No Promises: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance by Michelle Love (19)

I feel a tug on my shoulder. “Alyssa,” I hear my mother’s voice say.

I turn away from Lyle to grab onto my mother. “Oh, Mom, what’s happening?”

Mom has me in a protective hold. “I’m taking her to her room.”

She sits me down on the bed, then walks over to the one window in the bedroom, making sure it’s locked, pulling the curtains together, and closing them. “Things change so fast around here, don’t they darling?”

She goes into the bathroom, coming out with a wet wash cloth, and blotting my face with it. The coolness of it makes me feel better and I start to calm down.

“Mom, why are there such bad people in the world?” I ask as if I’m a child.

Her arm slides around my shoulders. “I don’t know. I guess only God knows that. You’ll be fine, Alyssa. That man can’t get to you. There are too many people here to protect you for him to be able to get to you. He’s just trying to upset you. Don’t let him do that to you. You’re not a victim, Ally.”

The bedroom door flies open as Eden rushes to me, grabbing me up into his arms and wrapping himself around me. “I’m so sorry, Alyssa. I can’t believe I brought this down on you. I was a fool.”

I hear the door close as my mother leaves the room. I hate that Eden thinks this is his fault. I can’t stand it. I pull back from him, wiping my eyes.

“Eden, nothing is your fault. The man is crazy. You didn’t make him that way. You just did a nice thing for his poor daughter. I’ll be fine. I just got freaked out. I’m okay now. I have faith that all the people around me will make sure I stay safe. I’m done crying about it.”

His hands go to either side of my face, holding it gently. “Alyssa, it is my fault. I should’ve had our people do a background check on her and her family before I agreed to do anything with her. I didn’t do that and now look where we are.”

“Eden, if you would’ve done that, then you would have never taken her to the prom,” I say as I run my hands over his arms. “Or let her come over to your house and given her a few moments of happiness. Her life must have been horrible. I’m happy she got to go to her prom. I’m happy you did that for her. Don’t second guess it now. It doesn’t help the situation any.”

He looks away from me, then sits down on the edge of the bed. He drops his head down, looking at the floor and shaking his head back and forth slowly. Then he stops. “I’ll try harder not to blame myself for this. You’re right, I suppose. If anything happens to you, though, I’ll never forgive myself for all of eternity.”

I move his hands from my face and hold them in my lap as I giggle. “Eden, don’t say that. I have to spend eternity with you. I can’t spend it with a spirit who resents itself.”

I see a weak smile begin to form on his face and he says, “You giggled. I love it when you giggle.”

“I know you do, my prince. Now show me some of that faith you have so much of and that I sorely lack. You’re supposed to be the strong one who never shows fear.”

The touch of his hand running through my hair makes chills run through me. “Princess, I’m weak as a kitten when it comes to you.”

My heart pounds in my chest as I feel his fear for me. It takes everything in me to stop myself from freaking out.

If he’s this afraid for me, then I’m really in a lot of danger!

‘Take my mind off this,’ I send to my mate.

His strong hands move over my neck and back, massaging them as he sends back, ‘Your wish is my command, princess.’

Lips as soft as downy feathers cover my shoulder as he moves the thin strap of my sundress off. I stretch my neck and he moves his mouth to it. A quick nip at the nape of my neck, then he softly sucks at it. My body flashes with a fire which runs from the tip of my toes to the top of my head.

I want him now!

I stand and drop my dress, then pull his shirt over his head. His tattoos are beautiful and I run my hands over them. All have meaning, and the cross in the middle of his chest shows exactly who it is he works for.

Though he’s made fun of me for it, I say my prayer in hopes of staying us for a while longer, rather than adding a child, and kiss the cross on his chest.

Lifting me by my chin, he looks into my eyes. Putting his arms around me, he unhooks my bra, then pulls it off. My stomach flutters as he bends down and places his warm mouth over my breast.

I hear the button on his shorts pop and feel them drop past my legs to the floor. His mouth travels between my breasts up to my neck, then finally to my mouth.

The sweet taste of cinnamon fills my mouth as Eden’s tongue roves over mine in a tangle of wet desire. My hands flow over his shoulders and down his back until they find his muscular butt where I hold him, pressing him to me.

He picks me up and tosses me onto the bed. I smile at him as he leans over me to rid me of my panties, kissing my leg as he moves back up. ‘I’m about to make you forget everything but me, princess,’ he sends me.

I close my eyes and prepare to think only about my mate and how he makes me glow inside. My body shakes as his lips touch the little pearl, which pulses with desire. His tongue runs over it and my hands tangle up in his luscious locks as I hold him to me and groan in ecstasy.

‘You taste like heaven, precious,’ he sends me.

My tongue flows over my lips as I send him what I want, ‘Let me taste you while you taste me.’

His mouth leaves me as he looks up. “Really?” he asks with a smile on his face.

I smile and nod, and he moves so I can get on top of him. When my mouth slides over his hard erection, his moan vibrates my clit as his tongue runs over it. I shudder with exhilaration.

The touch of his mouth on me spurs me on to slide my mouth over his hot, silky, throbbing member. My hand strokes as I run my tongue over the tip and down the shaft.

With no indication, Eden rolls me over. I end up on my knees as he pulls me back by my waist. One hand grabs a fistful of my hair as he fills me from behind, jerking me back to him. He pounds into me and I quiver with how hard he’s breathing and how wild I feel with him. “You like it, princess?”

I moan my answer as I quake inside, about to lose it. An orgasm rips through me, sending me into a loud shriek. I drop my face into the mattress to stifle the noise and Eden pounds me harder and faster.

My legs shake with weakness, but he doesn’t ease up, and I feel it welling up in me again.

How the hell can it happen again so quickly!

Eden pulls at my hair as he hammers me and my face is pulled away from the mattress. My insides erupt and I scream Eden’s name as I come undone.

He stiffens behind me and groans loudly, “Alyssa!”

Slowly, he falls on my back and I lay out on the bed, barely able to draw air into my lungs.

Yep, that worked. I can’t think about anything but him!

Once we’re able to catch our breath, Eden pulls me to spoon with him as he runs his hands along my side. In no time, I find I’m falling asleep, and just before I do, I find Eden must’ve fallen asleep and his dream starts in my head. I shudder as I watch myself die in his arms again.

Will we be able to stop this from happening?

CHAPTER 48

ALYSSA

I wait semi- patiently in the living room for their arrival. Laura texted me nearly twenty minutes ago, letting me know they were in the car and on the way here. I just hope our secret doesn’t show itself in front of her somehow.

The doorbell finally rings. I jump and run to the door, flinging it open. There stand my two best friends in the world. They both have beaming smiles on their faces. Their presence makes me realize I missed them even more than I thought I had.

“Ahhh,” I scream and jump up and down.

Laura does the same as Kyle shakes his head. “Girls … they’re so over the top. It’s only been a month.”

Laura and I grab each other up into a hug as we hop around. “Well, hello, Kyle. I’m glad to see you again,” the ever polite and eloquent Eden greets Kyle.

I stop jumping, trying to act more like a lady. I hold Laura close to me though, not ready to let her go. Her shoulder-length blonde hair is so shiny and soft. I have to touch it. Her sparkling blue eyes are lit up with excitement.

I see Eden shake Kyle’s hand and think to myself he needs to stop being so freaking formal. I let go of Laura so Eden can shake her hand, or whatever he’s going to do to welcome her, and then turn to Kyle.

Crap! My heart’s beating so damn hard and he and Eden both know it.

“You better get over here and hug me, boy,” I say with a smile.

He smiles sheepishly at me and holds his arms out for me. I almost jump into them, hugging him tight. I have to fight the urge to wrap my legs around his waist as he holds me off the ground. I release my grip on him, standing back to take a look at him. His blonde curls fall across his forehead, almost touching his eyes.

‘I missed you too, Ally,’ Kyle sends to me.

My heart aches as I just want to cuddle up with him and let him make me feel safe and secure. “God, am I glad to see the two of you!” I say as I move away from him, going to hang on my husband’s arm.

Remember who it is you’re made for, girl!

Laura smiles as she looks around the room. “This place, Ally! It’s beyond anything I could’ve imagined your parents living in.”

“Our guests might like to freshen up after their long ride, Alyssa,” Eden says. “You should show them to their rooms and give them a chance to do that before lunch is served. I hope you both like alligator and shrimp, as our chef and his staff came to prepare that for us this afternoon in honor of your visit. We know you had a light breakfast on the jet. You have to be famished.”

Kyle looks at Eden and surprises the complete hell out of me. “Hell, yeah, guy, that’s completely cool. Thanks Eden,” Kyle tells him, then holds his fist up. Again to my surprise, Eden holds his fist up and they bump their fists together.

I try to hide the surprise, but Eden catches it and smiles at me. He’s so full of surprises. My heart skips a beat as I feel so much love for him at this moment. This can’t be easy for him to have Kyle here.

Gesturing for them to follow me, I lead them upstairs. “Come on, guys. Follow me.”

I hold Laura’s hand as Kyle follows close behind us. “Al, this place is beautiful. I can’t believe any of this. It’s like a dream. Your mom must be over the moon with this.”

I smile at her. “She sure is.”

We walk down the hall and then come to the bedroom door I picked for her. It’s at the end of the hallway and Kyle’s is right across from it. I open her door, showing her to her room first. The room is beautiful, with a large bed in the middle of it. The bedspread is her favorite shade of dark green, as are the curtains.

“Go ahead, check it all out, and don’t forget to look in the dressers and the closet. Those are all yours, Laura,” I tell her.

She turns to look at me in astonishment, “You know you didn’t have to do all this, Ally.” I just smile at her. Then I turn to Kyle.

I hope he likes his room as much as Laura seems to like hers.

“Right across the hall is you. Just like I told Laura, Kyle, check it all out. Everything is yours,” I tell him as I walk the short distance to open the door to his room.

He walks past me into the room, then turns around to look at me. “This feels right, doesn’t it, Al?”

I smile at him. “Right as rain, Kyle. Now once you’ve done whatever you need to do, grab Laura and make your way back downstairs so we can start eating. I’ll be waiting in the living room for you two,” I tell him as I turn to walk away, trying my best to lighten up what flows between us.

I turn back to look at him as he sends me, ‘We’ll get through this, Al.’

I send back, ‘We have to, don’t we?’

I find Eden waiting in the living room, as well as my little brother, Scotty. “Come, Alyssa,” Eden tells me, as he pats the open space on the sofa next to him.

I smile as I walk down the stairs, still feeling uneasy with Kyle’s presence. I sit down next to my husband. Eden puts his arm around my shoulders, then kisses my cheek. I look up at him to see he’s smiling widely at me. His emerald eyes have a sparkle to them that they only get when he’s happy about something.

“Laura looks happy, princess. They must be getting along well,” he says.

My wedding ring catches my eye as a light in the chandelier makes it sparkle. “You think?” I ask, not really wanting to talk about how my Kyle and my best friend are getting on.

Kyle and Laura come down the staircase, hand in hand. My heart thumps hard against my chest, and Eden gives me a squeeze and a kiss on the side of my head. Scotty jumps up, almost running over to Kyle. Scotty is still such a little kid at fifteen.

I suddenly realize he’s had to leave all of his friends. He’s been thrown into this completely different life just like I have. Only I have Eden and Kyle. Scotty has no one. The thought makes me a little sad.

“Hey, creep,” Scotty teases Kyle as he mock-punches him in the arm.

Kyle mock punches him back and says, “Hey there, small fry. I’ve been told you have your own game room.”

Scotty is pumped with Kyle here to play with him and nearly yells, “You wanna see it?”

I stand up quickly. “Not yet, Scotty. We need to eat first.”

“What a party pooper!” My brother mopes as he heads off to the dining room.

I immediately feel sorry for him. “After dinner we’ll see about it, Scotty,” I say and see his face light up again.

We follow Scotty’s lead, going to the dining room. Terri, the head maid from our home, has outdone herself on glamorizing it. The dining room looked good before, but now it looks grand. Large bouquets of fresh flowers are everywhere. The table is set with gorgeous crystal glasses and beautiful china.

Laura lets out a gasp. “Ally, this is beautiful. So elegant.”

“Sit here, right across from us,” I tell them.

Kyle pulls the chair out for Laura. I smile at her as I follow Eden to the other side of the enormous table. He pulls out a chair for me and I sit down. I notice Scotty has taken the chair next to Kyle. I can tell he’s glad Kyle’s here.

He and Eden get along well, but I’m pretty stingy with Eden’s attention. We’ve seen very little of my brother since we came here. I’ll have to make sure we change that.

My parents enter the dining room and Eden stands up, as is the custom when a lady enters the room, I found out. Kyle surprises me yet again as he stands up too and taps Scotty on the shoulder to get him to stand as well.

Laura looks over at me. “How formal,” she mouths to me.

My father walks to Kyle and shakes his hand. “It’s good to see you again, son.”

Kyle smiles. “Good to see you too, sir.”

Dad leans down to give Laura a hug and says, “Nice to see you too, Laura. We’ve missed seeing you.”

“Your new home is beyond gorgeous, Mr. Devlin,” she says.

My mother approaches Kyle and he takes her hand to shake it, but she pulls him into a hug instead. “It’s so good to see you, Kyle.”

Kyle hugs her back and says, “You too, Mrs. Devlin.”

Mom kisses Laura on top of the head. “We’ve missed you both so much. It’s been a month since the wedding.”

My parents go to the end of the table, taking their seats. The boys sit back down, but are forced to stand back up as Eden’s parents come in. Lyle walks up to Kyle and shakes his hand, beginning the lengthy hellos between my friends and Eden’s parents.

They go to take their seats at the other end of the table. Everything is going so well. Terri comes in with a bottle of white wine, pouring everyone a glass. After she leaves, Scotty holds up his glass.

“So, we’re sophisticated again, Dad?” Scotty asks our father.

Dad looks at him. “If it’s in front of you, drink it, boy. No need for comments.”

We all laugh a little and I look at Laura. “It’s not always this formal, but I wanted to give you guys the five-star treatment. I’m so glad you’re here.”

Laura smiles back. “This is really nice of you, Ally. Nice of all of you,” she says as she looks at Eden and then our parents. “Thank you all so much for inviting us.”

Eden looks at her and smiles. “We love having you here.”

Terri arrives again with our salads, placing them in front of us. Laura leans in a bit. “Ally, the clothes are to die for. I can’t thank you enough. I’m so lucky to have you as my best friend.”

“Having a personal shopper is the best.”

“So after dinner, Al, can Kyle and Eden play games?” Scotty asks.

“I’m not their boss, Scotty. They can do whatever they want to,” I answer him.

“So do you want to?” he asks, looking back and forth between Kyle and Eden.

“If Kyle wants to, then, yeah,” Eden answers him.

“Of course I do, Scott,” Kyle tells him, then leans close to him to whisper something in his ear I can’t make out, and then they both laugh.

“I don’t know about that Kyle. I’ve been playing like nonstop since we got here,” Scotty informs him.

Kyle looks over at Eden. “Should I be afraid, Eden? Is he that good?”

“He kicks my ass,” Eden replies.

I look at Eden. “Your mouth, Eden,” I whisper.

“It’s quite all right, Ally,” my father tells me. “Scotty kicks my ass at those games too.”

Everyone laughs and then Terri brings us the main course, which is fried alligator and shrimp with beans, coleslaw, and hushpuppies. I’m surprised by the taste of the alligator. It’s not at all what I expected.

“You know, I was expecting this to taste very different,” I comment.

Then Laura and Kyle look at each other. “It tastes like chicken,” they say at the same time, making us all erupt into laughter again.

Later, Terri brings in the dessert. It’s the most gorgeous pineapple upside down cake I’ve ever seen. I wonder how in the world our chefs can make such a simple cake look like a million dollars. They never cease to amaze me.

“Everything was so delicious,” Laura says as she sets her dessert fork down next to her half-eaten piece of cake. “I’m so full, I can’t even finish this phenomenal piece of cake.”

Scotty clanks his fork down, loudly. “Dad, I’m done. Can I be excused?”

“Okay Scotty, but I don’t want you to stay up all night, playing games,” Dad orders.

“I won’t. Well, you guys coming, or what?” he asks Eden and Kyle.

Eden looks at me and Kyle looks at Laura for approval. “Just go,” I say as I wave my hand at Eden.

He gives me a quick kiss on the cheek, then jets out of the room, following Kyle and Scotty. “Looks like it’s just you and me. We should go for a swim. I think I’d love swimming at night,” I tell Laura

“That sounds good to me,” Laura says in agreement.

We run upstairs to change into our bathing suits. “Come to my room as soon as you’re ready,” I tell her.

She’s at my door before I know it and we take off out to the pool. I turn on the outside lights. A light inside the pool comes on as well, making it look pretty. The usually humid and hot air is a bit cooler, making the night more pleasant.

“I just can’t believe this, Al. Like when did your parents get rich?” Laura asks me.

That question has caught me off guard, so I make something up. “Dad sold some stocks or something like that. You know, they don’t talk to me about their finances.”

We slip into the warm water. “This is a lot warmer than I thought it would be,” I say.

“It feels fantastic. It’s so nice out here. You were right, swimming at night is cool,” Laura says.

We sit on the large steps that lead into the pool, leaning back on the edge. Stretching my legs out, I kick them back and forth slowly. Stars sparkle in the night sky as I gaze up at them. An image of Eden and me flying in the dark sky flitters through my mind.

“So what’s your plan for the fall, Laura?”

“I’m up in the air about it right now. You know how I’d planned on going to a local community college and staying at home? Well, Kyle wants me to go to Austin with him now. There are small colleges there too and many more part-time jobs for me to choose from,” she tells me, making my stomach clench. “I’m really happy we can still be close, Ally. You know you’re like the sister I never had.”

How can I be jealous of her? I love her!

I smile as I say, “You’re like a sister to me too, Laura. I’m happy for you. So are you thinking about going with him?”

She nods her head and says, “He told me he loves me last night.”

My heart stops! He loves her?

“Wow,” I say as I look up at the sky, trying to make sure the tears which threaten don’t fall.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too,” she says.

Still looking up, I ask, “How about you? Do you love him?”

“Of course I do. What’s not to love about him? I told him after he told me,” she says. “Then we went inside my house and made love for three hours.”

Good Lord, I want to cry my eyes out and throw up!

CHAPTER 49

ALYSSA

The room is dark, except for one small light. I see a chair sitting under the light, but no one is in it. I try to move and find I can’t. I look up to see my hands are tied to the headboard of a rusty iron bed. My feet are tied at the bottom of the bed to the rusty rails of the footboard.

Looking down, I see a lacey, blue nightgown which just covers my body to the tops of my thighs. I try to scream for help, but there’s something in my mouth almost choking me. The choking sensation seems to turn on my senses. I feel intense pain all over my body and groan in agony

The smell of cigar smoke fills my nostrils. Someone is in here, hiding in the shadows. I move my head frantically, trying to see where the person might be. I see a red glow from the cigar I smell. It’s not that far away from me. Then I hear a voice—a man’s voice.

“I wouldn’t wear myself out, trying to get out of the bonds I’ve put you in, Mrs. Fontaine,” the man says.

It’s him, the crazy man, Stiles. His chubby, round face with straggly, thin, grey hairs surrounding it comes into the light just enough for me to see him.

His voice a hiss, he says, “Glad you’re awake now. It wasn’t much fun with you asleep, but I managed.”

What? What the hell has he done to me?

I pull at the ropes that hold me tight to the lumpy bed. He comes closer to me. I struggle even harder to get free. His hand reaches out, lifting the bottom of my nightgown up as he looks underneath it.

He holds up his other hand. A light blue pair of silk panties is hanging on his finger. He begins to twirl them around. I realize they’re mine and try in vain to scream.

“I’m afraid the gag was something I had to do to you, as I can’t stand the ugly accent you have. I have to tell you I’m sorry, as it would seem I used maybe a bit too much morphine when I drugged you. You were very unresponsive even as I did the dirtiest things to you, Mrs. Fontaine. Otherwise, you could have enjoyed them too.”

Tears start to run down my cheeks. They burn as they do, making me realize they’re scraped up. He must have beaten me. I can taste blood in my mouth. I look down to see my knees are scraped as well. He senses I’m figuring out he’s hurt me in more ways than one.

“Hope you don’t mind, honey. I like to get rough with my girls.”

I see his hand coming to my face slowly, then he pulls it back up really fast, bringing it down on my cheek with a hard slap. I try to scream again and almost choke as I do. Tears stream down my face.

“That turned a nice shade of red. I like that,” he says to himself. “Stop crying or I’ll do it again!” he yells at me.

His nature changes extremely suddenly as he kneels down beside me, looking into my eyes. “Please stop, please stop crying,” he says. “I just want to make you feel good. I didn’t want to hurt you, but you made me do it. You should have stayed away and let Karen have that rich fucker. She doesn’t have everything you have. She’s plain like her mother. You should have given him up so she could have a chance with him. Now that I’ve taken you away from him, maybe now he’ll take her. I need the money. I have special needs I have to pay for. I can’t afford it on my own, you know. Maybe I won’t kill you. Maybe I’ll just keep you here. You could do the things I need. How about that? I can leave you alive if you agree to not run away and do what I need. It’s not so bad. Lots of people do it. Just nod your head if you agree.”

The tears have not stopped flowing. I nod my head yes, hoping to fool him into letting me go.

“No shit! You agree? I can’t believe it. You want me, don’t you?” he asks.

I nod my head yes again.

“I knew it. I want to let one of your arms loose. Promise me you won’t try to do anything crazy. I want to see if you can do what I need done.”

I nod my head yes again.

He stands up and takes a knife out of his back pocket. He opens it, then looks at me intently. Somehow I’ve managed to stop my tears. I have a hard time concentrating on what I need to do, as my brain feels fuzzy.

The knife grazes my cheek on purpose as he brings it up to cut the rope tying my right hand to the rusty railing of the headboard. I act like I like the feeling of the knife on my face, as I hope it throws him off.

I feel the freedom as the rope is cut, letting my arm fall. Unfortunately, my arm is asleep. I can’t move it. It falls limply onto the bed. I try to move it, but it just won’t move right.

“Give me your hand,” the sweaty man commands me.

I try very hard, but I can’t move it. I move my head back and forth, trying to get him to take the gag out of my mouth.

“I’ve broken you,” he cries, then tears stream down his chubby, red cheeks.

I shake my head no, hoping he’ll let me go. Suddenly he changes again.

“You stupid piece of shit! Of course you broke her,” he says to himself as he turns away from me. “You can’t do anything right. Now you have no choice but to kill her. They can’t find her like this, or you’ll go to prison. You can’t go there. They’ll rape you. You’re far too tender to go there, Darren.” His voice is high pitched. It’s as if he’s impersonating a woman.

He stops talking to himself and turns to look back at me. His eyes are almost black instead of the drab brown they’ve been.

The knife is still in his hand. I try to move my arm and it moves a little bit. I move it to my side in an attempt to protect myself. This only infuriates him.

His voice flat, he says, “You’re dead.”

I feel a pain in my ribs almost immediately. My face is slapped repeatedly. Then my other arm is cut down as are my legs. They are all of no use to me. I close my eyes, trying to picture myself as the big, black bird.

A stabbing pain hits me in my shoulder. I can’t concentrate any more. He’s on top of me, slapping me hard. I can’t feel a thing anymore. I see only blackness.

“Wake up, bitch. I’m not done with you. Wake up,” I hear him screaming at me as I drift away.

“Alyssa, Alyssa is that you?”

I’m lying on something hard and cold. It’s cold in this place. I’m so cold. “Alyssa! Thank Our Creator, Alyssa! I found you.” I hear Eden yell, “Doctor, you have to save her. I can’t lose her. Please tell me you can save her.”

“She’s lost a lot of blood, Eden. It looks like she has some broken ribs and most likely a punctured lung. There’s a knife wound on her side. The ambulance will be here soon. We’ll get her to the hospital and get started on her as soon as we can,” I can hear the other voice say.

“You have to help her. She can’t die. Not yet, not yet! Please, Alyssa, stay with me. Don’t give up. Keep breathing. I know it hurts, but keep breathing, baby, please,” the velvet voice cries as he rocks me back and forth, gently and slowly.

I can taste blood in my mouth. I feel something thick coming up my throat. I’m choking! Help, I’m choking! I can’t breathe! I can’t take a breath!

“Eden, she’s not going to make it.”

“No! Don’t say that! No!”

Then I hear humming.

A loud knock at our bedroom door startles both of us awake as we sit up quickly. “What? Who is it?” Eden says loudly.

“It’s your father. Open the door,” Lyle calls out to Eden.

Eden looks over at me. “Are you okay?”

I nod my head yes. He gets up and grabs my silk robe off the chair, tossing it to me. I wrap it around me to cover up my skimpy nightgown. He strides over to the door, adjusting his T-shirt and pajama bottoms, then running his hands through his messy, dark locks.

“Yes, Papa?” Eden asks as he opens the door.

Lyle comes into the room, going to the window and checking to be sure it’s locked. “What’s going on, Papa?” I ask.

Lyle turns to Eden and hands him a piece of paper. He reads it quickly. “Damn! How in the hell did he do that?” Eden asks his father.

“It gets better son,” Lyle tells him. “It was taped to your bedroom door this morning.”

Eden’s usually tan face goes pale. “How? How could he get through this gate too, into this house?”

Lyle shrugs his shoulders. “We can’t keep hiding from this man, Eden. We have to draw him out.”

“That would mean using bait and you know the only bait that will draw him out. I won’t do that,” Eden argues.

I interrupt their arguing. “Can I see the note?”

He hesitates. “It’s not a good idea, Alyssa.”

“I had the dream, Eden. He takes me away somewhere after he’s drugged me with morphine. He ties me up, rapes and beats me, then leaves me on the street somewhere. You find me, but it’s too late. I choke to death on my own blood. I think after what I’ve seen and felt, because it felt real, I can take whatever that note says,” I say as I hold my hand out.

He looks at his father. Lyle nods his head yes and then he hands the note to me.

Mrs. Fontaine

It was nice to see you again. That little bikini you had on last night left little to my imagination. Too bad that blonde bitch was there or you and I could’ve had a real good time.

Don’t worry, though, I will get you alone. You and I have some things we need to talk about, like what color panties you like. I bet you like blue ones.

Keep playing hide and seek with me. I like it. This is a nice house. How nice of your parents to set you up in a nice bedroom right at the top of the stairs, the first one on the right. I left you a present.

See you soon.

My blood runs cold as I read each word slowly. “Eden, it says he left a present. What do you think it is and where do you think it is?”

Lyle walks towards the bathroom and says, “Just stay right there, Alyssa. I’ll search your room to see what he could’ve left in here, if he was ever really in here at all.”

Eden begins to open the closet, checking it over. “Nothing out of the ordinary in there.”

“Nothing in here,” Lyle says.

Eden begins to open the drawers on the dresser. He opens the top drawer, moves things around, and then closes it. He opens the second drawer and stops. I can tell by how his face pales a little that he’s found something.

“Papa, he was in here.”

Lyle walks over to look. “Oh my! Jesus, that man’s sick.”

“What? What is it?” I ask, softly.

Eden turns to look at me. “No, Alyssa, you can’t see this,” he tells me and then he shuts the drawer.

“It’s that bad?”

They both nod their heads. “I have to go call the police. Don’t touch it. Try not to touch anything, but get dressed and come downstairs,” Lyle commands.

I call Laura and ask her to get Kyle and meet us downstairs. After we dress, Eden and I go down to the living room to find that, not only are Kyle and Laura there, but our parents and two police officers as well.

My father stands up. “Okay officers, let me take you up to the bedroom so you can get started. The second drawer of the dresser, right, Lyle?” my father confirms.

Lyle nods yes. “Eden, go with them too,” Lyle directs Eden

I go sit next to Laura. “Sorry about all this Laura. I didn’t think he’d find us so quickly.”

“It had to be someone who was here yesterday. There was the kitchen staff. The maid, Terri, the driver who brought Kyle and Laura here, and the person who delivered the clothes,” Lyle explains.

“Linda?” I ask. “You think Linda could have something to do with this?”

“Any of them could, dear,” my mother says, “How can we ever figure out who would’ve helped him?”

The conversation is making me uncomfortable. Linda being a suspect is flying through my brain at great speeds and I send the thought to my mate.

“Mom, can we go make something to eat?” I ask.

She looks at me, then at Lyle. “I think that’ll be fine. Kyle, stay with them, okay?” Lyle says.

“Yes, sir,” Kyle answers him.

I go to the fridge and pull out a carton of eggs. Kyle sits on one of the stools at the breakfast bar as Laura helps me. “So what did the note say exactly, Ally?” Kyle asks.

“I still have it,” I tell him as I pull it out of my pocket and hand it to him. “Eden told me to give it to you. Read it.”

Laura looks at me with confusion. “Why would he do that?” she asks as she goes over to read it with him. I don’t answer her. “This is really scary, Al. He was out there with us somewhere, hiding in the dark.”

Kyle looks up at me. “He was in your room. I can’t believe he was in the house and no one noticed.”

“Eden’s father thinks the best thing to do is to try to bring him out of hiding,” I tell them as I scramble the eggs.

“While that is probably the smartest thing to do, you do have to realize you would be put in danger, Ally,” Kyle tells me.

I nod. “What else can be done?”

“I don’t know, but after what Lyle said about the bird in the drawer, I know this guy is a complete psycho,” Kyle tells me.

“What did Lyle say was in the drawer?” I ask, praying I heard him wrong.

“You know, a black bird with a piece of string wrapped around its neck that he must have used to choke it to death,” Kyle tells me.

The blood goes out of my face. I stumble a little. Kyle jumps up, grabbing me, then taking me to sit in a chair at the dining table. Crap! A black bird he choked to death. Not only does he want to kill me, he knows what I am.

I look up at Kyle and send to him, ‘He knows what I am!’

His arms close around me as I fall and things go black.

CHAPTER 50

Kyle

“Ally, are you going to faint?” I ask as I sit Ally down.

Laura gets a wet towel and holds it to her forehead. “Ally, you okay? You turned so pale,” she says.

‘He knows I’m a bird,’ she sends to me. ‘This is bad! This is really bad. He has to be stopped. He’ll tell people. What are we going to do?’

“Eden didn’t tell you about the bird?” I ask, knowing damn well he didn’t, but I’m trying to talk out loud so Laura doesn’t get confused at how I know certain things that have gone unsaid. “Shit! He’s going to be so mad at me for running my mouth.”

“No, I needed to know that. He would’ve told me anyway. Don’t worry,” Ally says as she looks at me, then Laura.

“I’ll finish making breakfast, Al. Just sit there and chill. Kyle get her a glass of juice, please,” Laura orders.

I bring Ally back a glass of apple juice, then sit down next to her, putting my arm around her shoulders. Her head drops onto my shoulder. My mind is spinning out of control. I have so much to do and Laura’s not knowing about what we are is a pain in the ass.

I know she could handle the secret, but I have to get Eden and Ally to agree.

I kiss the side of her head, like I used to do all the time. “Everything’ll be all right, Ally. You have a lot of people around you who love you. We won’t let this freak get you.”

Her hand takes mine and she holds it in her lap as she sends me, ‘I feel safe with you here.’

My arm tightens around her shoulders and I hug her to my chest. ‘You’re safe with me here, baby,’ I send back.

Laura brings us each a plate, setting them down in front of us, then gets hers and comes to sit on the other side of Ally. “Eat up, Al, you need to keep your strength up,” she tells her with a smile.

Ally grins at her and leans over to kiss her cheek. “I love you, Laura. You’re going to be such a good mother someday.”

Eden comes into the kitchen, sees us all piled in close to each other, and smiles. I’m happy to see he isn’t unhappy with me being so close to Ally. She’s tucked into my side with my arm wrapped around her.

“I see you’re being well taken care of, Alyssa,” he says as he grabs a plate.

Laura jumps up. “Go sit, Eden. I’ve got it,” she commands him as she pushes at him to sit down across from us.

He’s still smiling at Ally. I’m not sure if my close proximity to her is making him uncomfortable or if he’s actually happy I’m watching over her so closely. Laura puts his plate and juice in front of him, then returns to her seat next to Ally.

“The police are watching the surveillance video right now. So we’ll know shortly how he got into the house,” Eden tells us. “Laura, I wanted to thank you for saving my wife’s life last night. If you hadn’t been with her, or if you had decided to come into the house for even a minute, he would’ve had her.”

Laura looks up at him. “Do you really think so?” she asks in disbelief.

“I’m very sure of it and so are the police,” he tells her. “I can’t begin to thank you enough.”

“Eden, I’m really sorry,” I say. “I had no idea she didn’t know, but I brought up the bird in the drawer.”

Eden gets a surprised look on his face. “How did she take it?”

“Not really well,” I tell him as I give her a gentle squeeze. “She just about passed out.”

Eden looks at her. “I bet she did. You okay now, Alyssa?”

She nods. “It’s better that I know that anyway.”

Eden smiles at her and I can feel the rate of her heartbeats increase. “I know. I was going to tell you sometime in the near future,” he says with a soft tone to his voice, which makes Ally all melty inside.

God! Knowing what she feels is so damn weird!

I release her from my tight hold and move my chair over, so our legs no longer touch. I really don’t want to feel her every feeling. It seems like we’re getting more and more telepathy with one another.

I’m not sure I like it.

Laura and I take the dishes from the table, as we’ve all finished eating, and put them in the dishwasher. Eden takes Ally by the hand, pulling her up to him. They lean their foreheads together, sending things back and forth to each other no doubt.

Ally’s Mom comes in. Her face gets a strange look as she looks at Ally, then back at me and says, “I’ll get the rest of this cleaned up. You two are guests for goodness sake.”

Eden helps Ally out of the dog house. “She got the news about the bird in the drawer and got a little shaky. So Laura was kind enough to make breakfast for us.”

Her mother gives her a hug. “Oh, it upset you that much?”

Ally looks around the room at us all and says, “It shocked me at first, but I know everything’ll be fine. I have faith. I’m not going to let this guy get into my head, no matter how hard he tries.”

‘That a girl, Al,’ I send her.

She smiles back at me. ‘Thanks, Kyle. I’m so glad I have you,’ she sends me.

Eden looks at her, and in that instant, she shuts me out. “How far you’ve come in such a short amount of time,” he tells her.

“I guess it’s just the fact he did such terrible things to his daughter and what he’ll do to me. If he’s able to get to me, that has me thinking I can’t be afraid of him,” Ally says as she threads her fingers through Eden’s, something she used to do with me. “I have to stop him from doing this to anyone else ever again. I can’t be another victim. I have to be his ending. Our dreams have let me know I have no choice in the fact. He has to be stopped or it will be the end of us.”

Eden’s face drops as we realize she just said something she shouldn’t have. Laura catches it quickly. “Our dreams? What does that mean, Ally?” she asks.

Ally’s eyes look frantically at Eden for an answer. Unfortunately, he just looks back at her with a blank face.

Okay, no help there.

I look at Ally’s mom to find she has the same blank expression.

Okay, then I have to come up with some explanation.

My arm slides around Laura’s shoulders as I pull her tightly to my chest. “It just means, you know, the stress of this situation must have them dreaming about it. Almost like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, only it’s before the actual horrible thing happens,” I offer as an explanation for my Ally’s overactive mouth.

“Let’s go see if they’ve finished watching the surveillance video yet,” Eden says, changing the subject as he takes Ally and leaves the kitchen.

Laura and I follow them. I hold her close to me and she whispers to me, “Maybe they’re too close, ya know?”

Yeah! No kidding! What would she think if she knew how close Ally is to me?

Eden’s father, Lyle, is coming back into the large living room. He must’ve walked the police officers out. Lyle turns to us and I can tell by his expression that they know who helped Stiles.

“That was very productive,” Eden’s father says as he takes a seat on the large sofa next to his wife, Sierra. “We found out who let him in. It was a member of the kitchen staff, a young man named Brady Mathews. He’s been with us for about two years. I know him very well. I can’t imagine what he was thinking. We’ll soon find out. though, because the officers are going to the mansion to get him right now. I’m praying they can get the information from him as to where Stiles is.”

Ally looks at Lyle with curiosity and asks, “So there’s no way Linda had anything to do with it at all?”

Eden’s eyes go wide and he drops her hand. “Linda?”

Ally looks at us all, then says, “They said she could be a suspect, Eden.”

Eden looks at his parents. “Papa, you told her this?”

Lyle shrugs his shoulders, and says, “I said it could’ve been anyone who was here yesterday. That’s all, son.”

Eden turns back to Ally, a bit of a glare in his eyes. “Alyssa, why would you even think such a thing about her?” His question seems to physically hurt her. Her eyes drop to the floor and she wrings her hands.

Her demeanor makes me feel like she’s lost something of herself she had found just before I left her in New Orleans. It brings out my protective side. I leave Laura’s side to walk over and place my arm around her shoulders. “Eden, I’m sure you have to understand all people who’ve been in this house yesterday had to be in question in everyone’s minds.”

Ally sends me a scene—Eden and a lady with brown hair kissing by his swimming pool. I wince at how intense it looks. I look up at Eden and he knows she shared it with me, by the look in his eyes. He’s hurt.

He reaches his hand out for Ally to take. She looks up at me, then moves away from me. “We’ll discuss this later, princess,” he says and gives me a look before he darts his eyes to Laura.

I guess he wants me to leave his wife alone and mind my business. Sorry, dude, Ally is mine to watch after, and I’m not going to let anyone get in the way of that.

I made vows too, after all.

CHAPTER 51

ALYSSA

“They brought Brady here to see you, as you requested, Eden,” Lyle tells him as he comes into the kitchen where the four of us are playing cards.

I turn to look at Eden. “You asked them to bring him here? Why?”

“I want to ask him some questions. Do you have anything that you want to ask him?”

Dropping my cards on the table, I say, “I hadn’t thought about it, Eden. I’d like to know some things. Can I come with you?”

He stands up, holding his hand out to me. I take it, looking back to Laura and Kyle. “We’ll be right back.”

Kyle frowns at me and sends, ‘I should be there too.’

He should, but Laura would find that more than odd.

I send back, ‘Laura! Duh!’

As Eden takes me from the room, Kyle sends me one last thing, ‘You and I will straighten this shit out before the night’s over! I’m not going to be shut out. I’m your protector!’

Great! He’s pissed! And apparently I get to deal with that later.

Lyle leads us to my father’s office, where the two policemen from earlier are standing just inside the door. There’s a young man sitting in my father’s chair. He’s in handcuffs.

Eden and I follow Lyle into dad’s office. My father comes in too, shutting the door behind him after he asks the officers to give us some privacy and they step outside.

The man has his head hanging down. “Won’t you please look up at me?” Eden requests.

The man shakes his head. It doesn’t detour Eden though. “You have done my family a great wrong. I would like an explanation for why you’ve done this.”

The man shakes his head again. His wavy brown hair bounces as he does it. I feel this man has much sorrow in him. I move towards him slowly, feeling compelled to touch his head. I slowly reach out to touch him.

Eden looks at me. I stop for a second and then he nods. I place my hand on the top of the man’s head.

My mind is suddenly filled with his memories. It’s as if I’m him. I’m looking into dark brown eyes with dark circles underneath them. Her hair is brown and messed up, like she just woke up.

My chest pounds as Brady reaches out to touch her. Her shoulder has a big bruise on it. Brady leans to kiss it.

“Does that make it any better, Karen?” I hear his voice say.

The girl smiles. “Yes, Brady.”

I hear a door open, then it slams against the wall. “Get the hell away from her,” a gruff voice calls out.

Brady turns and I see Darren Stiles coming at him. He has a baseball bat. Darren’s eyes are red and he’s sweaty. A small amount of spit hangs from his bottom lip, as he must be so angry that he’s practically foaming at the mouth. The smell of stale cigarette smoke and dirty socks fills the air as he gets closer.

“No, Dad, please don’t. I love him!” the girl screams.

“You don’t know what love is, you little slut. He doesn’t love you. Who could love someone like you? You’re a whore and not worth a penny!” he yells, then he swings at Brady with the bat.

Brady moves quickly, avoiding contact with the bat. “I should kill you for what you’ve done to her, you sadistic freak!” Brady yells.

“What did she tell you?” Stiles demands.

“How you beat her and rape her every chance you get!” Brady yells at him as he moves to stand in front of the crying girl who sits on the bed.

“She’s a liar. You need to leave so I can deal with her,” Stiles tells him in an unbelievably calm voice. “She’s sick in the head, boy. You can’t believe anything she says.”

Brady isn’t buying it. “I’m taking her with me. You need to leave her alone. Forget you have a daughter,” Brady tells him as he takes the girl’s hand, pulling her out the door with him.

Suddenly the scene changes. Brady is going into a small white house. “Karen, I’m back,” he says as he walks into the kitchen.

“Karen?” he calls out as he walks into the bedroom.

“Karen?” he yells as he begins to panic, calling her name over and over as he runs through the house and out the backdoor.

He returns to the house, opening the closet to see if her things are still there. Most of them are gone. Empty hangers and one black sweater is all that’s in the closet. He reaches out, taking the sweater down, and a paper falls out of the pocket.

Asshole,

I need a favor from you as you work for the bastards who fucked my daughter and me over.

I want you to get me into that house.

If you refuse, then I will kill Karen.

You have until tonight to get me the information I want:

The code to get into the gate

A map that shows me how to get to the newlyweds’ rooms

And a picture of any windows or balconies that enter their rooms

Leave this information in your mailbox and I will pick it up tonight.

Brady shakes his head and starts to cry. He picks up the phone to call someone, only to slam it back down.

“I can’t do this. I can’t do this to them,” he yells.

He leaves the house, getting into his car. He drives to an old trailer house and gets out. Stiles comes out of the shabby trailer.

“Why did you come here? You must want her dead,” Stiles yells at him.

“I don’t have any of the information you want,” Brady lies. “I’m buzzed in at the gate and I stay in the kitchen. I can’t help you. So just let me take Karen.”

Stiles gets a smile on his round, red face. “I guess you better go find that stuff out, then, because I’m keeping her until you do. As a matter of fact, you have until nine tonight to get me that information, or you can look for her on the street,” Stiles informs him.

Brady shoves Stiles to the ground and runs into the house, calling out Karen’s name. Suddenly, Stiles is behind him. His demeanor is unbelievably calm for someone who just got shoved to the ground. He’s still smiling.

He sneers at Brady. “You must think I’m an idiot. She isn’t here. Now go get what I want.”

Brady goes back to his car and drives away. I can actually feel the pain in his chest. Random thoughts are running through his mind. He’s torn between his allegiance to us and his love for her.

The scene changes again. It’s dark. A light goes off as his cell phone buzzes on the table beside his bed. “Hello?” he says.

“This is Doctor Jones at the Pendleton Memorial Methodist Hospital in New Orleans. I’m looking for Brady Mathews,” a voice tells him over the phone.

“That’s me.”

“A Karen Stiles has asked me to call you. She was raped and beaten, then left for dead in an alley in town. She said she needs to talk to you,” the doctor tells him.

“Okay, can you put her on the phone?”

“Brady?” Karen says weakly.

“Karen, oh my God! What did he do to you?”

“Brady, it was bad. I don’t know what he asked you to do, but can you please do it? He told me to tell you that if you don’t get it done, he’ll come to the hospital and kill me.”

“Okay, Karen, I will. Get better, you hear me? I love you. I’ll come see you soon.”

“I love you too, Brady. Please just do what he asks.”

He turns the light on, writing the code to the gate and drawing a map of the house, putting an x on our rooms and on the balcony doors. Then he walks outside, placing it in his mailbox.

I pull my hand away from his head. Slowly, I go to my knees in front of him. I take his chin in my hand, bringing his face up to look at me. His eyes are void of any expression. It’s as if a major piece of his soul is gone.

“Brady, I forgive you. I won’t let them do anything to you. Now, please talk to us, so we can stop this man,” I tell him.

As I stand up, he keeps his eyes on mine. “You forgive me?” he asks hoarsely. “Why would you ever do that?”

“You would’ve never done this on your own. He made you do it. You felt you had no other choice. You couldn’t see him kill Karen. I wish you would’ve come to us in the beginning, as we could’ve helped you and her before this happened. Now please tell us how he came to know what Eden and I are?”

“I didn’t know he knew that. That’s terrible. He must’ve overheard us talking in the kitchen when he snuck into the mansion that morning. My only contact with him after I left the note was yesterday when he called me. I guess he follows me, because he called my cell phone right after I got here yesterday. He told me I had to get him in here or he would kill Karen. I’m so sorry. You don’t know how sorry I am. I have to be punished for what I’ve done. Don’t drop the charges. I must pay for my crimes against you,” he begs me.

I hold my hand out to Eden, sharing with him what I saw in Brady’s mind. “There will be no charges, Brady. My wife and I forgive you. You’ve already suffered, as I feel your heart is heavy for what’s happened to Karen. I want you to move forward with your life with her. We’re going to make sure she gets better. The two of you should live a happy life from here on out. Once she’s had counseling, if you so wish it, she can join our organization,” Eden tells him.

My father opens the door. “You can take the cuffs off of him now, officer. There’ll be no charges pressed on him,” he tells them.

They look surprised, but do as my father has told them to. They look at Eden and me, I guess to be sure this is something we really want. I nod my head yes at them. They turn and leave as Lyle walks them out.

Brady rubs his wrists. “I can’t thank you enough, Mr. and Mrs. Fontaine. What can I do to help you catch him? I’ll do anything.”

“You need to let him know you can deliver my wife to him,” Eden states, shocking us all.

“Have you thought this through, Eden?” my father asks, with concern.

“Not entirely, sir, no,” he answers truthfully. “I just know we have to take control of this situation. He wants Alyssa, so we need to use that information to catch him. Brady can trick him into thinking Alyssa is going somewhere by herself, or going to be here by herself. Stiles will try to get to her if he thinks that. Only she won’t really be alone. With your help, and everyone else’s, sir, we can figure this all out.”

Dad claps Eden on the shoulder. “Then I guess it’s time for us to brainstorm,” Dad tells us as he motions for us to follow him.

As we walk into the living room I see Kyle and Laura sitting side-by-side on the sofa. Our mothers sit across from them on the other sofa. Kyle stands up when we enter the room. He’s looking at Brady, then he looks at my father.

“What’s he doing out of cuffs and still here?” Kyle demands to know.

Eden looks at me. “Alyssa, maybe it would be best if you take Kyle and Laura upstairs while we work this out.”

Kyle sends me, ‘Let him know I’ll not be shut out of this, Ally. You take Laura up and I’ll stay down here. I have to be in on this. Your safety is my number one priority.’

I look up at Eden and say, “Let Kyle help out, babe. I’ll take Laura up. Come on, Laura, let’s go upstairs.”

As we reach the top of the stairs, Laura pulls me to my room, shutting the door behind us. “Ally, why do you think you can trust that guy? I mean he gave the freak all the information he needed to get to you.”

“This is hard to explain,” I tell her. “I can tell he was forced to give Stiles the information. Brady is Karen Stiles’ boyfriend. Darren Stiles told him he had to get him into our house or he would kill her. Apparently, he told Brady to give him the information by a certain time. When Brady didn’t get him the information by his timetable, Stiles raped and beat his daughter almost to the point of death. He actually meant to leave her alive, just barely, so he still had something to hold over Brady’s head. That’s what he’s been doing and he’ll keep doing that until he finally gets me.”

Laura throws her arms up in the air as she paces around my bedroom. “How in the hell can you be so gullible? You can’t believe a word the guy says. Of course he’s going to say he was blackmailed. It’s like, step one when you get caught—blame someone else.”

Crap, this is so much harder to get her to believe. I wish I could just tell her I have this gift, but I can’t.

I sit on my bed and look out the window. “I see where you’re coming from, Laura. I really do, but these people are a lot savvier about the ways of the world than we are. I have complete faith in them and my husband, so I’m ready to do whatever it is they come up with. I trust them that much.”

Laura sits next to me, sliding her arm around my shoulders. “I’m not positive these people have your best interest in mind. I’ve thought some brainwashing might be going on. I’ve done a lot of research on this Phoenix Foundation they’re so big in and that you and Eden are going to a part of. Ally. A couple committed suicide or something like that about the same time as you got married. Apparently they were long-standing members of the Phoenix Foundation. Their obituary said the husband died, followed minutes later by his wife. Al, that crap doesn’t happen.”

Man, this is getting harder and harder not to tell her. I can’t though.

“I heard about that too,” I say as I take her hand in mine. “It turns out they were old—like really old—and just it was a weird fluke that they died like that. I haven’t been brainwashed in any way.”

“This foundation is more like a religious cult in my eyes, Al,” Laura throws at me. “Have they made you attend any meetings or anything at all?”

“No, I haven’t been made to attend any meetings,” I say with a slight laugh. “This is a great organization. These people help so many hungry children, even building schools in third world countries.”

Laura rolls her eyes. “I’m aware of all the good they do. Are you aware the members of this foundation never leave it? Once they join, they never leave, not any of them, Ally. That’s not normal.”

Wow, this just keeps getting harder. What can you not find on the internet?

“Well, who would want to quit an organization that does so much good?” I ask.

Laura squeezes my hand and looks straight into my eyes. “Al, you have a quick answer for everything I tell you. That’s kinda crazy, because it’s exactly what people in cults do.”

Boy, she’s making this so ridiculously hard.

I give her a wide smile. “Okay, how about this? You’re here to see everything that happens. I’m asking you to stay awhile and see what goes on. Then you can decide if I’m in danger or not.”

“That’s exactly why I accepted your invitation, Ally. I’m not going to stand by while something crazy or terrible happens to you. I love you.”

Her words bring tears to my eyes.

How can I leave her in the dark like this? The freaking rituals—I can’t put her through that. It’s bad enough that Kyle had to go through them. I can’t let Laura go through anything near what we did.

“I love you very much. You will probably never know how much,” I say as I hug her tightly to me. “You’ll be here with me. If you see anything which seems cultish, then point it out to me. Now, I’m going to need you to help me take care of this situation, but only if you want to.”

“Hell, yeah, I’m going to help you take care of this situation, Ally,” Laura says as we release one another. “Once Kyle told me someone was stalking you, there was no holding me back. I won’t let anyone hurt you. Not anything that’s happened between us will stop me from caring about you.”

In an instant, all I can think about is asking her to join our organization. If she could just know about us things would be so much better.

“Laura, perhaps you and Kyle could join The Phoenix Foundation. Better to be on the inside when checking into something, don’t you think?” I ask.

Her eyes narrow. “I’d have to discuss it with Kyle. I’m not sure it would be the right thing to do at this point.”

Okay, she’s clearly not ready.

Eden walks in. “Okay, you both should come downstairs now. We’ve come up with something which involves you,” he tells us.

We follow him down the stairs and see Scotty has even been brought into it, something I’m not happy with. I don’t want anything to happen to him. I don’t want anything to happen to anybody.

Eden leads us to sit directly across from our fathers and Kyle. I hold Eden’s hand tightly, as I find I am getting pretty nervous. Then I notice Brady isn’t here and so does Laura.

“Where’s that guy?” Laura asks Eden.

“He’s been taken home, so he can start to contact Stiles,” Eden says as he motions for us to sit. “We’re hoping Stiles will see he’s been released and try to contact him again. Once he’s made contact with him, he’s going to let us know, and then our part of the plan will begin.”

Lyle takes our attention as he adds, “We’ve decided it’s improbable that we can get Stiles to come here again. We need to do this out in the open. The three of you will take a trip into town to go to the New Orleans zoo.”

Dad continues where Lyle left off. “We all feel he’s much more likely to think he can get to you in a place like that. Although the three of you will arrive together, the rest of us will arrive there a bit later, so he’ll not see us all together and get suspicious. We’ll flank you on each side, so you’re never alone, but at times you will appear to be.”

Lyle takes our attention again as he says, “Once he’s taken the bait—that’s you, Alyssa—then we will all come in on him at once. Our security team will be there as well to make sure he doesn’t get away.”

My father adds. “He will not be taken to the police station, as we feel he might get out, and we can’t have that. Instead, our security team will take him to a mental institution in Alaska, where he’ll never be released.”

Laura looks at Kyle across the room and asks, “Who are the three they’re talking about, Kyle?”

“Me, Ally, and Eden,” he answers.

She looks at me. “Ally, I want to come too. I didn’t come all this way to not help you.”

I look at Eden and send, ‘Is that going to work, if she doesn’t come? I don’t want anyone in danger that isn’t essential for this plan to work out.’

Eden’s hands go running through his hair as flashes of his dream flow through his mind and out to mine. Her role seems to have been played out already. She was supposed to be with me at the swimming pool and she was.

He has to come up with something to tell Laura, though, so he says, “Kyle feels strongly about you staying here, Laura. He doesn’t want you in any danger.”

Laura looks at Kyle. “I feel like I should go, though.”

Kyle rises and comes to her, taking her by the hand. He lifts her up and puts his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him. “Laura, please just do what I ask. I can’t see both of you in danger. My mind will stay more focused if I don’t have to worry about you too. I love you, you know,” he tells her.

Eden takes my hand and gives it a squeeze as a sharp pain stabs at my heart with his confession of love for another.

A slight blush covers her cheeks. “Well, when you put it that way. I would feel terrible if something happened to you because you got distracted because of me,” she concedes.

“So that’s settled,” my father says. “Laura, you can help Scotty here, then. He’ll be tracking us all and keeping us updated about where everyone’s at. We gave Brady a tracking device that we hope he can put on Stiles somehow, if he’s able to actually see him. The chances of that are slim, though, so we’ll tap into the surveillance cameras at the zoo as well. It may take both of you to keep track of everyone, plus keep us informed.”

Laura nods her head. “That’s good. At least I can be of some use.”

Kyle kisses her on top of the head. “You’re always useful, baby,” he tells her, making her smile.

Will I ever get used to seeing them together like this?

Eden’s warm breath fills my ear. “It’ll get easier.”

Why am I so jealous?

Dad stands up. “You kids get your bathing suits on and go for a swim. Have some fun for goodness sakes. I’m going to teach Lyle here how to barbecue this evening. I know how much Kyle and Laura love my barbecue ribs.”

“Yes,” Kyle hisses as he hugs Laura tighter. “I missed those the most.”

I give him a dirty look. “Thanks a lot, Kyle,” I find myself saying, before I can stop the words from flowing out of my mouth. “Now I know the real reason you came all this way and it wasn’t for me.”

Kyle laughs at me. “The truth is out, Ally. It was never you I was after. It was your dad’s barbecue,” he teases me.

“Stop it Kyle. We don’t want to burst her bubble with the fact that we only came here to get to eat her Daddy’s barbecue and her Mom’s apple pie,” Laura adds as she gives me a wink.

“You guys are awful,” I say with a laugh as we go up the stairs to change into our bathing suits.

Eden and I stop at our door as Laura and Kyle walk down the hall to theirs. I notice Kyle’s head bend down. It looks like he’s whispering something to her. I try to tune into his thoughts, but he’s blank to me. I find myself feeling a bit prickly inside.

Then Laura calls back to us. “You guys go on down when you get ready. It’s going to take me a little longer to get ready. I have to shave my legs. We’ll meet you down there in a little while,” she says, then I notice Kyle patting her on the rear end as he follows her into her room.

“What do you know about that?” Eden comments as he opens our bedroom door. “I guess he helps her shave her legs.”

I look at Eden as I frown. “Stop it, Eden,” I tell him as I walk into the room. “I don’t want to think about that.”

Eden pops me on the bottom lightly. “There goes that jealous streak again, Mrs. Fontaine,” he says with a grin as he closes the door behind him.

“It’s not jealousy, it’s just … it’s just … hell, I don’t know what it is,” I whine.

Suddenly Eden has my back up against the wall, pulling at my hair as he brings his lips down on mine. He thrusts his tongue through my lips. My heart races at his unexpected eruption of passion. Just as suddenly as he pounced on me, he lets me go and walks away from me.

“Oh, no you don’t, Mr. Fontaine. You get back here and finish what you started,” I say, and then I pounce on him.

Heat fills me in an instant as I wrap my legs around him and kiss him like I missed him. He lays me down and tugs my clothes off. I close my eyes and all of a sudden I see Kyle looking down at me, pulling my clothes away from my body.

I open my eyes again and see a frown covering Eden’s gorgeous face.

“Alyssa? What the hell?”

He turns away from me and I sit up. Only my bra and panties are left on me. “Eden, stop!”

He turns back to look at me. “You want him.”

I shake my head. “Don’t say that, Eden! It’s something I can’t help. Come back here. I have to learn how to control that. It’s just that I can tune into him since he’s so damn close. I think I just saw what he was doing to Laura down the hallway. I swear.”

Eden shakes his head and walks away from me. “Let’s just change into our bathing suits and go down to the pool. I’m no longer in the mood.”

As he disappears into the bathroom I’m left wondering how this is all going to work out.

Will I ever get this under control?

CHAPTER 52

EDEN

Somehow I managed to get through last night without losing my mind over my mate and her protector. It was not easy though. When I took her to our bed after hours of swimming and horsing around in the pool with her friends, I thought she’d be near exhausted and the images of Kyle might stop popping into her head.

I was wrong though. It made it difficult to make love to her, as she kept seeing his face. It ruined the night for that anyway.

All I can do is blame myself for this. If I’d listened to my mother and brought her to New Orleans when she was thirteen, then this would not be an issue.

So I have to keep my mouth shut and muddle through this. At least there is nothing going on right this minute as we eat breakfast. It’s not constant, so I have to be thankful for that.

I feel my stomach tense up as my mate takes my hand. Her nerves are going crazy as my father answers a phone call on his cell as we all sit at the table eating breakfast.

“Good. Too bad you couldn’t see him to put a tracker on him,” my father says. “Keep us informed of anything else he does. Another thing, don’t go to the hospital. We had Karen moved to a different hospital, so he won’t know where she is. We added security for her as well. Once this is over, it’ll be safe for you to see her.”

My father ends his call and rises from the table. “Well, you heard it, guys. It's go time.”

My mate is shaking like a leaf. I try to console her. “Alyssa, remember the things Beck taught you last night. You’ll be fine. We’ll be right there and you’re completely capable of taking care of yourself as well.” I remind her about how Beck came over last night and taught Kyle, Laura, Scotty, and me some basic self-defense moves.

Not that me or Kyle needed it, but we did it to make the girls happy

Alyssa snuggles into my chest as we walk toward the door. “I’ll get okay. I’m just not looking forward to this.”

Toni and my mother give us all hugs at the door. We have to wait for Laura to let Kyle go before Alyssa can give her a hug. “I won’t let anything happen to your guy, Laura,” she tells her.

Laura squeezes her and says, “You better not, Alyssa Shaylee Fontaine!”

The jeep has been brought from the other house for us to go to the zoo in. Kyle jumps in the back seat, sitting in the middle.

The top has been taken off, to be sure Stiles can see us if he’s looking. Our plan is to stand out. After helping Alyssa in, I walk around to the driver’s side, getting in.

As we take off, I say, “Here we go.”

My mate fidgets with her hands. Her nerves are taking her over. Kyle’s hand lands on her shoulder, rubbing it. He says, “Ally, stop worrying, girl. You couldn’t be safer. With the two of us watching over you, that freak will never get to touch you.”

I hope to God he’s right.

She turns and gives him a smile. “I know I’m being silly. You guys won’t let anything happen to me. I know that.”

I take the exit off the highway, which leads us to the zoo. As we pull in, I noticed that the parking lot is full of cars. We finally find a parking space, then get out and head to the ticket line.

There’s a lot of people here today. I find myself wishing our trip here was as happy an occasion as it is for the people around us.

Once inside, I take my place on one side of Alyssa. Kyle’s on the other side of her. I lead them to look at the monkeys. I find I can’t seem to concentrate on anything. My eyes are constantly scanning the crowd for Stiles.

My phone vibrates and I answer it. “Hello? I’ll let her know,” I say, and then hand the phone to Kyle. “Laura wants to talk to you.”

Kyle takes the phone as I look at my mate. I tell her, “He’s here. Scotty and Laura spotted him on the zoo’s surveillance system. Now, don’t go getting all shaky, because he’ll know something’s up, as I’m sure he’s looking at us right now. So keep it cool. Promise me.”

“I promise,” she says, then sends me, ‘I’m freaking out inside though.’

I send her, ‘I know you are, princess. We’ve got you. Don’t let fear rule you.’

Kyle hands the phone back to me. “Game on, then. You keeping it together, Ally?”

She nods her head. “Not really, but I’m finding I’m a pretty great actress. I see an academy award in my future,” she says, nervously laughing a little.

We both laugh with her and I take her hand in mine, leading them to the next exhibit. We look at the birds and the bears. Then we come to the lions. Kyle looks at them intently. “Do you guys hate lions as much as I do?” he asks.

My phone vibrates again. This time it’s just a text – We are here. Time to bait the trap-

I look at Alyssa, then over to Kyle. “Get ready everybody. It’s time,” I tell them.

I lead them to an area where there’s a small café with restrooms, one on each side of it. So Alyssa is forced to leave us as we go to the men’s room and she has to walk over to the other side of the small building to get to the ladies' room.

I look her in the eyes. “Just stay cool and relaxed. We have you,” I tell her, then turn and walk into the restroom as Kyle gives her a wink, then follows me.

This better work!

CHAPTER 53

ALYSSA

I turn slowly, trying not to act afraid even though I’m clearly terrified and looking down at the ground as I walk. I glance up to see how far away I am from the ladies’ room, then turn to look behind me to see how far I am from Eden and Kyle. They’ve gone into the men’s room.

Supposedly, they will intercept Stiles before he comes into the restroom.

God, please don’t let him hurt me. Don’t let something go wrong, please!

I turn back around, looking down again. Dirty, brown dress shoes come into my vision. I look up slowly. There’s a red, chubby, round face with sweat dripping off his forehead.

It’s Stiles!

Suddenly, I’m slammed through the ladies’ room door as he pushes me in, then follows me.

Only a little girl and her mother are in there and they run out quickly. He slips a small metal bar through the door handle, locking it closed. I move as far back from him as I can.

“I’ve missed your beautiful face, Mrs. Fontaine,” he snarls at me.

“Look, Mr. Stiles, my husband will come looking for me in here. Please, just open the door and nothing bad will happen to you, I promise. If he has to break the door down to get you, I can’t say I can protect you then,” I let him know.

He laughs. “Like I need you to protect me. You’re nothing but a damn girl. Useless, except for one thing,” he tells me as he moves closer to me.

I scan the room for anything I can use to protect myself with, but find nothing, as the room is just bare concrete walls. There are two bathroom stalls, which are closed. One sink with a plastic mirror is one side of the room. I’ve positioned myself across from the only door that leads in or out of here.

He pulls a syringe full of clear liquid from the pocket of his tan slacks. The most disgusting look forms on his face and he says, “I might not make it out of here alive, but I sure as hell plan on getting you to go with me. After I take you right here on this floor, I will kill you. We can land on the other side together, bird lady. Never thought about making it with a bird before, but now that’s all I can think about.”

“Let me guess, morphine?” I ask.

He stops and looks puzzled at first, then begins to come towards me. “Your little birdie senses must be tingling. Right you are, Mrs. Fontaine. I can’t have you making it out of here before I get a taste of that tender white meat. I sure wish I could see you turn into a bird, Mrs. Fontaine. How about you do that for me?”

“I’m quite afraid you’re mentally unstable, Mr. Stiles. People can’t turn into birds,” I say with a chuckle. “I don’t know where you got the idea I could turn into one from. It’s funny, really.”

He stops coming towards me. “You can turn into a bird. Don’t lie to me. I heard them talking about it. How you flew out and saved a plane full of people.”

I laugh. “You must be a lot crazier than I thought you were if you believe that.”

He begins to move forward again as I back away from him, staying as far from him as possible. “You’re trying to distract me from my purpose, Mrs. Fontaine. It doesn’t matter if you’re a bird or not. I just want to see your skin turned red after I slap you over and over again, all over your body. I want to watch your blood drip down from your mouth after I bite your lip,” he tells me, trying to get into my head to make me break down.

I’ve felt so weak and insecure for the last month. When I first transformed, I felt different, so full of power. Kyle left and I lost that confidence.

I’ve been so worried about my damn feelings for him and how to make my life work, loving both Eden and Kyle, it’s taken something from me. Yet as I listen to this man talk, I’m getting it all back.

This monster who stands before me means to hurt me, kill me even. He’s hurt his daughter, a soul that was entrusted to him. Our Creator is with me and will help me to take this creature away so he can do no more harm.

With a newly-found strength, I smile at the filthy, immoral, and corrupt being who holds the needle poised to pierce my skin and take me from this world.

“Well, you really have talked quite enough, Mr. Stiles. I can see you believe you’re going to drug me, then beat and rape me. But you aren’t.” I wink at him as I lace my fingers together and push them from me to loosen the joints. “You are fixing to get the beating of your life and when you wake up in the nut house, you can tell everybody it was a useless girl who kicked your ass.” I let him know, just before I run at him.

I hit him square in the chest as hard as I can. He flies back through the air until he hits the cement wall. The wall was quite a ways behind him and the thud his body makes as it connects is loud.

Wow! That was a pretty great shove if I do say so myself!

I hear a gut-wrenching smack as his head hits the wall. I almost feel badly about causing him so much pain. Then I remember what he’s done to his daughter and that feeling goes away.

“I hope you enjoyed your flight,” I tell him.

I walk toward the door to unlock it. Amazingly, he starts to come at me again, trying to stop me from getting to the door. I don’t stop my progression until he’s about three feet away from me. He reaches out to punch the needle into me. I take a quick jump and kick him in the chin with my foot, splitting it open and making him fall back as he clutches at it.

“Save yourself the pain, Stiles. Stop trying to hurt me. Our agents will take you to a nice place to live under sedation for the rest of your life. It’s much more compassion than you’ve ever shown anyone in your life,” I say.

I move towards the door again, only to find he’s regained his footing and is still coming towards me. I look at the sink I’m standing by. A bar of soap rest on the side of it. I pick it up and hurl it at his forehead. It strikes him, but it only seems to make him mad, not hurt.

His voice is a growl as he says, “Fucking bitch. This is going to feel so good when I take you down!”

He’s on me before I know it. He has me pushed up against the cold cement wall with my back to him. Pushing his body up against mine, he presses me up against the wall. I feel his hot breath on my neck. The smell of cigarettes and whisky almost choke me. I close my eyes and throw my head back as hard as I can.

I hear the thud of my skull hitting his. The pressure is off me as he falls back, stumbling and falling across the room, away from me. I take the chance to get out.

The walk to the door isn’t that far and I begin to remove the small iron bar he used to lock it. The door opens and my Eden’s face is right there.

My, he’s a handsome and welcome sight!

He grabs me, then I feel a pain in my shoulder. Almost immediately, I feel cold rush through my entire body and start to feel like I’m falling asleep. Eden picks me up. I hear him yelling, “You son of a bitch, what did you give her?”

I hear Stiles say, “A lethal dose of morphine. Say goodbye to your little birdie.”

Kyle’s voice fills me ears. “You piece of shit,” he yells, just before I hear a smacking sound. “There you go, guys. You can carry his ass out of here now.”

Then everything goes black.

CHAPTER 54

EDEN

My mate lies nearly lifeless in my arms. Her heartbeats come slower and slower, her breaths shallow with long lapses between them. I wasn’t fast enough to stop this.

We follow one of our protectors who works at the zoo to an empty stable once used for giraffes. Kyle runs by my side, holding Alyssa’s hand in his.

He looks almost as bad as I do.

My father and Alyssa’s follow close behind. The agents have taken the asshole, Stiles, away. We’ll never be seeing him again, thank The Creator. Large doors open and I take my mate inside the dark area.

Placing her body on the ground, I look around at those who surround us. “I have to get her to transform. That’s the only way her body can beat the amount of morphine he put into her.”

Kyle steps back and says, “Do it.”

I wish it was that easy!

“I don’t know how to change her. I can only change myself,” I say. “You and I both have telepathy with her. We must use it to try to get her to picture herself as the bird. I don’t know about you, Kyle, but I can’t see a thing moving in her mind.”

Kyle frowns as he looks down at her. Kneeling beside her, he places his hand on her forehead. He looks at me and I kneel of the other side of her. I place my hand on top of her head.

Nothing!

“Maybe her heart will feel us,” I say and place my hand over half her heart, leaving room for Kyle’s.

His hand touches mine as we hold them to her chest. Light thumps pulse beneath my hand. “I saw a flash, Eden,” Kyle says.

I nod. “I saw it. The clothes are constricting her. They have to come off.”

I turn back to look at my father and hers. “You may want to turn away. We have to remove her clothes.”

Her father, David, raises his eyebrows. “You sure about that, son?”

I nod and turn back. Kyle removes her shoes as I unbutton her blouse. I press my forehead to hers, trying to send her pictures of herself as the bird. Pushing the shirt off her shoulders, I turn her to take it all the way off. Kyle steadies her as I pull at it, then unfasten her bra.

She’s going to be so embarrassed!

“Just hurry, Eden. I’m not scoping her out or anything. Let’s just get this done and her transformed,” Kyle says as he quickly unbuttons her shorts, which I pull off her.

I look up at him. My wife is lying on the ground, bare chested. Nothing is left on her but a small pair of lacy black panties. “I beg you not to look below her waist once I remove these,” I say to him.

His hand clasps my shoulder. “You have my word.”

I pull them off and stand up. Kyle holds her head up, cradling it in his lap. “Maybe you should change, Eden. Maybe you can get to her mind in that state. I’ll work on this end and you on that,” he says.

It might work!

“Cover your ears,” I tell them all.

I picture myself as the bird and suddenly I’m seeing things differently. I open my mouth and a loud shriek comes out. Fluttering my wings, I push air past my mate as I call to her with my mind.

Please let this work!

CHAPTER 55

ALYSSA

I feel wind blowing in my face. The beating of wings fills my ears. My eyes open to see Eden in front of me, but he’s in his bird form. His emerald eyes look at me.

“What happened to me?” I ask, but all I hear is a shallow shrieking sound.

I must be in bird form too. I move my arm and feel the wind ruffling my feathers. I stand up but feel a little wobbly. Eden walks around me. I keep my eyes on him and then I see Kyle standing next to me. I look right at Kyle, who’s smiling like crazy at me.

Eden moves out the large doors which lets in the only light into this dark thing we’re in. He sends thoughts to me, telling me to follow him. Then he shoots up into the sky, shrieking at me as his mind says, ‘Follow me.’

I stumble out of the barn thing, the light in the sky nearly blinding me. Moving my arms up and down, my feet lift off the ground and I’m in the air.

The wind on my face helps me to wake up. I feel groggy, but every flap of my wings seems to clear my brain a little more. Eden leads me very high up into the evening sky.

The sun is beginning to set over Lake Pontchartrain as we fly over it. The colors are so brilliant.

The mansion comes into view. I suppose we’re going there as Eden begins to fly lower and lower until our feet hit the ground.

I’m surprised to see we’re both birds still. I take a few steps, then I see Eden looking at me. He blinks his eyes a couple of times, then I hear his voice in my head, ‘How do you feel?’

‘I think I’m okay,’ I send back.

He sends, ‘Picture yourself in human form and you’ll turn back.’

I close my eyes and try to see myself as a human again. I feel a change. I can feel the breeze on my skin. I open my eyes slowly to find my husband standing in front of me. I’m engulfed in his embrace right away.

“Thank God, Alyssa. It worked. I was so afraid. I love you. I love you so much. I’m so sorry this happened to you,” he gushes.

“I’m okay, Eden,” I tell him as I laugh a little.

As he pulls his body away from mine I notice the breeze on my skin. My entire skin. Looking down at myself, my mind goes blank. “Why am I naked?”

Instead of answering me, he laughs. “How do you feel, really, Alyssa?”

“I feel okay, I think. The fact that I have no clothes on is problematic though. What happened, Eden? The last thing I remember, I saw your face and then heard Kyle knock that freak out. What happened to me?”

Eden takes my hand, leading me to the house. He pulls his shirt off and puts it on me, barely covering my ass.

“Stiles stabbed a syringe full of morphine into your shoulder just as you opened the door. I can’t believe he had the strength to do that after what I heard you do to him in there,” he tells me.

“I know! Like, I knocked him about six feet through the air into the wall and somehow he kept coming. Then I kicked him in the chin, splitting it open,” I say. “Then he pinned me against the wall, so I head butted him. I thought that was enough, but I guess I should’ve knocked him all the way out before I turned my back to him.”

I find we’ve made it to a side door I’ve never been in before. Eden opens the door, revealing a set of stairs. He leads me up them, and we come up to find a door at the top of the staircase. He opens it, and we’re at the back of our suite.

Once safely inside, Eden leads me to the sofa, and motions for me to sit down, then he kneels on the floor in front of me. “I’m so sorry this didn’t work out as well as I hoped it would. He should’ve never been able to lock you away like that. My mind was frantic at the thought he might hurt you and then he did. I wouldn’t blame you if you never forgive me for that. For the whole thing. This was entirely my fault,” he tells me sadly.

I have to stop him. “Eden, you stop that right now. I’m fine. I don’t know how I’m fine, but I am. Things happen. We made it through this without the ending being terrible. Now please enlighten me about what you did after I passed out.”

The skin crinkles around his eyes as he grimaces. “You really want to know, princess?”

I nod. “Of course I do.”

He proceeds as he looks down at my legs, rubbing them as he says, “Just as you passed out from the morphine, I was given a flash of what I had to do to keep you alive. The scene played out super-fast in my head. I had to get you into your bird form. I guess that, since you’re so much larger as a bird, the morphine wouldn’t be a lethal amount to you if you were in that form,” he tells me, then pauses for a second.

“Go on,” I coax him.

“I felt your breathing begin to slow to almost nothing and your heart beat was taking longer and longer between beats. Alyssa, please believe me when I say there was absolutely no time to waste,” he says with a sense of urgency in his voice.

“Why do you say it like that, Eden?” I ask, finding myself nervous about hearing the answer.

“You’ll see.” His eye twitches. “Well, one of our people works at the zoo and he took us to a closed off area they don’t use anymore. It used to be an enclosure for the giraffes, I think.”

“Okay, that’s not too bad,” I say.

“Um … let me see. How should I tell you this part?” he asks himself. “You know how sometimes people who get drunk pull their clothes off? Well, it’s because they feel constricted by them. The clothes actually make it harder for them to breathe. So, as you might have guessed, which I see by the blush on your face that you have, I had to undress you. I also had to ask Kyle to help me.”

“Wait a minute. I was lying on the ground, I assume. And I assume you covered me with something. So how much did he see?” I ask him.

“Okay, back to that then, huh? Like I said, time was of the essence and it became quite clear to me we had to hurry. So there was no time to go looking for something to cover you with. He saw everything, but I have to say he was a gentleman and didn’t ogle you,” he says.

“Oh, God,” I say, sitting up and leaning over. “I think I’m going to throw up.”

Eden stands up. “Should I take you to the bathroom, Alyssa?”

I sit back. “No, please continue. Don’t let my devastating embarrassment stop you,” I say, somewhat sarcastically.

He sits down next to me, taking my hand in his. “Well, as embarrassing as it is, everything worked. I transformed, then I was able to get you to come out of the drug’s effects pretty quickly after I got into your head, and got you to change too. Then I used my wings to blow air in your face, waking you up,” he tells me.

“And now we’re back home, and all that’s left to do is hide away from Kyle forever,” I whine.

Eden laughs a little. “If it makes you feel any better at all, I was embarrassed too. I never thought I would have to get my wife’s ex-boyfriend to help me undress her so we could turn into birds together and fly away,” he says.

I have to laugh a little as well. “We’re some messed up people, Eden. That’ll probably scar Kyle forever,” I say.

“He didn’t seem to mind,” Eden tells me as he laughs.

I blush seven times harder than before. “Eden, don’t tell me that!”

He smiles and stands up. “We need to get cleaned up and dressed. I bet everyone will be here soon,” he tells me as he pulls me up, then leads me to the bedroom.

He opens the door to our room. I’m pleased to see the glass on the balcony door has been replaced. It looks like nothing ever happened in here. I find I missed this place and my beloved jacuzzi tub.

CHAPTER 56

EDEN

I sit on the bed, watching my mate as she braids her hair. “I’m so glad that’s over, Alyssa. You have no idea the relief I feel, knowing you’re safe again.”

She rises, done fixing herself up. “Ready to go downstairs? They’re sure to be here by now.”

Her confidence is back and she glows with it. She chose a tight-fitting, navy blue dress, which fits her body like a glove. It occurs to me that many men would rather their wives not dress so sexy. Yet I love her to be full of confidence, and if she feels like dressing this way, I’ll be damned if I let some insecurity in me bring her down.

Taking her by the waist, it reminds me of how I held her when I brought her home from the hospital after her accident. I smile at her, then place a gentle kiss on her perfect cheek. “I have to hold you close to me right now, princess. I almost lost you today.”

She giggles as she leans into me and we walk down the staircase. “I love you and relish your attention. Your quick thinking saved us all.”

Niles is at the door to the formal dining room. “Your friends and family have been waiting for you. Please come in and sit down,” he instructs us.

“Good evening, Niles. It’s so nice to see you again. I’ve missed you,” Alyssa tells him.

His eyebrows raise slightly. “Well, I missed you too,” he states stoically.

My eyes scan the room quickly. I notice Galchobar is here, as well as my family and Alyssa’s, and Kyle and Laura. My eyes catch Kyle’s. He’s staring at my wife, his mouth slightly open.

Alyssa blushes and clings to me. She sends me, ‘I can’t do this. Get me out of here.’

I tighten my arm around her waist and send her, ‘You got this, princess. Keep up that confidence you have back.’

Galchobar rises and comes to us. “Good evening, Alyssa. I see everything has turned out well, all the way around,” he says as he motions to Kyle and Laura. “It’s a shame you were drugged. Thankfully, Eden was given the answer to your dilemma before it caused you permanent damage.”

Alyssa smiles at him. “Thank you for coming this evening, Galchobar. It’s nice to see everyone after the day I’ve had.”

“Everyone had to see you, Alyssa,” I tell her as I take her to sit at the table. Purposely, I seat her next to Kyle, then I sit on the other side of her.

The quicker she faces her embarrassment, the better.

She looks at the tablecloth as if it’s a work of art. I know she doesn’t want to look at him. I guess Kyle does too as he takes her by the chin and makes her look at him. “Hey, girl, you look a hell of a lot better than when I saw you last.”

“Please don’t remind me,” she mumbles.

Kyle looks past her to meet my eyes. He seems confused, so I say, “She asked about her state when I brought her home. I had to explain what we had to do.”

Laura leans up and looks at me. “Her state?” she asks.

Kyle gives me a slight head shake and I smile.

Shit, Laura!

Alyssa takes Kyle’s hand, moving it from her face. “Have you thought about what I offered you, Laura? About becoming a member of The Phoenix Foundation. Kyle’s a member, you know,” she says, and Kyle’s eyes go wide. “It just happened. Don’t be upset with him.”

Laura’s voice becomes high pitched. “Kyle! You joined the cult?”

Kyle closes his eyes and he turns to her. “It’s not a cult and I’d like it if you joined us,” he says, then turns back to look at Alyssa. “You didn’t tell me you asked her that, Ally.”

“Are you mad?” she asks him.

“I’m not mad, Al,” he says. “A bit confused, but not mad.”

“I want her to know,” Alyssa says, making the rest of the people at the table gasp.

Galchobar clears his throat. “My dear Mistress Fontaine, perhaps we should talk privately for a moment.”

Alyssa radiates confidence and I suddenly feel sorry for the old guy. “Are you going to tell me I’m not allowed to ask my best friend to join our organization, sir?”

“I would never dare to tell you such a thing,” he says, with a bow of his head.

Laura lets out a sudden laugh. “What in the hell?”

“Laura, maybe we should drop this and talk about it later,” Kyle says as he puts his arm around her.

“Now’s best,” Alyssa says. “This secret has gone on long enough. I feel as if I’m lying to her and I don’t like it. Kyle is in love with her and she him. It’s not fair to him to have to hide this from her. This is something which hurts me to make him do. I want no more of it.”

Kyle looks at her with a frown. “Don’t do this because of me, Ally. I can’t allow that and you know it.”

Laura pushes his arm off her shoulders. “You can’t allow her?” she asks with a glare. “This man bows to her as if she’s the damn Queen of New Orleans and you tell her you can’t allow her to do something? Tell me, Kyle, when did you get this power over her?”

“She needs to know,” I say as I turn my attention to Galchobar. “She’s not a threat. Her character is good and she’d be a help to our causes.”

Laura stands up and looks around at us all. “Wait one minute, Eden. I’m not about to join this thing. You may have pulled Kyle in, but I’m not going to be suckered into anything.”

The tall-stemmed glasses, one filled with red wine and one with water begin to shake in front of Laura. “Sit!” Alyssa says quietly.

Laura sits down immediately. “Ally! What are you doing?”

The glasses stop shaking and Laura looks at them. Alyssa leans over to Kyle. “I want to show her how we communicate.”

“Ally, you’re going to freak her out,” he says as he shakes his head vigorously.

Laura leans up to see them better. “How do you communicate?”

Alyssa meets her stare. “Tell Kyle anything you want. Any little detail or a long detail. Anything you want. Then he’ll tell me, only he won’t be speaking to me out loud.”

“This is crazy,” Laura says, then pulls Kyle back and whispers quietly into his ear.

Kyle’s eyes go wide and he smiles. “Maybe you should say something else. Because this is real, Laura, and that just might bite you in the ass.”

“Just do your little party trick, Kyle,” Laura says with more than a touch of sarcasm. “Only I want to stand behind Ally, so I can make sure you don’t mouth the words to her.”

Laura moves to stand behind my mate and watches Kyle like a hawk. Alyssa’s cheeks turn red as Kyle sends her whatever it was Laura said to him. She looks up at Laura and says, “You dirty girl. You better come here and let me whisper that back to you, or you will die of embarrassment.”

Laura’s smirk fades as she leans down and Alyssa whispers in her ear. She stands back up and says, “No fucking way!”

Alyssa nods her head, as does Kyle. Laura throws her arms in the air and goes back to her chair, plopping down on it. “Okay, how’d you do that?”

“Telepathy,” Alyssa says, then takes a sip of wine. “If you don’t mind, Laura, I’m starving, so let’s get this all out in the open and as you eat the delicious dinner we’re about to be served, you can let it all settle into your mind.”

Laura gives a faint nod and Kyle wraps his arm around her shoulders. “Go for it, Al. I won’t let her run off or pass out.”

Alyssa smiles, then says, “Eden and I can transform into large—well, maybe large is too small of a word. Do you think large is adequate, Eden?”

“I like the word giant. It suits us better,” I answer.

Alyssa nods in agreement. “You’re right. We can transform into giant birds. They call us Phoenixes and we help people. Along with that little gift, we have telepathy with each other. I also have it with Kyle. That’s all the gifts we’ve been given so far. Oh, yeah, and we can make things happen. Like I made you sit and shook the glasses. Little things like that. I don’t know if Kyle can.”

Laura turns her head to look at Kyle. “You have some type of powers too?”

He shrugs. “I’m extra strong and I think I can sense danger, but I need to practice that more.”

“Why?” Laura asks.

“That’s an excellent question, Laura,” Alyssa says. “Eden and I were chosen before our births by Our Creator. The wedding was not a theme wedding. It was an ancient one. Galchobar, here, is an immortal. He officiated the very first wedding of the original Phoenix couple.”

“Shut up!” Laura says as her eyes roll to look at Galchobar.

“I will not,” Alyssa says with a laugh.

Laura looks back at Alyssa. “You gave Kyle powers. Can you give me some?”

“It wasn’t me who gave him powers. I don’t have that kind of power. It was Our Creator,” she answers.

Looking up at Kyle, Laura asks, “But why you, Kyle?”

Instead of answering her, he turns to look at my mate. It’s she who answers. “Laura, I’ve had love in my heart for Kyle for several years. As he’s had for me. When the change began to happen in me, he got stuck in my heart. It pulled him along with me.”

“He’s yours?” Laura asks.

My wife nods. “But only a bit of him is. The rest of him can be yours, or whomever he chooses. I belong to him in a way as well. He’s my primary guardian,” she says, then looks back at me. “Please help me think of another name for him, Eden. I detest that title.”

“Of course, princess,” I say as I place a kiss on top of her head. “Laura, he is her protector. Nothing physical can happen between them. You will never lose him to her.”

Kyle looks at my wife and smiles. “You got that right, doesn’t he, Al?”

“Yeah, Romeo. So, with that all said, let’s get our grub on. I’m starving and Laura needs to eat something to help her with the shock.”

Kyle kisses the side of Laura’s head. “You’re stuck with me, baby,” he says. “Say you’ll join us.”

Laura looks at my mate and nods. “How can I refuse? Your secret is mine too now. How about you show me the birds after dinner?”

Galchobar halts any answer. “I’m afraid you must wait for the ceremony to initiate you into our flock, dear girl.”

Alyssa shoots him a look. “Why?” she asks. “And what are they going to do to her? They made Kyle and Eden lion toys and poor Kyle had to see us all go up in flames. I don’t want that for her.”

“It’s not up to you or me, Mistress Fontaine,” he says, then the maids bring in the trays heavy with food and all conversation on the subject ends.

CHAPTER 57

LAURA

As shocking as it was to hear the things Kyle, Ally, and Eden told me, I find I’m handling it all pretty well. Ally has me a bit worried about the initiation into the flock, but if they all got through it, so can I.

They explained more as we all hung out in Eden and Ally’s suite last night. We slept in a couple of their extra bedrooms they have. Kyle felt uncomfortable sleeping together in such close proximity to Ally, which at first made me mad. Then, when I really thought about their telepathy, and how she might see what would’ve surely happened between us, I had to agree with him.

Their lifestyle is fantastic. This evening we sit at the swimming pool back at their mansion. We lounged the day away as we played in the water. But any minute now, the fun will be over and we will have to do another workout with the beast known as Beck.

Since I have no superpowers, I’ve decided to get as strong as my human body will allow me to. I don’t wish to be left behind in all their missions. I have to find some way to make myself useful.

The patio door opens and a nicely-dressed woman with dark brown hair walks out. “Shit!” Eden says, almost under his breath.

I look at him, as do Kyle and Ally.

Why in the world would he say that? Then I find out.

“Eden!” the lady cries.

He stands up. He’s wearing nothing but his swimming trunks and sunglasses. She goes straight to him, hugging him tightly.

I sit in my lounge chair, looking at her over my sunglasses. She is just about the same height, weight, and build as Ally. It’s uncanny.

Eden turns her to us, introducing her. “This is Linda Banks, the woman who has chosen all of our clothes. This is Kyle and that’s Laura. She’ll be joining our foundation very soon, so you’ll be seeing a lot of her.”

She finally takes her arm from around his waist and moves towards me. She extends her hand for me to shake. “It’s so nice to meet you, Laura. I met Kyle at the ceremony,” she tells me in a very professional voice.

“It’s lovely to meet you too. I have to thank you for all the beautiful things you’ve sent to us. We’re all very happy with your taste,” I say, to assure her.

Then Eden says, “Would you like to join us, Linda? I’m sure Alyssa has a bathing suit you can use, as you are the same size.”

My eyes dart to Ally, who has a jealous streak a mile wide. She can’t be happy with this woman who keeps touching her husband. I’d have a fit.

“How nice of you to invite me, Eden,” she tells him as she puts her hand on his shoulder. “I would love to take a quick dip with you. With all of you.”

Ally speaks up as she looks over her expensive sunglasses at her husband, “Eden, how nice of you to invite Ms. Banks to join us, but you must have forgotten we were just about to go in and get ready to leave. Remember, we’re going to go work out with Beck?”

He smiles at her. “I did forget about that. Sorry, Linda. Maybe another time then?”

“Oh, pooh,” she pouts.

“Sorry,” Ally says.

I bet she’s not!

“Well, I’ll have to take you up on that swim another time, then. I just came over today to make sure Laura and Kyle’s things were moved into the correct room,” Linda says as she turns her attention to Kyle. “I managed to get both of your things into Alyssa’s old closet, as you two will be staying together in that room. That is what you requested, right?”

Ally looks at me, a little surprised. “You two are staying in the same room now? I thought that Kyle would be in Eden’s old room,” she says. “What happened to that plan?”

I look back at her and say, “The ginormous picture of you in that room is a bit overwhelming for me, Ally. I can’t have my man falling asleep looking at that thing. It could be bad for our relationship.”

“The picture can be taken down. Don’t make yourselves uncomfortable because of that. I can have it out of there before you go to bed tonight,” she offers.

Kyle jumps into the conversation. “Ally, it’s okay. We’re not uncomfortable at all. We want to stay together.”

“I see,” she says as she stands up. “Well, we should head inside and get ready to go.”

Eden grabs her cover up and drapes it across her shoulders, then pulls his shirt on. “Let us walk you out, Linda,” he tells her as he wraps his arm around Ally’s waist, then takes Linda’s hand, leading her back to the patio door.

Kyle and I lag behind a bit. As we come into the foyer, we see Eden and Ally at the front door with Linda.

“It was nice to see you again, Linda,” Eden says.