Chapter 161: Revelations
*She opened herself to the shadows. She would have seen the possibilities for everyone around her. Harry Potter has it right. Chocolate. – Grams*
Knuckles opened the door of Nessie’s room. Standing in the hallway, Siobhan handed him a bag of chocolate candy and a cup of hot cocoa.
“According to Grams, Harry Potter has more things right than the paranormal shows. When she’s feeling better, she needs to call Grams or Moira.”
“Okay. She was so cold. She’s in the tub right now.” He said taking the items from her.
“Does she have the electric blanket on the bed?”
“I put it on. It’s on high.” He said with a nod towards the bed. “What happened?”
“She opened a connection to the shadows. She saw the possibilities for everyone. Good and bad. It’s very emotional. Plus, several of them here spoke to her.”
“She’s drained.” He surmised.
“Yes.” She answered as Nessie called out his name. “Go take care of her.” Siobhan paused and then looked sadly at him. “She won’t like you seeing her scars.”
Knuckles nodded as he headed into the sitting area. As he suspected, Siobhan closed the door behind her as she left. After putting the chocolate on the table, he went into the bathroom and grabbed her a towel.
She stepped out of the draining water and into the fluffy towel that he held. Nessie was so drained that she leaned into his chest and let him dry her off.
He could see the scars that Siobhan mentioned. Had he been a lesser man, he would have flinched. But he had plenty of his own scars. Had inflicted twice as many. And when he found the man who did this to her beautiful body, Knuckles planned to kill him.
Wrapping her up, he carried her bridal style and set her on the now poorly made bed.
“I didn’t know what you sleep in, so I grabbed a t-shirt from my room.” Knuckles said as he slipped his shirt over her head. He then tucked her into bed and handed her the hot cocoa. “You good with that?”
Nessie nodded before taking a sip. She smiled as he hung up the towel on the back of the bathroom door. He grabbed the bag of candy before making his way to the other side of the bed.
“Come here.” He said putting an arm around her shoulders. She snuggled up against him. “I was told to tell you to call your Grams.” He pressed a kiss against her damp hair.
She nodded. “I need to get more of this in me first.”
“Hot cocoa that good?” he asked and she offered him the large cup from the Cookie Jar. He took a drink and was surprised by the peppermint and alcoholic burn. “Wow.”
“Peppermint schnapps.” She said taking her cup back.
“I knew that Siobhan drank her coffee with whiskey. Never knew that you could put schnapps in hot cocoa.”
“We’re Scottish. We can put alcohol in anything.”
“Anything?”
“Anything.” She confirmed. “Yeh ever have a Guinness chocolate cake?”
“No.”
“Guinness chocolate cake, whiskey chocolate ganache and Bailey Cream icing.”
“Yes, please.” He said and she giggled. “Not getting drunk, are you?”
“We Scott’s don’t get drunk.” She declared with a forced slur. “As long as we can hold onto the grass to keep from falling off the earth, we’re good.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Speaking of Scotland, I should call Grams. Hand me the phone, please?”
He handed her the landline phone and watched as she dialed the fourteen-digit number. She spoke briefly with her great great grandmother before they hung up. He sat the phone next to the empty cup on the table before snuggling her close as she made her way through the bag of candy.
“What I’m gonna tell yeh, yeh can’t repeat. Consider it the curse of the gift.”
“Only if I can have one of those pieces with almonds.” He said and she gave him several. “Okay, lay it on me.”
“Leo is going to break it off with Priscilla. I don’t know if they work it out or not. There’s something dark there. Several of the bachelors are going to settle down in the next few years. Pagan is going to find an interesting woman.”
“Pagan doesn’t have a woman.”
“He hasn’t met her yet. Gearhead and Repo are both about to get tangled up. It’s intertwined but not the same woman. Aramis and Megan are going to have more babies. In fact, there’s about to be a baby boom for the next several years.”
“But there’s a lot of death coming too. Stephen. His cancer is going to take him in the next few weeks.”
“Wait. Stephen has cancer?”
“Aye. I know that a lot of the girls are uncomfortable around him. But he won’t do anything but look.” She listed off a few of the brothers that he only knew by name. And then she got really quiet.
“Something is going to shatter Molly’s family for a while. They are going to be fine. It will take some time. And it’s going to be someone new that pulls them together. I can’t see any details.”
“You wouldn’t tell me if you could.”
“I can’t. Will yeh stay with me tonight?”
“Do you want me to stay?”
“Aye, I do. I can’t… I’m not…”
“No. All you ever have to say is no.”
“Yeh must be desperate to get yer dick wet.” She mumbled.
“Ness, I killed a man for raping my cousin.” He said calmly and met her eyes when she looked up at him. “She was drunk and couldn’t fight him off. I beat him to death. I’d do it for her, or you. But I won’t be the reason you need someone beat to death.”
“Yer serious.” She whispered and he nodded his head. “I fear yeh may have to do that to me ex.”
He cupped her neck and lowered his head to kiss her. “I’ll do anything for you.” He said just before his lips met hers.
