“Han!”
My best friend’s eyes flutter open.
“You did it!” Chloe exclaims.
She reaches up and removes Caleb’s hands from her person. “That’s enough,” she says softly. The bite mark on her neck is faded, almost completely unnoticeable unless you know it’s there.
Caleb respects her wishes and stands up, stretching his arms above his head. His back pops and Chloe giggles, another sound that makes me remember there are good things going on, even amidst all this craziness.
“Not used to sitting for so long,” he mutters, and I know it’s true. Caleb is one of the most active people I know. “Guess that’s what happens after you turn two hundred. Your body starts going.” He winks at Chloe, whose smile just grows wider.
“Hey, Maggie’s friend. Do you have any apples in there?” He moves toward Lily, and I’m probably the only one who notices the slight waver in his hand. He has to be weak after spending over an hour tending to Hannah.
“I’m not Maggie’s friend,” Lily mutters, looking down at her lap.
“Yes, you are,” I call out.
“See there, you are too. Now can I please have something to eat?” He drops down next to her but waits for Lily to rustle around in the bag. She comes up with two apples and tosses them both to him.
“Thanks.” He crunches into it, propping one knee up and extending his arm to rest on top of it. At that angle, both the muscles in his thigh and forearm are on display. Showoff.
I hear Lily’s gulp from where I’m sitting.
“We didn’t get to meet earlier. I’m Caleb.”
“Lily.”
He reaches out to shake her hand, but she hesitates. “Come on, I won’t shock you or anything,” he teases.
She takes his hand and he says, “Zzzzt.” She jumps. “Kidding,” he teases. He’s wearing his Flirtatious smile. I hope he knows what he’s doing with Lily. She can be awfully prickly.
“So tell me your strategy for Not Being Maggie’s Friend. I tried it for about… oh thirty years but she eventually wore me down. How’s it working for you?”
He actually gets a tentative smile from Lily. Shocking.
I look down to see if Hannah’s watching the interchange, too. She is, and she looks about as surprised as I feel.
“Who did you want to shut up?” I ask her.
She gives me her patented ‘it-should-be-obvious’ eyebrow quirk. “My brother and Miss Chloe here.”
“Caleb said we should annoy her into waking up,” Chloe says, looking worried that she might have done the wrong thing.
“He would,” Hannah says darkly, but I know she is kidding.
“You can hear each other?” I ask.
Chloe nods emphatically and Hannah just ‘um hmms.’
“What does that mean?” I ask, afraid I already know the answer. Is Chloe going to realize what it means, though?
“I think Chloe has witch’s blood in her veins,” Hannah says.
Shane and Rachel burst out of the library, shaking dust off of themselves, in time to hear Hannah’s comment.
Chloe looks up at them, worry now clear on her face. “Does that mean I’m not your sister?”
“Chloe…” Shane looks like he’s broadsided by the question. The longer he holds the awkward pause, the more Chloe’s lower lip trembles.
Finally, she lets out a little sob and gets up, but there’s nowhere to run—Shane and Rachel are blocking the library, and the rest of the sanctuary offers no hiding places.
“C’mere,” I say, and hold out my arms.
Chloe launches herself at me, and I shift out of the way so we won’t knock into Hannah. The little girl shakes and sobs like her life is ending. I let her cling and rub her back in what I hope are comforting circles.
“It’s all right, kiddo,” I murmur, using the nickname I’ve heard Shane call her before.
I look up and he’s staring at me and Chloe with a look of fear on his face. This time I know the fear isn’t about me, it’s about interacting with a tearful sister. Rachel stands halfway behind him, as if she’s unsure what to do.
‘Get over here,’ I mouth to him.
He comes over to us and squats, awkwardly patting Chloe’s shoulder.
Exasperated, I reach up and grab his collar, pull him forward so he either has to wrap his arms around both of us or topple over. Okay, so it isn’t a totally selfless move.
His arms go around me and we squish Chloe between us. It feels like heaven to have them both close like this.
“Of course you’re Shane’s sister,” I say when Chloe starts to quiet. “Rachel’s, too.”
“Yeah,” Shane echoes.
“Sisterhood isn’t all about blood, you know.”
She sniffles right in my ear. I try not to wince. “Really?” she whispers.
“Yup. Hannah’s my sister and we aren’t related at all.”
“I was there when you were born, tough girl.” Shane squeezes us both and lets go, sits next to me. “Legs were falling asleep like that,” he explains. He holds Chloe’s hand instead. I silently mourn the loss of contact for myself.
“You were?” Chloe asks.
“Yeah. Mom had you at home, remember?”
“Oh, right.”
“So even if your dad was someone else, which he might not even be, you’re at least my half sister.”
“Then you’ll still take care of me? You won’t make me go to a foster school like Rachel went to?”
“Of course not. Is that what you were worried about?”
She shrugs her little shoulders, wiping her face. She moves off of my lap but squishes herself in between the two of us. “I guess.”
“Well, don’t.”
And it seems he’s finally said the right thing, because she calms.
~o~
It’s just after dawn when Hannah informs me she can’t hold it any longer and I’m taking her into the house to pee.
Everyone else is still sleeping on the uncomfortable stone floor when we leave the church, so after she’s done we detour into the gardens just outside the servants’ quarters. I settle her on a wooden bench, worried because she still seems so weak.
“How are you?”
She shrugs. “Still feeling a little like I got run over by a mac truck. I’ll be okay.”
At least her color is better this morning, so I let it go. I find a soft spot in the grass a few feet away and flop flat on my back. I close my eyes and let the sun wash over me. This is one of the things I could never give up, one of the reasons I will never fully embrace my vampire side.
“What about you?” she asks. “Any nightmares from being back in this place?”
I don’t answer.
“Mags?”
“I never got to sleep, all right?”
“Oh, Maggie.”
“Every time I close my eyes I keep seeing Edward’s face right before they killed him…” Even now, awake, the taste of blood and death overwhelms my senses. I lean up on my elbows to shake the image.
“And thoughts of your resident hottie didn’t inspire sweet dreams?”
I roll my eyes.
“He’s not my anything, Hannah,” I remind her.
“What?” she asks, affecting an innocent air. “He hasn’t killed you yet, has he? I think it means he has feelings for you.”
“It means he needs me. Once he gets in touch with his Chaser contacts and picks up some new IDs and some cash, he’s outta here.”
She sticks her tongue out at me. “Well, I believe in romance, so I can think it means whatever I want.”
I bare my canines at her, my version of a stuck out tongue.
“Maggie.”
I jerk around at the voice and spot Daniel standing in the shadows next to the house. He’s human; I can see his green eyes from here. But he stays out of the sunlight.
“What’s up?” I greet him. “I thought you left.”
“I came back to tell you that you should ditch your friends. The
witches and warlock are going to get you killed.”
“What an awful thing to say,” I growl in my human voice, sitting up straight now. “These are my friends, okay? Just because I don’t want to eat them like you do—”
“Maggie,” he cuts in, tone serious. “I’m not joking. You need to stay away from that Chaser and his kid witch. I don’t care if you’re in love—”
“I’m not in love with anybody!” I shout, just before I realize there are two figures standing behind Hannah. Shane and Chloe.
23 - Shane
Maggie in the sunlight is like a punch in the gut. Her eyes match the grass underneath her and it’s all I can do to say a strangled, “Chloe needs the bathroom.”
She smiles at me, completely guileless. “Go through there,” she points a slim, toned arm and delicate finger toward a door in the stone castle. “Second door on the right.”
“Thanks,” I say, and my voice squeaks like it did when I was fourteen.
I usher Chloe in the direction Maggie indicated, but I can’t help seeing a pointed look pass from Hannah—who looks much better—to Maggie. Of course it was too much to hope no one would notice how flustered I am.
Chloe’s needs met, I lean my arm on the wall and put my forehead in the crease of my elbow. What am I going to do now?
I was doing just fine keeping my distance from Maggie until last night and Chloe’s little crying jag. Seeing her hold and comfort my sister, and then touching Maggie… Part of me wishes I could go back in time and undo it all, because it made me realize that Maggie is so much more than the vampire.
Part of me begs for a repeat performance.
And seeing her soak up the sun like that…amazing. Most vamps avoid the sunlight at all costs, but not Maggie. Just another way she’s exceptional.
“Do you like Maggie?” Chloe’s voice comes through the door between us.
“Just go to the bathroom,” is the answer I give her, moving my arm so I can knock my head against the wall. Stupid Shane. Stupid to befriend a vampire.
“Do you?”
“It’s complicated.” Extremely.
There’s a short pause. Then, “Hannah says that that’s a copout answer. So do you like Maggie or not?”
“Are you talking to Hannah right now?” Okay, this new telepathy that Chloe has learned could have benefits, but so far I’m seeing a distinct downside.
“Maybe.”
“Well, stop it, okay. Just go to the bathroom. We have to figure out a way to get to town.”
I hear her sigh deeply, but thankfully she doesn’t ask me anything else.
When she’s done, I take a brief turn in the bathroom and then take Chloe back through to the yard where Maggie is now sprawled out in the grass, face turned up to the sun and arms outstretched. Hannah is nowhere to be seen.
I gulp.
“Chloe, go find Rachel and get some breakfast.”
“Okay.” She goes back into the church.
Maggie watches me with those green green eyes as I move toward her; I stop behind the bench where Hannah sat before, afraid if I go any closer I won’t be able to resist touching her.
“I think we should talk.”
“I called a cab for you,” she offers without moving from her spot. “Should be here before lunch.”
The reminder of our impending separation is a jolt of reality.
“That’s one of the things I’d like to talk about. Chloe’s gotten really… attached to you. She’s used to change, but I’m not sure how she’ll take the separation on top of everything else that’s been happening lately. And…” I clear my throat. “Maybe you were right about being able to help with her abilities. Especially if Hannah and Caleb are going to be sticking around.”
She sits up, her blond curls falling over her shoulders. Surprise shows in her expression. “I can’t speak for Caleb, but Hannah and I have no plans to separate. I’d love to help Chloe, if we can.”
“I’m not comfortable staying in this location—”
She shakes her head, interrupting me. “I called a cab for Hannah, Lily and I to arrive later this afternoon. There are a few things I need to do here before I leave, but I’m not willing to stay here with unknown vampires compromising the location either. If you want, I’ll change the cab reservation and we can all stay together, at least for the time being.”
“Well, great. There’s something else I want to talk about, though.”
She hums noncommittally, then sits back so she’s leaning on her palms, head tilted to one side.
Something tells me this topic isn’t going to go over well. “Is it true about your family?”
Her eyes darken to forest moss. “What, that they were killed? Yeah. I think I already told you and Chloe about it.”
“Did you really see everything?”
She sits forward, starts playing with a blade of grass, twirling it in her fingers. “Yeah.”
“Is that why you don’t eat the same way as your brother?”
There’s a long moment and I think she’s not going to answer, but then she says, “Part of it, I guess.”
“Well, what’s the rest?”
“Geez, do you really want to hear all this? I don’t want to kill people, okay? I don’t want to be like that, no matter what the monster wants. I mean, don’t you ever want something different than the life you were born into?”
“No, not really.”
She scrunches her face. “Seriously? Are you telling me that in the last five years there hasn’t been one time that you’ve wished you didn’t have to take care of your sisters? Didn’t have to keep on fighting against an enemy that just keeps multiplying?”
I can’t answer, because there have been a few times when I wanted to give up.
“Don’t you ever want something for yourself?”
Yes. A world free of vampires, so that I could have a family in peace. But I don’t want to do what my parents did and leave behind people that needed them. I won’t have a family unless there are no more vampires.
“Sure. But I can’t have it unless vampires don’t exist anymore.”
She turns her face away so that I have a profile view. My answer has upset her. I try to explain. “I’m a Chaser, Maggie. I can’t change who I am, even if I wanted to.”
She nods like this is the answer she expected. Maybe she did; she’s terribly intuitive when it comes to me and my sisters. Why is that?
“There’s something I want to talk to you about,” she says, and stands up, putting us at the same level.
I figure since I’ve just pushed her buttons she deserves a chance to do the same. Within reason. “Okay,” I say cautiously.
“Back in Boston, that day in the park—why did you kiss me?” she blurts out the last part, her cheeks turning pink.
“I didn’t kiss you,” I hedge. “I fell into you and our lips touched.”
She steps closer to me and I resist the urge to move backward. I’m not scared of her, except maybe of having a repeat performance of the exact thing she’s talking about.
“That’s a lie. You kissed me.”
“No, you kissed me.” There, distract by placing blame.
“You kissed me first. I just kissed you back.”
I can’t deny it. And now that we’re talking about it, I can’t look away from her lips. I watch avidly as they form the word, “Why?”
“Because I couldn’t help it.” Whoops, didn’t mean to admit that.
Her face goes pink again. I can’t help wanting to be close to her—she’s so vibrant.
“Why couldn’t you help it?”
Ah, crap. I might as well open the bank vault now, because I’ve given her the keys to the front door. “I tried to keep my distance from you. At first, the only reason I didn’t kill you was because there were witnesses around. But then I kept finding more reasons not to kill you—because you helped someone, because Chloe thought you were a good person, because you saved my hide.
“And now, I don’t want
to kill you at all.”
She grimaces. “You’re just a romantic at heart, aren’t you?”
I shrug. “Did you want me to kiss you? Why?”
She doesn’t answer.
“If I had been a ‘normal’ human, where did you see a relationship between us going?”
Now she throws up her hands. “I don’t know, okay? I still can’t get past the part where you’re aging and I’m stuck at seventeen. Mortal. Immortal. But I wanted to…”
She lets her words trail off when voices behind me alert us that we’re no longer alone.
“Maggie?” Lily precedes the rest of the group out of the church. “Do you think it’s safe to go in the house? We want to cook something hot for breakfast.”
24 - Maggie
I wanted to be with someone who loved me.
I still can’t believe I almost said that to Shane. Who doesn’t, in fact, love me. But who doesn’t want to kill me. Maybe if I stick around for another… oh… hundred years or so, I’ll grow on him. Like moss on an old tree.
Except he won’t be around in another hundred years, because he’s mortal.
Dangit.
I focus on digging through the kitchen cabinets, finally locating an electric griddle, which I hold up over my head.
“Yay!” Chloe bounces happily where she and Lily are mixing ingredients for the pancakes she wanted. Hannah, Rachel and Shane are ‘overseeing’ from the small butcher-block table across the room.
“Delivery!” Caleb is way too cheerful for the mood I’m in, but I fake a smile at him anyway. He sets a small cooler on the kitchen island. “Found this just inside the front door. Know who might have left it?”
He opens the top and tilts it in my direction; inside are three pouches of blood like you might find at a blood bank. Relief flits through me. At least that’s one problem solved.
“Daniel must have brought it earlier.” I set it on a side counter, out of the way. I don’t want to eat in front of everyone this time. It was awkward enough on the plane when I didn’t have a choice.
I move back to the island, but it seems the girls have it under control, so I lean on my elbows. I don’t really want to go sit at the same table with Shane right now while my emotions are all confused.
Alliance Page 14
