“I never listen to you.”
“And today, I am appreciative of that.”
He crawled over to me and slung his arm over my shoulders, drawing me into him. I let my head fall onto his shoulder. The weight of his presence calmed my nerves. That was the second time in the past twenty hours I had almost lost Daemon.
“What does it feel like?” I whispered.
Daemon stared out into the distance as he searched for how to accurately describe the sensation of his soul evaporating. “Imagine somebody grabbing your organs, twisting them into an ugly knot then yanking them out one by one until you feel like an empty hollow shell.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah.”
We listened to the grass blow in the wind as I scooted closer to Daemon. My hand found his and our fingers intertwined. “I’m sorry.”
He glanced at me from the corner of his eye. “You have nothing to be sorry about.”
“But…”
“But nothing. You are worth it, Sky, which you better start believing because I’ll say it over and over again until you do.”
I had no doubt in my mind he would. For a guy with a soul trapped in a jar he was overflowing with love to give. “Ok.”
While the last thing I wanted to bring up was the upcoming royal battle, it had to be discussed. Especially after Daemon’s incident. He was weaker than he once was and would only get weaker as the hours passed. I was afraid the two of us alone weren’t enough to take on the voodoo priest. Problem was, there was nobody else to help us.
Daemon picked up the sudden shift in my mood. “What’s up?”
“Have you thought about the possibility we will be outnumbered?”
“Ask your real question.”
Afraid to offend his masculinity, I chose my words carefully. “It’s just we sparred for ten minutes, fifteen maximum, and you almost died again.”
“So you’re scared I will fail you?” The edge in his voice made me want to shove my observation back into my throat. Sighing, he ran his fingers through his hair. “Sorry. It’s just hard for me to get used to this decaying body of mine. Look, I can’t promise anything. Nor do I know what will happen but we have to go into that warehouse as if we’re warriors and kick ass like nobody’s business.”
While Daemon’s speech was motivating, it didn’t chase away my fears that today might be the last day I had with him.
Daemon and I ditched the truck a half a mile away from my house and walked. I tore off a corner of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich Mrs. Ruth had made us and shoved it into my mouth. Hopefully, this wasn’t my last meal if I bit the dust. In my youth, whenever somebody asked me the ever so popular morbid question, “What would your last meal be?” I would say a five layer double chocolate cake with thick vanilla sour cream frosting and heavy on the sprinkles. Kids were always surprised my answer was so exact but sugar sounded like a sweet send off. Maybe I could somehow convince Laura to make a cake for me. After all, she was a pastry chef. Swallowing the last bite of my sandwich, Daemon and I arrived at my brightly colored shotgun house.
“You ready for this?” he asked.
My eyes burned a hole into the front door, nervous to high water. There was no doubt I was in a world of trouble since my list of offenses was long. God willing, my mom wouldn’t ground me forever.
Daemon gave me a gentle push in which I shot him an evil glare over my shoulder. “Don’t rush me.”
“We don’t have all day, sweetheart.”
“Yeah, thanks to you and your combat lesson turned near death fiasco.”
He shrugged. “What can I say? I like to keep things fresh.”
“Well, stop or else you’re going to give me a heart attack at seventeen.”
Daemon chuckled as he linked his fingers in mine and tugged me up the front steps. We stood under the eaves of the front porch shielded from the sudden out pour of rain. Thunder rumbled.
“It’s an omen of bad things to come,” I hissed.
“What? The thunder?”
“Yes. We should do this another time.”
I was turned half way toward the exit when the door swung open. My mom stood in the doorway, eyes bright with relief when she saw me, her disobeying daughter. “Sky?”
My hand waved. “Hi.”
“What are you doing? Come in here.” She opened her arms and invited me into a hug. The worry melted away as I stepped into her embrace, happy to be home. “I’m so glad you’re safe,” she whispered against my hair.
Laura appeared behind us, smiling. “Let me get in on this action.” She wrapped her arms around my mom and me, creating a human sandwich.
We all laughed as I shut my eyes and took a mental picture of this moment. I was happy, free, and surrounded by love. Tonight would be a different story. We broke apart and my mom gestured for all of us to come inside, Daemon included. Frank gave me an enthusiastic greeting as we entered the foyer.
“Hey, buddy!” I lifted him in my arms and he licked my face. “Thanks. I love you too.”
Letting out three short barks, Frank expressed his love back. I put his short wiggly body back on the ground where he immediately resumed his quest for food.
“Would you like some breakfast?” my mom asked.
Daemon’s posture stiffened as he remembered the last time we all had a meal together. A round of twenty questions that ended in disaster.
“As long as there isn’t a firing squad attached to the offer,” I replied.
“Nope. I’m simply offering you a batch of overcooked eggs and burnt bacon.”
“Sounds good.” I swung my gaze over to Daemon. “Doesn’t it?”
His nose scrunched up in disgust. “Not really.”
Laura burst out laughing at his bluntness. They were kindred spirits. Thankfully, my mom wasn’t stung by Daemon’s rejection and seemed to find it as funny as Laura.
Daemon seemed confused by their reactions. “What? I’m sorry did I say something to offend?”
My mom offered him a kind smile. “Not one bit. Why doesn’t Laura make pancakes instead?”
“Thank you. Bacon isn’t a favorite of mine.”
Another random fact about Daemon to store away.
Laura and my mom padded into the kitchen to get breakfast started. He stared after them with suspicion.
His voice dropped to a whisper. “Why is your mom being so nice to me?”
Daemon took the question right out of my head. “No clue but let’s appreciate it while it lasts.”
The smell of butter and syrup wafted through the house, making my stomach rumble. Daemon sat next to me at the table while we watched Laura flip the pancakes.
“Do you want some orange juice?” My mom held up the carton. “Or would you like something else?”
“Orange juice is fine, thank you,” Daemon said politely.
“Me too. Thanks, mom.”
She poured the bright orange liquid into two glasses and set them in front of us. “Is there anything else you would like?”
The way my mom was fussing over Daemon and me was making me uncomfortable. It was completely unlike her. “We’re fine. Sit.”
She reluctantly lowered herself into the seat opposite of us with a pained smile on her face. An awkward silence hung in the air.
“Who wants pancakes?” Laura sing-songed. She slid the plate in the middle of the table and set out the syrup. “I hope everybody likes them. They are…” Her word trailed off when she caught onto the awkwardness in the room. She looked around the table with annoyance and then settled her gaze on my mom. “For heavens sake, Dee. Just ask Sky where she’s been.”
“No,” My mom hissed. “She’ll tell me in her own time.”
“Fine, I will.” Laura eyes pinned me to the wall. “Where have you been? And don’t give me some bullshit answer because I can smell that shit a mile away.”
“You won’t believe me.”
“And you are avoiding the question.”
I glanced over at D
aemon for support but he concentrated on his pancakes as if they were a complicated math problem. At this point, there was nothing to lose in telling my mom and Laura the truth. Tonight was the end of the story, the final act, as you would say. Either Daemon and I would walk away unscathed or…welcome a coffin as our new home.
Taking a sip of orange juice, I processed my thoughts and began to unravel my complicated web of lies. “I was at a voodoo priestess’s house in New Orleans.” My mom’s and Laura’s expressions matched each other’s in confusion. To answer their unspoken question of why, I explained further. “The past couple of days, a voodoo priest has been after my blood.”
“Like a vampire?” Laura asked.
“I guess but he doesn’t need it to survive.”
My mom turned ghost white as she shook her head back and forth, mumbling silently. Concerned, I reached across the table and grabbed her hand. She looked at me with haunted eyes.
“Mom, talk to me,” I pleaded.
“It’s not possible.”
“What’s not possible?” Behind me, I heard Laura lead Daemon out of the room so that my mom and I had our privacy. Her grip tightened and panic set in her eyes. I shouldn’t have told her anything. It was too much for her to handle. “Please, what’s wrong?”
“The Santeria religion has been dead for ages. I was convinced no harm would come to you but I was wrong. I should have known.”
When it hit me what she was implying, I snatched away my hand. “You knew I was born to be sacrificed?”
The betrayal in my voice snapped her out of the trance she was in. She sprung out of her chair and pulled out the one next to mine. “I knew of that practice, yes, but it hasn’t been implemented in two hundred years.”
“Why so long? What happened to the chosen one before me?”
“She died at birth of natural causes. Back then, medical care was vastly different.”
“And that is why the religion died? Because they didn’t have a leader?”
My mom’s chin dipped in a yes. “And also because the practice of draining the chosen one’s blood is now considered barbaric. At least I thought so.”
“Daemon said the voodoo priest is stuck in the olden days.”
“That isn’t an excuse to be a psychopath.”
She had me there. I couldn’t believe my mom knew about the practice, than again why did I assume otherwise? Probably because she always clammed up whenever I asked any questions about Santeria and I had figured she would tell me if there was any pressing additional information.
Guess I was wrong.
“So you told me the basic gist of my gift but conveniently forgot to mention I was born to die?”
My mom looked over my shoulder. “Yes. It was wrong of me to do so but honestly, I thought the practice was over.”
“Well it isn’t,” I yelled. “The past couple of days I’ve been to hell and back because a crazed voodoo priest wants to drain me like a pig at a slaughter house.” My mom winced. “Burying your head in the sand hasn’t helped me one bit.”
Tears gathered in the corner of her eyes as she grappled for a napkin. “You’re right. What else can I say? I am so sorry you were alone in this, Sky.”
“I wasn’t alone. The guy in our living room you’ve deemed untrustworthy has saved me multiple times. He’s the reason you still have a daughter.”
“What are you talking about?” she choked out.
That fatal night in the back of the van swam in front of my eyes. The cold metal of the needle sticking into my skin, dark red blood oozing out of my veins, and how I had welcomed death as if I had been waiting for it. “Remember when I said I went on a walk? Well I may have bent the truth a little. The cut on my forehead wasn’t from a fall. It was from fighting back against the voodoo priest’s zombies. They captured me with the intended purpose of draining my blood. As I was on the brink of death, Daemon rescued me.”
My mom let out a moan while she buried her head into her hands. “Oh God. What have I done?”
“Besides keeping me in the dark? Nothing.” And it was the truth. Her only offense was dumping this gift on me without any backstory or the risk that goes along with it. Nonetheless, I didn’t want to go into the warehouse tonight with any emotion besides love for my mother. She’d been my rock this past year and nothing changes that. “Mom, look. It’s fine. It was an honest mistake. Nobody else would have thought there was an evil priest out there who is blood crazy.”
As she peeled away her fingers, sorrow was etched into the lines around her mouth. “My job is to protect you and I have failed.”
“No your job is to love me and be my mother, not my bodyguard.”
“But you almost died.”
“Key word: Almost.” I placed my hand on her cheek as I tried to make her understand. “There was nothing you could have done.”
“We could have moved. Gone somewhere safe where the voodoo priest couldn’t find you.” She covered my hand with hers. Desperation leaked into her voice. “We still can. Let’s go somewhere. Anywhere you want, Sky. Europe, Alaska, Seattle…anywhere. Just name the place and we can pack our bags tonight and be on the next plane.”
While it sounded incredible to leave this mess behind, I could never in a million years leave Emily and Daemon. They were counting on me.
“I can’t,” I whispered.
She looked at me bewildered followed by raw fear. “Daemon can’t protect you forever and I will not lose my only daughter. I love you.”
“I love you too, but it will be over soon. Promise.”
Her ringer sounded on the table, breaking the tension. My mom snatched up her cell phone and glanced at the screen. “One second,” she said to me.
She walked out into the hallway where her conversation couldn’t be heard. Curiosity nagged at my mind. A second later, she reappeared, eyes red rimmed and exhausted. The cell phone was cradled in her hand as if it was a ticking time bomb.
“Who was it?”
“Emily’s mom. She wanted to know if I have any news.” My mom raised an eyebrow. “Do I?”
“Maybe but do you mind if Daemon is a part of this conversation now?” She gestured for me to call him in but I didn’t have to. Like always, he knew exactly when he was needed.
“Hey,” he said from the doorway. “Laura went on a walk so it’s just us three.”
“Thank you.”
It was hard enough to have to tell my mom about tonight and adding Laura to the mix would have complicated things. At the end of the day, she was my mom’s best friend, which meant she would have sided with her. Because I knew my mom was not going to allow Daemon and me to walk into the warehouse of torture. What mom would? I pushed back my chair and stood next to Daemon. Somehow what I was about to say was easier standing up.
“Maybe you should sit down,” I suggested.
“I’m fine.”
Daemon and I shared a look but didn’t push the issue. Taking a deep breath, I relayed everything I knew while Daemon filled in the blanks. By the time we were done talking, my mom decided to take a seat after all. The look on her face was priceless.
“So you’re saying Emily is being held as a bargaining chip?”
“Basically but the voodoo priest doesn’t know we have a few tricks up our sleeves,” I answered.
“The potion?”
Daemon picked up on the skepticism in her voice. “Yes. I know it’s a lot to handle…”
My mom let out a very un-lady like snort. “You can say that again. My daughter wants to play knight in shining armor and rescue her friend while sucking the evil out of the voodoo priest with a spell.” She threw her hands in the air. “A fucking spell.”
I had never heard my mom curse so it came as shock when she did. Daemon, on the other hand, found it amusing. The humor faded from his eyes though when he went over and laid a hand on her shoulder. “I promise I won’t let anything happen to your daughter.”
“She means a lot to you? Yeah?” my mom asked.
She studied his expression and must have liked what she found because a small smile danced on her lips. “That’s good to hear but I will not allow her to walk into the warehouse, armed with weapons or potions. It’s a suicide mission.”
As soon as she spoke the words, a sigh escaped my lips. “Mom, Emily is in there because of me. I won’t let her die.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
“Walking across the street is dangerous, making a batch of caramel is dangerous. Anything is dangerous if you look at it that way.”
“Those two things are nothing compared to what you are about to embark on. You offered your life for Emily. What if you can’t get out of the deal?”
She had hit upon what I feared above all. Not getting out of the warehouse alive but it was a fear I had to confront. “I don’t know, but if Emily was your daughter, you would want the one person who could save her to bust into the warehouse, guns blazing, no questions asked.”
My mom knew I was right because she ran out of excuses and remained silent. After a beat, she looked at Daemon with the utmost trust. “My only daughter’s life is in your hands. Can you shoulder that responsibility and make sure no harm comes to her?”
Daemon didn’t hesitate although I saw a flash of concern in his gaze. “Yes.”
We didn’t divulge to my mom about Daemon’s soul evaporating since it was an added worry and she had enough for one day. I could see the guilt was eating away at Daemon though. Especially since she had basically just said that if I died, it was his fault. I entwined our fingers together and squeezed, offering Daemon the little bit of comfort I could give. He looked down at me with his panties-melting smile. As he had already proved, Daemon would walk through fire and hell for me and I would do the same for him. That was the reason why I was eighty-nine percent confident everything would go off without a hitch when we entered that warehouse tonight. Although, if we had other people to join our cause, the percentage could be boosted to 100 percent.
The doorbell chimed and my mom looked at Daemon curiously. “Did you lock out Laura?”
The Accidental Kiss Page 19
