Chapter 6 “The Ties That Bind”

Chapter 6 “The Ties That Bind”

Angel's eyes flashed open in confusion. Glancing around the room, she could tell it was still dark… why was she awake? Seeing the glare of the alarm clock, she realized she hadn’t been asleep but a few hours. Angel sighed, chalking it up as a spark of fear left over from the flight. Sitting up, she felt how sore her body was and wondered at it.

Looking toward the bathroom, she thought maybe a hot shower would relax her tight muscles and help her sleep.

Tristian frowned when he heard the shower come on in the room right on the other side of the wall. What was Angel doing still up? Surely she hadn’t heard the fight that had broken out in the hall a little while ago. It was Ray most people feared… but if he had to piss one of them off… he hoped like hell it was Ray and not Hunter.

Getting up, he stepped inside his closet and parted the clothes right down the middle to expose the back wall. His lips twitched into a small smile remembering how many times he had done this in the past.

Ducking down through the small opening, he walked sideways through the narrow passage, making his way around to Angel's closet. His green eyes narrowed dangerously seeing that the panel behind her closet was leaning loosely against the wall instead of where it was supposed to be.

Listening to make sure the shower was still running, Tristian entered her room looking for places to hide… not for him, but for whoever had been in here with her. Checking under the bed, he growled inwardly knowing whoever had been in her room was now gone. He knew it wasn’t that son of a bitch Ashton because Ray was keeping an eye on him the rest of the night.

Maybe the panel had been loose like that for a while and he hadn’t known it. Hearing the water turn off, Tristian backed into the closet, cracking the door so he could see her. There was no way he was leaving without making sure she was all right.

Angel pulled on the white terrycloth robe and stepped to the window beside her bed, looking out across the night as she towel dried her hair. She loved the fourth floor view of the estate at night… it was so much prettier than the twentieth floor of the building she was staying in out in California. Looking up, she smiled because here you could see all the stars… they weren’t drowned out by the city lights.

Seeing something move below her, she studied the ground wondering who would still be up besides her this time of night, but she couldn’t find whoever it was that had caught her attention.

Padding back to the bed, Angel dropped the robe to the floor and crawled between the covers, then flipped them back off her knowing the shower had been way too hot. She started to reach for the lamp to turn it off but her hand paused in midair, deciding against it. Knowing it was a touch lamp; she started tapping until she had a night-light then snuggled up to the covers like a big teddy bear.

Tristian thought about what he was seeing and closed his eyes. What if it wasn’t him coming through her closet and seeing her like this. After all, the panel had already been opened. He looked again, pondering what a stranger would see.

Angel had balled most of the covers up in front of her and had one arm and leg thrown across them, hugging them, leaving the rest of her exposed and completely naked... her smooth, tan skin and long platinum hair arranged seductively in the dim light. No… he wouldn’t let someone sneak around in the secret passage and find her like this.

An hour later Tristian finally made it back to his bedroom to wash the white plaster from his hands. He had sealed the closet entrance to Angel’s room up tight. Whoever it was sneaking into her room wouldn’t be able to do it again.

He smirked in the mirror knowing that wouldn’t keep him out. He had the master key to every room in the hotel.

*****

“I’m gonna go to the little game room you guys have downstairs for the tourist,” Shae gave Tristian a quick kiss as she opened the door. “That’ll give you some family time. Plus… I love it in there. The arcade games are free.” She grinned before slipping out the door.

Tristian smirked as he pulled his shirt over his head and shook his hair back into disarray. Sometimes Shae reminded him of his little sister in ways that were just too cute.

Angel opened her eyes when someone knocked gently on the door. She shivered when she felt the air conditioning blowing across her bare skin. Climbing out of bed, she grabbed the robe off the floor and pulled it on, quickly tying it tight before stumbling toward the door.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she called out, “Who is it?”

“It’s almost 1:00 PM. You can't hide in there all day.” Tristian looked around the edge of the door when Angel cracked it open. “Grandmother has requested our presence for tea.” He mocked in the best butler voice he could fake as he bowed.

“Yummy,” Angel smiled, opening the door the rest of the way to let her brother in. She stretched, feeling completely refreshed then blinked, “It’s 1:00 pm?”

Tristian nodded, “I guess you needed the sleep.”

“Give me five minutes and I’ll be ready.” Angel grabbed her suitcase and started rummaging through it.

“You know that actually works better if you put the clothes away first,” Tristian remarked as she grabbed a tank top and tennis skirt. “You might want to wear more than that,” He warned her.

“Fine, daddy.” She added a cute baggy jacket that zipped up the front and headed toward the bathroom.

Tristian frowned at the mess she had made and started pulling out the shirts so he could hang them up for her. “You know, for a girl you…” He turned his head toward the bathroom when he heard her soft cry. Standing up, he watched in confusion as she backed back out the door like she’d just seen a ghost.

“What is it?” He asked, putting his hands on her shoulders as she backed into him. He glanced into the bathroom seeing a picture of their grandfather taped to the bathroom mirror. He sucked in a deep breath seeing the red mark that slashed across the picture… right where the old man’s neck was.

“Get dressed in here,” Tristian ordered as he walked around her into the bathroom and slammed the door behind him. Looking closely at the photo, he touched the red smear then jerked his finger away convinced it was dried blood. Reaching up, he ripped the picture down and crumpled it up in a tight fist.

Closing his eyes, Tristian let his mind travel back to the night John Hart had died.

He had just left Angel's room and to say he was angry would have been an understatement. Meeting his grandfather at the top of the stairs, he had fearlessly stood in the old man’s path.

“You’re the one that put that bruise on Angel's cheek, aren’t you?” he’d yelled at his grandfather.

“I’ll do more than that if I keep catching her letting those damn injuns pant after her like she does. Next thing you know, she’ll be having little half-breed bastards and calling them my grandkids!” John Hart had growled back at him, his face flushing red and his lips twisted in a sneer.

“No one touches my sister!” Tristian’s voice was low and deadly.

“And you… just look at you taking up for her sinful ways. It’s like you know she’s not your real sister… the way you’re always touching her when you think no one is looking. Is that it? Did you finally learn that you were adopted right before your mom got pregnant with my real grandchild? Finally realize just why it is that you don’t belong?”

Tristian hadn’t even thought about what he was doing… he could only see red as he reached out and shoved the old man hard. When John Hart had fallen down the steps and laid there at the bottom of them… without moving, Tristian panicked and ran.

To this day, the family had thought it was an accident… that the old man had just fallen. He’d never even told Angel the truth about what he’d done… or the secret he had learned. In a way, the evil old man had done him a favor… telling him he wasn’t Angel's real brother. It had given him a reason for the way he felt… a reason for loving her like he did.

He and Angel had never talked about the way they felt about each other because in her mind, he was still her big brother. But it didn’t matter… he could see it in her eyes. Growing up… they had experimented on each other… touching and tasting. It seemed less dirty knowing they were not blood kin and they had never had sex. Until the night he had slept with Shae… he had been so drunk that he’d thought it was Angel.

Tristian looked in the mirror knowing none of that mattered right now. Who would put a bloody picture of their grandfather in Angel's bathroom like this… and why?

Gritting his teeth, he started ripping the picture up in very small pieces and letting them fall into the toilet. Flushing the commode, Tristian watched them swirl before disappearing down the drain. Leaving the bathroom, he stepped up behind Angel, silently watching her as she brushed her hair, putting part of it up in a high ponytail and leaving the rest to hang freely down her back.

“It wasn’t there when I went to bed,” Angel whispered, gazing at him through the mirror. The muscles in her brother’s jaw flexed and his emerald green eyes had a slight wildness to them.

“I don’t want you to say anything about finding it… not to anyone. Understand?” Tristian locked his green eyes on her frightened blue ones and waited for her to nod. “Whoever put it there will think you didn’t find it.” He reached out and ran his hand through the long locks of her hair, spreading it across one shoulder absently. “And you won’t be left alone until I get to the bottom of this… I promise.”

Angel leaned back against him, watching as one of his arms wrapped around her shoulder, across her chest, letting his palm grip her other arm as he caged her against him. The top of her head reached his chin and they seem to fit together so perfectly. She sighed knowing she had a big brother complex.

“Grandmother’s waiting,” Tristian whispered as he reluctantly let go.

*****

Shae let out an excited whoop as she finished the first level of Pac-Man. She knew it was silly but this was her favorite game and she really sucked at it, so making it this far was a small victory for her. Hearing someone laughing, she glanced over her shoulder seeing Ashton not three feet behind her.

“Oops,” she took a step away from the game. “Sorry, my IQ seems to drop several digits when I play that game.”

“Not at all,” Ashton pointed toward the screen, “But if you don’t pay attention… they’re gonna eat you up.”

“Ack!” Shae turned back grabbing the handle and biting her tongue like a little kid. Quickly dying, she mock kicked the machine. “Stupid, big-mouthed rodent.”

“Have you seen Angel this morning?” Ashton asked as he chuckled at her childish action.

“Yeah… I mean no. But Tristian’s with her right now. They’re going to go visit their grandmother for a little while. She called up to his room just a little while ago asking for him and Angel to come have tea with her. No one else was invited.” Shae snapped her mouth shut feeling like she was rambling.

“Mind if I hang out with you until they’re done?” Ashton asked knowing the quickest way to Angel was probably standing in front of him. Earlier, he had tried to find out what room Angel was in but no one seemed to be around to ask. Rather than knocking on every door in the hotel… he had been doomed to simply wait.

Shae nodded, “Sure, wanna play foosball?” She walked over to the game’s table and he followed. The first few minutes of playing were relaxed in silence but she had known it wouldn’t stay that way.

“How long have you been friends with Angel?” Ashton asked wondering just how much info he could wring from her. Maybe he could even get a couple straight answers since the girls weren’t actually kin to each other.

“Since second grade,” Shae answered. “Now my turn. How long have you known Angel?” She glanced up from the game seeing that he was watching her and not paying attention so she quickly scored a goal.

“Okay,” he nodded as he pretended to pay more attention to the game. “Since the day she moved to California. Her and her dad just happen to be staying in the penthouse across from mine.” He cocked an elegant eyebrow at her before asking, “My turn?”

“You catch on fast,” Shae agreed. She really didn’t see Ashton in the same light as Tristian did. He seemed nice enough to her and she could tell Angel really liked the guy. She had to because otherwise, she never would have started dating him and it wouldn’t have lasted six months… right?

In her opinion, it would be great if the two of them were deeply in love. Maybe then Tristian would quit worrying about Angel all the time and pay her some attention. Sometimes she worried about the odd affection between the siblings.

“Go ahead and ask what you really want to know,” she gave him a friendly smile feeling like she was psychic. Her smile widened when he asked exactly what she was expecting.

“All right… but remember you asked for it. How many people here are secretly in love with my girlfriend?” Ashton completely missed the ball as he glanced up at her, dreading the answer.

Deciding to give him a hard time, Shae leaned forward as if parting with a dirty little secret. “All of us.” She gave him her most serious look.

“You’re not going to really help me… are you?” Ashton laughed trying to hide his agitation.

“Maybe I just did,” Shae cocked an eyebrow as she made another score. “Look, you are the first guy I know of that Angel has openly dated like this. And you’ve been dating her for six months… right?” She watched Ashton frown while nodding… the poor thing just looked confused.

Deciding to give him a huge push in the right direction, Shae lowered her voice not wanting to be overheard, “Then why haven’t you slept with her yet?”

“Why indeed,” Ashton nearly mocked himself knowing his own history.

“Look, all I’m saying is that if you’re worried about someone trying to take her away from you… then you might want to stake your claim.” When he didn’t say anything she added with a shrug, “If you don’t, then it’s your own fault when someone else beats you to it.”

*****

Tristian opened the door to their grandma’s private sunroom, holding it open while Angel ducked under his arm to enter. They both halted right there in the doorway seeing their dad and Felicia sitting at the table.

“Great,” Tristian murmured near Angel's ear before badly faking a big happy smile. “Hey dad!”

He passed his father’s chair completely up to reach down and give his grandmother a hug. She actually looked tense enough to need one. Not wanting to spend any time with his dad, Tristian stood beside her wheelchair instead of taking a seat.

Angel watched her grandmother’s face knowing something was wrong. She remained standing, following her brother’s cue, behind her dad’s chair so she was facing her grandmother. When their grandmother raised her eyes, it only confirmed her fears that something was out of place.

“Have either one of you seen your mother since yesterday?” Isabel Hart asked though she kept her eyes on Angel, suddenly feeling very sorry for the girl.

“I haven’t seen her in almost two years,” Angel lowered her eyelashes not liking how that sounded or made her feel.

“Where is she?” Tristian’s eyes narrowed on his dad and the nitwit sitting beside him.

“Hell if I know. I haven’t seen her since I left for California,” Malcolm shrugged like he couldn’t care less but he did have the good graces to look a little uncomfortable.

Isabel lifted a shaky hand, showing Tristian the envelope she had laying in her lap.

Tristian took it, opening and reading the typed letter, seeing his mother’s name scrawled at the bottom. He felt the blood in his veins growing colder as he read the short letter. Tossing the page at his dad, he grabbed Angel’s hand in a tight grip, pulling her with him as he stormed out of the room.

“What…” Angel shook her head and turned to go with her brother before he pulled her arm out of its socket with his anger. She kept quiet until they reached the elevator.

“Tristian! What's wrong? What was that letter?” she asked trying to pull her hand loose but his grip only tightened.

“It was a goodbye letter.” The doors opened and he pulled Angel in with him. “Damn it!” Tristian’s temper finally snapped as the doors closed. “Why did she have to pull this now?”

Ashton had just come out of the game room with Shae when he noticed Ray behind the lobby desk. He slowed his steps seeing Tristian rush in from a side door dragging Angel behind him. He couldn’t tell what they were saying but all three of them witnessed Tristian jerk Angel into the elevator, then curse angrily as the doors cut them off from sight.

*****

Angel finally got her hand loose, rubbing her wrist but understood her brother hadn’t realized he was even hurting her. Tristian didn’t really have a temper, but once he was mad… he was like a nuclear warhead.

She stayed a couple feet behind him as she followed him down the third floor hallway. This was the hall their parents had stayed in while they were married. They’d even knocked a wall down between two of the rooms to make their room bigger than the rest. It was that door Tristian stopped in front of and started pounding.

When no one answered, Angel backed up against the hallway wall as Tristian raised his foot and kicked the door right beside the doorknob. The door swung in, banging against the inside wall. Angel decided to stay right where she was as Tristian stormed in, pulling drawers from the dresser and throwing them on the floor. Her eyes widened seeing they were empty.

Hearing the ding of the elevator, she glanced down the hall just as Ashton, Shae and Ray stepped off it. “Not good, not good,” she whispered shaking her head. The last thing Tristian needed right now was an audience.

Ashton watched as Ray nearly sprinted up the hall and at first he assumed the Indian was just trying to reach Angel before he did. To his surprise, Angel nodded toward the open doorway and Ray took off through it.

“What in the hell is going on?” Shae asked as soon as she caught up to Angel. She started to turn toward the room but Angel reached for her fingers to stall her.

“Don’t,” she shook her head. “Just give Ray time to calm him down first.”

“Why is he so mad?” Ashton asked as he ushered both girls a good twenty feet away from the yelling match that had just started inside the room.

“Mother… she’s gone without telling anyone goodbye… all she left was a note.” She strained to hear what was happening inside her mom’s room. Hearing glass break she put her hand over her lips as her eyes misted.

“Why did she wait till Angel was here then run off without even seeing her?! How stupid is she?! She’s always been a bad mother and this is proof!” Tristian’s voice was loud and clear within the hallway. “Let me go damn it!” More glass could be heard shattering.

Struggling to keep his hold on Tristian, Ray slammed the door not wanting Angel to hear anything else. “Stop it,” he tightened his hold and growled in Tristian’s ear. “Do you really want Angel to take the blame for her mother leaving?”

“No!” Tristian jerked trying to dislodge him.

“Then watch your mouth!” Ray hissed letting him go.

Tristian ground his teeth together as he swung his arm across the dresser, knocking off the perfume and makeup that had been left behind.

“Oh hell,” Ashton mouthed followed by “Damn,” from Shae.

Angel frowned, “Will you guys please… Shae? Will you show Ashton around the estate for me?”

“Sure,” Shae nodded. “Come on Ashton.”

Ashton frowned down at Angel seeing her attention was not on him. “I want to stay with Angel. I don’t like how her brother manhandles her when he’s mad.”

Angel jerked her gaze around to Ashton, balling her hand up into a fist but keeping it at her side. “Tristian wouldn’t hurt me. She’s our mother… can't you understand why we need a few minutes?” She didn’t know if it was her own temper trying to flash or if it was the fact that her feelings were hurt because her mother had left without even saying hello or goodbye to her.

Ashton stood to his full height seeing the defiance in Angel’s eyes. He would have to teach her better manners once he got her away from all this craziness.

“Come on,” Shae pulled on Ashton's arm and was relieved when he turned and actually followed her.

“Ray gets to stay,” Ashton growled then realized how petty that sounded. He smoothed it over by looking over his shoulder at Angel. “Don’t worry about us… take all the time you need.” His eyes darkened knowing tonight he would set things right. He hadn’t come all this way to spend vacation alone.

Inside the room, Ray crossed his arms over his chest and inhaled while Tristian finished knocking everything off the other dresser. He didn’t bother trying to stop him, knowing he needed to get it out of his system. At least he had stopped yelling.

Seeing Angel step into the room, Ray held his hand out letting her know to stay behind him.

“Tristian!” Angel cried, smelling the perfume bottles he had just knocked over. “Stop… please!”

The fear in her voice penetrated his mind and Tristian did stop, looking around the room at the damage he had done. His gaze traveled from the empty drawers to the broken closet door. Their mother had taken most of her stuff and he hadn’t even known she had left. His eyes flashed up to Ray’s in the mirror then narrowed.

“Selfish old bitch,” he murmured feeling his temper start to cool. “I don’t know why it even surprises me that she would do it. Sometimes I think she never even liked me to begin with.”

Ray's gaze slid toward Angel hoping she wasn’t taking her brother’s words to heart. When she glanced up at him, he barely shook his head letting her know he didn’t think that way… anything to erase that watery look in her blue eyes.

Angel swung her gaze around the room, stopping on the huge portrait over the fireplace. It seemed so cozy with the four of them, but even she knew it was a lie. She and Tristian were smiling and touching, but their mom and dad looked so cold and… miserable.

She stepped further into the room, walking right up to the fireplace and touching the golden frame with a soft caress.

Tristian followed her gaze seeing the family portrait. Walking up behind his sister, he wrapped his arms around her and laid his chin on the top of her head the same way he had done in her room less than an hour ago.

“I say let her go… let father and the tramp go too… and leave me and you here where we belong,” His voice had changed from angry to wishful and almost a little happy.

Angel placed her arm across his but she kept her thoughts to herself. Tristian would need her now… more than ever. But did she really want to stay here and abandon everything she had in California… abandon Ashton?

Forgetting Ray was behind them she whispered, “Do you think it was mother who put that picture on my bathroom mirror? That she left because of me?”

“What picture?” Ray asked, watching Tristian tense up then let go of his sister as he turned around with a glare. “What picture?” Ray repeated, this time looking straight at Angel.

Tristian placed his hands on Angel's shoulders and turned her back toward him. “Angel, you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.”

Angel rose up on her tiptoes and kissed Tristian on the cheek, “You need to trust someone… and I trust Ray.”

“I trust you,” Tristian whispered then straightened up to his full height as he let go. “You and Ray go. Tell him if it makes you feel better.” He shrugged like it no longer mattered. “I’ll stay and try to clean up some of this mess I made.”

As Angel left him, Tristian added as he sliced Ray a level look, “Don’t let her out of your sight.” He knew Ray would understand.

Ray closed the door behind them, taking Angel's hand and guiding her to a room down the hall where no one was staying. He pulled the master key out of his pocket and opened the door.

“Whose room?” Angel asked, noticing it was empty.

Once inside, Ray locked the door then bolt locked it before turning around to face her. “Your mother was the only one on this floor.”

“So we’re completely alone?” Angel asked wondering why he was trying to scare her. She walked toward the window and looked down seeing the pool area full of people.

“Yeah… does it bother you?” Ray came up behind her, placing a hand on each side of her as he also glanced down. He spotted Ashton right away, seeing him laying in one of the lounge chairs ignoring everyone. It looked like the boyfriend had taken to sulking. He smiled knowing the man was at the right angle to see them in the window if he chose to open his eyes.

“No,” Angel tried to back up but Ray’s body came forward to keep her where she was. “It doesn’t bother me and you do not scare me.” She informed him truthfully.

“The picture, Angel,” Ray reminded her as he pulled the hair back from one side of her neck. “No one knows where we are… so you can relax. I won’t let anyone hurt you, so tell me about the picture.”

“It was of grandfather… and it had blood on it,” Angel whispered.

Seeing Ashton finally flinch and sit up, Ray wrapped his arms around Angel and moved her away from the window. He had just given Ashton Fox enough rope to hang himself with. Guiding her over to the bed, he let go and sat down patting the mattress. “When did you find it?”

“When Tristian woke me up this morning, it was hanging on my bathroom mirror.” Angel crawled up on the bed and sat Indian style facing him. “Tristian said not to tell anyone and whoever put it there would think I hadn’t found it.”

“I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that. If someone’s been in your room, then they’ll probably come back. They might’ve already checked to see if the picture has been removed.”

Ray lay back on the bed staring up at the ceiling, trying to separate all his thoughts. There were too many things going on at the same time within Sanctuary and he didn’t care about any of it unless it threatened Angel… at the moment there was a lot threatening her.

Who would have put that picture in her room? Only one person came to mind. Robert Hart. He was using scare tactics to make sure Angel and her father didn’t decide to stay. He would tell Tristian his thoughts and together they would fix it for her.

“Okay, this is what we’re going to do. Tonight, when you’re ready to go to your room, let Hunter or I know. One of us will be sleeping with you tonight… maybe both of us just to be on the safe side.” It might be even smarter to keep her out of Hunter's reach for just a little longer.

Angel stretched her legs out and laid down beside Ray thinking about the past. “Like we did when we used to go camping?” she smiled softly, remembering all of them curling up in a small tent like a pile of puppies. Her smile vanished realizing she was doing it again. She wasn’t a child anymore and things were not the same.

“What is it?” Ray turned over on his side, bringing his body closer to hers. Reaching out, he caressed her cheek with the back of his finger.

“I’m not a child anymore,” Angel whispered. “And the way I feel when I’m here is wrong.”

“Do you remember the promise we made to each other when the four of us did the blood pact?” Ray asked, wanting her to remember.

“That we would never leave each other… I’ve already broken that promise,” Angel answered.

Ray shook his head, “We formed our own tribe that day and there were many promises. We said one day we would take over this mountain and make it ours… Angel and her three warriors. I told you that day that you were my sister in blood.”

“The ties that bind,” Angel repeated, remembering the last words they had all said.

“So now you have to trust your warriors to make things right,” Ray suggested. Deciding that he needed to stall her for a little while, he sat up. “I know you haven’t eaten today so I want you to stay right here where no one knows where you are and I’m going to go get us some food.”