I didn’t care that everyone was watching me now; I had to let it out. I walked close to him and looked into his face. “Tell me why you kissed me that first night in your hotel?”
He didn’t look away this time. He stared deep into my eyes and said, “I didn’t plan it. I wasn’t looking to start something with you.” He ran an agitated hand through his long dark hair. “You were so sweet and so innocent. And I just wanted a taste. Then your Sensay nature took over and you were so hot, and I wanted to find out what it would be like,” he finished and looked away with shame in his eyes.
I stepped back, not wanting him to see the agony his words caused me. “Well, thank you for finally being honest, Roberto.” I gave a short brittle laugh. “It’s kind of funny you know? In the back of my mind I think I always knew it was my Sensay blood that drew you and Alex to me.”
Roberto grabbed my arm but quickly dropped it when Bullet growled.
“Olivia, it may have started that way but somewhere, somehow, I did fall in love with you.”
It had to be said, “And what about Annika? Are the three of us going to all live together happily ever after?”
His eyes became hard “Leave Annika out of this!”
I heard a few indrawn breaths at his defense of his bonded right in front of me, but it made my next words all that much easier. “No, let’s leave Annika in it. I’m the one stepping out of this little threesome. From this day forth you are nothing to me.” I reached behind my neck and unclasped the latch on the bloodstone necklace Roberto gave me. I walked over and dropped it in front of him. “No payment necessary for services rendered, Mr. Valente.”
With my head held high I turned, went into the house and up the stairs. I went into the bedroom I shared with Roberto for the last few months and looked around. There was nothing here that belonged to me. Everything I had was paid for by Roberto. I wanted nothing from that man. I stood up to leave and remembered the only thing that belonged to me.
I went over to the nightstand and picked up a framed picture of me, my mom and my dad on the day I graduated. It was the only thing I could take the day my parents were murdered by The Guardians, and I was forced to flee. I was fleeing again, this time with no one to help me and with no way to support myself. The future looked a little frightening, but in a strange way I looked forward to it. It was like a fresh beginning, a clean canvas that was all mine to paint.
I walked out of the bedroom, where I had spent so many nights in exquisite pleasure, without a backward glance. When I stepped out onto the porch there was no sign of Roberto. Janel stood up and wrapped her arms around me.
We stood like that for several minutes until I finally pulled away. “You can come with me if you like. I’m not sure where I’m exactly headed but you are more than welcome.”
Janel stepped back. “No, this is your adventure, but you know that if you need me I will be by your side in the blink of an eye.”
“What will you do?” I asked her with concern. It was because of me and this mess with The Guardians that she couldn’t go home again.
She laughed and poked me, “You know better than to worry about me. I’m going back down to Cat Island for awhile. Andy’s going to join me when he can. I really want to study The Evolved. Maybe I can continue with my medical career but at a whole new level. I can learn a lot about this evolution process.”
I gave her a genuine smile. She was at her best when she thought she could help someone. Most people didn’t give her the credit she was due. They looked at her and saw her beautiful face and her great body and dismissed her as a dumb blond.
“I’m happy for you Janel. You seem really excited about this. This is the kind of stuff you love. You can do a lot of good with your studies.”
Janel smiled back, but her smile faltered. “I just wish things turned out differently for you.”
“Now it’s my turn to say, don’t worry about me. I’m going to be okay. It’s hard to explain, but I now know what everyone’s been saying about my destiny. I can feel it now and I have a sense of urgency to begin my training. I think that’s why Bullet came to me, to guide me there.” I gave a little chuckle. “I hope you don’t think I’m crazy but there it is.”
She shook her head. “After the things we’ve seen these last few months, I know you’re not crazy.”
Just then Antonio and Bullet came around from the back of the house.
Janel eyed Bullet suspiciously. “I take that back, you may be crazy for running around with a giant wolf. Did you feed him Antonio? He still looks hungry.”
Antonio laughed. “Yeah, he ate, five pounds of hamburger and a package of hot dogs.”
Now I eyed Bullet suspiciously, “You better not get sick on me while we’re on the road.”
Janel looked at me with concern. “Speaking of which, how are you going to travel?”
I shrugged. “I guess we’ll hitchhike”
“Oh no you’re not!” Janel gasped. “First, no one will pick you up with that beast at your side, and second, what if you get picked up by a serial killer or something. You will end up on that show where they reenact true crimes. Did you ever see the actresses they get to play the victims? I swear they pull them off the street corners! And--”
Antonio cut Janel off with, “She won’t have to hitchhike.”
I turned to look at him. He walked over to me and gave me a set of keys and an envelope.
I looked at him questionably. “What is this, Antonio?”
“Roberto asked me to give them to you. Those are the keys to the SUV, and I believe there is some money in the envelope.”
“You can tell Mr. Valente that I don’t want anything from him,” I said with a hint of steel in my voice. I handed the envelope and the keys back to him.
“You should take it, Olivia. How else are you going to get to where you have to go?” Janel pleaded with me.
“I’ll take her.”
At the sound of the not often heard voice we all turned. Mark stood in the doorway with a backpack slung over his shoulder. Regardless of the warm weather he constantly wore a dark knit cap.
Janel brightened visibly, “Now I feel better, Mark will give you a ride to wherever you need to go.”
“No…not a ride. I’m going with her.” Mark said quietly.
“Excuse me? Did you say you’re going with me?”
“Yep.”
“Did Roberto put you up to this?”
“No.”
“I don’t believe you. Why would you want to go with me? We’ve hardly spoken ten words between us since I got here months ago”
Mark looked uncomfortable. “Just do,” was all he muttered.
Andy chuckled in the background “It’s because he’s had a crush on you since the day you got here.”
Mark moved so fast we hardly knew what happened. All we heard was a solid crack and Andy was sprawled out on the ground rubbing his bruised jaw.
Janel quickly knelt beside Andy. “Are you okay, Honey?”
Andy stood up with Janel’s help. “Awe man, you didn’t have to slug me.”
I was beginning to get a major headache. “Okay…I think I’ve had enough of this conversation. I’m heading out.”
Mark surprised me by saying, “No don’t go. Can we talk in private?”
I looked at him warily but shook my head yes. We walked around to the back of the house and hopefully out of earshot.
I turned to Mark, waiting for him to start. He looked like he was having trouble breathing. I took pity on him and reached out to pat him on the shoulder. The next thing I knew I was being hauled up against him and his mouth was on mine.
It wasn’t an unpleasant kiss, but it didn’t excite me in the way that Roberto’s or Alex’s had. Damn vampires.
I pulled away and looked at Mark with sorrow in my eyes. “Ummm…Mark, I don’t…”
Mark held up his hand to stop me. “Look I know you aren’t for me, I’m not anything special like the damn vampires. And you’re a Sensay
. Your destiny is not with a grunt like me. But I wanted to know what it would be like, to hold you and kiss you just once.”
He stopped for a second and looked me directly in the eye, “I hate what the vampires did to you. How they used you. You are too good Olivia. You only want to see the good in people. I may be just a grunt, but even I know with the power you will one day wield, there will always be people who want to use you. I want to go with you to help you.”
I started to speak, but he cut me off, “Don’t worry about how I feel for you. I know that’s not meant to be, and I’m okay with it. I just want to be your friend and walk on this journey with you, if you let me”
I thought about having a friend. I’d been prepared to give up friendships while I was out discovering my inner Sensay or whatever the hell you call it. But it would be nice to have someone familiar around.
“Okay Mark. As long as you understand that my feelings for you are for friendship only.”
Mark nodded his head in the affirmative and we started walking back to the others.
“Are you going to have trouble telling Roberto that you’re leaving?” I asked Mark.
“Already told him I was leaving. If you decided you didn’t want me along I was going to leave anyway.”
He spit on the ground. “Unlike Andy I don’t owe these fuckers anything”
He walked away from me then and picked his backpack up from where he dropped it when he slugged Andy. He then walked over to a rather old jeep. I was astonished when he called Bullet and the wolf trotted over and sat down in front of Mark waiting to be petted. Well, I guess I wouldn’t have to worry about the two of them getting along. I walked over to stand next to Janel. “I will write you when I know where I’m at. That is if it’s safe.” I looked at her and we both got teary eyed and hugged each other hard.
“Geez, you guys act like your never going to see each other again,” Andy said, clearly looking uncomfortable with the tears.
Janel walked over to the jeep and leaned in and said to Mark, “You let anything happen to her and I will hunt you down and kick your ass.”
Mark nodded solemnly at her. Oh brother what a bunch of drama queens, I thought.
Mark started the jeep, and with one last wave at Janel, I leaned back in the seat, my heart beating fast at the thought of what awaited me.
Then my heart stopped beating all together when I saw Roberto standing at the end of the driveway with a look of pain straining his handsome face. He didn’t wave but nodded his head slightly before he turned and in a flash was gone.
Chapter 5
I could not stand the silence any longer, “So how long have you been out of the Army?” I asked Mark. When we first left I was glad for the silence. Leaving Roberto was not easy. I wanted to jump out of the jeep and run after him, throw my arms around him and make love to him all night long just like we had so many times before. And then suddenly a picture of him looking at Annika with love shining in his eyes came into my mind and the red glow of anger ran through my veins.
In the back seat Bullet emitted a low growl and Mark reached over and patted my hand. I gave Mark a quiet,
“Thanks,” and thought to myself, I should have a picture of Roberto and Annika framed so whenever despair hit me I could get it out and remind myself of what a no good two- timing sonofabitch Roberto is.
Beside me, Mark answered, “Navy and two years.”
“How did you end up working for Roberto?” I was genuinely curious.
“Andy and I were in the same SEAL unit. We had a couple of close calls on some recon missions. We trusted each other and when Andy left the Navy he told me about a “special” job he had lined up. Good pay, travel and plenty of interesting people.”
That made me laugh out loud. “Interesting people, huh? Did you expect vampires, Sensays and other worldly creatures?”
“No. But it makes no difference to me. The Evolved, just like people, are treacherous and can never be trusted.”
“Wow, that’s a pretty cynical outlook on life.”
Mark looked at me. “Maybe, but it keeps me from trusting the wrong people and being used.”
Owww...that one struck home. Mark was right. I had to stop trusting the wrong people. Look what it had gotten me so far.
Mark asked “Any idea yet of where we’re going?”
“No, not yet. I know we’re heading in the right direction though. I feel a sense of going home. Weird, huh?”
Mark shrugged. “Not really. We all have instincts. Most don’t use them.”
It got quiet again. I don’t think Mark will ever be one for chit chat. Sometimes that could be a good thing. As we traveled north on the interstate I thought about my dream from today. I had a feeling that the old woman who spoke to me was somehow related to me. Deep inside I felt an urgency to get to her in person. I hoped she’d be able to give me some answers about my Sensay abilities and about my parents.
My thoughts drifted to the man I bumped into. There was something about him that made me nervous. He looked hard, and not just his chiseled body. He had the look of someone who had to fight his entire life.
I leaned back into the seat and made myself relax. We had been on the road for close to two hours when I saw a sign for Star Lake. With a growing excitement I said, “Take the next exit. This is it.”
Somehow I was able to direct him to a small dirt road that led directly to the lakeside. Mark stopped the jeep and we got out. I looked around and had a feeling of familiarity. I couldn’t exactly remember being here before, yet everything seemed recognizable.
“I need to stay the night here.” I said with certainty.
“Right here?”
“Yeah.”
“I’d rather see you stay in a hotel, but if this is where you want to stay then you got it boss.”
“Boss?”
“Yeah…well as I figure, I’m working for you now.”
“But I can’t pay you at this time. I have nothing. Not even the clothes on my back are my own.”
“That’s okay. I have enough money. I don’t need much, so I won’t take payment until your set.”
I shook my head at him in wonderment. “I don’t understand you Mark.”
He actually laughed and it was a nice sound. “No one does.”
Mark began to take supplies out of the jeep. I gave him a quizzical look.
“I learned a long time ago to always be prepared. The tent is small, but it should do for you and Bullet”
“What about you?’
“I can sleep anywhere. I’ll be fine.”
Bullet took off in the woods and I went to find a place where I could relieve myself in privacy. When I finished and was on my way back, I stopped for a few minutes and looked out over the lake. It was beautiful. The moon shone on it turning the water into molten silver hues.
A vision appeared before me, a couple in the water, laughing and splashing each other. All of a sudden they stopped laughing, embraced and started kissing. It was a passionate kiss that even from here I could see was filled with love.
Someone was shaking me. I came back into myself with no small amount of disorientation and finally was able to focus on Mark who was saying my name.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him.
“You tell me. You were gone almost an hour, and then I find you catatonic standing here staring at the lake.”
I came more into myself and said, “There’s no way I’ve been gone an hour.”
“Yeah, it was an hour, boss,” he said.
I still felt disoriented. “Can I hold on to your arm Mark? I still feel a bit wobbly.”
Mark cursed and promptly swept me up in his arms and began walking. I wanted to protest but didn’t have enough energy. He sat me down in front of the tent and got me a bottle of water. After a few minutes I felt more myself.
“Sorry about that. I think I had a vision of the last time I was here. I probably was around six years old. I was with my parents and woke up to the sound of laug
hter. I followed the sound until I was beside the lake. My parents were swimming in the moonlight. When they saw me, my father yelled, “Olive Oil what are you doing up?” He and Mom got out of the water and Mom said, “You need to get some rest. We are going to see akso:d in the morning.”
That’s all the vision told me, but I have a feeling that in the morning I will know exactly where we need to go.”
Mark was kneeling in front of me, and now he stood, went over and got something out of the car.
“Here eat something before you go to sleep. You’re getting too thin.”
I took the bag of jerky that he handed me and said, “Gee, thanks Mom.”
He gave me a dirty look but sat down beside me.
Probably to make sure I ate. The jerky tasted pretty good, or maybe I was just really hungry, but I ate the whole bag and finished the water. I felt tired. I was physically and emotionally drained.
“I think I’m going to call it a night. Are you sure you’ll be okay out here?” Mark nodded. After I crawled into the tent, Bullet followed me in and stretched out beside me.
Mark zipped up the tent. I heard him rustling around for a few minutes and then saw him lay down in front of the tent. It was with a secure feeling that I lay down with my wolf beside me and my…my what? Partner. That’s the word that popped into my mind.
I woke up with the sun shining outside the tent. I was surprised I had a dreamless night. I was half expecting to have a dream or vision of where we were supposed to go. I unzipped the tent and slipped outside. I didn’t see Mark at first, but then spotted him walking back from the direction of the lake. His dark hair was wet and he had no shirt on. It was obvious that he was swimming. As he got closer I could see his tanned muscular chest. He was a good looking guy and for a minute I felt bad that I wasn’t attracted to him. It would probably make my life a hell of a lot simpler to love a regular man instead of god damn vampires.
Jude Stephens Page 3
