The truth was, as much as I tried to convince myself otherwise, I knew that Damon had come here because of me.
Chapter 22
When I woke up, I was still on Michael’s couch with my head on his lap. I turned slightly to look at him. Michael’s head was resting in his palm, his elbow propped up by the armrest.
He stirred when I moved. “Hey,” he said sleepily, running his fingers through my hair.
“What time is it?” I asked, struggling to sit up.
“No idea. You fell asleep on the couch and I didn’t want to wake you so I decided to stay out here with you. I was so worried about you, Lana. You – you weren’t yourself last night. How are you feeling today?”
“I’m okay,” I said slowly. The back of my head was throbbing. Even though I’d thrown up all of the alcohol, I was majorly hung-over. “I wasn’t feeling that well last night,” I said in a rush, before Michael could speak. “But today I feel much better.” I wasn’t sure if I sounded convincing or not, but it was the best that I could muster.
Michael glanced at his phone. “It’s still early. Want to go to bed for awhile?” I recognized that look. It was Michael’s way of saying he wanted to fuck me.
My mind was racing, but maybe it was the distraction I needed. “Let me freshen up first,” I said, heading to the bathroom.
I hadn’t brushed my teeth since puking my guts out. I must have stood there, scrubbing out my mouth, for at least five minutes. Then I washed my face and twisted my hair back into a loosely knotted ponytail.
I studied myself in the mirror. I looked gaunt, frail. But there was something in my eyes that I hadn’t seen last night. Last night I had been defeated. Today, I was determined.
I wasn’t going to let Damon Winters get the best of me, no matter what. I was still in my shorts and t-shirt from last night. Impulsively, I stripped down to my bra and panties. Michael could take off the rest.
When I came out of the bathroom, Michael was already in bed, his eyes half-closed. He perked up when he saw me and reached out to pull me into his arms.
“Hey, sexy,” he whispered, his hands already down my panties.
We were interrupted by the ringing of his phone. He paused. “Shit, that’s my work blackberry.” With an apologetic look, Michael got up to answer it.
He came back a few minutes later, a serious expression on his face. “The hospital called to tell me that one of my patients was admitted today.” He shook his head. “She’s only twenty-five.” Michael sat down on the bed and took my hand in his.
“Maybe she’ll be okay?” I suggested.
“She hasn’t been okay for a long time. Her abdomen has been filling up with fluid; that’s usually the beginning of the end, the point of no return. We can remove the fluid to make the patient more comfortable, but it’s just a temporary measure.”
“That’s awful,” I whispered.
Michael sighed. “I never get used to losing a patient. Most of the oncologists don’t make hospital visits on the weekend, but I feel like it’s the least I can do.” He got up from the bed. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours. Then we can finish what we started.”
I was overcome with guilt about everything I was keeping from Michael. There was no way I could sit in his apartment. I needed a break, to be alone, in my own space.
“Unfortunately, I absolutely have to do some work today. I’ll try to come back later, though,” I hedged.
“Please do.” Michael leaned over to kiss me. “I’ll see you soon, babe.”
After he left I gathered my stuff and headed back to my dorm.
Maryanne wasn’t there. Good. I hated the thought that she was with Damon, but I couldn’t keep pretending everything was okay. I had to try and think this situation through. Find out what Damon wanted and make him leave.
I sat down in Maryanne’s swivel chair and rotated back and forth. But I was still hung-over and the motion was making me nauseous, so I got up and climbed into bed.
How the hell was I going to get in touch with Damon? I couldn’t very well ask Maryanne for his number. And for all I knew, he might keep his intentions secret indefinitely, relishing watching me squirm during awkward double dates.
But it turned out I wasn’t going to have to wonder for very long. I jumped at the knock on the door. No one ever knocked on our door. We didn’t even have a peephole. I slowly climbed out of bed. “Who’s there?” I called.
“Lana, it’s Damon. I need to talk to you.”
Chapter 23
I pulled open the door before I could really consider if that was such a good idea. Damon was standing there, hands in his pockets, a faint smile on his face.
I crossed my arms in front of my chest. “What do you want?” I hissed.
“Can’t I come in?”
“No,” I said angrily.
“Okay, you really want to have this conversation in the hall? Someone might walk by, get the wrong idea.” Damon smirked.
I stepped back and ushered him inside the room, slamming the door behind him. “Where’s Maryanne?” I demanded.
“At the gym.” Damon sat down on my bed. I bristled.
“Aren’t you even going to ask me why I’m here?” he said when I didn’t speak. “That look on your face last night. It was priceless. But I never pegged you as much of a drinker. You were always such a goody-two-shoes. You wouldn’t even taste beer when we were teenagers.”
I knew what Damon was referring to. I should have realized what a bastard he was then. Some kid had stolen beer from his parents and given Damon a couple of cans. We were kissing behind the bleachers after school and he kept pressuring me to try some. Probably so he could get me to have sex with him.
“Surely you’re not here to reminisce about the past,” I said.
“Yes and no,” he replied.
“Will you stop being so cryptic?” I snapped. “When did you find out I was Maryanne’s roommate? Why did you pretend it was the first time we’d ever met?”
“Why did you?” Damon shot back.
“I was caught off guard. And the last time I saw you…things didn’t go so well. I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing.” It was the truth.
“You know,” Damon said, “for the longest time I wondered how you had the brute strength to fuck me up so bad. I had a concussion.”
“I know that,” I said, an edge to my voice. “But you wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
Damon’s eyes flashed angrily. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
Now it was my turn to get angry. “Kidding you?” I spat out. “You were going to rape me!”
“Is that really how you remember it?” Damon asked me.
I looked away and didn’t answer.
“Because the way I remember it,” he continued, “you told me you wanted to have sex with me one minute, and the next minute you were beating the shit out of me. All these years I’ve spent trying to understand how that was possible.”
“Fear and adrenaline, I imagine,” I said defiantly.
“I’m surprised your parents didn’t tell you I came by,” Damon remarked, changing the subject. He was running his hand over my bedspread, his fingers tugging at a loose string.
“When did you see my parents?” I demanded.
“They were very cagey about disclosing your location,” he commented, not answering my question. “Your mom said she’d pass along my number to you. I guess you don’t talk to mommy dearest that often, huh?”
All those missed calls from my mom. The voicemails I’d never bothered to listen to. I could have known this was coming, could have at least been prepared instead of completely blindsided.
“What do you want?” I asked wearily. Damon had tracked me down, and there had to be a reason.
“I want you back,” he said simply.
“What?” That was the last thing I’d expected him to say.
“You heard me.”
“But what about Maryanne?” I said.
“Oh, Maryanne
’s a nice girl. A good fuck.” He laughed. “And she worships the ground I walk on, if you didn’t notice.”
I had noticed, but refused to admit it. “I have a boyfriend,” I said flatly. “You need to leave. Break it off with Maryanne. Go crawl back into whatever hole you came out of it.”
“Sure, I’ll leave,” he agreed. “As long as you come with me.”
“And why would I do that? What warped memory are you clinging onto? We were fifteen, Damon. I’ve moved on and you need to do the same.” My voice was shaking.
“Afraid it’s not quite so simple,” Damon replied.
I knew it was a bad idea to make him mad, but I couldn’t stop myself. “I see nothing’s changed,” I said in a nasty voice. “You still can’t take no for an answer.”
But to my surprise, Damon just laughed. “You will be with me,” he said confidently. “And you want to know why?”
I gave him a stony look and remained silent.
“You’ll be with me, because I know who you are, what you are.”
My heart was racing. He was bluffing. He had to be. Only four people in the world knew my secret. My parents, me, and Jack.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said evenly.
“Don’t play dumb, Lana. I saw the video. I know everything.”
Part Two
Chapter 24
It was two weeks after my eighteenth birthday. I sat looking at my parents, thinking of the worst possible thing they could say. They weren’t going to be able to pay for my college tuition after all? One of them had some incurable disease and merely weeks left to live?
“Lana,” my dad said, glancing at my mother. “I’m not sure how to tell you this, so I’ll just say it. You’re not our biological daughter.”
“You mean I’m adopted?” I asked, a wave of relief washing over me. Is that all? I suppose I should have been more upset, but it made sense. I looked nothing like either of my parents. And they were so much older than the parents of most of the other kids my age. They must have realized they couldn’t have children and decided to adopt one later in life.
“Not exactly,” my dad replied. Mom was looking down at her hands, wringing them together.
“Huh? I’m either adopted or I’m not. I don’t see how there can be any gray area here.” I gave a nervous laugh.
Finally, my mother looked up at me. “You’re only half human,” she blurted out.
I started laughing again, but this time for real. Was my mother on drugs?
“It’s not funny,” my dad said. “We thought about never telling you. But you deserve to know the truth about yourself.”
Okay, so my dad must be on drugs, too. Or maybe they were both going senile at an early age. They sounded like insane people.
“Your godfather brought you to us, when you were just an infant,” Dad continued. “I knew Jack worked for the government, but I never asked him any specifics about his job. It was top secret.”
“At the time, your father was still with the police force,” my mom interjected.
“Jack called me and told me he needed to see your mother and me right away,” Dad said. “He showed up at the door with a baby carrier, and you were in it. It was then that Jack told me the truth about his job.”
Dad paused before continuing, carefully measuring his next words. “He was part of a division, one that…handles supernatural concerns.”
“Supernatural concerns?” I echoed. I scrunched up my face in confusion.
“We were as incredulous as you, at first,” my mom said.
“His division was responsible for keeping track of the non-humans, making sure the rest of the world remained ignorant to what else was out there.”
“Just listen to yourself!” I cut my dad off. “Jack’s the most down-to-earth person I know. This is complete bullshit. Crazy talk.”
“I knew she wasn’t ready for this,” Mom said.
“I’m right here,” I snapped. “You don’t have to talk about me as though I’m not.”
Ignoring both of us, my dad continued, "Jack explained that your father had been killed, and your mother had to give you up to protect you.”
“From?” This just keeps getting better and better.
“You see, dear,” Mom said, “your father was human, but your mother was not.”
“What was my mother, then?” I asked, deciding to play along. “Vampire? Werewolf? Or maybe she was a fairy?”
“I know this is difficult to take in,” Dad said quietly, “but we’re telling you the truth.” He looked defeated, exhausted. I decided to cut him a little slack.
“Okay,” I said, softening my voice. My mind was reeling. “So what was my mother?” I asked again.
“She was a dark angel. A fallen angel, if you will. Their sole purpose is to wreak havoc on earth, to bring death and chaos and ultimately Hell on earth. But she was one of the good ones – the only good one. She didn’t want that life.” My father paused, looking at me to gauge my reaction.
I said nothing, so he started speaking again. “Your biological mother didn’t support Hell. She fell in love with a human, got married and had you. But the demon who was ruling Hell at the time found out about it. He killed your father, kidnapped you. You were going to have a special place in Hell. He thought that your unique position – being half human and half angel – would make you an asset. You were to be trained for his agenda, to start a war and bring as much death and destruction as possible.”
This was a very elaborate story. There was no way they would make this up. So there was only one other explanation: Jack was the crazy one, and somehow he had gotten my parents to drink the Kool-Aid.
“Okay,” I said, humoring him.
My mom nodded, pleased that I sounded like I was receptive to their story. “Your real mother sought assistance from the government to get you back,” Dad continued. “Jack led the mission. After you were safe, they helped her go into hiding, before the demons could kill her. But it was too dangerous for her to keep you.”
“Jack knew we’d always wanted a child but hadn’t been able to have one,” my mom said. “And he trusted us. We agreed to take you, to raise you as our own daughter.”
“What made you believe him, though?” I asked. “I mean, you must admit, this story is pretty wild.”
They exchanged a glance. “Should we show her the video?” my mother said.
Dad nodded. He left the room and returned a few minutes later, then popped a disc into the DVD player.
The video started to play. The picture was fuzzy at first, but then it became clear. I gasped when I saw the woman, sitting at a chair behind a desk. Her eyes were red and swollen and she was trying to hold back tears. But that’s not what floored me. The woman in the video was a spitting image of me – or more fittingly, I was a spitting image of her.
She looked a little older than me, maybe twenty-five. She had the same, long dark wavy hair, the same upturned nose, the same high cheekbones.
“I haven’t watched this in so long,” my mom whispered. “You look just like her.”
Someone was speaking on the video, someone out of sight from the camera. A man. I recognized Jack’s gruff voice immediately.
“Sabrina, you’ve got to get a hold of yourself,” he was saying, his voice sounding unusually soft.
The woman, Sabrina – my mother – sniffled. “Thank you for everything, Jack,” she whispered. “You promise me this couple will take good care of Lana? And they won’t change her name?” Her voice cracked. “I know it’s silly, but when I look up at the sky I want to think of my precious Lana. It’s the only thing I could give her.”
“There, there,” Jack was saying awkwardly. “You’re doing the best thing you can for your daughter. Keeping her away from Magnus. His plans for her future.”
“And you know for certain that Magnus can’t find her?” she asked worriedly.
“Yes, you saw for yourself. We gave her the mark, on her right shoulder. It will pro
tect her.” Jack must have leaned back in his chair because I heard a long creak.
“Now, Sabrina, before we finalize this, I need you to restate everything we just talked about, for the record; then I’ll get the paperwork to sign.”
“My name is Sabrina Lawson. I agree to give up my parental rights to Lana Lawson. For her safety, I will never have any future contact with my daughter.”
She paused and then spoke again, this time looking directly into the camera. “Lana, if you see this video, please know how very much I loved you, how it ripped my heart in two to give you away. I hope you understand, that you can forgive me someday. Your father was human. His name was John Lawson and he was a good man. He accepted me for who I was, but they found me and punished him for my transgressions. And Lana, if you ever feel the darkness try to take over, just think of all the light in the world. I was able to fight it, and I’m a true dark angel; you’re only half. You can live a happy life, and you’re protected so that they can never find you.”
“Are you done?” Jack asked gently in the background.
Sabrina’s eyes flickered away from the camera for a moment. “Just one more minute,” she begged.
She looked back at the camera. “You need to understand that someday, probably starting in your teenage years, you may notice that you have some special abilities other girls your age don’t have. Dark angels are physically strong; they can even overtake human men. And if you want to practice magic, please only use it for good, not evil. I know you can fight the darkness, just like me. Find someone to spend the rest of your life with. Have kids if you want them; you won’t have to live in fear of being found. I love you so much, Lana.”
And with that, the video cut off.
I could feel my eyes welling up with tears. Surely I wasn’t starting to believe this drivel. But I had easily fought off Damon. I could have killed him that night, if I’d wanted to. As for the magic – well, I didn’t know what I thought about that.
And Sabrina did look exactly like me, not to mention the mark I have on my right shoulder. I never liked it, always thought it was just an ugly birthmark. But it was black and jagged, not like any birthmark I’d seen before.
Dark Moon Page 14
