“NATTI! GET IN NOW!”
Her eyes flashed a hint of anger and fear, and her cheeks turned bright red as she scanned the houses along the street. Seth followed her gaze. People were beginning to gather by the windows and fences of their homes. Even the couple that owned the driveway Natti stood on opened the front door. They scowled in Seth’s direction, ready to intervene.
“Oh, bloody hell . . .” Natti slid inside, and Seth slammed the door closed on her. “All right. I’m in. Are you happy now?”
Seth took a calming breath and wrung his hands around the steering wheel. Yes, he was happy because she was safe. He could get her home and as far away from his father as possible. Throwing the car into gear, he cruised his car down the street.
Seth leaned back into his seat. “What’s your address?”
Natti rolled her eyes and scratched the cat behind the ear. “Just drive a few more blocks and make a right onto River Avenue.”
Seth nodded, and fell silent. His mind too wrapped up in his relief and anger to converse. So instead, he kept glancing over at Natti, watching her while she stared at the houses passing by.
Having collected his thoughts, he finally broke the silence. “Natti, I don’t want you ever going near my house again. Do you understand me?”
Natti slammed her hand against the door. “Dear God! What the hell did I do now to piss you off so much?”
Seth glared, “This is not about you!”
“The hell it isn’t! Why else do you keep pushing me away?”
Seth didn’t respond, the muscles in his jaw and hands tightening.
Natti sighed next to him, her voice a little more calm. “Look, I wasn’t trying to trespass or anything. I didn’t even know it was your house. How would I? I didn’t even know you lived in a freaking mansion.”
“This is not about trespassing!” Seth shot. “I’m trying to protect you!”
Natti’s eyes became cold. “You keep saying that, but protect me from whom? You?”
“You wouldn’t understand!” He turned the car onto River Avenue, the tires screeching.
“Maybe I would if you would just explain to me what is going on,” Natti held onto the cat and clung to the seat. Once her breathing steadied, she scanned her surroundings. “In about a block and a half, you can turn into the Myrrh Valley community.”
Seth simply nodded in response, keeping his mouth shut. He couldn’t tell her nothing was going on because she would know he was lying. And as tempting it was to have her understand his concern, if he told her the truth about the Sons and his father, not only would she freak, she would be silenced, one way or another, and he could be put to death.
Natti eyed him, waiting as the long silence took hold again. Finally, she seemed to give up on him answering her inquiry and turned to him with worry in her eyes. “Is your mum going to be okay?”
“What?” Seth was taken off guard by her question. He eased his tension a little, letting it drain from his system before continuing. “Oh, yeah. She’ll be fine. She’s resting on the couch as we speak.”
“She scared me for a bit there. Her eyes were so dilated, and she seemed to . . . I don’t know.”
Seth could hear the concern for his mother in her voice, which made him grateful. “It’s really nothing to worry about,” he said, not technically a lie. “She’s been suffering these kinds of spells for as long as I can remember.”
This seemed to pique Natti’s interest. “What causes them?”
Seth lowered his head, trying to think what he could possibly tell her, especially since she was the one person he knew who could detect if he was lying. “She . . . ah . . . She suffered some sort of memory loss before I was born. The spells are a part of it, I guess.”
“That’s horrible!” Natti sat up. “What happened?”
“I can’t really say.” Seth bit his tongue, hoping that was enough to satisfy her.
Thankfully, it was.
“I would have never guessed.” Natti stroked her cat. “She seemed fine when I was talking to her. Well, at least before the whole dizzy spell thing. Is she really going to be okay on her own?”
Seth nodded, but purposely switched the topic. “How’s Wanda?” he asked, turning the Jaguar into Myrrh Valley.
Natti shrank into her seat and shrugged. “She’s out of the hospital, but her parents won’t let me talk to her. I think they’re really mad at me for what had happened, and I don’t blame them. I shouldn’t have taken her with me.” She pointed to another street and whispered, “Turn here and go straight. Mine’s the little gray house up ahead.”
“Don’t worry.” Seth said, doing his best to show support. “It will work out. I promise you that.”
He glanced at the gray two storey home and steered his Jaguar into the driveway, pulling up next to Natti’s Mini Cooper. He pushed the gear shift into park and unlocked to the car doors. Natti didn’t move as she stared at the dashboard before her.