“Don’t move.”
I dropped back to the bed with a gasp of pain. Even the slightest movement caused severe pain in my abdomen, and I just sat there panting heavily while everyone in the room watched me with mixed expressions. Tanya looked sad and a little helpless, Holly looked bored and annoyed, and Finn looked pissed off and surprisingly, worried. Did he care about me?
“How long have I been here?” I asked, looking at the small room that was full of clean linen sheets, bandages, and other medical supplies. “Is this a hospital? Is that safe with Andrew still out there?” I asked, getting worried in a heartbeat.
Tanya put a hand on my shoulder, steadying me and stopping my panicked feelings. “You’re resting in the infirmary. You’ve been here for almost three whole days, but you’re healing. Thankfully Lisa knows quite a few good healing spells.”
“Healing spells?” I asked, confused. “If she healed me, why does it still hurt so much?” I asked, gritting my teeth against a flare up of pain.
“Spells can only do so much. The human body has to finish the healing on its own. That’s just the way our magic works. But it did a great job at jumpstarting your body’s natural healing ability. You’ll be on your feet again in a couple of days. Until then, you get to just sit back and relax while people wait on you hand and foot while I plan your birthday party!”
I looked at Tanya. “Please don’t, Tanya. My birth isn’t something to celebrate, now or ever.”
She frowned, and her wings wilted a little. “Don’t you want a party? It’s your sweet sixteen. Every girl wants a huge bash to celebrate. I know you don’t have many friends here, but–”
“I’m not turning sixteen, I’m turning seventeen,” I said, remembering what my mother had told me. Suddenly all I could think about was her and how she’d just left me for the second time. The pain of her loss was even worse than the pain in my stomach, and it felt like someone was driving a railroad spike through my heart. I had to fight for each breath I took, and everyone just stood there watching me like I was losing my mind.
“Ronnie, what’s wrong?” Tanya asked.
“Is this about your mom?” Finn asked, stepping up to my bedside. I was surprised when he put a hand gently on my shoulder, giving me a comforting squeeze. When I met his eyes, I saw understanding, even if he didn’t want me to see it. He’d lost his mom too, and he knew exactly how it felt.
“What about your mom?” Tanya asked gently, sitting next to me on the bed.
“I saw her, twice. Once while I was at Andrew’s place, and again just now, after getting shot. This time she spoke to me, and part of me wishes she hadn’t. Because now I know the truth. I’m not fifteen, I’m sixteen!” I cried, drawing my knees up to my chest and putting my head down in my arms.
“Honey, it’s alright if you’re sixteen already. It’s not a big deal,” Tanya said comfortingly, obviously worried about my sanity.
I sniffed once, and forced myself to pull my head up to look her squarely in the eye. “It does matter, because my mother was with Andrew before my dad. She lied about my age because she didn’t want anyone to know that Andrew is my father.”
Everyone stiffened, and nobody said a word. They all just stared at me like I was a freak, a monster. And for the first time in my life, it really hurt. I’d been called names and taunted before, mostly by kids at school or foster siblings, but this was far worse. Tanya and Holly were friends–new friends–but friends nonetheless, and the looks on their faces hurt.
Tanya was the first to recover, and the first thing she did was pull me close for a hug. When her arms wrapped around my shoulders, I sobbed into her chest. The thought of Andrew being my father was so vile, so repulsive, so disgusting that I wasn’t sure how to begin to cope. My mother had once seen something desirable in that horrible human being and that scared me more than anything.
Not finding out that I was a necromancer and part of a secret supernatural community.
Not finding out that I might be developing real, tangible feelings for an angry, arrogant werewolf.
Not finding out that my father–who had abandoned me–wasn’t really my father.
It was the fact that she and Andrew had once been in love. Andrew was a deeply disturbed man, and it would take a special kind of woman to love him. That woman was my mother. She was attracted to him; I wasn’t sure what it was–his power, his charm, or maybe his good looks–but something had drawn her to him. What kind of woman did that make my mother?
“Ronnie, I am so sorry. I don’t even know what to say to that.”
“What the hell was your mother thinking?” Finn asked, going back to the jerk he usually was. “What would possess her to have sex with a monster like that? Is she stupid or was she just plain desperate?”
“Finn!”
I pulled my head up to glare at him. “She was in love with him, and that’s something that you can’t even begin to understand, since you’re such a pig you can’t be with a woman for more than one night. Don’t you dare call my mother stupid you son of a bitch!”
Finn and I stared at each other while Tanya and Holly were looking back and forth nervously between the two of us. I could see the regret in Finn’s eyes, and I looked away before I was tempted to forgive him. When he sighed and put his hand on my shoulder again, I flinched away from him. “Ronnie, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“How did you mean it?” I hissed, clenching my hands in my lap.
“Um, I think the two of us are gonna see where your breakfast is,” Tanya said, grabbing Holly’s arm. “Let’s leave the two of them alone while they work this out.”
Holly hesitated, her dark eyes darting from me to Finn, and she narrowed them at him. “Don’t do anything stupid. You’ll regret it.” She turned and walked quickly from the room, her long, dark hair swishing behind her as she slammed the door shut.
The silence in the room was nearly suffocating, and I wished Finn would say something. But he seemed content to just stand by my bedside, looking properly ashamed of himself. But I wasn’t sure if I could forgive him for what he’d just said. He knew how I felt about my mother’s death, and he still chose to say something mean about her.
I’m overreacting, was my first thought. He was angry because Andrew’s a threat, and I was just shot, and he was worried. That thought surprised me, because it meant that Finn cared. If he was worried about me, maybe he had feelings about me like I did about him. Why would he though? He’s never cared about a woman before, has he? At least, not for more than one night…
His fingertips brushed against my bare skin, sending shivers across my arm. I tried to play it off as me just being cold by pulling the linen blanket up around me, but I was sure he didn’t buy it because he backed away from me. “I’m sorry.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “I know what it’s like to lose a mom, and I’d get pissed at anyone that said something bad about her.”
I looked at him. “Considering you know exactly how I feel, I can’t believe you said what you did.” My voice broke, but I forced myself to keep going. “You know how much I loved my mother. You knew how it would affect me, and you knew that I needed someone to understand how I was feeling after seeing her again.”
“Ronnie–”
“You can be really cruel sometimes, you know that. You think of the most hurtful thing you can possibly say, and then you say it, regardless of how it’ll make someone feel. Who does that?”
“Well, in my defense, it’s not like I’ve had a ton of people I cared about in my life. I feel weird about liking someone, kind of like I’m always being judged. I’m always defensive and rude, because it’s a way of keeping people away from me. But lately it doesn’t seem to be working.”
I gave him a small smile. “Tanya would be nearly impossible to scare off.”
He smiled back. “Yeah, she would be. Kind of like you. This is the second time I’ve snapped at you, and you still haven’t told me to stay away from you.”
“W
ell, maybe that’s because I don’t want you to stay away from me,” I said softly. “No matter how much of a jerk you can be sometimes.”
Surprisingly, he bent over my bed and lightly kissed my forehead. When he pulled away, his tan face held the hint of a blush across his cheeks, and his pale blue eyes were wary as he watched me. Without a word, he straightened, and left me alone in my room. Tanya passed him on her way back in, and she stopped and leaned out the door again to watch him go. When she looked at me, she smiled. “What did I miss?”
I looked down at my hands in my lap. “What are you talking about?”
“Um, I leave for a few minutes and come back to find a blushing Finn leaving your room. Not to mention you have this wide ass smile on your face. Oh, and you’re as red as a tomato. What did I miss?”
I chewed my lip nervously. “Finn kissed me on the forehead.”
She squealed happily and rushed to my side, setting the tray of food across my lap. “Oh, my god! Tell me everything. What did he say? Was it just a kiss on the forehead? Does he have feelings for you?”
I shook my head. “Nope, sorry. I’m not sure how I feel about Finn yet, and I don’t wanna spoil anything in case there’s really something there.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
It took three days before I was able to get out of bed without experiencing any pain. In those three days, Finn visited me in my room a few times off and on. Sometimes he brought food, and sometimes he came without Tanya and Holly. He never said anything about the slightly awkward forehead kiss, and he didn’t try and do it a second time.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
On the fourth day, I woke up with a strange surprise waiting at the foot of my bed. Two Socks was poking his nose through a box of tissue paper, and I could see the straps of what looked like a dress peeking through. I leaned forward and pulled apart the tissue paper, revealing a pink dress.
It was short and a soft pink color, with spaghetti straps. It had a sweetheart neckline and a layered skirt. There was a black band of lace that tied in the back with a bow, and it looked like a mixture of gothic and baby doll that was actually kind of neat.
It took me a minute to notice the note because Two Socks was playing with it. When I took it away from him, I saw flowing, beautiful handwriting across the card, and figured it could only belong to Tanya.
Ronnie, I saw this dress and thought of you. It’s a little bit cute and a little bit sass and I think it will help you impress Finn (if you wanna impress him lol). You can wear it tonight for the party we decided to throw for you. Don’t worry; I’ll be up to do your hair after dinner, that way you’ll be sure to wow Finn.
Party? Tanya was actually throwing me a party? I was just kidnapped, shot, and told by my dead mother that Andrew was my birth father. What made her think I would even consider celebrating? Andrew was still out there, and he still wanted to use me to take over the world. Getting everyone together in one room would just make us all into sitting ducks.
Maybe she’s right to throw a party. With all the uncertainty and fear, a little bit of celebrating might be a good idea. It’s just one night, and everyone can relax and just enjoy the company of their friends. Maybe that’s exactly what everyone needs right now. If Tanya believes a party will help, I won’t stand in her way.
I shoved the box off to one side, leaving the dress there until later, and I slid off the end of the bed, pausing only to rub Two Socks behind the ears. The showers were calling to me, seeing as I hadn’t showered in days, and I grabbed my bathing supplies, towel, and clean clothes, and I closed the door firmly shut behind me to Two Socks wouldn’t follow me into the bathroom.
Unsurprisingly, there were two smaller cats waiting for me in the hallway. They chose to follow me around sometimes, but they split their time between me and Annie, since we were the only two necromancers staying at the compound. Today it looked like it was my turn to deal with the constant meowing, purring, and rubbing as they twined between my legs.
They followed me into the bathroom despite my best efforts to keep them out, and they sat on the cold stone floor in front of the shower stall while I bathed. It was strange having them wash themselves while I did, because it looked so complicated for them. They had to use their tongues and they bent themselves into such odd angles to accomplish their goal, it was fascinating.
When the bathroom began to fill with the sounds of other girls, I hurried to dry myself off and get dressed. As I was pulling on a navy blue shirt, a girl a few years older than me stepped in front of the door, barring the exit. I recognized her instantly, on account of her long, beautiful, natural red hair and her voluptuous body that many women would kill for.
She planted her hands on her hips and stared at me with the unmistakable sneer of a girl that had just found her new torture toy. The way her dark gray eyes stared at me, I knew she was itching for a fight, though I wasn’t sure why. Most people had ignored me since my arrival, and I kind of liked that.
But this girl was different. She was looking for some kind of confrontation, and now was her opportunity. She’d been watching me for some time with narrowed eyes and an evil, twitchy smile on her lips, and it looked like she was finally ready to make her move.
“Can I help you?” I asked, calmly holding Two Socks in my arms. He was hissing at her and trying to leap from my hands, and I tightened my hold on my squirming cat. I wanted to get out of the bathroom without a fight of some kind, like Two Socks shredding her legs with his claws, but as she pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at me, I realized that wasn’t going to happen.
After another moment of silence, while all the girls watched us expectantly, she spoke. “Who the fuck do you think you are?”
“Excuse me?”
“You just fucking waltz in here like some almighty princess, and everything revolves around you. Did you know that? All anyone talks about in this fucking place is you and how abnormally powerful you are, like it’s some kind of compliment. You’re powerful because you’re a freak of nature, a dead one, and you shouldn’t have come back.”
“I–”
“And then this place gets attacked for the first time ever, and people are injured, all because of you. I think we should just throw you to the wolves. Those of us with power would be strong and survive. Screw the rest of the world; let it burn.”
I gasped. “What is wrong with you? You could do that? Condemn the rest of the world to destruction and death, just because you didn’t like me? And I have not been treated like a princess. I don’t know where you’re getting that idea, but–”
She stepped forward until her amazingly beautiful face was mere inches from mine. “You know exactly what I mean. Finn’s been acting strange since you arrived, but it’s gotten worse since he rescued you. It’s like you’ve managed to suck the fire right out of him, and turn him into a whipped little puppy dog. I want my Finn back you stupid bitch!”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “Finn isn’t yours. He doesn’t belong to any woman, least of all me. He’s a grown ass man, perfectly capable of making his own decisions. Maybe you should remember that. Oh, and if you were a little nicer, he might have been willing to stay with you for more than one night. As it is–”
She laughed, and the cruel smirk was back on her face, causing my stomach to clench painfully. “Finn isn’t mine? I guess I can’t fault you for thinking that. After all, it’s not like you were in bed with us an hour ago. Why do you think I’m here all covered in sweat?” She fanned herself and giggled. “Bitch, Finn and I just had an hour long workout, and that’s something you’ll never have with him. Trust me. He likes beautiful girls that know how to rock his world, and that just doesn’t apply to you, in any way.”
She turned on her heels, flipping her glorious long red hair in the process, and began to undress in front of the shower stall farthest away from me. But I wasn’t watching her; I wasn’t really watching anything. My mind was too busy thinking about everything that she’d just said, and
no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop myself from believing every word she’d just said about him and picturing the two of them together in bed. Finn was that kind of guy.
I’d known that from the moment I set foot in this compound. But to have sex with her after kissing me like he had the other day? Didn’t it mean anything to him, or did he just do it because I was there? Would he really do something so disgusting and nasty?
Yes, he would, I thought to myself as I exited the bathroom. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself, and you knew that. Everything he does, even if it’s for someone else, benefits him somehow. Saving you was probably just a way to get at Diego or impress some girl, like me, enough so that they would have sex with him.
I didn’t realize I was crying until Tanya stopped me in the hallway. She asked me what was wrong, but I was too upset to sit down and tell her everything I was feeling, and I shut myself alone in my room, unwilling to think about Finn and what I felt for him.
*****
Tanya brushed out my short hair, and then she curled it and pinned it all up at the back, leaving a few strands free to frame my face. When she was done, I looked in the mirror and saw a stunning look that belonged to elegant people attending fancy dinner parties with famous people, not a birthday party with friends.
Tanya hugged me around the shoulders. “Well, you’re all ready to stun the guys at your party. Are you gonna tell me what upset you earlier, or do I have to sit here and drag it out of you?”
I sighed. “I had an argument with one of the girls in the bathroom.”
“Which one?”
“I don’t even know her name. She’s got really long, natural red hair and–”
“Brittney. She’s a nymph. They generally tend to avoid confrontation, but those girls are raised in isolated communities. Brittney’s too much like a spoiled American brat, and she likes to start fights, especially over boys.” Her eyes widened. “Oh, I get it now. You two had a fight over Finn, didn’t you?”
Dark Heritage Trilogy Page 17
