Please come straight home after school.
I have important things to tell you.
Uncle Phil
I looked up in relief and stuffed the note in my pocket.
“Everything okay?” Mr. Marshall asked, actually showing some concern.
“Fine,” I stated and swiveled around to return to my seat.
I kept my gaze forward only to catch Sam’s eyes, which were big as golf balls. “It’s from my dad telling me to come home,” I whispered when Mr. Marshall turned to write on the board. “My phone’s busted, so he can’t call me.”
Sam formed her lips into an O shape, accepting my lie with disappointment. She obviously hoped for something juicer. After that, I kept my head down and my feelings’ radar in neutral. I was so done with everyone’s nosiness.
: : :
“Do you think Katie’s really missing? Or just—I hate to say it—pulling a stunt or something?” Dena asked while slowly nibbling tiny bites of her potato chip. “‘Cause lately, I don’t really trust her. And pretending to be missing just isn’t cool, you know?”
“I doubt she’s faking,” I said as my tummy unhappily gurgled, resulting in me pushing my half-eaten salad away. “The cops showed up at three this morning to ask questions. It doesn’t look good.”
“Really?” Cam asked. “What did you tell them?”
“The truth.” Sorta. “I said I didn’t know anything. She did flake on me for dinner, which was weird.” Kinda.
“Wow,” he responded, pushing his straightened red hair that normally was a mountain of curls out of his eyes.
“So . . . say she is faking, where would she go?” Sam asked, while taking a sip of her coke. “Her car is still there along with her clothes and her mom says her bank account hasn’t been touched at all.”
“I don’t know,” Dena said. “Maybe she met some rich guy online and ran off to Jamaica.”
“Seriously?” Sam scrunched up her face. “I doubt it. She’s done some crazy stuff, but nothing extreme. I’m worried she’s in real trouble.”
“I agree,” I insisted. “It’s not like her to blow off a dinner date.”
“Did they ever catch the gang that—you know—with Phil and Justin?” Cam asked, avoiding mentioning the obvious.
My gaze went straight to Sam, whose fear rang out like a gunshot.
“I think so,” I said cautiously, trying to convey reassurance with my expression. “Maybe we should be careful, just in case.”
No one except Sam seemed to be phased by my concern, probably because I wasn’t very convincing. Tyler was the only one on Katie’s radar and if she couldn’t sire anyone, then he’d be safe for now. And the vamps had faithful blood donors, so no unnecessary killings should happen. But I’d been around them enough to know, vampires couldn’t be trusted and I still didn’t know Alora’s lethal intentions beyond recruiting Nicholas and taking the necklace. My only hope was Phil and I would figure out how to stop them before they hurt anyone else.
“She’ll come back,” Dena said with confidence, her gaze lingering into Morgan’s electric stare just before giving him a kiss. “And have some exotic story.”
Dena’s lack of concern bothered me, but their display of affection sliced like a razor across my heart, reminding me of Nicholas’ change.
Would he ever look at me that way again—not just because he wanted my blood?
My eyes welled up in response.
“She will.” Sam patted my back, noticing my sudden emotion, though misunderstanding who I was worried about.
“Yeah,” I said, stuffing back the pain. “So, what’s new?”
Dena quickly filled in the silence with recent gossip and I tuned her out, pretending to listen. I’d never felt lonelier in my life than at that moment. The insurmountable problems of Nicholas and Alora boomeranged around in my gut giving me a dull stomachache. More than anything, I wanted to wrap myself up in someone else’s aura and escape this nightmare, but the only person who came to mind was Phil. Hot, irresistible, reborn Phil who was waiting for me in my bedroom right now.
Then my stomach lurched for real and I straightened up ready to dash to the bathroom.
“What’s wrong?” Sam looked at me with concern.
“I’m not feeling so great all of a sudden.” I gulped back the next wave of nausea.
“Yeah, you don’t look so great.” Dena grimaced.
“Can you get my assignments?” I slowly stood and averted my eyes from my half-eaten lunch only looking at Sam. “I’m going home.”
“Yeah, sure.” Sam nodded.
With that, I made a beeline for my car.
Chapter Sixteen
“Oh hi,” I said to my dad half-heartedly as I walked in the house, shocked to find him still at home. He looked back, just as surprised, with his keys in hand.
“What’re you doing home?” His parental gullibility alarm shot out like water from a snaking hose turned on full blast.
“I don’t feel good,” I said and folded my arms tightly around my midriff and felt a sheen of sweat gloss across my skin. “Can you call school and tell them I won’t be back to class?”
“You left class and didn’t let your teacher know?”
“I left at lunch because I almost got sick in front of everyone, so I just came home. Please call.” Please?
“Are you telling me the truth, young lady?” Dad asked, the infamous sleeper-wave scowl prominently displayed on his brow.
“Yeah.” I gulped, suddenly unsure where this anger and doubt stemmed from when I really was telling the truth for once.
Did Nicholas show up looking for me? Did Phil do something? Did the cops call with more information about Katie’s disappearance? For a second, I wished for mind reading abilities, cowering under the pressure of my dad’s fierce stare.
Dad finally put his hand to my forehead and hummed in acknowledgment. “You do seem warm.”
“I’m not faking.”
“All right,” he said, finally emanating genuine concern but still keeping a gruff exterior. “You should probably go lie down.”
I nodded my head in agreement then glanced at the keys in his hand. “Are you going somewhere?”
“Just shopping. Do you need anything? Medicine? Soup? Gatorade?”
“Don’t talk about food.” I pressed my hand to my mouth to stave off the queasiness as I ran for the toilet.
“Are you okay?” I heard Dad ask uncomfortably through the bathroom door.
“Yeah,” I mumbled and flushed the toilet, overwhelmed with weak limbs all of a sudden.
“I’m . . . leaving . . . I’ll be right back.”
I grunted and stayed on the floor, not wanting to move. Phil was around somewhere, curious and quiet.
After I heard my dad’s car back out of the driveway I wondered where Phil was hidden and was surprised he hadn’t checked on me yet. Maybe he knew why my dad was so furious at me.
“I know you can hear me,” I said feebly. “I’m sick.”
He appeared magically—startling me—covered from head to toe in a black robe, looking like the grim reaper.
“Do you want to go upstairs?” His voice was soft and comforting, making me thankful that my dad had left—he’d done a great job raising us as a single dad, but barfing was something he just couldn’t stomach.
I frowned at Phil’s strange appearance, but felt too drained to ask, only nodded.
Carefully, he lifted me off the floor, and instead of walking, he flew me upstairs, cradled within his arms. I laid my head against the folds of his robe, inhaling the odd aroma of mothballs. He touched down lightly and pushed aside the books on my bed before he laid me down.
One particular notebook caught my eye then disappeared. I blinked to make sure I wasn’t seeing things; the embarrassment Phil gave forth told me otherwise.
“You read my diary?” I asked as my chest tightened, slightly turning my head on the pillow to meet his gaze.
“No,” he lied, flipping t
he hood off his head to reveal a sheepish grin playing on his mouth. A really sexy mouth that I remembered kissing not too long ago.
“Sure you weren’t,” I muttered with a deep inhale, contemplating if I should pummel him or just try to put on pajamas or not.
“I was really bored.”
“Bored? Maybe no one ever taught you this, but it’s never okay to read someone’s diary!” I screeched before giving him another once over. “And what are you wearing anyway?”
“You like it?” As Phil turned in a circle, the black folds of the fabric billowed outwards. The ensemble looked like he was ready to go live in a monastery. “Found it in the closet.”
“Do you realize you’re wearing my brother’s Halloween costume?”
“Really? I wondered. But it’s a good thing. I have to protect my pretty skin from being singed and sunscreen always gives me such a nasty rash,” he said in a snarky tone, then stripped off the robe and threw it on my desk chair, covering up the white Scream mask that lay on the seat.
I couldn’t help but laugh. Thank God he didn’t wear the whole costume, or I might have had a coronary.
He sat next to me with a syrupy grin, but I glared back, annoyed he’d practically snooped through every inch of my room. I wished Nicholas were here to take care of me instead. He’d never disrespect my privacy.
“You’re so hilarious.” I powerlessly attempted to kick off my Converse, but quickly gave up and curled limply on my side. “Why would my diary be of any interest to you anyway?”
Phil ducked his head and helped me take my shoes off all the way. Then he tucked me under a blanket. My anger diffused and my flu-ridden body collapsed.
“I only wanted to—” Phil gulped down his apparent discomfort, “—get a handle on Nick’s story, so we could help him. But you didn’t say a whole lot about him. Though you did say some nice things about me, I might add.”
The satisfaction ebbed from his self-contented smile. I rolled my eyes but fire hit my cheeks anyway as I remembered I’d gushed about how beautiful he was over several entries. Back in the day, when I didn’t know Nicholas had feelings for me and Phil was still human, I did mention I fantasized about kissing him.
“Remind me to edit those pages,” I said with as much contempt as possible. “I didn’t mention him for good reason. I have had vampires steal important things with vital information and use them against me in the past as you may recall.”
Phil snorted while I gave him my most convincing evil eye, trying feebly to be threatening. My newly acquired green complexion and inability to lift my head off the pillow surely made my attempt pretty laughable.
“That was the old Phil,” he said with a compelling smirk.
He pulled the blanket up to my chin and something golden flashed from his neckline—a cross. My mother’s cross.
“What’s that?” I asked with a gasp, pointing towards his chest.
“I . . . I planned to ask you. Only to borrow it,” he said, flashing puppy dog eyes.
His fear erupted and rolled over me, making my stomach hurt again. I clutched my waist and closed my eyes, too exhausted to fight him.
“You need to get one of your own. You can’t borrow this one. It’s . . . special,” I mumbled into my pillow.
With a feather-like touch, Phil took a hold of my hand and placed the necklace within my palm, curling my fingers around the chain. I brought my hand to my chest, thinking of her and experiencing his apology at the same time; his regret made me feel reprehensible.
“I’m sorry. I just feel like crap and don’t want to do anything but sleep.”
“No. It’s my bad for not asking.”
I opened my eyes to meet his. For a moment we watched one another. Phil reached over and moved a wayward strand of hair away from my cheek. My breath caught in my throat for a second. If I wanted, all I needed to do was move slightly upward and a kiss would happen, easily.
I immediately forced my eyes shut and wallowed in my guilt. He grew disappointed and faded into the background, somewhere in my room, struggling with his desire to be near me.
The urge to say something plagued my mind: to define our relationship again, to ask what else he snooped into today. But I chose not to. Though I liked Phil at one point, I loved Nicholas with all my being. And whatever it took, I would help Nicholas recover from this addiction so we could be together again, forever. And Phil already knew this.
I tried to sleep, but couldn’t. As soon as I’d drift off, Phil’s longing would flood in and distract me, waking me up. We were stuck in my room, torturing each other, neither able to leave.
“I can’t sleep,” I finally said, slowly rolling over to face him. “Do you have any idea why my dad was super mad at me when I got home?”
“Oh, that,” Phil said, smoothing his blonde hair back with his hand, eyes plastered to the floor.
“What happened?” I asked with more urgency and sat up on my elbows, immediately anxious due to his sudden disquiet.
“Let’s see . . . your dad checked further into whatever you told the cops about Katie standing you up and figured you were probably with someone instead of her and grilled Luke about it. He kind of ‘fessed up to your secret relationship with Nick.”
With each word my heart beat harder, sending electric jolts down my legs. The blood drained from my face, changing my complexion into a horrid shade of ghost white.
“And your dad also turned on the GPS to your car, so . . . yeah, you’re in a lot of trouble.”
I fell back into my pillows, feeling an entirely new sickness wash over me. With a moan, I covered my eyes with my hands. “Crud.” I wanted to say something a heck of a lot stronger. Phil moved next to me and rubbed my shoulder.
“But you don’t have to worry about that because you’ve got me. And so far . . . ” He patted himself down with his free hand. “I’m GPS-less, so you could still sneak out if you wanted.”
In spite of how horrible I felt, I glanced up into his darling eyes and chuckled. It was either that or cry, and I was afraid if I cried, I’d never stop.
“But, hey, I’ve checked on our man Nick and he’s on the up and up.”
He faked a smile and I knew he’d stretched the truth even without feeling it. I looked away, not wanting to seem upset. How could he lie to me at a time like this?
He acted like he wanted Nicholas to get better, even going so far as to call him “our man” but I sensed he hoped the opposite. Without Nicholas around, I’d become a free woman with options. And a part of me was still super attracted to Phil, taking all my effort to keep from encouraging the attention he gave me. Plus, I didn’t have a clue what Scarlett’s intentions were or even why she’d want to help cure Nicholas. I could be playing right into the enemy’s hands.
Asking pointed questions would delve into Phil’s lie, helping me flush out his deception. The problem was, I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to know the truth. Deep down, I needed to believe Nicholas really was getting better because I didn’t know what I would do if he didn’t. And I wouldn’t accept failure without a fight. Once I got my strength back, I’d be on a mission to find him.
“You could show a little bit more enthusiasm.” Phil moved into my direct line of sight, breaking my internal struggle.
“Yeah . . . good news.” I tried to turn up the corners of my lips. “Can I see him soon?”
“Sure,” he said, seeping a tiny bit of resentment.
I hid my face under my arm, trapped in this never ending rollercoaster called my life. My stomach felt like it was about to pitch another fit.
“You okay?” Phil asked in sudden uncertainty.
“I need sleep, but I can’t.” Until you stop telling lies and turn off your hormones.
“Want another pill?”
The suggestion sounded mighty tempting but I didn’t trust him until I could hide my diary in a more secret place. “Uh.”
“I have a better idea,” he said with his adorable cocky grin. I held my breath anxi
ous for what his surprise would be. “Did you pick up any books from the library?”
I chuckled inside for being so silly with my anticipation. “I did. Check my bag.”
For a brief moment, he disappeared then reappeared with the stack of books in hand. I cringed as he flipped through each one. His disappointment was disheartening when I had tried so hard to find good guyish novels.
“Oh, I love this one.” He produced the weathered copy of Jurassic Park. “Have you read it?”
I faintly smiled in response. “No, but I saw the movie.”
“Oh, then we have to read this together,” he said and got comfortable at the foot of my bed. “The movie doesn’t even do the book justice.”
His plan worked as his amorous feelings faded, brimming with intrigue instead and I closed my eyes to listen. The sound of pages flipping was music to my ears. I hadn’t been read to since I was a child.
Phil cleared his throat. “The InGen Incident. The late twentieth century . . .”
I hummed before sleep slowly took over my senses.
Chapter Seventeen
At first I giggled, nestling myself in the thick satiny blanket of clouds, marveling in the fantastical escape, enjoying the soft breeze playing with my hair. Here, I didn’t have to feel anything other than my own feelings, which seemed to be reflective of the magical carpet floating beneath me.
I eventually crawled to the edge and peered down, my chin resting on top of my hands, amazed at how solid the cloud felt beneath me. Below, the streams of water flowed from epic mountains towards a sparkling never-ending sea. The luscious landscape undulated with breathtaking untouched beauty of forests, meadows, and sandy beaches. I rolled over and let the sun warm my skin. In the distance, birds sang and the waves crashed, creating the perfect lullaby.
Firm, yet gentle hands scooped under my shoulder blades, lifting me up. I opened my eyes to peer into the dark outline of Nicholas; the sun hung in the sky perfectly behind his head, leaping rays of light from the ends of his tousled brown hair.
The air bounded out from my lungs, escaping with it all the tension I’d stored as I collapsed. Gratefulness flowed through my body and I finally felt free from the nightmare. I wrapped my arms around his neck and brought my mouth to his; his breath was the most delectable fragrance of dew and freshly baked cookies. Our lips floated back and forth in harmony across one another’s, playing a sweet song I longed to compose. Then he took my face between his hands and pressed his lips onto my skin, kissing away the tears of happiness I didn’t realize I’d wept.
The Sapphire Talisman Page 13
