Chapter Thirty – Laina
You’d think road trips would be easy, but a cross-country road trip as your very first one was probably not the easiest way to start out.
Driving through the Appalachians was neat.
Those mountains were full of trees and dense fog—not to mention some curvy highways that made you feel like you were riding in a roller coaster.
But, past that, once you got through the adjacent states to those, there were so many states that were just… flat. Flat and kind of boring to drive through. Like, so boring you got excited when you saw a tree. Seriously.
And the rest stops? It got to the point where there weren’t that many of them.
We did not drive straight through. Doing so would’ve been stupid and dangerous.
Every night, when dusk fell, we hopped off whatever highway we were on and found a hotel with vacancies.
Hated to report the front desk worker at each one we stopped at gave us weird looks when we asked for a single room with two beds.
Hey, we weren’t looking to waste a bunch of money on silly hotels in the middle of nowhere.
It was all very… normal, really, minus the whole multiple boyfriends thing.
The guys actually got along, though Kieran did constantly try to monopolize my time during the drive even though I did my best to split my time evenly between the three cars.
There wasn’t any arguing, and they actually cracked some jokes together.
Okay, Kieran cracked the jokes, but Fang and Mike laughed at them, so. Definitely progress.
I kept Jason updated every bit of the way.
Each time we crossed a state line, I sent him a picture of the sign—of course, most of the time the picture ended up blurry as hell, but he still got the gist. Every time he responded with something along the lines of: I’m ready for you. Can’t wait to see you.
From what it sounded like, he had a whole group of people who were dying to meet me and Kieran. The ones he’d helped, I assumed. I couldn’t wait to meet them and learn more about Jason.
During the drive, I thought a lot about where else I wanted to go, what I wanted to see. There were so many cool-looking places, so many parks and scenic sights it would be nice to go and experience at least once. Once we got to Jason’s house, we’d have to sit down together and decide, map it out.
Montana, as it turned out, was a varied state.
By the end of the third day, we drew near to the city Jason called home.
What started out as mostly flat ended up getting slowly hillier as the time went by, not to mention chillier.
We were definitely more north than we were before, and the closer you got to the mountains meant the temperature went down.
Winter was coming. Not sure if I’d like to experience a Montana winter or not.
Didn’t know if I had the thick coat needed for something like that.
The GPS in the car said we reached our destination, so we turned into the driveway. I was with Kieran then, and his hands were tight on the wheel as he glanced at me. “Well, almost there. Can’t say I ever imagined we’d be here.”
“Is this different than where you grew up?” I asked after messaging Jason.
“Yes and no. I mean, a different place, but kind of the same. Small town.”
“I’m excited,” I said, glancing out the window.
The driveway was long and winding—and it wasn’t paved or pebbled.
It was just a dirt path. It took us a while to reach the house, and by the time we pulled up, Jason was waiting for us on the wooden porch that wrapped around the entire front of his house.
He was right when he’d said it wasn’t as big as I was used to—and he wasn’t wrong.
The house itself was a fraction of the square footage of the one we had before, the one I lived in with my dad for a while before the man beside me kidnapped me and saved my life.
Just two stories tall, with a roof that looked like it needed some work.
But, strangely, Jason was also wrong. The house itself might’ve been smaller, but everything else was so much bigger, to the point where it took my breath away. I got out of the car, and my mouth actually fell open as I gazed around.
No neighbors you could see. Nothing but a dilapidated barn that looked like it needed a complete renovation.
In the distance, however far away it was in reality, you could see mountains.
With the darkening sky, the sky was alive in pinks and oranges, the colors dancing off the few clouds.
When the breeze blew, I didn’t smell urine or body odor or anything bad.
Only dirt. Only the unfamiliar scent that came hand-in-hand with nature.
Mike and Fang parked their cars, and by the time they joined Kieran and I, Jason had come down and greeted us: “Well, like I said, it isn’t what you’re used to, but—”
I stepped away from Kieran and set a hand on Jason’s arm, whispering, “It’s beautiful.”
He glanced behind him, behind his house, at the mountains far off. “Yeah, the view ain’t bad. Wait till we have a clear night. The stars are something else.”
I had no idea what that meant. I knew light pollution around cities was terrible, but surely the night sky couldn’t be that different, could it? Color me intrigued.
“Well, old man,” Kieran deadpanned, “you going to help us with our bags and give us a tour or what?”
Jason glared at his son, but that glare softened when his dark eyes returned to me. “How about a tour and some dinner first? The bags can wait.”
“I’ve never been to a place like this,” Fang remarked. “I thought I’d die alone in that city, to be honest. I look forward to seeing more of it.” Beside him, Mike didn’t say anything, but anyone with eyes could see the wonderment on his features as he stared off into the distance.
“Some of us can wish,” Kieran muttered under his breath, but his attitude faded the moment I shot him a look, and he gave me a sheepish grin.
“A tour and dinner sounds great,” I finally replied to Jason.
He led the way into his house and gave us a quick tour. The rooms were small, yes, but ready for us. Kieran complained a little, but I was nothing but excited. I practically bounced from room to room.
It was so different. So different and so thrilling. So new.
My journey had only begun, but I had multiple men by my side, men who’d do anything for me. Men who’d go to the ends of the earth if I asked them to. We’d shut one door by leaving and going somewhere new, but as a result, countless new doors stood before us, waiting. The possibilities were endless.
I’d been through so much, done so much. I’d spilled blood, even some of my own.
I’d fallen in love with my Devil and unmasked him.
I’d fallen in love with a man who’d implanted two sharp silver canine teeth in his mouth in place of his own natural ones.
I’d fallen for the bodyguard the local mafia had pawned off on me.
And now, I was falling for my Devil’s father.
I always thought it was silly when people made the claim that falling in love made them a different person, but these guys… they’d helped me discover who I was, and they stood by me. They were mine, and I was theirs, and neither fact would change, regardless of where we ended up.
This was the start of something new.
And, yes, the stars that night gave a new definition to the word beautiful.