Path Of Shadows

Chapter 16

                    -Kaden's Point Of View-

I don't know if I should give Gemma space or go try to explain to her that Vanessa is a bitter woman. Just like the rest of the females at work. Truth be told we have had a lot of offers and a lot of women who have tried but with the businesses we run and the things we're in we just don't have time for it. I mean yeah, we both have had hookups but not like that.

Given our life styles you'd think we were playboys or that it was women every night but in reality there's only been a handful of women each who we were involved with. I met a girl who I dated for a while, she also was interested in my brother so it ended up in a love triangle of sorts. She kept it secret from both of us, carefully tip-toeing around, but eventually she didn't care anymore. I found out and confronted Dane, we fought. We didn't speak for months after. She kept playing us both. Dane didn't know what she was doing, I didn't know. She had me under the impression that her and Dane were done and had Dane under the impression that her and I were done. Well, that was until Dane and I started talking again and found out the truth. We both left her and never talked to her again. Haven't since. This was a few months before Gemma came into the picture. It was before I knew Gemma, before all I could think about was her. I grab my keys and start to head out the door.

"Where are you going?" Dane says.

"I'm gonna go check on Gemma." I say.

"As much as I would like to do the same, I'm not sure it's a good idea." Dane says.

"Why? Because of earlier?" I ask.

"You saw how mad she was." Dane says.

"Yeah, and. She's been mad before." I reply.

"Yeah, and.. I'm pretty sure with how pissed she was, there was only other person who brought that side of her out and it was Jàime. We saw what happened so what does that tell you." Dane says.

"She could never be that mad at us though. It's crazy how she can be so hot.. even when she's pissed." I joke.

"I don't know. I'm saying that Jàime is her best friend and she was beyond angry with her. She got that mad at us today. Going to check on her might piss her off more. Maybe we give her a couple more days to cool off." Dane explains.

"That's a chance I'm willing to take. I'm not gonna just sit around and have her that mad at me over bullshit." I say.

"I fired Vanessa for her part and Bradford got a warning for not putting a stop to it before it got to that point. I also told everyone else that if she comes back and I hear anyone so much as whisper about, to her or harasses her in any way, they'll end up like Vanessa. Jobless. I want to tell her that face to face so if you go. I go too." Dane says.

"Well, at least we die together." I joke and laugh. Dane just shakes his head.

It's 9:20pm so I'm hoping she isn't in bed yet. I still haven't heard back from Magda to see if she can come do the ritual and honestly I'm hoping she didn't ditch us. She's known for that.

I get into my car, Dane jumps in and we head to Gemma's. The ride was quiet, which was good because I was trying to think about what I was gonna say which I'm sure Dane was too. We pull down the dark sand road and I can see lightning flashes and something very far away, a reddish orange glow beaming up into the sky. I'm not sure what's going on. I look at Dane, he sees it too.

"What the fuck? What is that?" Dane says in curiosity, he squints his eyes trying to see what it is as we get closer.

"You don't think.." Dane starts to say.

"Gemma?" I ask him.

"Stop the car!" Dane shouts.

I slam on the brakes and throw my car into park. Dane runs out of the car leaving the door open. I fling my door open and run to catch up to him. I can hear Gemma screaming. A blood curdling scream.