Rush (Roam Series, Book Four) Read online

  “Dad,” Logan waved, thoroughly amused as I slipped behind him, attempting to cover up.

  Mr. Rush turned toward the ocean, the unmistakable grin on his face shielded slightly by his profile. “Okay, kids, we have an agenda. Violet, Roam said the ladies are ready to leave.”

  “Thanks,” I disappeared into the house, listening to the vague sounds of Logan and his father talking. I’d managed to slip on a pair of shorts and a button-down shirt (to easily remove after my hair was done) before Logan attacked from behind.

  “Hurry. Before they come for us again,” he turned me to face him and had my shorts back off before I could argue that I was already late for the appointment. Gasping as he moved into me, I clung to him. Even through the inevitable pain, I was unable to stop grinning at the excitement of the day ahead of me.

  He fell over me on the bed, diving for my neck. “You’re not supposed to be laughing. You’re supposed to be consumed by my raw-passionate-animal-lovemaking-skills.”

  I exhaled with amusement, meeting his smiling lips as the moment I knew so well was building inside of me. “Logan… you just make me so freaking happy,” I cried. I came fast in his arms, and he followed, the low rumble of relieved laughter moving through his throat.

  “Okay, hussy, clean yourself up and get out,” he kissed me once on my nose, and then mouth, smirking. “Maybe I’ll call you.”

  I gave him a contrived, grinning glare, searching for my shorts. “You better show up tonight. If you leave me at the altar, I’ll hunt you down, Logan Rush.”

  “I have nowhere else I’d rather be, Violet Perry.”

  He pulled me into one more kiss before I ran to the bathroom.

  The ride to the hair dresser was filled with excited chatter from all of the girls. My mom, Roam, Morgan, Eva and I all climbed into the stretched white limousine, and I was glad that Logan’s mom had decided not to come. She made me uncomfortable with her pushy questions, and I couldn’t help but feel that she constantly compared me to Roam the entire time we were together.

  “I dreamt about Grandfather Asher last night,” Eva told me, and I looked down at her sharply.

  “Did you tell Dad?”

  “No,” she adjusted the headphones on her head. “Daddy doesn’t like it when I dream about him.”

  “Well, what was your dream about?” I glanced at Roam, knowing she was listening intently. Morgan was showing my mom photos of the bachelorette party from three weeks before.

  “Grandfather was teaching me magic. He told me that I am very magical.”

  “But we have to keep that a secret, right?” Roam prodded, and Eva nodded, reaching for my hair. Her tiny fingers worked at twisting a braid that she couldn’t quite master.

  “But my king knows that I’m magical.”

  “Will?” Roam leaned closer to us, and Eva nodded. She sighed like an animated Disney Princess, throwing the back of her hand against her forehead and falling against the leather seat.

  “He is so handsome.”

  “You see him? In your dreams?” I asked, exchanging glances with Roam.

  “No, but I remember him,” she argued. “He told me I’m a princess.”

  “Honey, did you decide on all the way up, or half-up?” My mother interrupted, referring to my hair. I swallowed and tugged Eva closer before Roam reached for her.

  “Half up.”

  I let the women at the salon fuss over me, lost in my thoughts of Cole Mathison, Logan, and the rest of our lives. Will the past always intervene? Will we ever get a happily-ever-after? Logan zoning out in the bathroom had scared the shit out of me. He’d begun ‘disappearing’ when he got back from the castle, and the instances had only gotten more frequent during his leave in December.

  On Christmas Eve, I’d found him standing in the middle of the road outside his parent’s house, in only his bare feet in the snow. He’d been completely unresponsive for almost five minutes, and then when he finally turned to me, it was as though nothing had even happened.

  Where is he going?

  I thought of Cole’s words on the airplane.

  He will break- the nightmares will change him.

  Though he no longer had the nightmares every night, he still woke up drenched with sweat, remembering some awful way he’d killed Roam in the past.

  I shifted my eyes to Roam as the woman behind me painstakingly applied bobby pin after bobby pin to my hair. She sat in the chair, chatting about something with her hair dresser with Eva next to her.

  Will our lives always be about her?

  The envy that had begun in my heart the year that Logan and Roam had spent together once again filled me with bitterness. They both swore that they’d never slept together, but the jealous, immature part of me knew they’d done other things, and I hated that they had.

  Any other girl doesn’t bother me…

  Only Roam.

  Back at the house, our cottage became our dressing room, and the men were forbidden to enter. Roam and my mom helped me into the sleeveless, A-line wedding gown, careful not to disturb my make-up or hair. Roam and Morgan wore short, burgundy strapless dresses with a champagne sash, and my mom a champagne gown with a burgundy sash.

  “So beautiful,” my mother whispered, her bright blue eyes filling with tears.

  “Laurel, she needs to eat,” Morgan advised, and in response, I swayed on my feet- a little.

  “I won’t fit into this dress if I eat anything.”

  “Here, eat this yucky cookie,” Eva produced a Vanilla Wafer, cringing. “Mommy said I can’t have chocolate chip anywhere near your dress.”

  I laughed, accepting the box of cookies gratefully. “Thanks, sis.”

  “Knock, knock.” I looked up at the open door, smiling at West. He stood just outside the screen, already dressed in his black tuxedo.

  “No dudes!” Morgan called. Roam ignored her, hurrying to the door and letting him in.

  “Hey, baby.” He leaned in for a kiss, and she smiled, wrapping her arms around him. I watched him trace his fingers over the strange birthmark on her shoulder blade.

  “Where’s Christopher?”

  “I left him with Logan for a few minutes. He offered. I think he needed something to keep his mind off of his nerves,” he turned toward me, his eyes lighting up in the late afternoon sun streaming through the window. “Violet,” he held his arms open, and I folded into them, awkwardly crushing the box of Vanilla Wafers in my hand. “Thank you for sharing this day with me.” The emotion in his eyes almost brought me to tears. “Are you ready, sweetheart?”

  “She’s ready,” my mom wrapped one arm around me, lifting her eyes to my dad and winking.

  West nodded, pulling Roam into his arms once more. “Okay. I’ll let them know. Eva, stay right with Mommy, okay?”

  Eva snatched the cookies from my hand, shaking the box with teenage-sized attitude. “I will, but Daddy, these cookies are yucky.”

  “Enough cookies. Lunch soon,” he promised, sweeping her into his arms for a kiss before leaving.

  Morgan reached for Eva, attempting to straighten the sash on her dress. “Okay, Eva Anastasia, you know your part, right? Not all the petals, like at my wedding, just some of the petals. Make them last all the way to Logan and Violet, okay?”

  “I know,” she huffed. I took a deep, steadying breath, hurrying to my purse in the bedroom for a mint to erase the cookie taste.

  After a few moments of nervous searching, I overturned my bag, my heartbeat quickening. I’m getting married. To Logan. Forever.

  Finally.

  “Come on,” I growled, pushing aside lip gloss and sunglasses. When Roam’s hand appeared in my line of vision, I sighed as she handed me the breath mints. “Thanks, Roam.”

  “Violet,” she twisted her fingers nervously, her long lashes practically touching her cheeks as she blinked back tears. “Please… know… that I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for all that happened… for what Logan has gone through… for me,” she wiped at her cheeks, and I snatche
d a tissue from the nightstand, handing it to her.

  “Roam, it’s not your fault.”

  “It really is. He felt obligated to stay… in the castle. I have no idea what Troy did to him… when he wasn’t with me. I’m sorry,” she dabbed at the corners of her eyes, taking short breaths. “I wanted to say this earlier, but I just hate thinking… about it…,”

  “Stop,” I reached for her, but she shook her head.

  “No, I’ll get mascara on your dress,” she sniffed, lowering to the foot of the bed.

  “Logan and I have talked about the castle. He didn’t stay because he felt obligated. He stayed because he loved you, and he knew that West couldn’t. Now, stop it, you’re going to be all red and puffy in my pictures,” I urged, attempting a playful scowl.

  She nodded again and swallowed hard, forcing a smile. “Okay.”

  She stood and started for the door, and I turned to her suddenly. “Roam?”

  Her voice shook as she answered. “Yeah?”

  “He’d never hurt you.”

  She narrowed her eyes, confusion taking over her green gaze. “I know that, Vi.”

  I watched her walk away, uncertainty settling in my heart.

  Chapter Twenty

  Logan

  “Please welcome Mr. and Mrs. Logan Rush to the floor for their first dance as husband and wife!”

  I ignored the spotlight, diving into the most sparkling blue eyes I’d ever seen.

  My wife.

  Violet clasped her hands in mine, challenging me with a grin. Dean Martin’s Sway took me right back to the kitchen of the cottage in 1955, and I couldn’t resist dipping her for a crowd-pleasing kiss.

  “Logan!” She squealed, tipping her head back. Her perfect breasts swelled against her strapless gown, and I tango-kissed her all the way from her mouth to her neck.

  I thought back to only hours before, and the flawless ceremony that ended in her becoming Mrs. Violet Rose Rush. The moment she’d taken my hands by the ocean, I’d known that everything would finally be right.

  And that I had the sexiest wife- in every universe.

  I held her close, telling her again and again how lucky I was, marking that moment as the best in any of my lifetimes.

  The traditional father and bride dance was next, and Violet had chosen The Fray’s You Found Me. Half-way through the song she stopped dancing when West whispered something to her, simply pressing her face into his jacket. I could tell by the way she held her shoulders that she was trying not to cry.

  My eyes wandered over to Roam. She held Christopher on her lap, his head in her hands as she smiled down at him. Her hair was pinned up on her head in an attractive mess of twists and braids, and the sparkly clips reflected the light from the dance floor. The cross-shaped birthmark on her shoulder caught my eye.

  From the very corners of the banquet hall, the decaying walls began to crumble in vertical sections. I closed my eyes, gripping the seat of my chair. Don’t go back to the castle, don’t. It’s your wedding day. Roam is fine. Everyone is here.

  I knew Roam was on some kind of medication from our long talks about the other world; she opened up to me when she was at her worst, explaining that she couldn’t talk to West about some things without breaking down or fainting.

  But she asked him to hurt her…

  What Troy had done to her?

  I shook away the sickened feeling, letting the elegantly decorated walls of the reception hall creep back toward the ceiling. Fight it, Rush. You’ll end up in a padded room if this keeps happening.

  I reached for my glass of champagne, and then ignored it. Fuck this- I need a beer. I almost started toward the open bar before realizing that the song was ending, and it was time to dance with my mom.

  When I caught my mom’s expression, she looked like she was in physical pain. I knew she and my father were disappointed that it wasn’t Roam sitting next to me, and the strangeness of me marrying West’s daughter wasn’t lost on them. I escorted my mother to the floor, waiting for the music to begin.

  “You’re so young to be getting married… both of you are. Wait. Please, Logan.” My mother’s pleading voice right before the ceremony still nagged in the back of my mind. “You have your entire lives.”

  If only she knew how long that would be.

  Half-way to the floor, a chill began at the nape of my neck and crawled down my spine. I had recognized the exact same feeling before the mortar attack.

  Something is wrong.

  “Logan?” My mother asked, and I searched for Morgan, finding her cuddled close to Jason. I turned to West, meeting his eyes through the semi-darkness.

  He knew it before I did.

  “Where’s Eva?” He asked seconds before taking off through the hall, and I left my mom standing on the dance floor. The DJ looked around, confused, as I scrambled from table to table.

  “What’s wrong?” Violet ran to the dance floor, and I pointed at the doors.

  “Go check the restrooms. Where’s Eva? The flower girl- Eva- where is she?” I shouted, and at that point the urgency in my voice was enough for the DJ to cut the music. Roam stood with the baby in her arms, her face completely white.

  “She was running around… with Lacy,” she turned in a circle, gripping Christopher to her chest. Lacy, my cousin’s six-year-old daughter, sat near the banquet table with her mother. I nearly tripped over the tablecloth running to them.

  “Where’s Eva? Where’d Eva go, Lacy?”

  Lacy, her wide, brown eyes filling with tears, shrugged and pointed toward the doors. “She had to go potty.”

  “She’s not in the restroom,” Violet burst through the doors, and West appeared next to her, shouting to one of the security guards he’d hired for the reception.

  “I’m sure she’s just playing in the hall somewhere,” my mother assured me, reaching for Christopher. “Roamie, go look for her.”

  “Roam,” I grabbed her by the upper arm, shaking her from her terror-trance. “Don’t fucking faint. Eva’s gone. Find her.”

  “Logan!” My mother reprimanded my harsh tone, but I watched Roam take a deep breath, turning to my mother.

  “Carol, please keep Christopher. West,” she ran for him, and he spoke quickly to her.

  The look on his face told me everything that I needed to know. Roam crumbled, shaking her head, and he caught her in his arms.

  The confusion and turmoil led to all of the wedding guests searching the entire building and the grounds. Violet turned toward the ocean behind the hall, and then back to me, breaking into tears.

  “She wouldn’t have gone in the ocean, Vi,” I gripped her to me, a million fears stealing my ability to complete a rational thought. What if she did go in for some reason? She can swim, but the under-toe… she’s immortal, she’d live…

  “Mr. Rush,” a server thrust a piece of paper at me, her worried expression drawing my attention. “I saw a man carrying a sleeping little girl to his car. He said ‘she’s had a big day’ and asked that I give this to the groom… with his congratulations.”

  “What color was her hair? The little girl?” I nearly tore open the folded paper.

  “Red.”

  Jesus Christ- “West!” I shouted, my eyes scanning the words on the piece of white copy paper.

  Rush-

  I won’t hurt her, but you will. When you’re gone- for good- I’ll return her to her parents. Don’t bother searching for her.

  She’s safe.

  “It’s Cole,” Violet shook her head, lifting her eyes to us. “He’s the only one who knows. He said he was trying… to save our world.”

  “She’s just a baby,” I turned to Roam, rage taking over my words. “Why weren’t you watching her?”

  “Logan!” Roam snapped her face to me, tears streaking her cheeks. “We were all watching her!”

  “Fuck you,” West snarled, stepping in front of Roam.

  “Stop!” Violet cried, trying to push between us, but I held his heated stare, crushing th
e note in my hand.

  West searched the hall and focused on Christopher. “Roam, get the baby. I called the police. They’ll put out a missing child alert-…,”

  “Oh my God,” she folded over, and Violet caught her, lifting her horrified eyes to mine.

  “How could you say that to her? Blame her? What’s wrong with you?” She demanded, turning to West. “I know what Cole looks like, I’ll come with you to the station-…,”

  He shook his head firmly. “I don’t want Roam and Christopher unprotected.”

  “I’ll stay with them.” I looked down, my ears ringing with the noise around me. “Just go. Vi, go. Cam, come on, I’m sorry,” I reached for her, but she shoved away from me, running to Christopher.

  West waited for her to return to his arms. “Keep your phone on. Baby, go with Logan. Stay in the house.”

  She carried their crying son in her arms, attempting to soothe him. “I want to come with you-…,”

  “I’ll go, I’ve seen him, I can give them a description,” Violet assured her, turning to me. “I’ll be back soon,” she promised, reaching for me.

  I returned her hug. “I’m sorry.”

  “Stop. I know,” my new wife hushed, gathering the skirt of her gown into her hands and following West to the doors.

  Roam threw me a damaged look before heading for my car.

  Two hours later, I was trapped in another nightmare.

  Roam was there, as usual, but this time Troy was not. Police swarmed the house, taking statements from my friends, my family, from Morgan, from Laurel… No one had seen anything, no one knew anything, and no one could understand how this could happen with the level of security in place.

  My phone lit up with a text from Violet.

  This is going to take a while. How’s Roam? I love you.

  I texted back quickly.

  She’s holding it together. Tell West I’m sorry for what I said. Love you too.

  “Why hasn’t the alert gone out yet?” Roam threw her phone at the couch, gesturing to my phone. “Was that West?”

  “Vi. They’re still putting a description together. The server identified his car as a black Nissan Maxima,” I added, scrolling through West’s last texts. “Her description matches Mathison’s.”