I made a point of being quiet as I packed my things and left the house that night. Launa had gotten all she would from me it was time to get out and make a new plan.
Now that I knew Niall was sick it needed change. Loran had arranged for Liam to come grab me half a mile from the house. We didn't need him in range of this place, who knew what he would do given the opportunity.
I shoved my belongings into the bag and stood on the edge of the stair way looking down the hallway to Niall's closed door. I had told him about me leaving and he agreed that he would come back to the house as soon as he knew he wouldn't be followed by Declan or Launa at that. Something still strained in his voice as he did but I didn't want to start another fight. We were finally falling back into place and the last thing I needed was him flipping back into a dark trance of silence.
He had given me his leather to mask my scent as I walked and I tucked myself into delicately because I didn't want a single fleck of Niall to fall away. What I really wanted was to be lying with him in bed, arms wrapped around his neck and pressing kisses into his jaw line. I wanted to be free of whatever hell we had trapped ourselves in and fall away until we were alone.
Declan knew where we were but it was doubtful that he would follow considering he was out numbered. Niall needed to rest more, he would be in danger of collapsing he didn't. Plus we needed time to remake the serum for Niall. I had stolen to vials of it for Ansel to recreated it. Hopefully he could.
I closed the large door behind me to find Declan standing on the front porch with his hands in his pockets. He turns his head to stare at me and then walks towards his bike.
"Well let's go, I'll drive you." He says quietly while climbing onto the bike. He looks back at me with one eyebrow raised and a smirk pressed into his face. Sometimes I forgot that he was scared unbelievably, like my eyes looked past it once I knew there was a real monster hiding inside. The scar was nothing compared to the black nature of his heart.
I was caught for words because I hadn't expected for him to like me leave the house without a fight but now here he was offering me a ride.
I stand and stare at him, "you can't actually think I believed your charade?"
He laughs "Harley, you came here to save him, you have. Now you can go home and make a plan to kill my mother."
"Why aren't you trying to stop me?"
"Because she's a liability to my lifestyle, and she's a twat so what would it matter to me if she was offed." He says starting the engine to his bike.
I climb onto the back carefully and shift my weight so I'm even with him before he takes off down the drive way. Just as he picks up speed he notices Liam's bike to the side of the road and brings the bike to a slow.
"Be careful sunshine," he whispers as he helps me off the bike and takes off before I have time to bark back something mean.
Liam stands waiting for me just inside the tree line and out of sight. He walks up to the highway and watches Declan whip out of sight before he smiles at me.
"That was strange," he says before taking my bag.
"He's on our side apparently..." I whisper staring down the empty stretch of highway.
"I still don't trust him," Liam notes and neither did I.
The drive home was quick and quiet. Liam could read everything that was running through my head anyways so it didn't matter if I was verbal. I just wanted to collapse in my own bed and close my eyes from the nightmare.
We still had too much to do, with Niall on the mend and Launa threatening human existence there wasn't much time to think about prom even though it was a request of Nialls.
It could wait.
The bike slowed enough for me to spot Louis standing on the front porch his expression worried and dry like he hadn't slept since I left. He gave a weak smile as I found my place between his arms and chest. He took a long moment to look me over before tucking his head into my neck and holding me for a long time.
"I'm glad you're in one piece."
"Barely," I say.
I pull away long enough for Loran to give his welcoming nod and then I tuck back into Louis' arm as we make our way into the house and close the door behind us.
"He's sick," I say shoving food into my mouth faster than Alex can set it down for me. Carter was up and moving around the house like new and a smile was fixed onto his face as I talked with my mouth full.
No reaction came from them meaning they all knew. "It wasn't like we wanted to keep it from you."
Lou jumps to his defense as he reads my thoughts. I throw a piece of garlic bread his way and scowl urging him to say out of my head. He shrugs in his blue shirt and looks to Loran for help explaining this huge secret.
"I thought you were done lying to me..." I mumble into my soup.
"Niall wouldn't help unless we promised to keep it from you... So we did." Liam says looking at me seriously. "We didn't have a choice we needed him...or apparently we needed him."
"We needed him." Loran snaps and looks at me. "It was a small detail to be left out to save your life and many more to add."
"I understand, I brought these--" I dig the vials from my bag and hand them across the island to a cautious Ansel.
"And they are?"
"Serums the doctors created to bring Niall back to health. It was working he's almost healthy enough to come home--"
"We aren't actually just going to let him casually stroll in here after he left with Styles and no warning?" Liam says, outrage in his voice and strumming through his blood.
"He didn't know what else to do!" I defend.
"Leave, or stay and fight the only thing threatening to kill you. Seems pretty cut and dry to me." Liam snaps.
"Being scared to die is not a crime."
"Being ignorant to a bigger threat is," he says back. "He should have stayed, fought until he couldn't and died like a honorable wolf. Instead he tore the house apart, took the three people that could help us defeat her and ran straight back to mommy. He shouldn't be trusted."
"None of you should, what have any of you done since arrive? Lie to me, protect me?" I argue. I'm slightly surprised that Loran and Louis stand back from this argument, it seems that both are just glad it wasn't them getting the blunt of it. But Liam liked to argue, it made him feel alive.
"We didn't leave," he growls.
"He's scared, and sick. You have to give him some leeway...you can't expect everyone to be cold and heartless Liam."
"I don't," he mumbles.
"Do you trust me?" I ask and he doesn't look at me, just stares at his feet like a scorned child until I repeat myself.
"Yea."
"Then trust I will no when he can't be trusted, I won't sacrifice my family for anything. If anything he does puts them in danger, you will have your go."
He nods, leaning back against the wall and crossing his arms over his broad chest...his typical pose. I shake my head and look around to everyone staring at me. Something had changed inside of me, I wasn't going to be pushed around by anything anymore. I was stronger now, not scared of what needed to be done to save my town.
I stand up and put my plate into the sink before stalking out of the kitchen and into the front porch. The cold air instantly calmed my raging blood and gave me a moment of release. It hit me then, that I had killed two people in a short time, almost three. Life was so different since finding out I had a box of hidden secrets in my life...right under my nose.
I sat down on the bench at the end of the porch and stared up into the cloudless night, the stars flickered unwavered by the actions of the people below them. The stars didn't care what we did, who we killed they still shone through the dark to guide us to what we believed was right.
"It's going to be fine Lee," Lou sits down next to me and rests his arm around me and pulls me into him. "You said the serum had him turning around?"
I look to Louis and I mean really look at him this time, his soft face and harden jaw line as he speaks but his eyes are tired and swollen. He looks so different in the darkness, after all we've been through it has made him tired. It hurt me that this had affected him so much that he wasn't himself anymore.
"I'm fine," he says "I've always been this worn out, remember...I've been in charge of making sure you don't kill yourself for a long time."
"I wasn't that bad..."
"Remember the time you fought Lyssa Mcfillian in grade 6? You broke your hand, my dad freaked over it for two weeks."
"You got grounded..." I say remembering that the day after we were supposed to go to the swimming pool in town but Louis had to stay home because he had been grounded for leaving the back gate open.
"Yeah, most of the times I was grounded it was because of something I let happen to you."
"I'm sorry," I say nudging myself into him as if that would be enough to replace all the time he spent grounded or in trouble.
"It was worth it," he laughs "most of the time we were having fun when you got hurt, you're the clumsiest person I know."
"I'm not that clumsy," I laugh "You definitely pushed me once or twice..."
"Me?" he stifles a laugh, "never!"
He sits with me in silence for a little while before speaking again, a more serious tone in his voice. "The serum the doctors created, was it permanent?"
I shake my head and sigh, "he has to take it twice a day to stay healthy."
"That's why you need Ansel to recreate it," he asks, and I nod.
"Ansel is the smartest of all of us, he'll figure it out. In the meantime, we need to figure out a way to bring Launa out of the house long enough to kill her."
"I have an idea about that..."
xx new au is in the works, as I type this. Hopefully I'll be able to get a few (5 or so) chapters finished on it so I can post them for you after this book ends. Whos excited? and what do you think Harley has in store for that twat? comment and vote Love bugs.