Chapter Seven
Jaxon followed Ginny into the house. His stomach twisting.
He’d once loved this house. Once upon a time, this was a second home to him. But that was many years ago, and like all things tarnished with the passage of time and betrayal, it was nothing but a shell of painful reminders.
“We need to go,” he said. He was no longer in a gentle or a forgiving mood. He didn’t know what kind of female Ginny had turned into for showing him this, reminding him of how his life hadn’t turned out. But he knew now that he no longer knew her. Hell, maybe he never had.
“I said, we need to leave,” he said, this time more forcefully.
She turned, and he expected her to retort with some smart-ass reply. But when he saw her pale face illuminated by her phone, he knew something wasn’t right.
“Ginny, what’s…”
Her eyes rolled back in her head. She slumped forward. He lunged for her and scooped her up in his arms before she hit the floor.
Her phone slid out of her hand and hit the hardwood floor with a thud. Surrounded by darkness, he blinked, adjusting his keen eyesight in the darkness.
He walked over to the broken window toward the back of the house. The musty lace curtain fluttered in the breeze and stirred a strand of hair against her cheek.
She was even more beautiful than he’d remembered. She’d obviously lost weight and she looked pale, but in her relaxed state with her eyes closed, she looked peaceful, all the stress he’d seen in her face now gone.
The urge to lean down and press his lips to hers was overwhelming. He’d been doing his best to control his body ever since he’d laid eyes on her. Now it was all he could do to stay sane.
Her eyelashes fluttered open and she moaned. She met Jaxon’s gaze and frowned.
“What happened?” She turned her head toward the window.
“You fainted. That’s what happened.” He cocked his head. “Think you can stand if I put you down?”
“Yes, of course.” The scowl was back on her forehead, and she pushed at his chest to get him to release her.
He eased her to the floor but held his hands on her arms.
“I’m fine, Jaxon. You can let go.” She shoved at his chest, but he didn’t move.
“Just making sure you don’t hit the floor.” He studied her eyes. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing’s going on.”
“Right. Like nothing’s going on with those bruises on your arms.” His narrowed gaze drifted down.
She flinched out of his grip and shook her head. “You need to focus, Jaxon. I need to know how to get my car out of that ditch, and fast.” She blinked rapidly.
He rubbed his chin with his fingers. “Well, I can call for a wrecker. But that’s going to take hours. Or I could just take you home myself.”
“How am I going to explain my car?” Her eyes widened and her breathing increased as she stared off.
“Just tell him the truth. That it was stolen.” He studied her expression. It was a look he’d never seen on his Ginny before. She wasn’t his. She hadn’t been for quite a while. Maybe she never had been.
She swallowed. “I can’t.”
“You can’t what?” he cocked his head.
She met his gaze and pressed her lips into a thin line. She took a deep breath and slid her mask of confidence right back over her pretty little face. “I need to get home.” She picked up her phone off the dirty floor and cringed at the time. “I’m already pushing it as it is.”
“So where is home?”
She bit her lip as if debating whether or not to tell him.
“Ginny, I can’t leave you here by yourself.”
“I can’t ask you to take me when you are obviously on a mission to find that witch.” She shook her head. “What did she do that was so bad anyway?”
“She hurt a lot of people. And I’m trying to capture her and take her back where she belongs before she can hurt anyone else.”
“Maybe she had a reason for what she did.” Ginny’s voice was soft.
He knew she must have been feeling some guilt. He felt vindicated in a way. He’d been hurt over her for a very long time.
“There’s never a good reason to hurt anyone. Ever,” he spat out.
She flinched like he’d slapped her across the face.
He took a deep breath and blew it out. “She escaped from where she was being… contained. Since her escape, she’s left a trail of bodies, not to mention she managed to stab a female Were. I need to capture her and bring her back to Mississippi…”
“Mississippi?” Her head snapped up. “Are you saying she’s the Witch of Yazoo City?”
“Yeah. You know her?”
She shook her head. “Personally, no, but I’ve heard the stories. I just always thought she was a legend.”
“Nope. She’s very much real. And she needs to go back to the cemetery.”
“She’s imprisoned there, right?” Ginny cocked her head. “How did she leave anyway? I always heard she was under a curse.”
“She is. She managed to stab Catty, who happens to be the mate of one of the Arkansas Guardians, when they went to inquire about some shady shit going on in Louisiana. Apparently when the witch spills blood from a paranormal, she can escape the cemetery. She has to keep spilling it to keep from being sucked back into the graveyard.”
“She’s under a blood curse then.” Ginny’s eyes grew wide. “I always heard a blood curse was for the most dangerous criminals.”
“Or the craziest.” Jaxon snorted.
“So what did she do to get cursed in the cemetery?” She folded her arms over her chest.
“How the hell should I know?” he fired back. “Whatever it was must have been pretty serious though.”
“You’re so damn judgy.”
“Judgy? Me? Are you kidding? What about you in your expensive clothes and Mercedes? You’re the one looking down your nose at me.” His anger boiled, and he curled his fingers into fists at his side.
“I’ve never looked down on you.” Her eyes widened and her arms dropped to her side. “Why would you even say that?”
“I wasn’t exactly rolling in money when we met.”
“You were just a kid. We both were. I didn’t expect you to be rolling in money.” She turned and glanced around the darkened room. “I didn’t grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth either.”
“Well, you are certainly living a life of luxury right now.” He glanced down at the large rock on the ring finger of her left hand. “I guess the ring I bought for you was too small.”
She placed her right hand over her left, concealing her ring. She met his gaze with renewed focus.
“I need to get home. I don’t have time to dredge up the past. I have to get home.” Her gaze darted around the room. “If you can’t help me, then at least give me your phone and I’ll call a cab.”
“A cab?” He rubbed his eyebrow and considered his words. “There is no way a cab is going to come all the way out in the middle of nowhere.” He shrugged. “Even if you did manage to get one out here, it would take half the night. You wouldn’t make it back before dawn.”
“But I have to make it back before dawn. I have to…” Her voice quivered and trailed off.
She was scared. And after seeing the bruises on her arms, there was no way in hell he was going to let her go home without seeing what the hell kind of mess she was in.
He couldn’t make her leave her husband. Being pregnant complicated things even more. He’d heard enough stories from Braxton to know that abused females rarely left their males. He also knew she would hate him forever if he forced her to do something she didn’t want to do.
Her life was her life. If that was what she’d chosen over him, that’s what she wanted.
He hated himself for even thinking about going down this path with her. He’d never forgotten her, but he had managed to put together a life for himself. He found that being single suited him. He could date or fuck whoever with no strings attached. He made damn good money working for Barrett as a Guardian in Arkansas, and he actually enjoyed his job. Protecting the civilian werewolves of the state gave him purpose, and at night he could put his head on the pillow and know he’d done a good job at making someone else’s life safer, better.
The only time he thought of Ginny was when Granny gathered all the Guardians together for dinner or the holidays. He would glance around the table and notice how the other males were slowly being mated with females. First there was Damon and Ava, then Braxton met Kate and they mated. Jayden was next and he not only mated Haley, he wanted to marry her as well. That had brought up old memories, as that’s what the plan had been with Ginny. Zane mated Skylar and now Lucien and Catty had mated around Valentine’s Day. The only ones in their little group of friends that were still single besides himself were Ryker and Barrett.
At least he knew Barrett would never mate. The Pack Master had stated that on several occasions.
“What are you thinking?” Ginny asked.
“I’m thinking I’m going to live to regret this.” He shoved his hands through his hair and studied the ceiling. “I’ll take you back to Louisiana. If we leave now, I can get you there before sunrise.”