by Myers, J. L.
“Hi.” Vanessa peered up with a welcoming smile, while Troy and Marika scowled behind sunglass-shielded eyes. She motioned to the spare seat between Ty and her. “Joining us today?”
“Ah, hell no! You have gotta be kidding.” Marika pushed her tray of sloppy Joes away with an expression of contempt. She must have been at the animal shelter that morning, because stray hairs marred her busty top. “How am I supposed to hold down my food with a vile leech sitting across the table?”
I placed a hand in front of Marika and leaned down to her level. My voice remained low and threatening. “You managed just fine all last week when you had your tongue down my brother’s throat.”
Troy stiffened while Marika growled, lips parting to reveal sharpened wolf-like teeth.
But it was Ty who broke the mounting tension, rising to his feet. “Marika, knock it off. I order…”
“Hah,” Troy spat, folding his arms across his overinflated chest. I straightened as his fiery gaze slid from me to Ty. “Ty, you may well be our alpha. And you can order us out of your business all you like—even if it does have everything to do with us. But you can’t force either of us to like your decisions any more than you can force us to like her.” He slid a pointed finger my way.
Ty went to move at Troy, scarred hands fisted as I darted in front of him. I afforded a quick glance across the room at Kendrick who was watching us with hate-filled eyes. “Ty, it’s okay. I wasn’t going to stay. I just…”
At my broken-off words, Ty sighed. “It’s alright,” he said, slow and even. “I get it. You should go to him.”
Ty’s perception and unselfish gesture warmed my heart. “Thank you,” I mouthed. Our lips joined with a touch so brief I regretted pulling back so fast.
Before I could change my mind and decide to brave lunch with the wolves, I turned, heading back to Kendrick and Dorian. Intrigued students craned to see as I walked past, creating a sea of turned heads in my wake. I ignored every one of them. The sight of my best friend’s hunched and stiff form made an audience the least of my worries.
When I was only steps from Kendrick, his disgusted stare tore from Ty and propelled straight at me. “Don’t sit here on my account. I know you would rather be with him,” he growled, acid dripping with the words.
Of course I hadn’t expected this to be easy. But after coming over here to sort things out, his venom-drenched attitude was seriously starting to piss-me-off. Growing resentment unfurled like a fast-blooming rose within my chest. Words hissed from my mouth. “What the hell is your problem?”
Kendrick’s eyes bore into mine with hate. “You,” he said, then pointed at Ty, “and that!”
Dorian shot up between us, tight fingers curling around my arm and pushing me back. A low rumble emerged from his throat. “Amelia, this is not helping.”
All close-proximity chatter had ceased. Now a throng of eyes stared while hushed whispers erupted at the developing commotion.
“Just go, sit with Ty,” Dorian implored. “I’ll talk to Kendrick. Try to get him to understand.”
Every fiber of my being screamed for me to not let this go. Though deep down I knew there was no point. Kendrick clearly couldn’t stand to be anywhere near me, and a calm conversation was a fool’s hope. “Fine,” I mouthed, and turned to stalk away.
Ty stood awaiting my return as I stomped back toward him. “Is everything okay?”
Troy and Marika simply ignored that fact that I was even present under a warning stare from Vanessa.
Letting irritation and desperation at my best friend’s hatred prompt my words, I was about to reply. An audible buzzing against my backside stopped me. It was my iPhone signaling a new text. I freed it from my jeans and peered at the screen. The text was from Kendrick.
‘I H8 what UR doing. But I could never H8 U.’
My eyes skittered sideways to rest on Kendrick. He was slouched in his seat and staring blankly. His phone was clutched so tightly in his hand that his knuckles protruded. It was almost surprising that the phone was still in one piece. Claws tore at my heart. He made no movement to look up. In fact he was sitting so still, he almost resembled a sorrow-filled statue.
I sighed, long and hard, lifting my eyes to Ty. “No, but it will be.”
~
I had a break from the Kendrick and Ty issue in my afternoon classes, at least until last period. Psychology. A class I shared with both Ty and Kendrick. Fan-freaking-tastic!
Armed with the boarding magazine I’d skipped school to buy so I’d have a peace offering, I walked into class. I glanced around the room, my palms sweating. Over the heads of students already occupying their regular desks, one thing was glaringly apparent. Kendrick wasn’t here.
With the sounding of the final bell the teacher entered. I frowned, and crossed the room to sit beside Ty. Mr. McKenna called the class to attention and began reading aloud from the textbook.
Ty’s warm hand found mine under the desk and squeezed. “Where’s Kendrick?”
I peered over my shoulder at the empty desk Kendrick usually occupied. My heart contracted. He’s not here because of me. Guilt coupled with defeat began to intrude on my emotions. “I don’t know,” I replied, gaining a dirty look from our teacher.
Ty pulled his calloused hand from mine to slip a note across the desk. ‘I want you to meet my father.’
Shocked, I met his Oakley-shielded eyes, fingers twitching for the chocolate hidden in my jacket. “You can’t be serious,” I whispered. Nerves swirled like a tornado through my chest. “With everything that’s gone wrong, all we need is more drama.”
Ty smiled, pearl-white teeth gleaming through parted lips. “That’s why I want you to meet him now,” he stated. “If he finds out any other way, he’ll never accept us. But if we’re up front…”
Ty’s words broke off when Mr. McKenna cleared his throat in our direction. We both glanced down at our textbooks, pretending to follow his reading.
After a few minutes Ty scribbled into his notebook. I peered over his arm to read the message. ‘If he can see who you really are, the girl I trust and adore, then maybe…’
“Maybe what?” I hissed.
Ty scribbled a response down before moving his arm to reveal what he’d written. ‘Maybe we can get past all this drama, and just start being us.’ He tipped his head, peering over his glasses with vibrant, hopeful eyes.
Freeing the chocolate bar from my pocket, I took a nervous bite. My eyes looked away, staring blankly out the window at the darkening sky of ash-filled clouds. All this time, Ty had trusted my every instinct and never once condemned me for my choices. Even after Kendrick’s reaction and the revelation of his daunting feelings for me, Ty was still standing by me. I had known this day would come, eventually. In the end, if I wanted to have a real future with Ty, our families would have to know the truth. We couldn’t hide forever. So, it was my turn to trust Ty.
Swallowing hard, I looked back at him. “Okay.”
Ty’s expression was a picture of perfect surprise. “Okay? Are you sure?”
I bit my lip. There was nothing I was less sure about. Still there was one thing I knew I would never doubt again: Ty. It was time to put all the faith I had onto him. “I’m sure. Let’s do this.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“Where are you off too?” Kendrick’s voice cut through the air as I darted to the front door.
Apart from his text, they were the first non-loaded words he’d said to me since the cafeteria scene yesterday. I whirled to catch him resting against the arched entry to the kitchen. Quiet music from the snowboarding app on his iPhone hummed from his cargo pants. He was eying me from head to toe. My initial instinct was to lie, to not awaken the hatred I had previously endured in his now level expression. But I couldn’t. My lies had already caused too much trouble. I had to be honest, no matter the cost. “I’m going out, with Ty.”
Kendrick’s jaw clenched. The muscles along his neck corded. “Where?”
“I don’t know,”
I replied honestly. All I did know was that Ty would be waiting down the road to take me out on a date he’d planned solely himself. “Why do you care, anyway?”
Kendrick crossed his arms over his chest. “Because I don’t trust him.” He sighed then dropped his arms. “I still care about you, Amelia. Just promise me you’ll be careful.”
I wanted to say, I don’t need to be careful with Ty, but didn’t. Instead, with my heartstrings tugging, I nodded and opened the door to leave.
“By the way,” Kendrick called after me, stalling my escape. “You look beautiful.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and slammed the door behind me. I hurried down the paved driveway, while gusts of wind blew russet leaves in swirls around me. Thought and emotion rushed through my mind. Kendrick’s attitude was shifting; he was making a clear effort, restraining his words and reactions. And I just left him. I sighed again, glaring at my low heels and tugging at the hem my purple A-line dress. I was far from comfortable. It wasn’t by any means revealing, but it was still a dress. This time I hadn’t been coerced into wearing the outfit by my mom, who was so thrilled Ty and I had patched things up that she extended my Friday night curfew to midnight. No, tonight for probably the first time ever, I actually wanted to look nice.
A billowing breeze came off the rolling waves of Rye Beach to my right. Ty’s faint scent hung in its swirls. He was already waiting. Right now there wasn’t time to get into another argument with Kendrick. I’d fix everything later, I decided, trying without success to push my best friend from my thoughts.
Ty stood just down the road, backed by browning trees that lined one side of the gated residential street. He was leaning against his freshly washed WRX, wearing black jeans and a white stretched shirt. His hands were buried in the pockets of his leather jacket.
As I closed the space between us, my pulse galloped. My arms flung around Ty’s neck and I breathed in his mouthwatering scent. Instantly my worries for Kendrick disintegrated. In preparation for tonight, I’d downed a giant glass of blood before leaving the house. It helped dull my thirst for his blood, though not my desire. Ty hugged me back with enthusiasm, lifting my feet from the ground. Yet something felt off. His fingers pressed into my lower back with a force that seemed desperate. Through his locked embrace I noticed stiffness along his arms and chest.
I arched back to glimpse the reserved expression bordering his flat eyes. “What’s wrong?”
Ty lowered my feet to the road. His hands remained locked in a clasp behind my back. “There’s been a slight change of plans.”
“Hmm,” I mumbled, pursing my lips. “Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like these changes?”
Ty’s flat expression didn’t alter. “My dad agreed to meet you. We’re having dinner with him…tonight.”
Nausea flooded my insides, causing my stomach to twist like a towel being rung out. I felt like vomiting. “Tonight,” I squeaked, wishing I had heard him wrong, but knowing I hadn’t. “Like now?”
Ty smiled, a tense and totally not-reassuring smile. “It’ll be fine. I promise.”
~
Ty turned off the winding road and drove through a set of spear-pointed wrought-iron gates. My heart sank to the pit of my stomach. An imposing estate rose above the horizon. It was monstrous, rendered slate-gray and set in multiple levels. Its large, rectangular windows watched me like eyes.
The passenger door opened and I blinked away from the structure. I tried to still the quivering of my hands as I looked to Ty. In seconds I’d have to contend with a doubled onslaught of Ty’s potent scent. I groaned, secretly longing for the nasal tube.
Ty held out a hand and smiled down at me. “We don’t have to do this. If it’s too soon…”
“We’re already here,” I cut in. I took Ty’s hand and allowed him to pull me from the car. With a deep centering breath, I squared my shoulders. I wished I had a secret sipper of blood hidden in this body-hugging dress, and a full block of chocolate. “Let’s just do this—before I change my mind.”
As Ty led the way through his house, the melodic playing of a piano rose in the air. All too soon, the hall gave way to an expansive room, fully furnished in leather and beech wood. The left wall was constructed entirely of glass sliding doors that led out to a balcony. Beyond their rails was a spectacular view of the distant mountains. The sun’s radiant, crimson orb now dipped below their peaks.
Positioned at the far end of the room was a Baby grand piano. A man wearing an ash-colored suit with his back to us was keying the melodic song.
My heart pounded in negation as Ty pulled me toward the man who sat, seemingly unaware of our arrival. The scent of their collective blood soared. “Father, I would like you to meet my girlfriend, Amelia.”
Mr. Malau’s fingers ceased with a disturbing thud across the keys and he twisted to face us. My eyes widened at the aged mirror-reflection of Ty. He had the same dark tan complexion and reflective, gold eyes below black-as-night hair. Ty’s expression the day I had first met him had been open and curious. His father’s was nothing like that. His propelled a mixture of suspicious anger and unmasked resentment.
“I guessed as much,” Mr. Malau remarked. His gold-pulsing eyes raked over me like I was the vilest thing he had ever seen.
A throat-constricting gulp did nothing to clear their scent or the tingle from my gums. I extended a sweat-dampened hand. “Mr. Malau, thank you for allowing me into your beautiful home.”
Ty’s father stared down at my outstretched hand as though it were rotting vermin. He sniffed the air, flaring his nostrils. His eyes slid sideways to Ty and his mouth thinned into a tense line. “Dinner is waiting.” He rose from the piano bench and walked past us back the way we had entered.
Ty laced his fingers though mine and squeezed as we began to follow. “You’re doing great.”
Mr. Malau paused inside a squared opening near the center of the hall and pushed a button on the intercom. “Harper, dinner is ready.” He then positioned himself at the head of a long, beech wood dining table.
“So, the brat is home early?” Ty asked. He pulled out a velvet-cushioned chair for me and took a seat next to his father, picking up the white-folded napkin from his plate. Before us was a large platter of spit-roasted pork, surrounded by an array of colorful vegetables. “I thought he wasn’t expected until the morning.”
Mr. Malau grasped the bottle of red in front of him and popped the cork. It launched from the bottle and flew across the room, connecting with the wall only an inch from an enormous oil painting. Pictured was Mr. Malau, a young boy, who at a second glance I realized was a very young version of Ty, and a woman who was cradling an infant. My eyes narrowed at the face of Ty’s mother. She was breathtakingly beautiful with billowing, raven hair, delicate tan features and full, rose-red lips. Yet there was something about her appearance that struck me with confusion. Her eyes weren’t the gold, or even the honey-glazed with bordering green of werewolves. They were blue. Not the silvery-blue of vampires, or even the lackluster blue of most humans. Instead they were the intense blue of a sun-speckled ocean.
“Well, I would have preferred him to arrive tomorrow.” Mr. Malau’s stern voice pulled my wandering gaze, while snuffing the rising questions in my mind. His expression hardened, shifting to me. “But some things in life cannot be controlled.”
The sound of footsteps bounding down stairs broke the tension growing in the air. A second later an exuberant boy blew into the room. The moment he caught sight of me he tripped on the contemporary rug that spanned almost the entire floor-space of the room. The boy’s jaw dropped and his tan skin paled. His deep-brown eyes stared at me in complete horror.
Ty swiftly broke the thickening silence, pointing at the staring boy. “This is my brother, Harper.” He then turned his head to scowl his sibling. “Harper, stop staring. It’s rude.”
“This is Ty’s friend, Amelia,” Mr. Malau explained, his voice drenched with contempt.
Harper broke his stare on me,
nervous eyes flicking to his father. “But she’s a vampire.”
Mr. Malau motioned with an authoritative hand for the young boy to sit. He wordlessly complied, sliding into the spot opposite Ty, close to the safety of his father. “Ty informs me that Amelia and her family are…different. They do not hunt or kill.” His skewering eyes turned on me. “You will have to forgive my son. We are not used to encountering your kind,” he enunciated the words with disdain, “on neutral terms.” He poured wine into his crystal glass then handed the bottle to Ty. “An imported French drop.”
Ty began topping my glass and I looked to his father questioningly. I desperately wanted a glass to distract my thoughts from their blood, but this wasn’t an unsupervised party and neither of us was anywhere near drinking age.
Mr. Malau caught my eye and glowered, his narrowed eyes boring into mine. “Sorry, Amelia, but we don’t stock anything richer, unless you intend on tapping a vein.”
Ty’s head snapped up, his hand on mine tightening. “Father!”
The intensity of their scent grew so thick I felt my fangs pricking through my gums. An image—so clear and surreal—of biting Ty in the hot tub, rushed through my mind. Could he know? My stomach lurched, the taste of dead blood licking my throat. The rush of blood through my veins quashed any lingering nerves and gave way to a tumbling indignation. In light of my enemy’s unbridled resentment, a primal need to defend myself rose. I gritted my teeth, letting my fangs slide free. “I drank a pint of blood before Ty picked me up. But there’s always room for more.”
Ty coughed beside me, almost choking, while Harper’s face faded to gray. Mr. Malau’s eyes narrowed. His expression revealed no shock at my outburst, but rather, a basking expectation that I had readily fulfilled.
Regret instantly coursed through me, retracting my fangs. My challenging eyes dropped. I was here to show Ty’s father I wasn’t a threat, that my family and I were different. Not prove his suspicions right with uncontrollable outbursts. I shrank back in my seat, my thirst for their blood quashed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”
