a comfortable silence, surprising me. I would’ve thought it would be awkward after admitting I’m an empath. I should’ve known better. Aaliyah is definitely someone who just rolls with the punches. It probably comes in handy as an assassin.
I never thought I’d be thinking something like that. Then again, I never thought I’d want to be involved with an assassin, either. I bite back a laugh at how absurd this all is. I guess I should’ve expected something weird to happen while we were tracking down a drug ring. I just don’t think I could’ve ever predicted Aaliyah—not that it’s a bad thing. In fact, I think she’d be great for us. She’d keep us on our toes even more than River does.
Not that she’s agreed to be anything to us. Or even work with us. I’m definitely getting ahead of myself, but what can I say? This woman definitely has us all wrapped around her damn fingers, and she doesn’t even know it.
“It’s just over here,” Aaliyah calls, having veered off the path while I was lost in my thoughts.
I hurry after her, catching up to her in a clearing of sorts. Only, it’s so much more than that. Surrounded by the oldest oaks, this is a place of worship. Walking into the center of the clearing, I lower myself to my knees and lean forward until my arms are outstretched and my torso is flat against the ground.
The power of the trees rushes through me, the prayers of the dryads before me sound out through my head. I can feel my body shifting as the trees call out to me. My limbs lengthen, my skin hardening, My hair becoming leaves until I lay prone as a walking, talking tree.
“Hayes?” Aaliyah calls hesitantly.
Forcing myself to my feet and away from the power, I turn to find her watching me. She doesn’t seem disturbed by the fact that I’m currently a tree, more intrigued than anything else.
“I”m sorry, foxy girl. This is a place where past dryads worshiped. The power of the trees called to me, and I was unable to ignore its call.”
She just smiles. “That’s nothing to apologize for, Hayes. It’s in your nature, and I was the one who brought you here. I didn’t know it was a place of dryad worship, but something told me you needed to see it.” She shrugs as I call on my magic and return to my usual form.
“Now that I have offered my praise, I should be fine. Why don’t we sit here and talk?” I reach my hand out to her, and she takes it without hesitation, bringing a smile to my face.
“This does seem like a good place to talk.” She lifts her fingers to her lips, letting out a loud whistle. Seconds later, Kira comes running through the trees. “Hey, baby. We’re going to take a break here. Have fun in the trees, but stay close.”
Kira gives a bark before darting back among the trees.
I turn to Aaliyah with a smile. “She loves you.”
“Of course she does. I’m the one who feeds her.”
“No, Aaliyah. Kira is an old soul. This isn’t her first life. She understands more than you think she does. She loves you because she admires you. You are her world, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.”
She stares at me for a moment, tears filling her eyes before she turns away from me. Even with her mental shields up, it’s clear she doesn’t want me to see this moment of what she considers weakness.
“Thank you,” she finally says. “That means a lot.”
I nod, even though she’s not facing me. “I thought it might.”
She sighs. “My story starts long, long before you can even imagine. My parents, if you can call them that, were a spider deity for a religion that’s been forgotten and a vengeance djinn. They didn’t have a child for the reasons that most people do.”
I sit and listen to her spill the story of her life, and it gives me a much deeper understanding of the hurt that’s buried so deep inside of her. Everyone she’s ever cared for has hurt her in some way or another. Of course, she thinks everyone will hurt her, and I can’t blame her. I don’t even know how to attempt to combat those thoughts.
When she falls quiet, her eyes still on the forest around us, my heart breaks for her. I scoot closer to her, turning her chin until her eyes meet mine.
“You’re strong, Aaliyah. Stronger than most because you had no choice. Your life has been filled with hurt and disappointment—no one can deny that. As hard as it must be for you to believe, not everyone is out to hurt you or use you.” I shake my head when she begins to speak. “It might be hard for you, but you have to learn to open yourself up. If you don’t, then you’ll be alone forever. Which of those things sounds worse to you?”
I don’t wait for her to answer as I lean down to brush my lips across hers. They’re soft and pliable beneath mine. Deepening the kiss, I lower her to lay on the ground, my body following hers. I swallow her little moans and whimpers as she clings to me. My hands trail over her body, never straying to the areas she’s practically begging me to touch.
This isn’t about sex—not really. This is about showing her I desire her but for more than her body. This is about showing her what could be if she’d just give it a chance.
Eventually, I break away, smiling when she chases my lips. Her eyes fall open, and she just gazes up at me.
“Shit,” she curses, sitting up so quickly that I barely manage to pull away enough so she doesn’t crack her forehead on mine. “You’re with the others. We shouldn’t have done that. We can’t do this.”
I want to laugh at her vehemence, but I somehow doubt that’ll go over well. “Yes, foxy girl, I am with the others. But this isn’t cheating or whatever you’re working yourself up over. We knew from the moment that Tyson met you that you would play some part in our lives. My mates and I all want you—we’ve discussed it already. Hell, the demons want you, too. You just need to give us a chance.”
“Mates?” Her eyes go even wider. “This is even worse than I thought. How could I do this?”
“Aaliyah,” I bark, and this time, I do laugh when she looks up at me with those wide eyes. “Did you just hear a word I said?”
She blinks at me as if she’s just seeing me. It takes another moment for my words to sink in. Somehow, she both tenses and relaxes at the same time.
“Oh,” is the only thing that comes from her mouth before she shakes her head. “That’s weird.”
“What’s weird?”
She makes a face like I should know what she’s talking about without her having to say it. “That the six of you are interested in me while we’ve been shoved on the same path.”
“Almost like it’s fated or something, huh?”
“I don’t believe in fate.” She wrinkles her nose. “If I did, then I’d have to believe that I was meant to spend centuries upon centuries being miserable.”
I cup her cheek with a soft smile. “But not all of them were miserable, were they?”
She sighs. “I guess not.”
“You can count on us—at least my mates and I. And the demons, I think.”
She scoffs as she pushes to her feet before whistling for Kira. I stand as Kira comes rushing over to join us. She surprises me when she takes my hand. “I guess we’ll see, won’t we?”