Bound by Secrets

by Angela M Hudson

  “And you do now?”

  “I think I’m starting to.”

  “Good!” She snatched a cupcake off the table, clearly needing the sugar as badly as me. She bit into it and started speaking before she swallowed. “Because I’m not giving up my new source of blood. So if you don’t like Cal, then you just have to either get used to him or go away.”

  “So it’s him over me?”

  “No. Unless you make it that way.”

  I looked at the orange frosting across her fingertips and on the corner of her mouth, wishing I could kiss it from her skin. She was just so adorable, even when she spoke with her mouth full. I had to admit then that I loved a lot more about this girl than I thought. There’s no way I could let Cal come between us. I’d have to make myself more important to her than him, and until then, I would have to sit back and allow him to exist in her life. Or pretend to.

  “Fine,” I said with a sigh, as though I was letting her win. Little did she know I had big plans for Cal. “If Cal can respect your friendship and not try to steal you, he can have a damn sleepover for all I care.”

  Ara laughed, putting the cupcake down. “Really?”

  “Yes.” I touched her chin, smiling into her face. “Just don’t sleep with him, okay. Because if we’re…” I leaned right in and whispered the next words, “if we do end up getting back together, I have a zero-tolerance policy for those kinds of mistakes.”

  “Me too,” she said, but I knew better. My Ara would never do such a thing—not after everything we’d been through. But this Ara never had to fight off the kind of desire she would feel when feeding from Cal. If I was there in the room while she fed, it wouldn’t stop her from getting carried away with him. It would only mean I’d be either forced to watch or even participate in a disgusting threesome. Neither of which would happen. I would snap her neck before I let that happen. And while I waited for her to wake up from the injury, Cal would probably snap mine. But so be it. I’d rather die than have her lay with another guy.

  45

  Ara

  David wasn’t going to let this go. He’d planned to go with Cal to Elora’s house tonight and help turn him, but I couldn’t allow that. Not after I saw that look in his eye. He had a vindictive streak, and it just wouldn’t surprise me if he had some kind of plan to hurt Cal or even prevent him from turning. He didn’t trust me with Cal. I knew I needed to prove myself to him, but that would take time, and in that time, Cal could get hurt.

  “How old are you?” I asked.

  David frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “In human years. How old are you?”

  He reached to the table beside me and picked up my half-eaten cupcake. “I’ll be twenty-two in three days.”

  I smiled. I didn’t know it was his birthday so soon. “Okay, aside from the fact that we totally have to have a party, I think it’s time you became a vampire again.”

  “What?” He nearly choked on his cupcake.

  “Yeah.” I shrugged passively. “I’ll feed from Cal for a few weeks, and once you’re that little bit older, maybe around Christmas, we can turn you back.”

  “Ara, I’m not stupid,” he said with a smile, putting the cupcake down and licking his fingers clean. “I know you’re only saying that so I don’t do anything to mess up Cal’s turning.”

  My mouth popped open, but nothing came out. How did he know?

  He laughed loudly, that nice, sweet laugh that I loved, his fangs showing as he tipped his head back. “I appreciate the effort, sweetheart, but I won’t mess things up tonight, I promise.”

  “How can I be sure?”

  “Look, I don’t like Cal—well, not for you. He’s a good guy in general, but all that aside, you need a blood slave. I can see that.” He brushed his thumb across the soft skin under my eye. “But I will take you up on that offer to be there when you feed from him, and if he ever so much as even kisses you, I will ruin him. And that is a solemn vow.”

  Wow. He could be incredibly scary when he wanted to be. But no one had ever been so overprotective of me and it did make me feel special in a scary kind of way. If I were human, I would run from it. I’d be afraid he was the kind of guy that would be too controlling, maybe even one day really hurt me. But as it stood, I was Lilithian, and if he ever did hurt me, or control me, I could rip his arms off without breaking a sweat.

  “We’re not together yet, so you need to be clear about one thing,” I said firmly. “I’m willing for us to eventually move forward, when we’re ready, but until then, I belong to me. And if you ever threaten me or my friends like that again, I will shut you out of my life with a steel door. Are we clear?”

  He just grinned, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “So this is probably a bad time to tell you I was the one that sabotaged all your dates?”

  “What?” My blood ran cold. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, let’s see.” He moved back and leaned on the table, his arms folded. “I wrecked Thomas’s car, stole Dan Snider’s wallet, and I accidentally, I maintain, broke Marc’s leg. And…” His eyes narrowed in thought. “I made sure Fabian’s parents found the porn on his computer that got him grounded, put dog feces in Jackson’s food so he’d get sick and… yep, pushed Shaun’s car over the edge of that cliff.”

  My mouth hung open in shock.

  David just shrugged, looking so cute and so sweet that I had to laugh.

  “You are evil!” I shoved him.

  He made a small gap between his thumb and forefinger, indicating that he may be just a little bit evil.

  “You made me think I was cursed!”

  “I’d say I’m sorry”—his cheeky grin grew, making his dimple deep—“but I’m not.”

  “You will be,” I said, filling with rage. But not the kind of rage it should have been. He hurt people just to stop me dating them, and in return, that had hurt me. Was he telling me this as a warning—a show of how malevolent he could be? Or was this an attempt to prove that he cared for me more than anyone else?

  Thing is, as angry as I was, I took it as the latter. I actually thought it was kind of sweet, in a sick way, which only made me angrier.

  I grabbed a bright orange cupcake off the table behind him, and before he even knew what hit him, smushed it into his nose. He didn’t fight me or even flinch. He just stood there, wearing the cupcake over the top of that smug grin, his arms still folded as it fell to the ground at his feet.

  “I probably deserved that,” he said.

  My eyes moved past him, considering a handful of popcorn to garnish his orange smile, but he grabbed my waist and stepped into me.

  “But you definitely don’t deserve this,” he said, giving me no time to escape before he cupped my jaw with both hands and rubbed his face all over mine. I laughed, fighting him off but not really enough to push him away. I liked him like this. I liked this version of him, and I just wanted to be this close to him, even if my dress got covered in frosting.

  When he finished, both of us laughing hysterically, he stepped back to look at his handiwork and laughed even harder. I could feel the sticky mess all over my chin and nose, and if I looked anywhere near as ridiculous as he did, I would have laughed at me too.

  I shoved his chest playfully, wiping my chin off on my arm. “Jerk.”

  “A jerk that loves you,” he said, pulling me in by my wrist. His arms moved around my body and he bent slightly, bringing his mouth to mine again, but this time with a bit more caution. “I will always fight for you, Ara, and if that makes me a jerk then so be it.”

  “And what if being a jerk makes me hate you?”

  “It won’t,” he said, certain of himself. “Because you’re the kind of girl that a man should fight for, and you know that deep down inside. You will never love a man that stands aside and lets you go to see if you’ll come back, because that’s not love. Love is fighting until you bleed or die for what you want, and it’s never been any different with us. Not in our past, and it certainly won’t be in
our future.”

  “Well, you and I don’t have a past—”

  “We do,” he said softly, his warm breath falling across my sugared lips. “And I don’t mean the one we shared before you died. I mean from the moment we first met at school.”

  That threw me a bit. I was so used to him bringing everything back to our life beforehand that I wasn’t sure what to say to that.

  “So be afraid for Cal,” he said, closing his eyes as he softly pressed his mouth to mine, pulling away before I could truly taste the sweetness of frosting on his lips. “Because he loves you too, and I will do everything in my power to keep him from winning you over.”

  “And if you hurt him”—I grabbed his face gently and rose up onto my toes—“I’ll bite you and turn you into a Lilithian.”

  His eyes changed shape. It was the first time I’d ever seen him truly afraid.

  “But I don’t want to frighten you into doing the right thing. I’m asking you.” I kissed his mouth, dropping back down onto my heels. “Out of your love for me, please don’t hurt Cal.”

  As our lips had touched, his body had clearly flooded with emotion. He kept his eyes closed and his mouth turned up into a soft smile, and nodded. “Okay.”

  “Promise me?”

  His fist came up between us, one small finger sticking up on the end. “I pinkie promise.”

  Without hesitation, I hooked mine over his and took him up on that because, as sweet as his overprotection was, I could never let myself be with a man that would hurt people to keep me to himself. That was messed-up on too many levels. If he couldn’t stick to this promise, it wouldn’t be the universe that made his pinkie fall off, it’d be me. And it would serve as an eternal reminder of everything he lost because he couldn’t keep that promise.

  * * *

  As I stood watching the kids bob for apples, Quaid—Ali’s hunky boyfriend—recounted a rather funny story where I’d once given Mike a nasty electric shock while he was doing the same. Apparently, it ended with a hilarious and loud fart, followed by Mike storming off. When I finally stopped laughing long enough to see who was standing at my right, my stomach dropped.

  “What’s happened?”

  “Nothing,” David said, but he looked worried. “Cal’s fine but the change isn’t occurring the way it usually does.”

  I handed Quaid my drink and dragged David away from the humans. “What do you mean? Will he be okay?”

  “We just…” He bit one corner of his lip, his eyes moving past my shoulder to scan all the people in the room. “I’ve never seen someone turn so fast.”

  “Fast? How long does it usually take?”

  “It’s different for everyone. But the fastest on record to date is twelve hours.” He took me by the hand and walked me to the entranceway, closing the front door on the noisy guests gathering around the porch. “Cal’s heart stopped within the first hour.”

  “Is he dead?”

  “No. His cells are still actively changing. I can’t sense it, but Eric says his blood is pumping through his system rapidly. He’s calling Jason now to see what he thinks.”

  “And what do you think? Have you ever turned someone?”

  “A few. And it’s never been like this. But without my immortal senses, it’s hard to tell what’s going on. See, the heart is usually the last thing to go, but it’s like Cal’s turning in reverse.”

  “Reverse?” I thought about the Immortal Damned David told me of, how all of them had been made human again. Reversed. “Could Cal be one of them?”

  “One of what?”

  “A Reversed.”

  He shook his head. “No. Even the Reversed change the same way all humans do when they’re turned back.” He leaned against the front door, his concern falling on the floor at his feet. “I didn’t do anything, Ara—you have to know that.”

  I hoped, for his sake, that was true.

  We both started then as his phone rang. He dug it out of his pocket, almost dropping it as he lifted it to his ear. “Eric. Go ahead, man, what’s happening?”

  “Is Ara with you?”

  “Yes.” He curled away from me and ducked his head into his shoulders, as if that would stop me from hearing. “Why?”

  “Bring her—”

  “Is Cal okay?”

  “He’s asking for her.”

  “He’s awake?”

  “Yeah, but…” There was a long pause. “He’s Vampire. Completely. I’m worried.”

  “About what?”

  “What if he goes into some kind of shock and… I don’t know… dies?”

  The look on David’s face said it all: he really wasn’t all that concerned by that outcome.

  “Jason’s documenting the case, but he hasn’t got a clue himself,” Eric added. “I gotta go conference call with him and a few officials to get all the details down, and he wants us to keep a close eye on the kid. He thinks it might be a sign that Cal’s gonna have some pretty mad skills.”

  I jumped for joy, stuffing my hands behind my back and standing still when David glared back at me. He clearly wasn’t as impressed by Cal as the rest of us were. “So he’s lucid?” David said. “Hungry?”

  “Yep. I had a few donors here. He killed one, so I’m filing the paperwork for insurance now. I gotta lot to do, man. I need some help. Get back here quickly, would ya?”

  “Yep,” he said, disheartened. “I’ll be there in five.”

  When he hung up the phone, he looked at me, his eyes dark with sadness.

  “What’s wrong?” I said, pressing my body alongside his.

  “I can’t compete with that guy.”

  “Who? Cal?”

  He put his phone away, ignoring my question. “Come on. Let’s go meet your new Vampire BFF.”

  I laughed, linking arms with him. He was adorable when he was jealous. “Hey, don’t be sad. It could be worse. He could be able to read your mind.”

  David stiffened, clear and definite concern crossing his entire body.

  46

  David

  I won her over only to lose her to Cal the very same day. As she sat on Elora’s couch, the ocean her backdrop, comforting Cal as he recalled his painful ordeal, I stood back against the wall with my arms folded, watching his every move. I could do nothing to protect her if he tried to attack. In fact, being human right now put me in more danger than Ara, but I watched all the same, ready to fight if the need arose.

  “I can’t even describe it,” he told her, his knuckles going white where he held her hand. “I couldn’t even scream—”

  “You did scream,” she said with a smile.

  “I did?” His eyes widened, then he nodded to himself. “It didn’t do any good.”

  I was glad to hear the little shit had suffered. I wish I’d been here to hear his screams, but they didn’t begin until I left to find Ara.

  “Eric said they were so distraught he had to turn on the TV,” Ara laughed, “and when the neighbor came by to see what was going on, he just told him it was a movie.”

  Cal laughed and went on to explain what he felt now, while my eyes went to the dead donor on the floor by Ara’s feet. If I could smell it, then surely she could, but she didn’t seem to notice. Her attentions were so focused on Cal—on touching his leg and rubbing his bare arm and laughing about all the cool things he could feel, and hear, and see, and smell—that the death in the room didn’t bother her. And I wanted to be him then. I wanted my immortality back more than ever. I wanted to taste Ara’s blood and let her drink mine. I wanted to unzip that dress and gently slide it down her body, kiss her naked spine the way I would before I’d bite her hip. I missed her body, and if I were Cal right now, I’d be hours away from having it.

  “Blood hunger? So that’s what this is?” Cal reached up and touched my Ara’s face, smoothing his thumb under her eye. “I can actually sense it, I think.”

  She nodded, cupping his hand and gently drawing it away. “It makes my veins stand out too.”

  Cal l
eaned in and looked at her wrist, moving his tongue across his lips. “So you’re blood hungry a lot then?”

  “What makes you think that?” She rubbed her wrist as she drew it back.

  “I’ve seen you like this a lot lately, that’s all.”

  Ara nodded. “That’s why I was so eager to have you turned. I just never imagined it’d happen so fast.”

  They both laughed.

  “I thought I’d be down for days,” Cal said. “But it was worth it, I guess, ’cause it’s over now. And now I can feed you every day.”

  Ara smiled, but it wasn’t the kind of smile Cal took it to be. She felt awkward, I could tell, and maybe a bit uncertain.

  I stood up off the wall, hope filling me. Could she possibly be having second thoughts?

  “Um, so…” She brushed her skirt down and stood up, looking back at me. “I guess we’ll leave you to rest now and—”

  “But you need blood.” Cal stood too, grabbing her wrist.

  “I do, but…”

  “Here.” He offered his wrist. “The arm is polite, right?”

  She didn’t even consider it. Instead, she looked at me.

  “Whoa!” Eric swept into the room, snatching Cal’s arm back. “He’s not immune.”

  “I wasn’t going to bite him,” she demanded, shaking her head in annoyance. “I’ll wait a few weeks until he’s got immunity. I’m not stupid.”

  “How do I get that?” Cal said, looking at Eric. “How do I get immunity?”

  “You have to drink from me,” Ara said.

  “And you need to start today,” Eric added, giving Ara a knowing look.

  Cal’s eyes lit up, and mine shut slowly, rolling as they did. I turned away then and opened the apartment door.

  “Hey, where are you going?” Ara called.

  I stopped by the elevator as she caught up to me. “I know you said I could stay when you two were feeding,” I said humbly, “but I can’t watch it. I never could.”