Mythical Link ▸ Link Neal {Book One}

143

Link held the carrier tucked under his arm as he busted through the door, grateful to finally soak in some warmth and dryness of the familiar place. A part of him was hoping that Rhett maybe turned around and came home after pursuing Jessie, but had the feeling that was wishful thinking. They'd already determined that the blood at the scene was Rhett's, further making the situation far more grand and frightening than they could ever hope to imagine.

It was a good thing they ran out when they did, because the police and fire department had shown up at the sounding of the alarm and Link really didn't want to be pegged as a criminal during this horrid time. Jackson followed Link in, quietly closing the door behind him until he heard the click. The both of them stopped and listened to the voices carrying to them from the front room.

"I can't believe this is happening right now! If Lily thinks Rhett is hurt, and Link is with him," Christy's voice was frantic.

"Lily doesn't just think it, she knows it. She's just like her father, whatever he is," Drew softly corrected her.

"I wonder if we're even coming remotely close to finding out what Link is. Look how much good it would do us just to know. We'd find out what Lily is instantly, we'd figure out the Alpha's motive... we may even be able to use him as bait to draw the Alpha out while we set up a trap... there's countless possibilities," Eddie was gushing.

"You're seriously suggesting that we use my husband as bait to draw out this, this, this," Christy stumbled for words, Link's heart sinking further and further in his chest. "Monster?" She finally spit it out, and it made Link cringe. He blinked several times and swallowed, turning his head to look at Jackson. Jackson's face was totally unreadable as he tuned in to the conversation also. "It's because of these monsters that all of this is happening right now!"

"Hey now, those monsters didn't turn Link into what he is," Eddie countered defensively.

"How do you know that? We don't really know anything about these things, and we're tossing all of our quarters into the well without knowing what we're wishing for."

"I think Christy makes a good point. We'd like to think we've come to know so much about this, but it turns out to be so little. That could get all of us killed," Drew said, his tone foreboding. "They say that ignorance is bliss... In this case, not so much."

Link's lips were parted as he pondered everything that had been said. In light of things, they were all correct. Lily is definitely showing signs of being exactly whatever he was, and finding out what he was would be the answer to finding out whether she was the same thing also.

Perhaps they should use Link as bait somehow, but first they'd better have a solid plan and trap in place before doing so, otherwise they're just feeding the hungry wolf what he starves for. Poor Christy, Link felt so terrible leaving her alone with the kids all day. What turned into what was supposed to be a quick trip to the abandoned house so he could show Rhett where Allison was, bubbled into a whole other world of discovering his power; making gruesome discoveries.

Along the way he flagged Jackson down, attempted to have a party, and then Link hit Jessie. If everything could possibly go wrong in one day, it certainly did that day for Link. He then remembered how Mercedes told him to go to Tessa's funeral and that then, she would show him what he was. The fact that she wanted to show rather than tell him swayed him from the idea of wanting to know what he was, because he didn't know what to expect.

Was it going to be like the dream he had with the white door, and when he opened the door, it was going to reveal what he was? He had a feeling it was going to be ugly, or maybe it would come as such a total shock that he would pass out and wouldn't remember a thing. But he realized now that after hearing their conversation how pertinent it was to find out what he was, and he just had to suck it up and get over his trepidations. He felt a firm clasp on his shoulder, and it jolted him out of his thoughts.

"You'd better go in there and let them know you're home."

Link's mouth suddenly went desert dry, or maybe he'd finally noticed how thirsty he'd been. He couldn't be sure, but he knew it rendered him incapable of speech. He had a feeling he was about to get into a huge argument with his wife, and he needed to mentally prepare himself. Finally, he took a deep breath and passed the carrier to Jackson with care, peering into the opening at her soft amber eyes as he spoke.

"Take her upstairs for me and put her in hers and Rhett's room. It's the last room at the end of the hall. Let her out so she can hopefully re familiarize herself with her surroundings. I'm gonna gear up and walk into the war zone," he said in a quiet voice.

Jackson nodded once, softly padding toward the stairs with Jessie. He didn't know Jackson for long, nor did he like what he had done, but there was a sense of trust there that he just couldn't deny.

He just knew that Jessie was going to be safe in his care. Link trudged toward the front room, his heart surely trying to beat its way out of his chest. He stopped in the doorway, everyone's backs turned as they sat around the television. Locke and Lincoln were sitting on either side of Lily on the couch, Lily resting her head on Locke's shoulder. Lando and Shepard were on the floor playing with legos while Christy fussed with Lando's hair. It looked like he might have somehow gotten gum stuck in his curls, and she was trying to use baby oil to get it out.

His breath hitched audibly as he watched Drew twirl around what looked like a hockey puck sized coin, his eyes glowing along with the coin. Everyone snapped their heads toward the door. Link wasn't the only one that had some serious explaining to do.

"Dad!" Lincoln and Lily shouted, scurrying off of the couch and barreling toward him. Lando broke free from his mother's grasp and bolted toward his father, colliding into his legs with a giggle. He accepted their embrace, noticing how they never recoiled even though he was soaked to the bone. Locke slowly rose from the couch, a look of apprehension on his face as he looked around for his father.

Christy rose from her seat, the mixture of emotions that flashed across her face was almost too much for him to bare. She definitely wanted to welcome him home, but at the same time she wanted to scream at him for being gone for so long without staying in touch. She was seriously worried about him. Link's shoulders dropped as he prepared himself for the worst.

"You better have an absolutely damned good reason why you were gone the whole day, without answering any of my phone calls. Do you understand how worried I was about you, and the kids too? Link, you can't just go running off like that without keeping contact, especially now!"

Link was nodding his head in agreement, because she was absolutely right in everything that she was saying. "Our daughter has been really sick, and without being able to talk to you," she trailed off as she combed her fingers through her hair, shaking her head.

Eddie rose from his spot on the recliner, his eyes narrowed. "Hey, where's Rhett?"

The room was cast in an eerie silence, until Link's swallowing interrupted it. He lowered his eyes, feeling a burning sensation in his chest as he fought back the tears.

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