Of Fate & Forbidden Desire (The Gatekeeper Duet #1)

17. Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

How can two hours feel like eternity- Dina

T he drive so far had already been exhausting, and we’d only just set off. However, between the Fae arguing and discussing things I wasn’t aware of, as if they were alone, I was ready for it to be over. My phone buzzed in my pocket, drawing my attention away from their conversation. Pulling it out, I glared down at Tilly’s name, “What the hell?” I snapped, drawing everyone but Jace’s attention. Swiping my thumb across the green icon, I gave no preamble as I answered, “What’s going on?”

“I’ve just been informed that the rogue’s surfaced again,” Tilly said quietly, making all the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, “It looks like he’s heading down towards London, from what my scouts can tell me. They’re tracking him as we speak.”

“Ok, we’ll be careful, thank you for letting me know,” I tell her, not wanting to get into a lengthy discussion on the matter, glancing over at Charleene I meet her worried gaze.

“Stay safe Adrina, I don’t know who’s helping him but they must be powerful to have kept him hidden this long,” Tilly reminds me, before I can hang-up.

“I will, bye.” I say curtly, making sure nothing shows on my face as worry sets in. If we can make it to Kirby Hall before he finds us, we might have a chance of evading him. Gladys isn’t stupid, she has every protection spell known to witches placed around the old house she calls home .

“Who was it?” Charleene’s voice interrupted my thoughts. Meeting her wide eyes, I wanted nothing more than for this to all be over. For her to be safe instead of being hunted.

“No one important,” I said quickly, reaching out and cupping her cheek with my hand. Life was so unfair. What did the bastard want with her? I wondered, gazing into her stormy eyes.

“Don’t lie to me Dina, I’m not a child,” Charleene fired back, reading something in my gaze and pushing away from me. I ignored Ally’s sighs, figuring out just how much to tell Charleene. I didn’t want her panicking but she was getting too good at reading me it seemed.

“The Rogue has moved away from York, it looks like he’s stalking you, Charleene.”

“Who?” Jace interrupted as Charleene’s face paled, making her look ill.

“The vampire from under the bridge?” Ally questioned, showing that she remembered him just as well as we did.

“How?” Charleene whispered, her frightened eyes not leaving mine.

“We don’t know, he must have help…” I told her honestly, before she interrupted.

“Why? Who am I to be worth all of this trouble and effort?”

“We’re going to find out babe.” I state, grabbing her hand and squeezing, “the Coven thinks you're powerful. Maybe that’s why he’s after you?”

“What if he catches me before we find the Nicnevin Coven?” Charleene whispered brokenly.

“I won’t let that happen!” I told her, unable to even contemplate anything else happening.

“But what if?” Charleene asked again on a sob that almost tore me in two.

“Ssshhhh, I’ll die before I let that bastard touch you.” I watched as tears gathered in her eyes, but she tried putting on a brave face for us all .

“We’ll help too,” Ally suddenly declared with a quick glance across at Jace, before she continued, “And you’ll be able to protect yourself before long, Jace will knock us both into shape.”

“Damn right I will,” Jace confirmed confidently.

“And I have contacts up in Scotland who can help hide us and look for your Coven,” I told them all, grateful for their input as Charleene’s shoulders lost some of their tension.

“Hey it could be worse,” Ally said from the front seat, drawing both of our gazes.

“How?” Charleene whispers.

“You could be in love with the man hunting you,” she said, as though not really thinking about what she’s saying. Ally glances warily at Jace, but before he can say anything Charleene’s voice fills the car.

“That’s true, is that what’s happening to you?” She asked, a little colour filling her cheeks, and gaining Ally’s attention.

“You don’t love him Ally, you don’t know him. If you did you’d hate him.” Jace interrupted, disregarding Charleene’s question, his voice filled with anger about whoever they were discussing. If I had to guess, I think it was in regards to the Shadow Fae who’d protected Ally from me back in York. But if the Shadow Fae had protected Ally, why would Jace look murderous anytime he came up?

“Maybe,” Ally agreed, cutting the conversation short as my own thoughts turned to how I could best protect Charleene from the Rogue hunting her.

Lost in my thoughts, I didn’t realise Charleene and Ally had fallen asleep until Ally’s soft snore filled the car and monopolised my attention. The sound of it wasn’t particularly loud, but irritated me either way. I still hadn’t forgiven the Council or Tilly for turning me into the babysitter of the errant Fae, but I also couldn’t argue that the faster they left, the better off we’d all be. Their appearance here could only mean bad things, and my churning gut told me that Charleene and I were going to be placed smack bang in the middle of their drama .

Huffing out a sigh, I turned my head watching as cars flashed past, wondering where they might be headed. Thinking about nothing in particular, memories of my human life invaded my head. I remembered listening to my baby sister singing on our small front porch, or helping Mother with the washing. Things I hadn’t thought of in a very long time, because they’d become too painful.

At first I hadn’t really understood what I’d become, when I’d followed Alasdair from my family’s porch and into the dark night. He’d taken me to another house on the edge of town, one that had been abandoned for a long time. Ever since Widow Ava had died when I was around seven. I’d just stepped over the threshold when my neck had been torn open and his heavy hand had covered my mouth, smothering my screams until only the two of us could hear them. It hadn’t taken long for blood loss to claim my consciousness, however before the darkness claimed me I felt something soft press heavily against my lips and wetness coated my mouth with an iron tang.

When I’d woken, my throat felt tight and my mouth was so dry like it was full of sand. Rushing from the pile of sheets I’d been laid on, I ran for the door wanting to get outside to the well and sate my thirst. My hand had just closed over the round handle when Alasdair’s laugh made me freeze.

“Going out there will do you no good child,” he’d scoffed, drawing my attention to him as my head whipped around. His unnaturally grey eyes had looked me up and down as a cruel smile turned his lips up.

“I need to go home. Mother and Pa will be wondering where I am.” I’d managed to whisper through the dryness.

“Aye, they are lass, but you canne go near them now.” He’d laughed, cold and cruel.

The car swerved to the left, pulling me from the old memory, but Alasdair’s laugh rang in my mind, still haunting me to this day. Shaking my head as though that would clear all thoughts of my sadistic sire, I wished more than anything I would one day stumble upon him so I could end his sorry existence. Glancing out the car windows, I wondered where Jace was going, we weren’t meant to stop until we reached Gladys’ house and safety.

“Where are we going?!” I growled, not liking surprises and letting it show in my voice as Ally’s soft snore filled the car as her head turned away from my harsh tone.

“To grab some food, you might not need to eat but the rest of us will,” he explained as the big yellow ‘M’ for McDonald’s rose above the treeline, “and you don’t want to be trapped inside a car with a hangry Ally, trust me.” He joked, his head jerking in her direction before quickly turning back to the road.

“Fair enough, order Charleene whatever you're getting Ally,” I grumbled.

Jace ordered food and drinks for all three of them as I sat silently in the back. I'd never needed to go through one of these drive-thrus the humans were so fond of, but even I couldn’t argue against their efficiency. No more than twenty minutes later we were merging back into traffic on the motorway, after Jace had inhaled his own food.

“You don’t like us much do you,” Jace suddenly stated, his eyes glancing at me in the rear-view mirror, now that I sat in the middle seat with charleene’s head resting on my shoulder.

“Is it that obvious?” I said sarcastically, knowing I hadn’t kept my dislike of them hidden. His full belly laugh startled me, what had been so funny about that? I wondered.

“As much as you don’t like it, Ally’s right. Charleene needs to be able to protect herself just as much as Ally does.” His calm, reasonable tone didn’t help my temper much, as I considered his words.

“How?” I finally growled, keeping my voice as low as possible so as not to wake the others. “They’re both too powerful to be trained together with no protections.”

“I know that, but they have to learn.” His tone was gruff as he too kept his voice low but I still caught the growl of frustration on his words.

I hadn’t seen Charleene express much of her magic, in fact since we’d left York she hadn’t shown any trace of it. However from what I had witnessed, she had powerful magic trapped inside her and after being restrained for so many years, it was going to come out with a bang.

“It will be like lighting a beacon, the moment we let either of them use their magic, have you considered that, you moron?” I told him, freeing the frustrated thought.

“I have, but what other option do we have?” I know he’s right even if I want to argue with him and protect the woman sleeping beside me, “they need their powers active and reliable, if either of them are to survive what’s hunting them.”

“I know, we’ll have to keep moving, be careful and vigilant.” I mumbled, speaking the thoughts flashing through my mind as I contemplated just how bad training these two was going to be.

“You can stop secretly listening-in now Ally,” Jace laughed, his head turning towards her, as I glared daggers at the back of his head. “How much did you hear?”

“Enough,” she answered sheepishly, rubbing at her eyes. “How long was I out for?”

“Only about an hour,” I told her, watching as her nose wrinkled.

“Hey no fair, you guys ate while I slept?” she accused angrily, making me smile at how well Jace knew her. I don’t even know which of us started laughing first but I found myself joining in when she pouted at the side of Jace’s face.

“We did but don’t worry, I’ve got you covered Ally,” Jace explained, nodding at the floor near her feet.

“Okay, you’re forgiven,” she mumbled before taking a massive bite of the wrap she'd pulled from the bag. “So where are we going next?” she asked, her words muffled by the food she was chewing.

“We’ll be stopping soon, so Jace can have a break from driving,” I informed her, gratefully thinking of being able to get out of this car even if it was just for an hour or two at Gladys’ house .

“Mmmm-hummm,” was her only answer as she turned her head to the window for a couple of moments, clearly enjoying her food. I’d almost thought her questions were done, when she asked another, “And where will we be stopping?”

“Kirby Hall, near Northampton,” I responded distractedly, as Ally bit into a hash brown into her mouth at once, as she turned to look at me. My eyes narrowed at her suspiciously, as her eyes flicked over Charleene’s sleeping face before returning to mine, with a strange smile that was both kind of sweet and surprised at the same time. Not looking away, I wait for whatever retort I can see swimming in her too dark eyes. How had she passed as human for so long ? I wondered. “I know someone there who can help hide us for a short time.”

“Who?” she asked hesitantly, her brow furrowing and a look of panic crossing her face before she got it under control.

“An old friend.” I said, trying for some reason to calm the Fae’s nerves.

“Whose an old friend?” Charleene’s voice asked into my ear as her head left my shoulder, yawning. She gave me her sternest look, which I found more adorable than threatening, however I’d be the last to tell her that as her nose twitched, “and is that food I smell?”

Without saying a word I leaned down, my fingers closing on the brown paper bag Jace gave me at the rest stop and passing it over. I wasn’t expecting the excited and almost ear-piercing screech Charleene issued in response to the food. Baffled, we all stare at her wearing bemused smiles as she pulls out a cold apple pie, before taking tiny bites, trying not to drop any crumbs.

“Do you really eat dessert before your main?” Ally scoffed, seemingly finding it incredibly funny to watch as Charleene ate the pastry with unfiltered delight.

“Damn right I do,” I watched as a smile brightened her face as she responded to Ally, then her gaze swung to me. “So who's an old friend?” She repeats.

“Gladys Kingsbrook is.” I replied, my brow furrowing, as I thought of the complicated history between me and the witch. I hadn’t always been able to call her my friend, but they didn’t need to know that .

“And how will Gladys be able to protect us from mystery vampires and…” Ally’s voice trailed off, the rest of her sentence forgotten as Jace’s shoulders stiffened beside her.

“She’s a Witch, not a very powerful one, elementally, but she’s brilliant with protection charms and spells. I want her to train you both in them while we’re with her,” I said, drawing Fae's attention from her friend. Strangely, the more time I was spending with the irritating male, the more I found we had a lot in common.

“Oookayyy,” she muttered, making me realise I’d been staring at Jace’s head.

“Do you really think she’ll be able to teach me?” Charleene’s timid question had my head whipping her way, as she nervously picked apart the Egg McMuffin that Jace had ordered— instead of a breakfast wrap— to pieces in her lap.

“Eat.” I demanded sternly, staring at her, waiting until she put some of it in her mouth before continuing. “Yes, she should Babe. It’s Her I’m not sure she’ll be able to teach,” I say nodding in the fae’s direction and hoping no one picked up on the pet name that had just slipped out.

“Why not?” Ally questioned, her eyes narrowing as they met mine.

“Because your magic is completely different to Charleene’s.” I said flatly, not thinking she would need any more explanation than that. She was Fae and their magic, although similar to Witches, was also completely different. While Charleene had been on her ‘walk’ this morning, I’d been to the Coven and had Antonious find any and all information they held on the Fae. I’d wanted to be prepared as well as I could be, before letting Charleene anywhere near them.

“It’s ok Ally, I can teach you when we’re at a safe place,” Jace interjected, trying to calm his friend's temper, which had risen in regards to my simple statement.

“Ok,” she finally grumbled, turning back to the window and giving me the back of her head.

“How long’s it gunna take to get us to this Gladys person?” Charleene asked, filling the awkward silence .

“About another hour or so.” Jace and I say in unison, drawing identical groans from the two of them.