Lana jumped, her eyes flying to his. She then smiled the fakest smile he’d ever seen. “I’ll get some later.” She sniffed the air. “It smells delish, but I’m not hungry right now. I ate at Mom and Dad’s.”
“No, you didn’t.” Sid frowned at the lie. “Which I don’t blame you, that sandwich looked nasty as hell. Caroline needs to take lessons from me.”
“It did look nasty, but it’s one of my favorites.” Lana grinned, but then looked away from his knowing stare.
“This is going to end now, Lana.” Sid turned, but she grabbed his arm.
“Please, not now,” she pleaded, looking toward Nicole then back at him. “I’m not ready.”
“This is affecting you and it’s my responsibility to protect you.” Sid took hold of her hand and gave it a squeeze. “It ends now.” Before Lana could protest further, Sid turned to get everyone’s attention.
“Please.” But her plea went unnoticed.
“Listen up, brothers.” Sid’s tone took on a rare seriousness, which captured the attention of every Warrior present. “Lana has some…” Sid stopped, not really knowing how to explain what was going on.
“Some what?” Jared looked between Sid and Lana, putting his spoon down.
Lana stood up, her face pinched with nervous energy. “I have messages for you.”
“Messages?” Jared asked, his brow lowered in confusion until his eyes popped open and a ‘holy shit’ expression flashed across his face. “You mean…”
Nodding, Lana held her hands together. “I know this is strange to you all, but they have been with me from the very beginning and…” Her eyes fell on Damon, “have become very persistent.”’
Standing quickly, Damon walked away from the table to put his bowl in the sink. “I don’t need to hear anything from my past.” He reached down to help Nicole from the table.
“But—” Lana began, but he cut her off.
“The past is dead to me.” Damon’s golden eyes turned hard. “I don’t need you digging it up.”
Sid watched the pained expression cross Lana’s face before she hid it. “Go into the game room and wait.” He turned Lana around, leading her toward the door. “We’ll be right there.”
Everyone watched as Lana walked out the door, shoulders slumped. Then their eyes focused on Sid who looked mad enough to tear out throats. “For her to be told to leave without giving me shit is a clear indication something is not right.” Sid pointed over his shoulder. “She is not eating, sleeping or bitching me out for ordering her around, because dead people are wanting to talk to you assholes and they won’t go away.”
“She doesn’t look good,” Nicole spoke up, glancing at Jared, Duncan and finally Damon. “I think you need to talk to her.”
“No.” Damon’s voice was final.
“I’m not asking, brother.” Sid took two steps and was in Damon’s face. “I have no clue how to protect her from this. Jesus, I’m a damn vampire and this shit freaks me out. But I do know one thing, you will walk into that room and listen to her, because as far as I know, that is the only way to get them to leave her alone.”
Damon and Sid stood staring at each other, neither giving an inch.
Jared stood. “I’ll go talk to her.” He smacked Damon on the back. “If it was Nicole in there, you’d feel the same way Sid feels, so I suggest you do it and get it done.”
Nicole nudged herself between Sid and Damon. “Sid would do it for me, Damon.” She reached up and touched his cheek, waiting for his eyes to meet hers. “I know what you’re thinking.”
“Oh, you do?” Damon’s eyes crinkled at the corners, softening his scowl. “And what is that?”
“That I will be hurt if she is the one wanting to give you a message.” On her tiptoes, Nicole reached up and kissed him softly on the cheek. “But your concern is the reason I won’t be. Maybe if she is the one with a message, you will find the closure that you need. I’ve never even asked for her name, Damon.”
“Rose. Her name was Rose.” Damon stared down at her for a moment longer before pulling her to him. “I don’t deserve you.”
Sid, who had been standing silently, snorted. “You got that right.”
“Shut up, Sid.” Nicole’s voice was muffled by Damon’s massive chest. Finally looking up, she smiled at Damon. “Go find your closure with Rose so I can have you all to myself. I’ll be here when you’re finished.”
“I want you with me and you have always had me to yourself. Never doubt that.” Grasping her hand, he pulled her past Sid. “Let’s get this over with.”
Sid stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “Thanks, my brother.”
“Nicole was right.” Damon nodded at him. “You would have done it for her.”
“Without a second thought.” Sid followed them out hoping that this would work. Never in his many years did he think he would have to protect someone from the dead and not have one damn clue how to do it. Even though most considered his race dead, this was a whole different dead, and for once in his life, he was at a loss.
******
Adam, Jill and Steve found an empty table at Spare Time Diner. A few customers gave them uncomfortable stares, but they ignored them, used to the disgusted or frightened glares from others.
“I thought we were going for a beer.” Steve frowned, crossing his arms with a huff.
“And I thought I’ve told you I don’t drink.” Adam shot him a look before picking up the menu and glancing at it, even though he knew exactly what he was getting.
“Me either.” Jill took a long whiff of air. “God, I love this place. I used to come here almost every day after school. They have the best hamburgers and their ice cream is to die for.”
“Is food all you ever think about?” Steve rolled his eyes, his mood still salty.
“It’s probably the top five things on my thinking list, yeah.” Jill shot back, wrinkling her nose at him. “What’s your problem?”
“Well, after hearing that we may die soon, I was hoping for an alcoholic beverage.” Steve looked around the diner. His gaze settled on an old farmer who was staring at them. “After you get your prize winning hamburger and ice cream, we are going to Club Zero. I’m getting shitfaced.”
“No, you’re not,” Adam finally spoke up, an edge to his voice. “And we’re not going to die.”
“You two suck.” Steve pointed at both of them with a disgusted glare.
“Yeah, well, tomorrow you’ll be thanking me.” Adam glared back, slamming the menu down. “If Slade even sniffs alcohol on our breath, we’ll be dead, and I’d rather take my chances with anyone other than that big bastard.”
Steve made a thoughtful face. “Guess you got a point, but you still suck.”
Jill set both elbows on the table and cradled her face in her hands. “You afraid to die?” Jill asked Adam, her eyes searching for the truth.
Staring at Jill for a few seconds, Adam sighed, running his hand through his hair. “I don’t want to die, but I’m not afraid to die.”
“Well, I don’t want to die either, and call me a pussy, but I’m scared to death of dying.” Steve shrugged before glancing at Jill. “What about you? Are you afraid?”
Blowing out a long breath, she nodded. “Yeah, I am.” She looked around at the people around them. Everything about them screamed normal and human. It left her feeling a little lost. “I don’t like pain. If I’m going to die, I hope it’s quick and painless. I don’t want to go down crying and screaming like a little girl. I don’t want to let you guys down being a pussy.”
“You want a Damon death.” Steve nodded, and then frowned when they were both looking at him. “You know, the Damon decapitation death. It’s quick and…what?”
“I don’t think getting your head ripped off is painless, Steve,” Jill snorted, shaking her head.
“Ah, well, I think it would be, Jill,” Steve hissed her name.
“I know. Why don’t we call Damon for a demonstration?” Jill shot back leaning toward him, h
er eyes narrowed.
Adam slammed his hand down on the table breaking them apart. “We are not going to die!” he shouted, drawing a few stares. Adam glared until the few who still watched him closely looked away. “We are going to take this thing. We are going to train hard and learn everything we can. We will not fail. Do you understand?”
“You sure your head is on straight after the Angelina thing?” Steve braved the question.
Adam’s eyes glowed hot. “I’ve got my shit under control, Steve,” he growled. “No worries.”
“You need to talk about it?” Jill slid a sideways glance at Adam, who wasn’t looking at either of them.
“No.” Adam’s voice lowered with warning; he didn’t want to discuss it further.
“But—” Jill began again before she was stopped.
“I said I was fine.” Adam’s eyes raised from the table with a glare, freezing Jill to the spot. “I am not discussing this now or ever. It’s done and over with.”
“But if you still love her, fight for her.” Jill didn’t back down, though she did prepare to move quickly by changing position in her chair. “I’ve never known you to be a pussy, Adam. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and it doesn’t make sense to me. She was so in love with you for years and to just up and get with a guy she didn’t even know. Come on, man. That’s not her. Something’s not right. I think we need to make another visit just to be sure.”
Jill’s words, unfortunately, rang true to him. That night after he found Angelina, the same thoughts had run through his head, but it seemed final to him. What was he to do? Grab her and run? Say to hell with what she wanted, and obviously, it hadn’t been him who she wanted. “Jill, don’t push me on this.”
“But I’m right.” Jill watched his face closely. “You’ve thought the same thing.”
“I read her, dammit!” he hissed, his one golden eye turning dark.
“And you could have read her wrong,” Jill shot back, not backing down, not afraid of his anger. “Your emotions were off the hook. You could have been wrong.”
“I wasn’t wrong.” His hard growl indicated he was done with the conversation. He wasn’t wrong. He knew what he saw in Angelina’s mind, but that nagging sensation in his gut persisted.
“And if you were wrong?” Jill growled back, leaning toward him.
“Ah, Jill.” Steve’s voice cut her off from saying more when Adam sneered at her. “Maybe we just better order our food.”
“No. If this shit with Angelina is going to be hanging over his head, it’s going to be hanging over ours too.” Jill’s voice shook slightly. “I can’t get kicked out. I have nowhere else to go and I’d rather die than be kicked out.”
“You never have to worry about being alone, Jill.” Adam leaned back in his chair. “You will always have us. I will not fuck this up for us. I’m good.”
“He’s right.” Steve backed him. “No matter what, we will always have each other. He’s not going to let some cheating bitch screw this up for us.”
Jill’s eyes widened when Adam grabbed Steve by the shirt, pulling him so they were nose to nose. “If you ever call her that again, I will smash your face in.” Adam let go with a shove and a hiss. “Understood?”
“Ah, yeah. Totally got it.” Steve smoothed his shirt down, eyeing Adam as a small grin tipped his lips. “With that kind of aggression, we’re going to kick some serious ass.”
“Yeah.” Jill gave a nervous laugh, her eyes still gaging Adam’s response to Steve’s words.
Adam tried to calm himself, knowing that Steve was just being a loyal friend, who was seeing Angelina as exactly what he called her, but Adam didn’t see her that way. Not at all. She was still his Angel and she had made her choice, which wasn’t him. So he had to move forward; he had people counting on him and he wouldn’t let them down, not this time. Adam slammed his hand back on the table. “Damn straight!”
Steve did a fist pump in the air in excitement. “Hell, yeah, man.”
“Where’s our waitress? I’m starving.” Adam turned to find everyone staring at them as two overgrown farm-fed boys headed their way.
“Well, unless they hire burly boys as waitresses, I think we got trouble coming our way.” Steve scooted his chair out from the table slowly; the squeal on the tile floor echoed in the quiet diner. Steve put on a big smile and looked up as the two guys stopped in front of their table. “Think we’re ready to order. I’ll take a Spare-Time burger with extra onion and some of those delicious looking fried taters.”
The two guys glanced at each other in confusion before anger flashed across their faces. “We’re not taking your order, freak.”
“Ah, now, you didn’t have to go and be like that.” Steve went to stand, but Jill stopped him.
“You’re making people nervous,” the shorter of the two replied.
Steve glanced around the two guys before looking back up at them. “Okay, then what do you suggest. I can do something other than the taters, you got onion rings?”
“You’re a funny freak, huh?” The bigger guy with muscles bulging underneath his white t-shirt sneered, showing tobacco-stained teeth.
“Man, we just want to eat and then we’ll be on our way.” Steve went to scoot his chair back in, but ‘muscles’ clipped it with is boot sending it and Steve crashing to the floor.
Adam was up and had ‘muscles’ pinned face first to the table, his hand holding him by the neck. “That was a real bad move.” Glancing back, he saw that Steve was up and Jill stood between him and the shorter muscle head. “Now, I’m going to let you up. You are going to turn back around and sit your ass down while we order and eat. We don’t want and didn’t ask for trouble. You understand me? You approached us.”
“Let him go.” A short older woman with graying hair and kind eyes came into Adam’s view, her shaking hand gently grasped his arm. “Let him go, please.”
Adam did as asked, but when the guy jumped up quickly, Adam made sure the older lady was behind him and protected. “Don’t do something you’ll regret.” Adam cocked his eyebrow in warning. “And you will regret it.”
The older woman pushed Adam out of her way with surprising strength. “Jimmy Jacks!” she snapped her white towel at him, hitting him on the arm.
“Jimmy Jacks?” Steve recovered quickly from his tumble and had been standing at a ready stance, but now he was having a hard time keeping a straight face. “Jimmy Ja—”
“Shut up, Steve.” Jill, who was still standing between Steve and the other guy, tried to hide the smirk tilting her lips.
“If you can’t behave yourself, then get out of this diner right now before I call the sheriff, or better yet, your momma.” The older lady snapped her towel at him again.
“Now, Ida.” Jimmy frowned, backing up and rubbing the spot on his arm the towel had snapped. “I’m just trying to make your customers comfortable.”
“The only one I see making anyone uncomfortable is you.” She waved her bony arm around at the customers, who sat staring at the scene. “Now git, and mind your own business.”
Once Jimmy and his partner made their way back to their table, Adam looked down at the old woman and smiled. “Sorry about that, ma’am.”
“Nothing for you to be sorry about, young man. And it’s Ida. No one calls me ma’am. Now, you all sit and I’ll get you some drinks.” She turned, hustling away without asking what they wanted to drink.
Adam, Jill and Steve sat down, but made sure they all had a good sight on Jimmy and his friend. “What the hell was that?” Jill frowned, looking away from the customers, who were still watching them closely. “I mean I always get stared at, but this is different.”
A frown crossed over Steve’s face as he glanced at Adam and spoke, “Tell me about it. There was some real hostility from Jumping Jacks over there.”
Adam snorted at the nickname, wondering if Steve was hanging with the Warriors way too much, but he also felt the difference. Something had shifted with the way people responded to th
em as half-breeds. This was open hostility, not quiet curiosity.
“Here you go.” Ida set down three glasses.
“Thank you.” Jill smiled, but her smile slipped as Ida stared at her.
“You’re one of the Nichols girls.” Ida’s kind smile turned sad. “I remember your daddy bringing you kids up here for soft ice cream cones. I’m really sorry about your father.”
Jill’s head snapped back. “What about my father?”
“Well, he had a heart attack a few weeks ago.” Ida frowned. “You didn’t know?”
“No, I didn’t” Jill frowned, a tinge of anger making her voice shake. “Is he…okay?”
“Yes, I heard he was back home.” Ida walked over and touched Jill on the shoulder when she said, “You really didn’t know?” Her tone was apologetic and comforting.
Adam watched as Jill shook her head and knew she was trying to keep her emotions in check. Anger at her family for not contacting Jill gripped him hard. If someone kept something like that about Tessa from him, he’d beat the hell out of somebody.
“I’ve only talked to them once since…” Jill looked up at Ida with her mismatched eyes not finishing what everyone present knew. Her family disowned her once she had been turned into a half-breed.
“Well, shame on them.” Ida patted her shoulder sympathetically. “I don’t know what all of the fuss is about, really. I mean, so far we’ve been living together without any big issues, but now with that new mayor and his fancy vampire fiancée, you kids need to be more careful.”
“Why do you say that, Ida?” Adam glanced away from Jill, who still looked uncomfortable at the mention of her family, his shoulders tightening at the older woman’s words.
“You haven’t seen the paper. What am I talking about?” she huffed at the looks of confusion on their young faces. Reaching to another table, she picked up a paper and placed it on their table. “You’re kids. Of course you haven’t seen the papers.”
“Is this today’s paper?” Adam glanced up at Ida knowing full well it was, but he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Jill and Steve had leaned in to look.
Adam (The Protectors Series) Book #5 Page 3
