Change of Heart 2

Chapter 56

"Why isn't he awake yet?" Angelica's voice sounded through the silent air for what I believe was the eighty sixth time in the past hour. She looked to Aiden who was sharpening an arrow with impatient eyes, and when he didn't even look up she searched for Satyr. "Why is he still unconscious?"

"I'm not sure dear." Satyr sighed, sipping from her third cup of coffee, again within the last hour. "He'll be ok...just give it a little more time."

"We've been waiting for over fifteen hours! Is this thing even working? Has this ever happened before? Did it work before?"

"Angelica!" I began to explode when I heard Avalon's voice in my head.

"Relax Jen, she's just worried. This is all very new to her. I know you're frustrated but we have to be the strong ones here...deep breaths remember?"

I nodded to Avalon who smiled at me then turned to face Angelica who was staring at me with worried eyes. After a very long exhale I smiled. "Vince will be ok. We won't ever let anything happen to him, remember that. Let's just wait a bit more."

Her shoulders slumped and she brushed her warm palms against his face.

"What the hell is going on in here? Did someone die?" Nick's voice caused my annoyance with Angelica to fade but only because his question angered me even more. I raised my head with a glare but was caught completely off guard when I saw Darcy wrapped in his arms in a very intimate embrace. My eyebrows rose questionably at him in an unintended gesture and he looked away from me quickly as if he was either embarrassed or upset.

"I'm gonna go take a shower." Darcy spoke softly into his ear and gave him a quick peck on the lips that caused me to finally look away from the new Romeo and Juliet.

Nick didn't quite respond. Instead, he made his way towards me. "He's not up yet?"

"No, but that's quite obvious isn't it?" I replied without looking at him, then realized how rude my tone came out. What is wrong with me?

Surprisingly he remained quiet. Just as I was about to walk away from the scent of tobacco I heard Angelica gasp.

"Vince!" She smiled brushing his hair back and helping him sit up.

"Angelica?" He groaned and rubbed his eyes. "W−what happened? Where are we?"

"I brought you home. You, you had another attack. It was the worst one yet."

"What do you mean?" His eyes met mine and I smiled. "Jennifer, what happened to me? Am I better? What did you guys do?"

"You're...not sick anymore." I said slowly, unsure of how to tell Vince about his transformation.

"Ok...so everything's ok?" He asked looking at Satyr.

"Well, it's certainly better than your previous state." She said just as slowly as I did.

"Oh dear god..." Nick sighed and shook his head.

"Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?" Vince shouted and tried reading someone's mind as impatience got the best of him.

"You know," Nick started walking closer to him. "It's not really that easy for humans to read minds." He patted Vince's shoulders and Vince looked at him confused. "I mean, I don't know about you but the whole psychic thing is a bit bizarre to me and studies show that intuition is only accurate about 30% of the time." He stood up.

"Nick!" I yelled. "What is wrong with you?"

"I'm sorry Jennifer but life has to go on and by the time one of you decides to actually tell the guy he's human now, he may have aged about ten goddamn years!" He shouted back and looked at Vince. "Yeah, newsflash, you're gonna get old and grey because our chosen one turned you human again to save your life." He rolled his eyes and stormed outside.

"Vince we're sorry we had to−

"It's fine Jennifer." He stood up with the help of Angelica and walked to Adrian who was surprisingly quiet. "Thank you."

"Of course." Adrian smiled and hugged the man who was like a brother to him. "Are you gonna be ok?" He looked at Vince.

"Well...I guess now I finally have the normal life I always wanted." He laughed but I sensed something sad between it.

"Don't worry Vince, you will always be a part of our pack." I hugged his now fragile body. "You were not incredible because you were a werewolf. You were because you're you, and that's something that'll never change."

"Thank you Jennifer." He smiled at me. "Thank all of you, for helping me."

"You're quite the fighter." Satyr laughed and hugged him. When she let him go he turned to Angelica.

"And thank you." He held her face in his hands. "Thank you for saving my life so many times."

"I guess now we're even huh?" She laughed and brought her lips to his.

The rain had just begun to drizzle when he saw the figure ascending the walkway up to the house. He threw his third used cigarette into the falling water and leaned off of the wall looking at the man.

"Well, well, well...took you long enough to show up here." Nick gave a cocky smile standing directly in front of the man.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"You first same question." Nick's face was serious.

"I came to see Jennifer. I miss her." He pulled his coat around his wet, freezing body.

"I don't think that's a good idea. We both know that, so how about you spare her the drama and just leave."

"Look, I know that I shouldn't be here but I have to see her man. It's killing me. I love her." His eyes were pleading more than his words.

Nick took a minute and then shook his head. "I know that you love her, question is, does she love you?"

Ian's eyes were now wet and not because of the rain. "What do you mean?"

"Listen, you've been gone for what? A little over a month. During that time I was here with her. It was hard, making her happy again but I stuck by her and I did that. I am still doing that and I will continue to." He walked closer to Ian who was unable to speak anymore. "I'm sorry Ian but Jennifer is over you. She's happy with me and I don't think you wanna ruin that for her. Do you want to break her again? Do you want her sleepless nights to return because of you?"

"I−I don't, I−

"I didn't think so." He patted his shoulder. "So listen to me, don't come back here again. It's what's best for her."

Without a word Ian nodded and turned the other way, leaving the house with no intentions at all of ever coming back.