New Orleans, Louisiana – Six Weeks Later
The happy sound of jazz piping through the French Quarter almost made Ashtyn’s heart burst.
She could not believe that she was back in her hometown after the harrowing life she had led in Paris.
When she had stepped off the plane at Louis Armstrong International, her fears that she wouldn’t remember the place she had longed for so desperately proved to be unfounded.
Xander squeezed her hand comfortingly.
“Is it how you remembered it?” he asked, sensing her body tense at his side.
Ashtyn nodded and looked up at him.
“I can’t believe I’m here,” she murmured, staring around as if she expected it to disappear.
“You’re here,” he told her softly. “We’re both here. Paris is the nightmare. This is the reality.”
She nodded, grateful that he had joined her.
In truth, she hadn’t known what to expect after Drake Conway had come into their lives. He was a larger-than-life force who had swooped in and made everything go away with the swipe of his magical hand somehow.
“Who is your father?” Ashtyn whispered when Xander’s conviction was quietly overturned and they were brought back to Virginia to Drake’s massive estate.
“I don’t even want to know,” Xander replied, as the older man swept his son into a private conference while Ashtyn was left to roam the perfectly manicured grounds in Leesburg.
It had all been so overwhelming, being whisked out of Europe in a covert private plane.
“I can’t leave my sister!” Ashtyn protested but Drake had shaken his head.
“Arrangements have already been made for Viola to be transferred to the best medical facility in Louisiana. She has been stable, but she is looking at months of inpatient recovery for both the drugs she was fed and the psychological abuse she suffered. You will visit her in six weeks when the doctors permit it.”
Ashtyn could only stare at him, dumbfounded.
“How did you know about her?” she gasped. “Who are you?”
“I told you,” he replied, with a warm smile. “I am Drake Conway.”
None of it made any sense, but there was no way to question Drake and expect to get an answer that was open and honest.
“Your past…indiscretions have been forgotten,” Xander’s father told them. “You have nothing to fear about anything catching up with you. You are free to live normal lives…well, as normal as they can be going forward.”
Xander and Ashtyn exchanged nervous glances.
“And my sister?” Xander asked. “What about Sarah?”
Drake paused and studied his son’s face.
“I will ensure that Sarah is cared for. Of course, she won’t be punished for what happened with your adoptive parents. The abuse she suffered was subtly documented.”
Drake lowered his eyes and Ashtyn could read the shame in them.
“It is my fault it happened. They should have been vetted better. What happened in that house should never have occurred.”
An uncomfortable silence followed as Xander recalled the conversation he had had with his father in the hospital while he was recovering from his gunshot wound.
“Why have you resurfaced now?” Xander asked and he could hear the anger in his voice.
Drake hung his head.
“I have been searching for you for twenty-eight years,” he replied. “You and your brothers.”
“Brothers?” Xander echoed. “There is more than one?”
“Yes, you have an identical twin and two older brothers.”
“Why – what?” Xander stuttered. “What are you talking about? I mean, I know about Aiden but there are two others? Did you throw them away too?”
Drake’s face and quickly drawn breath showed the depth of pain that accusation caused him.
“I had no choice but to find you other homes. There was a grave danger following us. Your mother was killed…”
He trailed off and looked away as he relived the terrible moment.
Suddenly Xander remembered his tattoo and chills exploded over his body.
Could it be real? Had that dream actually happened to him?
“What are you thinking about?”
Xander brought her back to the present and she forced a smile.
“I’m excited to see Viola. The doctors say she’s doing really well.”
He leaned across the table and smiled at her but Ashtyn could read something behind his mossy eyes.
“Are you comfortable here? Do you have everything you need?”
She nodded slowly, examining him cautiously.
“I have you, so yes, I do have everything I need,” she replied. His smile faltered slightly.
“That’s what I want to talk to you about,” he told her and Ashtyn felt her heart begin to beat erratically.
“What does he want you to do?” she muttered, already knowing it was about Drake.
“I need to go away for a while,” Xander replied quietly, glancing around as if he was worried about eavesdroppers.
“How long?” she asked sadly, clenching her teeth to keep from arguing.
“As long as it takes,” he answered softly.
“Can you please stop speaking in riddles?”
He sighed.
“As long as it takes to eliminate Oculus.”
She gaped at him.
“We just left behind murder and mayhem to start fresh. Are you that eager to run back into a world where people want you dead?”
“We can defeat them,” Xander said firmly. “Drake has abilities of his own. And he’s found two of my brothers already. Now I need to convince Aiden to join us.”
Ashtyn stared at her half-eaten jambalaya, her appetite gone.
“I thought your brother hated you.”
“He does, but Ash…”
She looked up slowly.
“What?”
“These are the people who killed our mother.”
Ashtyn felt shame and she nodded, swallowing any more of her objections.
“When are you leaving?” she asked, unable to meet his eyes.
“As soon as you tell me that you’ll wait for me.”
Their eyes met and a slow smile formed on her lips.
“You’re a fool if you think you can get rid of me that easily,” she replied. “But you have to promise to visit me often when you’re gone.”
His eyebrows raised in surprise.
“You want me to project to you?”
“Only if you want,” she replied quickly, embarrassment coloring her cheeks.
“Oh, I want,” he nuzzled her ear playfully. “Do you have any idea what I can make you feel while I’m in your head? What I can make you do?”
Shivers racked her body as images were pushed into her mind. Her breathing hitched and her nipples instantly turned rock hard. A small moan escaped her as she saw a picture of him driving his cock deeply within her pussy as he had her pressed up against a wall. Her head was thrown back in bliss and her legs were wrapped tightly against his body, angling herself so that he could strike even deeper within her. The image made her core gush with wetness, and he hadn’t even had to touch her. Oh my god, this might not be so bad, she thought, smiling up at him.
“I do,” she sighed.
Xander smirked, looking proud of himself as he came to crouch at her side, his eyes locked on hers. Suddenly, his face became serious as he stared lovingly into her eyes.
“I will come back to you,” he promised, grabbing her hands and bringing them to his lips. “I swear it.”
“You better,” she replied with a confident smile, leaning forward to kiss his mouth. “Or I’ll kill you.”
THE END