Chapter Fourteen
Rose
When we pulled onto the private road, I could feel the tension in the car rising. Growing thicker and more expectant. There was a feeling like thunderheads rolling in off the ocean hanging in the air over our heads – it was a tension filled with the promise of violence.
Asher was mostly silent as he drove down the driveway to what appeared to be a large private estate. From what he'd told me, this was land owned by their rival clan. Mariana's clan. It was much like the land we were on when we'd made love the first time. He'd told me that just like the land we were on had been sacred to his clan, this was the sacred family land for the N'gasso.
Technically, we weren't supposed to be there – rival clans were not supposed to set foot on another clan's sacred land without permission, but the situation was extenuating and there was no one stopping us. We drove straight up to the house and climbed out of the car. Even I noticed that it was silent. Way too silent. My own level of tension ratcheted up and was probably about as high as Asher's at that point.
He'd parked the car a little away from the house so we were still mostly hidden by the trees.
“Wait here,” Asher said.
He handed me a gun and instructed me to hide in the backseat of the car and wait for him. If he didn't come back in half an hour, I was supposed to drive out of there as fast as I could and get far, far away from Black Salmon Falls. He told me that if he didn't come back, there was going to be an all-out war – one that could consume the streets of the town. He didn't want me anywhere near it, hence the instruction to get out of Dodge if things went sideways.
I nodded, but the reality of the situation hit me hard. We were in danger. Very serious danger. The men attacking the N'gasso were very likely the same people who'd tried to kill me and who had killed my aunt. And Asher was walking right into the middle of all it, putting his life on the line for Mariana – and to prove that it wasn't his clan who was behind the attacks.
If he was scared, it didn't show. He seemed calm, collected, and put together as he started to walk away from the car. But, then he stopped and looked at me one last time and gave me a warm and genuine smile. It melted my heart and I wanted to tell him to get into the car, to get us out of there. I wanted him to take me away from all of the bad stuff happening so we could get on with building a new life. Together.
“I love you, Rose,” he said. “I just want you to know that.”
It almost felt like he was saying goodbye. And he seemed to speak with a finality that threatened to break my heart. My voice caught in my throat, but before he turned and walked away, I called out to him.
“I love you too, Asher,” I said. “And I will see you soon. Very soon.”
He looked happy as a clam, even knowing he was going into a battle and the possibility of his death was high. He walked back to me and pulled me close, kissing me again.
“Leave if I don't come back in thirty minutes,” he said. “You get behind the wheel and you drive out of here. Don't look back and just get the hell out of Black Salmon Falls. You hear me?”
“I'm not going to leave you, Asher,” I said, my tone firm.
“You might not have a choice, Rose,” he replied. “I have no idea what we're up against here. It could get really bad. And I don't want you caught in the crossfire. Promise me that you'll leave in thirty minutes.”
I hesitated and looked away, doing my best to fight back the tears that threatened to fall.
“Rose, promise me.”
“Fine,” I said quietly. “Thirty minutes and then I'm out of here.”
He gave me a soft kiss on the forehead and turned away without another word. I watched as he walked away, melted into the shadows and eventually, disappeared from my sight. My heart ached with the fear that I might not ever see him again. When he was gone, completely lost to my sight, the tears came and wouldn't stop falling.
“I can't do this,” I muttered to myself. “I can't sit here and let him die alone. If he dies, I die with him.”
I climbed out of the car and walked as quietly as I could toward the house. I took the most circuitous route I could, sticking to the treeline and the shadows, trying my best to avoid being seen. But before I got to the house itself, someone reached out of a dark pool of shadow and grabbed my leg. I nearly screamed, but managed to pull myself together in time and looked down at the tiny hand wrapped around my ankle.
“Help me,” the woman begged, her voice hoarse and riddled with pain. “Please, help me.”
My eyes widened when I saw that it was Mariana. She was on the ground, her leg caught in an animal trap. There was blood everywhere. She grimaced and was in obvious agony.
I knelt down next to the woman and looked at the leg, grimacing at what I saw. The trap had done a real number on her and her leg was in bad shape. It was definitely broken – I saw the bone protruding from the skin and knew she was in trouble.
Even if I were to spring her from the trap though, I had no idea how she was going to get out of there – it wasn't like she could just walk out. The skepticism and worry must have showed on my face because she spoke to me earnestly.
“If you can get me out of this, I'll heal,” she said. “I'll be able to heal quickly. But the silver on this damn trap is keeping me from doing anything.”
I wasn't sure if she recognized me, but I sure as hell knew who she was. But I wasn't the type of woman who could just leave somebody to die. Not even after everything that happened. After everything she'd said to me.
“Please, Rose,” she mumbled. “I'm sorry for what I said to you. I was just hurt seeing you and Asher –”
“Shhh,” I said, looking around to make sure we were alone – though, I was a little rattled knowing that she did in fact, recognize me. “Don't talk. I'll get you out of here.”
I grunted as I pried open the trap. Even though it took all my strength to do so, I somehow managed to get it open. But Mariana's leg was freed and as soon as she was free, it started to heal. A look of relief swept over her face and she leaned back, moaning low with the pain that must have been shooting through her.
Sitting next to her, I was afraid for my life. I feared that as soon as she healed, she was going to shift into her bear form and tear my throat out. Mariana was obviously, not the kind of woman you screwed with. She was fierce and wasn't somebody whose bad list I wanted to be on.
“Silver,” she said. “Those bastards made silver traps just for us – for anybody who managed to escape the slaughter in the house. They scattered them around the yard, hoping to snag anybody who was getting away.”
“You're sensitive to silver,” I said.
“Yes, it would have killed me eventually, but you saved me.” She looked up at me and although there was still a blend of hurt and anger in her eyes, I could tell she was grateful. “I don't know if I would have done the same thing in your situation. Thank you.”
“That's alright,” I said, helping her to stand. “Thankfully, our situation wasn't reversed so we'll never have to find out the answer to that.”
I helped her walk back toward the car. She was limping and was still in pain, but before we even made it there, her leg was healing. Some of the pain that had marked her face was easing.
“Where's Asher?” she asked.
“He's already in the house.”
“Damn,” she said. “He can't fight them alone. There's too many and they're too well armed. I have backup coming, but I'm not sure they're here yet. I was out of it for awhile there.”
She started walking toward the house. “Where are you going?”
“To continue this fight. I can't leave Asher alone in there,” she said. “I was on my way back when the damn trap caught me, but I'm not finished yet.”
I hesitated, but eventually, I fell into step beside her. She turned to me and looked surprised.
“Asher know you're not staying behind?” she asked. “I just have a feeling he told you to wait in the car.”
“Of course not,” I said. “And I've never been very good at waiting around and doing nothing.”
She laughed. “He's not going to be happy,” she said.
“Doesn't matter,” I said. “If he dies, we die together.”
Mariana looked over at me, and while she looked terribly sad, she also seemed thoughtful. “You really care for him, don't you?”
“I do,” I said softly.
“And he cares for you the same way?”
I hesitated briefly, but then nodded, feeling a knot in my throat. I was worried my answers though honest, might throw her in a jealous rage. That she might decide to kill me after all. But I was surprised that what I said didn't seem to upset her too much. At least, not enough to warrant tearing my throat out. Instead, she just looked straight ahead, deep in thought.
We walked to the house in silence, taking care to avoid being seen as best as we could. But as soon as we got inside, it took everything in me to not fall to the floor in shock, fear, and sobs.
Bullet holes pocked the walls. The ceiling. Everything in the room we were in was trashed. Tables had been turned over, shattered glass littered the floor – there was very little left in the room that hadn’t' been shot or broken.
And of course, there were bodies, scattered everywhere. Bear and human alike. So many bodies, so many bears. So much blood. And no sign of Asher. Terrified for his safety, I opened my mouth to call out to him, but Mariana grabbed my hand and turned to me, putting a finger to her lips. She'd silenced me just in time, preventing me from calling out and giving our location away to the mysterious attackers.
“It's okay. He's not there,” she said. “Which means he's not one of the dead. He's still out there somewhere. We just need to find him.”
Gunshots and raised voices rang out, seeming to come from around the back of the house. I heard the roar of a bear blended with screams of agonized pain. My survival instinct told me to run far away, to get away from the battle that was raging and keep myself safe. But doing that would mean leaving Asher behind. And I couldn't do that.
Mariana had the exact opposite instinct. She took off running in the direction of the screams.
And I hesitated for a moment, but then quickly followed behind.