Page 31 of Fury
Dupont said, “Since I’ve known her. She’ll be okay. Chase is good with her.”
He looked back at the bus, the large vehicle seeming to crouch at the edge of the lot, waiting. The way Bethy had quivered in his arms had sunk into his head, into his body, setting up a sympathetic vibration all through his frame. Every atom strained towards the bus, and knowing she was hurting pulled at him. “She said anything to you about what happened?”
Vic and Dimitri walked away, also towards the office.
“Bad mojo.” Dupont stepped around the car and into his line of sight. “Give him a few minutes with her. She’ll be okay.” She took a step, then a running skip, then pelted towards the office, catching up with Vic at the bottom of the stairs, swinging on his arm a moment before he turned with her to walk into the shadows of the arena.
I’ve officially lost control of the situation.
Her voice had been broken when she spoke, despair coating every word. The time in Utah had been harder than anyone knew. A true Mason, she’d been adept at hiding how deeply it had impacted her.
She will not be okay, he thought.There’s nothing okay about what I just saw. I was about half pissed she didn’t remember me, but now seeing this, I’m glad she doesn’t.He didn’t want to be another thing that caused her to break like that.
***
Bethany
She sat on the bench that ran across the back of the bus, in the salon space behind the bunks. Curled into a ball, Bethy rested her cheek on her knees, looking out the smoky back window with her legs pulled tightly to her chest. On the ledge near her head was a bottle of water and a pile of sour jelly beans. She was always exhausted when she came back to herself, as well as sick to her stomach, and Chase knew it. He’d set things up for her without even asking this time.
This time. That thought made her stomach roll, because she didn’t want there to have been athis time, because that implied there’d be athat time, and then athe other time. She just wanted to be done with all of it. “Beat it back,” she whispered, feeling her hair sweep across her arm as she adjusted her grip on her legs.Only so much a body can beat back.
Now that she was past it, she could look at the things she thought she’d seen when she blacked out, and pick out the imagery that didn’t belong. The cement floor and window in the door, those were real. Had been real. Had been her world for three weeks while she waited every day to die. The eyes that watched her every move, those were not real. Neither was the feeling of safety, like she’d found her own personal angel. Not real. The imagined Kentucky woods, strong hands reaching to turn over a fallen log, and a long, pointing finger showing her the toad crouched there.Not real.
“Safe as toads.” That had been something her aunt had said, using the phrase to calm a frightened girl in the middle of a violent spring thunderstorm.
In the distance, she saw Fury walking up the staircase, moving slowly, as if the heat lay heavy on his shoulders. Fury reached the door at the top of the stairs and paused, running his hand over his head in a gesture that felt so strikingly familiar, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. It looked like he was surprised to find a full head of hair. Like he would be more accustomed to bare skin.
In her head, she heard his voice, almost as clearly as if he’d been seated next to her, “Safe, honey.”
Right after that, she heard the voice from her older nightmares, Derek’s voice. “No, honey. It couldn’t be.”I’m going crazy.
“Chaser.” She tried to shake off the unease plaguing her and called out as the bus swayed in a way that told her Chase was walking down the long hallway towards where she sat. She had to focus on what was important.Watcher and Juanita. Bella.The words Fury had said started flashing through her head. Davy and Willa.I have to tell him. “Come here.”
“’Sup, Aunt Bethy?” He pushed through the folding door and fell to a slouch on the couch beside her. “You put back together?”
He’d been the one to find her after her first episode at the house in Fort Wayne, when she’d been cowering in a closet, waiting for the man to come and kill her. At first—and this told her how hard his life had been—he’d assumed she had taken drugs, his disappointment rough as sandpaper while he talked her through it. Afterwards, he’d seemed relieved when she explained it had just been her head trapping her in memories. The spells didn’t come as often now, nor did they last as long. She well remembered how Ty had struggled with his bad turns, and eventually had drawn comparisons between Ty’s behaviors and her own.
Chase had become her rock, and she felt guilty for leaning on the young man, but telling Davy wasn’t an option. He needed to see her as strong and able, or he’d pull the business and put someone, anyone else in charge.
“Willa’s gone into labor.” That was the most important information, because if he wanted to go back and be there, they’d need to get a flight lined up for him quickly. “Do you want to go home?”
He stared at her, then one corner of his mouth pulled down as he made a face. “I should want to, right?”
“You don’t have to.” Reaching out, she stroked the back of his hand as she shook her head. “What’s right for me is different from what’s right for you. I want to, but I’m here for the show. It’s bigger than me.”
“I don’t want to. He’ll have enough to worry about without me being there.” She narrowed her eyes, focusing on his face.Not quite as inscrutable as Davy.
“Liar.” He winced and she knew she’d gotten it right. “You want to go, but you’re being smart and adult about it, even if that sucks. Because you know you’re not a problem, and you wouldn’t be in the way. You’re right, though. If you’re there, he’ll worry about you, too. This way—” She paused and shook her head. “This way he can focus on Willa and the baby, and being a brand-new dad. Something he didn’t get to experience with you.” Bottom lip pushed up into a bow, Chase nodded. “Okay, I can see that. Love this selfless side of you. So much. But, if you decide to go, if you change your mind, that’s an easy adjustment, okay?” He nodded again.God, he’s a good kid. He’d love Michael.
“Now, let’s get everyone on the bus so he-man will be happy. He’s got some other news he’ll share once we’re all on here.” Chase lifted his chin, staring at her with Davy’s eyes, the familiar intelligence shining through was uncanny. “And then, once the show’s over, you can tell me what you know about Fury.”
