by Heather Linn
I was excited now. There was a chance that I could take this very, very bad thing and make it good. Any trust that I could gain would get us all one step closer to the information that we needed. I picked up the phone and called the vault. After ringing three or four times, Jewel picked up.
“Hello.”
“Hey Jewel, how bad is it there? Are there flames shooting out of the Doc’s ears?”
“Oh Cat, are you OK? You left so upset, I didn’t have the chance to tell you that I believed you. That man was crazy and it isn’t fair that everyone thinks he was talking about you. I went to Dr. Walker and told him that he needed to find you and set things straight.”
I was shocked. I mean, I knew Jewel loved me; she loved everyone. But I had never known her to stand up to anyone before, especially not one of the men. I didn’t think it was possible to love her any more than I already did, but at that moment, I realized that I was wrong
“Jewel, you have no idea how much that means to me. You didn’t have to do it though. Please do not stress yourself out with my problems.” I really needed to hear that someone was on my side. I felt alone without Darien, but at least Jewel would be there if my world came crashing down around me.
“It is OK; you had every right to be mad. The guys walk all over you. Once Dr. Walker gets an idea in his head, there is no stopping him, and you do not have to constantly be the one that has to deal with it. As far as Darien is concerned, he was just worried about you. I am sure he didn’t mean anything that he said. He thought that it was his fault that you had disappeared. He was crushed Cat; he really was. I know it wasn’t his fault and I tried to calm him down and I couldn’t. I am sorry.”
Jewel had the power to make you feel better. When she talked about everything that had went on earlier, it was like it was no big deal. I don’t think that she realized just how wonderful she was. In a world where we were free, I knew in the bottom of my heart that she would have changed the world. I was going to find a way to thank her. I don’t think she realized just how much she had helped me with her words.
“Thank you, Jewel. You have no idea how much I needed to hear that I’m not crazy. Is Dr. Walker around? I would like to try to smooth things over a little bit.”
“I will get him for you. Cat, just remember that he is older and set in his ways. Do not let him get to you.”
With that, Jewel was gone and there was nothing but silence. If I was ever allowed to go back to the vault, I would see what I could do about putting some music on the hold button. Silence bothered me to say the least. I like a little noise; it lets you know that you are alive.
“Hello, Cat. Before you yell, I must apologize for my assumptions earlier.” He sounded really sincere; maybe he really did feel bad. Point one for me.
“It is alright Doc; that isn’t what I am calling about anyway. I want to talk to you about this Akia mess.”
“Cat, you are going to have to let me sit down for this one. I am not so sure that the old ticker can handle any more surprises from you tonight.” Good old Dr. Walker always knew the wrong thing to say. He had managed within one second to take away every ounce of confidence that Jewel had just given me. For a moment, I thought about hanging up and hiding. If I was hiding, then I wouldn’t have to face what I had done and I wouldn’t have to face Darien. But then, I would be no better off than I was when I left the first time.
“It isn’t that bad, I promise. Just let me get through this before you disagree. It is important that you hear me out.” I waited and when he didn’t protest I hurried along before he could reconsider. “I know that I have put us all in danger. I never meant to end up in that room with Akia that night. I definitely didn’t mean to share blood with him, but maybe it all happened for a reason.” He hadn’t interrupted yet and that was either a good sign, meaning he was willing to listen, or it was a really bad one, and he was right; his heart couldn’t take any more stress from me tonight. Either way, it wasn’t very often that the Doc just sat backed and listened, so I decided to continue on. “Now I have an inside track. How much easier would it be for you to make your plans, if there was someone on the inside feeding you information? I know that it is risky, but I also know that the King of monsters is intrigued with me. I am sure it is just a temporary thing. Once he gets to know me a little bit better, he will be able to move on. I think that you should let me do this. I have to do it now though, before he moves on to someone better.”
There, I had said it all. He wasn’t yelling yet. I was hoping that was a good sign and I hadn’t given him a heart attack, but the longer the silence stretched, the more worried I became. When he finally did respond it startled me so badly that I almost fell out of my chair.
“Absolutely not! There is no way that I am going to willingly hand you over to this man. Cat, if he figured you out he would kill you right on the spot, and that would be if you were lucky. If he truly cares for you and you betray him, he will be hurt, and a hurt man, no matter what the species, reacts to his pain. He would make an example out of you and execute you very slowly in front of everyone.”
OK, yelling was better than a heart attack. I could deal with yelling; I was used to yelling. “He isn’t going to find out Doc, that is the point. I will play the game until I find a few things to help us and then I will disappear. I have been looking through your notes. I have seen some of the weapons that you have been working on. I could get my hands on some of their technology. We might never get a chance like this again. We can’t let this opportunity get away. You are not handing me to anyone; I am going willingly. I know I can do this. There is no doubt in my mind. I need to do it to make up for how careless I was. Let me prove myself to you. I could singlehandedly get you what you need to finish your plans. I am willing to put myself on the line for that. I am a soldier and it is my job. I am doing it with or without your blessing.”
This conversation was quickly turning into one of our battles, the ones that usually ended with neither of us speaking to the other for months at a time. We didn’t have time for not speaking; in fact, depending on how persistent Akia was, I might not have even a month left. A fight like that was not what I was looking for when I called him. I was looking for praise for being so selfless. I don’t think there is anything more disappointing than thinking that your actions will change the world and the lives of your loved ones for the better, just to have your pride shot to hell and back.
“Catalina, you listen to me, and you listen now. You will not go through with this crazy plan of yours. If I find out that you even made an attempt to try it, you are out of this family. You have always been hell bent on self-destruction, but this time you might take everyone down with you. It is not going to happen! Please do not make me reconsider siding with you like I did earlier.” Then that was it; he was gone. There was no way I could win a fight with him if all he was going to do was hang up.
I knew that I had a wonderful idea, and I also knew Dr. Walker well enough to realize that as soon as he calmed down and started to think level headedly again, he would think it was a wonderful idea too. I would just sit back and let him cool off. He had to eventually see the importance of me doing this. We would never have the chance to get this close to the King of the monsters again. The knowledge and the secrets that his palace contained would be more than we would ever be able to get our hands on otherwise. Jewel was right; I wasn’t going to let Walker get the best of me. I knew that it would be a day or so before I heard from him. He would call me back then, there was no doubt in my mind. I could take a day or two to relax and try to make sense of everything that happened. I had at least another day with Akia, right? I mean a game of cat and mouse is all about playing with the prey; where would the fun be if he ended it and killed the mouse too soon?
Chapter Twelve
I thought I was dreaming that there was someone knocking on my door, but the louder and faster the banging got, the more I realized I was awake. I looked at the clock; it was only 8:30AM, which meant that I had
been asleep for only an hour. I needed way more than an hour’s sleep to be a pleasant person. I half jumped and half fell out of the bed, tripping over the blanket and pillows that hit the floor. Somehow in the confusion, I managed to get the ring Doctor Walker had given me caught in my hair. With a quick tug and a little pain, the ring was free. Pissed, I took it off and slammed it on the counter as I made my way to the door.
“This better already be a life or death emergency or I am going to make it one,” I yelled at the door, not caring who it was. I was exhausted from everything that had happened. Today had managed to take its toll on me mentally and physically and all I wanted to do was hide under my covers for the next two days, but that was going to be incredibly hard since they were now in a ball on my floor.
“Cat it is me. Open up. I forgot my key.” Darien sounded just as tired as I felt. I didn’t have the energy for the fight that I knew was standing on the other side of the door. I was so tempted just to go back to my room and ignore him; however, if I wanted to fix this friendship, I was going to have to face the conflict head on.
“Darien this better be good. I have had less than an hour of sleep.” When he didn’t answer me, I unlocked the door and opened it suddenly worried that something might be really wrong. Darien met me with a hug so forceful and tight that I stumbled backwards a few feet. “My God Cat. I thought I had lost you.”
Why in the hell did everyone keep saying it like that? I was never lost and none of them owned me to begin with. I had spent my entire life fighting for my freedom. No one was going to own me now. Though I guess out of everyone that has said it in the past 24 hours Darien was the one that it was most acceptable coming from.
“I looked everywhere for you. I knew that it was one of the head guys that got to you. I just didn’t know which one it was, that is why I kept a low profile and kept searching to a minimum. I didn’t know what else to do. I wanted to track you down but I couldn’t risk outing the others.” I had never seen him this upset. I wanted to make him feel better but I didn’t know how. So I did all that I could do. I stood there and I let him vent. “I couldn’t make myself put the rest of them in harm’s way to find you, even though it was killing me not to. I blamed myself because I didn’t get to you in time. I thought you were dead and it was my fault. I didn’t want to live anymore. You are my life; my best friend, and because I wasn’t quick enough, you were gone forever and it was all because I was stupid and I messed up. You had to be gone; if you were still alive, I knew that if you were alive, you would have gotten in contact with me.”
“Then you just waltzed in to Dr Walker’s office without a scratch on you and I went from being scared to death that I had lost you to being more pissed off than ever, because you didn’t look the least bit sorry for worrying everybody the way that you did. You looked like you were happy Cat. Everyone thought you were dead; I thought you were dead and you looked like you were at peace with it. I didn’t know what to do. I’ve never seen that look before. I wanted to erase it from your face and from my eyes. I didn’t want to think that you were happy without me around for as long as you were gone.” Darien was clinging to me so tightly that I wondered if he believed if he let me go, I was going to disappear again.
“Darien, I can’t breathe. Let me go, please.”
Reluctantly, he unwrapped his arms from my waist. When he took a step back I got my first actual look at him. He was wearing a tight white tank top that showed off his perfectly tanned and chiseled body. He had the physique that all the male Dominus were born with. He however, was completely human. The men in my family spent at least three hours a day working out because they had to fit in with the monsters. His long dark hair lay in messy unintended waves along his shoulders; before the invasion, most human women would have killed for that hair. His face was just as perfect as his body; his lips were a plump, pouty Cupid's bow. His right cheek was graced with a tiny little dimple, and he had a nose that would feel right at home on a priceless sculpture in some far off land.
If the takeover never happened, we would have never met; I was sure about that. He would be off in Hollywood making the movies that we watched over and over again. He could do more things with his breathtaking emerald green eyes then most men could do with their whole bodies I thought, and I took a second to gaze into his eyes and feel the warmth radiating from them. Wait a minute! If I was seeing green eyes that meant he was out walking around without his contacts! Dominus were born with blue eyes. The shades varied greatly, but their eyes were always blue. If anyone had been paying close attention to him they would have noticed that Darien’s eyes held no trace of blue at all. A wave of sickness washed over me. What had he been thinking?
“Darien, where are your contacts?” I sounded as shocked as I felt; there was no way to hide it. My nerves were shot and no contacts was all it took to start me shaking. Suddenly I felt like I was freezing. Darien was always anything but careless. What was I doing to him?
“I took them out because my eyes were sore. I left them in Dr. Walker’s office. I realized I didn’t have them when I was about half way here. I didn’t turn around for them because I really wanted to see you. Besides, my own safety has been the last thing on my mind lately.” His voice was so robotic that it made me ache for him. I had nearly destroyed him.
I wasn’t sure what to say. This wasn’t my Darien. My Darien was in total control. He paid attention to details and would never forget something so important. Judging by the dark circles under his eyes, I could guess that he hadn’t slept much since I had disappeared. I had thought about it before, about what would happen to Darien if something were to happen to me. I knew that he would miss me, but I never imagined it would be this bad. The way he looked scared me a lot more than anything that Akia might do to me. I wasn’t ready to face what that amount of worrying meant, so I did what I always do when I am uncomfortable. I try to take control of the situation and turn the conversation in the direction that I want it to go.
“I bet I know why your eyes hurt. When was the last time you slept?” I didn’t give him time to answer because I didn’t want to know what his answer would be. “I am going to blame the absurd lack of common sense that it would take to walk out in the open without hiding your green eyes on your delusions from insomnia.” I discovered long ago
that I could win most arguments with Darien if I just kept talking; I think that he just let me when win so I would shut up, but whatever works. “If a monster had seen you, they would have killed you on the spot, and that is if you got lucky. If the wrong monster had seen you they would have tortured you to death.” Again, I sounded pissed. I just hate when people I love do stupid things. We didn’t have room for error in this life. More than that though, was the realization that if I had to face the fact that Darien was gone forever, I would never be able to live through it.
“My eyes aren’t sore because of lack of sleep, Cat,” he mumbled half incoherently.
“What?” He was on a different planet; he wasn’t even listening to me. “Darien, snap out of it, have you heard a word I’ve said?”
“They are sore from crying Cat. I thought you were dead because I wasn’t good enough to get to you. I didn’t want to live anymore. I was going to go to the Regent and turn myself in. I was going in today and then you walked in. I was so relieved, but then when you were hypnotized you started talking about him, Akia, and I knew that was why you were smiling and I was hurt more than I think that I have ever been hurt.” He literally spat out the name Akia like it cut him to say it. “I tried to tell myself that you had to be scared out of your mind, and that is why you didn’t fight to get away. I even convinced myself that the look on your face was just relief because you were back with your family and especially back with me. Then, when Doctor Walker put you under; your voice wasn’t scared at all. It was calm and collected. I was sure your calm voice was the worst thing I could hear, and then you relived that kiss and you sounded like you loved every moment of it. You weren’t supposed to
like it. It was supposed to feel wrong. I got insanely pissed and jealous; I don’t know. All I could think of was hurting you; I wanted you to feel the same as I felt all this last week. That is why I said those things in Dr. Walker’s office. After you left, I realized that nothing that happened was your fault. It was mine. I let my guard down for two seconds and I almost lost the most important person in my world. Please forgive me, Cat. I promise I will never disappoint you again.” By then he was sobbing like a little lost child. I didn’t know what to do. I was mad at myself because I didn’t know how to handle him and I was mad at him for caring that much, and I was even more mad at myself for being mad at him for caring about me. It wasn’t an easy task to care of someone like me; that was one thing I was certain of.
“Darien calm down. I don’t blame…” I never got to finish my sentence. Darien had his arms around me in a smothering grip once again, except this time his mouth was over mine. He was kissing me so fast and hard that I couldn’t catch my breath. All of a sudden I felt my knees go weak and give out. Darien managed to take all of my weight and he bent down and scooped me up into his arms and carried me into my bedroom; his lips never even left mine for a second. I could feel the need, and the want vibrating from his body. We had always been close, this man knew things about me that no one else knew, but this was a completely different kind of closeness.
Somewhere deep inside my unconscious mind, the annoying little voice that I always managed to ignore was screaming to be heard. It was screaming for me to slow this down before he got carried away. I didn’t care what the voice thought, my body knew that this was something that I had wanted and needed for a long time. Yet despite what my body was craving, the little voice was the rational part of me that knew this was also something that could make me lose a friend forever. In the short distance to the bedroom I managed to have an entire debate with myself. I am almost regretful to say that my inner voice lost, and all reason was thrown out the window and I managed to talk myself out of stopping him.
