• ~ Tory

    “Yes, I am. And I know, you’re the leader Tor, I’ll happily follow you,” she said, looking up at me with kind grey eyes. I believed her.
    “I still don’t believe you,” Noah finally said his opinion.
    I looked at him. “Was that wolf not enough proof for you?”
    “Illusion talent,” he predicted.
    “I’m not an illusion talent Noah,” I said through gritted teeth.
    He gave me a disbelieving look, and that ignited my anger more.
    “God damn it! Why don’t you believe me?!” I screamed at him, finally letting my anger show.
    Everyone else winced; he would have to if he hadn’t been standing his ground like he was.
    “Why don’t I believe you… why don’t I believe you?! Is the fact that you lied to everyone for seven years just left you completely?!” he yelled back. This was not going to be pretty.
    Seth mumbled something about going to find where Amelia was and he left. Shaun stayed at his spot on the wall, Jamie sat back ready for a long screaming session and Gabby…Gabby hadn’t moved from the window since Noah had asked his question.
    “Yeah, so what. I lied, I ran away, big whoop!” I threw my hands in the air.
    “You lied. You betrayed us, the oath you took. You know what they do to people like you? They kill them, painfully,” he growled at me, taking a step forward so we were almost nose to nose.
    I took the last step forward that would put us nose to nose. “So kill me.”
    His face dropped the angry stare and turned horrified. “No, you’re too valuable now.”
    Wrong thing to say, I thought. Jamie covered his face with one hand and shook his head in disapproval. Gabby tensed in her spot and Shaun looked up at the ceiling.
    I straightened to look at him. “It doesn’t matter; you’ve already killed me inside. You can’t do any more damage then you already have.”
    And with that I walked around him and pushed at the doors to his room, I walked out of them with my head held high but as soon as I was out of sight, I ran. I ran for anywhere but here.

    ~Jamie

    “That was a big mistake Noah,” Shaun said from the wall. His eyes finally turning back to Noah.
    Noah stood where he was plastered, not able to move. I could see the wheels turning in his head; he didn’t know what to do. He had conflicting emotions running through him, not knowing how to sort through them.
    It looked like he wasn’t sure if he should run after her or stay here and pretend that he didn’t care about her at all.
    “Shut up Shaun,” he whispered half-heartedly.
    “Come on Noah, you seriously think that people haven’t noticed the attraction between you two? We aren’t that blind,” Shaun continued, not taking any notice of Noah’s words.
    Noah’s fists clenched, but he did nothing more than that.
    “I always knew that there was something wrong with you and Maddie, and this is why.” Shaun stared straight at Noah, unflinching. “You’re in lo-”
    The lamp on the bedside table next to me flew at Shaun at break neck speed. Shaun ducked, luckily, the lamp and it smashed into the wall behind him making it shatter in a million little pieces.
    “I told you to shut up!” Noah yelled at Shaun.
    I stood up from the bed. “Noah, just because you’re angry, doesn’t mean you can take it out on us.”
    “Do not start with me Jamie, I am not in the mood for your s**t,” Noah growled at me without looking.
    Gabby finally helped out and turned on him. “Stop taking this out on them Noah, it’s your fault. Blame yourself and your inability of thinking before you open your mouth.”
    He narrowed his eyes at her. “Why are you even talking to me?”
    She opened her mouth to most probably tell him where to shove it but Seth walked in at the right moment. His face was set in a grim line and it made me a little curious.
    “What's wrong?” I asked cautiously.
    He looked at me then at Noah. “Noah, there's something you have to know.”
    “What?” Noah asked, not caring really.
    “Your father’s dead.” Silence.

    ~Tory

    God damn dickhead. How dare he say that about me? I paced the balcony of one of the conference rooms. My body was silhouetted against the wall and stone floor by the rising sun; I had slept for a day before I came too.
    “Damn, b*****d,” I mumbled under my breath.
    I heard the sound of running feet just before the balcony doors opened. Amelia was standing in the doorway, panting and crying.
    “Amelia, what's wrong?” I asked as I rushed to her side.
    She collapsed onto the floor in a fit of heavy sobs; I wrapped my arms around her and rocked her while she cried.
    “Landen, he’s….he’s dead,” she sobbed out.
    I froze but kept my tight arms around her. “What do you mean dead?”
    “He was murdered last night, while we were busy.” She controlled her sobbing and they turned into hick ups.
    “Does…does Noah know?” I asked, a frog in my throat making it hard to swallow.
    She nodded. “Seth went to tell him.”
    I paled, that was not good. I looked at Amelia. “May I…?”
    She nodded with a small smile on her face, her tears had stopped by now. “Go head, he needs you.”
    I kissed her cheek and gave her one last hug, then let go and run through the corridors to his room. Seth was standing in the door way with a sad expression on his face. He didn’t notice me until I lightly touched his face; he looked up and smiled sadly then nodded his head to the room.
    I walked in, Gabby was sitting on the window seat with a far-off, disbelieving look on her face, Shaun had sat on the floor with his head in his hands and Jamie was staring off into thin air while standing where he was.
    But Noah, Noah was on his knees, holding his head in his hands and shoulders shaking violently. I approached him slowly and put my hand on his shoulder but he didn’t turn to look.
    “Noah…?” I asked gently.
    He just shook harder, not calming the slightest.
    “Oh, Noah,” I told him. I fell on the floor next to him and hugged his side. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
    He didn’t say anything, but then he didn’t need to. He finally took his hands away from his face, his face was puffy and red from crying, and reached for me, pulling me around his front to hug tightly and cried into my shoulder.
    I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and kissed the side of his neck as he cried.
    “Don’t leave me, please don’t,” he mumbled into my shoulder as his sobs started to quieten.
    I hugged him tighter. “I won’t, I promise I won’t.”
    “I need you,” he added, still talking in my shoulder.
    “I’ll help you, as long as you need,” I reassured him.

    ~The Heart of the Fire. A Drake Agency book.