Chapter 12.
le.
I’D NEVER THOUGHT I’Dbe so nervous taking someone ‘home.’ I’d assumed of course, that any lover or mate I’d be taking back to meet my family would be a shifter too. Not a human who had no idea that we even existed. On the being grateful for small mercies side of things, at least Abby was gifted. She could see us while regular humans couldn’t. She could see paranormals and magicals, and having dealt with angels all her life, she stood a much better chance of accepting our strange world.
“Keep driving north,” I said, pointing straight ahead of us. “The easiest place to drive to is the M3 highway, then park in the truck stop off exit 25. Then we can walk from there. There are closer entrances, but those are more bunny friendly than human friendly. We’re going to the secret front one, and it has stairs.”
She glanced over at me and grinned, clearly in a good mood. “Well, I’m damn glad I wore flats then!”
I glanced down at her shoes with a smile. “It’s not too far,” I promised. Hell, I’d carry her if she needed me to. I was more than capable, and truth be told, I’d do anything for my mate.
That might actually be a bit of fun. Holding her in my arms as I stroll through the woods in the sunshine.
The energy in the car shifted and excitement fizzled in the air between us like lit firecrackers burning toward blast off. For the rest of the drive, neither of us spoke. I just rested my hand on her thigh and stared out at the world as everything whizzed by.
When we finally pulled over at the most convenient spot for a car, she turned off the engine and climbed out, slinging her bag over her shoulder. “Your burrow must be pretty well hidden if this is the easiest way in.” She shaded her eyes from the sun and looked around at the secluded spot.
I slid my hand into hers as we navigated the path into the forest and toward the burrow. “I can run pretty fast,” I explained, which was a drastic understatement. “And most shifters are good over long distances, so we don’t really think about it to be honest. But yeah, the location here would have been chosen originally to be as far away from humans as possible.”
We wandered on for a while in peace, and Abby seemed happy and relaxed. She was looking around, making observations, enjoying the beauty of the spring day and smiling a lot.
“So...” I began, thinking that I should really try and deal with the issues that my angel friend had brought up for me the other day. “Amery mentioned in passing that you were interested in travelling. Have you made any plans so far?” I asked.
She turned to look up at me. “Ah... not anything solid, yet. I haven’t booked anything, no. But Amery’s right. She knows me pretty well. I’ve always wanted to trek around America, and maybe even Europe, too,” she said, before her gaze shifted to the grassy ground.
A wave of sadness washed over me at her forlorn expression, and I instinctively squeezed her hand. “What’s wrong, Abby? That sounds like a great plan.”
“Would you come with me?” she asked suddenly, then looked up again, her eyes searching. “It would be so much more fun if you were there, too.”
“Ah...” I’d never thought about leaving the burrow before. Not for any longer than a single night.
What would I do? Where would we go? How would my rabbit shifters handle everything while I was gone?
My heart raced and my head spun at the mere thought. It wasn’t a good feeling.
She sighed heavily as I hesitated with my response. “Yeah... I know. You probably can’t, can you?” She sounded so despondent that it broke my heart.
I had to jump in and say something more. I had to salvage her hope somehow. “Oh, I can,” I reassured her without really thinking it through properly. “I think. To be honest, I’ve never left the state. I don’t really know how it would work, exactly. I’d have to look into it, first, that’s all.”
None of us had ever travelled far from home. We had a job that required out presence all year round. It was our purpose. Easter might be our holiday, our busiest time of the year, but it took eleven long months of hard work and preparation to pull off that one joyous event for the world and I don’t think she quite understood that.
And why would she? This is all alien to her. Even more so than angels falling from the sky...
Her eyes brightened and her mood visibly lifted. “So, maybe if we went for shorter times, like a few weeks here and there, we could go together? As long as it wasn’t near Easter?” she pressed, her sparkling green eyes even more prominent against the beauty of the forest.
My heart ached as I stared at her, seeing her hope flicker as fragile as a candle in the wind praying not to be snuffed out. “Well... yes...” I said. “Possibly.” I didn’t have any human money, nor a passport or legal identification. That was all human red tape as far as we were concerned. We didn’t need such things in our world. Everything was a lot more organic.
Shit! How will I be able to travel without that kind of documentation?
“That’s so great,” she went on to say as my own mood began to spiral down. “I’ve always wanted to go to New York and Vegas. Maybe drive Route 66. And that’s just here in America! Europe would be incredible. All that ancient medieval history... it’d be like stepping back in time! Hey, what’s wrong?” she asked, noticing my mood shift.
“Oh nothing,” I lied. “Just thinking about it all. It’s a lot to take in.”
My life was so incredibly different to hers. I served the public. I spent my whole life creating gifts and treats for the children of the world. The idea of taking a vacation and leaving my home... my colony? I just wasn’t sure I could do it.
And why would I?
Did I really want to see Vegas? It was a human cacophony of flashing neon lights and constant noise. And it would be overflowing with people and based on what I’d heard over the course of my life, the sorts that frequented such places weren’t always the best calibre of people. I didn’t understand it. What was the appeal? Shows? Gambling? Expensive accommodation? I grimaced the more I dwelled on it.
With every step we took toward my burrow, in the quiet of the beautiful woods, the more I realized that my world and Abby’s most likely wouldn’t mix. But how could I tell her that? The only way we could potentially work is if she were essentially willing to give up her human life and her preconceived ideas of what that entailed. She’d have to sacrifice everything and become Mrs. Easter Bunny. And from the sounds of it... that was the furthest thing from what she wanted.
She’d just spent the majority of her life tied to one cause and purpose, whether she liked it or not. And now, she craved freedom. I understood. I really did, and I didn’t want to trap her, or make her feel like she had no choice. This whole situation was beginning to seem more and more hopeless and dire by the moment. I sighed.
“This is beautiful,” Abby said, glancing around at the tall trees and shrubbery. “How is the burrow hidden, like is there a door or a hatch or something?”
I forced a smile to my face and gestured toward the entrance. “It’s just over here.”
She squealed a little in excitement and grabbed tighter to my arm. “So, do you own all the land around here? Or is it national parkland?” she asked.
“I believe we own it,” I said, frowning at the thought. “I’d have to ask my manager though to know for sure. He knows more about all those details than me.”
“I just ask for your safety that’s all,” she clarified. “The last thing you’d ever want is for the stupid government to decide that they wanted to build a new development here. That would endanger you all and be a travesty to nature.”
I stared at the beautiful spot, aghast at the very idea of it being destroyed. “Nothing like that will ever happen if I have anything to do with it,” I answered.
“I know,” she gushed. “You’re amazing. I have no doubt you’d do everything in your power to protect your colony.” Abby beamed. “So, can we go in, now?”
I nodded and tugged her toward the entrance, my heart pounding.
This is it.
We stopped at the top of the hidden stairs, and I pointed down. “The front door is there, but there are multiple entrances as I’ve mentioned.”
Abby didn’t move and clung to my arm. Suddenly her enthusiasm to explore the burrow evaporated and trepidation took its place. “It’s completely underground, right? Are there at least any windows to at least let light in and the breeze through the burrow?”
I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of such a notion, but I refrained, knowing that would be a one-way ticket to a melt-down and blow-up town.
But windows? In an underground burrow? That would be like putting opening windows in a submarine!
“Ah... no. No, there aren’t.”
She stared up at me, her eyes wide and fear evident in her gaze. “But how do you breathe?”
I squeezed her hand, offering her what comfort I could and took a step down. “Come on. I’ll show you. It’s safe, I promise. I wouldn’t have agreed to this visit and tour if it wasn’t. I’d never let you come to harm, Abby. I’ve got you.”
Abby took a deep, shuddering breath and nodded, gulping audibly. “Okay. I trust you.”
I coaxed her down the stairs one at a time, and then hit the passcode to open the front door.
The moment I pushed it open, she whimpered a little.
Impatience at her anxiety warred with my need to keep her calm. “I’ve lived here my whole life. I promise you’ll be safe. There are bedrooms and a dining room, and several work rooms. We all live in the burrow, every day, snug as a bunch of bunnies.”
Abby took another step down, her breathing coming in labored little pants as she fought the panic that clearly threatened to overwhelm her. “I suppose... it’s just like a ship, right?” she reasoned. “Like when you go below deck?”
“Exactly,” I said, gently guiding her into the well-lit hallway. “It’s just like that. Now, I have to shut the door behind us, but we have lighting in every room and you’re free to leave whenever you like, you know that right? If you’ve really changed your mind about all this, we can turn around and I’ll take you back to your car. No pressure.”
Abby glanced behind us, at the only escape route she knew of and shook her head, her lip quivering. “No. I’ll be okay,” she answered, though it was evident that she was still no less frightened.
“Come on, Abby. You said you trusted me, didn’t you?” I asked gently.
She took a deep breath and nodded, pinching her lips together tightly.
“All right, then.” With a measured breath of my own and no small amount of trepidation over what was to come, I shut the door behind us. The angel agent was well and truly in my world. Abby was the proverbial Alice, and she’d just fallen headlong into Underland. All that remained to be seen was whether our adventure into the unknown would end the way all good fairy tales did... or not.