Toxic Rose Thorns - Chapter 38: Chapter 38

"What is that?"
"They're plants we use for both combat and medical purposes. There are certain breeds we can use to test the endurance of a pup. Especially alpha pups,"
"She tested that on my daughter?" my blood runs cold.
"It sounds like it," he nods.
"Could she have died?"
"No, but if they had used it on Aizen he might have,"
"Oh, my god, Knight," I start freaking out.
"I know," he sighs. "They're safe now. Something like that will never happen again. I swear,"
"I'm a fucking idiot,"
"No, you're not. You didn't know," he rubs my arms.
I pull away and go inside. The twins are in the room pulling things out of my duffle bag. They're both laughing. I try to calm myself but my ears are ringing. My hands are shaking as I go over to them to help them take out their supplies. I want to scream and rip my fucking hair out. How fucking dare she do that to my baby?
"What if I do pink and blue and you do the letters?" Ayrie asks Aizen.
"Why?"
"So the back is pretty. Not white,"
"Okay," he agrees.
"Mommy, water please," she hands me the bowls.
I can't even speak as I get up to fill the bowls for them. Did Kendra really do that? Did she-what if Ayrie hadn't been strong enough? I gently shut the door to the bathroom and take one of the towels to scream into. Maria comes in and wraps her arms around me without saying a word. I could kill that fucking bitch if she were standing in front of me right now.
"Momma?" Aizen taps on the door. "Water,"
"I got it," she rubs my back and gets the bowls.
"Thank you, Grandma," he says and goes back.
"I could rip her limb from limb right now," I try to catch my breath.
"They're safe now," she crouches down in front of me. "It feels like all I can do is apologize to you for all of this, Phoebe,"
"I was the one that brought her into their lives," I try to calm my breathing as quietly as I possibly can.
"You didn't know," she wraps her arms around me again.
When I finally calmed down enough to walk out, I notice that Maria is the only one here. And while I'm grateful, I want nothing more than Knightly to be here with us. Ayrie is using sponges on one of the small canvases I bought for them to paint on. She blows on the colors every now and then to blend them. She's watched me do that and it's so cute how she pays attention to the details like that. When she's done she hands it to me.
I take it out onto the balcony. Towards the front of the house, I see a big group of people. Or rather, cops. Maybe swat? There are SUVs as well. Mr. Blake is among them and it hits me. I walk inside staring at Maria. She smiles but drops it when she sees me staring at her and immediately gets up.
"Everything okay?"
"You're going to look for her?"
"There are rules, Phoebe,"
"I don't want you guys to get hurt or for you to make things worse with Xo,"
"Phoebe-"
I rush out of the room and head down to see Knightly dressed just like them. I take his hand and when he turns to look at me his eyes are pitch black. Everyone stops what they're doing when I march right up to him.
"She could have killed her," he growls lowly.
"But she didn't. Please, don't go. I need you here. They need us here. You're going to make things worse. Please, don't go,"
"Phoebe-" he starts pulling away.
"Knightly," I shout. Red flickers in his irises. "Don't do this. You're making a choice. I could kill her too, but it wouldn't help. Please,"
The sound rumbling in his chest is loud enough for those around us to back away from him. I hold onto his hand tighter. I can feel myself shaking from how scared I am, but there's no way I can let him go out there like this. Something bad can happen. How long have we been running around fighting something we have no control over to throw it all away now that things are starting to make sense?
"Knight, she's right," Mr. Blake says. "It's not going to make any of us feel better, son. We can go, but you know the consequences of this,"
"Just stay with us," I hold his gaze. "She just wants to show you she can paint pretty pictures,"
I almost scream when his hand grips my face and he pulls me into him. The rumbling in his chest starts to fade into uneven breathing. It takes him a minute to calm down and then he nods. Mr. Blake lets out a heavy sigh and waves everyone off. I wrap my arms around him while he holds onto me. They all watch us as they leave and I can care less.
"I'm going for a run," he finally pulls away and starts pulling at his clothes as he goes out the sliding door.
"Thank you," Mr. Blake says.
What the fuck am I supposed to say? No, problem. It's my pleasure to keep your son from hunting down my babysitter and murdering her? Maybe it'll make more sense if I were a werewolf, but I'm not and it sounds mental to me. The only human here.
"Jesus Christ," I sit down trying to calm myself. He comes over to me and puts his arm around my shoulders. My head hurts so bad it has its own pulse.
"Umm, I'm not familiar with humans and their needs," he says quietly. "Can I get you some water? A chicken tender?"
I can't help the hysterical laugh that comes out of me. He did not just ask me that.
"I think I'll take you up on that drink this time," I say between laughs.
"That I can do," he nods and gets up to get that drink.
"Holy shit," I say to myself just letting the ringing in my ears pass. My phone rings in my pocket and I have to double-take when I see my father's name come up on the screen. Against my better judgment, I decide to answer. The man has literally never called me in my entire life. Not even when I would come home late. "Hello?"
"I need you to listen closely, Phoebe," that's not my father's voice. I look up at Mr. Blake. He's staring at me. "Are you alone?"
"Who is this?" I ask. Mr. Blake nods urging me to tell whoever this is that I am alone.
"My name is Arnold Knightly," my heart skips. "You may know me as Mr. Grimly,"
"How did you get my father's phone?" I ask. He chuckles, like an actual Bond villain.
"Are you alone, Phoebe?"
"Yes," I don't hesitate to answer him this time.
"Good. I want you to listen closely. I'd like to meet you and my grandkids. Bring my son with you. If you get here with anyone else, your father, your mother, and your four siblings are dead. You're on the Blake Ranch, yes?"
"Yes,"
"I know it's a long drive from there. You have until eight tonight to get them here. You're not a cat are you?"
"No, I'm human," I whisper.
"Good. It means you'll be useful once bitten. Do try to be on time, little human. I'm not one to make idle threats. Ask my son,"
"Please, don't hurt them. They don't know anything,"
"Odd," he scoffs. "You hear that? She's pleading for you. You worthless sack of shit. And here you were ready to sell her to me. I just might be doing you a favor, Phoebe. This coward doesn't deserve your love, little human. But I'm starting to piece together the kind of person you are. I can't wait to meet you,"
"Oh, my god," I choke out when the line goes dead. I stand up staring back at Mr. Blake. "Oh, my god. Oh, my god. Oh, my god,"
"I don't mean to jest, but Knightly is right. You do have the best reactions," he grins and holds up the glass with gold liquid inside. "There is no need for God when you've got us. This, I can help with,"