Chapter 24 - Westley
I was looking around, trying to find out where the warning was even coming from, when I felt something else. There was a strong pull, a new scent that filled the air. I knew that scent belonged to Gabriella; it was her magic. I knew it almost as well as I knew my own body.
“What is that?” Kaleb asked, pausing next to me.
“That’s Gabriella’s magic. But she’s at home. Asher told me he was there and going to meet up with me for breakfast.” Or she was supposed to be at home. Had something happened at home? But it wasn’t coming from that direction. It was coming from the woods.
“It’s coming from the woods, though.”
Belrose was a mess, and people were looking around, trying to figure out what was going on. People were inside buildings looking outside the windows. No one seemed to know what was going on.
I moved around people, my eyes glued to the woods. I felt that pull continue, worrying building deep in my gut. “Something isn’t right.”
“Westley!” I turned as I heard Asher coming down the road toward us. I expected to see at least Lucia or Hazel with him, but he was alone. My stomach dipped.
“What is going on? Where is Gabriella?” I asked in a rush.
“She and Lucia are gone. I can’t find them.”
Shit. I knew something was wrong.
I turned back toward the woods and hurried. I tried to shake off the worry, but it only grew. How the hell had she gotten away from Asher? What was going on?
And Lucia was gone. Gabriella mentioned she was worried about her doing something. What if she were causing all of these problems? And we’d had her in our house.
I was running now, and I could hear Asher yelling after me as I headed into the woods. I scanned the area, taking in the white sheet of snow. But I saw prints heading in. There was only one set, though.
I kept moving, following the footsteps but not stepping on them. The woods grew quiet, almost like the wind didn’t even want to be around. Asher was getting closer. “Westley!”
“How did this happen?” I snapped, turning to him. “You had one job! I asked that you help watch after her!”
Asher froze and looked at me, stunned. “She went to her room to cool off. Lucia went to talk to her, but she didn’t come back. They both snuck out.”
“And why didn’t you watch them closer!”
“I was giving her space! How was I supposed to know she was going to sneak out?”
“You were supposed to protect her!” I yelled.
A scream erupted, and we both turned and took off up the incline. As we peered over the hill, my eyes widened in horror. Gabriella. She was on the ground, her hair splayed out around her. She wasn’t moving, and Lucia was hovering over her.
I took off, running down the hill. “Gabriella!”
Lucia looked up at me. I could see her mouth moving, but I didn’t hear what she was saying. All I knew was I couldn’t trust her. I should have listened to Gabriella when she told me and done something right away.
“Let her go!” I yanked Gabriella from her hold, shoving her away. Lucia fumbled back, looking at me with wide eyes.
“Westley…” Asher stopped next to me.
“Arrest her,” I snarled, glaring at Lucia. “I don’t want her anywhere near Gabriella.”
Lucia’s eyes started to water. “It’s not what you think. I didn’t hurt her. I promise!”
“Who is that?” Asher asked, pointing his hands at a body a few feet ahead of us.
I looked over at it. The body looked like it had been electrocuted, its limbs falling randomly. But I could sense the darkness, and I knew it was a vampire hunter. I could then smell Gabriella’s magic. The space was filled with it.
“Why are you working with them?” I asked, looking back at Lucia. “What did they offer you? Did they offer you money? Land? What? What did they give you to do this?”
She shook her head, waving her hands. “I’m not! I swear! I don’t know what happened here.”
I didn’t believe her. How could I? Gabriella expressed concern, and here they were in the woods. “Stop lying.”
“She’s not,” Gabriella spoke up in a weak voice.
My head snapped down as I looked at her. Her eyes slowly opened, and I watched as pain crossed her face. She looked exhausted and pale, but she was alive.
I pulled her tighter. “Ella…” I cupped her face, pressing my forehead to hers. I inhaled her scent as I felt my shoulders relax.
“She’s telling the truth. She wasn’t involved.”
I rubbed my thumb over her cheek, staring deeply into her eyes. I wanted to believe her, but how could I? What happened here? Who was lying just a few feet away from us?
“Take care of Lucia. I need to get her looked over.” I said, hoisting Gabriella up into my arms. She tried to wiggle free, but I held onto her tightly.
“Westley, put me down. We don’t have time for this.”
“Stop fighting me. I need to make sue your not hurt.” I headed back into town, refusing to let her down. After a while, she finally stopped trying to free herself. I don’t remember driving her home, but that’s where I headed. I took her inside and settled her onto the couch.
She was still shaking, her eyes seeming unable to track. I leaned into her space and softened my voice. I needed to understand what happened. “Gabriella, tell me what happened? Did she hurt you?”
She shook her head. “No, Lucia didn’t hurt me.”
“Then what happened?”
I held her hands as she looked down at them. She licked her lips and swallowed. “It all happened so fast.”
I squeezed her hands, watching her eyes move as she tried to piece everything together. “I was looking for Hazel, and I found her. I followed her. She kept walking further into the woods, no matter how many times I called for her. She wouldn’t stop. She wouldn’t even turn around and look at me.”
She swallowed. “I finally caught up to her, and it wasn’t her. I mean, it was, but not really. It was a vampire hunter. She shifted… like magic. I couldn’t understand.”
She squeezed her eyes shut. “And she came at me. She planned it that way. I don’t know if I would be here if it weren’t for Lucia.”
I looked at her, confused now. “What do you mean?”
“We were arguing before I snuck out. I accused her of being a part of the problem and told her I wanted her out of the house. Asher told me to calm down, so I left. She followed me. She threw a rock and caught the hunter off guard, which gave me enough time to pull myself together.”
Her eyes widened, and her words sank in. “Hazel is out there somewhere, Westley. We have to find her. I went to the healing center, and they said they hadn’t seen her in days! I know she’s out there somewhere.”
I called up Brandon and told him everything that happened. We put together a search party within ten minutes, and I was driving Gabriella back to the woods.
We searched everywhere. We spread out, and everyone was looking everywhere they could to find her. Gabriella looked like she was at her wits’ end as we searched.
“We’re going to find her,” I expressed as she was looking in some bushes.
“Why haven’t we found her yet?” she asked, her voice pitching higher. I could see tears burning in her eyes now. I reached out, pulling her toward me. We had been searching for a couple of hours now, with no results. “We will,” I whispered as I wiped her tears away. “I promise.”
“Westley! Gabriella!” Asher’s voice pitched high as he yelled at us, waving his hand. “Over here.”
Gabriella broke free, running forward toward Asher. I hurried after her, finding Asher standing in front of a small cave. It smelled of dark magic, and I wrinkled my nose up.
“It smells.”
“Hazel?” Gabriella spoke into the cave, peering inside.
We all moved forward, stepping slowly into the cave. The cave didn’t go far, but a few yards. We were only a little further in before we spotted a body. Gabriella froze for a second before running forward. “Hazel!”
Hazel lay on the ground, her body looking like it had been tossed aside. Her clothes were ripped, and she had bruises covering her body. Gabriella hoisted Hazel into her arms, her voice breaking. “Hazel! Are you okay? Speak to me!”
But Hazel lay limp. Gabriella started to scream louder, shaking at Hazel with tears breaking free. “Why isn’t she waking up!?”
I could see that Hazel was alive and breathing, but she was fast asleep, almost like she was in a coma.
“We need to bring her to the witches. She could be under a spell.”
Asher reached for Hazel, pulling her into his arms. Gabriella cried as she reached for me. “You have to help her! I can’t lose her. She can’t leave me. I can’t lose her. I need her.”
I held Gabriella close while she sobbed. I half-carried her as we followed Asher. We headed back into town, where the witches were waiting by the training area. Asher laid her down by them, and they quickly jumped into action.
I held Gabriella while she held onto her sister’s hand. Her entire body was shaking as the witches spoke.
A few moments felt like forever.
But suddenly, Hazel’s eyes slowly opened, and Gabriella screamed. She jumped on her sister, pulling her into a tight hug. “Hazel! You’re okay!”
Hazel looked around, confused, her eyes bouncing from one person to the next before landing on Gabriella. “Wha…what’s going on?”
“Are you okay! What happened?” Gabriella leaned back, cupping her sister’s face. “We need to know what happened.”
Hazel leaned back and frowned. “I… I was leaving work. One second, I was walking, and the next, I was in darkness. What is going on?”
Gabriella leaned back and looked at her sister. “Wh… what day is this?”
Hazel looked at her and then at me. “It’s Thursday, January third.”
I looked at Hazel, taking in her messy hair and her clothes. She was wearing an outfit I remembered her wearing regularly, but I hadn’t seen it in a few weeks.
“That was two weeks ago, Hazel,” Gabriella said, shaking her head. “That can’t be. I would have noticed.” Gabriella paused for a moment, looked at me. “She’s been gone for two weeks, and I didn’t notice.”
“What about Lucia, though?”
Gabriella’s face fell. “That all started… two weeks ago. Hazel… no, not Hazel. The hunter started telling me that Lucia was doing things. But I never saw her. I just… she must have set Lucia up to throw me off.” Gabriella shook her head. “God, I owe Lucia an apology. I screamed at her.”
“What happened?” Hazel asked, looking between all of us, confused. “What did I miss?”
Gabriella’s shoulders dropped. “A lot. I can tell you once we get you back home.”
We headed home, and it took a while for Gabriella and Hazel to catch up. I let them have the living room while I relaxed in the bedroom. I was on the phone with Brandon when Gabriella came into the room. She looked tired, bags forming under her eyes, and her body looked ready to drop.
I nodded at something Brandon said, but I wasn’t listening anymore. She walked over, plopping herself down on the bed.
“Sounds good, Brandon. I’ll talk to you later.” I ended the line and shoved my phone into my pocket. Gabriella offered me a smile. “Hazel is heading to bed, and Asher called, saying he found a place for Lucia to stay tonight since she wasn’t sure if she should come back.”
I nodded, knowing that meant she technically could go back to the other spare room. A part of me suddenly wished she wouldn’t. I liked her sharing my bed. I liked having her in my space and waking up to her.
“So, are you planning to sleep in the other room now?”
She frowned. “I don’t want to.”
My eyebrows went up because I hadn’t expected that. She licked her lips and rubbed her hands together nervously. “I need to say something, and I need you to just listen.”
She chewed on her cheek for a moment before speaking.
“I think that maybe I fell in love with you. Somewhere along the way, things stopped feeling fake. And I know you probably don’t feel the same, but I needed to at least get the words out.
You’ve done nothing but be there for me, hold me when I’m sad, and even tonight, you once more put me ahead of your own needs.
You’ve cared for my sister and me in more ways than I can thank you for. ”
I watched as tears filled her eyes. “And I know I shouldn’t say anything because I know you don’t feel the same, and it’s only going to make this already complicated situation more messy. So, I will try to ignore them, try to push it down as far as I can because I don’t want to lose this.”
I frowned. “That’s not going to work.”
She started to softly cry, wiping at her tears as she nodded her head. “Do you want us to move out? I said too much, right?”
I bent down, cupping her face as I looked into her eyes. I wondered how the hell we got here? Why did we feel we needed to make things so messy instead of just letting things slide into place as they had?
Why had I been so worried about this? Thinking that being close to her would ruin everything, that I would ruin her. Why didn’t I see everything before?
“That’s not going to work because I don’t want this to be fake anymore.”
Her tears stopped.
“It’s your turn to just listen.” I moved some of her hair behind her ear.
“I thought I was doing you a favor by pulling away. But I wasn’t.
And I wasn’t helping myself because Gabriella, you are the best thing that has happened to me.
You make my days easy, and when you smile, I know I’ve won.
I don’t want you moving into the spare bedroom because that would mean waking up to you in the morning.
I want to spend every minute I can with you, and if that means only sleeping together some nights, then I will take it. ”
Her eyes widened. “Wh… what?”
I leaned closer, pressing my nose against hers. “I love you. So no, your plan won’t work. Your plan doesn’t sound like the future I want. I want you. I want a marriage. I want kids and warm nights together under these sheets. I want that.”
She started to cry again as I kissed her, pulling her tightly into my arms. “I love you too,” she cried, her arms tightly wrapped around me. “And I’m not saying it because you did.”
I held her, knowing there was still a lot we needed to talk about and figure out, but at least we were being honest. No more shoving the emotions down. No more hiding the truth. It was all out there.