Unraveling Mordecai, Marisa Maichel [ebook reader .TXT] 📗

door with Chinese or pizza or Cajun. Father was concerned that all the food would make her sick, and it occasionally did.
She also loved baths. Bubbles, bath bombs, lavender oil, tea tree shampoo, rain-scented perfume, and so on. I once caught her falling asleep in the tub. I carried her to bed where I dried her off and then dressed her in a clean gown and panties.
She would occasionally cry as well. She cried for the smallest things, from a lost book to leaving a blanket on the couch, to a late package, and she cried for big things as well, such as Mother and all of her unlucky pregnancies. We still didn't know anything about what had happened to the babies that were currently inside her.
She worried so much that it made me worry. Her anxiety was through the roof. I made her keep taking her pills every morning and night, before she went to bed and after her breakfast. Even the obnoxiously big ones, which she tried to hide under her tongue. I forced her to open her mouth and checked under her tongue after I caught her flushing a specific pill down the toilet. She would only drink milk with her pills-it was the only thing that didn't upset her stomach.
Selena had all sorts of advice to give, some of it was actually very helpful. She'd been pregnant before several times, and even though she'd lost every single one, she still knew how to handle these things.
Finally, Ethan called me. I put him on speaker, as Sarah and Selena were in the room with me, discussing the best baby necessities.
"What's up?" I replied. I heard sobbing in the background.
"I'm so sorry," Ethan said. "Your mother's fall did...how do I say this? One of the babies has died."
The sobbing grew louder, and I looked at Selena and Sarah, both of whom burst into tears.
"Poor Marina," Sarah said. "Is there anything we can do?"
"Just be there for her," Ethan said. "Don't force her to talk about it or bring it up. There's still a risk that she may lose the other two. Marina, do you want to talk to your kids? Sorry, kids, she doesn't want to talk right now. I'll keep checking in on her every few days and watch the progress of the pregnancy."
"Thank you, Ethan, goodbye," I said, hanging up. I blinked back tears. My poor brother or sister. Screw Alexander. He went too far this time. He'd pay for this.
My father came into the room, looking sad.
"You heard?" I asked, and he nodded.
"Louis, David, and Soren heard as well." He sat beside me and hugged me tightly. "I'm so sorry, Reese. You too, Selena. I promise we'll get revenge on Alexander one day."
My sister burst out sobbing. The guys came into the room and sat beside her. Louis gave a half-hearted attempt at a hug, but Selena pushed him away. He gave her a stung look, and I realized that he cared more than he showed.
However, Sarah accepted hugs from David and Uncle Soren, then they both hugged me. We were all silent, the girls and I crying our hearts out. I cursed Alexander and called him every name I could think of in my head. I needed to destroy something. So I told my family I'd be back and then went into the woods.
I killed an unfortunate coyote, a fox, a bear, and a herd of deer, destroyed many trees, and even cracked a couple of tombstones in the cemetery. I went to the lake and dove to the bottom, tearing up several fish with my teeth. Then I ran around the territory a few times, urinated on a patch of wild roses, and then went back home.
Father informed me that now Selena was out destroying something, and I hoped my sister would be okay. Sarah was still crying, hiccuping. Her wings were starting to poke out of her back, and I took her out to the pool area. Her wings burst out of her back, and she began flying around, half-blinded by her tears, trying to get her anger out of her system.
I'd seen Sarah upset on a few occasions. Frustration, anxiety, sadness, and irritation were common with her. Rarely had I seen her truly angry as she was now. Her beautiful brown skin turned tomato red, and she began shouting expletives at the top of her lungs. I didn't try to stop her, I just let her vent.
Our heartbreak continued on even as we prepared to leave for Denmark to get ready for the wedding. Sarah, as usual, packed more than what was necessary, and she helped me remember a few things that I would have forgotten otherwise.
She asked me if she could invite Jamie Williams, and I reluctantly agreed. Our wedding guests would consist of more than friends and family-it would have allied covens, politicians, the Vampire Council, and so on.
I was beginning to get nervous. There was still so much to do. Luckily, I had help. Toby made himself useful on several occasions when I forgot to invite somebody or send money for a plane ticket. I raised his salary in gratitude.
But things got even more stressful when Spencer showed up. He'd been fired for his lack of usefulness during a time which we needed all the guards to be vigilant. And he'd cheated on Toby. Now he wanted Toby back, and he wouldn't take no for an answer.
I heard them arguing in the mornings and at night, and Toby was becoming more and more upset each time.
"Take me back," Spencer said. "We're soulmates, Toby."
"I'm not the one who put my dick in a sixteen-year-old," Toby snarled. "Leave me alone, Spencer. Fuck off."
Uncle Soren appeared then, and glared at Spencer. Spencer wisely slunk away. As Uncle Soren's fledgling, Toby was under his protection.
And another thing: Sabine was missing again. Sarah tried calling and texting her, to no avail. She wouldn't even answer for Beckett or Mother. I couldn't help feeling that I was responsible for her running away.
My own personal heartache came to a head one day, when a visitor from Sarah's past showed up at our door. I was reading a book to Sarah, when the doorbell rang. Since no one was here but us and a couple guards, I gave Toby permission to answer it.
"Hi, is Sarah here?" a shrill female voice asked. Sarah's eyes widened, and she went downstairs as fast as her pregnancy would allow.
"Caitlin?" Sarah asked. At the door was a brown-haired female our age, with dark brown eyes and pale skin. Compared to Sarah, she was rather plain.
"Sarah?" the female looked around at her.
"It is you!" Sarah shouted. A big grin split her beautiful face in half. She and the human hugged each other tightly. "I can't believe it! I haven't seen you since middle school!"
I cleared my throat.
"Oh, Caitlin, this is my fiance, Reese. Reese, this is Caitlin, my best friend from Atlantic City."
Caitlin's eyes widened. "Oh, so this is him? You were right, he is handsome."
"Thank you," I said. "It's nice to meet you, Caitlin." As per custom, I kissed her knuckles.
"How did you find us?" Sarah asked.
Caitlin smiled and rolled her eyes. "Your friend Ariella is the biggest gossip. She said she knew you."
"What are you doing here?" Sarah asked.
"That's another story. Guy problems. And work. I needed to get away. I knew you of all people would understand."
Sarah blinked, and I stood there, not sure what to say. Was Caitlin assaulted by a guy? Did the same thing that happened to Sarah happen to her?
"How do you know Ari?" Sarah continued.
"She and I were friends on Facebook before, just talking, you know, and she said she knew you and mentioned where you live now."
"Ari wouldn't do that," I said automatically. Sarah grabbed my hand and squeezed it, both indicating that she knew that and that I should shut up.
"Why do I get the feeling that you're holding something back, Cait?" Sarah asked. Suddenly, then other girl broke down in tears and began crying loudly. I suspected that it was fake. But Sarah, bless her large heart, looked concerned.
Sarah, something's not right, I thought-spoke to her.
I know, Reese, she thought-spoke back. This is odd. Caitlin used to never fake her tears. She's hiding something, I'm sure of it.
My girl was intelligent.
"Caitlin, what's wrong?" Sarah asked. I looked at her, confused. I would have just told Caitlin to shut up and leave.
"It's been horrible, Sarah," she sobbed. "I'm so torn right now. There are two guys, and they both want me!"
"Really?" Sarah blinked. "Who?"
"You remember Nathan Arnold?"
"How could I forget?" Sarah replied sarcastically. "He pulled my hair all the time and then kissed me in the sixth grade." I growled at that. Sarah squeezed my hand again.
"It's between him...and Jesse Gold."
"That redneck?" Sarah scoffed. "They're both losers, Caitlin. Nathan is an immature man-whore with Peter Pan syndrome and I remember Jesse trying to kiss all the girls. He kissed me once, and it was so gross. We were only thirteen, and he smelled like tobacco and armpit sweat."
"They've both matured," Caitlin sniffed. "If you only met them, Sarah, you'd know why I'm confused."
"But there's more, isn't there?" Sarah prompted.
"Yes, Sarah. I was raped!" Now the girl's tears were real. My heart broke instantly, and I felt sorry for her. Sarah paused, then wrapped her arms around her old friend. "I knew you'd help, Sarah."
Sarah's eyes filled with tears, and I growled at Caitlin for upsetting my mate, then hated myself. The girl had been through a trauma and was quite possibly alone and definitely scared. I didn't know her from Adam. Sarah embraced her friend for a long time, then she invited Caitlin in.
"Mortal Kombat?" Sarah asked. "For nostalgic reasons?"
Caitlin weakly smiled. "I thought you'd never ask."
It's been a while since Sarah played her games, I thought. Maybe Caitlin introduced her to them.
I followed the girls upstairs to my room. Caitlin's nose wrinkled, I assumed because of all the black. I sat on my desk chair while Caitlin and Sarah took the bed.
I watched as Sarah set up the Xbox. She handed Caitlin a controller, and she took the other one.
Caitlin chose Reptile, Sarah chose Rain. The girls played viciously. Sarah sometimes let me win; she wasn't doing that with Caitlin. The minute Rain blew up Reptile, she paused the game and then turned to me.
"Reese, would you mind-?"
"Yeah, I'll go."
I decided to visit a secondhand record store that I hadn't been to in a year. To my disappoinment, they were closing the store, so everything was on sale. I stocked up on Heart, Stevie Nicks, Pink Floyd, Pantera, Metallica, Journey, KISS, and Toto. As soon as I paid, in cash, I left the store just as Scarlett was walking in.
Oh, great.
She paused and looked at me. "Hi, Reese."
"Scarlett."
"What are you doing here?"
I held up my purchases. "I took advantage of the sale."
"That's great. I'm here for some rock. Anything good?"
"I don't know, that depends on your taste."
"I personally prefer classic rock. AC/DC, stuff like that."
"Nice to see you, Scarlett," I lied, then slipped past her into the Barnes & Noble next door.
I looked around and grabbed some religion books, some classic novels, a few teen and young adult that I thought Sarah would like, and I took a peek at the children's section, where a security guard followed me around. He only left me alone after I paid for my books.
I considered putting the purchases in the Nissan, then realized that the heat