I’d lost all track of time. It was only now that I was no longer preoccupied holding on to the werewolf’s back for dear life that I glanced at my watch. Ten o’clock.
“Crap. I need to get home now. It’s past nine-thirty.”
He looked disappointed, but said, “If that’s what you want…”
I climbed on to his back and held my breath as Micah jumped from the cliff and began making his way down. So much for going easy on the way down.
I could have sworn his fur was thinner behind his neck by the time we arrived back at my penthouse. I slid off him, holding on to his head for support as I steadied my weak knees. As I approached the elevator, Micah motioned to follow me. I turned to him and shook my head.
“It’s best you stay here,” I said. Although I was still annoyed with him, I wasn’t keen on him getting an earful from my father. I’d rather take the brunt of it myself.
“Good night then,” Micah said.
“Good night,” I said.
It was hard to be angry with Micah. There was something refreshing about him. Something wild and raw. I liked the fact that he wasn’t inhibited by social norms.
He was about to turn, as was I, but before we parted, I walked over to him and stroked his fur.
“Thanks. Tonight was fun. I’d like to do this again some time.”
“You know where to find me?”
“Which house number?”
“Sixteen.”
“Okay. I’ll see you around.”
He went running off into the dark woods while I ascended the elevator back to the apartment. I held my breath as I stood outside the front door. I knocked.
Ben answered the door.
“You’re in trouble,” he muttered, stepping back and allowing me entrance.
“What’s new?” I said.
My father emerged from his study, glowering at me.
“Do you know what time it is?”
I looked down at my feet. “Sorry, Dad,” I mumbled. “I lost track of time.”
I moved to walk past him and lock myself in my bedroom but he was having none of it. He stood in front of my bedroom door, blocking my way.
“You’re grounded.”
“What?”
“For the whole weekend.”
I huffed and puffed, but there was no budging my father. I pushed past him and entered my room, slamming the door shut behind me.
I couldn’t have expected my father to act any differently. I’d gotten myself into enough trouble recently. It was only to be expected that my parents’ discipline would tighten now.
As I collapsed in bed, I found myself worrying about Micah. When I didn’t reappear, he might think that it was something he’d done or said. And despite him almost dropping me from the Black Heights, I wanted him to know that it really wasn’t.
Chapter 22: Caleb
Annora gave me space after I returned. I supposed that she’d seen the state I was in and thought it was best I recovered my strength before she visited me again.
But I wasn’t able to give my body the sleep it was crying out for. My mind was too alive. I tossed and turned in bed, trying to fall into slumber, but eventually gave up.
Rose had left a flavor in my mouth, familiar, yet distant. A flavor I hadn’t tasted since Annora’s better days. And now I hankered for more of it.
I sat up in bed, looking out the window, watching as the sun began to rise beyond the boundary. My conversation with Mona still plagued me. Lilith. She was the only straw I had to cling to.
* * *
The next day I waited for Annora to leave her apartment before sneaking inside. I headed straight for the library and began pulling books off the shelves, searching for any mention of Lilith—any clue as to what she was and where I might find her. Most of Annora’s books were written in the ancient witch tongue. I’d picked up a little of it over the years, and I could understand enough to look out for Lilith’s name.
After twenty minutes, I was already realizing that this was an impossible task. For one thing, Annora had many dozens of books in this room. Even if I had the time to search through every page, there was no guarantee that I would find mention of Lilith.
Careful to replace everything in the room exactly as I’d found it, I slipped back out of the apartment and headed downstairs to my own quarters. But my apartment suddenly felt claustrophobic. Instead, I went down to the ground floor and began to pace from chamber to chamber, seeking to avoid bumping into anyone. Thankfully, solitude wasn’t hard to come by in this castle.
Annora was the only witch we had contact with. If I didn’t know who Lilith was after all these years of serving the witches’ cause, there was no way any of the vampires would know about her.
It seemed that the only way to Lilith was through Annora. I guessed I’d known this all along. But I’d been hoping to avoid mentioning Lilith to her because it would bring about awkward questions. How would I know about Lilith to begin with? I began to wonder what possible explanation I could give her.
As I walked from hall to hall, the solution finally hit me.
If I can’t mention Lilith to Annora, I just need to get Annora to mention Lilith to me.
I shuddered as a plan started to formulate in my mind. There was only one way to do this. I had to convince Annora that I wanted to become like her.
Chapter 23: Vivienne
I turned my back on Xavier as he sat at the dining table. I busied myself at the kitchen counter, trying to hide the way my hands were trembling. I poured two glasses of deer blood and passed one to him before taking a seat myself.
I tried to keep a calm demeanor, but inside I was burning up. I’d begun to feel the disturbance when we were held hostage by Annora. It had taken root in the pit of my stomach and I’d had to bear it every day since. Then, once I’d had the vision, it had intensified tenfold.
“What’s wrong, Viv?” Xavier asked, his gorgeous eyes settling on me. “You haven’t been yourself lately.”
His eyes always made me feel like he could see right through me.
I cleared my throat and reached out to touch his hand resting on the table. Squeezing it, I forced a smile.
“I’m fine. There’s just something I need to talk to you about.”
“What is it?”
I held my breath, anticipating his reaction. “Xavier… I want to have a child.”
His jaw dropped. It took a few moments for him to find his voice again.
“Are you serious?” he choked.
I nodded.
A smile broke out on his face. He stood up and walked round the table to me, pulling me up and drawing me into an embrace.
He looked down at my face, studying me closely. “Why now? After all this time… What’s changed?”
I nestled my head against his chest, breathing deeply.
“The time we spent trapped in that dungeon at Annora’s mercy… it just made me realize that I need to stop taking this life for granted. Even as vampires, it can end at any moment. I need to stop delaying what I know we both want.”
The joy on Xavier’s face made me feel like my heart might burst. Xavier had wanted children for a long time. Since the day we got married, he’d made no secret of it. I was the one who’d been delaying it. Because I was a coward. I knew the risks that came with having a child. I’d already suffered the loss of most of my family—my mother, father and brother. And I had come so close to losing Derek on more than one occasion. I didn’t want to risk losing Xavier, or myself, by taking the cure. Derek had told me how agonizing it was. And then, even if we managed to become humans, I was afraid of being a mother. I didn’t know if I was capable of being a good one. My head was so in the clouds sometimes, I was worried that I wasn’t present enough to properly care for a child.
Yes, having a baby scared me. But now the prospect of not ever being able to have one scared me more. As with most things in life, you only realized what you wanted when it was taken away from you.
I rea
lized how much I wanted to have a child with Xavier.
“But are you sure, Viv? I’m afraid you’re just doing this for me.”
I shook my head. “No. I’m not.”
“But now of all times? When the safety of the island is still in the balance? Is now the best time for us to turn back into humans and for you to bear a child?”
I’d considered this already. How could I not have?
Holding my husband’s head in my hands, I kissed his cheek. “There never will be a perfect time. I’ve come to realize that. It could be that in the future it will seem even more impossible. We’re safe for now with Mona. I… I don’t want to delay any longer. Who knows what could happen in even ten years?”
“But—”
“Something tells me we’re as safe now as we’ll ever be. There will always be some danger lurking round the corner. We just have to do the best we can to protect our child, like Derek and Sofia.”
His thumbs brushed the sides of my face, his eyes still drilling into mine. “But darling, this is a time when we need to be strong. Stronger than ever. There was a seventeen-year gap when nothing happened… when we could have…”
“I know,” I said, swallowing back the lump in my throat. “I know. It was a mistake not having one before. But I don’t want to look back at this period and realize we made the same mistake again.”
“Neither do I,” he said. “But I also don’t want us to regret having one now. I think we should wait—a few weeks—to see how things play out with Annora. For all we know, we could be driven out of this island by then.”
I sighed. “All right. A few weeks. But after that, no more waiting.”
Chapter 24: Rose
The weekend passed slowly. Griffin came to visit me on Saturday, for which I was grateful. He seemed to have cheered up a bit from the last time I saw him. I guessed that it was the absence of Micah. For whatever reason, Griff seemed to be tense around him, so I was careful not to bring him up. However, when Griffin asked if I wanted to go for a swim after lunch, I had no choice but to mention the werewolf.
“I’m grounded,” I said, scowling.
“What did you do?”
“I got home too late.”
“How come?”
I looked down at my empty plate and fiddled with my fork. “I wanted to watch Micah turn. And then, well, things just got a bit out of hand. He gave me a ride on his back and… Anyway, my dad grounded me this weekend.”
“That’s a shame,” Griff said. “It’s a beautiful day on Sun Beach.”
I groaned. “Yeah, I bet. Well, don’t let me stop you. I’ve got homework to catch up on anyway.”
I stood up and began washing the dishes. Griff took the hint and got up too.
“Okay,” he said, patting me on the shoulder, “I’ll see you around then.”
“See you, Griff.”
As soon as he’d left the apartment, I sought out Ben in his room. He was lying on his stomach in bed, listening to music and doing algebra, still in his pajamas.
I placed a hand on his shoulder and pulled away one of his earbuds.
“I need you to do me a favor,” I said, bending down to his level.
“Hm?”
“Micah. I just need you to tell him that I’ve been grounded for the weekend, or he’ll think I’m rude for not showing up today. We’d agreed to meet on the beach this evening.”
“All right,” Ben grunted, replacing the earbud in his ear. “I’m going out later. I’ll let him know then.”
“Thanks,” I said, ruffling his hair and leaving the room.
I finished tidying up the kitchen, then headed to my own bedroom where I proceeded to finish the homework that was due in on Monday. It was late afternoon by the time I’d finished a particularly grueling set of calculus exercises.
I flopped back on my bed, only to sit up a moment later on hearing a knock at my door.
“Come in,” I said.
My mother appeared in the doorway.
“Hi, Rose,” she said, sitting on the bed next to me and brushing a hand over my arm. “Dad told me you’ve made friends with Micah.”
“Yeah,” I mumbled, wanting nothing more than to just take a nap.
“He seems a friendly, talkative type.”
“It’s not like I’ve known him for more than an afternoon,” I said, frowning at her.
I found it odd that she’d come to talk to me about Micah when he was barely more than an acquaintance. I sensed that my mom had detected I had felt something for Caleb, though I was thankful she’d never expressed her thoughts to me, saving me from embarrassment. Perhaps now she was happy I’d made friends with another guy.
I was relieved when she changed the subject.
“We’re going out. Your father and I have a meeting with the Novalics. We’ll probably be back late. I just wanted to warn you not to try to go out while we’re away. Grandpa’s agreed to stay here on Dad’s request—so don’t bother.”
Although it hurt that my father didn’t trust me, I could hardly blame him. I’d given him little reason to trust me of late.
“I don’t plan to,” I said curtly. “I still have more homework to finish anyway.”
“Okay, honey,” she said, brushing her fingers through my hair and kissing my forehead.
I watched her leave the room, then reverted my attention back to calculus. I was finding it hard to concentrate. My thoughts drifted to Sun Beach, and how much I wanted to join the others in bathing. I managed to eventually finish up my math homework, even though it took twice as long as it should have.
I tucked my homework back into my bag and made my way to the music room. I was bursting for some creative output after all the left-brain work I’d been subjected to. On the way, I checked Ben’s room. He’d left already, perhaps hours ago, and had likely been enjoying the sun all this time.
I walked over to the bookshelf in the corner and began sifting through music sheets. I settled on one and sat down at the piano. Smoothing the paper out on the music stand, I began to play.
I’d barely gotten halfway through the piece when a thump came from the opposite end of the room. I stood up in time to see Micah crawling through the semi-open window, his broad shoulders squeezing through the gap.
“Micah!” I hissed. “How on earth…?” I hurried over to him and stared out of the window. Just looking downward made my stomach flip. “Don’t tell me you climbed all the way up here.”
Twigs were caught in his hair. He breathed heavily as he looked down at me, a smirk forming on his lips. “Your brother told me that you’ve been… grounded? I think that’s the word he used.”
Before he could utter another word, I rushed to the music room’s entrance and pulled the door shut.
“You need to be quiet. My grandfather is here. He might have heard you already.”
Micah’s amused expression didn’t leave his face as he walked around the room, surveying our instruments. He stopped at the grand piano, running his fingers along the keys.
“I’ve never touched one of these before,” he said. “You play?”
“Yes,” I replied with a sigh. “Look, Micah, you shouldn’t be here. I’ll be allowed out again after the weekend. I can see you then.”
He wet his lower lip, a spark of mischief in his eyes. “I just think it’s an awfully nice day to be grounded.”
“Yeah, well, there will be plenty more nice days to come.”
He fell silent, and began pacing around the room again, this time moving back toward the window, to my relief. But then he stopped again.
“I could unground you, for a while…”
He held out his hand, cocking his head to one side.
I bit my lower lip, staring at him. My conscience was ordering me to tell him to beat it. But another side of me, a wilder side, the side that was fed up of being inside on this beautiful warm day, was telling me to take his hand.
Eventually, the latter won over.
I blew out, hoping tha
t I wouldn’t regret this decision. Holding a finger to my lips and glaring at him, I grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the music room. I led him into my own room.
“Wait here,” I said, and closed the door.
I found my grandfather in the living room with a book on his lap. He looked up as I entered.
“How’s the homework going, darling?”
“I’ve finished,” I said, letting out an exaggerated yawn. “I’m exhausted now. I’m going to have a nap, so please don’t let anyone come in my room. I’ll probably be sleeping for the next few hours…”
“I’ll make sure nobody disturbs you,” he said.
I returned to my room and placed my Do Not Disturb doorknob sign outside my door just as an extra precaution. Micah already had my window pulled open, expectation alive in his eyes.
“Well?” he said.
“Unground me.”
Chapter 25: Rose
Micah bent down to allow me to climb on to his back. I felt more secure around him in his human form. He was easier to cling to, at least. I locked my arms over his broad shoulders, my legs around his muscular waist. I closed my eyes as he swung himself out of the window. I gripped so hard I thought I might be strangling him as he leapt several feet over a sheer drop into the branches of a nearby tree.
“Where are we going?” I asked, gasping as he began leaping from branch to branch. His hands gripped my legs and held them in place.
He didn’t respond as he continued to leap down with furious speed.
“We can’t afford to bump into my parents,” I pressed.
“Don’t worry, Princess. I’ll make sure that we won’t.”
I was breathless by the time we reached the forest ground. I was expecting him to set me down on my feet. But he began racing through the trees.
“My parents are probably having their meeting in the Great Dome. So don’t go anywhere near there.”
I realized soon enough where he was taking me. We were headed for Sun Beach. He set me down on the sand as soon as we arrived. I cast my eyes around. Ben swam in the waters with some of his friends. I also saw some of my own girlfriends. Micah unbuttoned his shirt and, heading straight for the waters, dove in and began swimming about.
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