Chapter 14 #2
In a way, the situation had been almost like divine intervention.
A joke I’d kept to myself but now… Now everything seemed preplanned. Preordained.
Yet very uncontrollable.
“What is heaven?” Wren placed her hand on my mother’s arm, a sweet gesture that brought tears to my mother’s eyes.
“Oh, child, it’s the most beautiful place you can imagine.
The sky so blue, puffy white clouds. It never storms, never downpours with acid rain.
And the light breeze always brings the scent of fresh flowers and citrus.
Oranges and limes. Lemons. There are orchards of apple and cherry trees, always ripe and ready to be plucked and eaten. ”
The wording seemed so familiar. Maybe she’d told me stories of such a place when she used to read to me.
My sad guess was that Wren had no idea about most of what my mother was talking about, if any. But her little eyes were open wide, staring in wonderment. Maybe that’s the way I’d been as well, my mother’s stories just as colorful.
“And there are hundreds, thousands of dogs so Jake will have plenty of friends.” Mama was pleased with herself, even offering a butterfly kiss to Wren in catching her nose.
My goodness. When was the last time Mama had done that with me?
When I’d been little and able to almost curl up in her lap.
Wren gasped in a tiny flurry of joy as if heaven was a place we could visit any time we wanted. I hoped I wouldn’t need to break it to her that there was no heaven and if going there was necessary, it meant suffering and dying. Great. Now I was playing the Grim Reaper. Perfect.
After the twenty-four hours I’d endured and with the gang of looters or murderers outside just waiting to attack, I felt I was owned a little bit of leeway.
“When you get there, all your friends and family will be there waiting with open arms.” My mother’s voice was soothing, almost as if she was perfectly healthy again.
Wren’s face fell, a single tear rolling down her cheek.
“What’s wrong, honey?” Mama asked, so gently running her knuckle through the salty bead.
When Wren didn’t answer, my mother looked to me as if I had some magical powers over the little girl. Maybe I did understand her a little bit. I squeezed her shoulders. “Don’t worry, Wren. We’re your family now and you bet I’ll be there waiting for you and Jake. So will Mama and Daddy. Okay?”
Another tear, a slight hiccup, but Wren lifted her head toward me, searching for another confirmation. I nodded and before she flew into my arms, she leaned over the bed standing on her tiptoes, kissing my mother on the cheek.
The sweet gesture almost tore me apart.
With having Wren clinging to me, I was instantly annoyed when I felt a presence behind me. I didn’t even need to turn around to know who’d interrupted my private time.
Rage.
Mama lifted her eyebrows. Why was she smiling?
“Honey. We have company,” she said.
“He needs to leave,” I stated in return.
“He’s not going to. Go do what you need to do. Okay? Please? I will be fine while you’re gone.”
Her voice was so insistent and I rose to my feet, pressing a kiss on her forehead. She was so clammy, yet her skin was cold. My heart was doing flipflops, struggling more than before with holding my emotions in check. I certainly had no desire to allow Rage to see me at my lowest.
She took my hand, forcing me closer. “Trust him. With all your heart and soul.”
Trust. My silly mother. Why she thought I could trust the barbarian was beyond me, but I smiled as I pulled away. There was no sense in causing her any additional concern.
Wren also pulled away, far too happy to see him. So was Jake, immediately thumping his tail against the floor. I was obviously the only one who wished I could drive a stake through Rage’s eyeballs. Maybe that would come later.
For a few seconds, I was pulled back in time to when I’d had my puppy. Maybe Peter and everyone else were right and that Wren and Jake had been sent to me, a gift or a reminder that the future could be changed.
Rage accepted Wren’s hug, appearing as uncomfortable as I thought the moment to be, but I walked toward him, realizing it was time.
Once I was standing in front of him, I touched Wren on the shoulder. “I’m going to take you to bed in a minute. Just wait a second. Okay?”
Wren seemed to realize I needed to talk to him alone, returning to my mother’s bedside. Using two fingers, I pushed him into the corridor where the other Savages were waiting. Even with the tattoos I’d seen, I refused to accept that they were anything special.
“Don’t wake my father. He hasn’t slept in a long time.” My words of chastisement brought a smile to his face.
Did he not understand how much he irritated me?
“Plans have been expedited. We are about to eliminate the enemy.” He was so calm about the whole thing I wasn’t certain if he was trying to impress me.
It wasn’t working.
“I’m coming with you.”
At least I continued to surprise and irritate him. “No, you are not. There are complications including a storm heading toward us.”
“How do you know?”
“I know.” Rage was so certain of himself, every aspect dominating, and a complete know it all. Maybe that’s what pissed me off more than his basic presence.
However, if he was right about storms, that could mean anything. With the unpredictable microclimates, there could be torrential downpours and heavy, damaging winds that would make traversing the terrain impossible.
“I may have relinquished control with this fight, but as I’ve already told you, this is my home, these are my people. You can’t stop me.”
“It’s dangerous, princess.”
“Isn’t everything? And stop calling me princess. As I said, there is nothing you can to do to stop me.”
“Let her go, Rage. This is her destiny. She has been trained as a warrior and will be helpful.” Peter had also been lurking in the shadows. At least he was on my side.
I didn’t need any additional lighting to know his displeasure. I felt it in my bones. He shored up his massive shoulders, which managed to fill a doorway, and nodded only once. “Very well, but you will do what I say.”
“Wren. Come with me. You need some sleep.” When she accepted my hand, curling her fingers around mine, I leaned into him with a harsh whisper. “Over my dead body.”
There was no need to wait for his retort, nor did I care what he had to say. With Jake dutifully following, we headed toward my quarters. I was surprised she didn’t argue, didn’t really pay attention to my messy room.
Jake curled up by her side and when she was tucked in, I sat on the edge of the bed. “Alright, sweet girl. I have a couple things to do and I’ll be back. I promise.”
She nodded profusely, already stroking Jake’s head and I sensed it was a calming mechanism.
“Just do me a favor and stay in this room. You’ll be perfectly safe here and you need your rest. Okay?” She was staring at me as I rubbed my fingers across her forehead. She even looked a little like I had as a child.
I kissed two fingers and pressed them against her cheek before heading to the door, looking back only once. I thought about Peter’s comment that I was a warrior. Maybe he was right, but only because I knew nothing else.
But someone would need to explain to me in vivid detail why all this was my destiny.