by A. M. Hudson
“What do you mean you’re not going to give your heart to me?”
I held back the knowing smile—the one that acknowledged my careful thinking while he slept, unaware of my thoughts. “You’re here now, but my life has to keep going on either way. If Eric calls me or Mike wants to break up with Emily and take me on a date, I’m going.”
He sat up, studying my face, leaning right around to look at me. “Are you saying...I don’t get exclusive rights?”
My smile kept trying to escape. “Yes.”
“Ara.” David’s brow pulled at the centre of his pained gaze, and the whole doe-eyed expression sat atop his parted lips. “Please don’t be like that.”
“Like what, David?” I pulled my hand away as he reached for it. “I have to protect my heart. Don’t you know what leaving is going to do to me?”
“So, you’re protecting yourself by hurting me.”
“Guess I’m taking a leaf out of your book.” The spite in my tone was cringe-worthy, even for me.
“I don’t agree with this.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Ara-Rose, I will be damned if I’m going to sit here and watch you go out on a date with de la Rose or any other man for that matter.” As his voice became louder, my stubbornness retreated, but only enough to make me want to fight even harder.
“You don’t own me. I can do whatever I want.”
He nodded. “You’re right. You can. Doesn’t mean I have to agree.”
“Then stay for the rest of my life, and I’ll be with you, and only you.”
“So, that’s what this is really about.” He nodded, folding his arms. “You’re trying to punish me into staying with you.”
I shrugged.
“It won’t work.”
I smiled conceitedly. “Then you’ll just have to watch me go on dates with de la Rose.”
“I’ll threaten him if he does.”
“Then that would make you one of those controlling types.”
He sat back against the bed-head, thinking. I could see the thoughts wash over his face through the reflection across the room. There was no way around this. He couldn’t be all noble and get the girl, unless he promised to stay with me, he knew that. “Fine. Date Eric then.”
“I will,” I said, hurt by the opposite reaction I sought.
“Fine.”
“Coffee’s nearly ready, David. You out of the shower?”
No answer.
“David?” I listened, calming only once I heard the taps—still running.
With the coffee tray in hand, I stopped by the biscuit barrel and added a few choc tarts to the plate of cake. David would have no real appreciation for such deliciousness, since his preference was in those who could hold a conversation, so I added an extra few, just in case he needed help to eat his share.
The front door opened, filling the house with light. I paused by the hallstand, waiting until Mike closed the door completely.
“Everything okay with Emily?”
“It’s been a long day, Ar.” He sauntered past and slumped on the couch in the front room. “Just don’t ask.”
“That good, huh?” I asked anyway, placing the tray on the coffee table.
“Uh!” he groaned aloud. “No. She’s gone to her mum’s. She doesn’t wanna see me.”
“Really? But...why? It’s not your fault.” The way he looked at me as I sat next to the tray kind of said what he was thinking. “I’m sorry, Mike. I shouldn’t have told her about Jason.”
“No—but you should have told me,” he said through softly clenched teeth, his head rolled back.
“I know.” I looked down.
“How long?” He sat up a little. “When did you know it was David’s brother?”
“The moment he took me.”
“So you lied to me?” He closed himself off again, shaking his head as he rested it back against the couch. “All this time—you lied.”
“I had my own grief to deal with, Mike. I didn’t want to tell you.” His anger was infecting me now. “You know, I came home to tell you—last night, and—”
“Oh, how convenient.” He sat up, glaring at me. “Last night, huh?”
“Yes. That’s why I opened your door. I never, in a million years, expected to see you and Em playing nudie Twister.”
“So now it’s my fault that you didn’t tell me?”
“I didn’t say that, Mike. It’s just—”
“It’s just that you didn’t wanna see me happy—that’s why you chose now to destroy us all with the truth.”
“No.” What an awful thing to say.
“Then what, Ara? What possessed you to confess, now?”
I looked at the ground.
“Nothing, huh? That’s it? You have no answer. For all your ta—”
“Because I saw him!” I yelled. “Last night…” I took a breath and closed my eyes. Mike went quiet. “I saw Jason last night.”
My lips mushed together between his grip on my face. “Ara, what did he want, did he—”
“He didn’t hurt me, Mike. Okay.” I jerked my chin from his grip. “He saved me.”
“Saved you?”
“Yes. I…got a little lost at Karnivale.” My shoulder’s lifted; David, hovering by my bedroom door, listened on—the silent protector in the shadows, ready to come if needed. “And found myself in a bit of danger,” I continued, leaving out how I got into danger. “Jason brought me home. I was coming inside to tell you what he said to me when—”
“When you found me in bed with your best friend.” He looked at me for a second, then lopped his forearm across his eyes, laying back on the couch.
“Yes,” I whispered.
“So, what did he say to you?”
“Jason?” I asked; Mike nodded. “He…” Hmm, what do I tell Mike? “He said he was under the influence of the monster when he kidnapped me, and that he regrets what he did.”
“And you actually listened to that?” Mike’s voice rose with his straightening spine.
“No!” I shrugged back a little. “No, I told him to leave.”
“Hu!” he scoffed. “I would’ve said a lot worse than that.”
“I know you would.”
Seeing the situation had simmered down, David melted back into my room, closing the door, giving a gentle smile beforehand.
“I just can’t believe you didn’t tell me, Ara.” Mike’s clasped hands rested between his knees, his forearms on his thighs. “I hate it when you keep things from me. You should’ve let me help you deal with this.”
“Well, I didn’t, so—” I shrugged.
“So what?”
“So get used to it. I’m not yours anymore.”
The flesh over his cheek pulsed. “And what’s going to happen when he goes away again?”
I knocked his arm down from its point at my room. “I don’t know. I’m not thinking that far ahead.”
“What, twenty-four-hours?”
“Stay out of it, Mike. As if you’re any different! You were kissing me yesterday afternoon, now, all of a sudden, you’re in love with Emily.”
He clicked his tongue. “It wasn’t like that, Ar.”
“Wasn’t it?” I said sarcastically.
“No. Come here.” He patted the spot next to him, and as if moved by the habits of the past, I launched off the table and he swept me into his warm, human embrace. I just wanted to steal a time machine and go back to yesterday, back before Karnivale, and stop it. Stop it all from happening.
But that’d mean I wouldn’t have David.
“You know,” he said, “I always liked Emily—ever since I shook her at school that day. We just...we get along really well; we have more in common than even you and I do, Ara. I just...I don’t know. I get her. And she gets me.”
“More than I do?”
He squeezed me a little tighter. “It’s not like with you and I, and I’ve been thinking that for too long now. I was just too stupid or maybe too scared to admit it
to myself.”
“Is that so?”
“I know it’s sudden, baby. It’s sudden for me. But, when you said she’d been sulking over some guy she likes, I knew—” he smiled, closing his eyes for a second, “—I knew it was me. I’m the only guy she’s been hanging out with.”
“How come I didn’t catch on to that?”
“You’ve had other things on your mind.” An irrepressible grin spread across his face. “When you went out with Eric, I sat at the table thinking about it for ages, running it all over in my mind—Emily, liking me. I mean, she lights up my world, Ara. She’s gorgeous and funny and so bubbly—”
“So unlike me.”
“Don’t be like that, baby. You and Emily are two very different people.”
“And that’s the point, isn’t it?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. But, you know me, Ara, I’ve never gone for girls like Emily before.”
“I know. That’s why I felt safe that she’d never steal you.”
“She didn’t steal me. You didn’t want me.”
“That doesn’t make it okay to fall in love with my best friend.”
“It wasn’t planned or deliberate. I just...I sat thinking for so long; thinking about you and what we had or would ever have again; thought about the kiss, the way you left with Eric. Ara, even if David hadn’t come back, there’s no way you’d come back to me. We both know that.”
“No, we don’t. No one can predict the future, Mike.”
“When it comes to you, baby girl, I can.”
“So, what, you just—you just knocked on her door and said hey let’s get it on?”
“No.”
“Then how did you end up in bed with her?”
He paused. “I kissed her. She came out wearing that emerald green sweater I love on her. I smiled, and I could tell from the way she smiled back that it was true—that the guy she’d been sulking over was me. So I walked over, grabbed her face and kissed her.”
“And the rest is history.” I sighed.
“I’m sorry you had to see that, Ara.” Mike took my hand.
“I know. It’s just so surreal, though. How, one minute you were still mine, and the next—”
“I don’t know what to say, baby. I still feel for you—more than you can imagine—more than is right for the way I feel for Emily, too.”
“The heart knows no boundaries, Mike. It feels what it wants to feel.”
“Yes, but as human beings, we know boundaries, and we choose to take the right path—or stray from it. I shouldn’t have done that with Emily until I sorted out my feelings for you.”
“Mm-hm. Just like I shouldn’t have David here while I have unresolved feelings for you. But…here we are.”
Mike nodded, the smile dropping from his face. “Do you think she’ll ever talk to me again?”
“I know she will, Mike. She loves you—she always has.” I looked down. “Give her time. She’s all but lost Jason, all over again. Not to mention she’s just found out that her best friend’s been lying to her and that there’s no such thing as normal in this world anymore. She needs to grieve.”
“Then I should be there with her.”
“You can’t save them all, Mike. Just let her go. She’ll come back when she’s ready.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I am. Don’t worry—” I laughed through my nose, almost snorting, “—a girl never forgets her first. Trust me, she’ll be back.”
“Her first?” Mike looked sideways at me.
“Yeah, didn’t you know? Emily was a virgin.”
“What?” Mike dropped his head into his hands. “She never told me that.”
“Ha! Cheeky thing.” I laughed again, holding my belly. It’d been a long time since I used those muscles.
All those stories I told Emily about Mike’s apprehension to take a girl’s virginity, she must have been paying very close attention. At least now I see why she always loved to sit and talk about him.
I found it utterly hilarious, but Mike hadn’t moved since realising he was a cherry-popper. “Mike, you okay?”
“I need to see her.” He jumped up, headed for the front door.
“Mike?” When he turned, a gasp of shock cooled my lips, seeing the obvious distress in his eyes. “Don’t be mad at her, okay? She’s had enough for one day.”
“I’m not mad.” He nodded. “I just need to make her okay again.”
Before I could chase after him, David popped his arm out through my doorway, phone in hand. “Eric wants to talk to you.”
“Eric?” I grabbed my phone, studying the humour behind David’s eyes. “He knows you’re here?”
“Does now.” He smiled once more then walked over and flopped on my bed.
“Hey, Eric?”
“Hey kiddo.”
“What’s up?”
“I wanted to apologise for Karnivale last night. I never meant for you to get—”
“It’s okay,” I said. “Don’t worry about it.”
“How can I ever make it up to you?”
“Well, you can start by keeping my fugitive a secret.”
“That goes without saying, Amara,” he said, and his tone said the same. “We’re still friends, right?”
“Yeah. Still friends.”
“I talked to Arthur.”
“About what?”
“About Jason.”
“What about him?” I looked at David, who smiled, like he already knew.
“Told him Jason’s been stalking you.”
“What makes you think he’s stalking me?”
“He knew where you lived. The scouts I was telling you about—the ones searching for David—have been tracking a completely different girl.”
“What’s that got to do with Jason?”
“He’s the one who put them on that trail.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. But even Arthur had no clue they were onto the wrong girl.”
“And you told him?”
“No. He still doesn’t know. I left it that way, Amara. I wouldn’t meddle in things that are not of my business.”
“Scared of Jason, huh?”
“That douche? No way,” he scoffed; David chuckled. “Jason’s bottom of the food chain, kiddo. No one’s scared of him.”
David confirmed this with a smug grin.
“So, you told Arthur Jason was stalking me?”
“Yeah. Jason’s not a part of the search. He has no reason to be stalking you. Arthur’s called him off—put him on castle duties.”
Impressive. “Well, thanks, Eric.”
“No worries. But, Amara?”
“Yeah?”
“That doesn’t give you long. Once Jason gets wind of his brother being back, there’s no telling what he’ll do. He’s still out for revenge.”
“Okay. So, how much time do we have?”
“A week or so—maybe less. I’d advise David be far and gone by then.”
I smiled at David. “Well, at least we can relax for now.”
“Yeah. Enjoy, beautiful girl.”
“Thanks, Eric.”
“Catch ya,” he said, then hung up, leaving David and I in the house, alone, with nearly a week left together before the world would fall apart. I suddenly felt alive.
“How ‘bout that coffee you made me a half hour ago?” he said, crossing his ankles.
“How ‘bout we forget the coffee and just go back to bed.”
“But I’m hungry.”
I sat with my legs on either side of his hips, my hands linked around his neck. “Me too.”
Realisation moved in under his smile. “Oh, right. Blood?”
“Yeah, blood.”
He made a small cut in his neck, wincing a little. “You are incorrigible, Ara-Rose.”
Chapter 10
David breathed heavily on the pillow beside me. I rested my head on my arm and watched him sleep. His face looked so different when he wasn’t trying to be reserve
d and mature, or hide a thought under a smile.
He’s simple in this form, I thought, more human than I’ve even seen him before.
I lifted my fingertips and placed them just near his lips, feeling the soft, cool air from his nose. He’s amazing. Just the fact that he’s breathing, existing—here, is amazing.
“Morning.” He smiled and turned his face away, without opening his eyes.
“Hi.” I rested my chin on my forearms, still watching him.
“You know, it’s rude to stare at people while they’re sleeping.”
“So? You do it all the time.”
“It’s a vampire thing.”
“Yeah. I know.” I offered him a thought—one of Eric appearing in my bed that morning.
David laughed softly. “Don’t worry, my love, I intend to hunt him down and hurt him for everything he put you through.”
“Oh, really?” I grinned. “What happened to your ‘he never intended any harm’ speech, or whatever it was you said the other day?”
“That hasn’t changed,” David stated. “He didn’t intend any harm, and he may have made peace with you, but, he still has me to answer to.”
“Why? What did he do to you?”
“Disrespect, mistreat and behave carelessly with a girl whom he knew was incredibly important to me.” He rested his arms behind his head. “I’ve already planned what I’m going to do to him.”
“Don’t.” I shuffled away, not in the mood for all this macho-vampire-hierarchy stuff. “Just leave him alone.”
David leaned on his elbow, his face in front of mine, his eyes shocking me with their sparkle. “Ara. I’m not Mike. I’m not going to restrain from ripping the gizzards out of a spineless little shit, just because you tell me to.” He smiled, running his fingers over my jawline, closing my mouth. “He disrespected you, put you in danger, forced himself on you. He only has a limited time now before I get hold of him and tear him apart.”
“Oh, my brave, strong knight,” I said sarcastically, placing my hand over my heart. “Where would I ever be without you?”
“Probably married to Mike.” He laughed conclusively.
“Yeah. With an empty soul and no clue what was missing.”
David smiled then, and rolled onto his back, taking my hand with him. “I love the way you’re always so confused, Ara. It’s very sweet.”
