Vance by Sandra R Neeley
Chapter 6
Jack strode down the hallway pointing out doors as he went. “Draven’s room on the left, Rance’s room on the right, guest bathroom on the left, Niko’s next to Rance’s, two empty rooms on the left, and this is yours,” he said, stepping into a very comfortably sized bedroom at the end of the hallway on the right. It was done all in soft medium blues and grays with white thrown in here and there for contrast. “You have an attached private bath, as do all the rooms upstairs. They’re suites.”
He set her on her feet again, and waited while she looked around the room. There was a four-poster bed against the far wall between two windows and her pillow was leaning against the headboard. A dresser sat against the wall to the right of the bed, and a chest of drawers to the left. There was a circular woven throw rug beneath the bed in the same blues, grays and whites with a touch of black thrown in. Across the room where she and Jack were standing was a sitting area. There were two blue-velvet button-tucked, winged-back chairs sitting together on either side of a small oval table.
“Your bathroom is through there,” he said, pointing to a door on the other side of the sitting area.
“Thank you,” she said again.
“Not that I’m not glad you’re finally speaking, but you don’t have to thank me for everything. Hell, you don’t have to thank me for anything. I’m just doing what Jared would have wanted. I’m glad we didn’t lose you, too.”
“You don’t even know me,” she said quietly, pinning him with huge, brown expressive eyes.
“No. But Jared was my brother, and he loved you. That’s all I need to know.”
Kassidy looked away from him and nodded, not wanting to think about the fact that she’d never see Jared again. “Where’s your room?” she asked.
“Master suite is on the first floor. The guys don’t live here permanently, but they’re here so much certain rooms have become known as theirs. Except Draven. Draven is here most of the time. Rance less than anyone else. Niko — depends on how his night goes.”
She nodded her understanding of his explanation.
“I’m going to take a few minutes to get caught up with those I left in charge. Take a shower, get cleaned up, I’ll see what we can find for dinner and if you don’t want to come down, I’ll send something up to you.”
Kassidy nodded again, and when she didn’t look back at Jack, he simply walked out of her room, leaving her to whatever she decided to do.
~~~
Jack went back downstairs and straight to the kitchen where he took a bottle of whiskey out of the cabinet, poured more than one fair share into a glass and downed it. He repeated the action two more times before he slammed the bottle down on the counter and braced his hands on either side of it before letting his head fall forward and letting his emotions overtake him. He hadn’t felt pain like this since his mother died when he and Jared were young kids. The same emotions laced with anger and helplessness flowed through him. The feeling of failure. The ‘if only’ thoughts he’d had when his mother had died were once again haunting him now that his brother had died, too.
His father’s death? That had been a happy day. A day of celebration, even. Partially because it had been him who’d sent the bastard straight to hell, but also because the Pride was free as of that moment. Jack had made his position perfectly clear to the entire Pride when he’d assumed the role of Alpha — stay or don’t. No punishment either way. If you stay, pull your weight. If you leave and wish later you hadn’t, come back and you’d be welcomed. Most had stayed. The few that had left he’d made sure had funds to start their lives elsewhere and also that they had a letter of recommendation for whoever their next Alpha was. A couple of them had returned already after hearing how good things were, a few were still out there, and he honestly wished them well.
Jack huffed out a deep sigh and let his head hang even lower as he shifted his weight to one leg and tried to force away the emotion. Pretty much the entire Pride had taken a chance on him. The fact his own brother wouldn’t was still a thing that haunted him.
“Wasn’t your fault,” a deep voice said from the archway leading into the kitchen.
Jack didn’t look up. “Of course, it was.”
“How do you figure that?” Draven asked.
“Should have gone after him instead of just waiting for him to decide to come home.”
“You can’t go after someone you can’t locate.”
“Somebody somewhere knew where he was,” Jack said, lifting his head to stare at the cabinets ahead of him.
“Maybe. But that somebody didn’t know you, so, there’s nothing you could have done. You forget he’s raised just like you. Grew up beside you. He was as capable as you. The only thing he had more of was a sense of trust.”
“Unfortunately,” Jack said.
“Yep. I’m thinking that’s what got him killed. I think he went out to fight, trusting because he was honorable, they would be, too. But they double crossed him.”
Jack slowly nodded before he poured himself another double shot of whiskey and shot it down. He savored the burn as it flowed down his throat, then capped the bottle and put it back in the cabinet. “I want to know who they all were. Were they the others with him in that building or are there more? I want names, addresses, and if any are still alive, I want vengeance.”
“I’m on it. I’ll keep looking until I can give you answers. In the meantime, you thought about asking Kassidy?” Draven asked.
“Not yet.”
“She might know something.”
“You’re right. I’ll give her a little time to settle in, then I’ll find out what she knows.”
“She’s in the end bedroom?” Draven asked.
“Yeah. Left her to take a bath or whatever she wants. Get cleaned up and changed. I told her I’d figure out something to eat and if she didn’t come down, I’d send something up.”
Draven nodded thoughtfully. When he didn’t answer Jack turned to look at him.
“What?” Jack asked.
“She still got bandaged hands?” Draven asked.
“Yeah,” Jack answered.
“Nails all broken down into the quick, the scraped, raw fingertips and hands look painful.”
“She did whimper a lot when I tried to clean them up in the SUV.”
“And you told her to get cleaned up, but left her bandaged and to fend for herself.”
Jack froze and looked at Draven.
Draven raised a single eyebrow.
Jack released another sigh. “Can you go get Bonnie? See if she’d mind coming to help.”
“Want me to see if she’s got something Kassidy might be able to wear?” Draven asked.
“Yes. She can bring her girls over if she doesn’t want to leave them alone.”
“They’re probably sleeping, or just getting ready to get up.”
“Draven?” Jack asked, quickly losing patience.
“Yeah?”
“I’m about ready to start throwing shit around. I’m not thinking, and don’t want to. Jared’s woman needs some kind of help and I’m not planning on bathing her, not that she’d allow it. Please, if Bonnie doesn’t want to come over here, get her some help from somebody.”
“I’ll be back,” Draven said, turning and walking out of the house.
Footsteps let Jack know Niko was coming down the stairs. He waited until Niko came into view. “What?!” he half shouted.
“I just want whiskey. Otherwise, I don’t plan to say a word.”
“Thank fuck,” Jack grumbled, pouring himself another double shot, then handing the bottle to Niko.
~~~
Bonnie opened her eyes and looked around her small, but very neat living room.
“Tap tap tap,” sounded on her door again, letting her know she didn’t dream the soft knocking she thought she’d imagined only moments before.
Kicking the throw off her legs, she got up and padded in her favorite fluffy socks to see who the hell would be knocking on her door before dawn. She pushed the curtains in the window nearest the door out of the way and saw a big, dark male standing there, waiting for her to answer. He had dark brown hair, light hazel eyes and an ever golden skin tone. Bastard looked like he lived lying beside a pool. He didn’t. But he looked like he did. He was overly large and muscular, quiet when dealing with most people, and deceivingly dangerous. The aura of danger coming off him was almost palpable. But he had morals, and despite what he could do, he would never hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it. He noticed her looking through her window and gave her a half wave.
She pulled open the door. “Draven? Do you know what time it is?”
“I do,” he said. “Jack sent me. He’s hoping you can come help Jared’s female.”
“Jared’s back?!” she asked.
Draven shook his head. “Jared didn’t make it. He was gone when we got there. But we found his mate. Her hands are injured, and she’s got nothing to wear. Their place was burned down. So, if you have something that maybe she can wear, it’d be helpful, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course,” Bonnie said. “What happened to her hands?” she asked as she went to her kitchen with him following, and started gathering things she might need.
“She tried to claw her way out of a cement safe room. It’s a pretty nasty sight, but I don’t think anything’s broken, just splintered and bleeding nails. A couple of them are missing, and her hands are raw and bruised. Arms, too.”
“Why was she locked in a cement safe room?” Bonnie asked, wincing at his description.
“I’m guessing Jared did it to save her from whatever he was on the way to fight.”
“Maybe the safety release didn’t work.”
“I don’t believe there was one,” Draven said gravely.
“That’s just ridiculous! Why would anyone create a safe room with no safety release. If no one comes for you, you die! Basically buried alive!”
“Yep.”
Shaking her head, Bonnie hurried to her bedroom and rummaged through her chest-of-drawers looking for something that would fit a varying number of body types. “Got it,” she said aloud, knowing that Draven could hear her from the living room. She grabbed a couple of pairs of tights, and a few shirts, then grabbed a few pairs of panties, a pair of her coveted fuzzy socks, and a pair of slippers. She rushed back out into the living room with the clothes bundled in her hands. “Here, hold these,” she said, shoving them at Draven, then turning back toward the kitchen.
“You got to get a bunch of herbs and stuff?”
“No, I already have a poultice made. I just need some things to clean her wounds and bandage them with after I apply the poultice.”
“And your Bella and Izzie?” he asked.
Bonnie put a jar of her healing poultice, and everything else she’d need, along with a couple of afterthought items into a plastic shopping bag, looped it over her arm, then took the clothes from Draven and put them in the bag, too. “We’re taking them with us,” she answered. “Come on.”
Draven followed her into the girls’ bedroom and watched as she lifted Bella into her arms, blanket and all.
“Can you get Izzie?” she asked.
“Sure can,” he said. He walked over to the child’s bed and smiled down at her. The youngest of Bonnie’s girls, Izzie, was a spitfire. She didn’t really give a damn who was standing in front of her. If she wanted to know something, she’d ask. If she didn’t like something, she’d make sure you knew it and she’d try to convince you of why you shouldn’t like it either. When a couple of the boys were teasing her older sister, she jumped on them, claws, teeth and snarls. There was a bit of fur flying that day, but they left Bella alone after that.
“Come on, Hellcat,” Draven said, scooping up the little girl and her blanket.
“You know she doesn’t like it when you call her that,” Bonnie said, leading the way to her front door.
“Sure, she does. She just pretends she doesn’t so she has something to bow up about,” Draven answered.
“And you love that,” Bonnie accused.
“Child has my heart,” Draven said, laughing softly. “Don’t tell her that, though. She’ll run me ragged.”
“They already do, both of them!” Bonnie said.
~~~
Bonnie stopped at Jack’s door and kicked it lightly since her arms were full.
“I could have opened it,” Draven said.
“I got it,” Bonnie answered.
Niko opened the door and looked at her. “Bonnie.”
“Asshole,” she said.
“To what do we owe the pleasure?” Niko snarked.
“Jack asked for my help. Move.”
Niko moved back so she and Draven could enter.
“Do you have to start with her?” Draven asked.
“She started it!” Niko exclaimed. “All I said was ‘Bonnie’. She called me an asshole.”
“You are an asshole,” Draven said drolly.
“That’s entirely beside the point,” Niko said defensively.
“Lay Bella on the sofa,” Draven said to Bonnie, as he shot Niko ‘shut-the-fuck-up’ glares.
“Thanks, Draven,” Bonnie said, laying her on one end of the huge sectional.
“I’ll put Izzie on this end and just let them sleep,” Draven said.
“Where’s Jared’s mate?” Bonnie asked once she’d gotten her daughters all tucked in again.
“Her name’s Kassidy. She’s in the last room on the right. Upstairs,” Niko said. “She’s really in a bad way, too.”
“Her mate just died. Of course she is,” Bonnie said.
“Yeah, but I think it’s more than that. I think she’d resigned herself to the fact that she was gonna die down there,” Niko confided.
“I’m sure that’s part of it,” Draven said.
“There’s a lesson to be learned here, boys. If either of you ever manages to find your mate, do not force them into a safe room without a way to release themselves from it!” Bonnie grouched as she headed up the stairs with her bag of goodies slung over her shoulder. She headed down the hall and stopped before the last door on the right. She could hear crying coming from the room, though it was so quiet, she was sure a human most likely wouldn’t have been able to detect it, but her lioness certainly could.
She knocked softly. “Kassidy? My name is Bonnie. Could I come in?”
The tears were stifled even more than they’d been before and she could hear the girl walking toward the door.
Kassidy used both hands to brace one on each side of the deadbolt to flip it to the opposite direction and unlock the door. “You’ll have to turn the knob,” Kassidy said.
Bonnie reached out and turned the knob, pushing the door open as she peeked around the edge of it. “Hi,” Bonnie said with a sincere smile.
“Hi,” Kassidy said, not even trying to fake a smile.
“I like that,” Bonnie said.
“What?” Kassidy asked, confused.
“The fact that you didn’t paste on a fake smile. Just returned the greeting. I much prefer ‘real’ people than those that pretend to please others.”
Kassidy did smile then. She sniffled, and turned her back on Bonnie to walk back over to one of the chairs. “You’ll love me, then,” she said as she sat back down.
Bonnie closed the door and locked it behind herself. “I have no doubt,” she said. “May I sit?”
“Help yourself,” Kassidy said.
Bonnie sat in the chair beside Kassidy’s. “So, like I said, I’m Bonnie. I’m kind of the nurse, but not really.”
“Nurse but not really?” Kassidy asked.
“Yeah, natural remedies, herbs, things that people consider old wives tales of natural healing, but in most cases they work better than any chemical the doctors can give you to pump into your body.”
“I’ve always wished I knew more about that kind of thing,” Kassidy admitted.
“Well, your wish has come true,” Bonnie said with a warm laugh. “I’ve got a healing salve in here,” she said, lifting her arm to show Kassidy the bag she gripped by its plastic handles. “Some supplies to clean your wounds with, and some fresh bandages, along with some clean clothes. They’re used, mine, but they’re clean — I promise.”
Kassidy tried to smile, but ended up crumbling into tears again as she tried furiously to blink them away.
“Nothing I can say will make it better, so I’m not going to even try to spout any kind of unwanted and unneeded wisdom. But I’m here. And I’ll listen if you want to cry, scream, rant or talk. And I’ll just sit here in silence if you need that, too. And when you’re ready, I’ll treat your wounds, we’ll gripe about Jared not giving you a way to open the damn safe room yourself. I mean, come on, Jared! You’re smarter than that!”
“I know! He insisted it’s because I might leave in the middle of everything and be…” Kassidy started crying again.
“And because you trusted him, you believed in him and allowed yourself to be locked away.”
Kassidy nodded. After a few more minutes of crying, she finally calmed enough to speak again. “And he was right. I would have panicked, did panic, and try to get out almost immediately after being locked in. I might have been killed, too. But he said someone who looked like him would come for me if he couldn’t. And he did. His brother came for me. I thought I was going to die down there alone, but he came for me, just like Jared said he would.”
Bonnie nodded. “Jared was always the best male. The best friend, the most honest. Everybody wanted to be his friend.”
Kassidy looked at her with a surprised look on her face. “You knew Jared?”
Bonnie smiled. “I did. He was such a great guy. I’m so sorry you lost him; that we all lost him. But I have no doubt he’s looking down on you and all of us as we all learn to navigate this new reality.”
Kassidy smiled through her tears, then started sobbing, letting it all out.
Bonnie slid off her chair to her knees beside Kassidy and held her while she cried until she had nothing left. Once Kassidy finally quieted down, Bonnie spoke again. “It’ll never stop hurting completely. But at some point, it becomes manageable. It starts to feel like just an emptiness instead of a gut-wrenching pain that threatens to rip your soul away from your body.”
“That’s exactly how it feels!” Kassidy said.
Bonnie smiled sadly. “That’s what it is. Half of you has been ripped away from the world you live in and thrust into the next. If you don’t have anything to cling to, it’s enough to make you want to follow.”
“You lost your mate, too?” Kassie asked.
“Yeah, I did. But he gave me precious little babies to take care of, so I’m not alone. Don’t you feel bad for me. I’ll be just fine.”
“I’m not that lucky,” Kassie said sadly.
“You have a lot of life ahead of you. You never know what’ll happen. And if I know Jared, he’s up there right now demanding you be given another mate so that you won’t have to live out your life alone.”
“I’m not sure he was that generous,” Kassidy said, laughing at the thought of Jared’s possessiveness.
“What? Was he jealous?” Bonnie asked. “We hadn’t seen him for a few years.”
“Not jealous so much as, possessive, protective.”
“Oh, you haven’t seen anything about possessive and protective until you’ve met his brother,” Bonnie said.
“Jack?” Kassidy asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Bonnie agreed.
“He does seem kind of intense. But I know he’s hurting over Jared, too.”
“Yeah, he is. We all are. But none so much as you.”
Kassidy sat back in her chair, sniffling again. She glared at her hands frustratedly. “I can’t even blow my own damn nose!” she exclaimed suddenly.
“I got you! Come on. Let’s get those off, and get you bandaged better than that, and you can blow your nose on your own. Because no matter how much I want to be your friend, I am not handling your snot. I only heal so much,” Bonnie declared, getting up off her knees and waiting for Kassidy to stand and accompany her to the bathroom.
“Can’t we just do it right here?” Kassidy asked, gesturing to the small table.
“Oh, no, honey. Let me ask you, how long were you down in that safe room? ‘Cause I have to tell you, you smell. Strongly. You need a bath, and a good hair washing, and then we’ll get your hands taken care of.”
Kassidy gaped at Bonnie with her mouth hanging open and her eyebrows raised in surprise that Bonnie would say such a thing. Then she collapsed into fits of laughter, which then turned into more tears.
“I know. Come on, let’s get you taken care of,” Bonnie said, taking her by the elbow to help her stand, then leading her toward the bathroom.