Courting Tragedy

Courting Tragedy (16)

16

I hesitated. "Yes? I think she's alive. At least, that's what she implied."

Gage was staring at me in shock, as though he hadn't really understood when I mentioned it the first time.

"Oh, thank the Gods!" Logan dropped to his knees and clasped his hands together in front of his chest. "Thank you, thank you."

I dropped my gaze to my feet, knowing that he wasn't talking to me. Suddenly, I was crushed into a hug. Gasping for breath, I pushed Logan off of me and laughed.

Logan grinned and tackled Gage, the excitement flying off of him in waves.

"G, she's alive!" He exclaimed.

Gage just laid there on the floor, stiff and unmoving, his gaze fixed on the ceiling.

"Gage?" I knelt down and shoved Logan off of him.

When he didn't respond I turned to Logan and looked up into his face. "Can you give us a minute?

Logan almost pranced out of the room, his eyes glassy and a huge grin plastered on his face.

"Gage," I said more firmly as I hauled him to a sitting position and leaned him against the wall.

His eyes turned to me, but he didn't say anything. I gazed at him, but all I could see was pain, written all over his face and pouring out of his eyes.

"Talk to me Gage, come on." I said slowly and reassuringly.

He swallowed hard and blinked, a single tear running down his face. "She's alive."

I paused. "Yes, she is. Isn't that a good thing?"

"Yeah, it's a great thing. But, I... I killed that man because I thought he killed her. I took his life and he was innocent."

More tears glittered in his eyes and I immediately pulled him into a hug. He buried his face in my shoulder and started crying as I wrapped my arms around him more securely. His whole body shook as he sobbed and his tears began to soak my shirt.

"I'm a murderer." He whispered finally, his breath uneven.

I pulled back a few inches and looked him in the eyes.

"You. Are. Not. A. Murderer." I said firmly.

His eyes, red and wet, blazed in anger suddenly. "He didn't kill her! That means that the 'eye for an eye' logic that made this ok before is now void. And that," he took a breath, "makes me a murderer."

I sat with him for a few seconds, knowing that there was only one way to change his mind, and I couldn't do it.

"I can't convince you that killing him was still the right thing to do. You have to do it yourself." I said as I gave him another squeeze and stood up.

"Wait." He grabbed my hand and pulled me back down next to him. "It was still right?"

"He tortured her, Gage. He raped her, and beat her. I heard her bones breaking with my own ears." The sound replayed in my head and I gave an involuntary shudder.

He wiped his eyes, thinking about what I said, before nodding once.

"You're right. He still deserved it." He gave me a small, hard smile.

"Yup." I said with a sigh.

He stood and hauled me to my feet before opening the door for me.

I led the way down to the kitchen, but stopped abruptly in the doorway. Gage slammed into me and I motioned for him to be quiet.

Logan was dancing around the room, his face covered in tear tracks but ecstatic nonetheless.

I grinned as I walked in and cleared my throat. He turned and grabbed my hands, pulling me into his impromptu dance routine.

I giggled and went along with him for a few minutes before he stopped, stepped away, and bowed low to me.

His face was bright and flushed, and his lips curled into a smile. I would bet that my face looked the same; it certainly felt like it did.

"Thank you, my lady," He winked at me and I blushed.

Gage clapped from the doorway, shattering the awkward silence that had followed Logan's words. I turned and motioned him over to us with a grin.

He walked over slowly, a shadow of a smile on his lips. He slung one arm over my shoulders and Logan did the same on the other side. I put my arms around their waists and we pulled each other close.

We stood there in the kitchen, holding each other close, for what seemed like forever. We stood and took in the emotion of the last few hours. How amazed and joyful we'd felt when we realized that Emily was alive; How broken Gage had felt when he thought he'd taken someone in cold blood; how confused I felt about the whole situation, even now. Then, Logan bumped me hard with his hip, making me stumble toward Gage.

My foot caught on a tile on the floor and I literally fell into his arms.

As I looked up into Gage's face, Logan spoke from behind me.

"I'll just give you two a minute." I could hear the amusement in his voice and he left the kitchen whistling brightly.

I hardly heard him, though, because the moment my eyes met Gage's, everything else faded away. The silver of his eyes seemed to glow against his skin, his smile straight and white. His eyes searched my face as my grip on his waist tightened.

I couldn't help the way my eyes ran across his perfect features, stopping on his lips, before resting on his eyes. His hands burned against my hips, parts of his palms resting against my bare skin where my shirt had ridden up.

In that moment, I forgot the kidnapping. I forgot about trying to kill myself and the vision of Emily. My mind was blank except for one thing.

I wanted Gage to kiss me.

Just then, his grip on me loosened and he stepped away so that I wasn't in his arms any longer.

I sighed unconsciously and pulled out of his hands.

"I need... I have to go." I said as I backed towards the sliding door that led to the backyard.

Turning, I slid the door open and stepped onto the patio. As the door closed, goosebumps rose along my skin. It was pleasantly warm outside, so the chill that shot across my skin should have warned me, but I didn't notice it.

The backyard had a patio that led from the door and into a large, circular patio with a built in fire pit. There was grass beyond it, and the very edge of the yard was framed by tall, dark trees.

Even as the shadows seemed to writhe between the trees, I felt myself walking toward them. A wind suddenly picked up, tossing my hair around my shoulders and making me take an instinctive step backwards, toward the house.

The sound of rustling grass came from my left, and I snapped my head to the side. I wished almost immediately that I hadn't.

If I had been timid, or afraid, things might have been different. I might have turned and run into the house and straight into Gage's arms, a place I already felt safe. Or, I might have screamed, alerting the men in the house that I was in trouble. Instead, because I was, and always had been, headstrong and stubborn, I looked. Ifs, would haves, and might haves will drive you to insanity if you let them, that much I knew for sure. But knowing didn't keep me from thinking that if I had reacted like most girls would have, I wouldn't have looked.

And I wouldn't have set my destiny into motion.