Alliance of Shadows: NEIL

Two

Hours later, we were ready to leave the manor and head into town for a much-needed day out. Throwing my Civic into reverse, we backed out of my parking spot.

When we arrived, I took her to talk to the local public health nurse. Unfortunately for me, she was one of the many people who hated me for no reason at all. When the woman walked out, she flipped her short brown curls over her shoulder and frowned at me.

“Molly,” I said with a fake smile plastered on my face. “How have you been?”

Molly Sinclair looked me over with a sneer before her eyes fell on the girl beside me. I could see the accusation in the other woman’s chocolate-coloured eyes as she looked from me to Izzy. The dark, brooding hate she held for me bled out of every pore of her body.

“You can go,” Molly started.

It was clear that she was trying to get Izaria alone to tell her things about me. She knew what to say to make my life hell in the worst sort of way possible. The problem was, I didn’t want that to happen.

I wanted Izzy to learn about my past from me, not everyone else.

“No,” Izaria exclaimed. Her hands gripped my coat sleeve, clinging to me.

“Clara asked me to bring her niece to town so she could get some information on birth control,” I said.

Rather than talk to both of us, Molly ignored my presence completely. She turned to Izzy, drawing her brows together in faux concern.

“Sweetie, are you okay? Do you need help? That’s why you’re here, isn’t it,” Molly pressed.

I wanted to growl at how demeaning she was being. The b***h was purposefully trying to make me look like a monster.

Izzy sat beside me in shock. Then, without any warning, her entire demeanour changed. It was as if Molly had opened the floodgates of her temper as I watched her.

“Can you give it a rest and stop being such a b***h?” Izzy snapped darkly.

Molly sat back in her chair. She was taken aback by the sudden blaze of my little mouse’s displeasure. I was sure of it.

Surprise, surprise, I thought with a smirk. Izaria was a firecracker when she wanted to be. I reflected over the last seven months and wondered where she’d been hiding her temper. I hadn't noticed it until now, and I hoped I never became a target for it either.

“I was only trying to make sure that you are here of your own volition,” Molly replied, sending another glare my way.

Izaria leaned forward, putting her elbows on the desk.

Her shoulders were squared, and her jaw was set in anger. There was a fierceness in her eyes that I had never seen before. Then again, I can’t say that anyone at the house had ever triggered such a reaction from her.

“I just want help getting some birth control information,” Izzy snarled.

Molly’s face lost all semblance of colour. Again, she tried to taint Izaria's view of me.

“He’s not to be trusted," she said. "He's the Devil incarnate, and you would do well to stay away from him.”

Izzy let out a shriek of frustration as she realized that talking sense into the senseless was about as useful as t**s on a bull. Nothing she said would get the woman to leave me alone, and we both knew it.

“Is there another clinic we can go to, Neil," she asked suddenly. "I just want to get this over with so we can go for that ice cream you promised me.”

Frowning, I couldn't recall that promise and realized that she'd lied. I wanted to be mad about it, but then she'd gone along with my lie, so why not.

“Yeah," I said with a nod. "There’s a doctor's clinic closer to our land. Dad and I go there, mostly because he is an old family friend.”

I watched her grab her shoulder bag as she got up from the chair, “Okay.”

I snatched a pack of morning-after pills from behind the pharmacy and paid for them on the way out. The cashier gave me a dirty look, but I paid no attention to it. I was so caught up in what we had done the night before that I'd forgotten to use protection with her, so Plan B it was.

When we got out to the car, I gave the pills to Izzy and watched as she swallowed two with some bottled water. For a few moments, we sat in complete silence. Neither of us knew what to say to the other. Not that it would make a difference.

Finally, I asked, “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Neil, why was she so cruel to you?”

Did I want to tell her the painful truth? No, but I couldn’t stop the words that rushed out of me.

“She accused me of assaulting her three years ago," I said as I opened another bottle of water.

Frowning, Izzy stared out the windshield. "That's not a nice thing to blame someone for."

"She played it pretty well and almost had my father eating out of her hand. Clara challenged her out, and Molly changed her story. Your Aunt had to threaten to sue for false accusations before Molly finally backed down, but she never gave up trying to make me look like the bad one.”

“Oh snap,” she said. “Aunt Clara must have been like rubbing salt in an open wound.”

I laughed, reaching over to caress her face. However, when she flinched, I pulled my hand back and sighed. She'd shown me she had a temper, but her mind was still a tangled mess she had yet to overcome.

Baby steps, i***t. I berated myself mentally. “My reputation was destroyed in a single day. I lost everything and had to move back in with my dad and Clara.”

She leaned back, gripping the seatbelt with both hands. I could tell that she was nervous just by watching her body language. “Then I moved in a few years later, right?”

“Yeah,” I replied.

I suddenly wanted to say something to her, but what came out of my mouth wasn't what I wanted to say. “You are so beautiful, Izaria.”

She blinked, staring at me in wonder. "What did you say?"

"I, uh," scratching at the back of my head nervously, I repeated the words. Her eyes flickered, but I didn't catch what it was as I waited for her to tell me off.

I jumped as someone tapped my window. Having not heard or scented anything approaching, I turned to see an officer smirking down at me.

"What now," I muttered. Turning the key ahead in the ignition, I hit the button that lowered the window. “Can I help you, Officer?”

He ignored me and looked over at Izaria. “You alright there, Miss?”

“Did Molly call you?” Izaria asked with a sneer.

I gave the man a forced smile, “We were just talking, Sir."

“Didn’t look like that to me,” he replied.

“Seldom do the eyes see the whole story, Officer,” Izzy snapped. “I was about to have a panic attack, and he was trying to calm me down.”

He chuckled under his breath, turning his head to spit on the ground as he indicated to me with a finger. “Well, you see, we had a complaint come to our attention about him being in the company of an underage girl. By the way, aren’t you supposed to be in school?”

Damn him, he was right. School had started a little over a week ago, and she should have been in class, but Clara never mentioned it to me. I glanced over at Izzy and noted the murderous look on her face.

She sighed, aggravated. “Fine. Have it your way, then.”

Izaria asked me for my phone, and I smirked as she dialled a very familiar number. When the other person answered, she said, “Hi, I’d like to speak with Clara Dane, please?”

“Whoa, girl. There’s no need for that,” he said quickly.

“Hi, Auntie. No, I'm not at home. Neil took me to get information on birth control from the pharmacy nurse. No, I didn't get anything because she kept treating Neil like a monster. Now a cop is saying he got a call about it.” Izzy replied as Clara questioned her.

I snatched the phone from her, catching the tail end of Clara’s rampage. Taking a deep breath, I said, “Clara, it’s me. I’m going to take her to Phillip. He might be able to help more than Sinclair did.”

“Please keep me updated. I’m going to call the Commissioner and have him come by to discuss a few things.”

I sighed heavily, “No worries. Hey, Clara, did you call the school about registering Izzy?”

“She’s not getting registered,” Clara replied with a sigh. "It's complicated at the moment, but I'm working on it."

“What was that?” She asked as she heard the squeal of tires on the pavement.

“The officer she told you about just left in a big ol’ hurry.” I barked a laugh. “I think his shoes caught fire the way he ran off.”

Clara chuckled. “Good, now get her to that clinic and make sure she’s taken care of until I get off work. I’m seriously trusting you with my only niece, Neil, so don’t you let me down.”

I disconnected the call and reached over to brush her hair back from her face. Tucking a lock of it behind her ear, I said, “You’re going to be okay, Izzy. I’m going to take care of you.”

She nodded as tears rolled down her face. I could say that I didn’t know why she was crying. I could deny that it had anything to do with me, but I would be lying through my teeth if I did.

My Mate was in pain, and I was at a loss for solutions.