Kill Me Softly

Chapter Two

As fate would have it, Ryder leads me to another cabin in the woods. This one, however, is not old and dilapidated like the one above Archer's home. It appears to be only a few years old, but still has the feeling of being a home. The rose bush under one of the windows fills the cool air with a sweet smell on top of the scent of fresh rain.

This little wooden cabin in the woods isn't some fancy, un-personalized bedroom in a facility. It's a home and it is beautiful.

Awed, I turn to Ryder. "Whose home is this?" I ask, praying that he didn't kill whatever poor soul lived here. It's not uncommon for Octavian's minions to do something vile like that.

"Mine," Ryder says, walking past me as he pulls a set of keys out of his pocket.

His? All this time, Ryder has been this close to Archer's home? How many times was I in these woods? For all I know, Ryder could have followed me to the facility that very first night. How much did he see?

"Does Octavian know about this place?" I ask casually, though my heart is pounding with the possibilities of what the incubus could have seen. Did he see what I did to the men he sent? Did he see Archer carry me back home in his arms after Antonio tortured me? For some reason, the latter bothers me more than it should, though I don't know why. It shouldn't. I have no reason to hide what happened between Archer and I, Ryder already knows that I had -have- feelings for the hybrid, but there's a part of me that panics when I think about Ryder knowing all that.

I shake my head and push the thoughts away. Now isn't the time.

Ryder unlocks the door and pauses, looking down. From behind him, I can't see his expression, but his shoulders are tensed. My question has upset him. "No," he murmurs, "no, he doesn't." He pushes open the door to his house, shoulders still tensed, and I follow him in, wondering why he's kept this place a secret from his father. Why would this perfect little soldier hide something like this?

I follow him through the simple layout of the cabin, taking in the bare walls and un-personalized space. I walk into the room Ryder disappeared into and find him unbuttoning his drenched white shirt. "I'll be back later. There's a guest room next to this one you can stay in," he informs me as he turns away and pulls off the shirt and tosses it to the floor. His muscled back roils as he goes through a dresser drawer and it's then that I see all the scars scattered across his skin. Some are old and some are new but I hate every single one of them. The emotion is angry and sudden. I can feel every one mirrored on my own skin, these little gifts from my family. Something new amongst the old scars stands out on Ryder's skin, however. Tattooed across the top of his toned back are the words STILL I RISE. The letters are tall and bold and I can't take my eyes off them.

Ryder sees me looking and quickly tugs a shirt over his head.

I want to ask him about the tattoo and what it means, but instead, I ask, "you're leaving? Already?"

He doesn't look up as he replies, "you think you're the only job my father has for me? I don't have time to sit around and babysit you, Viridian."

Something about his tone annoys me. I glare at the incubus, previous empathy forgotten. "And if I run away? What then?"

At the suggestion of me breaking my promise to him, Ryder turns and stalks to me with a dark expression on his handsome face. He doesn't stop until he's towering over me and his icy blue eyes are staring straight into my soul. I close my eyes and breathe in the warm, cinnamon scented air as he lets out a slow breath.

"You're not going anywhere, darlin'," he says softly, darkly, looking down at me from under hooded lids, "and even if you were, there is nowhere on this earth that you could go that I wouldn't find you."

With that he brushes past me and storms out the door. I soon hear the sound of the front door slamming and an engine roaring to life. I keep listening until the hum of the engine fades into the distance and I find myself truly, blessedly alone.

I take the opportunity to look and see what Leilani packed for me. Swinging the backpack by its strap, I toss it onto Ryder's bed and take a seat beside it, finding the mattress surprisingly soft. Kicking off my shoes, I crawl even farther onto the bed and lay back against the wooden headboard. Once the backpack is open, I find that my witch friend must have raided my closet back at Archer's home because it's overflowing with shirts, pants and -thank god- underwear. Asking Ryder to get me underwear isn't exactly number one on my bucket list.

Besides the undergarments, there is one other thing placed neatly in the bag that puts a smile on my face: a cell phone. Grinning, I flip it open to see that only two numbers have been programmed in, one being Dax's and the other Leilani's. I highlight Lani's number, thumb hovering over the send button for only a moment. I bite my lip as it rings once, twice. Finally, a breathy, excited voice asks, "Viridian?"

Overcome with emotion, I choke out a barely intelligible, "hey, Lani."

She lets out a high-pitched squeal and I can almost see her bouncing up and down, blue eyes gleaming in happiness. "Dax-Dax. It's her!" I hear her whisper loudly. She pauses, probably listening to whatever her shapeshifter boyfriend has to say. "Hold on, I'll ask." Now into the phone, she says, "are you okay? Did what's-his-name -Octavian's son- hurt you? Where are you?"

I smile and try to answer her rapid fire questions. "I'm okay. Ryder didn't hurt me. I'm not far. Ryder just left to run more errands for his father, so I'm alone now but I won't be for long." The words are barely out of my mouth before Lani starts talking again. "He left you alone? That's great! Can you make it back here?" She rambles on excitedly about how I can "come home" and it takes me a few tries to get a word in.

"You know I can't do that, Lani," I remind her gently. My heart is heavy in my chest. "Ryder isn't the problem. Archer is. He's the one that kicked me out and told me to never come back, remember?" I blow out a breath, switching the phone into my other hand, finding it difficult to hold it in my bandaged hand. "Honestly, Leilani . . . I don't think I'm going to be coming back. Octavian and my parents sent Ryder to find me. If I don't go back with him, he'll lead an army into your home. They'll take anyone useful to them, like Archer and maybe Dax, and kill everyone else. I've seen them do it many times before and I will not bring that on you, Leilani."

I can't watch you die.

The line is silent for a long time. The only sound is the slight crackling of the phone and my own soft breathing. The lack of conversation gives my thoughts too much freedom. Going back to Fenrir and Katrina means giving up all the joys I've known since leaving. I'll be a monster. I'll kill and maim and destroy or they'll kill me. Maybe I'll let them.

"Are you sure?" I blink, taking a moment to let Dax's question register. He must've taken the phone from Lani when she couldn't find her voice. "Are you sure that's what Ryder will do? Is there any chance that he would let you go?"

I squeeze my eyes shut against the tears that threaten to escape. "No," I whisper, "Ryder won't let me go. He's the perfect soldier. He'll never disobey an order." I pause. "I'm sorry, Dax. Take care of Leilani."

I end the call and shove the phone to the bottom of the backpack.

Instead of dwelling on the hurt I feel, I get up and strip out of the damp clothes I'm in. Digging through the bag, I find that Leilani neglected to pack me anything to sleep in.

With a groan, I knock the bag onto the floor, then stalk over to Ryder's dresser to steal one of his shirts. I open one of the drawers and find his clothes folded in annoyingly neat piles. I grab the first thing I see -a plain black t-shirt - and throw it on. It smells like him -like warm, dizzying spice, the kind that makes your eyelids flutter and your heart pound. It's a familiar smell and, as much as I hate Ryder, I welcome it now that my life is full of strange and unfamiliar thoughts and feelings.

Heavy with everything that's come down on me these past few days, I lay down and hug one of the pillows to me, breathing in Ryder's familiar smell. My eyes fall shut and I find myself hoping that when I wake up, I'll find that this was only a dream.