Testimony of Children (Alice Gray Book 2)

29

Now we were getting somewhere.

"What exactly did you see, Mary?" I asked, unable to stop myself from interrupting her story.

"She needed children to continue her line. Two for two. Two for two. Two for two."

A shiver ran through me at those words. I'd heard them before, when Mary had fallen into a fit.

This was not good. I met Stephen's wide eyes, disappointment warring with concern because I already knew what this meant.

Mary's lucidity was fading before our eyes as she repeated those three words over and over. Their rhythm reverberated, gaining speed until it reached a frenzied height. Then it slowed, somehow lulling her restless mind, but also taking with it the memories that held the crucial information that we so desperately needed.

Stephen walked Mary back to her room, murmuring comforting words to her. It felt like we'd exhausted all our options. There were no more avenues of research to follow. Tonight the vampires would come for me again. I knew it with a certainty that couldn't be evaded.

"I need to tell him," I muttered, half to myself.

"Yes."

Brief as always Emily stood to leave. Pausing by my chair, she raised a hand to my shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze.

Surprised by the gesture, I looked up. She was already out the door.

I was still trying to decide how to broach the subject of my midnight escapade, when Stephen returned.

"Coffee?" he asked, dejection seeping from his tone.

Watching him move around the kitchen, a wave of sadness caught me by surprise. The careful order with which he carried out the mundane task was achingly familiar. I had seen him do this countless times in our old apartment – our old life.

God, I missed him so much. And the coffee he made was so good. He turned and handed me a cup just as the wave of emotion crested. We hesitated, our fingers touching. His blue eyes darkened in understanding.

I pulled away. The flimsy bridge of friendship we were building from the rubble of our fractured relationship was about to be washed away on the flood of my confession. I wasn't sure if I was happy about that or not.

Stephen sat in silence as I recounted my tale. I left out the part about rifling his mother's wardrobe to save his feelings. Who was I kidding? I was trying to avoid his disappointment. Judging by his stony glare I had failed miserably. It made me glad that I had skipped over Emily's involvement – no need to get her in trouble too.

"You should have taken us with you. You've always been too trusting, Alice. They're vampires, they're not driven by the same motivations as you and me."

"Not sure you should be the one to lecture me about my trusting nature, are you? What exactly was your motivation for sleeping with me, Stephen? It certainly wasn't out of love and respect."

As predicted, all good feelings were engulfed by the deluge of our past. Anger sizzled in my gut, and I had to remind myself that I was the one that was supposed to be apologising here.

"Look, I was desperate for some information. There was no way that you and Emily would let me meet James again. I had no idea that Thomas would be there."

Stephen held his head in his hands for a few long moments. Finally, he rubbed them over his face to clear away the remnants of our angry words. When he met my eyes again heat poured into me from his gaze. Those familiar deep blue eyes brimmed with emotion, a hint of anguish pooling with desire as he focused on me with an intensity that made energy pop and flicker deep in my core.