I've finally gotten through September! October is much lighter on me in terms of time to write, so...hallelujah! I also realized that my god Nora is annoying when you're trying to avoid her questions. I was trying my best to write this all from Patch's perspective and my goodness she's just...stop it, you know? Damn, he's trying here!

Chapter Eight

Patch's POV

I realized that I never asked Nora where I should drop her off. I'd just been driving. Soon, I'd hit a path I was familiar with, near a lodge in a fairly wooded area of town. It was safe enough. Her mom could come get her. I stopped the car.

"Can you find your way home from here?"

She gave me an incredulous look. "You're just going to dump me here?"

It sounds awful when you put it that way… "If you're worried about Gabe, trust me, he's got more on his mind right now than tracking you down. He won't be doing much of anything until he gets the tire iron out. I'm surprised he had the strength to chase us as far as he did. Even after he gets it out, he'll have what I can only describe as a killer hangover. He's not going to be in the mood to do much other than sleep for the next several hours." Ahh...sleep. "If you're waiting for the perfect moment to make a break for it, you aren't going to get a better one."

She didn't move. Maybe…she was in shock? Did she forget the other two?

"I need to make sure Dominic and Jeremiah clear out."

She still didn't move, and I turned to face forward.

"Why are you really protecting them?" she asked, unmoved. It was like a teacher scolding a preschooler; I even tried not to fidget.

"Because I'm one of them."

Her hair moved in my peripheral; she was shaking her head. "You're not like them. They would have killed me. You came back for me. You stopped Gabe."

What was with stating the obvious? Whatever; she wasn't moving quick enough for my comfort, so I got out of the car, went to her side and opened the door.

"Head that way to town." I told her, pointing down the road. "If your cell phone doesn't work, keep walking until the trees clear. Sooner or later you'll get reception."

"I don't have my cell."

Oh my- Why was this so familiar? Squashing my frustration, I continued. "Then when you get to Whitetail Lodge, ask the front desk for their phone. You can call home from there."

Giving me an evil eye, she slid out of the car. "Thanks for saving me from Gabe. And thanks for the ride." Here it comes…'but…' "But for future reference, I don't appreciate being lied to. I know there's a lot you aren't telling me. Maybe you think I don't deserve to know. Maybe you think you hardly know me, and I'm not worth the trouble. But given what I just went through, I think I've earned the right to the truth."

This approach…was different from the Nora of before. Just as persistent, just as nosy…but with a steel to it that I respected. Or maybe I just felt bad. Either way, I nodded. "I'm protecting them because I have to. If the police see them in action, it will blow our cover. This town isn't ready for Dominic, Jeremiah, or any of us." I looked at her, taking in my words and analyzing them. "And I'm not ready to leave town yet." She looked so…different. Still soft, still an over-thinker, but sturdier. Stronger. It was so…attractive. I found myself walking closer.

"Are you Nephilim?"

She broke the connection the moment that came out of her mouth, and I jerked away. My thoughts ranged from hell no to what the fuck to that's disgusting. Finally I was able to filter away my personal shouldn't know that word. She shouldn't be aware of any of this, of any of what just happened.

To my shame, I panicked. "Go home and get on with your life. Do that, and you'll be safe."

Her eyes, so strong before, filled with tears. Oh no…don't cry… I took her by her shoulders, trying to calm her down. "Look, Nora," Fuck!

"How do you know my name?" she said, stiffening.

Hundreds of years of espionage and it all went to shit when this one…beautiful girl…looked at me with tears. That either said something about her power over me, or I was just losing my touch. I finally looked down at her, wondering if I should just break all and tell her the truth. The moon came out, and I saw her gray eyes probing for answers. No…not probing…answering her own questions. She knew me, and she knew she knew me. But it didn't look like she was afraid.

"We knew each other, didn't we?" she whispered. "Tonight isn't the first time we've met."

I should have just taken her home and dropped her on her porch. I could've wiped her memory. She would have been fine. It was all exhausting to think about the 'should haves' and what ifs.

"Do you know about my amnesia? Do you know I can't remember the last five months? Is that why you thought you could get away with not knowing me?" She demanded.

"Yes."

Her eyes were feverish. "Why?"

"I didn't want to pin a target on your back. If Gabe thought we had a connection, he could use you to hurt me." It was more than what she asked for. But she continued on.

"How did we know each other? And after we left Gabe behind, why did you still pretend to not know me? What are you keeping from me?" I didn't answer, and she even began tapping her foot. "Are you going to fill in the gaps?"

"No."

"No?"

Really, I'd forgotten how exhausting Nora's questioning could be. She could have been an interrogator with those skills. She was asking too much, making me think about the last eleven weeks, even beforehand when we'd broken up…I didn't want to.

"Then you're a selfish jerk!"

She needed a new insult. I brushed it off. "If I had anything good to tell you, trust me, I'd start talking."

"I can handle bad news." She said, pouting.

Not this bad news. I began walking to the car, when she grabbed my arm.

"Tell me what you know," she hissed. "What happened to me? Who did this to me? Why can't I remember those five months? What was so bad that I'm choosing to forget?"

I didn't know all of those answers. I only knew of a few of the horrors that had happened to her in that basement, and those were bad enough that I refused to tell her. "I'm going to give you some advice, and for once, I want you to take it. Go back to your life and move on. Start over if you have to. Do whatever it takes to leave this all behind. This will end badly if you keep looking bad."

"This? I don't even know what this is! I can't move on. I want to know what happened to me! Do you know who kidnapped me? Do you know where they took me and why?"

That just went in and out of your ears, didn't it? "Does it matter?"

Nora's eyes widened, and she let go of me, shaking. Her hand unconsciously went to her wrist, the wrist where…

"How dare you," she whispered. "How dare you stand here and make light of what I've been through?"

My next words didn't come out as strong and rhetorical as I intended. "If you find out who took you, is it going to help? Will it be the closure you need to pick yourself up and start living again? No."

"Yes, it will." She replied.

Oh, Jesus Chr- fine! "We knew each other. We met five months ago, and I was bad news from the moment you laid eyes on me. I used you and hurt you. Fortunately, you had the good sense to kick me out of your life before I could come back for round two. The last time we spoke, you swore that if you ever saw me again, you'd do your best to kill me. Maybe you meant it, maybe not. Either way, there was a lot of strong emotion behind it. Is that what you were looking for?"

I was remembering when she thought I was the one who killed her father. But I also added what I wished she had said to me; what I wished she'd felt. That she'd avoided me and threatened me. It would have saved her eleven weeks of torture, and I'd deserve every bit of it.

Nora blinked, in shock. She couldn't believe she'd be so mean. "Why would I say that? What did you do that was so horrible?"

"I tried to kill you."

She looked at me, waiting for me to finish the joke. There wasn't one.

"You wanted the truth. Deal with it, Angel."

"Deal with it? It doesn't make any sense. Why did you want to kill me?"

I loved that she couldn't believe she'd want to hurt me. I hated that she didn't believe it. I wanted to roll my eyes.

"For fun, because I was bored, does it matter? I tried to kill you."

"If you wanted to kill me back then, why did you help me tonight?"

Oh my goodness. "You're missing the point. I could have ended your life. Do yourself a favor and run as far and as fast from me as you can." I jerked away and pointed in the opposite direction.

"You're a liar."

Now she says something that makes sense! I turned, furious. "I'm also a thief, a gambler, a cheat, and a murderer. But this happens to be one of the rare times when I'm telling the truth. Go home. Consider yourself lucky. You've got a chance to start fresh. Not everyone can say the same."

Why was she making this so hard for herself? Why was she making this so hard for me? Selfish….Selfish was right. I was trying to let her go. I was trying to let her be happy. Even in trying to do good deeds, I was still going to suffer. I just…I just wanted for her to be happy and I just wanted us to be together and that wasn't going to happen and…and…

"One last thing. Stop looking for me."

"I'm not looking for you." She scoffed.

I tapped her head, noting that she blushed. "Under all the layers, a part of you remembers." And I was talking to that part, that stubborn fighter that made it through that eleven weeks. "It's that part of you that came looking for me tonight. It's that part that's going to get you killed, if you're not careful."

I loved that part of Nora. I loved every part of Nora. But I couldn't be with either one, and I certainly didn't want them to die.

The sirens in the background broke us apart.

"What am I supposed to tell the police?"

"You're not going to tell the police."

She snorted. "Oh, really? Funny, because I plan on telling them exactly how you rammed that tire iron into Gabe's back. Unless you answer my questions."

Then I snorted. "Blackmail? You've changed, Angel." Had she? I remembered her ploy during the last weeks of her capture…Yes, this was a new, hardened part of her.

"If you know me as well as you claim to, you know I'm not going to stop looking for whoever it was who kidnapped me until I either find them, or hit rock bottom."

"And let me tell you where rock bottom will be. Your grave. A shallow backwoods grave where no one will find you. No one will come to your gravesite and mourn for you. As far as humanity is concerned, you'll vanish off the grid. It will wear on your mom. That constant menacing sense of the unknown. It will peck away at her, driving her closer to the edge until it shoves her over. And instead of being buried in some green-lawned cemetery beside you, where loved ones can visit you until the end of time, she'll be alone. And so will you. For eternity." The more I spoke, the more I didn't know if I was talking about her mother or me. Maybe both…maybe both.

Forever hard-headed, Nora rose herself taller. I didn't miss the fear in her eyes.

"Tell me, or I'll rat you out to the cops, that's a promise. I want to know where I've been. And I want to know who took me."

I dragged my hand down my face. She doesn't listen. You don't listen! What the hell is wrong with you?

"Who kidnapped me?" she shouted.

I looked at her. She was going to torment me. I wasn't going to get off easy with just watching from a distance. I loved her, but…this was going to be much harder than anything I'd done.

"You're not supposed to be in this anymore. Even I can't keep you safe." Call it quitting, but I was finished for the night. I was leaving; she could stay here and ponder and tell police and whatever she wanted. It's not like it really mattered.

"What am I not—"

My eyes rolled back and I crashed to the ground. I was tensed, unable to move, only for a moment as Nora fell to the ground behind me. I jumped up, seeing her on the gravel, and…

I ran.

I jumped into the Tahoe, stepped on the gas, and hightailed it. I only made it about two blocks before what is she seeing right now turned into what if somebody unsavory finds her, and She needs to be alone, I need to be away turned into what if somebody…My mind slipped back to when I found her in the cemetery, when the Nephil almost…

I hit the brakes, swerving the Tahoe to the side, jumped out and ran back. What the hell am I doing? What am I thinking?

I stopped a few feet away from her, hiding in the grass. I watched as she sat up, confused, calling my name.

I'm here. I'm sorry…I'm here.

Finally, she began walking towards the lodge, and I silently followed behind.

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