Page 81 of Tethered to the World
Determination to do better—bebetter—hardened her resolve. No way in hell was she going to let anything or anyone take them away from her, not when she’d just found them.
* * *
They pulled up to a small mansion at the edge of the campus. Xander had called ahead, so Rufus was waiting for them outside as they climbed out of the SUV.
He took one look at the guys, then he saw her, and his face softened slightly. “Boys, put the prisoners out back.”
The guys each grabbed one of the bodies and disappeared around the side of the house.
“You okay?” Rufus’s voice was gruff, but kind. “The guys treating you right?”
“I’m fine.” She brushed off her injuries as an annoyance and lifted her chin defiantly. “How long have you known the truth about me?”
His bushy brows lifted in surprise, but he answered promptly. “From the moment you walked in my door.” He waved a hand when she opened her mouth to blast him. “I didn’t know who or what you were, only that you were something special. I wasn’t sure just how extraordinary until you stood up to a pack of wolves without a lick of fear. I always intended to send you here, but I needed to figure out a way to bring up the subject without sending you running. While the attack wasn’t the way I would’ve chosen to introduce you into our world, it worked.”
Some of the steam left her, and she cocked her head as she studied him. “Why did you pair me with the guys? You knew, didn’t you?”
“That you’re mates? I suspected, but it wasn’t until I saw you together that I knew.” He shrugged. “You belong here. You’re needed more than you’ll ever know.”
Seeing him dressed in khakis and a buttoned-down shirt, she didn’t know how she could ever have mistaken him for anyone but a person of power. “I’m sure you’ve noticed that your guys are different from the others…different, like you.
“You needed something to fight for, needed something to live for. You—the guys—you’re all damaged. But you have a spark in you that burns brighter than anyone else I know. The guys needed to be exposed to that spark, needed a reason to do more than just survive.”
“They’re damaged like me.” She absently played with the tips of her hair.
“No, not really. They were close to breaking—until you came along. Because of you, they’re healing. Becoming stronger.” Rufus tipped his head toward the side of the house, inviting her to walk with him. “You were different. You were never broken. You just needed the chance to heal, a chance to learn how to live. They give that to you.”
When they rounded the house, the last thing she expected to find was an innocent-looking shed. That was until he opened the door and came to a stop in front of an impenetrable vault of some type. He punched a few numbers into the keypad, and the doors opened in a rush of air. Inside, the four guys stood guard over the wolves who had tried to abduct her.
Two benches rested on either side of the room. One contained rows of weapons, familiar tools she knew intimately. They were used for torture, and their faint smell of despair and blood still tainted the air. On the other bench were half a dozen empty vials. Even from the distance, she could see a faint florescent blue glow clinging to the sides of the glass.
“They were jacked up on those drugs, weren’t they?” Annora spoke mostly to herself. “That’s why they were so strong.”
Logan snorted. “It makes them believe they’re invincible.”
“Can you wake them up?” Xander didn’t look at her as he asked, but rubbed his hand along his jaw, as if trying to decide how to take apart the wolves in a way that would ensure the most pain.
“I’m not sure.” Annora hesitated, shrugging one shoulder. “Maybe.”
Mason had resumed his human form, the pair of sweats he wore were stretched tight, leaving her to gawk at muscle after muscle. He didn’t bother trying to find a shirt—nothing in the bins would fit—which left his gorgeous tattoos on display. He calmly held out his hand for her, and she had to unglue her tongue from the top of her mouth.
The thought of bringing him into the afterworld with her left her guts churning. “You’re sure?”
He only raised a brow in challenge, and she hesitantly accepted his hand, his grip firm, engulfing hers completely. The warmth of him seeped into her cold fingers, and he tucked her closer, offering his body heat, the smell of pine and copper easing her worries.
The guys were right.
She needed to stop being afraid.
If she wanted any hope of being free of her birth family and protecting her guys, she needed to learn everything about her past…including who was stalking her in the afterworld, and why.
“Let’s do this.” Darkness stirred within her, then exploded outward. It wasn’t like she disappeared, it was more like the world around her was swallowed and replaced with a new existence. The lights dimmed, and the room darkened into a shadowy blue that resembled a nasty bruise.
The normal comfort she took from being in the afterworld was absent. She was too worried to relax and allow herself to enjoy the soft current that brushed against her in welcome.
Almost reluctantly, she turned to look for the guys…and breathed a sigh of relief to see they looked relatively normal. Instead of the black tar that clung to some who ended up in the afterworld, they appeared to glow…like her.
The guys were right…they were tethered together.
